U.S. Biogas Producer Map Unveiled

Joanna Schroeder

The 2015 U.S. Biogas Producer Map and list is now available from Biomass Magazine. The online map plots the location and status of all U.S. biogas production from on-farm facilities and waste water treatment plants producing grid-connected bioenergy.

2015 Biomass Map“We’re very excited to take our first step towards bringing our biogas data and map offering to the same level our readers and audience enjoy in the biomass power, pellets, advanced biofuel, ethanol and biodiesel segments,” said Tim Portz, vice president of content and executive editor at BBI International, the publisher of the magazine. “Biogas is an exciting piece of the larger biomass-to-energy space that is experiencing great momentum right now.”

BBI said they are investing substantial resources into the project due to a lack of aggregated data on biogas production available to the public. According to Portz, “The biogas industry is a challenging one to get your arms around from a geospatial and data perspective. Digesters are deployed into so many different industrial and agricultural applications and they are capable of producing heat, power or vehicle fuels. They are unique in that way and drawing a box around which digesters to include was a challenge.”

The team at Biomass Magazine focused on creating a comprehensive and accurate dataset available for anyone looking to find information about biogas producers. “We decided two years ago that for an online map to be of any value, we had to move towards dropping the pin right on top of the facility,” added Portz. “For a long time, our online maps were like most of the others that are available. The pin was dropped on a zip code or a street address of an administrative office. We went through the effort to identify the exact latitudes and longitudes of each facility in the industries we cover and the difference is immediately apparent.”

The biogas producer map currently highlights on-farm digesters and wastewater treatment plants that deliver electricity to the grid. Over the course of the next several months Biomass Magazine will be adding community digesters and digesters that deliver a thermal load to industrial facilities such as breweries.

advanced biofuels, biomass

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFThe Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has welcomed a new member: Hankinson Renewable Energy. The North Dakota ethanol facility employs 51 full time employees, producing 132 million gallons of ethanol and 400,000 tons of dried distillers grain with solubles each year.
  • Dyadic International, Inc. has announced the appointment of Thomas “Tom” Dubinski as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Dubinski will be responsible for leading the financial and information technology operations for Dyadic and will succeed Michael Faby effective August 4, 2014.
  • Growth Energy has welcomed Western New York Energy LLC as its newest member. Western New York Energy is located in Medina, N.Y. Western New York Energy LLC processes approximately 20 million bushels of corn into over 55 million gallons of ethanol annually, which is blended with gasoline throughout western New York. The facility also produces 160,000 tons of highly nutritious animal feed for the region.
  • Alcohol School 2014 is taking place in Montreal, Quebec September 14-19, 2014. The training is geared toward lab, plant and management personnel from fuel, beverage alcohol and allied industries. Courses are provided in English at a university level and are designed to educate delegates on proven technology and advances in fuel ethanol and distilled beverage production. Delegates have the opportunity to attend either Fuel or Distilled Beverage lectures. In its 34th year, the Alcohol School features leading industry scientists and academics, as well as Ethanol Technology Institute experts, including scientific director Dr. Graeme Walker, will direct lectures and laboratory demonstrations.
Bioenergy Bytes

Grassley Adds Biodiesel, Wind Amendments to Jobs Bill

John Davis

grassley-headA U.S. senator has filed amendments to a jobs bill that would renew the expired wind energy and biodiesel tax incentives… although he admits it could be just political posturing. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) wants to add the renewals to the Bring Jobs Home Act, which he says really is just political messaging and not a serious jobs bill.

“I don’t expect to be allowed to offer my amendments because the Senate majority leader shuts out amendments from the Republican side,” Grassley said. “But I want to draw attention to the potential growth in a sector of the economy that’s right under our noses. This area could get a real boost if the majority in Congress chooses to act to restore these tax incentives.

“In fact, if the majority leader were really interested in jobs, he would devote floor time to debating and processing the pending bipartisan tax extenders legislation as it should be processed, in its entirety, to provide certainty to businesses and individuals alike. There’s no reason this tax relief legislation should be left to sit on the sidelines. Instead, it should be front and center in any effort to spur job-generating economic activity.”

