Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources is Calling State Legislature to Amend Law on Organic Collections

Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) is asking the state legislature to amend a law requiring that service providers offer organics collection to every resident by 2020. Instead, ANR proposes raising the threshold to multi-family buildings with four or more units and maintaining a blanket commercial requirement.

This requirement was previously set to take effect in July 2018 but was pushed back to July 2020 last year. Based on a survey, ANR found the majority of service providers prefer this change due to collection inefficiencies inherent in the state's rural nature.

By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive

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SEA-TAC Becoming First US Airport with 100% RNG Heating

The Port announced a Request for Proposals last week, calling for renewable natural gas service to supply Sea-Tac Airport’s boilers and bus fueling system, which is responsible for more than 80% of the Port-owned emissions, replacing all of the current fossil natural gas.

Renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as biomethane, is a natural gas produced by the decomposition of organic matter, typically produced by landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and food and animal waste digesters.

By Airport World

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New Mexico's Governor Lujan Grisham to use RPS as Clean Opportunity Guide

For New Mexico, a state laden with clean energy opportunity but hungry for clean energy vision, such tall heights yielded a long hoped-for sight: a leader reporting clean energy potential as far as the eye could see.

And though her feet are back on the ground, now-Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s eyes have stayed fixed to that horizon, using her inaugural address to double down on realizing the state’s clean energy potential by forcefully calling for policies that look up, look out, and establish a forward course.

By Julie Mcnamara, Union of Concerned Scientists

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Challenges Facing Lobbyists in California's Blue Wave

As the new class of California legislators filled the hallways of the state Capitol on a chilly week in early December, it quickly became clear that political “business as usual” had come to an end.

The Republican platform received a stinging rebuke from the California electorate in November, with Democrats capturing three-quarters of the seats in the state Assembly and a supermajority in the state Senate (29-11).

By Alison Macleod & Patrick George, Capitol Weekly

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Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler on RFS during Confirmation Hearing

Though the EPA still is on track to complete an E15 rule in time for the start of the summer driving season on June 1, EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said on Wednesday that could change if the partial government shutdown lingers.

During Wheeler's confirmation hearing to be the permanent administrator before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, he outlined for the committee what emergency functions the agency continues to perform during the partial shutdown.

By Todd Neeley, The Progressive Farmer

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Governor Inslee's State of the State Address Prioritizes Combating Climate Change

Standing before a Washington Legislature that for years has balked at his carbon-reduction agenda, Gov. Jay Inslee implored lawmakers Tuesday to make bold moves to combat climate change.

The governor’s State of the State address before a joint session of the House and Senate comes as Democrats return to the Capitol with expanded majorities — and hopes of taking on bigger pieces of legislation.

By Jim Brunner, Seattle Times

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VTT Technical Research Center of Finland Developed New Technique based on Gasification

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd has developed a new technique based on gasification, which offers a sustainable way to turn forest industry byproducts, such as bark, sawdust and forestry waste, into transport fuels and chemicals. The new technique reduces carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 90% compared to fossil fuels.

The new approach uses gasification to turn biomass into intermediate products - liquid hydrocarbons, methanol or methane - in production units integrated with communal district heating plants or forest industry power plants. The intermediate products are processed further in oil refineries to make renewable fuels or chemicals.

By VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Eurek Alert

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NGVAmerica Released Fact Sheets on RNG use for various transportation vehicles

NGVAmerica has released four new fact sheets touting the benefits of using natural gas for heavy-duty trucks, school buses, and refuse and transit vehicles.

NGVAmerica says the new information comes as states are distributing their shares of the $2.9 billion Environmental Mitigation Trust funding established as part of the Volkswagen emissions settlement.

By Betsy Lillian, NGT News
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SoCalGas & Onboard Dynamics Announced New Mobile Compressor Demonstration Project

 Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas) and Onboard Dynamics, Inc. (ObDI) today announced the field demonstration of new mobile compressor technology that provides on-site backup and supplemental compression at natural gas fueling stations. The new compressor, called the GoFlo® CNG80, is now being demonstrated at the Antelope Valley School Transportation Agency in Lancaster, California, where 43 natural gas school busses refuel using the fueling station at AVSTA's fleet yard. SoCalGas and ObDI are partnering to fund the demonstration project to validate the performance of the new mobile compressor, which they expect will further improve on-site refueling for natural gas fleet customers. Photos of the compressor are available here.

"The new GoFlo mobile compressors increase reliability and resilience of natural gas fueling stations by helping mitigate the risk of electric power supply interruption," said Yuri Freedman, SoCalGas senior director of business development. "This type of equipment will enhance the function of any fueling station and make refueling even easier for fleet operators who fuel with clean natural gas and renewable natural gas."

By Southern California Gas Company, PR Newswire

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RNG Coalition Announces Sam Wade as Director of State Regulatory Affairs

The Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition), Sacramento, California, announced Sam Wade has been hired as the organization’s director of state regulatory affairs. Wade is the former chief of the Transportation Fuel Branch at the California Air Resources Board (ARB).

“I'm very excited to join the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas and to help represent an industry that plays such a key role in achieving clean air and climate objectives,” Wade says. “I look forward to leveraging my experience to expand state-level regulations, programs and markets to support increased development, deployment and utilization of RNG.”

By Adam Redling, Waste Today

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