In the United States (US), Clean Energy Fuels Corporation (Clean Energy) has held a groundbreaking ceremony on a renewable natural gas (RNG) digester at Del Rio Dairy in Friona, Texas (TX), marking its first project in a joint venture with TotalEnergies to produce the ultra-clean transportation fuel which will be negative carbon-intensive. All the RNG fuel produced at Del Rio Dairy will make its way into Clean Energy’s nationwide network of RNG stations.
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When completed, the Del Rio Dairy digester project will capture the waste from more than 7 500 milking cows and generate an anticipated 1.1 million gallons of RNG annually. The project marks the first together with TotalEnergies.
RNG helps Clean Energy’s customers achieve their sustainability goals by dramatically reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from transportation operations.
With a growing focus on capturing methane highlighted by the recent discussions at COP26, the Del Rio Dairy RNG project is significant on many levels. It brings together concerned parties ranging from a family-owned dairy, to one of the world’s leading and most sustainably-minded energy companies TotalEnergies, to manage greenhouse gas emissions and tackle global warming. When the RNG produced here goes into the tank of a large vehicle, it will usually be replacing a much dirtier fuel, demonstrating the unique qualities of RNG as the cleanest fuel in the world, said Andrew J. Littlefair, President and CEO, Clean Energy.
Clean Energy has a target to provide RNG at all its US stations and for the carbon intensity (CI) of the fuel to be zero by 2025.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), agriculture accounts for nearly 10 percent of the nation’s GHG emissions. Capturing methane from farm waste can lower these emissions. RNG is used as a transportation fuel and has lower GHG emissions on a lifecycle basis when compared to conventional gasoline and diesel.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has given similar projects a carbon intensity (CI) score of a weighted average of -320 compared to CI scores of 101 for conventional diesel fuel and 15 for electric batteries.
Del Rio is a family-owned and operated dairy with multiple generations of Ginggs involved in running it. We take great pride in the sustainable way in which we operate. By adding an RNG digester to our operation, we will be able to say to future generations that we are helping to address serious climate issues that impact the world they live in, said Rocky Gingg.
