California Wind Farm Wins Approval

John Davis

accionaA wind energy project in Southern California soon could be lighting up 50,000 homes. The Acciona Wind Energy USA wind farm will be Santa Barbara County’s first renewable wind-energy project after the county Board of Supervisors gave unanimous approval to the project.

This story from the Lompoc (CA) Record says it will be built southwest of the Pacific Ocean-side town of Lompoc:

A maximum of 65 wind turbine generators, which will reach 397 feet-high and are to be 15 feet in diameter, were approved, along with meteorological towers, operational facilities and a PG&E power line running from the project to Lompoc.

Construction could begin at the end of this year, and clean energy production could start by 2010, according to the developer.

Acciona is based in Spain, and you might remember from my post last August 11, 2008 that the company built a wind farm in the Dakotas that will provide power for 60,000 homes in that area.

Wind

Scholarships for Biodiesel Essays

John Davis

cleanairchoicelogoWriting about a green fuel could earn you some green for school! The American Lung Association’s Minnesota and South Dakota field offices, in conjunction with their respective states’ soybean promotion councils, are offering scholarships to students who write essays on biodiesel.

In each state, the competitions are open to high school seniors with plans to attend postsecondary education.

mnsdsoybeanIn Minnesota, winners will receive $1,000, while second place gets a $500 scholarship. South Dakota winners get $500, and second place receives $250.

For both states all essays and application materials must be submitted by 4:30pm on April 30, 2009.

General information is available on the ALA’s Upper Midwest Web site, www.cleanairchoice.org. Specifics for Minnesota are here… South Dakota here.

Good luck to all!

Biodiesel

Support for Increasing Ethanol Blend Levels

Cindy Zimmerman

Increasing the approved level for ethanol that can be blended into gasoline is the number one priority for the ethanol industry this year, and recently support for that goal has been indicated by two major players in Congress and the administration.

BingamanSenator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a recent New York Times interview that he thought government regulations that limit ethanol content to 10 percent should be reconsidered.

“I believe we could go to E-12, or E-14 or E-16 without causing any great problems with vehicle operation,” he said.

Bingaman said the EPA and the Energy Department are currently conducting tests on higher blends and results could be available within a year or so.

VilsackMeanwhile, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently said in an interview with Bloomberg that USDA and EPA are in discussions about raising the ethanol blend level, but they have no specific numbers yet. “I do think it’s important for us to look for strategies to make sure the infrastructure of the ethanol industry is preserved, because it is a key component to this new energy future the president’s laid out,” said Vilsack.

Increasing the blend level is seen as the only way to reach the Renewable Fuels Standard, which requires 11.1 billion gallons of renewable fuels, including ethanol, to be used this year. Vilsack says they should not have to change the RFS. “We’ve laid the markers down there and I think we have to work hard to meet it,” he said.

blends, Ethanol, Government

Galva Holstein Adds Third E85 Fueling Station

holsteine85Galva Holstein Ag, LLC has opened their third E85 fueling location in Iowa. The site is located at 211 North Main Street (Highway 59) in Holstein. Other fuels offered include E10, E30 biodiesel and regular unleaded gasoline.

“Honestly, it took us a little longer than we had hoped to get this station up and running this winter,” commented Gary Brosamle, Energy Department Manager at Galva Holstein Ag, LLC. “But we are delighted that the site is now operational and excited to offer E85, E30 and higher biodiesel blends to our customers. The Renewable Energy Center is open 24 hours a day and accepts most credit cards including Galva Holstein Ag’s local card and CENEX credit cards.”

A grand opening is scheduled for May 5 and the date is symbolic. Galva Holstein opened their very first E85 station on May 5, 2005 at 1583 Market Ave. in Galva.

“Three stations in four years is something we are very proud of,” noted Anne Johnson of Galva Holstein.

Miscellaneous

Book Review – Hot, Flat, and Crowded

Joanna Schroeder

hot_flat_and_crowded1The other week I was meeting with Suzanne Shelton, President and CEO of the Shelton Group (you should check out their Energy Pulse research) and we were ruminating over how difficult it is to get through a Thomas Friedman book. I’ve been trying to finish Hot, Flat, and Crowded for several months and I’m proud to say, I’m finished! The effort was well worth it because Friedman has some great stuff in the book.

There is too much good info so I’m going to pick a few things that I think are insightful…for starters, “The Laws of Petropolitics.” The first law, “as the price of oil goes up, the pace of freedom goes down; and as the price of oil goes down, the pace of freedom goes up.”  The second law, “Today, you cannot be either an effective foreign policy realist or an effective democracy-promoting idealist without also being an effective energy saving environmentalist. 

In essence, we need to address our energy policy in conjunction with our environmental policy. The first step is to reduce our fossil fuel use – the greatest contributor to global climate change. Sorry, people, it looks like we’re ALL going green.Read More

book reviews, Miscellaneous

Miners to Learn How to Use Biodiesel

John Davis

regbiodiesel1Renewable Energy Group, the leading biodiesel producer and marketer in the country, is helping miners learn how to use biodiesel in their underground operations.

REG will hold a webinar titled, “Biodiesel Utilization in Underground Mines: Successfully Meeting MSHA DPM Requirements” March 5, 2009 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. CST.

