Renewable natural gas as vehicle fuel grows nearly 300% in five years
Natural Gas Vehicles for America (NGVAmerica) and Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition) announced that 39% of all on-road fuel used in natural gas vehicles in calendar year 2019 was renewable natural gas. Captured above ground from organic material in agricultural, wastewater, landfill or food waste, biomethane produces carbon-neutral and even carbon-negative results when fueling on-road vehicles like short- and long-haul trucks, transit buses, and refuse and recycling collection vehicles.
Over the last five years, biomethane use as a transportation fuel has increased 291%, displacing close to 7.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). NGVAmerica and RNG Coalition report that in 2019 a total of 717 million gallons (GGE) of natural gas were used as motor fuel. Of that, 277 million gallons (GGE) were renewable.
“Renewable natural gas fueled vehicles are the most immediate and cost-effective heavy-duty option when seeking to combat climate change and clear our air,” said Dan Gage, President of NGVAmerica. “Respiratory health depends on clean air, and natural gas fueled vehicles provide a proven, affordable, and easily scalable zero emission equivalent solution for commercial deployment today.”
“Renewable natural gas supply is growing,” said Johannes Escudero, CEO of RNG Coalition. “With 110 biogas production facilities transforming waste into fuel, and another 100 facilities on the way, we are increasingly able to offer consumers the opportunity to decarbonize with biomethane – the cleanest of any fuel available today.”
Biomethane use has eliminated 7,482,936 metric tons of CO2e over the last five years. Put into perspective, it is:
Lowering greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), equivalent to removing the GHG from 18,568,079,404 miles driven by the average passenger car, or from 745,676 trips around the earth;
Reducing CO2 emissions, equivalent to removing CO2 emission from 842,009,227 gallons of gasoline, or the total amount of fuel used annually by 63,171 transit buses; and
Sequestering carbon, equal to growing 123,731,931 tree seedlings for ten years, or 9,772,367 acres of U.S. forests for one year.
