Biofuels Forum in Vegas

Cindy Zimmerman

AFViThe Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute’s “Biofuels Drive Economic Solutions Forum” in Las Vegas this month will feature an automotive journalist and an energy expert as keynote speakers.

According to an AFVi news release, Michael Caudill, automotive journalist for KTLA in Los Angeles, and expert on the vehicle marketplace kicks off the morning with his insightful automotive forecast. Nationally recognized energy icon, David Freeman is the keynote lunch speaker.

The Forum focus is on biodiesel and E85 and is designed as part of AFVi’s Learning Marketplace to introduce fleets and other decision-makers to a wide range of information on the fuels, the vehicles, and available incentives. Supporting sponsors for the event are the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB).

The Forum runs from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 20 at The Orleans in Las Vegas. Registration is $199 and available on-line here.

Biodiesel, conferences, EPIC, Ethanol, News

Flying Electric Generators Could One Day Fill Skies

John Davis

A U.S. company might have found a way to optimize wind energy harvests. Officials with Sky WindPower Corporation believe that by elevating their wind generators to high altitudes, they can harvest the energy of the much stronger high-altitude winds.

FEGThis story from CNN.com says the picture on the right is an artist’s rendering of what such a generator would look like:

And the madcap gadget that might just provide a solution? A helicopter that doubles as a wind turbine. Or, to give it its technical name, a FEG (Flying Electric Generator).

The brainchild of Australian engineering specialist Professor Bryan Roberts, the FEG is being developed by San Diego-based company SkyWindPower.

The guiding principle of the FEG is that wind speed and constancy are far greater at high altitude than they are on the ground, especially in the two major jet streams – the Sub-Tropical Jet and the Polar Front Jet – that exist in each hemisphere (at around 30 degrees and 60 degrees latitude respectively).

A turbine at great height, so the theory goes, can generate far more power than a similar turbine at or near ground level. It has been estimated that capturing just one percent of the available energy of these high altitude winds would meet the electricity needs of the entire planet.

Company officials believe the high-flying generators could produce 20 megawatts of electricity… compared to just five megawatts for the average for more land-based wind turbines now.

Wind

Bike-friendly, Pet-friendly Bus Line Getting More Earth-friendly

John Davis

Shared Ride BusIn an effort to get back on the road, Shared Route… a colorful, biodiesel bus that runs between Portland, Oregon and Olympia and Seattle, Washington… will run on vegetable oil.

This blog post in the Seattle (WA) Post-Intelligencer says the bus service known for its welcoming arms to bikes and pets… as well as the human passengers… has been suspended for a while until this latest idea to run it more efficiently came up:

Shared Route logoCompany director Jacob Rosenblum has decided to cut costs by a third. He’ll do it by converting the bus to run on vegetable oil.

A vegetable oil tank with related equipment and insurance, totaling $5,000, are needed to keep Shared Route on the road, according to the company’s media release.

Shared Route says its friendly atmosphere has won it dozens of devotees, who are hoping the bus will get its wheels back on I-5 very soon.

Biodiesel

Navistar Wins Blue Sky Award

John Davis

Navistar Blue Sky AwardIllinois-based Navistar International Corporation, the maker of diesel hybrid school buses and trucks, has won the prestigious 2007 Blue Sky Award from WestStart-CALSTART, the nation’s leading advanced transportation technologies consortium. Navistar was recognized for its contributions to commercial hybrid-diesel technology.

This press release from the company says Navistar officials will be on hand for the award presentation and will provide a display of its Green Diesel Hybrid school bus and a diesel-hybrid truck including a hands-on tour of the powertrain, and explain its benefits at the awards ceremonies this coming Thursday, Sept. 6th at the Athenaeum on the campus of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena:

Diesel hybrids offer the most advanced alternative for progressive school districts looking to modernize their fleet. By combining a certified clean diesel engine with an electric system that recovers energy during braking, hybrid school buses deliver up to 70%-100% better fuel economy and 30%-60% lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional buses. They provide policymakers and business owners an attractive option for meeting the state’s energy efficiency, clean air and climate change goals.

So while you might not be able to make your kids breathe easier about going to school, it looks like some companies are at least trying to let them breathe easier for the ride there.

Biodiesel

Virginia Ethanol Plant Fights Opposition

Cindy Zimmerman

The developers of a proposed 216 million-gallon-per-year ethanol plant in Chesapeake have mounted a major campaign to educate the community about ethanol.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that developer International Bio Energy Virginia LLC has hired a public relations professional and is taking out full-page ads in local newspapers to try and address community concerns about the plant.

Chesapeake project“I understand it’s an uphill battle, and I’m going to stay in the fight,” said ITAC Engineers & Constructors Senior Vice President Rick Starnes, a key player in the project who spent more than 20 hours last week walking Brentwood to discuss the plant with residents. “I wouldn’t work this hard if I didn’t think this was the right project for this area.”

Over the past two weeks, the developer has taken six planning commissioners on walking tours of the site and been knocking on doors in Chesapeake’s Brentwood neighborhood near the proposed site.

Company President Sidney Harrison said they are out to give the facts about the alternative fuel.

