NEC 2027

WSI & Enva Partner on WindCast IQ

Joanna Schroeder

productshotWeather Services International (WSI), in conjunction with Genscape’s Enva, have launched WindCast IQ, the first wind generation forecasting service designed for energy traders. Wind Energy has seen a big boost with the move to alternative energy and has become the fastest growing source of power generation in North America. However, along with growth comes growing pains, and the increase in wind energy has also been a cause of congestion and price volatility in many regions.

The solution, according to WSI, is WindCastIQ, which gives clients highly accurate hourly forecasts for up to 7 days of wind generation at the ISO-level, regional and wind farm level. The first two products will cover the Midwest (MISO) and Texas (ERCOT) the regions with the highest wind power generation and impact on power markets.

“Wind power is an important source of clean energy and getting accurate wind generation forecasts is a growing challenge for all rpmmarket participants,” said Ira Scharf, General Manager of WSI’s Energy and Risk Division. “The combination of WSI’s highly skilled wind power forecasting teamed with Enva’s expert understanding of the power grid creates an ideal pairing of forces to give energy traders and wind farm operators a true market edge.”

According to the company, this product provides market participants previously unattainable levels of forecasting accuracy by combining WSI’s skillful turbine-height wind forecasts and Enva’s wind generation models and analysis of grid & market factors. Accuracy is further enhanced through calibration with Genscape’s real-time power flow monitors installed at key wind farms.

Company Announcement, Wind

Biofuels Journal Conference at POET Headquarters

Chuck Zimmerman

BIOFUELS JOURNAL 2nd Annual Commercial Ethanol Technology and Research WorkshopThe Biofuels Journal 2nd Annual Commercial Ethanol Technology and Research Workshop is taking place today at POET headquarters in Sioux Falls, SD. POET’s own Nathan Schock is providing online coverage via his Rhapsody in Green and of course with Twitter. You can find tweets here @nathanschock and here @ethanolbyPOET. If you want to see who all tweets about it then make sure to go to the hashtag #BFJ09 on Twitter Search.

You can also find photos from the conference online.

biofuels, Ethanol, POET

El Paso Biodiesel Plant to Expand

John Davis

GAFA Texas biodiesel plant will expand its operation by four-fold.

This story from Biofuels International says El Paso-based Global Alternative Fuels (GAF) will increase its capacity from 5 to 20 million gallons a year:

The expansion also includes installing equipment to process grease thrown out by restaurants without having to blend the grease with refined soyabean oil. This and the higher processing capacity reduces production costs significantly.

The first phase of the biodiesel plant, in a former cotton processing facility, was completed late last year. It was in production for only two weeks before it stopped in December to go into expansion mode.

Production is planned to start again in November.

Biodiesel

Algae Biodiesel By-Product to be Sold to Indonesia

John Davis

petroalgae2A Florida-based algae-biodiesel company has found an international market for a by-product of its clean energy business.

This press release from PetroAlgae Inc. says it has has received official notice that the protein from PetroAlgae’s proprietary micro-crop production technology has successfully passed testing by the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture and is suitable for use in animal feed:

Furthermore, the protein has been cleared for importation as a raw material to be used as an ingredient for animal feed. This protein is a co-product of PetroAlgae’s core bio-crude (renewable fuel feedstock) production system. Licensees of the PetroAlgae production system will be expected to follow the Guidance and Procedures for the Registration of Animal Feed in Indonesia.

PetroAlgae uses a modular, flexible design construction that allows it to use a near-continuous growing and harvesting process for a wide variety of micro-crops suited to local climates.

algae, Biodiesel, International

Biofuels on the Lesson Plan for Some Students

John Davis

4h-NSE-logoStudents across the country recently had a chance to have a blast with biofuels. The 4-H National Youth Science Day taught kids some of the basics of the green fuels.

This story from KSFX-TV in Springfield, Missouri says a University of Missouri chemistry lab played host to one such group of students looking to the future of renewable energy:

MO4HbiofuelsWith a little sugar, water, yeast, and a balloon, kids watched how yeast breaks down sugars.

The resulting reaction release is a biofuel, a mixture of carbon dioxide and ethanol.

The learning by doing atmosphere gives young people extra time to experiment with science.

“We have to take every opportunity to have kids thinking about science and doing science in a fun way outside of the classroom.” says Bill Pabst, an M.U. extension 4-H youth specialist.

The 4-H’s goal is to prepare 1 million youngsters to excel in science and technology by 2013.

biofuels

Midwest States Support Ethanol and Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

csg midwestThe Midwest Legislative Conference of The Council of State Governments recently issued a series of policy resolutions supporting increased use of both ethanol and biodiesel, and specifically support ethanol blender pumps. The group also adopted resolutions calling for use of sound scientific methods when calculating carbon emissions.

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is pleased with all the resolutions, particularly noting the call for “implementation of both federal and state legislation to provide incentives to encourage the implementation of ethanol blender pumps.” In a press release, NCGA Ethanol Committee Chairman Jon Holzfaster said, “As legislators actively push for this technology, we feel that we are on the verge of a movement toward the choice and independence that ethanol can provide.”

The conference is a bipartisan association of state legislators representing 11 Midwestern states – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Biodiesel, blends, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA

BlueFire Ethanol Locating Plant in Mississippi

Cindy Zimmerman

Blue Fire EthanolCalifornia-based BlueFire Ethanol received approval from the Department of Energy (DOE) recently to locate its second planned cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in Fulton, Mississippi.

