New York Project to Promote Biodiesel in Generators

John Davis

The use of biodiesel in generators and power units is getting a boost from a pilot program by Sprague Energy Corp. of White Plains NY and BIODICO, Inc (also known as Biodiesel Industries, Inc.).

The Biogenset (www.Biogenset.com) program is being partially funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and will be aided by the New York City and Lower Hudson Valley Clean Cities Communities:

Steven J. Levy, Managing Director of Sprague Energy and President of the New York City and Lower Hudson Valley Clean Cities stated the, “BioGenset is an opportunity to reduce our reliance on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gases, and create local jobs. We are looking for leaders in industry, government and academia to become involved.”

The project will help to clean up the air, promote energy security and local energy use, and provide local area employment. BioGenset is actively seeking diesel generator owners and operators to become involved. Participants may include private businesses, maintenance contractors, schools, hospitals, municipalities, utilities, and public buildings.

The potential for this project is big. BIODICO officials point out that the state of New York uses one-fifth of all the petroleum distillate used in the U.S. and nearly a billion gallons of diesel a year. Nationwide, about half of all the petroleum diesel used goes to electrical generators and boilers.

Biodiesel

EV Drivers Can Now Shop & Charge

Joanna Schroeder

Electric vehicle (EV) drivers can now charge their EV’s while they are shopping. Simon Property Group, a developer of retail real estate, has become one of the first retail developers to offer EV charging stations at its properties. Shoppers at Simon’s Florida Mall in Orlando are the first recipients of the EV chargers – the installation was recently completed and the ‘Level 2’ charger has the ability to “top off” or partially charge a battery between 60 to 120 minutes. On the West Coast, shoppers frequenting the Standford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, CA will be able to charge up their cars by the end of this month. In both locations, shoppers will be able to “pull up and plug in” and after an introductory period a small fee structure will be determined.

“We believe that a well-developed EV charging infrastructure is going to be key to the success of EVs,” said George Caraghiaur, Simon Property Group’s senior vice president of energy and procurement. “Meeting the needs of the first-to-market drivers of electric vehicles in the communities we serve is yet another example of our commitment to sustainability.”

Simon is working with two companies during this initial rollout: Car Charging, Inc. installed the unit at Florida Mall and 350Green will install the charging units at Stanford Shopping Center.

Michael D. Farkas, CEO of Car Charging Group, Inc., said of the completion of the project, “Our collaboration with Simon Property Group is a prime example of our national growth strategy. By partnering with premier national property management companies for installations, we are able to rapidly deploy a nationwide roll out of a robust network of convenient charging stations. We are happy to have brought this amenity to customers at Florida Mall and look forward to bringing it to additional Simon Property Group locations across the nation.”

350Green is quickly becoming a national leader in installing EV charging stations, and the company’s founder and CEO, Mariana Gerzanych said her company is thrilled to be working on the project and expects many more charging stations to arrive in the Bay Area soon. “The goal is to make EV charging convenient and accessible to anyone who owns an EV – regardless of whether or not they have a charging station at their home or office.”

EV industry experts predict there will be approximately 1 million EVs on U.S. roads by 2015. Some believe there could be as many as 27 million, or 10 percent of all the cars on the road, by 2020.

Electric Vehicles

NAT GAS Act Introduced

Joanna Schroeder

The propane industry is speaking out against a new bill introduced by backers of the Pickens Plan (aka T. Boone Pickens). The New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (NAT GAS Act) would provide federal incentives for natural gas while excluding all other types of renewable energy. Supporters of propane autogas are upset and calling for federal legislators to stop cherry picking who will be the winners and losers in the alt energy race.

“If Boone and his team of lobbyists were serious about American energy security, they would include other American-made alternative fuels like propane autogas in their push for incentives,” said Autogas for America founder Stuart Weidie. “Natural gas is an abundant natural resource, but it’s not our only clean-burning alternative to gasoline and diesel. The NAT GAS Act doesn’t give Americans solutions; it crowns a single solution as the victor.”

According to Autogas for America, 90 percent of the propane autogas is produced in America. Of this percent, 60 percent is generated from domestic natural gas refining. The organization also says propane autogas is less expensive than gasoline or diesel. Customized fleets that are operating with the fuel, on average, see more than $1.00 per gallon savings as compared to their previous fuel.

Weide continued, “Our legislature should not manipulate the market by giving a special interest advantage to one solution. They should recognize that taxpayers want multiple clean-fuel options to reduce harmful emissions and replace oil imports with affordable, American-made energy. The NAT GAS Act is an example of legislative cherry picking, the kind of legislation that skews the natural selection process that otherwise enables innovation in a free market economy.”

ROUSH CleanTech, one of the companies that have deployed auto technologies to convert fleet vehicles to run on autogas is ready to support President Obama’s energy goals, but is also frustrated with the introduction of the NAT Gas Act.

