The Climate Trust

Joanna Schroeder

As the new year has kicked off, The Climate Trust has released its prediction list of 10 carbon market trends to watch in 2016. The trends range from climate change playing a larger role in federal decision making to increased carbon market linkage and momentum in conservation finance.

Image credit: Flickr/Yann Caradec

Image credit: Flickr/Yann Caradec

“The Trust pays close attention to market signals throughout the year, identifying areas where we can have the greatest impact,” said Sean Penrith, executive director for The Climate Trust. “Each year, we look forward to putting together our team’s collective knowledge and sharing our industry insights.”

And the top trends….

1. Carbon pricing will play a key role for many jurisdictions worldwide as they plan to meet their emission reduction targets from the Paris negotiations. Roughly one quarter of the world’s emissions now fall under some form of carbon pricing system.

2. In Oregon, policies related to clean energy will take center stage in 2016. Importers of transportation fuels will be under obligation to comply with the state’s Clean Fuels Program in 2016. This program is designed to reduce the carbon intensity of transportation fuels 10% by 2025, by integrating more low-carbon fuels (like ethanol and biogas) into the fuel supply.

3. Climate Risk Gets Real for Private Industry. Beginning with the groundswell at Climate Week in New York in September 2015, and becoming more strident at the Paris climate summit, it is clear that the era of managing and disclosing a corporation’s exposure to climate risk has arrived.

4. Addressing climate change will play a larger role in federal decision-making and political platforms in 2016. With the energy created by the COP21 gathering in Paris still buzzing around us, a presidential campaign well underway, and a little more than a year left for members of the Obama Administration to leave their full mark on history, it seems clear that 2016 will be a year of climate action.

5. Increased U.S. carbon market linkage as states prepare for the Clean Power Plan. The final draft of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Power Plan was released in 2015, with 24 states filing a lawsuit against the plan questioning EPA’s authority. The lawsuit is unlikely to succeed. In fact, many of the states involved in the lawsuit are still drafting compliance plans; 24 other states launched a countersuit in support of the Plan; and George Bush’s EPA chief reminds the states that EPA’s authority has been upheld by the Supreme Court twice before.
Read More

biofuels, Carbon, Clean Power Plan, Climate Change, Environment

IU Researchers Create Hydrogen Biofuels

Joanna Schroeder

Indiana University researchers have developed a highly efficient biomaterial that catalyzes the formation of hydrogen by splitting H2O and creating hydrogen and oxygen. The resulting fuel can be used to power vehicles that essentially run on water. According to the research team, a modified enzyme gains strength from being protected within the protein shell — or “capsid” — of a bacterial virus. This new material, called hydrogenase, is 150 times more efficient than the unaltered form of the enzyme. The process of creating the material was recently reported in “Self-assembling biomolecular catalysts for hydrogen production,” in the journal Nature Chemistry.

Trevor Douglas MSU photo by Kelly Gorham.

Trevor Douglas: MSU photo by Kelly Gorham.

“Essentially, we’ve taken a virus’s ability to self-assemble myriad genetic building blocks and incorporated a very fragile and sensitive enzyme with the remarkable property of taking in protons and spitting out hydrogen gas,” explained research lead Trevor Douglas, the Earl Blough Professor of Chemistry in the Indiana University Bloomington College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Chemistry. “The end result is a virus-like particle that behaves the same as a highly sophisticated material that catalyzes the production of hydrogen.”

The biomaterial created through the process, known as P22-Hyd, is produced through a simple fermentation process at room temperature and is more efficient than the unaltered enzyme. In addition, the biomaterial is potentially less expensive and more sustainable to produce than materials, such as platinum, currently being used to create fuel cells.

“This material is comparable to platinum, except it’s truly renewable,” Douglas said. “You don’t need to mine it; you can create it at room temperature on a massive scale using fermentation technology; it’s biodegradable. It’s a very green process to make a very high-end sustainable material.”Read More

advanced biofuels, Hydrogen, Research

Tale of ’93 Bronco Shows How to Go Biodiesel

John Davis

ezradyer1Most of the time, we talk about the big stories of biodiesel: government policies toward the green fuel, infrastructure improvements, a plant opening. But this piece from Car and Driver points out how important some of the little stories of biodiesel also are. Ezra Dyer recalls his quest to convert his 1993 Ford Bronco to run on biodiesel.

Perhaps sustainability and emissions weren’t my priorities at the outset, but running a 7.3 in an open-top vehicle makes you intimately familiar with that engine’s major shortcoming: It’s a foul thing, a 444-cubic-inch industrial zone. One day, sitting at red light in a Mazda, my three-year-old in the back seat declares, “I smell a Bronco!” Sure enough, there’s a ’90s Power Stroke pickup on the opposite side of the intersection. Time to find some carbon-cutting, sweet-smelling biodiesel.

