THE FOUR FATAL FLAWS OF RENEWABLE NATURAL GAS

Gas utilities are telling tall tales about RNG

Laura Feinstein and Eric de Place, Sightline March 9, 2021

Avoiding the worst impacts from climate change will require throttling back on fossil fuels. While many electric utilities in the Northwest are beginning to understand that clean, renewable power is their only possible future, the gas utility sector is taking a different tack with a new pipe dream: renewable natural gas (RNG). These utilities aim to position RNG as the answer to decarbonization. It’s an answer that would allow them to continue to grow their customer base, lock in profits from new infrastructure investment, and green up their image. Unfortunately, their RNG strategy rests on faulty assumptions and fuzzy math, plus a bit of deception. In the next article in this series, we’ll explore some of the deceptive tactics that utilities are deploying. But first we’ll dive into the fundamentals of RNG.

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