How Cow Manure Is Becoming Fuel for Data Centers
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📰 The quick summary: Cow manure is being converted into biogas to power data centers and crypto mines, offering a potential way to meet surging energy demand while recycling agricultural waste, though critics warn it could entrench factory farming and fall short as a true climate solution.
📈 One key stat: Data centers currently consume 4.9% of US electricity, a share that could double by 2030, making the search for alternative fuel sources increasingly urgent.
💬 One key quote: “The data centers are going to be so hungry for power that they could eat up pretty much all of the supply that the biogas industry could create,” said Patrick Serfass, executive director of the American Biogas Council.
1️⃣ The big picture: As data centers rapidly expand across the US, the tech industry is hunting for reliable, lower-carbon fuel sources that won’t strain the electrical grid. One emerging option is renewable natural gas (RNG) produced by anaerobic digesters, which break down cow manure and food waste into biogas. A Pennsylvania-based company called Ag-Grid Energy is already running the country’s first dairy-powered crypto mine in New York, and major players like Microsoft have partnered with RNG providers for backup data center power. Proponents argue this approach recycles agricultural waste while providing a stable energy source, but critics raise serious concerns about environmental tradeoffs and the incentives it creates for factory farm expansion.
2️⃣ Why is this good news: Converting livestock manure and food waste into biogas gives a practical second life to materials that already exist in enormous quantities, reducing the methane that manure storage pits release into the atmosphere. Routing that energy to power-hungry data centers offers a way to meet rising electricity demand without exclusively leaning on fossil fuels or putting further strain on public grids. For rural communities near large dairies, on-site energy generation can create local economic value and even provide access to AI computing capacity through fiber optic connections. Biogas is a drop-in fuel, meaning it can work within existing energy infrastructure without requiring costly overhauls, making it faster to deploy than many clean energy alternatives. Experts estimate that only 10% to 15% of the US biogas market’s capacity has been built so far, pointing to significant untapped potential if the technology can be scaled responsibly.
3️⃣ What’s next: Tech giants and RNG suppliers are actively exploring direct partnerships, with companies like Vanguard Renewables already working with energy delivery firms that supply hyperscale data centers. Policymakers face pressure to craft targeted tax credits specifically for co-digesters that power AI infrastructure, a push Ag-Grid Energy is already making in Washington. At the same time, the USDA has extended a moratorium on digester loans through the end of 2026, signaling that environmental and financial scrutiny of the sector is intensifying before any large-scale expansion moves forward.
Read the full story here: Grist – Cow manure could be the next data center fuel
