Clean Energy Starts RNG Production at Iowa Dairy Farm

Clean Energy Fuels has completed its latest renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Marshall County, Iowa. The Marshall Ridge Dairy project is expected to produce 1.7 million gallons of low carbon-intensity RNG annually.

The three-digester facility located in State Center, Iowa, is now producing pipeline-quality RNG and injecting it into the national grid. RNG is a sustainable fuel derived from organic waste that provides an immediate and significant carbon reduction in transportation.

“We have been in the business of milking cows for over 60 years, and that’s what our core business will always be. Adding an RNG facility to our farm will enable us to manage our manure much better while generating an additional revenue stream for our bottom line,” Kevin Blood, Marshall Ridge Dairy.

Financed through one of Clean Energy’s production joint ventures and developed by Dynamic Renewables, the project totaled $42 million.

Methane Capture

Methane from the approximately 240,000 gallons of manure produced by the 8,000-cow herd each day will be converted into biogas and ready-to-use clean fuel for heavy-duty fleets across the country. Clean Energy is in process of filing the necessary applications to generate federal and state environmental credits.

Agriculture accounts for nearly 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and the transportation sector accounts for another 28%, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Capturing methane from farm waste lowers these emissions. RNG, produced by that captured methane and used as a transportation fuel, significantly lowers GHG emissions on a lifecycle basis when compared to diesel, said Clean Energy. This allows RNG to be one of the only fuels to receive a negative carbon-intensity score based on the reduction of emissions at the source and at the vehicle.

“We value working with forward-thinking farmers, helping them create a new revenue stream from what would have been considered waste. RNG is an immediate, smart way to address harmful fugitive emissions, and the RNG produced at Marshall Ridge will directly help to cleanly fuel and decarbonize commercial transport,” said Clay Corbus senior vice president for renewables at Clean Energy.