Santa Monica’s Shore Hotel is installing power saving technology by Green Charge Networks, which will save the Hotel an estimated 50% in demand charges annually. GreenStationTM, an intelligent energy storage system, combines historical energy use patterns with real-time weather data to predict demand and store and discharge energy accordingly. The system’s installation will further showcase the Hotel’s commitment to sustainability and propel it towards the prestigious LEED Platinum certification.- Gevo, Inc. has announced that it is selling para-xylene (PX) derived from its renewable isobutanol to Toray, one of the world’s leading producers of fibers, plastics, films, and chemicals. PX is a primary raw material for the manufacture of bio-polyester (PET). PET has the largest global market share of all synthetic fibers and is also used in plastic bottles, films, and as a polymer for many other applications. The ability to produce PX as a building block for PET creates large market opportunities for Gevo and partners who desire bio-based plastic bottles, bio-based polyester fiber for apparel and textiles, and for many other products.
- Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc., a leading sustainable infrastructure investor, has announced the acquisition of a $107 million portfolio of land and payments from land leases underlying wind and solar projects. HASI also entered into an expansion of its existing credit facility, which provides for an additional $200 million of capacity and increased flexibility in terms.
- India has set a target of achieving overall renewable energy installed capacity of 41,400 MW by 2017 and 72,400 MW by 2022. As per NOVONOUS estimates, this creates an US $83.35 billion opportunity in the renewable energy market in India until 2022. India has the world’s fifth-largest electricity generation capacity which currently stands at 243 GW. Renewable energy including large hydro constitutes for only 28.8% of overall installed capacity in India. The total renewable energy potential from various sources in India is 2,49,188 MW. India till March 31, 2014 has been able to achieve only 12.95% of its renewable energy potential. The untapped market potential for overall renewable energy in India is 216918.39 MW which shows huge growth potential for renewable energy in India.
State Incentives, Grants Help Open VA Ethanol Plant
Some seed money and a few years of production incentives offered by the state are finally helping open an ethanol plant sitting dormant since its building completion in 2010. This article from Petersburg, Va.’s Progress-Index says the Vireol Bio Energy LLC plant is up and running, and most importantly, selling ethanol.
The company will receive subsidies to operate from the commonwealth, because the Biofuels Production Incentive Grant was approved by the General Assembly this session. The bill was supported by Delegate Riley Ingram, R-Hopewell, and Delegate Rosalyn Dance, D-Petersburg.
Gov. Terry McAuliffe made the announcement that he signed the bill in early April, a couple of weeks after Hopewell City Council agreed to match a $250,000 grant from the state. The money will be disbursed in equal portions over two years.
Because of the grant, Vireol can receive $0.04 cents for every gallon of ethanol they produce and sell this year. The amount decreases by one cent in 2015, then to $0.025 in 2016. The subsidies will end in June 2017 and are capped at $1.5 million each fiscal year. Subsidies will not apply to fuel made from corn in 2016 or 2017.
The plant is expected to produce 170 million gallons of ethanol over the next three years, as well as buying more than $100 million worth of grain from local farmers.
RFA Calls EWG Report Flawed
The Renewable Fuels Association is disputing findings of an Environmental Working Group report released today entitled, “Ethanol’s Broken Promise: Using Less Corn Ethanol Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions.”
RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen says the report relies on “overblown and disputed assumptions of land use change, making ethanol from corn appear to be worse than gasoline,” which he calls “simply preposterous particularly when contrasted with the ever-rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from tar sands and fracking.”
“The Department of Energy’s GREET model clearly shows that corn ethanol reduces GHG emissions by 34 percent compared to gasoline, including hypothetical land use change emissions,” says Dinneen in a statement. “Additionally, a Life Cycle Associates study found that corn ethanol reduces GHG emissions by 37–40 percent when compared to tight oil from fracking and tar sands.”
The EWG report claims “that the federal corn ethanol mandate has driven up food prices, strained agricultural markets, increased competition for arable land and promoted conversion of uncultivated land to grow crops.” Stay tuned for more reaction from the ethanol industry on this report.
