RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Health Risks of Multiple Air Pollutants Examined by EPA
By Pat Rizzuto, Bloomberg BNA.
The Environmental Protection Agency is developing an approach to understand the health risks posed by mixtures of different air pollutants.
Barbara Buckley, a toxicologist working in the EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment, described during a July 12 webinar a conceptual approach the agency is developing to assess mixtures of air pollutants.
Buckley said the Adverse Outcome Pathway approach the EPA is exploring is at the research stage; information would be used to identify additional studies that could address critical data gaps. The approach, however, marks an important shift in the agency from a single-pollutant at a time approach to assessing multiple pollutants in the air people breathe, she said.
What You Need to Know about the Proposed Revisions to Cap and Trade
By Allison Smith, JDSupra.
Late Tuesday, the California Air Resources Board (ARB) released draft amendments to the state’s cap and trade regulation, including revisions to the current program in place through 2020, an extension of the program through 2030, and setting the stage for continued emissions reductions under the program through 2050. ARB’s proposed amendments come in the middle of a recent milieu of uncertainty: pending litigation challenging the legality of the existing program, an opinionfrom Legislative Counsel that ARB lacks authority under AB 32 to continue cap and trade past 2020, unprecedented weak demand at the most recent allowance auction, and legislation to establish a statutory emissions reductions mandate for 2030 still in process this session. With all of these balls in the air, ARB has doubled down and drafted regulations dropping the program’s emissions cap from 334.2 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2e in 2020 to 200.5 MMT in 2030, with major elements of the cap and trade regulation continuing in effect past 2020 to achieve the emissions reductions.
Energy Storage Would Get U.S. Tax Credits in Bipartisan Bill
By Chris Martin, Bloomberg Politics.
Energy storage would gain access to the same tax incentives that helped make renewable energy the biggest new source of electricity in the U.S. last year under a bill introduced in the Senate.
Batteries like the lithium-ion ones in phones and electric vehicles would be eligible for the tax incentives when connected to the utility grid at homes and businesses under a bill introduced Tuesday by Democratic Senator Martin Heinrich from New Mexico. The bill has eight co-sponsors including Dean Heller, a Nevada Republican, according to a statement.
California Energy Commission to Award $4M for Natural Gas Vehicle R&D
By NGT Staff.
The California Energy Commission (CEC) has released a grant funding opportunity to provide up to $4 million for projects that support the research and development (R&D) of heavy-duty off-road vehicles powered by conventional or renewable natural gas.
According to the solicitation’s introduction, “Projects should incorporate advanced low-emission engine technology currently available for heavy-duty on-road vehicles. Existing advanced natural gas engine technologies could be adapted to provide this market segment with a natural gas engine option capable of exceeding current, Tier 4, emission regulations while simultaneously meeting the performance needs of off-road applications.”
IKEA to Increase Investment in biogass-powered Fuel Cells with Plans for Systems to Generate Renewable Energy
Via BusinessWire.
IKEA, the world’s leading home furnishings retailer, today announced it is furthering its renewable commitment with plans for biogas-powered fuel cell systems at four more of its California stores. A year ago, IKEA completed installation of such a project at IKEA Emeryville, one of the Swedish company’s two San Francisco-area stores. IKEA now plans to expand its fuel cell portfolio to 1.3 MW with a system at its other San Francisco-area store (in East Palo Alto), as well as three stores in Southern California (Costa Mesa, Covina and San Diego). Pending permits, the fuel cells will be installed, commissioned and operational by this Fall, 2016, complementing solar arrays already atop each of the four stores.
“Based on the success of the system installed last year in Emeryville, we are excited about further increasing our renewable portfolio with four more fuel cell projects,” explained IKEA U.S. president Lars Petersson. “Fuel cells represent another way we can contribute to our goal of generating renewable energy equal to the amount of power we consume worldwide.”
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.
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