RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.City of Palo Alto Utilities Offers New Certified Natural Gas Offset Program
By Catherine Elvert, City of Palo Alto.
Center for Resource Solutions (CRS) today announced that City of Palo Alto Utilities (CPAU) has launched PaloAltoGreen Gas, a gas offset program that pairs Green-e® Climate certified carbon offsets with customers' natural gas use. PaloAltoGreen Gas is the first Green-e Climate certified gas offset program offered by a municipal-level utility, and the first-ever certified gas offset program offered to residential customers.
Palo Alto residents and businesses can choose to offset 100% of the combustion emissions of their natural gas use. Businesses also have the option to buy carbon offsets in blocks of therms.
"PaloAltoGreen Gas is an exciting step forward for reducing the impact of our natural gas use," said Todd Jones, manager of Green-e Climate. "While options are available for renewable electricity everywhere, this is the first time a utility has offered a certified option to address the other main source of household emissions—our natural gas use."
Washington State: Adopting Clean-Fuels Standard is a Public-Health Imperative
By Howard Frumkin, guest of the Seattle Times.
EACH and every day, we take an average of 21,000 breaths. For some of us, those breaths come and go without a thought. For those with asthma or other lung diseases, each breath can be a struggle.
In our state, more than a half million adults and 105,000 youths have asthma. Dirty air can trigger severe asthma attacks and presents a host of other lung, heart and cancer health risks. Prolonged exposure can even lead to early death.
We must all work harder to protect communities from unhealthy airborne toxins, and preserve our environment. That is why we strongly support accelerating Washington’s transition toward a cleaner fuel supply.
Report: Advanced Biofuel Production to Double in 3 Years
By Sue Retka Schill, Biodiesel Magazine.
North American advanced biofuel capacity topped 800 million gallons in 2014, up from the previous year and almost double the capacity in 2011, according to the E2 Advance Biofuel Market Report 2014released by Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), a national nonpartisan business group.
The report projects that by 2017, as many as 180 companies are expected to produce 1.7 billion gallons of advanced biofuel, doubling current capacity. It shows advanced biofuels are on track to meet targeted emission reductions for clean fuels standards in California and Oregon.
Caltrain Vote Paves Way for Electric Trains
By Gennady Sheyner, Palo Alto Weekly.
Caltrain's effort to replace its diesel trains with electric ones hit a milestone on Thursday morning when the agency's board of directors signed off on a key environmental document that paves the way for the project's implementation.
Without any substantive discussion or dissent, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board approved the Final Environmental Impact Report for what is known as the Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project (PCEP). The agency, which oversees Caltrain, hopes to implement electrification along its 51-mile corridor between San Francisco and San Jose by 2020. The project is also a stepping stone for California's controversial high-speed rail system, which would share the newly electrified tracks with Caltrain along the Peninsula.
Colorado Waste-to-Gas Project Addresses Air Quality and Climate Change
By BioCNG, LLC.
Late 2014 BioCNG, LLC broke ground to launch the BioCNG™ biogas conditioning system and gas pipeline for the Persigo wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), in Grand Junction, Colorado. The BioCNG system will produce about 500 gallons of gasoline equivalent per day from the WWTP digester gas, which will be piped nearly 6 miles to Grand Junction’s existing compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station.
Vision for New Vermont Gas CEO includes RNG
By Rosalie Starling, Energy Global - World Pipelines.
Don Rendall launched his tenure as the CEO of Vermont Gas Systems (VGS) effective 1 January 2015, promising to bring a new vision and direction to the company. He succeeds Don Gilbert, who retired after 13 years as CEO.
Rendall’s innovative clean energy vision for Vermont Gas includes partnering with renewable energy producers, procuring renewable natural gas for Vermont customers, and speaking up for responsible natural gas extraction and transportation practices. Rendall said VGS is exploring more renewable natural gas options, can back up renewable energy sources as communities transition to ‘microgrids’ and will continue maintaining one of the tightest and most efficient gas distribution systems in the nation.
Maryland Coalition Pushes for New Standards for Renewable Energy
By Ovetta Wiggins, The Washington Post.
A coalition of environmentalists, business leaders and social justice activists in Maryland are pushing for legislation that would reduce the state’s dependency on fossil fuel by doubling its clean energy mandate from 20 to 40 percent.
OREGON: Environmental Quality Commission approves rules to move Clean Fuels Program forward
By Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.
On Jan. 7, 2015, the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission approved the rules which lay out the next phase of the Oregon Clean Fuels Program, which seeks to cut greenhouse gases by lowering the carbon content in Oregon transportation fuels. The rules go into effect Feb. 1, 2015.
The approved rules:
- Establish clean fuel standards to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from Oregon’s transportation fuels by 10 percent over a 10-year period, implementing House Bill 2186, which the Oregon Legislature passed in 2009.
- Require importers of transportation fuels – owners of the fuel when it crosses into Oregon – to reduce the average carbon intensity of fuels they provide in Oregon to meet the annual clean fuel standards. To meet the standards, regulated parties can choose a variety of strategies, including incorporating more lower-carbon biofuels, natural gas, biogas, propane or electricity into their fuel mix, or purchase clean fuel credits from providers of clean fuels.
- Allow providers of clean fuels to generate and sell clean fuel credits for the fuels they provide in Oregon.
- Establish fuel supply and fuel price deferrals to contain the program’s cost.
BREAKING: California Governor Calls For 50 Percent Renewable Power
By Ari Phillips, Climate Progress.
California Governor Jerry Brown gave the inaugural address for his unprecedented fourth term as governor of California. Brown used the speech as an opportunity to look back at how far the state has come since he was first elected 40 years ago, and to look ahead at the daunting tasks of the future.
Along the way California has been a nationwide leader and energy and environmental initiatives, and Brown used the occasion to lay out some ambitious targets as part of the speech’s broader focus on the importance of the state’s green agenda.
Brown listed three main goals to be accomplished within the next 15 years: First, to increase the amount of electricity the state derives from renewable sources from one-third to 50 percent.
Outlook: US 2014 RIN generation set to exceed RFS
By Zander Capozzola, Argus Media.
US generation of renewable identification numbers (RINs) for the 2014 compliance year is set to exceed the 15.21bn USG of renewable biofuels required by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be blended with motor fuel under the proposal.
The industry is on pace to produce an excess of 1.75bn RINs in 2014, a development which failed to spurn a 30¢/RIN year-end rally as traders anticipate a larger blend mandate in the EPA's Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which has yet to be issued.
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