Renewable natural gas best diesel replacement, experts say

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Updated Oct 17, 2024
Semi trucking filling up with CNG
A group of industry executives spoke at this year's ATA conference in Nashville, Tennessee about the numerous benefits of renewable natural gas (RNG) as the ideal diesel replacement for long-haul transport.
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Renewable natural gas (RNG) is not only the ideal but also the long-term solution to dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the freight transportation industry, a panel of industry experts told media and other attendees today at the American Trucking Association's (ATA) annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee. 

The panel consisted of two fleet executives: Ryan Bankerd, UPS director of sustainability and Matt Copot, VP of fleet management, Saia LTL Freight. The rest of the panel included: Matthew Spears, executive director of global regulatory affairs at Cummins; Eric Bippus, executive vice president of sales and systems at Hexagon Agility; Brett Lindsay, VP of national accounts at Clean Energy; and Marty Tufte, corporate fleet director of The Transport Project. 

Everyone made strong arguments regarding RNG's multiple benefits. Convincing regulatory bodies, specifically the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), not to penalize fleets for going with RNG remains an ongoing challenge. 

"RNG is not looking like a stepping stone but rather a long-term solution. I don't think there is anything wrong with combustion, whether its natural gas (NG) or hydrogen," said Spears. "The three-way catalyst [internal combustion engine technology] is a very reliable technology. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are masters at coming up with more clean truck checks. It's a mistake to dismiss combustion."

RNG is produced through a process called anaerobic digestion, where bacteria break down organic matter like food scraps, animal manure, or landfill waste in an oxygen-free environment. This generates biogas which is then further purified to remove impurities to become pipeline-ready RNG. This nearly pure methane can be used like conventional natural gas, such as in a combustion engine. This process captures methane that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere, thus making it a renewable energy source.

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Clean Energy, according to Lindsay, remains "fully invested in RNG and dairy production. We currently have 14 dairy projects around the country. We do all of our own maintenance and construction at our stations. With methane, we're taking trash and turning it into transportation fuel."

[Related: Clean Energy's new RNG production facility requires over 2,000 cows]

UPS, meanwhile, has been running thousands of natural gas vehicles for years. The global shipping company has a long history of experimenting with new technologies, including electrification. In fact, it deployed its first EVs in 1954 but immediately faced challenges. 

"If we could have solved [EVs] back then we'd see more on the road today," Bankerd said. "NG just makes good sense today. We've partnered with Cummins and now we're on our fifth generation of engines, specifically the X15N. It's our rolling laboratory. Another question is this: 'Will EVs reduce maintenance costs compared to RNG? We're a completely energy agnostic company. We want to find the right solution for the right route. It has to make financial sense, too. With Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), it has environmental attributes and electrification just isn't where it needs to be, whether it's infrastructure or vehicle costs."

A panel of RNG experts at ATA 2024A group of industry executives discusses the many benefits fleets will experience by utilizing renewable natural gas as a diesel replacement.Clean Trucking

Bankert further stressed that given where electrification and hydrogen technologies are currently at, RNG and CNG are the best choices. RNG also contributes towards a circular economy. 

"Integrating it into our fleet was difficult at first but the rest of the world is now benefiting from 30 years of use from UPS. We drop it off and waste management picks it up. Hexagon and Cummins are also being pushed to build a better product. RNG integration into fleets makes good business sense while [the industry] works through some of the challenges with electrification." 

Moving fleets away from diesel towards RNG or CNG is also a smart decision in regards to maintenance, added Tufte.

"We're technology agnostic, too. There is no silver bullet in this game. From a maintenance aspect, it's just very difficult to do diesel, specifically in California where we were forced to retrofit engines that weren't designed for this and they didn't work well. NG has stayed consistent with price, unlike diesel today. We're going to do what's best for our customers, stockholders, and the environment."

Despite the impression that electrification is the one-stop solution, many policy makers are getting caught up in newer technologies, the panel unanimously agreed. 

"We're seeing a lot of battery electric replace lots of other technologies. Cummins is investing in those applications, too, such as transit buses. There are inroads happening but some of the standards that have been set on unprecedented ambition," added Spears. 

One of those inroads could turn out to be ongoing discussions with CARB. 

"We're talking to CARB on a weekly basis. The Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) and Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulations are an indication of cleaner combustion. Our advocacy has been trying to get renewable fuels equivalent to a ZEV. We have dialed back from that ambition, temporarily, so this doesn't work against fleets [regarding penalties]," Spears continued. "That makes no sense to us. So stay tuned. We have some hope that we'll open the door in a couple of weeks with our next meeting with CARB to offer these vehicles unrestricted so they can be produced and introduced into the market freely [without penalties]. We keep pushing for what makes sense. We don't want to see the cleanest combustion penalized."

Jay Traugott has covered the automotive and transportation sector for over a decade and now serves as Senior Editor for Clean Trucking. He holds a drifting license and has driven on some of the world's best race tracks, including the Nurburgring and Spa. He lives near Boulder, Colorado, and spends his free time snowboarding, climbing, and hiking. He can be reached at [email protected].

Hydrogen Fuel Cell & BEV Survey
The following survey was sent as a link in an email cover message in February 2023 to the newsletter lists for Overdrive and CCJ. After approximately two weeks, a total of 176 owner-operators under their own authority, 113 owner-operators leased or assigned to a carrier and 82 fleet executives and 36 fleet employees from fleets with 10 or more power units had completed and submitted the questionnaire for a total of 407 qualified responses. Cross-tabulations based on respondent type are provided for each question when applicable.
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