A second geothermal plant designed and manufactured by Ormat Technologies has been inaugurated in Las Pailas, Costa Rica. Ormat was contracted by Banco Centroamericano de Integracion Economica “BCIE”, to supply all the power equipment, supervise the installation and conduct the testing and start-up of the 42 MW power plant. The plant will actually be operated by the Costa Rican National …
U.S. Auto Club Endorses Ethanol
The U.S. Auto Club (USAC) made a surprise announcement at the Lucas Oil Raceway last week when they announced they are switching to “Ignite High Performance Ethanol,” an ethanol racing blend distributed by National Biofuels Distribution (NBD). USAC President & CEO Kevin Miller said during his presentation that his organization is “excited to take this direction toward environmentally-friendly fuel usage.” …
Amyris Partners with Kuraray
Amyris is now partnering with Kuraray Co. to develop innovative polymers from Biofene, a renewable hydrocarbon building block that is produced from their technology. As part of the partnership, Kuraray will use Biofene to replace petroleum-derived feedstock such as butadiene and isoprene in the production of certain polymers. Upon the success of the product, the two companies will then enter …
Raleigh N.C. Police Department Converts to AutoGas
The Raleigh, North Carolina police department held a press conference yesterday to announce the successful conversion of 10 police vehicles to be fueled with propane autogas. The conversion took place with the help of Alliance AutoGas. The company outfitted the police department’s Ford Crown Victoria cruisers with dual fuel systems and also installed an on-site autogas fueling station at the …
Illinois Biomass Working Group Formed
The state of Illinois has formed the Illinois Biomass Working Group (IBWG) to study near-term uses for biomass in Illinois. The team is comprised of academics, government, industry and the private sector. Ted Funk, an Extension specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering at the University of Illinois is one of the founding members and saw the need …
Wind & Transmission Leadership Summit Announced
While wind energy is growing exponentially, renewable energy in the U.S. makes up less than 4 percent of total energy use. To increase energy created from wind power, several issues need to be address including transmission infrastructure and advanced energy storage. These very opportunities will be discussed and more during the first Wind & Transmission Leadership summit in Big Sky …
New Catalyst For Biomass Production
A new catalyst for biomass production has been developed by researchers from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Washington State University (WSU). These catalysts could turn ethanol into other products by converting it into a chemical called isobutene. This feat can be accomplished in one step, and the process can use water-diluted ethanol rather than purifying …
Coal-to-Liquids Plant Goes Online in China
A new coal to liquids plant has gone online in China that is expected to produce the equivalent of 80 barrels of oil per day. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, one of the largest crude oil and petrochemical companies in China and Asia, along with Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Syntroleum Corporation celebrated the grand opening of the Sinopec/Syntroleum Demonstration Facility (SDF) today …
Big Green Bus Rolls Across the U.S.
The Big Green Bus rolled into Dallas last week and subliminally, the people in its wake couldn’t help but think about french fries. Okay, so I’m exaggerating a bit but 13 students from Darmouth College converted a Greyhound bus that runs on biodiesel and vegetable oil derived from used cooking grease. According to an article in the Dallas Morning News, …
Vermont Home to Largest Solar Farm in U.S.
Want to move the angle of your solar panels? Got an app for that. At the touch of an iPhone, 382 solar trackers were brought into position perpendicular with the sun marking the completion of the largest solar installation in Vermont and according to AllEarth Renewables, the largest solar installation of its kind in North America. The 382 AllSun Trackers …