Project: Brookside Dairy

Project Type
Livestock Biogas
Project Location
Indiana County, Pennsylvania
Commercial Online Date
May 2006
Total Capacity
90 kW
Product Certification Standard
Green-e Energy
Estimated Annual Energy Generation
500 MWh
The Brookside Dairy
The Brookside Dairy

The Brookside Dairy, home to around 475 milk cows, is located in rural Indiana County, Pennsylvania.

In 2005 the family that owns the 200-year-old Brookside dairy farm decided to install an anaerobic digester and methane combustion system. The family saw the new equipment as a way to create additional revenue for the farm, through the sale of the electricity and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) generated by the project. In addition, they also saw the project as a way for them to make a positive impact on the environment.

Before installing the methane combustion system, the dairy collected cow manure in a lagoon, where it would naturally decompose, producing methane (CH4), a powerful greenhouse gas. However, today a digester accelerates the release of methane from the manure in the lagoon while a reinforced fabric cover captures this methane is then used to fuel a
Caterpillar 3306 engine connected to a 277/480 volt, 3 phase 85kW electric generator.