Brightmark RNG Holdings LLC – a joint venture partnership between Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and Brightmark Fund Holdings LLC, a subsidiary of Brightmark LLC, the global waste solutions provider – delivered first gas at its Lawnhurst site in Western New York. The previously announced partnership owns project companies across the United States to produce and market dairy biomethane, a renewable natural gas (RNG).

"Achieving first gas at Lawnhurst Farms is a tremendous milestone not only for the Lawnhurst Project, but also for Brightmark's RNG production ambitions as a whole," said Bob Powell, founder and chief executive officer of Brightmark. "It marks a major step as we continue to prove the economic viability and notable lower-carbon benefits of partnering with Chevron and our country's essential farmers to help reduce carbon emissions."

“Chevron and Brightmark are teaming to capture methane from dairy operations across the country so we can repurpose it into transportation fuel considered by California to be carbon negative on a lifecycle basis,” said Andy Walz, president of Chevron’s Americas Fuels & Lubricants. “First gas at the Lawnhurst site is the first of many milestones we expect in our partnership with Brightmark, supporting our commitment to meet customers’ growing demand for renewable products.”

Lawnhurst Farm is one of three farm partners in Western New York involved in the Helios Project. Each have signed supply agreements with Brightmark indicating their intent to provide the company with dairy manure from their herds that will serve as feedstock for the three existing anaerobic digesters on the farms. The digesters are designed to capture, extract, and clean the methane in the manure, then convert it into renewable natural gas – when all three digesters are online, they are expected to produce almost 187,000 MMBtu per year, which is enough to drive approximately 3,000 18-wheeler trucks from San Francisco to New York City.

“We are proud to partner with Brightmark to further reduce our impact and to ensure that we continue to be good neighbors to our local community by using a digester to capture and convert methane for beneficial use as renewable natural gas,” said Don Jensen of Lawnhurst Farms. “By partnering with Brightmark, we are able to turn our manure waste into a valuable resource for our farm and our community.”

"New York has long been an engine for innovation that lifts up every resident of our expansive and diverse state," said Congressman Tom Reed. "Brightmark’s milestone will deliver significant benefits to our citizens and farmers of Western New York, while serving as a model for the positive confluence of modern technology and agriculture right in our own backyard."

KeyFacts Energy: Chevron US country profile