Sprague Buys Deepwater NYC Port for Biodiesel

John Davis

sprague-logoNew York City will have a little easier time shipping in biodiesel and other fuel products, as Sprague Operating Resources LLC, completes the purchase of Castle Oil Corporation and its Port Morris terminal. Sprague says the deal is worth $56 million in cash and SRLP units, plus payments for Castle’s inventory as of closing.

Castle’s Port Morris terminal is the largest deepwater petroleum products terminal in New York City, with a total storage capacity of 907,000 barrels, handling distillates, residual fuel, asphalt and biodiesel. The acquisition increases Sprague’s number of owned and/or controlled petroleum terminals to eighteen and its total in-service liquid petroleum product storage capacity to 10.9 million barrels.

“We are excited to welcome the Castle brand and the Port Morris terminal into our strategic network of waterborne assets and look forward to strengthening Sprague’s service to customers in New York City and the surrounding metropolitan area,” said David Glendon, President and CEO of Sprague. “As a result of the transaction, Castle customers will now benefit from a larger storage network and have access to an extensive portfolio of petroleum, natural gas and electricity products catering to commercial property management needs. Sprague is now the only New York City energy supplier with capabilities this robust.”

Sprague says the deal raises the company’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) for 2014 to between $80 and $90 million.

Biodiesel

CT Biomass Pellet Maker Looks for Expansion Space

John Davis

frogcityfuelA Connecticut-based biomass pellet maker is looking for room to grow. Engineered Carbon Solutions (ECS), the maker of Frog City Fuel, says it is still gaining commitments towards a mid-size manufacturing facility located in the southeast part of the state.

[T]hree entities have stepped forward and offered in excess of $1M in property, grant / loans and property tax abatement. We are in discussions with a confidential private company regarding a well-maintained facility in SE CT. This building facility would make an ideal location for our proposed manufacturing facility and if completed, would cement their position as an equity partner. The host town has, in turn, offered a tax abatement program which further reduces projected operating costs. Lastly, CT state officials have begun a process of committing as much as $400 thousand in grant / loans and are very excited about the prospect of a new manufacturing startup in state.

Frog City Fuel is made from local, waste stream post-consumer materials.

biomass

E15 Ordinance Passes Chicago Council Committee

Cindy Zimmerman

chicago-e15The Windy City moved another step closer to cleaner air with 15% ethanol as the City Council Finance Committee passed the Chicago Clean with E15 Ordinance on Monday. The ordinance would make E15 available as an option to Chicago drivers, and now moves to the full City Council for a hearing on Wednesday.

“I look forward to the full Council vote, and to giving Chicagoans a cleaner, less expensive option,” said co-sponsor Alderman Anthony Beale.

Supporters of the bill delivered a petition with 7,673 signatures to the committee meeting on Monday. “I’m very pleased this ordinance has such strong support within the Council and across Chicago,” Beale added.

Among the organizations supporting the ordinance are the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Growth Energy, and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). “The city of Chicago has always been a leader when it comes to fuel. It was the first city in the United States to ban lead in gasoline, the first to choose ethanol over MTBE in reformulated gas, and this ordinance would make Chicago the first major city to guarantee drivers the choice of a lower cost, higher octane, clean E15 fuel,” said ACE Senior Vice President Ron Lamberty.

Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis noted that approval of the ordinance will provide choice for consumers and jobs for the state. “(T)hey have displayed their resolve to ensure that Chicago motorists and other consumers have market access to a sustainable, cleaner burning, less expensive homegrown fuel that supports 73,156 Illinois jobs and generates $4.7 billion for the state’s economy,” said Buis. “By moving to E15, Chicago can help create an additional 12,000 Illinois jobs that can’t be outsourced.”

The ordinance would require all filling stations in the city to provide dispensing pumps and offer mid-grade E15 for sale, with a phase-in period of nearly a year and an exemption for filling stations selling less than 850,000 gallons of fuel per year.

ACE, E15, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, RFA

Pacific Ag CEO to Speak at BIO Pacific Rim Summit

Cindy Zimmerman

pacific-agThe CEO and founder of the nation’s largest agricultural residue and forage harvesting business will be discussing biofuel feedstocks on a panel at the BIO Pacific Rim Summit in San Diego this week.

