Southern Company Gas 2022 Sustainability Executive Summary Final 4.19.23 - Flipbook - Page 33
Renewable Natural Gas
RNG is created by capturing naturally
occurring methane from existing waste
streams, such as those at landfills, farms,
water resource recovery facilities and
food waste sites. RNG is considered a
carbon-neutral energy source at the
point of use, not a fossil fuel, although it
functions just like natural gas and can be
used without updating or replacing
existing natural gas appliances,
equipment and infrastructure.
Our Renewable Gas team develops and executes our strategy for growing RNG capabilities, which will further reduce our
environmental impact while creating new revenue streams. In 2021, we took ownership of the Methane Recovery Facility
at the Meadow Branch Landfill, operated by our new subsidiary, Southern Company Gas Renewables. The RNG facility
captures gas produced by the landfill and upgrades it to pipeline–quality gas that can be used by any natural gas
appliance or other end-user. Assuming control of the RNG plant will enable us to offer RNG to our local distribution
companies, including their automotive fleet. In 2022, the facility produced over 465,000 MMBtu of RNG—enough to
serve about 7,300 Tennessee homes and avoid over 24,000 metric tons of CO2.
Next Generation Natural Gas
Southern Company Gas aspires to provide customers with
natural gas that is sourced, transported and distributed by
companies that have pledged to reduce methane emissions
to less than 1% across the natural gas value chain. Virginia
Natural Gas has entered into new agreements with several
natural gas suppliers, and as of November 2022, up to onethird of its customers’ annual demand was supplied with
NextGenGas. In 2022, Nicor Gas announced the purchase
of responsibly sourced natural gas from ENGIE Energy
Marketing. This natural gas supply was certified by Project
Canary’s TrustWell® responsibly sourced gas certification
standard and was estimated to meet the annual demand
requirements of 48,000 customers.
2022 Sustainability Executive Summary
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