TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a North American Energy Standards Board Base Contract Gas with GHI Energy, LLC, of Houston, TX, for the sale and purchase of natural gas to allow physical biogas transactions; and any amendments to agreements for natural gas services between Long Beach Gas and Oil and customers that operate natural gas fueling stations within the City. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
Over the past century, human activities have released large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Most greenhouse gases come from burning fossil fuels to produce energy. As a natural gas distributor, Long Beach Gas and Oil (LBGO) continually explores new and innovate approaches to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change. Recent technological advancements have allowed companies to provide alternatives to traditional natural gas that produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions as well as increase the nation’s energy security. One such advancement is the ability to produce biogas on a large scale. Biogas, which is primarily derived from landfills and livestock operations, is a renewable fuel that produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than natural gas.
In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, recent federal and state laws have been enacted to decrease the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and promote biogas. A federal Renewal Fuel Standard (RFS) was created under the Energy Policy Act (EPA) of 2005, and greatly expanded under the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007.
Under the RFS program, fuel producers and importers are required to replace a percentage of their fossil-based transportation fuels with cleaner renewable fuels. Along with traditional gasoline and diesel fuels, this mandate also applies to compressed natural gas (CNG) used as a vehicle fuel. In order to enforce the required volume of renewal fuel und...
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