2019 Bioenergy Sustainability Conference
The Feasibility of Renewable Natural Gas in New Jersey
Authors
Bates, J. - Presenter, PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies
Chandra, B. - Presenter, PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies
Dyer, A. - Presenter, PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies
Galindo, J. - Presenter, PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies
Tran, C. - Presenter, PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies
Olivier, V. - Presenter, PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies
To determine the feasibility of renewable natural gas (RNG) in New Jersey, the following was achieved: development of financial and environmental models for different biogas resources in New Jersey, specifically landfills and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), determination of the effect of RNG on GHG emissions at different levels of penetration, analysis of the different incentives that are needed to drive the RNG market in NJ, research of successful RNG projects around the United States, and validation of the most beneficial way to implement RNG in New Jersey. The data show that the implementation of RNG has the potential to reduce the amount of GHG emissions and if properly structured with incentives could contribute meaningfully to the Clean Energy Economy of New Jersey. The financial and environmental models for landfills and WWTPs were compared to demonstrate the most beneficial implementation of RNG in New Jersey. Given similar incentives, the average profit margin of landfills greatly exceeds that of WWTPs by tenfold, in addition to the payback period for landfills being half of the payback period for WWTPs. The analysis indicates that landfills are found to be more beneficial for RNG production compared to WWTPs. Environmentally, landfills have larger RNG production compared to WWTPs, therefore, landfills will have larger GHG emissions reductions. The RNG potential of landfills greatly exceeds that of WWTPs when comparing the total amount of homes that can be heated using RNG: 89,500 homes for landfills and 21,500 homes for WWTPs.