Poland can increase its share of renewable energy in power generation from seven percent in 2010 to nearly 38 percent by 2030, according to a report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). REmap 2030 Renewable Energy Prospects for Poland, prepared with input from the Polish Ministry of Economy, also finds the share of renewable energy in total final energy consumption can more than double to nearly 25 percent by 2030.- ampCNG has announced the opening of its public-access compressed natural gas station in Dalton, Georgia. Located at 107 Tilton Road SE near exit 326 on Interstate 75, the station features the company’s proprietary fast-fill hydraulic intensifier compressor (HY-C), capable of fueling 3 Class 8 trucks simultaneously at 10 diesel gallon equivalents per minute.
- Capstone Turbine Corporation has announced today that it has partnered with Argonne National Laboratory, a non-profit science and engineering research facility operated by the University of Chicago for the U.S. Department of Energy, for participation in the innovative Technologist in Residence (TIR) pilot program.
- ReNew Power Ventures, one of India’s largest clean energy companies, has announced that it has raised new equity funding of $265 million from new and existing investors. The lead investor in this round is a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), with a commitment of $200 million for a significant minority stake in ReNew Power. The new funds will be used for capital expenditure related to implementation of solar and wind projects.
RFA & RFF to Offer NEC Scholarships
The Renewable Fuels Foundation (RFF) is partnering with the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) once again to offer scholarships to students who are interested in attending the National Ethanol Conference (NEC). The annual ethanol event will take place February 15-17, 2016 in New Orleans.
“The NEC is the premier event for the ethanol industry, and it offers students a one-of-a-kind opportunity to meet the industry’s movers and shakers up close and personally,” said Mike Jerke, chairman of the RFF and CEO of Guardian Management LLC. “Our goal is to prepare the next generation of biofuel leaders to take over the reins so that the industry remains vibrant. The NEC is the perfect place for students to learn, ask questions, and network.”
“Fueling a High Octane Future,” this year’s theme, will enable students the opportunity to receive an in-depth look into the ethanol industry. Speakers will be discussing topics including higher ethanol blends, the Renewable Fuel Standard, E15 and global marketing.
Students who are interested should submit a 500 word essay explaining how their attendance at the NEC will help them achieve their future goals. Students will also need to submit two letters of recommendation, an up-to-date resume and school transcript. Scholarships are only available to students who are attending a U.S. institution of higher learning or foreign students who are affiliated with the U.S. ethanol industry. Applications are due by December 18, 2015. Click here for application materials.
Maine Biomass Plant Gets $500K USDA Grant
A Maine-based power plant is getting $556,520 in U.S. Department of Agriculture grants. This article from BDN Maine says Athens Energy is getting the money to build a new biomass-fueled power generator that runs on wood waste from logging and timberland thinning operations.
The USDA said the proposed Athens biomass plant would produce enough electricity to power about 5,409 homes. It would use $56,520 of the award to use waste heat from the biomass generator to dry wood chips at an adjacent pellet plant, owned by a sister company.
The agency also gave $500,000 to a subsidiary of the company Village Green Ventures, VGBLADS LLC, to build an anaerobic digester that can produce enough electricity to power 727 homes.
USDA also awarded grants to a dozen other rural Maine businesses, mostly to install roof-mounted or sun-tracking pole-mounted solar panels.
Green Plains Acquires Ethanol Plant in Virgina
Green Plains Inc. has acquired Vireol Bio Energy an ethanol facility owned by Future Fuels located in Hopewell, Virginia. The dry mill ethanol plant will increase the company’s annual production capacity by nearly 60 million gallons to nearly 1.1 billion gallon per year. The ethanol plant ceased production in September of this year due to low gas prices and at the same time began courting investors to purchase the plant.
“We are confident in our ability to significantly improve the plant’s production economics by applying our operational and commercial expertise,” said Todd Becker, president and chief executive officer. “We plan to make several capital investments before restarting the plant to increase its operational efficiency and production volume. In addition, we anticipate using the site to transload distillers grains that are produced locally and at our other plants located on the Norfolk Southern rail line into containers destined for export markets to further enhance the property’s profitability.”
Production is expected to resume by the end of the year and corn oil processing is expected to be operational during the second quarter of 2016. When the plant is fully operational, Green Plains expects to offer the Hopewell plant’s transportation and storage assets to its master limited partnership, Green Plains Partners LP.
BioEnergy Bytes
- SunPower has launched its Helix platform, the world’s first fully-integrated commercial solar solution combining solar power production and energy management. Helix is a pre-engineered, modular solution that is built to last and fast to install, enabling customers to scale their solar programs quickly with minimal business disruption. The Helix platform is standardized across rooftop, carport and ground installations.
