RNG Producer & CNG Fuel Provider AMPAmericas Breaks Ground on Its 20th AMPCNG Fueling Station

Public ampCNG Station in Buda, Texas to Serve Anchor Fleet US Foods

CHICAGO, Dec. 4, 2017 – On the heels of being awarded a Carbon Intensity (CI) score of -254.94 gCO2e/MJ by California's Air Resources Board (CARB), AMP Americas announced today that it has broken ground on a new public-access ampCNG fueling station in Buda, Texas, with US Foods serving as the station’s anchor fleet.

Located at 1529 Turnersville Road, adjacent to the US Foods distribution center in Buda, the ampCNG ultra fast-fill CNG station will have two dual-hose dispensers serving two lanes. The station is expected to open by February, 2018, and will fuel US Foods’ Buda-based fleet of 50 CNG trucks.

“We are proud to partner with one of the country’s largest foodservice distributors and to help US Foods improve air quality with a much cleaner, more cost effective, domestic fuel,” said Grant Zimmerman, CEO at AMP Americas. “Support from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has been instrumental in helping us bring this station to Buda.”

"We’re committed to continually improving the efficiency of our fleet," said Dario Skocir, vice president of operational excellence, US Foods. "These vehicles allow us to reduce emissions during our daily deliveries to our customers, while also reducing our fuel costs.” 

“Supporting clean, domestic natural gas as an alternative transportation fuel that significantly reduces emissions is an important environmental commitment," said Texas State Rep. Jason Isaac, R-Dripping Springs. "ampcng's efforts and investment in the state of Texas to help businesses transition to clean, Texas-produced natural gas have been a critical part of our plan to improve air quality for Texans and grow our state's economy.”

The new station marks ampCNG’s eighth in Texas, bringing its total station network to 20. The company’s other stations in Texas are located in Amarillo, Harrold, Waco, Brock, Rosenberg, Sweetwater and Kerrville.

AMP Americas continues to expand its national footprint and to invest heavily in dairy RNG projects across the country to bring more ultra-low CI gas to market. Construction is currently underway for the company’s second RNG project using dairy digester gas. The company plans to more than double its dairy gas output by mid-2018, and aims to deliver ampRenew, its 100 percent RNG, to all 20 of its fueling stations as it brings on future projects.

About AMP Americas

AMP Americas operates three business units; Renewable Dairy Fuels, ampRenew and ampCNG. Renewable Dairy Fuels (RDF) produces 100 percent renewable natural gas from an anaerobic digester at Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana. ampRenew, the company’s branded high quality RNG sourcing, marketing, and risk management business, sources RNG from Fair Oaks Farms and third party RNG developers to supply partner CNG stations, ampCNG stations, and fleet customers with clean sustainable RNG for trucking fleets. ampCNG is leading the movement to help heavy-duty trucking fleets transition to cost-effective, clean and American-produced CNG. A member of the Department of Energy’s National Clean Fleets Partnership tasked to reduce the nation’s dependency on imported oil, ampCNG builds, owns and operates a growing network of CNG fueling stations for long-haul trucking fleets. 

Ontario Finalizes Updated Cap and Trade Regulations, Link with California & Quebec in Place for Jan. 1

By David Stevens, via Lexicology.

November 30, 2017 - Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) has confirmed that a decision has been made to proceed with amended regulations to facilitate the linkage of Ontario’s Cap and Trade program with California and Quebec (discussed in an earlier post). This will ensure that the linkage will be in place for January 1, 2018.

The MOECC’s November 28, 2017 Regulation Decision Notice confirms the amendments to the existing Cap and Trade Program Regulation and related instruments that will implement the linkage. The key amendments to facilitate the linkage include the following items that are listed in the recent Notice:

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Hexagon Announces Further growth in Mobile Pipeline®

Hexagon Composites' subsidiary Hexagon Lincoln announces a new purchase order for TITAN® 4 trailers from Certarus Ltd., a leading provider of fully integrated compressed natural gas (CNG) delivery solutions, with a total value of USD 10.4 million (around NOK 85 million).

