Energy Vision, a sustainable energy non-governmental organization, recently presented leadership awards to companies developing new markets for renewable natural gas (RNG). The winners are UPS, Newlight Technologies, American Organic Energy, MOVE Systems and American Organic Energy.
According to Energy Vision, RNG is made from biogases generated as wastewater, agricultural waste, and food and yard waste decompose and has a fraction of fossil natural gas’ carbon footprint. When made from food waste in anaerobic digesters and used as vehicle fuel, RNG is net carbon-negative over its lifecycle, the group adds.
“Our award winners are displacing petroleum with waste biogases that cut greenhouse gases by 90 percent or more,” says Joanna Underwood, president of Energy Vision. “Their work is commercially viable today, part of an emerging new energy economy being born right now.”
UPS, a global leader in logistics, is the largest user of RNG in the shipping industry, with a goal of driving a billion miles using its alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet by the end of 2017.
“We remain committed to minimizing UPS’ environmental impact while meeting the growing demand for our services, and RNG is critical to this effort,” says Mark Giuffre, UPS vice president of state government affairs.
Newlight Technologies’ process makes durable plastics using waste-derived biogas instead of fossil petroleum as a feedstock.
“Our vision was a world using greenhouse gas as a resource to replace oil,” states Newlight CEO Mark Herrema. “By using captured carbon to make materials that replace oil-based plastics, we are starting to see that vision become a reality.”
MOVE Systems engineers energy-efficient hybrid mobile food vehicles that can run on compressed natural gas or RNG, batteries and solar panels.
“Clean energy like renewable natural gas is vital to America’s energy future,” says MOVE Systems President and CEO James Meeks.
American Organic Energy is building a large-scale anaerobic digester facility in the New York metro area to process food waste into RNG. It’s among the first food-waste-to-RNG pipeline injection projects in the U.S. and attracted support from New York State.
