Environmental markets and services company Zefiro Methane [Cboe: ZEFI / Frankfurt: Y6B], which combines work on methane abatement projects with trading of carbon offsets, said its subsidiary Plants & Goodwin Inc. (P&G) has opened another facility in Appalachia.
The move will allow P&G to use a portion of the $29.23 million Phase 1 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds in West Virginia and eliminate the ongoing methane emissions from hundreds of wells in the state. The facility in Buckhannon in Upshur County is Zefiro’s second expansion in the past six months and follows P&G’s acquisition of a wireline service provider in Cambridge, Ohio.
The company said the new facility will significantly increase efficiency resulting in higher profit margins. P&G has a pipeline of more than $700,000 worth of environmental services projects in West Virginia planned for this year which will benefit from the new facility’s central location in the state.
All of P&G’s current and upcoming West Virginia projects are with long-standing industry relationships. In addition to that the new facility will create the opportunity for partnership with state resources.
- Zefiro Methane revenues up another 10% on successful well-remediation strategy
- Zefiro Methane to partner with Fiùtur on carbon credit data
- Zefiro Methane completes Pennsylvania’s first well-plugging project under Jobs Act
Why the new facility matters for Zefiro Methane
At the moment, project work involves a six-hour drive between P&G’s headquarters in Pennsylvania and job sites in or near West Virginia. By opening the yard in Buckhannon Zefiro will be able to not only cut down on labour hours and fuel costs but also reduce transportation emissions linked to environmental remediation work in West Virginia.
The company estimates that by cutting those costs, profit margins for projects in the state could rise by up to 15% from their current levels. The location will help execute projects faster, allowing more methane leaks to be remediated. At the same time, it will allow the company to bid more aggressively for West Virginia projects, including those funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which provides $4.7 billion for these types of remediation.
“Opening a yard in central West Virginia gives Zefiro many strategic operational advantages… both for cost and time efficiencies, as well as an official presence in the Mountaineer state where there are many orphan methane leaks to be remediated, with an abundance of both public and private funds allocated for doing so,” said Zefiro Founder and CEO Talal Debs.
Debs said that 2024 has already been very busy for this segment of Zefiro’s business, and this expansion will provide the company with even more bandwidth for servicing a greater volume of methane leak sites.
Growing Government demand for methane abatement
Changes in state and federal regulation have created a growing demand for methane abatement from various sectors, including private landowners, and public-sector entities. Zefiro is uniquely positioned to harness that demand.
The company is building a new toolkit to clean up air, land, and water sources directly impacted by methane leaks. Zefiro’s fully integrated ground operations are also an originator of high-quality US-based methane offsets.
