News: Biogas & Renewable natural gas propelled by a wide variety of players

Here’s an overview of this week’s news in the biogas and renewable natural gas (RNG) sectors. First, Texas and Australia’s governments announce favorable measures for biofuel and natural gas. New York government decides not to go forward with a mandate about commercial organics recycling. In British Columbia, Canada, a city participates in biogas production with a new Molson Coors brewery. In North Carolina, Scotland, United Kingdom and California, companies and organizations promote anaerobic digestion, RNG and bioeconomy. The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) releases a new report about organic waste in North America.

Key points:

 Policies & governments actions

• New York state budget did not include the proposed commercial organics waste recycling mandate in its final executive budget for FY19. It was cut in the third and final amended version of the budget bill, most likely because of restaurant and institutional opposition according to sources. The mandate aimed to force any commercial establishment that generates an average two tons of more per week of excess food and food scrap to arrange for recovery and recycling by January 2021.

Read more on WasteDive

• In USA, Texas Department of Transportation announced the first installation of compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) signage in the state, advancing efforts to enable Texans to switch to natural gas. The signs will be put on designated highways near fueling stations in Austin, Dallas, DeSoto, Irving, Longview and Tyler. Texas wants to better inform motorists of facilities providing alternative fuel and electric vehicle charging stations.

Read more on Department’s Website

• Increased use of 10 percent ethanol-blended petrol (E10) in Australia could create more than 8 600 direct and indirect jobs, attract AU$1.56 billion in investment and generate more than AU$1.1 billion in additional revenue each year in regional areas, a new report by Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researchers has found.

Read more on Bioenergy International

Municipalities & Cities

• The City of Chilliwack, in B.C., announced this week they would produce biogas using the waste from new Molson Coors brewery. They are building the Global Water engineering high strength wastewater pretreatment facility to handle effluent from the new Molson Coors $200-million plant in the Fraser Valley, which is set to become a major employer in the district.

Read more on Canadian Biomass Magazine

Companies & Organizations

• In USA, one of Duke’s Energy power plant uses renewable natural gas (RNG) from North Carolina-based hog farms to produce electricity. It’s a one of a kind project in this state. David Fountain, Duke Energy’s in North Carolina president, says “This project allows for the capture of emissions from hog operations and converts the renewable natural gas to electricity for customers.  We look forward to continuing our work on future projects.”

Read more on Duke Energy

• In Scotland, the Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association (ADBA), the Association for the UK’s anaerobic digestion industry, is among the signatories of a letter calling on the Scottish Government “to do more to help agriculture turn a corner and substantially reduce its greenhouse gas emissions”. Farming needs to be part of the solution because sources say the land sector contributes around 24% of all Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Read on Bioenergy Insight

• The German-headed water treatment company EnviroChemie GmbH acquired this week Clerfleau Ltd, a leading UK in on-site anaerobic digestion based plants for the food and drink sector. EnviroChemie provides reliable and innovative technology in the water and wastewater treatment sector. This will allow Clearfleau to expand his operations in Europe and offer a wider variety of technology solutions to UK manufacturing industry.

Read more on BioEnergy International

• In United Kingdom, the University of York announced this week they would take part in the $7 million THYME project aiming to develop bioeconomy in Yorkshire, the Humber region and Tees Valley areas. The three-year project will focus on creating high value products from bio-based wastes and byproducts, repurpose industrial sites for bio-based manufacturing and reducing waste and energy use.

Read more on Waste Today

• In California, Clean Energy Fuels Corp. announced this week his new fueling solution ZERO NOW that combines the world’s cleanest engine technology with the cleanest fuel at the price of $1 per gallon for one year. Heavy duty trucks that are powered by the new ultra clean Cummins Westport (CWI) ISX12N engine purchased this year will be eligible for Clean Energy’s Redeem™ renewable natural gas (RNG) at its California stations for the low price of $1 per gallon for an entire year. Heavy duty truck fleets are under pressure to meet stricter emissions standards and Clean Energy’s ZERO NOW solution does that

Read more on NewsOk

 New reports & Researches

• The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), an offshoot of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), has released a new report titled “Characterization and Management of Organic Waste in North America—Foundational Report” based on the findings of two years of research. The report focuses on food waste, yard and garden waste, paper products, wood other than construction and demolition debris and pet waste.

Read more on Waste360