RNG NEWS
Con Edison issues natural gas moratorium in Westchester, spurs fears of development halt
Local and state officials fear Westchester's recent development renaissance will come to a screeching halt because Con Edison said it can't take on new natural gas customers.
Con Edison issued a statement Friday saying the demand for gas is "reaching the limits of the current supplies to our service area."
"As a result, and to maintain reliable service to our existing natural gas customers on the coldest days, we will no longer be accepting applications for natural gas connections from new customers in most of our Westchester County service area beginning March 15, 2019," Con Edison said in its statement.
By Christopher J. Eberhart, Lohud,
Longmont Breaks Ground on RNG Water Treatment Plant
Construction has begun on a Longmont biogas treatment and renewable natural gas fueling station, city officials and the project's contractor announced Tuesday.
Once completed, the facility will convert gas from Longmont's sewage treatment process into fuel for city trash trucks.
Fort Collins-based CGRS Inc.'s CNG Construction Services department is building the project, which consists of two sites.
By John Fryar, Times Call
RNG Coalition's Marcus Gillette & Verbio N.A. discuss growth of RNG production
A transformation is underway in Iowa. Last year, Verbio North America Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of German bioenergy producer Verbio Vereinigte BioEnergie AG, purchased DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol LLC in Nevada, Iowa. The company has plans to produce renewable natural gas (RNG) at the site, but first will need to make some changes to the facility. “We will utilize the land, infrastructure, electric substation, control room and some other equipment and structures, but this represents only a small portion of the overall facility,” says Rand Dueweke, chief financial officer of Verbio North America. “To produce RNG, we need to complete a substantial new construction project—building multiple anaerobic digestion tanks and installing biogas upgrading equipment.” Dueweke adds that the company hopes to begin production at the plant in the spring of 2020.
By Matt Thompson, Ethanol Producer Magazine
California LCFS upheld in Appeals Court
A three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously dismissed the legal challenge from the American Fuels and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) and other groups, saying they had no legal ground on which to wage their fight. Previous court decisions and changes California has made to the program rendered the appeal moot, the judges said.
"To the extent plaintiffs raise new arguments on this appeal, we conclude that they are without merit," the judges said in their ruling.
By, Argus Media
Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources is Calling State Legislature to Amend Law on Organic Collections
Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) is asking the state legislature to amend a law requiring that service providers offer organics collection to every resident by 2020. Instead, ANR proposes raising the threshold to multi-family buildings with four or more units and maintaining a blanket commercial requirement.
This requirement was previously set to take effect in July 2018 but was pushed back to July 2020 last year. Based on a survey, ANR found the majority of service providers prefer this change due to collection inefficiencies inherent in the state's rural nature.
By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive
SEA-TAC Becoming First US Airport with 100% RNG Heating
The Port announced a Request for Proposals last week, calling for renewable natural gas service to supply Sea-Tac Airport’s boilers and bus fueling system, which is responsible for more than 80% of the Port-owned emissions, replacing all of the current fossil natural gas.
Renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as biomethane, is a natural gas produced by the decomposition of organic matter, typically produced by landfills, wastewater treatment plants, and food and animal waste digesters.
By Airport World
New Mexico's Governor Lujan Grisham to use RPS as Clean Opportunity Guide
For New Mexico, a state laden with clean energy opportunity but hungry for clean energy vision, such tall heights yielded a long hoped-for sight: a leader reporting clean energy potential as far as the eye could see.
And though her feet are back on the ground, now-Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s eyes have stayed fixed to that horizon, using her inaugural address to double down on realizing the state’s clean energy potential by forcefully calling for policies that look up, look out, and establish a forward course.
By Julie Mcnamara, Union of Concerned Scientists
Challenges Facing Lobbyists in California's Blue Wave
As the new class of California legislators filled the hallways of the state Capitol on a chilly week in early December, it quickly became clear that political “business as usual” had come to an end.
The Republican platform received a stinging rebuke from the California electorate in November, with Democrats capturing three-quarters of the seats in the state Assembly and a supermajority in the state Senate (29-11).
By Alison Macleod & Patrick George, Capitol Weekly
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler on RFS during Confirmation Hearing
Though the EPA still is on track to complete an E15 rule in time for the start of the summer driving season on June 1, EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said on Wednesday that could change if the partial government shutdown lingers.
During Wheeler's confirmation hearing to be the permanent administrator before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, he outlined for the committee what emergency functions the agency continues to perform during the partial shutdown.
By Todd Neeley, The Progressive Farmer
Governor Inslee's State of the State Address Prioritizes Combating Climate Change
Standing before a Washington Legislature that for years has balked at his carbon-reduction agenda, Gov. Jay Inslee implored lawmakers Tuesday to make bold moves to combat climate change.
The governor’s State of the State address before a joint session of the House and Senate comes as Democrats return to the Capitol with expanded majorities — and hopes of taking on bigger pieces of legislation.
By Jim Brunner, Seattle Times