Tracking Biogas Industry Trends

By the American Biogas Council

The American Biogas Council (ABC) expects more than 100 new biogas projects to come online in the U.S. in 2024, continuing the industry’s rapid growth trajectory.

In 2023, 96 new biogas projects became operational, pushing the total number of active U.S. biogas projects to 2,251, which represents $39 billion in capital investment. The new projects produce 66,000 standard cubic feet per minute (SCFM) of biogas — an electricity equivalent to 4,000 football fields of solar panels, to powering 600,000 homes or to eliminating 600,000 gasoline cars from the road.

In 2023, landfill gas (LFG), continued to dominate in terms of both total investment and biogas output. The U.S. currently has 566 LFG projects, including 23 new projects added in 2023. The growth accounted for 57% of 2023 capital investments and 67% of new biogas production capacity. This equates to a 5% growth in the LFG sector, which has historically represented a large portion of all biogas projects.

Across the U.S., 70 new agricultural biogas projects were added, a growth rate of 13.4% These represent capital investments of $700 million and are contributing 21,000 SCFM of biogas output.

While robust growth continues in the U.S. biogas industry, much opportunity remains untapped. At least 15,000 new biogas systems could be built—more than 6.5 times the 2,251 projects that are operating today. The U.S. produces nearly 1.3 billion tons of organic waste each year including food waste, farm animal manure, and wastewater biosolids. As the industry grows, biogas projects will continue to further reduce methane emissions from these wastes, instead capturing the methane to use as renewable fuel.

The ABC has helped to drive this growth and thus reduce GHG emissions by providing education and advocacy, industry data, and problem-solving through networking opportunities. For membership and more information go to americanbiogascouncil.org

For more information and biogas projects, read BiogasWorld’s US Biogas Magazine.