GM and Chrysler Given a Second Chance

gmlogoBoth Chrysler and General Motors (GM) reportedly did not meet the terms of their Federal loans but they will be given a second chance to restructure and survive. This news is admist General Motors Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, who led the company for nine years, stepping down at the request of the Obama administration and Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson taking over.

GM will be given sixty additional days of working capitol to meet the terms agreed and Chrysler will be given thirty days to work a deal with Fiat.

Both companies have said that bankruptcy would decrease sales because consumers wouldn’t buy a car from a company that might not be around to honor the warranty and provide service and spare parts. chrysler“Let me say this as plainly as I can. If you buy a car from Chrysler or General Motors, you will be able to get your car serviced and repaired just like always,” Obama said in a speech today. “Your warranty will be safe. In fact, it will be safer than it has ever been. Because starting today, the United States will stand behind your warranty.”

GM and Chrysler both produce many models of flexible fuel vehicles in model year 2009 and have promised to produce half their line as E85 compatible by 2012.

Miscellaneous

Live Coverage of Farm Foundation Conference – Archived

Chuck Zimmerman

I’m live covering the Farm Foundation Conference below. Feel free to comment. I’ll save it later when done. I’ll be off and on depending on when I need to take photos and do interviews on breaks.


Update: I’ve closed the session but it’s archived for you to “replay” if you’d like. I’ll be posting speaker interviews over the next several hours.

You can find photos from the conference here:
Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global & Trade Issues Photo Album

Farm Foundation

Biofuels Globally Topic of Farm Foundation Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

Farm Foundation Wally TynerToday and tomorrow I’ll be covering the Farm Foundation, Transition To A Bio Economy Conference: Global Trade and Policy Issues. Biofuels is the main topic of discussion.

Wally Tyner is an energy economist with the Dept. of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. He’s one of the first speakers on the program. I was able to speak with him before things get started this afternoon here in Washington, DC.

Wally says Farm Foundation decided to host a series of conferences a couple years ago. There are to be five in all and this is the fourth one. You can find out information about them on the Farm Foundation website.

This conference will focus on biofuels from a global perspective with participation from the European Union and Brazil. We’ll hear some contrasting viewpoints since Wally says that the EU has taken a different approach to requiring biofuels than the US. In his presentation he’ll focus on cellulosic or second generation biofuels. The hope is that the conference will incite or promote discussion even though Farm Foundation itself doesn’t take positions. He says they believe they’ve accomplished the objective with the conferences so far.

The next one in the series will focus on extension and it’s role across the country in biofuels production. It will be held in Arkansas in June.

You can listen to my interview with Wally here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-foundation/ff-global-09-tyner.mp3]

You can download the interview with this link (mp3).

Audio, Cellulosic, conferences, Energy, Farm Foundation, International

Proposed Green Bank Could Finance Renewable Energy

John Davis

van_hollenA proposed federally-owned “green bank” could finance many renewable energy projects, getting the credit markets for alternative energy moving again and spurring the burgeoning green economy.

This article from BusinessGreen.com says Congressman Chris Van Hollen’s (D-Maryland) Green Bank Act 2009 would create an organization for lending money to clean energy project owners underwritten by treasury bonds:

Under the proposals, the bank, chartered for 20 years of operation, would help to finance government purchases of renewable energy, make existing energy infrastructure more efficient, and encourage the creation of more local manufacturing capacity for renewable energy. It would also help move the US towards energy independence, said the text of the Act.

The bank would be set up using $10bn in federal funds, and would be able to carry outstanding loans amounting to $50bn in bonds at any single time. It could underwrite up to 80 per cent of a project’s capital expenses, effectively restoring the flow of credit to large numbers of renewable energy projects that have been stalled as a result of the tightening credit market.

One group of backers says the initial $10 billion in capital the bill calls for could finance 15 gigawatts of renewable power.
Significantly, the legislation categorises nuclear plants as clean energy projects, which would make them eligible for a slice of the funding after all other federal funding sources had been exhausted.

