POET Fights Pollution in Haiti with Ethanol Stoves

John Davis February 2, 2015

An American ethanol company is fighting fighting pollution and deforestation in Haiti with ethanol-fueled cook stoves. This news release from POET says the company has partnered with with Project Gaia to replace wood-burning stoves with the clean-burning, ethanol-fueled ones.

Today, most Haitians rely on charcoal and firewood to cook their daily meals. Consequentially, the nation has experienced extreme deforestation over the years, and now less than 2 percent of Haiti’s forest cover remains. Additionally, the United Nations estimates that the average lifespan in Haiti is shortened by 6.6 years due to illnesses caused by household air pollution, which results from burning wood and charcoal indoors.

To help remedy this problem, POET is teaming up with Project Gaia to supply the ethanol needed to power clean-burning stoves. Dometic, another partner in the project, is supplying the stoves, which will eventually be made locally, and Novogaz is organizing local distribution in Haiti. POET has selected POET Biorefining – Jewell to produce the ethanol needed to fuel the cook stoves. Project partners gathered in Haiti this past April to develop and discuss a plan to bring U.S. ethanol to Haiti for home cooking.

“The vision for this project is clear: to bring clean-burning ethanol fuel to the homes in third-world countries in order to improve the standard of living and drive positive socio-economic change,” said [POET Founder and Executive Chairman of the Board Jeff ]Broin. “For decades, we’ve known ethanol to be a clean, renewable fuel for our automobiles, and I look forward to bringing this same clean, renewable fuel to homes across the globe. With the help of our partners at Project Gaia, Dometic and Novogaz, I know we will be successful in our journey to bring clean cookstoves and clean energy to the world.”

POET is donating about 12,000 gallons of ethanol to jumpstart the project.

Project Gaia officials say that if every home in Africa, Developing Asia, Latin America and the Middle East currently using traditional solid fuels (charcoal, wood and other biomass substrates) would switch to ethanol fuel for cooking, it would save between 250 and 550 million forest acres per year.

Ethanol, International, POET

EPA Response on RFS and CARBIO Plan

Chuck Zimmerman January 30, 2015

I just received the following response information from the EPA attributed to Byron Bunker, Director, Compliance Division, Office of Transportation and Air Quality. The EPA representative I spoke with says the agency knows of the biodiesel industry concerns and wanted to provide a response to those concerns. The response is in the form of eight bullet points:

1. EPA is committed to getting the RFS program back on track.

We understand industry’s desire for certainty. EPA is committed to getting the RFS program back on track. We expect to take action on 2014, 2015 and 2016 this spring. We look forward to talking with all stakeholders throughout the process.

2. The CARBIO plan DOES NOT lower the RFS sustainability standards for Argentinian biodiesel producers.

Any claim that the CARBIO plan decreases environmental oversight is flatly wrong. The sustainability standards are exactly the same for all parties. This Alternate Biomass Tracking plan is simply one mechanism by which Argentinian producers can meet the record keeping requirements of the program.

The sustainability standards were defined in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007. Namely, in order to qualify for the RFS program, planted crop and crop residue used as feedstock for biofuels must be harvested from agricultural land cleared or cultivated prior to December 2007 (the date of EISA’s enactment).

The RFS regulations Congress established in 2007 apply to both foreign and domestic producers. Any foreign or domestic renewable fuel producer or renewable identification number (RIN) generating importer may meet the recordkeeping requirements for tracking feedstock from qualified lands with an alternative biomass tracking program that has been approved by the EPA. In fact, several countries already import biofuel under the existing regulations.

3. The CARBIO program actually provides for more rigorous oversight of Argentinian producers who choose to participate in this program.

For example:

· The plan is intended to ensure that qualifying fuel can be traced to pre-identified and pre-approved lands from which “renewable biomass” may be harvested consistent with regulatory definition of that term. The alternate biomass tracking program is a robust program that covers the whole soybean biodiesel supply chain, from soybean production through intermediate processing, to biodiesel production.

· CARBIO’s method for tracking chain of custody relies on a product transfer document called a cartas de porte, or waybill that has been mandatory in Argentina since 1998. In addition CARBIO will use land cover data from satellite imagery to identify land that was cleared or cultivated prior December 19, 2007 and actively managed or fallow and non forested on December 19, 2007.

· Any volumes that would qualify under this plan would need to have all steps verified by the approved third-party auditor before a RIN can be generated.

· Any and all other necessary RFS regulatory requirements also apply per the regulations.