"The macro trend of gasification of both the oil & gas sector and industrial markets has created strong demand for Certarus. This new order of TITAN® trailers will be deployed primarily into our industrial power generation fuel supply business line. Certarus is the North American market leader for large scale integrated compressed natural gas solutions and Hexagon's TITAN® 4 is the core of our fleet", says Curtis Philippon, President & CEO of Certarus Ltd. 

"We continue to see strong growth in the Mobile Pipeline® market driven by the desire to reduce fuel costs and pollutant emissions. We are positioned to support this growth through our capabilities in North America," said Miguel Raimao, Vice President Mobile Pipeline® at Hexagon Lincoln

"We are proud to be a trusted partner of Certarus who is a pioneer in the supply of clean fuel into the oil and gas fields of North America. This new follow-on order continues to affirm Hexagon's class leading product performance and unmatched after-sales service support," said Jack Schimenti, President of Hexagon Lincoln.

Deliveries are scheduled for first quarter of 2018.

Biofuel association stakeholders react to EPA's Final 2018 RVO

By Erin Voegele, Biomass Magazine.

The U.S. EPA has released final 2018 renewable volume obligations (RVOs) under the Renewable Fuel Standard, setting the RVO for total renewable fuel at 19.29 billion gallons, including 288 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, 2.1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel, and 4.29 billion gallons of advanced biofuel. In addition, the agency has set the 2019 RVO for biomass-based diesel at 2.1 billion gallons.

In its proposed rule released in July, the EPA proposed to set the 2018 RVO for cellulosic biofuel at 238 million gallons. In the final rule, the agency has increased the RVO slightly to 288 million gallons. The EPA also slightly increased the RVO for advanced biofuel, from 4.24 billion gallons to 4.29 billion gallons. The overall RVO has been increased from a proposed 19.24 billion gallons to a final 19.29 billion gallons. The 2019 RVO for biomass-based diesel, however, has been maintained at the originally proposed volume of 2.1 billion gallons.

When compared to the final RVOs for 2017, the cellulosic RVO has been reduced from 311 million gallons to 288 million gallons. The advanced biofuel RVO, however, has been increased slightly, from 4.28 billion gallons in 2017 to 4.29 billion gallons in 2018. The total RVO has increased by approximately 10 million gallons, from 19.28 billion gallons in 2017 to 19.29 billion gallons in 2018.

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Scott Pruitt's favorite piece of Disney magic is Florida park's anaerobic digester

By Cody Boteler, Waste Dive. 

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt visited Disney World early this week to highlight the park's commitment to sustainability, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The Disney anaerobic digester, built and operated by Harvest Power, can process 120,000 tons of food waste annually. Pruitt spent time touring a greenhouse facility and a restaurant kitchen in the Magic Kingdom to observe Disney's food sustainability practices.

An executive from Harvest Power told Pruitt that the company was "eager" to build more facilities, but said the $30 million price tag can be "prohibitive" for companies and municipalities. 

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Statement from the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas Regarding EPA Release of Final 2018 Renewable Fuel Standard Volume Obligations

Washington, DC - On November 30, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final rule setting the final 2018 volume obligations under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). 

Johannes Escudero, the Executive Director of the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition), issued the following statement in response to the final rule.

“The final 2018 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO) of 288 million gallons for cellulosic biofuels represents an increase from the proposed RVO that will allow the RNG industry to continue delivering America’s cellulosic biofuel – renewable natural gas – and yielding positive economic, environmental and transportation benefits in communities across the nation. America’s renewable natural gas industry has demonstrated the ability to produce steadily increasing volumes of cellulosic biofuels, and we stand ready to meet this obligation.”

In raising the cellulosic biofuel volume from the proposed rule, EPA gave recognition to the growth in renewable natural gas production, noting on page 26 of the Final Rule that:

“EPA received a number of affidavits from companies that produce (or intend to produce) CNG/LNG derived from biogas as comments on our proposed rule. These affidavits are publicly available as part of the comments submitted by the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas. EPA reviewed and considered the information contained in these affidavits in establishing the required volume of cellulosic biofuel for 2018. These affidavits confirmed that it was reasonable to believe that the relatively high year-over-year rate of growth used to project volumes of CNG/LNG derived from biogas for 2018 could be achieved based on a number of project expansions and new projects expected to begin producing CNG/LNG derived from biogas in 2018.”

