Climate Change Policy and the Adoption of Methane Digesters on Livestock Operations

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英文名称：

Climate Change Policy and the Adoption of Methane Digesters on Livestock Operations

作者：

Nigel Key; Stacy Sneeringer

工作单位：

USDA's Economic Research Service

来源地址：

https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=44810

关键词：

Methane;  methane digesters;  manure;  livestock;  climate change;  greenhouse gases;  carbon offset;  agricultural economics; 

年份：

2011

出版地：

Washington, DC, USA

总页数：

47 pp

语种：

English

摘要：

Methane digesters-biogas recovery systems that use methane from manure to generate electricity-have not been widely adopted in the United States because costs have exceeded benefits to operators. Burning methane in a digester reduces greenhouse gas emissions from manure management. A policy or program that pays producers for these emission reductions-through a carbon offset market or directly with payments-could increase the number of livestock producers who would profit from adopting a methane digester. We developed an economic model that illustrates how dairy and hog operation size, location, and manure management methods, along with electricity and carbon prices, could influence methane digester profits. The model shows that a relatively moderate increase in the price of carbon could induce significantly more dairy and hog operations, particularly large ones, to adopt a methane digester, thereby substantially lowering emissions of greenhouse gases.