Grants Support Research on Biodiesel Feedstock

John Davis

irajcanA Canadian researcher has received $2 million in grants to improve a main feedstock for biodiesel. This story from LabCanada.com says University of Guelph scientist Prof. Istvan Rajcan picked up more than $500,000 in the form of a Collaborative Research and Development Grant by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and another $1.4 million Collaborative Research and Development Grant by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Canadian Field Crop Research Alliance (CFCRA).

“These substantial grants reflect Istvan’s success as a researcher and the impact of his work on the agri-food industry,” said John Livernois, interim vice-president (research).

Dr. Rajcan uses state-of-the-art technology to pinpoint genetic markers for producing improved soybean varieties.

“We are intent on helping farmers in Canada get access to high-performing soybean varieties, and taking a scientific approach to doing that,” he said.

“We aim to use the latest technology to help develop innovative soybean varieties that meet the needs of various producers and industries, both domestically and internationally,” said Dr. Rajcan.

His team of researchers is also looking at advanced genomic technologies to study how breeding has changed the soybean genome.

Biodiesel, Research, Soybeans

PowerBridgeNY Student Award Winners Announced

Joanna Schroeder

The first student winners of the PowerBridgeNY awards have been announced by New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. The recently established Proof-of-Concept Center aids clean energy ideas move from the laboratory to commercial product. These awards continue to support the development of New York’s cleantech economy to create jobs and businesses focused on emerging clean-energy technologies.

“New York is taking a leading role in supporting the development of cleantech products that are environmentally friendly, reduce energy use and increase reliability of the State’s energy systems,” said Governor Cuomo. “When the best and brightest cleantech researchers in New York State have the opportunity to collaborate with smart, experienced experts in the private sector, the result can be a powerful force for economic development resulting in a cleaner, greener, more sustainable state for future generations.”

cleaning-solar-panelsPowerBridgeNY was created by Columbia University and New York University Polytechnic School of Engineering, leading a consortium of public research institutions throughout the State, and is partially funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The winners, who were awarded up to $150,000, are working on products with the potential to reduce wastewater treatment costs, increase energy efficiency of solar panels, reduce electricity outages, decrease the cost of fuel cells, absorb carbon dioxide.

“The funding announced today will help these scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs move their innovative technology closer to market-readiness as they tackle technical clean-energy issues,” said John B. Rhodes, President and CEO, NYSERDA. “Thanks to Governor Cuomo’s support, the proof-of-concept centers are advancing cleantech innovation in New York State, growing new companies and commercializing the next generation of products that will help reduce the State’s energy use.”

Businesses were judged on the products’ technical potential, the potential appeal to investors and how the scientists could benefit by taking part in this program.Read More

Alternative energy, Clean Energy, Electric Vehicles, Solar

Reuters Story at Odds with Philly Energy Independence

Cindy Zimmerman

novo-phillyThe mayor of Philadelphia delivered a “Declaration of Energy Independence” today to recognize the city’s and region’s contributions to domestic energy and energy security. At the same time Reuters broke a story claiming that Philadelphia oil refinery connections were the main forces behind the Obama administration proposal to lower volume requirements for biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) this year.

Mayor Michael Nutter’s declaration proclamation was made at the request of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) and Novozymes, marking the start of BIO’s World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology.

philly-energyAccording to the article, it was The Carlyle Group and Delta Air Lines, owners of two refineries in the Philadelphia area, that put the pressure on the administration to cut back on biofuels requirements by convincing policymakers that “the rising mandates would cripple their businesses and threaten thousands of jobs.”

The article claims that two Pennsylvania congressman were called on to take the refiners’ concerns about the RFS to the White House, and that in July and August of last year, “17 refiners and their allies visited the White House’s rulemaking arm, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to discuss the RFS. Only six biofuel supporters visited the OMB over the same time.” Reuters even produced a graphic to illustrate the comparison between visits by oil and ethanol lobbying interests last year.

Read the story here.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Oil, RFS

USDA Predicts Another Record Corn Crop

Cindy Zimmerman

usda-logoThe U.S. Department of Agriculture released its initial assessment of the nation’s corn crop for the coming year on Friday, calling for another record based on the March 31
Prospective Plantings report.

Corn production is projected at 13.9 billion bushels, up slightly from the 2013/14 record with higher expected yields more than offsetting the year-to-year reduction in planted area. The corn yield is projected at 165.3 bushels per acre, up 6.5 bushels from 2013/14, based on a weather adjusted yield trend model and assuming normal mid-May planting progress and summer weather.

