Wind Industry Presses Washington for Action

Joanna Schroeder

Republican and Democrat governors are pressing U.S. Senate and House leadership in an effort spur action on tax incentives used to grow the country’s wind energy industry. Washington Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee and Iowa Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, Chairman and Vice Chairman respectively of the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition, co-signed a letter insisting federal policymakers “support timely extensions” of the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC). The PTC is the primary federal incentive building more new U.S. wind farms while the ITC is the primary incentive attracting private investment developing the nation’s offshore wind energy resources.

“This bipartisan letter is a reminder that the nation’s governors are on the front line of the nation’s Governors Wind Energy Coalition logoenergy future and have a vital role in planning states’ future,” said American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) CEO Tom Kiernan. “They see first-hand how investing in the wind resources in their states benefit local economies and create opportunities for job growth. To them the decision to extend these incentives is more of an economic one than a political one. We look forward to working with all the governors to maximize the benefits of wind power to their states.”

According to AWEA 23,000 jobs were added in 2014 and there are currently $23 billion worth of new wind projects under development. But, cites Kiernan, that momentum is increasingly placed at risk as Congress delays action on passing policy capable of creating long-term market certainty.

“These tax credits have made possible the robust growth of the American wind industry and thousands of renewable energy jobs in recent years, with substantial economic returns to our states and the nation,” the governors’ letter reads. “But these gains are at risk today because ongoing federal policy uncertainty continues to hamper the further development of the nation’s wind industry.” Read More

Clean Energy, Electricity, politics, Wind

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is the topic of discussion at the next EcoEngineers quarterly Business Breakfast on Friday, June 12, 2015 from 7:30 am to 9:30 am at the Renaissance Savery Hotel in Des Moines, Iowa. Stephanie Weisenbach of Iowa Clean Cities Coalition will lead a panel of experts who will discuss the evolution in the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles in Iowa. The panel will include: Terress Farnham with Zebulon Innovations in Ankeny; Steve Larsen with Ruan Transportation in Des Moines; Kyle Weuve, WW Transport in West Burlington and Scott Meerdink, Meerdink Trucking, Inc in Orange City.
  • Banco Santander, S.A., Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board have announced the formal launch of Cubico Sustainable Investments, a London-headquartered firm established to manage and invest in renewable energy and water infrastructure assets globally.
  • Solar Power, Inc. has announced its wholly owned subsidiary, SPI China (HK) Limited, has completed the acquisition of 80% of the outstanding capital stock of Solar Juice Pty Ltd, the leading solar PV wholesale distribution business in Australia. The acquisition was previously announced on March 31, 2015.
  • Duke Energy Florida has received approval to build, own and operate a 5 MW solar facility that will serve the Reedy Creek Improvement District near Orlando. The facility will occupy approximately 20 acres near World Drive and Epcot Center Drive at Walt Disney World Resort. Construction is expected to begin mid-summer with the facility to be in service by year end. The facility’s 48,000 solar panels will be arranged in the shape of a Disney-inspired design.
Bioenergy Bytes

Ethanol Industry Pleased with NREL Study

John Davis

The ethanol industry is pleased with a new study released this week by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) showing existing service station equipment is compatible with E15, a 15 percent blend of the green fuel. The study also looked at vapor control equipment and found “an extensive list of E15 and E15+ compatible equipment available.”

lamberty“Rumors of E15’s impossibility and high equipment cost have been greatly exaggerated,” said American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) Senior Vice President Ron Lamberty. “NREL’s analysis confirms what we have been telling station owners since E15 was approved – most underground storage tanks (USTs), piping, and other fueling equipment are already compatible with E15.”

Lamberty said the ethanol industry has been criticized and called “dangerous” and “dishonest’ for suggesting marketers could simply put E15 in tanks they previously used for premium or midgrade gasoline. “Even after highlighting real-world fuel marketers selling E15 from existing equipment, the myth of high priced E15 infrastructure remains,” said Lamberty. “This study effectively busts that myth.”

