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Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Ameresco’s Senior Project Developer Jim Bier Inducted into Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) Hall of Flame
Jim Bier recognized as a mainstay of the industry, providing quality LFG development of beneficial-use projects, and leading advancement of the industry
Jim Bier recognized as a mainstay of the industry, providing quality LFG development of beneficial-use projects, and leading advancement of the industry
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC), a leading energy efficiency and renewable energycompany, today announced that at the 41st annual LFG Symposium in Denver this month, Ameresco’s Senior Project Developer Jim Bier was inducted into SWANA’s Hall of Flame. Mr. Bier was recognized and introduced by this year’s Distinguished Individual Achievement Award winner and former colleague, Tom Bilgri, Manager of LFG Engineering Services for Cornerstone Environmental Group, a Tetra Tech Company.
Since its inception in 1977, the SWANA (Solid Waste Association of North America) Landfill Gas Division’s Hall of Flame has inducted only 70 people, which have included many pioneers of the landfill gas (LFG) industry. Since the 1970s, SWANA has grown from a fledging organization into the world’s most prestigious solid waste industry association with over 10,000 members.
Culver City transportation gets greener thanks to garbage turned into RNG
What do dairy farms, landfills, and giant heaps of decaying food have in common? Culver City’s big green buses, which are getting even greener and running cleaner thanks to all that dirty waste.
In the coming months the city will begin using renewable natural gas, or RNG, to fuel its already low-emission natural gas fleet including its buses, trash trucks, and utility vehicles.
By Hub-LA.
By Hub-LA.
What do dairy farms, landfills, and giant heaps of decaying food have in common? Culver City’s big green buses, which are getting even greener and running cleaner thanks to all that dirty waste.
In the coming months the city will begin using renewable natural gas, or RNG, to fuel its already low-emission natural gas fleet including its buses, trash trucks, and utility vehicles.
Transportation director Art Ida announced the decision to incorporate RNG last year and the transition will be complete by summer. The fleet has run solely on compressed natural gas since 2004, but he acknowledged that the fuel still has sustainability problems.
“One of the comments about … getting [compressed natural gas],” he said. “Is fracking and going down and digging.”
Traditionally, natural gas has been harvested from underground geologic formations often trapped in layers of rock through a process called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. It involves injecting water, chemicals, and other material at extremely high pressure into the deposit to fracture the rock and release the gas.
Congress Passes Omnibus Spending Bill, Ignores Proposed Cuts to Clean Energy Research
The omnibus spending bill contains funding increases for clean energy research.
By Umair Irfan, Vox.
The $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill that passed Friday morning and averted a government shutdown increases spending on clean energy and keeps the Environmental Protection Agency funded at current levels.
That’s despite the White House suggestion that Congress cut EPA’s budget by one-thirdand make drastic reductions in clean energy research.
10-day comment period on PES settlement agreement closes March 26
The public comment period opened March 16 after publication in the Federal Register on the proposed consent decree and environmental settlement agreement lodged by the U.S. Department of Justice with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in the PES Holdings bankruptcy case.
By Ron Kotrba, Biomass Magazine.
By Ron Kotrba, Biomass Magazine.
The public comment period opened March 16 after publication in the Federal Register on the proposed consent decree and environmental settlement agreement lodged by the U.S. Department of Justice with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware in the PES Holdings bankruptcy case.
According to the Federal Register publication, the U.S. filed this settlement agreement with PES Holdings LLC on behalf of the U.S. EPA to resolve a dispute about the obligations and liabilities of the bankrupt oil refiner and related parties under the Renewable Fuel Standard program, which requires refiners to blend renewable fuels into gasoline or diesel fuel or obtain renewable identification numbers (RINs) to meet renewable volume obligations (RVOs).
Scientists Say California Can Aim Higher On Clean Fuels
OAKLAND, Calif. (March 21, 2018)—California can reduce carbon emissions by more than 70 million metric tons by 2030, akin to taking 15 million gasoline-powered cars off the road in one year, by adopting a higher target for its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), according to “California's Clean Fuel Future: Assessing Achievable Fuel Carbon Intensity Reductions Through 2030,” an analysis released today by the UK-based research firm Cerulogy.
The standard, adopted in 2009 by the California Air Resources Board requires petroleum refineries and fuel importers to reduce the carbon intensity of the fuels they sell in California. Carbon intensity is a measure of the global warming emissions per unit of fuel over the fuel’s life cycle. The LCFS currently requires a gradual reduction in carbon intensity of 10 percent by 2020 relative to 2010. Refineries and fuel importers can reduce carbon intensity by either selling fuels that have lower carbon intensity or by purchasing credits generated by sellers of lower-carbon fuels, like electricity, renewable natural gas, ethanol, biodiesel or renewable diesel.
Massive spending deal clinched despite Trump’s misgivings
Lawmakers will have to move quickly to avoid a shutdown on Friday night.
Congressional leaders on Wednesday night formally unveiled a mammoth spending bill that would deliver the largest funding boost to federal agencies in years — but with a tight 48-hour margin to pass it.
By HEATHER CAYGLE, BURGESS EVERETT, RACHAEL BADE and SARAH FERRIS, Politico.
Biofuel benefits at stake as GOP questions extenders
Biofuel producers find themselves in a discomforting, but all-too-familiar, situation again this year. Valuable tax incentives have been allowed to expire once again, and Republican tax writers are openly questioning whether those and other lapsed tax breaks should be allowed to die.
By Vern Buchanan, AgriPulse.