- JA Solar has announced the launch of its high-performance 400 MW photovoltaic (PV) solar cell manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia. JA Solar’s first manufacturing facility outside of China, the facility is equipped to produce high-efficiency multi-crystalline solar cells for use in PV power generation. These cells will primarily be used to manufacture JA Solar modules outside of China to provide competitive product solutions for certain overseas markets.
- Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has announced it has agreed to jointly develop a 150 MW construction stage wind project in the United States with Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. The Deerfield wind power project is located in central Michigan and is being constructed on approximately 20,000 acres of land leased from a supportive wind power land owner group. The project will utilize proven turbine technology comprised of 44 Vestas V110-2.0 wind turbines and 28 Vestas V110-2.2 turbines and is estimated to generate 555.2 GW-hrs annually.
- Sol Luna Solar, a leading Solar Integrator in New Mexico and 2015 Best of Santa Award recipient (Santa Fe Reporter), has released their industry analysis of consumer owned distributed generation for New Mexico, highlighting the factors that are contributing to a renewable energy integration revolution in New Mexico and nationally.
The Clean Power Plan: The Fight is On
Fighting over the Clean Power Plan is getting heated with the Republican Attorneys General filing a lawsuit against the Obama Administrations for the recently published legislation. Focused on utilities, the goal of the program is to reduce carbon pollution by 32 percent. In response to the suit, Americans United for Change launched a digital ad campaign challenging the Attorneys General to quit doing the work of their “corporate polluter donors” like the Koch brothers. The campaign will be seen on Twitter and Facebook.
A December 2014 New York Times exposé revealed an “unprecedented, secretive alliance” and coordination between Big Oil and Republican AGs against environmental regulations. The article cited one Attorney General literally copying and pasting a letter drafted by energy lobbyists and sending it to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on official letterhead. Such legal and legislative efforts have been rewarded with campaign contributions to the tune of $2.4 million in the last two election cycles according to Americans United for Change.
While accusations fly that the EPA has overstepped their bounds, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the EPA’s authority to take action to limit carbon pollution three times. The argument also points to the Clean Power Plan hurting the economy, but according to Americans United for Change, limits will save the average American nearly $85 a year on energy bills as well as bring down costs for asthma, lunch cancer and other air pollution-related illnesses while supporting more than a quarter million new jobs.
“Some might call it a coincidence that the Republicans AGs who’ve taken tens of thousands of dollars from dirty energy interests are the same ones filing lawsuits against the Clean Power Plan, but I’d call it a serious conflict of interest and a breach of the public trust,” said Brad Woodhouse, president, Americans United for Change. “When a state AG chooses to serve as part of dirty energy’s unofficial defense team, who is left looking out for the public interests? If you’re a public servant and find yourself standing in the way of something that will save thousands of lives and leave millions of Americans less susceptible to air-pollution related illnesses like lung cancer to asthma attacks in children, maybe it’s time to consider a clean break from your dirty energy friends. Or perhaps a new line of work.”
USDA Awards $71M for REAP Projects
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding more funds to help rural businesses reduce energy costs in every U.S. state including the Virgin Islands, the Western Pacific and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The USDA is providing $102 million in loan guarantees and $71 million in grants for 1,114 projects financed through the Rural Energy for American Program (REAP), and the funding is for energy efficiency improvements and/or renewable energy systems.
“More rural business owners and ag producers are incorporating energy-saving measures into their business plans,” said Secretary Tom Vilsack. “These actions improve an operation’s bottom line and help reduce its carbon footprint. This funding will help incorporate renewable energy and energy efficiency technology and reduce energy costs. But beyond the local benefits seen by a company saving energy costs and the global benefits of reducing carbon emissions, this funding will also create American jobs by supporting energy production and efficiency installations that are made in rural America.”
Among the projects, nearly $6 million is being awarded for 17 anaerobic digesters in California, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington. In total, these projects are expected to generate and/or save 906 million kilowatt hours (KWh) of energy – enough to power more than 83,675 homes for a year and cut carbon pollution by an estimated 455,000 metric tons. That is the equivalent of taking more than 131,500 cars off the road for a year.
Biodiesel Making Hawaii Even Greener
Hawaii is well known for its lush green countryside, but the Big Island is going to be even greener, environmentally, thanks to biodiesel. This article from the Hawaii Tribune-Herald says Hawaii County is half a year into a successful switch using B20, a 20 percent blend of the green fuel with conventional diesel.
County deputy managing director Randy Kurohara said in an email the shift first was considered in August 2013, when the county’s Research and Development Department began to look for new ways of reducing fossil-fuel dependence. Previous discussions about the matter centered on reducing dependence in electricity production as opposed to transportation fuels, Kurohara said.
