A new $15 million gift by Lynda and Stewart Resnick in support of the Resnick Sustainability Institute at Caltech will help scientists and engineers advance research aimed at helping humanity sustainably meet its needs for energy, food, clean water, and a healthy environment. This brings total funding of the Resnick Sustainability Institute to nearly $60 million, beginning with a foundational $21 million gift from the Resnicks in 2009.- Genscape is hosting a “Prepare for the 2014 Growing Season,” Tuesday, May 20 at 3:00 pm EDT targeted to the ethanol industry. The webinar will discuss the tangible savings and benefits ethanol plants can expect from utilizing the most accurate, personalized crop assessment in the industry. Topics to be covered in this webinar include: What Genscape’s experts and experienced agronomists are seeing and predicting early in the season; how to assess corn supply ahead of market movements and improve hedging and risk management strategies; and more.
- American fashion retailer Forever 21 has unveiled plans to install a 5.1-megawatt (DC) high efficiency SunPower solar power system at Forever 21’s headquarters in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. The system will be the largest single-roof solar power system in Los Angeles County and the third-largest in California. The planned system makes Forever 21 the latest business to Participate in the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s (LADWP) Feed-in Tariff (FiT) Program. Also it will become the first project to use both of LADWP’s solar site programs-the FiT100 Set Pricing Program and the Solar Incentive Program at one location.
- Voith has been awarded a services contract for the extensive modernization of three hydropower generators at the Kettle Generating Station in the province of Manitoba in Canada. The scope of supply for Voith Hydro includes the replacement of stator frames, new cores and windings as well as pole re-insulation and the installation of new coolers. Once the project is completed, each of the refurbished units will be rated at 120 MVA.
RFA Offers Updated Ethanol Emergency Response Guide
There is an updated version of “The Training Guide to Ethanol Emergency Response,” prepared by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFS) available for use. The resource was developed to give first responders, hazmat teams, and safety personnel in-depth and accurate information on proper training techniques when responding to an ethanol-related emergency.
The training guide has been used at Ethanol Safety Seminars and distributed to more than 10,000 responders worldwide. RFA and TRANSCAER® began offering Ethanol Safety Seminars in 2010 and have since held more than 100 Safety Seminars in 21 states. RFA is a national sponsor of TRANSCAER®, a national outreach effort focused on helping communities prepare and respond to possible incidents involving the transportation of hazardous materials.
Kristy Moore, the Renewable Fuels Association’s vice president of technical services and a recent recipient of the TRANSCAER Individual Achievement Award, said, “RFA’s commitment to safety is unwavering. There is no reason that a first responder should have to go into a potentially dangerous scenario unprepared. That is why the Renewable Fuels Association took the initiative by first creating, and now updating, the ‘Training Guide to Ethanol Emergency Response’.”
The updated “Training Guide to Ethanol Emergency Response” includes former goodies along with new resources.
- Eight PowerPoint sections covering topics ranging from ethanol’s physical properties to ethanol’s transport and use
- Instructor manuals and participant guides that work in conjunction with the PowerPoint
- Two training videos: “Emergency Response Considerations” and “Responding to Ethanol Incidents”
- RFA’s “Fuel Ethanol Guidelines for Release Prevention,” which explains environmental response techniques
- Rail Car 101, a PowerPoint showing critical safety equipment on non-pressure railroad tank cars
- 2012 U.S. Department of Transportation Emergency Response Guidebook
- Association of American Railroad’s “Pamphlet 34 – Recommended Methods for the Safe Loading and Unloading of Non-Pressure (General Service) and Pressure Tank Cars”
- Association of American Railroad’s “Tank Car Loading and Unloading” video
Training materials can be found here.
REG Biodiesel Sales Up But Revenues Down
Sales and production of biodiesel are up for Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group (REG), but revenues have taken quite a hit. The latest information from the biodiesel behemoth shows during the first quarter of 2014 sales were up 22 percent compared to a year earlier, along with a 5 percent increase in production. But REG also reports a revenue drop of 17 percent and an adjusted EBITDA down by 91 percent.
“This quarter was very challenging, coming off an outstanding year,” said Daniel J. Oh, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Despite the challenges, we were able to generate positive adjusted EBITDA, which is evidence of the durability of our business model. While some of the challenges that affected the first quarter remain, in the near-term we are focusing our efforts to respond when markets normalize, and on executing our longer-term strategies.”
Oh continued, “We recently achieved two very positive milestones in REG’s history, both of which are a tribute to the efforts of many people, partners and the strength of our business model. The Company reached cumulative sales of over 1 billion gallons in mid-April. And, in late March, we redeemed the last of the remaining preferred shares outstanding, eliminating the dividend obligation and resulting in a more simplified capital structure.”
