RNG NEWS
Gevo Expands RNG Capacity, Works To Secure DOE Loan Guarantee
Gevo released third quarter financial results on Nov. 13, reporting that company has completed a planned capacity expansion of its renewable natural gas (RNG) operations and is in the formal due diligence stage with the U.S. Department of Energy regarding a loan guarantee application.
Patrick Gruber, CEO of Gevo, said that the company’s proposed Net-Zero 1 alcohol-to-jet sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) project, currently under development in South Dakota, is three months into the formal due diligence and term sheet negotiation phase for a DOE loan guarantee. Gruber estimated that the loan guarantee process will take 12 months to complete and said the company believes it is on track based on the positive progress it made in the third quarter.
Macquarie Asset Management Invests in Leading SAF Platform SkyNRG
Macquarie Asset Management will support the growth of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) with an initial investment of up to 175 million pounds ($218 million) in SkyNRG via the Macquarie GIG Energy Transition Solutions (MGETS) Fund.
This new investment led by Macquarie Asset Management’s specialist Green Investments team (MAM Green Investments) will support SkyNRG’s next phase of growth and help achieve its ambitious goal to become a major SAF producer through the development and operation of SAF production facilities. By 2030 SkyNRG aims to build its dedicated SAF facilities in Europe and the US, in cooperation with strategic offtake partners. To date, SkyNRG has secured partnerships with, amongst others, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Boeing with envisaged long term commitments of up to $5 billion in SAF purchases.
Vision RNG To Convert Landfill Gas to Renewable Natural Gas at Waste Connections’ Southern Plains Landfill in Oklahoma with Options on Two Additional Landfills
Vision RNG, a full-service developer of projects designed to convert landfill gas (“LFG”) to valuable renewable natural gas (“RNG”), and Waste Connections, an, integrated solid waste services provider, have announced that they are partnering on a project to convert LFG to RNG, at Waste Connections’ Southern Plains landfill in Grady County, Oklahoma. The agreement also includes an option to build two additional RNG facilities at Waste Connections’ Red Carpet and Osage Landfills, also located in Oklahoma.
A natural byproduct of decomposing landfill waste, LFG is typically collected and flared to burn off the methane it contains as required by regulators. However, collecting and converting the methane present in LFG into a cleaner, renewable fuel – consistent with VRNG and Waste Connections’ planned practices at the Oklahoma landfill – is intended to serve as a solution to reduce the need for combustion of new fossil fuels.
EU Agrees Law To Hit Fossil Fuel Imports With Methane Emissions Limit
The European Union reached a deal on Wednesday on a law to place methane emissions limits on Europe's oil and gas imports from 2030, pressuring international suppliers to clamp down on leaks of the potent greenhouse gas.
Methane is the second-biggest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide, and in the short term has a far higher warming effect. Rapid cuts in methane emissions this decade are crucial if the world is to avoid severe climate change.
Maas RNG Project Presented to Colorado Commissioners
The Washington County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday, November 7 for their regular meeting. The meeting opened with a prayer, which was followed by the “Pledge of Allegiance.” Chairwoman Lea Ann Laybourn called the meeting to order at 8 AM ET. The consent agenda was approved as presented.
Representatives from Maas Energy Works were in attendance to highlight the project they are doing at Daisy Lane Dairy near Cope. A typical dairy collects manure and sends it into a lagoon where it sits for a certain amount of time before it is spread onto crops. With this, they use the same concept, but instead of the manure being open and exposed to air, the company puts a big piece of plastic on top and captures the gas and creates energy with it.
Aemetis Reports Progress With Biofuel, Biogas Projects
Aemetis Inc. expects to secure the authority to construct air permit for its proposed sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel project in early 2024, according to comments made by Chairman and CEO Eric McAfee during a third quarter earnings call held Nov. 9. McAfee also discussed the company’s biogas, ethanol, biodiesel and carbon capture projects during the event.
The Aemetis Biogas subsidiary during the summer of 2023 closed its second $25 million USDA loan guarantee to build biogas digesters at eight additional dairies, McAfee said. That closing brought the subsidiary’s total to $50 million in loan guarantees secured under the USDA’s Rural Energy for America Program to build 15 dairy digester projects that are designed to produce a combined 400,000 MMBtus of renewable natural gas (RNG) annually. A third $25 million USDA guaranteed loan is expected to close by the end of this year, subject to potential delays caused by a government shutdown, McAfee added. Work on a fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth guaranteed loan are in various steps of the process.
Strong Renewable Fuel Standard Targets Drive Interest in RNG Projects
Rising blending mandates in the Renewable Fuel Standard are expected to boost demand for renewable natural gas, and several companies have recently announced expansions to their RNG businesses.
RNG projects typically qualify for cellulosic biofuel, or D3, RIN credits under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard, which sets blending requirements for transport fuels. In June, the EPA increased the cellulosic biofuels mandate for 2023 to 840 million gallons, up from 630 million gallons in 2022. The mandate rises to 1.09 billion gallons for 2024 and 1.38 billion gallons for 2025.
John Hanselman: The Future — It’s Electric! But Are We Ready?
Reducing GHGs can’t be maximized by simply building solar arrays or windmills. While we upgrade our existing power grid, we must embrace and scale other clean-energy technologies — including renewable natural gas.
President Biden has set an ambitious goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2035. It is the challenge of our generation and one of the most exciting business opportunities ever presented to the United States. But is that achievable?
AstraZeneca To Leverage Global Industrial-Scale Manufacturing, Digital Capabilities To Boost U.S. Renewable Natural Gas Productivity
AstraZeneca is leveraging its global industrial-scale manufacturing and digital capabilities to boost US renewable natural gas (RNG) productivity through a planned expanded collaboration with Vanguard Renewables. With an ambition of achieving a multiple fold increase in productivity, the collaboration aims to accelerate parity with fossil fuel-generated natural gas.
Drawing on AstraZeneca’s global manufacturing, supply chain, digital and scientific expertise, the companies plan to work together to increase RNG yield and generate a step change improvement in the production of RNG. Technological improvements and enhanced production can increase access and cost-effectiveness of RNG, a current barrier to widespread renewable energy deployment. The collaboration also aims to add RNG capacity to the US power grid and build capabilities in sustainable innovation for broader public benefit.
Evensol, Republic and Duke Energy Partner on RNG Projects
Evensol, a renewable energy project developer focusing on biogas and methane mitigation, has developed two renewable natural gas (RNG) facilities in North Carolina that are now operational.
The Foothills Renewables Project in Caldwell County and the Upper Piedmont Renewables Project in Person County convert landfill gas from Phoenix-based Republic Services’ landfills into RNG.