When fully operational, the CO2 capture system is expected to reduce Gorgon's greenhouse gas emissions by about 40 pct -- more than 100 million tonnes over its life. (Source: Chevron, Financial review, 15 Feb., 2020)
More Low-Carbon Energy News Chevron news, CCS news, LNG news,
To be successful in retrofit projects, 51 pct of respondents said more innovation in renewable power generation and energy storage is needed, with 48 pct agreeing that solar power will provide the biggest performance gain on retrofit projects over the next two years.
As well, digitalised energy systems, which could feed into smart meters or energy use apps, look set to allow customers greater control over their energy use to the point where efficiencies can result in a surplus of energy, was also widely agreed upon.
50 pct of respondents believe that net-zero carbon buildings will soon be able to generate income by selling excess energy.
The survey also found
an ambitious national retrofit campaign is needed. (Source: WSP Consultancy, pbctoday, Feb., 2020) Contact: WSP,
Nick Offer, UK Building Services Head, www.wsp.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Energy Efficiency,
BPI is intended to give greater transparency the construction industry's thatselection and use of materials that meet sustainability regulations intended for "green" building ratings.
In addition to the green rating of building materials, the free BPI Rating also assesses the expected performance and resilience of products and the companies producing them.
The BPI search platform is the brainchild of Jonas Bengtsson, CEO of sustainability advisory firm Edge Environments and was developed by IT firm ComplyFlow with the backing of a government grant from AusIndustry and support from the Insurance Council of Australia.
(Source: Edge Environment, Hotel Management, 13 Feb., 2020) Contact: Edge Environment,
Jonas Bengtsson, CEO, +61 2 9438 0100, www.edgeenvironment.com
Under the staff proposal, utilities will be able to recover lost revenues attributable to their energy efficiency programs, as well as programs to reduce peak-time energy consumption -- all of which runs contrary to established utility business models that encourage energy consumption to the point of wastefulness for growth and higher profits.
The draft proposal is modeled on energy efficiency programs adopted by South Jersey Gas and New Jersey Natural Gas more than a decade ago, so-called limited decoupling. Dubbed Conservation Incentive Programs (CIP), they rely on incentives funded by shareholders to implement conservation programs.
The staff draft balances the interests of both the utilities and ratepayers and allows utilities to earn a return on their energy efficiency investments, according to the NJBPU.
(Source: New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, NJ Spotlight, 13 Feb., 2020) Contact: New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, 800-624-0241, www.bpu.state.nj.us
More Low-Carbon Energy News New Jersey Board of Public Utilities , Energy Efficiency,
The loan funds will be used to accelerate commercialisation of the company's services and enhance its positive environmental impact in South-Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans. Part of the EIB loan will be used for digitalisation and development of new energy management systems such as supervising functions, technical intelligence, smart meters and sub-meters controls etc. The remaining funds will be invested in new services and IT technologies crucial for the improvement of energy performance of buildings.
(Source: EIB, European Commission Europa, PR, 13 Fab., 2020)Contact: EIB, www.eib.org; Resalta, www.resalta.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News European Investment Bank,
Saceem brings scale and financial muscle to the alliance, while Ventus has been operating in Colombia since 2017.
Both companies have been active in wind energy projects in Uruguay. Ventus is presently constructing five solar farms totaling over 60 MW in Colombia. (Source: Saceem, PR, reve 13 Feb., 2020) Contact: Saceem, +598 2916 0208, www.saceem.com; Ventus Enerji, Francis Raquet, Bus. Dev., (312) 284 66 32, info@ventusenerji.com.tr, www.ventusenerji.com.tr
More Low-Carbon Energy News Wind, Solar, Ventus,
According to Reuters, the company's new game plan is in response to an uncertain ethanol market outlook, the Trump administration's continued issuance of RFS ethanol blending "hardship waivers" and an almost 20 pct drop in revenues from ethanol sales in 2019.
