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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

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

Raven SR Announces Project to Convert Organic Waste to Renewable Hydrogen

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

Raven SR Inc. (Raven SR), a renewable fuels company, announced today its collaboration with Republic Services Inc. to convert organic waste to produce green hydrogen at a site in Richmond, Calif.  Raven SR will initially process up to 99.9 tons of organic waste per day at Republic Services’ West Contra Costa Sanitary Landfill and produce up to 2,000 metric-tons per year of renewable hydrogen as well as power for its operations. Raven SR’s patented Steam/CO2 Reformation process enables it to be one of the only non-combustion, waste-to-hydrogen processes in the world. Additionally, Raven SR’s goal is to generate as much of its own power onsite to reduce burden on the grid.

The agreement will help move toward California’s goal of reducing emissions from organic waste under the state’s Short-Lived Climate Pollutant (SLCP) Reduction Strategy while also producing emission-free hydrogen fuel for passenger and heavy-duty vehicles.

For more information, click here.

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 Levin2021-08-25 11:07:122021-08-25 11:07:28Raven SR Announces Project to Convert Organic Waste to Renewable Hydrogen

SF Chronicle: Reduce Super Pollutants

August 3, 2021/in BAC, News /by Julia Levin

Reduce super pollutants

The authors of “Carbon neutral not good enough” (Open Forum, July 31) are correct that we need to accelerate our climate goals, but they miss two critical issues: Reductions in carbon dioxide do not benefit the climate for several decades and there are much more urgent steps to cool the climate right away. It is far more urgent to focus on measures that begin to reverse climate change now.

Reducing climate super pollutants methane, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbons benefits the climate and public health right away. These pollutants are tens to thousands of times more damaging to the climate than the carbon dioxide emitted by fossil fuel burning, but they only stay in the atmosphere a short time, so cutting their emissions benefits the climate immediately. We can cut these super pollutants by eliminating diesel use, converting organic waste to energy, and reducing wildfires and open burning of agricultural waste. We absolutely should phase out fossil fuels. But to avert the crisis that is already upon us, we need to focus much more on reducing methane, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbons. Climate scientists agree that reducing these climate super pollutants is the last lever we have left to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Julia Levin, Kensington

The Letter to the Editor is available online (second letter) here.

 

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/SF-Chronicle.png 96 200 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-08-03 09:30:422021-08-03 09:30:49SF Chronicle: Reduce Super Pollutants

CA Natural Gas Trucks Now Carbon Negative

July 22, 2021/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

Cummins Westport has just announced that natural gas vehicles in California have gone carbon negative!!  Natural gas vehicles are increasingly powered by renewable natural gas (RNG) generated from organic waste.  In 2020, those vehicles removed more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than they emitted — the direct result of the increasing use of RNG.  RNG use is up more than 170% in the past five years, according to new data from California’s Air Resources Board (CARB), while the carbon intensity of natural gas derived from renewable sources continues to drop. RNG is increasingly made using methane captured from dairy and agricultural waste, landfills and wastewater treatment plants. By capturing gases that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere, RNG can provide carbon negative emissions that are critical to achieve carbon neutrality.

Ninety-two percent of all on-road fuel used in natural gas vehicles in California last year was renewable natural gas and much of that RNG was carbon negative.

In addition to their negative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, ultra-low NOx natural gas engines perform at levels that are 95 percent below the federal nitrogen oxide (NOx) standard and 98 percent below the federal particulate matter (PM 2.5) standard.   These are enormous benefits for public health as they reduce smog-forming pollution and toxic air contaminants that cause respiratory illnesses, cancer and other health impacts.

