Understanding Renewable Natural Gas

You can use RNG to power equipment or vehicles that use natural gas, or to generate your own electricity on site. This can be a great way to save money and energy. Other benefits include: 

• Capture emissions of unused "waste" methane 
• Reduce the need for conventional fuel 
• Cut production and waste disposal costs 

RNG can be an important renewable energy tool because it is available anytime consumers need it. Wind and solar are intermittent energy sources – meaning the energy isn’t available when the sun isn’t shining, and the wind isn’t blowing.  Waste material can be converted into deliverable, renewable energy 24 hours per day, seven days a week and can be deployed when and where it is needed through the pipeline network. 

Biogas is the raw gas produced from decomposing organic waste. It typically consists of mainly methane and carbon dioxide, along with traces of other elements. In order to become RNG, biogas needs to be cleaned and conditioned, which means removing or reducing non-methane elements such as carbon dioxide. This process generates a Renewable Natural Gas that’s completely interchangeable with traditional pipeline-quality natural gas and ensures safe and reliable operation of the pipeline network and customer equipment. RNG is extremely versatile and can be delivered anywhere along the nation’s extensive pipeline infrastructure. 

Courtesy of the American Gas Association

The abundance of these materials allows for production of substantial quantities of biogas. A study by UC Davis estimates that more than 20 percent of California’s current residential natural gas use can be provided by RNG derived from our state’s existing organic waste alone².  Looking outside California, the United States could produce up to 10 trillion cubic feet of RNG annually by 2030 — that’s more than five times California’s projected natural gas consumption.

Reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas levels is important to help reduce global warming. RNG is considered a carbon-neutral fuel because it comes from organic sources that once absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis. RNG has even greater benefits when it’s produced from organic waste that would otherwise decay and emit methane emissions into the atmosphere. By capturing more greenhouses gases than it emits, this RNG can be considered carbon-negative!