Colorado Cleantech Industry Presents Awards

Joanna Schroeder

Today the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA) presented eight awards during its inaugural “Colorado Cleantech Awards Celebration.” The event was created to honor leaders who are working to advance cleantech developments. Christine Shapard, CCIA executive director said during the event, “Winners were selected by our Awards Committee from twenty finalists that emerged from a statewide call for nominations. The event, showcasing those companies and individuals who have made a significant impact on Colorado’s cleantech industry during the past year.”

Awards & Winners include:

  • §      Political Advocate of the Year: Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.
  • §      High Impact Cleantech Company of the Year: Abound Solar
  • §      Runner-Up High Impact Cleantech Company of the Year: Tendril
  • §      Breakout Cleantech Company of the Year: Ice Energy
  • §      Emerging Cleantech Company of the Year: VanDyne SuperTurbo
  • §      Colorado Cleantech Entrepreneur of the Year: Raymond R. Johnson
  • §      National Cleantech Leader: Rocky Mountain Institute
  • §      Governor’s Award for Excellence: Ron Bernal, NEA

Shapard concluded, “We want to extend our congratulations to this year’s winners and finalists, plus extend sincere appreciation from the Colorado Cleantech Industry to these outstanding companies and individuals who have truly made a difference as they’ve forged their paths in the cleantech sector. Further, we want to convey our appreciation to Ira Ehrenpreis, noted venture capitalist and cleantech industry expert, who served as the keynote speaker for our first awards event.”

Electricity, Energy, Smart Grid, Solar

ROUSH CleanTech Launched

Joanna Schroeder

ROUSH has announced a new venture, ROUSH CleanTech, to develop “green” vehicles fueled by propane and other alternative fuel options. The news was given by Jack Roush, the company founder. The company has invested millions of dollars into developing liquid propane injection powered vehicles. To date, ROUSH has focused on Ford Trucks and vans but with this new initiative, more types of vehicles should be added to the line up.

“For more than 35 years the ROUSH brand has developed experience in OEM-level automotive engineering, design, manufacturing, certification, and assembly,” said Todd Mouw, vice president of sales & marketing. “Today we announce the formation of ROUSH CleanTech, which blends our corporate talents into delivering product into the alternative fuels landscape. Our focus is on three key areas: providing the very best in quality, performance, and service for our customers.”

In the United States there are only 300,000 propane fueled vehicles whereas there are 14 million worldwide. Mouw believes that the company’s current and future product offerings will revolutionize the way people view alternatively fueled vehicles.

According to Joe Thompson, the president of ROUSH CleanTech, propane offers a variety of advantages. “Propane burns cleaner than gasoline or diesel, with up to 20 percent less nitrogen oxide, up to 60 percent less carbon monoxide, 24 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and fewer particulate emissions when compared to gasoline,” said Thompson. “Already the third most widely used fuel, it is available ‘right here, right now’ with a national infrastructure already in place. Propane plays a strong role in lowering our national dependence on imported oil, as 90 percent of the propane used today comes from domestic sources of production, and an additional 7 percent from Canada.”

Propane

Ethanol Producers Value DDGs Exports

Cindy Zimmerman

RFAEthanol producers who attended the recent Export Exchange event sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the U.S. Grains Council know how important it is to promote increased exports of the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS).

“For every three bushels of corn that comes in, you get a bushel of DDG out, and what we sell that DDG for helps us to create a revenue stream so we can buy more corn,” said Walt Wendland with Golden Grain Energy of Mason, Iowa who serves as secretary on the RFA board.

2010 exports of DDGs are expected to exceed last year’s record 5.65 million tons. “One of the surprising things is that the amount of distillers grains that we’re going to be exporting for the first time is going to exceed the amount of soybean meal,” Wendland says. “We’re recognized now as being a very reliable supplier of DDG around the world.”

Listen to or download an interview with Walt Wendland here: Walt Wendland Interview

RFA Ray DefenbaughThe Export Exchange included nearly 500 attendees from 33 countries and the proceedings were translated into 7 languages. Ray Defenbaugh of Big River Resources West Burlington ethanol plant in Iowa says he has been coming to the event since it was started by USGC a few years ago. “It’s just an opportunity for networking and there’s a huge demand in other countries for DDGs,” said Defenbaugh. “If you come here and go away without having met somebody that could help you in transportation or sales from another country, than you’ve not really tried very hard.”

Defenbaugh is chairman of the DDG committee for RFA and is very pleased with the efforts they are making to increase exports of the ethanol co-product.

