Carbon Monitoring Shows Massive Emissions at CA’s Mega-Dairies
Analysis shows 28 mega-dairies with digesters released massive methane plumes after digesters were installed.
A new Food & Water Watch analysis has found that 28 California mega-dairies are emitting enough levels of methane to be picked up by satellites and imaging aircraft, despite benefiting from lucrative environmental credits via California’s signature climate program, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard.
All analyzed methane releases occurred after the installation of anaerobic digesters.
“As we embarked on doing this analysis, we knew that California was lavishly rewarding factory farms for producing dirty biogas – but we were still shocked to see how even Carbon Mapper’s sporadic monitoring shows how much methane these facilities are spewing into the atmosphere after digesters were installed,” said Amanda Starbuck, Food & Water Watch Research Director.
Author's summary: Mega-dairies in CA emit massive methane despite environmental credits.