Utility Global and Maas Energy Works Announce Agreement to Develop Dairy Digester-to-Hydrogen Mobility Project in California

Collaboration to deliver deeply carbon-negative hydrogen using dairy biogas to fuel heavy-duty transportation across California

HOUSTON and REDDING, Calif., Oct. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Utility Global, Inc. ("Utility"), a U.S.-based leader in economical decarbonization technology, and Maas Energy Works ("MEW"), the nation's leading developer of dairy digester-to-energy projects today announced an agreement to advance the development of the first commercial project in California to use dairy digester biogas for direct hydrogen fuel production. The project will produce deeply carbon-negative hydrogen from water without electricity for the mobility sector, setting a new benchmark for cost-effective decarbonization.

The project will be located at a dairy farm complex in California and will integrate dairy digester biogas systems with Utility's proprietary H2Gen^® technology to produce economical clean fuel for heavy-duty transportation. This innovative combination will deliver hydrogen with one of the lowest negative carbon intensity scores in the market and provide a scalable pathway to decarbonize heavy-duty transportation economically. The project has also secured initial offtake at attractive pricing to both partners.

Under the agreement, MEW will develop, build, and operate the anaerobic digesters and associated biogas treatment systems, while Utility will develop and operate the fuel production system. Together, the companies are demonstrating that collaboration across the agriculture and energy sectors can enable economic decarbonization at scale, further supporting the US's energy independence.

"This project is another breakthrough moment for Utility - proving that hydrogen fuel can be produced economically, without electricity, and at deeply negative carbon intensity – greener than 'green hydrogen' from renewable power," said Parker Meeks, CEO of Utility Global. "Partnering with MEW allows us to unite world-class biogas expertise with our H2Gen^® technology to deliver extremely clean fuel at scale and accelerate California's transition to zero-emission, heavy-duty transportation."

"Maas Energy Works has always focused on turning dairy manure into biogas and clean energy," said Daryl Maas, CEO of Maas Energy Works. "Partnering with Utility Global takes that innovation further -- producing carbon-negative hydrogen to power the growth of heavy-duty transportation."

Once operational, the project is expected to produce approximately three tons per day of carbon-negative hydrogen fuel, creating a scalable solution to supply the growing network of hydrogen fueling stations across California. This fuel will play a critical role in enabling zero-emission trucks and buses to meet the state's leadership in climate and air quality targets.

The Utility Global–MEW collaboration represents an alternative model for the integration of bio-based clean fuels and industrial decarbonization technology. In addition to dairy farms, other sources of biogas like landfills and wastewater plants are also profitable opportunities for H2Gen to provide a practical and economic pathway to produce and decarbonize transportation fuels near the point of use. The project is currently in front-end engineering development, with final investment decision anticipated following completion of feasibility and design studies and finalization of binding offtake agreements in 2026.

About Utility Global

Utility pioneers clean solutions that power the economic energy transition for hard-to-abate industries such as steel, mobility, upstream oil & gas, refining, and chemicals. Utility's breakthrough H2Gen^® technology harnesses energy from industrial off-gases and various biogases to produce high-purity, low-to-negative carbon intensity hydrogen from water, without electricity, using its proprietary electrochemical process. H2Gen systems have been proven to provide the utmost operationally flexible and integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure, enabling practical, cost-effective decarbonization. 

H2Gen also produces a high-concentration CO₂ stream, simplifying and reducing the cost of carbon capture. Designed to be modular, scalable, and with the smallest hydrogen production footprint, H2Gen empowers customers to convert low-value inputs into high-value clean energy, fuels, or feedstocks. This helps heavy industries meet both business and sustainability goals.

Utility is a portfolio company of Ara Partners, a private equity and infrastructure investment firm focused on industrial decarbonization investments. For more information on Utility's solutions and services details, visit www.utilityglobal.com.

About Ara Partners

Ara Partners is a global private equity and infrastructure investment firm focused on industrial decarbonization. Founded in 2017, Ara Partners seeks to build and scale companies with significant decarbonization impact across the industrial and manufacturing, chemicals and materials, energy efficiency and green fuels, and food and agriculture sectors. The company operates from offices in Houston, Boston, Washington D.C., and Dublin. Ara Partners closed its third private equity fund in December 2023 with over $2.8 billion in capital commitments. As of June 30, 2025, Ara Partners had approximately $6.6 billion of assets under management.

For more information about Ara Partners, please visit www.arapartners.com.

About Maas Energy Works

Maas Energy Works is a family-owned renewable energy business with headquarters in Redding, California. We develop, own, and operate renewable energy facilities by partnering with dairy families to create biogas out of cow manure and other organic wastes. We then use that biogas to generate vehicle fuel, electricity, heat, CO2, and soon, hydrogen. Our founders Daryl and Christianna Maas believe this waste-to-energy transformation demonstrates our belief that God created humanity in His image to redeem and create. Our 215 employees operate with excellence the nation's largest fleet of over 80 dairy digesters in 9 states. Learn more at www.maasenergy.com.

SOURCE Utility Global