RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Leakage study assessment delays ARB cap-and-trade amendments
By ICIS.
Cap-and-trade amendments will be delayed in order for the state to properly assess an upcoming leakage study, an Air Resources Board (ARB) official told ICIS.
The ARB, the cap-and-trade regulator, has been working to make changes to its programme to formulate a post-2020 plan while also developing a compliance plan for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean Power Plan.
The ARB is looking at a host of changes to the cap-and-trade programme, including post-2020 caps, further cost-containment mechanisms and future offset rules.
Fred Meyer Calls for Up to 500,000 Gallons of RNG
By Heavy Duty Trucking.
Fred Meyer Stores, a division of The Kroger Co., announced an agreement with Clean Energy calling for up to 500,000 gallons of Redeem renewable natural gas (RNG) fuel for its fleet of 40 LNG trucks based out of its Clackamas, Ore., distribution center.
Fred Meyer is the first company in the State of Oregon to take advantage of the Oregon Clean Fuel Program, which calls for the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the use of cleaner fuels such as natural gas and renewable natural gas, according to Clean Energy. By fueling with Redeem, Fred Meyer is expected to reduce their GHG emissions by 5,328 metric tons annually.
Hawaii Gas Signs with Clean Energy Fuels
By Heavy Duty Trucking.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp., will provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Hawaii Gas, the State of Hawaii’s only franchised gas utility. The recently announced contract and agreement are consistent with the state’s intent to reduce its reliance on imported crude oil, using a cleaner and more economical fuel.
The utility issued its initial request for proposal for the renewable fuel in January of this year.
How One Massachusetts Grocer is Converting Food Waste to Energy
By Megan Greenwalt, Waste360.
A Quincy, Mass.-based grocery store is using anaerobic digestion to convert food waste into energy. Stop & Shop has partnered with a local technology company to open an anaerobic digestion facility in the state.
Officially launched on April 15, the facility converts the food waste from all 212 Stop & Shop New England stores to generate energy used to power its 1.1 million-sq.-ft. Freetown (Mass.) Distribution Center. Stop & Shop worked with Divert Inc. to construct the plant.
“It recreates the natural process of anaerobic digestion, a process in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material, to convert the carbon in edible food into a natural biogas, a clean, renewable and local energy source that can be used to generate electricity,” says Philip Tracey, Stop & Shop manager of public relations. “The process is carried out in an enclosed, oxygen-free environment, which means it generates no odors.”
58 Groups Call for NY State Climate and Clean Energy Goals
By Mark Woodson, Empire State News.
As nine states, including New York, evaluate major changes to strengthen the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) program – the nation’s first cap on carbon pollution from power plants – 58 environmental, public health and clean energy organizations and businesses are calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to push for RGGI reforms that will put Northeastern states on a trajectory to cut power plant pollution by more than half through 2030. The organizations delivered a letter to the Governor this week, praising his clean energy and climate leadership and urging him to take the next step forward by advocating for an extension of RGGI cap reductions through 2030 that will require an annual five percent reduction in carbon pollution from power plants.
“Over the last year, Governor Cuomo set admirable goals to shift New York toward clean energy and help prevent the worst impacts of global warming,” said Heather Leibowitz, Director for Environment New York. “Now our governor has the opportunity to put a strong plan into action to actually achieve those goals by strengthening RGGI.”
Duke Energy Raises Clean Energy Goal 33%
By Jessica Lyons Hardcastle, Environmental Leader.
Duke Energy says it expects to own or purchase 8,000 megawatts of wind, solar and biomass capacity by 2020 — a 33 percent jump from the old goal of 6,000 megawatts established in 2013.
The largest utility in the US sets this new goal in its latest sustainability report.
At the end of 2015, the company owned or purchased nearly 4,400 megawatts of wind, solar and biomass: 49 percent wind, 39 percent solar and 12 percent biomass.
Biomass Magazine Looking For Landfill Gas, Biogas Projects
By Anna Simet, Biomass Magazine.
For the next several months, Biomass Magazine plans to run a project spotlight series in the biogas/landfill gas section of the print edition.
For the next several months, Biomass Magazine plans to run a project spotlight series in the biogas/landfill gas section of the print edition. We’re striving to extend our reach and coverage of the sector, so if that’s you, now is the time to reach out to me and let me know about your project. Don’t own or operate it, but played (or are playing) a role in it? Send me an email or give me a call.
States ask EPA for help on climate rule plans
By Devin Henry
More than a dozen states have asked the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give them more information on how to form implementation plans for the Obama administration’s climate rule for power plants.
The rule — the Clean Power Plan — has been stayed by the Supreme Court while litigation against it proceeds. But states are still able to form plans to implement the carbon reduction goals set out in the rule, and fourteen sent EPA Acting Assistant Administrator Janet McCabe a letter on Thursday asking for guidance on how to do that.
"The final resolution of this litigation is uncertain,” the states wrote. “However, having more information about how states might comply with the Clean Power Plan should it be upheld will better inform state engagement and agency decision-making.”
San Diego Firm Looking into New Alternative Fuel for Heavy Trucks
By Megan Greenwalt, Waste 360.
San Diego-based Oberon Fuels has been developing a new alternative fuel for the heavy duty trucking industry. Called dimethyl ether (DME), the fuel is clean-burning and non-toxic with diesel-like performance and handling properties similar to that of propane. As the first company to produce fuel-grade DME in North America, Oberon is hoping to bring this fuel, made from natural gas or biogas, to the solid waste hauling market.
With no commercial or passenger vehicles with DME-capable engines and no network of fueling stations, Oberon, led by President Rebecca Boudreaux, has developed partnerships with automakers Volvo and Ford to develop DME engines, and has led the certification process for the fuel with the EPA, state of California, Department of Energy and ASTM.
DTE Energy puts safety first; earns award from American Gas Association
Via PRNewswire.
DTE Energy received the 2015 American Gas Association's (AGA) Safety Achievement Award for excellence in employee safety.
The award recognizes companies that have the lowest number of injuries and illnesses as measured by the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
The American Gas Association criteria also require award-winning companies to have lower-than-industry-average injury rates.
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