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Obama Seen as Good for Solar Power

John Davis

obama2President-elect Barack Obama’s promise to make alternative energy a priority could end up being a big boost for the solar power industry.

This story from Mlive.com says Michigan could become the hub for that solar power growth:

Thomas Township-headquartered Hemlock Semiconductor’s Corp. announced Monday it will add up to a $1 billion expansion to manufacture polycrystalline silicon, or polysilicon, at its Geddes Road operations in Thomas Township and will open a $1.2 billion plant in Clarksville, Tenn. Polysilicon is a super pure, rock-like material solar panel and computer chip makers use.

Dow Corning also plans for a new plant next to HSC in Thomas Township to produce monosilane gas, which creates a thin film on glass and helps convert sunlight into energy.

Obama’s call to expand alternative energy should mean more jobs, leaders hope.

“If he does what is in his energy platform, I’m going to be extremely pleased,” said Stephanie A. Burns, president and chief executive officer of Midland-headquartered Dow Corning Corp., majority owner of HSC.

The article reminds us that Obama promised to invest $150 billion over a 10-year span, as well as making sure 10 percent of electricity is generated from renewable sources within four years and 25 percent by 2025.

Government, Solar

POET Pitches in to Help Santa

John Davis

poetLeave it to the world’s largest ethanol producer to also be in contention for one of the largest hearts as well.

Our friends at the Poet Biorefining plant in Glenville, Minnesota are playing Santa this week to 27 families in their local area who just need a little help this Christmas.

This story from the Albert Lea (MN) Tribune explains they are taking part in the Ethanol Cares program, a charitable program that uses donations POET employees raise themselves:

Freeborn County Public Health and Worth County Public Health submitted the names of families in need, along with information about what their needs are and what types of things they enjoy.

Then on Wednesday, 12 people with the company went through the aisles of Wal-Mart for two hours to try to fill those needs for each family.

Pat Mook, who has been involved with the program for several years, said the group filled 15 carts full of toys, clothes, and other items. When they took all 15 carts up to the cash register, the clerk rang up all the items and had tears running down her face when she saw the total, she said.

While many of the gifts are brand new, this year the company has also asked for gently used donations as well. They’ve collected items such as a baby bed, a table and chairs, a dresser and lots of winter coats, among many others.

“There’s always a child who has something they’ve never played with they can give,” Mook said.

The article goes on to say that while this is a program that gets the most attention during the holidays, it’s something that goes on year-round.

God bless the good people of POET and all the green fuel providers who do more than just produce a product.

Ethanol, News

Anniversary of Expanded RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

The Energy Security and Independence Act (EISA) which expanded the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) is officially a year old today.

Energy Bill SigningThe ethanol industry is looking forward to the future for the RFS, which requires the use of ethanol and other renewable fuels to reduce dependence on foreign oil, after it survived a major challenge this year by the governor of Texas.

Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen says the RFS provides an important platform for the incoming Obama Administration. “President-elect Obama’s green jobs and green energy agenda are a perfect fit with expanding America’s production of the only green fuel that is reducing foreign oil dependence and global warming emissions today,” Dinneen said.

Despite all the challenges faced by the ethanol industry this year, production has been expanded significantly from 6.9 billion gallons in 2007 to over 10 billion gallons today. Ethanol represents more than 7% of the nation’s gasoline supply and can be found in more than 70% of gasoline gallons sold in the US.

The Renewable Fuels Standard requires 36 billion gallons of annual renewable fuel use by 2022, with 16 billion gallons of that to come from cellulosic sources. “The Renewable Fuels Standard is an ambitious target and one America’s ethanol industry is more than capable of meeting,” said Dinneen. “The investments being made and research being conducted at the private and public sector level will ensure this industry rises to meet this challenge.”

Cellulosic, Energy, Ethanol, Government

Food and Fuel Kit Wins PR Award

Cindy Zimmerman

EPICThe Ethanol Promotion and Information Council has been recognized by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Nebraska chapter for its work in fighting the misperceptions that ethanol was the primary culprit to the rising cost of food.

EPIC’s media kit “Food AND Fuel” received the Award of Excellence from the organization. In addition, EPIC also received an Award of Excellence in the OP-ED/Bylined Article category.

EPIC recently announced that it is joining Growth Energy, a newly formed organization dedicated to the promise of agriculture and growing America’s economy through cleaner, greener energy.

