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Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Desert Hot Springs rolls out fleet of nine natural gas vehicles
DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. - A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled Wednesday in Desert Hot Springs to mark the addition of nine compressed natural gas vehicles to the city's fleet under a grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
The vehicles were purchased through a more than $1 million grant from the Sentinel Mitigation Fund, which is administered by the AQMD. The fund was created as part of an agreement to help offset the impact of emissions from the Sentinel Plant in north Palm Springs.
"We are very pleased to be able to participate in local efforts to keep our air clean," Mayor Adam Sanchez said. "And very importantly, this grant allowed us to do so at no cost to the city."
Facing coal retirements, Western utilities turn to cheap natural gas
By Robert Walton, Utility Dive.
- Amid a glut of cheap gas, utilities in the West are turning to natural gas as a bridge fuel as they phase out coal and continue to embrace renewable energy, Argus reports.
- Several Western utilities have added increasing amounts of gas-fired power into their generation mixes, allowing them to phase out some coal and reduce startup costs when plants fire back up in the morning.
- Gas' share of generation has been slowly gaining momentum, and at times has exceeded coal generation. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said that in July the country generated more power from gas during the month, albeit just barely and only for the second time ever.
Biomethane plant in the UK inaugurated
By Tanja Peschel, Agraferm Technologies AG.
The German company Agraferm Technologies AG starts building its tenth biomethane plant in the United Kingdom. Overall, Agraferm has received three contracts for new biogas plants.
While the project in Metheringham will produce biomethane, two other projects in Methwold and Crowland will produce biogas from a flexible substrate mix. Additionally, those two plants will use a cogeneration unit to produce electricity.
The biomethane plant in Metheringham will consist of one digestor and post digestor, yield 400 m³ per hour and will have an electric capacity of 500 kW. As Heinrich Schulze Herking, Chief Technology Officer at Agraferm explains, plants in this performance class usually require three to four tanks but thanks to high-load fermentation, the new plant will require substantially less tank volume.
Could The EPA's Clean Power Plan Deliver More Than Just Clean Air?
By Michael Krancer, Forbes.
In August, the EPA released its Clean Power Plan, which aims to shape the future of American power generation and consumption by reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also increasing the grid’s efficiency and reliability. This comes more than a year after the EPA issued its first proposal for the CPP. The final version hits upon a fair compromise—a rare occurrence in Washington these days—that not only lowers carbon emissions, but also lays the foundation for an economic growth engine.
Critics say that the plan overreaches, unilaterally imposing compliance and energy policy direction for the states. In crafting the final plan, however, the EPA frees the states to make their own or regional compliance programs. And the final CPP also gives states more time to craft their plans. Initial proposals from states are due to the federal government in 2016, but extensions may grant states time until at least 2018. That’s not a punitive timeline. This final version of the CPP also allows states to delay their time of initial compliance all the way until 2022, pushing that line back two years from the initial proposal.
Detractors of the plan harbor instinctive worries that the plan will result in job losses and economic contraction. But a recent study indicates that the kind of mass-based carbon compliance programs that the CPP will encourage may in fact kindle economic activity and growth rather than stymie it. Mass-based carbon programs aim to put a hard cap on the pollutant emitted, whereas rate-based programs seek to limit emissions based on the total power produced. Mass-based programs also tend to be better suited for free-market trading programs; the successful federal program to limit SO2 emissions to curb acid rain took a mass-based approach.
Behind the scenes, most states are exploring the benefits of carbon trading
By Emily Holden, Debra Kahn and Jeffrey Tomich, E&E Publishing.
Swaths of states are engaged in early regional talks about how to comply with U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan and whether to embrace carbon trading to keep costs down.
These "no regrets" discussions -- mostly coordinated by nongovernmental organizations -- offer a safe space for state air and electric regulators to share ideas and analyze how various paths forward might affect their power systems and economies.
Grid experts broadly agree that reducing nationwide greenhouse gas emissions would be cheaper if states that are short of their goals could purchase allowances or credits from states that can decarbonize at a lower cost. Even conservative states that have railed against cap and trade for years are looking at how those type of programs might be their best bet under the Clean Power Plan. But states are still working out the details.
Legislative developments on federal renewable energy tax credits
By Jehmal Terrence Hudson, EnergyBiz.
Now that a government shutdown was temporarily averted, both chambers face significant legislative challenges. Among the legislative challenges are several bills that need action before pending expiration dates. One bill that must be addressed is a tax extenders bill, which may impact the renewable energy industry.