4. Why would Argentine producers appeal to EPA for more stringent requirements?

It’s like someone asking a professional tax preparer to do your taxes. They know the codes, the regulation and how to manage the documentation. People want certainty and protection that they are complying with the extensive laws, which most common people don’t know or understand, and so they want the protection of the professional tax preparer. This is no different for the parties in Argentina.
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biofuels, EPA, Government, International, RFS

Biodiesel Plants Closing Due to RFS Uncertainty

Cindy Zimmerman January 30, 2015

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately establish biodiesel volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard to avoid further damage to the industry.

In a telephone press conference Friday morning, NBB officials highlighted fallout from the ongoing failure of EPA to establish functioning renewable fuels policy for the second consecutive year and said the recent decision to allow streamlined imports of biodiesel from Argentina under the RFS has only added new urgency to the need for stable policy.

In a letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, a former biodiesel producer and NBB Governing Board Member Ben Wootton challenged recent comments suggesting that the RFS delays haven’t hurt renewable fuels industries. Wootton lost his Pennsylvania biodiesel plant, Keystone Biofuels, in bankruptcy last year as a result of RFS uncertainty. In his letter, he explained to McCarthy how the loss of his plant also forced him to lay off 30 employees and caused him to lose his daughters’ college funds and his retirement savings.

“I would invite Administrator McCarthy to come to my shuttered plant and talk to some of the laid off workers, or to visit practically any biodiesel plant across the country to see the damage that is taking place,” Wootton said. “It is obvious that this administration doesn’t understand the severe damage that the uncertainty surrounding this rule has caused our industry and the thousands of employees it represents. It is beyond frustrating that an Administration I have strongly supported has inflicted so much harm on an industry it says it supports.”

NBB CEO Joe Jobe says the EPA decision regarding imports of Argentinian biodiesel has just exacerbated the difficulties facing the industry. “It is shocking that at a time when our renewable fuels policy is in a shambles, the EPA has essentially greenlighted biodiesel imports from Argentina to qualify for the RFS, with very little oversight or verification that the resources used to make the fuel will be grown under the normal RFS sustainability requirements,” said Jobe. “We have done everything we can for two years to help this Administration develop reasonable policy that matches President Obama’s stated support for renewable fuels, but we are at wit’s end. We are desperately searching for any indication that this support actually exists.”

Listen to the press conference, which also includes comments from NBB Vice President of Federal Affairs Anne Steckel, here: National Biodiesel press conference on RFS uncertainty

Audio, Biodiesel, NBB, RFS

Offshore Wind Installations Stable

Joanna Schroeder January 30, 2015

The European offshore wind industry has stabilized with new capacity installations declining by 84 MW in 2014 as compared to 2013 according to the new report, “The European offshore wind industry-key trends and statistics 2014“. During 2014, 408 new offshore turbines were fully grid connected, adding 1,483 MW to the European system. The total installed capacity for Europe now stands at 8,045MW in 74 offshore wind farms in 11 European countries.

Justin Wilkes, deputy chief executive officer of the European Wind Energy Association, said, “It is not surprising that we see a levelling-off of installations in 2014 following a record year in 2013. The industry has seen exponential growth in the early part of this decade and this is a natural stabilising of that progress. Offshore wind will have a monumental part to play in the EU’s energy security drive as part of the European Energy Union but it is political determination that will help Europe unlock its offshore wind potential.”

Wilkes noted that the technology and financing are there but long-term policy support is not. This is needed to to avoid the stop-go growth the offshore wind industry has been experiencing.

In 2014, the UK accounted for over half of all new installations (54.8%) with Germany in second (35.7%) and Belgium (9.5%) making up the rest. But for 2015, Germany is expected to install more offshore capacity than the UK, which has dominated installations in Europe for the past three years. The largest wind farms to be fully completed will be RWE’s Gwynt y Mor (576MW) in North Wales followed by Global Tech 1 (400MW) in the German North Sea.

Wilkes added, “Germany is set to buck the trend this year. The UK has more installed offshore capacity than the rest of the world combined but this year shows that other countries in the EU are making serious investments in the sector. The nine financial deals closed in 2014, of which 4 were “billion-Euro” projects, suggest that activity will pick up substantially as of 2017 as these projects begin to hit the water.”

