RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.What Waste Management is Doing to Tackle the Challenges Posed by Organics Waste
By Arlene Karidis, Waste 360.
Waste Management has had stakes in organic waste diversion for years, but those stakes are climbing as new regulations across the country are upping the ante on diverting food and yard waste from landfills.
Years of trial and experimentation have led the industry’s largest firm to back a particular strategy for processing waste: diverting food waste to local wastewater treatment plants where it can be processed as part of existing biogas production processes.
Through the process, which involves anaerobic digestion, plants in some cases are cranking out 10 times the biogas, per volume of water, as when they generated energy from treated wastewater alone, according to Eric Myers, Waste Management’s director of organics recycling.
Carbon Cap for Aviation Sought at Montreal Meeting
By Robert Wall, The Wall Street Journal.
Long-running efforts to curb the impact of commercial aviation on climate change face a crucial test starting this week when representatives from almost 200 countries debate whether to establish the first-ever global cap on carbon emissions from international flights.
Officials are gathering in Montreal for talks starting Tuesday aimed at tackling one of the major sources of carbon-dioxide emissions not covered by the Paris climate deal agreed in December 2015. The Paris deal excluded commercial flights because most of aviation’s CO2 emissions are produced outside national borders.
Excluding aviation left “a gaping hole” to meeting the Paris target on controlling global warming, said Lou Leonard, senior vice president for climate change at the World Wildlife Fund.
The world is watching as California steps up — again — on climate change
By Editorial Board, The Washington Post
ALMOST NO ONE is talking about it, but California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a hugely consequential bill this month. The law, SB 32, drastically ramps up the state’s landmark climate change law in the world’s sixth-largest economy. The world is watching closely: If California’s policy appears to be working, it will be copied in states and countries across the globe. Which makes it all the more important for state leaders to get it right.
California is well on its way to meeting its first emissions goal, set a decade ago, to cut the state’s carbon footprint to 1990 levels by 2020. That transition has been driven in part by traditional, command-and-control environmental regulations and in part by a statewide cap-and-trade system, which makes polluters pay for the emissions they produce. Despite some early doomsaying, this hybrid policy has not smashed the California economy. In fact, the state’s economy has grown faster than the rest of the country’s in recent years, as have wages. So far, the state’s experience appears to show that a major economy can transition off carbon dioxide without destroying its economic prospects.
VNG Presents Bold Vision for Major Reductions in Greenhouse Emissions and Petroleum Dependence Through Development of Natural Gas Vehicle Market
BLUE BELL, Pa., Sept. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- In comments submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, and the California Air Resources Board, natural gas fueling station developer VNG outlined a vision for ways in which natural gas vehicles (NGVs) can provide long-term fuel cost savings for light-duty vehicle drivers while delivering game-changing reductions in greenhouse emissions and petroleum dependency – particularly for light trucks and pickups. These comments address significant omissions in the Draft Technical Assessment Report (TAR) recently released by the agencies, which focuses almost entirely on progress with gasoline and electric vehicles while missing the dramatic transformations already underway for NGVs.
The potential benefits of NGVs can be grouped under four major headings:
- NGVs Are An Ideal Alternative for Light Trucks: Pickups and other light trucks account for over 50% of light-duty vehicle sales, but there are not expected to be any electric pickups for the foreseeable future due to the weight and cost added by battery systems. By contrast, NGVs are a proven low-emission alternative for pickups, and leading NGV manufacturers are pursuing engine designs to yield even lower emissions and greater efficiency by taking advantage of the high-octane, clean-burning properties of compressed natural gas (CNG).
- Game-Changing Emissions from Renewable Natural Gas:
City of Vancouver clarifies its position, promotes use of RNG in new buildings
By Maryse Zeidler, CBC News.
The City of Vancouver is clarifying its position on the use of natural gas in the construction of new homes and buildings.
The response comes after accusations that the city had "banned" all natural gas from use in future buildings.
"It's a little alarmist to say we're banning natural gas and people need to eliminate boilers in their homes," said city manager Sadhu Johnston.
Earlier this year, city council passed a motion to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, including the use of fossil-fuel-based natural gas, from all new homes and other buildings by 2030.
"What we're trying to do is to find more green gas to put in the system, build more energy-efficient buildings and use more of the green gas that's out there."
Clean Energy's first public Oregon station completes West Coast natural gas highway
By James Cronin, Portland Business Journal.
A new natural gas station will enable trucking companies to haul goods between San Diego and Seattle while burning cleaner fuels than diesel.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has opened its first public Oregon liquefied natural gas and compressed natural gas fueling station in Central Point, the final piece in its natural gas highway.
The company has signed up for the state's Clean Fuels Program, which aims to create a market for clean fuel credits as tradable assets created by companies that invest in clean fuel technology.
Lawmakers unveil bill to boost natural gas truck sales
By Melanie Zanona, The Hill.
A bipartisan pair of lawmakers are seeking to level the playing field when it comes to how alternative fuel trucks are taxed, with the hope of getting more green vehicles on U.S. roads.
Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) unveiled legislation Wednesday that would partially exclude alternative fuel trucks from the excise tax imposed on heavy-duty trucks that are sold at retail.
There is currently a 12 percent federal excise tax imposed on the sale of heavy-duty trucks. Natural gas-fueled trucks have a much higher initial cost, or incremental cost, than conventional trucks because of their technology and limited quantities.
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.”
Don’t miss an update—join our weekly newsletter below.