Biogas: Converting Waste to Energy

The United States produces over 70 million tons of organic waste annually, yet utilizes less than 20 percent of its biogas potential. By employing anaerobic digestion to process livestock manure, food waste, and crop residues, the U.S. could add 13,500 new biogas systems, creating over 350,000 total jobs and significantly reducing methane emissions. Biogas can be used for on-site heat and power or refined into renewable natural gas (RNG) for pipelines and vehicles, with the potential to replace 10 percent of U.S. natural gas. Key policy drivers include the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and various USDA and DOE funding programs, though some face appropriation reductions.

• The United States has significant untapped capacity for biogas production, with only 2,200 operating systems currently representing less than 20 percent of the total potential. There is potential to add over 13,500 new systems, which could generate 335,000 temporary construction jobs and 23,000 permanent positions.
• Biogas can be refined into renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as biomethane, which can be injected into existing pipelines or used as vehicle fuel. RNG has the potential to replace up to 10 percent of the natural gas used in the United States, and specifically could replace 56 percent of the natural gas used for vehicle fuel.
• Utilizing biogas reduces potent greenhouse gas emissions; methane is 86 times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Tapping all U.S. biogas potential would reduce methane emissions by an amount equivalent to the annual emissions of 800,000 to 11 million passenger vehicles.
• Livestock manure management is a major methane source, contributing about 10 percent of all U.S. methane emissions in 2015, yet only 3 percent of this waste is recycled via anaerobic digesters. The EPA estimates a potential for 8,241 livestock biogas systems capable of generating over 13 million megawatt-hours of energy annually.
• The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a primary investment driver for the industry. Since 2014, the EPA has approved biogas as a qualifying cellulosic feedstock, allowing producers to earn renewable identification numbers (RINs) valued at $40/MMBtu as of September 2017.
• Anaerobic digestion provides environmental and economic benefits beyond energy, such as reducing water pollution and creating a nutrient-rich digestate. This digestate can be sold as fertilizer, livestock bedding, or soil amendments, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers.

APA

Tanigawa, S. (2017). Biogas: Converting Waste to Energy. Environmental and Energy Study Institute. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-biogasconverting-waste-to-energy

Chicago

Tanigawa, Sara. Biogas: Converting Waste to Energy. Environmental and Energy Study Institute, 2017. https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-biogasconverting-waste-to-energy.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tanigawa |first1=Sara |title=Biogas: Converting Waste to Energy |publisher=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |date=3 October 2017 |url=https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-biogasconverting-waste-to-energy |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tanigawa2017biogas, author = {Tanigawa, Sara}, title = {{Biogas: Converting Waste to Energy}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-biogasconverting-waste-to-energy}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }