RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.First Landfill Renewable Natural Gas Production Plant Opens in Minnesota
OPAL Fuels and NextEra Energy Marketing, LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, announced the commencement of commercial operations at the first landfill renewable natural gas production facility in Minnesota. The Pine Bend RNG Project is located at a landfill owned by Republic Services, Inc. and interconnected with a pipeline owned by Xcel Energy, the leading electric and gas utility in the region.
At full capacity, the facility is expected to process an estimated 3,350 SCFM of landfill gas resulting in the production of 6.3 million gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) per year of biomethane.
DTE Vantage Turns Farm Waste into Renewable Natural Gas in South Dakota
Methane from dairy cow manure will become sustainable renewable natural gas at a new Beresford, South Dakota facility that recently began operations. DTE Vantage announced that its partnership with two local farms will make a sizable, positive environmental impact, producing enough RNG to serve the equivalent of 4,325 homes.
“We’re honored to work with these two great farms and an impactful team of partner companies to develop invaluable renewable energy,” said Kevin Dobson, vice president of biomass, DTE Vantage. “We’re taking bold steps to significantly increase our investments in renewable energy over the next 10 years and this project is a great example of that effort.”
Falls Approves Waste Management’s Renewable Gas Project
A renewable natural gas facility could be operational in Falls Township by 2024, significantly reducing greenhouse gasses and expanding the availability of local jobs.
After a thorough review and questions, the Falls Township board of supervisors recently granted preliminary and final land development approval for Waste Management to construct two 20,000-square-foot renewable natural gas plants on a portion of the company’s 47-acre Fairless Landfill complex in Falls. The site houses the Fairless, GROWS and GROWS North landfills. The renewable natural gas facility would replace ultra-low emission flares used as the primary control for the landfill gas generated from the facilities.
CNX and New Frontier Announce Strategic Partnership to Leverage Abated Methane Emissions to Transform International Travel
CNX Resources Corporation (NYSE: CNX) and New Frontier Aerospace, Inc. (NFA) today announced the companies have entered into an agreement, facilitated by Anew Climate, LLC (Anew Climate), to utilize abated methane emissions to fuel net carbon neutral ground and flight tests of NFA's hypersonic vertical takeoff and landing aircraft.
NFA is developing next generation aircraft that can deliver passengers and cargo anywhere on the planet ten times faster than today's jets, while CNX is a leader in capturing and processing methane that would have otherwise vented into the atmosphere, resulting in ultra-low carbon intensity natural gas. The two companies are working towards a path to next generation air travel that is carbon neutral well before the airline industry's 2050 target date. This vision endeavors to bring the world closer together with cargo and passenger flights to any destination on Earth in less than two hours while significantly improving the environmental impact of today's airliners.
Meeting Trade-Offs for a Net-Zero America
The United States’ delegation is attending the United Nations climate summit COP27 in Egypt with something it has often been missing: a credible foundation for decarbonizing its economy by the middle of this century. Meeting this goal requires clear-eyed responses to unavoidable trade-offs.
The challenge is steep. The U.S. and other countries must scale clean electricity production and transmission, electrify large swaths of the economy that currently run on fossil fuels, and deploy new, lower-emission technologies for sectors that are difficult to electrify. Climate, economic and energy security imperatives require rapid technology development and deployment supported and spurred by ambitious and enduring public policies, along with changes to operational norms and behaviors across society.
NextEra Energy to Build Renewable Natural Gas Production Plant in Alabama
NextEra Energy Resources LLC on Thursday said it and an Alabama county plan to build the state's first landfill renewable natural gas production plant.
The electric power and energy infrastructure company said the project will be located at a landfill owned and operated by Coffee County and interconnect with a pipeline owned by Southeast Gas. All the gas from the project will be sold to Southeast Gas under a long-term contract, NextEra said.
In Response to Nebraska Customers, Black Hills Plans to Offer Offset Program
In what it says is a response to interest from customers, Black Hills Energy on Wednesday announced plans to offer a voluntary renewable natural gas and carbon offset program for residential and small-business customers.
The program, which the company hopes to start next year, would allow customers to purchase monthly offset "blocks" that would represent a portion of their natural gas usage.
A “Farm Powered” Business Model for Scalable Renewable Energy Production From Waste
It has been pointed out that “waste is only really waste if you waste it.” That is of particular concern when what is being wasted is potential renewable energy. Our food system generates two major waste streams that have traditionally ended up on the negative side of their potential – the manure that comes from farm animals, and the inedible food waste that happens at the food manufacturing or retail level. There is a solution that addresses both of these missed opportunities and reduces our reliance on landfills and incinerators. A company called Vanguard Renewables has developed a business model that connects farms with food companies and retailers to combine their waste streams and use them to generates renewable natural gas which can then serve to decarbonize the energy supply for society as a whole.
This solution hinges on a technology called “anaerobic digestion” or AD that has been used extensively for decades in Europe. An organic waste source like manure is put within a closed tank without oxygen. Under that “anaerobic” condition there are specialized microbes from the gut of the cow that can digest the organic matter. Unlike most living things that generate carbon dioxide as they metabolize their food, these “anaerobic” specialists generate methane gas - the same energy-rich fuel we call natural gas. The difference between the gas from one of these digesters and the fossil fuel version is that the carbon in the gas from a digester was created biologically, and not by fossil extraction. That means that when the methane is burned to produce energy, the carbon dioxide that is emitted is “carbon negative” and isn’t a net contributor to the total amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Then, if the methane from a digester (also called “green natural gas”) is piped into the existing natural gas utility stream, it has the same sort of “decarbonization” effect that is achieved by putting electricity generated by solar, wind or nuclear into the overall electricity grid.
Blackstone, Emerson Electric Strike $14 Billion Buyout Deal
Emerson Electric Co. is selling a majority stake in its climate-technologies business to Blackstone Inc. in a transformational deal for the industrial company that would value the unit at $14 billion including debt and mark the biggest private-equity buyout in months at a time when such activity has been choked off by market volatility.
The deal, announced Monday, would give Blackstone a 55% stake in the unit, which sells compressors and other HVAC products and services used in commercial and residential heating and cooling as well as cold storage. Emerson would retain a 45% stake.
McDonald’s Canada Testing RNG in its Supply Chain Fleet
Martin-Brower of Canada Co. (Martin Brower), a logistics service provider for restaurant chains around the world, reports that it is operating its first tractor for McDonald’s Canada food delivery services on 100 per cent Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) provided by FortisBC Energy Inc. (FortisBC). The first tractor is in operation, with an additional six scheduled to arrive later this year. The tractors are being tested in British Columbia to assess the feasibility of using them to deliver to McDonald’s Canada restaurants across Canada where possible.
“At McDonald’s Canada, we know making small changes to our supply chain can result in a big impact, which is why we’re working with our long-time distribution partner Martin Brower to help us use our scale for good,” said Rob Dick, Supply Chain Officer at McDonald’s Canada. “Globally, we’ve pledged to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050–a pledge that we are continuing to make progress towards here in Canada by investing in real and tangible changes like testing seven new Kenworth tractors powered by RNG provided by FortisBC.”
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