Increased awareness and worldwide governmental policy commitments made 2015 a good year for green energy. The New Year holds even more potential thanks to a handful of promising investments and developments on the horizon.

A Focus on Waste to Energy: In its 2015 Sustainability Report, Waste Management Inc. laid out plans for renewed emphasis on extracting value from organics by turning waste into energy. This call to action is sure to expand anaerobic digestion facilities across the U.S. Meanwhile, Colorado is already exploring the possibilities with a new system that turns methane from a wastewater treatment plant into renewable natural gas and Santa Rosa, CA just invested $3 million into a similar citywide green energy strategy.

Wind & Solar Power Records: According to a recent article by The Washington Post, orders for 2016 solar and wind installations are up all over the world. In December 2015, wind energy in the U.S. alone surged passed the 70-gigawatt level with a total of 50,000 spinning turbines that produced enough energy to power 19 million homes. Around the world, Chinese officials plan to generate 200 gigawatts of solar by 2020 while a group of African nations pledged to add 300 gigawatts of clean energy capacity by 2030!

A Presidential Boost for Biogas: A coalition of government energy and environmental agencies released a comprehensive strategy in 2014 to reduce methane emissions through the use of biogas. The Biogas Opportunities Roadmap, part of the White House’s Climate Action Plan, pinpointed 2,000+ sites across the country that produce biogas plus 11,000 potential new facilities. Recognizing the power of biogas to reduce greenhouse emissions, the government is now investing $10 million in research funding and expanding policies to encourage industry growth.

At Renergy, we’re committed to reducing carbon emissions through the responsible and sustainable processing of organic waste into green energy – in 2016 and beyond.