$2.5 Million Grant Goes to Florida Wind Project

John Davis

fpl_logo.gifFlorida Power and Light has picked up a $2.5 million state grant to help build a major wind power plant.

This story on TCPalm.com has more details:

FPL wants to place six turbines on its own land at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant and three on state owned land managed by the county at Blind Creek Park. The FPL Project, called “St. Lucie Wind” in the grant paperwork, was one of eight projects out of 139 proposals to get money from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

“We applaud Gov. (Charlie) Crist and the state of Florida for their commitment to addressing the important challenge of developing new renewable energy sources,” said FPL spokeswoman Amy Brunjes in a statement. “Irrespective of the specifics regarding any particular project, we know that many renewable energy projects will be needed to achieve our goals as a state.”

The $2.5 million award was the maximum amount possible through the Renewable Energy Technologies Grant Program, designed to encourage renewable energy projects involving solar, hydrogen, wind and other technologies. The wind turbine project is estimated to cost about $60.8 million.

Wind

California Working on Biofuel Access

John Davis

caflag.gifWhile California leads the nation in alternative fuel stations, pumps offering E85 ethanol and biodiesel are still extremely rare.

In fact, this Los Angeles Times story posted on Checkbiotech.org says that out of the 835 alternative fuel stations, 379 offer electricity, 215 pump liquefied petroleum gas, and 174 dispense compressed natural gas… with just a handful offering biodiesel or E85. But that could change:

Now, however, California has adopted ambitious new goals for alternative fuels and cutting greenhouse gas emissions – and it can no longer afford to leave the public out of the mix.For starters, the state is going to increase the use of ethanol as a fuel additive to all gasoline sold here.

For years, California’s gasoline has contained 5.7% ethanol to boost octane and comply with federal emissions rules; starting in 2010, that will rise to 10% ethanol. For a state that consumes about 43 million gallons of gas each day, that change alone represents a huge jump in ethanol consumption.

Meanwhile, biodiesel backers have helped build a statewide roster of more than 50 sites that offer the fuel, with many selling to the public and offering blends ranging from B10 (10% biodiesel and 90% petroleum diesel) to B99, a nearly pure biodiesel fuel.

New state and federal grants will help add E85 sites. In May, the state air board set aside millions to help set up 34 public E85 stations. Most are planned for the Sacramento area, but new sites will also open in the coming weeks in Carlsbad and Oceanside in San Diego County. Separate grants will fund new E85 sites elsewhere later this year.

But getting commercial stations on board might be a little tougher. The article says it costs about $50,000 to add E85 pumps. In addition, the big oil companies, which own most of the commercial outlets, are not warm to allow alternatives to petroleum to be sold at their stations.

GM, which has sold the largest number of the six million E85 vehicles on the road in the country today, is trying to help pump up the use of E85 by underwriting events such as selling E85 for just 85 cents a gallon in an effort to get more people to use the greener fuel.

Biodiesel, E85, Ethanol, News

London Biofuels Conference Set

John Davis

bioconflondon.jpgGovernment to Greenpeace will be taking part in the Biofuels Conference at the end of April in London, England.

The one-day conference is scheduled for April 29th and is being billed as the “must attend” event of 2008:

Moderated by Sarah Montague of Radio 4, this high quality debate will outline the challenges of biofuel production and highlight possible future solutions.

Leading biofuel producers will be joined by farming groups and other organisations including Greenpeace to discuss these questions & to take questions from the floor.

What are the Government’s plans for reducing the UK’s Carbon footprint?

Jim Fitzpatrick, MP, will be laying out the Government’s vision for biofuels and the low carbon economy.

In addition, various feedstocks for biofuels, including algae, waste and landfill gas will be discussed.

If you register by Friday, February 29th, you’ll save nearly $200 off the approximately $900 registration fee.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Shannon Brown Performs at National Ethanol Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

Shannon BrownThe National Ethanol Conference got a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll tonight and a whole lot of corn fed. I don’t know about you but I love being corn fed and I love Shannon Brown’s song. I got to meet her this afternoon here at the National Ethanol Conference and she and her band performed an awesome show.

I asked her about the song and how it all came about and what she thinks of the ethanol business that she’s been involved in through her sponsorship by VeraSun Energy.

Shannon says the song reflects the fact that she’s a corn fed Iowa girl and the song signifies who she is and where she comes from. She says that working with VeraSun has been an eye opener and she’s fully behind the mission of the ethanol industry. She says consumers should definitely feel comfortable putting it in their car.

You can hear my interview with Shannon here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/nec-08-brown.mp3]

And if you’d like to hear how this song sounded on stage then you can also do so here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/nec-08-corn-fed.mp3]

National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference, News

Andy Karsner Speech

Chuck Zimmerman

Andy KarsnerBob Dinneen, RFA President, isn’t the only one to preach a powerful sermon here at the National Ethanol Conference. I was very surprised and pleased to hear Andy Karsner, Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy, U.S. Department of Energy, speak at today’s luncheon. He gave a very passionate speech that you would really enjoy listening to. That’s why I decided to post a link to the full speech below for you. I know it’s a little long but you can listen to as little or as much as you’d like this way.

