The quality of Wuxi Suntech’s polycrystalline silicon modules rank above industry standards according to OST Energy’s independent technical review of the company. OST Energy also provided independent validation that Wuxi Suntech’s production facilities are in line with international (IFC and World Bank) lender requirements for a primary supply chain. This review is the latest in third-party verification of the quality of Suntech products. Most recently, Suntech products received the VDE Quality-Tested certification, attesting that Suntech modules exceed existing industry standards. Suntech is only the third brand globally to receive this ranking.- Hanergy Holding Group and China New Energy Chamber of Commerce have issued the Global Renewable Energy Report 2014. The report found thatChina became the world’s biggest market for solar power in 2013, with the country’s newly installed photovoltaic generating capacity jumping 232% on-year to 12 gigawatts (GW).
- Maryland-based Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) and partners Marubeni and Toyota Tsusho announced today they have closed financing with GE unit (NYSE: GE) GE Energy Financial Services and 14 other lenders for the $775 million CPV St. Charles Energy Center under construction in Waldorf, Charles County, Maryland. Financial details were not disclosed. Located 25 miles southeast of Washington, DC, the CPV St. Charles Energy Center is a state-of-the-art 725-megawatt (MW) combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant using two reliable, highly efficient GE 7F.05 Gas Turbines and a GE D400 Steam Turbine. The project will be constructed by SNC Lavalin Constructors Inc. and operated by EthosEnergy Power Plant Services, LLC.
- Solar power costs have fallen dramatically over the last five years, thanks to lower module prices, lower balance of system costs, and increased competition at the development and EPC level. Financing costs have also decreased as investors recognize the low-risk profile of solar assets. As a result, solar power is now cheaper than most alternative power sources according to Thierry Lepercq, founder and president of France-based Solairedirect. Within this price range, Saudi Arabia could offer some of the lowest LCOE levels. Lepercq will be speaking at the second edition of Desert Solar Saudi Arabia conference that will be held from September 17-18, 2014.
ACE Retailer Roundtable
Two fuel retailers took the stage at the American Coalition for Ethanol conference last week in Minneapolis to talk about the trials and rewards of offering their customers a real choice at the pump.
Bruce Vollan (left) of Midway Service in Baltic, SD and Kent Satrang, CEO of Petro Serve USA in North Dakota, shared their stories of why they installed blender pumps at their locations.
“We’re about seven years of having our blender pumps in place,” said Vollan. “It was an ideal time for us to make a change as a small town business.” And, he added, it has grown that business exponentially.
“We’re a Farmers Union oil company,” Satrang said. “We are owned by farmers, so they would like us to sell their fuel.” Beyond that, he just wants to offer his customers a choice.
Both of them also talked about the costs involved in putting in the pumps and offering higher blends and what it has ultimately meant to their communities. Listen to their conversation here: ACE Retailer Roundtable
Biodiesel Bike & Truck to Race at Bonneville
A motorcycle and a truck powered by biodiesel are among those to race this year at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats… when it finally dries out enough! The arid region that hosts the yearly Nationals Speed Week, scheduled this year to run Aug. 9-15, recently received a couple of inches of rain, flooding the usually perfectly dry race course. Officials are aiming to try to put on the event in late September/early October, and once they do, racers from Utah State University will be putting biodiesel to the ultimate speed test.
At this year’s event, Utah State will race two vehicles powered by USU-made biodiesel: a 2011 Kawasaki KLR motorcycle with a 0.9 liter Kobuta engine and a 1984 Dodge Rampage subcompact utility truck powered by a 1.5 liter Volkswagen turbo-diesel engine. Both vehicles are privately owned and were offered for use after the owners witnessed the Aggies’ successful racing performances in 2012 and 2013.
“We’re tapping years of outstanding research by USU scientists Bruce Bugbee, Ralph Whitesides, Clark Israelsen and Mike Pace, who are perfecting ways to grow and extract the maximum yield from these sources in the most cost-effective manner possible,” says [undergrad biochemist Mike Morgan, driver of the race car that set USU’s previous records], who is also a USU Extension research intern working with Whitesides, Extension weeds specialist and professor in USU’s Department of Plants, Soils and Climate.
With Whitesides, Morgan is investigating use of safflower and other oilseed crops, grown in areas unsuitable for tillable agriculture such as highway roadsides and military land, for biodiesel production. The young scholar, who was recently named co-chair of the National Biodiesel Board’s Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel partnership program, is following in the footsteps of the late USU researcher Dallas Hanks, who pioneered Utah’s innovative “Freeways-to-Fuel” program. Hanks, who died June 25, 2014, from cancer, received posthumous honors from Salt Lake County during the county council’s Aug. 5, meeting.
