RNG NEWS
Energy Department Announces Up to $14 Million for Applying Landscape Design to Cellulosic Bioenergy
By The Department of Energy, US.
The Energy Department today announced up to $14 million to support landscape design approaches that maintain or enhance the environmental and socio-economic sustainability of cellulosic bioenergy through the improvement of feedstock production, logistics systems, and technology development. This supports the Department’s efforts to promote the commercialization of environmentally sustainable advanced bioenergy that reduces petroleum consumption and carbon emissions, as well as enhances national security.
Disney World's biogas facility: a model for converting food waste into energy
By Marc Gunther, The Guardian.
Millions of people a year visit Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, the world’s most popular theme park. These days, some of the food that they don’t eat – as well as some of the food they do – ends up being used to make electricity for the resort’s theme parks and hotels.
How? Food waste – including table scraps, used cooking oils and grease – is collected from selected restaurants in the Disney World complex, as well as area hotels and food processors, and sent to a system of giant tanks at a facility near the park. There, the food waste is mixed with biosolids – the nutrient-rich organic materials left over after sewage is treated – and fed to microorganisms that produce biogas, a mix of methane and carbon dioxide. The biogas is combusted in generators to make electricity, and the remaining solids can be processed into fertilizer.
Brown wants higher carbon standards for California
By The Associated Press.
Gov. Jerry Brown said Friday that he will push next year to set even higher greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for California, where the nation's toughest carbon standards already are causing anxiety among businesses and consumers.
"We want to set in the coming year a goal for 2030 which is far more stringent, and it'll be far more difficult," Brown said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.
California's current carbon emissions law, signed in 2006, sets goals through 2020. If Brown wins re-election in November, the Democratic governor said he would bring together environmentalists, oil companies and transportation companies to accomplish the "challenge and opportunity."
Landfill gas-to-energy project begins production in California
By DTE Biomass Energy, Biomass Magazine
Sunshine Gas Producers, a joint venture between DTE Biomass Energy and EIF Renewable Energy Holdings through its subsidiary Landfill Energy Systems, has started generating electricity from landfill gas at its recently constructed renewable energy facility at the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Sylmar, a neighborhood in Los Angeles.
DTE Biomass Energy, the developer and operator of the project, declared commercial operation of the 20-MW facility at the landfill, owned and operated by Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc., a subsidiary of Republic Services. Landfill gas generated at the site will be used to produce renewable energy to be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric under a long-term power purchase agreement.
Alameda My Word: AMP working to reduce Island's carbon footprint
By Madeline Deaton, My Word.
Back in the 1990s, Alameda Municipal Power (AMP) was one of the first utilities to invest heavily in renewable power. And since then, we've all been justifiably proud of our "Greenest Little Utility" reputation.
In 2011, California adopted a Renewables Portfolio Standard, or RPS, that requires electric utilities to buy a growing percentage of their electricity from qualified renewable sources by 2020. Because AMP's renewable portfolio is so strong, our utility not only exceeds the RPS, but is in a position to sell -- on a short-term basis -- some of its renewable energy to other utilities struggling to achieve compliance.
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.”