Austin Wright
Natural gas prices weakened on September 25, with the United States Natural Gas Fund, LP (UNG) falling 3.64% to $11.13. A Nebraska project aimed at making pipeline quality gas from cattle manure could add a new renewable supply, though it is not yet operating and cannot explain the fund’s daily move.
| Price | 11.13 USD |
|---|---|
| Day change | -0.42 (-3.64%) |
| 52-week range | 9.54 – 11.67 |
| Volume | 43,663,483 |
Natural gas prices and the limits of the market data
The fund’s reported price sat within its 52 week range of $9.54 to $11.67. Those figures offer a snapshot of the market proxy, not a complete account of what drove natural gas prices that day. The supplied data contains no inventory report, broader production figures, geopolitical developments or dollar data. It therefore does not support attributing the decline to any one of those factors.
Production is relevant to the longer term picture, but the Broken Bow facility is still being built. Its projected output is not gas already entering the pipeline system. Nor does the available information show whether current inventories or conventional gas production are tightening or easing the market. The fund’s daily decline and the project’s prospective supply are separate developments.
Demand is part of the project’s case: its owner says the gas could support bio LNG production for international maritime markets. That is a potential outlet, not evidence of current fuel purchases or a measured change in demand. Without figures on shipping fuel use, inventories, currency moves or international tensions, the available data cannot establish whether these forces contributed to the day’s price drop.
Eight digesters would turn feedlot waste into gas
At Broken Bow, Nebraska, construction has begun on eight anaerobic digesters that will process manure from the Adams Land & Cattle feedlot. Neogenyx Fuels, which owns the facility, expects the project to produce approximately 1.2 million MMBtu of pipeline quality natural gas each year. That output is a forecast for when the plant reaches operation, not a present addition to supply.
The plan links a local agricultural waste stream with energy production. Neogenyx Fuels chief executive Michael Bakas has described the facility as a way to connect Nebraska agriculture with demand for lower carbon fuels, including possible use in maritime markets. The project’s proponents also point to private investment, employment and economic activity in the area, though the source material provides no job count or investment total.
For feedlot operators, selling or processing manure through a gas project could bring in revenue beyond cattle sales and reduce the burden of handling waste. The Environmental Protection Agency supports biogas recovery as a strategy that can diversify farm income, bolster rural economies and encourage agricultural systems that reuse resources. Those potential benefits depend on how a facility is run and how its proceeds affect the wider livestock operation.
Methane benefits face questions about manure storage
The project estimates that it will cut greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 63,700 metric tons a year once it operates at full capacity. Digesters can capture methane that would otherwise escape from manure storage and use it as fuel. They can also reduce odors and some local air pollutants, according to Sam Wade, public policy director for the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas.
Supporters of biogas projects cite carbon intensity ratings as another measure of their climate impact. The source material says watchdog organizations generally assign biogas a rating of minus 250, reflecting methane capture, while solar and wind projects are capped at zero or higher. Such ratings are part of the policy debate, but they do not settle questions about local pollution or the future scale of livestock production.
Opponents argue that digesters can make large feedlots more profitable while leaving the underlying manure system in place. In 2024, 15 members of Congress objected to federal support for large scale animal agriculture, warning that storing large volumes of liquid manure can pollute nearby air and water. They argued that adding digesters could entrench that arrangement.
Carbon credit programs raise a related concern. Kevin Fingerman, an energy and climate professor at California State Polytechnic University, said incentives under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard could encourage herd growth, consolidation or the gathering of manure from multiple sources. He also noted that the degree to which the program has driven consolidation remains disputed.
Nebraska’s lower population density than rural California may mean fewer nearby residents are exposed to a facility, but it does not remove the broader dispute over whether methane capture reduces harm or helps expand intensive cattle production. The supplied market figures show a daily drop in the natural gas fund, while the Nebraska project remains a future source whose eventual output and local effects have yet to be measured.
