INTERESTING ENGINEERING - Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is over 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide when trapping heat over a 20-year period. It accelerates global warming much faster than CO2. In California, dairy farms are among the largest sources of methane, especially through how they handle manure.
A new study from the University of California, Riverside, confirms that dairy digesters, which are sealed manure ponds that capture methane, can reduce those emissions by about 80 percent.
Real-world test confirms promising tech
Researchers monitored a family-run dairy in Tulare County, the top milk-producing county in the country. They used a van equipped with high-precision gas sensors to collect methane readings before and after the farm installed a digester in 2021.
The team gathered hundreds of data points across two years. These mobile atmospheric measurements offered the clearest look yet at how digesters perform under real operating conditions.
Initially, the system had some leaks. The research team worked with California Bioenergy, the system operator, to fix the issues. After changes were made, emissions dropped sharply.
“This was a textbook case of adaptive management,” said Francesca Hopkins, the UCR climate change scientist who led the study. “The partnership between scientists, the company, and the farmer really made a huge difference.”