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12 October 2006 -- Cow power is one way Pacific Gas & Electric is supplying more renewable energy to its customers. The northern California utility signed an agreement with Microgy, Inc., a subsidiary of Environmental Power Corporation, to deliver biomethane produced at dairy farms. The agreement involves the purchase of up to 8,000 million cubic feet of pipeline quality renewable natural gas daily. The gas will be generated by Microgy facilities in California.
"The state of California is both the largest dairy producer and the largest energy consumer in the United States," said Rich Kessel, President and Chief Executive Officer of Environmental Power. "This agreement is an important step towards developing an important renewable energy source from California's vital agricultural sector."
Microgy plans to construct four production facilities on the site of large dairy farms in California and interconnect those systems to PG&E's gas pipeline network. PG&E also extolled the environmental benefits of using this kind of renewable natural gas.
"Biomethane takes the problem of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and turns it into a key part of the solution to California's reliance on fossil fuels," said Allen Dusault, Biofuels Project Director for Sustainable Conservation, an environmental nonprofit organization. "The state has no shortage of dairy manure, and it can now be cost-effectively converted into 'cow power.' That makes good environmental and economic sense."
PG&E said that currently, over 50 percent of its electricity delivered is carbon free.
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