Listen to or download an interview with Defenbaugh here: Ray Defenbaugh Interview

Export Exchange 2010 Photo Album

Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, RFA, USGC

CME Webcast on Food vs Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

CME Group is holding a live webcast today of a panel discussion on food versus fuel.

The webcast will be coming from CME’s third annual Global Financial Leadership Conference in Naples, Florida and the panel will focus on commodity markets and the fundamental factors driving supply and demand for global food and energy. Participants will include Tim Gallagher, Executive Vice President–Grains and Biofuels, Bunge North America; Ian Goldin, Former Vice President, World Bank and Director, Oxford University’s Oxford Martin School; John Hofmeister, Former President, Shell Oil Company and Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Citizens for Affordable Energy. The webcast of the panel will be from 1:20 to 2:00 pm Eastern time.

The GFLC is an event that brings together decision-makers from the world’s leading financial institutions to discuss emerging geopolitical trends, debate critical economic issues and provide perspectives on future developments in the financial marketplace. Registration for the webcast can be found on the GFLC website. You can also follow the entire GFLC conference on the company’s blog at Open Markets.

food and fuel

Construction to Start on Iowa Fat-to-Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

Construction is expected to begin soon on a new biodiesel plant in northern Iowa that turns animal fats, grease from restaurants, and other feedstocks into biodiesel.

The Mason City (IA) Globe Gazette reports that the plant will produce three million gallons of biodiesel a year using the Mcgyan process, a method that uses less water and is capable of converting several different types of feedstocks into the green fuel:

“Ideally we’d like to have Holland Contracting to have the cement laid before a freeze to allow us to build during the winter,” said Shelley Burgess, senior vice president for communication and investor relations for Growth Design.

“Once the slab is down and the walls are up we can work inside,” [Bill Luetscher, president of Growth Design Energy Group] said.

Company officials say they had hoped to break ground last spring, but Iowa’s environmental assessment process delayed that date.

Biodiesel

Lame Ducks Could Renew Biodiesel, Ethanol Tax Breaks

John Davis

Groups that represent the biodiesel and ethanol industries in this country believe when Congress comes back to Washington after the election … for what is known as the lame duck session … members could renew the pending federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit and the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC).

Michael Frohlich, Director of Federal Communications for the National Biodiesel Board’s Washington, DC office tells Domestic Fuel that while it’s not a sure thing, there seems to be many of the pieces in place.

“That being said, though, it’s very difficult to handicap or put what the odds might be because the length of the lame duck session and how they approach it could vary differently depending on the outcome of the upcoming mid-term elections.”

Frohlich adds that if the Republicans take control of the U.S. House or Senate, there’s two schools of thought that could both help the biodiesel credit’s chances: 1. members will try to cram something they’ve wanted through before the change, or 2. everyone will be a lot more amicable. He says another issue that could cause problems is finding an offset to meet Congress’ pay-go rules to pay for the credit.

Meanwhile, in a piece for Ethanol Producer Magazine, Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen says since the VEETC has been vetted and enjoys bipartisan support, it could be ripe for a lame duck session victory:

With a lame duck Congress in chaos resulting from the retirements and new members-elect, it will not have an appetite for new legislation that requires committee hearings and markups. Rather, it will be looking to legislation and policies that are already vetted and, for lack of a better analogy, they can simply cut and paste.

Frohlich adds that the lack of support from the Obama Administration, despite paying lip service to supporting green fuels, has been frustrating.

“It seems like it’s great for a press event or a soundbite, [but] they can’t see the forest for the trees.” He says 24,000 jobs could be either saved or created with the renewal of the biodiesel tax credit … at a time when this country desperately needs to put people back to work.

“It’s kind of one of those things where you’re left scratching your head wondering why something so fundamental and rudimentary Congress seems to ignore.”

Listen to my conversation with Michael here: Michael Frohlich, NBB

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Legislation, NBB, News

Ugly Biodiesel Brewer Beauty to Farmers, Businesses

John Davis

It’s not very pretty … but it’s a thing of beauty to farmers, school administrators and even some businesses that want to brew their own biodiesel.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a story from the Flint (MI) Journal about Onsite Energy LLC‘s new Genesee Biodiesel Processor, a first-of-its-kind, automatic machine that can make cooking oil into biodiesel with only 20 minutes of work. Well, based on the response, you wanted to know more. So I called Onsite’s Operational Manager Jeff Woolman to find out more about these automatic biodiesel brewers, that come in 80 gallon, 150 gallon and 230 gallon sizes.

“We did a three-year research study with USDA and the Michigan Corn Growers Association, so we’ve got a lot of farmers’ inputs,” Woolman says.

