Archaea Energy's RNG plant in Indiana starts processing biogas - The Herald-Times

Archaea Energy's RNG plant in Indiana starts processing biogas

New bp renewable natural gas plant comes online at Indiana landfill

MEDORA – A new renewable natural gas plant that turns emissions from a landfill into usable energy in the small community of Medora is now online. Medora is in Jackson County, a few miles from the border with Lawrence County.

Archaea Energy, which was acquired by energy giant bp in December 2022 for $4 billion, announced plans to develop a similar plant at the site in 2020, but it’s unclear whether it was ever operational. The plant converts methane from Rumpke’s Medora Landfill into natural gas that can be used for heating or to generate electricity, according to bp Media Relations Manager Cesar Rodriguez.

The plant has been operational for two weeks, but officially opened Wednesday, according to information Rodriguez provided.

The plant was constructed using bp’s Archaea Modular Design, a method of building new RNG plants on skids with interchangeable components. The Medora plant is the first such plant to come online since the acquisition. The standardized design allows for faster builds, bp said in a news release.

“The site will bring in new technology for the operation,” Rodriguez said. “This is first-of-its-class type of technology.”

Methane is naturally produced by decomposition of organic materials and is a potent greenhouse gas, second only to carbon dioxide in human activity-related emissions in the atmosphere. Methane in Earth’s atmosphere increased by record amounts in both 2020 and 2021, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In 2022, NOAA recorded the fourth-largest increase in methane since measurements began in 1983.

The Department of Energy reports landfills are the third largest source of human-related methane emissions in the U.S.

RNG is produced by refining raw biogas to remove carbon dioxide, water and other trace chemicals. The Medora plant can process 3,200 cubic feet of landfill gas per minute into RNG, which is enough to heat around 13,000 homes every year, according to an EPA calculator cited in the news release.

According to the EPA, the number of RNG facilities operating in the U.S. doubled between 2020 and 2022.

Methane has a global warming potential at least 28 times greater than carbon dioxide, according to the EPA. Methane in the atmosphere is short-lived compared to carbon dioxide and the EPA suggests significantly reducing emissions could rapidly reduce atmospheric warming potential.

Natural gas is considered a cleaner-burning fuel compared to coal and petroleum products, releasing less carbon dioxide per unit of energy.

Jeff Rumpke, area president of Rumpke Waste & Recycling said in a news release, “Our family company is constantly looking for technologies to lessen our overall impact and further our efforts to protect and preserve the environment. The addition of Archaea Energy’s RNG plant at our site will help further reduce emissions and give residents and businesses assurance that their waste is not only being properly disposed of – but also being put to good use.”

The acquisition of Archaea Energy made bp the largest RNG producer in the United States, according to the release. RNG is fully interchangeable with conventional natural gas, according to Department of Energy.

The Medora plant will deliver the processed RNG though existing interstate pipelines, Rodriguez said.

The Medora plant is one of six sites bp plans to bring online in the next year and one of around 40 by 2037.

The plant will employ around five full-time workers.

“It has the potential to really revive the community in a lot of ways,” Rodriguez said. “bp is very much focused on going net zero and renewable natural gas is one of our pillars to go in that direction.”

Reach Jill Bond at jbond@heraldt.com.