RNG NEWS
AQMD Funds SoCalGas Ultra-Low Emission Water Heater Project
SoCalGas announced the utility was awarded $1.7 million in funding from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) for two projects to reduce emissions in residential and commercial buildings. The funding will support a commercial water heating incentive program that provides rebates to distributors selling ultra-low emission water heaters. The award will also be used to build a 1.5 kilowatt fuel cell in a new, mixed fuel, zero-net-energy home that will demonstrate how renewable energy and natural gas can work together to reduce emissions at the lowest cost for the homeowner. The money is part of a $61 million funding pool for projects that will reduce stationary and mobile source emissions in the Los Angeles Basin.
"We are continuously working to find innovative ways to reduce emissions and provide our customers with equipment that helps to keep their energy bills affordable," said Sharon Tomkins, vice president of customer solutions and strategy for SoCalGas. "Curbing California's emissions requires cooperation from all sectors - policymakers, businesses and consumers, and this AQMD program is a prime example of what can be achieved when we all work together."
By Cision PR Newswire
States Follow California's Lead in 100% Energy Target
It’s been less than four months since California committed to getting all of its electricity from climate-friendly sources by 2045. But the idea is already catching on in other states.
At least nine governors taking their oaths of office this month, from Nevada to Michigan to New York, campaigned on 100% clean energy, or have endorsed the target since it was enshrined in California law. The District of Columbia also set a 100% clean energy goal last month. So did Xcel Energy, a Minneapolis-based utility that serves 3.6 million electricity customers across eight Western and Midwestern states.
By Sammy Roth, LA Times
Hexagon completes acquirement of Agility Fuel Solutions
Hexagon Composites ASA completed its acquisition of Agility Fuel Solutions Holdings Inc. on Jan. 4.
In 2016, Hexagon’s and Agility Fuel Systems’ medium- and heavy-duty compressed natural gas automotive businesses merged to create Agility Fuel Solutions, resulting in Hexagon’s owning 50% of Agility. In November 2018, Hexagon signed an agreement to acquire the remaining 50% of the company in a deal that valued Agility’s equity at $250 million on a 100% basis. The companies said they would further promote the adoption of natural gas, biogas, hydrogen, propane and electrification.
By Betsy Lillian, NGT News
2019 General Assembly concerns for Transportation and Clean Energy Jobs Act
A number new lawmakers are serving the first year of their four-year terms.
Annapolis, Md (KM). A lot of issues will be coming before the 2019 Maryland General Assembly, which convened its 90-day session on Wednesday.
One of them is expected to be transportation. Frederick County Delegate Ken Kerr (D-3B) says that’s one issue he wants to tackle, especially when it concerns Route 15. “The three-mile stretch of Route 15 is a constant bottleneck, choke point in Frederick. We want to get that moved up on the Highway Priority list,” he says.
By Kevin McManus, WFMD
City of Portland declines food waste in order to keep D3 RIN eligibility.
Portlanders may be speaking a lot about Poop to Power this summer, when the city treatment plant expects to begin converting sewage into renewable natural gas.
But eggshells, chicken bones and rotting produce won't be part of the mix, now that Metro has scrapped talks with Waste Management Inc. to collect the region's food scraps and turn it into energy at the same city plant. In December, Metro ended nearly a year's negotiations with Waste Management — which was partnering with the city Bureau of Environmental Services — after failing to reach agreement on the price and volume of food scraps to be processed at the bureau's Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant in North Portland.
By Steve Law, Portland Tribune
NASEO RFA for Alternative Fuels and Emergency Planning Upcoming Deadline
NASEO, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities Program, has released a Request for Applications (RFA) for State Energy Offices who are interested in integrating alternative fuel vehicles into the state's emergency planning process. Applications are due on Monday, January 14, 2019.
This project will build on the Initiative for Resiliency in Energy through Vehicles (iREV), a nation-wide project designed to help jurisdictions assess the potential use of alternative fuel vehicles in emergencies. Under iREV, pilots were conducted in Tennessee and Lancaster County, PA, through partnerships with their State Energy Office, Clean Cities Coalition, and Emergency Management Agency. NASEO is now seeking applications from similar teams in one or more states. Successful applicants will work with NASEO to develop an 'iREV Policy and Planning Review (iREV PPR),' detailing how to best leverage alternative fuels and vehicles to enhance emergency planning.
By NASEO, Public Now
California Attorney General Leads Coalition Demanding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Withdraw Proposal Delaying Landfill Methane Regulations
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), leading a multistate coalition, filed comments demanding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdraw its proposed rule delaying by four years implementation of a critical regulation that would reduce emissions from landfills. Landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions – a pollutant with a global warming potential that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe.
The regulation, once implemented, would prevent 7.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year, which translates to 1.5 million passenger vehicles driven, or 850,000 homes’ electricity use, for one year. In addition to harmful methane, landfills emit volatile organic compounds, hazardous air pollutants, and other greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide. Not only do these pollutants contribute to climate change, but they can cause cancer, asthma, and other respiratory diseases, especially among children and older adults.
By State of California Department of Justice, Sierra Sun Times
President Trump Formally Nominates Andrew Wheeler as EPA Administrator
President Trump has formally nominated Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist who has led the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an acting capacity for six months, to serve as EPA administrator.
The White House said Wednesday that Trump had sent Wheeler’s nomination to the Senate, making good on a promise he made in November.
“I am honored and grateful that President Trump has nominated me to lead the Environmental Protection Agency,” Wheeler said in a statement.
By Timothy Cama, The Hill
Gov. Jay Inslee signed No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge prior to Climate-Centered 2020 Bid
Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed a pledge Tuesday promising to reject donations from the fossil fuel industry ahead of a likely run for the White House that he’s vowed to uniquely center on climate change.
In an interview with HuffPost, Inslee, 67, said he added his name to the list of more than 1,300 politicians across the United States who took the No Fossil Fuel Money Pledge.
The vow, administered by a coalition of 16 left-leaning environmental groups, commits candidates to “adopt a policy to not knowingly accept any contributions over $200 from the PACs, executives, or front groups of fossil fuel companies — companies whose primary business is the extraction, processing, distribution, or sale of oil, gas, or coal.”
By Alexander C. Kaufman, Huffington Post
US EIA Proposes changes to Advanced Biofuel Reporting
The U.S. Energy Information Administration is seeking public comments on several changes it intends to make within its Petroleum Supply Reporting System, including those related to data collection on biofuels.
On Dec. 27, the EIA published a notice in the Federal Register requesting a three-year extension for the PSRS and outlining several changes it intends to make. The agency explains that the PSRS consists of six weekly surveys that make up the Weekly Petroleum Supply Reporting System, eight monthly surveys and one annual survey.
By Erin Voegele, Biomass Magazine