Clean Energy Fuels Corp. and Maas Energy Works announced a new joint development agreement to build nine renewable natural gas (RNG) production facilities at dairy farms across seven states. This new endeavor will include dairies located in Colorado, South Dakota, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska and New Mexico, and will collect the manure from a combined herd size of approximately 35,000 cows preventing the methane emissions from entering the atmosphere.

The nine projects, each subject to finalizing diligence before beginning construction, are expected to be completed in 2026 and will produce up to an estimated 4 million gallons of ultra-clean RNG annually, a negative carbon-intensity transportation fuel which will make its way into Clean Energy?s nationwide network of RNG stations. Industry pioneer Maas Energy Works has completed over 60 dairy digester projects over the past decade. The team specializes in lagoon cover digesters which involve a large tarp over a manure lagoon to capture the methane emissions.

This process makes these facilities significantly less expensive to build and operate compared to tank digesters seen at other RNG plants. Financed by Clean Energy, the nine sites are forecasted to cost approximately $130 million in total.