As previously noted, "hardship waivers" were intended for refineries producing 75,000 bpd or less and suffered "disproportionate economic hardship" from the costs of RFS compliance. The waiver frees the refineries from an obligation to provide the EPA with biofuels credits proving compliance. Under the now vanquished administrator Greg Pruitt's direction, the EPA handed out 54 exemptions over two years and not a single waiver request for an exemption was denied.
(Source: Green Plains, Successful Farming, Feb., 2020)Contact: Green Plains, Jim Stark, VP-IR, (402) 884-8700, www.gpreinc.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Green Plains Inc., DDGs, Ethanol, RFS,
Nationwide is also calling on the government, home builders and lenders to create meaningful incentives for home energy efficiency and greener homes in general.
Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual financial institution, the seventh largest cooperative financial institution and the largest building society in the world with over 15 million members. Nationwide is one of over 40 members of the Green Finance Institute's Coalition for Energy Efficiency of Buildings, of which developing the market for financing net-zero carbon and climate-resilient homes is a "key objective. (Source: Nationwide Building Society, PR, 10 Feb., 2020) Contact: Nationwide Building Society, www.nationwide.co.uk
More Low-Carbon Energy News Nationwide Building Society ,
Of the total, $39 million is earmarked for one or two projects seeking to develop a test site to speed up the commercialization of supercritical carbon dioxide power cycles used by concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. Up to 11 projects will qualify for a total of $30 million for developing community microgrids and boosting the cybersecurity for solar inverters and power plants.
An additional $15 million will be shared by between * and 12 projects aimed at prolonging the lifespan of PV systems and cut hardware costs for plants using traditional silicon solar cells, as well as thin-film, tandem and perovskite cells. Innovative solar manufacturing projects, emerging technologies, solar farm siting and
artificial intelligence applications for the solar sector will also qualify for funding under this offering. (Source: US DOE, Feb., 2020) Contact: US DOE, www.energy.gov › eere › office-energy-efficiency-renewable-energy,
energy.gov/solar-office
More Low-Carbon Energy News US DOE, Solar, ,
UPM-Kymmene' buiness companies include: UPM Biorefining, UPM Energy, UPM Raflatac, UPM Paper Asia, UPM Paper ENA and UPM Plywood
(Source: UPM-Kymmene Corp., 10 Feb., 2020) Contact: UPM-Kymmene Corp, Jussi Pesonen, Pres., Tel. +358 204 15 111,
Fax. +358 204 15 110, www.upm.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Wood.Woody Biomass, UPM, Biochemical, Biofuel,
The development of "grid-forming" controls will allow wind and solar inverters to form voltage and frequency levels like traditional generators, creating an opportunity for greater and more resilient integration of these resources into the grid.
(Source: GE Research, PR, 7 Feb., 2020)
Contact: DOE Solar Energy Technologies Office, energy.gov/solar-office; GE Research, www.ge.com › research
More Low-Carbon Energy News GE Research, PV, US DOE SETO,
Dominion previously committed to cut methane emissions from its natural gas operations by 50 pct between 2010 and 2030 and carbon emissions from its power generating facilities by 80 pct between 2005 and 2050. To date, Dominion has cut carbon emissions approximately 50 pct since 2005 and reduced methane emissions by nearly 25 pct since 2010.
The utility has committed to invest in carbon-beneficial renewable natural gas (RNG) projects that will capture an amount of methane from U.S. farms at least equivalent to any remaining methane and carbon dioxide emissions from the company's natural gas operations, making Dominion's gas infrastructure area net zero 10 years before the overall company.
(Source: Dominion Energy, PR, NewsWire, 11 Feb., 2020) Contact: Dominion Energy, Thomas F. Farrell, CEO, Pres., www.dominionenergy.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Dominion Energy , Carbon Emissions, Climate Change,
In its deliberations, the city is defining home wind turbines as being roughly
20 feet high, if ground mounted, or 20 feet above roof height. The models under consideration can generally be
ordered through companies like Home Depot, Amazon, and eBay.