Bill Levy of Oregon-based Pacific Ag will take part in the panel which will explore the realities faced by feedstock producers in today’s marketplace. Panelists will delve into issues in production and logistics, feedstock availability, ability to scale, competing applications for feedstock use, and new markets.

“There are many concerns surrounding the economic feasibility of harvesting biomass for food and fuel. The biggest hurdle of biomass conversion is price and volume predictability,” said Levy of his panel remarks. “What Pacific Ag offers is a sustainable supply at a consistent price necessary for industrial uses of biomass.”

Pacific Ag is leading the biomass harvesting revolution and has been expertly handling biomass logistics for more than 16 years – longer than any other U.S. company. Today, Pacific Ag is the exclusive biomass harvesting and logistics company for Abengoa’s cellulosic ethanol plant located in Hugoton, Kansas and is also working with DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol facility expected to go online in early 2015.

The “Feedstocks: A Global Comparison” panel is taking place Tuesday, December 9, at 8:00 am PT during the BIO Pacific Rim Summit.

BIO, biofuels, biomass, conferences, feedstocks

RFA Wants California to Consider New ILUC Report

Cindy Zimmerman

RFANewlogoThe Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is urging the California Air Resource Board (CARB) to adjust its current indirect land use change (ILUC) analysis to better reflect real-world land use patterns.

In written comments submitted on Friday, RFA’s Senior Vice President Geoff Cooper pointed to the recent study released by Iowa State University’s Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) raising concerns about CARB’s current ILUC predictions. Cooper called on CARB to “take into account the new CARD/ISU research and use it to immediately re-calibrate” the agency’s ILUC model.

Cooper calls the study a “remarkably important—and potentially gamechanging—contribution to the debate over ILUC modeling” which used empirical data to conclude 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.”

RFA’s comments urged CARB to calibrate its ILUC model using the new CARD/ISU analysis as a guide before sending the proposed rule for Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) re-adoption to the Board for consideration. If adjustments are unable to be made before the final proposal is submitted, RFA calls on CARB to “…delay proposing new ILUC factors until such time as the calibration is completed and new ILUC results are generated.”

Read more from RFA here.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Indirect Land Use, RFA

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFLauritzen Bulkers has signed its longest contract ever with U.S.-based Green Circle Bio Energy involving transportation of 600,000 tonnes of wood pellets from the U.S. to the UK and the European continent over the next eight years. Green Circle Bio Energy owns one of the world’s largest wood pellet plants.
  • Amyris, Inc. has announced the appointment of Raffi Asadorian as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, effective January 6, 2015. The Company’s interim Chief Financial Officer, Paulo Diniz, will transition to a new role as Chairman of Amyris Brasil.
  • The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $2 million funding support to develop a solution for collecting renewable biomass from fast growing trees. ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said Biosystems Engineering would be further developing, building and testing an innovative woody biomass harvester.
  • Sino Group, Arup and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University have unveiled a research project on the first in-building hydro power that makes use of unused water head in pipelines. Installed at Olympian City 2, the prototype is the second phase of hydro power research and the generator (output: 100Wh) represents a six-fold leap from the first phase. Under the model, water current passing through the pipe drives a novel vertical-axis turbine developed by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Water Supplies Department, which generates hydroelectricity from water pipelines. Electricity generated is stored in a battery, and can be used to power a typical lift lobby’s lighting system.
Bioenergy Bytes

Georgia Biomass Plant to be Built

John Davis

albanyboilerThe approval of a nearly quarter billion dollar biomass energy is closer to fruition. This article from the Albany (GA) Herald says the Albany-Dougherty Payroll Development Authority approved a $250 million bond issuance for the project to be built next to the local Procter & Gamble campus.

“It does appear (P&G, in conjunction with Albany Green Energy, which will manage the plant) is going through with this project,” PDA attorney Jay Reynolds said. “They’ve asked that we approve this bond resolution so that the tax abatements you previously approved will be in place by the first of the year.

“This is the culmination of something this board has been working on for a long time.”

