REG Completes Dynamic Fuels Acquisition

Joanna Schroeder

The largest U.S. biodiesel company Renewable Energy Group (REG) has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary REG Synthetic Fuels, LLC has completed its acquisition of the remaining 50 percent ownership interest in Dynamic Fuels, LLC. Dynamic Fuels was previously owned by Tyson Foods.

The new biodiesel facility will be known as REG Geismar, LLC and is a 75-million gallon renewable diesel biorefinery located in Geismar, Louisiana. The plant was formerly jointly owned by Tyson and Syntroleum and completed in 2010 as the first U.S-based large-scale renewable diesel biorefinery. The majority of the employees will stay on with REG Geismar.

REG Geismar LLCAs a result of last Tuesday’s closing of its purchase of substantially all of the assets of Syntroleum Corporation and the closing of this transaction with Tyson, REG now takes full ownership of Dynamic Fuels’ 75-million gallon nameplate capacity renewable diesel biorefinery.

“Closing these transactions enables our entry into the renewable diesel market in a significant way,” said Daniel J. Oh, Renewable Energy Group, Inc. president and chief executive officer. “We are excited about the opportunity to offer new products to our customers, while building on our core competencies in research, engineering, production, and distribution of advanced biofuels. We look forward to bringing the Geismar biorefinery online and work to do so has begun.”

REG paid Tyson approximately $16.5 million in cash at closing and retired approximately $13.5 million of Dynamic Fuels’ indebtedness to Tyson. REG has also agreed to make up to $35 million in future payments to Tyson tied to product volumes at the Geismar biorefinery over a period of up to eleven and a half years. REG intends to use proceeds from its recent $143,750,000 convertible senior notes offering to either replace the letter of credit that Tyson Foods obtained to support the biorefinery’s $100 million in Gulf Opportunity Zone Bonds, issued through the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority, or to redeem these bonds.

advanced biofuels, Biodiesel, REG, Renewable Energy

2 Ethanol Plants Select ICM’s Added Value Technologies

Joanna Schroeder

In the past few weeks ICM has signed on three new ethanol plants which will use two of their second-generation ethanol technologies. Patriot Renewable Fuels has selected ICM’s Fiber Separation Technology (FST) while Front Range Energy has selected ICM’s patent-pending Selective Milling Technology (SMT) for their ethanol plant located on Windsor, Colorado. SMT is what is known as a “value-added platform technology” for plant yield enhancement.

Front-Range-Web-Logo-2013Dan Sanders, vice president for Front Range Energy LLC, said of their choice, “We are excited to own and operate this new technology from ICM. Our team did an excellent job evaluating options available in this space and we believe ICM’s SMT gives us the greatest potential for overall yield improvements, and the most control to make operational changes on the front end of our plant to enable lower cost per gallon production.”

With the agreement for purchase and full-scale installation at Front Range Energy, there are now 17 ethanol plants in North America either operating or under contract to operate ICM’s Selective Milling Technology, raising total throughput for ICM and its partner in this yield enhancement technology, Fluid Quip Process Technologies, to over 1.65 billion gallons of ethanol production per year.

Chris Mitchell, President of ICM, Inc., said, “SMT continues to prove itself as the long-term solution of choice for plant yield enhancement, and ICM is pleased to continue our partnership with Front Range Energy, a leading supplier of fuel ethanol to the Rocky Mountain transportation fuel market.”

In addition, IGPC Ethanol of Ontario, Canada had signed a contract with ICM to be the first Canadian Adopter of FST. This technology is also a value-added platform technology that increases ethanol yield and throughput. It also increases oil recovery. According to ICM, IGPC-ethanol-logoremoving the fiber from the standard ethanol process allows the plant to produce each gallon more efficiently as well as creates the opportunity for diversified co-products with high protein feeds and fiber.

Jim Grey, CEO of IGPC Ethanol, Inc. said, “Through our previous collaboration with ICM, we believed it was important to continue down the path of obtaining their critical platform technologies that are necessary for making a sustained impact on agriculture and economic development for our region, and strategically position our business for future opportunities.”