Farm organizations welcomed the news but sounded a note of caution.

corn-plant-14“America’s corn farmers continuously strive to improve and, in 2014, they certainly will make their achievements evident should these projections be realized,” said National Corn Growers Association Chairwoman Pam Johnson. “As farmers, we take great pride in our work and feel that the projections recognize our efforts. Yet, our optimism is tinged caution as we have all seen conditions change quickly and a crop shift course in a few short weeks.”

“Farmers are still out there facing the reality of unpredictable weather as they work to get their crops in the ground, favorable weather during the growing season and then cooperative weather again at harvest time,” added American Farm Bureau Federation crops economist Todd Davis. “There’s still a long way to go before the crops are in the bin.”

The USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand estimate projects U.S. corn use for 2014/15 will be two percent lower than in 2013/14, while corn used to produce ethanol in 2014/15 is expected to be unchanged on the year with gasoline consumption expected to remain flat in 2015.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farm Bureau, NCGA, USDA

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFAvantha Group Company CG, has successfully installed a transformer substation at the Amrumbank West offshore wind farm. The renewable energy unit consists of 80 multi-megawatt wind turbines located 100 km off the German coast in the North Sea. The Amrumbank West offshore wind farm Bio is scheduled to enter service in the autumn of 2015. The wind farm extends over 32 square kilometres, and its 80 technologically advanced 3.6 MW turbines will give it a total capacity of 288 MW, enough to power 300,000 households.
  • Sedex Global is partnering with the World Bank Institute to develop Open Supply Chain Platform – a new initiative to address global gaps in the availability and visibility of responsible supply chain data. The Open Supply Chain Platform will help companies better understand their performance, increase sustainability and diversity, and generate shared values along global supply chains. Developed as part of the World Bank Institute’s Open Private Sector Platform, the web-based and user-managed online platform will offer comprehensive supply chain information and enable businesses to conduct online assessments on their suppliers and consumers, based on a series of governance and sustainability indicators.
  • McPhy Energy will collaborate in the development of the public HTEC refuelling (hydrogen) station in Woodside, California, by providing an electrolyzer which will produce green hydrogen fuel using renewable electricity. The station, which will incorporate Powertech’s innovative station and dispenser design, is planned to be operational at the end of the summer next year. It will be capable of fuelling over 25 hydrogen vehicles per day and easily expand as demand grows. Fills will take 3-5 minutes to provide the cars enough fuel to travel over 300 miles (480 kms).
  • Clean Energy Collective (CEC), a leading community solar developer, has signed an agreement with RGS Energy to act as an authorized reseller of its community solar solution. The agreement with CEC allows RGS Energy to expand its reach to provide solar solutions to customers who rent or lease their property or are otherwise unable to install onsite systems due to site orientation, shading or restrictions imposed upon historic properties.
Bioenergy Bytes

ECOZ & CDP to Accelerate Renewable Energy

Joanna Schroeder

ECOHZ and CDP have signed a partnership to create an open source standard for ECOHZ’s GO² product, allowing other providers around the world to offer this new solution and participate in advancing renewable power generation. The product allows enterprises to track their renewable power consumption as well as develop new renewable generation. ECOHZ says with this system, companies will be able to send a clear signal to the market of what energy type is preferred. In addition, the companies using the technology will also be helping to finance the deployment of new renewable power.

ECOHZ is a provider in Europe of Guarantees of Origin (GO), the only way to document renewable energy from production to consumption. CDP is an international NGO that works with investors, companies, and governments to drive environmental disclosure and action to deliver sustainable economies.

“The EU Parliament’s recent vote in favour of a new law governing corporate reporting of non-financial information, and increased political pressure for everyone to respond to climate change, make enterprises look for certified solutions to stand out with their commitment to sustainability,” said Nigel Topping Executive Director of CDP. “GO and now GO2, are solutions that enable enterprises to take concrete steps to consume renewable energy, and even contribute to building new renewable sources. ECOHZ is the leader in this market and we are excited about the opportunities we see for our partnership.”

There has been a call for more transparency from companies on their non-financial performance and contribution to sustainable development. With climate change issues, governments, regulators and investors are all looking for concrete ways to measure performance. This solution delivers that means of measurement by building on the GO system and bundling renewable energy consumption with a contribution to new renewable energy production. GO² unleashes power plant projects previously blocked due to lack of financing. GO² is a new way to achieve energy neutrality through the creation of new renewable production accessible to corporations that want the lead the way to a cleaner energy future.

Tom Lindberg, Managing Director in ECOHZ AS, added, “We experience increasing interest from large enterprises for documented renewable energy. With GO2 we give increased choice to companies who want to be a leader in sustainability and actively communicate it to their stakeholders. By joining forces with CDP, a global organization accelerating action to achieve sustainable economies, we will drive increased awareness among leading corporates of the opportunities for purchasing documented renewable energy, and linking this directly to the building of additional renewable power capacity.”