EPIC, Ethanol, food and fuel, Growth Energy

$3 Million+ to Go to CT Biodiesel Producers, Schools

John Davis

rell11Three universites in Connecticut will share more than $900,000 in state grants to test biofuel quality as well as to study different production methods and feedstocks, and another $2.2 million in grants will go to four biodiesel production facilities to help leverage at least $6 million in private investment.

This press release from Gov. M. Jodi Rell has details:

“My Administration has long invested in a range of programs to help Connecticut become less dependent on traditional energy sources,” Governor Rell said. “My Energy Vision for a Cleaner, Greener State calls for investment in alternative energy sources to reduce our reliance on expensive imported sources such as oil and gasoline. Building a biofuels industry in Connecticut will not only meet that goal but help create jobs.

The University of New Haven will receive $135,276 to identify species of algae from Long Island Sound that could be cultivated to produce biodiesel. Yale University will receive $69,752 to research algae feedstock growth optimization.

The University of Connecticut will receive two separate grants: One grant of $598,244 will be used to develop the capability for remote monitoring and build a biodiesel testing laboratory. A $97,000 grant will be used to conduct research on catalysts for conversion of biomass into biofuel.

The Production Facility Grant Program recipients are:

* Greenleaf Biofuels, LLC ($1,281,322): Greenleaf Biofuels will be a biodiesel production plant in New Haven Harbor area with an estimated capacity of 6.7 million gallons per year. Its primary markets will be heating oil and transportation fuel. Greenleaf Biofuels will use a diverse range of raw materials including waste and virgin vegetable oils. The grant will be used to help fund construction and equipment costs.Read More

Biodiesel, Government

German Biodiesel Taxes Open Opportunity for US Company

John Davis

globalearthenergyAn increase in taxes on biodiesel in Germany is expected to decrease that country’s production of the green fuel. But since Germans’ appetites for biodiesel are unlikely to be lessened, an American company sees the tax hike as a chance to move into the large European market.

This press release from Global Earth Energy, Inc. says there’s opportunities in the feedstock and actual biodiesel sales:

Global Earth Energy, Inc. anticipates the opportunity to export the biodiesel produced at their chemical plant in Leland, NC. Due to the increase in taxes on biodiesel in Germany, there has been a decrease in the production of the alternative energy fuel. With the decline of sales and production overseas, there is an excess amount of feedstock, the raw material used to produce biodiesel. Feedstock is the largest cost in manufacturing the fuel source but Global now has the option to buy the feedstock at a discounted price from German sources. The slowdown could also expand Global’s growing market of alternative green energy to Europe.

Now if Global Earth Energy sees opportunity in this, wouldn’t that mean there’s opportunity for other American biodiesel makers? I would think so. We’ll keep our eye on this to see what happens. Stay tuned!

Biodiesel, International

Plenty to See & Do at Biodiesel Conference

John Davis

biodieselconference20091Got a reminder in my e-mail today about the upcoming National Biodiesel Conference & Expo, Feb. 1-4, 2009, in San Francisco.

There will be a ton of things to see and do, ranging from hearing Grammy- and Oscar-winning singer Melissa Etheridge talking about how biodiesel has inspired her… to information on the sustainability efforts being made in the biodiesel industry. There’s so much going on, the National Biodiesel Board is inviting career journalists working for news outlets such as daily newspapers, magazines and network affiliate news programs to take the complimentary media registration and cover all the events:

Media are invited to take a bay tour the afternoon of Tuesday, Feb. 3, on the Red and White ferry fleet which uses biodiesel. The company owner and staff will be on hand to answer questions. Another media event is a planned Ride-and-Drive, to be held Sunday, Feb. 1.

The conference will also feature musician Melissa Etheridge on her belief in and use of biodiesel. As always, educational tracks and networking opportunities will abound. The conference will focus on sustainability, with educational sessions on the vital topic built in throughout the four-day event. One focus will be emerging biodiesel feedstocks such as algae. At scheduled press events, you will have access to the industry’s top leaders and latest news.

Media registration is available by clicking here. Of course, if you can’t make it to the conference, Domestic Fuel will be covering the events. We’ll see you there!

Biodiesel, Biodiesel Conference

Big Investment for Corn-Oil Biodiesel

John Davis

greenshiftGreenShift Corporation has announced it has received a $38 million investment to produce 20 million gallons per year of biodiesel from corn oil, squeezed from the corn used in ethanol plants.

