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In Time of Layoffs, Wind Energy Co. Hiring

John Davis

vestasEvery day we hear the doom and gloom of another company announcing layoffs. Well, it’s time for a little good news.

Wind turbine maker Vesta Wind Systems has announced it will hire nearly 3,000 more people in the U.S.

This story from Marketwatch.com says the Denmark-based company believes it will be able to cash in on Pres. Obama’s push for alternative energy:

While other major corporations lay people off to preserve their shrinking bottom lines, Vestas’ fortunes have grown as the world attempts to wean itself off fossil fuels and promote sources of power that don’t contribute to global warming.

Although some critics object to paying subsidies to overseas companies, [Vestas Wind Systems CEO Ditlev] Engel argues that Vestas plans to invest more heavily here than others.

He also pointed out that U.S. investors also stand to benefit if the company prospers, since nearly a third of the company’s equity holders are based here. And the U.S. remains the largest potential marketplace for Vestas….

For Engel, the U.S. offers some of the best wind resources in the world, and he’s gearing up to put 4,000 employees on the Vestas payroll here, up from about 1,200 now, during the worst economic downturn in a generation.

Engel goes on to say that the U.S. has the best wind resources in the world. He likens not harvetsing wind in America to not drilling for oil in Saudi Arabia.

He and other wind companies will be closely watching Friday’s vote on the economic stimulus package.

Wind

Stimulus Bill Has Money for Renewable Energy

John Davis

uscapitolRenewable energy could get a share of the nearly $800 billion in the compromise version of the U.S. House and Senate’s economic stimulus bills.

This story from CNNMoney has details:

The provisions in the bill – a deal hammered out between House and Senate negotiators late Wednesday that still needs to be passed by both chambers – will primarily give a major boost to renewable energy, electricity transmission and energy efficiency sectors…

One of the biggest ticket items – at $11 billion – is aimed at creating a ” smart” grid, an artificially intelligent electricity transmission system that is necessary to more efficiently transmit electrons, especially from sources such as wind, solar and power stored in batteries. Although in the past decade demand for electricity has grown 20%, the grid has only expanded by about 5%, and that growth hasn’t adequately taken into account distributed renewable energy generation…

With record growth to around 25 gigawatts of total wind capacity last year, the U.S. is now one of the world’s biggest producers of renewable energy. But between 200 gigawatts to 300 gigawatts of drafted wind projects remain stranded on paper because there isn’t the transmission capacity to link them to demand.

The story goes on to say that lawmakers have also put $6 billion in loan guarantees and $2.5 billion in research grants for renewable energy into the bill. The U.S. Senate will take up the measure late Friday (Feb. 13th).

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Government, Solar, Wind

Biodiesel Board Goes YouTube

John Davis

nbbyoutube2
Recognizing the power of social marketing Web sites, the National Biodiesel Board has launched a channel on what’s been called the MTV of this generation: YouTube.

The new National Board YouTube Channel, available to the 70 million YouTube viewers each month, will give the public credible, helpful and entertaining videos on biodiesel:

“Sites like YouTube and Facebook are more than just fun and games today,” said NBB Director of Communications Jenna Higgins. “They drive public awareness, public opinion and mainstream media coverage. We want to have a voice in this forum and ensure that an opportunity to learn about the benefits of biodiesel is reaching the people who seek it.”

The NBB first unveiled the channel at last week’s National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in San Francisco. Videos from the conference that have been posted include a San Francisco Road Trip, highlighting the many biodiesel users in the host city, and videos featuring industry leaders talking about sustainability and other key issues. Singer Melissa Etheridge addressed the conference attendees, and her inspirational remarks are also available. Additional conference videos will be posted in coming days.

You can subscribe to the new channel and get updates when new videos are posted… just go to www.youtube.com/NationalBiodiesel.

Biodiesel

Chicago Auto Show Pushes E85 Vehicles

chrysler1gmlogo150This week at the Chicago Auto Show, a wide array of vehicles are being displayed; many of which are alternative fuel vehicles. Even though the price of gasoline is much lower than in past months, the CAFE rule that mandates auto manufactures average 35 mpg for their fleet of vehicles still applies, meaning more vehicles are being offered with an alternative fuel-capable engine.

