According to AgWeek magazine, Algeria-based Cevital plans to build a corn-based ethanol plant in Brazil’s leading grains producer Mato Grosso state. Cevital’s representatives met with Mato Grosso Governor Pedro Taques to detail their plans and negotiate terms of the investment, including environmental licensing and tax incentives. The proposed plant would be installed in the municipality of Vera, close to the main soy and corn hubs of Sorriso and Lucas do Rio Verde, along the BR-163 highway used to transport a large part of the state’s grain output to the main southern Brazilian ports of Santos and Paranagua.- SunPower Corp. and University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) have announced plans for 5.2 MW (DC) of SunPower systems to be installed on rooftops and in parking lots on the university’s campus. UCSB will buy the electricity produced by the systems at a competitive rate under a long-term power purchase agreement with SunPower. UCSB estimates the systems will generate about 12 percent of the campus’s total electricity use, and will reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions by six percent.
- Georgia Power has announced its support of Georgia Public Broadcasting’s (GPB) two new, interactive in-classroom video series: Chemistry Matters and Physics Fundamentals. The company’s support is part of a longstanding dedication to improving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in Georgia and includes a $500,000 donation by the Georgia Power Foundation.
- BlueWave, a solar development and fintech company, headquartered in Boston, MA, and MS Solar Solutions Corp, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, have announced they will develop, co-invest and jointly own a Community Solar portfolio of more than 25 MW in Massachusetts scheduled for completion in 2016. The relationship with Morgan Stanley represents BlueWave’s first major financing for its Community Solar product, a product it plans to launch elsewhere in the U.S. in 2016.
Pacific Ethanol Begins Cellulosic Production
Pacific Ethanol biorefinery located in Stockton, California is now producing cellulosic ethanol using Edeniq, Inc.’s Pathway Technology. The Stockton plant, a facility with a production capacity of 60 million gallons per year, is expected to produce up to 750,000 gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol with the Pathway process.
Photo Credit: Joanna Schroeder
Neil Koehler, president and CEO of Pacific Ethanol, said of the milestone, “We are now commercially producing cellulosic ethanol using Edeniq’s Pathway enzyme at our Stockton facility. This is an important step in our strategy to increase production yields at our plants and our mission to be the leading producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels. We are working with Edeniq and the Environmental Protection Agency to qualify these gallons for generating D3 cellulosic RINs, which carry a premium over conventional ethanol, and we expect to receive EPA approval in the first quarter of 2016.”
Edeniq’s Pathway Technology integrates Edeniq’s Cellunator high shear equipment with cellulase enzymes to convert corn kernel fiber to fermentable sugars. According to the company, the pathway includes a proprietary technical validation process that enables customers to quantify the amount of cellulosic ethanol produced within their plants and comply with the registration, recordkeeping, and reporting required by the EPA to generate cellulosic D3 Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) as defined by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
“Our Pathway Technology enables ethanol plants to produce cellulosic ethanol directly in existing fermentation vessels at a very low cost,” aded Brian Thome, President and CEO of Edeniq. “Pacific Ethanol’s production of cellulosic ethanol is an important landmark for both of our companies, and for the ethanol industry.”
Seattle Airport Inks Deal for Aviation Biofuels
Officials at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are partnering with Alaska Airlines and Boeing to aim to have all flights out of the hub use sustainable aviation biofuel. This news release from the port authority says Sea-Tac is the first U.S. airport to lay out a long-term roadmap to incorporate aviation biofuel into its infrastructure in a cost-effective, efficient manner.
At the Sea-Tac fuel farm today, executives for the port, Alaska Airlines, and Boeing signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to launch a $250,000 Biofuel Infrastructure Feasibility Study that will assess costs and infrastructure necessary to deliver a blend of aviation biofuel and conventional jet fuel to aircraft at Sea-Tac, a crucial step toward routine biofuel use in the future.
“The Port of Seattle has an important role in helping develop the state’s green energy economy,” said Port of Seattle Commissioner John Creighton. “Striving to make Sea-Tac Airport a national leader in developing aviation biofuel infrastructure and incentivizing the use of biofuels by our airline partners will grow jobs for our region, decrease our environmental footprint, and benefit both our fence line communities and the airlines that use the airport.”
The partners’ longer-term plan is to incorporate significant quantities of biofuel into Sea-Tac’s fuel infrastructure, which is used by all 26 airlines and more than 380,000 flights annually at the airport. Sea-Tac is the 13th busiest airport in the U.S. and will serve over 42 million domestic and international passengers this year.
Joe Sprague, senior vice president of communications and external relations for Alaska Airlines, Sea-Tac’s largest carrier and leader of the airport’s fueling consortium, said the airline wants to incorporate biofuel into flight operations at one or more of its hubs by 2020, with Sea-Tac as a first choice for the Seattle-based airline.
“Biofuel offers the greatest way to further reduce our emissions,” said Sprague. “This study is a critical step in advancing our environmental goals and stimulating aviation biofuel production in the Pacific Northwest.”
