Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and waste management company CR&R Environmental have begun construction on an eight-inch pipeline that will bring carbon-neutral renewable natural gas (RNG) into the SoCalGas distribution system and will, specifically, be used to fuel CR&R’s fleet of approximately 900 waste hauling trucks.
The connecting pipeline, funded by CR&R Environmental, will reach approximately 1.4 miles from an existing SoCalGas pipeline to a new CR&R anaerobic digestion facility in Perris, Calif., and is slated to be completed this spring.
“Bringing renewable gas into our pipeline system is a big step forward for SoCalGas and for California,” says Lisa Alexander, SoCalGas’ vice president in customer solutions and communications. “Using our pipeline infrastructure to distribute this carbon-neutral fuel will help to slow climate change and meet state goals for increasing use of renewable fuels. We see this decarbonization of our pipeline system as the way of the future.”
SoCalGas expects it will be able to bring renewable gas from the facility into its pipelines by June.
CR&R’s Perris anaerobic digester, supplied by Eisenmann USA and Greenlane Biogas and constructed by W.M. Lyles, will use source-separated organic waste collected in cities’ green collection carts to produce carbon-neutral renewable methane. This gas will then be further refined using pollution-free technology and distributed through SoCalGas’ pipeline infrastructure. Such natural gas can be used to fuel heavy-duty trucks, generate electricity or fuel heating systems.
As reported, CR&R’s Perris digestion facility is believed to be the largest in the world.
Studies indicate California could produce almost 300 billion cubic feet of RNG per year just from organic waste. Instead of landfilling or burning that waste, the state could use it to replace 75% of all of the diesel fuel used by motor vehicles in California.
