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COW CAPACITY: Idaho is the third-largest dairy state and is making a push to utilize waste materials from the industry.
U.S., Idaho has made a push to utilize waste materials and has five operating dairy digesters. “We’re a huge dairy state,” says John Crockett, senior energy specialist for the Idaho Office of Energy Resources. “There’s a huge potential there.” Idaho is home to more than 600,000 dairy animals and about 70 percent of them, along with 126 of the largest farms, reside in the south-central portion of the state dubbed the Magic Valley, according to an Idaho Strategic Energy Alliance Task Force report. The report estimates that the Magic Valley alone could produce more than 34 billion Btu per day from dairy waste. As in most populated areas, MSW could serve as another resource for bioenergy and the task force report estimates about 1.08 million pounds were discarded in 2006. That volume could produce enough landfill gas to generate about 1,482 MW and power about 120 homes. The state supports two landfill gas-to-energy projects and has identified 49 food and beverage facilities that are candidates for anaerobic digestion. Eight already employ the process to treat wastewater, yielding a total annual energy production value of