SOLAR+STORAGE
businesswire | May 18, 2023
Vanguard Renewables is proud to announce that CFE Seafoods, located in Auburndale, MA, is the latest New England food and beverage manufacturer to join the Farm Powered Sustainability Heroes Program (FPSH). The program aims to collaborate on eliminating food waste from landfills by recycling it into renewable energy on regional dairy farms via Farm Powered® anaerobic digestion. CFE Seafoods joins New England Natural Bakers, Fancypants Baking Co., and Sloop Brewing Co. in a shared mission to redirect food waste, fight climate change, and help to support dairy farmers across the region.
“We are thrilled to have CFE Seafoods join our Farm Powered Sustainability Heroes program,” stated Neil H. Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Vanguard Renewables. “With a long history of providing grocers and some of the top restaurants around the world with Saltfish, they are committed to the environment and community throughout their business verticals and are a great addition to our Farm Powered movement.”
For more than 50 years, CFE Seafoods has met the discriminating needs — and tastes — of some of the top restauranteurs and seafood grocers in the world. From salting cod following the traditional dry-salting technique to grilled salmon on cedar planks, their long seafaring heritage is a part of every seafood product they offer.
“As a leader in the salted fish industry we believe in sustainability at every level – from how we source our products to our manufacturing process,” stated Justin McAloon, Director of Operations and Compliance, CFE Seafoods. “Joining the Farm Powered Sustainability Heroes Program is a natural extension of our company’s sustainability goals and we look forward to working with our peers in the food and beverage industry to do our part to help mitigate the climate crisis.”
CFE Seafoods credits their employees, the majority of whom have been with the company for more than 20 years, with their success. Each is deeply committed to fulfilling the Company’s mission to provide the industry’s highest quality salted fish products, along with outstanding customer service.
The FPSH program, launched in 2022, is a regional chapter of the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance (FPSA) for regional and single-location food and beverage manufacturers throughout New England who are dedicated to repurposing food and beverage waste into renewable energy. It is a pre-competitive collaboration to share best practices to the benefit of the environment. The FPSA was launched in 2020 with Vanguard Renewables, Dairy Farmers of America, Starbucks, and Unilever as founding partners. It has now grown to include more than 15 large food and beverage manufacturers.
Vanguard Renewables is dedicated to ensuring that all businesses in the food and beverage industry, regardless of size, can be a part of the Farm Powered movement to mitigate climate change.
About Vanguard Renewables
Vanguard Renewables, based in Weston, Massachusetts, is a national leader in developing food and dairy waste-to-renewable energy projects. The Company owns and operates on-farm anaerobic digester facilities in the northeast and currently operates manure-only digesters in the south and west for Dominion Energy. Vanguard Renewables plans to expand nationwide to more than 150 anaerobic digestion facilities by 2026. Vanguard Renewables is committed to advancing decarbonization by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farms and food waste, generating renewable energy, and supporting regenerative agriculture on partner farms via Farm Powered anaerobic digestion. Vanguard Renewables is a portfolio company of BlackRock Real Assets.
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ENERGY
Vicinity Energy | April 10, 2023
Vicinity Energy, a national decarbonization leader with an extensive portfolio of district energy systems across the United States, announced its partnership with Augsburg, Germany-based MAN Energy Solutions to collaborate in the development of low-temperature source heat pump systems for steam generation. Vicinity plans to install an industrial-scale heat pump complex at its Kendall Station facility by 2026.
“Vicinity’s first heat pump complex in Cambridge, MA, which draws from proven examples in Europe, will be the largest in the U.S. It will be powered by renewable electricity to safely and efficiently harvest energy from the Charles River, returning it at a lower temperature," says Bill DiCroce, president and CEO of Vicinity Energy. “We have made a lot of progress harvesting the energy of the sun and wind, MAN’s cutting-edge technology will now enable Vicinity to renewably harvest energy at scale from rivers and oceans, which are presently warming from the effects of climate change. This is a big deal in district energy’s efforts to decarbonize cities, and Vicinity is very proud to lead the way with MAN in this exciting venture.”
“The heating sector accounts for 30-40 percent of global CO2 emissions. The global energy transition cannot succeed without decarbonizing heat,” says Uwe Lauber, CEO and CSO of MAN Energy Solutions. “At the same time, district heating systems are one of the most efficient and sustainable ways to provide heat to commercial buildings and industrial facilities. Hence the task is to reduce district heating systems’ dependence on fossil fuel-fired heat sources. Our heat pump technology can do that, with many examples in the European field to prove it. I am very happy to collaborate with Vicinity Energy on the application of our technology to support Vicinity’s impressive district energy system.”