“An important, strong national energy policy was outlined by President Obama and Secretary Chu last week that will dramatically increase the adoption of fleet vehicles powered by domestically produced alternative fuels,” said Joe Thompson, president of ROUSH CleanTech. “While we are supportive of all alternative fuels, we won’t be as successful in achieving the President’s vision if each industry introduces legislation that plays to their own agenda, like we saw with the introduction of the NATGAS Act.  Wouldn’t we find the most success with one piece of legislation supporting all domestically produced alternative fuels?”

Several announcements were made last week surrounding the “greening” of fleets. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a streamlined certification process for aftermarket alternative fuel conversion systems that make it easier for companies to offer alternative fuel conversions for a broad range of vehicle makes and models. Also last week, the Department of Energy together with the White House announced the National Clean Fleets Partnership. This program highlights the need for fleets to adopt “advanced technology vehicles or ones that use alternative fuels, such as electricity, natural gas, biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, or propane.”

Natural Gas, Propane

Zotos Honored For Renewable Energy Use

Joanna Schroeder

More and more companies are moving to powering their manufacturing facilities and company headquarters with renewable energy. This week the EPA announced its Top 20 On-Site Generation List. This is a list of the organizations that are using the most on-site green power to energize their operations. The list is part of the Green Power Partnership. The winner was Kimberly Clark Organization who generates 7 percent of its electricity from biomass. Several cities in California made the top 20 including San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose. Also on the list: Wal-Mart and the U.S. Air Force.

Also on the list at number 18 was Zotos, a hair care brand. According to the EPA’s site, nearly 60 percent of the company’s electricity is generated from on-site wind energy. The reason Zotos stands out is while most companies purchase renewable power from electricity companies, they actually generated their power from wind turbines located right on their campus. According to the American Wind Energy Association, the Zotos Wind Project is considered one of the top on-site wind projects currently being undertaken by a manufacturing company in the United States.

“It was a  sizable investment to purchase the wind turbines, but it was a small price to pay when compared to the major benefits it creates for the community of Geneva, NY, and our environment,” says Anthony Perdigao, Zotos Chief Sustainability Officer.

With approximately 6.5 million kWh of electricity produced annually, the Zotos wind turbines will provide more than 50 percent of organization’s energy requirements and are expected to reduce overall CO2 emissions by 50 percent in 2011. Zotos’ energy goal is to utilize 100 percent renewable energy by 2012.

biogas, biomass, Electricity, Energy, Environment, Solar, Wind

USDA Report Changes Ethanol Corn Use Term

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA’s new supply and demand report makes a subtle, but significant, change in the way it reports corn use for ethanol, acknowledging for the first time the livestock feed produced as a by-product of ethanol.

USDA WAOB Instead of calling the usage category “ethanol for fuel” USDA has changed the wording to “ethanol & byproducts,” with a footnote reading “Corn used to produce ethanol and by-products including distillers’ grains, corn gluten feed, corn gluten meal, and corn oil.”

The Renewable Fuels Association said the change provides a better accounting for the fact that corn processed by ethanol facilities results in the production of both ethanol and animal feed. Historically, USDA has reported only the gross usage of corn for ethanol, implying that the ethanol process uses the entire bushel of corn for fuel production. “This has led to inflated claims that the ethanol industry is using “nearly 40%” of the 2010/11 corn supply, (but) when the production of animal feed co-products is taken into account, only 23% of the 2010/11 U.S. corn supply and 3% of the global grain supply is truly being used for fuel production.”

RFA notes that ethanol co-products have become a substantial component of the global feed market. “In 2010/11, the ethanol industry is expected to produce more than 39 million metric tons of animal feed, enough to produce 50 billion quarter-pound hamburgers—or seven patties for every person on the planet.”

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, USDA

USDA Announces Funding for Ethanol Blender Pumps

Cindy Zimmerman

During a press briefing, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a USDA program will provide funding for installation of ethanol blender pumps to provide Americans with flexible fuel vehicle with more choices when they fill up. “This announcement is going to help expand the national biofuels industry and create jobs across the country,” said Vilsack.

USDAUSDA is issuing a rule to clarify that the definition of renewable energy systems in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) includes flexible fuel pumps, sometimes referred to as “blender pumps.” This clarification is intended to provide fuel station owners with incentives to install flexible fuel pumps that will offer Americans more renewable energy options. The Obama administration has set a goal of installing 10,000 flexible fuel pumps nationwide within 5 years.

“Flex-fuel pumps will give Americans a choice to purchase domestically produced renewable transportation fuels,” Vilsack said. “USDA’s energy programs are helping to build a clean energy economy, while creating green jobs here at home and making our nation more energy secure in the long-term.”

“Today there are more than eight million flex-fuel vehicles, cars and trucks that can run on a mixture of gas and up to 85 percent ethanol,” Vilsack said. “There are over 110,000 gas stations in the country today, but only 2300 of them provide E85 pumping and distribution systems.”

Vilsack was supposed to make the announcement from Gilbarco Veeder-Root, a flexible fuel pump manufacturing plant in Greensboro, North Carolina, but “given the discussions taking place in the nation’s capitol” with the potential for a government shutdown, Vilsack felt it was more important to stay in Washington. He did have a conversation with company officials about their ability to respond to increased demand for installation of new blender pumps.

