RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Trump Won't Stop The Clean Energy Revolution
From Oilprice.com, via Nasdaq.
It is the dawn of a new era and the oil and gas industry is chomping at the bit as the most industry-friendly administration in recent memory comes to power. But even as the regulatory environment for oil and gas drilling is about to get a lot easier, the inroads of clean energy and the steady pace of innovation in emerging technologies will continue.
In fact, in addition to the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration, global threats to clean energy abound, including rising interest rates, economic weakness in China, and political risk in Europe. Still, these trends probably won’t “cause a clean energy shipwreck in 2017,” according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which predicts the clean energy sector will “sail on.”
From Oilprice.com, via Nasdaq.
It is the dawn of a new era and the oil and gas industry is chomping at the bit as the most industry-friendly administration in recent memory comes to power. But even as the regulatory environment for oil and gas drilling is about to get a lot easier, the inroads of clean energy and the steady pace of innovation in emerging technologies will continue.
In fact, in addition to the uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration, global threats to clean energy abound, including rising interest rates, economic weakness in China, and political risk in Europe. Still, these trends probably won’t “cause a clean energy shipwreck in 2017,” according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, which predicts the clean energy sector will “sail on.”
And for good reason. In many parts of the world renewable energy has achieved escape velocity, reaching grid competitiveness with fossil fuels in many parts of the world. BNEF cites a wind project in Morocco that has an unsubsidized price of $30 per megawatt-hour and a solar project in Chile that generates electricity for $29.10/MWh. “These must be the lowest electricity prices, for any new project, of any technology, anywhere in the world, ever,” BNEF writes in its “10 Predictions for 2017.”
As renewables continue to carve out a larger share of electricity markets, the rules of the game are going to change. Low-cost wind and solar could transform electricity markets to a “base-cost renewables” structure, BNEF says. Instead of base-load electricity coming from coal, hydro, natural gas and nuclear, plus peak electricity from gas-fired peaker plants, the “base-cost renewables” model will see cheap renewables first, with the remainder to be filled with “flexible capacity from demand response, storage and gas, and then importing the remaining needs from neighbouring grids.”
Trump team plans big cuts to science at EPA
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
The Trump administration’s transition team for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning major budget cuts, as well as regulatory and scientific overhauls at the agency, according to a new report.
The team’s plan for the EPA identified more than $800 million in planned budget cuts, including to state and tribal assistance grants, climate programs and environmental programs and management, according to Axios.
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
The Trump administration’s transition team for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is planning major budget cuts, as well as regulatory and scientific overhauls at the agency, according to a new report.
The team’s plan for the EPA identified more than $800 million in planned budget cuts, including to state and tribal assistance grants, climate programs and environmental programs and management, according to Axios.
But Myron Ebell, who led the Trump transition team for the EPA, cautioned that the document in question was an initial briefing document, prepared in October— before Election Day—for the transition team.
Ebell, the head of the environment program at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute and the author of the document, said it is not the transition team’s “Action Plan” for the EPA, which was written much later and identified what the team wants to do with the agency. Ebell declined to provide the Action Plan.
The briefing document devotes significant attention to reforming how the EPA uses science.
“EPA does not use science to guide regulatory policy as much as it uses regulatory policy to steer the science,” the document says, according to Axios. “This is an old problem at EPA. In 1992, a blue-ribbon panel of EPA science advisers that [sic] 'science should not be adjusted to fit policy.' But rather than heed this advice, EPA has greatly increased its science manipulation.”
EPA approves pathway for Isobutanol as an advanced biofuel
By Dan McCue, Renewable Energy Magazine.
The approval is for a pathway for isobutanol produced at Gevo Inc’s Luverne, Minnesota plant to be an advanced biofuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program.
With a partial substitution of fossil based energy sources that are currently used at Luverne with green energy sources, such as biogas, Gevo said in news release on Thursday that it should be possible for it to achieve the 50 percent or greater greenhouse gas emissions reduction needed to claim the advanced D5 Renewable Identification Number according to the pathway approval.
By Dan McCue, Renewable Energy Magazine.
The approval is for a pathway for isobutanol produced at Gevo Inc’s Luverne, Minnesota plant to be an advanced biofuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program.
