Covering waste lagoons with tarps could cut methane emissions on dairy farms by 80%

A reactor at a dairy farm in Marshall, California. The reactor is capable of reducing methane emissions from farms by about 80%. (Image credit: Scott Strazzante/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Dairy farms are significant emitters of potent greenhouse gases. But now researchers say these farms can reduce their methane emissions by covering their cow manure ponds with large tarps.

Scientists have found an 80 percent reduction in methane emissions at a California dairy farm after installing a “reactor” – a system that captures gases above manure ponds and turns them into fuel, according to new research.

“When a system is designed correctly and managed effectively, emissions can actually go down. That’s what we saw,” said study co-author Francesca Hopkins, an associate professor of climate change and sustainability at the University of California, Riverside.