Newsworthy

Mass burn/ incineration

Temarry Recycling renovates WTE cooling system

Temarry Recycling of Tecate, California, says it has invested $100,000 to renovate its waste-to-energy system processes to improve the efficiency of the WTE process.

Temarry’s WTE process has been operating at its Mexico facility, Recicladora Temarry, for the last seven years, the company says, explaining that it is an integral part of the company’s closed-loop recycling system that uses hazardous waste solids such as rags and debris to generate steam to power recovery stills.

The company says the system provides generators of hazardous materials a desirable and cost effective alternative to the industry standard of shipping waste solvents and flammable solids to the Midwest for fuel blending.

A major part of the investment is a new injection system for cooling combustion chambers. The primary benefits of the new system are the reduction of water for cooling down the combustion chambers, the ability to feed waste faster and a reduction in the use of propane.

Over the past year, the amount of flammable solids shipped to Temarry by generators from the Western U.S. has doubled. To accommodate this increase and anticipated future increases, Temarry says completing this renovation was critical.

Anaerobic Digestion

First large-scale anaerobic digester announced for New York City

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the launch of an anaerobic digester project on Long Island that he says will serve as an innovative model of how clean, on-site power can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support sustainable communities. By providing Long Island with a local clean energy generation resource, the project aligns with Governor Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision, the state’s comprehensive energy strategy to build a clean, resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers.

“This exciting project is yet one more way we’re investing in a sustainable energy future and building a cleaner and greener New York,” Governor Cuomo said. “This first-of-its kind project for Long Island and the greater New York metropolitan area will build upon this administration’s commitment to expand the state’s use of renewable energy and reduce our carbon footprint.”

The new anaerobic digester will be operated by American Organic Energy, Westbury, New York, at Long Island Compost’s 62-acre facility in Yaphank, Suffolk County, New York. The project will accept approximately 120,000 tons of food waste, 30,000 tons of fats, oils and greases, and 10,000 tons of grass clippings from the Long Island region annually that would otherwise have been transported and dumped into landfills, contributing to harmful greenhouse gas emissions. The digester will convert these waste streams to clean energy, clean water to be used for plant processes, and solid-based fertilizer.

To be built in the Yaphank facility where Long Island Compost currently resides, it will be the host to 180,000 tons of local food waste per year. By partnering with GE Water, quasar energy and Scott’s Miracle-Gro, and with the 30-year experience of the Vigliotti brothers in every aspect of organic waste management, American Organic Energy says it will possess the tools to collect, separate, preprocess, break down and transform Long Island’s food waste into convertible energy, vehicle fuel, electricity, fertilizer and nutrient-rich water.

The project, which is scheduled to be completed in August 2016, is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 40,000 tons annually, equivalent to removing 8,125 cars from the road.

All the electric power needed to run the digester and the existing facility will be generated using biogas from the project. Long Island Compost also plans to convert the biogas to renewable natural gas that will be used to fuel its trucks on-site, reducing diesel consumption by 200,000 gallons annually. An additional 1.9 million gallons of diesel per year will be offset by injecting the remaining renewable gas produced by the digester into the National Grid natural gas pipeline on Long Island. This will enable the gas to be used to fuel compressed natural gas vehicles in other areas.

The project is part of the Cleaner, Greener Communities program, a major statewide initiative encouraging communities to incorporate sustainability goals and principles into local plans and projects. The program enables communities to form partnerships that transform markets and lead to expanded deployment of clean energy, the reduction of emissions and the generation of economic development benefits. The program is administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Cleaner, Greener Communities is funded through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), the first market-based regulatory program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Conferences & Events

Waste Management’s Robinson shares waste conversion strategy

Susan Robinson of Waste Management (WM) shared the Houston-based company’s strategy on waste conversion during a panel at the Waste Conversion Technology Conference (WCTC) held in August in San Diego. Robinson outlined the $14 billion waste environmental services company’s involvement in waste conversion. WM started venturing into the new technology field about nine years ago and has about 30 investments today, she said.

While recycling is WM’s first priority as it has the greatest impact on the environment, she said many materials cannot be recycled or managed in other ways, “and that so often is what these [waste conversion] technologies bring to the table and why they are so important that we continue to invest in them.”

