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SoCalGas Announces the Largest Green Hydrogen Energy Infrastructure System In the U.S.

February 21, 2022/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

SoCalGas has just announced plans to develop the largest green hydrogen infrastructure project in the country, known as the Angeles Link. The proposed Angeles Link green hydrogen system would drive deep decarbonization of dispatchable electric generation, hard-to-electrify industries, and heavy-duty transportation in the LA Basin. It will deliver green hydrogen in an amount equivalent to almost 25% of the natural gas SoCalGas delivers today, providing enough green hydrogen to displace up to 3 million gallons of diesel per day, helping to eliminate hazardous air pollutants, and enabling up to four natural gas power plants to convert to green hydrogen. It will also reduce smog forming pollution (NOx) by 25,000 tons per year.

The Angeles Link would support the integration of more renewable electricity resources like solar and wind and would significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from electric generation, industrial processes, heavy-duty trucks, and other hard-to-electrify sectors of the Southern California economy. The Angeles Link would also significantly decrease demand for natural gas, diesel, and other fossil fuels in the LA Basin, helping accelerate California’s and the region’s climate and clean air goals.

WATCH: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kO2EhN5Jx8

SoCalGas Angeles (Green Hydrogen) LinkDownload
https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/SCG_logo_01_stack-4c.jpg 732 1200 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2022-02-21 16:10:262022-02-21 16:21:35SoCalGas Announces the Largest Green Hydrogen Energy Infrastructure System In the U.S.

BAC Members West Coast Biofuels and Kern Oil Featured in Renewable Fuels Article

January 17, 2022/in BAC, News, Member /by Julia Levin

Th Bakersfield Californian highlights biofuels and other renewable fuels in this article, which also features a new project by West Coast Biofuel and comments from BAC’s Executive Director about the need for increased biofuels produced from organic waste.

READ: The Bakersfield Californian, “Renewable Fuel Production Heats Up in Kern“

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Bakersfield-Californian.png 121 200 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2022-01-17 12:02:402022-01-17 13:13:18BAC Members West Coast Biofuels and Kern Oil Featured in Renewable Fuels Article

Mote Announces Its First Wood Waste to Hydrogen and Carbon Sequestration Project

December 15, 2021/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

Climate tech innovator Mote announced today it is establishing its first facility to convert wood waste into hydrogen fuel while capturing, utilizing, and sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from its process. It’s estimated that more than 500 million metric tons of wood and agricultural waste are generated every year in the U.S., which today is either disposed of via natural decay, landfills, or open-air burn, all of which return carbon to the atmosphere. With the engineering work of their first facility underway, Mote expects to produce approximately seven million kilograms of carbon-negative hydrogen and remove 150,000 metric tons of CO2 from the air annually. That’s equivalent to removing 32,622 cars off the road. Mote expects to start hydrogen production starting as soon as 2024.

“As the world’s first carbon removal project converting biomass to hydrogen, we are addressing the ever-growing demand for renewable hydrogen with a carbon-negative approach,” says co-founder and CEO Mac Kennedy. “Our pioneered technology directly supports California in its carbon-neutrality goals by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere with our wood waste conversion process. With this new facility, Mote is laying the groundwork for affordable hydrogen offerings on a global scale while also supercharging natural carbon removal processes.”

Mote’s proprietary integration of proven equipment in a novel process establishes this ground-breaking carbon removal and clean energy generation facility. Mote utilizes wood waste from farms, forestry, and other resources where it would otherwise be open-air burned for disposal, left to decompose, or sent to a landfill. Through gasification and subsequent treatment processes, the remaining carbon dioxide is extracted and permanently placed deep underground for ecologically safe storage.

To learn more, click here.

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Mote-1.png 137 649 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-12-15 16:55:212021-12-15 18:27:41Mote Announces Its First Wood Waste to Hydrogen and Carbon Sequestration Project

Raven SR Acquires Benicia Fabrication & Machine Inc to produce renewable hydrogen and other renewable fuels

December 3, 2021/in News, Member, Uncategorized /by Julia Levin

Raven SR, a waste-to-renewable fuels company, has acquired Benicia Fabrication & Machine Inc., which will construct several key components of Raven’s Steam/CO2 Reformer system as the company ramps up to meet increasing demand for green hydrogen and renewable synthetic fuels.

