RNG as on-road fuel up 17% in 2022
Renewable natural gas (RNG) use to fuel on-road natural gas vehicles rose 17% in 2022 and accounted for 69% of all on-road fuel use in the US last year, Natural Gas Vehicles for America (NGVAmerica) said April 13.
Last year, 663mn gasoline-equivalent gallons (GGE) of natural gas were used as motor fuel; 457mn GGE of that total came from renewable sources, up 17% from 2021 and 218% higher than volumes used in 2018, NGVAmerica and the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition) said.
“RNG-fueled heavy-duty vehicles are a scalable, affordable, and carbon-free-today solution for freight and transit fleets of all sizes,” NGVAmerica president Dan Gage said. “And with the upcoming availability of a 15-liter engine option, commercial fleet applications with the biggest torque and horsepower needs will also be able to transition to ultra-clean renewable natural gas motor fuel and displace diesel, saving on fueling costs and slashing their greenhouse gas emissions.”
Cummins is set to launch a fuel-agnostic 15-liter engine this year capable of running on any fuel, including natural gas, renewable natural gas or hydrogen.
RNG as a motor fuel last year displaced 5.63mn metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions, and its supply is growing steadily, RNG Coalition CEO Johannes Escudero said.
“With 281 RNG facilities transforming waste into fuel, and another 476 planned or under construction, we are increasingly able to affordably offer consumers the opportunity to decarbonise with RNG – the cleanest of any fuel available today,” he said.