ACE Conference 2026

GRID Alternatives Helps Bring Solar to Families in Need

Joanna Schroeder

Mitsubishi Electric Green Team volunteers, students from CSULB Disabled Student Services and GRID Alternatives project leader pose in front of a newly installed 3.24kW solar system in Los Angeles. (Photo: Business Wire)

Mitsubishi Electric Green Team volunteers, students from CSULB Disabled Student Services and GRID Alternatives project leader pose in front of a newly installed 3.24kW solar system in Los Angeles. (Photo: Business Wire)

When we think of Thanksgiving and helping those in need, many people take action to help provide food. Yet this holiday, thanks to GRID Alternatives, employees from Mitsubishi Electric and California State University Long Beach’s Disabled Student Services, two low-income families now have access to affordable, clean energy. The group installed solar electric systems with the PV modules donated by Mitsubishi Electric US.

While Mitsubishi Electric US donated 6kW of Diamond Premium high performance monocrystalline PV modules bundled with inverters donated by SolarEdge and racking donated by Orion Solar Racking, Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation provided financial support for the installations with a grant to GRID Alternatives Greater Los Angeles. The solar package is bundled as the Diamond Kit as provides a simpler way for residential homeowners to install solar energy and save money. The grant provides hands-on training and education in renewable energy for the student volunteers, most of whom are interested in pursuing careers in the solar industry.

At the second installation, volunteers installed a 2.7kW solar system. (Photo: Business Wire)

At the second installation, volunteers installed a 2.7kW solar system. (Photo: Business Wire)

“We are pleased to extend our reach this year to two families in need,” said Gina Heng, vice president and general manager of Mitsubishi Electric U.S., Inc.’s Photovoltaic Division. “We appreciate the generosity of SolarEdge and Orion Solar Racking, and the leadership of GRID Alternatives Greater Los Angeles, for making these installations possible.”

The photovoltaic systems were installed in the homes of Edward Wong, a CSULB alumnus, and his family, of Los Angeles, and Zelmira Medina of East Los Angeles. “As a CSULB graduate, it was great to connect with these student volunteers from my alma mater,” said Mr. Wong. “On behalf of my family, I also want to thank all the companies for giving us the gift of solar energy for our new home.”

Kevin Webb, director of the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, added, “GRID Alternatives gave us the opportunity to further our mission to help youth with disabilities maximize their potential and participation in society. I’m impressed by the students’ interest in solar technology. We’re proud to continue our support of GRID Alternatives not only to help these students get practical experience in their chosen careers, but also to assist them to serve their community.”

Clean Energy, Education, Electricity, Solar

Rubio Commits to Supporting RFS

Joanna Schroeder

At a campaign stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa this week, presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio committed to supporting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) through 2022. According to America’s Renewable Future (ARF), this is the most in-depth answer Sen. Rubio has given on the subject saying, “Whether you like it or not, it isn’t fair to yank away something in the middle of it, after people have invested in it based on an existing government program. So, what I have argued is since it is already in place until 2022, let it stay in place until 2022 to respect the investment that people have made.”

ARF Co-Chair Rep. Annette Sweeney, said of his remarks, “Sen. Rubio’s comments show that he has spent time learning about this issue and we’re glad to see that he understands that the government needs to keep a promise to the Main Street investments made with the RFS. We’re also thankful that he is committed to supporting the law through 2022 and certainly hope to hear more from him on the topic.”

Rubio recently received a “needs work” rating from ARF on its midterm report card. The comments from senator come following the airing of ARF’s digital ads calling on the senator to stand up for Iowa farmers and support the RFS.

