Nebraska, U.S. on the Cusp of Wind Energy Boom

John Davis

wind_turbineDespite having some pretty wind-swept plains, Nebraska has lagged behind other states in wind energy production… including its closest neighbor to the east, Iowa, which boast the nation’s second largest amount of wind energy produced. But that could soon change.

This article from the Omaha (NE) World-Herald says Pres. Barack Obama’s push for renewable energy could help Nebraska catch up, while giving the nation’s wind energy production a boost:

The push could create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the wind energy industry alone, and experts say there is still time for Nebraska to join in the boom.

“Nebraska historically has been a conservative state, and I think we took a conservative approach to wind,” said Dave Rich, manager of renewable energy programs for the Nebraska Public Power District. “We’re behind, but we think there are still opportunities for Nebraska.”

Wind isn’t the only area where Nebraska and Iowa can capitalize on Obama’s green jobs push, which began with passage last month of the president’s stimulus plan.

The article goes on to point out that wind energy jobs in the U.S. grew from 50,000 to 85,000 during 2008. And if the U.S. gets just 20 percent of its power from wind by 2030, the wind energy industry will grow by 12 times.

Wind

Encore Energy Buying Troubled Biodiesel Plants

John Davis

encoreenergyMississippi-based Encore Energy has announced it is buying up biodiesel plants that are not producing at their capacity.

Biofuels International reports the move comes on the heels of the company’s move to team up with another firm to provide plant management and feedstock allocation… moves that I’m sure are not just coincidental:

This represents a major component of the company’s 2009 growth plan. It believes that consolidation of biodiesel assets will position the company as a premier producer and distributor of biodiesel nationwide.

Encore Energy Systems has also entered into an agreement with Chicago-based Zenergy International to provide biofuel plant management services and feedstock allocation. The agreement provides mission critical management and provisioning services to Encore Energy Systems’ biofuel production facilities as required.

Biodiesel

AT&T Makes Big Investment in Alt Fuel Vehicles

John Davis

Communications giant AT&T is putting more than 15,000 alternatively-fueled vehicles on the road… a $565 million venture aimed at helping the environment and saving the company gasoline costs.

This story from Bloomberg says Chief Executive Officer Randall Stephenson figures replacing the company’s cars with electric hybrids and more energy-efficient vehicles will save AT&T 49 million gallons of gas over the next 10 years:

Stephenson said the new vehicles, which would amount to about one-fifth of AT&T’s current fleet, also will produce 25 percent fewer greenhouse-gas emissions — atmospheric gases that overheat the planet. The strategy falls in line with President Barack Obama’s goal of capping emissions to fight global warming.

Company officials say more than half of the vehicles will run on compressed natural gas (CNG), and the move is expected to reduce carbon emissions the equivalent of taking more than 38,600 traditional passenger vehicles off the road for a year.

Miscellaneous

Joint Work Toward Ethanol Pipeline

Cindy Zimmerman

The nation’s largest ethanol producer is joining forces with a fuel transportation and distribution company to work on the development of a pipeline to deliver ethanol from the Midwest to distribution terminals in the northeastern United States.

South Dakota-based POET just signed a joint development agreement with Magellan Midstream Partners of Tulsa, Oklahoma to continue assessing the feasibility of constructing a dedicated ethanol pipeline.

The proposed common carrier pipeline system would gather ethanol from production facilities in Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio to serve terminals in major Northeastern markets. The project, preliminarily estimated to cost in excess of $3.5 billion, would span approximately 1,700 miles and would take several years to complete.

The feasibility of this project is dependent upon the successful outcome of ongoing studies addressing technical and economic issues associated with the transportation of ethanol via pipeline. In addition, federal legislation revising the U.S. Department of Energy’s loan guarantee program is critical for a project of this nature to move forward.

Ethanol, News, POET

Brazil and US Talk Ethanol Tariffs

Cindy Zimmerman

President Barack Obama and President Lula da Silva of Brazil talked about the touchy topic of ethanol tariffs when they met for the first time on Saturday.

