Based in West Virginia and Wisconsin, and armed with a pedigrees in natural gas processing and dairy digesters, Northern Biogas saw the positives of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) years before it became fashionable.
Today, Northern Biogas has a rapidly growing portfolio of RNG projects and is aggressively pursuing additional projects and service contracts in the dairy, landfill, wastewater, and food waste industries.
“We are crazy-busy – the whole industry is booming,” said Brad Huxter, Vice President of RNG Services.
Brad is a primary speaker at the first Appalachian RNG Conference, set for April 19, 2023, at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh/Southpointe. The one-day conference is being produced by ShaleDirectories and the H2-CCS Network.
“We are very pleased to have Brad as a speaker at our first Appalachian RNG Conference. Northern Biogas is one of the small companies transformed by RNG into an American success story.” said Tom Gellrich, co-founder of the H2-CCS Network.
Proponents agree RNG provides benefits in terms of fuel security, economic revenues and savings, local air quality and greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Generation of RNG avoids emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas with warming potential 25–34 times greater than carbon dioxide, according to University of Utah data. The prevention of methane emissions gives RNG a negative carbon intensity and provides the primary way to decarbonize the natural gas grid.
As of 2022, more than 173 RNG projects in 31 states are in operation, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data.
Roughly 55% of operating projects in the U.S. generate RNG from anaerobic digester systems most commonly using manure, waste water sludge and/or food waste. The other 45% use landfill gas to make RNG.
Founded in 2009 Northern Biogas grew out of two companies: Trillium Energy Partners with ties to natural gas giants MarkWest Energy Partners (acquired in 2015 by MPLX, part of Marathon Petroleum), Energy Transfer, and Eureka Midstream (acquired in 2019 by Equitrans), and Northern Biogas, a group of dairy farmers who became a leading digester construction contractor and field service provider in and around Wisconsin.
Last September, H.I.G. Capital announced it had acquired a controlling interest in Northern Biogas for an undisclosed price.
As such, Northern Biogas is a unique combination of extensive gas processing and pipeline experience, extensive dairy and anaerobic digester experience, and a strong financial backing. It’s a match made in heaven, and one that continues to drive their success.
Today the company has two sides – one that designs, builds, owns, operates, and maintains RNG facilities – and another that provides plant operations & maintenance, field services and digester engineering and construction for other RNG and power generation project developers.
“The services side of the company, which I’m involved with, provides other RNG developers and project owners with a cost effective, and simple solution for plant O&M, field services, and digester engineering and construction” Huxter said.
Check this against the data on the RNG Coalition’s website, and/or the American Biogas Council’s website, which I would accept as more accurate than what the EPA has.