Lamberty went on to say that “in stations where Big Oil couldn’t contractually ban E15, they had to scare the owners out of offering the less-expensive, higher-octane fuel.”

dinneen-capitolBob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, also commented on the study:

“This comprehensive analysis is both timely and relevant to the current debate about the so-called ‘blend wall’ that some would like to use to limit the growth opportunities for ethanol under the RFS. Clearly, the constraints to the increased use of E15 have more to do with the recalcitrance of refiners and marketers than they do any real infrastructure barriers. Today’s comprehensive study should once and for all belie the misplaced conclusion that infrastructure and ethanol demand limitations should justify a reduction in the RFS as it found most equipment at a retail fuel station today, including underground storage tanks, are compatible with E15. This study demonstrates that most retailers will not be required to break concrete and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to offer E15.”

The study was funded by the Blend Your Own Ethanol campaign, a joint effort of ACE and RFA to provide information for fuel retailers considering ethanol blends beyond E10. A full copy of the report can be found at BYOethanol.com, and interested parties can also register on the BYO website for an NREL webinar on the report which will be offered June 11, 2015 at 1:00 PM CDT.

ACE, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, RFA

Ethanol Gears Up for Friday’s RVOs Announcement

John Davis

epa-150Ethanol advocates are gearing up for Friday’s announcement by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the levels of renewable fuel to be mixed into the nation’s conventional fuel supplies. The Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) are mandated in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), but the EPA has been tinkering with the amounts, which could put the biofuels industry in jeopardy.

Fuels America continued its campaign leading up to the proposed rules with a full page ad in the New York Times today and a week-long sponsorship of Politico’s Morning Energy. The ads both present the choice before the EPA: rural economies and American innovation, or oil industry profits.

America’s Renewable Future (ARF) also announced that Iowa’s entire federal delegation – including Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, Reps. Dave Loebsack, Steve King, David Young, and Rod Blum – is joining ARF in urging the EPA to set strong Renewable Fuel Standard volume requirements consistent with Congress’s intent when the law was passed.

“Farmers and biofuels producers have done their part. The EPA needs to do its part,” Grassley said. “The levels ought to reflect the reality of what can be accomplished in an unbiased way. That’s what the law requires, and that’s what consumers who want fuel choices deserve.”

Brent Erickson, the executive vice president of BIO, published this blog on Medium about the EPA’s choice and how the agency should follow the law:

Back when Congress was considering the RFS, oil companies fought tooth and nail against a part of the bill that I call the “Consumer Choice Provision” (CCP). This provision directs the EPA to set annual [RVO] levels based on the renewable fuel industry’s ability to produce and supply biofuels. The oil lobby instead wanted a law that would have allowed the EPA to set RVO levels below those in the statute if the oil industry simply refused to invest in renewable fuel infrastructure…

Instead, Congress designed the RFS to increase America’s energy security, lessen our dependence on foreign oil (which often comes from hostile regions), extend its commitment to America’s rural communities and green energy investors and innovators, and encourage infrastructure development. The RFS now supports more than 852,000 jobs across America. And thanks to the promise of the RFS, green energy investors have brought three commercial scale cellulosic ethanol facilities online, producing the world’s cleanest motor fuels from agricultural residue.

BIO, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

Iowans Continue to Speak For RFS

Joanna Schroeder

With indication that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may finally announce the 2014, 2015 and 2016 Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by June 1st, Iowa legislators are once again calling for forward momentum of the RFS. Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, Reps. Dave Loebsack, Steve King, David Young, and Rod Blum—Iowa’s entire federal delegation—urged the EPA to keep the RVO levels consistent with Congress’s intent when the RFS became law.

ARF-Logo-Retina-AltThe RVO rules, which are one key element of the RFS, determine how much renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel will be blended into the U.S. fuel supply. Long-term and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the rule has frozen investment in the advanced biofuels industry of estimates close to $13.7 billion, and put numerous jobs at risk.

“Farmers and biofuels producers have done their part. The EPA needs to do its part,” said Grassley. “The levels ought to reflect the reality of what can be accomplished in an unbiased way. That’s what the law requires, and that’s what consumers who want fuel choices deserve.”

Loebsack said of the pending RFS announcement, “The blending volumes are long overdue and need to be strong to not only ensure stability in the renewable energy sector, but also for the high quality jobs the industry has created, enabling cheaper, cleaner choices for consumers. I encourage the EPA to not lose sight of the overall goal of this program, that is to take us into a new age of fuel and energy.”

