Bioheat Part of Atlantic Region Energy Expo

Bioheat® is now be part of the largest energy events in the Northeast as they will join the Atlantic Region Energy Expo, reflecting a unique partnership with the National Biodiesel Board. The Atlantic Region Energy Expo and Bioheat is hosting the AREE 2012 event in Atlantic City, New Jersey, May 1 – 3. The conference, billed as the best energy, petroleum and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) industry tradeshow in the Northeast, will explore the evolving world of home and building comfort, efficiency and environmental responsibility.

The event features an educational track of five Bioheat sessions, which do not require a registration fee, thanks to funding from the South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion Council.

“We’re proud that AREE is the first industry trade show and convention officially combining traditional fuels with the renewable biodiesel found in Bioheat,” said Eric DeGesero, executive vice president, Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey. The association was the catalyst for the founding of AREE 19 years ago. “But this represents more than a conference name change. It’s a sign of changing times for oilheat dealers, who recognize that Bioheat is their best option to adapt their businesses in the 21st century.”

The need for change is a powerful theme at this year’s conference as the oilheat industry works to remain competitive. That’s why the Bioheat team, led by Paul Nazzaro, the National Biodiesel Board’s liaison to the petroleum industry, is bringing in a keynote speaker to talk about change at the event. Michael Rogers, a renowned technology author and futurist, most recently served as futurist-in-residence for The New York Times. He focuses on how companies can think about the future in useful ways.

“As their market share contracts, doing nothing is not an option for oilheat dealers,” Nazzaro said. “Bioheat is the first real opportunity for them to make a progressive shift in decades. Bioheat is a more desirable product to their customers, offering enhanced energy security, benefits to health and the environment, and American jobs.”

Biodiesel, bioenergy, conferences

Protec Fuel Launches New Web Site

Just in time to celebrate Earth Week, Protec Fuel Management, a turnkey E85 ethanol company specializing in station conversions and fuel distribution nationwide, has a new web site.

The site features a new logo and look, social media links, and a press page, just to name a few. E85 fuel can run in gasoline flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs), is better for the environment and supports our U.S. and local economies.

ProtecFuel.com differentiates between how it can serve fuel retailers, fleets and distributors, as well as showcases the.risk management side of its business and its management team. It also coordinates its new, green-colored logo with the site.

Protec Fuel, based in Florida, manages E85 installations and provides fuel for convenience stores and other companies’ greener burning fuel offerings. E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

“We are pleased to offer an updated web site to our customers and those interested in the E85 industry this Earth Day week,” said Todd Garner, CEO of Protec Fuel. “We hope that people look into ways to become more Earth-friendly this week, and our Web site is now more accessible to all.”

Company Announcement, Ethanol

New Tool for Solar, Wind Projects on Contaminated Site

Joanna Schroeder

A series of “decision trees” are now available to help companies develop projects on contaminated lands owned by the Bureau of Land Management. Developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Department of Energy (DOE), the decision trees can be used to evaluate sites for renewable energy development ranging from solar to wind to geothermal and everything in between.  There are nearly 490,000 sites and 15 million acres across America that may be options for renewable energy projects.

EPA spokesperson Mary Simms, said of the decision trees, “They can be used for evaluating former coal mine sites and nuclear waste sites.  This decision tree targets sites such as brownfields, Superfund sites, RCRA sites, mining sites, landfills, abandoned parcels, parking lots, and commercial or industrial rooftops. Coal mines and nuclear waste sites are potentially contaminated lands that fit within the list of targeted sites.”

Another advantage of the decision trees is that they can show project financiers, without needing to have specific renewable energy expertise, that the sites have already been pre-screened by a set of standard factors. This tool can save both time and money – a site assessment alone traditionally costs between $1,000 to $2,000. However, the tool does not eliminate the need for further investigation once you have your eye on a tract of land.

Simms said there are some benefits of choosing contaminated lands. One, they may be cheaper to lease for purposed of renewable energy projects, especially if the site still needs a bit of cleanup.  Second, they may already have power infrastructure in place on the land or nearby. Third, the renewable energy can be used to power the cleanup.

For more information on the decision trees, click here. The EPA is hosting a webinar on May 22, 2012 at 2 pm EST to help local governments get renewable energy projects built on contaminated land in their community.

Electricity, Energy, Geothermal, Government, Solar, Wind

HERO BX Adopts New Biodiesel Technology

Joanna Schroeder

HERO BX has adopted a new biodiesel technology developed by Arisdyne Systems called the Controlled Flow Cavitation (CFC) process, which reduces catalyst consumption by more than 25%. This also contributes to the reduction of monoglycerides.  These two factors have helped HERO BX reduce costs and produce better biodiesel.

