Tag Archives: biogas

National Grid just released a white paper titled “Renewable Gas – Vision for a Sustainable Gas Network.” The research shows how 16% of natural gas demand in the four states National Grid serves (Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire) could be met by renewable gas, and focuses on the role of renewable gas in the clean energy future of the United States.

This paper covers renewable gas from beginning to end. Going into detail on what exactly renewable gas is, how it’s produced including potential sources, and even goes into some of the myths about the quality of renewable gas. The paper discusses a new project being developed and features a graphic that shows what a future sustainable gas network might look like.  The “Roadmap to Success” section provides some great information on what needs to be done to make the vision a reality.

Donald Chahbazpour from National Grid’s Sustainable Gas Group said, “So far, direct injection of renewable gas has been limited to a small number of projects in the United States. With this white paper, we are trying to demonstrate how, along with wind and solar, it is another option to meet the clean energy needs of the future.

“We also wanted to educate with this white paper, by clearly illustrating how renewable gas is produced and integrated into an existing natural gas network,” added Donald. The ability to deliver renewable gas using the current infrastructure is one of the main advantages people point to when talking about renewable gas.

You can read the full press release here. Take some time to read the white paper and the accompanying fact sheet, and let us know what you think in the comments below.

One of my favorite topics to write about at AGA is biogas. It’s a great renewable energy source that people can tap into right now. I was just reading an article by Meredith Sorensen over at Harvest Power title “Biogas as Cinderella, Explored.” It’s an examination of David William House’s article “Biogas Is Renewable Energy’s Cinderella.”

These articles go into detail making the case that biogas should be a leading candidate for helping the U.S. and the world gain energy independence. The articles are filled with great links to other biogas stories including one to the “Biogas Production Incentive Act of 2009, whereby producers would receive a tax credit of $4.27 for every million British thermal units of produced biogas (see article in Biomass Magazine).”

A vat of liquid cow manure at the Vintage Dairy Biogas Project. The gas produced is injected into PG&E’s pipeline, where it will be shipped to a power plant in Northern California.

You can also cruise over to ecogeek.org for a good read on how Google may use “poo power” to power their data centers. That story highlights a research paper released by Hewlett Packard that states that tech companies like themselves, Google and Microsoft could benefit from a partnership with dairy farmers, using cattle waste for fuel.

According to the article, “An average cow produces enough manure to power a 100-watt light bulb and 10,000 cows could potentially power a 1-MW data center, a small computing center.  But another possible link between the farms and companies is that the biogas systems require a lot of heat to make fuel and computing equipment in data centers produce a lot of waste heat, so a loop could be created where the biogas plant powers the data center and the waste heat from the data center helps power the biogas plant.”

So yeah, big fan of biogas. It also doesn’t hurt that I can post pictures like the one accompanying this article. My kids always get a kick out of that picture.

Nice write-ups from Green Energy Reporter and Business Wire about the Department of Energy (DOE) guaranteeing $23 million to two companies to support construction of a biomass gasifier at its Denver technology center.

From the story:

The grant award will be used to manufacture and install at RETC a 20 ton-per-day ClearFuels biomass gasifier designed to produce synthesis gas from various wood waste and sugar cane bagasse feedstocks. The gasifier will be integrated with Rentech’s existing PDU at the site, which uses the Rentech Process and UOP’s upgrading technologies to produce renewable drop-in synthetic jet and diesel fuels at demonstration scale. This joint demonstration of an integrated bio-refinery is anticipated to be completed in late 2011 and will lead to the final design basis for commercial facilities that are expected to use the combined technologies. The proposed team for the demonstration project includes ClearFuels, Rentech, URS, Linde/Hydro-Chem, Hawaiian Electric Company, National Renewable Energy Lab and Hawaii Natural Energy Institute.

Eric Darmstaedter, Chief Executive Officer of ClearFuels, commented, “We are very pleased with our collaborative discussions with DOE. We expect to complete submission of required supplemental information and start receiving funds in the next few months to facilitate the demonstration of our integrated technologies.”

Rentech, Inc. provides clean energy solutions. The Company’s Rentech-SilvaGas biomass gasification process can convert multiple biomass feedstocks into synthesis gas (syngas) for production of renewable fuels and power. Combining the gasification process with Rentech’s unique application of syngas conditioning and clean-up technology and the patented Rentech Process based on Fischer-Tropsch chemistry, Rentech offers an integrated solution for production of synthetic fuels from biomass. The Rentech Process can also convert syngas from fossil resources into ultra-clean synthetic jet and diesel fuels, specialty waxes and chemicals.

Rentech has a 25 percent strategic ownership interest in ClearFuels, which has begun development of multiple commercial-scale biomass-to-energy projects in the southeastern United States, Hawaii and internationally. These projects are expected to use an integrated ClearFuels-Rentech design and be co-located at biomass processing facilities.

If you’ve got a good biogas story, you can leave a link in the comments below.