Grassley had already secured renewal of the expired wind energy and biodiesel tax provisions, which expired at the beginning of this year, in a tax measure passed out of the Finance Committee back in April, but that bill is still awaiting action from the full Senate.

Biodiesel, Government, Legislation, Wind

New England Biodiesel Maker Turns to Crowd for Improvements

John Davis

GSB1A biodiesel maker in New England is turning to the crowd to get a little help with its next upgrade and expansion. New Hampshire-based Granite State Biofuels has set up a crowdsourcing website to solicit money for a new piece of equipment with a goal of raising $50,000 total.

We need to purchase analytical equipment which will help us to refine our process in real time. Right now, independent testing labs take several days to report results and are expensive. This $40,000 investment will significantly increase our speed of development and lower our cost of production.

If we are fortunate to secure additional funding, we will use this to begin the process of establishing our second production facility. It has always been our plan to establish a source of clean renewable fuels suitable for marine and then jet applications. Biodiesel is truly biodegradable, it is less caustic than salt and biodegrades faster than sugar making it an ideal fuel for use on and around our precious oceans and fragile atmosphere. These industries know they need to have alternatives but they are simply not there in the quantities required. Numerous market research efforts are predicting very high demand and growth in these areas and we feel we have the technology to deliver in these markets.

Granite State Biofuels currently operates a 3.75 million gallons per year biodiesel production facility.

Biodiesel

Kyocera Celebrates Tailand Solar Farm Completion

Joanna Schroeder

SPCG Public Company Limited and Kyocera Corporation have begun full operational launch of one of Southeast Asia’s largest solar power projects. Since 2010, 35 “solar farms” totaling approximately 257 megawatts (MW) have been constructed under the project, and connected to the utility grid in Northeastern Thailand. A ceremony held earlier this month in Surin Province commemorated the launch of the installations.

The project has an annual power output of approximately 345,000,000kWh — equal to the annual electrical consumption of approximately 287,500 Thai households. The power generated from the solar farms will be supplied to the Provincial Electricity Authority of Thailand (PEA).

7.46MW Solar Power Plant in Korat Thailand 2 Photo-Kyocera“Drawing from our four decades of experience in the solar industry, Kyocera has delivered high-quality solar modules which will generate clean, renewable energy for many years to come,” said Mr. Nobuo Kitamura, Senior Executive Officer and General Manager of the Corporate Solar Energy Group at Kyocera Corporation. “Kyocera is honored to have taken part in this project, which we believe is an important milestone for the development of solar energy in Thailand.”

Kyocera notes that Thailand’s rapidly expanding economy has brought rising concerns regarding the national power supply in recent years, alongside growing awareness of the need to reduce dependence on gas imports. In order to diversify its energy portfolio, a feed-in-tariff system for renewable energy sources was adopted in 2007. In response to the resulting strong demand for renewable energy, SPCG began the solar farm project in 2009 to construct and operate multiple solar power plants in Thailand. Kyocera was chosen to supply the necessary solar modules, totaling approximately 1,100,000 panels for all sites. The 35th solar farm was completed and connected to the utility grid in June 2014.

Wandee Khunchornyakong, CEO of SPCG Public Company Limited said of the project, “SPCG is very proud to be a pioneer of solar farm development in Thailand and the ASEAN community. SPCG is confident that our success will be an aid to future generations,” said “We are highly honored to be able to achieve this together with Kyocera, our long-term partner, with whom we shared the same philosophy, vision, and determination to develop one of the best solar projects in the world.”

The companies hope that the newly launched solar farms will reinforce the region’s power supply. They remain committed to promoting solar energy as a means to attain a low-carbon society.

Electricity, Renewable Energy, Solar

Green Charge Networks Closes $56M Capital Raise

Joanna Schroeder

Green Charge Networks has closed a $56 million capital raise. K Road DG is providing funding and strategic management services to the company to enable them to accelerate deployment of GreenStation, under Green Charge’s Power Efficiency Agreement (PEASM). According to the company, the funding round is the largest amount of capital raised by any company in the intelligent energy storage space.