BFM, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, brings extensive experience in producing pressure vessels, heat exchangers and other crucial operational equipment for the upstream and downstream oil and gas as well as power and utilities sectors. The acquisition by Raven SR extends BFM’s engineering and equipment fabrication capabilities into the renewable fuels sector. BFM will fabricate the proprietary reactors of the Raven SR systems to be installed in 2022 for waste-to-energy projects in California and serve Raven’s expanding global project pipeline.

“By acquiring an American firm with a record of success in the energy sector, we will reliably deliver our renewable fuels production units to a growing market,” said Matt Murdock, Raven SR CEO. “Companies and consumers are demanding responses to climate change sooner rather than later and our acquisition of BFM means we can meet the challenge now and mitigate manufacturing disruptions.”

By acquiring a high-quality specialized fabricator moving into the green energy fabrication, Raven will ensure quality control of its production units, maintain competitive pricing of its retail fuels and manage its equipment supply chain in order to successfully meet project demand.

BFM will retain its name and its CEO Carmelo Santiago, P.E., will become vice president of manufacturing at Raven and president of BFM as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Raven SR. BFM will also continue to serve its existing customers in the refining and utility sectors.

“Becoming part of Raven SR launches us into renewable energy, giving us the immediate opportunity to join the energy transition,” Santiago said. “By combining our mechanical engineering know-how and Raven SR’s chemical engineering advances, we can serve a broader array of customers across the energy spectrum.”

For more information, visit Raven SR.

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Raven-SR.png 437 1082 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-12-03 09:50:092021-12-03 09:50:54Raven SR Acquires Benicia Fabrication & Machine Inc to produce renewable hydrogen and other renewable fuels

WATCH: CalBio’s Dairy Waste to Cleaned Biogas to Zero Emission Vehicle Power

November 7, 2021/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

See California Bioenergy cut the ribbon on California’s first dairy manure to fuel cell project.  The project is using Bloom Energy fuel cells to generate carbon negative power for electric vehicle charging.  This groundbreaking project cuts methane emissions, one of the most powerful climate pollutants that President Biden and scientists around the world say is the most urgent step we can take to slow global warming.  By converting dairy manure to cleaned biogas that is used in a Bloom fuel cell, the project is providing zero emission power that can be used in place of fossil fuels, cutting air pollution as well as protecting the climate.

See:  https://abc30.com/bar-20-dairy-carbon-footprint-business/11202954/

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CalBio-square.jpg 329 322 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-11-07 14:30:402021-11-09 16:10:57WATCH: CalBio’s Dairy Waste to Cleaned Biogas to Zero Emission Vehicle Power

Yosemite Clean Energy Secures site for Wood Waste to Hydrogen Production

October 29, 2021/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

Yosemite Clean Energy intends to break ground on its forest waste to green hydrogen and biomethane plant in early to mid-2022. Yosemite is a sustainable biofuels company devoted to the stewardship of our planet’s natural resources as well as the empowerment of local forest and farm communities to democratize energy production.  Yosemite’s biofuels production facilities will utilize proven Austrian-based gasification technology to produce commercial scale carbon-negative green fuels.  The Oroville plant will be the flagship dual-bed gasification facility in the Americas, following over 100,000 hours of commercial run-time across developed plants in Europe, Japan, and South Korea.

“This is new. This type of ownership in biofuels facilities like ours is the democratization of clean energy.”

California has an estimated 35 million tons of waste woody biomass available annually, currently left to burn, decay, and decompose, emitting immense amounts of greenhouse gases and black carbon. Yosemite will sustainably convert this biomass into syngas, from which carbon negative green hydrogen and RNG is produced using downstream technology already widely commercialized in the US. These-carbon negative fuels will be used to support California’s bold emission targets as it transitions to a carbon neutral economy.

Tom Hobby, the company’s president, stated, “Yosemite and our team of engineers, forest and farm professionals, legal, marketing, and financial teams will lead the company to become the first wood waste biomass plant to produce commercial scale carbon negative green hydrogen and RNG for the California fuel markets.” One plant will produce an estimated 31,000 kg per day of RNG and 12,200 kg per day of green hydrogen. Over the next 10 years, Yosemite plans to have biomass energy plants across California and North America.

Each Yosemite biofuels plant will be locally owned by farmers and forest landowners, who in return will provide wood waste, gathered at the end of the orchard’s lifecycle or through sustainable forest management. Vice-President for Business Development Robert Jackson said, “This is new. This type of ownership in biofuels facilities like ours is the democratization of clean energy. We’re providing an all-new mineral right from a waste stream and converting it to a revenue stream for farmers and forest communities.”

To learn more, go to www.yosemiteclean.com.