The biomass plant will create steam energy that will be used to power P&G-Albany facilities, allowing the world’s largest home products manufacturer to realize global green initiatives it has established for its plants. Another vital cog in the construction and management of the plant is a plan that will allow Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany to utilize the plant for energy as well.

Not only will the plant provide power for the P&G facilities, it will allow the U.S. Marine Corps base at Albany to be the first Department of Defense installation in the country to realize net-zero energy consumption.

biomass

Ormat to Expand Kenya Olkaria III Geothermal Plant

Joanna Schroeder

Ormat - Kenya Geothermal PlantOrmat Technologies has announced they are expanding their Oklaria geothermal energy complex located in Kenya. The company has signed an amended and restated Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Kenya Power and Lighting Company Limited (KPLC).

Under the terms of the agreement, Ormat expects to increase the generating capacity of the complex by 24 MW, bringing the complex’s total capacity to 134 MW. The fourth plant is expected to come on line in the second half of 2016 and to sell electricity under a 20 year PPA with KPLC.

“Ormat’s Olkaria geothermal complex provides clean, reliable and firm power to over 200,000 Kenyan households, increasing the complex by an additional 24 MW will further benefit the Kenyan people,” said Ormat CEO Isaac Angel. “We see Kenya, with its progressive renewable energy policy, as an important market for us and where we will continue to explore additional projects. The synergies that derive from adding units to the existing complex allow smaller plants to be a cost effective and provide the additional power that the country needs in record speeds.”

Electricity, Geothermal, International, Renewable Energy

Quad County’s Delayne Johnson Featured on Car Clinic

Joanna Schroeder

Bobby Likis Car ClinicThe first cellulosic ethanol plant to go online in the U.S., Quad County Corn Processors, is being featured in an upcoming “Bobby Likis Car Clinic” program. Quad County CEO Delayne Johnson will be live on air this Saturday, December 6, 2014 at 11:25 am Eastern at WatchBobbyLive.com.

During the interview, Johnson will shine light on many renewable fuels related topics including a deeper look into the differences between cellulosic vs. conventional ethanol, the many benefits ethanol offers and what is in store for the future of cellulosic ethanol.

tN_112580_delayneJohnson expands on the benefits of cellulosic ethanol, “Quad County Corn Processors is proud to be one of the first companies out of the gate to produce cellulosic ethanol. The ethanol produced at our facility is reducing greenhouse gas emissions and helping lower America’s dependence on foreign oil. I am excited to join Bobby Likis to explain to listeners how cellulosic ethanol is made and the benefits of next-generation biofuels.”

Likis adds, “On Car Clinic globalcasts, I’m committed to expand listeners’ and viewers’ knowledge base beyond ‘the rumor mill’ so often associated with renewable fuels. Delayne will clear the air about how, specifically, cellulosic ethanol production is accelerating solutions on many levels.”

biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol

MIT Study Finds Wind Turbines No Risk to Humans

Joanna Schroeder

A new study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has found that living near wind turbines poses no risk for human health. The review took into consideration health effects such as stress, annoyance and sleep disturbance among others that have, in the past, been raised in association with living close to wind turbines.

“No clear or consistent association is seen between noise from wind turbines and any reported disease or other indicator of harm to human health,” the study found.

JOEMThe MIT authors considered a number of case studies in Europe and the U.S. to assess the impact of infrasound and quality of life for the populations close to wind farms. Although complaints from residents were more common during the construction of wind farms, other technologies such as gas and oil facilities drew more public criticism.

For example, one human health case study based on a wind farm located in northern Poland found that those living next to wind farms reported the best quality of life and those living further than 1,500 meters scored the worst. The report concluded that living in close proximity to wind farms does not result in the worsening of, and might even improve, the quality of life in that particular region.

Iván Pineda, head of policy analysis at the European Wind Energy Association commented on the report. “These results should lay to rest any concerns that some citizens may have with regard to living near wind turbines.”

Measurements of low-frequency sound (LFN), infrasound and tonal sound show that infrasound is emitted by wind turbines but disturbances to homes are typically well below audibility levels. Four large turbines and 44 smaller turbines were investigated in the Netherlands but infrasound levels were not deemed to cause problems and LFN sound in residential areas did not exceed levels from other common noise sources such as traffic.

Research, Wind