Research

Analysis and data

Independent research on methane policy, destruction economics, and the gap between what the RNG industry promises and what it delivers.

Policy Analysis|8 min

The Subsidy Trap: Why RNG Economics Collapse

RNG only works when you stack LCFS + RINs + 45Z. Remove any one leg and the economics collapse. That is not infrastructure. That is arbitrage.

March 15, 2026Read analysis→

Data|12 min

The 17,500 Sites Left Behind

A 1,000-head dairy has real methane. It will never get an RNG project. Neither will 90% of swine operations or small municipal wastewater plants.

March 1, 2026Read analysis→

July 17, 2026

Methane Science|5 min readJuly 17, 2026

The Methane a Flare Cannot Reach

A dairy makes methane two ways, and cap-and-flare reaches only one. The honest limit is also where the affordable manure win lives.

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July 13, 2026

Policy Analysis|5 min readJuly 13, 2026

The Ton the Carbon Market Won't Buy

Voluntary offset registries will pay to destroy farm methane, but their verification and additionality rules price small dairies out of the credit.

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July 10, 2026

Farm Advocacy|8 min readJuly 10, 2026

The Digester That Stopped Running

The federal AgSTAR database lists digesters that have shut down. When a complex system fails, the farmer is left holding the loan. Fund the methane destroyed, not the hardware built.

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July 6, 2026

Affordability|8 min readJuly 6, 2026

The Cheapest Ton of Carbon Is Sitting in a Manure Lagoon

Methane from a manure lagoon does damage worth thousands of dollars a ton, and destroying it costs a fraction of that. On cost per ton, it is one of the cheapest climate actions available.

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July 3, 2026

Consumer Protection|8 min readJuly 3, 2026

The RNG Surcharge Lands Hardest on the Poorest Households

A renewable natural gas premium is charged at a flat rate per unit of gas. That makes it regressive, falling heaviest on the homes that spend the largest share of income on heat.

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June 29, 2026

RNG Comparison|8 min readJune 29, 2026

What the Digester Actually Produces

RNG projects are credited on the gas they were projected to make, not the gas they meter. A flare destroys the methane that is actually there.

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June 26, 2026

Methane Science|5 min readJune 26, 2026

The 98 Percent Nobody Measured

Regulators credit flares at 98 percent destruction. A 2022 Science study measured the real average at 91. Farm methane policy should require proof.

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May 25, 2026

Farm Advocacy|6 min readMay 25, 2026

The 283 Cow Test for Methane Policy

The average U.S. dairy farm milks 283 cows. A methane program that cannot work at that scale helps a few big sites, but it is not a farm policy.

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May 22, 2026

Methane Science|6 min readMay 22, 2026

Burning Methane Is Climate Math

Combusting methane looks counterintuitive, but the chemistry explains why verified destruction deserves policy credit.

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May 18, 2026

Affordability|6 min readMay 18, 2026

Every Methane Grant Should Publish Its Price Per Ton

Methane funding should show public cost per verified ton, not just equipment paid for or fuel volume produced.

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May 15, 2026

RNG Comparison|5 min readMay 15, 2026

The Upgrader Is Not the Climate Device

RNG can make sense at the right scale, but policy should not confuse gas upgrading with the methane cut happening at the farm.

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May 11, 2026

Affordability|5 min readMay 11, 2026

The Methane Credit Should Follow the Meter

Affordable methane policy should pay for verified destruction over time, not only big installations up front.

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May 8, 2026

Consumer Protection|6 min readMay 8, 2026

The RNG Surcharge Needs a Methane Receipt

If utility customers pay for renewable gas, they deserve proof of methane destroyed and cheaper alternatives considered.

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May 4, 2026

Farm Advocacy|6 min readMay 4, 2026

Milk Checks Cannot Carry the Methane Fix

The U.S. lost 39 percent of its dairy farms between 2017 and 2022. Methane policy that asks shrinking milk checks to finance public climate work will fail.

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May 1, 2026

RNG Comparison|6 min readMay 1, 2026

A Unit of Fuel Is Not a Methane Cut

RNG policy pays for fuel volume, but the atmosphere only responds to methane destroyed. The two metrics diverge, and the difference shapes who gets paid.

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May 1, 2026

Methane Science|6 min readMay 1, 2026

A Methane System Is Only as Good as Its Worst Leak

An eight-year study of 98 California dairies found rare digester leaks near 1,000 kg per hour. Methane policy has to fund monitoring, not just equipment.

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April 27, 2026

Methane Science|5 min readApril 27, 2026

The Lagoon Is a Methane Machine

Why liquid manure storage turns farm waste into fast warming methane, and why simple destruction should count before fuel markets.

