1/6/09 Renewable Natural Gas

The use of methane gas to provide energy isn't a new idea, but to convert that gas to a useable form for a utility company and feed it directly into their pipelines is a new concept; one that can give dairy farmers not only credit for reducing emissions but also provide them with partial proceeds from the sale of the gas. David Albers is the brains behind the infrastructure design that will take biogas from several different dairies in order to do just that. A dairy farmer himself as well as an environmental attorney, Albers has more than just a vested interest in overseeing the success of this project. He already has one of the major hurdles behind him, a contract for the converted gas with a California electric company. With new energy mandates being issued utilities are searching for renewable energy sources. Albers credits the combination of several different existing technologies; he just applied them in a new way. Sometimes all it takes is for one individual to put the pieces together in a whole new order to come up with something brilliant.