From left to right (L-R): Johannes Escudaro of the RNG Coalition acting as moderator; Sean Moen of Atlas ReFuel; Erik Neandross of Gladstein, Neandross and Associates; and Paul Stout of BioCNG.
Many companies throughout the U.S. are looking toward RNG to lower their carbon footprint. At the Renewable Energy from Waste Conference in Long Beach, California, on Nov. 15, a panel of companies using RNG titled “Fueling Fleets with Renewable Fuel” shared their projects as examples of a successful switch from diesel to RNG.
“Three key components for a successful project include the biogas source, the fuel or energy market and the capital and visionary to see the future and make it happen,” Paul Stout, project manager for Madison, Wisconsin-based BioCNG said during the session.
BioCNG’s St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, project was originally started by a local small landfill that wanted to get carbon credits. The municipal solid waste (MSW) II landfill services 90,000 parish residents and has an acceptance rate of 350 tons per day. In 2009, the parish commissioned a landfill gas collection and control system (GCCS) and saw a 150,000 ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in 2015.
The landfill operators gathered enough biogas feedstock that they had to evaluate their options and decided to fuel the parish’s sheriff fleet with renewable fuel. The parish developed a fuel demand with a projected savings of more than $2 per gallon and completed the plant in 2012. One passenger van, five sedans and 16 pick-up trucks from the fleet were converted.
Fuel demand increased over time because of the parish resident’s pride and support of the RNG fueling station. The community began researching BioCNG’s fuel sales and decided to build a fueling station for its waste hauling trucks. The parish expanded its hauling contract with Progressive Waste Solutions for an additional 5 years and began using 11 compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks. BioCNG expanded the existing GCCS system and developed a “satellite” fueling station. This second phase was built around a small chunk of land that the first project occupied.
The first phase of the project, Stout said, cost the parish $750,000 while the second phase cost $2.7 million. While the first phase was partially paid with a $500,000 grant, the second had no grants attached to it.
Sean Moen, general manager of Atlas ReFuel, Sacramento, California, said Sacramento County—known as the “farm to fork capital of the world”—was a big motivating source behind its completely closed-loop fueling system.
Atlas Disposal, Sacramento County’s waste hauling provider, began picking up organic waste in 2011. The company wanted to get the “highest and best” use of its waste, Moen said, so the company began to consider RNG. With California’s mandate calling for business who generate more than 8 cubic yards of organic waste to recycle it—which is set to decrease to 4 cubic yards in 2017—Atlas Disposal saw the product availability and environmental benefits of RNG.
The project included eight different partners, including Atlas Disposal, Clean World Partners and The University of California Davis. The plant had to stay within Sacramento city limits and was originally spec’d for 10 tons per day of organic waste with limited fleet access and the inability to create pipeline gas. Since 2015, the plant can now process 100 tons of waste per day and had four fueling nozzles, along with access to pipeline gas.
Atlas Disposal now has more than 25 natural gas vehicles with a negative carbon intensity score. Automatic overnight fueling has been implemented for efficiency and the fueling station accepts all major fleet cards.
“You have to be able to remove any barriers from customers that want to fuel with you,” Moen said.
In 2017, Atlas ReFuel will build 60 time-fill stalls that decrease fuel time by 30 minutes to an hour per day.
Erik Neandross, CEO of Glasdstein, Neandross and Associates, Santa Monica, California, works with large commercial fleet operators to make the progression from traditional petroleum fuel to alternative fuels. The company was part of a team that released a white paper in May 2016 that documents zero emissions opportunities and their benefits.
Carbon intensity values from the California resources board state that some projects using technology such as anaerobic digestion score lower in carbon dioxide equivalent than electricity.
A study by the University of California Davis stated diesel engines aren’t as clean as advertised or certified and that stricter mandates in the state of California allow for less coal-powered plants. The California grid, Neandross said, is one of the cleanest grids in the U.S. compares to areas that are heavily influenced by coal-powered plants and have no requirements or policies to drive renewable energy sources.
“I hope more people find the value in RNG,” he said.
The Renewable Energy from Waste Conference took place at the Westin Long Beach, Long Beach, California, from Nov. 14 to Nov. 16.
