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What’s On Earth27:02What’s the deal?
Some companies claim that they can produce’renewable’ natural gases from landfills and other waste. This could help reduce emissions. But is there enough waste to power a fuel switching or is it just a distraction from more effective solutions? 27:02
Our planet is changing. Our journalism is changing as well. This story is part Our Changing Planet, A CBC News initiative to explain and show the effects of climate change, and what is being done about them.
Renewable natural gas sounds great and may be something your local gas company has offered you. But what exactly is it?
Here’s how it is made, what role it could play in slowing the pace of climate change, and why some people warn against investing too heavily in renewable natural gas (RNG).
What is renewable natural gas?
Natural gas is a fossil fuel that’s about 90 per cent methane — a chemical compound that’s a powerful greenhouse gas, Numerous other options are available. It is ten times more potent that carbon dioxide.
Renewable natural gas is biomethane — methane that comes from biological sources, which could include landfills, sewage and food, agricultural or forestry waste.
Natural gas and renewable gas are chemically identical so they can be mixed and processed, stored, transported, and used the same.
Environment Canada says that RNG must be compliant with Canada’s Clean Fuels Regulation.
- It must meet the standards that allow it to be injected into the nearest natural gas pipeline.
- Get your food from biological sources.
How can it help climate-change efforts?
Two main ways:
By displacement of natural gas, and other fossil fuels.Renewable natural gas is theoretically carbon neutral because it comes from plants that have captured carbon over their lives. It can decarbonize gasoline-fueled trucks and industrial processes by using existing infrastructure.
Doug Slater is the VP of external relations and indigenous relations at FortisBC. He says that it can also apply to furnaces within buildings.
He said, “The best thing about renewable gas was that our customers don’t have to make any changes in their homes or businesses to be able to use it.”
Capturing methane from organic material (e.g. manure, landfills, and food waste). Otherwise, it would be released into the atmosphere and cause climate change. Methane can be burned to make water and carbon dioxide. This greenhouse gas has a lower global warming impact than methane.
RNG can therefore be carbon neutral and carbon negative because of the “avoided emission”.
Vincent Morales is the manager of legislative & regulatory affairs for Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas. He noted that methane derived from waste can account for more than 5% of countries’ greenhouse gas emissions.
He said that RNG is the most viable way to decarbonize our waste.
Making RNG out of waste anaerobic digestionDigestate is an additional product. It can be used to fertilize, potentially replacing synthetic fertilizers which can be more carbon-intensive to produce.
How is renewable natural gaz made?
By upgrading biogas.
This is how 90% of biomethane worldwide is produced. According to the International Energy Agency, (IEA),. Biogas is a mixture methane and other gases. Volume of content: 45 to 75 percent) and other gases (mainly carbon dioxide) produced when plant or animal matter decomposes without oxygen. It is separated from most non-methane gases and converted into RNG.
However, biogas can be burned to generate electricity and power, so only a small percentage of the world’s biogas — Below 10% — was upgraded in 2018, the most recent year cited in an IEA report.
Or, thermal gasification of biomass
The heat and pressure of wood waste is used to heat biomass. This causes it to be broken down into syngas, which is a mixture carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and methane. The methane can then easily be separated. A number of demonstration projects for this technology have been running across Canada, including ones in Alberta, B.C.And Quebec.
FortisBC and REN International built the first commercial-scale plant in North America. Fruitvale, B.C. will begin to produce RNG in the fall of 2022.
Is it carbon neutral?
While RNG is carbon neutral in theory, there are two reasons why it might not be in practice:
Its carbon intensity is dependent on how it was made. It has a lower carbon intensity if it is truly free from emissions from waste and it takes little energy and land to produce it. However, some ways of producing RNG don’t fit either of those criteria.
It’s methane.“If it leaks in the atmosphere, it’s as fossils [methane]Chris Bataille (a B.C.-based associate researcher with the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, IDDRI) who studies decarbonization in the economy said “Yes.” He also pointed out that the infrastructure for gas is generally leaky.
In the meantime, biogas production itself has been estimated to be around Leak up to 15% of its methaneAccording to a 2020 study by Emily Grubert, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology.
“RNG has a lower impact on climate than its fossil counterpart, but likely high demand for it and methane leakage means that it will probably contribute to climate changes,” she stated. I wrote an article for The Conversation. She pointed out that this is not the case for zero-carbon solutions like wind and solar energy that are competing for investment.
Is RNG expected make a contribution in getting the world net-zero?
It is expected that it will make a difference, especially in areas where electrification is difficult. These sectors include industrial high temperature heating, petrochemical fuelstocks, heavy-duty transportation, and maritime shipping, according to the International Energy Agency.
However, it is not expected that there will be enough natural gas to replace current use.
In Canada, a 2019 study for the Canadian Gas Association estimated that RNG produced from wet wastes could meet five-to-10 per cent of natural gas demand, said Richard Carlson, director of energy policy and energy exchange at Pollution Probe, an environmental research and advocacy group, in a 2020 Webinar by the Pembina Institute.
Gasification could meet 12-to-50 percent of the demand, but technology is still in development and has not been commercialized.
Bataille believes RNG could help the North American economy “bridge” from where it is now to where it should be in the future. He said that RNG is not a perfect solution because of the possibility of leakage. It’s not something we can live with in. [the year] 2100.”
Can anyone buy renewable gas?
If you have natural-gas heating and live in B.C. You may be eligible to pay for renewable gas to be added to the North American gas grid.
- FortisBC offers customers the possibility to purchase a mix of five to 100 percent renewable gas
- Enbridge launched its renewable gas program in Ontario in April 2021. Residential customers can pay $2 per monthly to “purchase an increase in natural gas supply”. According to the company, the amount of RNG that is added will depend on how many customers participate and the price of RNG.
The RNG is injected wherever it’s produced. This means that you won’t receive 100% RNG, even if you paid for it. However, it does displace the use of fossil methane in the system (equivalent to your usage, if that’s your agreement with your gas company).
WATCH | Vancouver’s push of zero-emissions energy sources in buildings:
Vancouver is now part of a North American effort to reduce the use of fossil fuels to heat buildings. The City of Vancouver will make zero-emission energy sources a policy in new low-rise residential developments. 2:12
Is it more expensive that regular natural gas?
Yes, it can cost up to 10 times more. According to data from a 2020 report by Pollution Probe for Canadian Gas Association.
FortisBC, a gas company, generally has regulated rates. Effective January 1, 2022, FortisBC is charging $13.808 per gigajoule for biomethane, or roughly double the rate for regular natural gas. That means a homeowner using 90 gigajoules per year would pay about $103.56 a month instead of $51.06.
The IEA statedIt projects that the global average cost for biomethane production will drop 25% by 2040. Meanwhile, natural gas prices are expected to rise, bringing them closer together.
How does Canada encourage RNG use?
The federal government as well as the Quebec and Alberta governments, and B.C. governments, all help fund gasification pilot projects across Canada. Numerous gasification pilot programs have been funded by the provincial governments.
The federal government is also allowing some credits for the use of RNG by gasoline or diesel producers (for example, as a feedstock or fuel) under its Clean Fuel Regulations, which requires producers to reduce their carbon intensity over time.
There are also programs to encourage RNG use in some provinces:
