CDFA Awards $24.82 Million From California Climate Investments For Methane Emission Reduction Projects

CDFA’s Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (OARS) is pleased to announce  $24.82 million in grant funding to 30 methane emission reduction projects across the state. These new projects, part of the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) and the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP), will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an estimated 121,546 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent annually, which is equivalent to removing over 28,350 cars from the road for a year. The programs are part of California Climate Investments, a statewide initiative that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing greenhouse gas emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment — particularly in disadvantaged communities. 

This grant round is funding 25 projects in the AMMP with $17.42 million, with $6.67 million proposed in matching funds. Five projects are receiving awards from the DDRDP, totaling $7.40 million in grant funding, with $37.28 million in matching funds.

“Supporting dairy and livestock producers in their drive to implement climate smart and environmentally protective practices while continuing to provide nutritious, local food for California is more important now than ever,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “These grants enable farmers to put solutions into practice much sooner than when might normally be feasible. Each new cohort added to the growing list of successfully implemented projects funded by AMMP and DDRDP represents important progress towards the State’s methane emission reduction targets as 2030 approaches.”

Dairy manure produces methane when it decomposes in a liquid environment free of oxygen. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to global warming, and it can be at least 25 times more potent than CO₂ when emitted to the atmosphere.

Dairy digesters can capture methane emissions from stored manure and use them to produce renewable energy such as electricity, renewable natural gas (RNG), or hydrogen. Alternative manure management practices such as dry scrape manure collection or solid separation of flush water can keep more manure in a dry form and help to significantly decrease methane emissions.

Implementing these projects can also provide other important co-benefits such as reducing odor and certain air pollutants like reactive organic gases (ROG) or nitrogen oxides (NOx), improving management of nutrients and protecting groundwater, and producing compost from manure solids that can be recycled as fertilizer and animal bedding.

Together, AMMP and DDRDP have funded 338 projects over the life of the programs, going back to 2015.  In total, these projects will   reduce an estimated 2,838,107 metric tons of GHG annually, which is equivalent to removing over 660,000 cars from the road for a year.