Renewable Natural Gas Now Recognized in LEED Green Building Standards
Low-carbon renewable fuel made from waste is now another option for green building design
November 24, 2020 – Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced the inclusion of renewable natural gas (RNG) in the latest beta version of the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building rating system. LEED, a certification program created by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings and is a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement and leadership. RNG is a low-carbon fuel produced from waste that can be used just like traditional natural gas—to fuel trucks and buses, heating and hot water systems in homes and businesses, and for cooking. Now, RNG procurement may contribute to the achievement of points toward LEED certification.
“Renewable natural gas is a clean, low-carbon alternative to traditional natural gas. RNG essentially recycles waste, eliminating greenhouse gas emissions produced by that waste, and putting it to good use,” said Jawaad Malik, vice president, strategy and sustainability, and chief environmental officer for SoCalGas. “RNG is a highly efficient way to decarbonize buildings and allows home and commercial building owners to use a green fuel, which is often the preferred solution.”
SoCalGas is working to make RNG available to fuel the homes of the company’s nearly 22 million customers across Central and Southern California, asking the CPUC to authorize SoCalGas customers the option to purchase RNG and use it as part of their natural gas service. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is expected to rule on whether to approve the service this year. In 2019, SoCalGas announced its vision to be the cleanest gas utility in North America and committed to replacing 5% of its natural gas supplies with RNG by 2022 and 20% of its supplies with RNG by 2030.
Investment in RNG is growing nationally. Oregon recently enacted legislation allowing its natural gas utilities to purchase RNG on behalf it its customers, with the goal of replacing 15% of traditional natural gas with RNG by 2030. Virginia-based Dominion Energy has committed to investing in enough RNG projects to make its gas infrastructure net-zero carbon by 2040. In 20 years, enough RNG could be available in the U.S. to replace about 90% of the nation's current residential natural gas consumption, according to a recent study by ICF. Currently, natural gas utilities in Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Maine and Michigan provide RNG to homeowners.
In California, where SoCalGas operates, organic waste from farms, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants account for about 80% of methane emissions, and in 2016 the state passed a law requiring a 40% reduction of methane emissions from waste sources, with provisions to deliver that energy to customers. This year, California passed legislation that significantly expands the definition of renewable natural gas to include energy from additional forms of organic waste, such as dead trees, agricultural waste and vegetation removed for wildfire mitigation. The new law is expected to increase supplies of RNG and help turn the state’s organic waste problem into an affordable, and renewable energy solution.
Production of RNG from dairies is already accelerating in California. In just the next three and a half years, at least 160 RNG production facilities will be online in California to serve the transportation fuel sector, producing more than 15.8 million therms of carbon-negative RNG every year and replacing about 119 million gallons of diesel fuel. That’s enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 3.4 million tons every year, the equivalent of taking more than 730,000 cars off the road.