Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has completed construction of a $26 million renewable natural gas (RNG) facility at Victory Farms Dairy in Revillo, South Dakota, and is injecting pipeline quality RNG into interstate natural gas infrastructure, the company said in an April 23 press release.
The Victory Farms two-digester facility uses the manure of 6,000 jersey cows—processing approximately 120,000 gallons of manure per day—to produce an estimated 900,000 gallons of negative carbon-intensity RNG annually.
RNG produced at the facility will be used in Clean Energy’s fueling network to help commercial fleets reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions significantly.
Clean Energy currently operates more than 600 stations around North America, providing fuel and services to customers—including some of the largest logistics operators such as UPS and Amazon, transit agencies including those in New York City and Los Angeles and dozens of waste companies including WM, Republic Services and Waste Connections.
Victory Farms was developed in partnership with Dynamic Renewables and financed through one of Clean Energy’s production joint ventures. Clean Energy is in the process of filing the necessary applications to generate federal and state environmental credits.
“We are committed to working with dairies to bring more RNG into the market. Projects like Victory Farms will provide us the fuel to help decarbonize heavy-duty transportation while simultaneously providing an additional revenue stream for dairy owners and helping with their waste management. With fleets quickly learning that RNG is a proven solution readily available now, it is perfect timing that Victory Farms and the other dairy facilities are coming online to meet the growing demand,” said Clay Corbus, senior vice president of renewables at Clean Energy.
Agriculture accounts for nearly 10% percent of U.S. GHG emissions and the transportation sector accounts for another 28%, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Capturing methane from farm waste lowers these emissions. RNG, produced by captured methane and used as a transportation fuel, significantly lowers GHG emissions on a lifecycle basis when compared to diesel.
Recommended Reading
CERAWeek: NextEra CEO: Growing Power Demand Opportunity for Renewables
2024-03-19 - Natural gas still has a role to play, according to NextEra Energy CEO John Ketchum.
Electrifying Permian Could Threaten West Texas Power Grid—Enverus
2024-04-30 - Emissions reduction targets and cryptocurrency mining could double power demand and threaten the grid in West Texas by 2040, according to a report by Enverus Intelligence Research.
Energy Transition in Motion (Week of March 8, 2024)
2024-03-08 - Here is a look at some of this week’s renewable energy news, including a record-setting 2023 for U.S. solar.
First Solar Gunning for $1B More in 2024 Sales
2024-02-28 - Solar module manufacturer First Solar forecasts 2024 net sales of between $4.4 billion to $4.6 billion, with annual volumes sold ranging from 15.6 gigawatts (GW) to 16.3 GW.
US Geothermal Sector Gears Up for Commercial Liftoff
2024-04-17 - Experts from the U.S. Department of Energy discuss geothermal energy’s potential following the release of the liftoff report.