D. Biogas Subsidies

Anaerobic digestion uses microorganisms to break down organic waste and produce biogas, an energy source largely made up of CO₂ and methane. This discussion focuses on biogas produced using animal manure, which has become a major focus of industry efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture.¹¹³ On-farm digesters are generally found on dairy and swine operations, which account for 90% of methane emissions from manure management and at least 9% of all direct agricultural emissions according to EPA.¹¹⁴

Agribusiness advertises on-farm anaerobic digestion as a win-win-win for family farmers, rural communities, and the climate, claiming that it produces a reliable source of income for farmers, helps control pollution, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.¹¹⁵ These claims, however, rely on unrealistic models and misleading data.

When Dominion Energy, owner of one the nation’s largest natural gas storage systems,¹¹⁶ announced a $200 million dairy biogas partnership, it claimed it would be “providing a new source of long-term revenue for family farmers across the country.”¹¹⁷ However, a 2018 study found that anaerobic digesters are not economically viable on dairy herds with fewer than 3,000 cows.¹¹⁸ Only about 1% of dairy farms in the country have herds larger than

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2,500 cows, holding about one-third of the country’s dairy cows.¹¹⁹ Another 2018 study found that anaerobic digestion is not profitable on swine operations, regardless of size, without government subsidies.¹²⁰ Nor are digesters likely to become financially attractive without major public subsidies: biogas produced with manure is much more expensive than other truly renewable sources of energy.¹²¹ And while solar, wind, and other renewable sources of energy are becoming less expensive due to economies of scale, the opposite is happening with digesters, which will need to be built in increasingly inefficient locations in order to expand production.¹²²

CAFOs—large-scale industrial facilities—are major sources of air and water pollution, which cause higher rates of respiratory and other diseases in the communities in which they are located.

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ozone-causing pollutants and leading sources of nitrate, ammonia, and fine particulate pollution.¹²⁷ CAFOs are not only strategically placed within poor communities, but work to keep communities from developing more sustainable economies.¹²⁸

Biogas advocates claim that anaerobic digesters reduce noxious odors and other forms of pollution, but the studies they cite rely on ideal conditions and rarely take into account downstream pollution. For example, digested manure is often used as a fertilizer, and the digestion process increases the water solubility of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which leads to greater runoff and water pollution.¹²⁹ Manure spraying, overpowering smells, and chronic spills plague communities near digesters. A digester in Dane County, Wisconsin, had three separate spills over a five-month period, releasing 435,000 gallons of liquid manure into a dry ravine and creek, before an explosion left it inoperable in 2014.¹³⁰ Operators of an anaerobic digester in Weld County, Colorado, were forced to close their $115 million facility in 2017 after county commissioners suspended its permits due to hundreds of odor complaints by local residents.¹³¹ The county is a major producer of livestock and dairy, but residents complained that the odors from the digester, which used manure as its main feedstock, were much worse than those from neighboring dairies and feedlots.¹³² Residents have made similar complaints about noxious odors and pollution emanating from digesters located in Michigan,¹³³ Nebraska,¹³⁴ and Iowa,¹³⁵ among other places.

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As discussed in Chapter IV.A.3, anaerobic digesters may reduce emissions when compared to conventional liquid manure management methods, but they are more expensive and less climate-friendly than dry manure and pasture-based management systems, which generate far less methane and are inherently less polluting. A report by Th Counter found dozens of national, state, and local subsidies aimed at anaerobic digesters. These incentives benefit large-scale factory farms, not the public or the marginalized communities where they are often placed.¹³⁶ Rather than subsidizing highly polluting livestock systems, policymakers should help farms transition to dry manure management and managed rotational pasture-based systems. Unlike subsidies for anaerobic digesters, grazing-based dairy systems can benefit smaller-scale operations by reducing capital costs and giving operators a higher net income per cow. They also provide rural communities with a variety of co-benefits, including improved soil, air, and water quality; increased wildlife and livestock health; and enhanced property values and tourism economies.¹³⁷