RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.California to spend $363 million to put more clean vehicles in disadvantaged communities
By Central Valley Business Times.
The California Air Resources Board has adopted a revised funding plan for money from the cap-and-trade tax program that could lead to more “clean” vehicles in disadvantaged communities.
Spending will include buying increased numbers of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks and buses as well as rebates for low- and zero-emission passenger vehicles.
"The investment of $360 million from our cap-and-trade program for these low-carbon transportation projects will continue to drive the market for new technologies, and put more ultra-clean and zero-emission trucks, buses and cars into the communities throughout California that need them the most," says CARB Chairman Mary Nichols.
NC again delays pig and poultry waste-to-energy goal
By John Murawski, News & Observer.
North Carolina, one of the nation’s leading agricultural producers, will once again fall short on a state mandate to generate electricity from hog waste and poultry droppings.
The N.C. Utilities Commission this week approved a one-year delay – the fifth such delay since 2012 – after Duke Energy and other power producers in the state said they will not be able to meet the goal.
North Carolina is the only state in the nation that requires electric companies to generate a portion of their power from hog sludge and poultry droppings. But the technology is not well-proven or economically viable, resulting in repeated requests for delays despite sluggish progress.
White House OMB reviews 2017 RFS rule
By Erin Voegele
On Oct. 19, the U.S. EPA delivered its proposed rule to set renewable fuel standard (RFS) volume standards for 2017 and biobased diesel standards for 2018 to the White House Office of Management and Budget. OBM review marks a final step before a final rule is issued.
The proposed rule was first issued by EPA on May 18. It aims to set RFS renewable volume obligations (RVOs) for 2017, along with the 2018 RVO for biomass-based diesel. In the proposed rule, the agency set the 2017 RVO for cellulosic biofuel at 312 million gallons, with the advanced biofuel RVO at 4 billion gallons and the RVO for total renewable fuel at 18.8 billion gallons. The 2018 RVO for biomass-based diesel has been proposed at 2.1 billion gallons.
Natural Gas Innovation Fund coming to Canada
Via Today's Trucking.
OTTAWA, ON — The Canadian Gas Association (CGA) says it’s creating a Natural Gas Innovation Fund to support avenues that research, demonstrate and deploy innovation in the natural gas value chain.
Hillary Clinton says 'clean energy economy' will create millions of jobs; can it?
By Heidi Garrett-Peltier, University of Massachusetts Amherst, via UPI.
Job growth is a prime topic in the U.S. presidential race, but Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have very different takes on the role clean energy could play in creating employment.
Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton says the United States can be the world's "clean energy superpower." Her plan, spelled out in detail online, would create millions of jobs and spur billions of dollars in public and private investment, while making infrastructure more resilient and lowering emissions.
Republican candidate Donald Trump says he's a "great believer in all forms of energy" but that the country's energy policies are a "disaster." In a 2015 interview with CNN, Trump said policies to support clean energy and reduce carbon emissions would "imperil jobs" and "the middle class and lower classes."
Rep. Brady plans to move tax reform legislation in 2017
By Kat Lucero, The Hill.
The House’s top taxwriter wants to pursue tax reform legislation next year, according to the Ways and Means Committee’s Republican chief tax counsel.
“The committee is now focused on the ongoing work of building tax reform legislation based” on the tax blueprint under the House GOP’s “Better Way” policy platform, said Barbara Angus, chief tax counsel for Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas), chairman of the chamber’s taxwriting committee.
“The plan for Chairman Brady is to move tax reform legislation as early as 2017,” Angus said in a panel at the Tax Executives Institute conference in Philadelphia.
The counsel’s announcement comes as the federal government marks the 30th anniversary of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, a major overhaul of the tax code by the Reagan administration and Congress.
Clean Energy opens LNG station in Washington State
Via USGasVehicles.com.
Clean Energy Fuels Corp., announced the opening of a new state of the art, public natural gas station along Interstate 5 in Fife, a suburb of Tacoma. The station adds to Clean Energy’s “America’s Natural Gas Highway™”, allowing fleets to operate from state to state utilizing natural gas vehicle fuel.
The station, located at 3013 20th Street East, was designed, built, and will be operated and maintained by Clean Energy. The station consists of two liquefied natural gas (LNG) fast-fill pumps, and is open to the public 24/7.
EPA recognizes SC Johnson, GM for use of 'green power' from landfills
By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive.
Dive Brief:
- The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized two companies for their use of renewable energy from landfills as part of the 16th annual Green Power Leadership Awards in San Francisco.
- SC Johnson won an Excellence in Green Power Award for producing 44% of its U.S. electricity from renewable sources, including 16 kWh of electricity from a landfill gas-to-energy system which it owns and operates in Wisconsin.
- General Motors (GM) won a Direct Project Engagement Award for generating more than half of the Orion Assembly Plant's from an on-site landfill gas system in Michigan.
New study to characterize methane emissions from natural gas compressor stations
By Anne Ju Manning, Source.
Natural gas, a clean-burning fuel, has significant potential as a “bridge fuel” on a path to a sustainable energy future. However, its climate benefits are highly dependent upon the emission rate of methane from the nation’s vast natural gas infrastructure.
Colorado State University, home to some of the world’s top researchers on methane emissions, will lead a major project to analyze emissions from a specific part of the natural gas supply chain: compressor stations. The new project will help scientists develop a more complete picture of overall emissions.
Methane is the primary component of natural gas and a powerful greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 84 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe. Although atmospheric methane originates from many sources, no industry has received more scrutiny for emissions than the natural gas sector. Significant quantities of methane are emitted from its million-plus miles of pipeline, half million wells, and thousands of gathering, processing, transmission, storage and distribution facilities.
Task Force Urges Safety Reforms for Natural Gas Storage Fields
By Rebecca Smith, The Wall Street Journal.
Federal officials on Tuesday called for a sweeping safety overhaul of more than 400 underground natural gas storage fields in the U.S., following a massive leak last year at a facility near Los Angeles.
The report by the Interagency Task Force on Natural Gas Storage Safety recommended 44 measures to bolster the safety and soundness of natural gas storage fields in 30 states that fall under federal jurisdiction.
It was prompted by a massive and protracted gas leak in October 2015 at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage field northwest of Los Angeles, which released more than 90,000 metric tons of methane and forced the relocation of thousands of households from the nearby community of Porter Ranch.
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