In 2021 Vitol invested in a European company, Waga Energy, which has developed a unique model to capture landfill gas, a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, and produce a renewable substitute for fossil-based natural gas.
Two billion tonnes of waste are generated annually, 70% of which ends up in landfill. Over a 20-year period, landfill waste emits methane, a gas with a warming potential 84 times greater than CO2.
Waga Energy uses a turnkey solution, the Waga box, to convert the gas produced at landfill site into biomethane which can be both injected into the grid, or compressed and placed into transport.
Waga Energy is an investment which is aligned with a core strategy of building strategic relationships with leading low-carbon energy producers to participate in the development of low-carbon energy product markets. The company has had over 10 sites in use for the last 3 years, with plans to scale annual production to 2.1 Twh by 2025.
Vitol will take the renewable natural gas to market, via the pipeline grid and LNG, thereby replacing fossil fuel gas with gas generated from waste and reducing CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and methane releases from landfill.