The drop in revenues is being attributed to the retroactive reinstatement of the 2012 federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel blenders credit, which again expired at the end of 2013.
REG sold 47.3 million gallons of biodiesel during the first quarter of this year, while producing 41.8 million gallons of the green fuel.
Nebraska Biodiesel Plant being Retrofitted
A Nebraska biodiesel plant is being retrofitted with new technology and is hoping to be launched by summer 2015. This story from Biodiesel Magazine says Flint Hills Resources is putting Benefuel Inc.’s commercial-scale, innovative biodiesel technology into its Beatrice, Neb., biodiesel plant.
Since 2010, Flint Hills Resources has worked with Benefuel to test and validate its innovative, patented and proprietary biodiesel technology. Benefuel’s Ensel technology updates 75-year-old chemistry to provide an exciting new process for next-generation renewable fuel and industrial chemicals production. The technology is unique because it allows the use of lower cost, high free fatty acid (FFA) feedstocks such as animal tallow, unrefined oils, used vegetable oils or distillers corn oil—a coproduct of ethanol manufacturing—to produce high-quality biodiesel. This is accomplished through the use of a solid catalyst that combines esterification and transesterification into a single step, which has been a long-standing goal of the biodiesel industry. The process also ensures the final product meets or exceeds all domestic and European biodiesel standards.
“We are pleased that our Beatrice, Neb., facility will have the opportunity to bring this innovative technology to life,” said Brad Razook, president of Flint Hills Resources. “We look forward to demonstrating the technology’s commercial application and beginning production.”
Once it’s operational, the plant will be able to produce about 50 MMgy of biodiesel and employ about 45 people in the local community.
Is climate change impacting agriculture?
Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What is the MOST important part of sustainability?”
The environment is the number one thing on pollers mind when it comes to sustainability. The economy came in with a close second. Those resources and are utilized daily when it comes to agriculture. What are you doing to make them more sustainable?
Our poll results:
- Environmental – 35%
- Economic – 28%
- Human resources -5%
- Public policy – 5%
- Inputs – 0%
- Energy – 12%
- Other – 15%
Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Is climate change impacting agriculture?”
The White House released a sweeping climate change assessment this week that has a large section on how agriculture is being impacted. What do you think about that?
GM Fuel Cell Vehicles Surpasses 3 Million Miles
General Motors’ fleet of fuel cell vehicles has surpassed the three million mile mark running on hydrogen-power. According to GM, some individual vehicles have accumulated more than 120,000 miles and by using hydrogen, the fleet has avoided 157,894 gallons of gasoline consumption. This specially equipped fleet of Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell vehicles are part of 
GM’s 119-vehicle Project Driveway program, which launched in 2007. Since then, more than 5,000 drivers have provided feedback on the functionality and drivability of fuel cell technology.
“Hydrogen fuel cell technology is an important part of GM’s advanced propulsion portfolio and we continue to make substantial progress in furthering this technology,” said Charlie Freese, executive director of GM’s global fuel cell engineering activities. “These vehicles have operated through seven full winters and a wide range of environmental conditions, proving that fuel cells can meet the demands of real-world drivers.”
GM has announced several fuel cell-related collaborations over the past few years. In July, 2013, GM and Honda announced a long-term collaboration to co-develop next-generation fuel cell and hydrogen storage systems, aiming for potential commercialization in the 2020 time frame. In addition, GM and Honda are working together with stakeholders to further advance refueling infrastructure, which is critical for the long-term viability and consumer acceptance of fuel cell vehicles.
Also last year GM opened a new state-of-the-art Fuel Cell Development Laboratory at GM Powertrain World Headquarters in Pontiac, Mich. In September, 2013 GM and the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development & Engineering Center (TARDEC) jointly announced an expansion of their relationship for testing automotive fuel cell technology.
ANDRITZ to Market Tornado Pulper
ANDRITZ Inc. has signed an agreement with Bolton-Emerson Americas, LLC giving ANDRITZ exclusive rights to market and sell the Tornado Pulper for solid and liquid fuel applications, as well as biochemical processes. The Tornado Pulper is Bolton-Emerson’s unique technology 
for preparing non-wood feedstocks (annual fibers, plants, and residues) so that they can be further treated with ANDRITZ technologies for conversion into renewable solid and liquid fuels or biochemicals.
