RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Alternative Fuel Center to open at O’Hare International Airport
By Rosalind Rossi, Chicago Sun-Times.
An alternative fuel station will open at O’Hare International Airport in early 2016 offering taxis, shuttle buses and everyday drivers fast-charging electric stations, alternative fuels and conventional gasoline.
In addition to conventional gasoline, the fueling station will offer compressed natural gas, biodiesel, and fast-charge charging stations for electric vehicles.
According to the aviation department, an increasing number of vehicles using the airport are powered by alternative fuels, including taxis and hotel and rental car shuttles. However, the center also will be open to the general public.
Renewable Energy for Ethiopian Refugee Camps
By Norwegian Refugee Council.
In an exciting new project, NRC Ethiopia has introduced biogas as an alternative fuel in Bambasi Refugee Camp in Ethiopia. Human and animal waste is used to generate as that can burn safely and effectively in people’s homes.
The pilot phase in Bambasi refugee camp, which houses mainly Sudanese refugees, has proven successful and has inspired new plans to apply the innovation to other refugee camps in Ethiopia.
The use of biogas has led to a significant reduction in dependence on firewood for cooking, and women are able to save more time to attend to income generating activities instead of going in search of firewood.
Kauai to Study Food Waste for Renewable Natural Gas
By West Hawaii Today, the Associated Press.
Kauai County is studying whether food waste can be used to generate renewable natural gas to power buses and other county vehicles.
Restaurants, schools, hospitals and grocers are being asked to take a survey to determine how much local food waste is being produced.
The Garden Island reported Tuesday the results of the study may also lead to projects that could reduce waste disposal fees, reduce dependence on imported fuels and extend the landfill’s lifespan.
EPA may Change the Clean Power Plan
By Gavin Bade, Utility Dive.
On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its Notice of Data Availability (NODA) on the Clean Power Plan, its draft rule to regulate carbon emissions from existing power plants. The document, meant to address concerns raised during the agency's public comment period, opens the door to more flexibility for utilities trying to cope with the new regulations.
In particular, the EPA document reveals that the EPA will seek further comment from stakeholders in three areas: The 2020-2029 trajectory—or glide path—for emission reductions, the Clean Power Plan's building blocks, and calculating state-specific CO2 goals.
BMW Signs Biogas-Electricity Energy Deal
By Roy Cokayne, Business Report.
BMW South Africa has signed an off-take power purchasing agreement with energy company Bio2Watt that will bring renewable energy to its vehicle manufacturing plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria.
It is believed to be the first private deal of its kind, with the BMW/Bio2Watt initiative also marking the first commercially viable biogas-electricity project in the country.
DTE Biomass Dedicates RenewableEenergy facility in N.C.
By DTE Biomass Energy, PRNewswire.
DTE Biomass Energy today celebrated the completion of its 9.6-megawatt landfill gas-to-energy project at the Uwharrie Environmental Landfill in Mt. Gilead.
DTE Biomass Energy last month started operating the facility at the landfill, which is owned and operated by Republic Services of North Carolina. Landfill gas at the site is used to generate renewable energy which is subsequently sold to Duke Energy Progress. The Uwharrie facility will more than double DTE Biomass' generation capacity in North Carolina, where it already operates six renewable energy projects.
Representatives from DTE Biomass Energy, Republic Services and Duke Energy Progress gathered to recognize their partnership that has resulted in enough renewable energy to power more than 6,000 North Carolina homes.
California to Propose $200/tonne LCFS Price Cap
By Bill Peters, Argus Media
California Air Resources Board (ARB) staffers intend to propose capping Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credit prices at $200/metric tonne using a credit clearance mechanism.
ARB is proposing the credit price ceiling along with several tentative possible slopes for the LCFS's targets from 2016-2020. The proposals were disclosed in a staff presentation released yesterday ahead of an ARB workshop on 27 October.
At $200/t, the LCFS would add about 6¢/USG to the cost of unblended gasoline and diesel in 2020, when the program reaches carbon intensity reductions of 10pc from 2010 levels. At current allowances prices, California's greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program will add 9.66¢/USG to the price of gasoline and 12.35¢/USG to the price of diesel when those fuels come under the cap in January.
LCFS credits have traded at around $25/t this week as the program remains well-oversupplied because it is frozen at a 1pc reduction target under a court order. LCFS prices hit a high of $85/t last fall before tumbling to their current levels in the first quarter of this year.
Under a credit clearance mechanism, ARB would allow covered entities to roll over unfilled compliance obligations from one year to the next if they can show that there are insufficient credits available in the market. The $200/t price cap would be adjusted upward for inflation annually subsequent to 2016.
ARB would determine whether regulated parties lack sufficient credits to cover the deficits they generated selling gasoline and diesel into California. If there are parties that need more credits, the state would issue a call for any excess credits in the LCFS program to be pledged into a state-facilitated sale. Regulated parties with excess deficits would be required to buy their share of those credits at or around the price ceiling.
ARB is also proposing that carried-over deficits would be subject to an interest rate of 3pc, so an entity that carried over 1,000t would be responsible for 1,030t the next year.
LCFS compliance is determined by the generation of credits or deficits, depending on whether a fuel sold in California beats or exceeds each year's carbon intensity target.
One reason ARB staff prefers the credit-clearance approach over other cost-containment methods, such as an alternative compliance payment, is that it would not result in the state receiving money from regulated parties. ARB is being sued over the use of auctions for its cap-and-trade program on the grounds it is an illegal tax under the state constitution.
ARB says it is also concerned that it would need legislative authorization to direct the funds to low-carbon fuel providers.
2015 Chevy Impala to Run on Biogas
By Callum Newcombe, TheAutoFuture.com
Chevrolet has announced that they are set to include biogas tanks as an option on their existing 2014 Impala model. Two versions will be available: the base LS and the upper-tier LT.
Though they haven’t released any official details on either models, the base LS version is set to be “almost exactly the same” as the existing LS model.
In 2015, the Impala will have the option of a 7.8 gallon carbon neutral gas tank...
CRS Report on the Production Tax Credit
By David Burton, JDSupra.com.
On October 2, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published an overview of the production tax credit (PTC). The report is available here. It contains a helpful summary of the history of the PTC and an insightful discussion of the PTC and the alternative minimum tax.
The report’s only shortcoming as discussed below is not applying a particularly critical eye to either a cited study regarding tax incentives for renewables from the National Academy of Sciences that employed a questionable methodology or to President Obama’s proposal to replace the investment tax credit (ITC) for solar and other technologies with the PTC.
ACORE Report: Monitize U.S. Energy Security
By Joanna Schroeder, DomesticFuel.com.
The American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE) has released a new report, “Monetizing Energy Security,” that outlines liabilities fostered by the natural dependence of the Department of Defense (DOD) on energy resources. The paper proposes the DOD should consider the actual, total cost of energy it takes to achieve energy security and assign a dollar value.
“As the largest, most technologically advanced, and geographically dispersed military in the world, DOD has sought to develop a more comprehensive energy strategy to reduce liability on limited energy resources,” said Lesley Hunter, ACORE’s lead researcher and the paper’s editor. “We believe, and our research backs this up, that there’s significant room for improvement in cost-accounting of DOD’s present energy strategy, and that renewable energy and microgrid technologies can add real value in the push for energy security.”
Don’t miss an update—join our weekly newsletter below.