According to NGVAmerica, RNG used as a motor fuel in California in 2020 displaced 1.83 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). To put those numbers into perspective, California RNG motor fuel use:

  • lowered greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent amount generated by driving the average passenger car 4.6 billion miles
  • eliminated CO2 emissions, equal to 205.7 million gallons of gasoline consumed, or the energy use of 220,118 California homes in one year
  • sequestered the amount of carbon captured by 2.24 million acres of U.S. forests in one year

To learn more about ultra-low NOx trucks and RNG visit:  Cummins Westport

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Cummins-Westport-logo.jpg 223 904 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-07-22 11:16:332021-07-22 11:21:56CA Natural Gas Trucks Now Carbon Negative

Raven SR Announces Joint Venture to Build Hydrogen Fueling Hubs Across US

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

Raven SR LLC, a renewable fuels company, and Hyzon Motors Inc., a leading global supplier of zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell-powered commercial vehicles, today announced a joint venture to build up to 100 hydrogen hubs across the United States and globally. The first hubs will be built in the San Francisco Bay Area and are expected to commission in 2022 before expanding into the rest of the US and globally. At the hubs, which can be built at or near landfills, Raven SR will convert mixed and multiple organic wastes, including municipal solid waste, greenwaste, food waste, medical, paper, etc. into locally produced, renewable hydrogen for Hyzon’s fleet of zero-emission commercial vehicles.

Raven SR’s patented, Steam/CO2 Reformation process enables it to be one of the only combustion-free, waste-to-hydrogen processes in the world. Unlike alternative approaches to waste disposal, such as incineration or gasification, Raven SR’s process involves no combustion, as confirmed by the State of California EPA’s Department of Toxic Substances. This avoids the creation of toxic pollutants and particulates.

To learn more, see Raven Hyzon Hub Release FINAL

 

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 Levin2021-04-27 12:28:532021-04-27 12:29:01Raven SR Announces Joint Venture to Build Hydrogen Fueling Hubs Across US

San Joaquin Renewables Project Converts Ag Waste to Fuels and Biochar

March 12, 2021/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

The Bakersfield Californian ran a front page story on San Joaquin Renewables’ project in MacFarland, Kern County, which will convert agricultural waste to low carbon vehicle fuels and biochar.  The project will provide huge benefits to the San Joaquin Valley, by providing an alternative to open burning of the agricultural waste and replacing diesel in heavy duty trucks.  The project will also provide about 50 good jobs in the County, which suffers high levels of unemployment.  And, it will provide carbon negative emissions because it will avoid black carbon emissions from open burning and diesel use, plus carbon sequestration from the biochar.

See the full article here.

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 Levin2021-03-12 15:13:122021-03-12 15:13:38San Joaquin Renewables Project Converts Ag Waste to Fuels and Biochar

New Fact Sheet Highlights Job Benefits of Bioenergy

February 16, 2021/in BAC, News /by Julia Levin

See the new Bioenergy and Jobs Fact Sheet developed by Gladstein, Neandross & Associates for BAC and CNGVP.  The fact sheet highlights the jobs and other economic benefits that bioenergy provides from a range of organic waste sources and bioenergy end uses, including electricity generation, pipeline biogas, carbon negative vehicle fuels, and more.

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/bac_favicon01.png 116 114 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2021-02-16 11:51:592021-02-16 11:54:12New Fact Sheet Highlights Job Benefits of Bioenergy

LA County to Expand Food Waste Conversion to Vehicle Fuel

December 3, 2020/in News, Member /by Julia Levin

The Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts has pioneered the conversion of food waste to biogas at wastewater treatment facilities.  The Sanitation Districts have been converting food waste to biogas for electricity generation for more than six years.  They are now going to expand their conversion capacity and convert additional food waste to low carbon vehicle fuel.  When the expansion is complete, the Sanitation Districts will generate enough biogas to power the County’s wastewater treatment facility in Carson and produce renewable vehicle fuel equivalent to 2,000 gasoline gallons per day.

Projects like this are helping California to slash the most damaging climate pollutants, replace diesel and fossil fuel gas with low carbon and renewable fuels, and help meet state requirements to reduce landfill waste.

Read more about the project:  LACSD-Converting Food Waste to Fuel

https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/LACSD.png 248 922 Julia Levin https://www.bioenergyca.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/bac_forweb.jpg Julia Levin2020-12-03 19:21:332020-12-03 19:21:40LA County to Expand Food Waste Conversion to Vehicle Fuel
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