E85 Grand Opening in San Marcos, TX

The National FFV Awareness Campaign in cooperation with the Central Texas Clean Cities, Sac N Pac Stores, Inc., Growth Energy and Protec Fuels is holding a grand opening celebration today for their new E85 pump. The idea is to bring consumers more access to higher blends of ethanol in Texas. The celebration will be held at the Sac N Pac E85 station at 1002 Highway 80 in San Marcos, Texas.

“Choice is the cornerstone of independence and the free market. October 17, 2010 marks the 37th anniversary of the nation’s 1st oil embargo. Many shortages and price spikes later U.S. oil imports continue to rise and are expected to soon reach 70%. After 37 years of fighting for change consumers now have a choice of FFVs auto dealer showrooms and E85 at the pump,” said Burl Haigwood, the project manager for the National FFV Awareness Campaign. “Over 9 million consumers nationwide, and over 700,000 consumers in Texas, are driving these special FlexFuel Vehicles (FFVs)—but most FFV owners don’t know they are driving one. Our goal is to locate and educate FFV owners, and motivate them to buy higher blends of ethanol like E85. There is a tremendous economic stimulation opportunity from developing new biomass crops into biofuels in Texas — if consumers continue to show retailers they prefer domestic clean burning fuels like E85. Just like paper or plastic, we now have gasoline or E85. Consumers now have choice.”

“We are pleased to be working with these groups in Texas to support high level blends of ethanol and flexible fuel vehicles,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis. “Providing consumers with greater access to ethanol will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and strengthen our energy security.” Growth Energy is an official supporter of the campaign.

Sac N Pac’s grand opening celebration will include remarks beginning at 1:00 p.m. by invited guests such as: Mayor of San Marcos, State Representatives, San Marcos City Council Representative, Hays County Commissioner Representative, San Marcos ISD and Hays County Consolidated School Districts Representative.

Registration for a $500 E85 fuel card gift card will begin during the promotion and FFV drivers will have until November 15, 2010 to qualify at the station.

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

Largest Smart-Solar Array to Be Built in California

John Davis

North America’s largest smart-solar array is being built in the San Francisco area.

Sun Light & Power has announced it is constructing a 530 kilowatt (kW) array that leverages the Tigo Energy®MaximizerT Solution to optimize, control and monitor over 1,900 Suntech 270 Watt Power modules:

“This is the first array of its kind that marks a new era of intelligent solar modules,” said Gary Gerber, CEO of Sun Light & Power. “This is the largest smart array in North America and represents the future of commercial solar. The Tigo EnergyMaximizer Solution has proven to be an ideal solution for this project.”

Bruce Lymburn of CLIF BAR stated: “Going solar is a natural for CLIF BAR and is part of our corporate sustainability mission; this new installation will provide us with renewable and clean solar energy to help power our new headquarters in Emeryville, California.”

“We are excited to have the Tigo Energy Maximizer Solution be part of this project,” said James Bickford, Director of North American Sales for Tigo Energy. “This is the first of Tigo Energy projects that are redefining state-of-the-art commercial installations.”

The Tigo Energy Maximizer Solution is the first distributed power electronics system to be used on a scale this large.

Solar

Cottage Grove, MN to Celebrate Odyssey Day with E85 Promo

The BP/Daily Express E85 station at 8490 SE Point Douglas Road in Cottage Grove, Minnesota will be holding a promotion celebrating Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Odyssey Day, a nationwide series of events and promotions held every two years to educate the public about alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles. According to the American Lung Association of Minnesota, on Friday Oct. 15, the station will discount E85 by 60 cents per gallon from 4-6 p.m. The first 20 flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) in line will receive E85 for 85¢ per gallon.

Jack’s BP in Watkins, Minnesota is also celebrating AFV Odyssey day with an E85 “frequent fuel card” promotion – after two tankfuls of E85, eligible participants will receive a $15 discount on their third fill up at Jack’s BP.

Supporters of the promotion in Cottage Grove include the Linn Companies, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, the Clean Air Choice Team and the American Lung Association in Minnesota, which supports the use of E85 and biodiesel fuels as part of an overall strategy to reduce and prevent air pollution.

