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Biogas and RNG are going strong in USA and Canada!
Here’s an overview of key biogas news.
GOVERNMENT POLICIES & LAW
Federal government to invest $2.7M in ZooShare Biogas Co-operative
The government of Canada recently announced it is investing up to $2.7 million (subject to a formal funding agreement) to support climate action by ZooShare Biogas Co-operative. The funding will help ZooShare Biogas add new self-cleaning digester technology that separates organic material and contaminants like plastic to its existing biogas plant in Toronto. The plant turns animal waste from the Toronto Zoo into agricultural fertilizer. The new digester technology will result in a higher quality end product that will be available to local farms.
Read more on Canadian Biomass Magazine
Governor Cuomo Announces Approval of Clean Energy Food Waste Recycling Facility on Long Island
State-of-The-Art Technology Diverts Waste from Long Island Landfills Promoting More Sustainable Communities and Affordable Energy. Supports Governor’s Nation-Leading Green New Deal Initiatives to Reduce greenhouse Gas Emissions and Ensure New York is Carbon-Free by 2040. Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the Board of Trustees of the Long Island Power Authority voted to approve the first stand-alone large-scale anaerobic digester – a type of food waste recycling facility – in the New York City metropolitan area. The project, which will be operational in 2020, will produce four megawatts of clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on Long Island by 85,000 metric tons a year, the equivalent to removing 18,000 cars from the road.
Read more on Governor of New York
CITIES AND MUNICIPALITIES
Toronto Advances RNG Projects
Biogas produced from anaerobic digestion of residential organics is on track to be upgraded to renewable natural gas via partnership with gas utility. The City of Toronto, Ontario has begun installing the first of what could be four facilities to produce large quantities of renewable natural gas (RNG) from the collection and processing of residential source separated organics (SSO) and solid waste. The initial project will upgrade the more than 5 million cubic meters of biogas produced annually through anaerobic digestion of residential SSO at the recently expanded Dufferin Organics Processing Facility. Installation began in February 2019 and the first gas molecules are expected to flow by the end of this year or early in 2020.
Passengers travel on ‘green bus’ in Cork trial
Passengers have travelled on a zero emissions bus or “green bus” for the first time in Ireland as part of a national trial of low emission buses. The biomethane-powered bus is one of a number of options, which have been trialled in Cork and Dublin since last December. These include full electric, hybrid-electric, hydrogen and compressed natural gas/biogas alongside retro-fitted diesel buses. A ban on diesel buses being purchased for State transport comes into effect from July and the trial’s findings will inform the future purchase of urban public buses. The low emission buses have been travelling on specific routes in Cork and Dublin to test their performance under headings such as air quality impacts and CO2 emissions, but have been weighted rather than carrying passengers.
COMPANIES & ORGANIZATIONS
DTE Biomass Energy commissions first dairy renewable natural gas project in Wisconsin
Thanks to 30 years of creating clean renewable energy throughout the country, DTE Biomass Energy has the experience required to improve sustainability and increase renewable energy production at Wisconsin dairy farms. DTE has begun operations at its first dairy-based renewable natural gas (RNG) project in Wisconsin at Dairy Dreams, LLC, a farm in Casco. Manure generated by the cow herd at Dairy Dreams, LLC is collected in an anaerobic digester, where methane gas is generated and captured. This methane gas is then refined to meet pipeline-quality standards, then trucked to a DTE owned facility in Newton, WI, where it is injected into a natural gas transmission line, and then ultimately used as an alternative vehicle fuel.
Énergir applauds Quebec’s decision to support RNG
Quebec’s leading natural gas distribution company, Énergir, is pleased with the adoption of the regulation respecting the quantity of renewable natural gas to be delivered by a distributor. Announced earlier today by Quebec Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonatan Julien, this regulation establishes a governing framework for one of the objectives of the 2030 Energy Policy Action Plan. The regulation sets the minimum quantity of RNG produced in Québec and to be injected by a natural gas distributor at one per cent of the total quantity of natural gas the distributor distributes as of 2020, and progressively increases that quantity to set it as of 2025 at five per cent of the total quantity of natural gas distributed.
Read more on Canadian Biomass Magazine
Wheat-based biofuels facility set for construction in Alberta
Strathmore, Alta., is the chosen site of a new $285-million construction project that will see first-of-its-kind wheat-based biofuels facility producing denatured ethanol, biogas, and electricity. Carbon Clean Energy Inc. (CCE) is the lead developer of the project, known as Project Wheatland. The facility is designed to produce 160 million litres of denatured ethanol for fuel blending, 1.76 mmBtu of biogas and 12 MWh of green power generation annually. The project received $5 million in funding from Emissions Reduction Alberta, one of three announced through its new Partnership Intake Program. The Project Wheatland facility is expected to generate 1.3 million tonnes of Alberta carbon offset credits annually, the first of its kind in North America. Production is anticipated to begin in early 2021.
Read more on Canadian Biomass Magazine
SoCalGas Slashes Prices at CNG Pumps
Beginning April 1, customers of public compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling stations run by Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) will see reduced prices at the pump. Specifically, the utility will lower the price of CNG at all of its 13 public-access natural gas vehicle fueling stations by $0.26/gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE). Through a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)-approved program, SoCalGas is able to offer a reduced price by returning revenue generated from the sale of Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits to customers. The LCFS program, administered by the California Air Resources Board, seeks to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from transportation fuels by 20% through 2030. Under the program, fuels that help lower GHG emissions, such as natural gas, generate LCFS credits.
RESEARCHES & STUDIES
Bioenergy is the “little-known leader” in British renewables – REA report
A new report by the Renewable Energy Association (REA) reveals bioenergy as a major contributor to cutting UK emissions and boosting green jobs. Biobased fuel technologies are estimated to cut 19.7 million tonnes of CO2e in 2017, replacing £21 billion (≈ EUR24.6 billion) worth of fossil fuels and supporting 46 000 jobs. “Whilst wind and solar rightly get huge credit for their achievements, bioenergy is the little-known leader in British renewables,” said REA Chief Executive Dr Nina Skorupska. The new report “Bioenergy Strategy: Phase 1 State of Play” is part of a wider review of bioenergy by the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and it reveals bioenergy’s role as a major contributor to cutting emissions and boosting green jobs.
Read more on Bioenergy International
Europe’s gas infrastructure needed to scale up renewable gas – new study
The existing gas infrastructure in Europe is indispensable in transporting renewable and low carbon gas to the various demand sectors. Using around 2 900 TWh or approximately 270 billion cubic meters (bcm) of renewable methane and hydrogen in a smart combination with renewable electricity saves society EUR 217 billion across the energy system compared to reducing gas to an absolute minimum, a newly updated study performed by Navigant for the Gas for Climate consortium has found. Commissioned by the Gas for Climate consortium and carried out by Navigant, the study “Gas for Climate: The optimal role for gas in a net-zero emissions energy systems” serves as a follow-up to a study published in February 2018 with a greatly expanded scope and analysis.