EESI briefs the public on the potential of renewable biogas

Last week, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute hosted a briefing at the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington D.C. to discuss the benefits of capturing and using renewable biogas, generated from organic waste in landfills, coming from livestock and from wastewater plants.

Biogas has significant potential as a renewable energy source of heat, power and transportation fuel. The briefing, titled Renewable Biogas: Too Valuable to Waste, was held June 16 and brought together a panel of speakers, including:

Daniel LeFevers, Executive Director, Washington Operations, Gas Technology Institute

Chris Voell, Manager, AgSTAR Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Marisa Uchin, Manager, Federal Government Relations, Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Arne Jungjohann, Program Director Environment, Heinrich Boell Foundation

Wayne Davis, Vice President, Incentives and Regulatory Affairs, Harvest Power, Inc.

“Using renewable biogas allows us to offset our reliance on fossil fuels,” said Chris Voell, manager of AgSTAR.

How much do you know about biogas?

Do you know where it comes from? Most biogas that is captured and used in the United States today comes from landfills. Still, much of the methane escapes. There are more efficient ways to capture biogas, including the use of anaerobic digesters.

Do you know how safe it is? The California Air Resources Board has certified that when renewable biogas is used as a transportation fuel, it has the lowest life cycle carbon emissions of any biofuel available today.

Do you know how widespread it is in the U.S.? There are now 151 anaerobic digesters are operating in the United States today. All use livestock manure. There are no large scale urban anaerobic digestion systems operating in the United States using organic matter from the solid waste stream – yet.

Learn more from the speakers in this video. Refer to the EESI Web site for a full recap of the event. Did you attend? We’d love to hear your reactions.