Green Charge offers an energy storage product that they say is proven to reduce power demand charges for commercial and industrial customers on their monthly utility bills. Green Charge’s GreenStation has been successfully installed by 7-Eleven, Walgreens, UPS, school campuses, and cities across New York and California. Now with the PEASM, Green Charge will own and operate energy storage assets deployed at customer sites, while providing the customer with a powerful combination of utility bill savings, zero capital and maintenance costs, and mitigated performance risk.

GCN_Stacked_Logo“Power efficiency is the next frontier in energy savings,” said Vic Shao, CEO at Green Charge. “We plan to leverage the alliance and financing from K Road DG to scale our company’s deployments and continue our customer-centric innovations.”

Green Charge Network explains that similar to a solar Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), the PEASM shifts the performance burden onto Green Charge as the asset owner instead of the customer. This type of financing model was key to spreading distributed solar around the globe, but has not been available in the energy storage market until now. This financing allows Green Charge to serve the broadest cross-section of the market.

“We are excited to enter into this strategic alliance and to provide growth capital that will drive deployment of Green Charge’s innovative technology to C&I customers on a commercial scale,” added William Kriegel, CEO of K Road DG. “K Road DG believes that Green Charge’s technology solutions respond directly to a global demand for intelligent energy storage.”

Market research firm IHS predicts that the energy storage market is expected to grow to an annual installation rate of over 40 GW by 2022 — from only 0.34 GW in 2012 and 2013.

Electricity, energy efficiency, Energy Storage

NRDC Report Guides Buying Sustainable Biofuels

Joanna Schroeder

A new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) looks at how federal agencies and other large commercial customers can buy sustainably produced biofuels and avoid those linked to things such as defined by NRDC as major deforestation, destroyed wildlife habitat and fouled waterways.

NRDC Sustainable Biofuels Fact SheetThe report “Biofuel Sustainability Performance Guidelines,” was commissioned by NRDC and authored by LMI as was written in response to large fuel consumers begin to pivot toward more plant-based fuel options to boost their “green” credentials and sustainability efforts while reducing their use of fossil fuels. The report is intended to help guide fuel buyers such as federal, state and municipal bulk fuel procurement officers, contractors and suppliers, and corporate sustainability officers.

“Biofuels can be a clean alternative to dirty fossil fuels, but they’re not all created equal,” said Brian Siu, senior energy policy analyst at NRDC. “Some biofuels are produced in ways that endanger precious land, wildlife and the environment. As the U.S. government and large business expand their use of biofuels, they should ensure they come from sustainable sources, and relying on the best certification systems can help them make these smart choices.”

According to NRDC, many large fuel buyers are beginning to understand the risks of poorly sourced biofuels, but are unable to determine whether their biofuels are produced sustainably. Third-party certification systems can provide this service, but vary significantly in stringency and protectiveness. The non-profit said a sound certification system should check each stage for impacts on water quality, soil, biodiversity, air quality, land use, and waste. It also should check for the social impacts on economic issues, human rights, food security, and workforce safety.

Study lead Jeremey Alcorn, senior consultant with LMI, said of the report, “NRDC offered LMI an exciting opportunity to apply our practical analytical experience to analyze established and emerging biomaterial and biofuel sustainability certification standards, and we believe that this report will fill a critical need by informing bulk biofuel procurements and enabling a better understanding of the utility of different certification programs in achieving enhanced sustainability performance.”

To help stakeholders, NRDC’s report examined seven leading programs that certify biofuel production practices for sustainability. The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials ranked best. RSB ranked best for helping to ensure economic, environmental and social sustainability of biofuels production practices in places such as the United States, Indonesia, South America and Asia.

