NEC 2027

HyperSolar to Use Solar to Make Natural Gas

Joanna Schroeder

HyperSolar has filed a patent application for its technology to produce natural gas using solar power. According to the company, the natural gas is a carbon neutral methane gas that can be used as a replacement for fossil-fuel based natural gas.

“The sun is our greatest source of energy and a method to use this energy to make clean, renewable fuel is a very significant discovery,” said Tim Young, CEO of HyperSolar. “We intend to focus all our energies and resources on commercializing this breakthrough technology.”

The technology was inspired, according to HyperSolar, by the photosynthetic processes that plants use to create energy. The company is developing a solar-powered nanoparticle system that mimics photosynthesis to separate hydrogen from water. The hydrogen is then reacted with carbon dioxide to produce the methane, which is the primary component of natural gas.

“With global consumption projected to surpass coal in 2035, natural gas will be the next great fuel, continued Young. “From sunrise to sunset, our proprietary nanoparticles will work in a water based solution to produce clean and environmentally friendly renewable natural gas that can be collected for later use in power plants, industrial plants and vehicles – anywhere and anytime.”

Young also noted that there has already been hundreds of billions of dollars invested in natural gas infrastructure. He believes a renewable natural gas fuel is a reality.

bioenergy, Electricity, Solar

ZimmPoll on Republican Presidential Candidates

Chuck Zimmerman

It looks like there are a lot of Ron Paul supporters out there. In our latest ZimmPoll we asked the question, “Which Republican candidate for President is best for ag?” The big leader was Ron Paul at 41% followed by Newt Gingrich, 16%; Herman Cain, 13%; Rick Perry, 8%; Rick Perry, 8%; Mitt Romney, 7%; Jon Huntsman, 6%; Michele Bachmann, 5%; Gary Johnson, 3% and Rick Santorum, 2%. Does this surprise you?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Will higher cost (13%) of Thanksgiving dinner affect your meal?” The increased cost of a traditional Thanksgiving meal comes from an announcement by the American Farm Bureau Federation last week.

AFBF’s 26th annual informal price survey of classic items found on the Thanksgiving Day dinner table indicates the average cost of this year’s feast for 10 is $49.20, a $5.73 price increase from last year’s average of $43.47.

You can find the announcement here.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

ZimmPoll

California Now Has 100 New EV Charging Stations

Cindy Zimmerman

California has reached a major milestone in electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure with 100 upgraded EV charging stations installed.

ev connectEV Connect, a leading provider of electric vehicle infrastructure solutions and Clipper Creek, producers of the world’s first Underwriters Laboratories listed vehicle charge stations, announced the 100th charging station deployment this week. It is located in the Waterfall Building garage in downtown Sacramento. The public access garage serves primarily government employees and the EV spaces are consistently full.

ev connectEV Connect and ClipperCreek have been upgrading legacy charge stations throughout California to be compliant with the North American SAE-J1772 standard connector for electric vehicles. The statewide upgrade, slated for at least 600 EV charging stations, is being completed by EV Connect’s North American network of over 150 qualified, trained and certified contractors.

“Upgrading legacy infrastructure is critical to making electricity a viable fuel for the growing number of EV owners in California. There’s great momentum, with many automakers delivering plug-in vehicles to dealerships in the next 18 months and the California Energy Commission estimating 1.5 million electric vehicles on state roads by 2020,” said Jordan Ramer CEO of EV Connect.

“As California leads, the rest of the country is sure to follow,” said Jason France, CEO of ClipperCreek. “We’re proud to be leading the charge.“

Electric Vehicles

Global Futures CEO to Keynote Ethanol Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

Engaging the consumer to grow demand and improve industry image for biofuels will be among the topics addressed at the 2012 National Ethanol Conference by the CEO and Chairman of the Institute for Global Futures, Dr. James Canton.

