A dairy farm in Steuben County, New York, is using biogas from cow manure and food waste to run an on-site cryptomine. The project by Ag-Grid Energy marks the first such setup in the country. It aims to supply power for data centers while managing agricultural waste.
Lent Hill Dairy Farm houses about 4,000 cows. Two large anaerobic co-digesters break down manure and up to 45,000 gallons of food waste daily to produce renewable natural gas. This gas powers the cryptomine operated by Pennsylvania-based Ag-Grid Energy.
Rashi Akki, founder and CEO of Ag-Grid Energy, said the model provides value to rural areas. The company plans to expand to midsize dairies for small-scale data centers. Data centers currently consume 4.9 percent of U.S. electricity, a share projected to double by 2030.
Critics including Sarah D’Onofrio warn that such projects could encourage more factory farms. They argue renewable natural gas acts as a drop-in replacement for fossil fuels without cutting overall emissions. Other companies like Microsoft and Vanguard Renewables are also exploring RNG for data center backup power.