(Source: City of Fargo, Cuty Live, 10 Feb., 2020) Contact: City of Fargo, www.fargond.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News Wind, Wind Turbine, ,
The project is being funded by the partners and the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) in Aberdeen. If the initial work is successful, the partners will commit to a field trial using a Mocean Energy prototype offshore Orkney, northern Scotland, later this year.
In 2019, Wave Energy Scotland agreed to supply £3.3 million ($4.27 million) to the company to construct and test a half-scale version of its technology at sea.
(Source: Mocean Energy, PR, 10 Frb., 2020) Contact: Mocean Energy , Cameron McNatt, Managing Director, +44 (0)131 651 7959, hello@mocean.energy, www.mocean.energy.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Mocean Energy.Ocean Energy, Wave Energy,
As part of Fly Responsibly, KLM invites passengers to participate in its CO2ZERO compensation Corporate BioFuel Programme aimed at increasing the use of
sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and achieving carbon reduction targets in the aviation sector. (Source: KLM, PR, Feb., 2020) Contact: KLM, www.klm.com/travel/nl_en/corporate/index.htm
More Low-Carbon Energy News KLM , SAF, Aviation Biofuel Royal Dutch Airlines, Aviation Biofuel ,
The project focuses on developing cost-effective manufacturing process for better lithium-ion batteries for various applications.
The project is being led by assistant professor Dr. Qingliu Wu of WMU's Department of Chemical and Paper Engineering.
(Source: Western Michigan University, WKZ, 10 Feb., 2020) Contact: Western Michigan University, Dept. of Paper and Chemical Engineering, (269) 276-3500 www.wmich.edu
More Low-Carbon Energy News Battery, Energy Storage,
BuildingIQ, which uses IoT and AI to create energy savings and maximize building efficiency, currently connects more than 1,350 commercial buildings worldwide with over 140 million square-feet under management.
Subject to certain conditions and regulatory approvals the proposed transaction is expected to close on June 19, 2020 .
mCloud offers complete asset management solutions to three distinct segments: smart facilities, power generation, and process industries including oil and gas. (Source: mCloud Technologies Corp., PR, CNW Feb., 2020) Contact: mCloud, Russ McMeekin, CEO, www.mcloudcorp.com; BuildingIQ, www.buildingiq.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News mCloud, BuildingIQ,
The SPI portfolio includes closed projects in Yamhill, Polk, Marion and Clakamas counties . SPI Energy also announced the agreed acquisition of up to eight projects with a combined capacity of 21 MW in Oregon in July. All projects have 20-year PPAs with Portland General Electric.
SPI Energy Co., Ltd. provides photovoltaic solutions for business, residential, government, and utility customers and investors. It offers engineering, procurement, and construction services to independent power developers and producers, and commercial and industrial companies. The company also develops, owns, and operates solar projects that sell electricity to power companies and other electricity off-takers. As of April 30, 2019, it owned and operated 15.706 MW of solar projects. The company operates in Greece, the United States, Italy, Japan, the U.K., Australia, and Germany.
(Source: SPI Energy Ltd, Renewables, Feb., 2020)
Contact: SPI Energy Ltd., www.spigroups.com; Oregon Community Solar Programme, www.oseia.org › communitysolar
More Low-Carbon Energy News SPI Energy, Solar, Community Solar,
As per the EoI document, the winning bidder will be required to lock in its shares for a period of three years during which it cannot undertake the sale of its stake in CEL. The last date for the submission of interest is March 16, 2020. Private or public limited company registered under the Companies Act can participate in the offering.
(Source: Indian Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology, PR, 11 Feb., 2020)
Contact: Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Ministry of Science & Technology; www.dst.gov.in;
Central Electronics Limited, +91-120-2895155, 2895156,
+91-120-2895142, 2895148 - fax, www.celindia.co.in
More Low-Carbon Energy News Central Electronics Limited, India Solar, Solar,
More Low-Carbon Energy News Equinor, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change,
SoCalGas energy efficiency programs include offering rebates on hundreds of home appliances and products such as smart thermostat,LED lighting, energy efficient furnaces, Energy Star appliances and others that help cut energy consumption and reduce costs.