biofuels, Ethanol, RFS, Video

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1Simply Voting Inc. has announced that it has chosen clean, pollution-free energy for its Canadian facilities through Bullfrog Power. Bullfrog’s green electricity comes from a blend of wind and low-impact hydro power sourced from new Canadian renewable energy facilities.
  • Harvest Power, Inc. has announced that it has received investor commitment for $20 million in new funding that will propel the company into its five-year growth plan. In addition, Christian G. Kasper has been appointed Harvest’s CEO, replacing Kathleen Ligocki who has recently accepted a CEO role at another company. Harvest Power creates a more sustainable future by helping communities across North America better manage and beneficially re-use their organic waste through the production of renewable energy, soils, mulches and natural fertilizers.
  • EDF Renewable Energy (EDF RE) has closed on the transaction to sell a 50 percent interest in the 194 MW Spinning Spur 3 Wind Project to a fund managed by BlackRock’s Infrastructure Investment Group. This transaction is the third of five signed agreements between BlackRock and EDF Renewable Energy to close. The remaining projects, Roosevelt (250 MW) and Milo (49.65 MW) wind projects, will close upon completion of construction and tax-equity financing.
  • Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) has announced that it has successfully acquired an 8% stake in TransAlta Renewables, Inc., an Alberta-based clean power generation company, for the purchase price of CAD $200 million from TransAlta Corporation. In doing so, AIMCo becomes the second largest shareholder in TransAlta Renewables. The transaction is expected to close on November 26, 2015.
Bioenergy Bytes

Nanoparticle Helps Harvest Algae, Brew Biodiesel

John Davis

ntuResearchers in Taiwan have made a magnetic nanoparticle for harvesting microalgae, extracting algae oil and converting the oil’s fatty acids into a methyl ester, used in biodiesel. This article from the Taipei Times says a National Taiwan University (NTU) team led by Wu Chia-wen developed the product.

The team used iron oxide and silicon dioxide to form nanoparticles, which, when applied to algae solution, magnetically attract algae and convert their fat into biodiesel with an alkaline-based catalyst, Wu said.

Traditional algae-harvesting methods require large amounts of energy to break down cell walls, but the team’s nanoparticles effectively convert algae oil to biodiesel with a maximum yield of 97.1 percent of the oil’s fatty acid methyl esters, compared with existing methods, which yield less than 60 percent, Wu said.

Microalgae contain the highest fat content among biomaterials commonly used to produce biofuel, so microalgae has replaced corn and barley as a favored source for the industry.

Referring to the past few years’ food safety and tainted oil scandals, NTU president Yang Pan-chyr (楊泮池) said that nanoparticles can also turn waste cooking oil into biodiesel.

Biodiesel, International

Pilot Hill Wind Project Goes Online

Joanna Schroeder

The Pilot Hill Wind Project, a 175 MW wind farm located in Illinois, has begun commercial operations. The EDF Renewable Energy project was made possible through Microsoft Corporation’s commitment to purchase the power under a 20-year purchase power agreement. Pilot Hill will provide 100 percent of the energy needs of Microsoft’s data center.

EDF_PilotHill_20152917-0048_(Copy)

Pilot Hill Wind Project in Illinois generating 175 MW.

“EDF Renewable Energy is proud to partner with Microsoft to power its Illinois data center with 100% renewable energy, through the Pilot Hill Wind Project,” said Ryan Pfaff, executive vice president of EDF Renewable Energy. “Corporate America is increasingly turning to renewable energy to power its business operations, based both on consumer preferences and because renewable energy simply makes good business sense from a cost standpoint. Technology companies like Microsoft have been leading the way in this regard, and many other industries are beginning to follow suit.”

Located 60 miles southwest of Chicago in Kankakee and Iroquois counties, Pilot Hill commenced construction of its 103 General Electric (GE) wind turbines in September 2014. The facility will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 60,000 homes, according to U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Rob Bernard, chief environmental strategist at Microsoft, added, “Microsoft is excited to see renewable energy from Pilot Hill coming on line. We are strong supporters of green power, and projects like Pilot Hill are one way we are meeting our commitment to powering our data centers and operations with renewable energy.”

EDF Renewable Services will provide balance-of-plant operations and maintenance for the facility including 24/7 remote monitoring from its NERC compliant Operations Control Center (OCC).

Clean Energy, Electricity, Wind

Experts Present Case for Ethanol vs Gasoline

Cindy Zimmerman

ethanol-plant-rfaLeading experts in the field of lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis and agricultural land use today responded to claims that corn ethanol and other biofuels are somehow worse for the climate than petroleum.

