The data center boom may soon breathe new life into manure-to-energy projects, a trade association for the biogas industry said Tuesday.
The American Biogas Council told reporters in a conference call that it expects electricity demand for data centers, artificial intelligence and other needs to make electric power generation more profitable for the gas that’s generated from farms and landfills.
That would reverse a yearslong trend that had dairy farmers and others ditching on-site power generation in favor of pumping renewable natural gas directly into distribution pipelines, industry representatives said. It could also signal to investors that projects put on hold in recent years can move forward, they said.
Around 2,585 biogas-capture systems are in operation in the U.S., with most of the energy generated from landfills, according to the ABC. About 13 percent comes from agriculture, with most of that from manure digesters on big dairy farms.
