Rethinking Manure Biogas: Policy Considerations to Promote Equity and Protect the Climate and Environment

Such harms depend on a range of factors, including: the scale of the operations; the end use of the biomethane; and the geography of the site; the management of digestate (a existing cumulative impacts to byproduct of anaerobic digestion). [...] LCAs estimate To properly account for the full life cycle emissions, any manure biogas LCA should include the storage and disposal of digestate, as well as the emissions generated in the production of manure, that is, the emissions resulting from raising the livestock in question. [...] To properly account for the full life cycle emissions, any manure biogas LCA should include the storage and disposal of digestate, as well as the emissions generated in the production of manure, that is, the emissions resulting from raising the livestock in question. [...] First, are these programs necessary to obtain the intended climate benefits of biogas systems and to what extent do they contribute to an overall emissions reduction? Second, what are the opportunity costs of the intense focus on this one method of reducing livestock emissions, given the range of alternatives? The fact that alternatives exist, coupled with the requirement that manure production co. [...] The primary alternative policy mechanism should be to treat industrial livestock operations like every other industry in the country and regulate the emissions they externalize to the detriment of the public—the primary funders of manure biogas systems.