The Coalition for Green Bank (CGB), a group of energy companies and advisors, praised the legislation, saying that the initial $10bn capitalisation alone could fund up to 15GW of renewable energy.

Legislation

Friends at Biodiesel, Ethanol Producer & BIOMASS Magazines Keep Heads Above Flood Waters

John Davis

bbimagazinesKeep our friends at BBI International… publishers of Ethanol Producer Magazine, Biodiesel Magazine and BIOMASS Magazine… in your prayers, as they’ve had to temporarily halt operations at their Fargo, North Dakota offices and reduced selected non-essential functions at their Grand Forks office to deal with the record flooding in both cities.

Company officials are promising that production and delivery of BBI’s magazines will continue uninterrupted, but some of their other news services, such as e-newsletters, will have to be put hold until the flood waters recede:

“It’s all hands on deck,” says Joe Bryan, vice president of Media & Events. “In light of record flood crest projections, and to allow our staff and their families time to cope with this emergency, lightening the work load is essential.”

Rising water near the BBI Fargo office prompted all staff to evacuate early Thursday morning and it is not known how the office will be affected, or when the staff will be able to return. Grand Forks is protected by a permanent dike, but overland flooding in rural areas is expected to affect several employees. Flooding along the Red River Valley is expected to surpass records set in 1897.

If you’re like me, you rely on these guys for some great journalism every day. I know they’ll be champing at the bit to get back to their regular jobs, but for now, while they’re fighting to save their homes and lives… as well as the homes and lives of their friends and neighbors… they’ll have to reduce the number of stories, newsletters and podcasts they’re able to crank out. They should be back up to full production no later than April 13th.

Good luck and God bless, folks!

Biodiesel, biomass, Ethanol, News

Landfill Powers Ethanol Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

The Sioux Falls Landfill is now providing methane gas to help power the daily operations of POET’s 105 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Chancellor, South Dakota.

POET CEO Jeff Broin joined representatives from the City of Sioux Falls and the Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Sioux Falls Landfill on Friday.

Among those on hand for the event was LMOP program manager Swarupa Ganguli with the EPA, who explained that the program is a voluntary partnership that promotes the use of landfill gas as an energy source. “This is one of three projects in the country where landfill gas is used in the production of ethanol and the first in the state of South Dakota,” said Ganguli. “The annual environmental benefits from using this gas for power is equal to removing emissions from more than 27,000 passenger vehicles, removing carbon dioxide emissions from more than 344,000 barrels of oil or sequestering carbon with nearly 34,000 acres of pine or fir forests.

The 10-mile, low-pressure pipeline from the Sioux Falls Regional Sanitary Landfill began supplying methane to the plant at the end of February, ahead of the expected completion date. The POET plant will utilize the landfill gas in a wood waste-fuel boiler to generate process steam. Combined, the two alternative energy sources will initially offset up to 90 percent of the plant’s process steam needs currently met using natural gas and has the potential to replace 90 percent of the plant’s total energy needs (combined with waste wood) over time.

Energy, Ethanol, POET

Ask the Expert Event Features Ethanol

The very first “Ask the Expert” event will take place at the National Agriculture Hall of Fame March 28 from 1-4 p.m. Featured speakers will be Dennis Alt of Show Me Ethanol and Scott Zaremba, owner of the Zarco 66 Earth Friendly Fuels station in Lawrence, Kansas. Both will focus on ethanol.

“Ask the Expert” is an informal discussion designed to permit one to ask questions and deepen their understanding of a select topic. The program is designed for anyone who is curious about a topic and wants to have the opportunity to learn from individuals who work with the topic on a daily basis.

For directions to the event, click here.