Unlike traditional pulpers found in the pulp and paper industry, ANDRITZ explains that the Tornado Pulper has a side-mounted assembly with replaceable grinding segments to simultaneously wash and chop incoming raw materials and resize them into a uniform slurry. The Tornado Pulper has been proven on difficult-to-process materials such as kenaf, hemp, flax, sugarcane bagasse, cereal straw, and others. The Tornado Pulper can also resize woody materials such as forest waste, waste wood, bamboo, and giant reeds into uniform slurries.
ANDRITZ supplies advanced pre-treatment technologies for biofuel production. The company says these technologies are well-proven in other industrial processes and, through extensive R&D, have been modified by ANDRITZ to satisfy the requirements for biofuel and biochemical producers.
RFS at Odds with National Climate Assessment
In a letter to President Obama sent today, leaders of America’s renewable fuel industry are urging the Administration to rethink its proposal to weaken the bipartisan Renewable Fuel Standard – a proposal that is at odds with the National Climate Assessment the White House released earlier this week.
The letter is signed by Abengoa Bioenergy, the Advanced Ethanol Council, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, DuPont, DSM, Growth Energy, the National Corn Growers Association, Novozymes, the Renewable Fuels Association, and POET.
The companies and organizations write that the Administration’s proposal to reduce the amount of renewable fuel in gasoline and diesel would “make us more oil dependent, effectively gut the bipartisan Renewable Fuel Standard, strand billions of dollars in private investment, and send emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants sharply higher.”
The letter notes that the impact of the Administration’s proposal would increase carbon pollution by an estimated 28.2 million metric tons in 2014 alone – which is equivalent to building 7 new coal fired power plants or cancelling every wind farm project currently under construction in the United States.
“The question comes down to whether we want to rely more on foreign oil, or more on clean, renewable American made biofuels,” said the authors of the letter. “We urge you to reconsider the EPA proposal and the methodology for reducing the volumes — and allow the commonsense, bipartisan Renewable Fuel Standard to continue working as intended to create American jobs, promote American innovation, cut our reliance on foreign oil, and reduce harmful carbon pollution.”
The text of the letter follows.Read More
BioEnergy Bytes
Abengoa has acquired 25% of the Beijing-based water company, GreenTech. The deal is currently under the standard review process by the Chinese Government and is expected to be approved in the second quarter of the year. GreenTech is a leader in the Chinese wastewater treatment and reuse market. Its current clients range from the municipal sector to the industrial sector, and the company has over 40 references in water treatment with a combined capacity of 2.1 million cubic meters (m3) per day.- SunEdison has announced it has completed construction of a 117 MW (megawatt) DC (direct current) portfolio of utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar power plants across the United Kingdom. The portfolio is comprised of eight separate solar power plants.
- S&C Electric Company, a company focused on renewable energy integration, has announced the first real-world deployment of a new service offering to remotely monitor S&C’s Wind-Turbine Style Vista® Switchgear. This new service was pioneered on Vista switchgear at Infigen Energy’s 50-MW Kumeyaay Wind Farm, located 65 miles east of San Diego in Boulevard, Calif.
- Solectria Renewables, LLC, has announced that its SMARTGRID 500 Inverters (SGI 500) have been purchased by NuGen Capital for five projects totaling over 13 MW in Massachusetts. All five systems in Massachusetts are ground-mounted. They are located in Swansea, Lunenburg, Whatley and Hadley. These projects generate net metering credits from the facilities and produce credits that will be made available to manufacturers and municipalities in the area via their utility provider.
Prairie Horizon to Add Renewable Diesel Facility
Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy is one of only a handful of ethanol plants moving into the production of biodiesel. The biorefinery announced plans to form a partnership with WB Services to add a renewable diesel production facility into the existing ethanol plant.
“With this announcement, Prairie Horizon continues to meet its goal of providing leadership in the renewable fuels industry,” said Mike Erhart, CEO of Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy. “We are very excited and eager to partner with WB Services and get under construction and put this product in the marketplace.”
WB Services, LLC, will design, construct and operate the renewable diesel plant utilizing patented renewable diesel process technology. (Learn about WB Services in this audio interview with WB Services’ Bernie Hoffman).
According to Ron Beemiller, President and CEO of WB Services, “This plant will be the first of its kind—the first renewable diesel plant to fully integrate into an existing ethanol operation. This is a very exciting time for both Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy and WB Services, we look forward to working with PHAE’s exceptional leadership team on this project.”
Currently, Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy is a 40 million gallon per year nameplate ethanol plant, which began operations in 2006. With the completion of the facility, renewable diesel nameplate production will be 3 million gallons per year, and will also produce denaturant, fuel gas, and steam for use at the existing facility. Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy also has a significant investment in the renewable and biodiesel plants under construction by Green Energy Products in Sedgwick, Kansas. Design work has already begun, and construction is scheduled to begin in the middle of 2014.