RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.The IRS Plans to Issue New Regulations for the Investment Tax Credit
By Julia Pyper, GreenTech Media.
The Internal Revenue Service is considering modifications to energy investment tax credit regulations, which could have implications for energy storage and other technologies.
The IRS and the U.S. Department of Treasury issued a notice last Friday that the agencies are seeking public comments on Section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code, the commercial Investment Tax Credit, concerning the definition of qualifying energy property.
The ITC generally provides a 30 percent tax credit for investments in energy projects. Regulations that govern the ITC haven't been updated since 1987, however, so there's been growing confusion around which technologies qualify and how they must do so. The IRS and Treasury wrote last week that they "anticipate" issuing new tax credit regulations.
D.C. Water gets power from waste
By Andrew Mollenbeck, WTOP.
WASHINGTON — One man’s sewage is another man’s power supply.
D.C. Water has started turning waste water into an energy source that supplies power to one-third of its Blue Plains plant.
The $470 million waste-to-energy project is the first of its kind in North America. The scale of its thermal hydrolysis installation is unmatched in the world.
“We’re going to generate … a permanent, clean energy that reduces our carbon footprint by a third,” exclaimed D.C. Water General Manager George Hawkins.
Methane emissions fall for 3rd consecutive year -- EPA
By Pamela King, E&E Publishing.
Greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector are on the rise, but methane leakage continues to fall, according to new U.S. EPA data.
Petroleum and natural gas systems emitted 236 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere in 2014, up from 228 million metric tons CO2e in 2013, yesterday's updateto EPA's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) shows. Methane emissions ticked down from 77 million metric tons CO2e in 2013 to 73 million metric tons CO2e last year, marking the third consecutive year that measurement has declined.
"The EPA expects that the GHGRP will be an important tool for the Agency and the public to analyze emissions and understand emissions trends," EPA wrote in its oil and gas emissions profile.
Implications of Implementing Renewable Energy at Scale: Getting the Most Out of The Clean Power Plan
By Thomas R. Burton
On August 3, the Obama Administration released the much anticipated final Clean Power Plan (CPP). The nation’s first ever standard to address power plan pollution has an ambitious overall goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030. The plan’s third building block specifically calls for increasing generation from renewable energy sources. States are expected to develop and implement their own plans. They are to choose from either an emissions standards model, based on direct emissions requirements, or a state measures model, which employs a mix of measures, that incorporates the three building blocks.
States that do not file a plan with EPA by their September 2018 deadline will face a federally imposed model called the Federal Implementation Plan (FIP). The FIP the Administration currently proposes would realize similar emissions reductions through cap and trade. EPA would either assign an emissions cap or require states to meet a rate across their power plant fleet. Currently, EPA is accepting comments on the FIP and will decide on an approach next summer. It’s been characterized as both a guide path as states craft plans and also a warning for non-compliers.
The Connection Between Cleaner Air and Longer Lives
By Michael Greenestone, The New York Times.
Back in 1970, Los Angeles was known as the smog capital of the world — a notorious example of industrialization largely unfettered by regard for health or the environment. Heavy pollution drove up respiratory and heart problems and shortened lives.
But 1970 was also the year the environmental movement held the first Earth Day and when, 45 years ago this month, Congress passed a powerful update of the Clean Air Act. (Soon after, it was signed by President Richard Nixon, and it was followed by the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency and passage of the Clean Water Act, making him one of the most important, though underappreciated, environmentalists in American history.)
Since that time, the Clean Air Act has repeatedly been challenged as costly and unnecessary. As a fight brews over President Obama’s new use of the law to address global warming, it’s worth re-examining the vast difference the law has already made in the quality of the air we breathe, and in the length of our lives.
$1 MM in research grants available to spur bioenergy production in North Carolina
By Bladen Journal.
RALEIGH – The N.C. Bioenergy Research Initiative is seeking grant proposals focused on research and development of agricultural and forestry-based feedstocks for bioenergy production, Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced.
The N.C. General Assembly approved $1 million in funding for the 2015-2016 budget cycle, with $500,000 approved from the TVA Settlement Fund for projects specific to Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey counties.
The remaining $500,000 will be available for projects statewide, with more than $364,000 available for new projects. Over $135,000 has been designated to multi-year projects that were started with the 2014-2015 grant cycle.
U.S. Sen. James Lankford seeks end to renewable energy tax credits
By Randy Krehbiel , Tulsa World.
A federal tax credit instrumental in the development of Oklahoma’s wind energy sector but irritating to natural gas producers and the coal industry is in U.S. Sen. James Lankford’s sights.
Lankford is introducing legislation Wednesday to phase out the renewable energy production tax credit over the next 10 years. The credit subsidizes all renewable energy production, including hydro, biomass and geothermal, but has particularly attracted the attention of lawmakers, and especially conservatives, in recent years because of wind power’s growing strength in the marketplace.
Momentum Waning for Bipartisan Energy Action
By Ed Felker, CQ Roll Call.
Republicans in the House and Senate have succeeded in pushing bills to overhaul the nation’s energy laws through two committees, setting up potential floor votes in their drive to revamp energy policy for the first time since 2007.
Yet serious divides have appeared among the bipartisan group of lawmakers who came together to draft the House bill, lowering the odds that the Republican-led 114th Congress will craft legislation that President Barack Obama would be willing to sign into law.
Such an outcome would extend the partisan standoff that pits fossil fuel advocates in the GOP, who want to spur more oil and gas production, against Democrats who agree with the president that any major legislation must address climate change.
Capturing methane at landfill a prosperous venture for city of Billings
By Mike Ferguson, Billings Gazette.
Turning methane into natural gas at the Billings landfill will probably remain a profitable proposition for Billings, the Billings City Council learned Monday.
Larry Oswald, the manager of business development and marketing for Montana-Dakota Utilities Co., said the city’s 2015 share of the revenue from the plant, opened in December 2010, is expected to be $250,000 — about the same amount that’s been generated over the four previous years combined.
City staff “has worked with us to get gas production up,” he said. “Less than a handful of plants can turn (methane) into pipeline-quality natural gas.”
Environmental group files ballot measures for coal-free power in Oregon by 2030
By Ian K. Kullgren, The Oregonian/OregonLive.
An environmental group filed two ballot measures Monday aimed at setting renewable energy standards for power companies.
The first would require providers to stop producing coal-fire electricity by 2030 and begin replacing it with other sources. Under the ballot measure, half of new energy production would need to come from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2040.
The second would add controls on executive pay, garnishing wages from those who don't comply.
Don’t miss an update—join our weekly newsletter below.