“Going forward, we will continue to engage the agency in a constructive manner and work to improve the methodology that is utilized in setting the RFS program’s cellulosic volume targets,” said Escudero.

The RNG Coalition is the trade association representing companies and organizations dedicated to the advancement of RNG as an ultra-clean, domestically-produced fuel. The RNG industry captures methane emitted by organic wastes at landfills, wastewater treatment facilities, agricultural digesters and commercial food waste facilities and refines the captured biogas into RNG. RNG is fully fungible with conventional natural gas infrastructure and is used as a direct substitute for most natural gas applications. Ninety-eight (98) percent of the fuel produced and consumed to meet the RFS program’s cellulosic biofuel requirement is RNG.

RNG Coalition celebrates new projects, launches video

Via Biomass Magazine.

The Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition) recently recognized six companies for their development roles in seven renewable natural gas (RNG) projects completed in 2017 across the U.S. heartland, and launched a new educational video to commence the North American RNG industry’s annual conference program in Dana Point, California.

The video will help to further educate energy industry decision-makers and policy-makers on the economic, environmental, and domestic energy security benefits of development and utilization of RNG.

Companies and projects recognized during today’s ceremony include:

- Ameresco (Woodland Meadows, Michigan)

- Aria Energy (2: Butler County, NE and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)

- Enerdyne Power Systems (Lawrence, Kansas)

- Morrow Renewables (2: Melissa Landfill and Pine Hill Landfill, Texas)

- Republic Services (Pine Hill, Texas)

- Roeslein Alternative Energy (Valley View Farm, Missouri)

In response to the recognition, Rudi Roeslein, president of Roeslein Alternative Energy and CEO of Roeslein & Associates, said, “The accomplishments to date are the results of the hard work and perseverance of our team, and the resolve of our company and Smithfield Foods to make this project a successful example of how a waste stream considered a liability can be turned into a beneficial source of renewable energy.”

He added that the project creates dozens of new local jobs, pays hundreds of thousands in local taxes, and affirms Smithfield’s continued commitment to preserve the $1.5 billion economic impact in the Missouri region through its more than $100 million investment. 

“The challenges of developing two simultaneous projects have been offset by working with experienced landfill partners and supportive off-take partners, enabling Aria Energy to successfully complete two projects this year,” said Richard DiGia, president and CEO of Aria Energy. “When delivered for use in vehicles, the combined production of the projects reduce carbon emissions by over 55,000 tons per year.”

“We believe in leading by example in everything we do,” said Andy Shipe, vice president, business development at Republic Services. “Whenever possible, at our landfills, that means harnessing energy from yesterday’s waste and converting it into a renewable resource that meets tomorrow’s fuel and energy needs.”

For Morrow Renewables, who partnered with Republic Services on the Pine Hill project, it is one of eight high-Btu facilities developed by the company in the U.S.

“‘High-Btu’ shows that this project offers the same carbon reduction as that of over 182,000 acres of forest annually, which is also the equivalent of removing the carbon dioxide emissions from almost 22 million gallons of gasoline annually,” said Luke Morrow, president of Morrow Renewables.

“At the Waste Management, Woodland Meadows landfill in Canton, Michigan, Ameresco built and operates a biogas-to-RNG facility to convert approximately 6600 SCFM of landfill gas to 3500 deca-therms of RNG every day,” said Michael Bakas, executive vice president, Ameresco. “The plant utilizes gas treatment technologies from Guild Technologies and PSB industries,” he said. “Once the gas is injected into the local natural gas pipeline and eventually sold into the vehicle fuel market, it produces more than 14 million credits under the Renewable Fuel Standard program (RINs).”

The seven projects bring the number of RNG facilities in North America to 62, up from 48 at the time of the industry’s 2015 conference. With more than 20 new RNG projects scheduled for completion by the end of 2018, the industry is on pace to meet and potentially surpass the RNG Coalition’s goal to double the number of RNG projects in North America in just ten years to 100 or more by 2025.

“It’s amazing to see the growth and advancement of the landfill gas industry, in particular for production of Renewable Natural Gas,” said William Brinker, managing director of Enerdyne Power Systems. “And we believe the RNG Coalition has played a tremendous role in achieving such growth.”