“We only have a short amount of time to educate the people because they’ve been fed so much junk,” Harrison said. “This is about jobs. This is about tax base. This is about energy security. This is a very serious project.”

Photo credit of proposed plant site: STEVE EARLEY, THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

Ethanol, Facilities, News

Ethanol with SC Accent

Cindy Zimmerman

FMU ResearchSC Now has an article on ethanol research being done at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC.

Dr. Gregory Pryor, assistant professor of biology at Francis Marion University, and one of his students, Kirsten “Kitty” Hiortdhal, have begun researching new ways to create ethanol with crops grown locally in the Pee Dee.

FMUAccording to Wikipedia, the Pee Dee region of South Carolina is the northeastern corner of the state. It is the area of the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, named after the Pee Dee Native American tribe.

The main crop they are researching is sugar cane, which they say could grow on land that “typically isn’t usable for any other crop in South Carolina.” The FMU research program is trying to encourage the idea of growing, distilling and selling ethanol locally — a prospect that potentially could bring thousands of jobs to the Pee Dee.

Ethanol, News, Research

Ethanol “God Father”

Cindy Zimmerman

BlumeThe exective director of the International Institute for Ecological Agriculture has proclaimed himself the “God-Father” of ethanol as a biofuels expert.

According to a news release, “David Blume has been asked to appear on radio, TV and as a lead speaker for a number of renewable energy symposiums in the coming two months. Blume is globally acknowledged as the “god-father” of ethanol and is a leading advocate and expert on renewable solutions to the global need for inexpensive, non-polluting, and sustainable energy and food sources.”

GasBlume, who sounds like one pretty interesting character, is the author of a soon-to-be-released book called “Alcohol Can Be A Gas,” subtitled Fueling an Ethanol Revolution for the 21st Century. According to the IIEA website, it is “the first comprehensive book on small to farm scale alcohol production and use written in over 90 years.” The description of the book says it began as a PBS television series in 1983 on San Francisco affiiate KQED, but “Big Oil got wind of the project and convinced KQED to halt the printing and cancel the release the series to the rest of PBS.”

Blume and IIEA also have a community called “Alcoholics Unanimous” which offers membership under several categories, including Fuel Farmer, Moonshiner, Rumrunner and Brewmaster.

Ethanol, News

2008 FFVs Announced

Cindy Zimmerman

NEVCThe National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) reports that 31 new models of motor vehicles will be offered with an E85 capable engine in 2008. Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan and Mercedes Benz will all offer flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) in the coming year.

FFVNEVC Executive Director Phil Lampert says these include some of the most popular vehicle models. “From a humble beginning of less than 500 FFVs in 1993, we expect that more than 750,000 such FFVs will be produced in the coming year,” he said.

Check out the full list here from NEVC.

The NEVC 2008 Purchasing Guide will include a complete listing of all FFVs, photos, their engine and passenger size, and their gallon fuel capacity. This full color, 16 page guide will be available in early October. To place your order, email order@e85fuel.com.

Car Makers, E85, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

Old and New Energy Giants Swap Info

John Davis

Texas & Denmark flagsOil-giant Texas and wind-energy giant Denmark are swapping information are their respective strong suits in energy.

This article in the Houston Chronicle says the Danes have become word leaders when it comes to wind energy generation, getting 25 percent of their electricity needs from the wind. Likewise, Texas has become a new leader in wind energy production, passing California as the top wind energy state, generating about one-fourth of the all U.S. wind power:

“In so many ways, we are modeling our wind energy industry on Denmark’s wind energy industry,” said Michelle Warren, the deputy commissioner overseeing renewable energy at the Texas General Land Office in Austin.

For example, Texas — like Denmark — has adopted a government requirement for wind energy. Texas has announced that 5,880 megawatts of energy are to come from renewable sources by 2015.

Like Denmark, Texas also offers government incentives such as direct grants for wind developers. “We do follow the policy incentives in Denmark, where there’s a belief that the government does have to offer incentives to the wind-energy industry,” Warren said.

It only seems fitting that Texas is now following Denmark’s wind energy lead, as Denmark has been known as “Little Texas” because it is Europe’s third largest oil producer, behind Norway and Britain.

The Danish Energy Authority predicts that Denmark will have ample oil and gas reserves for years to come and will tap into hundreds of oil engineers from Texas to keep up with that industry’s demands.

Wind

Minneapolis-St. Paul Buses Up Biodiesel Percentage

John Davis

Metro Transit busMetro Transit… the public transportation service for the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area… is raising the amount of biodiesel it is using in its vehicles to a 10% blend. For the last 14 months, Metro Transit has been using a 5% blend.

This story on The Farmer.com says the move is welcomed as making an efficient form of transportation, mass transit, into an even greener form of moving people:

The action, which is part of Metro Transit’s Go Greener Initiative, will reduce its consumption of diesel fuel by 1.2 million gallons. By March 2008, Metro Transit plans to increase its biodiesel use to 20%, thereafter, alternating between a 20% (B20) summer blend and a 10% (B10) blend during the winter months.

The action comes just a few weeks after Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced his state would increase its use of biodiesel to 20% of all diesel used by 2015.

Biodiesel