Business, Environmental Interests Push For Renewable Natural Gas As Near-term Solution For Cleaner Air

By Samantha Mehlinger Assistant Editor, Long Beach Business Journal.

What if we could capture the gases naturally produced by landfills, water treatment plants, dairy farms and other sources of organic waste, strip out the majority of associated greenhouses gases and toxins, and convert the gases into a renewable, clean fuel?

What if we could use that fuel source to power the infrastructure and vehicles that cause pollution at local ports years before zero-emission electric technology will be required?

And what if doing all this would create more than 100,000 high-paying jobs in the state and generate an estimated $14 billion in economic impact?

This is the vision championed by the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas, an organization representing 90% of all renewable natural gas (RNG) producers in the United States and Canada. As the San Pedro Bay ports work together to revise the emissions requirements of infrastructure and vehicles operating within their scope under a new version of their joint Clean Air Action Plan (CAAP), the coalition is pushing to see this vision incorporated.

“The ports for many years have had the admirable goal to get zero emissions in operations around the port,” Greg Roche, vice president overseeing sustainable trucking for RNG Coalition member Clean Energy, a leading provider of natural gas fuels and fueling stations, told the Business Journal.

According to Roche, the discussion of zero-emission technologies in relation to port operations typically revolves around electric-powered equipment and vehicles. When it comes to heavy-duty trucks, however, that technology is not yet available and may not be for some time.

“And that means you have got to kind of look out and push things off into the future because it doesn’t really exist yet,” Roche said. “We can’t get ahead of ourselves from a technology standpoint, so we can just kind of talk about very long-term goals.”

The CAAP draft discussion document proposed a 2035 goal of converting all trucks at the port to zero-emission technology. The document also proposed requiring all cargo-handling equipment to be zero-emission by 2030. “But from an actionable document of what happens between now and 2035, it lacks detail,” Roche said.

The RNG Coalition, in addition to other groups like the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition and the Coalition for Clean Air, are advocating that the ports include a 2023 benchmark in CAAP that would require trucks and perhaps terminal equipment to operate at zero-emissions equivalent, or near zero-emissions.

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California Senate approves 100% renewable energy target by 2045

By Robert Walton, Utility Dive.

Dive Brief:

• The California Senate last Wednesday passed a measure to mandate 100% renewable energy by 2045. The bill now moves to the state Assembly.
• Senate Bill 100 would target 50% renewable energy by the end of 2026 and 60% renewables by the end of 2030. The state currently has a 50% renewable energy target set for 2030 and sourced 27% of its power from renewables last year. 
• The bill comes as California looks to respond to President Trump's decision to exit the Paris climate accord. Reuters reports Gov. Jerry Brown (D) intends to discuss linking the state's carbon markets with those in Asia on a trip to China this week. 

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New York to spur clean energy jobs by investing $1.5B into renewable energy projects

By Robert Walton, Utility Dive.

Dive Brief:

• New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week announced a new Clean Climate Careers (CCC) initiative that will aim to create 40,000 clean energy jobs by 2020.
• As part of the program, the state is planning to invest $1.5 billion in renewable energy, aiming to procure an additional 2.5 million MWh each year. According to the governor's announcement, it is "the largest clean energy procurement by a state in U.S. history."
• New York rolled out its plan in the wake of President Trump's announcement that he would pull the United States out of the United Nations Paris climate accord. Similarly, the California Senate voted to move to 100% renewables after the decision was announced.

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Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Benefits of Natural Gas for Transportation Confirmed by New NGVA Europe Study

Via MarketWatch.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 

~Westport Fuel Systems Next-Generation Natural Gas Engine and Vehicle Technologies Validated as a Key Solution for De-carbonizing the Transport Sector~ 

Westport Fuel Systems Inc. ("Westport Fuel Systems") today announced the publication of a new study by Natural Gas Vehicles Association Europe ("NGVA Europe") that quantified the greenhouse gas ("GHG") emission reduction benefits of natural gas for light duty and heavy duty transportation. Alongside data from the major European vehicle and engine makers, Westport Fuel Systems made GHG emissions data specific to the Volvo V60 Bi-Fuel passenger car that uses its advanced natural gas technology from Westport, and Westport High Pressure Direct Injection 2.0 ("Westport(TM) HPDI 2.0") for heavy duty trucks available for the study, enabling state of the art vehicle technologies to be included in the assessment.

The detailed well-to-wheels lifecycle analysis concluded that natural gas fueled passenger cars offer a 23% GHG emission reduction benefit compared with petrol, and 7% compared with diesel assuming an European Union ("EU") average upstream gas mix for compressed natural gas ("CNG"). In heavy-duty applications, trucks fueled by CNG or liquefied natural gas ("LNG") offer GHG emission reduction benefits of 15-16% using EU average gas mix. When the highest upstream carbon intensity originating source of LNG (from Algeria) is removed and Westport(TM) HPDI 2.0 technology is used, reductions of 18% to 22% were identified. These GHG benefits are significantly amplified when blends of renewable natural gas ("RNG") or biomethane are used with well-to-wheel emissions being reduced by 80-95% depending on the fuel source and production pathway.

