North American renewable natural gas (RNG) producer and distributor Clean Energy Fuels Corporation has announced plans that it will work with bp Products North America Inc, a subsidiary of global oil and gas major bp plc to develop, own, and operate new RNG facilities at dairies and other agriculture facilities. bp is to provide US$50 million for the development and construction of such facilities.
Headquartered in Newport Beach, California (CA), Clean Energy Fuels is the largest provider of RNG as a transportation fuel in the United States (US) and Canada, the largest RNG fuel provider under the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program, and currently has a joint RNG marketing agreement with bp established in 2018.
Carbon emissions captured from dairies and turned into a transportation fuel reduce the harmful effects on long-term climate change. As a result, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) gives these carbon-negative RNG projects a CI Score (gCO2e/MJ) of -250 (or lower) compared to 97 for diesel and 46 for electric batteries.
According to Clean Energy Fuels, the demand for this carbon-negative fuel has significantly accelerated over the last few years. Some of the largest heavy-duty fleets in the world such as UPS, Republic Services, New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and LA Metro, among others, are currently and successfully operating tens of thousands of vehicles on RNG.
Identified RNG production projects
In addition to the carbon-negative fuel, Clean Energy Fuels will continue to source RNG from other providers to supply its network of 550 fueling stations in North America and maintain its leadership position in the California LCFS market.
This also marks another strong step in Clean Energy Fuel’s ambition to meet the rapidly growing demand by customers for carbon-negative RNG and to deliver 100 percent Redeem branded RNG to its entire fueling infrastructure by 2025, which the company says, is well on its way to achieving.
The company has already identified potential RNG-producing projects and has plans to deploy funds for development and construction expenses in 2021.
Carbon-negative RNG is being used today by thousands of vehicles with more and more fleets requesting it every week. Taking this next step allows us to expand the availability of the fuel while providing dairy owners with a way to make a significant impact on the environment and create an additional revenue stream, said Andrew J. Littlefair, CEO and President of Clean Energy Fuels.