Asked about their discussions during a joint press conference, President Obama praised Brazil for its leadership in biofuels but acknowledged that “the issue of Brazilian ethanol coming into the United States has been a source of tension between the two countries” that is “not going to change overnight.”

President Lula said since this is the first meeting he has had with Obama he didn’t expect “an immediate answer” with regard to the tariff on Brazilian ethanol, but he “can’t also understand while the world is concerned with climate change and with carbon emissions that bring greenhouse effect, … clean fuel also gets tariffs.”

Lula added that “when President Obama comes to visit Brazil I’m going to ask him to get inside a car that is run by a flex-fuel engine and he will feel very comfortable.”

Obama responded that he “actually had a flex-fuel vehicle. But one of the problems here in the United States is that we don’t have enough gas stations that have biofuels in them. So that’s one of the areas that we need to change our distribution networks here in the United States.”

Ethanol, Government, International

Navy Exchange Pumped Up on E85

Cindy Zimmerman

The opening of an E-85 pump on Friday at Oceania Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Virginia received enthusiastic response from the public and the media.

The Virginia-Pilot reported that, “A crowd of Navy officers, energy executives, a congressman and camera-toting media circled the first customer who pulled up to the shiny new pump, Petty Officer 1st Class Lacresha Fears.” The first tankful of E85 was pumped and paid for by NEXCOM (Navy Exchange Service Command) Commander Rear Adm. Robert Bianchi.

Television station WAVY-TV was also on hand to cover the event Friday, as Bianchi participating in a ribbon cutting for the new pump with Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen, Congressman Glenn Nye of Virginia; Capt. Mark Rich, commanding officer of Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana; and Protec Fuel CEO Todd Garner.

“Just as the U.S. Navy is vital to the security of this nation, so too is ethanol in helping this nation become more energy secure,” said Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen. “America’s ethanol industry is pleased to partner with the United States Navy to help reduce the demand for imported oil and increase our reliance on homegrown sources of renewable energy. Opening this facility sends a powerful signal that the U.S. Navy is committed to reducing oil dependence by leading by example.”

The pump at Oceana Exchange was made possible by a contract between NEXCOM and Protec Fuel.

E85, Energy, Ethanol, Government, RFA

West Coast Highway Could Become Alt Fuel Corridor

John Davis

i-5Soon, you might be able to drive from Canada to Mexico along the Pacific Coast… without ever burning a single drop of gasoline.

This story on the gas2.0 Web site says governors in California, Orgeon and Washington have been talking about putting in the infrastructure on Interstate 5 so drivers could get biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen and compressed natural gas, as well as recharging electric cars:

As it stands today, only the exceptionally motivated are able to find alt. fuels on the road, although some stations do exist, and there are services that will send local station information to your cell-phone. But if this plan moves forward—which it could in Washington State as early as next summer—it would be the first time drivers have easy access to all these options.

The new fueling stations would also be the first businesses on the West Coast allowed at rest stops, and wouldn’t be charged rent until they turn a profit.

There’s even plans to put in battery-swapping stations, set up at rest areas every 40 miles. It could finally make it possible to drive the entire stretch using an electric car.

Miscellaneous

Biodiesel Maker Imperium Lays Off 24 to Weather Economic Storm

John Davis

imperium-logoIn a bid to stay afloat in these tough economic times, Seattle-based Imperium Renewables has laid off more than half of its staff at its Grays Harbor biodiesel plant.

This story from the Seattle Times says the laying off of the 24 workers is due to the economic downturn and recent tariffs on American biodiesel implemented by the European Union:

The cuts will help it “survive and grow when the market turns around for the biofuels industry,” company president and founder John Plaza said in a statement Thursday. He said Imperium faces “dramatically reduced global demand for biodiesel, high feedstock prices and extreme volatility in the petroleum fuel markets.”

The latest blow to the company was a tariff imposed this month by the European Union on biodiesel imported from the U.S. The EU said U.S. subsidies on biodiesel allowed producers such as Imperium to undercut European manufacturers.

