Rethink Methane

Hi All,

I will be attending the Rethink Methane Conference next week in Sacramento.  It’s a big hub-bub with California industry, utility & government folks on many of the issues facing the state with methane mitigation (mostly biogas, not sourgas).  This year it’s a bigger concern as the targets set by SB1383 went into effect on January 1, 2018 with a 12 year time margin (40% reduction in emissions from 2013 levels by the year 2030).  So the clock is now ticking for California – I suspect the rest of the nation will catch up eventually.

My goal at the event is to make some personal connections with folks in the California Air Resources Board, the California Public Utilities Commission, our big power utilities (PG&E, SMUD) and with engineering companies that build big bio-digester projects, like MAAS Energy Works, California Bioenergy, and 4Creeks.

Dr. Moller was invited to speak at The Future of Transportation World Conference in Cologne, Germany this year, so he will be there June 19-20.  You should see his name announced shortly as one of the confirmed speakers on their website (it wasn’t up when I just checked).

Our work on the ICO has been in a holding pattern this week as our team has been putting together information for a potential partner in the biogas generator market (we had a great visit with them earlier this week).  They wanted additional details about the engine technology, our patents and our patents-on-hold, our engine history and run-time experience, technical and managerial staff information, and a short-term business plan for the biogas market in California.  I see a lot of potential in a partnership with these folks, as they have some serious engine cred!

There have been some seriously bad news headlines for Bitcoin this week, creating lots of FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt).  It’s definitely affected the price of all cryptocurrency, but ICOs are still plodding along.  However, there have been some news on that front as well, as Jay Clayton, Chairman of the SEC and J. Christopher Giancarlo, Chairman of the CFTC, wrote an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about their views on cryptocurrency markets and ICO offerings.  They are set to testify to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs about cryptocurrency next week on Feb 6th.  So that will be an interesting event to pay attention to, although I doesn’t appear there are any changes to their public stances on the subject.  (You can watch the hearings live online.)

Best Regards – Dave