DTE Biomass Energy Acquires Renewable Natural Gas Facilities Near Houston

DTE Biomass Energy, an Ann Arbor-based subsidiary of DTE Energy in Detroit, today announced the acquisition of two landfill gas-to-energy projects in Texas —Ford Bend Power Procedures facility outside of Rosenberg (west of Houston) and the Seabreeze landfill gas development project in Angleton (south of Houston).

Construction of the Seabreeze plant is expected to commence next month.

Fort Bend and Seabreeze bring the number of landfill gas-to-energy projects DTE operates in Texas to three, and gives DTE five facilities company-wide which convert landfill gas to pipeline-quality renewable natural gas (RNG).

The RNG produced at the Fort Bend project is derived from landfill gas, and is processed to pipeline quality standards. The low-carbon fuel is versatile and fully compatible with the U.S. natural gas infrastructure, which is primarily used to power compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas vehicles.

“These landfill gas-to-energy projects support our continued commitment to renewable energy and growing interest in supplying the renewable vehicle fuels market,” says Mark Cousino, president of DTE Biomass.  “We see an increasing demand for natural gas powered vehicles — and RNG production provides a clean, sustainable fuel source with the benefit of reduced emissions over standard fuel.”

Constructed in 2013, the Fort Bend facility generates enough RNG to supply fuel for 560 diesel transit buses annually. Later this year, DTE will increase the project’s output by expanding the plant’s capacity to generate enough RNG to fuel more than 1,000 diesel transit buses. The Seabreeze plant is expected to produce a similar volume.

The acquisitions are consistent with DTE’s recently announced sustainability initiative to help address climate change, Cousino says. DTE Biomass currently operates 21 sustainability projects in eight states.