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Acciona Building Second Oklahoma Wind Farm

John Davis

Spanish wind energy company Acciona Energy is building its second wind farm in Oklahoma.

This story from Eco Friend News.com says the Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm located in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma will produce 132 megawatts and will take about a year to build:

The Dempsey Ridge Wind Farm is located just 15 miles west of ACCIONA Energy’s 123-MW Red Hills Wind Farm that was put into service in June 2009. The project will create enough clean energy to power around 46,000 homes in Oklahoma and surrounding states and will avoid the emission of approximately 339,000 metric tons of CO2 per year from conventional power plants.

“Oklahoma is a state that understands energy and has embraced wind as a plentiful and lucrative resource for the future. We are pleased to extend our commitment to this state and this community with the construction of the Dempsey Ridge project. Oklahoma already ranks in the top 10 U.S. states for wind energy potential and this project is another step in the direction of realizing that potential,” said Dan Foley, Chief Development Officer, ACCIONA Energy North America.

The 66 wind turbine farm will be spread out over more than 10,000 acres.

Acciona currently has five wind farms in the U.S., four of them 100 percent owned by the company, including the 180 MW the Tatanka Wind Farm in North and South Dakota; the 11.8 MW Velva Wind Farm, also in North Dakota; the 100.5 MW EcoGrove Wind Farm in Illinois; and now the Red Hills Wind Farm. The company also has a stake in the 74,25 MW Blue Canyon Wind Farm in Oklahoma.

Wind

OriginOil Moves Forward in Algae-to-Biodiesel Test

John Davis

Last month, I told you about how algae-to-biodiesel developer OriginOil, Inc. had decided to go to Australia to test its algae oil extraction process with partner MBD Energy.

Today, I received an update from OriginOil that it has received the first commercial order to deploy its algae oil extraction system in an industrial setting:

MBD Energy (MBD) recently committed to purchase an initial OriginOil extraction unit for piloting at one of Australia’s three largest coal-fired power plants.

“OriginOil’s algae harvesting equipment performed extremely well during preconstruction tests at MBD’s R&D facility at James Cook University,” said Managing Director Andrew Lawson, Managing Director of MBD Energy, Ltd.

“We have every confidence that OriginOil’s algae oil extraction technology will meet our high expectations for the next stage,” Lawson added.

MBD Energy expects OriginOil technology to support a pilot Bio-CCS (Bio-based Carbon Capture and Storage) algal synthesizer system at Queensland’s Tarong Power Station.

The proof of concept phase on a one-hectare site, scheduled for later this year, will use concentrated CO2 emissions to produce oil-rich algae in MBD’s proprietary growth membranes. OriginOil’s unique extraction technology will be used to harvest the algae oil and biomass.

OriginOil CEO Riggs Eckelberry says this system will support the early testing of the company’s technology with intentions to put in a much larger unit capable of processing up to 300 gallons per minute of algae culture for the one-hectare pilot site.

To learn more about OriginOil’s testing in Australia, check out my Domestic Fuel Cast from last month.

algae, Biodiesel

Fifth Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit Best Yet

Cindy Zimmerman

IRFA CrowdThe 5th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels (IRFA) Summit was the best ever in many ways, according to IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw.

“The combination of good weather and great speakers, we had record turnout, the crowd stayed, it was very positive,” said Shaw after the summit concluded on Tuesday in Des Moines. “We clearly had over 700 people here based on the fact that all the chairs were filled and we had standing room at the back of the room.”

Shaw thanked the many sponsors for the event who make it all possible. “This is free and open to the public and you can see a line up of speakers that in other cases you might have to pay several hundred dollars to see, so we’re really blessed with sponsors to make that happen.”

Listen to or download a quick summary interview with Monte here: Monte Shaw interview

IRFA Bob DinneenAnd what summit on renewable fuels could be complete without a sermon from the Reverend of Renewable Fuels himself, Bob Dinneen?

The president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association served as the “warm-up act” for the undisputed headliner Newt Gingrich at the event. “Newt Gingrich has been a very thoughtful political leader for decades now and I don’t think people appreciate just how intuitively he understands the role that ethanol can play in our energy security, our economic development opportunities and our environmental policy, but he gets it,” Dinneen said in an interview at the IRFA Summit.

