RNG NEWS
SoCalGas Streamlines Processes to Support Renewable Gas Projects
By SoCalGas.
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced new initiatives that will make it easier for renewable gas production facilities to connect to the company's natural gas pipeline system. First is the creation of a downloadable toolkit to assist renewable gas producers and developers who are interested in interconnecting their projects with the SoCalGas pipeline network. In addition, new provisions will enable SoCalGas and renewable gas producers to accelerate the interconnection process by procuring the necessary material much earlier than previously allowed.
Like electricity, natural gas can be made from renewable sources. About 80 percent of all methane emissions in California come from the state's dairy and farm operations, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. That methane can be harnessed and cleaned to produce renewable natural gas for use in transportation as well as in homes and businesses.
By SoCalGas.
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced new initiatives that will make it easier for renewable gas production facilities to connect to the company's natural gas pipeline system. First is the creation of a downloadable toolkit to assist renewable gas producers and developers who are interested in interconnecting their projects with the SoCalGas pipeline network. In addition, new provisions will enable SoCalGas and renewable gas producers to accelerate the interconnection process by procuring the necessary material much earlier than previously allowed.
Like electricity, natural gas can be made from renewable sources. About 80 percent of all methane emissions in California come from the state's dairy and farm operations, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. That methane can be harnessed and cleaned to produce renewable natural gas for use in transportation as well as in homes and businesses.
A study conducted by the University of California at Davis estimates that the natural gas needs of around 2.4 million California homes could be fueled with RNG derived from the state's existing organic waste alone. Already, 60 percent of the fuel used in natural gas vehicles in California is renewable, and SoCalGas expects that to increase to 90 percent by 2018. This can help reduce the need for other fossil-based fuels, and increase our supplies with a local renewable fuel.
"Renewable natural gas is key to achieving the state's ambitious air quality goals and providing families in California with a clean and reliable source of energy to heat and power their homes for generations to come," said Lisa Alexander, vice president of customer solutions for SoCalGas. "Renewable natural gas will also help transform transportation in the state, which accounts for 80 percent of smog-forming pollution and that disproportionally burdens our most vulnerable communities. With today's technology, we can harness this otherwise wasted energy to de-carbonize our pipeline system, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and slow climate change."
Cornell study demonstrates method to speed up anaerobic digestion
By Cody Boteler, Waste Dive.
- In a study published by Bioresource Technology, researchers showed that using a technique called hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) — a process of subjecting a feedstock to high heat and high pressure — could transform food waste into oil and a carbon-rich aqueous phase. Changing the temperature that the feedstock is exposed to during HTL changes the ratio of how much oil and how much aqueous phase is produced.
- The Cornell University researchers noted that the oil can be refined into biofuel, but the aqueous phase (the non-oil byproduct of the food waste that undergoes HTL) can be used for generating biogas from anaerobic digestion. Roy Posmanik, the lead author of the paper, told Waste Dive in an interview that combining HTL and AD speeds up the overall process. "The HTL takes 20 minutes [to] 60 minutes," he said. "And then you have the aqueous phase, which takes more like three or four days [to digest], rather than three weeks."
- Posmanik added that the HTL-plus-AD process is not limited to just food waste. Other feedstocks, like sludge or wastewater, could undergo HTL and the byproduct could then undergo AD. Posmanik said he and other researchers he works with are working on studying those other feedstocks.
Case Studies of Funding Bioeconomy Projects: US vs Around the World, featuring Mark Riedy
By Jim Lane, Biofuels Digest.
Structuring and financing an International Bioeconomy Project is not for the neophyte or the faint of heart — so advises Kilpatrick Townsend’s massively-experienced partner Mark Riedy. Where is it best to build? In this illuminating presentation from ABLC 2017, Riedy looked at regulatory uncertainty, returns, available supply chains and the risk therein, among many other factors that go into the financing decision — all of which are elegantly laid out here.
EDL makes landfill gas to energy acquisition
By Waste Today.
Australian headquartered global energy business Energy Developments (EDL), has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Granger Energy Services landfill gas to energy (LFGTE) business in the USA.
