Electric Vehicle Sharing Incentive Announced

Cindy Zimmerman

Xatori Inc., the electric vehicle software company behind the PlugShare app suite, and peer-to-peer car sharing service Getaround have partnered to reward PlugShare members in select communities $50 for sharing their vehicles on Getaround’s car rental marketplace.

PlugShare and Getaround announced the financial incentive in honor of National Plug In Day on Sunday, October 16. Eligible communities include the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Diego metropolitan area.

“One of Getaround’s founding principles is to help protect the environment by enabling people to share resources, taking unneeded cars off the road and reducing auto emissions by changing driving behavior,” said Sam Zaid, CEO of Getaround. “This partnership is in line with our commitment to protect the environment primarily because it encourages PlugShare users to list their cars on Getaround to increase exposure and adoption of EVs. A shared EV saves everyone money, reduces emissions and accelerates adoption.”

PlugShare also recently announced the expansion of its network to the web and mobile platforms, allowing anyone with an Internet connection to access the largest and most complete database of EV charging sites in the world. This new service helps Getaround users charge their EV rental at a community member’s house or public charging station, thereby advancing the growth of the EV community.

“There is a growing segment of society that wants to see zero emission, advanced driving machines become the norm, and these are the people on PlugShare and Getaround, sharing resources with each other in the name of a common goal,” said Forrest North, CEO of Xatori, Inc. “You don’t have to spend a lot of money on a new car to be part of the solution. All you need is an outlet and an Internet connection and you can be a part of the EV revolution.”

Electric Vehicles

RFS2 Working As Intended

Chuck Zimmerman

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Should the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) be changed?” A majority at 53% said, No, it’s working as intended; 32% said Get rid of it entirely and 15% said Yes, change to adapt to corn stocks. What do you think? Feel free to comment.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Are Farm Show Smartphone Apps Useful?” What do you think? Take our poll and feel free to comment. Thank you.

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

ZimmPoll

ZeaChem Makes Cleantech 100 List

Cindy Zimmerman

Cellulosic ethanol developer ZeaChem has been named one of the 2011 Global Cleantech 100 companies. The annual list is produced by Cleantech Group in collaboration with UK’s Guardian News, focusing on companies they believe are likely to make the most significant impact over the next 5-10 years.

Zeachem“ZeaChem is building a portfolio of advanced biofuels and bio-based chemicals derived from cellulosic biomass,” said Jim Imbler, CEO of ZeaChem. “As our 250,000 gallon demonstration plant nears completion in Boardman, Ore. and we develop our first commercial scale biorefinery, we are honored to be named in the 2011 Global Cleantech 100.”

Another advanced biofuels company that made the list for the second year was LanzaTech, a New Zealand-based firm working on the conversion of a nonfood feed stocks into bioethanol. LanzaTech was also named “Company of the Year Asia Pacific” for 2011.

A number of solar companies also made the list, including SolarCity and eSolar of California.

advanced biofuels, biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Solar

Bill Would Require New Analysis of 15% Ethanol Blend

Cindy Zimmerman

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives would mean additional testing for the use of 15% ethanol in regular gasoline.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI) introduced the legislation to require the Environmental Protection Agency to seek independent scientific analysis on the effects of 15 percent blend ethanol gasoline.

Sensenbrenner says he has “serious concerns that the EPA used only one Department of Energy test and rushed E15’s introduction into the market place. This test was limited in scope and ignored a plethora of evidence— albeit inconvenient evidence for the EPA— that shows E15 gasoline has a negative effect on engines. I introduced this legislation to ensure a decision of this magnitude will be vetted by independent scientific research, rather than political expediency.”

EPA announced its decision in January to allow the use of E15 gasoline blend in newer vehicles manufactured since 2001, but the ruling has yet to be implemented.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

Cellulosic Ethanol Demo Plant Marks Milestone

Cindy Zimmerman

CoskataBiofuel tech company Coskata marked two years of successful operations at a cellulosic ethanol semi-commercial facility in Madison, Pennsylvania this month.

According to company officials, the facility has completed over 15,000 run hours of operation and successfully converted wood biomass and municipal solid waste into fuel-grade ethanol.

“The data and operating experience cultivated at this pre-commercial scale facility has conclusively demonstrated that the Coskata technology is ready for commercial production today,” said Coskata President and Chief Executive Officer Bill Roe. “With an industry leading yield of more than 100 gallons of ethanol coming from a dry ton of wood biomass, we look forward to working with industry partners to rapidly deploy this leading conversion technology and help the country meet the Renewable Fuels Standard.”

The technology at the Pennsylvania facility will be used at the company’s first commercial-scale facility in Alabama, for which Coskata recently received a conditional loan guarantee from USDA.

advanced biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Joule Wins Wall Street Journal Award

Cindy Zimmerman

Joule Unlimited Technologies has received the 2011 Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award in the Energy category and was also named the Silver award winner across all of the competition’s 16 categories, from more than 600 entries around the globe.

joule“We are honored to be the Wall Street Journal’s choice for the most innovative energy company, and to be recognized even beyond our industry as one of the world’s top innovators overall,” said Bill Sims, President and CEO of Joule.

“We started with a big idea – the direct conversion of sunlight to fuel without raw material feedstocks – and four years later we’ve proven the process, optimized the technology, built a strong patent portfolio and laid the groundwork for commercial production to begin in 2013. We will bring much-needed scalability and infrastructure-readiness to the renewable fuels space, with a platform that can yield multiple products, including valuable, fungible diesel fuel vs. a blendstock like biodiesel. We appreciate this recognition of our company’s efforts to successfully innovate outside of today’s common ‘biofuel’ definition,” said Sims.