(Source: SoCalGas, CNS, Feb., 2020) Contact: SoCalGas, Darren Hanway, manager of energy programs and strategy , (800) 427-2200, www.socalgas.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Southern California Gas , Energy Efficiency,
The US recorded the largest emissions decline on a country basis, with a fall of 140 million tonnes -- 2.9 pct. US emissions are now down by almost 1 gigatonne from their peak in 2000.
In 2019, EU emissions fell by 160 million tonnes,
Japan's emissions dropped by 45 million tonnes, while
Emissions in the rest of the world grew by close to 400 million tonnes -- with almost 80 pct of the increase coming from Asian countries where coal-fired power generation continued to rise.
(Source: IEA, ESI Africa, 11 Feb., 2020) Contact: IEA, Dr Fatih Birol, Exec. Dir., +33 1 40 57 65 00, www.iea.org
More Low-Carbon Energy News Carbon Emissions, IEA,
Following the pilot, the City will work with program partners and participants to develop a strategy for enhancing the program including scaling up to reach more renters in need of these services. Additional plans to expand the program include addressing whole-building energy efficiency challenges of multifamily structures.
The City is working with the Community Action Agency, People Working Cooperatively, Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance, and American Cities Climate Challenge to implement the project. (Source: City of Cincinnati, PR, Feb., 2020) Contact: City of Cincinnati, www.cincinnati-oh.gov;
WarmUp Cincy Program, www.facebook.com/warmup.cincinnati
More Low-Carbon Energy News Energy Efficiency,
The study, which will explore the success of a 10,000 tpy carbon capture unit in a California Chevron facility, is expected to be completed in the first half of this year.
Chevron first invested in Svante in 2014, and established its $90 million Future Energy Fund in 2018 to focus on technologies that enable the low-carbon energy transition, according to the release.
Burnaby, British Columbia-based Svante -- f.k.a. Inventys Inc. -- has developed a commercially viable option to capture large-scale CO2 emissions from existing infrastructure.
(Source: Chevron Technology Ventures, PR, Feb., 2020)
Contact: Chevron Technology Ventures, Barbara Burger, Pres., techventures@chevron.com, www.chevron.com/technology/technology-ventures; Svante Inc., Claude Letourneau, , Pres., CEO, Julia McKenna , Inv. Relations, 604.456.0504, jmckenna@svanteinc.com, www.svanteinc.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Chevron Technology Ventures, Svante,
Oberon Fuels, which raised over $30 million in private funding since 2010, received $2.9 million in California grant funding to upgrade its existing DME pilot facility to demonstration scale and facilitate -- the first production of rDME in the U.S., with a target production capacity of approximately 1.6 million gpy of DME.
DME is approved as a renewable fuel under the U.S. EPA Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), and is eligible for RIN credits when made from biogas by the Oberon process. California Air Resources Board (CARB) has estimated that dairy manure converted to DME by the Oberon process has a CI of -278 gCO2e/MJ compared to ultra-low-sulfur diesel which has a CI of 100 gCO2e/MJ, according to the company.
(Source: Oberon Fuels, PR, Feb., 2020) Contact: Oberon Fuels, Ruben Martin, CEO, 619.255.9361,
619.756.6470 - fax,
info@oberonfuels.com www.obersonfuels.com; SHV Energy,
Bram Graber, CEO, +31 (0) 23 5555 700, +31 (0) 23 5555 701 - fax., www.shvenergy.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Oberon Fuels, SHV Energy,
Nationwide is also calling on the government, home builders and lenders to create meaningful incentives for home energy efficiency and greener homes in general. Nationwide is calling for Government to commission an independent review of council taxes, explore how it could incentivize green home improvements, as well as transition the Help to Buy program to a Help to Green program. Nationwide also notes the government's Future Homes Standard is set to be introduced in 2025, introducing higher energy efficiency standards for new build homes.
Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual financial institution, the seventh largest cooperative financial institution and the largest building society in the world with over 15 million members. Nationwide is one of over 40 members of the Green Finance Institute's Coalition for Energy Efficiency of Buildings, of which developing the market for financing net-zero carbon and climate-resilient homes is a "key objective. (Source: Nationwide Building Society, PR, 10 Feb., 2020) Contact: Nationwide Building Society, www.nationwide.co.uk
More Low-Carbon Energy News Nationwide Building Society, "Green" Home, "Green" Mortgage, Energy Efficiency ,
The Indian Union Power Ministry has mandated at least 21 pct of all energy requirements be from renewable energy sources by 2021-22.
(Source: Greenko Group, Hindu Business Line, 2 Feb., 2020) Contact: Solar Energy Corporation of India, corporate@seci.co.in, www.seci.co.in; Greenko Group, Anil Chalamalasetty, CEO, +91 40 40301000, info@greenkogroup.com, www.greenkogroup.com; ReNew Power Limited, Ms. Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Chief Sustainability Officer, www.renewpower.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Renew Power, Solar Energy Corporation of India, Greenko Group, India Solar,
The Formosa 1 wind energy project, Taiwan's first commercial-scale offshore wind farm, is a joint venture project of Orsted, JERA, Macquarie's Green Investment Group and Swancor Holding.
Renewable Strategy Limited (RSL) is an offshore wind and wind software solutions, training and advisory firm, with emphasis on systematic solutions, data integrity, asset integrity management and operations and maintenance insights. The company's wind farm management software is used by wind farm owners, operators and asset managers to harness wind farm data turning it into a strategic asset that enables users to monitor and supervise offshore activities across multiple wind farms whilst gathering inventory information and performance statistics.
(Source: Renewable Strategy Ltd., PR reve, 7 Feb., 2020) Contact: Renewable Strategy Ltd., Natalie Dencker, Co-Founder, +44 20 3290 6335, www.renewablestrategy.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Renewable Strategy, Formosa 1, Wind,
Global Permafrost covers an area almost equal to Canada and the United States combined, and holds about 1,500 billion tonnes or carbon -- twice as much as in the atmosphere and three times the amount humanity has emitted since the start of industrialization.
According to the UN's scientific advisory body for climate change, the IPCC, global permafrost areas show a decrease of 24 pct by 2100. The IPPC also notes that 70 pct of permafrost could gradually disappear if fossil fuel emissions continue growing over the next 50 years and release 60 to 100 billion tonnes of carbon by 2300. This is in addition to the 200 billion tonnes of carbon expected to be released in other regions, according to the study.
(Source: Arctic and Alpine Research, Nature, AFP, Feb., 2020) Contact: INSTAAR, Merritt Turetsky, (303) 492-6387,
(303) 492-3287 - fax, www.colorado.edu › innovate › institute-arctic-and-alpine-research
More Low-Carbon Energy News Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Permafrost,
The latest C1000S ICHP microturbine order will be installed at a recycling plant and will be utilized in a combined heat and power (CHP) application. The order includes a Capstone supplied integrated roof mounted heat recovery module (HRM). The HRM is able to capture the waste heat from the microturbine, thereby achieving two outputs - electrical and thermal - from a single fuel source, in this case, low-pressure natural gas. The integrated CHP solution provides greater than 80 percent overall efficiency, while reducing NOx and greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions.
Capstone's energy efficiency business has grown from 40 pct of total revenues last year to 54 pct this year, according to the release.
(Source:: Capstone Turbine Corporation, PR, AccessWire, 10 Feb., 2020) Contact: Capstone Turbine Corp., Darren Jamison, Pres., CEO, 818-407-3628, ir@capstoneturbine.com, www.capstoneturbine.com; SCE Energy, Sam Clark, Pres., www.scengy.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Capstone Turbine, CHP,
To that end, the research team conducted experiments that mimicked real industrial operations and compared the performance of their new materials with those that are currently commercially available.
