Author Archives: stlane

Waste Management aims to turn trash into energy

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Waste Management aims to turn trash into energy

By any measure, Waste Management is a giant in the U.S. garbage collection and recycling business, but its future might lie in a different service: turning trash into energy. If we lose the waste, we’ve certainly lost the business, said Carl Rush, vice president of the company’s organic growth group, the chief vehicle for its energy investments. The shift in thinking comes at a time when U.S. landfill collections are hitting a plateau as Americans recycle more, consumer products makers reduce packaging and many large corporations adopt “zero waste” goals. Demand for renewable energy and fuels also is increasing, in response both to regulations requiring them and to public concerns about the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels and their environmental impact. Waste Management also has its own pilot plant in Oklahoma that converts landfill gas to diesel fuel for its trash collection trucks. […] it’s in a joint venture with Linde in an Altamont, Calif., plant that turns landfill gas into liquefied natural gas and powers 1,000 garbage trucks there. The company now has a portfolio of nearly 30 acquisitions, joint ventures and investment projects at various stages of development.

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Customers help CPS save energy

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Customers help CPS save energy

Demand response, which is aimed at large commercial and institutional customers, together with CPS’ Peak Saver thermostat program for residential customers, save the utility between 80 and 90 megawatts a day on the hottest days of the summer — enough power for more than 16,000 households.

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AACOG weatherization program granted extension

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AACOG weatherization program granted extension

The Alamo Area Council of Governments’ weatherization program last week was granted a funding extension through Dec. 31 — allowing AACOG to keep and expend federal stimulus funds that just a month ago were thought to be in jeopardy.

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Grid operator avoids rolling blackouts

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Grid operator avoids rolling blackouts

At one point during the afternoon, grid operator ERCOT — the Electric Reliability Council of Texas — warned there was a “high probability” of rolling blackouts.

Yet if the scorching weather should prompt ERCOT to call for wider rolling blackouts in the coming days, CPS and other utilities connected to the grid would be required to comply — and within 15 minutes, CPS spokeswoman Christine Patmon said.

CPS would not cut power to critical customers, such as hospitals and emergency services handled by the fire and police departments, she said, but residential customers would be affected.

Every degree a person lowers the thermostat below 78 adds an additional 7 to 10 percent to their electric bill as well as additional stress to the power grid.

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