GEA Good Source for Clean Power Plan

Joanna Schroeder

During the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency EXPO and Policy Forum that took place in Washington, D.C. on July 9, 2015, Karl Gawell, executive director for the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA), called on bipartisan action. “In the world market, policymakers are working to address the upfront risk of geothermal projects and shortening lead times. Congress needs to take action on pending legislation to make similar progress in the U.S.,” Gawell said.

He added that geothermal projects are subject to extensive bureaucratic delays. “Geothermal development projects can go through as many as six NEPA analyses,” explained Gawell. As a result, geothermal projects cannot effectively take advantage of short-term tax incentives. We need longer term incentives.

There are currently several pieces of legislation pending in the U.S. House and Senate that seek support for renewable energy including geothermal energy development (S.562, S.822, S.1057, S.1155 and S. 1407, in the Senate). Gaswell called out to legislators: “We urge the sponsors of the individual pieces — Senators Heller, Wyden, Tester, Risch, Crapo, Merkley, Murkowski and others (as well as Representatives Simpson, DeFazio and Gosar) – to work together on a bipartisan basis if an energy bill moves forward.”Read More

Clean Energy, Clean Power Plan, Electricity, Geothermal, Video

Tennessee Couple Busted in Fake Biodiesel Scheme

John Davis

scalesofjustice1Officials in Tennessee are cracking down on those trying to bilk the state out of money for biodiesel, maintaining the integrity of the state’s program. This article from the Chattanooga Times Free Press says John and Lisa Brichetto both were found guilty of trying to take the state of nearly $150,000 in a fake biodiesel energy scheme.

The Brichettos were the principals in Northington Energy LLC, which received grants and loans to build a biodiesel fuel manufacturing facility near Wartburg, [Russell Johnson, district attorney for the 9th Judicial District] said.

The News Sentinel newspaper in Knoxville in 2011 quoted former economic development official Becky Ruppe as saying the county hoped to capitalize on the energy development.

In addition to the grants and loans to the Brichettos — only $4,908 of which was actually used to buy equipment, according to Johnson — the state put in $293,000 worth of utilities and $150,000 for a road in the Flat Fork Industrial Park. The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave $25,000 for site improvements and Morgan County chipped in $9,000.

“We gained a lot of infrastructure for a little bit of money,” Ruppe told the News Sentinel in 2011.

But the biodiesel plant, completed in late 2008, never went into production, and a local bank later foreclosed on the 7,500-square-foot facility, the newspaper reported.

The Brichettos originally were indicted in May 2011, but several delays kept the trial to coming to fruition until now.

Biodiesel

BioPower to Build Waste-to-Diesel Plant

John Davis

BioPowerA Florida-based company will build a $175 million waste-to-diesel plant. This article from Today’s Energy Solutions says BioPower Operations Corp.’s wholly-owned subsidiary Green3Power Operations Inc. (G3P) won the award to build a facility which will convert waste into ultra-low sulfur synthetic green No. 2 diesel fuel using G3P’s exclusively licensed gasification technology and the Fischer-Tropsch process. The plant will be at the existing St. Lucie County Solid Waste Management Facility and extend the life of the landfill while reducing environmentally harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

Dr. Neil Williams, PhD, P.E., CEO of Green3Power says “St. Lucie County has a long history of implementing innovative and cost-effective technologies at the St. Lucie County Solid Waste Management Facility. This facility will enable St. Lucie County to increase their landfill air space over time while reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. To that end, and due to the close proximity of the site to the G3P corporate offices, I95, and the Florida Turnpike, G3P plans to construct our showcase facility at the St. Lucie County site.”

The facility will reduce the odors from waste collected, which will no longer be placed into the landfill, thus eliminating the disposal of organic waste in the landfill. G3P has been working with its strategic partner, Vanderweil Engineering, a joint venture partner in the facility which will convert approximately 1,000 tons per day of municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris, used tires and yard waste to synthetic diesel fuel. If additional waste is needed on any given day, the additional waste will be excavated from the County landfill to create more landfill air space, and reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions from the landfill.

Green3Power Operations USA and Vanderweil will design, permit, engineer, procure and act as contractor during the next 18 months while the facility is being permitted and built. G3P will also provide operations and maintenance for the facilities for 20 years with a 10 year extension, after the facility is built.

renewable diesel

Green Flights for Tokyo Olympics Athletes, Fans

Joanna Schroeder

The athletes and fans who are traveling to the 2020 Olympics and Paralympic Games in Tokyo will be flying a bit greener as Boeing and Japanese aviation industry stakeholders have charted a path to develop and fly with aviation biofuels. A group of 46 organizations have formed The Initiatives for Next Generation Aviation Fuels that along with Boeing includes ANA (All Nippon Airways), Japan Airlines, Nippon Cargo Airlines as well as Japan’s government and the University of Tokyo and others.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), aviation biofuels can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 50-80 percent compared to current fuel options.

tokyo olympics logo“Boeing is proud to work with Japan’s aviation sector, including customers and the Japanese government, to achieve their ambitious goals for developing sustainable aviation biofuel,” said George Maffeo, president, Boeing Japan. “Building on our longstanding relationships in Japan, we are committed to help reduce aviation’s carbon emissions and its reliance on fossil fuel.”

