WA climate dollars to help fund $70M manure-to-energy project in Franklin County
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Washington awarded 5 D Farms a $2.5M clean energy grant and a $2.53M digester grant.
- 5D Farms currently channels manure into open-air lagoons that generate methane.
- Stellar J Corp, the development partner, will build the $70 million facility.
A Franklin County farm and its development partner have secured more than $5 million in climate funds from the state of Washington to help with the cost of a $70 million project to turn cow manure into renewable natural gas.
The state Department of Commerce announced it awarded a $2.5 million clean energy grant and a $2.53 million dairy digester grant to 5 D Farms, a Franklin County farm near Juniper Dunes Wilderness.
Stellar J Corp, its development partner, will build the facility.
The state agency said the balance of the budget will come from other sources.
Neither Stellar nor 5 D Farms could be reached to ask about the award and the project.
The department said 5D Farms currently channels manure into open-air lagoons. Methane, a product of decaying manure, is released into the atmosphere and is a significant greenhouse gas.
Stellar J builds turnkey dairy digester projects for industrial clients.
According to its website, its projects help dairies be good stewards of the land, meet their environmental goals and turn waste into a potential revenue source.
The company typically builds, owns and operates the digester projects, which includes finding buyers for the renewable natural gas.
Instead of channeling manure into lagoons, the digester approach conditions manure, heats it to maximize methane production, reduces it in a hydrolysis chamber and digests it in tanks.
Methane is piped to a purification system that tuns it into pipeline-worthy renewable natural gas to be sold.
Digester completely control methane and C02 emissions, the state said.
Washington state established the dairy digester program to target methane emissions from the nearly 250,000 milk-producing animals, including cows and goats.
“These dairy projects cut emissions and boost the resiliency of rural communities,” said Sara Clifthorne, interim director for the state agency, in a news release.
The state awarded seven dairy digester grants totaling $13.8 million this week.
- Tulalip Tribes of Washington (Snohomish County): $4.65 million to upgrade existing digesters.
- James Road Dairy (Thurston County): $854,000 to lower emissions and odors at an existing digester.
- FPE Renewables LLC (Whatcom County): $650,000 to upgrade outdated digester facilities.
- Edaleen Cow Power LLC (Whatcom County): $800,000 to upgrade an outdated digester.
- Promus Energy LLC (Yakima County): $3.5 million for a dairy digester to generate power for EV charging.
- Sunny Dene Ranch LLC (Yakima County): $819,000 to reduce emissions and odors at an existing digester.
The seven projects will collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and capture more than 7,400 tons of waste runoff over the next 10 years, according to the Department of Commerce.
Dairy is a pillar of Washington’s $14 billion agricultural industry. Milk from cows was worth about $1.3 billion in 2023, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.