(Credit: Kinetrex Energy)This week marks the completion of the Indy High BTU plant at the Indianapolis South Side Landfill. The plant, which will be fully operational March 20, will convert landfill methane gas into approximately 8 million gallons of pipeline-quality renewable natural gas (RNG) each year, and in the process, reduce greenhouse gas air emissions in Central Indiana, develop a local renewable resource and lower fuel costs. Indy High BTU is the largest RNG plant in Indiana.
With construction now complete, Indy High BTU will begin supplying Kinetrex Energy with RNG, which Kinetrex will turn into liquefied natural gas (LNG) and sell to Midwest transportation fleets. Kinetrex recently announced a six-year agreement with UPS to supply the global shipping company with up to 52.5 million gallons of liquified natural gas (LNG) for its Class 8, LNG-powered fleets in Chicago, Toledo, Columbus, St. Louis and Indianapolis. LNG engines have 90% lower emissions than the cleanest diesel.
In a somewhat similar move in late 2019, Dominion Energy and Vanguard Renewables announced a more than $200 million, nationwide strategic partnership to convert methane from US dairy farms into clean RNG. Multiple projects are currently under development in Georgia, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah with additional projects planned nationwide. Under the partnership, Dominion Energy will own the projects and market the RNG, and Vanguard Renewables’ subsidiary, Clean Energy Investment USA dba Vanguard Renewables A,g will design, develop, and operate the projects.
The decomposition of organic landfill material creates methane, a potent greenhouse gas if released into the atmosphere. According to the US EPA, methane is 28 times stronger than carbon dioxide.
