RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.UK renewable energy sector gives thumbs up to Renewable Heat Incentive reform
The UK renewable energy industry has reacted positively to the government’s renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme plans.
Changes to the scheme were proposed in a public consultation in March. At that time, the renewable heat industry was deeply concerned that the revised tariffs would result in a steep fall in the deployment of many renewable heat technologies. Proposed tariff reductions of 45% for parts of the biomass heat sector, for example, were projected by the Government to lead to a 98% drop in installations.
By Bioenergy Insight.
The UK renewable energy industry has reacted positively to the government’s renewable heat incentive (RHI) scheme plans.
Changes to the scheme were proposed in a public consultation in March. At that time, the renewable heat industry was deeply concerned that the revised tariffs would result in a steep fall in the deployment of many renewable heat technologies. Proposed tariff reductions of 45% for parts of the biomass heat sector, for example, were projected by the Government to lead to a 98% drop in installations.
Other technologies, such as solar thermal, were to be removed from the RHI altogether. The proposals resulted in significant outcry from sectors of the renewables industry.
The REA’s analysis of the Government’s finalised scheme, released last week, indicates that the reformed Renewable Heat Incentive moves the UK closer to meeting its legally binding 2020 renewable heat target. However, there will be certain key sectors which may struggle, including biogas and non-domestic biomass boilers.
ADBA chief executive Charlotte Morton said: “It’s great to see that the new ministers in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) remain committed to decarbonising heat in the UK and continuing to support the UK’s burgeoning green gas industry.
“We are pleased to see that tariff levels have been reset – this should support higher levels of deployment. We do not believe, however, that the restrictions on feedstock for new plants, which could have unintended consequences, are justified.
"The introduction of tariff guarantees is extremely welcome and we will continue to work with the UK Government and with our members to ensure the UK AD industry keeps growing and reaches its full potential – for example by calling for urgent action on food waste collections in England.
“Biomethane and biogas have been real success stories from the RHI, and the continuation of this scheme will allow the UK AD industry to build upon its success to date, decarbonising heat without any changes for the consumer.”
Gas Technology Institute Among DOE Grant Recipients
Via U.S. Department of Energy.
WASHINGTON – Today, the Energy Department (DOE) announced $18 million in support of five projects for research, development, and demonstration of innovative plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) and direct injection propane engine technologies, as well as community-based projects to accelerate the adoption of light, medium and heavy duty vehicles that operate on fuels such as biodiesel, electricity, E85, hydrogen, natural gas, and propane.
Public investment in advanced, energy efficient transportation technologies and systems will improve our nation’s energy security, support energy independence, reduce transportation emissions, and strengthen U.S. economic competiveness. The projects selected today will accelerate the development and adoption of alternative fuel technologies, and support pioneering deployments of market-ready vehicles and alternative fuels.
Michigan Calls For 15% Renewable Electricity By 2021
By Robert Walton, Utility Dive.
Dive Brief:
- Lawmakers in Michigan's House and Senate yesterday reached a bipartisan compromise to overhaul the state's energy marketplace, raising the renewable energy standard from 10% to 15%, protecting retail net metering and keeping its limited retail choice program alive.
- Clean energy advocates praised the final decision, which did not include provisions they believed would have hurt the state's nascent solar market.
- The 11th-hour compromise was shepherded by Michigan Gov., Rick Snyder (R), who said the "landmark" legislation will give consumers more control over their energy, save them millions and protect the state's environment.
By Robert Walton, Utility Dive.
Dive Brief:
- Lawmakers in Michigan's House and Senate yesterday reached a bipartisan compromise to overhaul the state's energy marketplace, raising the renewable energy standard from 10% to 15%, protecting retail net metering and keeping its limited retail choice program alive.
- Clean energy advocates praised the final decision, which did not include provisions they believed would have hurt the state's nascent solar market.
- The 11th-hour compromise was shepherded by Michigan Gov., Rick Snyder (R), who said the "landmark" legislation will give consumers more control over their energy, save them millions and protect the state's environment.
Dive Insight:
Michigan lawmakers went down to the wire but finally passed the much-anticipated bill at the close of the legislative session — a day after 19 hours of negotiations appeared to leave the plan in a precarious position.
"We now have a statewide energy policy that will save Michigan residents millions of dollars on their electric bills, alleviate concerns about having enough capacity to power the daily activities of 10 million people and find new ways to use our existing energy grid more efficiently," Snyder said in a statement. "This policy also allows for more consumer choice in our growing market.
