The Port of Seattle’s Maritime Division and Economic Development Department has agreed to buy more than 240,000 therms of renewable natural gas (RNG) from Washington-based energy utility Puget Sound Energy (PSE).
The department will use the RNG at all its facilities that currently utilize natural gas, including the top three highest consumers: Pier 66, Terminal 91 and its maintenance facilities. The deal will help the port reduce its carbon emissions by about 1,291 metric tons annually, PSE says.
The agreement is part of PSE’s voluntary RNG program, a key part of the company’s plan achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. The program allows homeowners, renters and businesses to switch a portion of their conventional natural gas consumption with carbon-neutral RNG.
“PSE’s renewable natural gas program will immediately cut our own maritime division greenhouse gas emissions almost in half,” said Port of Seattle Commissioner Ryan Calkins. “That reduction helps us meet goals while implementing longer term solutions to phase out fossil fuels.”
The supply for RNG comes from a long-term agreement with Klickitat Public Utility District. Under the deal, methane from a Washington landfill is captured, transformed into RNG, and directly injected into PSE’s natural gas system.
Under a separate agreement, the port also buys RNG produced from landfill waste to heat the airport terminals and fuel transportation. The purchase has helped cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions from port-owned and -controlled sources such as building facilities and vehicle fleets by 50 percent a decade earlier than schedule.
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PSE's voluntary RNG program also allows utility customers to purchase up to three blocks of RNG for $5 per block.
Each block is the equivalent of 2.732 therms of conventional natural gas use or about 5 percent of the average residential customer’s monthly gas use. For every block of RNG a customer buys, they get a credit on their bill for an equivalent amount of conventional natural gas not consumed. To date, over 5,000 PSE customers have enrolled in the RNG program since its launch in December 2021.
RNG is considered an environmental upgrade from methane natural gas for several reasons. For one, the methane capture is less carbon intensive than extracting natural gas by drilling deep into the earth.
Secondly, it reduces pure methane emissions happening at landfills due to decomposition of organic materials. Methane is considered multiple more times damaging as a greenhouse gas trapping heat in the atmosphere than even CO2, according to numerous energy and environmental experts.
