California’s looming showdown over waste feedstocks

by Biofuels Digest special correspondent Scott Miller

A showdown is looming in the California State Senate this summer over an issue that is at the heart of the nationwide drive to develop and deploy bioenergy conversion technologies.

In a state that prides itself on its landmark achievements in outlining Global Warming Solutions (AB 32) Bioenergy Action plans and Low Carbon Fuel Standards , access to some of the most sustainable feedstocks for conversion to bioenergy is currently blocked by inexact statutory language and permitting regulations.

As a result, municipalities and utilities are frustrated in their ability to exercise local authority over how they meet stringent waste diversion goals to reduce reliance on landfills for dumping post-recycled waste.

Post-recycled municipal solid waste is considered to be the most sustainable feedstock for biomass conversion into biofuels and biopower because, unconverted, this waste emits greenhouse gases while it decomposes. It is the only feedstock that has “negative” cost – receiving facilities receive per ton “tipping fees” that vary from region to region. Socially, it could provide good urban jobs that cannot be off-shored.

At the rate that municipal landfills are filling up and closing down, there is no time to wait. The state’s largest landfill in Puente Hills, which services Los Angeles County, is scheduled to close in 2013. MSW currently disposed of there will instead be sent by train to a landfill 200 miles away!

Legendary former California State Senator (President Pro Tem) David Roberti and his Bioenergy Producers Association (BPA) are working overtime this month lining up support for passage of the bipartisan California Assembly Bill 222 . With over 60 organizations supporting it  (including municipalities, utilities, labor organizations, waste disposal facilities, and others) the bill was unanimously approved by the Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee on April 27, 2009, and passed the State Assembly by a vote of 54-13 on Monday, June 1st. The Senate is expected to be a much more challenging battleground where, without support, the act might not get out of committee.

AB 222 proposes to update the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989. It is one of those seemingly innocuous pieces of legislation that only a policy wonk could love, but it is extremely important because without its passage municipalities will continue to find it virtually impossible to permit and fund deployment of municipal solid waste conversion technologies around the state. In a Catch-22 they are penalized for not deploying solutions that achieve minimum state diversion targets..

If passed, deployment of such facilities could divert approximately 30 million tons of post-recyclables from landfills while producing biopower and biofuels in accord with state (AB 32) and national initiatives (EISA, the Farm Bill, and pending Waxman/Markey cap and trade bill) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The strongest opposition to the legislation is being coordinated by Californians Against Waste (CAW)  They see the bill as a threat to their sizable influence over waste streams in California. The BPA acknowledges the contributions that CAW has made to reducing, reusing, and recycling MSW in the state but dispute the contention that this measure will set recycling back. Instead, they emphatically assert it will help expand recycling in the state.

To point out other discrepancies, BPA is currently distributing a document titled CAW Misrepresents Renewable Energy Bill (AB 222) throughout Sacramento itemizing CAW’s objections (”myths”) and countering them with the facts at the foundation of AB 222 as written. The document charges that “Californians Against Waste has repeatedly attempted to discredit or thwart legislative and regulatory initiatives that would make possible the production of advanced biofuels and green power from these resources.”

At a common sense level, if society can’t even agree that post-recyclables are qualified feedstock for conversion to alternative forms of energy then the likelihood of other feedstocks being qualified is virtually nil. It is time for legislators to put more authority back in the hands of municipal governments to meet their diversion goals and to determine what is and what is not safe and sustainable. Public and private industries will always have to meet stringent standards on emissions and pollution for any solutions they deploy.

—

This article originally appeared in BIOWaste Blog. The fourth of four interlinked BIOenergy Blogs, BIOWaste covers urban waste and waste output from conversion technologies. The other three related blogs are the BIOstock Blog, the BIOconversion Blog, and the BIOoutput Blog.

President of The Miller DeWulf Corporation in Los Angeles, Scott Miller is a consultant, blogger, writer, webmaster, and EDP (Electronic Document Professional) who has worked in marketing and communications for numerous engineering, educational, and utility firms. He represents biomass feedstock supply, logistics, and conversion technology companies. He is a member of ACORE, 25x’25, SAF, FRA, SCWMF, and SIM.

Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter

Related Stories

Royal Cosun, Avantium partner for advanced biofuels, bioplastics from organic waste streams

In the Netherlands, Royal Cosun and Avantium announced a partnership to develop a new generation of bioplastics and biofuels from selected organic waste streams. Under the partnership agreement, Cosun...

DFI Group proposes 20 Mgy in new algae oil, waste biodiesel capacity for Arkansas; 110 Mgy ethanol plant mulled

In Arkansas, DFI Group has proposed twin algae and waste biodiesel plants in Jermoe. The North Carolina developer said that the 20 Mgy facility would cost $36 million to complete and would be open in ...

US booed, jeered by collective Bali congress in extraordinary diplomatic showdown: 60 second demonstration prompts US switch of position

This story comes from from an eyewitness at the UN Conference on Climate Change, detailing the extraordinary uproar by the international delegations that prompted the US to discontinue its holdout aga...

Sirona Fuels acquires California’s Blue Sky Biofuels; aims for biodiesel expansion based on WVO, jatropha

In California, Sirona Fuels acquired Oakland's Blue Sky Biofuels with its 15 Mgy permit for waste vegetable oil-based biodiesel, and said that the new company will expand based on new sources of WVO, ...

Looming Asian water crisis: wastewater practices, poor planning blamed; biofuels not helping

A report released by the Asian Development Bank outlined a looming crisis in Asian water supply. The report blamed neglect of wastewater management practices for the crisis, and said that the rising p...

E85 comes to California’s Highway 99; only the 2nd E85 station serving the Golden State’s 300,000 flex-fuel vehicles

In California, the first E85 pumps have opened on Highway 99, a vital north-south corridor joining Fresno and Bakersfield to Southern California. California has 300,000 flex-fuel vehicles but only two...