The company was awarded a $40 million dollar grant from DOE for a second facility in 2007 that was originally to be located in California. However, development and licensing concerns, coupled with the challenging business climate in California caused company officials to petition the DOE for a site change to Mississippi. “We determined the Fulton site located in north eastern Mississippi was best suited to fulfill our requirements for our second biorefinery plant after studying various locations in several states over the past year,” said BlueFire President and CEO Arnold Klann.

The Mississippi project will allow BlueFire to utilize green and wood wastes available in the region as feedstock for the ethanol plant that will be designed to produce approximately 18 million gallons of ethanol per year. BlueFire is currently awaiting the final financing needed to break ground on its first ethanol biorefinery in Lancaster, CA. The Lancaster facility will use post-sorted cellulosic wastes diverted from Southern California’s landfills to produce approximately 3.9 million gallons of fuel-grade ethanol per year

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

Novozymes Responds to Science, Indirect Land Use Debate

Joanna Schroeder

37707026braz_20010627_17060.jpgThe Science magazine article that was published last week and co-authored by Tim Searchinger, a lawyer, has added another level of controversy to the indirect land use change (ILUC) debate. The article suggested the land use effects of fuel produced from various forms of biomass were miscalculated, in part, because they cause deforestation around the world as land is cleared to grow so called “energy crops”. EPA has yet to rule on RFS2 (they are unsure of how to incorporate ILUC) and discussion on how to regulate bio-electricity has barely begun.

Novozymes is one of the dozens of companies speaking out against the article and its conclusions. Suggestions that the increased use of fuel produced from biomass will automatically lead to increased deforestation globally ignores existing science, continued technological advances, and numerous international policies and principles under development to regulate biofuels, say experts at Novozymes.

“We need to make smart energy choices that support a low-carbon energy future,” said Adam Monroe, president of Novozymes North America. “Jumping to quick conclusions about deforestation may ruin one of our best chances for addressing climate change and establishing a sustainable, secure energy supply.”

Because of the potential value that biofuels have as part of a low-carbon society, dozens of scientists have challenged the credibility of economic models used to estimate the values of GHG emissions projected from ILUC.

“Clearly, the direct and indirect environmental impacts of the world’s energy supply need further study, but there needs to be a level playing field to ensure that biofuels, bioelectricity and, most importantly, fossil fuels are all judged by the same criteria when measuring emissions. There should be a full accounting of the carbon emissions of all fuels, not just biofuels,” said Monroe.

biofuels, global warming, Indirect Land Use

Loan Program Needs Changes to Advance Cellulosic Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

An ethanol industry group says the loan guarantee program at the U.S. Department of Energy needs to function more efficiently and effectively to make capitol available to advance next generation biofuels like cellulosic ethanol.

Renewable Fuels Association LogoThe Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is asking US Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu to make needed changes in the loan guarantee program for biorefineries.

“A fundamental flaw of the loan guarantee program is that DOE is weighing the applications of emerging technology projects such as cellulosic ethanol using the same criteria as mature technology projects, and against more mature technologies, such as wind and solar, that have been commercialized in other countries. The challenges facing next generation advanced biofuels are simply much different than those of the renewable power sector,” wrote RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen, who says DOE “must recognize the unique challenges of emerging biofuel technologies and establish criteria appropriate to them.”

RFA is asking DOE to take four specific actions:
1. Eliminate the requirement that applicants have year-long off-take agreements in place.
2. Recognize that applicants, by definition, may not have commercial scale financial data and to consider applications that “employ new or significantly improved technologies compared to commercial technologies in service in the U.S.” as outlined in the law.
3. Review applications that have been declined to determine what fixes can be made to correct perceived deficiencies.
4. Replace the $2 billion borrowed for the “Cash for Clunkers” program at the first opportunity.

Read RFA’s letter to DOE here.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, RFA

Switchgrass Varieties From Ceres

Chuck Zimmerman

Cory ChristensenWe’ve certainly heard a lot about switchgrass as a biomass option for the production of ethanol. How many of you have seen it growing?

That’s it behind Cory Christensen, Director of Product Managment, Ceres, who was conducting Sunbelt Ag Expo presentations in the field. He says it’s a first season stand of their Blade energy crop. It was developed specifically for the southeast. Since it’s the first season for this crop they won’t harvest it at Sunbelt until next year. A mature yield for the crop is about 8 tons per acre of dry matter. By the second season next year it will be at 80 percent of maturity.

SwitchgrassSwitchgrass is native to the United States everywhere east of the Rockies. Ceres, has been working on varieties that will yield better in different growing environments though. Cory says that they don’t expect it to displace corn in Iowa but in the southeast with the difficulties in cotton and tobacco it becomes a viable alternative on open acres. He provides some estimates of what the crop can mean financially as the market for a fuel crop like switchgrass develops.

Cory describes the current market as a “developing market.” They have a map that shows developing opportunities where plants will be located to process energy crops. He says that biomass is a local business so you need to be located near a biorefinery. He also points to the USDA’s Biomass Crop Assistance Program that provides monetary assistance to facilitate the transition of eligible land to energy crops.

You can listen to my interview with Cory below:

Audio, biomass, Cellulosic, Ethanol