Shaw has Ethanol Support for Congress

John Davis

A candidate for Congress believes his background in ethanol will help him in the upcoming primary and general election. And for Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Executive Director Monte Shaw, who has served in that role for nearly 10 years and now is running for the 3rd Congressional District seat, that background runs pretty deep.

Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis and Renewable Fuels Association CEO Bob Dinneen both on the side of Monte Shaw for Congress

Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis and Renewable Fuels Association CEO Bob Dinneen both on the side of Monte Shaw for Congress

“This is Iowa. If agriculture does well, Iowa does well,” said Shaw during an interview in Washington DC last week, pointing out how the renewable fuels has helped power the ag industry and the overall economy in the Hawkeye State. “So when people talk about how we need to get the economy going a bit more, we need more jobs, we need more robust economic growth, I have been part of that. And that’s something I want to put to work in Congress.”

Shaw says Big Oil has been fighting the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) hard, and Iowans need a representative on the inside in Washington who will fight for the economic interests that alternative energy brings.

“I think it would be good for the industry to have someone like me in the House Republican Caucus. There’s a lot of petroleum folks in there, and sometimes they like to forget all the tax credits and mandates and loan guarantees that petroleum gets, and I’d be happy to go there and point those things out out,” he said.

Shaw is facing five other Republicans in the June 3rd primary, so he is hitting the campaign trail as hard as he can while still working full time for Iowa RFA, with the flexibility granted to him by the association board of directors. If elected to Congress, he feels confident in the many renewable energy leaders back in Iowa who can step up in his place.

“As one of my board members is fond of pointing out to me, the graveyard is full of indispensable men,” he said, laughing.

You can read more about his campaign here.

And you can hear all of Cindy’s interview with Monte here: Interview with Monte Shaw, Iowa Congressional Candidate

Audio, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

Argentina asks WTO to Look into EU Biodiesel Block

John Davis

areu-flagArgentina has formally asked the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) to look at the European Union’s block of Argentine biodiesel. This article in MercoPress says the South Americans believe the EU’s antidumping measures imposed last November violate the international law.

The release recalls that since 2009 Argentina became the main provider of biodiesel to the EU, with sales of 1.847bn dollars in 2011, which represented 13% of all Argentine exports to the EU.

“The biodiesel sector in Argentina outstands for its sustainability and high level of development, scale and integration along the whole production chain, and is currently one of the most efficient producers globally”, adds the release.

On the other hand, the EU industry is “highly over dimensioned and since 2012 the EU has been involved in different protectionist measures with the purpose of excluding from the European market the Argentine bio-diesel”.

The Argentinians are also making the case that these protectionist barriers harm developing countries.

Biodiesel, International

American Ethanol on the NASCAR Green® Team

Cindy Zimmerman

nascar-race-greenAmerican Ethanol is once again partnering with NASCAR® for the NASCAR Race to Green™ initiative now through April 25 to promote environmentally friendly biofuels.

The goal of the initiative is to highlight the accomplishments of green programs that have helped reduce the NASCAR’s carbon footprint. “This partnership with NASCAR Green truly shows the sport’s commitment to preserving our environment. Each race further proves ethanol is a reliable, high-performance fuel that has revitalized our rural communities and created more than 400,000 jobs across the country,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy.

American-Ethanol-and-NASCAR-LogoAmerican Ethanol has partnered with NASCAR since 2011 to promote the use of biofuels by using Sunoco Green E15, a 15 percent ethanol blended fuel, across its three national series. American Ethanol also sponsors the Richard Childress Racing No. 3 Chevrolet SS driven by Sunoco Rookie of the Year™ contender and 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series™ Champion Austin Dillon.

I had a chance to catch up with Buis while in DC last week and this year’s American Ethanol program was one of several topics we discussed. Interview with Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis

American Ethanol, Audio, corn, Ethanol, Growth Energy, NASCAR

Global Ethanol Output to Exceed 90 Billion Litres

Cindy Zimmerman

The latest forecast calls for global ethanol production to exceed 90 billion litres, or about 24 billion gallons, in 2014.

GRFA1The Global Annual Ethanol Production Forecast from the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA), in cooperation with F.O. Licht, estimates the world’s ethanol output will peak at 90.38 billion litres this year.

That amounts to an increase of almost 2.7% growth in production, up from 88 billion litres in 2013, according to GRFA spokesman Bliss Baker. “While forecasts of global economic growth remain sluggish, the global ethanol industry continues to increase its production and contribution to the global economy,” said Baker.

