Free Webinar: A Legal Discussion on Wind Energy

Joanna Schroeder

In anticipation for the upcoming Midwest Wind Summit & Expo on October 4-6, 2010 in Brookings, SD, law firm Faegre & Benson is hosting a free webinar: A Legal Discussion on Wind Energy: Looking Past the Wind Industry’s Hurdles & Focusing on Completing Projects on September 24, 2010 from 10:00 am – 11:00 am CST. The webinar will focus on several issues affecting the future of the U.S. wind industry including the much-needed Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) and the future of the grid.

One question in particular that will be discussed in whether the wind industry can thrive or even survive without an RES. The webinar will also discuss who will control siting decisions for new transmission lines – federal, state or local authorities and And who will pay for these new lines – utilities, developers or the public sector?

Even without an RES or solutions to hard transmission questions, the industry is still optimistically moving forward with installing wind energy. Yet with all projects come challenges including how to most effectively structure a deal and how to manage contract risk. A few mistakes on the part of the company overseeing the wind project could spell disaster. This webinar will inform you on the current state of the wind industry, assess the future of wind projects in the region and conclude with tips and tactics on development, negotiations and risk management of project contracts.

The following areas will be discussed in detail: transmission issues, including the debate over payment for new lines, jurisdiction over siting and routing and acquisition of necessary property rights; wind project structuring issues including financing, and how to manage risk in wind contracts such as construction contracts.

Speakers include Bill Weimer, Betsy Schmiesing, Peter Halls, and Peter Eckberg, all partners with Faegre & Benson and experts in wind energy.

The webinar is limited to 100 people so register now.

conferences, Electricity, Wind

Missouri Biodiesel Plant Reopens Under New Name

John Davis

There’s new life for a biodiesel plant in Southeast Missouri.

This article from Cape Girardeau’s Southeast Missourian says the former Great River Soy Processing Plant in Lilbourn has been reborn as ME Bio Energy LLC after being idled for the last three years:

After producing the first batch, the plant shut down to send a sample to the Environmental Protection Agency for inspection before opening for full production.

Since reopening, about 14,000 gallons of fuel goes through the processing line daily, said Jerry McDowell, plant manager. Biodiesel is made through a chemical process called transesterification in which glycerin is separated from fat or vegetable oil. The process leaves behind two products — methyl esters, which is the chemical name for biodiesel, and glycerin, a byproduct usually sold for use in soaps and other products.

Production at ME Bio Energy went into full swing in early July, McDowell said.

“We’re just starting to pick up with our deliveries,” he said. “The plant is averaging two trucks a day delivering supplies, and two trucks a day picking up the product.”

The plant will refine a 50-50 mix of animal fat and soybean oil into biodiesel.

Biodiesel

Canada Invests $81 Million in Biodiesel, Wind Ventures

John Davis

The Canadian government is putting about $81 million in a couple of wind and biodiesel ventures.

This Reuters article says the money will be spent over the next decade in Quebec:

The government announced a C$65 million injection over 10 years in two wind farms in the Gaspe region in Eastern Quebec.

The two farms, Carleton and L’Anse-a-Valleau, are owned by Cartier Wind Energy Inc and are capable of producing enough electricity to power up to 60,000 homes.

The funds come from the government’s C$1.5 billion ecoENERGY for Renewable Power program.

Earlier on Tuesday, Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis also announced a C$18.79 million investment over seven years in biofuel producer Biocardel Quebec Inc.

Biocardel will make about 10 million gallons a year of biodiesel from converted vegetable or cooking oil or animal fat for sale in Canada and the U.S.

Biodiesel, Government, Wind

Corn Farmers Working to Keep Americans Safe

Joanna Schroeder

Last Saturday, most Americans took a moment to remember those lost on 9-11. I was at the Iowa versus Iowa State football game when more than 70,000 fans spent a moment in silence to honor those who died. During this time I reflected on things that our country can do to keep Americans safe and one such action is to reduce our purchase of foreign oil.

Corn farmers play a major role in helping America produce domestic, renewable fuels such as ethanol and I also spent last Saturday with more than 900 Iowa corn farmers, many who are growing corn for ethanol. The Iowa Corn Growers Association (ICGA) sponsored the game on Saturday as part of their mission to educate consumers about the role Iowa corn farmers play in producing their food and fuel.

ICGA CEO Craig Floss said that during the game, they were able to tell the story of how ethanol fits into the picture and what that means for Iowa corn farmers.

