Brandon Moffat, co-founder of StormFisher, assesses current North American penetration and untapped feedstocks for renewable natural gas.
Assertion Supported
Moffat: Dairy RNG hits -500g CO2 carbon intensity compared to fossil gas
“Fossil natural gas has a carbon intensity over
60 grams of CO₂ per unit whereas renewable gas is typically lower carbon landfill gas probably being the closest to fossil natural gas, anywhere from a 20 to 40 grams of CO₂, whereas a dairy project could be like …”
Assertion Supported
Moffat: JPL found capped California landfills remain major methane emitters
“The Jet Propulsion Lab did, flew the landfills in California, as an example, and even though they had landfill gas capture, they still were a major emitter of methane.”
Insight
Moffat: 10–20 year utility RNG contracts beat volatile spot subsidies
“I actually am totally fine with moving gas to a utility at a lower price, because they're usually willing to sign terms, so 10 or 20 years, and so that just makes lots of logical sense versus a highly volatile LCFS and RIN market.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Moffat: RNG sector will see buyer attrition due to operational complexity
“Other ones is going to be an entirely new kettle of fish that's going to be really hard for them to be able to figure out because you've got to go manage this, these facilities, and there are smaller volumes, and they require more attention, and so I would say…”
Assertion Supported
Moffat: Synthetic methane costs over $30/MMBtu with near-zero carbon intensity
“It is going to be more money, so you're going to be in the over 30 dollars in MMBT to be able to sell it, and your carbon intensity is not going to be negative. It's going to be hovering around zero or a little higher depending on your renewable mix that you p…”
Assertion Partly supported
Moffat: Canadian natural gas delivers 8,000 petajoules versus 3,000 for electricity
“I think the north, or the Canadian electricity grid on a total energy basis is like two to 3000 petajoules of energy. The natural gas system for both home heating and industrial use is like 8000 petajoules, and so you're not going to be able to get away from g…”