Maryland wants to buy electricity generated from animal waste, the governor's office announced Thursday.
As part of the Clean Bay Power project, the state is requesting proposals from potential energy suppliers who have the ability to generate up to 10 megawatts of electricity from poultry litter or livestock droppings – or any other kind of animal waste, according to a statement from Gov. Martin O'Malley's office. Providers must also be directly connected to the regional grid.
O'Malley hopes that generating power from manure will increase the state's use of alternative energy sources, reduce agricultural runoff into the Chesapeake Bay and encourage job creation.
By 2022, the state's renewable energy portfolio standard requires that 20 percent of electric power come from clean energy sources, the statement said.
The deadline for proposal submission is 2 p.m. Nov. 30. Suppliers would need to begin providing electricity from animal waste by the end of 2015.
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