According to Dr Susana Garcia, Assoc. Dir., Heriot-Watt Research Centre for Carbon Solutions, "Instead of the conventional trial and error, we computer-generated 325,000 MOFs and identified the features of the best performers. We now have the tools to tailor-make a material that will separate carbon dioxide in the most economical way for a given source, like industrial emissions, and make it available for other purposes like carbon storage or as a resource for the chemical industry," Dr. Garcia noted. (Source: Heriot-Watt University, PR, Engineer Live, 17 Dec., 2019) Contact: Heriot-Watt University, Dr Susana Garcia, Assoc. Dir., Heriot-Watt Research Centre for Carbon Solutions, www.hw.ac.uk
More Low-Carbon Energy News Heriot-Watt University , Carbon Capture,
Kogi State Government, the NNPC and private investors have also finalized agreement to an agreement to establish a 20,000 hectare sugarcane and cassava biofuel feedstock cultivation zone to supply the new biorefiney. (Source: Nigerian National Petroleum, PR, Feb., 2020) Contact: Nigerian National Petroleum, Danjuma Yakubu, contactus@nnpcgroup.com, www.nnpcgroup.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Cassava, Biofuel,
The project, which will incorporate approximately 400,000 PV panels for an annual capacity of 120MW, is slated to come online in 2021 and will be connected to existing infrastructure.
(Source: Shell Australia, PR, CSO. 7 Feb., 2020) Contact: Shell Australia. Shell Energy, Greg Joiner, VP Australia, +61 8 9338 6600,
www.shell.com.au
More Low-Carbon Energy News Shell Australia , Solar, Australia Solar,
The two companies plan to invest in wind and solar projects with battery storage or transmission, distributed generation, off-grid renewable energy networks, and other sectors.
Innergex anticipates using about $50 million from the private placement to develop its 200 MW Hillcrest solar photovoltaic project in Brown County, Ohio, according to the Reuters report.
(Source: Innergex Renewable Energy, Reuters, 6 Feb., 2020) Contact: Innergex Renewable Energy, Jean Trudel, (450) 926-2550, info@innergex.com, www.innergex.com;
Hydro-Quebec, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, (514) 289-5005, www.hydroquebec.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Innergex Renewable Energy , Hydro-Quebec,
The grant funds, which are aimed at addressing climate change though enhanced energy efficiency and increased use of renewable energy, will be targeted to
local Polish governments, NGOs, higher education institutions and private enterprises. The project is aiming to cut the country's CO2 emissions by 600,000 tpy.
(Source: Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment, TheFirstNews (Poland), 17 Feb., 2020)
Contact: Norway Environment, Energy and Climate Change Programme, www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/kld/id668
More Low-Carbon Energy News Climate Change,
The agency gets much of its power from the coal-fired Sherco 3 power plant in Becker, Minn. SMMPA holds a 41 pct stake in the generating unit. But Sherco 3's majority owner, Xcel Energy, announced last year it intends to retire the plant in 2030. SMMPA notes that with the declining costs of wind and solar it makes sense to replace most of that coal-fired electricity with renewables -- probably an equal mix of wind and solar. The planned change would result in a 90 pct reduction in CO2 emissions from 2005 levels.
SMMPA currently sources over 20 pctof its power from renewable sources, Schoenherr said. It also gets carbon-free electricity from hydropower projects.
SMMPA provides electricity to 18 city-owned utilities, mostly in the southern and central parts of the state, including Rochester, Austin, Owatonna and Mora. (Source: SMMPA, MN Public Radio. 7 Feb., 2020) Contact: SMMPA, Dave Geschwind, Exec. Dir., CEO, 507-285-0478, www.smmpa.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Southern Minnesota Municipal Power Agency , SMMPA, ,
The facility supplies clean electricity to Austin Energy which has committed to meet 65 pct of its customers' energy demand with renewable resources by 2027, and Nike which has committed to power 100 pct of its owned or operated facilities with renewable energy by 2025 as a part of its RE100 commitment.