Chris Mitchell, President of ICM, Inc., noted, “ICM is very excited to move forward with IGPC as they adopt the FST process. FST is the next step after Selective Milling Technology, which the plant purchased in 2013. The platform technologies build on each other, increasing ethanol and corn oil yield, as well as enabling additional throughput and reducing energy usage. Every gallon produced will be processed more efficiently with the addition of the technologies.”

advanced biofuels, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Renewable Energy

EPA Extends 2013 RFS Compliance Deadline

Cindy Zimmerman

epaThe Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that the compliance deadline for the 2013 Renewable Fuel Standard is being extended from June 30 to September 30. The EPA intends to finalize the remaining portion of its rulemaking to establish the 2014 renewable fuel standards shortly.

EPA said the extension is warranted because they have not yet issued the 2014 annual standards rule. The agency received comments on the proposed rule “emphasizing the need for the EPA to promulgate the 2014 RFS standards quickly and the need for obligated parties to know their obligations for the following year when finalizing their 2013 compliance demonstrations.”

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) was among those requesting the extension and President Charles Drevna says it was the right decision. “While we do not believe that delaying the compliance date eliminates the injury caused by the late promulgation of the rule, it will provide obligated parties with a degree of certainty by knowing their blending obligations,” said Drevna in a statement. “Now more than six months late, the agency’s inability to recognize the impact of continued delays is yet another reason that Congress must address this set of mandates whose very premise has proven obsolete.”

The 2013 RFS mandated 16.55 billion gallons of biofuels be blended into US transportation fuels, including 2.75 billion gallons of advanced biofuels.

EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFS

Iowa’s Steve King Urges EPA to Follow Law on RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

steve-kingIf the administration wants to make changes in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) they should follow the law, according to Rep. Steve King (R-IA).

“The RFS is in statute and there are waiver provisions in there for the EPA, but they need to comply with the waiver provisions,” said King during an interview.

King notes that EPA used 2011 data in proposing volume requirements for this year under the RFS. “So we’ve asked them in hearings, discussions, pleadings, every way that we can … that we want them to go back and look at the 2013 data and go back and re-read the law,” he said. “If they make those adjustments appropriately, they’ll come back to what the law says.”

King made those comments during an interview at World Pork Expo in Des Moines last week.

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) RFS comments
Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, RFS

Gen 1.5 – Corn Fiber to Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

scott-kohlSomewhere between corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol is a midpoint that can be found in the corn kernel.

“Generation one is starch to ethanol and generation two is corn stover and grasses but there is cellulose in the corn kernel,” explained ICM, Inc. technical director Scott Kohl during a session last week at the Corn Utilization and Technology Conference. “That’s the Generation 1.5 – the fiber in the corn kernel.”

Kohl says ICM is developing processes to separate that fiber from the rest of the kernel to make more ethanol so that the yield from a single bushel of corn will increase. “We’ve run nearly 2,000 hours of pilot runs on that system,” he said. “We are now in the process of getting the financing arranged to have the first plant running by the middle of 2015.” Interview with Scott Kohl, ICM

It was just announced last week that Patriot Renewable Fuels of Annawan, Illinois will be one of the first to use Gen 1.5 with ICM’s patent-pending Fiber Separation Technology (FST). “ICM’s ethanol technology is a logical platform on which to build our business as a bio refinery” said Patriot’s VP/GM Rick Vondra. “There are many new product and growth possibilities using corn as our feedstock, and we have identified these as two high potential processes that we can adopt now.”

2014 CUTC Photo Album

Audio, corn, CUTC, Patriot Renewable Fuels

GENERcoin to Back Renewable Alternative to Coal

Joanna Schroeder

Now this is an interesting concept that I’ve run across – a mix of digital currency with renewable energy. The crypto currency is backed by real Green ENERgy and their product is coined ‘GENERcoin’. The product is being offered through Arterran Renewables and according to the company combines stable value together with economic utility that neither debt-backed or gold-backed currencies offer.

Ok, let’s take a step back. Arterran Renewables is a nextgen biofuel company whose technology converts any waste with a suitable cellulose content into a solid biofuel that can replace coal.  According to the company, the result is a renewable and abundant source of energy that produces significantly more energy than industrial wood pellets, with no off gassing, superior combustion characteristics, and lower handling costs.

