Shell starts work at its first US RNG facility
A US division of Royal Dutch Shell started production at a biomethane facility in Oregon, its first in the country, the company said September 28.
Shell Oil Products US said it started production at a facility that could produce as much as 736bn Btu/yr of so-called renewable natural gas (RNG), which draws on cow manure and agricultural residue as a feedstock.
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Shell said the start of operations at the Oregon facility represents a milestone in its pursuit of more RNG in its portfolio.
“Biomethane has a significant role to play in the energy transition, and this achievement advances our strategy as we work to reduce emissions from the fuels and other energy products we sell,” said Carlos Maurer, the executive vice president of sectors and decarbonisation at Shell.
The company pointed to two similar facilities under development in Kansas and Idaho that together could yield another 900bn Btu/yr of natural gas that it said has a negative carbon intensity.
Oil majors and developing companies alike are touting their progress in cleaner energy products as the energy transition accelerates.
Apart from landfills, which emit methane as organic waste decomposes, farms are playing a larger role in the energy transition. Waste-to-gas company Brightmark started work in June on three RNG projects in Michigan that will rely on animal waste as a feedstock.
Situated in rural parts of western and southern Michigan, the three projects will combine to use digestors to help process dairy cow manure into RNG. As with UGI's projects, all three will feed processed gas into regional pipeline networks.