Plaza said that along with the plunge in energy prices, “the recession has led to a drastic reduction in demand for fuels of all types, but especially for biofuels.”

As you might remember, the Grays Harbor plant can produce 100 million gallons of biodiesel annually, but company officials won’t say how much it is producing now.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel Rocket Failure Proves Fuel’s Worth

John Davis

You wouldn’t normally think that a flop would be a great opportunity, but the recent failure of a biodiesel-powered rocket actually shows that the green fuel could end up being a great asset for space travelers.

This article from Biodiesel Magazine says a mechanical failure during the March 7th test-launch of the Flometrics rocket caused some biodiesel to flow into the liquid oxygen system, and, well, you saw the result in the video above. But the failure showed that biodiesel would not cause a more deadly pool fire for a manned mission:

“We got a big puff of flame out of the nozzle, but no significant thrust,” [Steve Harrington, chief executive officer of Carlsbad, Calif.-based aerospace engineering company Flometrics Inc.] said. “The rocket didn’t go anywhere.” But what happened next was a surprise. “We ran into a problem, but then we discovered this advantage of biodiesel that we hadn’t expected. This type of failure often causes a serious fire when you use kerosene: you get a pool fire underneath the rocket and it just kind of barbeques the fins, and so on. But this time the fire was minimal. The biodiesel just went right out and the rocket did not even get scorched.”

According to NASA, the RP-1 kerosene-based rocket fuel that Flometrics used to power its RocketDyne LR-101 rocket engine has a minimum flash point of 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 degrees Celsius). The National Biodiesel Board said the flash point of biodiesel can range from 200 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (93 and 149 degrees Celsius). By comparison, the flash point of petroleum diesel is 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius), the NBB said.

“The biodiesel showed a definite advantage compared to the standard fuel in that it wouldn’t sustain itself in a pool fire,” Harrington said. “This may be a reason to use it for manned missions, to keep the chances of catastrophic fire lower.”

Company officials say they’ll try to launch the 20-foot tall, 150-pound round again on March 21st. Hopefully, they won’t have to have another failure to learn even more.

Biodiesel

National Wind Forms Another Community Wind Energy Company

John Davis

littlerockwindIt’s a lucky seven for National Wind, LLC, as the company has announced the formation of Little Rock Wind, LLC, its 7th Minnesota-based, community-owned wind energy company. The latest venture in Big Stone County will develop up to 150 megawatts of wind energy generation within the county.

This Little Rock Wind press release says the public will get a chance to find out more about the project when the company holds a public landowner meeting on Tuesday, March 17th, at 7:00 pm at the Clinton Memorial Building in Clinton, Minnesota:

“Little Rock Wind, as a locally owned wind energy company, is the sort of project that has the best interests of the landowners and farmer’s best interests at heart,” says Brent Olson, one of the founders and an advisory board member of Little Rock Wind, LLC. “We encourage landowners to attend the meeting, to hear the presentation, and learn how community wind development in Big Stone County can be a benefit to themselves and their community. Bringing this project to fruition will provide many economic benefits to us, our children, and our grandchildren while strengthening our local communities and providing a more stable energy future for us all.”

Little Rock Wind recently opened an office in Ortonville, Minnesota to better serve local landowners and to facilitate community involvement in the project…

An important first step in developing wind energy is securing the land needed to construct the wind projects. National Wind’s field specialist, Jesse Hopkins-Hoel, is working closely with the advisory board and area landowners to represent the project and to gain landowner participation. This includes helping landowners understand the economic benefits this development can provide.

“National Wind’s community wind projects such as Little Rock are unique in the industry – we are developing utility-scale projects using a true community wind model.” says Bill Smeaton, senior wind developer, National Wind. “We offer competitive land use payments, but our model also provides opportunities for local landowners to share in any revenues from a successful project. In addition, our local board of advisor structure adds the ‘voice of the community’ to the development process.”

The projects will go online over the next five to seven years.

Wind