CDR Credit Supplier Interview - Cowboy Clean Fuels

Today’s interview is with Ryan Waddington, CEO at Cowboy Clean Fuels.

What is Cowboy Clean Fuels?

To start, could you provide us with an overview of Cowboy Clean Fuels — your origin, mission, and the role you aim to play in the evolving carbon removal ecosystem?

Ryan Waddington - Cowboy was founded in 2020 to commercialize technology developed by our co-founder, Dr. Michael Urynowicz, through over 15 years of research and development at the University of Wyoming. Our mission is to deliver low-cost, scalable solutions to two critical energy transition markets: renewable natural gas and carbon removal. In the carbon removal market, we aim to become one of the largest global suppliers of highly durable CDR credits by deploying our technology worldwide.

BiCRS+RNG Technology

BiCRS+RNG is one of several emerging approaches in the CDR space. What motivated the development of this methodology, and how does it reflect the shifting priorities and innovation trends within the sector?

Ryan Waddington - The BiCRS+RNG technology evolved from years of research evaluating the potential to enhance the production of biogenic natural gas in subsurface geologic formations. This technology represents a breakthrough in leveraging naturally occurring geobioreactors capable of producing both carbon-negative renewable natural gas and permanently sequestering carbon removed from the atmosphere. Cowboy strongly believes that natural gas is a critical resource for the energy transition and that carbon-negative RNG can be an effective tool for decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors. The dual nature of the technology—leveraging naturally occurring systems—represents a new and important approach to engineered CDR solutions, one we hope other developers will adopt.

Scalability

One of the persistent challenges in CDR is bridging the gap between technical potential and market adoption. How does BiCRS+RNG attempt to overcome this — particularly in terms of scalability, cost-effectiveness, and integration with existing infrastructure?

Ryan Waddington - The BiCRS+RNG technology is commercially ready today and is demonstrated by Cowboy’s first project in Wyoming, which has been operational since June 2024. It offers the potential for deployment at a scale and cost unmatched by any other highly durable, engineered CDR solution. A key factor enabling BiCRS+RNG’s commercial readiness is its ability to leverage existing infrastructure. The technology is specifically designed to repurpose non-productive and economically stranded coalbed methane (CBM) assets, which would otherwise present a costly environmental liability.

Adressing Permanence

With buyers and investors increasingly focused on high-integrity credits, how does this approach address concerns around additionality, permanence, and leakage?

Ryan Waddington - BiCRS+RNG meets the highest standards for additionality, permanence, and leakage. Projects are not mandated by any law or regulation and rely on carbon finance for economic viability. The CO₂ sequestration pathway inherent in the BiCRS+RNG technology is similar to other geologic storage approaches, but also includes an important additional storage mechanism: adsorption. Adsorption is a powerful mechanism that is irreversible in the geologic formations that the BiCRS+RNG process utilizes.  As such, it enables the BiCRS+RNG technology to offer an unparalleled level of permanence. Because Cowboy’s current feedstock, molasses, is a residual material produced from an agricultural process—sugar beet refining—leakage is not a major concern. Molasses is currently utilized as a minor cattle feed amendment that, when consumed by ruminants, can actually result in uncontrolled methane emissions.

Quality Controls

As the CDR market matures, the importance of robust verification and third-party validation remains the key focus. What quality control measures are built into this methodology, and how do they align with current industry standards and expectations?

Ryan Waddington - The BiCRS+RNG process requires robust and verifiable measurement and monitoring procedures to ensure that a mass balance approach can be relied upon to determine net CDR removals from any project. Because the geobioreactor—where the feedstock conversion takes place and CO₂ is sequestered through adsorption—is a closed system, net CDR removals can be easily calculated by measuring the carbon content of the injected feedstock and subtracting the carbon content of the biogas produced and brought to market as RNG. There is no more robust approach to verification than measuring carbon in and carbon out of a closed system.

On Thursday, June 5, 2025, we will participate in a webinar hosted by EcoEngineers, which will showcase the BiCRS+RNG process and explore best practices for planning and deploying digital MRV systems at scale. Join us if you’re interested in learning more.

Opportunities

Looking ahead, what types of near-term opportunities does this methodology unlock, not just for Cowboy Clean Fuels, but for developers, RNG buyers, and investors across the broader CDR and climate tech landscape?

Ryan Waddington - The BiCRS+RNG technology can be deployed all over the world, but there is no better place to build projects than Wyoming and other locations in the U.S. West. As such, Cowboy expects to be very busy for quite some time developing several more local projects. This broad opportunity for BiCRS+RNG deployment translates to a significant opportunity for RNG buyers looking to decarbonize, as well as CDR credit buyers looking for scale and durability. By leveraging natural systems and existing infrastructure, BiCRS+RNG projects can be developed at very low capital cost. This creates a significant opportunity for climate-focused investors to support highly impactful CDR projects.