CNX Resources Corp. has invested in a California-based biotechnology firm that makes a biodegradable plastic substitute out of methane.

The value of the equity investment was not disclosed, but CNX has committed to a 15-year deal with NewLight Technologies Inc. in which the Cecil-based oil and gas company will supply some of the methane for the production of the biomaterial.

CNX already pulls methane from coal mines and burns it, which decreases the climate impact of the gas. If vented directly into the atmosphere, methane has many times the global warming potential carbon dioxide. Based on this accounting, CNX estimated last year that the company is carbon negative.

NewLight says the same of its process. Founded nearly a decade ago, the company uses ocean microbes that feed on methane and produce a material it calls AirCarbon, which mimics the properties of plastic.

It then converts that ocean bug waste into several products, including eyeglass frames, leather-like wallets and phone covers, and disposable utensils. If these materials end up in the ocean, as so much of the plastic used today does, they will degrade there through the same biological process that brought them into being, the company says.

NewLight plans to build a manufacturing facility at the Long Ridge Energy Terminal in Hannibal, Ohio, where a natural gas powerplant is titrating increasing amounts of hydrogen into the fuel mix.

According to a press release, “The strategic partnership, with CNX capturing methane gas to support NewLight’s manufacturing needs, is expected to result in several manufacturing facilities in the Appalachian region and advance critical decarbonization goals while boosting area economic activity, capital investment, and job growth.”

The statement says that CNX will gather, process and deliver methane through its existing and new pipelines.

Anya Litvak: alitvak@post-gazette.com 

First Published: July 14, 2022, 1:01 p.m.