The RNG sector continues to grow at an accelerating pace and given the current situation in Europe relating to the future reduction in the import of Russian gas together with the implementation of climate change policies one can only expect this growth to accelerate even further...
key points in the earnings report relating to the growth in RNG...
"Global RNG consumption is poised to continue its strong upward trajectory. In its most recent World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency (IEA) highlights the significant potential for biogas and biomethane as countries and industries continue to decarbonize, and projects that global biomethane consumption will increase at a compound annual growth rate exceeding 20 percent under both its Announced Policies and Sustainable Development scenarios through the end of this decade. Under the IEA’s Announced Policies Scenario, global biomethane volumes are projected to reach approximately 4 percent of total 2020 natural gas supply by 2050, or approximately 5.5 trillion cubic feet.
Europe continues to see accelerating biomethane production and consumption in its natural gas grid transportation sector. The number of biomethane plants operating today in Europe increased 40 percent over 2020 to reach over 1,000 facilities, 87 percent of which are connected to the natural gas grid, according to the European Biogas Association, which also projects that sustainable biomethane could meet 30 to 40% of the EU’s entire natural gas consumption by 2050.
New data from NGVA Europe, a transportation trade organization, revealed rapid growth in the use of biomethane as a transport fuel in Europe. More than one quarter of the gas used in road transportation in 2020 was renewable, delivered through more than 3,800 CNG stations. With more than 4,500 CNG and LNG stations operating in Europe today, there is a significantly higher amount of biomethane available compared to 2020. The European Commission estimates that renewable gas will represent approximately 40% of overall road fleet fuel consumption in 2030. As a reminder, last spring NGVAmerica and the RNG Coalition announced that for the first time ever more than half of all on-road fuel used in natural gas vehicles in the U.S. in 2020 was RNG at 53%.
Global delivery companies continue the push to decarbonize their fleets, as Amazon announced that its European CNG delivery fleet, which can use 100 percent bio-CNG, would exceed 1,000 vehicles by the end of 2022, matching its strategy in the U.S. with its previous commitment to purchase 1,000 CNG engines for its delivery fleet. UPS, which has been an industry leader in sustainable transportation, announced that it was converting 25 package delivery vans in Canada to operate on CNG as it continues to reduce emissions from its delivery operations.
Natural gas utilities continue to increase RNG supply within gas supply networks. California’s Pacific Gas & Electric announced that pipeline-spec dairy RNG began flowing into its gas transmission system in late December, with the utility providing the clean renewable gas to its residential and commercial customers. SoCalGas announced a 17 percent increase of RNG volumes distributed through its pipeline network in 2021 to 14 billion cubic feet, and remains on track to deliver 20 percent RNG to its core customers by 2030.
Long time RNG advocate FortisBC tripled its RNG supply to customers in 2021, and expects to triple supply again this year while also forecasting that it will likely exceed its target of 15 percent renewable and low carbon gas volumes in its supply by 2030 as it moves toward a 75 percent renewable and low carbon gas target by 2050. Oregon gas utility NW Natural, which believes that there is a significant and long-term need for RNG, recently announced an expansion of its role in the growing RNG market through the formation of a subsidiary focused on supplying renewable fuels to utilities and commercial, industrial, and transportation sector customers across the U.S."