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.

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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.

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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.

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“We’ve built the largest landfill-to-LNG plant in the world; this plant produces 13,000 gallons a day of LNG,” said Jessica Jones, a landfill manager for Houston-based Waste Management. “It will take 30,000 tons a year of CO2 from the environment.”

The Altamont landfill has more than 100 wells with black tubes throughout the facility that vacuum up methane from the heap and that is then turned into LNG. The LNG is pumped into the garbage and recycling trucks at a company fueling station in Oakland.

The Altamont Landfill has been doing their best to make use of the landfill as a resource for some time. Since 1989 they’ve had a methane-fueled electric power plant that can power 8,000 homes a day.

I’ve noticed quite a few stories about landfill energy plants during my time at AGA. According to the article, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency counted 517 active landfill energy projects in the nation’s approximately 1,800 operational municipal landfills in 2009. That was up almost 50 percent from 2000, and 28 percent from 2004.

One of the challenges with these types of projects is the initial expense but there’s some good news here. Four state environmental agencies contributed grants to help build the $15.5 million Altamont plant. Mike Beckman of Linde Group North America, the company that built and runs the natural gas plant, said the Altamont plant should continue producing fuel for 20 years or more meaning the plant should be profitable since the gas is sold to Waste Management and other customers.

The article has a lot more great information and pictures so I’d encourage a read. If you know of any similar projects in your area, let us know in the comments.

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Here is a powerpoint from Chris Voell of the Environmental Protection Agency titled, “Renewable Biogas: Environmental Protection and Energy Independence.” You can download the full pdf here. It’s a large file so it may take a moment.

I’ve pulled out some interesting graphics and stats for a quick view.

Here’s a slide showing the projects across the country.

Some stats on the projects include:

• 450 electricity generation
• 135 direct use (medium Btu)
• 25 high Btu pipeline quality gas
  • AR, CA(2), GA(2), KS, LA, MI(2), NY, OH(3), PA(8), TN, TX(3), WI
  • Less than 5% of total projects
• GHG reductions from currently operating methane capture and use projects:
  • Direct Methane – 3.5 million metric tons CH4/year
  • Avoided CO2 – 9 million metric tons CO2e/year
  • Total Reductions – 80+ million metric tons CO2e/year
• Environmental equivalent to reducing CO2 emissions from:
  • More than 200,000,000 barrels of oil consumed, or
  • Nearly 16,000,000 passenger vehicles, or
  • Burning more than 450,000 railcars’ worth of coal.
• Energy equivalent to:
  • Powering more than 915,000 homes and heating more than 700,000 home

The presentation also includes some bullets on different case studies like the one from Fresh Kills Landfill, NY pictured above.

Fresh Kills Landfill, NY

• Began operation in the late 1970s
• LFG-to-high Btu pipeline quality
  • Selexol (chemical technology)
• Largest plant of its kind until 2007

Valley and Monroeville Landfills, PA

• Began operation in 2006
• LFG-to-high Btu pipeline quality (2 plants)
  • Membrane technology
• Delivery of gas to:
  • low-pressure local distribution pipeline
  • high-pressure gas transmission line

Scenic View Dairy, MI

• Began operation in 2007
• Dairy farm digester (3,500 head)
• Manure biogas-to-high Btu pipeline quality
  • Pressure swing absorption technology
• Small scale – 150 cfm of biogas

Hilarides Dairy, CA

• Began operation in 2009
• Dairy farm digester (9,000 head)
• Manure biogas-to-vehicle fuel
  • Pressure swing absorption technology
• Biomethane is compressed for use as vehicle fuel-displacing diesel fuel.

Renee Rippchen left a great comment on my last post. As I told her, I like hearing about how people are creating energy around this issue, so let me know what you’re doing.

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Granger Energy of Morgantown, LLC (Granger) spearheaded a project that created one of the largest multi-user projects in the nation. The many partners involved in making the project a reality, including UGI Utilities, is a great example in collaboration. The project includes a 9-mile pipeline that links two independently owned and operated landfills, a utility, and seven end users.