Biodiesel, blends, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

Anti-Ethanol Camp Exit Tents Prepared to Attack

Joanna Schroeder

The anti-ethanol camp has exited their tents today to hold a press conference against the suggested changes to VEETC and the ethanol tariff that the ethanol industry proposed last week. In response, the four organizations that are leading the charge to create a new road map for ethanol have jointly responded to the attack.

In a statement released today from the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Growth Energy, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) the groups focused on ethanol’s successes and benefits. “America’s ethanol industry has been an undeniable success, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and reducing our nation’s reliance on foreign oil. These groups that have repeatedly attacked ethanol without validation would leave America with just one course of action: increasing our addiction to foreign oil.”

The groups continued by pointing out that ethanol has ‘paid dividends’ and ‘returns more to the federal government in the form of tax revenue than is spent in investment’. They also noted that ethanol has helped the country save billions of dollars in foreign oil expense.

“Constantly pining for fictional fuels or seeking to keep America hooked on the oil standard runs contrary to the desire most Americans have to become energy independent. Instead of facts or new approaches, these groups are recycling tired rhetoric that does nothing to help solve America’s energy problems,” the statement continued.Read More

ACE, biofuels, blends, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Flex Fuel Vehicles, food and fuel, Growth Energy, NCGA, RFA

Oct. 15th is National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day

Joanna Schroeder

The National Alternative Fuel Vehicles Training Consortium (NAFTC), located at the University of Virginia, is kicking off its annual National Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day Odyssey in New York City Union Square on October 14, 2010. The official AFV Day is October 15th. The event was created in 2002 to create consumer awareness about alternative fuels and the vehicles that can run on them. This year the goal is to have more than 125 events planned throughout the U.S. and Canada with 200,000 people attending and reach more than 75 million drivers in North America through media outreach. In addition, Odyssey is also reaching out to secondary schools.

In an interview with Ethanol Producer magazine, NAFTC executive director Al Ebron said, “Even if you reach that many people but only some of them hear the message, that’s still millions of people that are learning about these cleaner technologies and new technologies that can reduce our dependence on petroleum and help clean our air.”

Many of the companies that are participating in the nationwide events will be hosting pump promotions that will reduce the price of alternative fuels. One such partner is Propel Fuels, who is planning on offering $1 off per gallon on both E85 and biodiesel and five of its San Francisco fuel stations. Within the next two years, Propel will install 200 combined E85/biodiesel fueling stations throughout the West Coast.

You can learn more about the events near by visiting Odyssey’s website.

Biodiesel, E85, Education, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles

Ethanol Groups Propose Ethanol Road Map

Joanna Schroeder

There are rumors coming out of Washington, DC that several ethanol groups have come together to offer an alternative proposal to both VEETC, also known as the blender’s credit, as well as the ethanol tariff. DomesticFuel has confirmed that four groups, including the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Growth Energy, National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) have agreed upon a broad outline and framework that will be principles for a long-term policy road map for ethanol.

The goals of the road map are threefold and designed to overcome several major obstacles that if not addressed, could keep the country from meeting its renewable fuels goals as set out in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) that mandates the country use 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022.

Goal 1: Accelerate the deployment of blender pumps and flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs). Both of these actions will allow market access and a level playing field for biofuels.

Goal 2: Put into place long-term policy that will create a marketplace that investors feel confident in and one that will revive rural economies and create jobs.

Goal 3: Reward energy efficient technologies and practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions at biorefineries creating a more sustainable future for ethanol.Read More

biofuels, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Indirect Land Use

Learn How Canada is “Growing Beyond Oil”

Joanna Schroeder

Learn how Canada is “Growing Beyond Oil: Delivering Canada’s Energy Future,” during the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA) 7th Annual Summit on November 29-December 1, 2010. The conference is designed to impart valuable information for people in North America and Canada working in and around the ethanol and biodiesel industries including grain and cellulose ethanol producers, biodiesel producers. Other people who should consider attending are those working in Canada’s petroleum and agriculture industries.

