RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.First-of-its-kind renewable biomethane fuelling station opens in UK
By Bioenergy Insight Magazine.
CNG Fuels, in partnership with the national grid, has unveiled a new filling station in the UK allowing vehicles to fill up on renewable compressed natural gas (CNG) directly from the high-pressure local transmission system.
The new facility is the first of its kind in the UK, according to CNG Fuels, and boasts a high-pressure connection delivered by national grid.
The station is capable of refuelling more than 500 heavy-duty trucks per day, and it will be accessible around the clock, 365 days a year.
Harvest Power Backs Out Of Landfill Lease
By Michael L. Rausch, Cape News.
A site lease and development agreement between the Town of Bourne and Harvest Power of Waltham has been terminated.
Harvest Power notified Integrated Solid Waste Management director Daniel T. Barrett in a letter dated Monday, March 14, of its decision to pull the plug on the proposed project at the Bourne landfill.
In his termination letter, Harvest Power manager Christian G. Kasper said that the company was choosing to exercise its option to back away from the site lease and development agreement because of an inability to secure a power purchase agreement with Eversource.
Oregon governor signs bill to expand RPS, phase out coal
By Erin Voegele, Biomass Magazine.
On March 11, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown signed legislation that doubles the state’s renewable portfolio standard (RPS) while eliminating coal from Oregon’s energy sources. The measure also provides incentives for energy efficiency, small- and community-scale renewable energy projects, and some existing biomass energy plants.
"Knowing how important it is to Oregonians to act on climate change, a wide range of stakeholders came to the table around Oregonians' investments in coal and renewable energy," Brown said. "Working together, they found a path to best equip our state with the energy resource mix of the future. Now, Oregon will be less reliant on fossil fuels and shift our focus to clean energy. I'm proud to sign a bill that moves Oregon forward, together with the shared values of current and future generations."
California Seeks Near-Zero Emissions in CNG Trucks
By Richard Nemec, NGI Daily's Gas Price Index.
In California earlier this month, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board voted to petition the federal government to adopt tougher emission standards for large trucks to help the region meet its clean air goals. Heavy-duty trucks are the largest source of smog-forming emissions in the four-county air district.
"The technology for these reductions is available," said SCAQMD Chairman William Burke."The federal government needs to step up and require near-zero emission standards for all new trucks nationwide."
SCAQMD officials point out that the district has led an effort the past three years to develop near-zero emission CNG engines for refuse-hauling trucks. The 8.9-liter engine, produced by Cummins Westport Inc., recently won certification from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) (see Daily GPI, Oct. 8, 2015).
Study undermines EPA, blames rising methane levels on farming, not fracking
By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times
A newly released international study finds that farming, not fracking, is the likely culprit behind rising global methane levels, undermining the Obama administration’s crackdown on methane from oil-and-gas production in the name of climate change.
The research published Friday in the journal Science came a day after President Obama unveiled a pact aimed at cutting methane emissions from oil-and-gas producers by 40 to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025.
Sanders, Clinton, Rubio, and Kasich answer climate debate questions
By The Guardian.
Last week, the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates participated in debates in Florida. A bipartisan group of 21 Florida mayors wrote to the debate moderators to argue it would be “unconscionable for these issues of grave concern for the people of Florida [climate change and sea level rise] to not be addressed.” The moderators of both debates listened, and asked the candidates questions about climate change – including by far the most substantive climate question posed to the Republican candidates thus far.
Pennsylvania shows EPA the way on pending methane policy
By Fred Krupp and Davitt Woodwell, The Hill.
Speaking to a petroleum industry audience in Houston recently, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy said, “we can and we must do more to reduce methane emissions in the oil and gas sector.” McCarthy has it right. Uncontrolled leaking and venting of natural gas wastes a valuable resource and threatens our climate. Last week, as part of a joint announcement with Canada, the administration said it plans to move forward on a solution.
For a blueprint on solving this problem, EPA should take a look at Pennsylvania, where Gov. Tom Wolf (D) recently proposed comprehensive new methane emissions standards for oil and gas companies in his state.
EIA predicts increased electricity production from renewables
By Erin Voegele, Biomass Magazine.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the March edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicting total renewables used in the electric power sector will increase by 8.7 percent this year and 6.5 percent next year. For nonhydropower renewables, the EIA predicts an 11.5 percent growth in 2016 and 9.5 percent in 2017.
When compared to the February STEO, the EIA has dropped its 2015 and 2016 forecasts for wood biomass consumption by 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. The forecasts for wood biomass power generation capacity has been maintained at approximately 3,066 MW this year and 3,108 MW next year.
The EIA predicts wood biomass will be used to generate 113,000 MWh per day of electricity this year, increasing to 116,000 MWh per day next year. Waste biomass is expected to be used to generate 60,000 MWh per day, falling to 59,000 MWh per day next year.
How will the Clean Power Plan stay affect the utility power mix transition?
By Herman K. Trabish, Utility Dive.
Has the market done for the utility power mix what Congress, the Obama administration, and the Supreme Court couldn’t?
Despite the recent legal roadblock from the nation’s top court to the Obama administration plan to regulate climate change-inducing pollution, executives from one end of the utility industry to the other say they don’t see their plans changing much.
In fact, a new survey of more than 500 utility executives conducted by Utility Dive showed that a large majority support the EPA's Clean Power Plan, which aims to cut U.S. carbon emissions 32% by 2030, and a significant portion want to see it strengthened.
Chester County landfill gas used as alternative to fracking
By Jon Hurdle, NPR State Impact.
The search for an alternative to fracking has led a Philadelphia-based renewable energy supplier to create a system that encourages the use of methane from landfills instead on shale gas.
The Energy Co-op, which supplies a range of renewable energy products to customers in southeastern Pennsylvania, is now offering cash payments the company calls “Renewable Natural Gas Credits” to any operator who captures gas that is naturally generated by landfills, and sells it to commercial customers.
The first project to adopt the cash payment system is Lanchester Landfill on the border of Chester and Lancaster Counties where methane from the decomposition of organic material has been captured over the last decade for sale to some local businesses.
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