“Arterran Renewables is very enthusiastic about the potential from this partnership with members of the crypto currency community. The mutual discovery of the benefits that each of us can offer the world is enormous,” said Arterran’s CEO Lloyd Davis. “Arterran believes both parties have disruptive innovation at the core of our technologies and our innovations will change the World.”

GENERcoinNow back to GENERcoin. The solid biofuel, which is a replacement for coal, is reality thanks in part to GENERcoin, whose currency is in essence backing the technology.

“GENERcoin is simply about one thing: a World with sustainable renewable energy. The world cannot afford to ignore the effects of 150 years of fossil fuel use, nor can it continue down the big energy business as usual path,” said GENERcoin’s lead visionary David Tiessen. “The effects of fossil fuel use will continue to increase the CO2 levels of the planet and negatively affect our climate and the future of thousands of species, including ours.”

“We now have the choice of business as usual and the continued burning of dirty fossil fuels and the polluting of the planet, or renewable and sustainable alternatives like Arterran Renewables,” continued Tiessen. “Mankind now has at our disposal clean, sustainable energy alternatives and Arterran Renewables with their ability to directly replace coal is the latest exciting addition. GENERcoin is the medium to deploy Arterran’s NextGen Renewable Solid Biofuel and we’re excited to get down to the business of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

GENERcoins will be released through a crowdsale taking place on the Master Protocol on June 11, 2014. Each participant will actually be pre-purchasing Arterran’s NextGEN Solid Biofuel at the rate of $0.062 USD per coin, equivalent to 10,000 btu calculated at a significant discount (according to current market prices as reported by Argus Media). Each coin holder then has the option of redeeming their coins for the fuel or exchanging or trading them as they see fit.

bioenergy, biomass, Clean Energy, Electricity, Waste-to-Energy

Prez Michelle Bachelet of Chile Inaugurates Solar Plant

Joanna Schroeder

President Michelle Bachelet of Chile inaugurated the Amanecer Solar CAP plant in Copiapo, Chile. The solar project is the largest photovoltaic solar power plant in Latin America and one of the largest in the world. The project was developed, built and interconnected by SunEdison under an offtake agreement with CAP Group.

The Amanecer Solar CAP plant has 100 MW of total installed capacity; the amount of energy consumed each year by approximately 125,000 Chilean homes, or equivalent to 10 percent of the renewable energy generation capacity goal established by the Chilean Government for 2014. The project involves an investment of US $250 million and is critical for the future development of renewable energy in Chile and Latin America.

SunEdison 100 MW Amanecer Solar CAP Power PlantAhmad Chatila, President and CEO of SunEdison, noted: “This project has changed the course of renewable energy development not only in Chile and Latin America, but throughout the world. Amanecer Solar CAP has become a benchmark for SunEdison in how to develop photovoltaic solar energy on an international level.”

Located 37 kilometers from Copiapo in the Atacama Desert, the plant has more than 310,000 photovoltaic modules spread over 250 acres. The Amanecer Solar CAP plant was built in six months and all of its energy is injected into the Central Interconnected System, which lowers the net cost of grid electricity.

In its first year of operation it is estimated that the plant will inject 270 GWh (gigawatt hours) of clean energy into the system. To generate the same amount of energy using diesel would require more than 71 million liters of fuel.

Jose Perez, President of SunEdison for Europe, Africa and Latin America, added: “This plant demonstrates that photovoltaic solar energy is an ideal way of diversifying the energy matrix in Chile, reducing costs and contributing towards meeting the demand for clean and sustainable energy. SunEdison has now interconnected 150 MW in the Atacama Desert – the 100 MW Amanecer Solar CAP plant plus a 50 MW power plant in San Andres – and this is just the starting point. We are firmly committed to the future of clean energy production and the development of the energy industry in Chile.”

