Tag Archives: Gas

Town looks at way to dispose of its sludge

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GREENFIELD — The town is looking at how it might dispose of its own sludge in the future to save

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Town officials believe an anaerobic digester and combined heat and power facility would eliminate the costs associated with shipping the wet solids, as well as the cost to heat and provide electricity to the transfer station.

This is not just a matter of saving money, though,” said Collins. “It is also a social justice issue. A lot of these plants, like the ones we transport to, are closing down. We really need to be dealing with our own sludge, not sending it off into other communities.”

[…]  anaerobic digestion is a natural process where sludge (plant and animal waste) is broken down by micro organisms, which release the methane, or biogas, that can be used to generate heat and electricity.

“This helps cut fossil fuel use and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,”[…] “The remaining material is rich in nutrients and can be used as fertilizer.”

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Environmental Protection – Landfill Gas Management Regulation

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The regulation requires that municipal solid waste landfills with 100,000 tonnes or more of waste in place or with an annual waste acceptance rate exceeding 10,000 tonnes to undertake an assessment of landfill gas generation and to submit the results to the Ministry in a report by January 1, 2011.  […]

If according to Landfill Gas Generation Assessment Procedure a regulated landfill site is estimated to generate 1000 tonnes or more of methane, the owner or operator of that site is required to complete a LFG management facilities design plan and to install the designed facilities at the landfill site.  The Landfill Gas Management Facilities Design Guidelines (PDF/9.3 MB)  […]  The performance standards prescribed in the document are intended to implement high-efficiency LFG collection systems. This Guideline must be used by landfill owners, operators, and qualified professionals in the preparation of LFG facilities design in accordance with the Landfill Gas Management Regulation.

See on www.env.gov.bc.ca

Stanford researchers map out an alternative energy future for New York

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A study, co-authored by Stanford researcher Mark Z. Jacobson, outlines a path to statewide renewable energy conversion, and away from natural gas and imported fuel.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The study is the first to develop a plan to fulfill all of a state’s transportation, electric power, industry, and heating and cooling energy needs with renewable energy, and to calculate the number of new devices and jobs created, amount of land and ocean areas required, and policies needed for such an infrastructure change. It also provides new calculations of air pollution mortality and morbidity impacts and costs based on multiple years of air quality data.

To ensure grid reliability, the plan outlines several methods to match renewable energy supply with demand and to smooth out the variability of WWS resources. These include a grid management system to shift times of demand to better match with timing of power supply, and “over-sizing” peak generation capacity to minimize times when available power is less than demand.

The study’s authors are developing similar plans for other states, including California and Washington. They took no funding from any interest group, company or government agency for this study.

See on news.stanford.edu

Historic Energy Decisions in U.S. and Canada | The Energy Collective

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Renewable energy in the U.S. and Canada will rise while the consumption of fossil fuels lessens.Wishful thinking by some people to the contrary, fossil fuels are here to stay for at least the next 30-40 years. In North America this timeframe will be an era of transition as the proportion of renewable energy in the U.S. and Canada will rise while the consumption of fossil fuels lessens.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The increase in U.S. oil production is the result of advances in non-traditional drilling technologies, including oil hydrofracking […].  For its natural gas production, the U.S. is in the throes of a hydrofracking frenzy, producing natural gas in unprecedented amounts. […]

The U.S. trend toward energy self sufficiency represents a precarious situation for Canada’s economic wellbeing since 95 percent of Canada’s energy exports (including hydroelectric power) today go to the U.S.  […]

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Renewable energy now cheaper than new fossil fuels in Australia | Bloomberg New Energy Finance

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Sydney, 7 February 2013 – Unsubsidised renewable energy is now cheaper than electricity from new-build coal- and gas-fired power stations in Australia, according to new analysis from research firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

[…] research on Australia shows that since 2011, the cost of wind generation has fallen by 10% and the cost of solar photovoltaics by 29%. In contrast, the cost of energy from new fossil-fuelled plants is high and rising. New coal is made expensive by high financing costs. […] New gas-fired generation is expensive as the massive expansion of Australia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export market forces local prices upwards. […]

[…] Australia’s fleet of coal-fired power stations built by state governments in the 1970s and 1980s can still produce power at lower cost than renewables, because their original construction cost has now been depreciated.

“New wind is cheaper than building new coal and gas, but cannot compete with old assets that have already been paid off,” Bhavnagri said. “For that reason policy support is still needed to put megawatts in the ground today and build up the skills and experience to de-carbonise the energy system in the long-term.”

