http://www.epa.gov/agstar AgSTAR is an outreach program designed to reduce methane emissions from livestock waste management operations by promoting the use of biogas recovery systems. AgSTAR is a collaborative effort of EPA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Energy. en-us 22 June 2011 http://epa.gov/agstar/images/logos/agstar.gif http://www.epa.gov/agstar http://www.progressivedairy.com/digital_edition/2012/04/06PD The April 2012 Issue of Progressive Dairymen (page 22-23) highlights Crave Brothers Farm's new label on their cheese products to promote their use of renewable energy. Their anaerobic digester system produces enough electricity for their farm and cheese factory to be completely powered, with additional electricity exported to the grid.

]]> May 2012 http://www.manuremanagement.cornell.edu/Pages/General_Docs/Events/Got_Manure_Conference.html Cornell's PRO-DAIRY Program, one of the Got Manure? co-hosts, uploaded an online version of the conference proceedings, as well as case studies for the three site tour locations.

]]> May 2012 http://www.pbs.org/america-revealed/story/energy/cow-power/ The "Cow Power" segment from the PBS series America Revealed is now available. The segment is a clip from the "Electric Nation" episode and focuses on the anaerobic digester system at Blue Spruce Farm in Bridport, Vermont.

]]> May 2012 http://epa.gov/agstar/news-events/digest/2012spring.html AgSTAR released a new issue of its newsletter, which includes information on the Got Manure? conference, lists details on newly operational anaerobic digester projects, and highlights recent additions to AgSTAR's website.

]]> Apr 2012 http://www.epa.gov/agstar/news-events/events/conference12.html AgSTAR has added the presentations from the Got Manure? conference to the conference Web page.

]]> Apr 2012 http://www.epa.gov/agstar/news-events/ad.html In conjunction with a site tour for the Got Manure? conference, USDA Rural Development held a press event with AgSTAR and state/local representatives at the Cayuga County Soil and Water Regional Digester in Auburn, New York.

]]> Mar 2012 http://www.epa.gov/agstar/projects/index.html As of March 2012, the number of U.S. anaerobic digestion systems operating at commercial livestock farms has increased to 186. Refer to AgSTAR's Anaerobic Digester Database for details about these projects. A total of 168 systems are generating electrical or thermal energy; those generating electricity are expected to produce about 521,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually. This electricity could supply power to nearly 45,000 homes.

]]> Mar 2012 http://www.biocycle.net/ BioCycle launched a new website, www.biocycle.net! The website provides easy access to current and recent articles published in BioCycle, as well as the ability to search the site.

]]> Mar 2012 http://www.epa.gov/agstar/lib/index.html New publications that may be of interest to the AD community include:

• Farm Power Investing Millions in Northwest Dairy Towns, an article highlighting the work that Farm Power Northwest LLC has been doing in Washington and Oregon.
• Digestate Utilization in the U.S., an article from BioCycle that describes the market for this valuable AD by-product.
• Washington Dairies and Digesters (PDF) (21 pp, 913K), a report about the dairy industry in Washington, as well as brief profiles of anaerobic digester projects.

]]> Mar 2012 http://www.epa.gov/agstar/news-events/ad.html AgSTAR Program Managers Allison Costa and Chris Voell co-wrote "Farm Digester Industry in America." The article was published in BioCycle's February 2012 issue and describes the current state and emerging trends in the anaerobic digester industry. Another article - "Innovate: Manure to Money" - written by David Ferris and published in the March/April 2012 issue of Sierra magazine, highlights the successful use of an anaerobic digester at Reinford Farms.

]]> Feb 2012 http://www.cvps.com/cowpower/News.html On January 30, 2012, Central Vermont Public Service's (CVPS) Cow Power program announced an energy production surplus from its award-winning farm-generation program and put out a call for new customers large and small. CVPS recently announced its 10th digester project to come online and is working to support four new projects across the state. Several existing CVPS Cow Power farms are also working on expanding their generation capacity, creating the need for more customers to buy the electricity produced. For more information, read the press release.

]]> Feb 2012 http://www.epa.gov/agstar/anaerobic/fact.html AgSTAR has posted several new documents this month, including:

• U.S. Anaerobic Digester Status: A 2011 Snapshot (PDF) (2 pp, 281K), which provides a summary of the data and trends for manure-based anaerobic digester projects during the past year.
• Common Safety Practices for On-Farm Anaerobic Digestion Systems (PDF) (25 pp, 2MB), which identifies the major hazards associated with anaerobic digester systems and outlines practices to ensure a safe work environment for facilities.
• Recovering Value from Waste (PDF) (2 pp, 629K), which outlines the basics of an anaerobic digester system and the benefits it provides.

]]> Jan 2012