WM has begun focusing on what Robinson called “discreet materials” where the company is “slicing and dicing” the waste stream to solve its customers’ problems.

Robinson said WM is investing heavily on gasification “which is actually not really where we want to be.” She added, “We have really tried over the last couple of years to go back to things that are closer to our core competencies and closer towards commercialization.”

The core competencies include next-generation technologies that complement existing competencies in recycling, organics, landfill gas to energy and waste to energy, Robinson explained. Examples include gas and liquid fuels from the company’s existing landfills or its solid fuel product, SpecFUEL. The company also is creating a slurry from commercial food waste to be used in a wastewater treatment plant digester in Los Angeles County.

Robinson noted how difficult it can be to break into the energy and fuel end markets, as it is often new to the end user. “It is a lot more work and we are a lot more vulnerable moving into those places than we are in an industry we’ve been working in for decades,” she said.

The panel, moderated by Steven Torres of Pannone Lopes Devereaux & West, Providence, Rhode Island, included Michael Theroux of Cheyenne, Wyoming-based JDMT Inc. and Patrick Holland of the County of Los Angeles Department of Public Works. The WCTC was Aug. 17-19 at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay in San Diego.

Landfill gas

Indiana landfill gas project planned

Hoosier Energy and Randolph Farms Landfill have announced a partnership that will turn landfill gas into a renewable energy resource for Randolph County, Indiana.

Hoosier Energy, Bloomington, Indiana, plans to construct the Cabin Creek Renewable Energy Project, a 4-megawatt (MW) landfill gas facility, at the Randolph Farms Landfill located near Modoc, Indiana, in rural east-central Indiana. The renewable energy plant will be the fourth landfill methane gas (LMG) facility for the electric power supply cooperative and the first landfill gas partnership with the Kalamazoo, Michigan-based waste and recycling company.

Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2016.

Transportation fuels

UPS furthers strides toward renewable fuels

Atlanta-based UPS has announced agreements for up to 46 million gallons of renewable fuels over the next three years, constituting a 15-fold increase over prior contracts and making UPS one of the largest users of renewable diesel in the world.

The company says it has formed supply agreements with Neste, Renewable Energy Group (REG) and Solazyme to supply renewable diesel to UPS to help facilitate the company’s shift to move more than 12 percent of its purchased ground fuel from conventional diesel and gasoline fuel to alternative fuels by the end of 2017. UPS has been using renewable fuels for more than a year in trucks operating in Texas and Louisiana, and the new agreements pave the way for expanded use.

Neste, headquartered in Espoo, Finland, is among the world’s largest producers of renewable diesel. Neste produces NEXBTL renewable diesel from a variety of feedstocks including more than half from waste and residues.

REG, headquartered in Ames, Iowa, produces renewable hydrocarbon diesel fuel from waste vegetable oils and animal fats at its Geismar, Louisiana, biorefinery as well as biodiesel at nine biorefining locations in the U.S.

Solazyme, headquartered in San Francisco, produces a blended fuel made from microalgae and other renewable feedstocks.

“UPS believes these agreements are especially important because they will help stimulate demand for investment in refinery technologies and sustainable feedstocks needed to produce renewable fuels at a total cost that is comparable to more carbon-intensive petroleum fuels,” says Mark Wallace, UPS senior vice president, global engineering and sustainability.

Legislation & regulations

President Obama announces Clean Power Plan

President Barrack Obama announced the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s final Clean Power Plan on Aug. 3, which is designed to cut U.S. carbon pollution from the power sector by 870 million tons, or 32 percent below 2005 levels, in 2030. Power plants are the largest drivers of climate change in the United States, accounting for roughly one-third of all carbon pollution emissions, but there were no national limits on carbon pollution until now, according to EPA.

The Clean Power Plan accelerates the transition to a clean energy future, which is happening even faster than expected—which means carbon and air pollution are already decreasing, improving public health year by year. By 2030, the plan will cut carbon pollution from the power sector by nearly a third and additional reductions will come from pollutants that can create dangerous soot and smog, translating to significant health benefits for the American people. By 2030, emissions of sulfur dioxide from power plants will be 90 percent lower and emissions of nitrogen oxides will be 72 percent lower, compared with 2005 levels.

