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Power from dairies envisioned
A Bakersfield attorney and third-generation dairy farmer Monday announced the formation of a "waste-to-energy" company that will work with farmers and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to turn cow manure into natural gas.
Meanwhile, a Palo Alto-based biotechnology company and two Visalia-based dairy technology companies also announced plans Monday to build a separate facility that would generate energy from dairy waste to power a new ethanol plant in the San Joaquin Valley.
The news of the first operation from David Albers, who has a dairy in Fresno County, came in Tulare on the grounds of the World Ag Expo, which begins its three-day run today.
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GE Energy’s Gas Engines Generating Electricity at One of California’s Largest Landfill Gas-to-Energy Plants
One of California’s most powerful landfill gas-to-energy projects to open in the last five years has started supplying renewable electricity to the San Francisco Bay region as the state continues implementing new anti-greenhouse gas initiatives.
The output of the plant is enough to provide electrical power for 7,500 to 10,000 average U.S. homes and will be sold to existing customers and project partners, the City of Palo Alto and the City of Alameda. The plant is twice as powerful as other landfill gas projects in northern California.
Built by energy developer Ameresco Inc., the 11.5 MW biogas plant is located at the Ox Mountain Landfill, which is owned and operated by Republic Services and located in Half Moon Bay in San Mateo County. The biogas plant is powered by GE Energy’s ecomagination-certified Jenbacher landfill gas engines.
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U.S. Renewable Energy: A Self-Inflicted Crisis in the Making
Karl W. Miller a senior energy executive and institutional investor today issued the following statement through his advisors, regarding the state of the U.S. renewable energy and the cap-and-trade bill, called the American Clean Energy and Security Act recently passed by the Congress.
What crisis you might ask could be brewing in the renewable and green energy sector? After all, it is seemingly the hottest investment sector in the capital markets, green is en vogue, and anything with the word "renewable" attached to it is politically palatable these days. Washington is throwing money out the door faster than the renewable market can deploy it.
Recent Washington packages include:
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Valley power authority plans an electric plant in Parlier despite objections
A public power authority has decided to build a 565-megawatt natural gas-fired electric generating plant in Parlier, despite opposition from neighbors. But the decision could cost the authority one of its members.
The San Joaquin Valley Power Authority had been considering sites in Parlier and Kingsburg, but settled on Parlier because of its proximity to water, electric transmission lines and natural gas pipelines, officials said Thursday.
The authority, which will serve agencies in Tulare, Kings and Fresno counties, submitted a construction application Thursday to the California Energy Commission.
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Word on the Street: Taking a toffee break
Sheryl Bavoso of Clovis likes to say she's turning lemons into toffee.
She's referring to making the best of her situation by creating and selling her toffee -- chocolate flavored, not lemon -- after being laid off from a job she loved.
She sells the toffee at Cinnamonster, the cinnamon roll store at Willow and Nees avenues.
Tulare County could be the home of a new power plant fueled partly by "biogas" from cow manure, if a Fresno company's plans bear fruit.
Central California Power is in the early stages of raising money and negotiating contracts that could allow it to build a 217-megawatt power plant somewhere in Tulare County, said Joe Langenberg, sole proprietor of the business.
The plant would generate enough electricity to power about 217,000 homes using a combination of natural gas and methane derived from manure from the region's dairy industry, said Langenberg, an engineer who's worked with giant engineering companies like Parsons Corp. and Bechtel Corp. in the past.
"It's going to be a hybrid -- roughly half natural gas and half renewable fuel," or biogas, he said. "The big reason that we're doing this is there's a call for renewable energy."
California law calls for utilities in the state to buy 20% of their power from renewable sources by 2010, which has increased interest in biogas production. Also, using manure to create natural gas helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions from dairies, a key goal of a new state law calling for reduction of such emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
In the past year, several deals have been announced by utilities planning to buy natural gas created from cow waste and other renewable sources.
In November, New Hampshire-based Environmental Power Corp. announced a deal to build methane digesters at six large central San Joaquin Valley dairies and supply the natural gas they generate to Pacific Gas Electric Co. Plans call for production to begin late this year or early 2008.
In February, PG&E announced an agreement to buy up to 3 billion cubic feet of renewable natural gas a year -- enough to meet the electricity needs of approximately 50,000 PG&E residential customers -- from BioEnergy Solutions, a Bakersfield-based company seeking to install waste-to-gas systems at dairy farms and processing facilities.
Langenberg said he's working with Southern California Edison to secure a power purchase contract that will allow Central California Power to get financing for the project.
He would not estimate the project's cost but said that his company could begin to seek formal permitting for the project late this year or early 2008.
A California Energy Commission spokeswoman said the agency has not received a formal application from Central California Power but has received preliminary plans for the Tulare County plant.
The commission would be in charge of approving a project of the size Langenberg is proposing.
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