REG has been successfully supplying biodiesel to the underground mining industry since 2005. Many REG mining customers made the switch from #2ULSD to 100 percent biodiesel in all of their underground equipment in part because biodiesel creates less diesel particulate matter than conventional diesel.

“Biodiesel is one of the tools available to the underground mining industry that has proven effective in reducing DPM emissions,” according to a Biodiesel Magazine interview with Bill Pomroy, a spokesman for the Mine Safety and Health Administration. “Inspectors have seen DPM levels drop from 300-800 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 50-200 micrograms. The only change that was made was to switch from straight diesel to B100.”

Jon Scharingson, director of marketing at REG will be hosting the educational forum. In the Webinar, Scharingson will focus on how underground mining operations can significantly reduce DPM emissions and integrate B100 into existing infrastructure/engines. Those in the underground mining industry interested in taking advantage of the benefits biodiesel has to provide can also learn how to partner with the biodiesel experts at REG.

There’s no cost for the event, but they do ask you register ahead of time. Here’s the Webinar mining link. Or, you can call Alicia Clancy at 515-239-8118 to sign up.

Biodiesel

Two Steps to Turn Biomass into Biofuel

Cindy Zimmerman

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have reportedly developed a two-step method to convert the cellulose in raw biomass into biofuel.

The process, published in a recent Journal of the American Chemical Society issue, uses untreated, inedible biomass as the starting material.

According to a story from the University of Wisconsin, the first step in the process is the conversion of cellulose into the “platform” chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), from which a variety of valuable commodity chemicals can be made. “Other groups have demonstrated some of the individual steps involved in converting biomass to HMF, starting with glucose or fructose,” says Ronald Raines, a professor with appointments in the Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Chemistry. “What we did was show how to do the whole process in one step, starting with biomass itself.”

In the second step, Raines says they converted HMF into the promising biofuel 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). Taken together, the overall yield for this two-step biomass-to-biofuel process was 9 percent, meaning that 9 percent of the cellulose in their corn stover samples was ultimately converted into biofuel. Raines says DMF has the same energy content as gasoline, doesn’t mix with water and is compatible with the existing liquid transportation fuel infrastructure, having already been used as a gasoline additive.

biomass, Cellulosic, Research

EPA to Introduce RINs System

Cindy Zimmerman

The Environmental Protection Agency is hosting a webinar next week on a new system for controlling renewable fuel credits known as RINs (renewable identification numbers).

EPAThe webinar will lay out EPA concepts for the new RIN Moderated Transaction System (MTS) and solicit feedback from regulated industry. According to an EPA announcement, webinar participants will have the opportunity to ask questions, offer suggestions, and discuss EPA’s MTS concepts via e-mail after the webinar. The webinar will not address general RFS2 questions other than those specifically related to the MTS.

The webinar is scheduled for February 25 from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. EST and registration is limited to 200 participants. However, the presentation, including audio, will be posted on EPA’s website within a few days after the webinar has taken place. Registration is available by sending an e-mail with the subject line “EPA MTS Webinar Registration” to FuelsProgramsReporting@epa.gov.

RinstarThe Clean Fuels Clearinghouse applauded EPA’s announcement of plans for the new Modulated Transaction System.

The company, which developed the RINSTAR renewable fuel registry, has been working in collaboration with EPA since December to serve the market need for valid clean fuel credits.

RINSTAR is currently the nation’s only renewable fuel registry, which has been operational since September 1, 2007, the first day the Renewable Fuels Standard was implemented.

Energy, Government

Ethanol Outlook Brighter

Cindy Zimmerman

Despite bankruptcies and attacks by environmentalists, the outlook for ethanol is improving, according to the chairman of USDA’s World Agricultural Outlook Board.

USDA BangeUSDA’s February corn outlook says ethanol blender and producer margins have recently improved and weekly production of gasoline blends with ethanol is on the rise.

“We’ve seen relatively lower corn prices as of late and even producers now are going to go back in the black as opposed to being in the red before,” Outlook Board Chairman Gerald Bange said. “Whereas just a few weeks ago there was no real incentive to produce ethanol using either corn or sorghum, what we’re seeing now is somewhat positive returns for the production of ethanol. So things are looking a little bit better in the ethanol industry.”

Bange says the current blending credit is sufficient to provide a positive margin for blending as well.

Ethanol, News, USDA

Ethanol Ten Year Projections

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA’s Economic Research Service last week released its latest long term forecasts for the food and agricultural sector.

USDA ERSFor ethanol, USDA projects increases in corn-based ethanol production to slow over the next few years, but ethanol demand is expected to remain high and affect the production, use, and prices of farm commodities throughout the sector.

According to the report, “continued increases are projected for corn used to produce ethanol over the next 10 years, although the pace slows from the rapid gains of the past several years. Projected gains after 2009/10 are largely in line with moderate expected increases in overall gasoline usage in the United States.”

The projections assume the tax credit available to blenders of ethanol and the 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on imported fuel ethanol remain in effect. By 2018, USDA predicts that ethanol production will account for about 35 percent of corn use and corn-based ethanol production will exceed 9 percent of annual gasoline consumption.

corn, Ethanol, News, USDA