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News: Cities in Canada and UK choose biomethane or composting to treat their waste
Here’s an overview of key biogas news.
GOVERNMENT POLICIES & LAW
EPA approves second biogas facility at Melbourne Regional Landfill
The Environmental Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) in Australia has granted a works approval for a second biogas facility at Melbourne Regional Landfill. The facility will double the site’s capacity to destroy captured landfill gas generated by the decomposition of waste in the landfill, by burning it to generate around 68,000 MWh of electricity every year. It is estimated the proposed facility would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 220,000 of carbon dioxide annually at full capacity and generate enough electricity to power 15,000 homes.
Read more on Bioenergy Insight
CITIES AND MUNICIPALITIES
Kelowna, apparently, will soon reach its poop quota
While Kelowna currently trucks some of its biosolids to a composting facility, city council will consider an expensive project that could solve current treatment issues. Biosolids — which are essentially dewatered human excrement — are trucked to a composting facility shared by Vernon and Kelowna. But that plant will reach capacity in five years so an alternative disposal method is necessary. While Kelowna currently trucks some of its biosolids to a composting facility, city council will consider an expensive project that could solve current treatment issues.
Cornwall farmers to trial ‘green’ biomethane fuel from manure
Farmers in Cornwall are to trial a new ‘green’ fuel made from manure slurry in what is believed to be the first scheme of its kind in the world. Cornwall Council and Cormac, which looks after its fleet of vehicles, have joined forces with six of its county-owned dairy farms and a Cornish technology company to trial the production of an alternative green fuel. If successful, the programme could be rolled out to hundreds of small-scale farms across Cornwall, giving farmers the chance to diversify their income, save on operating costs and help fight climate change.
Read more on South West Farmer
COMPANIES & ORGANIZATIONS
RGFI launches new online resource for renewable gas in Ireland
The Renewable Gas Forum Ireland (RGFI) has this week launched its new website which will act as a resource for accurate, clear and up-to-date information on the development of renewable gas in Ireland. Renewable gas, ie biomethane, is produced from upgrading biogas to around 99% methane purity. Biogas is produced from the anaerobic digestion of organic materials including slurries, byproducts and residues, as well as purpose-grown grass and energy crops. Biogas contains roughly 60% methane, as well as CO2 and other gases. This fully renewable gas acts as a direct replacement for natural gas.
New partnership will convert chicken waste into biogas
In another move that will diversify renewable energy options, Chesapeake Utilities Corp. will be partnering with CleanBay Renewables to distribute natural gas recycled from thousands of chickens on the Delmarva Peninsula. CleanBay Renewables will soon turn chicken litter – manure and bedding materials – into biogas, or a type of natural gas that contains mostly methane. Chesapeake Utilities, the regional natural gas distributor, will transport it by road to its 455-mile interstate pipeline, where it will be distributed to customers in Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Read more on Delaware Business Times
EQTEC shares heat up after it eyes waste-to-energy project in Southport
EQTEC PLC (LON:EQT), the gasification technology solutions company, has said it is to develop a waste management project in Southport in partnership with a local firm. The company has paid Rotunda Group £100,000 for the exclusive option to buy the project within the next 12 months, with the £100,000 to be deducted from the purchase price if EQTEC pulls the trigger on the deal. The exclusivity period can be extended, subject to mutual agreement. EQTEC will be responsible for contributing 100% of the development costs before financial close on the project is achieved; these costs are currently estimated at around £500,000.
Read more on Proactive
Revived Iowa ethanol plant would make RNG to meet demand in California
A German bioenergy company’s reboot would make ethanol and renewable natural gas, though questions remain about its life-cycle climate and environmental impacts. A German bioenergy company is preparing to produce corn ethanol and renewable natural gas at the site of a failed cellulosic ethanol plant in Nevada, Iowa. Verbio Vereinigte BioEnergie AG is building an anaerobic digester on the site that will annually convert up to 100,000 tons of corn stover — a crop leftover consisting of everything but the kernel — into a renewable fuel that can be fed into the nation’s natural gas pipeline system. Verbio hopes to begin production by fall of 2021.
Read more on Energy News Network
RESEARCHES & STUDIES
RNG Said Searching for Building Blocks as Biogas Sector Makes Inroads
The renewable natural gas (RNG) sector is developing a sub-sector of project development, technical expertise and financial services, experts said Wednesday during a webinar. The event, hosted by the Northwest Gas Association and NW Alliance for Clean Transportation, heard from a biogas project developer, gas conditioning technology provider and a bank executive who said interest in RNG is growing. DMT Clear Gas Solutions LLC’s Robert Lems, general manager of U.S. operations, said developing technology is key.
Read more on Natural Gas Intelligence
The potential for renewable natural gas in truck fleets
The end goal for much of transportation is to “electrify everything.” But the reality is that today, when the market for heavy-duty electric trucks is still nascent, there are other cost-effective and low-emission fuel options that fleets that run big vehicles — such as garbage trucks or semi-trucks — are embracing. An important one is renewable natural gas (RNG), biogas collected from sites that have decomposing organic matter, such as landfills, farms and wastewater treatment plants. RNG is interesting because, depending on the source, the fuel actually can be emissions-negative, meaning the collective project and fuel remove more greenhouse gases than they produce.