RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Meet EPA's New Second in Command: Henry Darwin
A former Arizona state official brought to EPA by Scott Pruitt to streamline agency operations got a promotion yesterday in the wake of the embattled administrator's departure.
Henry Darwin is taking on the duties of deputy administrator at EPA.
Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced Darwin's move up yesterday in his address to employees. Darwin joined EPA last summer as assistant deputy administrator and chief of operations.
An EPA spokesman told E&E News that while he is serving as acting administrator, Wheeler will be delegating his deputy administrator responsibilities to Darwin.
By E&E News.
EPA Survey Sheds Light on Total Food Waste Being Converted to Energy via Anaerobic Digestion
U.S. EPA survey of operators of anaerobic digestion facilities that accept food waste provides a national picture of total processing capacity, tons processed, and biogas produced.
In 2017, EPA surveyed U.S. operators of anaerobic digestion (AD) facilities that accept food waste to identify the number of facilities in the U.S. and their locations, and to learn about their operations. A report on the findings, Anaerobic Digestion Facilities Processing Food Waste in the United States in 2015, was released by the U.S. EPA Region 3 office in late May (2018). Melissa Pennington of U.S. EPA Region 3 conducted the survey and analyses of the results, and authored the report. This is the first of three annual data collections EPA will make through 2019, and covers data for calendar year 2015. Future reports will summarize data for 2016, 2017, and 2018. This article is based on excerpts from the full report.
By Nora Goldstein, BioCycle.
Food waste still a priority in latest Farm Bill
The Senate's latest Farm Bill draft — passed as the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018 on June 28 — still contains multiple relevant items on food waste, according to analysis by the Harvard Food Law & Policy Clinic.
This includes $25 million in annual funding for composting and food waste reduction pilots with municipal governments in at least 10 states — with a 25% matching requirement. A new amendment would also create an Interagency Biogas Task Force to study a broad range of barriers and opportunities in the sector, including landfills and anaerobic digesters.
By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive.
Why Natural Gas Hasn’t Dethroned Gasoline
By Irina Slav, OilPrice.com.
In some parts of the world, such as the Balkans, gasoline cars retrofitted with natural gas tanks are a common sight on roads. In others, such the United States, such vehicles are a rarity. This might sound strange given the abundance of cheap natural gas that the United States has been enjoying in recent years. There are companies working to make the cleaner fossil fuel an alternative to gasoline, yet the chances of natural gas to replace gasoline remain slim—at least for now. But why not?
First, why is natural gas being used as a vehicle fuel at all? It’s cheaper than gasoline, that’s for sure. It is also a lot better on the emissions front and it has comparable engine efficiency rates to gasoline cars. What’s even better, natural gas is a safer fuel: it is lighter than air and dissipates in case of an accident, unlike liquid gasoline. Gas car skeptics would say that the gas tank, normally placed in the back of the vehicle, is an explosion hazard, although the risk is not as great with modern, professionally fitted gas tanks.
Duke Energy is Betting on RNG to Curb Fossil Fuels
By Naureen Malik.
(Bloomberg) -- As green groups pressure the natural gas industry to clean up its act, an alternative to the fossil fuel is emerging in some unlikely places: pig farms and sewers.
Duke Energy Corp., one of the largest U.S. utilities, began generating power in March for its North Carolina customers using “renewable” natural gas created by capturing methane from the waste produced by 62,000 hogs. National Grid Plc, meanwhile, is set to open a plant that will process gas from wastewater to serve New York customers. Overall in 2018, 26 renewable natural gas plants will open in the U.S., bringing the total to 92.
Acting EPA chief 'puts a premium on transparency'
Washington (CNN) - The acting Environmental Protection Agency chief, Andrew Wheeler, is bringing to the job a "change in tone," the agency said, that could shed greater light on the decisions and actions of EPA leadership.
The EPA's former administrator, Scott Pruitt, broke with his predecessors' common practices of publishing a calendar online and announcing travel and speeches in advance.
By Gregory Wallace, CNN.
As UPS Expands, So Does its Commitment to Alternative Fueling like RNG
By Betsy Lillian, NGT News.
With a fleet of 119,000 ground vehicles, 2,500 operating facilities and 10.5 million customers served every day around the world, UPS is undergoing a transformation to boost its capacity even further. Most notably, the logistics giant is going big on sustainability while, at the same time, normalizing its use of alternative fuel technology.
As laid out in its newly released 2017 Corporate Sustainability Progress Report, the company’s environmental goals include as follows:
- Cutting absolute greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions 12% by 2025 in global ground operations;
- Generating 25% of its electricity from renewable energy resources by 2025;
- Growing alternative fuels (i.e., not conventional gasoline or diesel) to 40% of its total ground fuel by 2025; and
- Purchasing 25% alt-fuel/advanced technology vehicles annually by 2020.
Hennepin County, Minnesota Issues RFQ For Anaerobic Digestion Of Organic Materials
Hennepin County released a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) on June 19, seeking submissions from qualified, experienced, and financially capable entities to anaerobically digest a minimum of 25,000 tons/year of source separated organics to produce energy and beneficial soil or agricultural supplements. Submissions are due no later than 4:00 p.m. on Friday, September 7, 2018. Hennepin County is focused on diverting organic materials from the trash to meet its goals of recycling 75 percent of waste and sending zero waste to landfills. It is pursuing requirements for cities to make curbside organics recycling available to residents and requiring food waste recycling for certain businesses.
Via BioCycle.net.
Statement from RNG Coalition CEO Johannes Escudero Regarding Resignation of U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt
July 5, 2018 - Johannes Escudero, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas (RNG Coalition), issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s acceptance of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s resignation:
“Producers of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) in North America have supplied over 95% of the cellulosic biofuel used in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program, administered by the U.S. EPA.”
“The RNG Coalition looks forward to working constructively with Acting Administrator Wheeler to ensure that the Renewable Fuel Standard continues to benefit the American people, our economy and the environment by growing domestic production of biofuels like renewable natural gas and reducing dependence on foreign oil.”
How Andrew Wheeler, the New Acting E.P.A. Chief, Differs From Scott Pruitt
WASHINGTON — The departure of Scott Pruitt, the scandal-plagued former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, means that the agency will be led in the coming months by Mr. Pruitt’s deputy, Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who shares Mr. Pruitt’s zeal to undo environmental regulations.
But unlike Mr. Pruitt — who had come to Washington as an outsider and aspiring politician, only to get caught up in a swirl of controversy over his costly first-class travel and security spending — Mr. Wheeler is viewed as a consummate Washington insider who avoids the limelight and has spent years effectively navigating the rules.
By Coral Davenport, The New York Times.
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