Leading policy, industry, and technical experts highlight renewable natural gas as a climate strategy and current experience, trends, and opportunities in U.S. states and regions.

1. Webinar:
The Role of Renewable Natural Gas in State
Climate Policy

2. Tom Cyrs, Research Associate, WRI United States

3. BACKGROUND ON WRI RNG INITIATIVE
• For several years, WRI has conducted independent research
on RNG as a climate strategy, facilitating greater awareness
and understanding of RNG and its environmental impacts as
well as approaches for evaluating resource potential, market
opportunities, and policy options.
• We’ve done this through:
• Convenings and dialogue – bringing together stakeholders
across academia, government, and industry to inform our
work and identify needs
• Research – distilling latest data and stakeholder insights into
series of working papers and blogs on RNG as a climate
strategy
• Outreach – engaging with key audiences including
policymakers and general public

4. WHAT IS RENEWABLE NATURAL GAS?
• Renewable natural gas (also known as biomethane) typically refers to waste-derived fuel that is
interchangeable with fossil natural gas
• Common sources include landfills, food waste, animal manure, and wastewater
• RNG projects have the potential to:
a) contribute to more sustainable waste management;
b) reduce methane emissions from organic wastes; and
c) displace fossil fuels in heavy-duty vehicles, heating appliances, and other applications
Figure| Biogas and RNG fuel characteristics and common end uses

5. WHAT ARE THE CLIMATE IMPACTS OF RNG?
Figure| Lifecycle carbon intensity by feedstock Example | Food waste RNG lifecycle:
RNG climate impacts vary considerably from
feedstock to feedstock
• Sources of emissions in RNG pathway may include energy
for gas cleaning and upgrading, fuel combustion, and
methane leakage along the pathway
• “Credits” in RNG pathway can include avoided methane
emissions/flaring from landfill
• Projects most likely to yield climate benefits when:
a) they are derived from wastes, and
b) they result in a real reduction in methane emissions

6. WHAT IS THE ROLE OF RNG IN DECARBONIZATION?
Where can it be deployed?
• RNG supply from organic wastes unlikely to be sufficient to fully decarbonize any one sector
• Modeling of building and transportation sectors finds that RNG can nonetheless play a significant complementary role
• RNG’s unique attributes likely to be best leveraged when displacing fossil fuel use in hard-to-abate sectors
How much can be produced?
• “Wet waste” sources could yield as much
as 780-1,400 BCF (equivalent to 4-7% of
current natural gas consumption)
• Addition of “dry” feedstocks could bring
total to upwards of 2,000 BCF
(equivalent to 11% of current natural
gas consumption)
• These resources come with different
considerations regarding feasibility and
environmental impacts
Figure| National resource potential by feedstock

7. WHAT ARE COMMON BARRIERS AND KEY POLICIES?
Key takeaways:
• Policy incentives have driven and will continue to drive RNG markets moving forward
• Variety of options and frameworks still evolving, including fuel mandates, public financing, and other enabling incentives
to streamline regulation or improve feedstock availability
• Key is to encourage deployment that: a) yields net reduction in methane emissions; and b) provides clean fuel option in
otherwise hard-to-abate sectors

8. Expert Speakers
Rebecca Smith, Senior Energy Policy Analyst, Oregon Department of
Energy
Sam Spofforth, Chief Executive Officer, Clean Fuels Ohio
Chris Voell, Head – Waste, Recycling & Biogas Advisory, Danish
Trade Council, North America

9. 9
Renewable Natural Gas in Oregon
Rebecca Smith
Senior Policy Analyst
January 26, 2021

10. 10
• Oregon Context
• Recent RNG Legislation in Oregon
• RNG-Related Programs and Policies
• Oregon RNG Inventory
• Utility RNG Program
• Clean Fuels Program
Agenda

11. OREGON CONTEXT
11
• Oregon has three natural gas utilities – NW Natural,
Cascade, and Avista
… but many rural areas of state without NG service

12. • Renewable Portfolio Standard – 50% by 2040
• GHG reduction goals – 75% below 1990 levels by 2050
• Multnomah County goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2035 and 100% renewable
energy by 2050
• Clean Fuels Program – decrease carbon intensity of transportation fuels
• Signatory to the Multi-state Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle MOU
Major Clean Energy Policies
OREGON CONTEXT
12

13. RECENT RNG LEGISLATION IN OREGON
• 2017 SB 334
Directed ODOE to inventory RNG resources in the state
• 2019 SB 98
Directed OPUC to adopt by rule large and small utility RNG
programs
• 2021 HB 2535
Would provide property tax exemption for facility producing
hydrogen using electrolysis or renewable natural gas
13

14. 14
ODOE directed to:
• Estimate the potential production
quantities of biogas and RNG in OR
• Estimate the energy content of biogas
available at each site
• Document the location of existing biogas
production facilities
• Assess the supply chain infrastructure
associated with each type of biogas
Gross annual potential from AD = 10 billion scf
About 4.5% of Oregon’s annual NG use
Total annual potential CH4 = 50 billion scf
About 22% of Oregon’s annual NG use
Emissions reductions potential of 2 MMTCO2e w/
RNG as stationary fuel
Emissions reduction potential of 2.3 MMTCO2e
from using RNG in place of diesel
Oregon
RNG
Inventory