“The RFS is the only tool that provides market access so that ethanol and other renewable fuels are sold in competition with petroleum,” added King. “The Consumer Choice Provision was enacted by Congress and sets the framework for RFS targets in law. The EPA, in another example of executive overreach, rolled back the RFS targets, presumably because of short grain supplies and high grain prices. We have since harvested the largest corn crop ever and seen prices cut in half. The EPA needs to follow the law and restore the RFS targets according to the directive of Congress.”

advanced biofuels, Biodiesel, EPA, Ethanol, Renewable Energy, RFS

DOE Offers $32M for Solar

Joanna Schroeder

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $32 million in funding to train Americans to enhance the country’s solar energy workforce. The monies are part of the DOE’s SunShot Initiative. The funds will also go to company’s that can develop innovative, low-cost concentrating solar power collectors and to increase access to solar data.

DOE STEP programAccording to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) the new opportunities will:

  • The Solar Training and Education for Professionals funding program will tackle soft costs by addressing gaps in solar training and energy education, both within the solar workforce and in professions that play a crucial role in solar deployment.
  • The Solar Bankability Data to Advance Transactions and Access funding program will increase data accessibility and quality, and will facilitate the growth and expansion of the solar industry by creating a standardized data landscape for distributed solar. The goal of this funding program is to support the creation and adoption of industry-led open data standards for rapid and seamless data exchange across the value chain from origination to decommissioning.
  • The CSP: Concentrating Optics for Lower Levelized Energy Costs funding program seeks to further CSP system technologies by soliciting disruptive, transformative projects for the concentrating solar collectors in the CSP plant. These innovative projects will seek to enable CSP to be cost-competitive with conventional forms of electric power generation.

“Last year, a new solar energy project was installed every two and a half minutes in the United States,” said Deputy Secretary Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall. “To ensure the continued growth of the U.S. solar industry and our clean energy economy, it is critical that we support workforce training programs that will give American workers the skills they need for well-paying jobs and also make sure American consumers have access to highly-trained, credentialed professionals when they choose solar to power their daily lives.” Read More

Clean Energy, Education, Electricity, Solar

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1Navigant Research’s Electric Vehicle Geographical Forecast, analyzes the North American market for light duty plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), including detailed geographic forecasts of PEV sales by U.S. state, metropolitan statistical area (MSA), Canadian province, Canadian city, and selected U.S. utility service area. With more than 133,000 PEVs sold in 2014, North America is currently the world’s strongest market for these vehicles.
  • The City of Maplewood, Missouri’s City Council has announced a proclamation to launch the EPA Green Power Community Challenge through 2015. Becoming an EPA Green Power Community will reduce the city’s carbon footprint by 6,089,716 pounds of CO2 each year. This is the same as taking 582 cars off the road each year. Maplewood’s Challenge represents a joint effort with Ameren Missouri Pure Power and St. Louis-based Microgrid Energy to encourage local businesses and homeowners to make a commitment to green power through either the purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), or the installation of solar power.
  • SunEdison, Inc. has announced the completion and interconnection of the South Milford solar facility in Milford, Utah. The 3.8 MW DC facility is now the largest operating solar power plant in Utah. TerraForm Power acquired the solar power plant from its Call Right Projects List. PacifiCorp will purchase the electricity via a SunEdison 20-year power purchase agreement, which enables customers to lock-in low priced electricity at long term predictable prices.
  • amp Trillium has announced it has opened two new CNG stations for commercial trucks traveling through Texas. Located off I-20 in Brock and I-10 in Kerrville, the public-access stations service all CNG vehicles and enable three Class-8 trucks to fuel simultaneously at 10-12 diesel gallon equivalents per minute.
Bioenergy Bytes

NREL Releases E15 & Infrastructure Report

Joanna Schroeder

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released a paper addressing the compatibility of E15 with gas station equipment. “E15 and Infrastructure” looks at compatibility of E15 through a literature review of published works by refueling equipment manufacturers, industry groups and federal agencies. The paper also includes a summary of applicable codes and standards, review of equipment manufacturer products, and verification with manufacturers regarding which ethanol blends work
with their products.