EPA stops work on climate rule compliance program
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stopped work Monday on writing an optional program that states could use to comply with the climate change rule for power plants.
Janet McCabe, the EPA’s top air regulator, announced the decision in a blog post, along with the draft, incomplete compliance plans and related documents.
EPA spokeswoman Melissa Harrison said the agency withdrew the rule so that it could release the drafts, which could help helpful to states looking to cut their emissions.
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stopped work Monday on writing an optional program that states could use to comply with the climate change rule for power plants.
Janet McCabe, the EPA’s top air regulator, announced the decision in a blog post, along with the draft, incomplete compliance plans and related documents.
EPA spokeswoman Melissa Harrison said the agency withdrew the rule so that it could release the drafts, which could help helpful to states looking to cut their emissions.
Usually, the documents would not be public until the rules are made final, but their future is uncertain under President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office in just over a month.
Trump has pledged to repeal the underlying Clean Power Plan, making the model rules moot.
IRS Issues Notice 2017-04, Further Clarifying and Extending the "Begun Construction" Requirements for ITCs and PTCs
Via JD Supra Business Advisor.
On December 15, 2016, the IRS issued Notice 2017-04, which clarifies and extends certain "begun construction" requirements for facilities qualifying for the Section 45 production tax credit (PTC) for which construction must begin before a date certain—January 1, 2017, for certain facilities (e.g., solar, geothermal, and closed- or open-loop biomass) and January 1, 2020, for wind facilities. Notice 2017-04 clarifies guidance provided in Notice 2013-29, Notice 2013-60, Notice 2014-46, Notice 2015-25, and Notice 2016-31 (collectively, the "Begun Construction Guidance").1 A taxpayer who qualifies for PTCs may make an election to instead claim the Section 48 investment tax credit (ITC) with respect to the facility.
Via JD Supra Business Advisor.
On December 15, 2016, the IRS issued Notice 2017-04, which clarifies and extends certain "begun construction" requirements for facilities qualifying for the Section 45 production tax credit (PTC) for which construction must begin before a date certain—January 1, 2017, for certain facilities (e.g., solar, geothermal, and closed- or open-loop biomass) and January 1, 2020, for wind facilities. Notice 2017-04 clarifies guidance provided in Notice 2013-29, Notice 2013-60, Notice 2014-46, Notice 2015-25, and Notice 2016-31 (collectively, the "Begun Construction Guidance").1 A taxpayer who qualifies for PTCs may make an election to instead claim the Section 48 investment tax credit (ITC) with respect to the facility.
Under the Begun Construction Guidance, two alternative methods are provided to determine when construction has begun: (1) the physical work test (i.e., physical work of a significant nature has begun and the taxpayer maintains a continuous program of construction); and (2) the five percent safe harbor (i.e., at least five percent of the total cost of the eligible property has been paid or incurred and the taxpayer maintains continuous efforts to advance towards completion of the facility).
The IRS issued Notice 2017-04 to provide additional guidance with respect to the continuity safe harbor, the prohibition against combining methods, and the application of the five percent safe harbor to retrofitted facilities.
Study: RNG Fuel Use in California Transportation
By Lauren Tyler, NGT News.
A team from the University of California Davis conducted a study for the California Air Resources Board examining the feasibility of producing large quantities of renewable natural gas (RNG) fuels for use in transportation in California.
As reported, the study found that the state could produce 14 billion cubic feet (bcf) per year of RNG by the 2020s, meeting approximately 85% of current natural gas use in California transportation at Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits of $120 per metric ton of CO2.
By Lauren Tyler, NGT News.
A team from the University of California Davis conducted a study for the California Air Resources Board examining the feasibility of producing large quantities of renewable natural gas (RNG) fuels for use in transportation in California.
As reported, the study found that the state could produce 14 billion cubic feet (bcf) per year of RNG by the 2020s, meeting approximately 85% of current natural gas use in California transportation at Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits of $120 per metric ton of CO2.
Further, the study says RNG use could be much higher if the LCFS credits were combined with U.S. federal Renewable Identification Number credits, part of the Renewable Fuels Standard.
Given the appropriate policy and market measures, the state’s RNG production potential is 90.6 bcf per year (approximately 750 million gasoline gallons). Overall, it appears that the main barriers to large-scale RNG use are the state’s high cost of pipeline interconnection and the cost of upgrading to pipeline standards.