A panel of scientists and economists refuted the suggestion by anti-biofuel advocates that carbon accounting schemes should not credit bioenergy feedstocks for CO2 absorption based on the notion that the feedstock would have absorbed CO2 even if it wasn’t being used for biofuel. Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Senior Vice President Geoff Cooper, who moderated the panel, called the assertion “illogical” and said “it’s a bit like saying the wind was going to blow anyway, so wind energy shouldn’t be counted as carbon neutral; or the sun was going to shine anyway, so we shouldn’t assume that solar panels are harnessing ‘free’ energy from the sun.”

California-based Life Cycle Associates (LCA) just released a new report on how biofuels have helped reduce GHG emissions in the United States since 2008 under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2). “The lifecycle approach is the best metric for greenhouse gas emissions for biofuels because it takes into account the fact that this is short cycle carbon that was recently removed from the air,” said LCA Senior Partner Stefan Unnasch. “The alternative system means that you have to have global accounting of all agriculture… that’s simply impossible and the opportunities for fraud are present everywhere.” Even if such a carbon flow approach was possible, if done correctly it would show that bioenergy reduces GHG emissions compared to petroleum.

LCA scientist Susan Boland explains that their recent study actually found greater GHG emissions reductions from biofuels than expected. “We found that the RFS2 has resulted in significant GHG reductions, with cumulative CO2 savings of 353 million metric tonnes over the period of implementation. These emissions savings occurred even though cellulosic biofuels have not met the RFS2 production targets,” said Boland.

University of Illinois-Chicago economist Steffen Mueller noted that much is made about land going into biofuels production. “But that land area is really relatively small,” he said. “There’s a lot of other land available that we can use to optimize sequestration potential.” Commenting on the latest Department of Energy analysis, Mueller said “…ethanol produced from corn grain and corn stover provides substantial greenhouse gas benefits over gasoline.” The latest version of GREET shows life cycle emissions for corn ethanol in the range of 63.5‒66.4 gCO2e/MJ, which is over 30% less than the 94 gCO2e/MJ for gasoline.

Meanwhile, Purdue University economist Dr. Wally Tyner takes issue with the assumption land used for biofuel feedstock production would have grown the same feedstock for some other purpose or reverted to a natural state in the absence of biofuels demand. “If we hadn’t have had biofuels in the United States, we might still be paying farmers not to grow as we were before biofuels came along,” said Tyner. “So the assumption that all of this would have happened anyway I think is absurd.”

Listen to the call here: RFA GHG conference call

Audio, Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Odor Wins Ethanol Racing Championship

Joanna Schroeder

Osceola, Iowa-based John Oder has taken the top spot in the Kearney Raceway Pro Class Points Championship driving his 1971 Dodge Challenger. Trailing by 60 points late in the event, Oder took the last two rounds to earn his second consecutive championship. Odor won six races in the 2015 season including his final three, and this year was his first competing with Ignite Fuel, a 90 percent ethanol and 10 percent gasoline racing blend.

John_Oder_KRP_Racer2“I remember thinking ‘Wow! I can’t believe I pulled this off,’” Oder said. “I didn’t think I had a chance of winning the championship again, but the car ran on the ‘number’ all weekend. It finally sank in the following week when I had time to think about the accomplishments and work I did figuring out the new fuel, carburetor and car setup.”

Odor made the change to Ignite Fuel when he was approached by Grady Koch, local farmer and Kearney Raceway Park investor.

“I wanted to supply a consistent ethanol-blended fuel for our racers and I needed a driver willing to give it a try,” Koch said. “Bringing in Ignite high performance racing fuel was a great decision for our track. We get a high quality, high octane blend of ethanol every time.”

Although Oder burns about 30 percent more fuel the economics still work in his favor. The race fuel he used previously cost more than $7.70 per gallon. Ignite Fuel has a 114 octane rating and is about $4 per gallon – about a 50 percent savings.

“I would recommend it to my fellow racers to improve horsepower, torque and consistency,” Oder said. “Ethanol fuel doesn’t corrode like straight methanol, so I was able to use all the same fuel system components.”

