Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has successfully completed and launched operations for its latest renewable natural gas (RNG) production facility at Tri-Cross Dairy in Viborg, South Dakota.
The new RNG facility sits on a 5,000-cow dairy farm and is forecasted to produce one million gallons of negative carbon-intensity RNG annually. The project represents a milestone in Clean Energy’s ongoing leadership in providing the cleanest fuel for the transportation market at the company’s network of fueling stations across North America.
Construction costs of the RNG production facility, which includes building digesters and the processing plant, totaled $34 million and was completed in December 2023. The injecting of pipeline-quality RNG began shortly after completion. Clean Energy is filing the necessary applications to generate federal and state environmental credits.
“We anticipate 2024 to be a pivotal year in the demand for RNG fuel in the transportation market with the introduction of Cummins’ X15N natural gas engine for heavy-duty trucks,” says Clay Corbus, Clean Energy’s senior vice president for renewables. “Clean Energy’s fueling infrastructure is expanding to meet that demand, and we’ll need a constant source of additional low-carbon RNG to supply those stations. The new production facilities at Tri-Cross Dairy and the other farms in the Midwest that are now producing RNG is a critical component to our strategy.”
Financing for the Tri-Cross Dairy project is backed by one of Clean Energy’s RNG production joint ventures and developed by Dynamic Renewables. The facility is one in a series of projects in the Midwest for which the companies have partnered.
Agriculture accounts for nearly 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Capturing methane from farm waste can lower these emissions. RNG is a transportation fuel made entirely from organic waste and reduces GHG emissions by an average of 300% versus diesel.
