Puerto Rico has adopted several new renewable energy initiatives, including signing into law a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) of 15% renewable energy production by 2020 and 20% renewable energy production by 2028. A Green Energy Fund has been established which will co-invest $290 million in renewable energy projects over the next decade, including a $20 million kickoff in 2011. With energy prices approximately twice the US average, developing various forms of renewable energy in Puerto Rico makes good sense. Secretary for Economic Development and Commerce Jose Ramon Perez-Riera stated “renewable energy policies and sound economic incentives are key to attract players of all sizes that can contribute to the creation of a renewable energy industry in Puerto Rico, jumpstart competition and be an active part of the solution. This can lead to innovation based development and new job creation, while attending concerns over high energy prices and environmental effects of petroleum-based generation emissions. It is a win-win for all.” We think so too! Read the full press release here.
BioCycle magazine’s July regional roundup section mentions Cedar Grove’s collaboration with BIOFerm. The writeup is as follows.
Seattle, Washington
CEDAR GROVE COMPOSTING ANNOUNCES DIGESTER TECHNOLOGY SELECTION
Cedar Grove Composting, a long-time organics processor in the Seattle region, has been evaluating several anaerobic digestion technologies to process food waste and yard trimmings at its Everett, Washington facility. In early July, the company announced that it is working with BIOFerm Energy Systems, owned by the Viessmann Group in Germany, to integrate high solids digesters into its composting operation. The first phase is being designed to process 50,000 tons/year. Cedar Grove is in the engineering and design stage, and hopes to begin construction by the end of 2010. The permitting process with the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the Snohomish County Public Health Department is also underway.
The Everett facility receives about 225,000 tons/year of yard trimmings, wood and residential and commercial/institutional food waste and soiled paper. Cedar Grove utilizes the GORE Cover composting system, which is operated in three phases — two covered and one uncovered. Once operational, digested material will go directly into the second phase of the GORE system, creating more processing capacity on the composting pad. “Cedar Grove is moving into the next realm of its development, the creation of green energy from food scraps that were once destined for a landfill,” says Steve Banchero, CEO. “We are looking to secure contracts for sale of electricity or natural gas in order to complete our digester business plan.”
The Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (AKA REN21) has released their 2009 report on Renewables Global Status. The report highlights growth across multiple sectors of RE and a total industry investment of $150 billion last year. This blog from Renewable Energy World shows some highlights of the report, and the full report can be viewed here.
Cedar Grove Composting has announced that they will be working with us to incorporate anaerobic digestion with their composting process! The press release is as follows.
SEATTLE, July 2 /PRNewswire/ — Cedar Grove Composting announced today that it is working with BioFerm Energy Systems, a German-based clean energy generation company owned by The Viessmann Group, to integrate anaerobic digestion into its composting process. The proposed technology employs a high-solids anaerobic digester that produces a usable biogas by enhancing natural processes to convert food scraps and yard clippings into a viable fuel. That biogas can then be used as either natural gas for auto and truck fuel or to produce electricity. Cedar Grove is in the engineering and design phase of this project.
“Cedar Grove is always seeking proven new technologies to bring waste materials to a higher use, for example, turning food waste into compost or energy,” said Steve Banchero, Cedar Grove Composting CEO. “Cedar Grove is moving into the next realm of its development, the creation of green energy from food scraps that were once destined for a land fill. This is the closed loop business model that is our core competency and focus.”
The project is one of the first and largest of its kind in the U.S. The digester will produce biogas by converting once wasted food and yard scraps into digestate that can then be combusted to produce electricity and heat, or be scrubbed to natural gas quality. These can be used as a renewable alternative to compressed natural gas applications, such as transportation fuel. Once operational, the digester will produce energy equivalent to the electricity usage of 400 homes or the fuel for 1,100 passenger vehicles per year.
“Like all of our sustainable business models, we need a healthy aftermarket for the products and by-products we produce in order for our programs to be viable,” continued Banchero. “Our model is to continue to make quality products from materials that are otherwise destined for the landfill and sell them back into our local market. We are currently looking to secure contracts for sale of electricity or natural gas in order to complete our digester business plan.”
“We have researched this technology in use in Europe and we are hopeful through our partnership with BioFerm that we can adapt it to U.S. standards and economics. We are excited about its potential to produce green energy from food scraps and yard waste,” Banchero said. “Our plans are to start with a relatively small digester and expand the use of this technology when it has proven itself in our system.”
By producing energy from food waste and reducing green house gases, Cedar Grove will help reduce landfill volumes, saving space for items that truly have no greater usage. Energy made from source separated food and yard waste is also a cleaner fuel than landfill derived methane.
