Canadian Biodiesel Co. Renames, Gets New Site

John Davis

evoleum1A Canadian biodiesel company gets a new name and a new website. Evoleum, formerly known as QFI Biodiesel, says the name change better reflects the evolution of oil, and the new website reflects its essence, focused on innovation and sustainable development.

This new identity showcases a very genuine renewal. After it was founded in 2010, the company faced major growth challenges. It responded by bringing in an experienced management team capable of piloting a sharp increase in production, and brought in solid investors.

Evoleum helps large Quebec companies now reliant on polluting fuels (diesel or bunker oil) reduce their environmental footprint by supplying them with biofuel made from recycled waste, such as used restaurant oil. Converted into biodiesel or biobunker, this product is more than 95 percent biodegradable and emits no greenhouse gases, thus making it the ecological choice and enhancing these companies’ environmental image.

“An interesting benefit is that switching to biofuel will earn companies credits in the carbon market. In Montreal in July 2015, this represented an immediate discount of 4.8 cents a litre on biodiesel,” explains the new CEO, Dominic Voyer.

Biodiesel

EDF RE Completes 194 MW Wind Farm

Joanna Schroeder

Spinning Spur 3 delivers clean electricity to the towns of Georgetown and Garland in Texas. (Photo: Business Wire)

Spinning Spur 3 delivers clean electricity to the towns of Georgetown and Garland in Texas. (Photo: Business Wire)

EDF Renewable Energy’s (EDF RE) Spinning Spur 3 Wind Project located in Texas is now in operation. The 194 MW wind farm was completed three months ahead of schedule and the renewable electricity produced will feed into the CREZ (Competitive Renewable Energy Zone) transmission infrastructure and be sold to Georgetown Utility Systems and Garland Power & Light, two municipal utilities who signed long-term power purchase agreements. Spinning Spur 3 is located 50 miles west of Amarillo in Oldham County and consists of its 97 Vestas V-100 2 MW wind turbines.

“We are excited to have commenced commercial operation of the Spinning Spur 3 project, and would like thank the residents of Oldham County and surrounding areas for helping us reach this important milestone,” said Ryan Pfaff, executive vice president of EDF Renewable Energy. “We are also pleased to be working with Garland Power & Light and Georgetown Utility Systems to supply clean, competitively priced electricity to their customers for years to come.”

With the Spinning Spur 3 project in operation, the Group’s installed capacity in the state has now reached 1,066 MW through six wind energy projects.

Clean Energy, Electricity, Renewable Energy, Wind

NRDC Report: U.S. Energy Economy Healthy

Joanna Schroeder

America’s energy economy has never been better according to a new report, “A Tectonic Shift in America’s Energy Landscape,” from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). One key finding is that innovative energy saving techniques have enabled the country to more than double its economic productivity from oil, natural gas and electricity over the past 40 years. This means, finds the report, that energy efficiency has contributed more to meeting the country’s needs than all other resources combined.

Screen Shot 2015-10-13 at 11.00.06 AM“Although the nation’s energy news has trended from bad to worse for decades, we’ve seen a remarkable turnaround, much of it due to the huge and inexpensive resource of energy efficiency — getting more out of every energy dollar,” said Ralph Cavanagh, NRDC co-director of the energy program. “But you’d never know it from those who want to build the massive KXL pipeline, ratchet up oil and gas drilling, launch a nuclear renaissance or embrace an ‘all of the above’ energy policy.”

NRDC’s First Annual Energy and Environment Report, America’s (Amazingly) Good Energy News, is the product of a detailed, extensive analysis of recent government data that shows total U.S. energy use in 2012 was below the 1999 level even though the economy grew by more than 25 percent (adjusted for inflation) during that period. This result, shows the report, is that factories and businesses are producing substantially more products and value with less energy, the amount of gasoline per mile driven is down, and the cost of all energy services (from lighting to refrigeration) also has decreased.

“These energy reductions are saving hundreds of billions of dollars every year, helping U.S. workers and companies compete worldwide, and making our country more secure,” added Cavanagh.

The report notes that the amount of climate-warming carbon dioxide pollution also is down, putting the nation on track to meet President Obama’s emissions reduction target of 17 percent over the next seven years, though much more must be done, says NRDC, to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

