California Climate Solutions achieving environmental goals + creating business opportunities

Ahead of the Herd

Policy Solutions to Accelerate Livestock Methane Emissions Reduction in California

California has set first-in-the-nation goals to reduce emissions of methane, one of the most potent greenhouse gases, as part of its broad strategy to address climate change. State leaders have set specific targets for livestock—the single greatest source of anthropogenic methane worldwide—and created a slate of programs to address emissions from the dairy sector, but significant progress is needed to achieve 2030 targets while protecting public health and local ecosystems.

Livestock operations—including dairy cattle, beef cattle, and other animals— generate over one third of overall methane emissions in the US and over one half of methane emissions in California. The state is home to more than 1.7 million milking cows at over 1,300 dairies. According to the California Air Resources Board, the state has made significant progress on reducing methane emissions from the manure generated by the dairy and livestock sector. However, additional funding and policies are needed to address enteric emissions and enhance manure management solutions.

Livestock manure generates significant methane emissions when it is stored in wet, oxygen-free (anaerobic) environments, as is currently the case at most large dairy operations in California. Anaerobic digester technologies and alternative manure management practices exist to capture or reduce methane, but have limitations and can cause unintended pollution impacts on environmental justice communities.

Enteric emissions (burps from ruminant livestock including dairy cattle) represent the majority of livestock methane and are especially challenging to address because they result from internal biological processes, making each animal a source of emissions. Researchers and ranchers are developing a promising suite of solutions including feed additives, but slow regulatory approvals, a lack of market and regulatory incentives, and a lack of data on effectiveness and long-term impacts have prevented progress.

Policy Needs

Policy Solutions

Clarifying policy priorities to accelerate methane reductions that protect public health

Create a coordinated, clear, and centralized funding, reporting, and permitting process

Governor, state legislature, in coordination with the California Air Resources Board and/or California Department of Food and Agriculture

Fund and support agencies to provide a “one-stop shop” for reporting of water quality, air quality, and greenhouse gas emissions, and technical assistance and assessment of methane emissions reduction strategies

Verifying emissions reductions remains an important challenge. The diversity of oversight over manure management can create a significant compliance and information-tracking challenge. Participants recommended having one state-level hub which can provide air and water quality information, verify manure methane emissions reductions at the farm scale, and provide technical assistance to farmers interested in applying for potential funds. Concentrated dairy operations can cause significant air and water health impacts to environmental justice communities, regardless of their methane control strategies. Additionally, no agency maintains comprehensive, readily available data on digester technology. The governor and state legislature could direct the Department of Food and Agriculture to enhance the existing technical assistance components of the Alternative Manure Management Program, including free one-on-one assistance to dairy and livestock operators. Furthering partnerships with the University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources to offer Climate Smart Agriculture technical assistance to applicants could allow farmers to receive needed help navigating both manure and enteric emission reduction efforts.

 

 

Legislature

Fund the California Department of Food and Agriculture to support digester operation and maintenance, while focusing efforts on smaller and medium dairies including incorporation into existing digester clusters

The capital cost of an on-farm anaerobic digester is typically in the millions of dollars and can exceed $15 million depending upon the size of the operation and technology used. As digester projects come along, dairy operators need ongoing support for maintenance and upgrades to optimize emissions reductions and address system inefficiencies and technology breakdown. The Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP), which provides financial assistance for digester installation, does not currently support these operation and maintenance costs. Allowing funds to support efforts like maintaining hydrogen sulfide treatment systems, which are vital to mitigate hazardous gas emissions from digesters, may lead to better outcomes. Additionally, small and medium-sized farms typically do not produce manure at the scale necessary to justify the costs of installing and maintaining a digester. However, dairies may be able to connect to existing cluster projects to capitalize on economies of scale, making them more economically viable. Supporting smaller dairies to participate in manure emission reduction projects can help these facilities compete financially.

Legislature, California Department of Food and Agriculture, and California Air Resources Board

Support pre-development activities for digesters and alternative manure management projects

Environmental review, permitting, and other pre-development costs can also limit project development, particularly for smaller dairies. Pre-development activities such as physical landscape surveys,   interconnection with electricity or gas infrastructure, feasibility analyses, and other environmental review documents influence the overall cost and speed of getting a project operational. For both digesters and alternative manure management projects, reducing pre-development costs could help operators refine proposals and identify the best possible approach. The Department of Food and Agriculture could amend the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program to include pre-development activities as an allowable cost.  

California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Air Resources Board, State Water Resources Control Board, and other regulatory agencies

Prioritize air and water quality co-benefits alongside methane emissions reductions and could further encourage adoption of practices that address local pollution concerns alongside methane reductions, especially in lower income communities and communities of color

Environmental justice and community advocates raised serious environmental concerns about bringing more anaerobic digesters online to address manure methane at dairies. For example, digester clusters could exacerbate the concentration of manure in single locations, leading to concentrated odor and nitrogen pollution in groundwater. Participants supported increasing funding for agroecological solutions to holistically approach manure management while reducing water and air quality impacts, supporting worker and community health, and shifting farmers away from high herd densities that are linked to local pollution. The solutions may include pasture and rotational grazing methods, and can also address methane. The Department of Agriculture’s Alternative Manure Management Program could collaborate with the Healthy Soils program to build markets for compost and dry additives that can use manure to regenerate cropland.