Electricity, offshore wind, Renewable Energy

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder January 30, 2015

Whirlpool Corporation is using wind energy to power its manufacturing facility located in Findlay, Ohio. The Findlay Wind Farm is an $18 million “Wind for Industry” project, financed by One Energy. The wind farm will have five wind turbines with Whirlpool utilizing two and nearby Ball Company using three. The turbines are expected to offset an estimated 22% of the Whirlpool’s electric consumption.
While organic photovoltaics (OPV) still hasn’t achieved escape velocity from lab results into real commercialized products, according to a new report, “Organic Photovoltaics Markets, 2015-2022 ,” from industry analyst firm NanoMarkets, the current window for achieving success appears to be shaping up in a medium-term scope. New projections from the firm forecast OPV revenues to crack $500 million in revenues by 2022 — assuming the roadmaps and plans of key OPV firms stay the course and are not delayed any more.
Siva Power has announced it has closed a Series D financing round, which along with other recent efforts has raised a total of $10 million in new capital for the California-based firm. The funding enables Siva to begin building a key production component and narrow down its site selection for where to establish the world’s most cost-competitive manufacturing plant for highly efficient, low-cost solar panels.
E.ON Climate & Renewables North America (EC&RNA) and GE Unit have announced they have secured approximately $222 million in institutional equity financing and commitments to fund future capital contributions from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPM Capital Corporation in exchange for partial interest in the Grandview Wind Farm, LLC. The 211 MW wind farm is located in Carson County, 26 miles east of Amarillo, Texas, and features 118 GE 1.7-100 turbines.

Bioenergy Bytes

Greenbelt to Capture Ethanol from Wine Making

John Davis January 30, 2015

A California company will make a new system to capture the ethanol from wine production to sell the gas for commercial purposes. This news release from sustainable energy company Greenbelt Resources says the company will make the system for EcoPAS, engineering company for the California wine industry, that keeps the gaseous ethanol from the fermentation process from becoming an environmental emission.

“After a rigorous bidding process and extensive consideration, we chose Greenbelt Resources. With their cutting-edge ethanol technology and expertise we see a long-term relationship with Greenbelt as our partner,” said Marci Norkin-Schoepel, co-founder of EcoPAS. “By selecting Greenbelt Resources, we benefit not only from their innovative, green manufacturing capabilities, but also their experience in ethanol condensation, which allows the potential for future collaboration beyond contract manufacturing.”

EcoPAS selected Greenbelt Resources as a manufacturing partner to fabricate the initial full-scale PAS units based on Greenbelt’s technology accolades, extensive industry experience and reputation for delivering performance outcomes that exceed customer expectations. A portion of the product produced by the PAS may serve as an excellent feedstock for Greenbelt’s traditional modular distillation and dehydration systems.

“The invention of the PAS by EcoPAS is significant because of its ability to passively perform ethanol vapor-capture without the need for complex controls or major energy inputs – making it a truly environmentally friendly pollution control system,” said Darren Eng, CEO of Greenbelt Resources Corporation. “The EcoPAS management and design team share our vision and have created a growth industry simply by producing a much needed passive, pollution-control solution. Once a critical mass of Passive Alcohol Systems is deployed, the resulting volume of ethanol-containing product can generate demand for distillation and dehydration systems built by Greenbelt Resources from wineries and other fermentation processers in the US and internationally.”

Completion of this full-scale system is expected by the middle of this year.

Agribusiness, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Southeastern Effort to Promote Alternative Fuels

Cindy Zimmerman January 30, 2015

The Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition has joined sister Clean Cities organizations in the Southeast to promote the use of alternative fuels and vehicles. The joint effort includes U.S. Department of Energy designated Clean Cities coalitions in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.

“Drivers recognize that gas prices historically won’t stay at these lower prices for long,” said Mark Bentley, executive director of the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition. “We suggest fleets ‘bank’ their current fuel savings to invest in new advanced technology vehicles. We recognize alternative fuels have advantages that go beyond the price tag at any particular point in time.”

Bentley said alternative fuels offer fleets in the public and private sectors more stable and predictable costs, as well as lower vehicle maintenance costs. They also offer environmental advantages and economic benefits to local communities.

Bentley notes that the Southeast is a big growth market for alternative fuel vehicles. “For example, Atlanta ranks second only to San Francisco as a market for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Similarly, in 2013, Tennessee ranked ninth in the country for electric car registrations.” He adds that they expect the trend to continue in the region.

Alternative Vehicles, biofuels, Electric Vehicles

Corn and Ethanol Groups Blast Report

John Davis January 30, 2015

A report critical of corn-based ethanol is being blasted by groups representing the corn and ethanol industries as being the same old arguments that have been roundly rejected and criticized by the scientific community and disproven by the empirical data, as well as smacking of Big Oil’s efforts to discredit an American success story. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy all released statements critical of “new” research from the World Resources Institute, where Tim Searchinger and Ralph Heimlich re-hash their already disproven theories of “food vs. fuel” and “Indirect Land Use Change.”

South Dakota corn grower and a member of the Corn Board Keith Alverson said:

“This ‘new’ study is just more of the same, tired arguments Big Oil have been using for years. They simply are not true. In fact, numerous studies by independent, unbiased third parties have come to vastly different conclusions.

