Sacramento County has announced that it will make the switch from liquefied natural gas (LNG) to renewable liquefied natural gas (RLNG) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The county signed a multiple-year deal with Applied LNG.

"We have 60 vehicles that consume more than a million gallons of LNG fuel a year," said Keith Leech, chief of fleet services for Sacramento County. "Converting to renewable LNG will go a long way in reducing our carbon footprint as well as saving the county money."

Renewable liquefied natural gas is produced from bio-methane extracted from a landfill, and represents the recyling of carbon that is already circulating in the environment. It reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by 87% and overall greenhouse gas emissions by 90% and has the lowest lifecycle carbon footprint of all carbon-based fuels available for transportation.

The county adopted renewable diesel a few weeks ago, and Leech said that this announcement brings the fleet's total renewable fuel consumption to over 2 million gallons, or over 50% of total fuel consumption. Earlier this year, Sacramento County also expanded its compressed natural gas (CNG) fleet and purchased fuel cell vehicles.