RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.The Powder That Could Be Key for Natural-Gas Cars
Daniel Akst, The Wall Street Journal.
Natural gas burns relatively cleanly, and thanks to new extraction technologies, there is plenty of it. But few cars use it; most of the more than 150,000 U.S. vehicles running on natural gas are still trucks and buses.
One reason is that natural-gas-powered cars would need a much bigger fuel tank—perhaps filling the entire trunk as well as current gas-tank space—to achieve the range that drivers are accustomed to getting from gasoline. A given volume of gasoline contains more than triple the energy found in an equal volume of compressed natural gas.
Now scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, and other institutions on both sides of the Atlantic have come up with a new technology to pack more natural gas into a small space without the very high pressure or very low temperatures that are normally required. The result may be smaller and lighter tanks that are better suited to passenger vehicles.
World's Largest Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Opens in U.S.
By Daniel Looker, Agriculture.com.
Near Nevada, Iowa, workers hurry to bring the world’s largest cellulosic ethanol plant online next year. This activity caps years of research and work by DuPont to source a supply of corn stover from 500 farmers within 40 miles of the company’s new 30 million-gallon biorefinery.
DuPont joins POET, Abengoa, and Quad County Corn Processors in reaching commercial-scale U.S. production of fuel from cellulose. Already DuPont has licensed its technology for a second plant in partnership with Chinese ethanol producer New Tianlong Industry Company – not in this country, but in Jilin, China’s largest corn-producing province.
“Unfortunately, we’ve been unsuccessful in licensing it in the U.S. That is the result of the uncertainty regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard,” says Jan Koninckx, DuPont’s global head of biofuels.
Ontario releases cap-and-trade program details
By John Georgakopoulos, REMI Network.
On November 16, 2015, Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (“MOECC”) posted details about Ontario’s proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade system (cap-and-trade system) to the Environmental Registry (EBR #012-5666) for public comment. The public comment period ends on December 15, 2015. What follows is a summary of Ontario’s proposed cap-and-trade system.
Cap-and-trade system design options
Timing
The MOECC is proposing that the cap-and-trade system begin on January 1, 2017. Implementation of the cap-and-trade-system by January 1, 2017 is expected to give Ontario enough time to meet its 2020 greenhouse gas reduction target of 15 per cent below 1990 GHG emission levels. The first auction of emissions allowances would then take place in March 2017.
New Ways & Means chairman gives Speaker Ryan a tax-reform partner
By Mark Schoeff Jr., Investment News.
The promotion of Rep. Kevin Brady to chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee gives new House Speaker Paul Ryan a key partner on tax-reform efforts, according to experts.
Selected by his Republican colleagues earlier this month to head the panel, Mr. Brady, R-Texas, succeeds Mr. Ryan, R-Wisc., in the role. The committee has jurisdiction over tax, trade and entitlement policy.
The gavel is being handed to someone who, like Mr. Ryan, has made tax-reform a legislative signature.
EPA chief says Senate vote to scrap power-plant rules will fail
By Laura Curtis, Jennifer A. Dlouhy and Bloomberg.
WASHINGTON - One day after the Senate voted to block the Obamaadministration's plan to throttle greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency predicted the rules would survive all challenges in Congress, the courts and on the presidential campaign trail.
The Clean Power Plan will prevail as have other agency regulations imposed under the Clean Air Act, EPA administrator Gina McCarthy said Wednesday at the "Election 2016 and The Future of Energy" discussion with Bloomberg Politics in Washington.
"There is a history of us moving forward under the Clean Air Act, and there is a history of us winning time and time again," McCarthy said. "We are not seeing our large initiatives go down because a Republican has gone into the presidency, or because Congress has decided to to take it up."
The Economist explains why Exxon Mobil would support a carbon tax
By H.T., The Economist.
