The “Green New Deal” proposed by Congresswoman Andrea Ocasio-Cortez, included  methane gas expelled by cows as one of the potential contributors to climate change.  But capitalists have a plan for solving this.

An energy utility company, Dominion Energy Inc., has entered into a $200 million agreement with a renewable energy producer,  Vanguard Renewables, of Wellesley, Mass, and the Dairy Farmers of American Inc. to extract natural gas (methane) from cow manure, according to the  Wall Street Journal. The utility will fund construction of organic-waste processing facilities, connect the facilities to natural gas distribution pipelines, and sell the gas as a fuel product.

Biogas, the gas extracted from cow manure, is in high demand among consumers, businesses, and local governments that want to lower their emissions.  Although producing biogas is more expensive than producing natural gas from shale, it can generate carbon offset credits for buyers, making biogas profitable for energy companies. 

The utility intends to fund construction of organic-waste processing facilities, called “anaerobic digesters”,  amid clusters of large dairy farms, connect the facilities to natural gas distribution pipelines and sell the gas. Vanguard Renewables will build and operate the digesters, which break down organic waste into usable fuel.