ACE Conference 2026

Arizona State Leads Way in Use of Solar

Joanna Schroeder

The U.S.-based University that uses the most solar energy in its mix is Arizona State University (ASU), which exceeds 10 megawatts (MW) of solar-energy capacity. The solar energy produced is enough to power 2,500 average sized homes. This is according to Ameresco Southwest, Inc.

“Surpassing 10 megawatts of solar energy capacity is a tremendous accomplishment for ASU and our partners,” said ASU President Michael Crow. “Over the years we have made several major commitments to sustainability, such as establishing the first school devoted to sustainability, raising awareness of how to live sustainable lives and finding ways to harness natural resources, like our abundance of sunshine. By doing these things, we are making a brighter future for ourselves and the place in which we live.”

When looking at ASU’s total energy use, the solar energy generates about 20 percent of their needs. The first solar energy product took place in October 2004 with a 34-kW installation at one of its parking structures on the Tempe campus. The university reached the 10 MW milestone after installing a 700 panel, 168-kilowatt (kW) ground-mounted photovoltaic installation on Tempe campus. Another solar installation is located at ASU’s West campus.

David Brixen, ASU’s associate vice president of Facilities Development and Management added, “Ten megawatts is a pinnacle for ASU and represents years of dedication to working toward our campus sustainability goals. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest solar installation at a single university in the United States.”

Electricity, Energy, Solar

Committee Urged to Consider Ethanol Feed Production

Cindy Zimmerman

Growth EnergyWith the latest USDA forecast showing tighter grain supplies, the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry is holding a hearing Wednesday on the concerns of livestock and poultry producers about feed availability and ethanol is likely to be a target for blame.

In advance of the hearing, officials with Growth Energy have sent a letter to the committee leadership urging them to remember that the ethanol industry produces animal feed in the form of distillers grains (DDGs). “More than one-third of all grain used in the production of ethanol is returned as a nutritious distillers’ grain, which is 25 percent cheaper than corn and can displace a greater amount of corn in feed rations, ultimately saving livestock producers’ input costs,” wrote Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis and president Jim Nussle in the letter to sub committee chairman Rep. Thomas Rooney (R-FL) and ranking member Dennis Cardoza (D-CA).

Growth Energy noted that there are many factors that are contributing to tighter grain supplies and higher prices, but stressed that the productivity of American agriculture is capable of meeting all demands for feed, food and fuel. “Consider this, despite the worst weather conditions in recent history, from cold spring rains to searing summer droughts followed by early autumn floods, our nation’s farmers are expected to deliver a near-record harvest of corn,” they wrote. Corn production this year is now forecast to be 12.5 billion bushels, just slightly more than last year and the third largest crop on record.

Scheduled to testify at the hearing on Wednesday at 1:30 eastern are representatives from the beef, dairy, pork, and poultry industries.

Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Government, Growth Energy

Day in the Life of Biofuels Photo Contest

Cindy Zimmerman

Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane is looking for photos depicting “A Day in the Life of Biofuels” for an upcoming photo essay and he’s paying $1000 for the best photo he gets.

“It has to relate to biofuels in some way – as a consumer, researcher, policymaker, producer, journalist, feedstock grower, industry supplier, student, enthusiast, carmaker, mechanic, and so on,” Lane says. “Could be a grower riding a combine, a hand working in the field, an employee at a producing biorefinery, end users users filling a vehicle – a marketing team brainstorming, a policymaker speaking – anything you can think of relating to biofuels – the more visually creative, the better. Could be about you, your business, your colleagues, your town, your car, your farm, your research project, your product – your call. Documentary, serious, downbeat, upbeat, sad, funny – up to you.”

Lane says all photos submitted with a caption will be published in Biofuels Digest with a credit. Multiple photo submissions are welcome, but additional photos will be published on a space-available basis and Lane says photos “are subject to acceptance by the Digest on the basis of reasonable taste.”

Find out more here.

biofuels

USDA Cuts Corn and Ethanol Forecasts

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has lowered its estimate of both corn production and ethanol usage of corn for this year.

USDAThe latest crop forecast for corn was cut three percent in the August report, due to excessive summer heat that lowered average yields by almost five bushels an acre. The estimate for corn production this year is now 12.5 billion bushels, down 3 percent from the August forecast but would still be the third largest corn crop in history. Yields are expected to average just over 148 bushels/acre, the lowest yield in six years.

With tighter supplies and higher prices, the USDA supply/demand outlook now projects corn usage to be 400 million bushels lower. “Corn use for ethanol is projected 100 million bushels lower with higher expected corn prices and continued weakening in the outlook for U.S. gasoline consumption as forecast by the Energy Information Administration,” according to the report. “The season-average farm price is projected 30 cents per bushel higher on both ends of the range to a record $6.50 to $7.50 per bushel.”

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, USDA

MAPCO Puts Another E85 Pump on the Map in Alabama

Cindy Zimmerman

Flex-fuel vehicle owners in Madison, Alabama now have more choices in filling up with E85, thanks to MAPCO Express and Protec Fuel.

This is the first location for the multi-state MAPCO Express to offer 85 percent ethanol blended fuel. The company partnered with florida-based Protec Fuel to convert the station and equipment and provide the E85 fuel for the company’s new greener-burning fuel option.

“MAPCO has taken a big step in offering E85 to its customers at this Madison location,” said Steve Walk with Protec Fuel. “This launch should lead to more MAPCO biofuel pumps throughout its southeastern U.S. territory.”