The Karankawa facility is the sixth and largest Avangrid Renewables wind farm in the state of Texas. The company's Texas wind portfolio has a capacity of over 1,200 MW delivering clean electricity to commercial and utility customers, according to the release.
(Source: Avangrid Renewables, Power Eng., 7 Feb., 2020) Contact: Avangrid Renewables, Laura Beane , ceo, www.avangridren.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Avangrid Renewables,
According to Schmidt, the savings were the result of switching 12,608 light bulbs with LED bulbs at 15 of the counties 26 facilities through Ameren Illinois' Energy Efficiency Program. The switch to LEDs is expected to save the county roughly $67,900 in annual energy costs. (Source: Madison County, WBCZ Radio, Alton Daily News, 9 Feb., 2020)
Contact: Madison County, County Clerk, Debbie Ming-Mendoza, (618) 692-6290, Rob Schmidt, County Facilities Director, www.co.madison.il.us: Ameren Illinois, www.ameren.com/illinois
More Low-Carbon Energy News Ameren Illinois, LED Light, Energy Efficiency,
Using the BGU system, organic components are dissolved by supercritical water into hydrogen, methane and carbon dioxide. Hydrogen and methane produced by dissolving organic materials can serve as fuel sources and feedstocks for the chemical industry, and hydrogen is particularly relevant to the automotive industry's efforts to replace gasoline. Accoding to the BGU researchers, the combination of unique properties of supercritical water and continued technological innovation will ultimately outperform existing waste-to-gas solutions.
The BGU researchers are reportedly in discussions with two companies to develop a pilot facility and commercialize their technology.
(Source: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Jerusalem Post, 9 Feb., 2020) Contact: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Dr. Efim Korytnyi, 972-8-6461111, in.bgu.ac.il
More Low-Carbon Energy News Waste-to-Energy, Waste-to-Gas,
Vermont legislators set a goal to weatherize 80,000 homes by 2020 but as of 2018, only 27,186 homes had been weatherized, according to a 2020 energy report from the state Department of Public Service.
Download the
Vermont Energy Burden Report 2019 HERE. Source: Efficiency Vermont, Vermont Digger, 7 Feb., 2020) Contact: Efficiency Vermont, (888) 921-5990, www.efficiencyvermont.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Efficiency Vermont, Energy Efficiency,
The new group's first Annual General Meeting will be held in conjunction with the inaugural Electricity Transformation Canada meeting this November in Toronto. (Source: CanWEA, CanSIA, Electrical Business, 9 Feb., 2020) Contact: Canadian Wind Energy Association, Robert Hornung, President, (613) 915-4857, www.canwea.ca; CanSIA, 866-522-6742, www.cansia.ca
More Low-Carbon Energy News Solar, Wind, CanSIA, Canadian Wind Energy Association,
The letter also notes
UK-based researchers found last year that burning wood is a "disaster" for climate change because older trees release large amounts of carbon when they are burned and aren't always replaced with replanted forests. Even when trees are replaced, it can take up to 100 years to cultivate a wooded area that soaks up as much carbon as was previously released. And the fuel burned in shipping wood pellets to Europe is also a significant source of emissions.
(Source: Virginia Grassroots Coalition, 9 Feb., 2020)
Contact: Virginia Grassroots Coalition, www.virginiagrassroots.org
More Low-Carbon Energy News Woody Biomass,
ADBA notes that AD biogas 'ready-to-use' technology helps cut emissions in the hardest-to-decarbonize sectors of heat, transport and agriculture. Upgraded to biomethane, biogas can be injected into the grid with no changes needed to the existing gas infrastructure and used as a green transportation fuel, ADBA notes.
In the last decade, the UK AD sector grew 350 pct and is now employing over 3500 people. But it still needs policy incentives and investment to reach its full potential. In 2019, 650 AD plants across the UK produced 10.7TWh of energy. Over the next 10 years, ADBA anticipates that in addition to reducing emissions by 22.5m tonnes of CO2-equivalent every year -- about 5 pct of total UK greenhouse gases emissions -- it has the potential to meet nearly 20 pct of current domestic gas demand while providing 30,000 new green jobs in rural areas. The sector has also developed world-leading expertise which gives the UK a real opportunity to be at the heart of a growing global biogas industry, according to the release.
