February 18, 2025. The American Biogas Council (ABC) released new data showing that 2024 was yet another record year for the industry. In the 12 months ending in December, 125 new biogas projects came online, representing over $3 billion in new U.S. investments. New projects in 2024 exceeded new projects in 2023 by 17%, while total investment in those projects increased by 40% compared to investment in projects opened in the previous year.
Biogas projects convert manure, wastewater, food waste, and captured landfill gas into renewable natural gas (RNG), renewable electricity, heat, and natural fertilizer. Overall, these sectors of the industry produced over 10% more biogas in 2024 than in any prior year.
Last year’s new projects bring the total number of biogas facilities in the U.S. to nearly 2,500. These facilities produce nearly 1.4 million standard cubic feet per minute (scfm) of biogas, a reliable source of dispatchable renewable energy. This ongoing flow of energy can produce the equivalent of 15,000 football fields of solar panels, or enough electricity to power 2.4 million homes for a year, or the fuel equivalent to eliminating 2.6 million gasoline cars from the road. Biogas has a carbon intensity of 50% to 700% less than fossil fuels, because biogas projects capture methane emissions that would otherwise be emitted and then use those emissions to displace more emissions from fossil fuels and chemical fertilizers.
“The biogas industry keeps hitting new growth records every year because, as an energy source, biogas just makes sense. It provides much-needed clean electricity, cuts pollution and emissions from transportation, and provides heat-producing fuel for industries, all while managing millions of tons of waste from farms and cities alike,” said ABC Executive Director Patrick Serfass. “In a time when demand for domestic energy is increasing significantly, fertilizer markets are constrained by the Ukraine conflict, and America is striving for energy and industrial dominance, the value of 24/7/365 energy and locally produced, natural fertilizer from biogas projects is undeniable.”