February 25, 2022. Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) announced that 14 billion cubic feet of renewable natural gas (RNG) produced from organic waste was distributed via SoCalGas’ pipeline system in 2021, the equivalent to removing 166,896 cars off the road annually. This is 2 billion cubic feet more than 12 billion cubic feet distributed by SoCalGas in 2020. In addition, the utility completed five RNG interconnection projects last year located throughout its service territory including the San Joaquin Valley and San Bernardino County. In total there are now nine RNG projects connected to SoCalGas’ system.
As part of SoCalGas’ goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in its operations and delivery of energy by 2045, the utility plans to deliver 20% RNG to core customers by end of 2030 and continues to make significant progress towards reaching its goal.
“Thanks in part to the low carbon fuel standards program, last year more than 14 billion cubic feet of RNG was transported by the SoCalGas’ pipeline system, displacing more than 778,000 metric tons in carbon dioxide equivalent,” said Jawaad Malik, Chief Environmental Officer for SoCalGas. “The establishment of an RNG procurement standard for gas utilities, like the one up for vote by the CPUC could help build on the success of California’s low carbon fuel standard and help bring more renewable natural gas onto our system to accelerate California’s decarbonization goals.”
“These RNG projects are an important step toward helping San Joaquin Valley residents and our dairy industry partners move in the right direction,” said California Assemblymember Devon J. Mathis. “RNG uses existing dairy manure and natural gas infrastructure to deliver a cleaner, carbon-negative fuel to trucks that would replace diesel trucks, reducing air pollution along the San Joaquin Valley’s freeway corridors while providing jobs and revenue sources for our residents.”
The production and use of RNG is growing in California and nationally. There are currently more than 245 operational RNG facilities in the United States, with another 105 under construction and 118 planned. Additionally, over the last five years, RNG use as a transportation fuel has increased 291 percent, displacing close to 7.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).