biofuels, Environment

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFPacific Ethanol has announced it was awarded a $3 million matching grant from the California Energy Commission to develop a sorghum feedstock program collaboratively with Chromatin, Inc., CSU Fresno’s Center for Irrigation Technology and the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center. This undertaking also includes the California In-State Sorghum Program to support a lasting expansion in California’s ability to produce low-carbon ethanol from in-state feedstock that meets both the renewable fuel and greenhouse gas reduction goals stipulated under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and California’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard.
  • Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. and SunPower Corp. announced an agreement under which HASI is expected to provide up to $44.5 million in non-recourse debt to help finance SunPower’s residential solar lease program. The transaction allows SunPower to leverage existing lease assets and expand its program while increasing its cash position and strengthening its balance sheet. More than 20,000 Americans are enrolled in the company’s lease program.
  • The 14th Annual Renewable Energy Roundup & Sustainable Living Expo will take place September 26 – 28, 2014. The Roundup will take place in Belton at the Bell County Expo Center, 301 W Loop 121 (at IH-35), Belton, TX 76513. This year the theme is “water solutions”.
  • AEP Energy today has begun installation of a 101-kilowatt (kW) solar array on the roof of The Ohio State University’s Student Life Recreation and Physical Activities Center (RPAC). AEP Energy will fund, build, own and operate the approximately 10,000-square-foot array, made up of 367 solar panels arranged in a configuration similar to the “Block O.” Installation is expected to be completed in approximately eight weeks.
Bioenergy Bytes

Caesars Entertainment Adds EV Charging Stations

Joanna Schroeder

Caesars Entertainment resorts is adding new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at 13 of their resorts and casinos. In partnership with NV Energy, nearly all of Caesars’ Northern and Southern Nevada resorts and casinos now have operational EV charging stations on site, in addition to Harrah’s Resort Southern California. A total of 48 charging ports have been installed in guest parking lots as well as valet areas, and are available for guests to use at no cost.

caesars-entertainment-logoCaesars is planning on expanding its EV charging network into other domestic resorts and when completed, their entire U.S. resorts and casinos will feature EV charging stations.

Caesars’ EV charging stations are on the ChargePoint network, allowing drivers to easily check station availability and find charging spots in real time through the ChargePoint mobile app, the web and car navigation units. The Level 2 charging ports at Caesars’ stations accommodate both hybrids and all-electric models using the industry standard J1772 plug, and charge vehicles in less time compared to plugging in the average home garage.

“We want to make it easy for our guests to continue their green habits while they stay and play at our resorts. Supporting the adoption of electrical vehicles is important to Caesars, and we are thrilled to make convenient charging another great amenity for our guests,” said Eric Dominguez, corporate director of facilities, engineering and sustainable operations at Caesars Entertainment.

Caesars is promoting awareness and encouraging cleaner forms of transportation, which directly ties into the company’s low carbon strategy and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A recipient of the EPA’s Climate Leadership Award, Caesars has cut greenhouse gas emissions at its domestic properties by over 12 percent from 2007 to 2013 on an absolute basis, while reducing energy intensity by 20 percent.

“As a company, we aim to not only reduce our impact on the environment, but lead other companies and inspire our communities to take environmentally-friendly actions,” added Dominguez. “We look at the EV station project as an essential stride towards a future of green transportation.”

Electric Vehicles

Navy Adds Biofuels to Fuel Shopping Cart

John Davis

greenfleetbiofuels1The latest government procurement report shows the U.S. Navy has for the first time put biofuels in the mix for requests for military-specification diesel fuel and jet fuel. This story from U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) says the request is for the eastern and inland United States and Gulf Coast and is expected to the Rocky Mountains and West Coast later this year.

The U.S. Navy’s interest in biofuels is part of its goal to generate 50% of its energy from alternative sources by 2020: nuclear energy, electricity from renewable sources, and biofuels. The Navy currently sources about 17% of its energy supplies from renewable and nuclear sources of electricity. No biofuels are currently included in that percentage.

The Navy’s interest in biofuels is limited to those fuels that can be used as direct replacements for petroleum-based gasoline and distillate fuels, also known as drop-in biofuels. These fuels require no modification or operational changes to distribution infrastructure, aircraft, or ships. Although biodiesel blends readily with diesel fuel or jet fuel, and is compatible with most diesel engines, it is not a drop-in fuel. Certain properties limit biodiesel blends from being used in some applications: potential fuel system clogging and poor performance at low temperatures prevent its use in jet fuel for civilian or military use, and water separation problems prevent its use as a marine diesel fuel. Drop-in biofuels are available today on a limited commercial basis, and operable U.S. production capacity is about 210 million gallons per year.

Companies wanting to make a bid to offer drop-in biofuels under the current solicitation can apply to the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation for grants to offset the cost of feedstocks used to produce the biofuels. Some drop-in biofuels might also qualify for Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs).

biofuels, Government