Is RNG a climate solution or another obstacle to progress ?

My colleague in this column, Janet Parkins, recently wrote about renewable natural gas and its problematic nature as a strategy for FortisBC to make it fossil natural gas more climate friendly.

Since then, there have been letters of support as well as a rebuttal from FortisBC. I thought it would be worthwhile to have another look at this controversial issue.

According to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, global temperatures continue to rise. The last 10 years have been the hottest 10 years since records began being kept in 1880, and last year was the hottest yet.

The main cause is our burning of fossil fuels—coal, methane and oil. The International Energy Agency, made up of 44 countries representing 75% of world global energy demand, stated clearly last year that our only hope to avoid the worst consequences of climate change is to stop developing new sources of fossil fuels and transition rapidly off them.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly said the same thing. Emissions due to burning methane made up 21% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2022.

In his Jan. 10 rebuttal letter, Jason Wolfe, director of energy solutions at FortisBC, discussed the minutiae of why a small amount of RNG (which is produced through biological processes but is nonetheless methane) added to fossil methane reduces its impact on climate change.

It was classic “greenwashing.” Greenwashing refers to promoting the idea that corporate practices or products which are damaging to human health and/or the environment (and the production and burning of methane is both) are actually beneficial. By promoting RNG, FortisBC takes attention away from the facts.

I am not the only one who believes RNG promotion is greenwashing. The non-profit, Stand.earth, along with two B.C. residents, initiated a law suit against FortisBC last year, claiming Fortis’ advertising of methane as a climate friendly source of home heating, and adding 10,000 new methane customers per year, threatens climate progress.

They point out it will be difficult to meet Clean BC’s climate goals without eliminating methane heating from buildings. Also, more than 90% of Fortis’ methane comes from fracking in northern B.C., which has its own set of problems, including extensive water and air pollution and deleterious effects on human and wildlife health.

The Canadian Climate Institute pointed out in 2024 that home heating, along with the oil and gas sector are among the few sectors in Canada whose emissions have not decreased and, in fact, are up 8.8% from 2005 to 2022. The province of Quebec is taking this seriously and is banning all methane heating in residential and commercial buildings by 2040.

While trying to create an image for itself as a company that is trying to do the right thing for the climate, FortisBC is actually trying to stop municipalities, through lobbying, law suits and testifying at public meetings, from bringing in bylaws to limit or exclude new methane hook-ups. It has also asked the B.C. Utilities Commission to allow the expansion of methane pipelines in this province.

It is debatable whether adding a small amount of RNG makes any difference to the negative impact of using methane as a fuel. RNG is still methane, which is a greenhouse gas more than 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. It still leaks into the atmosphere during production, transport and use and is still harmful to human health when used, for instance, in gas stoves.

RNG is also more expensive to produce than fossil methane, one of the reasons why FortisBC, this month, increased prices for B.C. methane customers as it increased RNG in its methane supply from 1% to 2%.

According to Fortis, the average customer will pay an extra $14.25 per month this year. Fresh Energy, a climate policy analysis group in Minnesota, estimated in 2021 that RNG costs three to 18 times more to produce than fossil methane. RNG will never be more than the 15% that FortisBC is promising for 2030 and probably a lot less because of a lack of supply, according to the same group.

Even Fortis itself recognizes RNG is not a long-term solution. In its own 2022 report, it emphasizes other biofuels including syngas from wood, hydrogen from fossil methane, and eventually, electricity. There are more climate-friendly uses of wood waste (biochar) and electricity (heat pumps), while producing hydrogen from fossil methane is just prolonging our use of methane.

FortisBC could follow the example of Puget Sound Energy, a gas and electric utility in Washington state. It has launched a 10,000-household electrification pilot project to help relieve pressure on overtaxed areas of its methane infrastructure, rather than expanding it.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.