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Metro can go two ways at once in choosing L.A.’s new bus fleet

By Denny Zane, Los Angeles Daily News, Guest Commentary. 

When the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board of directors meets on June 22, it will face an important decision that will affect all of us years from now. On that day, board members will determine whether the nation’s second-largest bus fleet in North America should run on electricity or on renewable gas.

With advances in technology, Metro’s board doesn’t have to pick one over the other because both are viable options and both are super clean — and even staff at Metro recognize this reality. Recently, employees at Metro found that near-zero-emissions compressed natural gas (CNG) buses fueled with renewable gas and battery-powered electric buses will help make Metro’s 2,472 buses the cleanest bus fleet in America, based on an internal analysis.

However, there is an important fact the staff report does not discuss: Metro using both technologies will also be the best way our transit system can help accelerate the cleanup of the far larger and far dirtier heavy-duty truck sector.

Electric power will likely work on short-haul applications, like drayage trucking. But we will need near-zero-emission natural gas on medium and long-haul applications — or live with toxic diesel pollution much longer than necessary.

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RINs Open New Market for Landfills

By Arlene Karidis, Waste 360.

In 2014 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classified landfill gas as a cellulosic biofuel, a step that some industry analysts believe could blossom into a biogas gold rush. With this biofuel classification, landfill operators began leveraging assets to tap into a new market: Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) credits.

RINs are serial numbers assigned to batches of biofuel for the purpose of tracking its production, use and trading. The credits are often purchased by oil companies, that buy them to meet certain investment thresholds on the percentage of gas produced from renewable sources.

The industry is both guarded and optimistic about the use of RINs for landfill gas. It’s uncertain whether the regulatory framework driving it will remain intact under the Trump administration. Though California and Oregon have moved forward with their own clean fuel programs, creating a healthy market for landfill gas across the country. Canada may soon follow suit, project some stakeholders. 

For now, “Federal law mandates year over year that [oil companies’] total fuel portfolio have greater shares of cellulosic biofuel. That’s why so many [landfills] are getting into transportation fuel. We have a high- value commodity that big oil companies need,” says David Cox, director of operations for the Coalition for RNG. According to the Coalition’s records, about 30 landfills are selling RINs for transportation fuel as of January 2017.

RINs can be carried over, or oil refineries and other obligated parties can trade them once they meet their requirements. This in itself could possibly create a market, believes Brian Lips, energy policy project coordinator for North Carolina Clean Energy Technology Center.

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New York unveils state methane reduction plan with focuses on food waste, landfills

Dive Brief:

• New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released a new multi-agency "Methane Reduction Plan" that is part of the state's goal to reduce energy sector emissions 40% by 2030, based on 1990 levels. According to the plan, landfills account for 58% of the state's methane emissions and 5% of overall emissions.
• Recovering or recycling organic waste from large generators is listed as the state's top priority for reducing emissions from landfills. This is said to include support and funding from multiple agencies for food donation networks, composting facilities and anaerobic digesters.
• As for landfills themselves, the report cites proposed revisions to the Part 360 permit system that would require the installation of horizontal gas collection wells in newly constructed landfills or cells. The state also plans to review strategies for active or closed sites and review its guidance in comparison to the Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas reporting criteria to identify any potential regulatory updates.

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California's 100% Clean Energy Bill Clears First Senate Committee

On May 9, the California Senate Energy Committee voted to approve SB 100 (Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles). If passed by the Legislature, the California Clean Energy Act of 2017 would put the state on the path to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.

At the request of the CA Senate Leader's office, RNG Coalition staff is providing feedback on the bill's language and provisions.

SB 100 will next be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Read the bill summary and full text HERE. 

Center for Renewable Natural Gas Opens May 17 at UC Riverside

On May 17, RNG Coalition staff and members will join the University of California Riverside to open the Center for Renewable Natural Gas with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. 

Formally named "The University of California, Riverside, Center for Environmental Research and Technology, Center for Renewable Natural Gas," the RNG Center (or CRNG) will operate with University personnel under Director Arun Raju. Already, Director Raju and RNG Coalition Executive Staff have begun collaboration on a series of research and RNG advancement initiatives to boost RNG adoption. 

Also on May 17, the RNG Center will host the RNG Coalition-endorsed, Renewable Natural Gas Symposium consisting of panel discussions that explore adoption of renewable natural gas technology from lab to market. 

Find out more and register HERE.

RNG Coalition CEO Accepts Annual CNGVC Advocacy Award

May 10 - Yesterday evening, RNG Coalition CEO & Executive Director Johannes Escudero accepted the California Natural Gas Vehicles Coalition (CNGVC)'s Advocate of the Year Award, in appreciation of his and the RNG Coalition's dedication and advocacy work over the past year.

The award was presented at the CNGVC's annual awards banquet in Sacramento, CA. Thank you to Thomas Lawson and the CNGVC for the honor and their overwhelming recognition.