The Port of Seattle will manage the study and the engineering and integration of biofuel infrastructure, such as the airport’s fuel farm. An RFP for the infrastructure study will be issued in the spring of 2016, and the study is expected to be completed by late 2016.
Olympia School District Goes to School with Propane
Stanford, Illinois students are traveling around town in school buses fueled by propane. The Olympia Community Unit #16 School District, a rural district covering 377 square miles, converted to propane-fueled buses to meet the district’s needs for reliable, lower-cost buses. The school buses travel an average of 20,000 miles per year.
According to John Olsen, assistant superintendent for Olympia, the district tested propane with two school buses and now has 12- nearly one-third of their 33 bus fleet. The remaining buses run on diesel fuel. He estimates each bus saves the district $2,500 per year in fuel and maintenance and is expected to serve the district for 10 years. He figures that the buses will save the school district $300,000 over the 10-year life of the buses.
According to information about propane autogas, propane engines do not require diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) and diesel particulate filters, and oil consumption can be reduced as much as 50 percent, making propane powered buses less expensive to operate and maintain. Propane fuel costs, currently lower than diesel fuel, make up the difference and more.
The savings are not the only benefit of the propane buses, says Olsen who notes they are also quiet and cleaner-burning. “I love the fact that when our buses pull up to the schools at the beginning or end of the day, we’re not sitting there creating a cloud of fumes right outside the school,” he added.
Evergreen FS, based in Bloomington, IL works closely with Olsen to supply the fuel. They also set up and continuously service and maintain the four 1,000 gallon propane tanks on-site. Typically the storage onsite provides a seven to eight day supply of propane. Olsen and the school district will continue to work with Evergreen FS, a member cooperative of GROWMARK, who keep him up-to-date on technical advances that will make the fleet even more cost efficient over time.
BioEnergy Bytes
- Twin Cities radio station, KS95 FM, and the Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association (MBA), recently rewarded customers who fueled up with E15 at Highland Service Minnoco in St. Paul, Minnesota. During the ethanol promotion, customers who fueled up with E15 won prizes from KS95 and MBA. Among the prizes included $25 in cash as well as KS95-branded merchandise. KS95 executive producer and personality, Rudy Pavich, was on site with MBA staff to educate customers on the benefits of using E15 and hand out prizes.
- MPCO Automotive has received certification from the EPA for its 2016 Ford F150 (half ton) Pick-Up truck. The truck features the 5.0-Liter TI-VCT V8 engine. IMPCO Automotive’ s 5.0L Bi-Fuel compressed natural gas (CNG) F150 conversion can be purchased through any Ford Commercial Dealership with a ship-thru option for IMPCO’s Indiana Conversion Center. This product expands IMPCO Automotive’ s working class pick-up truck offering to include Dedicated & Bi-Fuel CNG F250/F350, Bi-Fuel CNG F150 and Dedicated CNG Ford F650/F750.
- The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) released new reports that analyze the current and future impacts of information and communications technologies (ICT) on evaluation, measurement, and verification (EM&V) practices. EM&V demonstrates the value of energy efficiency programs by providing accurate, transparent, and consistent assessments of their performance. Both reports provide similar conclusions regarding the potential of advanced data analytics and the availability of data to provide more timely feedback on program results and efficacy, and reduce costs associated with EM&V.
- Boralex Inc. has announced commercial commissioning of the Frampton wind power project, located in Beauce, Canada, with an installed capacity of 24 MW. Located on private land, the project consists of 12 Enercon E-82 wind turbines and is covered by a 20-year contract with Hydro-Québec. Project construction required investments of approximately $80 million and Boralex expects it to generate annual EBITDA of about $9 million.
Congress Votes to Extend ITC for Wind, Solar
The renewable electricity industry got an early holiday present this week as Congress included a five-year extension of the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for renewable energy projects that provides a 30 percent federal tax credit for commercial installations of solar PV systems and new wind energy projects in the tax extenders package. The ITC was set to expire at the end of 2016.
CGE Energy, a company that offers no capital cost energy solutions, commended Congress on their vote for clean energy. According to a company, they make energy projects possible for commercial and nonprofit facilities without having to rely on government stimulus incentives.
“We have made an important focus on not being dependent on the Investment Tax Credit on our project development, especially considering the uncertain future of the credit,” said CGE Energy’s President and CEO Bryan Zaplitny. “Seeing these latest legislative decisions, the utilization of the ITC where appropriate will increase the benefits we can give our customers as well as expedite our growth and stockholder appreciation.”
CGE Energy is also in the midst of bringing to market their own patented vertical axis small wind turbine, called WIND•e20. The 105-foot tall turbine is being manufacturing by Burtek Enterprises, Inc. a well-recognized market leader in safety critical applications.
Bob Keefe, executive director of Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2), noted that the ITC extension gives wind and solar industries the policy certainty they need to plan future investments, create good jobs and continue to see progress on meeting climate change goals.Read More
Talking Politics at National Ethanol Conference
Some world class political discussion should be expected at the National Ethanol Conference (NEC), Feb. 15-17, 2016, in New Orleans. Political experts Mike Murphy and Paul Begala will get together for a point-counterpoint luncheon discussion on the 2016 election.
