RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.California waste-to-energy facilities close as solar energy dominates
By Arlene Karidis, Waste Dive.
Dive Brief:
- California's biomass energy plants are shutting down as competing, subsidized solar farms emerge, mainly in San Joaquin Valley. Six of these waste-to- energy facilities have closed in two years, including a plant in Delano, owned and operated by Covanta, after San Diego Gas & Electric terminated its power purchase agreement with the company.
- Nearby, the Rio Bravo biomass facility will receive some of the fuel that would have gone to Delano, but that plant’s power purchase agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric Co. expires this year. And a Buena Vista biomass facility in Ione may lose its contract with Sacramento Municipal Utility District, according to the district’s spokesman Christopher Capra.
- As a result of the plant closures, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District may allow more agricultural waste to be burned in open piles, which produces pollution and compounds tied to cardiovascular illnesses.
Arnold Schwarzenegger pumps up California’s clean energy debate
By Chris Nichols, Politifact.
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to terminate the idea that California’s clean energy experiment has turned it into an economic wimp.
The muscle-bound movie star, who’s now a climate change activist, argues it hasn’t.
As governor, Schwarzenegger signed California’s signature clean energy regulations into law in 2006. Known as the California Global Warming Solutions Act, or AB 32, the law requires the state to dramatically cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
Two Firms Now Working on Smithfield Animal Waste-to-Energy Project
By Allan Gerlat, Waste 360.
Two alternative energy companies now are teaming with Smithfield Foods to convert gas from animal waste into renewable energy.
Kennesaw, Ga.-based ABUTEC and Roeslein Alternative Energy, St. Louis, are partnering with Smithfield Foods Missouri to trap the biogas released from Smithfield’s manure lagoons and store it for energy production, according to a news release. Food producer Smithfield houses nearly two million pigs through nine facilities, and they produce enough manure to make 2.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
FuelCell Energy Announces 5.6 Megawatt Fuel Cell Project With Pfizer Inc.
By Global Newswire, via CNN Money.
FuelCell Energy, Inc., a global leader in the design, manufacture, operation and service of ultra‐clean, efficient and reliable fuel cell power plants, announced plans for the installation of a 5.6 megawatt fuel cell power generation system for Pfizer Inc., one of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies, to provide reliable and low carbon electricity and steam for its 160 acre research and development facility in Groton, Connecticut. Pfizer will purchase the power and steam under a 20 year power purchase agreement that will lead to a reduction in energy costs while enhancing power reliability from on-site power generation. The highly efficient combined heat and power (CHP) fuel cell system will be configured to operate continuously, in parallel with the grid during normal operation and independently supplying electricity to campus loads during grid outages, while supporting Pfizer’s commitment to sustainability with power generation that is low carbon and efficient. The fuel cell installation is expected to be fully operational by summer 2016.
“This power purchase model delivers immediate value while increasing electrical reliability by providing the security of on-site power with a financial structure that avoids an investment in power generation assets, and FuelCell Energy installs, operates and maintains the fuel cell power plants,” said Chip Bottone, President and Chief Executive Officer, FuelCell Energy, Inc. “Affordably addressing both energy and sustainability goals is an attractive value proposition offered by FCE.”
Blue Sphere Secures $3m to Acquire Italian Biogas Plants
By Ben Messenger, Waste Management World.
Charlotte, North Carolina based anaerobic digestion and renewable energy developer, Blue Sphere Corp. (OTCQB: BLSP) has closed on a financing round of $3 million as it continues its program of acquisitions.
The company explained that while the financing has a face value of £3 million, after commissions and selling expenses it has netted £2,672,000.
To secure the deal it worked with the Maxim Group, a New York based investment banking firm to market and close the private placement of Notes which will be used for general business activities.
EPA looks to build on 2015 wins this year
By Devin Henry, The Hill.
The head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Monday that the Obama administration is preparing to roll out and implement new climate rules this year after pushing an aggressive agenda in 2015.
In a blog post on the EPA website, administrator Gina McCarthy said the agency will look in 2016 to help implement the goals of the landmark international climate agreement reached in Paris last month.
The agency will finalize rules this year to cut carbon pollution from heavy-duty vehicles, she wrote, as well as a rule to limit methane leaks from oil and gas operations. The methane rule — which targets a pollutant with 25 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide — is seen as a major step President Obama can take to address climate change in his final year in office.
2016 holds flurry of state planning, legal drama for Clean Power Plan
By Emily Holden, E&E Publishing.
U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan will continue to enjoy the spotlight in 2016 as the Obama administration works to follow through on international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
States must submit at least initial thoughts about how they might cut power-sector carbon emissions by Sept. 6.
Here are the top developments ClimateWire will be tracking in the meantime:
State, utility planning advances
Most states will submit status updates in the fall and request two-year extensions to send EPA their final carbon-slashing plans.
Tax Extenders, Omnibus Legislation Provide Rare Certainty for Tax Credit Community
By Michael J. Novogradac, Washington Wire.
When House and Senate leaders announced their tax extenders and omnibus spending bills in mid-December, the tax credit community got a rare gift: a strong degree of certainty, which was a big change from recent year-end legislation.
Key Tax Credits Extended
After months of talks and weeks of serious negotiations over tax extenders and spending, Congress struck a pair of deals less than two weeks before Christmas that provided rare midterm certitude for several tax credits:
New Players Challenge Clean Power Plan
By H. Sterling Burnett, The Heartland Institute.
A flurry of last minute lawsuits were filed challenging the centerpiece of Obama administration’s fight against global warming, the clean power plan.
At least ten new parties filed lawsuits in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the rules just before the December 22 deadline to challenge the regulations. Those filing suite on December 22, joined more than 27 states, and dozens of energy companies, business groups and others who have already filed suit to block the regulations for either new or existing power plants. The new challengers include, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the American Forest & Paper Association, the American Wood Council, the Energy-Intensive Manufacturers’ Working Group on Greenhouse Gas Regulation, the Local Government Coalition for Renewable Energy, the National Alliance of Forest Owners, Minnesota Power, Prairie State Generating Co., Denbury Onshore and the Biogenic CO2 Coalition.
Why business no longer fears carbon pricing
By Barbara Grady, GreenBiz.
Despite all the shouting in Congress about how constraining carbon emissions could harm business and jobs, an interesting call emerged from the business community in recent months: They're asking for policies that reflect the cost or price of emitting carbon.
A price on carbon would add certainty to decisions around cutting emissions and unleash more investment into the low-carbon economy, experts say. Hundreds of companies already have made that calculus privately.
CDP reported during the U.N. climate talks in December that more than 1,000 companies disclosed in their 2015 reports to CDP that they either have implemented a price on carbon for internal decision making and communications to stakeholders, or they plan to do so in the next two years. CDP called this (PDF) "a number that was unthinkable just a few years ago."
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