Biogas: Converting Waste to Energy

This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute describes the process and benefits of using anaerobic digestion to convert organic waste—including livestock manure, food waste, and wastewater—into biogas. It outlines the potential for biogas to provide baseload power, reduce methane emissions, and create jobs in the United States, while detailing the regulatory frameworks and funding programs that support the industry.

• The United States has 2,200 operating biogas systems, which is less than 20 percent of the total potential. There is potential to add over 13,500 new systems, which could create more than 335,000 temporary construction jobs and 23,000 permanent positions.
• Biogas is produced via anaerobic digestion, where bacteria break down organic materials in an oxygen-free environment. The resulting biogas typically consists of 50-70 percent methane and 30-40 percent carbon dioxide, while the remaining liquid and solid material, known as digestate, serves as a soil amendment or livestock bedding.
• Capturing biogas reduces the release of methane, a greenhouse gas that is 86 times more efficient at trapping heat than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. Tapping all potential biogas in the U.S. would reduce methane emissions by an amount equivalent to the annual emissions of 800,000 to 11 million passenger vehicles.
• Biogas can be used for on-site heat and electricity or refined into biomethane (renewable natural gas or RNG). RNG can be injected into natural gas pipelines or used as vehicle fuel (CNG or LNG); it has the potential to replace up to 10 percent of the natural gas used in the United States.
• Livestock manure management contributed approximately 10 percent of all U.S. methane emissions in 2015, but only 3 percent of this waste is recycled by anaerobic digesters. The EPA estimates a potential for 8,241 livestock biogas systems capable of generating over 13 million megawatt-hours of energy annually.
• Food waste constitutes 21 percent of U.S. landfills, with only 5 percent recycled into fertilizer or soil improver. While the EPA and USDA aim to reduce food waste sent to landfills by 50 percent by 2030, anaerobic digestion remains a viable energy source; for example, 100 tons of food waste per day can power 800 to 1,400 homes annually.
• The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a key driver for the industry, as the EPA approved biogas as a qualifying cellulosic feedstock in 2014. As of September 2017, RINs for cellulosic biofuels could earn producers $40/MMBtu.
• Various government programs support biogas development, including the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), which provides grants and loan guarantees, and the AgSTAR program, which promotes anaerobic digesters on livestock farms.

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} }