(Source: UK Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association Contact: Anaerobic Digestion and Bioresources Association, Charlotte Morton, CEO, +44 (0) 20 3176 0503, +44 (0) 84 4292 0875 – fax., enquiries@adbioresources.org, www.adbioresources.org
More Low-Carbon Energy News Biomethane, Biogas, Anaerobic Digestion,
This offering will enable homeowners to install a new roof together with a state-of-the-art home solar system covered by the Sunnova Protect™ 25-year service guarantee.
(Source: Sunnova Energy International Inc., PR, Feb., 2020) Contact: Sunnova Energy, John Berger, CEO, Kelsey Hultberg, (281) 985-9900, Kelsey.Hultberg@sunnova.com, www.sunnova.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Sunnova Energy , Solar, Energy Storage, Solar + Storage,
The facility was originally constructed as the 21 MMgy Central MN Ethanol Co-op corn ethanol plant. Green Biologics Inc., a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of U.K.-based biotechnology and renewable chemical company Green Biologics Ltd., purchased the facility in December 2014 through its Central MN Renewables LLC affiliate. The facility was retrofitted to produce biobased butanol and acetone and resumed operations in 2016. In mid-2019, Green Biologics announced it could not secure funding to continue operations and would close the plant.
According to the WDL website, White Dog Labs was established in 2012 on the foundation of harnessing natural microorganism diversity to address global challenges in food sustainability, climate change and general human and animal nutrition. The company goes beyond discovery to also design and scale bioprocesses with end product application in mind.
Core to WDL discovery is its proprietary Protocol B™ process coupled with additional high-throughput selection techniques for the isolation and cultivation of microbiome-derived anaerobic microorganisms. WDL's approaches result in large, diverse and novel strain libraries informed through emerging applications in microbiome science, and yield promising solutions for animal nutrition and health.
WDL also invented a novel class of fermentation technology called MixoFerm™ that allows cultivation of previously "unculturable" bacteria while also improving the carbon efficiency of fermentation processes by 50 to 100 pct, according to the WDL website.(Source: White Dog Labs, PR, Ethanol Producer, 4 Feb., 2020) Contact: White Dog Labs., Bryan Tracy, (302) 220-4763, btracy@whitedoglabs.com, www.WhiteDogLabs.com; Central Minnesota Renewables, 320-632-1614, www.centralmnrenewables.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News White Dog Labs , Central Minnesota Renewables,
The study also suggests the local economy might be able to avoid fallout from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to achieve carbon neutrality, in part, by managing the decline of California's Kern-centric oil industry and Kern's previously recognized geologic underground carbon storage capacity.
The LNL report -- Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California -- also notes the entire effort would cost less than $10 billion per year, or less than .05 pct of the state's economic output.
According to the report, 84 megatons per year of CO2 emissions can be rerouted by creating biofuels from biomass and that carbon associated with such activities could then be buried.
Another 25 megatons per year could be avoided by restoring woodlands, grasslands and wetlands, among other land-management practices.
Additional savings could be pulled right out of the air using energy-intensive technology.
(Source: Lawrence Livermore National Lab, Bakersfield.com,3 Feb., 2020) Contact: Lawrence Livermore National Lab, www.llnl.gov
More Low-Carbon Energy News Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California, Lawrence Livermore National Lab ,
The project, which is expected to generate sufficient solar power for roughly 250 homes. will be constructed by
RER Energy and managed by Sunvestment. (Source: Saranac Lake, Adirondack Daily Entersprise, 4 Feb., 2020) Contact:
Sunvestment Energy, www.sunvestmentgroup.com; RER Energy, Mike Barnes, COO, mbarnes@rerenergygroup.com, 717-554-5801, www.rerenergygroup.com
More Low-Carbon Energy News Solar, Sunvestment Energy, RER Energy, Community Solar,