Republicans Tell Military to Stop Buying Clean Energy

Joanna Schroeder

This week Republicans, led by Rep. Conaway, submitted a proposal that will prohibit the Defense Department from buying alternative fuels that cost more than traditional fuels. This has come at a time when the Defense Department is moving full speed ahead with the testing of renewable fuels in various military equipment including planes, boats, helicopters, and other military vehicles. The military is also researching the use of solar and wind energy and partnering with American companies to develop and deploy the technologies.

While it is true that in most cases advanced biofuels cost more per gallon than traditional petroleum based fuel, the only way to reduce the per gallon cost of advanced fuels is to bring them to market at commercial scale – something many groups are fighting tool and nail.  The same is true in reaching per watt parity with solar and wind energy.

In response to this proposed action, Operation Free sent a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee calling on Congress to support the military’s efforts as it leads the way in development of advanced biofuels and renewable energy. The organization criticized members of Congress who advocate for policies that have already proved to be failures. The letter states, “We must change how we use energy in this country — and the military is leading the way. ”

Danger Room’s Noah Shachtman summed up the ramifications of the proposal well, ” If the measure becomes law, it would make it all-but-impossible for the Pentagon to buy the renewable fuels. … And it might very well suffocate the gasping biofuel industry, which was looking to the Pentagon to help it survive.”

advanced biofuels, biofuels, Opinion, Solar, Wind

Algasol Renewables Partners with OriginOil

Joanna Schroeder

Algasol Renewables, based in Palma De Mallorca, Spain, has agreed to work with OriginOil on the development of an integrated algae growth and harvesting system. Algasol has a patented technology for low-cost cultivation of micro algae for biofuels and byproducts. By bundling their products, the companies hope to achieve new levels of cost and performance in micro algae cultivation for biofuels and bioproducts.

NASA and Lawrence Berkley are working with Algasol to refine their technology, and also collaborates and maintains a close relationship with Arizona State University’s Center for Algae Technology and Innovation.

Miguel Verhein, executive director of Algasol Renewables said, “With customer demand for an integrated algae production process rising, we need to offer our customers a means of harvesting as well. We plan to recommend OriginOil’s field-proven chemical-free, high flow and low-energy harvesting system, and once available, the integrated biocrude system they are developing with the Department of Energy.”

Algasol’s floating bags or photobioreactors (PBRs) can operate in the ocean or in land-based salt water ponds, and have received a patent in 70 countries. Because they float, Algasol believes their PBRs achieve optimal light exposure with strong productivity results and avoid the high temperature and excess salinity often encountered in solar growth systems.

“Algasol’s patented system focuses on how to grow algae in floating bags, and their testing has indicated this can be much more efficient than other cultivation methods,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil’s CEO. “Now with NASA and Lawrence Berkley working with Algasol, we are excited and eager to contribute our own breakthrough harvesting system to help us collectively achieve a cost breakthrough in the race to compete with petroleum.”

advanced biofuels, algae, biomaterials

U.S. Solar Industry Sets its Sites on China

Joanna Schroeder

This week U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) launched a proposal aimed at reducing China’s hold on the global solar panel market. The proposal would bar Chinese-made solar panels from qualifying for the 30 percent tax credit that U.S. individuals and businesses receive for purchasing and installing solar panels. U.S. installations of solar panels has grown 70 percent per year since 2008, but the majority of these panels were manufactured in China.

The new legislation would reduce the scope of solar panels eligible for the existing 30 percent tax credit. To become eligible, 70 percent of the parts of the qualifying solar panel must be made in America. If the final point of manufacture is in the U.S, then only 50 percent of the parts would need to be American made.

“We can’t trade our dependence on foreign oil for a dependence on Chinese-made solar panels,” said Senator Brown. “We went from a solar trade surplus with China to a solar trade deficit in a matter of years. Ohio workers can compete with anyone in the world, but they deserve access to a level playing field. When the Chinese government provides direct export subsidies to its solar manufacturers, that’s not competing – it’s cheating. And it’s costing American jobs in solar manufacturing.”

“The American tax code should not make matters worse by encouraging the purchase of Chinese-made solar panels. Our plan will ensure that American tax incentives support American solar panel manufacturers,” added Brown.

Chinese companies, according to Brown and Schumer, have been able to take hold of the solar industry at a rapid rate, in part because they have taken large, government-subsidized loans from banks. This has led to plunging prices for U.S. wholesale solar panel makers. Today, prices are around $1 a watt of capacity today, down from $1.80 in January and $3.30 in 2008.

Electricity, Energy, Solar

API Says EPA Jumped the Gun on E15

Joanna Schroeder

The American Petroleum Institute (API) has publicly said that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) jumped the gun on giving approval for the use of E15. Jack Gerard, President and CEO of API told reporters that testing by the Coordinating Research Council showed that use of E15 – gasoline with 15 percent ethanol – could harm car and truck engines, potentially affecting millions of cars and trucks.