General Motors is displaying 15 of its 20 vehicles available with a flexible fuel engine. Both Chrysler and Ford have also displayed many of their E85 compatible vehicles. All three automobile manufacturers have promised to produce more and more vehicles with this E85 capable engine in years to come.ford_logo

A complete listing of E85 vehicles, including those models in 2009, can be found at www.E85Fuel.com.

E85, Ethanol

Corn Growers Defend Ethanol Against Attacks

Cindy Zimmerman

The nation’s corn growers called comments made Wednesday by a coalition of radical environmental groups “just another attempt to prevent the ethanol industry from decreasing the United States’ dependence on foreign oil.”

NCGA“These environmental groups are stirring up fear for the American public at a time when Americans are already struggling due to the faltering world economy, job losses and high costs of food brought on by some food companies’ record profits and greed,” said National Corn Growers Association President Bob Dickey, a producer from Nebraska.

Several environmental organizations held a press conference urging the federal government to stop promoting renewable fuels like ethanol and saying they would rather increase the use of imported oil. During the conference, Clean Air Task Force spokesman Jonathan Lewis told a reporter that “burning gasoline is better than increasing the production of corn ethanol.”

Listen to that soundbite here [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/ewp-bite.mp3]

The group representatives made claims that they were unable to back up with any specific facts when questioned and they offered no ideas for moving toward a renewable energy future, although they claim that is their ultimate goal. They simply want the production of corn ethanol halted because they question whether biofuels are capable of making a major contribution to reducing fossil fuel use.

“The fact remains that ‘made in the U.S.’ corn ethanol is here — and available today — to strengthen the U.S. economy, create new, U.S.-based jobs and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Wind and solar power are good options for energy; however, these will take years to have the same impact that ethanol is having now,” Dickey said.

corn, Ethanol, NCGA

Colorado Biodiesel Projects Get State Grants

John Davis

coloradodeptofag1Two biodiesel projects have garnered $150,000 worth of state grants from the Colorado Agricultural Value Added Development Board… a branch of the state’s Department of Agriculture.

Biodiesel Magazine reports the Advancing Colorado’s Renewable Energy… or ACRE… grants will actually help three facilities:

In partnership with Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colo., the International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technology (ICAST) in Lakewood, Colo., was awarded $100,000 to assist with the implementation of two farm-scale oilseed crushing and biodiesel production facilities. According to Raphael Shay, sustainability project manager for ICAST, one of the facilities will be at a feedlot in Stratton, Colo. “By producing meal with the oilseeds, we can actually make the project viable,” he said. “The biodiesel in this case is the coproduct. We’re hoping to use this as a demonstration project so that other producers see how it can be done.”

The facility is expected to be operational this summer and will produce 100,000 gallons of biodiesel per year. The glycerin byproduct might be diluted with wastewater and sprayed onto fields, or it might be used as a feed additive.

Shay said the location for the second facility hasn’t been finalized, but it might be built at the USDA Agricultural Research Service’s Central Great Plains Research Station in Akron, Colo. There, dryland canola and camelina oilseeds from test fields would be crushed for use as a straight vegetable oil fuel or converted into biodiesel to be used in research center tractors. Students from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo., will design and build the oilseed fuel operations at the research center. Shay said students from the University of Denver are expected to work on a model business plan for farm-scale biodiesel production facilities for ICAST.

“Speaking with producers, one of the problems that we found [often] is the very unstable price of fuel, which makes it really hard for them to plan whether their farms will be viable or not,” Shay said. “By producing biodiesel with on-farm crops, we therefore isolate the producers from price variability.”

Colorado State University’s Golden Plains Area Extension Service received the second ACRE grant. A $50,000 research grant will be used to evaluate how energy crops should be rotated on northeastern Colorado dryland farms.

The article goes on to say that ICAST has been taking a mobile biodiesel demonstration unit… called Big SID (Seeds Into Diesel)… around Colorado and Wyoming, teaching farmers and ranchers how they can make their own biodiesel on the fam.

Biodiesel, Government

JetBlue Plans to Test Biofuels

John Davis

jetblueIn the wake of Air New Zealand, Continental Airlines and Japan Airlines successfully testing biodiesel in their airliners, discount flyer JetBlue has announced it will try biofuels in its Airbus A320-200 by the spring of 2010.

