How Danone is Removing Methane Emissions from its Dairy

Methane emissions from cattle are among some of the food sector’s biggest challenges to global climate mitigation efforts, particularly as the demand for beef and dairy grows alongside the human population. 

Yet when you think of greenhouse gases, it’s unlikely that methane immediately springs to mind. As a potent greenhouse gas, methane's impact on global warming is higher than carbon dioxide in the short term, with agriculture contributing nearly half of all human-caused methane emissions. Livestock and rice cultivation are the primary culprits within the farming industry. Livestock emit 30% of worldwide anthropogenic methane, with dairy cattle generating half of those emissions.

Methane mitigation technology company Ambient Carbon is partnering with Benton Group Dairies to field-test a prototype of Ambient Carbon’s Methane Eradication Photochemical System (MEPS). Danone North America sources milk from Benton and has entered a MoU as part of the project.

The technology is a first-of-a-kind and a non-invasive way to remove methane from dairy barn exhaust and therefore lower farming’s methane emissions.

Benton Dairies and Ambient Carbon partner for sustainable dairy farming

The methane monitors will be installed at Benton’s dairy farm in Ambia, Indiana, before installing and testing a MEPS field prototype, in 2025. 

“Benton Dairies places a substantial emphasis on conservation,” shared Chris Williams, Conservation Lead at Benton Dairies. “We are committed to increasing our positive environmental influence while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. MEPS is a non-invasive technology that will remove more methane from our farms than any available technology we’ve encountered. We are excited to work alongside Ambient Carbon to push the boundaries of what sustainable milk production can be.” 

Ambient Carbon was founded in 2017 in Denmark with a goal to develop scalable technologies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. 

“We believe that by 2030, Ambient Carbon will be eliminating well over one gigaton of CO₂ equivalent annually by destroying methane from dairy barns and other low-concentration methane sources such as wastewater treatment plants and biogas plants,” said David S. Miller, Ambient Carbon’s Co-Founder and COO.

Photochemical technology makes for efficient methane removal in dairy farming

MEPS is a point-source methane removal system that lowers the volume of methane from dairy cows and other point sources from getting into the ambient air.

For Ambient Carbon, this is the only scalable, cost-effective solution for eradicating low-concentration methane from cattle and manure.

The technology utilises a patented gas-phase photochemical process which combines chlorine atoms and UV light in a reaction chamber, mimicking a natural process of methane destruction in the atmosphere. MEPS breaks down methane at its source in the dairy barn, preventing its release into the ambient air. 

“We have found that chlorine is the Achilles heel of methane,” added Matthew Johnson, Co-Founder and CSO of Ambient Carbon. “MEPS only requires salt water (sodium chloride) and UV light to break down methane. It operates at ambient temperatures, so it is safe, and it’s automated, efficient and highly cost-effective. Methane mitigation technologies such as regenerative thermal oxidation operate with expensive catalysts at high temperatures and aren’t cost effective for the relatively low concentrations of methane in a dairy barn.”

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