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April 27, 2026

Affordability|6 min readApril 27, 2026

The Methane Bill That Starts After Installation

Grants cover up to 75 percent of methane equipment costs, then stop. The monitoring, maintenance, and operating work that keeps emissions down is unfunded.

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April 24, 2026

Consumer Protection|7 min readApril 24, 2026

The 'Renewable' Label Is an Accounting Entry

The renewable label on utility gas bills is an accounting certificate. The molecules are the same fossil methane, sold to consumers at a premium.

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April 22, 2026

RNG Comparison|7 min readApril 22, 2026

Twelve Miles from the Nearest Pipeline

Most U.S. dairy farms are too far from gas pipelines for renewable natural gas to be viable. Methane destruction works everywhere. The map tells the story.

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April 17, 2026

Methane Science|7 min readApril 17, 2026

What Methane Destruction Actually Means

A guide to methane destruction technologies and why destroying methane, not just capturing it, is the number that matters in farm climate policy.

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April 14, 2026

RNG Comparison|7 min readApril 14, 2026

The Leak Between the Digester and Your Stove

Measured methane losses across the RNG supply chain run well above reported figures, undercutting the climate math behind billions in public investment.

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April 10, 2026

Farm Advocacy|7 min readApril 10, 2026

The Paperwork Problem in Farm Methane

Methane incentives exist on paper, but application burdens shut out the small and mid-size farms that produce most of the uncaptured emissions.

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April 10, 2026

Farm Advocacy|7 minApril 10, 2026

The Cost of Doing Nothing About Farm Methane

Every year that farm methane goes unaddressed, the atmospheric damage compounds. For mid-size dairies, the math is brutal and the options are few.

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April 10, 2026

Methane Science|7 min readApril 10, 2026

The Twenty-Year Number: Methane's Real Damage

Climate rules measure methane over 100 years. Over 20 years it traps roughly 80 times more heat than CO2, and that choice decides what gets funded.

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April 10, 2026

Consumer Protection|7 min readApril 10, 2026

Voluntary RNG Programs Had Almost No Takers

When utilities gave customers the choice to pay for renewable natural gas, almost nobody opted in. The industry responded by making it mandatory.

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April 10, 2026

Farm Advocacy|8 min readApril 10, 2026

What Methane Actually Costs a 400-Cow Dairy

For a mid-size dairy farmer, methane is not an abstract climate problem. It is a line item with no revenue attached and growing regulatory exposure.

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April 8, 2026

Consumer Protection|7 min readApril 8, 2026

Who Pays for Renewable Natural Gas?

RNG costs flow through ratepayer bills, not investor returns. Consumers subsidize pipeline methane projects without knowing it.

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April 7, 2026

RNG Comparison|8 min readApril 7, 2026

What It Actually Costs to Destroy a Ton of Methane

A direct cost-per-ton comparison between RNG upgrading and enclosed flaring reveals a gap that policy has ignored for a decade.

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April 7, 2026

Policy Analysis|7 min readApril 7, 2026

The EQIP Bottleneck: Funding That Skips Farms

USDA's primary conservation program funnels methane money to large operations while thousands of small dairies wait years or never apply at all.

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April 7, 2026

Policy Analysis|6 minApril 7, 2026

Forty-Seven States Have No Methane Incentive

Only three states offer credit programs for farm methane reduction. The other forty-seven leave thousands of operations with no economic path to act.

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April 7, 2026

Affordability|7 min readApril 7, 2026

No Lender, No Project: The Capital Gap

Even the cheapest methane destruction technology cannot reach most farms because no financing product exists to fund it.

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April 7, 2026

Policy Analysis|8 min readApril 7, 2026

State Climate Programs Measure the Wrong Methane Metric

State renewable gas programs report fuel volumes injected, not methane destroyed. The gap decides which projects get funded and which farms get ignored.

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February 15, 2026

Technical|10 minFebruary 15, 2026

Methane Slip: The Number the RNG Industry Buries

RNG reports 85-95% capture, but 5-15% methane slip in processing and transport erodes the claim. Enclosed flares destroy 98% or more on-site.

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February 1, 2026

Policy Analysis|7 minFebruary 1, 2026

Destruction vs. Monetization: A False Choice

Flare-only projects get zero LCFS incentives. Zero RINs. The policy framework rewards complexity over outcomes.

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January 15, 2026

Economics|9 minJanuary 15, 2026

The Economics of Enclosed Flares at Sub-Scale Sites

At $200K-$500K per unit versus $8-25M for an RNG facility, enclosed flares can reach thousands of sites that will never see pipeline injection.

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