RNG NEWS
Roanoke Valley Landfill Readying for Natural Gas Production
Your trash becomes gas.
It happens gradually, as mountains of our garbage decompose at Smith Gap Regional Landfill in Roanoke County. That’s where the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority hauls all the waste — more than 500 million pounds per year — from Roanoke, Salem, Roanoke County and Vinton.
HZI: An Organic Waste Diversion Success Story
A sunny beachside town in California might seem like the last place you’d find one of the most advanced waste-to-resource facilities in the United States, but in San Luis Obispo, against the backdrop of this popular vacation spot, this is exactly what was built in 2018 by global waste-to-energy company Hitachi Zosen Inova.
Kompogas SLO is the name of the plant, a reference to HZI’s proprietary anaerobic digestion system that is at the core of the facility, which takes in the county’s organic waste and turns it into electricity that is fed into the local grid. The resulting compost and fertilizer go back onto the land, making it a closed-loop, circular economy initiative.
Can Renewable Gas Technology Revolutionize Utility-Scale Energy Storage Solutions?
Germany-based startup Electrochaea is making strides in the field of renewable energies that may well revolutionize the way we store energy at utility-scales. The company has developed and is commercializing a disruptive technology that converts electric power into methane, which is the primary component of natural gas. Using carbon dioxide as the feedstock gas, power can be efficiently stored as renewable natural gas. The methane thus formed can either be used for power storage, as transportation fuels, or it can be transmitted via a natural gas network.
Founded by Mich Hein, a managing partner at Nidus, a St. Louis investment group specializing in renewable energy, Electrochaea’s solution covers three vital areas: utility-scale energy storage, grid balancing, and carbon reuse. Their innovative process converts low-cost and stranded electricity and carbon dioxide into pipeline-grade renewable gas. Named “power-to-gas”, this conversion process aims to optimize the role of natural gas in a sustainable and balanced energy sector.
Vanguard Renewables and New England Natural Bakers Partner To Tackle Food Waste
New England Natural Bakers, a Greenfield, Massachusetts-based leader in organic granola, including their latest brand, Trunola, is proving that delicious treats can go hand-in-hand with environmental responsibility. This employee-owned company, with a long history of social and environmental commitment dating back to 1977, has been partnering with Vanguard Renewables to tackle food waste from its manufacturing process since 2020.
Bioenergy Devco: Anaerobic Digestion a Smart Solution
Around the world, food waste is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, a major cause of climate change. In the United States alone, up to 40% of the food supply goes uneaten, equivalent to $444 billion in waste per year. Globally, over 1.3 billion tons of food gets wasted annually across the supply chain. Wasted food makes up the largest single category of material being landfilled or incinerated here in the U.S., making up 24% and 22% of municipal solid waste, respectively.
Landfilling this enormous amount of organic waste has a significant, deleterious environmental impact. Food waste decomposing in landfills generates methane, a greenhouse gas over 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term. Landfills are the third-largest source of methane emissions in the U.S., releasing the equivalent of emissions from nearly 23.1 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles driven for one year. The shocking reality is that approximately 30% of total greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste.
Podcast: What's Renewable Natural Gas Anyway?
It turns out garbage dumps and feed lots both have untapped potential. Come along with us as Johannes Escudero, CEO of RNG Coalition, explains.
Improving California’s Air Quality: Maas Energy Works
California’s dairy industry injects more than $21 billion into the state’s economy and supports 189,000 jobs while accounting for around half of California’s total methane emissions. This presents a conundrum: How do we balance economic prosperity with environmental responsibility?
Anaerobic manure digesters offer one promising answer to this question. Anaerobic digesters address the environmental impact of flush dairies, where manure-laden water is stored in ponds. As the manure is naturally digested by bacteria, methane and other gases are emitted as a byproduct. By creating sealed ponds (covered lagoons) lined with high-density polyethylene and installing gas filtration equipment, dairy farmers can transform these emissions into marketable renewable natural gas (RNG).
Morrow Energy Designed, Manufactured, and Installed New Corpus Christi Renewables Gas-To-Energy Plant Near Corpus Christi, Texas in Industry Record-Setting 6 Months
The development and use of Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) from landfills reduces greenhouse gas emissions, reduces landfill odor emissions, and provides a sustainable energy resource. Additionally, RNG creates new revenue streams for landfill operators and provides economic and environmental benefits to local communities.
Morrow Energy, a leader in renewable energy solutions, is proud to announce the ribbon-cutting of the new Corpus Christi Renewables landfill-gas-to-energy plant on April 10, 2024, at 12:00 PM CT. This state-of-the-art plant, located at the Cefe Valenzuela landfill converts landfill gas to clean renewable natural gas.
CNG Vehicles, Now Mainstream, Remain Popular Options for the Waste Industry
About 15 years ago, a Quebec landfill was struggling with their methane gas emissions and needed help. With technology evolving toward compressed natural gas they turned to the Labrie Group for advice.
“They knew of our expertise working with compressed natural gas for our waste trucks started in 2001, and at that time, 2010, Labrie Environmental Group were already recognized leaders in the waste CNG arena,” said Louis-Charles Lefebvre, regional sales manager.
Chevron, Brightmark JV Opens RNG Facility in Arizona
Brightmark RNG Holdings, a joint venture between Chevron USA Inc. and Brightmark Fund Holdings, has opened its Eloy Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) center, producing pipeline fuel by capturing methane from dairy operations.