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/YCE_logoHoriz_spotColors-lg.png 815 2462 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-10-29 09:11:132021-10-29 09:11:55Yosemite Clean Energy Secures site for Wood Waste to Hydrogen Production

San Joaquin Renewables Secures $165 Million for Agricultural Waste to Energy Project

October 28, 2021/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

San Joaquin Renewables (SJR) announced today that it reached an agreement with Cresta Fund Management and Silverpeak Energy Partners to invest up to $165 million to develop and construct a biomass to renewable natural gas (“RNG”) project near McFarland, California. Frontline BioEnergy, a leading provider of waste and biomass gasification solutions, is developing the project, which will take orchard residuals and shells from San Joaquin Valley farms and convert them into RNG that will be sold as transportation fuel. The project will also sequester carbon dioxide in an EPA Class VI sequestration well located on the project site. When completed, SJR’s RNG facility will replace the current practice of open burning of agricultural waste with an enclosed system that will produce renewable biomethane and capture and store carbon dioxide.  The biomethane will be sold for vehicle fuel to replace diesel in heavy duty trucks.  By reducing open burning and diesel use, the project will provide huge benefits for the climate and air quality.

To learn more, visit:  https://sjrgas.com/

 

 

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/San-Joaquin-Renewables.png 487 2469 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-10-28 08:35:482021-10-28 08:36:28San Joaquin Renewables Secures $165 Million for Agricultural Waste to Energy Project

CalMatters Piece on Need to Convert Food Waste to Energy

October 27, 2021/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

Andrew Benedek, founder and CEO of Anaergia, published this important piece in CalMatters on the need to convert food waste into renewable fuels.

Why we must turn food waste into a renewable fuel

As the fight against climate change becomes more urgent, focus has increased on methane emissions, with U.S. climate envoy John Kerry tweeting that cutting methane is “the single most effective strategy we have to reduce global warming in the near term” to less than 1.5 degrees Celsius. Why? Because methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Reducing these emissions now can have a much-needed, fast-acting effect.

To most people, the obvious source of methane emissions is oil and gas production. But another part of the problem is right under our noses: our garbage.

When the food scraps, yard waste and other biodegradable stuff we throw out is deposited in landfills, it emits methane as it breaks down. Globally, landfills and wastewater emit 67 million metric tons of methane — that’s 20% of methane emissions, according to the United Nations. Despite the extent of this problem, there are some naysayers who dismiss the idea of turning food scraps and other waste into energy, calling it a “sham” and even “the ultimate red herring.”

But as someone who has dedicated my career to developing technologies to support environmental sustainability, I can assure you that diverting waste and using it for fuel is a legitimate climate solution.

Since 2008, when I sold my water treatment technology to the General Electric Co., I have focused on this relatively simple way to address climate change: capturing methane emitting from our societies’ waste before it wreaks planet-warming havoc and using it to replace fossil natural gas.

Here in California — where half if what we throw away is food, yard clippings and other organic waste — landfills are the primary source of methane emissions. That’s right, greater than those from the oil and gas industry.

Over the last few years, aerial surveys have revealed the extent of the problem. The journal Nature published the results of fly-over assessments showing that “Methane point-source emissions in California are dominated by landfills (41 per cent).” Thankfully, California’s lawmakers and regulators are addressing the issue.

Beginning in just a few weeks, all municipalities will be required to ensure most food and yard waste is kept out of landfills. By 2025, 75% of all organic waste must be diverted from landfills, ensuring that methane emissions from buried refuse are greatly reduced. The regulations require instead that 15 million tons of organic waste be either composted or anaerobically digested. This digestion process creates fertilizer and renewable natural gas that is molecularly the same as the fossil natural gas used to heat homes and generate electricity.

The potential results? If California eliminated the methane emitted from landfills today, we’d prevent more than 255,000 metric tons of methane from going to the atmosphere — equal to more than 21.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (when figuring in the short-term potency of methane). To put this more simply, doing so would have the same climate benefit of taking nearly 4.7 million cars off California’s roads — more than 31% of all passenger vehicles registered in the state.

And there’s a benefit beyond cutting methane emissions. The renewable natural gas (also called biomethane) produced from our garbage and sewage provides a much-needed carbon negative fuel. Society needs renewable fuels, because some things simply can’t be electrified and powered by solar and wind. Electricity cannot create the high heat needed to make steel or concrete or many other manufacturing processes, for example.

Of course, removing this pernicious half of our waste and turning it into fuel will be more expensive than what we are doing now. But when considering ways to cut greenhouse gas emissions, diverting waste from landfills is a relatively low-cost option, according to the United Nations.