About Cedar Grove Composting
Cedar Grove Composting is part of a family-owned 400-employee enterprise with roots in the waste management business going back to 1938. As the Pacific Northwest’s leading organic recycling company, Cedar Grove transforms grass, leaves, yard trimmings, food waste and wood waste into the finest, nutrient-rich compost. Cedar Grove has developed a full line of healthy soils with a loyal following and has grown from humble beginnings to one of the largest urban composting facilities in the world. Check www.cgcompost.com or call 206-832-3000 for more information.
According to a recent post on Renewable Energy World, the 31 states who have adopted renewable portfolio standards (RPS) will be a critical factor in the development of the nationwide renewable energy market. The total installed capacity is projected to grow from 137 TWh in 2010 to 479 TWh in 2025, which is approximately 250%! There are still challenges to overcome in many areas, including low power pricing and ambiguous federal policies, but these standards are a big step in the right direction. A federal RPS would significantly enhance these projections and foster further growth.
Over 700 renewable energy professionals are gathering this week in New York City at the Renewable Energy Finance Forum to discuss the future of electricity. According to this blog, today’s keynote address was giving by Michael Webber, the President/CEO of American Electric Power, and he stated that “by 2035, this industry will be fundamentally different. I think you’ll be dealing with a much more distributed infrastructure, interfacing with the customer in a new and interesting way.” He went on to declare “this is an industry that is ready to move forward.” It is encouraging to hear CEO’s of large and influential utility companies making statements to encourage the development of renewable energy. There is still a lot of work to be done, but with support from these key players in the energy industry, our nation can head down a path towards more clean, renewable sources of energy including biogas from anaerobic digestion, and away from our dependence on fossil fuels.
A USDA report released on June 23 by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack outlined the current state of renewable transportation fuels efforts and the plan to move forward and increase production and distribution of biofuels. Not only would an increase in biofuels production result in greater energy independence for the United States and a reduction in greenhouse gases, but it would also create more jobs in the country as well. It’s estimated that every 100-million gallon ethanol facility would create 40 direct jobs and a number of indirect jobs. The report calls for “further investments in research and development of feedstock, sustainable production and management systems, efficient conversion technologies and high-value bioproducts, and decision support and policy analysis tools.”
Click here to read the article, which includes a link to the full USDA report.
Sungevity has launched an internet movement to spread the word about their campaign to install solar panels on the White House. Their website includes a petition to urge Obama (or GLOBAMA as they playfully refer to the President) to accept free solar panels for the White House, and includes a fun interactive game in which players can attain different status levels from “Solar Maven” all the way up to “Globamanator.” This campaign aims to spread the word to encourage home installation of solar panels, and hopefully generate buzz for renewable energy in general. Who knows, maybe “Biogas Barack” is up next? Read the Renewable Energy World article here.
According to a blog on Renewable Energy World.com, a group of states that makes up the Rocky Mountain Energy Producers (Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, specifically) are making news with their growing New Energy economies. These states have been taking great strides in the development and implementation of policies that add to energy efficiency and green energy. To give a comparison, the 1995-to-2007 overall national job growth was 10%, with a growth of 18% in green jobs nationally. Among the Rocky Mountain Energy Producers states, however, overall job growth was 19% and growth in “core green economies” was 30%. Although each of the five states seems to go about New Energy policy in a different way, they all have one thing in common: a commitment to New Energy. We should all take our cue from them, and make a commitment to renewable energy too.
To read the full blog, click here.
In light of President Obama’s recent comments on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the pressing need to end America’s fossil fuel addiction, the American Biogas Council along with the Biomass Thermal Energy Council issued an announcement published here. BIOFerm is a founding member of the American Biogas Council and supports this statement, along with over 120 other companies involved in these two organizations. The statement is as follows:
“If we want to reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in our country, we must ensure that sustainable, renewable biomass is a part of this solution. Technologies that employ renewable biomass provide clean, efficient, and affordable alternatives to heating oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels.
In many states, oil is used to generate thermal energy for water and space heating. If biomass boilers, furnaces, and stoves are used instead, we reduce the need for foreign and domestic oil by substituting it with resources like wood chips and pellets, agricultural residues, and energy crops. Likewise, current technology can produce natural gas renewably through anaerobic digestion. This biogas can utilize a variety of resources, from cow manure to sewage and yard waste – and they are shovel ready. Currently, these energy rich products are considered waste.
Efficient bioenergy technologies are key pathways to use domestic resources to answer the President’s call to end our addiction to fossil fuels. If Congress and the Administration decide to act, we can substitute fossil fuels with existing renewable resources to provide clean, sustainable energy and new jobs, lower customer’s energy bills, and create a new revenue source in our communities.
Right now, America is losing the clean energy race to other countries around the world. We need a positive environment for investment. There are existing resources and technologies to change that status quo and meet energy and environmental challenges at the same time. America cannot continue to wait.”
