Natural gas vehicle industry closer to carbon negative goals with RNG

In Washington, D.C., NGVAmerica, the national organization representing the natural gas in transportation industry, pledged that by 2030, 80 percent of natural gas vehicle on-road motor fuel in the United States will be derived from renewable sources like RNG, rising to 100 percent by 2050.

Last year, renewable natural gas (RNG) collected at local landfills, wastewater treatment plants, commercial food waste facilities, and agricultural digesters displaced conventional natural gas derived from fossil sources as the dominant on-road NGV fuel source nationwide.

Moreover, the carbon intensity of RNG biofuel continues to drop.  California fleets that fueled with bio-CNG in 2020 achieved carbon negativity for the year, with an annual average carbon intensity score of -5.845 gCO2e/MJ.  Latest data puts the carbon intensity of bio-CNG in California’s system at -16.57 gCO2e/MJ (Q1, 2021).

“By establishing an aggressive timeline to transition to 100 percent carbon-free natural gas biofuel in our nation’s refueling system, the natural gas in transportation industry offers the most affordable, scalable, and immediate solution to eliminate criteria pollutants that harm public health and drastically lower the carbon footprint of heavy-duty commercial fleets. The recently approved Senate Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 includes multiple opportunities to advance RNG motor fuel usage for clean school buses and ferries, transit buses, port operations, and heavy-duty freight hauling,” according to the NGVAmerica release.

There are currently 190 RNG production facilities in operation in North America with an additional 232 facilities under construction or under substantial development (e.g., permitting).