“There is no other liquid form of petroleum product like ethanol that can actually replace foreign produced oil. And the bulk of our oil comes from countries that have governments that are not like ours,” said Floss. He continued that everyone was touched by the event and has a connection to the event and we need to find a way to send less money to those countries. That is why we like corn farmers, explained Floss. They’re good for our economy and good for our security.

Floss concluded that corn farmers will continue to exceed global needs of corn and said that we haven’t even started to unlock the genetic code of what corn can do.

You can see pictures from game day in the Iowa Corn Fed Game Day photo album.

You can listen to my interview with Craig Floss here. Iowa Corn Farmers Will Reach New Heights

Audio, Biotech, corn, Ethanol, food and fuel

Solar is Cooking

Joanna Schroeder

The American Solar Energy Society’s (ASES) National Solar Tour is set to become the most successful solar event to date, with 648 community solar tours registered. The number of registered tours, which are designed to engage tens of thousands of citizens interested about solar, is nearly triple that of last year when 150,000 people across 49 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico participated.

“Interest in the solar industry is cooking, and consumers across the nation are eager to sample its wares, which bring enticing tax credits, cash rebates, improved property values and cleaner communities to home and business owners across America,” said ASES National Solar Tour Manager Richard Burns.

The 15th annual tour features open house tours of thousands of solar-powered homes, businesses and public agencies. The featured solar projects will demonstrate to consumers how they can save money on their energy bills, reduce carbon emissions and receive tax credits and cash incentives to install solar now. This year, the bulk of the tours will take place on or around October 2, 2010 in all 48 states with just North Dakota and West Virginia missing. In addition, Mexico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are hosting their first solar tours.

According to ASES, among the projects of solar solutions showcased are investments that have helped a couple beat Wall Street with their green ROI, an Iraqi war veteran now fighting in the renewable revolution, solar-powered homes, schools, public agencies, condo complexes, and businesses that run the gamut from solar-powered poultry farms to funeral homes.

Burns says as technologies have evolved, so have the diversity and sophistication of the solutions showcased on the tour. But it is the practical, grassroots approach of the people behind the tours that have made this event such a hit across America. The self-guided and bus-hosted tours are organized by grassroots organizations and solar installers throughout the country. Many tours are free; some tour hosts are non-profits and may request a donation. Click here to register for a tour.

Promotion, Solar

Ethanol Supporters Reflect on OPEC Anniversary

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol supporters are not wishing OPEC a very happy 50th birthday this week.

Growth Energy organized a press event in Washington today with more than 90 supporters and producers of domestic ethanol to mark the 50th anniversary of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries – better known as OPEC.

“Since the inception of OPEC we have had conflict in and with the Middle East. We’ve invested generations of soldiers and untold trillions in warfare in the Middle East, over access to oil. We’ve experienced $4-a-gallon gasoline, gas lines and oil shocks to our economy. Every year we pay $300 billion annually – the equivalent of a thousand-dollar-a-person tribute—to foreign countries for oil,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis. “Today, after 50 years of OPEC, we suggest it is time to retire this cartel’s hold over our country.”

Growth Energy Co-chairman Jeff Broin, CEO of ethanol producer POET, commented that ethanol could replace oil if there were an open market for all fuels. “As a producer of ethanol, but even more important, an American, I urge policy makers to immediately take these necessary steps so future birthdays for OPEC can be ‘over the hill’ parties,” said Broin.

Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen also issued a statement to mark the OPEC anniversary. “While there may be cause for celebration in the capitals of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela and other member countries, here in the U.S. it is time to thank America’s renewable fuels industry for staunching the flow of OPEC oil,” said Dinneen in a release. “Without the growing production and use of biofuels in the U.S. and around the world, IEA (the International Energy Agency) calculates that more than one million barrels per day of new oil production would be required. Thanks to forward thinking U.S. policy promoting the production and use of biofuels, the U.S. can celebrate 50 years of OPEC not by cutting cake, but cutting even more oil imports.”

Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, wrote an op-ed about OPEC’s anniversary for Foreign Policy magazine advocating the simple fix that would help decrease dependence on foreign oil – make all cars sold in the U.S. flex fuel vehicles, allowing them to run on any combination of gasoline and alcohol fuels such as ethanol and methanol made from coal, natural gas, and biomass. “Congress could make this happen by imposing an open fuel standard, requiring new vehicles to be flex-fuel-capable. Such a standard would put a virtual cap on the price of oil,” Luft writes. “An open fuel standard would add just $70 to the cost of a new car, the equivalent of filling up a couple of tanks at the pump. Such minimal investment would enable the United States for the first time to challenge OPEC using the weapon the cartel fears most: competition at the pump.”