This release posted on MarketWatch.com says GreenShift use the money to build twelve corn oil extraction facilities and to expand the capacity of GreenShift’s NextDiesel biodiesel refinery in Adrian, Michigan to 20 million gallons per year:

GreenShift’s biodiesel production model is based on the integration of its patent-pending corn oil extraction technologies into corn ethanol production facilities to extract crude corn oil from distillers grain, a co-product of ethanol production. GreenShift installs its extraction technologies at its expense and then purchases the extracted oil for a price that is indexed at a discount to the price of diesel fuel. This hedges GreenShift’s biodiesel production margins and provides important benefits to participating ethanol clients, such as:
— increased revenue and earnings;
— decreased commodity and financial risk;
— decreased utility consumption and carbon emissions; and,
— enhanced biofuel yield from corn.

GreenShift’s extraction technologies are currently in use at four corn ethanol plants in Michigan, Indiana, New York and Wisconsin, and GreenShift has executed contracts to deploy its extraction technologies at a number of additional U.S. ethanol plants.

“Our view is that the established corn ethanol infrastructure is the most practical pathway in North America to cost-effectively increase the production and use of carbon-neutral biofuels at globally-meaningful scales,” said Kevin Kreisler, GreenShift’s Chief Executive Officer. “To continue to accomplish this in a competitive and environmentally-superior way, existing corn ethanol facilities must evolve to achieve improved production efficiencies. We intend to contribute to that evolution. We look forward to the completion of this investment and delivering the financial and environmental benefits of our patent-pending corn oil extraction technologies to our ethanol clients at an accelerated pace.”

Usually, ethanol producers turn each bushel of corn into 2.75 gallons of ethanol. This process will expand the biofuel content of a bushel of corn to nearly three gallons.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Freightliner Introduces First Hybrid-Electric Class A Motorhome

John Davis

winnebagoadventurerhybrid2Looking to make a cleaner world and give better mileage to its customers, Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation (FCCC) has introduced the first hybrid-electric Class A motorhome chassis in the industry.

This company press release says the innovative ecoFRED™ chassis shows significant improvements in fuel economy compared with traditional gas pullers:

Fulfilling the tagline “Driven by You,” the ecoFRED prototype was engineered to address environmental and fuel-savings priorities identified by FCCC’s motorhome customers. ecoFRED also is in line with Daimler AG’s (Daimler) “Shaping Future Transportation” global initiative focused on reducing pollutants and fuel consumption.

Equipped with the Eaton® hybrid-electric system, ecoFRED features all the attributes FCCC customers have come to expect from the FRED™ motorhome chassis.

ecoFRED, so named because of its increased fuel economy and ecological/ environmental benefits, has the additional benefits of significantly less brake wear due to regenerative braking, leading to lower replacement costs. It also boasts better acceleration and increased towing capacity, and operates similar to driving an automatic transmission.

The release goes on to point out that the RV was built in collaboration with Winnebago:

Bob Olson, Winnebago Industries chairman, CEO and president added, “Winnebago Industries has a rich tradition of creating innovative fuel-efficient motorhomes, and we’re pleased to have partnered with Freightliner Custom Chassis Corporation on developing the ecoFRED chassis concept used in our Winnebago Adventurer Hybrid concept vehicle.”

Miscellaneous

Biodiesel Board Congratulates Vilsack Nomination

John Davis

vilsackThe National Biodiesel Board continues to like what it sees when it comes to the incoming Obama Administration.

The primary advocacy group for the green fuel sent out congratulations to former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack who was nominated to serve President-elect Obama as the next U.S. Secretary of Agriculture:

Following the announcement, Joe Jobe, the CEO of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), released the following statement:

“Governor Vilsack is an excellent choice to head the Department of Agriculture (USDA). His executive experience as governor along with his unwavering support of biofuels reflects the President-elect’s commitment to biodiesel, an issue he had highlighted as a priority during his campaign.

“There is no question Secretary-designate Vilsack will face many challenges in the future, but I am confident in his ability to promote the economic, environmental and energy benefits of biofuels and ensure that policy at the USDA will benefit both agriculture producers as well as the biodiesel industry.”

Vilsack’s nomination… and approval by the NBB… comes on the heels of four other NBB-pleasing nominations earlier this week: Dr. Steven Chu, who has been tapped to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Energy; Carol Browner, who was named to the new position of White House Coordinator of Energy and Climate Policy(commonly called the Energy Czar); Lisa Jackson, who will head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); and Nancy Sutley to serve the President-elect as the lead White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, Government, Indy Racing