This year’s Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit will focus on how to build on recent successes and set the stage for the next generation of clean, renewable fuels. Speakers will look at the global renewable fuels marketplace and take stock of how the Canadian industry can assure long-term growth and prosperity. Presenters will also analyze the impact of the recession’s end and the desire among deficit-slashing governments for sustained economic growth and the creation of good new jobs.

Discussions will include:
* the economic benefits of renewable fuels
* financing commercialization
* global policy and sustainability initiatives
* new biomass feedstocks
* emerging issues such as compliance with Canadian mandates

Registration is now open. Click here to view the full conference program and agenda as well as to register.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, conferences, Ethanol

Company Gets $1.8 Mil to Put Biodiesel in More Trucks

John Davis

A California company has received a $1.8 million grant from that state to get biodiesel into more trucks.

This article from the San Diego Union Tribune says alternative energy company Pearson Fuels picked up the money from the California Energy Commission:

“We are going into a diesel terminal where diesel is sold,” said Pearson General Manager Mike Lewis. “We are going to put biodiesel in there and tie it all together.”

Right now, a trucker will take a tanker truck to a biodiesel facility and get some biodiesel, then go to a fuel terminal and fill up the tanker with regular diesel.

It’s called “splash blending.”

“It’s not a very efficient way of doing it,” he said.

“These are the day to day infrastructure issues that hinder widespread biofuel use.”

Lewis wants to bring the biodiesel directly into terminals from two companies, InterState Oil Co. in Sacramento and SoCo Group in El Cajon to make it available just like any other fuel available there.

“It would come out of the spigot already blended,” said SoCo president Angus McDonald.

The money is expected to pay for about 60 percent of the project’s costs.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel to Power Fuel Cells for Electric Vehicles

John Davis

Biodiesel could be the fuel that charges fuel cells for electric vehicles.

ScienceDaily reports Norwegian company Nordic Power Systems (NPS) has developed a silent generator that works with California-based SAFCell Inc.’s new fuel cell using a smart diesel reformer and a tolerant fuel cell and could contend for the market in generators in electric vehicles:

This combination of two advanced technologies is now undergoing testing, thanks to funding under the Research Council’s RENERGI programme. In trials, a 200-W solid-acid fuel cell ran on both pure hydrogen and on hydrogen produced from diesel by the unit’s reformer — with only an insignificant difference in performance.

The reformer converts hydrocarbons into hydrogen, CO2 and heat. Due to the unit’s high efficiency, CO2 emissions are substantially lower than in conventional combustion engines, and no other demonstrable exhaust is discharged — meaning that diesel particulates, black carbon soot, nitrous oxide (NOx) and carbon monoxide (CO) are elimi¬nated. An added plus is that the reformer emits no smoke or odour.

NPS officials expect the first applications to be with the military, already having a technology development agreement with the Royal Norwegian Armed Forces and looking to get in with the British Armed Forces.

Biodiesel, Electric Vehicles

Google Investing in Massive Wind Project off East Coast

John Davis

Internet search engine giant Google is investing in a massive wind project off the U.S. East Coast that will end up connecting 1.9 million homes in the Mid-Atlantic region with clean wind power.

According to the company’s blog, the Atlantic Wind Connection (AWC) backbone between New Jersey to Virginia will be connect 6,000 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind turbines.

The AWC backbone will be built around offshore power hubs that will collect the power from multiple offshore wind farms and deliver it efficiently via sub-sea cables to the strongest, highest capacity parts of the land-based transmission system. This system will act as a superhighway for clean energy. By putting strong, secure transmission in place, the project removes a major barrier to scaling up offshore wind, an industry that despite its potential, only had its first federal lease signed last week and still has no operating projects in the U.S.

Google says that area is perfect for offshore wind projects, with the potential of 60,000 MW of offshore wind energy. The Mid-Atlantic region has shallow waters that extend far out to sea, enabling developers to build larger turbines able to take advantage of the stronger winds and practically out-of-sight from the land.

The entire project is expected to cost around $5 billion, although Businessweek reports Google is investing just 37.5 percent in the development stage, about $200 million. New York-based Good Energies and Japan’s Marubeni are also investing in the project.

Wind