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Conversion Technology
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Conversion Technology E-Newsletter - July 2017
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eight national business groups that jointly represent thousands of businesses within renewable energy technologies released a statement outlining their plans for the nations power grid. These organization call for a sustained, positive effort to build a grid infrastructure that takes advantage of the latest technologies available. These eight groups highlight mutual support for market structures that appropriately value new and existing technologies, tax policy continuity and parity for all renewable technologies, and the expansion and modernization of the electrical grid to support the proper operation and integration of clean power sources. These new standards can offer the country economic savings, improved reliability, greater access to electric power, environmental improvement, and more diverse choices for consumers and producers of electrical power. The organizations that have joined on this declaration are the American Biogas Council (ABC), the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE), the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), the Biomass Power Association (BPA), the Energy Recovery Council (ERC), the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA), the National Hydropower Association (NHA), and the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). To read the full declaration click here.EVENTS
Alternative Technology Advisory Subcommittee Meeting (ATAS)
July 19, 2017
Alhambra, CA
For more information on this event, please visit the website:
http://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/tf/meetings.cfm
2017 U.S. Product Stewardship Forum
July 25-26, 2017
Boston, MA
For more information on this event, please visit the website:
http://www.productstewardship.us/page/2017_PSI_Forum
CRRA Annual Conference & Tradeshow
August 20-23, 2017
San Diego, CA
For more information on this event, please visit the website:
http://www.crra.com/conference
Waste Conversion Technology Conference
August 21-23, 2017
San Diego, CA
For more information on this event, please visit the website:
http://wasteconversionconference.com/agenda/
Resource Recycling Conference
August 28-30, 2017
Minneapolis, MN
For more information on this event, please visit the website:
http://rrconference.com/
Stakeholder Workshop for SB 1383 Short Lived Climate Pollutants (SLCPs) Riverside
August 31, 2017
Riverside, CA
For more information on this event, please visit the website:
http://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/Actions/PublicNoticeDetail.aspx?id=2159&aiid=1965
ISWA's World Congress & WASTECON 2017
September 25-27, 2017
For more information on this event, please visit the website:
https://swana.org/events/wastecon.aspx
2017 Syngas Technologies Conference
Wednesday, October 15-18, 2017
For more information on this event, please visit the website:
http://www.gasification-syngas.org/events/2017-conference/NEWS
Biogas RNG Outpacing Even Solar in Growth Potential
Patrick Serfass, Executive Director of the American Biogas Council, credits the growth of Renewable Natural Gas with the abundance of potential energy sources in the US. Specifically, Serfass refers to the tons of food waste generated annually, manure generated, and the trillions of gallons of wastewater generated daily, that would otherwise be handled and disposed of at high costs. However, more than 2,200 biogas facilities across the US are aimed at turning those handling and disposal costs into profits, cleaner air, and new jobs. The biogas industry simultaneously meets the needs of handling the countrys large waste stream and providing farmers with fertilizers. The next step of biogas is to clean it so that it can be pumped directly into the countrys existing natural gas pipelines for distribution. While growth potential is currently present in the biogas RNG industry, the recent cuts to federal programs related to renewable energy make the future growth of biogas RNG somewhat uncertain. To read more, click here.
How New York Is Turning Food Waste into Compost and Gas
Approximately 14 million tons of waste in New York City are thrown out each year at a cost of $400 million dollars annually just to ship what is collected to incinerators and landfills. This does not include the private companies that handle waste from office and business buildings. The largest portion of the waste is organics, which prompted former Mayor Michael Bloomberg to declare food waste as the final recycling frontier. Kathryn Garcia boldly claimed on her first day as sanitation commissioner that her agency would lead the nation in organics recycling. A program was developed to more efficiently collect organics that would be separated by the citizens of New York City, which has been difficult to get large commercial buildings on board with. Most of the citys organics will head to private facilities within the city to eventually be composted, but NYC is looking at Quantum Biopower to install digesters as it will physically take up less space than composting fields and will create energy. A testing program that began five years ago, in a wastewater treatment plant in Brooklyn has increased its biogas production by as much as 17 percent according to the Department of Environmental Protection. But none of this is usable for energy yet and is burned off. National Grid would like to eventually see usable biogas fuel the very trucks that haul the organics to these plants and warm the houses from which the waste is collected. To read more, click here.
Water Environment Federation and American Biogas Council Partner on Organic Waste Conversion
The American Biogas Council (ABC) is partnering up with Washington-based Water Environment Federation (WEF) to expand conversion technology across the US. The country has over 2,200 operating biogas facilities, 1,300 of which are located at water resource recovery facilities. WEF reports that there are almost 4,000 such facilities where new biogas systems can be installed to help provide renewable fuel source. Both ABC and WEF signed a new memorandum of understanding clearly stating their goal to promote resource recovery, specifically from biogas systems at water facilities. This memorandum of understanding formalizes both organizations support of the beneficial us of biogas, digested materials, and biosolids, the use of proven technologies that facilitate energy and nutrient recovery, encouraging state and federal legislation that promotes the use of biogas as a renewable energy source, and the continued research in regards to biosolids management. To read more, click here.
Philadelphia Soliciting Ideas to Digest Pre-Processed Food Scraps
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney established a zero waste goal by 2035 to divert 228,000 tons of food waste away from landfills. Mayor Kenney tasked his Zero Waste and Litter Cabinet to develop a detailed plan by September. The City of Philadelphia reaffirmed that food waste diversion is critical to its zero-waste goal but this is a non-binding step toward potential co-digestion. The Philadelphia Water Department recently issued a Request for Information for two of its water pollution control plants to accept pre-processed, liquefied material. It will likely start with a demo before it is decided to scale up. The aforementioned facilities already co-digest aircraft deicing fluid through a partnership with Philadelphia International Airport and are set up to capture biogas for on-site use. To read more, click here.
Stony Point: $700M Trash Plant Fuels Optimism and Criticism
The town of Stony Point in Rockland County, New York has been planning to install a gasification plant for years and has made a deal with Los Angeles based New Plant Energy to move ahead with the proposal. The two-phase project intends to process at least 4,500 tons of garbage a day from municipalities in New York City and Westchester, but none from Rockland itself. This project is expected to result in 200 round-trips by garbage trucks to haul material to the facility, that plans to use a steam reformation system, rather than incineration. Half the material will be converted into solid recovered fuel and the rest will be converted into sulfur-free diesel fuel in a projected total of 20 million gallons of diesel fuel per year. While the gasification plant is projected to bring jobs and tax revenue back to the manufacturing town, there is concern among the residents of the neighboring town of Haverstraw. Haverstraw Supervisor Howard Phillips raised concerns about increase in traffic, proximity to residential neighborhoods, and air emissions released from the plant. To read more, click here.
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