“HERO BX and Desmet Ballestra worked together with Arisdyne to test Arisdyne’s cavitation process. After two months of testing, we proved that the technology demonstrated significant cost savings, streamlined operations and improved overall output of biodiesel at our plant,” said John Schenker, plant manager of HERO BX.

The CFC process creates intense energy peaks that result in nano-sized droplets.  This enables a more effective mass transfer for instantaneous transesterification, or biodiesel production.  Ultimately this leads to greater catalyst savings.  According to Arisdyne, the technology can be used in most biodiesel plant and can be installed without having to shut down production.

“In today’s weak economic conditions, margin improvement is everything,” said Dr. Peter Reimers, president and CEO of Arisdyne. “CFC can be applied to the entire value chain for Oleochemical processes starting with yield enhancement in the refining/degumming step and now as well in biodiesel catalyst savings.  Having catalyst savings and yield improvements in degumming, neutralization of crude oils is crucial to the oils and fat processing industries.”

Biodiesel, biofuels

EcoEngineers Launches New RIN Service

Joanna Schroeder

A new Renewable Identification Number (RIN) pricing service has been launched by EcoEngineers Indexing Services LLC.  According to the company, the daily index is based on continuously updated pricing data submitted by biofuels brokers, marketers, obligated parties, and producers.  The company already offers third-party data verification and distribution and this new service expands their business into pricing data.

“Our existing relationships in the marketplace have resulted in a robust sourcing of data for the compilation of the daily index,” said Shashi Menon, Managing Partner of EcoEngineers.  “RINS are a critical component of biofuel economics.  A reliable RIN index will lead to the eventual formation of a RINSWAP and allow industry to freely enter into over-the-counter swap transactions against the Eco indices.”

In a statement, EcoEngineers said it has compiled historical RIN data back to July 2010. As a result, they are able to provide comprehensive reports on historical price movements as well as daily and monthly averages.

In addition, the company said it is in discussions with the CME group to clear it indices. Menon said of the talks, “Being able to clear the Eco indices will allow the market to operate in an environment where counter party credit risk is virtually eliminated, and we are excited to move forward with this initiative.”

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol

Biodiesel Industry Urges Renewal of Tax Incentive

Cindy Zimmerman

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) called on Congress this week to reinstate the biodiesel tax incentive “to avoid further disruption to an emerging American industry that is creating jobs across the country while diversifying U.S. energy supplies.”

In written testimony submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures for a hearing on expiring tax provisions, NBB Vice President Anne Steckel emphasized that the biodiesel industry achieved record production of nearly 1.1 billion gallons last year before the $1-per-gallon tax incentive expired on Dec. 31. She urged lawmakers to pass an extension as quickly as possible to prevent a drop in production and potential layoffs.

“This is a bipartisan tax provision that is a proven job-creator and has strong support in Congress,” Steckel said. “With petroleum prices where they are now, we shouldn’t need any reminders about how important it is to continue developing new American energy sources.”

Biodiesel, Government, NBB

Advanced Biofuels Moved From “Beaker to Barrel”

Cindy Zimmerman

The head of the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA) told a House subcommittee this week that America’s domestic advanced biofuels industry has “moved from the beaker to the barrel, all in record time.”

AFBA president Michael McAdams testified before the U.S. House Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade on Thursday, sharing some of the advance biofuels success stories which have occurred over the last year.

“The Air Force has flown the F-16/Thunderbirds on a mixture of advanced biofuels, the navy has tested advanced biofuels in ships and vehicles, and the commercial sector has flown the first cross country flight on a blend of renewable jet fuel,” McAdams said. “We have one member, Dynamic Fuels, producing a million gallons of renewable jet and renewable diesel a week, and have five members who have gone public. In addition, two Colorado member companies are preparing to deploy their innovative technologies in the near term.”

“Gevo, which will produce an isobutanol, a drop in, fungible fuel, will commission its 18 million gallon plant in June of this year in Luverne, Minnesota. While Sundrop Fuels is on target to break ground to build a 50 million gallon cellulosic gasoline plant in Louisiana this year,” he added.