Energy, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy

Record Corn Crop Means More for Food & Fuel

Joanna Schroeder

The crop report was released last week and the USDA is predicting a record harvest – even after accounting for excessive rain in areas of the Midwest. This is promising news as there will be even more corn available for food and fuel. It is interesting to note that prior to ethanol, the excess corn produced had no home. Today, with ethanol, the corn that has never been used for feed, is now used for ethanol.

In Iowa alone, 40 percent of the corn crop goes to ethanol but nationally only 20 percent of the total corn crop goes to ethanol. Also, the livestock industry is the largest consumer of Iowa corn.

I was spent some time with the Iowa Corn Growers Association’s (ICGA) new President Dean Taylor last Saturday before the Iowa versus Iowa State football game to learn more about what this record corn crop means for both farmers and consumers. My first question for Dean, was in fact, what are we going to do with all this corn? We’re going to produce feed, food, fiber and fuel, he said.

“The fuel, the feed, the fiber, the ethanol….all these things are very important. Especially now that we grow so much corn, we have to remember that what we put into ethanol was never even in the market for feed in the past because we’re just growing that much more corn,” said Taylor.Read More

Audio, corn, Ethanol, food and fuel

EPA To Host Free Biofuels & Sustainability Webinar

Joanna Schroeder

The EPA is hosting a free biofuels and sustainability webinar on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 from 9:30 am – 11:00 am PST that will provide a national and regional perspective on sustainability indicators and best practices throughout the biofuel supply chain. Specifically, the webinar will discuss the guiding principles of sustainability developed by the National Biodiesel Board, and examine policy mechanisms for managing biofuel concerns.

Other topics that will be discussed include lessons learned while developing indicators for sustainability as well as how to use these indicators to assess biofuel production methods. These topics are of special interest as they will be used to assist researchers and policy makers in assessing the long-term impacts of biofuels production and use.

Presenters include:

  • Don Scott: Director of Sustainability, National Biodiesel Board
  • Jeff Plowman: Executive Director, Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance
  • Bob Perschel: Northeast Regional Director, The Forest Guild
  • Kevin Fingerman: Researcher, University of California, Berkeley

Space is limited so register now.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Education

Chemists’ Podcast Features Biodiesel from Sewage

John Davis

A U. S. Environmental Protection Agency researcher says that biodiesel can be made from municipal sewage sludge that would cost about the same as diesel made from non-renewable petroleum.

In the latest episode of the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) podcast series, “Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions,” the EPA’s David M. Kargbo says sewage treatment plants could use microorganisms that produce higher amounts of oil … up to 10 billion gallons of biodiesel, more than three times the nation’s current biodiesel production capacity:

Kargbo points out in the podcast that demand for biodiesel has led to the search for cost-effective biodiesel feedstocks, or raw materials. Soybeans, sunflower seeds and other food crops have been used as raw materials but are expensive. Sewage sludge is an attractive alternative feedstock — the United States alone produces about seven million tons of it each year. Sludge is a good source of raw materials for biodiesel.

Kargbo’s results appear in ACS’ Energy & Fuels, a bi-monthly journal: “Biodiesel Production from Municipal Sewage Sludges.”

The free podcast is available at iTunes and from ACS at www.acs.org/globalchallenges.

Biodiesel, Research

Yeast Breakthrough Made for Cellulosic Ethanol

John Davis

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have made a breakthrough that has some awfully big implications for cellulosic ethanol.

They’ve been able to put genes from grass-eating fungi into yeast and created strains that produce alcohol from tough plant material:

“By adding these genes to yeast, we have created strains that grow better on plant material than does wild yeast, which eats only glucose or sucrose,” said Jamie Cate, UC Berkeley associate professor of molecular and cell biology and faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). “This improvement over the wild organism is a proof-of-principle that allows us to take the technology to the next level, with the goal of engineering yeast that can digest and ferment plant material in one pot.”

The researchers hope to insert the same fungal genes into industrial strains of yeast that now are used to turn sugar into ethanol biofuel in order to improve the efficiency of the fermentation process.

“The use of these cellodextrin transporters is not limited to yeast that makes ethanol,” Cate said. “They could be used in any yeast that’s been engineered to make, for example, other alcohols or jet fuel substitutes.”

The research has been funded by the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a research collaboration between UC Berkeley, the University of Illinois, LBNL and the funding sponsor, BP.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News