Koch is in negotiations now to bring Ignite Fuel to Nebraska circle tracks including Junction Motor Speedway in McCool and I-80 Speedway in Greenwood.

biofuels, Ethanol, Racing

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1Genomatica and Braskem announced they have been successfully producing butadiene at lab scale since June 2015, using their direct, bio-based process. The companies are jointly developing a commercial process for the on-purpose production of butadiene made from renewable feedstocks, as announced in December 2013.
  • The National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC), a program of West Virginia University, won three MarCom Awards in the 2015 international awards competition – one platinum, one gold, and one honorable mention. MarCom Awards is an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communication professionals.
  • U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz has announced $125 million across 41 cutting-edge energy technologies awarded by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). These new projects are funded under ARPA-E’s OPEN 2015 program and come in advance of the COP21 U.N. Climate Negotiations in Paris next week. The announcement was made at D.C. technology incubator 1776 at an event that focused on leveraging America’s top innovators to find technological solutions to combat climate change, enhance security and solve pressing energy challenges around the globe.
  • According to a new report from GTM Research and SoliChamba Consulting, Megawatt-Scale PV O&M and Asset Management 2015-2020: Services, Markets and Competitors, the global market for utility-scale PV operations and maintenance will reach 390 gigawatts by 2020, almost triple the estimated 133 gigawatts by the end of 2015.
Bioenergy Bytes

Heating Oil Assoc. Helps Teach About Biodiesel

John Davis

BronxBioheatThe Big Apple is getting a little smarter on biodiesel heating oil. The New York Oil Heating Association (NYOHA) says it’s helped a Bronx teacher get Bioheat into his HVAC training.

Peter Gonzalez is teaching the science of Bioheat® fuel – as well as math, chemistry and English – to 17 Bronx Design and Construction Academy juniors this fall, with NYOHA’s support. In addition to arranging for 150 gallons of pure B100 Bioheat® fuel and equipment to be donated by AMERIgreen Energy and Schildwachter Oil Company, Rocco Lacertosa, NYOHA’s CEO and a member of the school’s HVAC Advisory Board, recently visited the classroom to speak directly to the students.

“New York City has mandated a 2 percent biodiesel blend, and one of the things I’m trying to do is educate the students on Bioheat® fuel and the importance of the industry going green,” Gonzalez said.

During the classroom session, NYOHA helped the students gain insider views of the Bioheat® fuel industry. Lacertosa spoke about work opportunities in Bioheat® fuel companies, and AMERIgreen Energy’s Michael Devine provided an in-depth look at the environmental benefits of Bioheat® fuel as well as the fuel’s appeal to consumers. Peter Schildwachter, of Schildwachter Oil Company, also visited the class and donated new equipment.

“We are very proud to support the excellent work that Peter Gonzalez is doing to help prepare New York City students for a future in the Bioheat® fuel industry,” said Lacertosa.

Gonzalez has devised a curriculum of exploration in which his HVAC class learns through experimentation and reporting. The students are blending small quantities of heating oil and biodiesel and paying careful attention to the blend ratios. They burn various Bioheat® fuel blends up to 99 percent biodiesel in heating equipment and use combustion analysis tools to profile the emissions at each level.

Biodiesel, Bioheat

New Exec Committee at Nat’l Biodiesel Foundation

John Davis

nBBThere’s a new Executive Committee for the National Biodiesel Foundation. This news release from the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) said the group was elected during the NBB’s recent fall directors meeting in Washington, D.C., and the foundation is designed to advanced initiatives important to the commercial biodiesel industry.

Industry representatives elected to the board include:

– President: Mike Cunningham is currently a director on the American Soybean Association Board, representing the state of Illinois. Mike is a corn and soybean farmer from Bismark, Illinois. He has been involved with soybean association work at both the state and national level since 2002.

– Vice President: Mark Caspers is currently serving as a director on the United Soybean Board and recently completed a 12 year stint as a director on the Nebraska Soybean Board. He is a fourth generation family farmer operating a diversified crop operation on 600 acres in southeast Nebraska.

– Secretary/Treasurer: Jeff Lynn is from Oakford, Illinois and is a director for the Illinois Soybean Association as well as a trustee for Chandlerville Township in Cass County, Illinois. He is part of a family farm dating back to 1833 that includes corn, soybeans, and seed soybeans.

John Heisdorffer, Matt Jaeger, and David Womack retired their executive committee positions but will continue to serve on the Foundation board.

“We thank them for their dedication to the Foundation and biodiesel education and research over the years,” NBF Executive Director Tom Verry noted. “Their efforts have significantly impacted the growth of this industry.”

Biodiesel, NBB