The RNG Coalition has marked the launch of a new renewable natural gas (RNG) facility at Oakmulgee Dairy Farm in Virginia, highlighting continued progress towards its industry target of 1,000 operational sites across North America by 2030.
The newly commissioned plant, developed by Vanguard Renewables, uses anaerobic digestion and advanced depackaging technology to convert dairy manure alongside food and beverage waste into pipeline-quality RNG.
The project forms part of a joint venture between Vanguard Renewables and TotalEnergies first announced in 2024. Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has been named as the offtaker, with the gas set to support its research, development and manufacturing operations in the United States.
RNG Coalition chief executive Johannes Escudero said the facility represents another step towards the organisation’s 2030 goal under its Sustainable Methane Abatement & Recycling Timeline (SMART) initiative. He noted that co-digestion projects, which combine agricultural and food waste streams, demonstrate how smaller-scale farms can contribute to broader emissions reduction targets.
Such projects work by capturing methane that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere from decomposing organic material. By processing both livestock waste and surplus food products together, they can improve overall efficiency while delivering lower lifecycle emissions.
This approach is seen as particularly beneficial for smaller farms, where combining feedstocks can help make projects financially viable, and for rural areas looking for alternatives to publicly funded waste systems.
The SMART initiative, launched in 2019, aims to address methane emissions from more than 43,000 organic waste sources across North America by 2050.
The RNG sector reached a milestone of 500 operational facilities in 2025 ahead of schedule, and is now focused on doubling that number within the next five years.
RNG Coalition marks launch of Virginia facility as sector targets 1,000 sites by 2030
