Current Biodiesel Market Will Hurt Oil Companies

Joanna Schroeder

According to Wayne Lee, CEO of Lee Enterprises Alternative Fuels Consulting, the current biodiesel market will hurt oil companies. The company, under its RIN 9000 program, is now providing free information about biodiesel companies to the oil industry. This initiative was launched to provide RIN obligated parties to help address what Lee says is “RIN purchase hesitation,” an emerging trend in the biodiesel industry.

“RFS2 mandates that these refiners and importers purchase renewable identification numbers to show compliance with RFS2,” Lee explains. “Last year the EPA uncovered two isolated instances of people apparently producing RINS without producing any biodiesel. But when the EPA started invalidating some of these RINs, it caused quite a problem for oil companies who then were understandably hesitant to purchase RINs.”

Legally speaking, obligated parties must buy RINs but RINs can only be created when biodiesel is produced. So, says Lee, if biodiesel producers can’t sell their RINs (aka can’t sell their biodiesel) and quit producing biodiesel, it will likely cause a significant price increase for those that do exist.

To address this problem, Alternative Fuels Consulting began administering a RIN procedure verification program for producers and obligated parties. The service includes onsite plant inspectons, third party verification of plant procedures, independent biodiesel testing, and education. From there, a list is compiled of producers who have completed their review and then provided to obligated parties for free.

Obligated parties can sign up to receive the report at the company’s website.

Miscellaneous

SunPower Open House in Duluth, Minn. Friday, April 13

Wisconsin-based SunPower Biodiesel is hosting a “Lowest Diesel Price in the Midwest,” open house for the public on Fri. April 13, 2012, from noon to 2 p.m., at 2721 Midway Road in Duluth, Minn.

The station, which opened last September, offers premium cold flow biodiesel, and is known for being the sole retailer of higher blends of biodiesel in northern Minnesota.

Now that warmer temperatures are arriving, SunPower brings its summer Profit-Booster B Blend, B99, back to the pump. With its increased cetane, greater lubricity, and better mileage potentials, Profit-Booster B99 works like a high-quality diesel fuel additive, without the added price.

The “Lowest Price in the Midwest” Open House celebration will include a live radio remote and raffle drawings every half-hour. In addition to other give-a-ways, SunPower will also offer food, drink and an opportunity to learn more about the benefits of biodiesel at their informational booth, with knowledgeable staff onsite to answer questions.

“We want to get people’s attention with our price,” says Jaime Helgeson, sales associate for SunPower Biodiesel.”We know that once a consumer tries our product, he will notice better performance and won’t want to switch back to petroleum-based diesel.”

Biodiesel

Groups Encourage Support of Energy Title Programs

More than 100 organizations that represent a broad range of renewable energy, farm, ranch, commodity, environmental and other groups have joined together to ask leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees to reauthorize and fund energy title programs from the farm bill that revitalize rural America and improve national security and the environment.

According to the letter, the Rural Energy for America Program, Biomass Crop Assistance Program, Biorefinery Assistance Program and Biobased Markets Program strongly support American agriculture and ensure broad public benefits to the entire country – including creating or saving thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

The letter urges Congress to provide significant mandatory funding for these vital programs so that farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses will have the benefit of dependable and predictable financial support throughout the life of the next Farm Bill.
The signatories to the letter, many working through the Ag Energy Coalition (AgEC), will continue their outreach to Agriculture Committee leaders to ensure these programs are fully reauthorized, effectively streamlined where needed, and receive strong funding as the Farm Bill is debated and reauthorized.

Senators Harkin, Conrad, Klobuchar and Franken recently introduced energy title legislation providing over $1.2 billion in funding over the next five years for these critical programs. The AgEC strongly supports their efforts.

Read the letter in its entirety.

Energy, Legislation

Two Blender Pump Grand Openings Next Week in Neb.

Two new blender pumps have been added in Nebraska at Aurora Cooperative’s Aurora West A-Stop 24 and in Broken Bow at Trotter Whoa and Go. Grand openings for both will be held next week.

