Adopt resolution authorizing the Yolo County Director of Integrated Waste Management to submit a grant application to the Department of Energy-Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (DOE-EERE) for waste feedstocks and conversion research and development funding in the amount of $1,500,000 with a 20% local cost share of $300,000, for a total project cost of $1,800,000. (No general fund impact) (Echiburu/Yazdani)

The Yolo County Central Landfill (YCCL) produces over 1,400 standard cubic feet per minute (scfm) of biogas (50% methane) from municipal solid waste and sort separated organic waste anaerobic digester (AD) facilities. Currently the produced biogas is combusted in five internal combustion engines to make electricity sold to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) under a power purchase agreement that ends in June 2028. These internal combustion engines are incredibly inefficient (<25%) in turning burned methane into usable energy and fall short in their ability to utilize the CO2 portion of biogas, thus reduced the profitability for waste to energy projects. Additionally, on-site landfilling and organic waste operations at YCCL use heavy equipment such as compactors, dozers, hauling trucks, water trucks, scrappers, loaders, and other diesel operated equipment that annually use over 270,000 gallons of off-road diesel.

T2C-Energy has developed and patented a proprietary process called Tri-reforming and Fischer Tropsch Synthesis (trademarked TRIFTS®), by which to convert biogas (landfill gas or AD gas) to liquid transportation fuels. The TRIFTS® process first converts the biogas to syngas (using a tri-reforming catalyst) and then produces liquid hydrocarbon fuels (using a Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis catalyst specifically tailored to produce large fractions of middle distillate fuel). The TRIFTS® technology is capable of utilizing both the CO2 and CH4 portions of biogas and incorporating them into the hydrocarbon backbone of the final fuel product of the process, avoiding costly biogas cleanup processes. This renewable source of diesel resembles its petroleum counterpart both physically and chemically, passing ASTM D975 specifications, and can be used in current day engines with no engine modifications necessary that reduces the emissions significantly.  This adds to the flexibility in the use and distribution of the fuel.  Thus, heavy equipment and waste hauling trucks can therefore unload and refuel at the YCCL or AD with a renewable diesel fuel derived from the very waste they haul. Offtake agreements with fuel distributors can also be executed for distribution of the fuel offsite. A significant financial benefit to the utilization of TRIFTS® technology is that even though the fuel produced qualifies for environmental attribute revenue (ex. RIN or LCFS credits), it is not reliant on them to be profitable and creates a more secure/long term route to sustainable energy from waste when environmental attribute programs begin to reduce or remove incentives and petroleum spot prices become more influential over fuel revenues.   This is a major benefit over current RNG applications that receive over 90% of their revenue from environmental attributes. Energy dense liquid fuels are more widely used in transport and have a significantly higher dollar value in an unsubsidized petroleum market than natural gas on an $/MMBTU and $/kg basis.

The TRIFTS® process has been tested at the pilot scale for seven months continuously at the Citrus County Municipal Solid Waste Landfill in Brooksville, Florida.  The grant funding seeks to perform additional pilot scale test and feasibility analysis of this technology for different types of biogas (mixture of landfill gas from old and fresh waste, AD, mixture of AD and landfill gas) which enable Yolo County to evaluate this TRIFTS® process technically and economically. We will also determine the permitting requirements for a scale up project.  This pilot project will identify key parameters that will have a significant impact on the permitting, design, capital cost, operation, and maintenance cost of the scale up project. It will also include an independent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) model, energy balance, and GHG emissions estimate. The team will also identify air, water, and solid waste permitting issues.  Based on previous pilot data, current project models show that the fuel produced would meet a minimum fuel selling price of $2.75 and can produce over 1 million gallons of renewable diesel per year from YCCL biogas while achieving a GHG reduction of 70% relative to petroleum-derived fuels.  Preliminary LCA models give a carbon intensity score of -37 gCO2e/MJ for TRIFTS fuel for the landfill project, greatly exceeding DOE-EERE’s GHG emission reduction targets.

The recommended action is to adopt the resolution necessary for the Director of Integrated Waste Management to submit a complete application for this three year demonstration project for $1.5 million, and if funds are granted, execute agreements with DOE-EERE and other sub-recipients, including T2C-Energy.  It is anticipated that of the $1.5 million, the County will allocate $700,000 to T2C-Energy pursuant to such subaward agreement and the terms of the grant program.  The grant application requires 20% of either cash or an in-kind contribution.  County and TC2-Energy plan to meet this requirement by annual in-kind contributions of labor, benefits, overhead, and/or pilot unit usage. The annual in-kind contribution for Yolo County will be $53,333 per year for three years ($160,000 total) and $46,667 per year for three year ($140,000 total) for T2C-Energy. The total project cost will be about $1.8 million, including the in-kind contributions.