RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Enbridge Gas Partners with City of Hamilton to Fuel Ontario's First Carbon-Negative Bus
The City of Hamilton and Enbridge Gas publicly announce the first renewable natural gas (RNG) fuelled bus in Ontario. Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) is now the first public transportation authority in Ontario to use RNG, to transport customers. In one year, the HSR RNG bus will use and divert 450 tonnes of organic waste from the landfill. That's equivalent to 138 garbage trucks, while also displacing CO2 emissions from 36,000 litres of diesel consumed in a year.
"Renewable natural gas provides an excellent opportunity for the HSR and City of Hamilton to continue our efforts to lower corporate GHG emissions and move toward targets outlined in our Climate Change Emergency declaration and Corporate Energy and Sustainability Policy. We are proud to partner with Enbridge Gas on this innovative initiative that will pave the way to ensure the future of transit in our community is energy efficient and sustainable," says Mayor Fred Eisenberger City of Hamilton.
Clean Energy and Total Sign Joint Venture to Develop Carbon-Negative Fuel and Infrastructure
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) and its largest shareholder, Total SE, today announced a 50/50 joint venture to develop carbon-negative renewable natural gas (RNG) production facilities in the United States, as well as credit support to build additional downstream RNG fueling infrastructure. The initial firm commitment is $100 million and can increase to $400 million as development opportunities progress. Since Clean Energy and Total will be providing the equity portion of the investments, the actual amount of capital invested in RNG projects may be higher than $400 million depending on the amount of leverage that is deployed. In addition, Total will be providing credit support for Clean Energy development in the RNG value chain, including $45 million for contracted RNG fueling infrastructure.
Carbon-negative RNG is produced when carbon emissions are captured from dairies and turned into a transportation fuel, reduce the harmful effects on long-term climate change. As a result, the California Air Resources Board gives these carbon-negative RNG projects a weighted average carbon intensity (“CI”) Score (gCO2e/MJ) of -317 compared to 100 for diesel and 19 for electric batteries. Clean Energy is the largest provider of RNG as a transportation fuel in the United States, and the largest RNG fuel provider under the California LCFS program. RNG can be used directly as a vehicle fuel or can be used as a feedstock to produce “green” hydrogen or “green” electricity and still generate LCFS environmental credits.
Group Reports Milestone in Tracking the Benefits of Renewable Gas Investments
A company whose platform helps track renewable electricity transactions says it’s achieved an important milestone in developing a similar market for renewable natural gas and hydrogen.
Midwest Renewable Energy Tracking System, or M-RETS, announced its first transaction last month using a new “renewable thermal certificate” standard it created for thermal energy.
The Minneapolis company has been developing the system for several years after identifying a need for better verification and transparency around renewable natural gas transactions.
500 Million Gallons of RNG Produced for US Transport in 2020
More than 503 million gallons of renewable natural gas (RNG) were produced in the US for transportation in 2020, according to new figures.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the data, showing a marked increase in RNG production for transport – up from 404 million gallons in 2019.
This increase can be tied to state and federal policies, such as the Renewable Fuel Standard and the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard that encourage the use of alternative sources of clean energy in transport.
Minnesota on its Way to Distributing State-Made RNG
Minnesota is one of the top organic farm waste generators in the U.S., ranking first in turkey production, second in hog production, and sixth in both red meat and dairy production, and it’s looking hard at ways to both divert and capitalize on that waste. The northern Midwest state is reviewing proposed legislation to advance renewable natural gas (RNG) distribution and has approved the first RNG interconnection tariff in that state, enabling its largest natural gas utility to offer interstate connections to suppliers of Minnesota-made clean fuel.
CenterPoint Energy (CPE), serving more than 870,000 customers in Minnesota, says the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission’s green light on the interconnection tariff is the first step toward encouraging development of local RNG. The company expects most suppliers will provide fuel for the transportation market beyond Minnesota and eventually hopes to purchase fuel for its own customers to use in homes and businesses. The RNG will be sourced from food waste, wastewater, and/or agricultural waste.
Green Source Advantage Offers More Renewable Energy Options for South Carolina Customers
The Public Service Commission of South Carolina (PSCSC) has approved Duke Energy’s Green Source Advantage program in South Carolina, enabling the company to expand renewable energy options for customers. View the PSCSC order here.
The Green Source Advantage program builds on similar programs that Duke Energy has offered to large customers since 2014. The program offers large customers the flexibility of selecting and negotiating all price terms directly with a renewable supplier of their choice as well as retaining renewable energy certificates (RECs) generated by the renewable facility. The customer and renewable energy supplier can also agree on the contract length that is right for them.
Natural Gas Companies Have Their Own Plans to Go Low-Carbon
Darren Arnold lights the burners on a natural gas stove at a testing facility near Portland, Ore. He's using a new, lower-carbon gas mixture for NW Natural, a gas utility that serves 770,000 customers across the region.
"For a cooktop burner, we're looking for a nice blue flame, nice little peaks on the tips of the flame," he says. "So everything looks really good. We'll also check the oven."
Though it's burning a different fuel mixture, it still works like a regular gas stove. That's a key part of his company's plan to lower its carbon output, with an eventual goal of being a carbon-neutral gas system by 2050.
Clean Energy Fuels Opens RNG Station in California
Clean Energy Fuels has opened an RNG fuelling station in Whittier, California.
The station is owned by the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (LACSD) and Clean Energy designed, constructed, and will operate it. The firm will provide RNG to fuel heavy-duty trucks and other medium-duty vehicles in the region, including LACSD’s vehicles.
Chad Lindholm, vice-president of Clean Energy, said: “This new, state-of-the-art station increases access to RNG for heavy-duty Class-8 trucks, allowing more vehicles to take advantage of the cleanest fuel available today.
BTS Biogas, Bioenergy Devco Join Forces on US AD Projects
Italian firm BTS Biogas is expanding into the US, launching newly-formed subsidiary BTS North America (BTS NA).
BTS NA will serve as the official technology provider to Bioenergy Devco (BDC). Together, the companies will facilitate the finance, design, engineering, construction, and operation of sustainable, resilient anaerobic digestion (AD) projects across the US.
Brightmark, Chevron U.S.A Expand RNG Joint Venture
Brightmark and Chevron U.S.A have expanded their previously announced joint venture, Brightmark RNG Holdings, to own projects across the US to produce and market dairy biomethane (RNG).
Brightmark RNG Holdings’ subsidiaries currently own RNG projects in Western New York, Western Michigan, Central Florida, and South Dakota.
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