Country Star Launches College Tour on Biodiesel

John Davis

leebriceCountry music star Lee Brice is launching an environmentally friendly tour of college campuses, fueled by biodiesel. This article from The Boot says the tour is in partnership with REVERB, a non-profit organization that unites artists and colleges to bring about environmental and social change.

As an avid outdoorsman, the singer-songwriter hopes to focus his attention on outdoor preservation and water conservation.

“We’re hoping to offset the environmental impact of the tour by supporting clean energy projects and using buses and trucks fueled with locally produced biodiesel,” Brice says. “I have two sons, and I look at this as investing in their future and that of kids around the world.”

The tour begins April 8 at Campbell University in North Carolina. The singer’s tour announcement comes as his latest single, “Drinking Class,” was just certified gold.

Biodiesel

Ethanol Supporters Counter Funding Request

Cindy Zimmerman

houseEthanol and agriculture industry groups sent their own letter to House Appropriations leadership in response to a group of lawmakers calling for the elimination of funding for blender pumps or corn ethanol export promotion.

The letter signed by the Renewable Fuels Association, American Coalition for Ethanol, National Farmers Union, National Corn Growers Association, and Growth Energy calls on the subcommittee to “vehemently oppose and reject any efforts to include such limiting language” in FY 2016 appropriations for USDA.

It is important to note at the outset that there already exists a prohibition on the US Department of Agriculture using grant funds for the installation of blender pumps, which was included in the recently passed Farm Bill. Now, in a blatant effort to shelter the oil and gas industry from any further competition from ethanol, Representatives Goodlatte, et al. are seeking to place limitations on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s efforts to help promote the consumption of American made ethanol at home and abroad; something that agency has been successfully doing with other agriculture and livestock products for decades.

Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Jim Costa (R-CA), claim in their letter that the government has created an “artificial market” for ethanol that is “negatively impacting American consumers, livestock farmers, food producers, retailers, air and water quality, and the ability to feed our nation’s hungry.” The ag and ethanol groups responded that “corn prices today are below the prices witnessed in 2007 when the Renewable Fuel Standard was expanded and livestock feed costs are at their lowest levels in more than five years…Meanwhile, consumer food prices have advanced more slowly since passage of the RFS than in the 25 years prior to its enactment.”

Read the letter here.

ACE, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, NCGA, RFA, RFS

California Firm Buys Connecticut Biomass Plant

John Davis

plainfieldA California firm has bought a biomass plant in Connecticut. This article from the Sacramento Business Journal says Greenleaf Power has agreed to buy the 37.5-megawatt Plainfield Renewable Energy plant.

Greenleaf did not disclose a value for the transaction, which is expected to close later this year. But the Washington Post reported the sale price was $30 million in cash and $80 million in secured notes. The seller was Leidos Holdings Inc. of Reston, Va.

Plainfield becomes Greenleaf’s sixth plant, along with facilities in Mecca, Tracy, Humboldt County, Susanville and Quebec City. The acquisition brings Greenleaf’s total renewable energy capacity to more than 180 megawatts.

The plant in Connecticut opened at the end of 2013 and burns waste wood. The plan is to sell the electricity to Connecticut Light and Power under a long-term agreement.

biomass

Presidential Hopefuls and Agriculture

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Which potential presidential candidate would be best for ag?”

Of the 12 potential presidential candidates included in our poll, only one has officially declared. But two hopefuls have risen to the top of our poll. It seems many believe Hillary Clinton and Scott Walker might have the best interest of agriculture in mind, if elected.

Here are the poll results:

  • Joe Biden – 3%
  • Jeb Bush – 11%
  • Ben Carson – 5%
  • Chris Christie – 1%
  • Hillary Clinton – 22%
  • Ted Cruz – 7%
  • Mike Huckabee – 13%
  • Rand Paul – 4%
  • Rick Perry – 2%
  • Marco Rubio – 3%
  • Scott Walker – 19%
  • Elizabeth Warren – 10%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, What is best for GMO labeling?

