From the NY Solid Waste & Recycling Newsletter International Compost Awareness Week! -Cool the Climate! May 5 to May 11, 2019 Join the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation as we highlight the importance of compost for soil health and climate resiliency.
Compost returns organic matter and nutrients to the soil, increases water holding capacity and provides resistance to drought and disease, among many other benefits.
Composting at Home Making compost takes some care; add greens, browns, water and air. Composting at home allows you to manage your organic material (yard trimmings and food scraps) right in your own backyard. Composting at home is as easy as building your own composting bin, buying one, or composting inside with a worm bin. Use your homemade compost to add valuable nutrients to your garden beds.
If you’re interested in composting your food scraps, but don’t have the space or desire to do it yourself, look for an organics collection service or food scraps drop-off spots in your community.
Find a Home Composting Workshop Near You! The New York State Association for Reduction, Reuse and Recycling’s Organics Council is promoting a series of events that will help you reduce wasted food and start composting at home. Find a home composting workshop near you!
New York State recently passed Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Legislation. Starting January 1, 2022, large generators of food scraps (generating an annual average of two tons per week or more) must separate and donate edible food and recycle all remaining food scraps if within 25 miles of an organics recycler. Composting helps achieve New York’s progressive waste reduction goals as outlined in the New York State Solid Waste Management Plan, Beyond Waste.
There are more than 190 regulated compost facilities in NYS creating jobs, business opportunities and healthy local soils.
Young Professional Webinar Series – The New Composter
There is a groundswell of young entrepreneurs tackling the collection and recycling of food scraps. In the first of a two part webinar series, join the U.S. Composting Council May 7 from 4 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. to hear from Susan Thoman (Compost Manufacturers Alliance) and Gary Nihart (Atlas Organics) on their journey, advice and lessons on starting a business and finding your place in the market for success. Register Now!
With Gov. Janet Mills’ Tuesday signature, Maine became the first state in the nation to legislate a statewide ban on polystyrene foam containers. LD 289 prohibits the sale of polystyrene foam in the state effective Jan. 1, 2021.
The ban includes packages and service ware wholly or partially made of polystyrene foam. It does not grant exemptions for meat or egg containers, but does include an exemption for containers designed to process or ship seafood. The ban also includes plastic beverage stirrers served at “a facility or function” of the state or “political subdivisions” in Maine.
The law covers businesses and restaurants but includes exemptions for hospitals and “meals on wheels” type operations. The ban is punishable by a civil violation with a fine not to exceed $100.
Maine is one of the only states to impose statewide bans on any single-use item — California, New York, and Hawaii (at the county level) also have statewide bans on single-use plastic bags. While some municipalities and counties have enacted bans on polystyrene foam and plastic bags, few states have successfully taken up the mantle.
However, that could change. Many states — including Massachusetts, Colorado, Maryland, Hawaii, and Oregon — are looking at bans on polystyrene foam, all in various stages of approval and debate.
Both houses of the Maryland legislature, which has finished its 90-day regular session, approved a statewide foam ban, but Gov. Larry Hogan has not committed to signing the bill. Hogan has two more bill signings scheduled for May but has not yet confirmed what legislation will be included.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $33.5 million for early-stage research and development of advanced building construction techniques to reduce energy bills.
Together, America’s 118 million homes and 5.6 million commercial buildings account for approximately 40% of the nation’s total energy demand and use 75% of its electricity. Furthermore, about half of America’s homes and commercial buildings were built before 1980 when most of today’s more efficient products and building construction practices did not yet exist.
The Advanced Building Construction with Energy-Efficient Technologies & Practices (ABC) Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) aims to develop deep energy retrofit and new construction technologies that tackle a combination of envelope, heating, cooling, water heating, and ventilation issues.
The FOA addresses three areas:
Topic 1 – Integrated Building Retrofits: Focuses on integrating technologies to achieve more affordable, deep energy savings in existing buildings (e.g. light and durable highly insulated panels, combined heating and cooling, and hot water systems). Up to 75% energy reduction is sought for major building loads such a space heating and cooling, water heating, and ventilation.
Topic 2 – New Construction Technologies: Focuses on building design, construction, and installation (e.g., off-site manufacturing, robotics, digitization, automation, and improved modeling) to improve affordability, scalability, and performance of energy efficient building systems and methods. The topic seeks solutions that lead to construction of homes and buildings that are 50% more efficient compared to current code. This topic has a special emphasis to make mobile homes significantly more efficient while keeping the same initial cost.
