Governments strenghten their support to biogas & RNG

By | 2018-08-10

Here’s an overview of key biogas news. In this week’s edition: all around the world, governments strenghten laws and policings to propulse biogas and renewable natural gas further ahead, companies pursue their investments in alternative energy sources and innovative researches and projects emerge.

 

POLICIES & GOVERNMENTS ACTIONS

Brazil’s pig farmers can sell energy from biogas

In Brazil’s Santa Catarina state, pig producers have been allowed to start selling energy from biogas after a recent change in legislation. Santa Catarina is the 1st state in Brazil to create a specific law concerning production and utilisation of biogas. The rule has paved the way to eventually use a huge potential for generating 9 TM/h from 2.26 billion m3 of biomethane per year – which is the amount generated on pig farms all around the country.

Read more on Pig Progress

 

Portland, Oregon regional government approves commercial organics mandate

The Metro Council voted in favor of the ordinance on Thursday. A Metro representative told Waste Dive in an email that the council voted 7-0 to pass the measure. The Metro Council (Metro) — the regional governing body for the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area — is scheduled for a July 26 vote on a proposed ordinance that would require municipalities to enforce source-separation of scraps from commercial and institutional generators for donation or processing. Establishments that generate 1,000 pounds or more of organics per week would have to comply by March 2020.

Read more on Waste Dive

 

The Elimination Of Ontario’s Cap-And-Trade Program

On July 25, 2018, the newly elected Ontario Government tabled Bill 4, the Cap and Trade Cancellation Act, 2018 to repeal the Climate Change Mitigation and Low Carbon Economy Act, 2016, cancelling Ontario’s cap and trade program. The cap-and-trade program came into effect January 1, 2017, and was aimed at reducing GHG emissions to 15 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, 37 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050. The program set “caps” on greenhouse gas emissions for companies in certain industries, including manufacturing, electricity and fuel distribution.

Read more on Mondaq

 

Bipartisan bill promotes biogas, CCUS technology

On July 19, Rep. Scott Peter, D-Calif., and David Young, R-Iowa, introduced the bipartisan Carbon Utilization Act of 2018, which promotes biogas and carbon capture utilization and sequestration (CCUS) technologies to increase biogas production as part of a diverse mix of energy sources, from natural gas to nuclear, to wind and solar, and even algae, to meet our future energy needs.

Read more on Biomass Magazine

 

 

MUNICIPALITIES & CITIES

Innovative biogas from municipal solid waste facility approved in Wales

Flintshire County Council has approved plans for a new biogas from waste plant in Wales, which will supposedly produce up to 2 megawatts of energy from 182,000 tonnes of municipal waste. Consultancy firm Pegasus Group secured the permission on behalf of Logik Strategic Land, who will build the biogas facility on a former Gaz De France power station. “The plant will bring more than £50m of investment to the North Wales area, creating substantial employment throughout the construction period and its subsequent ongoing operation,” said Dave Green, technical director at Logik.

Read more on Bioenergy Insight

 

COMPANIES & ORGANIZATIONS

Massive Natural Gas Filling Station Expansion Planned for Italy

Snam S.p.A., one of Europe’s main regulated gas companies, is generating considerable momentum for Italy’s natural gas vehicle market with two major announcements this week. The first is with api Group, an Italian energy and construction multi-faceted company. The second is with Snam4Mobility, a subsidiary of Snam. Collectively, they will grow natural gas refueling infrastructure by 20% across the nation. Snam and api Group have signed a framework agreement for the development of approximately 200 new natural gas and biomethane fuelling stations in Italy, within IP commercial network.

Read more on NGV Global News

 

First renewable natural gas project on a dairy farm starts in Kewaunee County

Pagel’s Ponderosa Dairy, a dairy farm in Kewaunee County, will now be making renewable natural gas from its dairy cow manure as fuel to power vehicles all across the country. It’s the first project of its kind in Wisconsin, and only the second in the country. “This will definitely help the environment around the nation, by taking extra trucks off the road, being able to use the natural gas, instead of having to use diesel fuel all the time, the other thing is, it will reduce our carbon footprint,” said J.J Pagel, CEO of Pagel Family Businesses.

Read more on Wbay

 

Department Awards $2 Million for Innovative Manure Management Projects

The Maryland Department of Agriculture has awarded more than $2 million in grants for two animal waste management technology projects in Cecil County and on Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore. The grants are part of the state’s ongoing commitment to manage animal manure, protect natural resources, and pursue renewable energy sources. “Funding for these innovative projects represents our administration’s ongoing commitment to supporting our farmers and protecting our natural resources,” said Secretary Joe Bartenfelder.

Read more on Maryland – Department of Agriculture

 

NEW REPORTS & RESEARCHES

DOE, SoCalGas fund project using microbes to convert CO2 into RNG

On Aug. 1, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) announced grant funding has been awarded to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Stanford School of Engineering’s Spormann Laboratory to conduct new power-to-gas research. The two entities will receive $800,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy. SoCalGas will provide co-funding of $400,000 in addition to $125,000 of seed funding it provided in 2017.

Read more on Bioenergy Insight

 

New Study Advises Policymakers to Consider Renewable Natural Gas for Low-Carbon Buildings Strategy

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today joined businesses, affordable housing advocates, scholars, and local government leaders to announce the results of a new study it commissioned by Navigant Consulting, Inc. that advises policymakers to consider renewable natural gas for California’s low carbon building strategy as a pathway for California to achieve its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals. The analysis forecasts that replacing just 16 percent of the traditional natural gas supply with renewable gas (RNG) captured from sources like dairies, wastewater treatment plants, and landfills, can achieve GHG reductions equivalent to converting 100 percent of buildings to electric only energy by 2030.

Read more on RNG Coalition