Clean Energy, Electricity, International, Solar

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFIKEA has completed the installation of South Florida’s largest solar array, which will be plugged-in officially atop the future Miami-Dade IKEA store opening this summer in Sweetwater, FL. Combined with rooftop arrays in Orlando, Tampa and Sunrise, this fourth solar project will keep IKEA as the state’s largest non-utility solar owner. The 178,000-square-foot solar array consists of a 1,178-kW system, built with 4,620 panels, and will produce approximately 1,738,876 kWh of electricity annually for the store. For the development, design and installation of the Miami-Dade store’s customized solar power system, IKEA contracted with REC Solar.
  • Vista Solar has promoted Jaymes Callinan from Vice President to President of the Company. Callinan co-founded Vista Solar in 2007 with his father Pat Callinan (president of global silicon distributor SVM, Inc.). Since the company’s inception, Jaymes has grown Vista Solar from a residential solar startup to a multi-million dollar commercial solar installation firm.
  • Homeowners anywhere in the United States can now purchase Andalay Solar’s high-performing, easy-to-install solar panels online at Amazon.com. With a 60 perfect annual growth of residential solar power system installations in the U.S. in 2013, the move to sell on Amazon particularly targets the do-it-yourself market. Andalay Solar offers grid-tied AC solar system kits either with 4 panels or with 1, making it quick and easy for go-getting DIYers to customize the size of their solar power system by simply purchasing then tying together the amount of kits necessary to fit their roofs. Furthermore, Andalay’s kits allow for DIYers to install a renewable energy system at a lower cost than a third-party installer.
  • China Ming Yang Wind Power has announced its subsidiary, Jiangsu Mingyang Wind Power Technology Limited, has been approved by Rudong Energy Bureau in Jiangsu Province, China, to exclusively develop and operate a 300MW off-shore wind power project off the coast of Rudong in Jiangsu Province, China, subject to certain conditions.
Bioenergy Bytes

Spider ST Solar Roof Mount System Seeing Success

Joanna Schroeder

Patriot Solar Group (PSG) has announced they are seeing success with their recently launched Spider ST roof mount system. The Spider ST is a polypropylene polymer-based roof mount for commercial flat roof applications. Because of its design and ease of use, the company says it offers solar installers unique cost saving features.

Patriot Solar Group Spider STAlthough mounting systems are defined as “hardware costs,” the the company says Spider ST reduces soft costs, which account for a large percentage of installed system costs for roof-top solar projects.

Patriot Solar Group explains its “snap together” design requires no tools for assembly and comes standard with integrated grounding – significantly lowering associated mechanical and electrical labor. The design to build process is shortened due to zero roof penetrations and lighter roof loading because of its airfoil wind deflector design.

“Projects are getting financed quicker and more easily because of our extensive research data, wind tunnel testing and UL 2703 compliance – thus further reducing associated soft costs,” said Jeff Mathie, president of Patriot Solar Group, “Developers, building owners, roof manufacturers and financiers feel very comfortable using the Spider ST and we are seeing a stronger market acceptance towards polymer based materials for racking.”

Alternative energy, Renewable Energy, Solar

Summer Means No E15

Cindy Zimmerman

It’s summer vacation time for 15% ethanol blends but not by choice.

E15 sign“The Environmental Protection Agency’s outdated interpretation of Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) regulations is preventing the sale of E15 in most of the country during the busy summer driving season, adding billions to travelers’ fuel costs,” said American Coalition for Ethanol senior vice president Ron Lamberty. By unnecessarily limiting the sale of E15 to only flex-fuel vehicle (FFV) owners from June 1 to September 15
in areas where most gasoline is used, Lamberty says EPA is effectively requiring drivers to purchase lower octane fuel for 5 to 40 cents.

Iowa leads the nation with 20 registered E15 stations and Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Managing Director Lucy Norton says they have to shut down the pumps in the summertime. “If oil refiners chose to ship gasoline with the proper vapor pressure into our state, Iowa motorists could have expanded access to cleaner-burning, lower-cost E15 year-round, instead of it being temporarily restricted to only flex-fuel vehicles during the summer,” said Norton.

The Iowa legislature passed legislation to help ease costs Iowa retailers may incur when obtaining gasoline suitable for blending with 15 percent ethanol during the summer months. Under the legislation, Iowa’s E15 retailer tax credit to 10 cents from June 1 to September 15, up from the three cents it is the rest of the year.

“Ironically, E15 has a lower RVP than the fuel 95% of drivers are using, so EPA’s unwillingness to change a 25 year-old regulation effectively mandates higher evaporative emissions and higher prices during the busiest driving season of the year,” said Lamberty.

ACE, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Iowa RFA