The grand opening of the Broken Bow pump will be held Mon., April 9 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Aurora grand opening will be on Wed., April 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Special promotions will be held in both locations at the events.

The new blender pumps are among approximately 60 in Nebraska to offer a variety of renewable ethanol fuel blends including E10, E30, and E85. To find a list of retailers that offer E85 and other mid-level ethanol blends, visit the Nebraska Ethanol Board website or check the Nebraska Corn Board website.

“Gas prices keep increasing. With ethanol being about a $1.00 per gallon cheaper than gasoline, flex fuel vehicle owners can save even more when fueling up with E85 and other mid-level ethanol blends at blender pumps,” said Kim Clark, Ag Program Manager with the Nebraska Corn Board.

“Consumer choice and ethanol fuel availability are a high priority with today’s gas prices,” said Todd Sneller, Nebraska Ethanol Board’s Administrator. “When flex fuel drivers fill up on E85, they’re strengthening Nebraska’s economy, making our country more energy independent and going easier on the environment,” Sneller said.

Sign up for the Nebraska Ethanol Board’s FFV club for updates of new E85 locations and other announcements.

blends, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles

The Mohave Desert Soon to Produce Golden Power

Joanna Schroeder

Google has gone far beyond “web searches” and delved into projects that would save “Google” earth. The company has invested in several high profile projects, one being the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS). Once completed, this project is being hailed as the largest solar project in the world and will use the lastest solar technologies to capitalize on converting the hot sun of California’s Mohave Desert into golden power.

Ivanpah is located on 3,600 acres of land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Once complete, it will produce 392 megawatts of power each year. The project is a joint effort between BrightSource Energy, who is developing the solar thermal power facility, Google and NRG Solar. In addition to the monies invested by the partners, the project has also received a U.S. Department of Energy Loan guarantee.

Here are some of the highlights of the project:

  • A 392 megawatt (gross) solar complex using mirrors to focus the power of the sun on solar receivers atop power towers.
  • The complex is comprised of three separate plants to be built in phases between 2010 and 2013, and will use BrightSource Energy’s LPT solar thermal technology.
  • The electricity generated by all three plants is enough to serve more than 140,000 homes in California during the peak hours of the day.
  • The project will provide power to Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

This project is experiencing large amounts of attention for two reasons.Read More

Electricity, Energy, Environment, Opinion, Solar

Finding Opportunity in a Changing Landscape

Joanna Schroeder

One of the most unique conferences of the year is getting ready to take place on June 20-21st in Minneapolis, MN. The “Finding Opportunity in a Changing Landscape” is the theme of this year’s conference, hosted by Christianson and Associates. A must attend for the financial gurus at the country’s ethanol and biodiesel companies, this year’s event will feature two tracks: one with a financial focus and one with a business management focus.

Tentative Sessions include: Impacting the Future of the Renewable Fuels Industry; Strategic Planning for Developing Company Culture; Maximizing the Tax Incentives for your Traditional Business Practices; Evaluating Mergers and Acquisitions from Both Sides of the Table; Organizing an Enterprise Risk Management Model for Your Company; and various technical updates on taxes, RIN’s, accounting and legislation.

You can get more information about the tentative agenda and learn how to register here. Don’t wait too long. This conference has limited space and sells out quickly. Registration is now open with early registration rates effective until May 20th.

Biodiesel, biofuels, conferences, Ethanol

Practicing What You Preach

Joanna Schroeder

Joule Energy is practicing what it preaches – when it comes to the adoption of solar energy. The company is installing a 28kW solar system on its primary office. They are not only installing alternative energy, but are also using the installation as a training tool and demonstration tool for other companies to see how a large-scale solar installation is designed and installed. The installation is featuring several different types of inverters that will demonstrate the differences in inverter model power efficiences.

“As a solar contractor, the choice to put solar on our own roof was a no-brainer,” said Ross Reilly, Principal at Joule Energy. “The cost of solar panels is at an all-time low, so businesses that have a long-term view can easily justify the investment.”

