The West Pushes for Renewal Natural Gas/Compressed Natural Gas—Who Will Be Next?
Getting onboard with CNG and RNG projects
Tetra Tech’s Paul Stout, solid waste west region vice president, has nearly 30 years of experience in air quality and landfill gas (LFG) projects, with expertise in LFG migration assessment, energy recovery from biogas, design, permitting, construction, start-up, and operations and maintenance. In this post he provides insight into California’s leading role in getting other states to adopt sustainable energy regulations.
In a slight twist to the adage, I like to say that when California sneezes, the rest of the country catches a cold. California certainly seems to lead the way when it comes to new energy and environment regulations, such as support for compressed natural gas (CNG) as a vehicle fuel.
California has offered numerous grants to support CNG projects, as well as a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) incentive program; and now, other states are following suit.
Several years ago, Oregon had CNG infrastructure grant solicitations and awards allowing CNG infrastructure to be built and get grant funding. The grants had preference for projects with a renewable natural gas (RNG) component. Oregon’s governor also signed legislation to further their LCFS program, closely resembling a similar program that California has had for several years.
When Washington’s governor signed Senate Bill 5424, it allowed public utilities to produce and utilize RNG. These, coupled with low CNG prices, continued to push toward CNG infrastructure, bringing many opportunities to get their RNG to market. LCFS or similar programs now appear to be coming in British Columbia, Canada, while Colorado, New York, and Washington are actively considering it.
With more joining the push towards CNG and RNG, the question seems to be, who will get on board next?
Are you aware of other locations moving towards supporting CNG or RNG projects?
