“Renewable Natural Gas: Sustainable Energy from Trash” will be the subject of a free, hour-long webinar at 11:00 a.m. March 8.
Speakers will be Steven Schmitz, Managing Partner at Green Rock Energy Partners, which owns South Hills Landfill, and Tom Spears, Capitol Area Gas Operations Manager for WM, formerly Waste Management, which owns a number of landfills with renewable natural gas energy projects in the state.
Renewable natural gas (RNG), also known as biogas, is a fast-growing segment of the natural gas industry. Natural gas is primarily methane, which is a naturally occurring byproduct of the decomposition process at landfills.
Rather than vent it into the atmosphere, companies have turned to collecting and processing the gas and using it to power compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles, for power generation, or for other purposes.
Biogas is sustainable and can also be produced from the decomposition process at agricultural operations or wastewater treatment facilities.
Green Rock Energy Partners is a private equity firm that invests in renewable energy businesses and owns and operates sustainable infrastructure projects. Green Rock recently acquired the South Hills Landfill in South Park, Allegheny County.
The facility creates RNG and uses it as CNG for truck transportation. Production at the facility is expected to exceed one million gallons of renewable fuel per year.
As the operator of the largest landfill gas-to-energy program in North America, Waste Management is using cutting edge technology to power landfill gas-to-energy projects, it is able to maximize the capture of energy from landfills, including Arden landfills in Washington County, and create renewable fuels that provide power for homes, businesses, and Waste Management trucks.
Through 2025, WM plans to invest $825 million in its landfill RNG network.
Steven Schmitz is a Managing Partner and co-founder of Green Rock Energy Partners. Prior to launching Green Rock, Steven had a 40-year career in petroleum refining, energy trading and business development.
Steven holds a B.S in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University.
As the Capitol Area Gas Operations Manager for WM, Tom Spears oversees 13 active gas collection systems across Pennsylvania and West Virginia, six of which have active renewable energy projects.
Tom joined WM in 2006 and has served in the Gas Group since 2009. He is an Army veteran and helicopter pilot who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The seminar is approved for Continuing Legal Education in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. Contact the Washington County Bar Association at wcba@washcobar.org for information.
The webinar is free and open to the public. Click Here to register.
Visit the Washington & Jefferson College Center for Energy Policy and Management for more information on energy-related programs.
PA DEP Public Notice Dashboards:
-- Pennsylvania Oil & Gas Weekly Compliance Dashboard - Feb. 25 to March 3; More Well Plugging Sites Inspected [PaEN]
-- PA Oil & Gas Industrial Facilities: Permit Notices/Opportunities To Comment - March 4 [PaEN]
-- DEP Posts 63 Pages Of Permit-Related Notices In March 4 PA Bulletin [PaEN]
PA Oil & Gas Compliance Reports
-- Feature: 60 Years Of Fracking, 20 Years Of Shale Gas: Pennsylvania’s Oil & Gas Industrial Infrastructure Is Hiding In Plain Sight [PaEN]
-- Conventional Oil & Gas Well Owners Failed To File Annual Production/Waste Generation Reports For 61,655 Wells; Attorney General Continues Investigation Of Road Dumping Wastewater [PaEN]
-- DEP Issued 754 Notices Of Violation For Defective Oil & Gas Well Casing, Cementing, The Fundamental Protection Needed To Prevent Gas Migration, Groundwater & Air Contamination, Explosions [PaEN]
-- DEP 2021 Oil & Gas Program Annual Report Shows Conventional Oil & Gas Operators Received A Record 610 Notices Of Violation For Abandoning Wells Without Plugging Them [PaEN]
Related Articles This Week:
-- Bay Journal: PA Conventional Gas Wells Routinely Abandoned, Left Unplugged - By Ad Crable, Chesapeake Bay Journal [PaEN]
-- PA Capital-Star Guest Essay: It’s Time To Hear Bold Leadership On Oil & Gas In Gov. Shapiro’s Budget Address - By Melissa Ostroff, EarthWorks, Member Shapiro Transition Team [PaEN]
-- Better Path Coalition, FracTracker Alliance Release Pennsylvania Is Worth Protecting, A Visual Reminder Of The People, Places & Natural Resources Worth Protecting From Environmental Devastation, Climate Change [PaEN]
-- Senate Committee Meets March 6 On Bill Prohibiting Elected Officials In Local Governments From Moving To Cleaner Energy Sources To Combat Climate Change [PaEN]
-- Senate Committee Meets March 8 To Consider Bill Allowing General Assembly To Kill Regulations By Doing Nothing [PaEN]
-- Senate Hearing On Electric Grid Reliability: Natural Gas Continues To Have Reliability Problems; Renewables Aren’t Coming Online Fast Enough; Energy Office To Be Proposed [PaEN]
-- Sen. Yaw Proposes Independent Energy Office To Promote Development Of PA’s Diverse Energy Portfolio - Natural Gas, Nuclear Power, Coal [PaEN]
-- Post-Gazette: Smoke Stacks From Closed Hatfield’s Ferry Coal-Fired Power Plant Demolished, Closing Chapter In PA Industrial History In Greene County: ‘I’m Ecstatic. It Was The Dirtiest, Dirtiest Place Ever. It Put A Blight On Our Community’
-- PJM Interconnection Study Shows Renewable Energy Sources Not Coming Online Fast Enough To Replace Fossil Fuel Plants; Critical Path Analysis Started To Avoid Grid Reliability Risks [PaEN]
-- Latest PJM Interconnection Electricity Capacity Auction Shows Price Decrease, But Mixed Results In PA [PaEN]
-- Independent Fiscal Office Reports 4th Quarter 2022 Natural Gas Production Decreased 1.6%; Average Price Increased By 82.5% Compared To Last Year [PaEN]
-- Senate Republicans, 4 Democrats Pass Resolution Urging Restart Of Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Abandoned By Company [BTW Not In PA] [PaEN]
-- Republicans On Senate Committee Report Out Bills On Decommissioning Solar Energy Facilities, Limiting 1 Use Of PFAS Chemicals, Resolution Calling For Restart Of Keystone XL Pipeline [PaEN]
-- Solar United Neighbors Helping Lancaster Residents Harvest Sunshine With New Solar Co-Op [PaEN]
-- Observer-Reporter Guest Essay: Natural Gas Pipelines Can Secure Our Energy And Economic Future - By Republican Sen. Bartolotta [DEP hasn’t denied any pipeline permits in PA, But they are the most heavily penalized for violations of any industry in PA history]
-- Washington & Jefferson College Hosts March 8 Webinar On Renewable Natural Gas [PaEN]
[Posted: March 1, 2023] PA Environment Digest
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