RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Court adds 10th judge to hear arguments over landmark CPP rule
By Amanda Reilly, E&E.
In a surprise twist to the legal battle over the Clean Power Plan, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit expanded the panel of judges that will hear arguments next week.
Judge Cornelia Pillard, who has sat out previous decisions on the litigation, will hear arguments Tuesday, according to an order issued this morning.
All the court's active judges — except President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, Chief Judge Merrick Garland — will participate in the en banc arguments, the D.C. Circuit order says.
Energy, ag, business groups push for tax credit extensions
By Anna Simet, Biomass Magazine.
More than 50 groups in the energy, agriculture, transportation and other business sectors have banded together to pressure Congress for a multiyear extension of tax provisions set to expire at the end of the year.
In a signed letter sent to Capitol Hill, the organizations emphasize the need for an extension of these for multiple years, rather than just through the following year, in order to provide more certainty to businesses and investors.
Wisconsin’s Dane County Addresses Climate Change with CNG
By NGV Global News.
In the U.S. State of Wisconsin, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi has focused on measures to address climate change in his 2017 budget proposal. As part of a range of measures, the County will accelerate conversion of snow plows and other fossil fuel burning vehicles to cleaner burning renewable compressed natural gas (CNG – RNG).
“Dane County has a consistent track record of pursuing cleaner, greener sources of energy, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, and reinventing county operations to make them run better not only for the public, but also the environment,” said Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. “This is our boldest action yet to address climate change and lead the way for our community and the State of Wisconsin.”
EPA: 15.63 million cellulosic RINs generated in August
By Erin Voegele, Biomass Magazine.
The U.S. EPA has released renewable identification number (RIN) data for August, reporting more than 1.76 billion RINs were generated during the month, including nearly 15.63 million cellulosic RINs, bringing total RIN generation for the first eight months of the year to a net total of 12.58 billion RINs.
Nearly 15.63 million D3 cellulosic biofuel RINs were generated in August, bringing the total for the first eight months of the year to 107.91 million. More than 2.51 million D3 RINs have been generated for ethanol, with 62.96 million generated for renewable compressed natural gas and 44.28 million for renewable liquefied natural gas. So far this year, 97.75 million D3 RINs have been generated domestically, with 12.01 million generated by importers.
Brazil's Sao Paulo inaugurates 29.5-MW biogas plant
By Lucas Morais, SeeNews Renewables
Brazil's Sao Paulo state announced on Friday the inauguration of a 29.5-MW biogas thermal power plant, which the government says is the largest in the country.
Named Termoverde Caieiras, the plant was built on a landfill owned by local company Essencis. It will generate clean energy from the methane gas coming from waste. The plant represents an investment of more than BRL 100 million (USD 30.58m/EUR 27.38m) and is controlled by local conglomerate Grupo Solvi.
In addition to increasing the country's energy security, this plant also helps with one of the main challenges of the modern world, which is to turn urban waste into clean electricity, Sao Paulo's Secretary of Energy and Mining, Joao Carlos Meirelles said.
Clean Power Plan to have its day in court
By Jeff Postelwait, Electric Light & Power.
The D.C. Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments about the fate of the Clean Power Plan starting September 27, and experts say the case will likely be taken up by the Supreme Court.
Given the vacancy on the Supreme Court, the D.C. Circuit's decision could be more important with only 8 justices left in the high court and no plan to fill the vacancy.
More than half the states in the Union (27 in total) have resisted the Clean Power Plan, a set of policies aimed at cutting power plant carbon emissions that cause climate change and human health risks. The plan has seen legal and political resistance since the August 3, 2015, when it was first unveiled.
Canada Adopts Carbon Pricing — Possible North American Hat Trick?
By Sandy Dechert, Clean Technica.
Canada's federal environment minister Catherine McKenna made a huge announcement Sunday on Canadian television's Question Period. The central government in Ottawa has come out for nationwide carbon pricing. It will soon levy a minimum national carbon price on any province that lacks adequate plans to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions.
Many environmentalists argue that Canada’s current goal (cutting GHG emissions to 30% below 2005 levels by 2030), adopted last year by the Conservative Harper government, lacks punch and may be the weakest among leading industrialized nations. Ms. McKenna indicated that for now, Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government will not commit to a more aggressive target. She says, however:
“It’s mandatory that everyone will have to have a price on carbon. If provinces don’t do that, the federal government will provide a backstop."
New EREF report indicates higher MSW, lower recycling rates than EPA estimates
By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive.
Dive Brief:
- The Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) released a new report titled "Municipal Solid Waste Management in the U.S.: 2010 & 2013" which it says is the first to use a bottom-up methodology that assesses individual tonnage from more than 9,000 facilities.
- Using this method, EREF found that 347 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) were generated in 2013 as compared to the EPA's estimate of 254 million tons. The report found that 64% of this waste was managed at landfills, 21% was recycled, 9% went to waste-to-energy facilities and 6% was composted.
- Between 2010 and 2013, the amount of MSW being composted increased by 10% to 21.3 million tons. About 70% of this material was yard waste.
SoCalGas commends Governor Brown and Senator Ricardo Lara for SB 1383
Via Your Oil & Gas News.
Tuesday, September 20 - California Governor Jerry Brown today signed into law Senate Bill 1383, the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants bill, which aims to reduce emissions of potent greenhouse gasses. SB 1383 requires the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop a plan and implement strategies to cut super pollutant emissions, with specific targets to reduce methane and fluorinated gases (fgases) by 40 percent, and black carbon by 50 percent by 2030. It also requires state agencies to adopt policies and incentives to significantly increase the sustainable production and use of renewable gas. The bill requires the Public Utilities Commission to work with the CARB and the Department of Food and Agriculture to direct gas corporations to implement at least five dairy bio-methane pilot projects that connect to the gas pipeline system in the next two years. SB 1383 is considered the most aggressive law to tackle short-lived climate pollutants in the nation. SoCalGas issued the following statement commending the Governor for signing the bill:
"SoCalGas commends SB 1383's sponsor Senator Ricardo Lara (D-33) and Governor Brown for bringing California this bold legislation that will help drive innovation and develop the market for renewable natural gas.
Anaerobic Digestion gas-to-grid energy now eligible for company emissions reporting
Michael Holder, Business Green.
Businesses are now able to count green gas energy produced by anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities towards their onsite greenhouse gas emissions reporting, the Renewable Energy Association (REA) announced today.
Changes have been made to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol - the global standard against which large companies measure, manage and report GHG emissions - to recognise Green Gas Certificates as eligible for supporting a firm's reporting of its carbon impact.
The REA described the changes as a "major breakthrough" that has received the backing of several energy suppliers as well as the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which monitors and ranks businesses according to their emissions reductions.
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