Hitachi Zosen Inova’s new bioenergy project in San Luis Obispo County is featured in this piece by KSBY. The project is converting 72 million pounds of food and yard waste to renewable power that is sold to PG&E and compost that is used on surrounding farmland to return carbon and nutrients to the soil.
WATCH the news story here.
In 2016, California enacted Senate Bill 1383 to reduce the most damaging climate pollutants, known as Short-Lived Climate Pollutants. The bill requires a 40 percent reduction in methane emissions and a 50 percent reduction in anthropogenic black carbon by 2030. As part of the methane reduction requirement, the legislation requires a 75 percent reduction in organic landfill waste by 2025. That means diverting more than 15 million tons of organic waste currently going to landfills and converting it to energy and compost instead.
CalRecycle’s regulations to implement the organic waste diversion requirements were just finalized by the state’s Office of Administrative Law. The key provisions related to bioenergy are contained in Article 12 (beginning on page 92), which sets out requirements for local jurisdictions to procure bioenergy and/or compost generated from the diverted organic waste.