Agricultural organizations are voicing support for the bi-partisan Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act introduced in the U.S. House recently. What do you think is best when it comes to the labeling of GMO’s? Should it be mandatory or voluntary? Should it include all foods? Should states decide? Let us know your opinion.

ZimmPoll

NASDAQ Trading SolarEdge Technologies Shares

Joanna Schroeder

SolarEdge on NasdaqSolarEdge Technologies is now trading on NASDAQ. The solar company announced its pricing for its initial public offering of 7 million shares of common stock at a public price of $18 per share. All shares are being sold by SolarEdge. As part of the offering, the underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to purchase up to 1,050,000 additional shares. The shares began trading today on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol “SEDG”. The closing of the offering is expected to occur on March 31, 2015, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Needham & Company, Canaccord Genuity Inc. and Roth Capital Partners are acting as co-managers. A registration statement relating to these securities was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 25, 2015. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus.

Clean Energy, Electricity, Solar

Retailer Takes Ethanol Story to Hill

Cindy Zimmerman

ace15-goodFuel retailers who have had to fight battles with big oil companies to offer higher ethanol blends were among those joining the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Fly-in on Capitol Hill this week.

Charlie Good has been in the fuel retailing business for 35 years as a convenience store operator and auto mechanic and he started offering higher ethanol blends at his Good and Quick store in Nevada, Iowa about 18 months ago. “And it’s just been a big boom for me, it’s added new gallons, it’s increased my customer base,” said Good.

The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was the main topic of ethanol supporter meetings with lawmakers and their staff this week and Good says even those they met with who have actively opposed the RFS are unlikely to vote for repeal. “The three of the five that we met with that were against it came out and said we’re not actually going to vote to repeal it…they’re just going to remain low key,” said Good.

Interview with Charlie Good, ethanol retailer


2015 ACE Fly-In Photo Album

ACE, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Retailers

Monopoly Utilities Expose Solarcism

Joanna Schroeder

State-sponsored monopoly utilities, as coined by the Gulf States Renewable Energy Industry Association (GSREIA) have exposed their ‘solarcism’ in recent weeks. GSREIA has accused them of being “ignorant” and “misleading” when it comes to solar energy. The nonprofit wants to keep the utilities honest and is publicly clarifying some misconceptions. At issue is the frequency that monopoly utility supporters confuse Louisiana’s low electricity rates with customer electricity bills.

“It’s embarrassing that groups funded by large utilities could be so confused on the basic facts on electricity,” said Jeff Cantin, president of GSREIA. “If low rates meant low bills, Louisiana’s utilities would never have to explain to the media and regulators why customers suffer from high bills every summer and every winter.”

Gulf States Renewable Energy Industries Association LogoA good example, says Cantin, that explains how monopoly mouthpieces get it so wrong is to compare the automobile gasoline price-per-gallon vs. a driver’s total bill at the pump.

Cantin offers an example. Assume gasoline costs $2 a gallon. If a Prius owner fills up that car’s 11-gallon gasoline tank, the gasoline bill will be $22. If a Suburban owner fills up that SUV’s 31-gallon gasoline tank, the gasoline bill will be $62. Obviously the Suburban owner’s bill is going to be much higher. And clearly, the low price of gas per gallon doesn’t mean the bill will be cheap. The same principle applies to electric bills.

While Louisiana’s residential rates are relatively cheap at about 9.4 cents per kWh, actual bills depend on how many kWh customers actually use. According to the latest information from the Energy Information Administration, Louisiana’s average residential electric bill was $119.98 in 2013. Residents in 36 states paid lower average bills, meaning Louisiana had the 14th most expensive average utility bills in the nation.

Although every Louisiana utility customer’s bill clearly explains that the number of kWh used defines the size of the monthly bill, GSREIA hopes the state-sponsored monopoly mouthpieces are making honest mistakes instead of purposefully misleading the public.