I go to the Department of ­Energy’s alternative-fuel website and discover an outfit called Piedmont Biofuels, a North Carolina biodiesel co-op with seven pumps around the Raleigh area. I send an email to Piedmont’s president, Lyle Estill, and a few days later I’m on the scene, Eddie Bauer ready for biopower.

The co-op’s members are a motley crowd, politically heterogeneous. As Estill writes in his book Backyard Biodiesel, “Some of Piedmont’s members are far-right-winged survivalist nuts who want to pay for their fuel in constitution silver,” while others are “hippie chicks who want to trade fuel for massages.” That’s such a weirdly specific example that I wonder if someone named Moonshadow actually rolled up to a pump and asked to get the rate in gallons per shiatsu.

I guess I’m somewhere in the middle, just a guy with a Bronco trying to save the world. Trouble is, there aren’t enough fryolators on earth to satisfy our collective demand for transportation fuel. That’s okay. Even so, once I’m fueled up on biodiesel, I plan to get real judgy. Oh, you’re going to the gas station? Why not just strangle a pelican with one hand and an Angolan peasant with the other, you monster?

Dyer goes on to tell how, with the first tank of biodiesel, his Bronco went from smelling like an industrial zone to more like a “grease fire at Arby’s,” a big improvement in his eyes. He also believes the Bronco runs quieter and makes more power running on the green fuel. A small story, perhaps, but its big success is being repeated around the country.

Biodiesel

Green Plains Completes Ethanol Transactions

Joanna Schroeder

Green Plains Partners has announced that it the acquisition of the storage and transportation assets of the Hopewell, Virginia and Hereford, Texas ethanol production facilities from Green Plains, Inc. has been completed. Totaling $62.5 million, these are the first two transactions completed since the company’s IPO. The acquired assets include ethanol storage tanks that support the plants’ combined expected production capacity of approximately 160 million gallons per year and 224 leased railcars with capacity of approximately 6.72 million gallons.

greenplains“We are pleased to complete the first drop down of assets since our IPO and believe this transaction highlights the value created for both Green Plains Partners’ unitholders and Green Plains’ shareholders,” said Todd Becker, president and chief executive officer of Green Plains Partners. “The acquisition is immediately accretive to distributable cash flow per common unit of the partnership. We believe the partnership enhances Green Plains’ ability to acquire ethanol production assets that are aligned with our growth strategy.”

The acquired assets are expected to contribute approximately $7.7 million of EBITDA in its first full year of operation. Green Plains purchased the Hopewell and Hereford assets were purchased in fourth quarter 2015.

biofuels, Ethanol

IA Gov. Branstad to Speak Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit

Joanna Schroeder

Once again, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad along with Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will be discussing Iowa’s leading role in biofuel production and development during the 10th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit hosted by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA). The free event takes place January 19, 2016 in Altoona, Iowa.

Iowa-RFA-logo-new1“Under Gov. Branstad’s proactive leadership, Iowa has become the nation’s number one renewable fuels producing state,” said Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) President Tom Brooks. “When you combine Gov. Branstad’s successful biofuels track-record with the fact he is the nation’s longest-serving Governor, we’re excited to have him provide his unique perspectives on biofuels at the upcoming Summit.”

The Summit is free to attend and open to the public. Registration is required. Registration deadline is January 12, 2016. The 10th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit will take place at The Meadows Conference Center at Prairie Meadows in Altoona, Iowa on Tuesday, January 19, 2016. To register to attend and learn more about the 2016 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit, click here.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Iowa RFA

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1Security convergence software vendor AlertEnterprise and Navigant have announced an alliance to bring critical infrastructure protection and cybersecurity capabilities to asset owners and operators in the energy sector. The increased frequency of recent cyber threats and data breaches have placed additional scrutiny on security from government agencies. Together, the combined expertise of AlertEnterprise and Navigant will enable the delivery of unique solutions to address these challenges for energy clients.
  • Switch announced that all of its SUPERNAP data centers and its more than 1,000 clients who are colocated at their facilities, will be powered by 100 percent renewable energy. Switch will be producing the renewable energy it needs to run its SUPERNAP data centers through new solar facilities operating in Nevada. During the construction of its new 180-megawatts of solar generation projects, Switch Station 1 and Switch Station 2, the company has partnered with local utility NV Energy to utilize renewable energy from existing facilities in the state.
  • SheerWind has signed a licensing agreement with Reikon Beheer that will allow SheerWind’s INVELOX wind-power generating systems to be marketed and deployed in the Netherlands. Reikon Beheer is introducing SheerWind’s technology under the name NedPower SWH to customers in the Netherlands and expects its first pilot project to be under construction in the first quarter of 2016.
  • TPI Composites, Inc., a leading global supplier of wind turbine blades, announced that it has signed a multiyear supply agreement with Vestas Wind Systems A/S to provide blades for the V126 wind turbine from TPI’s recently announced second factory in Izmir, Turkey, which is scheduled to open for production in late 2016. The factory will be located on a 10 hectares site and initially be 30,000 m2 with the ability to expand in the future.
Bioenergy Bytes

