Using ag to produce vehicle and farm fuels

Jun 21, 2019

Dairy biogas will be sent to a centralized processing facility

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The American ag industry could help power trucks and farm equipment in a new way.

California Bioenergy LLC (CalBio), Chevron, a fuel manufacturer, and California dairy farmers are working together to market dairy biomethane as a vehicle fuel in the state.

Chevron is providing funding for as many as 18 dairy digesters in Kern, Tulare and Kings counties. The projects are designed to transfer dairy biogas to centralized processing facility where it will be upgraded to renewable natural gas.

The natural gas will then be injected into the local gas utility’s pipeline and marketed as an alternative fuel for heavy-duty trucks and buses. The goal is to make the fuel available for off-road and farm equipment as well.

Projects like these help industries lower greenhouse gas emissions, said Braden Reddall, senior external affairs advisor with Chevron.

“We see this as a very creative and cost-effective way to comply with the Low Carbon Fuel Standard,” he told Farms.com. “As a fuel producer that’s our particular interest in this.”

CalBio is bringing technology, operational experience and capital to help fairy farmers build the digesters and capture the methane.

This opportunity provides farmers with an extra source of income while also addressing climate concerns, said N. Ross Buckenhan, CEO of CalBio.

“CalBio is honored to be supported by some of California’s leading dairy farmers and to have Chevron, California’s largest energy company, helping us expand the development of clean, renewable compressed natural gas (R-CNG) production across the state,” he said in a statement.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.