The RNG 2017 Conference will run through Thursday, November 30. The 316 preregistered conference attendees, representing over 150 companies, sets a new high mark for the RNG industry’s annual event.

Access the new RNG educational video at http://www.rngcoalition.com/what-is-rng/.

Initial RNG Coalition statement on EPA's Final 2018 Renewable Fuel Volumes

"The final 2018 RVO represents an increase from the proposed RVO that will allow the RNG industry to continue delivering America's cellulosic biofuel -- renewable natural gas -- and make a difference in our communities, improving air quality, public health and local economies across North America," said Johannes Escudero, Executive Director and CEO of the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition). "The RNG Coalition and industry are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable natural gas production facilities while creating thousands of jobs that work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, mitigate methane and sequester carbon across the country."

Landfill Gas Collection Firm Loci Controls Lands Financing

By Waste 360.

Loci Controls, the firm specializing in automated landfill gas collection, announced tthat Turnbridge Capital, a Texas-based private equity firm focused on investments in energy service and equipment providers, has led, alongside the company’s existing shareholders and management team, an equity financing and additional equity commitment to support Loci’s growth and expansion.

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U.S. Gain promotes Bryan Nudelbacher and Hardy Sawall to drive continued growth in renewable natural gas industry

Appleton, Wis. – November 28, 2017 – U.S. Gain, a division of U.S. Venture, Inc., has announced the promotion of Bryan Nudelbacher and Hardy Sawall as directors of business development within the renewable natural gas (RNG) sector of the business.

In their new positions, Nudelbacher and Sawall will pursue partnerships with RNG project developers, seek out projects that U.S. Gain can invest in, and negotiate RNG supply contracts from project developers to service U.S. Gain’s growing compressed natural gas (CNG) dispensing capacity.

Both serve the company as subject matter experts on renewable identification numbers (RINS), and the renewable fuel standard (RFS) and low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) programs.

“Moving Bryan and Hardy into these roles is indicative of the growth of our RNG business and increased focus on sustainability,” said U.S. Gain President Mike Koel. “They are highly invested in meeting with proper agencies to discuss changes in the RFS program as it relates to D3 RINS. We’re excited to have them executing our business strategy, as well as to support them in the next step of their careers.” 

Nudelbacher has worked for U.S. Gain since 2011 and was a part of the team that started U.S. Gain. He worked previously as the business development manager, leading significant growth in U.S. Gain’s CNG business throughout the Midwest in addition to implementing the company’s natural gas pricing and supply strategy for U.S. Gain’s nationwide network of CNG stations. He successfully negotiated contracts with fleets and shippers, resulting in more than $25 million of margin and 50 million gallons under contract. He also implemented the company’s first-ever virtual pipeline project to transport CNG via tube trailers to a mobile asphalt plant. Nudelbacher earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Sawall has been working in the renewable fuels industry for the last 12 years, including biodiesel, ethanol, renewable diesel and renewable natural gas. Prior to joining U.S. Gain in 2012, Sawall served as the president of Fusion Renewables and grew sales from $3 million in 2010 to $67 million in 2011. He has a background in managing terminal operations and biodiesel distribution in the Midwest. Sawall earned his master’s degree in geological engineering and a bachelor’s degree in geoenvironmental engineering from Michigan Tech.

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About U.S. Gain

U.S. Gain, a division of U.S. Venture, Inc. is a leading Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) provider offering fleet operators access to GAIN®Clean Fuel, an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective alternative to traditional fuel options. GAIN® Clean Fuel stations are strategically located for carriers along major shipping corridors and provide easy-access, fast-fill capabilities.

About U.S. Venture

For over 60 years, U.S. Venture, Inc. has been recognized as an innovative leader in the distribution of petroleum and renewable energy products, lubricants, and tires and parts for the automotive aftermarket. Guided by its company vision, “To be the very best value-adding distributor of products that vehicles consume in North America,” they deliver unconventional, creative solutions that give their customers a competitive edge. Headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, the company’s business divisions are U.S. Oil, U.S. AutoForce®, U.S. Lubricants and U.S. Gain.