Educational non-profit organization RNG Global Initiative and the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition) jointly announced a new learning platform that is dedicated to public education of the environmental and economic benefits resulting from converting local organic waste into renewable natural gas (RNG) as a clean energy solution. The organizations made the announcement in front of 350 participants during the first day of RNG WORKS 2019, the annual two-day Technical Workshop & Trade Expo, hosted this year in Music City.
Using local organic waste sources as a renewable, sustainable solution to decarbonize each of our society’s end-uses for natural gas is a common-sense, increasing global trend that we have just scratched the surface of in North America. Yet the RNG solution has an established history, using technologies proven for decades in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Most energy users and many energy decision-makers are still building familiarity with the facts regarding the history and benefits of RNG production and use. We have captured potential methane emissions from decomposing organic waste and used it to substitute for geologic [fossil] natural gas in the U.S. as far back as 1982 in New York. When used to fuel vehicles, RNG has proven to have the lowest carbon lifecycle emissions of all transportation fuel options currently available in many markets.
While more than 100 North American sites have started producing renewable natural gas since the early 1980s – and more than half of those in just the past four years – greater opportunities remain. Using our potential RNG resources could annually replace seven billion gallons of diesel used in transportation, and, in the U.S. alone, could create 70,000 or more new clean energy jobs with salaries often two to three times the national median.