It's a fact that Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) is the ONLY sustainable green technology currently available to power California freight vehicles, and it is something now recognised by the Californian government which is also funding investment in biogas plants needed to make it.
By injecting RNG made from the organic wastes from dairy farms into the established natural gas mains this natural renewable fuel is available to any buyers anywhere on the grid
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has awarded grants totalling $183. 3 million between FY 15 and FY 19, funding 107 dairy biogas projects currently in development in California.
In addition, the 2020 Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP) budget has allocated $34 million to fund more dairy RNG projects in 2020.
Studies are currently underway to calculate the total biomethane production of the CDFA-funded projects, but assuming an average of 3,000 cows per dairy, all of the currently funded DDRDP projects will produce over 35 million dge of RNG annually.
That's nearly a quarter of the amount of natural gas consumed in California by the transportation industry.
According to Lyle Schleyer, Calgren’s CEO,
“using RNG to power California freight vehicles makes sense—it is the only technology currently available for that purpose."
Fueling those vehicles with methane that would otherwise have been released into the California environment is clearly a home run.
