RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.REMIPEG Report: Part 2: Biomass to power is on the rise globally
By Martin Kaltschmitt and Sebastian Janczik, Renewable Energy Focus.com.
The World-Market Status special report – Using a variety of technologies to convert organic matter into fuel, biomass is a widely used renewable energy source in the global market. Nevertheless, the primary markets for biomass are changing, and while transport fuels stabilise, heat and electricity are increasing.
Biomass (organic matter) can be used to provide solid, gaseous and liquid biofuels (wood logs, pellets, biomethane, bioethanol). The different types of fuels can be used to produce electricity, heat or fuels for transportation purpose. The market for biomass based heat is dominated by small scale units for providing thermal energy for cooking and for space heating from mainly solid wood fuels in developing countries. In industrialized countries, the heat market is determined by small and large scale devices mainly for room heating purpose based on woody solid biofuels; the latter is partly realized in CHP.
The markets for solid biofuels needed to operate especially small scale ovens are often characterized by informal market structures, particularly in rural areas; this is true in less developed countries as well as in industrialized nations. Therefore, the available data about the biomass-based heat provision is fragmentary and varies considerably. One estimate indicates globally a heat provision of 23.7 EJ (2014) originating from solid biofuels with a fuel energy of 59.3 EJ (2014).
Expect Ontario climate change plan details in new year: Kathleen Wynne
By CBC News.
Premier Kathleen Wynne said Ontario's long-term plans to combat climate change are "optimistic and entirely realistic" on Tuesday.
The province wants to achieve an 80-per-cent reduction in emissions over 1990 levels by 2050. Wynne said to do that, the province will work on a range of projects, from getting more electric cars on the roads to changing the building codes to create more environmentally-friendly buildings.
However, a five-year "action plan" that will outline some of the first major steps the province will take won't be released until the new year.
Cap and trade plan to reduce pollution taking shape in Salem
By Reed Andrews, KATU News.
PORTLAND, Ore. – A plan to curb carbon emissions statewide is set to be a highly contested issue between leaders in Salem.
"I think there's a growing swell of public support to take action on climate change," said Angela Crowley-Koch, legislative director with the Oregon Environmental Council.
State Sen. Chris Edwards, D-Eugene, is currently "deep in the weeds" of a cap and trade bill to cut down on pollution.
Edwards says the bill "would transform the economy." He points to the need for more renewable energy and making the state's energy grid more efficient.
Advances and Challenges for the Bioenergy Sector
By Carl Weinschenk, Energy Manager Today.
A forum on bioenergy at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in early November pointed to both good news and concerns for the sector.
The fate of an alternative to any established product or service depends on the health – economic and otherwise – of the incumbent. That is at bad news for bioenergy, at least in the short term, according to the report on the forum at Southeast Farm Press:
The biggest challenge is low oil prices which makes bioenergy less competitive. However, speakers at a forum on a biofuels and biochemicals at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park Nov. 4 stressed that demand is still strong and growing for green energy from plants and trees.
House Bill Would Advance Clean Vehicle Technologies
By David Cullen, Trucking Info.
A bill that would earmark funds for research and development of alternative fuels and advanced vehicle technologies as well as create truck-specific programs within the Department of Energy (DOE) has been introduced in the House by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) as the Vehicle Innovation Act (VIA), H.R. 4106.
Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced the legislation in the Senate earlier this year with cosponsors Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN). Their bill was passed by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee as part of a larger package of energy legislation.
According to the Senate and House sponsors, VIA legislation will promote investments in research and development of clean vehicle technologies to create more fuel-efficient vehicles, reduce dependence on foreign oil and support American auto manufacturers and suppliers.
Milwaukee biogas project uses hotel and casino food waste
By Recycling Today Staff.
Ten chopper pumps from Cary, North Carolina-based Landia are playing a vital role in the success of the FCPC Renewable Generation LLC’s biodigester plant in Milwaukee. Greenfire Management Servics LLC managed the development of the facility for FCPC RG LLC, which is operated under contract by Natural Systems Utilities (NSU).
