Farming Carbon Credits
The Carbon Free News site is reporting on a new Farming Carbon Credits project.
Four Indiana [USA] dairies, connected by family history and geography, have jointly signed an historic agreement with Environmental Credit Corp. (ECC) to create more than one million carbon credits from greenhouse gas-reducing projects. Each credit is equivalent to one metric ton of carbon dioxide prevented from entering the atmosphere. The farms’ greenhouse gas reductions are comparable to planting four million deciduous trees or offsetting the emissions of 20,000 cars.
The Bos, Herrema, Hidden View, and Windy Ridge dairies located in Fair Oaks, IN, house upwards of 17,000 cows and produce more than 100,000 gallons of milk each day. These modern dairies provide milk to southeast states for fluid consumption and locally for the production of high-quality cheese.
With a commitment to excellence extending to sustainable waste management, each dairy has installed biogas digesters manufactured by GHD, Inc. (Chilton, WI). Tony Bos, Sr., explains, “Because of the technology we use, we are processing the manure into something valuable. The biogas we produce is about 60 percent methane, very much like natural gas. We use it for heat and electricity. Now in addition to energy, we qualify for clean air credits.”
Go Cows! This project is good on many levels. Firstly in encourages localisation of energy generation and agricultural use, secondly it reduces dependence on the main grid, and third it directly reduces carbon emissions relatively locally to the source of much of the world’s emissions. Carbon Planet is always looking for good quality, properly audited carbon credits, especially ones with ancillary environmental benefits. — DS
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