As stated in the Journal’s report by Kenny Tang, one of the independent judges and founder & CEO of Oxbridge Weather Capital, “In bypassing the limitations of expensive processes in conventional biofuel production, Joule’s technology has the exciting potential to significantly transform the economics of the biofuel industry. If translated into wider use, it is a potential game changer—it could become a cost-effective replacement to petroleum on a much wider scale than previously possible, especially with its non-reliance on biomass.”

Using sunlight and waste CO2 from industrial emitters or pipelines, Joule anticipates commercial production of up to 15,000 gallons of diesel and 25,000 gallons of ethanol per acre annually, at stable costs as low as $20/bble and $0.60/gallon respectively, including subsidies. The company has been conducting pilot operations and expects to begin construction of its first demonstration-scale plant this quarter.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Solar

Chicago Vertical Farm Gets Grant for Renewable Energy System

Cindy Zimmerman

An innovative sustainable food production project in the Windy City has received a grant for a renewable energy system that uses waste materials.

The project called “The Plant” was recently awarded a total of $1.5 million in grant funds from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) to support a comprehensive renewable energy system that will accept up to 12,000 tons of food scraps annually. Most of the material will be spent grain from an onsite craft brewery, New Chicago Brewing Company, and from other breweries around Chicago – material that is currently sent to landfills.

By installing an anaerobic digester and combined heat and power system, The Plant will create about 380 kilowatts of electricity and 2.1 million BTU of heat – enough to meet the full energy needs of the 93,500 square-foot facility. The digester will allow The Plant to become independent of the grid and produce power and heat at between one-quarter and one-third of current utility costs to its tenants. In addition to the craft brewery, The Plant has plans for a bakery and aquaponics growing systems.

The total project costs are approximately $3 million and will be completed by June 2013.

Waste-to-Energy

Senate Amendment Attempts to End Blender Pump Funding

Cindy Zimmerman

McCain in Independence MissouriEthanol interests were quick to oppose an amendment offered by Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) today that would prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture from funding Flex Fuel pump installations.

“The McCain amendment would smother the only initiative we have to provide consumers the power to choose their fuel, and it gives OPEC the green light to tighten its grip on our economy at the worst possible time,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis. “Flex Fuel pumps inject competition in the marketplace. Congress should stand up for consumer choice and move our country’s energy policy forward, by investing in ethanol infrastructure and next generation biofuels.”

A statement from the Renewable Fuels Association called the McCain amendment “a jobs bill for OPEC nations.”

“By specifically singling out the ethanol molecule for exclusion, this amendment is seeking to kill new technologies using algae, wood waste, garbage and other feedstocks that would produce ethanol in their infancy. America needs jobs and domestic ethanol production is a proven method to create those opportunities. We already know what we get by outsourcing our energy future.”

Sen. McCain offered the same amendment during the ethanol tax debate in June when it was defeated by a vote of 41-59. This amendment was part of the 2012 agriculture appropriations bill, but appeared by the end of the day it would not come up for a vote.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Growth Energy, RFA

Senators to Address Algae Biomass Summit

Cindy Zimmerman

amy klobucharU.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Al Franken (D-MN) will address the 2011 Algae Biomass Summit October 25-27 in Minneapolis, according to the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO).

al frankenSenator Franken will help kickoff the conference on October 25, while Senator Klobuchar will address the conference via a video lunchtime keynote on October 26, focusing on home grown energy and job creation.

“That Senators Klobuchar and Franken both chose to participate in the conference reflects the importance of algae-based fuels and co-products not only for the state of Minnesota, but also the rest of the country,” said Mary Rosenthal, Executive Director of ABO.

Other speakers at the conference include Harrison Dillon, President of Solazyme, Judy Canales, USDA Administrator for Rural Business and Cooperative Programs; and Cynthia “C.J.” Warner, CEO of Sapphire Energy.

The 5th annual Algae Biomass Summit will feature presentations and poster sessions from more than 200 experts from around the world, with exhibits by more than 60 companies and organizations. The event is expected to attract more than 800 participants, with 20 countries already represented among the registrants to date.

advanced biofuels, algae, Biodiesel, biofuels, conferences

Plug In Day Celebrates Electric Vehicles

Cindy Zimmerman

Sunday was National Plug-in Day and among many events around the country was a parade of electric vehicles (EV) with over 200 EV drivers taking part in Santa Monica, California.

The day was organized by Plug-in America and included EV events in over 20 simultaneous venues from Honolulu to New York with displays and demonstrations of plug-in vehicles by Nissan, GM, Mitsubishi, Toyota, SMART, Tesla, Ford, Coda and others.

“Only a few years ago, major automakers were literally crushing electric cars. Today, virtually every auto company in the world is selling or developing a plug-in car, and consumers are snapping up each and every one, stimulating our economy while helping the environment,” said Plug In America co-founder Paul Scott.

Among the event’s promoters was Nissan, which encouraged the 7200 Leaf owners nationwide to take part. “One year ago, the Nissan Leaf was just gaining public awareness. Today, thousands of drivers have chosen to go all-electric, with many more to come,” said Brian Carolin with Nissan North America.

Plug In Day will be followed up this Friday with the opening of the critically acclaimed documentary Revenge of the Electric Car in Los Angeles and New York. Filmmaker and electric-car advocate Chris Paine directs the movie, which follows executives including Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn in his industry-leading pursuit of zero-emission leadership.

Watch the movie trailer below:

Car Makers, Electric Vehicles, Video