RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Waste Gas Company Shifts to a Licensing Fee Business Model
By Waste360.
Ener-Core Inc. has signed a commercial and manufacturing license agreement (CMLA) with the Dresser-Rand business, granting it the exclusive right to manufacture Ener-Core’s power oxidizer gas turbines within the 1 to 4 MW power capacity range and to sell the power oxidizers directly to industrial customers.
Ener-Core designs and manufactures a technology that converts waste gases from a wide range of industries directly into clean power. Its technology, for example, can be used to convert low-btu landfill gas into onsite power. The company received a conditional purchase order in May worth $3.29 million to build, deliver and install four of its EC-250 EcoStations at the Toyon Canyon Landfill site within Los Angeles’ Griffith Park.
Congress is back, but no energy bills are on this week's agenda
By Eric Wolff, WIth help from Esther Whieldon and Alex Guillén, Politico.
NINE DAYS OF LEGISLATIVE FURY: The House returns today, and the Senate tomorrow, and both chambers are facing an enormous backlog before heading home for seven weeks of summertime recess. Legislators are hoping to pass their pet bills by July 15, since they know they'll likely be swallowed up in omnibus dramatics or Election Year hoo hah when Congress returns in September. For the record, exactly none of the following energy bills appear on Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's weekly agenda, which would leave only next week for them to move.
Senator Heinrich to Introduce Energy Storage Tax Credit Bill Next Week
By Julian Spector, Greenwich Media.
There will soon be an energy storage tax credit proposal in both the House and Senate.
Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) will introduce an investment tax credit for energy storage the week of July 11, based on the existing credit for solar energy. The legislation would give businesses and homes a 30 percent credit, but the credit would taper off starting in 2020. Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA) introduced similar legislation on the House side in May.
This isn't Heinrich's first foray into energy storage; last year he introduced a national mandate for storage, based on the California model. That approach didn't work out, but he told Greentech Media that he hopes the tax credit will be more attractive to lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Comment period on RFS rule to close July 11
By Erin Voegele, Ethanol Producer Magazine.
Those who wish to weigh in on the U.S. EPA’s proposed rule to set 2017 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the renewable fuel standard (RFS), along with 2018 RVOs for biomass-based diesel, have less than a week to do so. The comment period on the proposed rule ends July 11. The EPA released the rulemaking on May 18.
Court Decision on Climate Plan Jolts Carbon Prices
By bmagill, Standard Examiner.
A temporary halt to the federal government’s plan to cut electric power plant emissions has caused carbon prices in the Northeast’s only cap-and-trade program to plummet, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Carbon prices in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, have fallen 40 percent since the Supreme Court’s decision in February to stay the Clean Power Plan — from their peak at $7.50 per metric ton of carbon dioxide in December to $4.53 per ton in June.
RGGI is America’s first mandatory market-based cap-and-trade program, which places a collective limit on carbon emissions among its nine member states. Power plant emissions under that limit are called “allowances,” and the program stamps a price on them so they can be traded among polluters. Carbon prices are set at quarterly auctions, and proceeds are invested in state renewable energy, energy efficiency and other sustainability programs.
States sue EPA over carbon rule for new power plants
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
A coalition of conservative states is again suing to stop President Obama’s carbon dioxide rule for newly built power plants.
The 23-state group filed a lawsuit Friday in the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
They're challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision in May to reject their formal requests to reconsider the carbon rule that was made final last year.
California Gas Stations Slap Cap-and-trade 'Cost' Labels on Pumps
By Anne Mulkern, Climate Wire, via Scientific American.
Gas pumps in California could soon feature signs telling drivers they’re paying more per gallon because of the state’s cap-and-trade program for carbon emissions.
The California Independent Oil Marketers Association (CIOMA), a trade group for oil distributors, is handing out to members a label that adds wording on cap-and-trade costs to the standard one that advises motorists on gas taxes. The state requires that a label with gas taxes appear on all gas pumps. Those change on July 1 to reflect updated amounts.
Ontario awards contracts to 14 small-scale bioenergy projects
By Erin Voegele, Biomass Magazine.
Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator has announced it is offering 396 long-term contracts for 241.43 MW of small-scale renewable generation, including 14 contracts for 3.45 MW of bioenergy. According to the IESO, the contracts are the result of the latest procurement under the fee-in tariff (FIT) program, known as FIT 4.
Senate panel approves $500M for international climate fund
By Devin Henry, The Hill.
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Wednesday adopted a $500 million spending package for the Green Climate Fund, an international climate change adaptation program.
Members approved the funding, via an amendment from Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Mark Kirk(R-Ill.), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and others, on a voice vote, despite strong Republican opposition to the measure.
The amendment removes language from the committee-approved State Department and Foreign Operations funding bill preventing the State Department from providing money for the fund, a program designed to support poor countries that are impacted by climate change.
Three Amigos Unveil Climate and Energy Plan, Nafta Changes
By Angela Greiling Kane and Josh Wingrove, Bloomberg.
The U.S., Canada and Mexico put climate change at the center of efforts to deepen the North American alliance, pledging to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector, boost the development of clean power and build new cross-border transmission lines.
President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexico President Enrique Pena Nieto completed a one-day summit in Ottawa Wednesday, where they unveiled a commitment to see half of the continent’s electricity generated by clean sources by 2025.
“For too long, we’ve heard that confronting climate change means destroying our economies,” Obama said in a speech to Parliament Wednesday after the summit concluded, praising efforts in Canada and the U.S. to cut emissions and drive growth. “This is the only planet we’ve got and this may be the last shot we’ve got to save it. And America and Canada are going to have to lead the way.”
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