Topic 3 – Advanced Technology Integration: Focuses on field validation of new innovative technologies and building practices, workforce training, and service delivery methods suited to regional and/or local needs, including those related to building stock, regional climates and grid characteristics.
Concept papers are due on June 10, 2019 by 5:00 p.m. ET to be eligible to submit a full application. For more information on this FOA please visit HERE. Questions regarding the content of this FOA must be submitted to ABC2019FOA@ee.doe.gov. For more information on the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s Building Technologies Office visit the website HERE.
New York’s and New Jersey’s permitting agencies are scrutinizing a project that would bring a 26-mile gas pipeline through the state and into Raritan Bay. (Russ DeSantis photo for NJ.com )
By Michele Langa – Star Ledger guest columnist
As New Jersey prudently shifts energy policy to focus on renewable sources like wind and solar, and away from less healthy fossil fuels, proposals still come forward to build “pipelines to the past” that serve no good purpose and take vital dollars away from infrastructure investments in today’s emerging energy sources.
One example is the proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) Project being pushed by Williams-Transco, an Oklahoma-based gas pipeline company. The project would ultimately cross Raritan Bay on the way to providing New York City with twice as much natural gas as it could possibly use.
In an unsurprising development, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Jan. 25 issued a final Environmental Impact Statement for the NESE project that repeats the unfounded conclusions of an earlier draft. FERC is known for rubber-stamping gas pipeline applications, so there was no reason to expect the agency would do anything other than take Williams-Transco’s word that proposed mitigation activities would avoid the possibility of significant adverse environmental impacts.
The reality is that these 26 miles of pipeline and a new compressor station in New Jersey threaten water, wildlife and the safety and health of communities – concerns raised by elected officials, federal and state agencies, scientists and residents in comments to the federal agency. All this, for a pipeline that a new report by an independent New York energy expert states, “is completely unnecessary and would unwisely lock the State of New York into a pipeline gas market expansion plan that is not in the State’s best interest.”
Meanwhile, New York’s and New Jersey’s permitting agencies are scrutinizing the project. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in his State of the State address, committed to a Green New Deal for New York – 100 percent carbon-free energy by 2040. Gov. Phil Murphy has committed New Jersey to 100 percent clean energy by 2050.
How the states’ permitting agencies decide on the NESE project will affect the ability to reach these clean energy goals. A decision by New York and New Jersey agencies to reject the NESE permit applications by holding Williams fully accountable to New York and New Jersey’s strict environmental standards is an important step toward fulfilling both states’ commitments to a carbon-free future.
The BPU is reviewing applications for approval of plans to build an initial cluster of wind farms, to generate as much as 1.1 gigawatts of electricity
Tom Johnson reports for NJ Spotlight:
Credit: Creative Commons
Public Service Enterprise Group appears to be keeping its options open on how much it will invest in the state’s ambitious efforts to be a leader in the offshore-wind industry that’s developing up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, the Newark company said it would decide by the second half of this year whether it would exercise an option to acquire an equity interest in Ocean Wind, one of three projects bidding for state approval to build up to 1,100 megawatts of offshore wind off the Jersey coast.
PSEG already has entered into an energy-management agreement with Ocean Wind LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ørsted US Offshore Wind.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities is currently reviewing the applications and expects to decide by July what projects will be selected to build the state’s initial cluster of offshore-wind farms. Besides Ørsted, the other developers include Equinor, which has a project off of Sandy Hook, and EDF Renewables, pushing an offshore-wind farm off of Atlantic County.
The BPU has given the developers the flexibility to build between 400 MW and all 1,100 MW of the power to be generated. Ørsted has indicated a preference for building all 1,100 MW, citing the benefits of economy of scale in driving down the overall cost. None of the applications, however, have been made public because the BPU says they contain proprietary information.
The energy management services presumably involve PSEG helping Ørsted connect the offshore wind farm, located about 15 miles off Atlantic City, to the land. PSEG has a potential lease of land for use in the project development, according to the filing.
Many irons in the fire
The Murphy administration is banking on building 3,500 MW of wind capacity off the coast by 2030, a key component of its overall goal of having 100 percent of New Jersey’s power needs delivered by clean energy by 2050.
Public Service Electric & Gas, a subsidiary of PSEG, has been the most aggressive utility in New Jersey in seeking to align itself with Murphy’s clean-energy goals. It has a $2.5 billion energy efficiency filing now being reviewed by the BPU.