The final rule, fact sheets and details about the Clean Power Plan, the final standards for new, modified and reconstructed sources and the proposed federal plan are available at www2.epa.gov/cleanpowerplan.

Association activities

SWANA, CRRA form zero-waste curriculum

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), Silver Spring, Maryland, and the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) have announced the approval of a strategic partnership to develop and offer a Zero Waste Principles and Practices course and certification program throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“Many communities are adopting zero-waste programs or working to achieve high diversion, even where they don’t call it zero waste,” says Michelle Leonard, incoming president of SWANA. “We are excited about the collaboration with CRRA on this project. The fact that the two organizations are working together on it highlights the importance that both of us place on seeking advancement in how people consume resources and manage the byproducts—the waste—from that consumption.”

SWANA and CRRA say the joint course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of rapidly emerging public and private zero-waste programs and the key principles that support these programs.

SWANA and CRRA say members of both associations are the industry professionals often tasked with implementing integrated waste management systems in cities and counties. The course will provide tools to help draw aspects of existing programs and new efforts together into community-specific zero-waste programs.

The Zero Waste Principles and Practices Certification will be issued jointly by CRRA and SWANA and administered by SWANA as part of its certification program recognized in the U.S. and Canada.

Landfill gas

EPA proposes cutting methane emissions from municipal solid waste landfills

As part of the President’s Climate Action Plan–Strategy to Reduce Methane Emissions, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued two proposals to further reduce emissions of methane-rich gas from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. Under these recent proposals, landfill gas emissions at new, modified and existing landfills would be reduced by nearly one-third compared with current requirements.

Combined, the proposed rules are expected to reduce methane emissions by an estimated 487,000 tons per year beginning in 2025, which is equal to reducing 12.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, or the carbon pollution emissions from more than 1.1 million homes.

EPA estimates the climate benefits of the combined proposals at nearly $750 million in 2025, or nearly $14 for every dollar spent to comply. Combined costs of the proposed rules are estimated at $55 million in 2025.

These recent proposals would strengthen a previously proposed rule for new landfills that was issued in 2014 and would update the agency’s 1996 emission guidelines for existing landfills. The proposals are based on additional data and analysis and public comments received on a proposal and Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking EPA issued in 2014, the agency says.

EPA will take comment on the proposed rules for 60 days after they are published in the Federal Register and hold a public hearing.

Biofuels

Alliance BioEnergy Plus enters agreement with RRDA

Alliance BioEnergy Plus Inc., West Palm Beach, Florida, has announced it has entered into a nonexclusive development agreement with Renewable Resources Development of America LLC (RRDA) for the construction and operation of up to 56 cellulose conversion plants both domestically and abroad utilizing the company’s licensed, patented CTS technology.

According to the company, it can convert multiple types of cellulosic waste including corn stover, plant debris, Vidalia onions, and several types of wood, including mulch, in its process.

Georgia-based RRDA’s background is in construction, finance, municipal solid waste recovery, plastics, metals and paper recycling. The company also has experience in chemical extraction and cellulose material conversion into sugars for the manufacturing of biofuels, bioplastics and other products. It is also developing business facilities using cellulose conversion technology.

The first CTS plant, under the agreement, is expected to be located in central Georgia with groundbreaking held in fall 2015. It will be designed to process up to 1,000 metric tons per day of agriculture and forestry waste. RRDA says it is in advanced negotiations with local municipalities and expects to be fully operational by the second quarter of 2016.

The two companies also have entered into an agreement for RRDA to invest $4 million into the Alliance BioEnergy Plus in exchange for a 10 percent ownership stake in the company, 2 million warrants and a license to the first commercial plant in Vidalia, Georgia.

The funds will be used to complete engineering, automate its demonstration facility in Longwood, Florida, and file additional patents to accentuate its current family of patents. RRDA and the Alliance Bioenergy Plus will work together to complete the first commercial plant and develop additional plants under the agreement in the coming months, they say.