Here is a snapshot of several of the report’s major findings:Read More

Climate Change, Electricity, energy efficiency, Renewable Energy, Solar, Wind

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1DNV GL, the world’s largest resource of independent energy experts and certification body, has created the preliminary wind atlases for Zambia, Tanzania and The Maldives, as part of phase 1 of an Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) project funded by the World Bank. The project aims to reveal the true extent of wind energy production potential in each of the three countries. DNV GL’s early test results have already revealed huge opportunities, with extensive wind flow modelling in Zambia, Tanzania and The Maldives indicating great wind energy production potential.
  • Tri-State Generation, Transmission Association and D. E. Shaw Renewable Investments have announced the execution of a 25-year contract to supply the utility with renewable energy from the planned Alta Luna Solar Project to be constructed in Luna County in southwest New Mexico. Tri-State will purchase the entire output of the 25 MW solar farm over the life of the contract. The facility is expected to come online in December 2016.
  • According to a new report from Navigant Research, global cumulative revenue from investment in biogas production capacity is expected to reach $25.8 billion between 2015 and 2024.
  • A researcher at Washington State University has received a three-year $450,000 federal grant to develop computer models for using iron to more efficiently refine bio-oils and make better biofuels. Jean-Sabin McEwen, assistant professor in the Voiland School of Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering, will collaborate on the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences grant with colleagues at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the Université Libre de Bruxelles.
Bioenergy Bytes

Illinois Teen’s Cellulosic Ethanol Wins Science Prize

John Davis

TavisReedAn Illinois teen is being recognized for his efforts to make cellulosic ethanol. This article from the Chicago-area Daily Herald says 17-year-old Tavis Reed, a senior at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, won the 2015 gold medal in the chemistry/biochemistry division of the National Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics competition, besting more than 700 students from 150 ACT-SO chapters across the nation.

He did so by developing a process — for which he has a provisional patent — for the production of cellulosic ethanol, a “next-generation biofuel” made from cellulose, the structural part of plants.

The process uses bacteria to make ethanol as a potential fuel source in a cheaper and more environmentally conscious manner. He’s now working to find a way to scale up his research and make sure its results can be repeated in large quantities.

“That’s really important to me,” he said. “I feel like for my generation, the environmental impact that humans have on the world is a lot more evident than it has been in earlier decades.”

Tavis is unfailingly enthusiastic about science, said Sarah Soltau, his mentor through Argonne National Laboratory’s ACT-SO high school research program.

“He’s got many more ideas than I’d expect as a high school student,” she said. “He’s gone above and beyond anyone else I’ve seen at the high school level — and some even in college.”

Tavis’ teacher admits she had to learn a lot, just to keep up with the teenager.

The ACT-SO award was announced in July at the 106th Convention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, held in Philadelphia, which Tavis actually had to leave early to tutor some incoming students.

biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Tequila Source Could be Next Ethanol Source

John Davis

ARCplantcellwallsWhat makes a mighty fine drink could also make a pretty good fuel. Researchers at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls have figured out how to get about 4,000 gallons per hectare a year of ethanol from the agave plant, well adapted to grow on marginal land under low rainfall conditions.

The paper, titled “Prospecting for Energy-Rich Renewable Raw Materials: Agave Leaf Case Study” published in the journal PLOS ONE, outlined agave leaf composition and fermentation efficiencies that could produce competitive biofuels from this fast-growing, highly water use efficient plant.

“Bioethanol yields from agave fermentation could rival the most successful biofuel feedstock crops around the world,” says Associate Professor Rachel Burton.

“Importantly, it doesn’t compete with food crops, it’s fast growing so the whole plant could be used rather than just harvesting the leaves, and it is up to 10 times more water efficient than some other crop plants.”

Associate Professor Burton and her team, including PhD student Kendall Corbin, are working with AusAgave who have trial sites of agave established in Ayr in northern Queensland and Whyalla, South Australia.

The researchers are now looking at the best cultivation methods for ethanol production.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, International

DC Water Turns Poop to Electricity

Joanna Schroeder

DC Water has unveiled it’s $470 million Blue Plains waste-to-energy project that converts biosolids waste to electricity. The facilities include a dewatering building, 32 thermal hydrolysis vessels, four concrete 80 foot high anaerobic digesters that each hold 3.8 million gallons of solids, and three jet engine-sized turbines.

CAMBI thermal hydrolysis vessels in foreground, anaerobic digesters in the background. Photo Credit: DC Water

CAMBI thermal hydrolysis vessels in foreground, anaerobic digesters in the background. Photo Credit: DC Water

The company said the project was viable through CAMBI thermal hydrolysis process, the first time the technology has been used in the U.S. DC Water also says with the process now in operation, the Blue Plains facility is the largest of its kind in the world.

DC Water CEO and General Manager George S. Hawkins, said of the facility, “This project embodies a shift from treating used water as waste to leveraging it as a resource. We are proud to be the first to bring this innovation to North America for the benefit of our ratepayers, the industry and the environment.”

Thermal hydrolysis uses high heat and pressure to “pressure cook” the solids left over at the end of the wastewater treatment process. This weakens the solids cell walls and the structure between cells to make the energy easily accessible to the organisms in the next stage of the process–anaerobic digestion. The methane these organisms produce is captured and fed to three large turbines to produce electricity. Steam is also captured and directed back into the process. Next, the solids at the end of the process are a cleaner Class A biosolids product that DC Water uses as a compost-like material. Biosolids products are currently being used around the District for urban gardens and green infrastructure projects. DC Water also plans bring a compost-like product to market.

