Analyst Insight: Renewable Natural Gas

As the demand for renewable generation continues to grow, natural gas-powered generation has become a target for decarbonization. Despite its carbon emissions, the dispatchability and relative resiliency of natural gas offer distinct advantages over alternative generation. Renewable natural gas (RNG) has the potential to offer these same advantages, while also serving as a net-zero fuel source. Importantly, renewable natural gas has the advantage of being compatible with existing infrastructure—it can be used interchangeably with conventional natural gas. As such, blending RNG into existing infrastructure provides a pathway to supporting decarbonization of the value chain in the near term while maintain the dispatchability and resiliency benefits of natural gas.

Europe and Asia Pacific are expected to be the main hubs of RNG production going forward, thanks in large part to strong policy support in those regions. The global renewable natural gas market has been constrained by high production costs and scalability concerns—obstacles that will need to be addressed in order for RNG to fulfill its potential as an net-zero alternative to conventional natural gas.

This Guidehouse Insights report focuses on renewable natural gas. Within Guidehouse Insights’ DER Database, renewable natural gas is captured as a part of “other renewables,” a category that includes biogas and biomass. The DER database provides an overview of 14 DER technologies grouped across four distinct parts of the value chain that generate, manage, and consume electricity. Despite their distinct characteristics, all of these technologies usually operate behind the meter (BTM) at customer facilities. In some cases, the technologies are owned and operated by actors outside traditional utilities, such as the technology owner or third-party service providers and aggregators.