I think he went to great lengths to talk about the mis-information filtering out to the public about renewable fuel sources. In fact, as so many of you know, it’s hard to believe how much of it is out there. So he addressed those problems head on with good scientific information.

He tells a very moving story about how much he travels for his present position and how that has affected his family and young children. He says that even though it’s difficult, it’s minor compared to what our military men and women are doing to fight the war on terror overseas. He says it’s the least we can do to do our part here at home which includes developing sources of energy that make us more independent of those countries that would do us harm.

Another message that came through loud and clear was his idea that the solutions to our energy needs are something that will be done by not just the government but by private industry and government working together.

You can listen to Andy Karsner’s speech here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/nec-08-karsner.mp3]

National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Energy, Ethanol, Government, National Ethanol Conference, News

Ethanol Industry is Sound

Chuck Zimmerman

Bob DinneenThe Reverend of Renewable Fuels got up and preached a powerful sermon today on the state of the ethanol industry. Bob Dinneen, President of the Renewable Fuels Association, gave his annual state of the industry speech this morning.

Speaking before more than 2,200 attendees at the 13th Annual National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, Florida, he declared that the state of the U.S. ethanol industry is sound:

“With your continued commitment, I can report to you without exaggeration or hyperbole that the state of the U.S. ethanol industry is sound, that we are prepared to meet the opponents of change with facts, with a resolute spirit, and with renewed dedication to the proposition that together we can change our nation’s energy, economic and environmental destiny.”

The complete text of Dinneen’s State of the Ethanol Industry Address can be found here (pdf).

You can listen Bob’s speech here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/nec-08-dinneen-speech.mp3]

National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

Audio, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference, News

Classic Commodity Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

The 2008 Commodity Classic kicks off this week in Nashville at the Opryland.

Biofuels will be in the spotlight throughout the conference and the yet-to-be-completed Farm Bill will likely be a major topic of conversation as new agriculture secretary Ed Schafer will address the crowd on Friday during the general session.

Saturday night’s entertainment at the Grand Ole Opry featuring “Corn Fed” Shannon Brown – sponsored by VeraSun following up on her appearance at the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando – along with John Conlee, Joe Diffie, Carolina Rain and The Steeldrivers.

The Commodity Classic is the combined convention and trade show of the American Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association, and the National Association of Wheat Growers. Next year it will be even bigger when the National Sorghum Producers join the show.

Domestic Fuel coverage of the 2008 Commodity Classic
is sponsored by: John Deere

Commodity Classic, conferences, corn, John Deere, News

Katrina Helps Big Easy Go Green

John Davis

neworleansbus.jpgThe City of New Orleans will be running the buses that replace the losses from Hurricane Katrina on biodiesel.

The New Orleans CityBusiness reports that the new buses will arrive this spring:

The first of 39 new RTA buses will be delivered in April, a $15-million step toward replenishing a 372-bus fleet Hurricane Katrina cut by 205 ruined buses.

Each of the new $385,000 buses will run on biodiesel, a cleaner-burning alternative fuel comprised of specially processed plant or animal fat often blended with petroleum diesel.

“We started looking into the alternative options and so far biodiesel is the option that best fits our needs so we can strike a compromise between efficient transportation and a greener city,” Burgos said.

New Orleans is not alone as San Francisco, CA; Columbus, Ohio; Houston, Texas; and Bloomington, Indiana… among others… have all switched either their bus or city vehicle fleets or both to biodiesel.

Officials also hope the switch to biodiesel, made cheaper by certain tax incentives, will help the city transit system get back on track to its pre-Katrina days. Right now, ridership is only about one-fourth what it used to be.

Biodiesel

Alabama City Collecting Used Oil for Biodiesel

John Davis

gadsden.gifGadsden, Alabama is getting into the swing of biodiesel… and it’s depending on the community to help fuel the green move.

This story in the Gadsden Times says the city is handing out jugs to residents to get them to collect their used cooking grease so it can be turned into biodiesel:

The city is a partner in the program with the Gadsden Water Works and Sewer Board, which purchased collection jugs and labels, and Auburn University, which bought the equipment used to turn the cooking oil into biodiesel fuel.

Auburn President Jack Gogue will be at the fleet management facility in Gadsden at 11 a.m. March 7 to talk about the biodiesel program here and in the state. The university bought the equipment, which cost about $14,000, to promote the use of biodiesel fuels.

The city will spend about 70 cents a gallon to produce the diesel fuel from cooking oil and grease. The fuel then can be used in the city’s diesel vehicles.

Officials hope to get the local restaurants involved as well so they can collect enough used grease to fuel the $14,000-bill Gadsden spends on diesel each year. In addition, they hope they’ll keep the grease out of the city’s sewer system, which has been a big problem clogging the pipes.

Biodiesel

National Ethanol Conference Opening Reception

Chuck Zimmerman

Opening ReceptionIt has been a great first day here at the National Ethanol Conference.

The opening reception was held outside just before sunset and it was a big party. According to RFA President, Bob Dinneen, this is the biggest ever with over 2,300 attending. It seemed like they all came out to the opening reception.

I spoke with a lot of industry representatives today getting an idea of how things are going and the mood is upbeat even with all the challenges out there. Tomorrow kicks off the serious sessions and I’ll have a lot more interviews at that point.

National Ethanol Conference Photo Album

National Ethanol Conference, News