INAF said the Olympics and Paralympics are “the perfect opportunity” for Japan and its airlines to showcase their environmental commitment.

“Developing and using sustainable aviation biofuel is an excellent way for Japan to show its commitment to the environment and technologies that can reduce aviation’s environmental impact,” said Shinji Suzuki, Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics,University of Tokyo. “And, as the new aviation biofuel ‘roadmap’ indicates, Japan is ready to accelerate development and use of sustainable aviation fuels by the 2020 Olympics.”

Among the report’s conclusions:

  • Industry, government and academia in Japan need to collaborate to promote the introduction of sustainable aviation biofuel to support Japan’s energy security and reduce aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Potential feedstocks, or biologically based sources, that could be used to produce sustainable aviation biofuel in Japan include municipal solid waste, plant oils and animal fats, used cooking oil, algae, cellulosic biomass and residues from the wood products industry.
  • Policy incentives promoting the introduction of next-generation aviation fuels are a prerequisite to success in aviation biofuel use.

The INAF report is available here.

advanced biofuels, aviation biofuels, biojet fuel

EcoTech Institute Releases New Career eBook

Joanna Schroeder

Ecotech Institute has released another installment of their Ditch the Desk eBook series. The latest free book is a comprehensive guide covering everything from networking tips, industry trends, required electrical-engineering-coverskills and insights from Peter Luciano, a service manager with Konecranes.

eBook Ditch the Desk: The Complete eBook To Starting A Career in Electrical Engineering Technology also delves into how the renewable energy movement has created a new demand for tools, technologies and equipment to help companies and individuals use energy efficiently and finds there is an increased demand for trained professional technicians to assess these needs. These electrical engineering occupations take specialized training, cleantech industry knowledge and passion.

Now, future electrical engineering technicians have one place to access vital information about the industry, including:

  • Key industry facts about the electrical engineering sector;
  • Tips for job seekers in the clean energy field;
  • Expectations and requirements for electrical engineering jobs;
  • States where hiring is hot; and
  • Advice from current students, working industry experts and technicians.

The eBook is available for download at EcotechInstitute.com/eBook.

Clean Energy, Education

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering has announced that two companies affiliated with its incubators will participate in Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) demonstration projects: Smarter Grid Solutions and Sealed Inc. Both companies are affiliated with the New York City Accelerator for a Clean and Resiliency Economy (NYC ACRE), located within the Urban Future Lab. Projects by Smarter Grid Solutions and Sealed will show how technologies and new business models can capitalize on various value streams and how the benefits can be distributed among the utility, third parties and customers.
  • Clean energy investment worldwide was $53bn in the second quarter of 2015, just 3% less than a revised $54.4bn in Q1 2015 but down 28% compared to the $73.6bn recorded in Q2 2014 according to data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Global investment this year is facing headwinds from the financial markets, with the sharp rise in the US currency over the last 12 months reducing the dollar value of deals struck in other countries; and volatility in share prices, particularly in China, holding back equity-raising by specialist clean energy companies from both public market investors and venture capital and private equity funds.
  • Yingli Solar has announced that it is supplying 240 MW of solar panels for Latin America’s two largest hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP) power plants. Both projects, located in northern Chile, will also be equipped with 110 MW of CSP and 17.5 hours of thermal storage each. Yingli is providing over 780,000 multicrystalline utility-scale YGE 72 Cell solar panels to the projects, which be installed in two phases. The first phase of panel deliveries was recently completed, and the second phase will start in August. The first power plant is expected to be operational by mid-2016.
  • Solarrus Corporation and meteocontrol, two energy service providers for the solar PV industry, have announced that they formed a partnership to jointly develop a new operations platform to promote and deliver their respective services. By partnering with Solarrus, meteocontrol will now have the capability to offer North America customers the commissioning, corrective repair, and maintenance capabilities on sites that have meteocontrol hardware. Furthermore, the partnership will also be able to expand meteocontrol’s capabilities to also monitor the key performance indicators for electric vehicle charging stations and battery energy storage systems.
Bioenergy Bytes

DOE Invest $18M in Algae

Joanna Schroeder

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $18 million to six projects aimed at reducing the costs of algae-based biofuels to less than $5.00 per gallon equivalent by 2019.