The race to net zero
This announcement represents another significant step in Vicinity's plans to electrify its operations to achieve net zero. In 2022, the company kicked off its electrification strategy by deconstructing a steam turbine at its Kendall Facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In its place, Vicinity is installing an industrial-scale electric boiler that will begin supplying carbon-free eSteam™ to customers in 2024.
The company’s other 11 locations in major cities nationwide will undergo similar electrification processes in the coming years to achieve its goal of net zero by 2050.
About Vicinity Energy
Vicinity Energy is a clean energy company that owns and operates an extensive portfolio of district energy systems across the United States. Vicinity produces and distributes reliable, clean steam, hot water, and chilled water to over 230 million square feet of building space nationwide. The company is committed to achieving net zero carbon across its portfolio by 2050. It continues to invest in its infrastructure and the latest technologies to accelerate the decarbonization of commercial and institutional buildings in city centers.
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ENERGY
prnewswire | April 20, 2023
Amogy Inc., a pioneer of emission-free, energy-dense ammonia power solutions, and SGX-listed Marco Polo Marine Ltd., a regional integrated marine logistics company actively involved in the offshore wind sector, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Under the terms of their MoU, Amogy's proprietary ammonia-to-power system would also be installed on Marco Polo Marine's existing or newly built wind vessels, allowing them to operate with zero emissions.
The collaboration dovetails with Marco Polo Marine's efforts to decarbonize the shipping sector and reduce the carbon footprint of offshore wind farms through the adoption of more sustainable and green practices. The partnership will also allow Amogy to fine-tune its ammonia-to-power solution in order to more effectively support the specific types of wind vessels (including, but not limited to, CSOVs and SOVs).
Amogy and Marco Polo Marine Unveil Collaboration to Develop Zero-Emission Solution for Offshore Wind Fleet
It is thus an excellent opportunity for both parties to work together to ensure optimal performance, best practices, and successful execution, and to promote sustainability and carbon neutrality initiatives across the maritime and offshore wind industries.
According to a report by the US Department of Energy, global offshore wind energy is a rapidly growing industry and is expected to increase by about five times in size by 2030. By end-2022, Asia is expected to have overtaken Europe as the world's largest regional offshore wind market by cumulative installations. The region's offshore wind capacity is forecast to expand at an annual average rate of 15.3% from 27GW at end-2021 to 109GW in 2031. Wind vessels like CSOVs and SOVs etc. are important support vessels in the offshore wind industry, and the adoption of ammonia power would see a significant decrease in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions from such vessels.
"We're delighted to work with a respected and innovative maritime operator that shares our bold vision for a greener and more sustainable future," said Seonghoon Woo, CEO of Amogy. "The APAC region's commitment to clean fuels makes it important that we have an impact here and we hope that our partnership with Marco Polo can serve as a powerful example for other maritime operators."
The Maritime & Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Singapore Energy Market Authority (EMA) recently launched an Expression of Interest (EOI) process to build, own and operate low or zero-carbon power generation and bunkering projects on Jurong Island, noting that they saw ammonia power as a "promising pathway" to decarbonization.
"We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Amogy and combine our environmentally friendly and innovative technologies. We think that Amogy's ability to convert ammonia to gaseous hydrogen in our wind vessels is a step in the right direction that brings us closer to our long-term goal of decarbonizing the maritime industry by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, it will help speed up the global transition towards clean energy sources," said Sean Lee, CEO of Marco Polo Marine.
Recently, Marco Polo Marine has stepped up its push into the offshore wind industry, following its successful acquisition of PKR Offshore, an established Taiwan-based wind vessel operator, in May 2022. The Group also commissioned the development of a new state-of-the-art CSOV at their Batam shipyard in September 2022 to boost service offerings in support of the offshore wind farm sector. Leveraging on its offshore wind track record in Taiwan, the Group has been supporting the development of offshore wind farms in Japan, South Korea and the wider Asia-Pacific region. It continues to actively identify suitable partners in new markets to expand its reach.
The MoU announcement comes after the news of Amogy's recent $139 million B-1 raise. The round will enable Amogy to continue its organizational development to support commercialization, begin manufacturing its innovative ammonia-to-power technology, and bring its first product to market in 2024.
This all also comes after Amogy announced it is building a zero-emission ammonia-powered vessel with the intention of sailing the vessel in late 2023. Ammonia is predicted to become the leading fuel source for the world's giant cargo ships by 2050.
About Amogy
Amogy offers ammonia-based, emission-free, high energy-density power solutions to decarbonize transportation for a sustainable future. Founded in 2020 by four MIT PhD alumni with a shared vision, Amogy aims to enable the decarbonization of the heavy-duty transportation sector, accelerating the global journey towards Net Zero 2050. The company's investors include Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, AP Ventures, SK, Saudi Aramco and DCVC. To date, Amogy's scalable ammonia-powered, zero-emissions energy system has been demonstrated with success in a drone, heavy-duty tractor, and semi truck.
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