Florida’s First Landfill Gas-to-RNG Facility Fully Operational – Fuel Smarts

Renewable natural gas (RNG) provider Opal Fuels announced that Florida’s first landfill gas to RNG facility at the New River Solid Waste Association municipal solid waste landfill has successfully completed its ramp-up period.

Located in Raiford, the facility captures naturally occurring biogas from the decomposition of organic material at the landfill and refines it into RNG, a usable low-carbon fuel.

The RNG will be used to feed Opal Fuels’ transportation customers at the company’s fueling stations via the Peoples Gas distribution system, Florida’s largest natural gas distribution utility, serving about 445,000 homes and businesses.

“Through our vertical integration model, from production through distribution, Opal Fuels is committed to providing our customers with cost effective, reliable transportation fuel that results in zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions,” said Adam Comora, co-CEO of Opal Fuels in the statement. “Working together with NRSWA, this facility produces new revenue streams, new jobs for the county, and provides cost savings for our customers — enabling companies to achieve net zero now at a discount.”

The RNG facility has a nameplate capacity of 2,500 SCFM of landfill gas, which when processed would result in the production of approximately 5 million gasoline gallon equivalent per year of RNG. This RNG, when used as transportation fuel to displace diesel, will avoid GHG emissions equivalent to achieving zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions from about 380 heavy-duty trucks.

Additionally, the process of refining the biogas results in significant reductions in local emissions, including approximate decreases of 95% in carbon dioxide emissions, 90% in nitrogen oxide emissions, 90% in carbon monoxide emissions, and 98% in sulfur oxide emissions, according to the company.

The NRSWA municipal solid waste landfill is a publicly owned waste facility formed as an association of three member Florida counties: Baker, Bradford, and Union Counties. The association also accepts contracted waste from out-of-region locations.

“This is the first project in Florida to convert gas from a municipal solid waste landfill to RNG and we are happy we have been able to lead the way,”  added Perry Kent, executive director of NRSWA. “This project is one more step toward New River becoming a fully sustainable solid waste treatment facility.”