CHENANGO COUNTY – Efforts to promote an unlikely source of renewable energy are getting a boost in the form of a federal tax credit proposal for construction of biogas facilities across Upstate New York.

U. S. Senator Charles Schumer last week announced a push that would enable dairy businesses – including farms, yogurt makers, and other large dairy food manufactures – to turn waste into energy and profit. This proposal would offer a 30 percent tax credit for construction of new biogas facilities, similar to tax credits that already exist for other sources of renewable energy.

According to Schumer, the incentive to turn hundreds of millions of pounds of byproduct from dairy companies, including food waste and cow manure, into a reliable source of energy would create jobs, protect the environment and grow New York’s already booming dairy industry.

“Pairing biogas with our upstate yogurt and dairy industry is a no-brainer,” Schumer said. “It is environmentally friendly and economically friendly. Expanding this tax credit for biogas is the right thing to do if we want to create jobs, and simultaneously grow two hugely important industries in Upstate New York: dairy and renewable energy.”

Given the high number of dairy farms in New York (5,421 in 2012, according to the USDA Census of Agriculture; 184 of which are in Chenango County), tax incentives to pursue biogas energy may be what’s needed for many dairy producers to follow through with the idea.