The ethanol industry was quick to respond and Ron Lamberty, Senior Vice President for the American Coalition for Ethanol said, “The real problem here is that people may read about this project and think that it actually has some connection to the real world. The parameters of the test, the definitions of “pass” and “fail” and even the cars selected were carefully chosen to produce the results the study’s funders wanted.”

Lamberty noted that the Department of Energy (DOE) responded to the API study saying that they deliberately included engines with known durability issues, and one engine failed the API tests while running on gasoline without ethanol. Renewable Fuels President and CEO Bob Dinneen echoed the words of DOE and emphasized the importance – and public desire – to diversify our fuel supply including using higher level ethanol blends.

“How Big Oil can trot out this small, slanted, flawed study as something we should take seriously, while calling EPA’s two and a half years of E15 testing a “rush to judgment” is beyond me,” added Lamberty. “Saying it more often and louder won’t make it the truth. All this latest hit piece proves it that ethanol’s opponents are becoming more desperate to keep ethanol – which could help consumers save more at the pump – completely out of the marketplace.”

Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, noted that E15 is the most tested fuel blend in history and is safe to use in cars and light trucks newer than 2001. “Most concerning of all, is a resistance by groups to end our addiction to foreign oil by refusing the American people the voluntary choice of E15 in a free market. While the large oil companies continue to espouse their support of a free market, they have put roadblocks up at every opportunity to prevent the free choice they claim to champion so dearly,” concluded Buis.

biofuels, blends, Ethanol, Oil

Study: Ethanol Lowers Iowa Gas Prices

Joanna Schroeder

According to a new study released by the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD), ethanol lowers gas prices in Iowa by at least $1.69 per gallon. This saves the average Iowa family $2,363 per year on gas. What could you use your savings to buy? Fuel, lodging and fun for an Orlando family vacation or 262 movie tickets.

“Bolstering domestic fuel supplies by 10 percent, ethanol reduces demand for high-cost, foreign crude oil,” said Lucy Norton, Managing Director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA). “With the average wholesale price of gasoline jumping 30 percent in the last year, ethanol is helping take the sting out of price shock at the pump.”

Each year CARD updates its study. When compared to 2011 data, ethanol has reduced the cost of a gallon of gas by an additional 32 cents. In a post from Cindy Zimmerman earlier this week, Dermot Hayes, ISU professor and one of the authors of the study, explained the methodology of the study, commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association.

“The greatest contributor to pump prices per gallon is the cost of crude oil according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA),” added Norton. “Ethanol adds 10 percent to the fuel supply displacing the heart of the problem – high-priced crude oil. In fact, while ethanol is 10 percent of a gallon of gasoline, it accounts for only 5 percent of the pump price.”

biofuels, Ethanol

South Wales Wind Farm Moves Forward

Joanna Schroeder

With the help of consulting firm Natural Power, the Pen y Cymoedd wind farm in South Wales has been given consent to move forward with its 299 megawatt project. The news was given after the submission of a full environmental impact assessment and now the 76 turbine wind farm owned by Vattenfall is one step closer to reality. The wind farm is located between Neath and Aberdare on the southern side of the Value of Neath.

Vattenfall‘s Development Director Piers Guy said his company wanted to work with Natural Power because of their consenting success record. This project increases Natural Power’s wind portfolio to 1 gigawatt. “They were a key part of the team and were proactive, engaging within the team as well as with external stakeholders,” said Guy.

John Woodruff, Senior Development Manager at Natural Power added, “We are overjoyed in delivering this 299MW successful consent with Vattenfall – the single largest onshore consent in Wales and England to date. We have had to be innovative in dealing with various constraints that this particular project threw at us but, working with local stakeholders such as CCW, the two local planning authorities and RSPB who ultimately supported the project, we have managed to deliver solutions that meet both the environmental and economic objectives of such a project.”

Electricity, Energy, Wind

Algae.Tec Commissions Biorefinery

Joanna Schroeder

Algae.Tec has begun operations at its biorefinery, Shoalhaven One, located in Nowra, Australia. Executive Chairman Roger Stroud said the commissioning was on track for production of algae biomass in early June. The biofuels facility should be at full capacity by the end of that month.

The Shoalhaven One showcase facility team has the bioreactor technology and associated racks, piping, and separation tanks in place, and full testing and final validation is now underway. The bioreactors were assembled and shipped from The Algae Manufacturing and Development Centre in Atlanta, Georgia.

“The Algae.Tec facility is positioned to take a carbon dioxide feed from the Manildra Groups manufacturing facility,” added Stroud.

