BMW utilises digesters to offset carbon emissions

An automobile manufacturer and a dairy farm don't seem like they have much in common, or have any reason to collaborate.

But these are strange times. And BMW has made it work. The net results being over 11 million kWh of renewable energy supplied to the U.S state of California, or a reduction of 27,000 metric tons of carbon emissions per year, which, according to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, is the equivalent of the carbon benefits of planting a forest the size of San Francisco.

All this has been achieved through its existing partnership with Straus Organic Dairy Farm in Marshall, California. The farm has recently installed an expanded biodigester that transforms methane gas into renewable energy, successfully demonstrating how a partnership like this can be used to support more renewable energy development on small-scale organic dairy farms. As the first automaker to establish renewable energy partnerships with agricultural dairy farms, BMW is planning to further expand its collaboration with dairy farms in celebration of Earth Day. 

The Group has also launched a partnership with CalBio, a developer of over 90 dairy digesters in California to increase access to more clean energy sources.