With a partial substitution of fossil based energy sources that are currently used at Luverne with green energy sources, such as biogas, Gevo said in news release on Thursday that it should be possible for it to achieve the 50 percent or greater greenhouse gas emissions reduction needed to claim the advanced D5 Renewable Identification Number according to the pathway approval.
A RIN is a serial number assigned to biofuels for the purpose of tracking their production, use and trading, as required under the RFS.
RINs can be sold and traded, and as a result carry a monetary value, which is linked to the biofuels that generate the RINs.
Gevo’s isobutanol from feed corn starch currently generates D6 RINs, and with this approval, Gevo’s isobutanol could generate D5 RINs as well. D5 RIN credits have historically had greater value in the marketplace than D6 RINs, potentially making Gevo’s isobutanol more valuable in the future.
Isobutanol, used as a gasoline blend stock, generates 1.3 RINs per gallon.
EPA denies petition to waive advanced biofuels requirements
By Chris Prentice, Reuters.
U.S. environmental regulators have denied a request from oil refiners to waive some of their advanced biofuels use requirements from 2016, in what is likely to be one of the Obama administration's final decisions on the controversial program.
The denial, published on Environmental Protection Agency's website on Wednesday, comes just days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and as his nominee for EPA chief was being questioned in a Senate hearing.
By Chris Prentice, Reuters.
U.S. environmental regulators have denied a request from oil refiners to waive some of their advanced biofuels use requirements from 2016, in what is likely to be one of the Obama administration's final decisions on the controversial program.
The denial, published on Environmental Protection Agency's website on Wednesday, comes just days before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and as his nominee for EPA chief was being questioned in a Senate hearing.
The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program was signed into law in 2005 and designed to boost a renewable fuel industry annually. It requires oil companies to use increasing volumes of biofuels including cellulosic ethanol, which is produced of plant waste material.
AFPM and others from the oil industry have spent years lobbying EPA to lower the biofuels requirements, saying they are unachievable.
The EPA in a Jan. 17 letter to the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) said it was denying the group's request to waive some of the volumes that previously the agency said would be required for use in 2016, citing short supplies.
Tax Rewrite Players? Five House Tax-Writers to Watch in 2017
By Kaustuv Basu, Bloomberg BNA.
Top House Ways and Means Committee members are jockeying for positions of influence as Congress eyes a tax overhaul in 2017.
The House GOP consumption tax-based blueprint is currently in the hands of committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and his staff as they work with fellow Republicans and the Trump team to shape a legislative proposal.
But there may be opportunities for House tax-writers to put their imprint on the bill, potentially even leading opposition to the plan’s border adjustability provision.
By Kaustuv Basu, Bloomberg BNA.
Top House Ways and Means Committee members are jockeying for positions of influence as Congress eyes a tax overhaul in 2017.
The House GOP consumption tax-based blueprint is currently in the hands of committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas) and his staff as they work with fellow Republicans and the Trump team to shape a legislative proposal.
But there may be opportunities for House tax-writers to put their imprint on the bill, potentially even leading opposition to the plan’s border adjustability provision.
Here are five Ways and Means Committee members to watch this year, former congressional tax aides, lobbyists and others tell Bloomberg BNA.
Tiberi
Rep. Patrick J. Tiberi (R-Ohio) challenged Brady for the Ways and Means chairmanship in late 2015.
Railroads, Truckers Join the Fight Against Changing the Renewable Fuel Standard
Via NACS Online.
WASHINGTON – The Association of American Railroads, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, the American Trucking Associations, and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association have entered their opposition to changing the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS). This week, the associations sent a letter to Gina McCarthy, administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) asking her to not move the point of obligation under the RFS.
The letter said that the EPA “has acted responsibly in denying previous petitions for a rulemaking to change the point of obligation and support EPA’s current regulatory action to deny similar petitions. The current petitions are proposing to move the point of obligation to entities that have never been obligated previously and that are not equipped to comply. Granting these petitions would disrupt the fuels markets, raise consumer fuel prices, and do so with no added benefit to the consumer or the program. We represent diverse interests but we are in agreement about this point.”
What to Expect in Environmental Regulation for 2017
By McGuire Woods.
