California dairy families are doing their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop clean, reliable and renewable sources of energy. Although dairies represent a small part California’s carbon footprint—less than 3%— California dairies are helping to address this global issue head on. By leading the development of “cow power,” capturing biogas from livestock waste to produce renewable energy, California dairy families are improving sustainability and reducing global warming.

Cow manure is already a valuable fertilizer, and modern biogas digester technology also allows manure to be used as a source of green, renewable energy with the potential to provide enough energy for hundreds of thousands of California homes.

Fifteen biogas digesters are up and running at California dairies and many more are on the way. The industry continues to work with state and local officials and major energy providers to encourage the further development of cow power projects.

Like many renewable energy technologies, such as wind, solar and other biofuels, there is still much to be done to develop biogas technology for wider adoption. But California dairy families are off to a great start—leading the rest of the nation in cow power development—and in time, green energy will be another important product of California dairies.