Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008

MID beholds the power of cheese

Utility, dairy to make electricity from manure

For the first time, dairy cows are signed up to generate power for the Modesto Irrigation District.

The district board voted 5-0 Tuesday for a power-purchase agreement with Fiscalini Cheese Co. It has installed a system that extracts methane from cattle manure and burns the gas to make electricity.

The power will be sold to the MID for about 10 cents per kilowatt-hour, said John Fiscalini, owner of the Kiernan Avenue company, when reached after the meeting.

MID officials had declined to disclose the price. General Manager Allen Short said doing so would put the district at a disadvantage in negotiations with other dairy producers planning these systems.

Tim O'Laughlin, the district's Chico-based attorney, said the figure is a "trade secret."

MID officials did say the Fiscalini price, although more than conventional energy sources, was less than several other renewable options.

The roughly $3 million system is expected to start feeding power to the MID by January. It will meet an estimated 0.2 percent of the district's demand, said Greg Salyer, manager of resource planning and development.

But he said the system will help reach the goal of producing 20 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2017.

"Part of our strategy on renewables is to have a diverse portfolio, and this fits right in there," Salyer said.

The district relies on wind for most of its renewable power. Its large hydroelectric resources do not count toward the goal.

Manure-to-power projects are part of California's effort against climate change, believed to be caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide and other gases in the atmosphere.

Scientists say methane is an especially potent climate changer. Burning it to make power still releases some emissions, but far less than if the gas just drifted into the air from manure piles.

The Fiscalini methane system is part of a project that will include a 10-fold expansion of the company's cheese- making capacity and a visitor center.

The company has produced cheese since 2000, using milk from a dairy farm that has been in the Fiscalini family since 1914.

Manure-to-power systems have been installed at several California dairy farms, although the fraction of the total is tiny.

Tuesday also brought a milestone in a related effort to put manure-derived methane directly into gas pipes serving homes and businesses.

The Kern County Board of Supervisors approved construction of a system that will collect methane from nine dairy farms. The gas will be refined and then fed into the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. system in that county.

Bee staff writer John Holland can be reached at jholland@modbee.com or 578-2385.