RNG is the only form of renewable energy that advances long-term carbon neutrality goals while closing the loop on waste.

As a storable non-fossil fuel that can directly replace natural gas, RNG provides a reliable and cost-efficient decarbonization solution that exists right now and works with the infrastructure we already have. In addition, RNG can help mitigate* the negative environmental impact of global solid waste, which the World Bank forecasts will increase more than 70% by 2050.

*An analysis for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory concluded that ramping up RNG production and use would have “an outsized impact on cutting overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and on methane emissions particularly.”

Displacing natural gas with increasing amounts of renewable energy is central to NW Natural’s plan for achieving carbon neutrality. We’re already procuring large supplies of RNG* and we have multiple projects completed or in progress. Our first biogas facility began flowing RNG to heat homes and businesses in 2022.

*We’re on track to procure enough RNG to equal at least 5% of our annual sales volume before 2025 and 10% by the end of 2029. For context, wind and solar generation currently supply 14% of our nation’s electricity — after more than two decades of active development and public policy support.

The urgency of climate change demands that we use every available tool to decarbonize our energy system as quickly as possible. The infrastructure and storage capacity it would take to power our entire economy with renewable electricity doesn’t exist today and can’t be built overnight. Meanwhile, the nation’s 2.2 million miles of gas pipelines require no modification to distribute low-carbon RNG. In hard-to-abate sectors like heavy industry and freight transport where electrification is difficult or unfeasible, RNG be directly substituted for natural gas to cut emissions right away. RNG is a tangible solution that can work in tandem with electrification to facilitate and accelerate the transition to a clean energy future.

NW Natural worked collaboratively with legislators and renewable natural gas stakeholders to create SB 98, a groundbreaking bill that was signed into law by Oregon Governor Kate Brown in 2019. Since then, the Public Utility Commission of Oregon (OPUC), consumer groups and natural gas utilities have been working through a rulemaking process, so natural gas utilities can begin procuring renewable natural gas under the legislation. 

SB 98 goes further than any other law by setting voluntary goals for adding as much as 30% renewable natural gas into the state's pipeline system by 2050.