Renewable natural gas (RNG) provider Clean Energy Fuels and producer Maas Energy Works are joining forces to build nine RNG production facilities at dairy farms in seven states, the companies said this week. The Maas Energy-built facilities will provide fuel to Clean Energy Fuels’ network of RNG stations, which serve transportation fleets nationwide.
The project involves collecting manure from the dairy farms and capturing the methane emissions to produce RNG—a process that uses dairy digester technology, which prevents the methane emissions from entering the atmosphere and instead allows companies to harness it for other purposes. The project will collect the manure from a combined herd size of roughly 35,000 cows at dairies located in Colorado, South Dakota, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, and New Mexico.
The nine projects are expected to be completed in 2026—pending final due diligence before construction, according to the companies—and will produce an estimated 4 million gallons of ultra-clean RNG per year.
Maas Energy Works has completed more than 60 dairy digester projects over the past decade using lagoon cover digesters; essentially, the process places a large tarp over a manure lagoon to capture the methane emissions. “This [joint venture] brings together expertise from a seasoned RNG developer and producer and Clean Energy’s extensive RNG distribution network and growing RNG customer base,” Clay Corbus, senior vice president at Clean Energy, said in a statement announcing the project. “We are excited to continue our long working relationship with the team at Maas Energy Works to get these facilities online and producing pipeline quality RNG to help supply our transportation fleet customers with clean fuel to help them meet their sustainability goals.”
