RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.States Seek Court Delay in Enforcement of Clean Power Plan
By Michael Biesecker, Associated Press.
A coalition of 25 states opposing President Obama's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to stop the new regulations from taking effect until after their legal challenge is resolved.
West Virginia and Texas led the group of mostly Republican states that asked Chief Justice John Roberts to immediately bar the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing the Clean Power Plan. Roberts can consider the application on his own or refer it to the full court.
The move came after an appeals court in Washington last week denied a similar request, handing a significant procedural victory to the Obama administration.
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Columbus City Leaders to Consider Methane Gas Uses From Landfills/Expansion Options
By mercerwrbl, wrbl.com.
COLUMBUS, Ga. – City leaders are expected to talk trash soon.
Specifically – how they will handle the growing need for space at the city’s three open landfills.
Alvin Robinson dropped off carpet he pulled from his house.
He says the tipping fees to drop off trash are reasonable and he would be willing to pay a bit more.
Biogas still holds solution to energy problems
By Warren Weisman, The Register-Guard.
If you filled a room full of Nobel Prize-winning scientists and told them they could not leave until they came up with a simpler form of energy than biogas, they could never do it.
To make biogas, all one has to do is take the Tupperware container of mystery leftovers out of the back of your refrigerator, and place it in the sun. Within 48 hours, the gases making the top bulge will be primarily methane — the same flammable component in fossil natural gas presently being fracked out of the ground.
How much energy can you get out of those holiday leftovers? Actually, quite a bit. One kilogram (2.2 pounds) of food waste can provide 20 minutes of cooking time, or fuel an electric generator long enough to watch 10 hours of TV. Biogas can produce five times as much energy per acre as any liquid biofuels, and five times more energy per installed capacity than solar, while also mitigating landfilling and recycling nutrients for gardening and local agriculture.
Betting on Biogas Growth in 2016
By Amanda Bilek, Biomass Magazine.
Last year witnessed significant achievements toward the transition to a lower-carbon economy. A historic agreement among over 180 countries to collectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions was reached in Paris in December. Also there, 20 countries announced the Mission Innovation initiative, which is aimed at doubling clean energy research and development in the next five years. Some clean energy technologies have become cost-competitive with incumbent technologies, and costs are projected to continue declining into the future. On the biogas front, 2015 was a good year, especially when compared to activity in previous years. Due to recently implemented initiatives and trends, I have high hopes that 2016 will be even better.
In the summer of 2014, the USDA released the Biogas Opportunities Roadmap. The release of this roadmap marked the first time that federal agencies made a public commitment to coordinate biogas activities and outline objectives aimed at increasing the deployment of biogas systems across the U.S. At the end of 2015, the USDA published a progress report on roadmap objectives. According to the progress report, the USDA, U.S. DOE and U.S. EPA have all identified or implemented policy achievements to increase resource access for biogas projects. The progress report also identified technology achievements, a variety of private sector efforts, and identification of barriers to address in the future.
Obama's Last Year May Be Tough for Oil, Gas
By Alan Kovski, Bloomberg BNA.
Tensions between the Obama administration and the oil and gas industry are high and may be headed higher in the last year of the administration.
Industry representatives do not dispute that their industry's relations with the federal government are very difficult, although they consistently express a hope for cooperation. They suggest the difficulties are not a matter of bureaucracies but rather of policies stemming from the White House, and the policies may be driven in 2016 by concerns about climate change and an activist campaign to keep fossil fuels in the ground.
“We just feel that it's a regulatory onslaught,” said Dan Naatz, senior vice president of government relations and political affairs at the Independent Petroleum Association of America.
U.S. Moves to Limit Emissions of Planet-Warming Methane
By Coral Davenport, The New York Times.
The Obama administration on Friday proposed a new rule aimed at curbing emissions of planet-warming methane from oil and gas drilling on public land. It would force companies to use equipment to capture leaked gas and raise the costs they pay for extracting fuel on government property.
The draft regulation, proposed by the Interior Department, is the latest step by President Obama to use his executive authority to clamp down on the fossil fuel emissions that contribute to climate change, and to make it more expensive for oil, gas and coal companies to mine and drill on public land. It follows last week’s controversial move by the Interior Departmentto halt new leases for coal mining on public lands, and to reform the government’s program for leasing federal lands to coal companies with an eye to raising their costs.
It also comes as the administration has particularly targeted emissions of methane, a chemical contained in natural gas that is about 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The Obama administration wants to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025.
New York creates $5 billion clean energy fund to spur renewables
By Associated Press, from the Boston Globe.
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York established a $5 billion clean energy fund Thursday intended to encourage renewable sources of electricity such as wind and solar while reducing the state’s reliance on fossil fuels linked to climate change.
The money, which is set to be spent over 10 years, will be used to subsidize solar energy, spur energy research and development, and incentivize private investments in clean energy projects. It will also support programs that increase energy efficiency in homes and businesses.
The initiative is part of Governor Andrew Cuomo's plan to generate half of the state's energy from renewable sources by 2030. The Democrat announced the fund last week during his annual state-of-the-state address, and it was formally approved by the state's Public Service Commission Thursday.
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.
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