The fact is, ethanol is a very efficient energy source. When calculating the amount of energy used to produce ethanol, from farm to pump, ethanol represents a 40 percent net energy gain. No other energy source comes close. Ethanol is also better for the environment: reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 110 million metric tons, the equivalent of taking 20 million vehicles off the road.

There is more than enough corn to meet all demands: food, fuel, feed, and fiber.”

Bob Dinneen, the Renewable Fuels Association’s president and CEO, said:

“Providing a cursory update of a failed theory is not science and does nothing to enlighten the debate about biofuels. For the better part of a decade, lawyer-activist Tim Searchinger has been promoting the flawed notion that increased biofuel use places unnecessary constraints on finite agricultural land resources. But, the “land use change” and “food vs. fuel” arguments are as wrong today as they were seven years ago when Searchinger first gained notoriety with his doomsday predictions…. In fact, Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development put this issue to bed last November, finding that ‘…the primary land use change response of the world’s farmers in the last 10 years has been to use available land resources more efficiently rather than to expand the amount of land brought into production.’”

Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, released the following statement:

“The World Resources Institute’s latest report repackages old, previously debunked food and fuel, as well as Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) myths in attempts to discredit an American success story, one that is producing both food and fuel, while also improving our environment. Slapping a new title on this previously discredited research won’t change the facts—the American farmer is more than capable of producing an abundant amount of food, feed and fuel, and the air we breathe and our environment, as a whole, is better off for it.”

Buis added that without biofuels, the U.S. actually “might be producing less, not more food, in order to control the expansion of surplus stocks and assistance payments to farmers.” In addition, WRI fails to mention the last two record corn crops, falling corn prices, and co-products such as distiller’s grains that displace the need for other livestock feed crops and reduce the net acreage used to produce ethanol.

Ag group, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, NCGA, RFA

GEA Rolling Out Industry Assesment

Joanna Schroeder January 29, 2015

The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) is rolling out an industry assessment and early results show that there were 3,150 permanent, onsite employees, or 1.17 permanent jobs per megawatt installed, at geothermal power plants in California and the West. According to GEA, this is 19 times that of reported onsite employment of wind projects and 5 times reported onsite employment for solar projects.

“In addition to environmental and reliability benefits, geothermal power has important economic values to local communities,” noted Ben Matek, GEA’s Industry Analyst & Research Projects Manager. “While geothermal produces many more construction and manufacturing jobs, as do most technologies, we believe it is a leader in creating stable, permanent employment in the communities in which geothermal plants operate.”

GEA will be releasing employment and other data on the U.S .and global geothermal power industry at its State of the Geothermal Energy Industry Briefing taking place at in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, February 24, 2015. Event speakers are all confirmed and include experts in geothermal development, finance, technology and policy. The GEA will distribute the 2015 installation of its annual industry update to attendees of this event that will include statistical updates on the U.S. and global geothermal market including new capacity online, how much is developing and in what regions around the world.

Sessions include discussions on key opportunities and obstacles for industry growth in the U.S. and around the world, multilateral and private finance, the role of technological advancements in geothermal development, and policy and regulatory issues impacting the geothermal industry.

conferences, Electricity, Geothermal, Renewable Energy

Inspiring Words from Inspiring Biodiesel Advocate

John Davis January 29, 2015

There are many in the biodiesel industry who serve as inspirations, but maybe none as much as Greg Anderson with the Nebraska Soybean Board. The soybean farmer has been a long-time biodiesel advocate and has shown his full-time devotion to his fellow soybean farmers and the biodiesel industry in so many ways. Even after suffering a near-fatal accident involving a propane tank explosion on the family farm back in Nebraska this past August, he remained positive, grateful, and upbeat during his recovery from the painful injuries. And during the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo, he reminded the group gathered for the Eye on Biodiesel Awards, of which he is the Inspiration winner, of just how safe biodiesel is.

“Biodiesel is the safest of all fuels to handle, transport and store. I’ll be towing biodiesel from now on,” he said with an inspirational smile and applause from the crowd.

Greg said while his recovery was painful, he was helped by all the support of so many people. He found himself thankful for not only his life but a full recovery. He likens his recovery to the recovery the biodiesel industry is having to face now. He also reminded the group not to forget what’s important in life.

“At the end of the day, it’s not about what we accomplished or the material possessions that we have. But it’s truly about making others better, inspiring others, really giving back. And I’ve been blessed so much by you all.”

Listen to Greg’s inspiring remarks here: Greg Anderson

2015 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Ag group, Agribusiness, Audio, Biodiesel, Biodiesel Conference, National Biodiesel Conference, NBB

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