Why ‘Renewable’ Natural Gas Is a False Climate Solution
by 350VT Member, Greg Dennis
Relying on any kind of gas for fuel only exacerbates the climate crisis. Yet gas companies in Vermont and elsewhere are promoting so-called “renewable” natural gas (RNG) as a solution to the escalating climate emergency.
In reality, “renewable” natural gas:
Costs ratepayers more
Results in little if any reduction in greenhouse gases
Impedes cheaper low-emission alternatives
Locks in risky, costly infrastructure
Slows a just transition off fossil fuels, and
Perpetuates greenwashing and phony solutions.
Let’s take a closer look.
What is RNG?
“Renewable” natural gas, more accurately called biomethane, is biogas that has been extensively treated for use in heating, cooking and electrical generation. Biogas comes from sources like landfills, sewage treatment plants and livestock farms. Treating and distributing it releases various greenhouse gases.
Why Is Biomethane — “Renewable Natural Gas” – Bad?
Truly renewable, green energy — like solar and wind — is essential in alleviating the worst impacts of global warming. Green energy is sustainably renewed by sunlight and wind, and it can safely replace dirty fossil fuels on a broad scale.
By comparison, methane — whether from natural gas wells (often fracked), pipeline emissions or as treated biogas — is a potent greenhouse gas. It’s over 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide at trapping dangerous levels of heat in the atmosphere. Burning gas also releases large amounts of CO2, another greenhouse gas,
Corporations that profit from gas have increasingly promoted the term “renewable” for their product — even though virtually everything they sell is a dirty and unrenewable fossil fuel. Government regulators often use this corporate language and refer to biomethane as RNG.
There are some situations where capturing waste energy is good for the environment. But biogas generally isn’t one of them.
Some forms of biomethane, including from livestock farms, are neither natural nor renewable. Biomethane produced from manure relies on industrial-scale farms and carbon-intensive inputs like animal feed and bedding, which are usually produced elsewhere and trucked in from miles away.
Biomethane created from landfill gas relies on extracting biogas from a garbage dump, treating it and placing it within existing pipelines to be burned, thereby contributing to a hotter, less stable climate. You might say RNG stands for “really not good.”
What about cost?
In addition to harmful climate effects, biomethane is more expensive to produce. Vermont Gas (VGS) ratepayers are charged extra for it. Expanding its use is also a more costly approach than climate-friendly measures such as weatherization, electrification and energy conservation.
Why does this matter in Vermont?
In the Northeast and Canada, VGS has approval from Vermont government to purchase and sell massive amounts of biomethane from the Seneca Meadows landfill in western New York. This controversial facility is the height of the Statue of Liberty and covers the equivalent of 267 football fields. It’s associated with higher cancer rates, drinking water pollution, odors, dust and polluting truck traffic.
Nonetheless, Vermont policies actually reward this approach and allow VGS to claim biomethane is cleaner and renewable.
What are the problems with Vermont’s policies?
Vermont has granted special protection to biomethane through the Affordable Heat Act (AHA). This new law strongly incentivizes the use of wasteful, high-emission biofuels. It allows biomethane to be awarded Vermont “clean heat credits” — even though virtually all that polluting gas will not even be burned in Vermont.
Vermont Gas received approval from the state Public Utility Commission (PUC) for its Seneca Meadows plans. The PUC is a quasi-judicial body appointed by the governor and is supposed to be acting in “the long-term public good of the state.”
Approval of VGS’s biomethane contract was appealed by a VGS ratepayer, with support from 350Vermont. The appeal was heard in October 2023 by the Vermont Supreme Court, whose decision is pending.
What are other impacts in Vermont?
Extending the extraction and burning of gas locks Vermont into an energy infrastructure that is unsustainable over time — because this infrastructure exists to perpetuate climate-busting fossil fuels. Reinforcing this infrastructure also makes it even more difficult for the state to meet the legally mandated requirements of the Global Warming Solutions Act.
The special treatment the state gives to biomethane facilitates classic greenwashing, by allowing gas to be inaccurately labeled and promoted as clean.
Expanding the use of biomethane also diverts resources from safer and far more efficient efforts such as weatherization and broader electrification powered by solar and wind. What’s more, when biomethane gets “clean heat credits” for gas burned elsewhere, it imposes fresh impacts on people out of state, without achieving a net reduction in Vermont’s own emissions.
What can you do?
Congratulations! You’ve already taken the first step of getting educated about greenwashing and the risks of biomethane. Tell your friends about it — and how 350Vermont is working for a just transition to a truly clean-energy future for all.
We’re building public pressure against all forms of gas. Make your voice heard by writing to your elected state legislators. Consider writing a letter to the editor or a Front Porch Forum post. Get involved in one of our local nodes or a future action. And if you’re not already receiving our email updates, sign up here.
