Cow power is going to lift ski patrons this winter at Vermont’s Killington ski resort. The resort will use Green Mountain Power’s Cow Power program to power one of its lifts.
The Cow Power program turns local cow manure into methane gas which then produces electricity. Power customers can then purchase all or part of their electricity at a premium and support Vermont’s dairy farms.
The program works by collecting cow manure, mixing it with wash water from the milking equipment and then pumping that slurry into a digester where it is heated for three weeks.
The process converts the manure into biogas that is 60 percent methane.
The methane is then used to power a generator, which sends power to the electric grid.