Refining policies and funding to enhance manure methane reductions

Revisit and Expand Existing Incentive and Financing Programs

Legislature

Redirect some existing digester funding to support more alternative manure projects such as advanced solid-liquid separators or vermifiltration alongside digesters

As anaerobic digesters have already been deployed at the state’s largest dairies and clusters, the legislature could look at redirecting existing funding towards alternative manure management projects to address methane. For example, solid-liquid separation of manure is a processing technology that partially separates the solids from the liquid manure using gravitational force, sedimentation basin, or a machine.  In combination with digesters, solid-liquid separation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 41 percent. Vermifiltration is a process that has the dairy wastewater (manure and water) pass through a large worm bin that reduces nitrogen, phosphorus and methane. The worm filtration process eats the methane, producing castings that can serve as a natural and nutrient-rich fertilizer. 

California Air Resources Board

Update the Low Carbon Fuel Standard to provide more certainty to digester project developers and downstream dairy biogas buyers, better account for life-cycle impacts and ensure additionality, and better account for community impacts

The state has funded over 100 digesters to date, accounting for the majority of agricultural methane emissions reductions in California. These digester operators can generate revenue through the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The program requires statewide reductions in transportation fuels carbon intensity using a market-based system where lower-carbon fuels can sell credits to suppliers of higher-emitting fuels. Because biomethane from dairies uses methane that would otherwise be vented, it can receive an extremely low (or negative) lifecycle carbon intensity score. However, there are issues with out-of-state dairies claiming credits and price volatility. CARB could update the carbon intensity lifecycle analysis for biogas to include upstream or enteric emissions, or establish certified pathways for in-state dairy operations to deliver renewable electricity to the grid for electric vehicle charging or difficult-to-decarbonize sectors. CARB could also limit the potential for double counting and the limited verifiability of reductions to more accurately claim environmental benefits.

Establishing policies and best practices that will reduce enteric methane emissions

Set Baselines and Increase Research Funding for Nascent Industries

California Department of Food and Agriculture and US Food and Drug Administration

Accelerate approval of feed additives with emission-reducing potential, while providing safeguards for animal and human health

Feed additives like red seaweed and 3-NOP are some of the most promising solutions for enteric emissions reduction. They are regulated by the U.S. FDA and have not received agency approval for general commercial use. While the CDFA granted provisional approval of a red seaweed supplement (as a digestive aid, not a methane strategy) and FDA has approved clinical trials, support is needed from federal and state agencies to accelerate full approval. U.S. regulators could look to the European Union’s approval of Bovaer, a Dutch 3-NOP product, for use in dairy cattle as an example of a rapid but rigorous feed additive-oriented review process. 

California Air Resources Board

Adopt an offset protocol for enteric emissions reduction under its Cap-and-Trade program to provide new incentives for farmer adoption

The ability to generate verified offset credits in the California Cap-and-Trade market can generate key financial support and predictability for new projects. To encourage adoption of enteric emissions reduction strategies and development of new products and technologies, CARB could adopt an offset protocol for verified emissions reductions.  To manage the potential pitfalls of offsets and double-counting, the state could make the marketplace voluntary. However, environmental justice advocates, including some in the participant group, argued against the use of offsets in general, pointing out that they allow credit-buying industries to continue emitting toxic and criteria pollutants that would not be permitted under direct regulation.

Legislature

Provide more financial support for enteric emissions reduction strategy research and development

Utilizing the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (California Climate Investments Cap-and-Trade Revenues), recent budget surpluses, or other dedicated funding, the legislature could provide the Air Resources Board and Department of Food and Agriculture with additional funding to support enteric emissions reduction research.  Key focus research areas could include analyzing whether animal rumens (i.e., methane-generating digestive systems) adapt to feed additives and what frequency of feeding maximizes benefits, or developing effective strategies for reliable delivery of additives in pasture-based and beef cattle operations where no centralized feeding takes place. 

Financial institutions, supply chain companies, and land managers

Provide financial incentives to adopt enteric emissions reduction strategies as they become available

Since many farms and livestock operations (particularly smaller ones) run on narrow financial margins, their owners are typically risk-averse with regard to process changes and emerging innovations. Banks and lenders could provide preferential low-cost financing to operations that commit to certain enteric strategies and targets. Supply chain companies could consider more aggressive preferential purchasing and labeling programs to incentivize uptake and advertise high-performing suppliers. Federal and state land managers could offer grazing lease discounts to ranchers that commit to implementing enteric strategies.