The inauguration of President Donald J. Trump on Jan. 20 began a period of change expected to include the rollback of programs, withdrawal of regulations, and changes to policy that will affect all aspects of environmental regulation. While many questions linger regarding the priorities of the new administration, certain issues like the Clean Power Plan and “waters of the United States” definition are sure to rank high on the list.
Expect certain states, like California, to continue implementing a comprehensive environmental regulatory agenda, although federal action could threaten clean air programs in those states if the Trump administration withdraws the Clean Air Act waivers supporting them. There may also be an increase in lawsuits filed by nongovernmental organizations against both governmental and private actors in response to dissatisfaction with how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces the laws.
By McGuire Woods.
The inauguration of President Donald J. Trump on Jan. 20 began a period of change expected to include the rollback of programs, withdrawal of regulations, and changes to policy that will affect all aspects of environmental regulation. While many questions linger regarding the priorities of the new administration, certain issues like the Clean Power Plan and “waters of the United States” definition are sure to rank high on the list.
Expect certain states, like California, to continue implementing a comprehensive environmental regulatory agenda, although federal action could threaten clean air programs in those states if the Trump administration withdraws the Clean Air Act waivers supporting them. There may also be an increase in lawsuits filed by nongovernmental organizations against both governmental and private actors in response to dissatisfaction with how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) enforces the laws.
The following are some of the more material areas to track in 2017.
Clean Power Plan (CPP)
CPP was promulgated by EPA on Aug. 3, 2015, as part of the Obama administration’s effort to address climate change through the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing fossil-fired (coal and natural gas) energy generating units (EGUs). First proposed in June 2014, CPP arose from EPA’s determination that greenhouse gases were a pollutant subject to regulation under the Clean Air Act (CAA) and that U.S. emissions of CO2 as the predominant greenhouse gas should be reduced, by 2030, to a level 32 percent below their 2005 levels.
To meet this ultimate goal and interim goals in 2022-2029, EPA applied what it called the best system of emission reduction and the three “building blocks” of efficiency, shifting from coal to gas and increased renewables to determine emission performance rates for all EGUs, dividing the country into three regions based on the nation’s electric grid. EPA then applied those standards to come up with CO2 reduction goals for each state, with each state having the option to meet its goals through an emission standards plan or a state measures plan, as well as emissions trading among sources and states.
Renewable biogas proposal continues greening of GM powertrain plant
By Paul Forsyth, Niagara This Week.
ST. CATHARINES — It’s a sleek, state-of-the-art facility with gleaming robotics whirring about in rooms that are almost surgically clean, but in addition to cutting-edge technology the General Motors powertrain plant in St. Catharines is also being touted as a model of environmental sustainability.
The latest investment in greening being proposed at the massive plant along the Welland Canal will be a renewable biogas cogeneration project that would utilize landfill gas to make the 2.08-million square-foot facility more energy efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a whopping 5,000 tonnes a year
By Paul Forsyth, Niagara This Week.
ST. CATHARINES — It’s a sleek, state-of-the-art facility with gleaming robotics whirring about in rooms that are almost surgically clean, but in addition to cutting-edge technology the General Motors powertrain plant in St. Catharines is also being touted as a model of environmental sustainability.
The latest investment in greening being proposed at the massive plant along the Welland Canal will be a renewable biogas cogeneration project that would utilize landfill gas to make the 2.08-million square-foot facility more energy efficient and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a whopping 5,000 tonnes a year.
The project, which could be up and running as early as 2018 if approvals are obtained in time and GM decides to forge ahead with it, is part of a major push by GM to dramatically reduce energy consumption, waste production and chemicals at its Canadian plants.
Politicians at the Region on Jan. 11 supported the biogas project in principle and agreed to urge the province to expedite the application process. City of St. Catharines politicians recently did the same.
Tammy Giroux, manager of government relations for GM of Canada, said the biogas project would involve piping treated gas underground from the Walker Environmental Group landfill near Thorold Stone Road to the cogeneration plant.
The use of landfill gas from the breakdown of materials such as green bin organics, paper and wood may be the first such industrial cogeneration project in Ontario, said Giroux.
Pruitt's political operation becomes a weapon for Dems
By Elana Schor, Politico.