Currently, there are federal tax incentives for PV systems at 30 percent as well as accelerated depreciation formulas that help make solar power affordable to install. Solar power also saves companies (or consumers) money on electricity costs as well.

Electricity, Energy, Solar

Updated Alternative Fuel Locator Maps Online

Joanna Schroeder

MapMuse has released updated interactive Alternative Fuel Locator Maps that identify where consumers can fill up with alternative fuels. The maps feature stations that sell biodiesel, E85, propane, compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrogen, liquified natural gas (LNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and electric charging stations. For accuracy, the data used to identified the alternative fueling stations was verified by the Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles Data Center.

“In the green age we live in, it’d be negligent of us not to have these maps available on our site,” says Michael Pilon, owner of MapMuse. “There are more people driving alt fuel vehicles than ever before, which means there are more people looking for places to refuel.”

It is estimated there are over 800,000 alternative fuel vehicles on U.S. roads in 2009 and has risen steadily over the past few years. For these drivers, the alternative fuel maps not only gives them station locations but also directions, access restrictions, blend types, payment methods accepted, and web links. An iPhone app version is expected to be released in the next few months.

Combined, there are more than 3,000 verified stations on the list. Pilon said accuracy is extremely important to his company; he doesn’t want a consumer driving up to a station with an empty tank only to discover the station doesn’t exist.  Station owners are encouraged to submit their information for consideration.

Biodiesel, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), E85, Electric Vehicles, Hydrogen, Liquefied natural gas (LNG), Propane

EWEA Event to be Powered Solely by Wind

Joanna Schroeder

Last year the wind industry worked together to create the “WindMade” designation, which means “runs on 100 percent wind power”. Today, it has been announced that the upcoming EWEA 2012 Conference & Exhibition will be the first ever WindMade event. The event is Apri 16-19, 2012 in Copenhagen.

EWEA’s CEO Christian Kjaer said he is proud to be the first organiser of a WindMade event. “EWEA strives to make its events sustainable, and to promote wind energy not only through political lobbying but also by making direct use ofwind power. EWEA is convinced that WindMade will drive investment into this technology, and we encourage other organsiations and events to follow our lead in becoming WindMade.”

To be deemed WindMade the entire conference is being powered by electricity generated from wind. This includes their offices where the event was planned, the Bella Center where the event is being held and all of the social events, some of which are taking place at locations other than the conference center.

“Many conference organisers are already making efforts to ‘green’ their events, and WindMade is pleased to present them with a tool for having their commitment to renewable power certified by a credible label,” said Henrik Kuffner, WindMade’s CEO.

conferences, Electricity, Energy, Wind

Join Ag Sec. Vilsack in First Twitter Chat on Energy

Chuck Zimmerman

Tomorrow at 1:30pm EDT, Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack will hold the first “USDA Virtual Office Hours on Twitter.” I’d recommend using TweetChat, Twubs or an app like TweetDeck or HootSuite to follow along. It looks like these planned monthly sessions will focus on different topics. Tomorrow it’s renewable energy. You’re asked to submit your questions via Twitter to either @USDA or #askUSDA.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will sit down to answer YOUR questions on the Department’s renewable energy programs, and how USDA is helping build a secure energy future for America. He will be joined by Sarah Bittleman, USDA Senior Advisor on energy policy.

USDA Virtual Office Hours, a live question and answer series that will be held monthly, allows stakeholders to directly engage with USDA leadership and subject matter experts through Twitter. Sessions will be focused on a specific mission, issue or program, as aligned with the Department’s strategic goals and based on stakeholder interests.

In January, USDA launched www.USDA.gov/energy to serve as a one-stop shop for data and information about energy efficiency and renewable energy programs. This site allows individuals to learn more about USDA’s programs and see how their community can get involved in an expanding renewable energy and bio-based economy that is creating jobs and driving economic growth across rural America. To learn more about USDA’s accomplishments in renewable energy, read the results document HERE.

Remember to tune in online by following @USDA and using #askUSDA and #energy.

biofuels, USDA