Mike Murphy – Political Strategist, Political Analyst for NBC News and Contributing Editor, TIME
Murphy is one of the Republican Party’s most successful political media consultants, having handled strategy and advertising for more than 26 successful gubernatorial and Senatorial campaigns. Murphy has been called a “media master” by FORTUNE magazine, the GOP’s “hottest media consultant” by Newsweek and the leader of a “new breed” of campaign consultants by Congressional Quarterly.
Paul Begala – Political Analyst and Commentator for CNN
Begala has consulted for political campaigns across the country and around the world and is part of the political team at CNN that has won both an “Emmy” and a “Peabody Award”. In the 2012 campaign he was a senior adviser for the pro-Obama Super PAC, making Begala one of the few people to play a critical role in electing two different presidents. After helping engineer Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign, Begala served as counselor to the President, one of Clinton’s closest aides.
More information and registration are available here.
Huckabee Talks Energy During Debate
The CNN Republican Presidential Candidates debate from Las Vegas this week was focused entirely on national security issues, but the word biofuels was actually uttered by one of the candidates who put forth the idea of using energy as a weapon.
“We ought to be challenging not only Russia, but the Iranians and the Saudis, on the point of energy,” said former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee during the first debate panel. “We ought to be drilling every bit of oil, getting all the coal out, we need to be going after our natural gas and biofuels, and become the energy exporter of the world.”
Huckabee argued that such an approach would “destabilize” the enemies of the United States. “We need to take an offensive approach by using our energy, the one weapon we have,” he said. “Let’s use it as an offensive weapon to change the dynamics of the entire globe and especially change the dynamics of the Middle East.”
Listen to Huckabee’s comments here: Huckabee energy comments during CNN debate
Biodiesel Catalyst Plant Soon to Open in Iowa
It’s taken about a year and a half, but an Iowa plant that will make a key biodiesel production catalyst is about to open. This article from the Mason City Globe Gazette says the New Heaven Chemicals plant will start producing sodium methylate by Feb. 1, and be able to produce 24,000 metric tons of the liquid chemical per year.
“We decided to stop bringing it from outside,” said New Heaven Chemicals Director Prasad Devineni. “And, Iowa being one of the biggest biodiesel producing states, it made perfect sense to look at a plant right here.”
Manly was an especially attractive site for TSS Group because the main component of sodium methylate, methanol, is already stored at the Manly Terminal. Many biodiesel plants are also located in northern Iowa.
“Within 100 miles we have about 15 biodiesel companies and we can sell out completely, 100 percent production, within 100 miles,” Devineni said.
Demand for sodium methylate is so strong TSS Group decided during construction to reconfigure the original plans for the New Heaven Chemicals plant in order to increase the facility’s production capability.
The initial plan had been to produce 12,000 metric tons per year, but the company is now building a plant capable of producing 24,000 metric tons per year.
The company received several tax incentives and loan guarantees from the federal, state and local governments to help it get off the ground.
Is Cruz for or Against Ethanol?
In Iowa, presidential Republican candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz are leading the polls, but the two are running close. One heated area of debate: renewable fuels. With Iowa the leading state for all things biofuels, voters want a president who will continue to support clean, renewable energy and rural economic development, something Trump as been a supporter and recently called Ted Cruz out for not visiting an ethanol plant. He’s not the only one on his case – America’s Renewable Future (ARF) has launched several campaigns against Cruz for his wishy-washy ethanol policy. Yet, this month, at an event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Cruz called for the end of all energy subsidies and stated, that as president he would “take on the EPA’s blend wall that is preventing ethanol and biofuels from having a larger share of the marketplace.”
This week, ARF has launched another attack on Cruz calling him a “career politician” and “doing the oil industry’s dirty work”. ARF State Director Eric Branstad, in reaction to his ethanol remarks in Cedar Rapids, noted that they want Iowans to know that, “unlike what Ted Cruz would like them to believe, he is a typical politician who will say one thing in Iowa and do another thing in Washington.”
The ad campaign focuses on his ties to Big Oil. Cruz’s campaign says he is against oil subsidies, but he told an Iowan that subsidies for the oil industry don’t exist and another that tax breaks exclusive to the oil industry, like intangible drilling costs, are not subsidies. In the Senate, says ARF, Cruz has introduced three bills to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and has consistently voted against measures that would close tax loopholes for the oil industry. The only loopholes he has supported getting rid of are “enhanced oil recovery credits for producing oil and gas from marginal wells”—in the Energy Freedom and Economic Prosperity Act of 2014—which are inconsequential since taxpayers would see no revenue effect from them according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
“Meanwhile Cruz has failed to introduce a single bill to repeal the $4.8 billion in subsidies that the oil industry receives annually,” said Branstad, “What’s worse is that he opposes the RFS because he claims it is a subsidy. But in fact, ethanol hasn’t received subsidies since 2011.”
Branstad added, “His entire career he’s been in the pocket of the oil industry and he will continue to stand up for it against Iowa farmers and the Renewable Fuel Standard.”