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 created a renewable energy incentive called the production tax credit (PTC). This tax credit, under Section 45 of the Internal Revenue Code, allowed a 2.3 cent/kilowatt-hour income tax credit for producing electricity from renewable energy. Likewise, the investment tax credit (ITC) was created under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The investment tax credit is allowed under section 48 of the Internal Revenue Code. This tax credit allowed certain solar and wind projects to be eligible for a 30 percent credit for development costs. The investment tax credit is earned at the time the qualifying facility is placed in service. In 2013, Congress extended the PTC that expired, but it was a one-year, retroactive extension that terminated a few weeks later at the end of 2014. On December 31, 2016, the ITC will expire and subsequently, the tax credit provided at the end of a project’s first year of operation will fall to 10 percent for commercial solar investments and to zero for residential solar investments.
August RINs data shows D3, D5 RINs rising, steady D6 generation
By Susanne Retka Schill, Ethanol Producer Magazine.
U.S. EPA data on RINs generation through August reveals cellulosic D3 biofuels continue to climb, advanced biofuel D5 RINs generation is up sharply and the mainstay, D6 renewable fuels (primarily ethanol) continues on pace. Biofuel producers assign renewable identification numbers (RINS) to each gallon-equivalent of fuel produced, which are then used by obligated parties to show the EPA that they have complied with the blending requirments under the renewable fuel standard.
D3 cellulosic biofuels RINS have risen each month in 2015, reaching 13.777 million for the month of August. In the table showing RINS generated by fuel type for 2015 to date through August, 1.6 million RINs were generated from cellulosic ethanol production. Most D3 RINs were generated for renewable CNG, at 43 million, and renewable LNG, at 31.6 million.
Biomass-based diesel, D4 RINs were down in August at 283.4 million, compared to 294.4 million in July, but still higher than June. Cellulosic diesel, D7 RINs totaled 53,000 for August, after two months with no RINs generated in this category, but substantially lower than May’s 174,000 RINs. May and August are the only months showing D7 RINs generation in 2015. In the table showing RINs generated by fuel type, 1.44 billion were for biodiesel and 369 million for nonester renewable diesel.
A look at Sen. Murkowski’s hard-to-pass bills
By Krista Langlois, High Country News.
Lisa Murkowski wants to revamp America’s outdated energy policy. That’s why she’s shepherding a package through the Senate that could have lasting effects on how energy in the West is developed, stored and brought to our homes and cities. The 357-page package is a testament to negotiation — an example, the Alaska senator says, of what Republicans are capable of when they’re in control.
What’s most striking, though, is what it’s lacking. There’s no mention of drilling in the Arctic, transferring public lands to state control or ending the ban on crude exports.
Murkowski personally believes that such measures are key to America’s energy future, but she also knows they’re controversial enough to derail her energy package’s chance of passing. Still, that doesn’t mean she’s giving up. In addition to her bipartisan energy package (S.2012), Murkowski has introduced dozens of additional bills and amendments this year — more in the past nine months than in any of her previous 24-month-long Congresses.
Mexico is interested in Quebec's cap-and-trade carbon market
By The Canadian Press, CBC News.
Mexico has shown interest in Quebec's cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases, and has signed an agreement to learn from the province.
After meeting with the Mexican president on Monday, Premier Philippe Couillard said Mexico sees Quebec's carbon market as an effective way of addressing climate change.
"I was impressed by the strength of his statements," Couillard said, regarding president Enrique Peña Nieto's commitment to setting up a carbon market for his country.
Blue Sphere To Start Biogas Commercial Operations
By Debra Flakas, Alt. Energy Stocks.
The Blue Sphere, Inc. stock price has weakened in recent months as investors registered their apparent frustration with fundamental developments. Proposed acquisitions of operating biogas power plants in Italy have taken much longer than expected and majority interest in planned biogas plants in the U.S. were sold into joint venture arrangements rather than held as 100% equity positions. Despite these developments, Blue Sphere management has doggedly moved forward on all fronts and there has been measurable progress toward first revenue.
Commercial operation dates have been set for Blue Sphere’s first two biogas development projects in the U.S. Construction progress is on-schedule for a 5.2 megawatt biogas power plant near Charlotte, North Carolina. The facility is scheduled to be connected to the local electrical grid on October 27, 2015. Likewise construction is on-schedule for a 3.2 megawatt biogas power plant in Johnston, Rhode Island. The Johnston plant is on the calendar for connection to the local power grid the third week in December 2015. Both plants deploy anaerobic digestion equipment to convert food waste to energy to heat steam-powered turbines and electrical generators.
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