“You’ll see ‘This One’s for Dallas’ on my helmet and on the truck at Bonneville,” says Morgan. “Dallas was a great mentor to me and I’m humbled and proud to carry on his legacy.”
In the past, Utah State researchers have run vehicle powered by biofuels made from yeast and algae.
ACE Awards Celebrate Power by People
Recipients of the annual awards presented last week by the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) exemplified the organization’s new theme of “Power by People.”
Gene Griffith of Patriot Renewable Fuels received the organization’s Grassroots Award from ACE Director of Member and Industry Relations Lacy Dixon. Griffith was recognized for the many ways Patriot has promoted ethanol to the public, including an electronic sign on the highway near the plant in Annawan, Illinois that features revolving messages about the benefits of ethanol. They also have been very active on social media with Facebook and Twitter accounts.
“Producers also have to help educate the public, as well as the industry associations,” said Griffith. Interview with Gene Griffith, Patriot Renewable Fuels
Recognized for excellence in journalism was Jerry Perkins, editor with Biofuels Journal. Perkins was Farm Editor with the Des Moines Register for more than 15 years and says there is no conflict between him being a journalist and his support of ethanol.
This year’s Paul Dana Award went to Charlie Good, owner of the Good and Quick store in Nevada, Iowa. Good had a conflict and was unable to attend the ACE conference but I interviewed him in March at the ACE Fly-in where he told his story about deciding to offer higher blends at his store over his suppliers objections. “I had to de-brand because the oil company didn’t want that under their canopy,” said Good. “My sales are up 20-25% a month and of the gallons that they’re up, virtually all of it is the ethanol fuels.” Interview with Charlie Good, Iowa fuel retailer
As already noted, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) received the Merle Anderson Award this year, presented by Merle himself. The Father of Ethanol was in rare form as he presented the award to his congressman, as you can hear all of in the audio file and see a portion in the video below. Merle Anderson Presents Award to Rep. Collin Peterson
Increasing Ethanol Plant Throughput
Syngenta’s Enogen corn trait technology is the first genetically modified output trait in corn specifically for the ethanol industry and in the past two years since it has been released the industry has seen increasing adoption.
“We’re a new product that’s been adopted by 6-8 plants already,” said Paul Lopez with Syngenta who gave a break out session at the American Coalition for Ethanol conference on how Enogen is helping plants increase throughput. Giving the presentation with him was Tory Kort with Chief Ethanol Fuels in Nebraska, which uses Enogen corn, who shared the results they have seen. “Our enzyme is pretty unique in terms of how it works … it really reduces starches down, making more sugars available, increasing the plant’s efficiencies, so increasing yield and increasing throughput,” added Lopez.
The first plant to adopt Enogen was Quad County Corn Processors, which produced the first gallons of cellulosic ethanol just last month. “They’ve been using our product for two years now,” said Lopez. “This is a win-win. The ethanol plant wins, the local grower wins, the local community wins.”Interview with Paul Lopez, Syngenta Enogen
Urban Air Initiative Update at ACE
The Urban Air Initiative (UAI) is a non-profit organizations dedicated to improving the quality of motor fuels to improve air quality and enhance public health, especially in urban areas.
UAI is building a diverse coalition of stakeholders to work on replacing harmful aromatic compounds in gasoline with safer alternatives, like ethanol. At the American Coalition for Ethanol conference last week, UAI’s Steve Vander Grind (left) and attorney Todd Palmer with Michael Best and Friedrich provided an update on the organization’s plans and how they hope to grower domestic use of ethanol.
Urban Air Initiative UpdateRFS Update from EPA at ACE Meeting
Environmental Protection Agency official Paul Machiele visited the American Coalition for Ethanol conference this week in Minneapolis to discuss various issues, including plans for the 2014 volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).
Machiele, who is director for Fuel Programs in EPA’s Assessment and Standards Division, said they understand the rule is very important and they are working very hard to get it finalized as soon as possible. “I can’t say when it’s going to come out because that will depend in a large part on the review time when it gets into the interagency review process,” he said. “That review can take anywhere from 30-90 days,” he continued, saying he hopes it will be expedited.
“We were blessed with 300,000 comments on this rule-making and not only do we have to finalize the rule-making but we have to respond to the comments that we receive,” said Machiele, adding that his staff is working on that project right now.
As it stands, Machiele says EPA has extended the compliance deadline for obligated parties so “they know what the standards will be for 2014 before they make their final decisions on buying, selling, trading, holding RINs for 2013.” Meanwhile, he acknowledged that the 2015 standards should already be proposed by now, but they expect to get that done shortly after the 2014 rule is finalized and “hoping that we can move that to final rule a little faster.”