Canton is a renowned global futurist, social scientist, keynote presenter, author, and visionary business advisor who has been insightfully predicting the key trends that have shaped our world for over 30 years. He founded the Institute for Global Futures in 1990 as a leading think tank to advise business and government on future trends.

Canton is scheduled to deliver the keynote address during the opening general session of the National Ethanol Conference on Thursday morning, February 23, in Orlando. Registration is now open for the Renewable Fuels Association 17th Annual National Ethanol Conference – Accelerating Industry Innovation. The conference will be held February 22-24 in Orlando, Florida at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center.

More information can be found on the conference website – NationalEthanolConference.com.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

E. coli Could be Used to Make Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

The bacteria that is most commonly associated with triggering food recalls could be a catalyst to convert sugars into biodiesel.

Researchers at Stanford University believe that Escherichia coli, better known as E. coli, could convert sugar to biodiesel at “an extraordinary rate.”

Biodiesel can be made from plant oil or animal fat – usually the former. Used cooking oil from restaurants is common, but for biodiesel to contribute significantly to reducing fossil fuel use, there needs to be a way to mass produce it from plant-derived raw materials. The problem is that synthesizing biodiesel is complicated. That is where E. coli comes in.

The bacteria, often discussed in terms of the human digestive tract, also act as a catalyst in generating biodiesel by converting inexpensive sugars into fatty acid derivatives that are chemically similar to gasoline. But E. coli’s natural conversion capability is not up to snuff, commercially speaking, and researchers tinkering with its internal machinery have yet to boost its capability enough to cross the commercial threshold.

So Chaitan Khosla, a Stanford professor of chemistry and of chemical engineering, decided to investigate whether there might be a natural limit that holds back E. coli’s conversion capabilities. In other words, does the basic catalytic engine in E. coli have enough horsepower to do the job at the needed scale?

“The good news is that the engine that makes fatty acids in E. coli is incredibly powerful,” Khosla said. “It is inherently capable of converting sugar into fuel-like substances at an extraordinary rate. The bad news is this engine is subject to some very tight controls by the cell.”

It turns out that like any high performance engine, the catalytic process in E. coli can only attain peak efficiency when all the controls are tuned just right. The research is described in a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Khosla is a coauthor of the paper, which is available online.

Biodiesel

Raleigh Gets Biodiesel and Ethanol Station

Cindy Zimmerman

protecCrown Express Mart is opening Raleigh’s first E85/Biodiesel fuel station today.

Crown Express owner Kargo Corporation will join with the N.C. Solar Center/N.C. State University and Protec Fuel to celebrate the offering of two cleaner-burning renewable fuels to North Carolina’s capital city with a ribbon cutting ceremony at the first commercial fuel station offering both E85 and B20 biodiesel. The celebration will include a special promotion of E85 fuel for 85 cents a gallon for 85 minutes, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association.

Speakers at the grand opening will include representatives from Kargo, North Carolina House, Protec Fuel and the state departments of administration, commerce and transportation. The event is taking place starting at 3:00 pm Eastern time.

Biodiesel, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

DuPont Renames Cellulosic Ethanol Business

Cindy Zimmerman

DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC (DDCE) is now DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol.

dupontIn addition to the shorter name, the company has a new leadership team for the business. Steven J. Mirshak has been named business director, DuPont Cellulosic Ethanol. He was most recently the president of DuPont Tate and Lyle Bio Products, a joint venture between DuPont and Tate and Lyle in Loudon, Tenn. DuPont also named Keith Gibson as the plant manager for the planned cellulosic ethanol facility in Nevada, Iowa. Gibson joins DuPont Industrial Biosciences from Iroquois Bio-Energy Company, LLC, where he served as the general manager and president. At Iroquois, he was instrumental in the company formation, operation, financing, and marketing of ethanol.

