RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.Provincial Rule Changes Could Boost Biodigesters
It may become easier to install and use on-farm biodigesters due to recent regulatory changes implemented by the Ontario government. The annual volume allowance has quadrupled and limitations on types of materials from off-farm sources have been eased. Limits are also being eased for on-farm source materials.
‘There’s No Net Zero Without Biogas’
“There’s no net zero without biogas” has been a motto for the anaerobic digestion (AD) and biogas industry for some time now – both in the UK and globally.
First used at the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA)’s National Conference in 2019, it captures the significant role that AD can play in helping the UK achieve its ambition to reach net zero emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 – a role demonstrated in ADBA’s 2019 report Biomethane: the Pathway to 2030.
Dairy Farmers Have Incredible Sustainability Story, and Consumers Need to Hear It
AHoard’s Dairyman webinar welcomed multiple guests for a panel on dairy and sustainability to show just what dairy farmers have been doing across the globe in the name of environmental conservation and sustainable food supply. They said sustainability includes a lot more than just the environment, though – it’s also about building a sustainable business model for alternative conservation practices.
Guests included Robin White, professor of animal and poultry sciences at Virginia Tech; Marilyn Hershey, dairy farmer and board chair at Dairy Management Inc; Jamie Vander Molen, vice president of sustainability issues and outreach at manure management company Newtrient; and Chris Wolf, agriculture economist at Cornell University.
"Dairy has such an incredible story when we’re talking about sustainability," White said. "The environmental aspects of dairy sustainability go well beyond just carbon. They include things like our interaction with water, soil, land, biodiversity, ecosystem services. Incorporating all of those elements of environmentalism into our definitions and quantifications of sustainability is really the direction we’re headed."
EIA: United States Produced Lowest CO2 Emissions Since 1983
According to the latest Monthly Energy Review from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), in 2020, the United States produced the least CO2 emissions from energy in nearly 40 years.
In 2020, the nation produced 4.6 billion metric tons (Bmt) of CO2, representing an 11 percent decrease from 2019 levels — the largest recorded annual plunge. As the country continues to open back up, the EIA expects this to turn around this year, with CO2 emissions expected to grow by 0.3 Bmt in 2021.
Cresta, LF Partner to Own, Operate RNG Production Facilities
Cresta Fund Management and LF BiOenergy, an experienced team with renewable natural gas (RNG) experience and extensive agriculture industry relationships, have aligned to develop, own and operate RNG production facilities serving industry sectors requiring organic waste management.
LF’s RNG facilities will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help U.S. farmers and industrial and food processing companies mitigate their organic waste management challenges, and achieve their carbon emission reduction objectives. RNG facilities have a particularly valuable greenhouse gas mitigation role, as they capture and re-direct methane emissions, which are 25-30x more damaging than carbon dioxide emissions.
Shell to Buy Inspire Energy Capital, Expanding Renewable Power Business in the United States
Shell New Energies US LLC (Shell), a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, has signed an agreement to buy 100% of the equity interests of Inspire Energy Capital LLC (Inspire), a renewable energy residential retailer with joint headquarters in Santa Monica, CA and Philadelphia, PA.
This acquisition advances Shell's Powering Progress strategy to build and scale renewable and low-carbon businesses with a target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society.
CHAR Announces California Green Hydrogen Project With Hitachi Zosen Inova
CHAR Technologies Ltd. (“CHAR”) announces a test project with Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI) to develop a high temperature pyrolysis to green hydrogen system at their existing San Luis Obispo (SLO) anaerobic digestion facility in California. Under the definitive agreement with HZI’s SLO operating company, CHAR’s high temperature pyrolysis system will process 18,000 tonnes per year of solid anaerobic digestate into 1,320 tonnes of green hydrogen per year, and 2,800 tonnes per year of biocarbon. The project will be delivered under a BOOT (build-own-operate-transfer) model, where CHAR will be the initial project owner, with HZI managing system operations. While CHAR owns the assets, CHAR will receive revenues directly for the project outputs (green hydrogen and biocarbon). Upon executing the transfer, at their option, HZI’s subsidiary will purchase the project for a one-time payment. Ongoing project output revenues will be dispersed based on a predefined agreement.
The Northeast’s Largest Renewable Natural Gas Digester Begins Operations in Salisbury
The largest anaerobic digester in the Northeast began full-scale production of renewable natural gas on July 21st on the Goodrich Family Farm in Salisbury, just south of Middlebury, Vermont.
The digester is an important step in reducing the state’s dependence on fossil fuels and in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural industry, which currently produces more than 10% of the state’s emissions, according to Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts.
City of Toronto Creating Renewable Natural Gas from Green Bin Waste
The City of Toronto’s Solid Waste Management Services Division, working with Enbridge Gas Inc., has installed infrastructure at the Dufferin Solid Waste Management Facility that will allow it to create renewable natural gas (RNG) from Green Bin organics. The new equipment will enable the City to take the raw biogas produced from processing Green Bin organics, turn it into RNG and inject it into the natural gas (NG) grid for City use.
The City has also identified potential biogas/landfill gas upgrading opportunities at several other City waste facilities including the Disco Road Solid Waste Management Facility, Green Lane Landfill, and Keele Valley Landfill. All four sites combined would have the potential to produce enough gas to fulfill the City’s entire natural gas needs annually (excluding City Agency, Boards and Commissions). The next facility to receive RNG infrastructure will be the Disco Road Solid Waste Management Facility, with plans to have this site up and running by the end of 2023.
OPAL Fuels LLC Announces Investment in Indiana RNG Facility with One of the Lowest Carbon Intensity Scores in the Industry
OPAL Fuels LLC, the market leader in developing and marketing renewable natural gas (RNG) fuel, today announced an investment in Bio Town Biogas, one of the most environmentally-friendly RNG production facilities in the country. The centerpiece of the project will be a large-scale dairy digester that will produce about 1,000 MMBTUs of fuel per day. Critically, this fuel will be cheaper than diesel and have one of the lowest carbon intensity scores in the industry.
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