NREL logoThe report also addresses several misperceptions about E15 including that it is safe to store the ethanol blend in tanks. The paper states that for many decades, underground storage tank manufacturers have approved their tanks for blends up to E100, more specifically, all steal tanks and double-walled fiberglass tanks since the year 1990.

As part of the study all fuel and vapor handling equipment was reviewed to determine if it was certified by a third-party (such as UL) and if it was listed for specific ethanol blends. The aggregated list confirms there are UL testing standards available now for all gasoline–ethanol blends from 0% to 85% ethanol. The appendices includes a full list of E15 and E15+ compatible equipment. The literature review also finds that there were no incidents of E10 causing releases from UST systems were identified.

The study concludes, “There are future opportunities for retailers to remove or replace their current equipment not necessarily related to continuous changes in motor fuel composition. Credit card companies are requiring retail fueling stations to update their dispensers to accept new chip and PIN secure credit cards by October 2017, at which time fraud liability would switch to station owners if they have not updated their equipment. This presents an opportunity to increase E25 UL-listed equipment through a retrofit kit if electronics are being upgraded to accommodate the new credit cards, or if a station owner must purchase a new dispenser, it could pay a minimal amount more for an E25 dispenser. If a new dispenser is purchased, this may also present an opportunity to
upgrade to an E85 dispenser, but at significant additional cost.”

biofuels, E15, E85, Ethanol

USDA Turning Wildfire Fuel into Biofuels

John Davis

usda-logoThe fuel for wildfires is being converted to biofuels. This posting on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) blog says the agency is tackling the issue of what to do with the trees killed by bark beetles, a source of fuel for forest fires. While the huge bioenergy resource (projected to be 46 million acres) has potential, it faces some real challenges, including access to industrial centers able to process it into biofuel. Several USDA programs look to overcome that issue.

One such program, the Sustainable Bioenergy Alliance Network of the Rockies (BANR), is led by Colorado State University. BANR brings together scientists, educators, and extension specialists from universities and government agencies to work with industry partners to address the major challenges that impact economical and sustainable utilization of insect-killed trees for the production of biofuels and biochar.

Because collecting beetle-killed trees is more of a salvage operation than a harvest, BANR has created teams to address the various challenges. The first order of business is locating the feedstock, which BANR does through various sensing approaches. They will also develop models to predict future beetle infestations. Another team is tackling the logistical problems of harvesting, collecting, transporting, and storing the raw biomass without negatively impacting natural forest regeneration and water resources. Specifically, goals for this aspect of the operation include benchmarking the performance of equipment used to harvest, process, and deliver beetle-killed trees, and then optimize the logistics for site conditions, specific end uses, and facility locations.

USDA also wants to educate youth by developing middle and high school science units that focus on bioenergy; professional development for K-12 teachers; research opportunities for K-12 teachers and undergraduate students; and online coursework for undergrads, graduate students, and K-12 teachers.

biofuels, biomass, Government, USDA

SMART Adds Propane AutoGas

Joanna Schroeder

SMART has added 61 new Connector paratransit propane autogas fuel system buses. This, says SMART, makes them the second largest propane autogas powered paratransit fleet in Michigan and one of the top five largest in the country.

“SMART is committed to responsibly and eco-consciously serving the communities in southeast Michigan. By using domestically produced propane we help support local jobs and our economy,” said John C. Hertel, IMG_4653general manager. “In addition, using the autogas technology will improve our operations, lower costs and preserve the environment in which we work, live and play.”

SMART says the propane autogas investment will reduce emissions, save money, and extend the life of the vehicles. The total fuel and maintenance savings is projected to be $1.1 – $1.7 million over the lifetime of the fleet with a return on investment of less than four months. In addition, SMART says the cost of building on-site refueling stations at each of its three terminals was determined to be less expensive than other refueling station options. The vehicles and propane stations are grant funded.

“Residents in Southeast Michigan are breathing easier due to SMART’s decision to fuel paratransit buses with propane autogas,” said Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing for ROUSH CleanTech, whose company did the propane autogas conversions. “Plus, this abundant alternative transportation fuel means reduced operating and ownership costs for the transit agency.”

Delivery of all 61 SMART Connector autogas vehicles has been on-going since February and to date 14 vehicles have been placed into service. The full fleet is expected to be in service by the end of July.

Alternative energy, Propane