Americans are facing higher costs across the board, and practical, innovative energy solutions are urgently needed.
Rising prices for food and other consumer staples create difficult long-term challenges. There is one overlooked opportunity in our supply chain that will allow us to help offset these rising costs now: leveraging America’s most strategic and low-cost energy asset – domestically produced natural gas and renewable natural gas produced from existing waste — as a low-cost fuel for heavy duty trucking.
Lowering the cost of transporting goods with these affordable, domestic fuels will result in lower prices for consumer goods across the board, including food on grocery store shelves and toys during Christmas, increasing affordability for all Americans.
Natural gas is an abundant, domestically produced low-cost fuel available today that is cheaper, cleaner, and ready to scale as a transportation fuel for heavy-duty trucking. This is a real, near-term opportunity to reduce the cost of moving goods across this country.
The cost of natural gas and RNG for heavy-duty fleets consistently sit comfortably below $2.00 per gallon and is delivered over existing pipeline infrastructure. Heavy-duty trucks capable of running on natural gas and RNG have been developed and can be produced and deployed at scale today from existing U.S.-based production facilities.
The supply chain exists to deliver these stable and consistent cost savings for truck fleets that can be reliably passed directly back to consumers. Natural gas and RNG also provide cleaner and healthier air in communities across the country and run considerably more quietly than existing equipment on the road.
What the industry needs now is a clear, consistent set of rules from Washington and the Environmental Protection Agency consistent with the president’s energy dominance agenda that will allow the market to work.
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Clear and consistent policy will encourage those investing in RNG production, fueling stations, the truck and fuel system manufacturers and fleets looking to convert their fleets to expand the use of natural gas and RNG with confidence, bringing investment, jobs, cleaner air and lower costs for all Americans.
As a result of previous administrations’ short-sighted truck rules, which were overburdensome and unworkable, the natural gas trucking industry has not yet been able to operate at scale. Now is a unique moment where the Trump administration and the EPA could put us back on track with a solution that has a myriad of economic, energy security and air quality benefits. All that is required is the EPA to administer the Renewable Fuel Standard as the law states and is their mandate.
Each year, the EPA determines the volume of renewable fuels that should be blended into the U.S. fuel supply — including RNG. RNG and its growth and participation in the Renewable Fuel Standard is the catalyst to drive natural gas trucking adoption, create economies of scale and unleash its full potential for our economy. Early fleet adopters of natural gas trucks rely on shared economics from RNG producers through the Renewable Fuel Standards program to offset the price of their trucks.
This seemingly obscure technical process of the EPA setting volumes correctly and as the law states in the Renewable Fuel Standard carries huge economic consequences, potentially determining whether natural gas can be further leveraged as an American energy success story or a missed opportunity to boost the nation’s economy.
The savings are already evident for fleets that have adopted natural and renewable natural gas – and we should encourage more. When it costs less to move freight, it costs less to buy goods.
The manufacturing infrastructure is in place too. Companies like Cummins are building natural gas engines in Jamestown, New York — American-made technology powering American-made trucks with American fuel. The operating model doesn’t need to be invented; it’s here and working today.
What’s missing is not technology or new policies, but regulatory certainty. The EPA has the authority to unlock broader adoption of natural gas and RNG by administering the Renewable Fuel Standard in a way that reflects real-world supply, demand, and infrastructure. When the EPA rules are clear and consistent, the market responds, investment increases, fleets expand, and consumers benefit.
The EPA has an opportunity to seize this moment and help consumers through allowing the natural gas trucking sector to reach its full potential. Americans are watching and hope that policymakers directly address the cost and affordability challenges that they face day-to-day.
The opportunity is clear. All that remains is for policymakers to let it work.
Adam Comora is the co-CEO of OPAL Fuels, a leader in production, marketing and distribution of renewable and compressed natural gas for heavy-duty trucking.