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GRAPHIC COURTESy OF NGV AmERICA 2019 NGv Fuel use “methane is both a powerful

greenhouse gas and a source
717 million GGE Total
of energy. Landfill operators
In 2019, 39% of all
on-road fuel used in
understood the value in
natural gas vehicles
was RNG capturing this energy and
Conventional harnessed it to create electricity
Natural Gas
440 million GGE and rNG.”
Renewable
Natural Gas — Grant zimmerman, CEo amp
277 million GGE americas LLC

expect that mix will change over the next several years as natural gas The International Energy Agency estimates that RNG could even-
utilities begin to incorporate RNG into their fuel mix to meet consumer tually supply as much as 20% of the country’s natural gas demand.
demand for cleaner energy sources. RNG production has tripled over the past five years, and the industry
“A lot of utilities have set very ambitious goals to get RNG to their continues to grow at a rapid pace, Zimmerman said.
customers,” Cox said. “In the near term, many utilities are planning to “Almost as many new facilities are under construction and in devel-
start delivering RNG to customers within the next year or two. In the opment as there are currently operating,” he said. “That suggests that
long term, many have goals that more than 20% of their gas delivery the market is preparing to double again from today’s production level.”
will be renewable natural gas by 2040.” Zimmerman said there is already a strong foundation to support
future RNG growth.
CarBoN-FrEE ENErGy “There are thousands of landfills, wastewater treatment plants and
When calculated on a lifecycle basis, RNG qualifies as a carbon- farms in the U.S. and Canada that are potential candidates for RNG
negative fuel source. projects,” he said.
“By harnessing methane emissions, the industry actually causes The prospect for continued RNG expansion, along with its energy-
a direct reduction in greenhouse gas emissions,” Zimmerman said. saving benefits, means RNG is increasingly achieving recognition as
“When we use this energy, we replace fossil fuel demand. Together, a viable energy solution. Cox said.
the impact is not just preventing the greenhouse gas emissions, but “People still think about wind and solar when you talk about renew-
actually cutting them.” ables, but in the not too distant future, renewable natural gas is going
Cox agreed. “Renewable natural gas takes recycling to a whole other to be in the same sentence when we think about renewables,” he said.
level,” he said. “It takes the discarded material that can’t otherwise be “I think, increasingly, people will see that we are very relevant to the
put to use, breaks it down to the molecular level and delivers energy.” future of the country’s energy portfolio.” n

“Whether it’s your rNG Production Facilities
cooktop or your furnace,

industrial applications GRAPHIC COURTESy OF NGV AmERICA

or transportation fuel –

anything you can use
natural gas for, you can use
110 40 58
renewable natural gas for.”
in under in
— David Cox, director of operation construction development
operations, Coalition for
renewable Natural Gas Note: in U.S. and Canada as of 4/1/20

Fall - Winter 2020 ❙ naturalliving 09
Please recycle this magazine after you read it.