The latest data from F.O. Licht shows significant growth in most major ethanol producing regions in 2014. The world’s two largest producers, Brazil and the United States, are forecasted to maintain and increase their production by almost 2.5% respectively. Another major producing region, the European Union, is forecasted to see ethanol production jump over 8% this year. Africa, an emerging region with huge biofuel production potential is forecasted to see a growth of more than 136% in ethanol production in 2014.

“Although total volumes of ethanol produced in emerging regions like Africa are lower in comparison to more established producers, a production increase of over 130% is incredible because we know that these production increases will drive new investment in agricultural and job creation while reducing Africa’s reliance on imported oil,” stated Baker.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, International

Ethanol Report From RFA in DC

Cindy Zimmerman

dinneen-dcAfter the ACE Biofuels Beltway March, I was able to stop by and visit with Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen in his Washington DC office and we covered the waterfront on issues currently facing the ethanol industry.

ethanol-report-adIn this Ethanol Report, Dinneen discusses what he’s hearing about the EPA proposal to lower the RFS, the latest anti-RFS ad campaign from Big Oil, rail delays impacting ethanol shipments, getting the tax credits for advanced biofuels reinstated, USDA plans to continue to support ethanol, and enthusiasm in the industry.

Ethanol Report with RFA president Bob Dinneen from DC

Subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” with this link.

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, RFA

BIO Report Says Lowering RFS Will Increase GHG

Cindy Zimmerman

biologo2A new white paper from the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) finds that lowering the volume requirements for biofuels under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) as proposed by the administration will lead to an increase in emissions of greenhouse gases next year.

According to Brent Erickson, Executive Vice President of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section and lead author of the special report, the proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency could “reverse progress on one of the central goals of the law – reducing climate-changing emissions from the U.S. transportation sector.”

The paper utilizes Energy Information Administration projections of fuel use from 2014 to 2022 to estimate volumes of petroleum and biofuel use for each year. The authors then assigned estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from the GREET1.2013 model to the volumes and added up year-by-year emissions. Based on EPA’s proposed requirements for 2014, the United States would emit 6.6 million more metric tons of CO2 equivalent greenhouse gases than it did in 2013. If EPA followed past practice, allowing the overall requirements to remain at the statutory level, the achieved reduction in GHG emissions would be 21.6 million metric tons CO2e. The difference between the increase and the achievable decrease is equivalent to putting 5.9 million additional cars on the road next year. Under other available options for setting the RFS volume requirements, the United States could still achieve carbon emission reductions, the paper finds.

Read the report here.

BIO, Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

Hemp Facilities Secured by Wind & Solar Energy

Joanna Schroeder

The Industrial Hemp and Medical Marijuana Consulting Company (IHMMCC) has acquired an interest in alternative energy company Liberated Energy. Per the agreement, IHMMCC, a subsidiary of Hemp Inc., will provide consulting services to help Liberated Energy market and distribute their products.

guard-lite-photo-131x300The Guard Lite Security Lighting System is patent-pending and uses wind and solar energy to power its security system, which consists of High Tech LED Lighting WiFi HD Camera with 2 way audio Infrared and Motion Technology. According to Liberated Energy, the Guard Lite is self-powered and will use only approximately 10 percent of its maximum rated wind and solar energy. One of the company’s objective is to make small wind and solar turbine technology a significant contributor to the global clean energy supply portfolio for both businesses and consumers.

“We are thrilled and looking forward to this new venture. After researching the industry and weighing our options, it was a no-brainer to collaborate with Hemp, Inc.’s Industrial Hemp and Medical Marijuana Consulting Company, Inc. to create new marketing and distribution capabilities for our Guard Lite Security Lighting System for the medical marijuana and industrial hemp industries,” said Frank Pringle, CEO of Liberated Energy, Inc.

With several states legalizing medical marijuana, the hemp market is in need of cost efficient energy sources to meet the growing demand – especially in states where hemp cannot be grown outside year round. Companies are also looking to convert hemp to biofuels.

Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc. noted, “Liberated Energy’s move into the industrial hemp and medical marijuana industries could not have come at a better time. The demand is expanding for growers and dispensaries to ramp up security for their operations with more comprehensive surveillance and monitoring, especially since most of these operations are high-volume, cash-based facilities.”

