Summary

Manure — regardless of its source — produces methane when it decomposes. Dairy farms have an abundance of cow manure, which they store onsite in large, covered containers called manure digesters. The waste from their cows is pumped into those sealed tanks, where bacteria break it down into methane-rich “biogas” and a nutrient-rich “digestate” that can be used as fertilizer. In most dairy farms today, the methane is released directly into the atmosphere or flared off, which is another way of saying burned.

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