Massachusetts dairy turned cow manure and food waste into energy; it now saves thousands on heat, fertiliser and bedding

For generations, cow manure was simply an unavoidable byproduct of running a dairy farm. At Jordan Dairy Farms in Rutland, Massachusetts, however, it became something much more valuable: a source of electricity, heat, fertiliser and even animal bedding. In 2011, the family-run dairy installed what it describes as the first agricultural anaerobic digester in Massachusetts. The system uses microorganisms to break down manure and other organic waste in an oxygen-free environment, producing biogas that can be used to generate electricity.Randy Jordan, who runs the farm with his brother Brian, was looking for a way to deal with rising electricity costs. Jordan Dairy Farms had hundreds of cows producing manure every day, and Jordan began exploring whether that waste could be converted into energy. The answer was anaerobic digestion.By 2020, the system was saving the farm roughly $155,000 a year through heat, fertiliser, and bedding produced from what would otherwise have been waste.How does a manure digester work?The science behind the system is based on a natural biological process. Organic material such as manure contains compounds that microorganisms can consume. Inside an anaerobic d...