Port of Seattle to Halve Carbon Emissions with Renewable Fuel Contract
Commission also approves pilot study to measure carbon sequestration in Elliot Bay
The Port of Seattle Commission approved a contract to enable the Port to reach its 2030 goal to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent, almost a decade early.
This long-sought major milestone, voted on at the Commission meeting on April 14, 2020 (Agenda item 8a), results from an authorization for a 10-year supply contract with U.S. Gain for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), a low-carbon natural gas alternative produced most often from landfill waste. RNG produces no new carbon emissions because it replaces fossil fuels and recycles existing carbon in the atmosphere.
The $23 million contract allows the Port to purchase enough fuel to heat 55 percent of the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) terminal and to power 100 percent of its bus fleet to reach its 50 percent port-wide carbon reduction goal. SEA will be the first airport in the country to utilize RNG for heating.