Alternative energy, Solar, Wind

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFYingli Green Energy Holding Company Limited has announced that it has supplied 1 MW of solar panels to Grupo Neoenergia, one of Brazil’s largest energy companies and a pioneer in Brazilian solar project development. The panels will deliver clean electricity to Arena Pernambuco, the site of five 2014 FIFA World Cup matches.
  • FICO, a leading predictive analytics and decision management software company, has announced that researchers at the California-based Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will include the FICO Xpress Optimization Suite in their work to determine the lowest-cost scheduling of electric power grids. This is part of the Lab’s work on large-scale renewable energy integration.
  • The CPV Consortium, a global industry organization that supports the development and long-term success of the Concentrator Photovoltaics (CPV) industry, is hosting CPV-10 April 7-9, 2014 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The technical conference will focus on the areas of high- and low-concentration PV components, modules, and tracker-based CPV systems. Registration is still open.
  • According to Heliatek GmbH, a global company producing organic solar film, they have reached a new record in the efficiency of transparent solar cells. The latest development allows transparency levels up to 40% with an efficiency of over 7%. The company says it already holds the world record of 12% cell efficiency for opaque (non-transparent) organic solar cells.
Bioenergy Bytes

Ecoppia Unveils E4 Robot Cleaned Solar Park

Joanna Schroeder

Ecoppia has announced that the Ketura Sun solar park in Israel’s Negev desert is now the world’s first autonomously-cleaned solar energy production facility. The 8-hectare facility, producing 9 million kilowatt hours per year, is cleaned nightly by a fleet of almost 100 water-free, energy-independent Ecoppia E4 robots. The solar park is jointly owned by Siemens AG and Arava Power.

An impediment to solar energy production is soiling, or the dust and dirt that accumulates on solar panel surfaces. Soiling that reduce panel energy output by up to 35 percent. ECOPPIAKentura Sun is situated between the Gulf of Aqaba and the southern tip of the Dead Sea and suffers from sand storms and little rain. With cost and lack of water as barriers, the panels were only cleaned several times a year and could take up to five days.

“We conducted a thorough worldwide search for a cleaning solution that could deal with the challenging weather conditions in our solar parks,” said Jon Cohen, CEO at Arava Power. “Only Ecoppia’s solution showed actual significant uplift in production, while offering an extremely appealing business model. We are proud to be their partners.”

Following a successful pilot where Ecoppia’s solution effectively removed 99 percent of panel dust daily, E4 robots were deployed over the entire Ketura Sun field in less than three months. Today, nearly 100 centrally-controlled E4 robots clean the entire field every night, ensuring maximum production efficiency during sunlight hours.

Ecopiian says the E4 robots are cost effective efficient and energy-independent. They use a soft microfiber and air flow cleaning system to remove 99 percent of dust each day, applying zero load on the panel surface, keeping panels continually performing at optimal production. Utilizing a robust control unit and sensors that drive the robotic system along each solar panel row, E4 is fully remotely managed, monitored and controlled.

“We’re pleased to facilitate this important first step towards effectively growing solar park energy output,” said Eran Meller, CEO of Ecoppia. “With E4, Ketura Sun maximizes its energy generation, without the expense and negative ecological impact of water-based cleaning solutions.”

Yanir Aloush, VP operations at Arava Power, added, “Ecoppia has changed the way we run the Ketura Sun field. Less guesswork about when to clean, less downtime since there’s no need for on-site cleaning crews, less external personnel on the ground – we are very excited by the potential upgrade Ecoppia’s solution offers us.”

Alternative energy, International, Solar, water

Farm Foundation Forum to Examine Energy, Ag

John Davis

farmfoundationlogo3Our friends at Farm Foundation will host another one of their thought-provoking discussions, this time, talking about the energy and agricultural markets and their relationship. Titled, “Geopolitical Uncertainty in Agriculture and Energy Markets,” the April 9 Forum will be held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. EDT.

Current political unrest in numerous locations across the world is having a profound effect across agricultural and energy markets and generating supply chain uncertainties.

The April 9 Farm Foundation® Forum will examine the potential consequences of sudden policy changes, production issues, and unforeseen price fluctuations in a turbulent global marketplace. Panelists for this Forum will include:

Former U.S.Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman will moderate the panel.
Vincent Smith, scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and professor at Montana State University.
Gary Blumenthal of World Perspectives, Inc.
Brian Oleson, professor at the University of Manitoba.
Charles Doran, professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies

There’s no charge for the forum, and you can register to attend here. In addition, a webcast, including audio and slides, is available here.

Farm Foundation, Miscellaneous