Agribusiness, Ethanol, Farming

Environmental Film Launched Amidst Controversy

Joanna Schroeder

DownstreamHey – in case you haven’t heard, tar sands are going to save the world. They are a renewable fuel you know. Wrong and wrong. Today, a new documentary focusing on the controversy surrounding the development of Alberta’s oil sands, “Downstream”, will be entering the US TV market, just in time to fire people up for Earth Day. Downstream is a modern day re-telling of “David vs. Goliath” or the tiny town of Fort Chipewyan versus Big Oil.

Tar Sands Before and After

Tar Sands Before and After

The film was produced by academy award nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks and is available to watch on Babelgum’s online TV site, Our Earth. It has premiered at film festivals around the world and already been shortlisted for an Oscar. The film takes you on a journey through a town negatively affected by the environmental impacts of oil development. Mutated fish and fowl live alongside a disproportionately large number of people suffering from a multitude of cancers. Naturally, the oil companies and local government officials vehemently deny the correlation between oil sand production and environmental and health issues. During a demonstration, one sign summed it up, “Upstream Oil for the States, Downstream Death for Alberta.”

Ironically, this film is causing more controversy than of the environmental kind. The film has vexed Alberta’s government due to the fact the Alberta Film Development Fund subsidized $67,000 of the film. An intense national discourse and debate over future arts funding and freedom of artistic expression has ensued.

For those of you renewable fuel supporters, this is a film not to miss. Check out the trailer here.

Energy, Environment, Miscellaneous, Video

Alt Energy Studies Becoming More Popular at Technical Colleges

John Davis

As some segments of the economy continue to take a downturn, much of the renewable energy sector is still experiencing an uptick. In fact, for some areas, they can’t get enough of qualified workers. That has prompted more and more technical training colleges to turn their efforts to teaching the skills becoming more and more in demand.

mid-state-technical-college1This story from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel features Mid-State Technical College as an example of how these schools are helping change the economy with the promise of alternative energy:

Mid-State is considered a leader in training workers for the renewable energy sector, which, with the aid of federal stimulus dollars, many experts say will be a source of job growth during tough economic times.

The goal is to provide training for future jobs as paper mills move to manufacture next-generation biofuels from wood waste. Several mills have received federal energy grants to pursue these projects, and more funding could come through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Clark said.

“We’re perfectly aligned for that,” Clark said.

In Milwaukee, Milwaukee Area Technical College has seen strong demand for courses in energy management and energy efficiency, said Vicki Martin, interim president… Read More

biomass, Cellulosic

Saltwater Could Make Algae-Biodiesel Profitable

John Davis

While algae-based biodiesel continues to grow in interest, producers of the REALLY green fuel are trying to find ways to make sure they can turn a profit… just like any biodiesel producer. Being able to grow algae in the more plentiful saltwater could be key to making the process profitable.

aurorabiofuelsThis story from the gas2.0 Web site says California-based Aurora Biofuels has completed an 18-month pilot project that produced 1,000 gallons of ATSM quality biodiesel in Florida open ponds of just 1/8th of an acre. Company officials say they could get as much as 6,000 gallons per acre when fully cranked up:

A company spokesperson stated, “In the near-term we expect to demonstrate that the economics of this process can produce biodiesel that is price-competitive with fossil fuels.” A 50 acre pond is scheduled for completion in 2010.

And the article goes on to point out there are other places working on saltwater algae for biodiesel:

In a similar vein, Australian researchers just released a report stating that they have found that biodiesel production for saltwater algae can be competitive with the production of petroleum diesel. However, they also state that due to the cost of transporting biodiesel from an algal farm, the best scenario may be to locate an electricity generating plant in the same vicinity and simply convert the chemical energy into electricity. Creating such a powerplant would also make new jobs for local workers. (The analysis used an assumption of about 1,000 acres of ponds.)

In addition, a new technique in New York is reported to cut the cost of making algae-biodiesel by 40 percent. They’re using a ‘continuously flowing fixed-bed’ and uses a solid rather than liquid catalyst, which allows the flow of biodiesel to stay constant. Researcher Ben Wen says this is the first economical way to produce biodiesel from algae oil.

algae, Biodiesel