From the team in Madera

Field Notes

What we're learning on real dairies, in plain words — digesters, gas, trucks, and the rules that shape all of it.

Latest

AI Data Center Energy, Traced Back to a Manure Lagoon

A manure lagoon in Madera ends up fueling compute. Here's the whole physical chain: the cover, the gas cleanup, the tankers, and the accounting that makes it worth buying.

August 21, 2026 · Emmanuel Miranda · 7 min read

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6 min read № 08

Carbon-Negative Fuel for Data Centers: How Dairy RNG Works

Carbon-negative is an accounting result, not a slogan. Here's how dairy RNG earns a below-zero score on CARB's public registry, and what a data center can actually do with the fuel and its attributes.

Aug 21, 2026 Read →
6 min read № 07

RNG Incentives for Companies: How the Stack Actually Works

RNG sells at a premium because a stack of incentives sits underneath it. Here's how LCFS credits and voluntary-market attributes work, seen from the buyer's side of the table.

Aug 21, 2026 Read →
7 min read № 06

Data Center Backup Generator Emissions: The Diesel Blind Spot

Backup generator fleets burn diesel even in years with zero outages. Here's where the hours come from, and how RNG gives the same machines a very different footprint.

Aug 21, 2026 Read →
7 min read № 05

Book and Claim RNG: How the Mechanism Actually Works

Book-and-claim splits RNG's molecule from its environmental attribute so buyers the pipeline can't reach can still make a verified claim. Here's how it works, and what it can't do.

Aug 21, 2026 Read →
7 min read № 04

Carbon Negative vs Carbon Neutral: The Real Difference

Carbon neutral is a ledger result. Carbon negative is a measured property of the fuel itself. Here's the accounting behind both claims, and what to check before you believe either one.

Aug 21, 2026 Read →
4 min read № 03

Why Dairy RNG Is the Lowest-Carbon Fuel for Fleets & Data Centers

Captured dairy methane makes a fuel that scores lower on lifecycle carbon than anything else fleets can buy today. The same molecule serves data centers as power, heat, or verified environmental attributes.

Aug 20, 2026 Read →
4 min read № 02

SB 1383 and Your Dairy: A Plain-English Guide

California's SB 1383 requires dairy and livestock methane to drop 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030. Here is what the law says, where enforcement stands today, and the realistic paths a dairy can take.

Aug 20, 2026 Read →
4 min read № 01

What Happens to Manure at a Dairy Digester?

Manure breaks down and releases methane whether or not anyone captures it. A dairy digester captures it, turns it into pipeline-quality fuel, and sends the leftovers back to work on the farm.

Aug 20, 2026 Read →