The county fleet of diesel vehicles consists of the Hele-On buses in addition to highway trucks and some off-road vehicles. Converting the fleet also was a recommendation of the county’s Energy Sustainability Program, which was released in 2012.
“It puts us in a great position to lead by example, and we have a facility here that actually produces high-quality biodiesel,” Kurohara said.
The Pacific Biodiesel plant in Keaau opened in 2012 and is capable not only of refining biodiesel but distilling it. The distillation capabilities mean more types of waste products can be converted to fuel.
“Nothing has changed in how we received the fuel,” said county mass transit administrator Tiffany Kai. “We have a fueling company that comes down to the county baseyard and the tank is there.”
“In the long run, we’re going to see the benefits,” Kai said.
The county will use an estimated 1 million gallons of biodiesel during this fiscal year.
Rethink Energy NJ Launched
A new poll has found that nearly 80 percent of New Jerseyans believe the state should invest in developing more renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Majority support was found across all political parties and all demographic groups. However, the poll reported that 62 percent of New Jerseyans think the pace at which the state is developing and adopting renewable alternatives is too slow. The poll was conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University’s (FDU) PublicMind for the New Jersey Conservation Foundation.
In tandem with the poll results, a new campaign has been launched called “Rethink Energy NJ”. The goal of the initiative is to inform citizens about the need for a swift transition to clean energy and a move away from fossil fuel reliance. Campaign supporters include the New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association and Pinelands Preservation Alliance.
“Investing in renewable energy is a win-win for both our environment and economy,” said Tom Gilbert, campaign director for New Jersey Conservation Foundation and Rethink Energy NJ. “Developing clean energy sources like solar and wind will reduce emissions that contribute to climate change and threaten our health, while creating jobs. This is a better path forward for New Jersey than the multitude of fossil fuel pipelines proposed that threaten preserved lands, our air and water, and our communities.”
The poll indicates that 77 percent of respondents are very or somewhat concerned with climate change in New Jersey. Eighty percent favor setting a goal of having 30 percent of the state’s energy coming from renewable sources such as wind and solar by 2020. That is higher than the State’s current 22 percent target. Similarly, 78 percent favor a bill requiring a target of 80 percent by 2050.
The poll also explored public opinion on proposed fossil fuel projects affecting New Jersey. One finding: New Jerseyans favor renewable energy investment over natural gas pipeline investment by a nearly two to one margin. In addition, most respondents are very or somewhat concerned with the impact of pipelines in the state.
Former Gov. Tom Kean said of the findings, “I am pleased to see the launch of this important new campaign, Rethink Energy NJ, to help educate the public and decision makers regarding the need for much greater scrutiny of new pipelines or fossil fuel infrastructure, and the urgent need to move forward with clean, renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency.”
AWEA Report: Wind Energy Momentum Continues
The momentum of wind power in the U.S. has continued through the third quarter and continues to post strong numbers. This according to the new U.S. Wind Industry Third Quarter 2015 Market Report released by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA). More than 1,600 MW of new wind capacity was installed during Q3 increasing the yearly total to more than 3,600 MW installed.
The top states with wind power capacity additions include Texas with 771 MW, Oklahoma with 398 MW, Kansas with 201 MW and Illinois with 175 MW. This quarter Kansas has jumped to 6th place and is continuing to build additional capacity. The industry is seeing stronger market activity as compared to this time last year, and given the construction activity in Iowa, the state is on pace to surpass California and become the second-ranked state behind Texas in installed capacity by the end of this year.
“We are on the cusp of greatness,” said Tom Kiernan, CEO of AWEA. “There are over $20 billion worth of wind farms under construction right now, creating well-paying jobs and spurring economic development in rural communities across the country. This growth is in jeopardy however, as continued policy uncertainty could throw the wind industry off yet another economic cliff.”
Despite the growth in the industry, there still remains uncertainty. While the U.S. Senate Finance Committee voted in May to pass the tax extenders package that included the extension of the Production Tax Credit and Investment Tax Credit, it has yet to be passed by Congress. Wind projects currently under construction are due to in part to the construction extension of the Production Tax Credit that occurred at the end of 2014.
In 2015, the wind industry has installed more than double the MW installed during this time frame in 2014. There is now over 69,470 MW of installed wind capacity across the U.S. – edging closer to the 70 gigawatt (GW) threshold. A near-record of more than 13,250 MW of wind capacity is under construction in the U.S., with an additional 4,100 MW in advanced stages of development.
Listen to the press conference here: U.S. Wind Industry 3rd Quarter Report Launch