Business View Civil Municipal June 2023

11 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 6 Source- naco.org , editor, First Published, 09, May, 2023 Most people would consider sewage sludge an unlikely source of clean energy. However, with new federal dollars available to counties under the Inflation Reduction Act’s energy investment tax credit (ITC), wastewater could become a key tool in helping localities achieve their sustainability goals. According to the most recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Inventory, landfills and waste treatment/discharge account for nearly twenty percent of methane emissions nationally. Given the climate impact of methane, capturing these emissions and harnessing them as renewable natural gas (RNG) to cook meals and heat homes can help counties meet their sustainability goals affordably. Importantly, counties can elect for direct payment in lieu of the ITC for certain energy projects such as wastewater to RNG. Currently, there are 279 operational RNG facilities and a further 460 facilities under construction or planned. Of those operational facilities, 30 are wastewater facilities with 18 more under construction or planned. Yet, there are 15,000 publicly owned wastewater treatment facilities nationally which highlights the tremendous opportunity made available by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). Increasingly, counties are looking to leverage their wastewater facilities as climate solutions by installing anerobic digesters turning sewage sludge into RNG. A recent PIMA COUNTY LEANS INTO INNOVATION TO ENHANCE SUSTAINABILITY OPENING LINES