• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Clean Fuel Partners

Clean Fuel Partners

Advancing Sustainable Ag Systems

  • About
    • Our Team
  • Services
    • Operations & Management
    • Facility & Process Consulting
    • Project Development
    • CF Fiber
  • Case Studies
    • Digester Cleanout & Repair
    • Feedstock Management
    • Digester Tank Repair
    • Emergency Generator Swap
    • Crave Bros. Farmstead Dryer Project
    • Digester Operations & Maintenance
    • DCCD Centrifuge Building
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Why We Need Renewable Energy Ecosystems

Gases and liquids produced by decomposing organic agricultural materials – from livestock feeding, agricultural waste, food processing and other sources – represent huge and growing problems. Unchecked, they produce:

  • Greenhouse gases, primarily methane
  • Excess phosphates and nitrates in soil and ground and surface water
  • Pathogens, including e. coli
  • Odor

More than 1.37 billion tons of animal waste is produced in the U.S. each year. This amount is 130x as much as the human waste produced, and is equal to 5 tons of animal waste per human resident.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says one dairy farm with 2,500 cows produces as much biowaste as a city with around 411,000 residents. However, despite this magnitude, animal waste is not processed like human sewage, and there is very little regulation of animal waste disposal.

Currently, these wastes are stored in large, open “lagoons,” or in open mounds on the ground. As decomposition takes place, methane is released and remains in the atmosphere for at least 10 years. Methane is 21x more powerful than carbon dioxide at absorbing atmospheric energy, contributing to climate change worldwide.

Storage lagoons are also subject to leaking, and in areas with severe weather (such as hurricanes and flooding), open lagoons can be breached and spread liquids and solids over large areas.

According to the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production:

The EPA says that pollutants from animal waste can result in fish kills and reduced biodiversity and that nitrogen and phosphorus pollution can contribute to algae blooms, which can then lead to a number of negative health effects in animals and humans.

Human and animal health can also be harmed by the pathogens and nitrogen in animal waste. Nitrogen in manure is easily transformed into nitrates. The EPA found that nitrates are the most widespread agricultural contaminant in drinking water wells and estimates that 4.5 million people are exposed to elevated nitrate levels from drinking water wells. Nitrates, if they find their way into the groundwater, can potentially be fatal to infants.

May 1, 2016 · Filed Under: Business, Environment

Primary Sidebar

Connect with us

Facebook Updates By @CleanFuelPartners

[custom-facebook-feed]

Tweets by @clean_fuel

Tweets by @clean_fuel

Recent Posts

  • First Half of 2017
  • CFP receives Lumley Leadership Award for Lake Stewardship
  • A partnership that celebrates the message of Earth Day
  • 2016 Performance Report Card
  • First Half 2016 Dane Facility Performance

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Twitter
The dairy industry has led Wisconsin's economy for generations. The land that is home to these dairies consists of the very air, soil and water of the state itself. Climate change is transforming Wisconsin like it’s transforming our globe.

It's with this great history in mind, that CFP's focus is on waste remediation that is both environmentally and economically viable. Fostering solutions that allow agricultural growth without damaging the fragile ecosystem is at the core of our business.

Subscribe to our enewsletter and receive occational updates from Clean Fuel Partners. Join us in our mission to preserve both the industry that keeps Wisconsin strong and the environment that sustains it.
Subscribe Now

Footer

Our Services

  • Project Development
  • Facility & Process Consulting
  • Operations & Management

Who We Are

  • Meet Our Team
  • About Clean Fuel Partners

 

Contact Us

  • (608) 957-7995 phone
  • (608) 492-0460 fax
  • info@cleanfuelpartners.com
  • Facebook  ·  LinkedIn

Site Search


Copyright © 2021 Clean Fuel Partners, LLC · Log in