“I don't think putting a price on carbon is necessarily the answer,” John Watson, the boss of Chevron, an American oil company, said in remarks reported in the Financial Times in June. “I've never had a customer come to me and ask to pay a higher price for oil, gas and other products.” It might seem safe to assume that all oil-and-gas businesses would share his dismissive view. After all, a levy on carbon dioxide, whether via a cap-and-trade system along the lines of the EU's Emissions Trading System, or via a carbon tax, should be about as welcome to their industry as Christmas is to turkeys. Yet since 2007 Exxon Mobil, the world's biggest publicly listed oil company, is proposing a carbon tax, and has already put a shadow price on each tonne of CO2 it emits. And in the lead-up to the climate-change summit that starts in Paris at the end of this month, six European oil majors have advocated carbon-pricing systems. Are they serious? If so, why this strange burst of altruism?
Cynics start from the premise that this is a public-relations exercise, rather than a commitment to wean the world off fossil fuels—which still account for 87% of the global energy mix. They note that the oil majors which are supportive of a carbon price put the onus on governments to implement it, knowing full well that higher petrol prices look like vote-losers in many parts of the world. And they point out that the industry is divided. State-run oil companies are as sceptical as Mr Watson. And like Chevron, Exxon Mobil declined to join the six European energy companies in signing their letter to the UN.
Oregon cap and trade program in the works for 2016
By Taylor W. Anderson, The Bulletin.
SALEM — Two Eugene Democrats are gearing up to make Oregon the second state in the U.S. to cap greenhouse gas emissions on certain industries and put penalties and a credit system in place to reduce pollution, a system known as carbon capping.
Sen. Chris Edwards, who chairs the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, said Tuesday he would work over the next four months with Sen. Lee Beyer to push legislation in the 35-day legislative session in 2016 that would set up what he calls a cap-and-invest system.
Republic Services Expands CNG-Powered Fleet in Phoenix
By PR Newswire.
Republic Services announced today the addition of four Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) solid waste collection trucks to its fleet serving customers throughout the greater Phoenix area. The CNG trucks replace older diesel-powered trucks, and bring the total number of natural gas vehicles operated by Republic Services throughout Arizona to 34.
"Natural gas-powered collection trucks run cleaner and quieter, providing our customers and the communities we serve with a top-notch level of customer service and minimal impact on the environment," said Alberto Guardado, area president of Republic Services. "This CNG fleet expansion represents a significant investment in cleaner, safer and more efficient vehicles in our local Phoenix Metro area."
Republic Services operates a natural gas fueling station at its Lower Buckeye location to support its expanding Phoenix-based CNG fleet. 19% of Republic's fleet serving the greater Phoenix metropolitan area is now powered by the domestic fuel source. Republic operates a total of 178 collection trucks within the Phoenix area and 280 collection trucks statewide.
Overnight Energy: Senate moves to halt Obama’s climate rules
By Timothy Cama and Devin Henry, The Hill.
SENATE VOTES DOWN CLIMATE RULES: The Senate voted Tuesday to overturn President Obama's carbon dioxide limits for power plants, the key piece of his climate change agenda.
In a pair of votes, senators passed resolutions under the Congressional Review Act to stop the regulations for existing power plants and for new ones.
Less than two weeks before the United Nations climate deal negotiations in Paris, the GOP wanted to send a strong message that they disagree with the rules, which represent the main pillar of what Obama is contributing to the international deal.
Constellation and LA Sanitation Start Construction on Biogas-Fueled Cogeneration Plant
By Business Wire.
LOS ANGELES - Constellation, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation, and LA Sanitation today announced the start of construction of a 25-megawatt (net) biogas-fueled cogeneration plant, which will supply 100 percent of the steam and electricity produced to power LA Sanitation’s Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, City Councilmember Mike Bonin, and representatives from LA Sanitation and Constellation attended a groundbreaking ceremony at the Hyperion site to mark the occasion.
The cogeneration plant is expected to generate more than 173 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and supply up to 70,000 pounds per hour of steam, using the methane captured through Hyperion’s sewage treatment process as its fuel source.
“At LA Sanitation, we are committed to protecting public health and our environment,” said LA Sanitation Director, Enrique C. Zaldivar, P.E. “Keeping our commitment means continually improving and finding innovative new ways to meet the sustainability goals that Mayor Garcetti has set for the entire city. Today's groundbreaking brings us closer to fulfilling our pledge to the people of Los Angeles.”
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