RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Efficiency, Clean Energy Put Dent in CO2 Emissions
By Bobby Magill, Climate Central.
Americans are using less electricity as buildings become more energy-efficient and industrial power demand weakens, and a new report says that is leading to three trends: Declining carbon dioxide emissions, low electric power prices and the decline of coal, which has until recently been the primary fuel used to produce electricity.
Some of the nation’s largest electric utilities have been slow to cut carbon dioxide emissions in recent years, but as coal-fired power plants are shut down and states develop more wind and solar, carbon emissions are falling more quickly, according to the report published Wednesday by Bank of America, the Natural Resources Defense Council, climate think tank Ceres and three major utilities — Exelon, Entergy and Calpine.
EIA updates short-term bioenergy forecast
By Erin Voegele, Biomass Magazine.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration has released the July edition of its Short-Term Energy Outlook, predicting total renewables used in the electric power sector will increase by 11.2 percent in 2016 and 3.9 percent in 2017. Generation from renewables other than hydropower is forecast to grow by 13.4 percent in 2016 and 9.3 percent in 2017.
U.S. electricity generation from wood biomass is expected to reach 113,000 MWh per day this year, increasing to 116,000 MWh per day in 2017. Generation from waste biomass is expected to be 59,000 MWh per day in 2016 and 2017.
Alternative Fuels and Future Goals of The Vehicle Technologies Offices
Via PRNewswire.
There are many benefits for using alternative fuels. Besides helping with obvious environmental concerns associated with fossil fuels, alternative fuels also bring an economic edge to the table. In macroeconomic terms, alternative fuels increase the number of options available to drivers, by this increasing competition, and reducing price volatility. Alternative fuels are categorized as Biodiesel, Ethanol, Natural Gas, Propane, and Hydrogen.
Energy.gov reported that The Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) supports research and development (R&D) to improve how vehicles can use these fuels in the future, as well as activities to increase their availability today.
According to a report by Reportbuyer, the natural gas segment accounted for more than 15% of the overall consumption in the automotive internal combustion engine market in 2014. This number is expected to grow the next few years, as natural gas is part of the strategy in reducing the use of petroleum. The VTO is planning to reduce petroleum use in transportation in the United States by 2.5 billion gallons a year in 2025, and natural gas, as well as propane fuels are playing a major role in achieving this goal. This in turn is expected to cause a surge in demand for commercial as well as passenger vehicles built especially or converted to alternative fuel systems.
Food waste to biogas? Asheville studies mass composting
By Joel Burgess, Citizen-Times.
ASHEVILLE - Of the trash tossed into the city's garbage cans annually, 12 million pounds are organic materials including everything from vegetable peelings to used pizza boxes.
That's according to a 2015 study contracted by the city and Buncombe County on how to divert organic material from the landfill. The study said a quarter of what was thrown away was organic and could probably be broken down. That could help it avoid taking up increasingly premium space in the county solid waste facility.
Asheville and the county are now entering a second phase of the composting study to see if those items can in fact be broken down and even turned into energy in the form of a something called "biogas."
California’s cap-and-trade market could gain partners under new plan
By Adam Ashton, Sacramento Bee.
California’s groundbreaking cap-and-trade program designed to rein in carbon emissions will grow into the next decade and include partners in Toronto and parts of the Brazilian Amazon under a proposal released Tuesday by the state Air Resources Board detailing how the agency plans to hit Gov. Jerry Brown’s greenhouse gas reduction targets.
The board released the proposal at a make-or-break moment for the state’s cap-and-trade program.
A state appeals court is expected to rule sometime this summer on a lawsuit from the California Chamber of Commerce that challenges parts of the program. Some lawmakers also believe they have to renew the program’s authority for it to continue.
How One N.Y. Landfill Conducts Open House Events to Educate Residents
By Megan Greenwalt, Waste 360.
For the past 14 years, officials at a landfill in New York have opened the site to the public annually as a way to build relationships and remain transparent, in addition to having a little fun.
The Mill Seat Landfill in Riga, N.Y., operated by Houston-based Waste Management, will host the year’s open house on July 28 as an educational event. It's aimed at giving residents insights into how the landfill operates, including on its renewable energy production.
An information fair with more than 20 displays will also give attendees the opportunity to talk with all of the entities that work in conjunction with the landfill, including engineers, contractors, consultants and regulators.
White House threatens to veto EPA, Interior spending bill
By Devin Henry, The Hill.
The Obama administration is threatening to veto a 2017 spending bill for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Interior Department.
The House is set to consider a $32.1 billion bill for the two departments and other programs this week. The legislation would cut spending for the departments by $64 million from current spending levels and is $1 billion less than what President Obama requested in his budget.
The bill also contains policy riders designed to block administration rules on water, power plan emissions and coal mining.
N.Y.’s Zero Waste Challenge Helped Divert More Than 36,000 Tons of Waste from Landfill
By Waste 360.
New York’s Zero Waste Challenge, which was created and led by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio as part of the city’s OneNYC plan to send zero waste to landfill by 2030, started in February 2016 and ended in June 2016. Thirty-one businesses, including Whole Foods, Barclays Center and ABC/Disney, participated in the challenge and worked together to divert 36,910 tons of waste from landfill and incineration by composting more than 24,500 tons of organic material and donating 322 tons of food to the city’s needy.
“In OneNYC, we made a commitment to sending zero waste to landfill by 2030,” said de Blasio in a press release. “Our Zero Waste Challenge and the participants have proven that a collected effort helps reduce unnecessary waste. Together, businesses from a variety of sectors diverted 36,910 tons of waste that would have otherwise been sent to a landfill. This challenge proves that our commitment can be achieved so long as every New Yorker does their part to create a more sustainable city. My thanks to the businesses that stepped up to the challenge.”
Fair Oaks Farm Harnesses the Power of Natural Gas from Cow Manure
Watch how Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana uses manure to power a fleet of milk delivery trucks.
MMSD to tap more landfill gas for electricity
By Don Behm of the Journal Sentinel.
The appetite for landfill gas is growing at the state's largest sewage treatment plant, where the fuel is burned — at a lower cost than natural gas — to generate electricity and dry Milorganite fertilizer.
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District would buy all of the gas that Waste Management of Wisconsin can extract from its Metro landfill in Franklin, under a preliminary agreement to be reviewed Monday by district commissioners.
To make good on the deal, the company would stop burning the gas in turbines at its own electrical power plant on the Metro property, one of the first landfill waste-to-energy projects in the United States, said Lynn Morgan, a spokeswoman for Waste Management. Since 1985, the company has sold the power to We Energies.
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