Daytime close up view of piping at a renewable natural gas plant

Solutions > Distributed Generation, Microgrids & Storage > Renewable Natural Gas

Renewable Natural Gas

Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) is a carbon-neutral alternative to conventional natural gas that can be used as a source of electricity, heat, or vehicle fuel. RNG is raw biogas that has been treated to be natural gas pipeline quality.

As a critical component to a clean energy future, RNG is one of the most effective ways to decarbonize existing natural gas pipelines and deliver carbon-neutral energy alternatives to municipalities, major corporations, colleges, and the transportation sector.

This green gas makes use of resources already in our environment rather than voluntarily extracting natural gas sequestered in the earth. Advanced gas clean-up technologies allow RNG to be created from existing resources, creating a green gas that may be injected into existing natural gas infrastructure. Replace your fossil fueled energy with renewable energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of RNG.

Learn about how you can make your organization Carbon Neutral with Renewable Natural Gas (RNG).
How can you add RNG to your energy portfolio?

Ameresco partners with public and private enterprises to convert raw biogas from an environmental liability into an economic and environmental benefit by replacing fossil fuels with a renewable energy resource. Have you thought about making your organization carbon neutral with RNG?

Benefits of Renewable Natural Gas

  • Carbon Neutrality: RNG is critical component to a clean energy future as the most effective way to decarbonize existing natural gas pipelines.
  • Environmental Impact: Capturing methane and processing it to make RNG significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions and decreases reliance on fossil fuels.
  • Revenue Stream: Selling RNG into the natural gas grid delivers profits for owners of landfills, wastewater treatment plants, farmers, and food processors.
  • Energy Security: Switching to RNG provides the gas grid with enhanced diversity of supply and market adoption.

Michael T. Bakas, Ameresco Executive Vice President, Distributed Generation Systems, discusses the environmental benefits of renewable natural gas.

RNG plants also have the ability to create revenue for municipalities, farmers, and industrial companies that can sell RNG into the natural gas grid. For example, a water utility in Texas currently processes over 1.5 million standard cubic feet of renewable natural gas per day, capturing biogas and then selling it through a commercial gas pipeline, generating a tremendous revenue stream while also removing 19,739 tons of carbon from the atmosphere. Phoenix, in partnership with its surrounding communities, recently opened the largest wastewater-to-RNG plant in the U.S., a facility capable of reducing CO2 emissions by 44,671 tons a year, equating to the removal of more than 9,400 cars from the road.

At Ameresco, we design, build, own, operate and maintain renewable energy plants that convert otherwise-wasted byproduct gas into useful forms of energy. These facilities process raw biogas generated from sources such as landfills and wastewater treatment facilities into a RNG product that can be injected into the natural gas pipeline network and transported anywhere in the United States. This “Green Gas” has been promoted under the Renewable Fuel Standard program.

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Additional Media

Renewable Natural Gas Solutions by Ameresco

Biogas from a range of sources, including wastewater treatment plants and landfills, can be converted into pipeline-ready renewable natural gas, reducing environmental impact and potentially generating revenue.

Daytime view of piping and valves in a renewable natural gas plant.

San Antonio Water System

This was the first sustainable biogas plant of its kind in the United States. More than 1.5 million standard cubic feet of biogas are processed each day. San Antonio Water System generates 4.8 MW of power from this plant, and sells excess natural gas worth $200,000 each year.