DuPont is applying expertise from its Pioneer Hi-Bred seed business to work with corn farmers and Iowa State University to establish best practices for securing high-quality, cost-effective corn stover for its planned biorefinery. At the same time, DuPont continues to make advancements in its Vonore, Tenn., demonstration facility in preparation for scale up to commercial operations. The area is also the focus of test harvests of switchgrass by DuPont’s partner Genera Energy LLC. Currently, the Vonore facility can produce 250,000 gallons of ethanol per year while plans for the Iowa facility are set to produce 27.5 million gallons per year.

advanced biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Fuel Better Video Shows Biofuels Benefits

Cindy Zimmerman

A short animated video just released by Pearson Fuels shows the benefits of biofuels for the United States.

Produced with the support of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), “Fuel Better in Sixty Seconds” is a short but sweet summary of why alternative energy is important for the nation and how it is making a difference. “With the election season ramping up and daily conversations occurring in the media around budget cuts and tax policy, it is important that the public be educated on a few facts about alternative fuels,” said Pearson Fuels co-founder Mike Lewis. “The bottom line is that alternative fuels, and biofuels in particular, displace a massive amount of foreign oil every day in this country. Once Americans understand the benefits of alternative fuel, they can demand the same from their government leaders.”

“Many Americans don’t realize the contributions that alternative fuels like ethanol make to the economy and our environment,” said RFA director of market development Robert White. “Pearson did a great job in getting the message across in an educational and entertaining way.”

California-based Pearson Fuels has been a leader in providing alternative fuels to both the public and government entities, opening the nation’s first Alternative Fuel Station in 2003. Located in the center of San Diego and specializing in bringing alternative fuels to the public, Pearson was the first facility of its kind and pioneered the first public E85 station on the West Coast.

Watch the video here.

ACE, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, Video

Propane Supplies Good for Winter

Cindy Zimmerman

Propane supplies are in good shape going into the winter, according to Randy Miller, GROWMARK director of propane operations.

Regarding total inventories, Randy says 60 million barrels is the total to shoot for to feel comfortable going into the winter. “And we just did get to 60 million,” he said recently. “We’ve had some pretty good inventory increases the last few weeks.”

He says that Midwest stocks are pretty good, but stocks overall are behind last year and the five year average. “Nothing to feel short about but we are behind some nine percent compared to a year ago,” he said. “Most of that is on the Gulf Coast where we’ve seen a lot of propane exports.”

Propane exports from the U.S. are up this year, although they have dropped off a bit in the last month or so. “But still we are seeing tremendous exports compared to what we’ve ever seen before in history,” Miller said.

GROWMARK is a leading provider of a full range of energy products and services, including a complete line of quality lubricants, fuel and fuel additives, and dependable heating and drying with GROWMARK propane.

Listen to an interview with Randy Miller about propane supplies: Randy Miller Interview

Audio, GROWMARK, Propane

NPGA Releases Propane Economic Study

Joanna Schroeder

The National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) has released a new study to look at the economic impacts of the Propane Green Autogas Solutions Act of 2011 should it be passed. The Economic Impacts of the Propane Green Autogas Solutions Act of 2011 was performed by ICF International and utilized market data from propane autogas fuel providers, vehicle manufacturers and fleet consumers. The report found that the growth in propane vehicle sales and use created by the tax credits could generate economic activity between $4 and $5.7 billion and provide 30,000 – 42,000 new jobs by 2016.

“H.R. 2014 and S. 1120 would extend for five years federal alternative fuel tax credits for propane used as a motor fuel, propane autogas vehicles and propane autogas refueling equipment,” said NPGA President and CEO Richard Roldan. “The Propane GAS Act offers certainty to the marketplace to further solidify propane autogas as a competitive alternative transportation fuel.”

“Autogas vehicle market incentives are good fiscal policy. The Propane GAS Act provides incentives to make the switch to an American-made alternative fuel and with clear policy benefits,” added Roldan who concluded by noting that in the short-term, no one fuel can displace conventional fuels but propane autogas can have an immediate impact.

Propane