Biogas systems provide economic, energy, and environmental benefits for farms, businesses, and communities. These systems enable the capture and use of methane while also addressing waste management and nutrient recovery needs, finds the Biogas Opportunities Roadmap, released by the Obama Administration.
If its full potential was realized, a cost-effective biogas industry could produce enough energy from the livestock sector to power 1 million average American homes.
Biogas is primarily a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by the bacterial decomposition of organic materials in the absence of oxygen. Depending on the source of organic matter, biogas typically contains 50-70% methane, 30-40% carbon dioxide, and trace amounts of other constituents, such as hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen, nitrogen, and siloxanes.
Methane is both a potent greenhouse gas and a valuable source of energy. Today, methane accounts for nearly 9% of domestic greenhouse gas emissions. Thirty six percent of these emissions come from the agricultural sector, equivalent to over 200 million tons of carbon pollution. While methane’s lifetime in the atmosphere is much shorter than carbon dioxide, it is more efficient at trapping radiation. Pound for pound, the comparative impact of methane on climate change is over 20 times greater than carbon dioxide over a 100-year period.
This Biogas Opportunities Roadmap builds on progress made to date to identify voluntary actions that can be taken to reduce methane emissions through the use of biogas systems and outlines strategies to overcome barriers to a robust biogas industry in the United States. It supports the U.S. dairy industry’s voluntary 2008 goal to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2020.
Check out a fact sheet about the Biogas Opportunities Roadmap.
Content Courtesy: 1sun4all