As Democrats look for an opening to derail Scott Pruitt's nomination to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, they're zeroing in on his leadership of a group of Republican attorneys general with close ties to fossil-fuel companies he'd have to regulate for Donald Trump.
After initially focusing on Pruitt's resistance to climate change science, Democrats have pivoted to decrying his past chairmanship of the Republican Attorneys General Association, slamming him for raising money from the fossil-fuel industry while filing lawsuits against regulations that companies opposed. And Democrats point to Pruitt's history of litigation as Oklahoma's attorney general — 14 legal challenges against the agency he's now set to helm — to ask whether he'll be able to impartially handle many of those same cases as a defendant after taking over EPA.
By Elana Schor, Politico.
As Democrats look for an opening to derail Scott Pruitt's nomination to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, they're zeroing in on his leadership of a group of Republican attorneys general with close ties to fossil-fuel companies he'd have to regulate for Donald Trump.
After initially focusing on Pruitt's resistance to climate change science, Democrats have pivoted to decrying his past chairmanship of the Republican Attorneys General Association, slamming him for raising money from the fossil-fuel industry while filing lawsuits against regulations that companies opposed. And Democrats point to Pruitt's history of litigation as Oklahoma's attorney general — 14 legal challenges against the agency he's now set to helm — to ask whether he'll be able to impartially handle many of those same cases as a defendant after taking over EPA.
“I think they have decided that the Republican Attorneys General Association is part of their farm team,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said. ”They’re funding it accordingly and are systematically trying to advance their agenda at the state level at the same time as identifying people who will do their bidding at the federal level.”
“It’s a problem for the country that you have chief law enforcement officers of individual states who are now operating as partisans,” Schatz added.
Jessica Mackler, chief of the Democratic super PAC American Bridge, summed up the party's case against the Oklahoman. "The only explanation for Pruitt's eagerness to lead the EPA is that he hopes to continue his track record of taking fossil fuel money then using his influence to help polluters maximize their profit margins while the American people pay the price," she said in a statement.
RAGA’s ascendancy came with a boost from Pruitt, who helped the group come into its own as a political force during his chairmanship. RAGA fundraising leapt from $4.5 million in 2010 to $6.9 million in 2012, when Pruitt took over, to $16 million in 2014.
Trump EPA pick says backs biofuels program, but open to tweaks
By Valerie Volcovici, Timothy Gardner, & Chris Prentice, Reuters.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Present-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Wednesday he would honor the intent of the U.S. biofuels program, but remained open to tweaking it.
The Renewable Fuel Standard requires the EPA set annual quotas for the use of ethanol and biodiesel in transportation fuels. More than a decade old, the standard is fiercely defended by the U.S. corn industry that provides most of the ethanol, but it has been a source of frustration for oil refiners. They say the goals are unrealistic without an overhaul in automobiles and infrastructure, and are calling for changes.
Pruitt said during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he was committed to Congress' plan, laid out in 2007, to annually increase the amount of ethanol and other renewables blended with petroleum fuels. He said the waivers that EPA has already used to set requirements below those targets to accommodate market conditions should be used "judiciously".
By Valerie Volcovici, Timothy Gardner, & Chris Prentice, Reuters.
Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Present-elect Donald Trump's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, said on Wednesday he would honor the intent of the U.S. biofuels program, but remained open to tweaking it.
The Renewable Fuel Standard requires the EPA set annual quotas for the use of ethanol and biodiesel in transportation fuels. More than a decade old, the standard is fiercely defended by the U.S. corn industry that provides most of the ethanol, but it has been a source of frustration for oil refiners. They say the goals are unrealistic without an overhaul in automobiles and infrastructure, and are calling for changes.
Pruitt said during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday that he was committed to Congress' plan, laid out in 2007, to annually increase the amount of ethanol and other renewables blended with petroleum fuels. He said the waivers that EPA has already used to set requirements below those targets to accommodate market conditions should be used "judiciously".
He explained his view that the EPA should not use those waivers to "undermine commitments" from Congress but that they are needed in some cases, including when there is lower-than-expected fuel demand.
The comments quelled some concerns from within the industry over the nominee, who as Oklahoma's attorney general had described the program as "flawed" and "unworkable."
Don’t miss an update—join our weekly newsletter below.