Other PSE&G filings yet to be looked at by the agency are to install smart meters in homes ($900 million); to build out the infrastructure for electric vehicles ($364 million); and for energy storage ($130 million). The utility also is seeking $2.5 billion to strengthen its gas and electric grids.
PSEG has been more circumspect about its intentions on offshore wind, likely to be the most expensive of the state’s clean-energy ventures, leading to billions of dollars of investments, much of it subsidized by utility customers.
Posted by Betsy Lillian in Solar Industry– May 2, 2019
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., along with 25 other Senate colleagues, has introduced the Clean Energy for America Act, which would consolidate the current 44 energy incentives into three technology-neutral provisions that encourage clean electricity, clean transportation, and energy efficiency.
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
According to Wyden, ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, the bill would overhaul the federal tax code, which is currently “woefully inadequate to address today’s energy challenges,” he says.
“It’s a hodgepodge of temporary credits, anchored by advantages for Big Oil, that don’t effectively move us toward the goals of reducing carbon emissions or lowering electricity bills for American families,” Wyden continues. “It’s time to kick America’s carbon habit – and that means a complete transformation of the tax code to reward clean electricity, transportation, and conservation.”
To incentivize clean electricity, the bill would provide a production tax credit (PTC) or investment tax credit (ITC) to facilities that are at least 35% cleaner than average. It would be available as either a PTC with a maximum of 2.4 cents per kilowatt-hour or an ITC of up to 30%.
In addition, it would repeal tax incentives for fossil fuel production and, instead, ensure the tax code rewards clean energy. The new incentives – which are long-term but not permanent – would be phased out once greenhouse-gas emissions have been reduced by 50%.
Tom Kiernan, CEO of the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), voices his support for the bill’s clean electricity provision:
“Senator Wyden’s Clean Energy for America Act includes an innovative, technology-neutral tax credit that would move national tax policy in the right direction to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and create long-term stability for businesses to make new investments in American energy production,” says Kiernan.
“Congress should seize this opportunity to have a thoughtful conversation about specific policies, like Senator Wyden’s bill, that can meaningfully address climate change through market-based, technology-neutral solutions while keeping costs low for consumers and growing the U.S. economy.”
Likewise, Abigail Ross Hopper, president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, applauds Wyden’s proposal:
“Senator Wyden’s legislation would provide a stable and long-term set of incentives and parameters to foster greater deployment of solar energy and technology. The bill is a significant step forward, and we commend Senator Wyden for this effort,” she says, adding that the bill, as it advances, should also consider improvements for incentives for solar heating and cooling technologies.
Gregory Wetstone, president and CEO of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), says the bill “would, at long last, modernize the federal tax code for 21st-century power generation.”
“The proposal would drive economic growth by creating a level playing field in electricity markets, improving affordability and reliability for consumers, creating plenty of good-paying American jobs, and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions,” Wetstone continues. “ACORE welcomes the opportunity to work with Senator Wyden and others in Congress to advance the Clean Energy for America Act through the legislative process this year.“
To encourage clean transportation fuel, the bill would provide a tax credit for fuels that are at least 25% cleaner than average, with the maximum credit of $1 per gallon available for fuels with zero-carbon emissions. The bill would also eliminate the per-manufacturer cap on the tax credit for electric vehicles and extend the credit for fuel cell electric vehicles.
Further, to incentivize energy conservation, the bill would provide a performance-based tax credit for energy-efficient homes and a tax deduction for energy-efficient commercial buildings. The value of the tax credit would increase as more energy is conserved.
The bill is co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.; Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.; Robert Menendez, D-N.J.; Tom Carper, D-Del.; Ben Cardin, D-Md.; Michael Bennet, D-Colo.; Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.; Maggie Hassan, D-N.H.; Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev.; Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H.; Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.; Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.; Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii; Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii; Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.; Angus King, I-Maine; Tim Kaine, D-Va.; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Gary Peters, D-Mich.; Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; and Tina Smith, D-Minn.
“Our tax code should be encouraging the deployment of all clean energy technologies that are good for public health and our climate,” says Carper, top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “Instead, however, the tax code we have today incentivizes the very sources that fuel climate change and make our air harder to breathe. Too often, the incentives that actually push us in the right direction expire too quickly or erratically, making it difficult for business leaders to plan long-term investments.
“The Clean Energy for America Act will eliminate outdated incentives for fossil fuels and, instead, provide long-term, technology-neutral incentives for the investment and production of electricity and vehicles that help drive down our country’s greenhouse-gas emissions.”