Designed with an external knife system to prevent large solids from entering the casings, the Landia chopper pumps handle incoming food waste at the $18.5M biogas project, which supports the FCPC’s goal of using renewable, carbon-neutral resources to become energy self-sufficient.
Located adjacent to the FCPC’s Potawatomi Hotel and Casino in the Menomonee Valley, the plant treats up to 120,000 gallons per day of high strength wastes, producing up to 2MW of electricity (enough to power 1,500 homes). The Landia chopper pumps work 24/7 to handle a wide variety of solid and liquid waste from numerous local food and beverage manufacturers. Generating 7.7 million British thermal units per hour of heat. Excess amounts are also used to provide hot water for the two anaerobic digesters, as well as the hotel.
Pelosi urges Obama to go strong with ethanol fuel mandate
By Devin Henry, The Hill.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) is urging the White House to strengthen its ethanol mandate for gasoline ahead of an international climate change conference.
“We hope you will keep in mind the need to reduce carbon pollution, and not expand it in the transportation sector, in the days leading up to the president’s historic efforts at the upcoming [climate] conference in Paris,” Pelosi wrote in a letter to Obama’s chief climate adviser, Brian Deese, this week.
The letter -- which House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Reps. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) and David Loebsack (D-Iowa) also signed -- comes as members and industry groups lobby the White House on the Renewable Fuel Standard and the level of ethanol the government will require to be blended into the gasoline supply.
Clinton promises ‘enough clean energy to power every home in America’
By Bradford Richardson, The Hill.
If elected president, Democrat Hillary Clinton says she can create enough green energy to power every home in America by the end of her second term.
“By the end of my first term, we will have installed a half a billion more solar panels, and by the end of my second term, enough clean energy to power every home in America,” Clinton said at the Blue Jamboree in Charleston, S.C., on Saturday.
The Democratic presidential front-runner said her plan to subsidize alternative sources of energy would not entail a middle-class tax hike.
Biogas Integration for Cellulosic Ethanol Production
By Amanda Bilek, Biomass Magazine.
As cellulosic ethanol production facilities have come online, anaerobic digesters have been colocated at the plants to recover biogas from soluble residues inherent in the ethanol production process. These soluble residues contain a source of energy that can be recovered using anaerobic digestion, and the captured biogas can help meet process energy needs.
Recently in Iowa, DuPont held a grand opening for the world’s largest cellulosic ethanol facility. Once fully operational, the plant will produce 30 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. The opening of the DuPont plant comes on the heels of Poet-DSM’s cellulosic ethanol facility opening in 2014. The Poet-DSM plant aims to produce 20 MMgy.
RFA: RFS has reduced GHG emissions by 355 million metric tons
By Renewable Fuels Association, from Ethanol Producer Magazine.
Biofuels consumed under the expanded renewable fuel standard (RFS2) have reduced U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 354 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent since 2008, according to a new analysis conducted by California-based Life Cycle Associates. The Renewable Fuels Association, which sponsored the study, said the findings have important implications for both the pending final rule for 2014–2016 RFS volumes and upcoming global climate talks in Paris.
“The RFS2 has resulted in significant GHG reductions, with cumulative CO2 savings of 354 million metric tonnes over the period of implementation,” according to the report. “The GHG reductions are attributed to greater than expected savings from ethanol and other biofuels.” Specifically, the authors ascribe the larger-than-anticipated GHG emissions reductions to: technology improvements in grain ethanol production, increased consumption of low-carbon advanced biofuels, and the steadily rising carbon intensity of petroleum fuels.
Whereas the U.S. EPA uses a 2005 petroleum “baseline” for estimating RFS2 emissions impacts, the Life Cycle Associates study uses a “dynamic” petroleum baseline that reflects the true emissions impacts associated with U.S. petroleum consumption. The report, which builds on earlier work regarding marginal petroleum emissions, states that “…the advent of new crude oil extraction and processing technologies has raised the aggregate CI of petroleum fuels above the 2005 (EPA) baseline.”
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