Closing the Loop: Harnessing Renewable Natural Gas from Agricultural Waste for Sustainable Farming and Environment

Abstract

Unlocking the transformative potential of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) from agricultural waste holds the key to addressing environmental challenges while revolutionizing sustainability in farming. Agriculture plays a pivotal role in global food production but is also a significant contributor to environmental pollution through greenhouse gas emissions and improper waste management. Livestock farming generates substantial amounts of organic waste, including manure, which releases methane—a potent greenhouse gas—into the atmosphere. The overarching efforts of previous research on this issue derive from environmental agencies outside of the agricultural and RNG spaces, which created a binary approach and were thus unable to assess the full scope of the issues and potential solutions available. Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) production from agricultural waste provides a favorable solution to alleviate these environmental challenges by repurposing organic waste into a renewable energy source. There are significant benefits to the use of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) production sourced from agricultural waste, with a focus on livestock manure, as a solution to environmental challenges in agriculture. This research examines the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions, the utilization of digestate with a focus on a circular economy, potential risks associated with feedstock supply, and the influence of scalability frameworks on RNG implementation. The findings demonstrate the substantial environmental benefits and highlight areas requiring further research and policy development to overcome the limitations and realize the full potential of RNG in agriculture.