Transportation fuels

Republic Services expands Denver’s CNG fleet

Phoenix-based Republic Services has announced the addition of 17 compressed natural gas (CNG) solid waste collection trucks to its fleet serving customers throughout the greater Denver metropolitan area. The CNG trucks replace older diesel-powered trucks and bring the total number of natural gas vehicles operated by Republic throughout Colorado to 82.

Tim Oudman, area president of Republic Services, says, “This fleet expansion represents a significant investment in cleaner, safer and more efficient vehicles locally. It also embodies the responsibility we assume for doing our part to preserve Colorado’s considerable natural beauty for future generations.”

Republic Services operates a natural gas fueling station at its Commerce City, Colorado, location to support its expanding Denver-based CNG fleet. One-third of Republic’s fleet serving the greater Denver metropolitan area is now powered by the domestic fuel source. Republic operates 158 collection trucks statewide, and more than half are powered by CNG.

Republic Services of Denver employs 300 people who serve over 200 homeowners associations and municipalities, as well as more than 10,000 commercial customers. Republic also owns and operates two landfills and one hauling division in greater Denver.

Nationwide, Republic Services operates a fleet of more than 2,200 CNG vehicles and 38 natural gas fueling stations. According to the company, Republic’s CNG fleet helps to save roughly 18 million gallons of diesel fuel annually. As the operator of the eighth largest vocational fleet in the country, Republic says it has a number of initiatives to reduce overall fuel usage, including its continued commitment to operating CNG-powered trucks. Together, these initiatives will help Republic reach its goal of reducing fleet greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent by 2018.

Biofuels

Renewable Energy Group plans to buy Imperium biomass diesel refinery

Renewable Energy Group Inc. (REG) and Imperium Renewables Inc. have announced they have signed an asset purchase agreement under which REG would acquire all of Imperium’s assets, including a 100-million-gallon nameplate capacity, biomass-based diesel refinery and deep water port terminal at the Port of Grays Harbor, Washington.

Under the terms of the agreement, REG will pay Imperium $15 million in cash and issue 1.5 million shares of REG common stock in exchange for Imperium’s assets.

In addition to these payments, REG will pay either $1.75 million in cash or 175,000 shares of REG common stock at closing as elected by REG.

“Bringing the Imperium assets and their team into the REG network is a tremendous addition to our business,” says REG President and CEO Daniel J. Oh. “As we combine our companies, we will expand the reach of REG along the West Coast, including production and distribution. We already sell into these markets as they have responded to the call for more clean, advanced biofuels through low carbon fuel standards. This will enable REG to be more efficient and timely in our delivery and improve our supply assurance. We look forward to working with Imperium’s experienced staff and plant employees, maintaining operational activities at Grays Harbor, and becoming active members of the community working with the Port of Grays Harbor and the cities of Hoquiam and Aberdeen.”

“We hope our facility will help them continue to grow and diversify biofuel production and sales both locally and around the region,” says John Plaza, president and CEO of Imperium Renewables.

Based in Ames, Iowa, REG is a North American producer and marketer of biomass-based diesel fuel, with 10 active biorefineries across the U.S. as well as a nationwide production, distribution and logistics system. The company’s production operations focus on converting natural fats, oils and greases into advanced biofuels and on converting diverse feedstocks into renewable chemicals.

Seattle-based Imperium Renewables began developing proprietary technology and processes in the production of biodiesel in 2004. The Grays Harbor refinery began operation in August 2007 in Hoquiam, Washington, and is designed for advanced biofuel production, storage and transport from southern California to western Canada.

The 100-million-gallon nameplate capacity biorefinery will be renamed REG Grays Harbor LLC. The facility includes 18 million gallons of storage capacity and a terminal that can accommodate feedstock intake and fuel delivery on deep-water Panamax-class vessels as well as possessing significant rail and truck transport capability.

REG supplies biofuels that the company says meet or exceed ASTM quality specifications. Its REG-9000 biomass-based diesel is designed as a clean burning fuel that helps diversify the energy complex and increase energy security. REG-9000 biomass-based diesel is distributed in most of the U.S. REG also markets ultra-low sulfur diesel and heating oil in the northeastern and midwestern U.S.