Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has broken ground on a renewable natural gas (RNG) production facility at South Fork Dairy in Dimmitt, Texas. Construction of anaerobic digesters and the processing plant is forecast to cost approximately $85 million with expected completion in 2025, the company said in a July 24 press release.

The dairy farm, home to a 16,000-cow herd, will produce RNG made from organic waste that Clean Energy said receives a negative carbon-intensity score.

Clean Energy said the South Fork Dairy facility is set to be one of the biggest RNG production developments in the country with an anticipated annual production 2.6 MMgal. RNG fuel produced at the site will make its way into Clean Energy's nationwide network of stations.

The South Fork project will help the farm monetize sizeable amounts of manure waste while also benefiting from the environmental credits an RNG facility brings, Clay Corbus, senior vice president of renewables at Clean Energy, said in a press release.

"The project not only helps us convert our waste into a clean, useable sustainable fuel, but it also helps us with managing manure which for a dairy of our size is quite a feat,” said Frand Brand, owner of South Fork Dairy. “We do this while simultaneously reducing our environmental footprint – it's a direction I hope many other dairies will look to pursuing."

Agriculture accounts for nearly 10% of U.S. greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Capturing methane from farm waste can lower these emissions. RNG is a transportation fuel made entirely from organic waste and reduces GHG emissions by an average of 300% compared to diesel, according to Clean Energy.

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