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Renewable natural gas a clean fuel

Posted on 24 July, 2016

Natural gas vehicles are an affordable and proven long-term solution to reducing air pollution and carbon emissions, says biomassmagazine.com. Driving vehicles that run on natural gas reduces emissions. But this is rapidly becoming truer through the increasing use of renewable natural gas. Renewable natural gas (RNG) is derived from the methane from organic waste as it decomposes. This methane is captured at agricultural facilities, landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and separated at municipal solid waste digesters, then cleaned in a treatment process to produce a product indistinguishable from natural gas. The resulting biomethane, or RNG, is then either injected into natural gas pipelines, compressed or liquefied to be used as transportation fuel in the form of renewable compressed natural gas (CNG) or renewable liquefied natural gas (LNG). As CNG and LNG from renewable feedstocks are blended with natural gas transportation fuel from geologic sources, transportation systems become cleaner. Switching vehicles to run on geologic-sourced CNG and LNG already reduces emissions. Natural gas provides 90 per cent lower NOx (mono-nitrogen oxides) emissions with new Near-Zero engines, and a 99 per cent SOx (sulphur oxides) reduction, compared with diesel. Blending in RNG reduces fuel emissions even further. Driving a vehicle with 100 per cent RNG can reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by more than 80 per cent. RNG from some sources are carbon negative, meaning they sequester GHG during the fuel life cycle. Figures released in April by the California Air Resources Board show that, as of the end of 2015, half of the natural gas being used to fuel vehicles in the state is RNG. Only three years ago, in 2013, RNG’s share of California NGV fuel was just 10 per cent. RNG’s growth in California shows the effectiveness of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard in driving growth in emission-reducing, clean fuels.