Scott Barrington Discusses How Project Golden Bear is Tackling Methane Emissions

Minneapolis, MN – Infrastructure Investor recently asked North Sky’s CEO, Scott Barrington, how impact funds are reducing methane emissions.

Wastewater treatment plants and landfills account for nearly 20% of global methane emissions. Of that, the Global Methane Initiative estimates that wastewater accounts for 7% of total global methane emissions. In the waste sector, landfills are the third-largest source of human-induced methane, producing approximately 11% of total global emissions.

Against this sobering reality, capturing and mitigating methane production in the waste sector is crucial to limiting the pace and scale of global warming. Restricting the environmental toll on cities is also enshrined in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, a factor that has caught the attention of many impact investors, who recognise both the challenge and the opportunity that managing methane represents.

In California, state authorities have mandated that 75 percent of organic waste must be diverted from landfill sites by 2030. Impact asset manager North Sky Capital is working to tackle the problem via its Project Golden Bear venture in the greater Los Angeles area. The project converts methane produced from the Victor Valley Wastewater treatment plant into renewable natural gas, eliminating any need for environmentally costly flaring. The gas is then sold under long-term contracts to the local regulated gas utility.

“Project Golden Bear will prevent the release of 6,000 metric tonnes of methane per annum, which, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, is equivalent to preventing the release of 150,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, removing 33,000 vehicles from the road or planting 2.5 million trees,” says Scott Barrington, North Sky Capital CEO.

Read the full article here.

About North Sky

North Sky Capital is a pioneer in impact investing in the United States. Now in its 23rd year, North Sky has deployed more than $1.1 billion across 125+ impact investments on behalf of its various impact funds. The firm has two flagship investment strategies: impact secondaries (private equity) and sustainable infrastructure.  Both strategies support positive environmental and social change while targeting market rate investment returns. Based in Minneapolis with additional offices in New York and Boston, North Sky has been an active impact investor since the beginning of the modern era of private markets impact investing in 2005-6. For more information, visit northskycapital.com.

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