Clean Energy, Electricity, Legislation, Solar

Motor Club Rep: No Ethanol-Related Claims

Cindy Zimmerman

ace-flyin-15-hammondWhile AAA may be an outspoken critic of ethanol blended gasoline and E15 in particular, some other motor clubs think differently, and one of them was on Capitol Hill this week with the American Coalition for Ethanol to tell his story to lawmakers.

Gene Hammond with Association Motor Club Marketing and Travelers Motor Club, which represent 50 years in the business and over 20 million members, says they studied their claims over the past several years to see if there were any related to ethanol. “And what we discovered is that we have not had one ethanol-related claim where we’ve had to go out and tow,” said Hammond. “In fact, the opposite is true.”

Hammond explains that claims related to gasoline freeze used to be common in the northern part of the country, “but that’s gone away, we don’t have that anymore with ethanol.”

Hammond was pleased to join ethanol supporters in Washington this week for the ACE Fly-in to tell members of Congress and their staff his experiences with ethanol from an automotive standpoint. Interview with Gene Hammond, AMCM and Travelers Motor Club


2015 ACE Fly-In Photo Album

ACE, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • http://energy.agwired.com/category/bioenergy-bytes/Ceres, Inc. has announced that its biotech sugarcane traits have been advanced to the next stage of testing ahead of schedule due to positive data from initial field evaluations under tropical conditions in Latin America. Leading product candidates are currently being multiplied for wider-scale field evaluations which are scheduled to begin in May and June 2015.
  • Eco Wave Power, a world leader in electricity from ocean waves, has established a Subsidiary in Changshu under the name of “Suzhou Eco Wave Technology”. The Company was established with investment from a Chinese Governmental fund that believes in EWP’s innovative technology and provides funding for EWP’s first 100KW grid connected plant, to be completed by the end of this year.
  • EnerKnol, Inc. has announced that the third annual New York Energy Week (NYEW) series will take place June 15-19, 2015, featuring five days of events. Since 2013, the series has served as a catalyst for progress, by breaking down barriers across the historically siloed sectors of the energy industry. Breaking from a typical conference format, the New York Energy Week distributed hosting model brings a unique experience by demonstrating the leadership direction of the market makers themselves, and inviting the community to address the key energy topics at their corporate offices.
  • Waaree Energies Limited has announced the launch of its solar power calculator application (beta version) for mobile phones. This app helps you estimate the size of solar power system. It can generate a customised cost estimate for the given location with basic inputs like monthly electricity bill, units consumed, battery backup and area available. Apart from tax depreciation, it will also calculate area needed for solar array. The prices and calculations are indicative and gives the user a broad level indication of the probable savings and system size requirements.
Bioenergy Bytes

Appropriations Request Targets Corn Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

A group of Congressional representatives wrote to the House Appropriations leadership this week specifically asking that any funding to help install blender pumps or promote corn ethanol exports be eliminated from the USDA budget.

growth-energy-logoIn response to the letter, Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said “the request is neither helpful nor logical,” and also “unnecessary since there is already a prohibition on USDA funding blender pump grants in the 2014 Farm Bill.”

The letter was signed by 18 mostly Republican members of Congress, led by Reps. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Jim Costa (R-CA), who claim that “the federal government’s creation of an artificial market for the ethanol industry is negatively impacting American consumers, livestock farmers, food producers, retailers, air and water quality, and the ability to feed our nation’s hungry.”

“This request stems from a flawed and inaccurate argument that has been disproven time and again,” said Buis. “The government is not creating an artificial market for ethanol, but the RFS is seeking to level the playing field and ensure alternatives to fossil fuels have market access so consumers are given a choice instead of a de-facto mandate to use petroleum based products.”

The 18 members of Congress who signed the letter represent ten states – California, South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Vermont, Virginia, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

corn, Ethanol, Growth Energy