Arizona regulators move to place gas infrastructure moratorium on utilities

By Robert Walton, Utility Dive. 

Arizona regulators have refused to acknowledge the 15-year Integrated Resource Plans (IRP) filed by the state's investor-owned utilities, pushing them instead to consider more renewable energy and less natural gas-fired power.

The Arizona Corporation Commission also moved to place a moratorium on new gas plants 150 MW or larger through the end of this year, requiring utilities to consider energy storage and clean energy options first.

The IRP denials come as Arizona utility regulator Andy Tobin pushes a proposal for utilities to source 80% of their electricity from renewables and nuclear by 2050 and deploy 3,000 MW of energy storage by 2030.

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Anaerobic digester project being planned near Yuma, Colorado

An anaerobic digester plant that would covert animal waste into a usable energy source, among other things, is being planned for south of Yuma.

The planned location is on County Road 34, approximately one mile east of Highway 59.

Sheldon Kye Energy and Harvest Operating LLC are teaming up to develop the digester. Both companies are headquartered in the metro Denver area. Brian Johnson is heading up the project for Sheldon Kye Energy, and Alan Nackerud is the Harvest Operating representative.

By the Yuma Pioneer. 

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University of New Hampshire & Waste Management Team Up to Pump Landfill Gas for Energy

The partnership between Waste Management and UNH enables UNH to heat and power 75 to 85 percent of the campus and make money selling surplus energy to the grid.

By Arlene Karidis, Waste 360.

The University of New Hampshire (UNH) has powered its Durham campus on renewable energy for years. And when it was looking to expand in the space, it just so happened to be at a time when Waste Management was trying to figure out how to manage excess gas produced at its Rochester, N.H., landfill.

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Trillium CNG wins innovation award for natural-gas fueling program

The Public-Private Partnership (P3) Compressed Natural Gas Fueling program recently was awarded Project of the Year by the Beaver County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Society of Professional Engineers. The fueling station is located at the Beaver County Transit Authority.

By Melina Druga, Transportation Today.

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Closed-Loop Waste Management & RNG Fuel System Opens in Surrey

March 9, 2018 - Surrey’s Biofuel Facility officially opened today in the Port Kells industrial area. The $68 million facility is the first fully integrated closed-loop organic waste management system in North America. The facility will convert curbside organic waste into renewable biofuel to fuel the City’s fleet of natural gas powered waste collection and service vehicles. Under this closed loop system, waste collection trucks will literally be collecting their fuel source at curbside. Excess fuel will go to the new district energy system that heats and cools Surrey’s City Centre.

“Surrey has established a new sustainability benchmark in Canada with a state of the art facility that converts organic waste into renewable energy,” said Mayor Linda Hepner. “The Biofuel Facility will be instrumental in reducing community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by approximately 49,000 tonnes per year, which is the equivalent of taking over 10,000 cars off the road annually. This reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will also completely eliminate the City of Surrey’s corporate carbon footprint of 17,000 tonnes per year.”

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National Grid: Low carbon gas and Carbon Capture clarity needed to support clean growth

By Michael Holder, Business Green.

Gas will "play a crucial role for many decades to come" in the UK's energy mix and can help to decarbonise heating, transport and industry, but clear policy direction is needed if the sector is to remain compatible with the government's clean growth goals.

That is the conclusion of a major new report from grid operator National Grid, which sets out its vision for the role of gas in the energy market as the UK works towards meeting its decarbonisation targets.

Published on Friday, the Future of Gas report emphasises the urgent need for "national policy clarity" and a clear strategy for decarbonising the UK's gas infrastructure.

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Commission for Environmental Cooperation Report advises that North America needs an organics policy

By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive. 

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has released a new report that estimates more than 256 million metrics tons of organic waste is generated in North America each year. Approximately 75 million metrics tons are processed via composting or anaerobic digestion.

Per this research, the U.S. and Canada divert 32% of organics, while Mexico diverts 7%. The CEC estimates diverting 50% of organic material in the U.S. alone could generate $7 billion in revenue and create more than 160,000 jobs.

Proposed solutions include better reporting and standardization, the creation of a North American organics database, raising disposal tip fees, expanding markets for finished compost and other products, increasing engagement of non-residential sectors, improving public education and finding more opportunities for cross-border collaboration.

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Bankrupt Philadelphia refiner settles biofuel obligation with EPA: court filing

By Jarrett Renshaw.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency granted a bankrupt Philadelphia oil refining company a reprieve from complying with the nation’s renewable fuel laws, according to a settlement agreement filed on Monday. 

The refiner, Carlyle Group-backed Philadelphia Energy Solutions (PES), filed for bankruptcy protection in January and asked a judge to waive some $350 million in compliance costs under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, or RFS. 

The EPA and PES agreed on Monday that the refiner would only have to satisfy about half those costs, but would face more scrutiny moving forward, court documents showed.