Across the United States, more than 43% of what gets sent to landfills is either food waste, yard clippings or paper/cardboard. If we were to take California’s policies across the nation, it would have the effect of eliminating the equivalent of more than 75 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, or taking more than 16.3 million cars off American roads.

So let’s take pride in our leadership in reducing methane emissions, California. It’s a big deal. But let’s also work to fight for similar action across the nation.”

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Anaergia_2Line_Med.png 576 2136 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-10-27 09:32:242021-10-29 09:32:49CalMatters Piece on Need to Convert Food Waste to Energy

Mainspring Energy to Deploy Biogas Fueled Linear Generator in Napa Microgrid

September 5, 2021/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

Mainspring Energy and PG&E just announced the deployment of a linear generator—a new mobile power generation technology utilizing renewable biogas to displace existing diesel generation—at PG&E’s Angwin distribution microgrid site in Napa County.  The linear generator will help ensure clean, reliable power during emergencies like heat waves, winter storms or earthquakes, and Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) events.  The linear generator is connected to both PG&E’s electric and natural gas systems and will use biogas fuel that is renewably produced at another location.

Mainspring’s breakthrough technology, based on research originally conducted by the company’s co-founders at Stanford University, is designed to meet grid demands by delivering dispatchable, fuel-flexible power that substantially reduces cost and carbon today, while accelerating the transition to the net-zero carbon grid.  One of the unique characteristics of the 240-kilowatt Mainspring linear generator is that it can ramp up and down quickly to meet power load demands at a fraction of the emissions of reciprocating engine technologies.

“Extreme weather events and the rise of electrification are driving increasing demands on the electric grid for resiliency at affordable costs. At the same time, we need to be moving rapidly toward a net-zero-carbon grid,” said Mainspring CEO Shannon Miller. “Mainspring designed our platform to meet this challenge, and we’re proud that our product is now deployed to help PG&E and its customers to address these challenges and provide them with a cleaner, resilient, and affordable source of power.”

A linear generator—distinct from an engine, microturbine, or fuel cell—is a device that directly converts motion along a straight line into electricity using chemical or thermal energy. The design of Mainspring’s linear generator uses a low-temperature reaction of air and fuel to drive magnets through copper coils to efficiently produce electricity. This innovative design, combined with the company’s proprietary adaptive control software, enables high efficiency, near-zero NOx emissions, full dispatchability, and seamless switching between fuels.

The product achieves low capital and maintenance costs through use of standard materials, only two moving parts, and an innovative air bearing system that eliminates the need for oil. It operates without the use of complex mechanical systems or expensive catalysts.

Driven by its vision of the affordable, reliable, net-zero carbon grid of the future, Mainspring is delivering a new category of power generation — the linear generator — that delivers onsite, dispatchable, fuel-flexible power at low cost. Based in Menlo Park, Calif., Mainspring is backed by top-tier venture, strategic, and financial investors. www.mainspringenergy.com.

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Mainspring-Energy.png 88 573 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-09-05 11:10:322021-09-05 11:14:31Mainspring Energy to Deploy Biogas Fueled Linear Generator in Napa Microgrid

SacBee Piece on Need for Forest Biomass Utilization

August 25, 2021/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

Jonathan Kusel, Executive Director of the Sierra Institute for Community and Environment, authored an excellent piece in the Sacramento Bee that focuses on the impact of wildfires on California’s water and power supplies, local communities, and air quality.  The piece underscores the need to put forest waste to beneficial use.

As Jonathan writes, “Legislators, state and federal agencies must prioritize investments in long-term landscape resilience and the capacity of local communities and the workforce.  Investment must also be made in long-term restorative practices, carbon-smart wood utilization, workers and rural communities.  Meaningful restoration requires supporting new community-scale businesses and the capacity to utilize small-diameter trees that cost more to cut and haul than they’re worth. As California invests billions in landscape restoration, a primary challenge will be developing businesses that can utilize small diameter trees and forest waste that are the byproducts of desperately needed restoration.  Without investment in new community-scale businesses, forest restoration will not succeed. Burning piles in the woods is not the answer. Converting biomass to hydrogen is just one example of new technology that can simultaneously utilize forest biomass and help California reach carbon neutrality.”

Read the full article here.
https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sierra-Institute-logo.jpg 256 1200 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-08-25 11:16:282021-08-25 11:17:32SacBee Piece on Need for Forest Biomass Utilization
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