RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Dane County Repurposing Waste for Renewable Electricity
By Katie Fletcher, Biomass Magazine.
A dumping ground of waste materials is traditionally a site of little regard. However, landfills are now repurposing waste beyond purely disposing of it. Dane County, Wisconsin, Rodefeld landfill is one example of a site repurposing waste, and has even been considered environmentally innovative by those involved with the project. The landfill site has been converting landfill gas into renewable electricity for over 20 years and is now expanding.
The idea of expanding onsite has significant advantages. “Construction of a new landfill would have cost $80 million more than the expansion,” Parisi said. “Trucking the waste would have been much more expensive operationally, not to mention the impact on the environment from vehicle emissions.”
Harnessing Waste-to-Energy in Dubai
By Jason O'Connell, Utilities-Me.com
It is just over a year since Dubai’s first waste to energy project was commissioned at the Emirate’s largest landfill at Al Qusais. The brainchild of Anita Nour, a Canadian who relocated to Dubai in 2008, the landfill is currently producing 1 MW of electricity which is used to power facilities at the site.
Nour’s company, Green Energy Solutions & Sustainability (GESS), is ready to produce 12 MW of power within a year of being given the green light to sell power to the grid and potentially as much as 20 MW for up to 20 years.
FTIR Gas Analyser makes Biogas Stream Monitoring a Breeze
By Envirotech-Online
MKS (UK) will be promoting their AIRGARD system at WWEM this year, an ultra-sensitive, FTIR gas analyser designed for continuous monitoring of biogas streams. The analyser is capable of detecting ppb levels of biogas impurities including Siloxanes, Siloxane precursors such as TMS and simultaneously measuring percent levels of other constituents of biogas including Methane, Carbon Dioxide and Water.
Total Siloxane values are generated using a patented methodology. In addition, MKS will also be providing information on their range of Mutigas 2030 FTIR analysers for environmental emission monitoring including the recently introduced TUV/Mcert certified MGS300 complete CEM system.
La Crosse County Landfill Opens New Cell
By Sean Tehan, Multi-Media Journalist.
La Crosse County Landfill opened up a new cell at their landfill site on Monday morning—as a means to help preserve the environment, and be able to receive more trash at the landfill while protecting ground water from contamination.
"35 percent of the waste into our community doesn't go into this landfill, but the fact remains we produce garbage and other things that have to be disposed of,” Director of La Crosse County Solid Waste System Hank Koch said. “We want to do it in a secure manner that has no harm to the environment."
Landfill to turn pollutant into power
By: Carmen Forman, The Roanoke Times.
The Roanoke County landfill intends to turn stinky gas into big cash while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The Smith Gap Regional Landfill on the outskirts of Roanoke County is using a giant vacuum to suck up environmentally harmful gasses from the mound of garbage and destroy them. Eventually, instead of burning the so-called landfill gas, it will be refined and used to power businesses, colleges and possibly homes in the area.
“We knew that eventually we were going to have to do it,” said Dan Miles, Roanoke Valley Resource Authority chief executive officer. “It’s the right thing to do. It really is.”
Why States Should Adopt A Renewable Portfolio Standard
By: North American Windpower
Some states throughout the U.S. have implemented various policies to encourage renewables and energy efficiency that could be adopted by neighboring states to improve local economies, provide energy security and reduce emissions, according to a new study. In addition, the report says these innovative policies could be particularly valuable as states develop plans to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) pending rules to cut power plant emissions. One effective clean energy policy, the study points out, is a renewable portfolio standard (RPS).
Dubbed "The State Clean Energy Cookbook," the study was created by Stanford University's Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance and Hoover Institution's Shultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy Policy. It was led by former U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and former Secretary of State and Treasury George Shultz. Overall, the study analyzes and makes specific recommendations regarding 12 clean energy policies.
Biogas CHP Cogeneration System Powering World-Famous Brewery with Clean Renewable Energy
Press Release: CENERGY Power Systems Technologies
Yuengling® is joining the group of smart breweries that embrace new advanced biogas technologies and modern CHP energy conversion systems from 2G CENERGY®.
The methane gas is generated at the Yuengling® brewery wastewater treatment plant and an anaerobic digester designed by EMG (Environmental Management Group International, Inc.). 2G CENERGY® also supplied the gas treatment system to dehumidify the saturated gas, and to remove H2S contained in the raw biogas. The CHP system has been designed as dual fuel module and can be operated on low BTU biogas, as well as pipeline quality natural gas.
Marks & Spencer turns to biogas to cut carbon emissions
By: Blue & Green Tomorrow.
Retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has announced plans to buy 35,000 mega-2att (MW) hours of biomethane certificates, as part of its efforts to reduce its environmental footprint and promote clean energy.
M&S will purchase the gas – obtained through anaerobic digestion – from company Future Biogas. The move will save 6,400 tonnes of carbon emissions according to the company and will generate enough energy to heat 15 M&S Simply Food stores over a whole year.
Gio Patellaro, M&S head of energy supply & risk, said, “Over the past couple of years, M&S has worked tirelessly to improve its carbon efficiency and innovate in sustainability. As the first UK retailer to buy biomethane to use in this way, we are blazing a trail in the market place that we hope others will follow.
Canada – US Regulators to Cooperate on Natural Gas Fuel for Transportation
By: CNGVA, an affiliated association of NGV Global.
The Canadian Gas Association (CGA) and the Canadian Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance (CNGVA) fully support a new plan that will see greater cooperation between Canada and the United States on the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.
The Harper Government and the Obama Administration released the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council’s Joint Forward Plan late last week. This Plan sets the stage for improvements in the way regulatory departments and agencies in both countries work together. The Plan makes it easier for businesses to operate in both countries with 24 priority areas identified including the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel.
Sustainable America Advocates Food Waste Reduction
By: Fiona Chandra, Gourmet Pigs.
We eat local because it is more sustainable, but there is another side of food sustainability: food waste. According to Sustainable America, an environmental non-profit dedicated to make our country’s fuel and food system more resilient, we waste 40% of our food. An average American throws away 1.5 pounds of food daily! There are many things you can do with this waste, instead (for example, see this list of 10 things you can do with a banana peel). Sustainable America has partnered with Grind2Energy to capture food waste and process it to generate biogas for energy and fertilizers. You can learn more during the festival as Sustainable America will be holding a food waste discussion and a demonstration with their partner, Grind2Energy.
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