Granger Energy comprises 16 operating sites, concentrated in the Great Lakes region of the U.S., with a total installed capacity of 85 megawatts electric (MWe). The Granger Energy business is highly contracted, with strong counterparties, and long term contracts, EDL notes.
Colorado sets statewide diversion goals
By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive.
Dive Brief:
- The Colorado Solid and Hazardous Waste Commission voted on Aug. 15 to adopt a resolution that sets statewide diversion rate goals for the first time. According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), the state's diversion rate has hovered around 19% for about a decade.
- The state will now strive to hit 28% by 2021, 35% by 2026 and 45% by 2036. The resolution also set different local targets, with lower rates for rural counties and higher targets for about a dozen more urban "Front Range" counties. Diversion is defined explicitly as "recycling, composting and anaerobic digestion."
- The conversation around statewide goals was accelerated by CDPHE's release of a waste and materials management plan last summer and has continued over multiple public stakeholder meetings. The plan found that an estimated $267 million worth of recyclable material is being sent to landfills each year, with the majority coming from Front Range communities.
Iowa city wants to convert food waste into renewable fuel
By The Associated Press, Via News Tribune.
An eastern Iowa city is working to become the first in the state to convert food waste from restaurants, groceries and homes into renewable fuel for vehicles.
Muscatine Water Pollution Control Director Jon Koch has been working to implement a system in the city since 2012, the Muscatine Journal reported .
By The Associated Press, Via News Tribune.
An eastern Iowa city is working to become the first in the state to convert food waste from restaurants, groceries and homes into renewable fuel for vehicles.
Muscatine Water Pollution Control Director Jon Koch has been working to implement a system in the city since 2012, the Muscatine Journal reported.
Koch said many locations in Europe, California and New York have switched to compressed natural gas to help with full landfills and high gas prices. About 40 percent of food in the U.S. goes to a landfill.
"Heinz estimates it puts about 10 to 15 tons of waste a day into the landfill, and that's mostly packaged material," Koch said. "But all that ketchup and material is perfect to make gas in our digesters."
Author refutes Bloomberg on Natural Gas used for transportation
By Jon LeSage, via Yahoo Finance.
Bloomberg is attempting to make the case that Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk and cheap gasoline prices have driven natural gas away as an economically viable vehicle fuel. But that does not seem to be the case if you look at the role compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been playing on a global level.
Pickens is cited in the article for making the business case for natural gas vehicles going back to 2008 with the oil price spike and skyrocketing pump prices of gasoline and diesel. His arguments focused on the cheaper, stable price of natural gas and how it allowed the U.S. to free itself of oil imports, especially from OPEC.
By Jon LeSage, via Yahoo Finance.
Bloomberg is attempting to make the case that Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk and cheap gasoline prices have driven natural gas away as an economically viable vehicle fuel. But that does not seem to be the case if you look at the role compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been playing on a global level.
Pickens is cited in the article for making the business case for natural gas vehicles going back to 2008 with the oil price spike and skyrocketing pump prices of gasoline and diesel. His arguments focused on the cheaper, stable price of natural gas and how it allowed the U.S. to free itself of oil imports, especially from OPEC.
As co-founder of the nation’s largest natural gas vehicle fueling infrastructure company, Clean Energy Fuels Corp., Pickens saw his company reach market valuation in 2012 of about $1.8 billion. The Bloomberg piece points to Clean Energy Fuels stock plummeting 90 percent since that peak as another sign that the alternative fuel is on a downturn.
Even if gasoline and diesel prices stay stable for a few years, and if Tesla and other electric vehicles see significant sales increases during that time, natural gas is expected to continue doing well for companies working in that sector.
Swiss scientists use coffee waste to produce renewable methane
Researchers have found a way to produce high-quality methane gas – a main component of the natural gas used for energy – from the coffee grounds left behind after instant coffee production.
The breakthrough was made as part of a pilot project by researchers at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), a member of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology Domain, in cooperation with Swiss food giant Nestlé.
Leftover moist coffee grounds from Nestlé’s instant coffee production were subjected to extremely high pressure and temperature conditions (about 450 degrees Celsius) at an experimental PSI pilot facility. This treatment allowed mineral salts contained in the grounds to be extracted and reused, while the remaining compounds were converted to methane gas using a catalyst.