Some of the project’s highlights include:

• Designed for 7,200 scfm, the LFG processing facility is one of the largest in the country
• 9-mile pipeline bores under four highways and two year-round streams
• 27 acres were purchased to house the off-site LFG processing facility
• 13,000 sq.ft. LFG processing facility was constructed in only 5 months
• Project serves 23 boilers, four oil heaters, two process water heaters, four ovens, two remote thermal oxidizers, one space heater, and two rooftop building heaters

Here’s a pdf that gives details and statistics on the project. It’s fairly large so it may take a moment to download.

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Renewable natural gas is a biogas which has been upgraded to a quality similar to natural gas. One of the attractions of renewable natural gas is that by upgrading the quality to that of natural gas, it becomes possible to distribute the gas to customers via the existing gas grid, and burned within existing appliances.

We’ve had biogas on our radar for a while. A growing number of our members are interested in this energy option.

As are some really big energy players like Royal Dutch Shell.  This energy giant announced just last week their decision to discontinue investment in renewable technologies such as wind, solar and hydro power because they feel they are not economic. Instead Shell plans to invest more in biofuels – like renewable natural gas — which do not use food-based crops and are less harmful to the environment.

I’ve actually written on biogas before on this blog but here’s a little more information. Biogas originates from biogenic material and is a type of biofuel. One type of bio-gas is produced by fermentation of biodegradable materials such as biomass, manure or sewage, municipal waste, green waste and energy crops. The other principal type of biogas is wood gas which is created by gasification of wood or other biomass.

Biogas can be used as a low-cost fuel for any heating purpose, such as cooking. Biogas can also be used in modern waste management facilities where it can be used to run any type of heat engine, to generate either mechanical or electrical power. Biogas can be compressed, like natural gas, and used to power motor vehicles.

Leave a comment if you have questions on biogas and I’ll be happy to try and answer them. I’ll also write later about my thoughts on the briefing. We are excited about the opportunity to continue educating others about the options we have using renewable natural gas and our existing distribution network.

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Here’s the scoop.  Natural gas is comprised primarily of methane, which can be produced through two different natural processes.  Traditional natural gas comes from methane that forms underground by geologic pressure over millions of years – this is the process that makes it a conventional fossil fuel.  Renewable natural gas, on the other hand, is comprised of methane that is being produced and released continuously from the decomposition of organic materials found in places like swamps, manure bins, and landfills.  Once purified and upgraded, both sources of methane can be used as the same fuel we know and rely upon to heat water, cook food, and warm our homes and businesses.

So what’s so great about renewable natural gas?  Plenty. Let’s consider the following points.

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.

It’s abundant. A 1998 U.S. Department of Energy study estimated that, worldwide, between 25 and 37 quadrillion Btu of methane (between 25 and 37% of annual energy usage in the U.S.)  is released each year into the atmosphere due to natural decomposition of organic material.  The study predicts that 6% of all natural gas used in the U.S. could be displaced by encouraging production of naturally occurring renewable natural gas.

It’s clean. When burned for energy, biogas has the same low-carbon properties as natural gas, but with an added unique benefit.  When captured for conversion into renewable natural gas, methane that would otherwise have entered directly into the atmosphere ultimately is combusted resulting in the release of a much less-harmful greenhouse gas.  In other words, the heat-trapping (or greenhouse) effect resulting from burned methane is less potent than that resulting from directly-released methane, so capturing these gases for biogas production is a positive step towards global warming mitigation.

It’s versatile. Once biogas is purified to pipeline quality standards, it can be used in place of traditional natural gas.  Whereas other renewable fuels, such as ethanol, can require the construction of new infrastructure in order to bring them to our everyday lives, biogas can be distributed and used wherever natural gas is used.

Thanks to relentless technological progress, doors are opened daily to new sources of fuel for our energy-intensive lifestyles.  What is it that makes an energy source renewable?  In the case of renewable natural gas, it can be sustainably produced as a product of our waste-producing (landfills, agricultural processes and animal farms) lifestyle.  Now that’s efficient.

As with other “renewable” energy sources, renewable natural gas is not yet ready to displace large amounts of fossil fuels, but it does have serious potential as a alternative fuel source.  And you thought natural gas was just a boring fossil fuel option.

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