Quick Facts about Biofuels

• Biodiesel blended with petroleum-based diesel can reduce emissions of carbon dioxide — a chief greenhouse gas — by up to 80%.
• Methane digesters on California dairies are helping generate about $1.6 million in electricity and diverting more than 400,000 tons of manure from 36,000 cows.



• California's 1.7 million dairy cows produce 18 billion cubic feet of methane a year, equivalent to over 150 million gallons of gasoline.
• Harnessing the methane from about 20% of California's cows could produce enough biomethane to power all of the existing natural-gas-powered vehicles in the state.
• Converting cow manure to biomethane gas or electricity reduces the amount of methane released into the atmosphere — a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
• California is the leading consumer of ethanol in the United States, using more than 900 million gallons annually, yet the state does not grow any crops to produce this renewable fuel.
• Currently 7% of the U.S. corn crop is being grown for fuel.
• The price of gasoline has risen about 75% since 2000, and experts are predicting higher prices to come as China, India and other nations need more oil to fuel their energy-intensive growth.
• Sustainable Conservation received the Governor's Environmental and Economic Leadership Award from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004.