It’s the month of celebration for cellulosic ethanol in Iowa. On Tuesday, September 9, 2014 at 11:00 am Quad County Corn Processors will be hosting a grand opening event for its new “bolt on” biorefinery that produces cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber. Quad County is the site of Iowa’s first cellulosic ethanol gallons and the world’s first corn kernel …
Ecotech’s Clean Jobs Index Shows Clean Job Growth
There are more than two million job postings in the clean and sustainable energy sector for the first two quarters of 2014, according to Ecotech Institute’s Clean Job Index that looks at job postings in the green energy sector. This is nearly a 88 percent increase from this time last year. Ecotech Institute created the Clean Jobs Index to provide …
Project Liberty to Celebrate with Grand Opening
POET-DSM’s Project LIBERTY is celebrating the ethanol plant’s production of cellulosic ethanol produced from corn stover and corn cobs during a grand opening celebration on Wednesday, September 3, 2014. The event will be held in Emmetsburg, Iowa and will showcase what POET-DMS calls a “first-of-its-kind technology that is poised to dramatically expand the world’s resources for transportation fuel”. The Grand …
Virent Receives EPA Approval for BioForm
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded Virent fuel registration for its BioForm Gasoline in blends of up to 45 percent. As a registered fuel, Virent’s biogasoline can now be used in on-highway motor vehicles. According to Virent, BioForm Gasoline is a high octane, direct replacement fuel made from plants that offers the benefits of high performance and blend …
Solar & Storage Microgrid Project Planned for Vermont
A new solar + storage microgrid project has been announced for Rutland, Vermont. The Stafford Hills project is being developed by Green Mountain Power in collaboration with Dynapower and GroSolar. The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Electricity along with the Energy Storage Technology Advancement Partnership (ESTAP) funded the energy storage component project along with funds from the State of …
Sierra Magazine Releases 2014 Coolest Schools
The “Coolest Schools” in America rankings are out and the top school is University of California, Irvine. Compiled annually by Sierra Club, the rankings focus on America’s greenest colleges. The ranking universities displayed a deep and thorough commitment to protecting the environment, addressing climate issues, and encouraging environmental responsibility. More than 150 schools filled out an extensive survey created in …
BioEnergy Bytes
Wide bandgap (WBG) materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are best positioned to address emerging power electronics performance needs in electric vehicles (EVs), with SiC displacing silicon as early as 2020, according to Lux Research report, “Silicon vs. WBG: Demystifying Prospects of GaN and SiC in the Electrified Vehicle Market“. As silicon struggles to meet higher …
Some Retiring Utility Plants Need No Replacement
According to Black & Veatch’s 8th annual Strategic Directions: U.S. Electric Industry report, many retiring nuclear and coal power plants may not need to be replaced on a megawatt-to-megawatt basis. With new technologies and distributed generation along with soft energy demand growth, utilities will be able to replace those retiring with ones that produce less energy. “This year’s Strategic Directions: …
OPA Announces FIT 3 Contracts
The Ontario Power Authority has announced the offer of 403 Commercial Rooftop Solar PV Feed-in Tariff (FIT) contracts as part of its FIT Version 3 Renewable Energy Contract announcement. Reliant First Nation Limited Partnership (RFNLP), led by Solar Income Fund Inc. and Adelaide Solar Energy Inc., received FIT 3 contract offers on 176 commercial rooftop projects totaling 38.7 MW of …
BioEnergy Bytes
Kazakhstan adopted a new feed-in tariff in July 2014. The EBRD has worked with the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies and the Ministry of Environmental Protection to help develop various aspects of the new legislation. The tariff is set at 34,61 tenge/kWh (approx. 14 eurocents), and will be fully indexed/adjusted for inflation annually. The term of the Power Purchase …