The funds are being used to help meet the DOE’s goal of $3 per gallon for advanced algal biofuels by 2030. These biofuels can be used as replacements for petroleum-based diesel and jet fuels as well as products derived from algae can be used as petroleum replacements for products such as chemicals, beauty products, plastics and more. In the near future, algae-based technologies can achieve higher yields of oils. However,  to achieve the goals set forth by the DOE, barriers that still remain in place such as efficient cultivation, harvesting and conversion to bioproducts must be deconstructed.

The projects selected include:

  • Producing Algae and Co-Products for Energy (PACE), Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO – Colorado School of Mines, in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory, Reliance Industries Ltd., and others, will receive up to $9 million to enhance overall algal biofuels sustainability by maximizing carbon dioxide, nutrient, and water recovery and recycling, as well as bio-power co-generation.
  • Marine Algae Industrialization Consortium (MAGIC), Duke University, Durham, NC – Duke University will receive up to $5.2 million to lead a consortium including University of Hawaii, Cornell University, Cellana and others to produce protein-based human and poultry nutritional products along with hydrotreated algal oil extract.
  • Global Algae Innovations, Inc., El Cajon, CA – Global Algae Innovations will receive up to $1 million to increase algal biomass yield by deploying an innovative system to absorb carbon dioxide from the flue gas of a nearby power plant.
  • Arizona State University, Mesa, AZ – Arizona State University will receive up to $1 million for atmospheric carbon dioxide capture, enrichment, and delivery to increase biomass productivity.
  • University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA – The University of California, San Diego will receive up to $760,000 to develop an automated  early detection system that can identify and characterize infestation or infection of an algae production pond in order to ensure crop health.
  • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will receive up to $1 million to protect algal crops by developing “probiotic” bacteria to combat pond infestation and increase ecosystem functioning and resilience.
algae, biojet fuel, biomaterials, bioplastics, bioproducts, Video

Corn Growers Rally for the RFS Again

Joanna Schroeder

rfs-worksCorn growers will be rallying for rural America on Capital Hill Wednesday, July 15 at Upper Senate Park to support the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).  More than 250 corn growers will be on hand and have invited all others who support the RFS) to join them.

The main goal of the rally is to call on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to raise the RFS volumes for corn-based ethanol that were cut in the final rules for 2016. According to the National Corn Growers Association, biofuels such as ethanol strengthen and support American farmers and rural economies.

Featured speakers will include U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, U.S. Representative Tammy Duckworth, and NCGA President Chip Bowling.

Agribusiness, corn, Ethanol, RFS, Uncategorized

IFC Invests in Renewable Energy

Joanna Schroeder

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has announced the company is investing $25 million power company Alcazar Energy to develop and multiple solar and wind projects in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. The hope is that the projects will aid the country’s economic growth while meeting growing power needs.

Screen Shot 2015-07-09 at 3.08.46 PM“MENA’s solar potential alone is massive,” says Maroun Semaan, Alcazar Energy co-founder and chairman. “Enough solar energy hits the region every year to satisfy the planet’s demand for power. The investment from IFC will help tap into that potential and boost power generation across the region at more competitive costs.”

Many areas throughout the MENA countries don’t have access to realiable power supply. However, cited by IFC show that power demand will grow by 84 percent by 2020. It is estimated that around $280 billion of investment will be required over the next five years to meet MENA’s growing electricity demand and the goal is to ensure much of the power demand is met by renewable energy sources.

“Powers shortages are a key barrier to economic growth and development across the region,” added Mouayed Makhlouf, IFC regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. “By harnessing the region’s considerable renewable potential, we can increase supply of sustainable, clean energy, helping to boost economic growth and alleviate poverty.”

The initiative is part of IFC’s broader regional strategy that focuses on improving the region’s infrastructure through renewable energy projects and fostering regional integration by helping companies expand operations to different parts of the region.

Clean Energy, Electricity, International, Solar, Uncategorized, Wind

BIO Announces Conference Workshops

Joanna Schroeder

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has announced the schedule of workshops for the 2015 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology. These workshops are designed for focused discussions on the newest trends in business strategies, investment opportunities and technology development in industrial biotechnology. The BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology will be held July 19-22, 2015 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal in Montréal, Canada.

Screen Shot 2015-07-09 at 2.53.27 PM“Industrial biotechnology is driving innovation in the chemical industry and biobased industry has shown great potential in creating new jobs and business opportunities across manufacturing, industrial and agricultural sectors in the United States and around the world,” said Brent Erickson, executive vice president for BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section. “Government policies supporting the development of biomass and biobased products signals to private investors that there is a strong market for these products. The confluence of policy and investment drives us towards a bioeconomy that can provide better, greener, and more sustainable products that meet consumer demands.”

The workshops will be held on Tuesday, July 21, 2015. Click here for a full list.

advanced biofuels, biomaterials, bioplastics, bioproducts, Biotech