“This is yet another example of the District leading the nation in the adoption and implementation of sustainable practices,” added District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser. “DC Waters Blue Plains facility is converting waste to clean water and a nutrient-rich soil byproduct, producing energy and helping to put the District on the path towards a zero waste future.”

The company did more than a decade of research prior to bringing the new facilities into operation. The project received the 2012 Grand Prize in Planning Award from the American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists, the 2012 Global Honour Award in Planning from the International Water Association, as well as one of two WERF Excellence in Innovation Awards, first presented at WEFTEC 2011.

biodigester, Clean Energy, Electricity, Waste-to-Energy

Algae Foundation to Launch Algal College Program

Joanna Schroeder

The Algae Foundation logoThe Algae Foundation will be creating a college degree in algal cultivation technologies and an aquaculture extension training program. The nonprofit received a multi-year grant from the Department of Energy and with the funds has formed the Algae Technology Educational Consortium (ATEC). The Consortium, a partnership between academic institutions, national research laboratories, and industry leaders, will develop educational programs to strengthen the industry workforce working on developing algal products.

“We believe this will be the first ever associates degree in algal biology, cultivation and technology,” said Ira Levine, a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Southern Maine and the P.I. of the grant. “This will help develop the next generation of algae researchers, scientists and engineers whose skills are in great demand from the hundreds of companies developing and deploying algae technology in the U.S. and around the world.”

The grant will fund a three-year program, during which the Algae Foundation will establish the ATEC team, design a curriculum for a college degree, develop and publish textbooks, and partner with community or technical colleges to implement the degree. The team will deploy an educational assessment team to evaluate the college courses created for the degree.

“National Renewable Energy Lab is committed to supporting and advancing algal technologies and we are very excited to participate in this project as strong growth in this industry is anticipated, added Cindy Gerk, NREL Project Leader. “We look forward to the success of this project and enabling high value jobs for the workforce of tomorrow.”

advanced biofuels, algae, bioproducts

Dong Opens Offshore Wind Farm

Joanna Schroeder

DONG Energy and LEGO Group along with William Demant, have opened BorkumRiffgrund 1, an offshore wind project expected to power more than 320,000 homes. The wind farm was officially commissioned by His Royal Highness, Prince Joachim of Denmark.

Offshore-Windpark Borkum Riffgrund 1 / Borkum Riffgrund1 offshore wind farm

Offshore-Windpark Borkum Riffgrund 1 / Borkum Riffgrund1 offshore wind farm

Thomas Thune Andersen, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DONG Energy said during the opening event, “BorkumRiffgrund 1 is our first operational project in Germany and I’m very satisfied with the fact that we can now harvest the fruits of the investment we have put into this project. I’m also very pleased with the confidence that our joint venture partners have shown us by investing in this project.”

He continued, “Our journey in Germany is far from over: We are currently building another two offshore wind projects and have a number of other projects in our pipeline that will allow us to demonstrate the skills and competences we have gained and will allow us to continue to show the trust we have in the German offshore wind market.”

The wind project consists of 78 wind turbines each with a power of 4 MW. The wind farm is located 37 kilometres north of the German island Borkum and 54 kilometres from the German coast. Thus, BorkumRiffgrund 1 contributes considerably to the aim of the German government to install a total of 6.5 GW of offshore wind energy until the year 2020. Almost 3 GW have been installed in the German North and Baltic Sea so far.

Clean Energy, Electricity, International, offshore wind

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1ET Solar, through its Latin American subsidiary, ET Solar Chile has announced it has formed a consortium with WEG, one of Brazil’s most prestigious industrial companies. The consortium will deliver professional, turnkey PV solutions for the growing Brazilian market.
  • The Economist Events is hosting the Energy Summit 2015 at The HAC in London on November 4-5th 2015. The Energy Summit will unite senior representatives from the supermajors, independents and national oil companies with executives from the utility and renewable sectors, together with policy makers, economists and academics. With major changes taking place across the energy sector due to the fall in oil price, the introduction of new regulation, innovation in technology, the shale gas boom and the exploitation of new energy sources, the industry has to decide what new initiatives and technologies to embrace to achieve a secure, affordable and sustainable energy supply.
  • The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has announced that the AfDB would nearly triple its annual climate financing to reach $5 billion a year by 2020. AfDB’s climate spending will increase to 40% of its total new investments by 2020.
  • An October 23 webinar, the first in a series of three for fall 2015, will present in-depth information on the $5.88 million Waste to Wisdom project and its efforts to better utilize forest residues for the production of bioenergy and bio-products. Waste to Wisdom is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy under the Biomass Research and Development Initiative program, Award Number DE-EE0006297, and is led by Humboldt State University with support from 15 regional partners.
Bioenergy Bytes