Now, all our customers can have access
to renewable natural gas (RNG)
Understand your RNG purchase
When you buy RNG, you're taking part in Quebec's collective movement to reduce GHG emissions by replacing a fossil fuel with renewable energy. Find out more about the RNG purchasing and distribution process.
When you buy RNG, you're doing your part for the planet by helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Your purchase directly replaces fossil energy with renewable energy.
In North America, RNG flows in the same network as traditional natural gas. Renewable and traditional natural gas molecules intermingle and are completely interchangeable. Because of this, there's no way to know which gas is powering your appliances.
Énergir guarantees that your RNG purchase is included in the total volumes it purchases from RNG producers. All the renewable natural gas purchased replaces fossil energy in a one-to-one ratio. This process is even verified by the Bureau de normalisation du Québec.
Your RNG purchase is real and is clearly detailed on your energy bill. You're directly contributing to the collective energy transition.
Together, we'll help meet the challenge of decarbonization head-on.
Renewable natural gas: energy with a future
Reduced GHG emissions
Renewable natural gas (RNG) is a 100% renewable source of natural gas that reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in two ways: First, by replacing fossil fuel with renewable energy, and second, by diverting organic waste that produces methane emissions in landfills.
Value-added waste
Turning table scraps into RNG is easier than you think! Residual organic matter becomes a valuable energy source when transformed into RNG. In addition, the process creates an all-natural fertilizer that can be used on garden beds and farms alike.
Locally produced energy
Did you know that your municipality can produce renewable natural gas using your organic waste? Well, it turns out that it’s a very effective municipal waste management solution..
Organic waste that pays off
Waste with energy to spare: I’ll buy that! RNG production can be an opportunity for municipal governments, farmers and various industries to turn their organic waste into new revenue streams.
Shining the spotlight on RNG producers
To meet the growing demand for renewable natural gas, Énergir deals with suppliers from all over Quebec and North America.
Meet our first producer: Saint-Hyacinthe
Saint-Hyacinthe was the first city in Quebec to produce energy through biomethanation and move one step closer to energy independence. Implemented in partnership with Énergir, this initiative will heat municipal buildings and fuel city vehicles while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This project will, in time, lead to an annual reduction of 25,000 tons of greenhouse gas. It's a great example of a community repurposing waste to produce renewable energy.
Coop Agri-Energy Warwick
Coop Agri-Énergie Warwick is the first agricultural cooperative dedicated to renewable energy production in Quebec. Since the spring of 2021, it has brought together a dozen agricultural producers from the Arthabaska MRC who produce RNG from slurry and dairy cattle manure mixed with residual organic matter from local businesses. The biomethanation facilities were developed, built and are now run by Coop Carbone, a non-profit cooperative solidarity that develops cooperative agricultural biogas projects.
Quebec
Starting in 2023, the City of Québec will be injecting renewable natural gas into Énergir's network. The Quebec Agglomeration Biomethanation Center (CBAQ) is currently under construction. The plant will treat:
- food residues (86,600 tons/year)
- biosolids (a product of the wastewater treatment plant) (96,000 tonnes/year).
Thinking of becoming a renewable natural gas producer?
We have developed an information guide (available in French only) for those with an interest in renewable natural gas projects (RNG).
Looking for a site suitable for renewable natural gas production?
We mapped the federal census of agriculture (2021) to help developers position their projects at the center of organic deposits and close to our network.
Want to know more about RNG?
Through a process of biomethanation, organic matter (food waste, slurry, manure, wastewater, etc.) is transformed into biogas, which once purified becomes renewable natural gas.
This product reduces greenhouse gas emissions in two ways: first, by replacing fossil energy with renewable energy, and second, by avoiding methane emissions associated with the disposal of organic waste at landfill sites.
Renewable natural gas is recognized by Natural Resources Canada as a renewable energy and clean fuel that will help Canada achieve its new net-zero emission targets. In addition, according to the Government of Québec’s Regulation respecting mandatory reporting of certain emissions of contaminants into the atmosphere, greenhouse gas emissions for RNG are very low and comparable to hydroelectricity emissions (0.30 kg CO2-eq/GJ for RNG vs. 0.44 kg CO2-eq/GJ for hydro).
Yes, if it is produced from a renewable source. There are five main sources of renewable energy: the sun, the earth (geothermal energy), wind, water and organic matter. In the case of RNG, the raw material is residual organic matter. Be it table scraps, wastewater, slurry or farm manure, these materials all have very short renewal cycles.
Énergir is working hard to reduce the carbon footprint of the natural gas it distributes, and it believes that RNG is one of the ways to get there. Its aim is to have RNG represent 5% of the gas injected into its existing network by 2025, replacing traditional natural gas. The cities of Saint-Hyacinthe and Québec already have production projects underway. And the province has the potential to do so much more! This is why our teams are hard at work mobilizing all actors involved in developing these promising projects throughout Québec.
Our wish is to get the full value out of every item of food. However, we are aware that no matter how much we try to reduce food waste, certain organic materials such as pits, skins and peels will never be eaten. With RNG, we want to reuse the organic materials that end up in brown bins to give them a powerful second life.
Énergir firmly believes that making complementary use of a variety of energy sources is the most effective way to reduce greenhouse gases. As we always say, you need the right energy in the right place!
That’s why we rely on RNG as a greener energy source in cases where using electrical power would be too complicated, such as heating a large building or when a flame is required for an industrial process
We have developed an information guide (in French only) for those with an interest in renewable natural gas projects (RNG).
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