Dinneen was impressed with attendance at the 5th annual event. “It’s terrific, it’s not just a large crowd, it’s an energized crowd,” he said. “I think they recognized just how important this year is going to be.” The importance of this year in ethanol policy was key theme of Dinneen’s address.

Here is a link to the transcript of Dinneen’s remarks.

Listen to or download my interview with Bob at the IRFA here: Bob Dinneen interview


IOWA RENEWABLE FUELS SUMMIT PHOTO ALBUM

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

NASCAR Champ is Excited About Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Former NASCAR champion Rusty Wallace may not be on the track racing himself anymore, but he is still a team owner and racing analyst and he is thrilled that every series in NASCAR will be using a 15 percent blend of ethanol this year.

IRFA Rusty Wallace“When we hit Daytona, get ready,” Wallace said. “Because NASCAR is the number one source of motor sports in the entire world and when NASCAR runs ethanol, it’s going to be on everybody’s radar.”

As the keynote speaker at the Iowa Renewable Fuels (IRFA) Summit on Tuesday, Wallace stressed the power of ethanol, the fuel efficiency, the clean burning of the fuel, and the extensive testing that has been done in the cars with ethanol blends. “All they did was take the E15 and put it into current race engines,” he said. “We have run the blend of ethanol up to 30 percent in our NASCAR engines. It keeps making more power the higher we go.”

Wallace gave a lot of credit for NASCAR’s use of ethanol to Growth Energy, the lead group in the American Ethanol partnership with NASCAR. “These guys have really worked their brains out with NASCAR putting this program together to get E15 on the racetrack,” he said. “Without Growth Energy this wouldn’t have happened.”

Listen to or download Wallace’s address at IRFA here: Rusty Wallace at Iowa RFA Summit


IOWA RENEWABLE FUELS SUMMIT PHOTO ALBUM

Audio, Ethanol, Growth Energy, NASCAR

Clark to Coordinate NE Corn Board Ethanol Program

John Davis

There’s a new face on the Nebraska Corn Board staff, and she’ll serve as the board’s ag program manager coordinating ethanol programming.

Kimberly Clark will direct the board’s efforts to increase in-state demand for ethanol, improve and expand the infrastructure of blender pumps and ethanol movement within and outside Nebraska, as well as maintaining a working relationship with ethanol development staff in other corn-producing states, the National Corn Growers Association, ethanol industry groups and Nebraska’s ethanol plants:

“The ethanol industry is critical to Nebraska and Nebraska corn farmers, so having Kimberly on staff to coordinate our ethanol programs is significant,” said Don Hutchens, executive director of the Nebraska Corn Board. “Kimberly’s background and experience will help continue the success we’ve seen with ethanol, and her ability to connect with and educate consumers about ethanol will be a tremendous asset.”

Clark, a native Nebraskan from Leigh, comes to the board from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she served as the research project coordinator in dairy-related research projects.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

Former Senator is Biofuels Convert

Cindy Zimmerman

IRFA Rick SantorumFormer Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania was never a believer in ethanol, biodiesel and other forms of renewable energy until one devastating day in American history.

“I looked at this issue differently, until 9/11,” the senator said during an address at the Iowa Renewable Fuels (IRFA) Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday. “To me, 9/11 changed the game as we look at energy production in this country.”

Santorum believes that domestic production of renewable liquid fuels in critical to this country’s national security. “Post 9/11, I went from someone who was skeptical at best of developing domestic sources of energy, to being a grand proponent of such things,” he said. “My pledge to you is to work with this industry to create a bigger and bigger place in the market for domestically produced ethanol and biodiesel.”

Santorum, a conservative Republican who served two terms in the U.S. House and two terms in the Senate, is considering a run for president in 2012 – as is former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich who also spoke at the IRFA event this week.

Listen to or download Santorum’s address at IRFA here: Rick Santorum at Iowa RFA Summit


More photos from the IOWA RENEWABLE FUELS SUMMIT

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

E85 Workshop to be Held in San Antonio

Cindy Zimmerman

Coming up next month, the Alamo Area Council of Governments Clean Cities Coalition, in partnership with the FFV Club of America and Protec Fuel, will be conducting an E85 workshop in San Antonio, Texas.

