In early April, Yogesh Chawla was elected to Dane County Board of Supervisors, representing portions of Madison’s East Side and the Town of Blooming Grove. Less than a month following his election, Supervisor Chawla toured a biodigester facility in the Town of Vienna near Waunakee along with Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and his staff. Clean Fuel Partners, a RENEW business member, owns and operates the seven-year-old facility, which was the first farm-based community biodigester project designed and built in Wisconsin. Dane County took the lead in developing that project, and followed that up with another in the Town of Springfield.
Dane County’s substantial investments in farm waste-derived biogas is the centerpiece of a broader strategy to support local dairy farms and healthy lakes. The biodigester system that Chawla visited reduces the volume of phosphorus runoff into its lakes as well as displaces fossil fuel use with a local renewable energy source. From his appointments to the Environment, Agriculture and Natural Resources standing committee and the Land Conservation Committee, Supervisor Chawla is well-positioned to guide Dane County’s future efforts to clean up its lakes and farmlands through methane capture.
Read more about Yogesh Chawla’s tour HERE.