March 24 is National Agriculture Day — a fitting moment to spotlight one of farming's less-recognized contributions: turning methane emissions into homegrown energy through biogas.

Biogas isn't a new concept. Farmers and utilities have been capturing methane from organic waste for decades. But new data from the American Biogas Council (ABC) confirms that the industry is accelerating, and agriculture is leading the way.

A $2 Billion Year for U.S. Biogas

According to the Biogas Council’s latest figures, 70 new biogas projects came online in 2025, representing more than $2 billion in new domestic investment. That pushed the total number of U.S. biogas facilities to nearly 2,600 systems nationwide, collectively capable of powering 5.2 million homes for a year.

Industry-wide biogas capture capacity grew 7.5% in 2025, reaching 780.7 billion cubic feet (Bcf) per year. That's a meaningful jump — and agriculture deserves much of the credit.

Agriculture Leads New Growth

Agriculture led all sectors in new methane capture in 2025. Forty new farm-based biogas projects came online last year, the result of $835 million channeled into farms and small towns across the country. Total biogas capture on farms grew 11% to 99 Bcf per year.

The process is straightforward in concept: animal manure and other organic farm waste naturally emit methane as they decompose. Instead of letting that methane escape into the atmosphere — where it's a potent greenhouse gas — biogas systems capture it and put it to work as fuel or electricity. It's a win for the environment, a win for farmers who can generate on-site energy or sell renewable natural gas (RNG), and a win for rural economies.

Most new agricultural biogas projects in 2025 were built to convert captured gas into Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) for use as a transportation fuel, reflecting strong demand for low-carbon fuel alternatives.

UGI Energy Services is contributing to this growth firsthand — with dairy farm RNG projects spanning upstate New York, through ventures including Cayuga RNG and Ag-Grid Energy, and extending to South Dakota, where our MBL Bioenergy joint venture captures manure from multiple farm clusters to produce approximately 650 million cubic feet of RNG annually.

Beyond the Farm: Landfill Gas, Wastewater, and Food Waste

Three other organic waste streams are making important contributions.

Landfill gas (LFG) is actually the single largest contributor to U.S. biogas by volume, accounting for 72% of all biogas captured nationwide despite comprising fewer facilities than farm-based or wastewater systems. In 2025, the sector added 20 new landfill gas capture projects, bringing the total to 599 facilities and representing $912 million in investment — 43% of all capital deployed in biogas last year. LFG production capacity grew 8% to 559 Bcf per year. While many newer landfill projects are designed to upgrade biogas to RNG, most LFG facilities still generate renewable electricity rather than pipeline-grade RNG.

Wastewater treatment plants host the largest number of U.S. biogas facilities at 1,232 active systems — accounting for roughly half of every biogas site in the country. This is also the most mature segment of the industry; the oldest biogas facilities in the country, dating to the 1920s, are at wastewater treatment plants.

While growth was modest in 2025, reflecting the sector's long history, new opportunities remain. One such project is Capital Region Water’s Energy Recovery Improvements Project at its Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility, scheduled to come online this year. The Project upgrades existing equipment from 1984 and expands the Facility’s renewable energy capacity. Learn more here [insert news story link following March 20 open house].

Food waste is a sector to watch. Investment in food-waste-only biogas projects more than doubled in 2025, reaching $325 million, and pushed food-waste biogas output up 18% to 28 Bcf per year. As municipalities look for alternatives to sending organic waste to landfills, standalone food waste digesters are gaining momentum fast. Beyond the 124 dedicated food-waste systems, another roughly 200 agricultural and wastewater facilities also co-digest food waste alongside manure or biosolids. 

Homegrown Energy, Untapped Potential

The numbers are impressive, but the Biogas Council estimates the U.S. could support more than 17,000 additional biogas systems — capable of producing up to 25 gigawatts of around-the-clock renewable electricity and deploying up to $450 billion in capital investment. That's a significant untapped opportunity, particularly for agricultural communities.

As National Agriculture Day reminds us, American farms do far more than feed the country. They're also a source of homegrown, reliable energy — and the biogas industry is turning that potential into reality, one project at a time.

Data sourced from the American Biogas Council's 2025 Data Digest. Charts courtesy of the American Biogas Council.