Landfill gas powers 64% of U.S. RNG output, report says

New American Biogas Council data says landfill gas projects now produce 64% of U.S. renewable natural gas and account for about three-quarters of captured biogas nationwide. The report also points to more than 700 additional landfills that could be developed, suggesting further room for methane capture and domestic energy growth.

Why it matters: - Landfill gas is now the biggest driver of U.S. renewable natural gas output, making up 64% of national RNG production. - Capturing landfill methane turns a waste stream into fuel and electricity while cutting emissions from gas that would otherwise be released or flared. - The report says the next wave of development could add more domestic energy supply from sites that already exist.

What happened: - The American Biogas Council released new data on July 9, 2026, showing that the U.S. has 598 landfill gas capture systems. - Those systems provide about three-quarters of all biogas captured in the U.S. - Developers brought 20 new landfill gas projects online in 2025. - Those 20 projects added 39.9 billion cubic feet of new biogas capture capacity. - The new capacity represented about 75% of all new U.S. biogas capture capacity added in 2025 across every biogas sector.

The details: - Landfill gas facilities make up fewer than one-quarter of the nation’s 2,580 operating biogas facilities. - Even with that smaller share of sites, landfill gas systems capture about three-quarters of all biogas used for energy. - Landfill-derived RNG supplies about 143.7 million MMBtu a year. - Total investment in landfill gas facilities has reached nearly $14.9 billion. - Nearly $1 billion of that investment went into projects that entered service in 2025. - All landfill gas facilities together capture enough energy to meet the annual needs of nearly 3.9 million U.S. households. - Since the end of 2020, 93 new landfill gas projects have come online, an 18.4% increase. - All but nine of those newest facilities produce RNG. - Nearly three-quarters, or 73%, of landfill gas facilities still use the gas to generate electricity or thermal energy, and those facilities account for more than half of all biogas captured. - The report says more than 559 billion cubic feet of landfill gas is now captured each year across the U.S. - The findings come from the American Biogas Council's Biogas Projects Database. - The council describes that database as the nation’s most comprehensive database of U.S. biogas facilities. - More information and the full report are available here.

Between the lines: - Patrick Serfass, the council’s executive director, framed landfill gas projects as a way to get more energy from resources already available. - The industry mix shows two parallel uses for landfill gas: RNG production is growing fast, but electricity and heat remain important outlets. - The concentration of output in landfill sites suggests landfill methane is one of the easiest near-term sources of additional biogas to develop at scale.

What's next: - The American Biogas Council says about 705 additional landfills are still suitable for development. - Those sites include projects under construction, in planning or identified as future candidates. - ABC estimates those untapped sites could provide as much as 455 billion cubic feet of additional biogas a year. - The council says that opportunity could expand domestic renewable energy production and reduce methane emissions.

The bottom line: - U.S. landfill gas is already a dominant source of RNG, and the report says the sector still has room to grow materially.