The workshop is being held to continue the steps towards advancing transportation choices and economic development in the region, targeting local government officials, business decision makers, fleets, media professionals, and interested citizens on the benefits and opportunities of flex fuel vehicles and ethanol. It will also connect key flex fuel vehicle fleets with ethanol fuel providers.

Topics covered at the workshop will include: Federal/ State/Private FlexFuel Vehicle fleet in Texas, E85 refueling locations, fuel ethanol production; Meeting the Energy Policy Act, National Renewable Fuel Standards, upcoming compliance issues; Refueling infrastructure funding opportunities, supply logistics, blending economics, future opportunities, 2nd generation ethanol in Texas; National public education and outreach campaign and assistance from national ethanol organizations; FFV fleet operators will share their experiences and provide their lessons learned to the group; and an open forum for fleet managers, fuel providers, and technical assistant support teams to exchange information.

Ethanol workbooks and program materials will also be handed out at this workshop.

The workshop is FREE and will include a lunch beginning at noon and concluding at 3 p.m. on February 10 at the Alamo Area Council of Governments in San Antonio. To RSVP for this workshop, contact Yliana Flores at nrtemp@aacog.com.

E85, Education, Ethanol, Ethanol News

President’s Energy Goals Sound Familiar

Cindy Zimmerman

Representatives of the renewable fuels industry were pleased to hear President Obama talking about energy independence during his State of the Union address last night, saying that we need to “break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have a million electric vehicles on the road by 2015” as well as mentioning wind and solar, nuclear, clean coal and natural gas, and even alluding to the promise of algae as an energy source. However, the goals that Obama laid out are very similar to the goals presidents of this country have been talking about for decades.

Obama SOTU 2011Yesterday’s Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines concluded with a piece that aired on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” in June 2010 about how the last eight presidents have gone on television and promised to move America towards a more energy independent future. The segment was filled with Stewart’s trademark humor, but it is sobering to think about how long this country has been touting energy independence and yet still be facing so many hurdles, skeptics and downright enemies who continue to impede that progress.

Stewart showed clips of all of the past eight presidents, from Nixon to Obama, talking about moving “beyond a petroleum-based economy,” first playing clips of both Obama and George W. Bush saying almost the exact same words. He follows up with Clinton, Bush 42, Reagan, Carter, Ford and Nixon making similar statements and talking about ideas like solar, natural gas, fuel cells and even “gasohol.”

Funny, but unfortunately, way too true. Take a look.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
An Energy-Independent Future
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog</a> The Daily Show on Facebook
biofuels, Commentary, Ethanol, Government, Solar, Video, Wind

Sustainability Hard To Define

Chuck Zimmerman

We had the most results of any ZimmPoll so far with the question: “What does “sustainability” really mean to the public?” By a big margin, most say “A combination of factors” at 47%. That’s followed by “Farm managed for profit/growth,” 25%; “green,” 13%; “organic,” 10% and “local,” 5%. So I think it’s safe to say that sustainability is not understood to mean any one thing and probably within the ag community as well as the general public. For this reason I don’t see how we can expect people to agree on a definition much less use this word to create meaningful legislation. Your thoughts?

Our next ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question of our farm readers, “Which tillage practice do you employ on most of your farming operation?” Let us know and thank you for participating.

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

ZimmPoll

Canola Biodiesel-Powered Jet Car Heading to Vegas

John Davis

A jet car that runs on biodiesel made from canola is expected to be featured in one of the premier car shows later this year.

Western Canada’s PortageOnline.com reports the Prairie Gold, owned by Kevin and Gwen Therres of Prairieland Motorsports, produces 7,500 horsepower and can make it up to 254 miles per hour in a quarter mile (see some pretty cool video of it in action below), and it will be featured at the SEMA show in Las Vegas:

“We were just at the PRI (Performance Racing Industry) show in Orlando. They came to us at PRI and asked us if we wanted to be featured in the SEMA show in Las Vegas,” [Kevin] says. “For a lot of people in the car world, the SEMA show is the ultimate show to have a car come to. Incredible. Here we are from Humboldt, Saskatchewan and we’re being invited to that show. We’re just ecstatic.”

The Canadian Canola Growers Association sponsors the car.

Biodiesel, Video