As the United States intensifies its efforts to leverage sustainable energy, renewable natural gas (RNG) is emerging as a game-changer, particularly for municipal and public gas utilities. This carbon-neutral, often even carbon-negative energy source has come a long way in recent years and is positioned to transform the future clean energy landscape.
As a not-for-profit trade organization representing America’s publicly owned natural gas distribution companies, the American Public Gas Association (APGA) and its members distribute the energy that is essential for everyday life. Public gas utilities are environmental stewards, committed to safely delivering reliable energy while prioritizing sustainability, emissions reductions and other actions that may positively affect their impact on the environment. This includes investing in direct use innovations that provide customers with affordable and efficient energy to heat their homes and energize their appliances. With its environmental and economic benefits, RNG has been a beacon for public gas utilities — simultaneously helping to lower emissions while meeting modern energy demands.
RNG: Trash to Treasure
Renewable natural gas, sometimes known as biomethane, transforms the waste methane emissions released by organic waste materials — including agricultural residues and manure, food and landfill waste and wastewater — into usable energy. A carbon-neutral energy innovation, RNG is a renewable resource generated through advanced processes like anaerobic digestion or gasification, where organic materials are broken down and purified to create biogas. This storable product looks and acts like natural gas and can be seamlessly integrated into the existing resilient natural gas infrastructure — repurposing waste rotting in a landfill, which would otherwise be freely emitted to the atmosphere, to actively energize the nation.
Technological Advancements in RNG Production
RNG’s origins date back centuries when scientists discovered the untapped potential of anaerobic digestion, a process that utilizes microorganisms to convert organic decay into usable products. Back then, the technique was mostly leveraged for waste management rather than energy production.
In recent decades, through the development of enhanced anaerobic digestion processes, scientists and researchers have been able to enhance the efficiency and speed of biomethane production. This increased efficiency, paired with new technologies in biogas upgrading that have emerged as cost-effective methods to purify biogas into pipeline-quality RNG, have ensured that RNG is a more viable option for consumers to leverage in their homes and businesses.
Public & Municipal Utilities Leverage the Many Benefits of RNG
Because of the role public natural gas utilities play in achieving America’s clean energy future, APGA members continue to enhance operational efficiency, maintain infrastructure to minimize emissions and innovate to protect people and the environment — all of which they can accomplish through their growing utilization of low carbon fuels, like RNG.
Environmental Benefits
As a carbon-neutral and even carbon-negative energy source, RNG reduces emissions from both the energy consumption and waste management sectors. In fact, by turning otherwise unutilized landfill waste into usable energy and generating byproducts like biofertilizers, RNG promotes a circular economy that maximizes resource efficiency and minimizes waste. Additionally, it can lead to improved air quality and general ecosystem health — helping the nation decarbonize our energy sector without opening ourselves up to the cost and reliability threats of forced electrification.
What’s more, renewable gases are often the most cost-effective decarbonization method on a dollar-per-ton basis. While other renewable energy alternatives involve infrastructure upgrades, RNG acts just like traditional natural gas — allowing utilities to pump it directly into homes to give governments and consumers the biggest bang for their energy bucks.
Economic Benefits and Job Creation
The RNG industry has the potential to create numerous jobs in waste collection, processing and RNG facility operations. In fact, at the end of 2022, there were 277 operating RNG facilities in North America, with 260 other projects in development. This can be a significant economic driver for municipalities, offering a win-win solution that combines environmental stewardship and energy reliability with economic development.
Energy Independence & Security
RNG can be stored and transported using existing natural gas infrastructure, making it an adaptable energy source that reduces the nation’s dependency on energy imports. This is particularly beneficial for and important to municipal and public gas utilities, who are passionate about keeping costs low and maintaining reliable energy access for the communities they serve.
The Future of Renewable Natural Gas Depends on Policymaker Investments
As America navigates its way toward a sustainable energy future, RNG technology stands out as a pivotal player, especially for municipal and public gas utilities. With ongoing advancements in RNG production and purification techniques, there’s no debate that a fuel-neutral, “all of the above” approach to energy policy will benefit everyone.
RNG-focused agricultural programs have been on the rise in the past 5 years, including through the USDA’s 2018 Farm Act, which encourages investment in alternative energy innovations and the production of renewable biofuels. However, even more investment in RNG is a critical step towards our clean energy future — a point that was echoed in President Biden’s Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which called for existing USDA programs to encourage waste management practices that reduce unnecessary methane emissions, such as through the capturing, processing and utilization of RNG.
By embracing RNG, municipal and public gas utilities can continue to align with environmental goals while ensuring affordable and efficient energy for their communities. Collaborative efforts among policymakers, industry stakeholders and researchers are essential to harness the full potential of RNG. As an energy solution that can achieve the emissions reductions of other renewable sources at a fraction of the cost and a higher rate of reliability, RNG has the potential to revolutionize the energy landscape of municipalities across America and should be a cornerstone of our journey towards a greener, more resilient energy future.
By Dave Schryver, President and CEO of the American Public Gas Association