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Welch & Udall Propose Changes to RVO Process & Eventual RFS Phaseout in New Bill

By Erin Voegele, Biomass Magazine.

On March 8, Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., introduced companion bills that aim to dismantle the Renewable Fuel Standard and sunset blending obligations for conventional, advanced, cellulosic, and biomass-based diesel fuels.

The acts, titled the “Growing Renewable Energy through Existing and New Environmentally Responsible Fuels Act,” or more simply, the “GREENER Fuels Act,” would phase out the corn ethanol mandate, cap ethanol blending at 9.7 percent, create a fee of 10 cents per renewable identification number (RIN) to support an environmental initiative, and alter the cellulosic mandate. The National Corn Growers Association and several other groups are speaking out against the bill, with the NCGA noting “this legislation seeks to kill our most successful American renewable energy program.”

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City of Portland and NW Natural Commemorate Opening of Natural Gas Fueling Station Linked to Upcoming RNG Project at City Wastewater Treatment Plant

Commissioner Nick Fish announces first milestone in “Poop to Power” project - opening of natural gas fueling station at wastewater treatment plant

By City of Portland, Oregon Bureau of Environmental Services.

(March 8, 2018) - Commissioner Nick Fish and the Bureau of Environmental Services today announced the opening of a natural gas fueling station at the City’s wastewater treatment plant.  The station will offer a clean-air alternative to diesel for City vehicles operating at the plant in industrial North Portland.

The natural gas fueling station is the first milestone in Environmental Services’ Renewable Natural Gas initiative, also known as the “Poop to Power” project. The station will provide fuel for the first natural gas vehicles in the City’s fleet. Initially, vehicles will fill up on natural gas from conventional sources, but once the full project is complete in 2019, the station will operate on renewable natural gas (RNG) produced as a byproduct of wastewater treatment. 

“Our future is green, and I’m very proud that we’re bringing the first natural gas vehicles to the City’s fleet,” said Commissioner Nick Fish. “When the “Poop to Power” project is finished, Portland will have a local, clean fuel produced from recaptured waste – not fossil fuels.” 

Under the “Poop to Power” project that City Council approved in April, Environmental Services will recover nearly 100 percent of the waste methane from sewage treatment and convert it into market-grade renewable natural gas (RNG) for sale to displace diesel in truck usage. The RNG will be sold as truck fuel via NW Natural’s pipeline as well as at the fueling station, which also is being built and operated in partnership with NW Natural. 

Trucks running on natural gas cut smog-producing pollutants by up to 90 percent and climate change emissions by up to 30 percent, according to the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. RNG’s climate benefits are even greater, offering up to a 90 percent cut in climate pollution.  

The term “renewable” refers to natural gas produced from organic matter as opposed to fossil fuels.

“As a renewable source of natural gas, the city’s sewage will offer a steady and sustainable supply of clean fuel well into the future,” said Michael Jordan, Environmental Services’ director. “The filling station also solves a business problem – the City as well as other businesses can only invest in natural gas vehicles if they have a place to fill up. We’ve created that place.”

Environmental Services is starting with six natural gas vehicles that it acquired or converted. That number will ramp up to 13 by year’s end, and the usage will continue to grow as the City converts and acquires additional vehicles to run all or in part on the cleaner fuel. 

Adding another Oregon element, the vehicles are being converted by students at Linn-Benton Community College’s Lebanon campus.

The station’s natural gas also will be available for sale to treatment plant contractors transporting biosolids and grit for recycling or disposal, potentially displacing the diesel from those trucks as well.

The addition of the first natural gas vehicles to the City fleet aligns with the City of Portland’s climate action goals and strategy to move increasingly to more sustainable transportation options, including electric vehicles, bicycles and transit.  Currently, there are few electric truck options on the market.

The City’s fueling station joins a handful of others in the Portland metropolitan area that serve fleets such as Waste Management refuse trucks and Port of Portland airport shuttles. 

The Bureau of Environmental Services works with Portland residents and businesses to protect water quality, public health, and the environment through wastewater collection and treatment, sewer construction and maintenance, stormwater management, and stream and watershed restoration. www.portlandoregon.gov/bes @besportland

The City of Portland’s Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant, 5001 N Columbia Blvd, is the largest in the state, serving about 600,000 residents and businesses. The RNG Initiative is the latest step Environmental Services is taking at the treatment plant to recover and reuse as many resources as possible. About 77 percent of the plant’s waste methane has been reclaimed to heat and power the treatment plant and for sale to a local roofing company. This project will move the plant to almost 100 percent methane recovery and tap into the emerging local and national market for renewable fuels. In addition, the plant recovers biosolids for use as an agricultural supplement on eastern Oregon wheat fields.

Media Contact: Diane Dulken (503)457-7636