This story from Flightglobal.com says the company plans to use non-food feedstocks:

Feedstocks being considered for the trial include jatropha, algae, waste forest residues, organic waste streams and the non-edible component of corn plants, corn stover, the spokesman says.

The biofuel should have the same properties as standard jet fuel and should not require engine or auxiliary power unit (APU) modifications, the spokesman adds.

And if I know JetBlue, the company will probably find a way to do it cheaper than everyone else.

Biodiesel

Editorial Defends Minnesota Biodiesel

John Davis

It’s been nearly a month since some school buses in Minnesota wouldn’t run after temperatures dropped to -20 to -30 degrees F. Commentators such Fox TV’s Glenn Beck derided the state’s 2 percent biodiesel mandate as the cause of the stalled Bloomington school buses… although he offered no explanation why this didn’t happen at EVERY other school district that had the exact same requirement.

Well, apparently, Beck has shot his mouth off again last Friday as he’s continuing his tirade against the green fuel, and according to this opinion piece in the Minneapolis Star Tribune Beck said, “Lawmakers put children’s safety at stake because they don’t want their buses to run on a politically incorrect kind of fuel.” But the editorial doesn’t want to give Beck the last word:

With Minnesota poised to transition to a higher percentage of biodiesel this spring, it’s important to set the record straight on the Bloomington bus issue. Biodiesel wasn’t the culprit causing the school buses to stall out. Unfortunately, the brouhaha has given the state’s pioneering mandates and the promising biodiesel industry an undeserved black eye.

Minnesota law currently mandates that virtually all diesel in the state contain 2 percent biodiesel. Almost any oil can be used to make biodiesel, according to Ed Hegland, an Appleton, Minn., farmer and chairman of the National Biodiesel Board. In Minnesota, it’s mostly made from soybeans, then blended with regular petroleum diesel. Petroleum diesel is the fuel on which most of the nation’s trucks, tractors and road equipment run. Minnesotans in particular are long acquainted with regular diesel’s drawbacks in cold weather. When the temperature drops below a certain point, wax crystals can form and gum up fuel filters. It’s why truckers idle their trucks overnight in cold weather and why many who rely on diesel during the winter switch to a different blend to minimize the problem.

I’m sure this won’t even be the final word. But the next time biodiesel opponents try to point to the Bloomington bus story as evidence that biodiesel doesn’t work, I’d like them to explain why it worked everywhere else on that cold January day.

Biodiesel, Opinion

2010 Saab 9-3X FFV to be Revealed

2010saab-wagonAccording to Motor Trend, the E85 compatible Saab 9-3X will appear at the Geneva Auto Show. The wagon is similar to the Audi Allroad. It is to appeal to outdoor enthusiasts looking for an alternative to large SUVs.

Saab designers lifted the chassis 1.4-in over the standard SportCombi and included the company’s “XWD” all-wheel-drive system. With multiple wet clutch plates and an optional rear limited slip differential, the system can dole out torque between the front and rear axles as it sees fit. For power supply, a turbo 2.0-liter E85-capable and a turbo 1.9-liter diesel engine. The all-wheel-drive-attached FFV engine produces 210 hp, and offers six-speed manual and automatic transmissions.

E85, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles

Virginia Legislature Moves Biodiesel, Renewable Energy Measures

John Davis

virginiaflagTwo bills aimed at helping the renewable energy business in Virginia have advanced in the State Legislature.

This story from the Richmond Times-Dispatch says the measures are part of Gov. Timothy Kaine’s eco-friendly “Renew Virginia” and cleared the Virginia Senate:

Senate Bill 1146, carried by Sen. Mary Margaret Whipple, D-Arlington, would require the government to purchase diesel fuel for its vehicle fleet that contains at least 2 percent biodiesel.

The requirement would not apply if the cost of the biodiesel fuel exceeds the cost of regular diesel by more than 5 percent. Whipple estimated the measure would cost the state a maximum of $1.25 million.

The original legislation would have required that diesel fuel sold to any consumer contain at least 2 percent biodiesel. It also would have set a 10 percent cap on the price difference.

By a vote of 38-1, senators also passed another Kaine priority Senate Bill 1141, which would allocate $2 million in renewable energy property tax credits for individuals and corporations.

The bill, carried by Sen. L. Louise Lucas, D-Norfolk, provides credits for the installation of solar electric generation, solar heating systems and wind-powered electrical generators.

Biodiesel, Government