McAdams says the single most important policy issue for advanced biofuels is the Renewable Fuels Standard, so it is “fundamentally important that the Congress continue to send a strong bipartisan signal of support for this policy if we wish to continue the remarkable progress and grow an advanced biofuels industry.”

advanced biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

Novozymes Partners with Chinese Firm for Cellulosic Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

NovozymesNovozymes has announced a partnership with Shengquan Group, a Shandong-based company specializing in furan resin and polymers, to start commercial-scale production of cellulosic ethanol for solvents in June 2012 using Novozymes’ technology.

“Shengquan is a global first mover in this industry, which is on the verge of materializing right now,” says Poul Ruben Andersen, Vice President for Bioenergy at Novozymes. “Shengquan has profound experience in chemical production and is a leading company in commercializing cellulosic ethanol. Novozymes is proud to join Shengquan in nurturing a green and circular bioeconomy which lessens the dependence on fossil fuel resources.”

Shengquan is a leading producer of furfural using xylose in corncobs, a monomer for resin production in the foundry industry. Using Novozymes enzymes, Shengquan will now convert corncob residues from furfural production into fermentable sugars and then into ethanol for solvents and other purposes. Shengquan’s cost model shows that its current production cost of cellulosic ethanol is cost-competitive with conventional ethanol as the feedstock is a by-product of their current production.

Novozymes is a leading enzymatic solution provider in bioenergy. It partners with leading producers of cellulosic ethanol all over the world to commercialize this new technology.

advanced biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

PV Solar Systems for Flat Roofs

Joanna Schroeder

Conergy Canada has released it new aerodynamic mounting system for weight limited industrial flat roofs. The technology, called the Conergy SolarFamulus Air, reduces the ballast requirement for an entire array, and eliminates the need for roof penetrations. The principle employed when developing the system was one similar to that of a spoiler on a race car: the baffles help to significantly reduce vertical, lifting forces cause by wind. The result is a system that is not only lighter, but can literally be installed by the customer in 5 steps.

The company says this technology opens the door to a new solar market. Commercial flat roofs with weight limits could not support traditional solar PV systems, but they now can with their SolarFamulus Air technology, thus expanding the market. The technology boasts venting windows that allow wind and convection to cool the back of the modules which increases module performance.

“Many years of experience have been put into developing this lightly ballasted system that requires no roof penetration,” said Conergy Canada Product Manager Mitch Gorman. “Recent Ontario building code changes have severely reduced the additional load capacity of many Ontario rooftops. The SolarFamulus Air offers a state of the art mounting solution for mounting solar PV on these compromised roofs.”

In addition to higher performance, Conergy said another advantage of this technology is that there are only six components that need to be installed and one tool can do the trick. This saves times and money according to the company as well as shipping costs are reduced.

For our readers who will be attending CanSIA Solar Ontario, Conergy will be teaching consumers how to install the system on May 14, 2012 at 9:00 am EST in booth 414. The training comes on the heels of the product launch, the SolarFamulus Air will begin shipping on May 1.

Electricity, Energy, Solar

Transmission Projects Will Help Wind, Solar

Joanna Schroeder

One of the hurdles for wind and solar energy is getting hooked up with the electrical grid. It is estimated that states like North Dakota could provide massive amounts of wind energy to the country, but today, the energy is produced too far where it is needed without having an updated energy grid. Fortunately, a new report released by Edison Electric Institute (EEI) has found there are more than 100 electric transmission projects either planned or underway in the U.S.

EEI’s member electric utility companies have reported they plan to spend $64 billion on transmission system improvements from now through 2022. This is on top of the already $77 billion spent between 2001-2010. The report includes a brief overview of each member company including detailed information about their projects.

“Although not a comprehensive compilation of all projects that are being undertaken by our member companies,” said EEI’s Vice President of Energy Delivery, James P. Fama, “the sampling of projects highlighted in the EEI report, Transmission Projects: At A Glance, March 2012, highlights the electric power industry’s commitment to investing in needed and beneficial transmission infrastructure over the next 10 years.”

In addition to specific project information, the report also categorized each project into four areas:

  • Interstate Transmission Projects—transmission line improvements that physically span two or more states.
  • Transmission Supporting the Integration of Renewable Resources—transmission projects, whether transmission line or non-transmission line, that support the integration of a renewable resource.
  • Transmission Projects Required for System Reliability Needs—projects where the predominant driver has been identified as the need to meet either NERC reliability standards (e.g., NERC Transmission Planning TPL standards) and/or local Transmission Owner reliability criteria.
  • Transmission Projects Developed by Multiple Project Partners—transmission projects where EEI member companies are partnered with other utilities, including non-EEI members, to leverage their expertise to develop the project.

You can download the full report here.

Electricity, Energy, Smart Grid, Solar, Wind