RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Landfill Gas to Energy: Republic Services uses methane to power 1600 homes
By News10.net.
Methane is a normal by-product of decomposition in landfills. At Republic Services' Forward landfill in Eastern San Joaquin County, they have harnessed the methane and converted it into power. Republic Services, in cooperation with Ameresco, the largest renewable energy firm in the country, have constructed a 4.3 megawatt twin-turbine power plant next to the Austin Road landfill that runs on the methane pulled out of the nearby landfill. The generated power is sent to the PG&E grid and then to Silicon Valley Power, where it is used to supply 1600 homes in Santa Clara.
Watchdog Sues EPA over Renewable Fuel Mandate (RVOs)
By Laura Barron-Lopez, The Hill.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a lawsuit on Wednesday over the agency’s response to a Freedom of Information Act request for records relating to the mandate, which sets the amount of biofuels refiners must blend into the nation’s fuel supply.
“Is the EPA slow-walking its release of these documents because it does not want the public to learn how political the RFS [Renewable Fuel Standard] has become? The RFS should be based on sound energy policy, not politics. CREW’s lawsuit will shed light on what really went on at the EPA,” Sloan added.
Nanoparticle Technology Triples the Production of Biogas
By Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Phys.org.
Researchers of the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), a Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence, and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have developed the new BiogàsPlus, a technology which allows increasing the production of biogas by 200% with a controlled introduction of iron oxide nanoparticles to the process of organic waste treatment.
VERMONT UTILITIES COULD LOSE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN ENERGY CREDITS
By John Herrick, Vermont Digger.
The Legislature next session will decide whether electric utilities should be required to sell renewable energy to customers, rekindling a debate over the price Vermont consumers will pay to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The creation of a renewable portfolio standard would establish by law how much electricity generated from wind, solar and other renewable resources utilities must be sold to customers.
Under the state’s current voluntary goal, utilities are allowed to sell renewable power credits out of state to reduce electric rates.
Bi-Fuel Impala Runs On Compostable Waste
By Diego Rosenberg, GM Authority.
The 2015 Chevrolet Impala is now available in a bi-fuel configuration that can run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or conventional gasoline fuel. But it gets more interesting than that, as the Bi-fuel Impala can also run on sewage, beer, and food scraps.
Cleveland, OH-based Quasar Energy Group has developed a method to convert organic waste into a renewable energy source known as biogas, which is the raw mixture of gases given off by the breakdown of organic materials kept in an environment lacking in oxygen. Methane gas is the resulting product, which is then processed to remove all carbon dioxide and impurities to make Renewable Natural Gas (RNG). When compressed, RNG is a direct replacement for CNG.
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.
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