Smog versus greenhouse gas: Which is worse? Cow manure has provoked a debate over the benefits of reducing fossil fuel consumption and cutting greenhouse gas emissions versus controlling smog in the Sacramento region. Jon Tollenaar wants to install a “methane digester” that would use manure from the 1,900 cows on his farm near Elk Grove to produce electricity for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. SMUD has agreed to buy the electricity, the California Energy Commission has funded the project with a $500,000 loan, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture provided a $198,000 grant. But Tollenaar might need an additional $60,000 or more of smog-control equipment before the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District will give him a permit to run the generator. “This is going to set the precedent,” said Marco Lemes, manager of SMUD’s Dairy Digester Incentive Program. “If Tollenaar doesn’t get built, forget other dairies in Sacramento.”  <more> Aug. 13, 2008 Sacramento Business Journal