15. OREGON RNG INVENTORY
15
Source – Anaerobic Digestion Annual CH4 Production scf3
Agricultural manure 4,639,626,825
Landfill 4,351,052,420
Wastewater 1,225,228,606
Waste food 138,571,656
SUBTOTAL 10,354,479,507
Source – Thermal Gasification Annual CH4 Production scf3
Agricultural harvest residues 22,686,775,137
Forest harvest residues 16,998,108,771
SUBTOTAL 39,684,883,908

16. OREGON RNG INVENTORY
Recommendations
• Allow NG cos to buy/sell RNG to and
for their customers.
• Allow NG LDCs to recover pipeline
interconnection costs through rates.
• Develop voluntary gas quality stds
for injection of RNG into pipeline.
• Explore financial incentives.
Next Steps
• Practical statewide RNG potential (as
opposed to theoretical potential).
• Lifecycle economic analysis of RNG
production pathways.
• Tracking and accounting for RNG in
transport and stationary fuel use.
• Detailed economic analyses.
16

17. Oregon Utility RNG
Program Rollout
• SB 98 (2019) allows NG utilities in Oregon to
buy and sell RNG to retail customers and
invest ratepayer funds in infrastructure for
acquisition, processing, transport, and
production of biogas and RNG in Oregon.
• Costs and benefits shared by all ratepayers.
• NG utilities defined as large or small based on
whether have greater or fewer than 200,000
customer accounts in Oregon.
• Large NG utilities have annual spending cap of
5% of annual revenue.
• Annual volumetric caps for RNG, beginning at
5% in 2020 and reaching max of 30% by 2050.
17

18. • Rulemaking tackled questions related to:
• Defining and tracking environmental attributes associated with RNG
• How utility RNG programs might interact with CA’s Low Carbon Fuel
Standard and Oregon’s Clean Fuels Program
• Utility cost-recovery mechanisms
• Rules for small NG utilities
• Reporting requirements
OPUC Rulemaking (2019-2020)
OREGON UTILITY RNG PROGRAM ROLLOUT
18

19. • Defining and tracking
environmental attributes
• Interaction with clean fuels
programs
OPUC Rulemaking (2019-2020)
OREGON UTILITY RNG PROGRAM ROLLOUT
19
• Carbon intensity of particular
source of RNG
• For each dekatherm of RNG,
attributes represented by
renewable thermal certificate
(RTC)
• RTCs tracked via M-RETS
• Book and claim tracking

20. Oregon Clean Fuels
Program
• Administered by Oregon DEQ.
• Commenced in 2016 with goal of
reducing average carbon intensity of OR’s
transportation fuels by 10% over 10 years
(2015-2025).
• Governor’s EO 20-04 amended goal to
20% below 2015 levels by 2030 and 25%
by 2035.
• Regulated entities are importers of
gasoline, diesel, ethanol, and biodiesel.
• Credits are generated by entities who
provide fuel with a lower CI than the
standard gas or diesel it is substituted for.
20

21. OREGON CLEAN FUELS PROGRAM
21
Year Average CFP Credit Price
2016 $51.30
2017 $48.09
2018 $84.06
2019 $147.95
2020 $128.12
1 CFP is equal to one metric ton of CO2e not
emitted as a result of the use of the fuel as
compared to a fuel that precisely met the CFP. -
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Diesel
Gallon
Equivalent
(DGE)
Annual Volume of Bio-CNG and Bio-LNG in the Oregon Clean Fuels Program
Bio-CNG Bio-LNG

22. OREGON CLEAN FUELS PROGRAM
22
OREGON CLEAN FUELS PROGRAM CREDITS BY FUEL TYPE

23. WHAT’S NEXT FOR RNG IN OREGON
NW Natural seeking RNG for its utility RNG program
• Announced partnership with BioCarbN Jan 2021 to convert
methane from some Tyson Foods facilities in U.S. into RNG
– option to invest up to $38 million
• Could produce up to 1.2 billion Btu/year of RNG
Four new RNG production facilities in various stages of
development
• Two wastewater treatment plants – Eugene and Portland
• AD dairy waste – Tillamook
• AD food and ag waste, FOGs – Junction City
ODOE to continue work on RNG analysis
23

24. Questions + Comments
Rebecca Smith
Senior Policy Analyst
Oregon Department of Energy
rebecca.smith@oregon.gov
(503) 373-7955

25. Sam Spofforth, Chief Executive Officer, Clean Fuels Ohio
Sam@CleanFuelsOhio.org

26. Experiences from Denmark
Chris Voell, Head - Waste, Recycling and Biogas
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Trade Council of North America
+1 202-797-5324 / +1 240-877-4745 / chrvoe@um.dk
RNG Implementation

