Game Changer: From Garbage to Gas
Appleton, Wis. – April 23, 2018 – U.S. Gain’s President Mike Koel is no stranger to taking risks. He was the force behind the division’s formation in 2009 when he identified the demand for providing fleets with clean, cost-effective alternative fuel options. Since then, GAIN® Clean Fuel has worked alongside transportation companies across the country to supply compressed natural gas (CNG) as an alternative fuel. For many fleets, CNG has become their fuel of choice due to its financial and environmental benefits.
Over the last year, Koel and his team have embraced a new challenge—to become a leading renewable natural gas (RNG) supplier. In procuring processed methane generated from landfills, farms, and wastewater treatment facilities, RNG improves local air quality and provides fleets access to an even cleaner fueling alternative.
Through vertical integration, flexible business management, and strategic risk-taking, GAIN® Clean Fuel has recently expanded the availability of its RNG offering through its now operational RNG plant at Woodland Meadows Recycling and Disposal Facility in Van Buren Township, Michigan. Woodland Meadows is a regional facility that provides safe and convenient disposal services for communities, businesses, and industries serving the Detroit Metro and surrounding areas.
“RNG is one of the few alternative fuels that creates air quality improvements during the fuel production process as well as when used as a transportation fuel,” says Bryan Nudelbacher, director of business development for GAIN® Clean Fuel. “This truly positions companies using RNG for sustainability success.”
In partnership with Ameresco, Inc., a leading independent provider of comprehensive energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions, and Waste Management, Inc., the largest environmental solutions provider in North America, GAIN® Clean Fuel is bringing the RNG (generated from the landfill) to market for use within the transportation sector. Traditionally, landfill gas is flared onsite, but current technologies allow the gas to be captured and made into a cleaner alternative fuel.
In a well-to-wheel heavy-duty trucking comparison to diesel, RNG produced from landfill gas can provide an 85% reduction in greenhouse gases, 75% in nitrous oxides, and 98% in particulate matter. Well-to-wheel comparisons consider the lifecycle emissions of a product—from production through usage and disposal—providing fleets with a comprehensive comparison versus simply comparing tailpipe emissions. With several other landfill, dairy, and wastewater treatment facility projects in the works, GAIN® Clean Fuel is dedicated to expanding the availability of RNG.
“We are committed to working closely with various producers throughout the development process. By obtaining gas rights, ensuring compliance, investing in clean-up equipment, and project financing, we dispense the highest quality RNG to forward-thinking organizations,” says Koel. “Furthermore, we’re focused on expanding our station network to maximize accessibility to RNG and excited about the partnerships to come.”