Carl Icahn steps down as regulatory adviser to Trump
By Lydia Wheeler, The Hill.
Investor Carl Icahn announced Friday that he is stepping down from his role as special adviser to President Trump on issues relating to regulatory reform.
Icahn, who owns a substantial stake in the oil and refining company CVR Energy, said in a letter to Trump on Friday that he is choosing to “end this arrangement (with your blessing) because I did not want partisan bickering about my role to in any way cloud your administration or Ms. Rao’s important work,” referring to newly minted Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Neomi Rao.
By Lydia Wheeler, The Hill.
Investor Carl Icahn announced Friday that he is stepping down from his role as special adviser to President Trump on issues relating to regulatory reform.
Icahn, who owns a substantial stake in the oil and refining company CVR Energy, said in a letter to Trump on Friday that he is choosing to “end this arrangement (with your blessing) because I did not want partisan bickering about my role to in any way cloud your administration or Ms. Rao’s important work,” referring to newly minted Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Administrator Neomi Rao.
“While I do not know Ms. Rao and played no part in her appointment, I am confident based on what I’ve read of her accomplishments that she is the right person for this important job.” he said.
Earlier this year six Senate Democrats, including Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), reportedly called on the White House Counsel to investigate Icahn’s refusal to divest his private sector interests, citing conflicts of interest, after reports Icahn had worked closely on a planned executive order to overhaul the Environmental Protection Agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard.
RNG Coalition Welcomes Nina Kapoor as Manager of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs
The Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition) is pleased to introduce and announce Ms. Nina Kapoor to our members and the RNG industry as the RNG Coalition's Manager of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs in Sacramento, California.
The addition of Ms. Kapoor in July 2017 will further bolster the RNG Coalition's advocacy and education efforts on behalf of the North American RNG industry in California and on the West Coast. "After a highly competitive and deliberate process, we are thrilled to have Nina join our team," commented Johannes Escudero, CEO & Executive Director of the RNG Coalition. "The RNG Coalition will immediately benefit from her extensive lobbying experience, relationships and understanding of the legislative and regulatory processes in California."
The Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition) is pleased to introduce and announce Ms. Nina Kapoor to our members and the RNG industry as the RNG Coalition's Manager of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs in Sacramento, California.
The addition of Ms. Kapoor in July 2017 will further bolster the RNG Coalition's advocacy and education efforts on behalf of the North American RNG industry in California and on the West Coast. "After a highly competitive and deliberate process, we are thrilled to have Nina join our team," commented Johannes Escudero, CEO & Executive Director of the RNG Coalition. "The RNG Coalition will immediately benefit from her extensive lobbying experience, relationships and understanding of the legislative and regulatory processes in California."
Before joining the RNG Coalition, Ms. Kapoor provided strategic planning and public affairs consulting as Principal of Kapoor Consulting, to support the domestic and international business interests of the firm's energy and environmental clients.
Prior to that she served as Vice President of Legislative Affairs at the California Forestry Association (CFA), the statewide trade association that represents California’s forestry sector. At CFA, Ms. Kapoor was responsible for developing and implementing all legislative affairs, including advocacy before the Legislature in California and Congress in Washington, DC. She was instrumental in leading key stakeholder coalitions and coordinating strategic media campaigns for the association.
Ms. Kapoor also previously represented a number of high-profile energy and transportation clients at KP Public Affairs, a well-respected lobbying firm in Sacramento. Before transitioning to the private sector, she worked in the California State Capitol as a Senate Fellow and as legislative staff to prominent members of the State Senate and the Assembly, including the Chair of the Assembly Committee on Utilities and Commerce.
Ms. Kapoor holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Economics with Highest Distinction from University of California, San Diego. She lives in Sacramento, where she enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking and spending time with her mother and extended family.
RNG Coalition members and industry stakeholders will have the opportunity to meet Ms. Kapoor at our RNG 2017 Conference, Nov. 27-30, if not before. In the meantime, please join us in welcoming Ms. Nina Kapoor to the RNG Coalition!