According to Mark Bentley, Executive Director of the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition, there are now 16 E85 pumps in Alabama. “We congratulate and commend MAPCO and the people of Madison for making E85 available to the public,” he said.

Madison, Alabama is north of Birmingham and just east of Decatur and the MAPCO Express E85 pump is located on Highway 72 West.

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News

President Mentions Advanced Biofuels in Jobs Speech

Cindy Zimmerman

President Obama reaffirmed the importance of domestically produced fuels in his address to Congress on jobs Thursday night.

“If we provide the right incentives, the right support — and if we make sure our trading partners play by the rules — we can be the ones to build everything from fuel-efficient cars to advanced biofuels to semiconductors that we sell all around the world,” the president said. “That’s how America can be number one again.”

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) was pleased to hear the president utter the words “advanced biofuels” in connection with jobs. “As the only commercial scale Advanced biofuel that’s produced nationwide today, biodiesel is proof that strong domestic energy policy and incentives can create good paying American Jobs,” said NBB VP of Federal Affairs Anne Steckel. “Even in this economy, our industry is experiencing a boom. We’re on pace to produce more biodiesel than ever before. We strongly encourage Congress to follow through with a green jobs package that includes the biodiesel tax incentive that gets people back to work.”

Obama outlined his $450 billion jobs plan including tax cuts, tax credits, infrastructure investments and other measures in his speech Thursday night to Congress, urging lawmakers to pass it immediately to put Americans back to work.

Biodiesel, Government, NBB

Canadian Firm Developing Industry Oilseed Crops

Cindy Zimmerman

Vancouver-based Linnaeus Plant Sciences has been awarded $1.2 million in support from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to further advance production of green alternatives to petroleum oils.

SDTC support will help Linnaeus advance production of camelina and safflower-based oils as renewable feedstock that can substitute for petroleum in a variety of high-value, non-fuel applications including polymers, lubricants, surfactants and other valuable industrial materials.

“Through our support for cutting-edge clean energy technology we are creating high-quality jobs and protecting our environment,” said Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver. “This project demonstrates our leadership in driving technology innovation to help create a vibrant clean energy industry in Canada.”

“We’re interested in a greener, more sustainable future for farmers and for all Canadians,” said Linnaeus’ President and CEO, Jack Grushcow. “This is significant support from SDTC. It will help us position these crops as viable substitutes for petroleum in a range of important products. Work being done in the laboratory and on the farm will help shape a more carbon-neutral planet for future generations. We are committed to ensuring that these crops deliver products that command sufficient value to allow the entire value chain to operate at a fair profit.”

“Technologies that will help Canada become less dependent on fossil fuels while creating value for farmers will be key in the country’s transition to a green economy,” said SDTC President and CEO Vicky Sharpe. “We are pleased to be adding this promising project to our portfolio.”

Linnaeus Plant Sciences has developed an integrated process to produce a variety of value-added, renewable, industrial feedstocks from camelina and safflower, for use in various industrial applications.

biofuels, feedstocks

RFA Reminds President of Ethanol Jobs

Cindy Zimmerman

As President Obama prepares to address the nation with a proposed $400 billion jobs plan, the Renewable Fuels Association is reminding him that American ethanol fuels 400,000 jobs right now and could do even more with more support.

In an open letter to the president running today in Politico, RFA president Bob Dinneen says the “American ethanol industry is a job-creating engine fueled by innovation.”

“With a commitment in tonight’s speech to support the goals of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), encourage the use of E15 and other ethanol fuels, and invest in modernizing our fuel infrastructure, you could embolden current ethanol production and ignite investment in next generation advanced and cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels which would require the construction of new biorefineries, often located outside the traditional Corn Belt. In addition, you would spark further economic growth in rural communities in the Heartland where economic development is most difficult,” Dinneen writes to President Obama.

See the full ad here.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Grading Grasses for Ethanol Potential

Cindy Zimmerman

U.S. Department of Agriculture researchers have developed an inexpensive way to grade the ethanol potential of perennial grasses at a biorefinery’s loading dock.

Geneticist Ken Vogel (pictured) was one of a team of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists who developed the grading process that costs only about $5 a sample rather than the $300 to $2,000 per sample that conventional analytical methods cost.

The process uses near-infrared sensing (NIRS) to measure 20 components in switchgrass biomass that determine its potential value to biorefiners. These components include cell wall sugars, soluble sugars and lignin. With this information, 13 traits can be determined, including the efficiency of the conversion from sugars to ethanol. This is the first time NIRS has been used to predict maximum and actual ethanol yields of grasses from a basic conversion process.

ARS is now working with the Near Infrared Spectroscopy Consortium (NIRSC) to commercialize the process for use at biorefineries.

Read more from ARS here.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Research, USDA

When Will Cellulosic Ethanol Match Corn?

Chuck Zimmerman

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “How many years before cellulosic ethanol matches corn ethanol production?” So what did you say? 42% said More than ten years; 23% said Five to ten years; 18% said Five years; 14% said Never and 3% said Next year. We’ve seen huge strides in the efficiency of corn ethanol production and research on the use of new feedstocks but we’re not quite there for mass quantity cellulosic production. Will we be? What do you think? Feel free to add your comments here.

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “Which is more important to rural America: GPS Service or Broadband Internet?” We thought it would be interesting you get your thoughts on this in light of the Lightsquared rural broadband service that seems to pose some serious problems for GPS service. Your input and thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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

ZimmPoll