Gilbarco, together with Dresser Wayne, are the two largest manufacturers of fuel dispensers in the U.S that offer blender pumps built to dispense a variety of ethanol fuel formulations.

Listen to or download Vilsack’s comments here: Secy Vilsack on Blender Pump Funding

Audio, blends, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, USDA

Ethanol Industry Comments on WASDE Report

Cindy Zimmerman

The USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) released this morning that shows corn ending stocks unchanged despite a 50 million bushel increase in corn use for ethanol also shows a gain in global grain stocks.

According to the report, global coarse grain supplies for 2010/11 are projected 6.3 million tons higher this month with a 1.8-million-ton increase in beginning stocks and a 4.5-million-ton increase in production.

Renewable Fuels Association LogoRenewable Fuels Association (RFA) VP of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper says the report should ease some of the tension in the world corn market. “While stocks are still relatively tight, today’s report shows that the corn supply picture is not quite as bad as some were expecting. Corn stocks—both in the U.S. and globally—are a little more robust than the market was anticipating,” commented Cooper.

RFA CEO and President Bob Dinneen notes that global corn production is looking stronger than many were expecting. “In particular, production in South America and Africa has been robust. Farmers in countries like Uganda are responding to higher world prices by increasing production through the use of better technology and improved farming practices. Higher prices are allowing farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions to participate in the world market and likely many of them are earning a profit on their crops for the first time in years,” he said.

Growth EnergyGrowth Energy CEO Tom Buis says the strong production in South America and elsewhere around the globe are disproving fears of food shortages. “Fear in the market that the carryout number would go down didn’t come to fruition,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis. “Now there is still a lot of volatility in the market, based on rumors of increasing sales to China, excessive speculation and profiteering in the commodities market,” said Buis. “But this newest USDA report proves what we’ve been saying all along, which is that the productivity of American farmers and farmers worldwide will meet the challenge to provide more than enough corn to meet demand. American farmers are expected to produce the largest crop ever this year.”

Domestically, USDA left the estimate for the 2010-11 U.S. corn carry-out unchanged at 675 million bushels. The trade was expecting carry-out to be lowered to 595 million bushels (to reflect lower-than-expected March 1 stocks number). Some analysts were expecting a drop to as low as 515 million bushels.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, RFA

Protec Fuel and Indore Open 14th Atlanta E85 Station

Cindy Zimmerman

Indore Oil Company has joined forces with Protec Fuel in opening their fourteenth E85 fueling location for flex fuel vehicle (FFV) owners in the Atlanta area. The E85 station is located at the Chevron Food Mart in Duluth.

Indore Oil partnered with Protec Fuel to offer E85 through the group’s turnkey E85 infrastructure program. “We at Indore Oil Company are energized on the prospect of working with Protec to bring E85 to this Chevron,” said Mihir Patel, General Manager of Indore Oil Company. “Our relationship with Protec and our customers continue to grow as we bring more alternative fueling options throughout the Atlanta market together.”

“Protec Fuel is pleased to now supply fourteen Indore Oil stations with E85,” noted Protec Fuel’s managing member, Todd Garner. “Mihir and his team are proactive entrepreneurs. We look forward to working with them more in the future in assisting Atlanta drivers in finding convenient locations to fuel their vehicles with E85.”

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News

USDA Raises Corn Use for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA’s latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate released this morning shows an increase in corn use for ethanol.

USDA WAOBU.S. corn ending stocks are unchanged this month as a projected increase in corn use for ethanol is offset by a reduction in expected feed and residual use. Corn used to produce ethanol is raised 50 million bushels as strong blender incentives and positive ethanol producer margins continue to encourage expansion in ethanol production and use. Rising gasoline prices have pulled ethanol prices higher helping to offset increases in corn feedstock costs for ethanol producers.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, USDA

NBB Protests EU Extension of Tariffs on US Biodiesel

John Davis

European Union members have voted to extend current tariffs on U.S. biodiesel, and that violates the group’s own laws, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

This Reuters article posted on ForexPros.com says EU officials accuse U.S. exporters of smuggling biodiesel through Canada to avoid tariffs imposed since 2009:

“We think this would be a bad decision that runs directly counter to current EU law,” said Manning Feraci, vice president of federal affairs at the U.S. National Biodiesel Board, the country’s leading biodiesel industry group.

“We’re waiting to get final confirmation of the decision and will go from there.”

The fight over EU biodiesel duties, which sliced U.S. exports to less than a third of their 1.5 million tonne level when they launched in 2009, highlights the global race for a share of the world’s booming renewable energy market.

EU firms accuse U.S. producers of being involved in a “splash and dash” scheme, whereby they may import cheap biodiesel from countries such as Brazil and add less than 5 percent of U.S. diesel. The producers then qualify for a subsidy from Washington before exporting it to Europe.

The extension would start in May and last until 2014.

Biodiesel, International, NBB