Machiele also discussed final rules for new pathways, cellulosic feedstocks, and RINs, as well as Tier 3 regulations, and frankly answered several questions from producers at the conference. Comments from Paul Machiele, EPA
Ethanol at the Buffalo Chip
Every year that the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has been a sponsor at the Buffalo Chip Campground for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally we get the chance to visit with founder and president of The Chip Rod “Woody” Woodruff, and this year was no exception.
Woody is a laid back guy who founded the campground 33 years ago so people would have a place to stay and visit for the rally, at a time when some people in Sturgis wanted to get the bikers out of town. “So, a small group of us decided to look for a place to have a party outside of town,” he said. “This property kind of fit the bill.” After that, the party site grew into a campground and concert venue where thousands of rally attendees gather every year.
A few years ago, when RFA wanted to reach bikers with the positive message of ethanol, they decided to become a major sponsor at The Chip and Woody says it’s been great, especially when RFA started Free Fuel Happy Hours three years ago. “I have two motorcycles and I don’t know that I’ve ever used anything but ethanol (blended fuel),” he said. “There’s continuing to be more acceptance in using ethanol in your bike… and I don’t know why not. It’s higher octane than regular and less expensive. A cheap guy like me who gets a better product for less money, that’s my kind of tea.”
Listen to Leah’s interview with Woody here: Interview with Rod Woodruff, Buffalo Chip Campground
Future for Ethanol Blends
Getting higher blends of ethanol in the marketplace continues to be frustrating, even with the approval of E15 (15% ethanol).
The biggest problem continues to be roadblocks by oil companies, according to American Coalition for Ethanol Senior Vice President Ron Lamberty, who compared the sale and use of E15 to premium gasoline. “If you total (all the) vehicles that could use E15, we’re closing in on 15 million vehicles,” said Lamberty, which is 20% of the vehicles on the road. In contrast, about 12% of total cars are supposed to use premium gas, according to their owners manuals, but only 3% of the gas sold is premium. “Oil companies demand that marketers put premium in their stations … oil companies ban E15 sales,” said Lamberty. Ron Lamberty, ACE Senior VP
Following Lamberty at the ACE annual conference this week, Dean Drake of the DeFour Group talked about the next chapter for ethanol blend fuels.
Drake, who spent 34 years with General Motors, says increasing ethanol blends will require significant cooperation between automakers, government, and the ethanol industry. “Neither oil nor ethanol by themselves are a perfect transportation fuel, largely because of octane,” said Drake. “Gasoline is the king when it comes to energy density, but it also has a fairly low octane rating. Ethanol, while having less energy, has a very high octane rating.”
He talked about the potential for what he calls “eco-performance” fuels. “What we’re talking about here is a fuel that would be widely available that would allow auto manufacturers to build advanced vehicles,” he said.
Learn more here: Dean Drake, DeFour Group
Volkswagen Focuses on Ultra-Low-Carbon Mobility
Volkswagen of America, Inc. is continuing to roll out plans for its holistic approach to e-mobility. Beginning with the launch of the zero-tailpipe emissions 2015 e-Golf model later this year, Volkswagen will invest in carbon reduction projects to offset emissions created from e-Golf production, distribution and up to approximately 36,000 miles of driving. Volkswagen also named SunPower as the official solar energy partner power provider. Volkswagen believes they will be one of the first high-volume manufacturers to deliver a truly holistic approach to ultra-low-carbon mobility.
To help determine its carbon offset projects, Volkswagen has teamed with 3Degrees, a renewable energy and carbon offset services provider. By investing in carbon reduction programs, Volkswagen said they will offset the e-Golf’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that result from its production, distribution and from the estimated emissions produced from keeping the vehicle charged through the initial 36,000 miles of the vehicle’s life. Volkswagen of America chose to include carbon reduction efforts in California and in Texas with projects geared towards forestry conservation and landfill gas capture.
“Volkswagen feels it is important to look beyond the benefits of driving a vehicle without tailpipe emissions and to take a holistic approach to e-mobility,” said Oliver Schmidt, general manager, Environment and Engineering Office, Volkswagen Group of America. “We now have the ability to offer offsets that approximate the emissions created from production, distribution and the initial 36,000 miles of use.”
Volkswagen-supported projects included the Garcia River Conservation-Based Forest Management Project, located in Mendocino County, Calif., to protects and preserves a 24,000-acre native redwood forest, increasing carbon sequestration and storage, while also helping to restore the natural wildlife habitat. The company is also supporting the Big River and Salmon Creek Forests, located in Mendocino County, California, and the McKinney Landfill project, based at a closed landfill in McKinney, Texas.
“Volkswagen is showing leadership by including carbon offsets standard with this e-Golf electric vehicle,” added Steve McDougal, President of 3Degrees. “As more people choose low and no emission cars, Volkswagen is making it possible – and easy – to think comprehensively about the greenhouse gas emissions profile of a vehicle.”