Released December 29, 2022 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--With questions surfacing over emerging technology such as hydrogen, Clean Energy Fuels Corporation (NASDAQ:CLNE) (Newport Beach, California) said it inked a multi-year funding agreement to build up its portfolio in renewable natural gas.
Andrew J. Littlefair, the president and CEO of Clean Energy, said his company has been zeroing in on sourcing renewable natural gas (RNG) from dairy farms since the start of the year.
"We are currently constructing multiple RNG projects at dairies around the country, with a healthy pipeline of other projects," he said Wednesday.
Clean Energy and Riverstone Credit Partners signed a four-year, $150 million loan to help execute Littefair's vision. Much of the funding will help Clean Energy expand its RNG projects at U.S. dairy farms, where the decomposition of organic matter yields a type of gas the company said is 300% cleaner in terms of carbon emissions over diesel.
Apart from its joint venture partners, Clean Energy said it's seeing an increase in demand for RNG as a fuel source, from the Los Angeles and New York City metro systems to United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) (Atlanta, Georgia) and Waste Management Incorporated (NYSE:WM) (WM) (Houston, Texas).
WM is in the midst of a $1.6 billion investment program targeting sustainability, of which $550 million was put to use this year. Apart from recycling, the company said it was keen on expanding its footprint in the arena of RNG.
WM has more than a dozen RNG projects in its pipeline and already powers about half of its gas-powered fleet with the resource.
The decomposition of organic waste, such as food scraps or animal manure, yields methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas--but a powerful energy carrier. By processing this waste stream accordingly, companies such as WM are able to put an alternative to conventional natural gas into the grid for the purpose of electric power generation or for road transportation fuels.
Renewable natural gas is nothing new. The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandate that any fuel sold in the country must contain at least some renewable resources.
Cambrian Energy (Watertown, Massachusetts), meanwhile, has been producing around 15 million cubic feet of RNG for nearly a decade by drawing on the decomposition of organic matter at the McCommas Bluff landfill in Dallas, Texas.
Landfill operators have been capturing methane for the grid for decades, but the push to move away from fossil fuels during the energy transition moved RNG to the center of the conversation on alternative forms of power.
That's in contrast to emerging technologies such as methane, which has yet to keep pace with green developments elsewhere in the energy sector. Methane production processes are categorized using a color spectrum. Grey hydrogen is the most abundant process today, splitting natural gas into its elemental components of hydrogen and carbon. That leaves carbon as a harmful byproduct, which is captured using the so-called blue production process.
Green hydrogen, meanwhile, goes a step further by using water as a feedstock, rather than natural gas. This process draws on renewable energy to power the current that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with no carbon at all.
The issue is that those renewable energy resources may be used more efficiently directly on the grid, and a recent report from the British House of Commons found that hydrogen has yet to evolve out of the niche stage.
Using hydrogen instead of natural gas for domestic heating--which some British communities are considering--would require a massive amount of investment to bring to fruition.
"It seems likely that any future use of hydrogen will be limited rather than universal," the report from Commons read.
The raw gas emitted from the decomposition of organic matter is typically about 50% methane, and therefore must undergo various processing steps to remove moisture, hydrogen sulfides and other impurities before it can be used. The end product is almost pure methane that can go into conventional pipelines for heat and electricity providers, without the big spend necessary for hydrogen.
Right now, RNG is more expensive than fossil fuels, though the premium is diminishing and it could be cost-competitive with conventional natural gas within a decade. Compared with the cleaner forms of hydrogen, meanwhile, RNG is already in widespread commercial use.
While there is no single resource that will decarbonize the economy, the International Energy Agency found that RNG will play a long-term role in the clean energy future.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
Andrew J. Littlefair, the president and CEO of Clean Energy, said his company has been zeroing in on sourcing renewable natural gas (RNG) from dairy farms since the start of the year.
"We are currently constructing multiple RNG projects at dairies around the country, with a healthy pipeline of other projects," he said Wednesday.
Clean Energy and Riverstone Credit Partners signed a four-year, $150 million loan to help execute Littefair's vision. Much of the funding will help Clean Energy expand its RNG projects at U.S. dairy farms, where the decomposition of organic matter yields a type of gas the company said is 300% cleaner in terms of carbon emissions over diesel.
Apart from its joint venture partners, Clean Energy said it's seeing an increase in demand for RNG as a fuel source, from the Los Angeles and New York City metro systems to United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) (Atlanta, Georgia) and Waste Management Incorporated (NYSE:WM) (WM) (Houston, Texas).
WM is in the midst of a $1.6 billion investment program targeting sustainability, of which $550 million was put to use this year. Apart from recycling, the company said it was keen on expanding its footprint in the arena of RNG.
WM has more than a dozen RNG projects in its pipeline and already powers about half of its gas-powered fleet with the resource.
The decomposition of organic waste, such as food scraps or animal manure, yields methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas--but a powerful energy carrier. By processing this waste stream accordingly, companies such as WM are able to put an alternative to conventional natural gas into the grid for the purpose of electric power generation or for road transportation fuels.
Renewable natural gas is nothing new. The U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 mandate that any fuel sold in the country must contain at least some renewable resources.
Cambrian Energy (Watertown, Massachusetts), meanwhile, has been producing around 15 million cubic feet of RNG for nearly a decade by drawing on the decomposition of organic matter at the McCommas Bluff landfill in Dallas, Texas.
Landfill operators have been capturing methane for the grid for decades, but the push to move away from fossil fuels during the energy transition moved RNG to the center of the conversation on alternative forms of power.
That's in contrast to emerging technologies such as methane, which has yet to keep pace with green developments elsewhere in the energy sector. Methane production processes are categorized using a color spectrum. Grey hydrogen is the most abundant process today, splitting natural gas into its elemental components of hydrogen and carbon. That leaves carbon as a harmful byproduct, which is captured using the so-called blue production process.
Green hydrogen, meanwhile, goes a step further by using water as a feedstock, rather than natural gas. This process draws on renewable energy to power the current that can split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with no carbon at all.
The issue is that those renewable energy resources may be used more efficiently directly on the grid, and a recent report from the British House of Commons found that hydrogen has yet to evolve out of the niche stage.
Using hydrogen instead of natural gas for domestic heating--which some British communities are considering--would require a massive amount of investment to bring to fruition.
"It seems likely that any future use of hydrogen will be limited rather than universal," the report from Commons read.
The raw gas emitted from the decomposition of organic matter is typically about 50% methane, and therefore must undergo various processing steps to remove moisture, hydrogen sulfides and other impurities before it can be used. The end product is almost pure methane that can go into conventional pipelines for heat and electricity providers, without the big spend necessary for hydrogen.
Right now, RNG is more expensive than fossil fuels, though the premium is diminishing and it could be cost-competitive with conventional natural gas within a decade. Compared with the cleaner forms of hydrogen, meanwhile, RNG is already in widespread commercial use.
While there is no single resource that will decarbonize the economy, the International Energy Agency found that RNG will play a long-term role in the clean energy future.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).
