Brightmark RNG Holdings, a joint venture between Chevron USA Inc. and Brightmark Fund Holdings, has opened its Eloy Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) center, producing pipeline fuel by capturing methane from dairy operations.

Eloy RNG will produce RNG using anaerobic digesters at the Caballero Dairy farm in Arizona, Brightmark said April 10. Described as a circular technology, anaerobic digesters capture animal manure and convert it into RNG, fertilizer and water—all of which are recycled into the agricultural and energy systems for reuse.

“The Eloy circularity center’s beauty resides in its use of technology based on ambient temperature with the Arizona heat,” said Brightmark LLC CEO Bob Powell. “It presents an excellent opportunity for RNG to be generated in higher amounts, promoting lower-carbon intensity solutions.”

RNG is formed when contaminants such as CO2, water and hydrogen sulfide are removed from methane to elevate the gas into pipeline quality. RNG can be used in the same ways as fossil gas but has a much lower carbon intensity.

The facility, the JV’s first in southwest U.S., also uses solar heating for farm lagoons. The company said the manure expected to be processed at the circularity center will be equivalent to planting over 37,000 acres of forest annually.

“Moving to a future energy economy with lower carbon intensity requires ambitious goals, continuous innovation, and pragmatic solutions,” said Andy Walz, president of Chevron Americas Products. “Continued development in renewable natural gas projects creates new, lower carbon-intensity solutions for transportation, industry and customers.”

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