Perdue: Trump administration backing off efforts to make major changes to renewable fuel standard program
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue signaled on Tuesday that the Trump administration was backing off efforts to make major changes to the nation’s biofuels program and may leave it to lawmakers to settle the divisive issue instead.
By Jarret Renshaw, Reuters.
By Jarret Renshaw, Reuters.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue signaled on Tuesday that the Trump administration was backing off efforts to make major changes to the nation’s biofuels program and may leave it to lawmakers to settle the divisive issue instead.
The White House spent the last few weeks trying to negotiate a heated dispute between the corn and oil industries, key constituencies for President Donald Trump, over the future of the Renewable Fuel Program - a regulation that requires refiners to blend increasing volumes of biofuels like ethanol into the nation’s fuel.
Global Green to Expand Outreach & Food Waste to Biogas Infrastructure Program to Two Southern California Cities
(LOS ANGELES, March 20, 2018) Non-profit, Global Green today announced it will select two Southern California cities as partners to participate in a new food waste recycling program, using an Eco-Ambassador resident outreach model. The two cities will be chosen based on existing access to food-waste-to-biogas production, or an interest in investing in biogas production infrastructure, as well as their focus on underserved communities. Global Green resource recovery experts have nearly a decade of expertise in waste and biogas.
This free assistance is being provided under an Environmental Champions grant from Southern California Gas Co.. (SoCalGas). The estimated dollar value of this technical assistance is approximately $7,500 per city, and will be offered at no expense to the two cities selected for the program. No matching funds are required.
(LOS ANGELES, March 20, 2018) Non-profit, Global Green today announced it will select two Southern California cities as partners to participate in a new food waste recycling program, using an Eco-Ambassador resident outreach model. The two cities will be chosen based on existing access to food-waste-to-biogas production, or an interest in investing in biogas production infrastructure, as well as their focus on underserved communities. Global Green resource recovery experts have nearly a decade of expertise in waste and biogas.
This free assistance is being provided under an Environmental Champions grant from Southern California Gas Co.. (SoCalGas). The estimated dollar value of this technical assistance is approximately $7,500 per city, and will be offered at no expense to the two cities selected for the program. No matching funds are required.
“SoCalGas is proud to support Global Green in this effort to help California meet its air pollution and climate goals by taking methane from organic waste and using it to make renewable natural gas,” said Trisha Muse, community relations director at SoCalGas. “More than 80 percent of California’s methane emissions come from agriculture, wastewater and landfills. When we divert organic waste from our landfills, we can convert it into renewable fuel that can be used to fuel trucks, generate electricity or heat our homes.”
Over a four-month implementation period, Global Green will guide each city in creating a sustainable resident outreach program that is specific to the city’s needs and objectives. The programs will address the interconnected issues of food waste and clean, renewable energy (i.e. biogas) in underserved communities. Global Green will train city staff to implement the program as a city-led program that continues beyond the four-month period of technical assistance, and will host a stakeholder workshop with city leaders focused on expanding the adoption of food-waste-to-biogas infrastructure.
Global Green will additionally assist in recruiting Eco-Ambassadors and implementing up to two training workshops. The group will also install and administer waste data and engagement tracking strategies, such as waste bin sensor technologies and participant surveys. The cities selected to receive this technical assistance will be activated with a base of motivated Eco-Ambassadors that expand the city’s capacity for outreach and impact, as well as waste data, to optimize waste operations and cut costs.
The Eco-Ambassador program addresses urban infrastructure planning, local clean energy opportunities, and the long-term success of state policy goals, including AB-1826. It also engages resident participation, amplifies outreach efforts and resources, and empowers communities through waste education and resource recovery. The objective of this program is to increase awareness about food waste prevention and recovery, as well as to increase the adoption and implementation of food scrap collection programs.
Cities within SoCalGas’ service territory with access to food scrap collection services through their waste hauler(s) are eligible to apply for this opportunity. To be considered or for more information, please contact Madisen Gittlin at: mgittlin@globalgreen.org by May 1st, 2018.
About Global Green
Global Green is a national leader in advancing sustainable and resilient communities to green cities, schools, and affordable housing to help protect human health, improve livability, and support our planet’s natural systems in an effort to stem climate change. Global Green is dedicated to helping the people, places, and the planet in need through catalytic projects, transformative policy, and cutting-edge research. For more information, visit globalgreen.org.
For more information, please contact:
Madisen Gittlin
tel: 310.581.2700 ext. (119)
GLOBAL GREEN
Waste from Cows is Helping us Make Cleaner Energy
Extracting methane from biogas creates fuel without fracking.
By Marlene Cimons, Popular Science.
During the summer of 2016, chemical engineer David Simakov took a leisurely drive through the farmlands of southern Ontario. During his trip, he stopped at a farm that was producing biogas from manure, then burning it to create electricity. Ever the scientist, Simakov began to wonder. Would it be possible to take that biogas one step further and refine it into natural gas?
Extracting methane from biogas creates fuel without fracking.
By Marlene Cimons, Popular Science.
During the summer of 2016, chemical engineer David Simakov took a leisurely drive through the farmlands of southern Ontario. During his trip, he stopped at a farm that was producing biogas from manure, then burning it to create electricity. Ever the scientist, Simakov began to wonder. Would it be possible to take that biogas one step further and refine it into natural gas?
Natural gas, though a significant contributor to climate change, is the cleanest-burning fossil fuel. Turning cow manure into natural gas would have three big advantages. First, it would turn animal waste, a major source of carbon pollution, into a useful fuel. Second, it would provide a new source of natural gas, which could be used to replace dirtier fuels like coal and oil. Third, it would reduce the need for fracking, the environmentally-destructive practice that extracts natural gas from the earth.
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