Cow Manure Could Be the Next Data Center Fuel

Photo: An anaerobic digester on the Hytone Dairy Farm in Coventry, CT – April 2, 2024. Photo credit: USDA Media by Christopher Stewart via Flickr. Public Domain. Article by Marin Scotten. Sentient – June 24, 2026.

The manure-to-energy field has a new sales pitch. Critics warn it could mean even more factory farms.

At first glance, Lent Hill Dairy Farm in Steuben County, New York, looks like most other industrial dairies. There are red buildings that house some 4,000 cows, a staggering manure pit and two gigantic dome-like structures that serve as anaerobic co-digesters. These giant machines break down manure and local food waste to produce biogas. This renewable natural gas, or RNG, is then typically transported for use as electricity, heating and fuel. But at Lent Hill, the gas produced isn’t just heating homes or running tractors. It’s also powering an on-site cryptomine. […]

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Image: The figure illustrates the flow of feedstocks through the anaerobic digestion system to produce biogas and digestate. SOURCE: U.S. EPA.