Kolmar Buys GreenFuels’ Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

Kolmar Group AG has purchased a Connecticut biodiesel plant – Greenleaf Biofuels LLC – located in New Haven, Connecticut. The plant has been renamed American Greenfuels, LLC. With capacity of about 15 million gallons, it is relatively small for the 2-billion gallon U.S. biodiesel market but is the largest biodiesel plant in New England.

Kolmar logoAccording to Mr. Raf Aviner, President of Kolmar Americas, Inc., “This is a very important acquisition for Kolmar. It is the first such acquisition in the company’s history, and it shows the deep commitment Kolmar has to Connecticut, the environment, the biodiesel industry in general, and to the employees at the plant, in particular. Kolmar has had a strategic relationship with the biodiesel plant for several years, and bringing this facility and its employees into the Kolmar family is a good development for all stakeholders.”

The acquisition gives room for Kolmar to be a more significant biodiesel player even as an increasing number of producers sell their fuel directly.

The biodiesel industry has a few large players like Renewable Energy Group Inc (REGI.O) and is otherwise fairly fragmented.

Kolmar, a major importer of the biofuel, previously had a tolling arrangement with the Connecticut plant. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Biodiesel

Ethanol Report on 2016

Cindy Zimmerman

ethanol-report-adA new year has dawned and with it new opportunities for the ethanol industry. In this Ethanol Report, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen discusses some of the upcoming events in 2016, including the 21st National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans February 15-17, and comments on whether there may yet be a legal challenge by the industry to the EPA’s biofuels volume obligations under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).

Ethanol Report on 2016
Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, National Ethanol Conference, RFA, RFS

ARF: Sen Cruz is Anti-Job, Anti-Farmer

Joanna Schroeder

America’s Renewable Future (ARF) will be following presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz around Iowa as he campaigns to let voters know “the truth” about his “dangerous” plans for the state’s farmers and economy. The ARF RV will be at each of Cruz’s 28 stops and community members and ARF staff will be speaking with Iowans about their final Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) grade report. The ARF team will also be discussing Cruz’s plan to kill their jobs and Iowa’s agricultural economy. In addition to these efforts, the organization is launching a series of newspaper, radio, and digital ads and robo-calls to coincide with the bus tour.

ARF-Logo-Retina-Alt“Ted Cruz’s policy in the White House would be as its always been for him—devastate Iowa’s farmers and its economy in order to pad the pockets of the oil industry,” said ARF State Director, Eric Branstad, “Iowans can’t trust him and we have a duty to let them know why.”

Last week ARF released its final grading report with Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul the only two candidates the organization graded as “bad”.

“Iowa’s farmers and over 73,000 Iowans depend on a strong RFS,” added Branstad, “It’s how I pay my bills and that’s what thousands of other families pay theirs with, too, our state’s economy absolutely depends on it.”

biofuels, RFS

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1GE Renewable Energy has announced it will provide 43 wind turbines and a full services agreement for two new wind projects in eastern France. The Rougemont and Vaite wind farms are being developed by Opale Energies Naturelles on behalf of Velocita Energies, and the sites will install a combined 120 MW of GE technology over the next two years. The agreement marks GE’s largest French onshore wind deal to date and will include the largest installation of its 2.75-120 technology anywhere in Europe.
  • As part of a competitive bidding process, Quercus Assets Selection has successfully bid for Antin Solar Investments and its Italian photovoltaic portfolio, headed by the French infrastructure fund Antin Infrastructure Partners.
  • According to a recent report from Navigant Research, total sales of NG vehicles (NGVs) are expected to reach more than 35 million from 2015 to 2025. The report analyzes the market for natural gas refueling infrastructure and the factors expected to influence its deployment, including global market forecasts segmented by fuel type, station type, and region, through 2025.
  • According to an article in The Gazette- Democrat, Southern Illinois University Carbondale recently received a $50,000 GeoAlliance grant to help fund the installation of a highly energy efficient and environmentally friendly geothermal heat pump heating and cooling system for a portion of the Transportation Education Center. This is the third grant the university received from the GeoAlliance program.
Bioenergy Bytes