Voluntary Quality Control Pays Off for Biodiesel
A voluntary quality control program is paying dividends to the biodiesel industry as it has helped maintain high standards for the green fuel, and in turn, kept demand up for it. This article from Biodiesel Magazine says the BQ-9000 programs help those selling and using biodiesel.
“Implementing BQ-9000 and getting accredited is a lot of work, but we find following BQ-9000 structure and rules really helps manage and run Thumb BioEnergy,” said Leon Jackson of Thumb BioEnergy, a small biodiesel producer in Sandusky, Mich. “It has really helped us maximize production and optimize the quality of our fuel. I would highly recommend becoming a BQ-9000-certified producer.”
The BQ-9000 quality assurance programs are designed to help ensure that the biodiesel fuel produced, blended, and distributed throughout the U.S. meets and is maintained against the appropriate ASTM specifications. There are currently three voluntary programs developed for producers, fuel marketers and independent laboratories. While these are not product quality certification programs, they ensure the individual companies follow the necessary policies and procedures to maintain the fuel throughout the process by a checklist of independently audited procedures.
The article also points out that nearly 90 percent of all biodiesel produced last year came from BQ-9000-certified producers, ensuring consumers and retailers have a quality product.
Microbes Future for Biodiesel, Hydrogen Cells
Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) looks to turn microbes into the next big thing for biodiesel and hydrogen fuel cells. This story from MIT says scientists at the school are looking to capture energy that might be flushed away in wastewater.
“Even if you could get only a fraction of that back, you could offset the amount of energy it takes to process the wastewater, and potentially sell some back to grid,” says Cullen Buie, who heads up MIT’s Laboratory for Energy and Microsystems Innovation (LEMI). “We’re working on a way to use microbial fuel cells to harvest some of the energy that is currently being flushed down the toilet.”
Buie’s work on microbial fuel cells is just one effort of many at LEMI, where projects draw upon fields including microfluidics, electrokinetics, electrochemistry, and microscale surface engineering. In addition to microbial fuel cells, potential applications include biodiesel harvesting, cell sorting for genetic research, ship-hull protection, and perhaps Buie’s biggest breakthrough to date: a low-cost, hydrogen bromine flow battery that doesn’t require a membrane.
Buie founded LEMI when he arrived at MIT in 2010. “The lab encompasses all the things that interest me, including alternative energy,” says Buie, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. “A lot of our applications are dependent on microscale manipulation or principles of microfluidics. We also look at electric fields in fluid flow in order to discriminate, or sort cells, based on physical properties.”
The idea behind the process is that microbial fuel cells use bacteria, instead of precious metals, as catalysts in chemical reactions that produce energy. In addition, the technology can be applied to harvesting algae for the oil used to make biodiesel.
Brazil Upping Biodiesel Blend Requirement
More biodiesel will be blended into fuel used in Brazil. This story from Reuters says the South American country will up its biodiesel mandate to 6 percent in July and to 7 percent in November, a rise from the current 5 percent biodiesel blend with diesel.
“The increase in the biodiesel blend will allow Brazil to substitute the import of 1.2 billion liters (264 million U.S. gallons) of diesel a year,” [Mines and Energy Minister Edison] Lobao said at an event in Brasilia.
Brazil will also set up a band for the minimum biodiesel requirement to be added to diesel that will range between 5 and 7 percent and vary according to economic conditions, like a similar band for blending ethanol into gasoline, the biofuels coordinator at the Agricultural Development Ministry, André Machado, told Reuters.
Changing the blend requirement for biodiesel has been on the table for years but faced resistance from the Finance Ministry, which has struggled to keep inflation within the central bank’s target range ahead of the presidential election in October.
Opponents of the move tried to raise fears that it would raise commodity soy prices, but recent studies showed that impact would be negligible. The larger blend requirement could raise domestic consumption of biodiesel by about 300 million gallons annually.