The company also has carbon capture biofuels projects underway in China and Sri Lanka.

advanced biofuels, algae

DOE Questions Petroleum Funded E15 Study

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today challenged test results released by the American Petroleum Institute claiming that 15% ethanol-blended gasoline (E15) can harm vehicle engines.

In a post on the Energy.gov blog, DOE Vehicle Technologies Program Manager Patrick Davis said the study done by the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) failed on a number of counts. “We believe the study is significantly flawed,” said Davis. “The CRC failed to establish a proper control group, a standard component of scientific, data-driven testing and a necessity to determine statistical significance for any results.”

Most importantly, Davis noted that no engines in the study were tested with E10 fuel, “the de facto standard gasoline for all grades, which represents more than 90 percent of gasoline available in the U.S. market.” In addition, “only three out of the eight engines were tested with straight gasoline containing no ethanol (E0), and one of those three failed the CRC’s test.”

Ethanol industry organizations were also quick to point out the flaws in the study and note that E15 has been tested more than any other automotive fuel in history. “The reality is they are completely dismissing the fact that E15 is the most tested fuel to date, with extensive testing done by the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency, with results showing no significant difference between gasoline without any ethanol and an E15 blend,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis.

Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen noted that the government has tested E15 “the equivalent of 12 round trips to the Moon” and found no problems with the use of E15 in vehicles made since model year 2001. “This study, and continued efforts aimed at confusing rather than informing consumers, impede this progress and do little to address the nation’s need for clean, renewable fuel that lowers the price at the pump and creates jobs here at home,” said Dinneen.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Growth Energy, RFA

ISU Professor Explains Ethanol/Gas Price Study

Cindy Zimmerman

The Iowa State University professor who co-authored a new study on ethanol and gasoline prices released this week says the impact of the growing use of the domestically-produced fuel is significant.

hayesThe new analysis from the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), an update to a 2009 peer-reviewed paper published in Energy Policy by professors Dermot Hayes of ISU and Xiaodong Du of the University of Wisconsin, found that the growing use of American ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by an average of $1.09 per gallon in 2011, up from an average impact of $0.89 per gallon in 2010. The study also found the between 2000 and 2011, gasoline prices have been reduced by an average of $0.29 per gallon, thanks to ethanol.

“Those numbers are large,” said Professor Hayes during a conference call on Tuesday during which he explained his hypotheses for the big impact of ethanol. “Think about the world before ethanol occurred. Every time a gasoline refinery would shut down, the price of gasoline would go up 10-20 cents because the U.S. was at its refinery capacity. What ethanol has done is increased refinery capacity.”

Hayes calls ethanol a “magic bullet that can squeeze ten percent more gasoline out of a barrel of crude oil.”

The original study was the result of a dissertation by Professor Du, while the Renewable Fuels Association funded the update.

Listen to Hayes’ explanation of the study here: ISU Professor Dermot Hayes

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Frito-Lay Hits Million-Mile Mark with Electric Trucks

Frito-Lay and parent company PepsiCo are showing their commitment to environmental sustainability, by announcing that their all-electric trucks have just passed one million miles of use.

Since going electric late last year, its fleet of 176 trucks by Smith Electric Vehicles has eliminated the need for approximately 200,000 gallons of diesel fuel. The all-electric trucks are used for deliveries on urban routes with fewer daily miles.Frito-Lay owns the seventh largest fleet in the U.S. with a total of over 20,000 trucks. The $13 billion convenient foods business has a goal to reduce greenhouse gases and fuel consumption 50 percent by 2020.

“The first million miles with the electric trucks have been a journey of understanding and refining both how and where we use these vehicles, as well as providing input to help improve upon the performance for the next generation vehicle,” said Mike O’Connell, senior director of fleet capability for Frito-Lay North America.

This year Frito-Lay will purchase 100 Newton Series 2000 all-electric commercial vehicles bringing the total number of its electric fleet to more than 280, and a fuel consumption reduction of 500,000 gallons annually.
With all electric trucks fully deployed on routes, Frito-Lay expects to reduce their fuel consumption by 500,000 gallons a year. The trucks generate zero tailpipe emissions. Electric trucks reduce fuel consumption, noise pollution and vehicle CO2 emissions, compared to traditional delivery trucks.

Compressed natural gas (CNG) tractors will be introduced soon, and will be used to haul large loads. Each CNG vehicle, purchased from Freightliner, will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23 percent, compared to diesel. With 67 CNG vehicles planned to be on route by the end of the year, Frito-Lay will eliminate the need for more than 900,000 gallons of diesel fuel annually. The CNG vehicles will be used at seven Frito-Lay North America distribution centers, including: Rancho Cucamonga, CA; Irving, TX; Phoenix, AZ; Beloit, WI; Frankfort, IN; Charlotte, NC; and Casa Grande, AZ. The company piloted 18 CNG vehicles to prepare for the roll out.

Company Announcement, Electric Vehicles, Fleet