PG&E to buy up to 8,000 Mcf/d of 'cow power' in new agreement

PG&E to buy up to 8,000 Mcf/d of 'cow power' in new agreement

Washington (Platts)--12Oct2006

Pacific Gas & Electric Thursday said it will buy up to 8,000 Mcf/d of
pipeline-quality renewable natural gas produced from cow manure in a deal with
Microgy, a subsidiary of Environmental Power.

Under the deal, Microgy will build four biomethane production facilities
on the site of large dairy farms in California and connect those systems
to PG&E's gas pipeline network.

"The state of California is both the largest dairy producer and the
largest energy consumer in the US," Rich Kessel, president and CEO of
Environmental Power, said in a statement. "This agreement is an important step
toward developing an important renewable energy source from California's vital
agricultural sector."

Allen Dusault, the biofuels project director for environmental nonprofit
Sustainable Conservation, said "biomethane takes the problem of air pollution
and greenhouse gas emissions and turns it into a key part of the solution to
California's reliance on fossil fuels. The state has no shortage of dairy
manure and it can now be cost-effectively converted into 'cow power.' This
makes good environmental and economic sense," he said.

San Francisco-based PG&E said it will continue to advance its procurement
efforts to deliver renewable clean energy. The utility also is exploring other
projects that will demonstrate the viability of converting biomethane to
pipeline-quality gas for use in power plants, it said.

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