Waterloo, Ont. launches animal waste-to-power pilot project

By The Canadian Press Staff. 

WATERLOO, Ont. — The Ontario city best known for headquartering BlackBerry may soon be known for an entirely different commodity – dog poop.

Waterloo will soon be the home of a pilot program that will turn dog waste into energy, using a process called anaerobic digestion that happens when organic waste breaks down in an environment without oxygen.

The city’s mayor, Dave Jaworsky, said this is one the first times this sort of program, which he jokingly calls “poop power”, will be implemented in a Canadian city.

New Study Shows Renewable Natural Gas in Transportation Can Create Up to 130,000 Jobs and Generate Nearly $14 Billion in Economic Benefits for California

NEWS RELEASE

Converting Waste to Power Trucks Will Fuel California’s Economy

LONG BEACH, Calif., May 1, 2017—A new jobs study reveals that deploying trucks fueled by renewable natural gas could create up to 130,000 new jobs and add $14 billion to California’s economy. The ‘RNG Jobs Report’ examines the economic potential of fueling heavy-duty trucks with renewable natural gas produced in California, instead of being powered by petroleum-based diesel. The study was released jointly today by the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition) and the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition (CNGVC) at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, the nation’s largest alternative, clean-fleet trade show.

A switch to renewable natural gas trucks could quickly help California achieve its air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, and climate change-related goals, the two coalitions say.  More than 95 percent of the trucks on California roads currently use petroleum-based diesel fuel and are a major source of particulate, nitrogen oxide (NOx) and GHG emissions. In Southern California, the heavy-duty trucking sector is the single largest source of NOx emissions, which combine with other pollutants to form both ground-level ozone and fine particulates, also known as PM2.5. Those pollutants are responsible for a wide range of health impacts from exacerbating  asthma to premature deaths. In fact, the ports and related goods-movement activity emit more than 35 percent of all smog-forming pollutants in the region.

View the full press release HERE...

Fortistar Avoided Over 2.1 Million Tons of GHG emissions in 2016

From Business Wire, via Yahoo Finance. 

Today, Fortistar, who investments in energy sources primarily focused on the transitioning to a zero-carbon economy, announced that it avoided 2.125 million tons of GHG emissions in 2016. That’s the equivalent of driving from New York City to Los Angeles almost six times.

The company builds, owns and operates natural gas cogeneration facilities, landfill gas to energy and biomass electreic generating plants and CNG fueling stations throughout the United States and Canada.

NW Natural Charts a Green-energy Path that Includes Renewable Natural Gas

By Steve Law, Portland Tribune.

At a time when President Donald Trump is forcing the federal government to disregard the threat from climate change, NW Natural is charting a strategy to achieve what it calls "aggressive greenhouse gas reductions." 

The Portland-based utility's plan lays out how a company that sells fossil fuel can do its part to avert dramatic global warming — largely caused by the burning of fossil fuels. 

In briefings last week, NW Natural unveiled a game plan to voluntarily slash carbon emissions from that sector 30 percent by 2035, compared to 2015 levels. 

Trump's tax reform outline inspires opposition over climate, clean energy

By John Siciliano, Washington Examiner.

The debate about overhauling the tax code won't be immune from the fight over President Trump's environmental and climate change policies, activist groups said Wednesday.

The groups are preparing for a major protest this weekend against Trump's environmental policies, which now include the president's tax reform plan.

Billionaire climate change activist Tom Steyer blasted Trump's tax reform blueprint announced Wednesday as a dangerous proposal that he hopes will be dead on arrival on Capitol Hill.

GOP Lawmakers Praise Trump Tax Outline Despite Differences

By Tara Jeffries, Morning Consult.

President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday released the core tenets of the White House tax agenda, sketching a general outline that leaves room for many more details, but already shows deviation from the House Republican blueprint.

House and Senate GOP leaders and top tax-writers applauded the principles. They “will serve as critical guideposts for Congress and the administration as we work together to overhaul the American tax system,” according to a joint statement Wednesday from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Plan Proceeds to Develop Landfill Gas Facility at Mexico City's Largest Former Landfill

By Mexico Daily News.

A plan to build a biogas plant on the site of Bordo Poniente, formerly Mexico City’s largest landfill site, is set to go ahead, says city Mayor Miguel Ángel Mancera.

The dump was closed in late 2011 in an effort to make the city’s waste management system greener and a concession for methane plant was granted in November 2012.

However, the project was delayed for several reasons, including project modifications, economic uncertainty, devaluation of the peso and the range of permissions that needed to be obtained.

Five bioenergy projects awarded funds from DOE pilot program

By Anna Simet, Biomass Magazine.

The U.S. DOE has awarded funding to 38 projects for which small businesses will team up with national lab researchers through the DOE’s Small Business Vouchers pilot program.

The intent of the SBV program is to facilitate access to DOE national labs for American small businesses, enabling them to tap into the intellectual and technical resources needed to overcome critical technology challenges for their advanced energy products, and gain a global competitive advantage, according to the DOE.

Read more...