At EPA: Trump’s nominee and 15,000 or so counterweights
By Zack Colman, Christian Science Monitor.
An administrator such as Scott Pruitt can steer in new directions, but that clout is offset by legions of staffers carrying on routines, enforcing rules, and, increasingly, caring about climate change.
DECEMBER 9, 2016 WASHINGTON—Scott Pruitt, the nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, is just one man who, if confirmed by the Senate, will be steering a very, very large ship – one with more than 15,000 employees spread throughout the country.
That fact points to a reality facing the EPA and other federal agencies: The person at the top can do some steering, but the ship tends to have some persistent momentum of its own.
Donald Trump may have been elected partly on the resonance of his throw-the-bureaucrats-out attitude. And his pick for EPA, Mr. Pruitt, is known as an Oklahoma fossil-fuel advocate and an attorney general who has fought environmental regulations. By all signs, agency budget cuts and a regulatory rollback are coming.
By Zack Colman, Christian Science Monitor.
An administrator such as Scott Pruitt can steer in new directions, but that clout is offset by legions of staffers carrying on routines, enforcing rules, and, increasingly, caring about climate change.
DECEMBER 9, 2016 WASHINGTON—Scott Pruitt, the nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, is just one man who, if confirmed by the Senate, will be steering a very, very large ship – one with more than 15,000 employees spread throughout the country.
That fact points to a reality facing the EPA and other federal agencies: The person at the top can do some steering, but the ship tends to have some persistent momentum of its own.
Donald Trump may have been elected partly on the resonance of his throw-the-bureaucrats-out attitude. And his pick for EPA, Mr. Pruitt, is known as an Oklahoma fossil-fuel advocate and an attorney general who has fought environmental regulations. By all signs, agency budget cuts and a regulatory rollback are coming.
But if history is any guide, another mind-set also matters – that of the career staffers who have seen seen political appointees come and go with regularity. They tend to stick to their knitting, enforce existing laws, and carry on with routines that predate any one administration.
And on perhaps the most crucial environmental issue the nation faces, another force of thought may be at work: Despite the doubts about climate change that have been voiced by Pruitt and Mr. Trump, the scientific consensus about human-caused warming of the planet has been seeping into the fabric of official Washington and of American public opinion.
On climate, current EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says there’s no going back to the George W. Bush years, thanks to the flurry of activity coming out of the Obama administration. She says that has helped raise awareness about climate change and emboldened federal scientists.
“This agency when this president came in really came out of the closet on climate,” McCarthy said in an exclusive interview last week. “I have a senior team that’s great and the senior career staff that are here are just extraordinary. They are here because of this mission, and that will continue.”
Some climate advocates worry that such avowals are wishful thinking, given the determination being voiced in some Trump-team quarters for rolling back Obama policies aimed at curbing emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere.
Regulators seek comment on how to improve Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
By Mike Polhamus, Vermont Digger.
Regional energy regulators want to know hot to improve a regional effort to curb carbon-dioxide pollution from electrical generators in Northeast states, and they're seeking comments from interested members of the public to aid that effort.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, was enacted in 2009. It was the first cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide emissions generated by utilities. Nine states participate in RGGI: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
States, regulators and RGGI administrators are reassessing the effectiveness of the program and soliciting public comments.
EPA chief voices cautious hope as Trump inauguration nears
Although Trump and Obama agendas differ, some forces tilt toward continuity, Gina McCarthy of the Environmental Protection Agency says.
By Mark Trumbull and Zach Colman, Christian Science Monitor.
DECEMBER 5, 2016 WASHINGTON—Outgoing EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy sounded a note of hope Monday in response to concerns that US environmental policy could face upheaval as control shifts from a Democratic to Republican presidency.
She pointed to two key factors – the momentum of marketplace forces and the tendency of all Americans to support clean air and water – that could tilt the Environmental Protection Agency under Donald Trump toward a bit more continuity than many observers may be expecting.
Five potential Trump EPA picks
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
President-elect Donald Trump is due to announce “almost all” of his remaining Cabinet picks in the coming week, likely including his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator.
The nominee, who is subject to Senate confirmation, would oversee the 15,000-employee agency that writes and enforces regulations on air pollution, water pollution, climate change, land contamination and more.
The EPA head would also be responsible for Trump's aggressive deregulatory push. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to roll back all of President Obama’s climate agenda, including the Clean Power Plan, which limits carbon dioxide from power plants.
Don’t miss an update—join our weekly newsletter below.