Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre & BC Bioenergy Network Announce Challenge for Technologies to Convert By-products of RNG Production Into Commercially Viable Products

Via Canadian Biomass Magazine.

Dec. 19, 2017 - Foresight Cleantech Accelerator Centre and BC Bioenergy Network (BCBN) today announced an ARCTIC Innovation Challenge to find technologies that will convert the by-products associated with producing renewable natural gas (RNG) into commercially viable products, such as organic fertilizer.

When organic waste – such as animal manure, wood waste, and municipal solid wastes – decomposes, biogas is produced which contains RNG. RNG can be a carbon neutral source of energy or even carbon negative in some cases, and can replace conventional natural gas for use in homes, businesses, and vehicles. Technologies that produce RNG from organic waste have been around for decades; however, the adoption rate by B.C. farmers has been slow due to a variety of factors, including high capital and operating costs and a return on investment that is dependent on government policy.

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Making Landfill Gas-to-Energy Projects Work: For pipeline-quality gas, carbon dioxide removal is critical for high-BTU value

By Arlene Karidis, Waste 360.

The decision on what kind of landfill gas-to-energy project to go with comes with many considerations, with the cost of gas treatments being a major one. Projects to produce electricity or combined heat and electricity may require no more than removal of moisture and a few other constituents, depending on gas quality. But producing pipeline-quality natural gas gets complicated and expensive.

Primary treatments are typically all that’s required for converting to electricity or heat to be use at or near the site. Secondary treatments usually used for high-BTU or pipeline quality gas, are only done when they are mandated or to protect equipment.

“With pipeline quality, requiring more advanced treatment, capital, operational and maintenance costs would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” says Milind Khire a geo-environmental engineer and professor at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.

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China Launches World’s Largest Carbon Market, Stakes a Leading Role on Climate Change

By Dominique Mosbergen, Huffington Post.

As President Donald Trump’s administration takes steps backward in the world’s fight against climate change, China is ramping up its commitment.

Chinese Premier Xi Jinping on Tuesday made good on his promise to launch a national carbon market. Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission unveiled the highly anticipated emissions trading system during a conference call with industry and government representatives, the Australian Financial Review reported.

Though not as ambitious a scheme originally touted, the program — which will cover China’s power sector in its first phase — has already overtaken the European Union carbon market as the world’s largest.

“The launching of China’s national emissions trading system is a
significant step in a long march toward a clean energy economy,” Zou Ji, president of Energy Foundation China, told HuffPost in a statement. “By launching, China sends a strong political signal internationally that China is keeping its global commitments, and is committed to the Paris Agreement.” 

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EPA Seeking Input on a Potential Clean Power Plan Replacement

By Abby Harvey, Power Magazine.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering drafting a replacement of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. The agency on December 18 published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) soliciting comments from the public on how the replacement should look.

The ANPRM is separate from the agency’s current effort to repeal the current rule.

The Clean Power Plan was drafted under section 111(d) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and was finalized by the EPA in 2015. Under the rule, states would be required to develop implementation plans to meet federally-set, state-specific emissions reduction goals.

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Judge rules Washington state can’t enforce Governor's order to cut greenhouse-gas emissions

By Jim Brunner, The Seattle Times, via the News Tribune.

Dealing a setback to Gov. Jay Inslee’s climate agenda, a judge has invalidated major portions of a state rule requiring greenhouse-gas cuts by refineries, fuel distributors and dozens of other major industrial emitters.

In an oral ruling Friday, Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon sided with employer groups who sued last year, contending the state Department of Ecology lacked authority to impose the Clean Air Rule without legislative approval.

Dixon agreed the state cannot force emission reductions on gasoline and natural-gas distributors and similar businesses that do not burn fuels themselves, according to business and environmental representatives on hand for the ruling.

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Clean Energy Awarded New Multi-Use Station, Multi-Year Fueling Agreement For City Of Santa Fe Transit & Refuse Agencies

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) announced today that it has been awarded a $3 million design, build, operation and maintenance contract for a new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station which will serve both public and private customers.

The City of Santa Fe, New Mexico has contracted with Clean Energy to build a CNG fueling station for its transitand refuse fleets as well as offering access to the public. The unique station design will include fast-fill dispensers for Santa Fe Trails, the city’s transit agency, as well as time-fill dispensers installed near-by at the city’s Environmental Services Division for its refuse fleet. The public will be able to fuel their vehicles via a separate lane with its own quick-fill dispenser.

The station is expected to fuel 67 CNG transit, para-transit and refuse vehicles and dispense approximately 440,000 gasoline gallon equivalents (GGEs) per year, which is expected to increase as the solid waste department plans on increasing the size of their CNG fleet over the next 5 years.

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Ontario to Offer Rebates for Businesses Buying Low-Carbon Vehicles

New Program Funded by Province’s Cap on Pollution

By Ontario Ministry of Transportation

Ontario is helping businesses reduce their carbon impact through a new program that helps companies buy low-carbon vehicles and fuel-saving devices. This investment is part of Ontario's Climate Change Action Plan and is funded by proceeds from the province's cap on pollution and carbon market.

The Green Commercial Vehicle Program will provide rebates towards the purchase of alternative-fuel vehicles and fuel-saving devices, making it more affordable for businesses to own and operate greener vehicles. Eligible vehicles and devices include electric and natural gas-powered trucks, aerodynamic and anti-idling devices, and electric refrigeration units. Applications for the program will start in early 2018.

Making it easier for businesses to reduce their carbon footprint is part of Ontario's plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change. The plan includes a higher minimum wage and better working conditions, free tuition for hundreds of thousands of students, easier access to affordable child care, and free prescription drugs for everyone under 25 through the biggest expansion of medicare in a generation.

SoCal Gas & Utilities Selected to Lead Solicitation Process for Dairy RNG Projects for SB 1383 Implementation

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today issued details of its plan to implement Senate Bill 1383, the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants bill, which aims to reduce emissions of potent greenhouse gasses. The bill requires state agencies to adopt policies and incentives to significantly increase the sustainable production and use of renewable gas. CPUC worked with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and the Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to outline a solicitation process and a timeline for selecting at least five dairy biomethane projects which will be connected to the gas pipeline system. SoCalGas was selected to lead the solicitation process in coordination with the other utilities. The project selection committee will be made up of the CPUC, CARB and CDFA. 

SB 1383 is considered the most aggressive law to tackle short-lived climate pollutants in the nation. SoCalGas issued the following statement in response:

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Cummins Westport 2018 Natural Gas Engines Certified by US EPA and CARB

By NGV Global News.

Cummins Westport Inc. has received certifications from both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) for its 2018 L9N and B6.7N natural gas engines. Both engines meet CARB optional Low NOx standards as well as 2017 EPA greenhouse gas emission (GHG) requirements, making them some of the cleanest engines available today for truck and bus customers.

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Sen. Ted Cruz & Representatives of refining states reportedly asking for price cap in the RFS

By Cole Boteler, Waste Dive. 

Senators have yet to reach an agreement on the long-term fate of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), as reported by Politico's Morning Energy. Sen. Ted Cruz told Politico that he had a hold on nominee Bill Northey for an undersecretary position in the United States Department of Agriculture over the issue, but sees "real progress" in coming to a solution that helps biofuel producers and oil refiners. 

Cruz is reportedly planning to propose a cap on the price of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), a move that may conflict with the law's intent. A spokesperson for Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley told Politico the senator's priority was "the integrity of the RFS." Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst's office told Politico the same — their top priority is upholding the "spirit and the letter of the RFS."

Cruz's office has not offered a timeline for when his proposal could be introduced. His office did not respond to a request for comment.

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