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Emissions: First-time reports from industry reveal massive methane emissions — 02/06/2013 — www.eenews.net

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U.S. EPA’s addition of oil, gas and coal methane emissions to its online greenhouse gas tracking tool revealed an 82.6-million-metric-ton increase in carbon dioxide equivalents over numbers from the previous year, when those figures were not…

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

Coal power still dominates emissions

Last year, EPA completed standards requiring hydraulically fractured gas wells to use technology that will cut toxic emissions and smog-forming pollution by 2015.

As a co-benefit, the upgrades will also reduce methane by up to 1.7 million tons, said EPA. However, environmental groups have said that the methane issue must be addressed separately from other pollutants (ClimateWire, April 19, 2012).

Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of carbon emissions, outpacing the second-largest source — petroleum and natural gas systems — by a factor of almost 10-to-1. Power plants accounted for two-thirds of total greenhouse gas emissions.

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Fracking Seen by EPA as No. 2 Emitter of Greenhouse Gases

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Natural gas and oil production is the second-biggest source of U.S. greenhouse gases, the government said, emboldening environmentalists who say tighter measures are needed to curb the emissions from hydraulic fracturing.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

[…] the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the first time included oil and natural- gas production. Emissions from drilling, including fracking, and leaks from transmission pipes totaled 225 million metric tons of carbon-dioxide equivalents during 2011, second only to power plants, which emitted about 10 times that amount.

The EPA report on oil and gas looked at emissions from basins, or large production areas, not individual wells. Among the top emitters were ConocoPhillips’ operations in the San Juan basin in New Mexico, and Apache Corp.’s operations in the Permian basin in Texas. Both companies are based in Houston.

See on www.bloomberg.com

EPA proposes 2013 biofuels quota, RIN verification program – Oil & Gas Journal

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The US Environmental Protection Agency proposed 2013 biofuels quotas representing a more than 1.35 billion gal increase from what it mandated for 2012. Officials from two leading petroleum trade associations immediately called the 16.55 billion gal total representing 9.63% of total projected US motor fuel production unrealistic and unreasonable.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

“We are disturbed that EPA is mandating 14 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol when zero gallons are available for compliance as of today,” AFPM President Charles T. Drevna said on Jan. 31. […]

“[…] This stealth tax on gasoline might be the most egregious example of bad public policy, and consumers could be left to pay the price. EPA needs a serious reality check.”

“[…] it is shocking that the Agency would mandate such high biodiesel volumes this year since 140 million biodiesel credits turned out to be fraudulent,” […] it is unrealistic to assume the biodiesel industry will actually produce 1.28 billion gal of real biodiesel this year.”

See on www.ogj.com

Biofuels groups downplay ruling’s impact on investment – The Hill’s E2-Wire

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Biofuels groups are downplaying a Friday federal court decision that some believe could cut off investments in advanced green fuels.

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The rule requires refiners to blend 36 billion gallons of biofuel into traditional transportation fuel by 2022. Of that total, 21 billion gallons must come from cellulosic and “advanced” biofuels, which are made from non-edible feedstock.

But the court said EPA acted in “excess of the agency’s statutory authority” in projecting refiners could blend 10.45 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel in 2012, as only 22,000 gallons were produced.

[…]

In its lawsuit against the EPA, the American Petroleum Institute (API) argued refiners were forced to buy credits to fill the gap in the agency’s projections and actual production levels.

The court sided with API on that point, giving the oil-and-gas lobby its first victory in its full-court press to repeal the biofuel mandate.

API is pushing Congress to tear down the rule and is fighting the rule through the courts. It also has a lawsuit on file challenging EPA’s projections for 2011.

“We are glad the court has put a stop to EPA’s pattern of setting impossible mandates for a biofuel that does not even exist. This absurd mandate acts as a stealth tax on gasoline with no environmental benefit that could have ultimately burdened consumers,” API Group Downstream Director Bob Greco said in a Friday statement.

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5 Biofuel Trends to Watch Out for in 2013

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2012 saw the introduction of next generation, advanced biorefineries. Here we look at the trends that will hit the biofuel market in 2013, including; Green Diesel, Decline of Oil,

Duane Tilden‘s insight:

The Retreat of Oil Majors

Trend: Oil Majors double down on “Golden Age of Gas” while narrowing investments across the advanced biofuel space.

An early strategic investor in the advanced biofuels industry, global oil majors have begun trimming excess fat from their biofuel investment portfolios over the past couple of years. BP, a leading investor in the biofuels industry, pulled out of its commercial Highlands Park project in Florida in October 2012 to refocus on R&D efforts. Shell, meanwhile, has dropped a number of investments across the advanced biofuels landscape, concentrating its commercialization efforts on its Raizen joint venture with Cosan in Brazil.

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