So what makes this biodiesel maker any different than some of the other kits out there or someone’s homemade concoction they have in their garage? Woolman says it’s fully automatic, so a farmer … or anybody using the machine … only has to spend a few minutes with the rig and come back a few hours later to have a batch of biodiesel ready to use.

“We went into it knowing there were other ones on the market with turn valves, and we wanted to have something that was fully automatic where could walk up, push a button and walk away from it.”

While it works well and is rugged, Woolman admits it’s not the prettiest thing out there with only a face a mother … or a farmer or a school administrator or a trucking company owner … could love. He says the lowest priced unit in the line costs about $12,000, but it comes with a trailer so multiple users could share it, making it easier to recover their investment.

Woolman says they’re currently able to produce about 500 of these biodiesel makers a year, and Onsite could ramp that up with plenty of workers in the Flint, Michigan area looking for a job. He hopes they’ll be able to provide plenty of jobs for a long time to come.

You can find out more about the company at the Onsite Energy LLC website.

Listen to my interview with Jeff here: Jeff Woolman, Onsite Energy

Audio, Biodiesel, USDA

EPA Proposes 15 Percent Ethanol Warning Label

Cindy Zimmerman

The Environmental Protection Agency has released its proposed design for the label on fuel pumps that would dispense E15, or 15 percent ethanol, as promised under the fragmented ruling issued last week allowing the fuel mix in only vehicles of model year 2007 and newer. EPA must now solicit comment on the proposed label for 60 days before it can issue a final label.

“The RFA will certainly have some comments,” said Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen on the organization’s E-xchange Blog. “Since EPA has chosen the most confusing of options for E15 implementation, ensuring the label is clear, factual and non-threatening will be critical. The industry has worked for a long time to remove confusing and alarming labels from pumps, and the RFA will engage vigorously with EPA to create a label that does not unnecessarily deter motorists from choosing E15. The label is meant to instruct consumers on how to the use the fuel, not frighten them away from doing so.”

Renewable Fuels AssociationMeanwhile, Dinneen says the industry is working together on the technical issues to make this limited introduction of the ethanol blend as smooth as possible. “First, working with Growth Energy, the RFA has begun the health effects testing and fuel registration process that must be conducted for any new fuel,” he said. “This testing is required to determine if any new chemical species in evaporative and combustion emissions are created as a result of increased ethanol content. We do not believe this will be the case and early testing is confirming that belief.”

Other issues that need to be addressed include testing on dispensing equipment; changes to state laws to allow for the use of E15; and completion of the fuels registration process by industry.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, RFA

Weather Impacts Brazil Sugarcane Harvest

Cindy Zimmerman

Brazil’s sugarcane growing areas went from too little rain earlier this season to too much rain in September, putting a damper on harvest activity, according to the latest report from from the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA).

UNICAHeavy rains, nearly 60 percent higher than average for the month, hampered cane crushing for second consecutive two-week period, but reportedly favored ethanol production in the South-Central Brazil region. UNICA Technical Director Antonio de Padua Rodrigues says they are experiencing “another exceptional year” in terms of weather conditions. “From April to early September, the amount of rain was well below the historic average, reducing the availability of cane. Already in September, especially at the end of the month, rainfall returned with greater intensity than expected, hampering the harvest and, more importantly, reducing the quality of cane that will be crushed in October,” he said, adding that these factors should impact the overall production of sugar and ethanol at the end of the harvest.

UNICA reports that total ethanol production has reached 20.30 billion liters, an increase of 22.59% compared to the same period in last year.

Brazil, Ethanol, UNICA

Petrobras and Novozymes Partner for Cellulosic Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Brazil’s Petrobras and international enzyme development company Novozymes are working together to develop a new route to produce second generation biofuel from sugarcane bagasse.

According to a company release, the agreement covers the development of enzymes and production processes to produce second generation lignocellulosic ethanol from bagasse in an enzymatic process.

NovozymesThe commercial potential of cellulosic ethanol in Brazil is substantial due to the great amount of sugarcane bagasse, a fibrous residue of sugarcane production, available in the country. Brazil is the world’s largest sugarcane producer with an extraction capacity of approximately 600 million tons per year, currently yielding 27 billion liters (7 billion gallons) of ethanol. It is estimated that bagasse-to-ethanol technology can increase the country’s ethanol production by some 40% without having to increase the crop area.

Novozymes is already carrying out research on enzymes to convert bagasse to cellulosic ethanol in order to make the process commercially viable. Enzymes break down plant waste such as corn stover, wheat straw, wood chips, and sugarcane bagasse, which is then fermented to produce ethanol.

Since 2006 Petrobras has been carrying out research on integrated biochemical processes for converting sugarcane bagasse to ethanol.

Brazil, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News