27. 27
Denmark ‘lay of the land’
 National Climate Goal:
- 70% reduction of GHG emissions 2030
- Agriculture, transportation and energy
are primary target sectors
• Ag/Food Sector:
• 2/3 of Denmark under ag land
• 25% of all export is ag and food related
/ 6.5% of the workforce.
- Goal - climate-neutral by 2050
- 21% of Danish GHG from agriculture:
55% is methane

28. From Farm-Based to Industrial
Scale
Biogas Plants
 Pre-2012: ~50 individual on-farm and
~56 wastewater
 Post 2012: ~40 centralized co-
digestion-to-RNG plants (processing
300K – 1M tons each/year)
Feedstock
 13% food/organic waste 
yields 53% share of biogas (co-
digestion)
 15% of total manure is used for
biogas production
28
On-farm cluster projects
Individual farm based
projects
Industrial plants
Landfill Gas
Wastewater plants
The size of the circles indicate the amount of biogas produced per
plant

29. Biogas/RNG Growth in Denmark
Why a priority since mid 1980s?
 Transformation of the energy system
 Reduces imported fuels, increase national
energy supply, flexible applications
 Agricultural Waste Management
 Large livestock population,
manure must be land applied,
nutrient economics
 Climate impact
 Job creation
 Export of know-how
How did we get there?
 Environmental Regulations
 Professionalization of the Industry
 Energy Infrastructure
 Value of Biogas – Govt Subsidy
 Cross-Sector Collaboration
 Controlling In- and Off-Take
 Farmer Buy-In (Cooperatives)
29

30. A Patchwork of Policy Drivers and Incentives
30
Green
Growth
Policy
(2009)
Energy
Agreement
- Feed in
Tariffs
(2012)
Resource
strategy
(2013)
National
Gas Distri-
bution
(2019)
Energy
Agree-
ment
(2019)
70 %
reduction in
2030
(2019)
“One company - One vision”
Continued investment in the grid
Bio-methane in the grid
18.1$/GJ
Taxes on consumption of
fossil fuels
New subsidy scheme pending (~40 mil. $
yearly for 20 years)
50% of household waste
for reuse in 2023
Specific targets at the
municipal and city levels
Climate Goal
From 2020, new buses must be
CO2 neutral - 8% blending
requirement with bio-fuel
Goal: 50% manure used for biogas
30% investment grant (max. 7.5 mil Euro)

32. The Danish RNG Model
Biogas integrated part of a circular economy
Co-digestion of manure and food waste
Economy of scale: Large scale plants
Cooperative: 20-50 farmers supply and co-own
Newest plants are putting gas to the grid
‘Biogas plants’ much more than just energy

33. European Frontrunner in RNG
 In 2020 renewable natural gas
constituted 15% of the Danish gas
consumption.
 Four-fold increase since 2012 due to 40
plants connected to the natural gas grid.
 RNG mainly produced from manure and
waste products biogas.
 In 2023 RNG is expected to constitute
25-30% of the Danish gas consumption
based on under construction plants
33
Denmark is the country in Europe (and
most likely the world) with the highest
share of RNG in the gas grid.

34. Side 34
Electrification is a Key Solution … But Cannot Stand Alone
Gas consumption, 2030 (PJ)
Natural gas;
11.000.000 MMBtu
Biogas;
21.000.000 MMBtu
Transport, 2030 (PJ) Industrial, 2030 (PJ) Projected fossil
consumption 2030:
~ 290.500.000 MMBtu
Estimated fossil
consumption after
maximum
‘theoretical’
electrification:
~ 74.000.000 MMBtu
25% remaining
DK
energy
outlook
(Frozen
policy)
Fossil;
196.000.000 MMBtu
RES;
16.000.000
Fossil;83.500.000
MMBtu
RES;
136.500.000
MMBtu
Natural gas;
11.000.000 MMBtu
Biogas;
21.000.000 MMBtu
Fossil; 13.000.000
MMBtu
RES;
205.500.00 MMBtu
Fossil;
50.000.000 MMBtu
RES;
105.000.000
MMBtu
After
max.
electrification
* Danish Energy Agency

35. Questions?
35
Waste, Recycling & Biogas Advisory
Chris Voell, Head, chrvoe@um.dk, 202-797-5324
LinkedIn
Twitter

36. Expert Panel
Rebecca Smith, Senior Energy Policy Analyst, Oregon Department of Energy
Sam Spofforth, Chief Executive Officer, Clean Fuels Ohio
Chris Voell, Head – Waste, Recycling & Biogas Advisory, Danish Trade Council,
North America
Tom Cyrs, Research Associate, WRI United States
Dan Lashof, Director, WRI United States (Moderator)

37. A special thanks to UPS Foundation and WRI RNG
Working Group Members
Read the Renewable Natural Gas as a Climate Strategy: Guidance for
State Policymakers at https://www.wri.org/publication/renewable-natural-gas-
guidance