Page 8 - Fall_2020_Montana-Dakota

Turning waste to energy

Renewable natural gas offers a sustainable, clean energy source.

By Tonya McMurray
l andfills, wastewater treatment plants and dairy farms might fill in Staten Island, New York, where landfill operators used natural

gas treating technology to upgrade its biogas to pipeline quality.
not seem like energy producers – but they provide an abun-
dant source of methane that can be converted to clean energy.
The industry grew slowly at first but began to expand in 2011 after
Renewable natural gas (RNG) is created from methane, or
biogas, that is produced from the breakdown of organic waste. The the RNG Coalition was founded to advocate for the development and
use of RNG. Through efforts to create public policy supporting RNG
biogas is then treated and upgraded to blend with or substitute for development and education about RNG benefits, the industry has
traditional natural gas in the pipeline, creating a clean, carbon-neutral grown significantly since then, Cox said.
fuel. Biogas can come from landfills, wastewater treatment plants, There are currently 112 RNG production facilities throughout the
commercial food waste facilities and agricultural operations such as U.S. and Canada, with 38 more under construction and 62 more in
dairy or hog farms. development. In addition, more than 500 operations collect RNG and
RNG is fully interchangeable with traditional natural gas and uses use it to generate power on-site at industrial plants or other facilities
the same infrastructure and end-use equipment. or to generate electricity to power homes and businesses.
“Whether it’s your cooktop or your furnace, industrial applications
or transportation fuel – anything you can use natural gas for, you can FuELiNG TraNsPorTaTioN
use renewable natural gas for,” said David Cox, director of operations, The largest market for RNG is the transportation industry where RNG
Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition). comprises 39% of the compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid natural
gas used for transportation fuels, Cox said. The federal renewable fuel
HarNEssiNG THE PoWEr oF mETHaNE standard and the low carbon fuel standards in California, Oregon and
“Methane is both a powerful greenhouse gas and a source of ener- British Columbia have driven the use of RNG in the transportation in-
gy,” said Grant Zimmerman, CEO Amp Americas LLC, which launched dustry. The California Air Resources Board and the U.S. Environmental
the country’s first dairy biogas-to-fuel project in 2011. “Landfill opera- Protection Agency both recognize RNG as the cleanest transportation
tors understood the value in capturing this energy and harnessed it fuel on the market — cleaner even than electric vehicles.
to create electricity and RNG.” About 85% of RNG today is used for transportation fuel with the re-
The first RNG project was in 1982 at the 2,200-acre Fresh Kills Land- mainder going to electricity generation, Cox said. But industry experts

GRAPHIC COURTESy OF NGV AmERICA rNG impact (2015-2019)

Put into Perspective, rNG as a Transportation Fuel is …

lowering GHG That’s equal to Reducing CO That’s equal to the Sequestering or
2
emissions 745,676 emissions total amount carbon equal 9,772,367
equivalent to trips around equal to of fuel used by to growing acres of
18,568,079,404 the earth 842,009,227 63,171 123,731,931 U.S. forests
miles driven by gallons of gasoline transit buses tree seedlings for one year
the average consumed every year for 10 years
passenger car

Note: Assumes 7,482,936 metric tons of CO2e reduced over the last five years through increased RNG
usage calculated using CARB’s LCFS carbon intensity numbers. GHG equivalency results calculated
using the U.S. EPA’s calculator. Transit bus fuel use provided by U.S. DOE AFDC.

08 naturalliving ❙ Fall - Winter 2020