Bloom Energy is on a mission to convert the methane from dairy farms in Central Valley California into clean usable non combustible energy. This new clean energy will be able to fuel electric cars and create environmental sustainability in the central valley.
Video Synopsis
CalBio and Bloom Energy to Generate Renewable Electricity from Dairy Waste
Video length: 2:48
Speakers
- Vijay Srivatsan, Global Head of Product Management & Program Management, Bloom Energy
Transcript
Vijay Srivatsan:
So California has a significant air quality problem. And this is specifically significant in the central valley that has two major highways and is surrounded by large cities whose pollution settles down in the central valley. Another source of pollution in the central valley is all the activity that stems from agriculture and dairies. As you know, dairies have a large number of cows and cows produce manure. And when manure decompose, it produces methane. Methane is a very potent greenhouse gas and it’s 25 times more potent than CO2 in the atmosphere. So how do we create an impact and solve this problem? Bloom energy is partnering with a major dairy digester developer in the central valley called Calbio. What we’re gonna do is launch a first of a kind commercial solution that converts dairy waste into electricity in a non combustion manner. So how does all of this work? Calbio engages with a dairy farm and converts all of the manure that dairy farms produce into usable methane through the digesters.
This methane is captured in their digester and once it’s captured, it’s a very valuable fuel. Bloom energy will go and deploy solid oxide fuel cell systems, which use an electrochemical process to convert methane into clean electricity, without small costing pollutants being emitted. The menu that converts to methane when it’s converted to electricity through the fuel cells can then be used to charge a fleet of electric vehicles through charges all across state. California has a couple of programs. One program is through the California department of food and agriculture. The CDFA that provides grant funding or solutions such as these, another such program is called the LCFS, which is the low-carbon fuel standard instituted by the California air resources board, which values use of clean fuels for vehicles, especially when that fuel is in the form of electrons that charges electric vehicles, which inherently offsets the use of fossil fuels in transportation. This is not only a solution for creating renewable electricity, but it’s also a solution that cleans up the air in central valley and supports farmers who are integral part of environmental sustainability in the central valley.