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Let the Cows Come Home -- They've Got Fuel to Share by Associated Press Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 24, 2005

EVERETT -- By this time next year, waste from 5,000 Snohomish County dairy cows could be used to produce enough electricity to power as many as 600 homes.

A partnership of farmers, tribes and environmentalists on Wednesday signed the last contract needed to begin building the poop-to-power plant they've been working on for three years, the partners told The Herald newspaper.

The goal is to save the county's struggling dairies by allowing them to increase milk production, to protect salmon by keeping cow dung out of rivers and streams, and to reduce emissions of methane, which contributes to global warming.

Qualco Energy is a non-profit partnership involving Tualco Valley dairy farmers, the Tulalip Tribes and Northwest Chinook Recovery, a Monroe-based environmental group.