BioEnergy Bytes
Elevance Renewable Sciences, Inc. has announced that Steven Mills, former Chief Financial Officer at Amyris, Inc., will join Elevance’s board of directors. Mills has extensive experience in the fields of accounting, corporate finance, strategic planning, and mergers and acquisitions.New Wind Turbine Offers Quiet Rooftop Power
While rooftop wind turbines aren’t a new idea, one company might have solved the issue of the noise they can generate that keeps most homeowners from putting them in. This article from gizmag.com says Dutch-based The Archimedes has introduced its Liam F1 Urban Wind Turbine, which also brings an energy yield that is “80 percent of the maximum that is theoretically feasible” to the table… quite the claim considering most conventional wind turbines average around 25 to 50 percent.
The 75-kg (165-lb) 1.5-meter (5-ft)-wide Liam obviously doesn’t look much like a typical turbine. It draws on the form of the nautilus shell, and the screw pump invented by ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse.
That form factor reportedly results in minimal mechanical resistance, allowing it to spin very freely and to operate quietly – blade noise is one of the common complaints regarding rooftop wind turbines. Additionally, the design is claimed to keep it always pointing into the wind for maximum yield.
Along with its claim of being able to achieve 80 percent of Betz’ limit, The Archimedes adds that “The Liam F1 generates an average of 1,500 kilowatt-hours of energy [per year] at a wind-speed of 5 m/s [16.4 ft/s], which resembles half of the power consumption of a common household.”
The new wind turbine should be available July 1st with a price tag of about $5,450.
Wind Best Option to Meet EPA Pollution Rule
A new report shows that wind energy is probably the best way to meet a proposed new federal government rule regarding carbon pollution for existing power plants. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has just published a new white paper that shows wind is one of the biggest, fastest, cheapest ways states can meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule on limiting carbon dioxide pollution expected to be published June 2.
Among the key findings in the new report are:
The 167.7 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of wind energy produced in the U.S. in 2013 reduced CO2 emissions by 126.8 million tons, the equivalent of reducing power sector emissions by more than 5 percent, or taking 20 million cars off the road.
The top 10 states by volume of carbon reductions from wind energy are: Texas, Illinois, California, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Wyoming.
States achieving a reduction in carbon emissions of 10 percent or more (compared to a 2011 baseline) from wind energy alone include California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington State, with Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Wyoming coming in just under 10%.
Wind energy also currently reduces sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by nearly 347 million pounds per year and nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions by 214 million pounds per year. These pollutants acidify lakes and streams, contribute to smog, and negatively impact public health.
AWEA officials say the best part of this news is that many states and their utilities are already familiar with the affordable, reliable product that wind energy provides.
How to Counter “Evils-of-Corn-Ethanol” Argument
With the unofficial start of summer, there’s no doubt you’ll be at picnics, reunions, get-togethers, etc., and there’s a pretty good chance that if you’re involved in ethanol, there’ll be somebody wanting to debate its merits… or more specifically, its evils. This article from Ethanol Producer Magazine relates a conversation the managing editor had on how corn ethanol is not the villain it is portrayed to be.
One of my main points to her was that advanced biofuels wouldn’t be an option if it wasn’t for the first generation industry. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, many of the same companies that now produce corn ethanol are also working to produce cellulosic ethanol. One example is a small plant in Galva, Ill., that is working to start up a bolt on technology that will produce ethanol from the cellulosic material in a corn kernel. Other current corn ethanol producing companies are targeting corn stover for cellulosic ethanol production. My friend was surprised to hear how close some of these companies are to completing construction and producing commercial-scale volumes of advanced biofuels.
I then addressed the “corn-ethanol is bad” impression she had, with analogy I’ve used before. We’re both mothers of young daughters so it’s one that makes sense to both of us. Children don’t come out of the womb walking. They must first master some basic skills like sitting up and rolling over. And then, once they do walk, it’s not like they abandon sitting up and rolling over because they are “bad” skills or things only babies do. The U.S. corn ethanol industry has already done a lot of good for this country, by reducing oil imports and providing jobs, for example, and it will continue to contribute positively in the future.
She was able to continue her case by pointing out how the corn ethanol industry has improved its efficiency, knocking holes in arguments that it costs more energy to produce it than it produces.
You might not convince everyone on the facts you know are true about ethanol and its relationship to corn, but at least you should be well-armed in the fight.