RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.U.S. appeals court declines to block Obama carbon emissions plan
By Lawrence Hurley and Valerie Volcovici, Reuters.
In a big victory for the Obama administration, a U.S. federal court on Thursday rejected a bid by 27 states to block its Clean Power Plan, the centerpiece of its strategy to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions from power plants.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a brief order denying an application seeking to stay the rule while litigation continues.
The states, led by West Virginia, and several major business groups in October launched the legal challenges seeking to block the Obama administration's proposal to curb carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
Report: California should have flexibility to spend funds
By Scott Smith, Associated Press.
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - California lawmakers should have more flexibility to spend billions of dollars collected through the state’s landmark cap-and-trade system designed to combat climate change, analysists recommended Thursday.
The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office reported the state can reach its goals for cutting greenhouse gases without spending all of the money raised from the cap-and-trade program. The law requires the state to spend the money on reducing greenhouse gas emission, but the restrictions have created a backlog of unspent money.
$10 million biochemical tax credit plan unveiled in Iowa Senate
By William Petroski, Des Moines Register.
Iowa's biochemical industry would receive up to $10 million annually in state tax incentives under a bill that received a warm reception Wednesday in an Iowa Senate subcommittee.
Senate Study Bill 3001 would provide state tax credits to attract investment in renewable chemical manufacturing and advanced bio-refining. The goal is to build upon Iowa’s renewable fuels industry, which makes products like ethanol and biodiesel from farm crops and crop residue. Iowa needs to move swiftly because of competition for businesses looking to invest in the industry, business lobbyists say.
Majority of Presidential Candidates Support Controversial Fuel Standards
By Andrew Clark, Shea Smith, and Page Jones, Huffington Post Politics.
Renewable fuels and the controversial standards surrounding them are repeat hot topics of debate during the Iowa caucuses, and the current crop of presidential candidates are not cowering away from the issue.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Tuesday at the 10th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels conference that he supports the notion to maintain the standard, a declaration that must have boded well with many citizens of a state with 41 corn ethanol plants in attendance.
"As president, I will encourage congress to be cautious in attempting to charge and change any part of the (Renewable Fuel Standard)," Trump said at the summit, closely accompanied by his script. "Energy independence is a requirement for America to become great again."
Tesoro working with partners to run crude in U.S. made from biomass
By Kristen Hays, Reuters.
On the heels of last month's Paris agreement to curb carbon emissions, independent refiner Tesoro Corp said it is working with several biofuel companies to run more crude made from renewable plants and waste at its California refineries, the company told Reuters on Tuesda.
Using so-called biocrude from Fulcrum BioEnergy Inc and other partners is intended to lower Tesoro's costs to comply with California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), which requires refineries to run more environmentally friendly produced crude.
Rather than build or overhaul units to produce biofuels, Tesoro can blend biocrude into other crudes that feed existing refineries to generate LCFS credits, C.J. Warner, executive vice president of strategy and business development, said.
Renewables Could Prove Cheaper Than LNG in Overseas Power Markets, Report Finds
By Jeremiah Shelor, NGI's Daily Gas Price Index.
The slew of North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects currently in the works could face stiff competition from renewables in Asian and European power generation markets, according to a new report from economists with The Brattle Group.
The report, “LNG and Renewable Power: Risk and Opportunity in a Changing World,” notes, as other analysts have, the recent softening of LNG demand in key markets like Asia (see Daily GPI, Jan. 13). While many forecasters see demand growing beyond 2020, this isn’t a safe bet, according to Brattle.
“The analysis in our paper suggests that market participants should be very cautious in thinking that the LNG supply glut is necessarily a temporary problem, because another important dynamic in world energy markets is the declining cost of renewable power and the prospect of increased penetration of renewables in the global power generation mix and thus competing with LNG as a ‘fuel source’ for power generation.”
LNG Possible Cost-Saving Alternative for Hawaii Gas, Says Report
By Richard Nemec, NGI's Daily Gas Price Index.
Hawaii leaders have set a goal to use 100% renewables by 2045, but liquefied natural gas (LNG) may be a viable and cost-saving supplement to the use of synthetic natural gas (SNG) by Hawaii Gas as a primary fuel in the interim, according to the results of an 18-month bidding process by the state's only regulated gas utility.
Natural gas may be a lower-cost substitute for the company's SNG as well as a cheaper and cleaner alternative to the oil-based fuels used by electricity producers and ground/marine transportation operators, said a Hawaii Gas spokesperson said Tuesday when the report was released. "The Facts About LNG for Hawaii” follows five years of "discovery work" by the Macquarie Infrastructure Co. utility.
The only way to bring large quantities of LNG to the islands is for a third party to own and operate a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), Hawaii Gas said.
Napa welcomes Marin Clean Energy into city’s power market
By Howard Yune, Napa Valley Register.
The company that supplies electricity from renewable sources to Napa County customers will take its program into the city of Napa as well.
Marin Clean Energy is set to become Napa’s default power provider for local homes and businesses, after the City Council on Tuesday approved the first reading of an ordinance to partner with the San Rafael-based firm.
The city joins the unincorporated county in offering electricity based on solar, wind, hydroelectric, biogas and other sustainable sources, which the company is rolling out across the Bay Area.
Air Products secures PED certification for two new sizes of biogas membrane separators
From Chemicals-Technology.com.
International certification body DNV GL Business Assurance Italia has awarded Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) certification to Air products' two new sizes of membrane separators for biogas upgrading applications.
The new membrane separators have been developed by Air Products' PRISM Membranes division, located in Saint Louis, Missouri, US.
The certification has been granted after Air Products' new biogas separators were found to have fulfilled the requirements of European standards for design and manufacture, as well as safe operation of pressurised equipment.
Greens ask federal EPA to take over enforcement for air, water rules in Texas
By Robert Walton, Utility Dive.
- The Environmental Defense Fund and the Caddo Lake Institute have asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take over permitting in Texas under the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act saying the state is not doing its duty to protect citizens from pollution.
- The groups say new laws in Texas are limiting who can participate in proceedings as "affected" parties, and the state's Council on Environmental Quality and local government agencies are not adequately funded to protect the environment.
- The environmental advocates also asked the EPA to "withdraw its delegation of permitting authority" under the CWA and find that Texas’s new source review permitting program under the Clean Air Act is deficient.
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