Electricity, Renewable Energy, Video

Methes Finalizing Deal to Ship Biodiesel to U.S.

John Davis

Methes1Methes Energies International Ltd. will send 40 Railcars of biodiesel per month to the U.S. The company announced the deal to send about 1 million gallons of the green fuel each month from its production facility in Canada.

Nicholas Ng, President of Methes Energies, said, “We’re very excited about the opportunity to bring our Sombra facility to full current production capacity. At current prices these new arrangements can add up to $4 million per month to our biodiesel sales. Also, the fact that we can now sell directly to U.S. buyers will make things much easier for us and enhance our ability to attract additional U.S. customers. This might get us to increase capacity in Sombra sooner rather than later.”

Methes Energies was able to make the deal since it is now qualified to be an importer of record of biodiesel into the U.S., which will allow it to generate Renewable Identification Numbers to provide better margins and give Methes Energies the ability to sell directly to U.S. buyers.

Biodiesel

New Utah Biodiesel Law Met with Tepid Welcome

John Davis

utahflag1A new law in Utah to encourage the use of biodiesel is getting a tepid reception from the industry it purports to help. This article from Biodiesel Magazine says H.R. 5 is supposed to support the continued development and implementation of biodiesel in the state, but at least one biodiesel maker is less than enthusiastic about its approval.

“It appears that H.R. 5 is just a simple resolution and lacks any real substance to further the promotion and use of biodiesel in the state of Utah,” Graydon Blair, owner of Utah Biodiesel Supply, tells Biodiesel Magazine.

While the resolution is clearly supportive of biodiesel, exactly how the state plans to promote biodiesel is less clear.

“By passing these two coordinated bills—H.R. 5 and S.B. 242—aimed at advancing biofuel production and utilization in the state of Utah, the state has recognized the value of biofuels as a means both to improve air quality along the Wasatch Front, and to advance other key goals such as job creation and the environmentally sound recycling of waste materials,” Nate McDonald, public information officer for the office of Utah Gov. Herbert, tells Biodiesel Magazine.

Blair told the magazine he would have liked to have seen some kind of action plan built into the bill that would have actually increased the use of biodiesel in Utah.

Biodiesel

Juhl Energy Purchases 2 Iowa Wind Farms

Joanna Schroeder

Juhl Energy is purchasing two Iowa wind farms. The wind farms are located in North Central Iowa outside the towns of Manley and Kensett and utilize GE turbines. Operating since November 2011, combined nameplate capacity is 3.24 megawatts.

“This transaction underscores our ongoing commitment to building our residual, Juhl Energy Wind Farmindependent power production business made up of wind farms today and – we hope – other forms of renewable energy in the future,” said John Mitola, president of Juhl Energy. “We believe that building our asset ownership and operating division, with its predictable revenue and cash flow, is the foundation for the ongoing strength of our company. These two Iowa projects are representative of the thousands of projects under 50 MWs –the market sector where Juhl stands head and shoulders above others in its ability to own, operate and maintain such assets.”

The wind turbines are installed on private farmland approximately 10 miles apart from each other. Juhl Renewable Assets, Inc., Juhl Energy’s wholly-owned subsidiary, will purchase both projects by acquiring 100 percent of the membership interests held by the existing owners for $2.0 million and the assumption of debt in place at the project level. The $2.0 million required to close on the Iowa projects will be raised through JRAI’s 9.0 percent Series A Preferred equity offering to individual accredited investors and qualifying institutions that have an existing relationship with the Company.

Mitola said the projects are being financed with bank debt and their Juhl Renewable Assest preferred stock- only available to current accredited stockholders. He added that similar to other “yieldcos” their stock is paying 9 percent yield annual since inception. After the close of the Iowa projects the JRAI division will own and operate five wind projects totaling approximately 25 megawatts.

“We maintain our long-term goal of building ownership capacity and hope to progress to management’s stated goal of up to 200 megawatts – which would represent energy production assets with an initial installed cost of approximately $400 million,” Mitola added. “We believe we can get there by adding small projects alongside medium sized projects one step at a time over the next few years.”

“To put our platform of accumulating energy assets in perspective, currently there are over 6,000 MWs of wind farms with nameplate capacity of less than 50 MW operating in North America. As a result, we believe our goals for additional asset acquisitions are reasonable given Juhl’s presence in wind power industry and our position in the smaller wind space,” Mitola concluded.

The company created its JRAI Preferred Stock as a direct result of significant interest. The stock allows investment directly into renewable energy projects. Mitola believes with the creation of their JRAI Preferred equity vehicle, they will continue to prove the company can secure assets quickly with a competitive cost of capital and provide investors a solid annual yield.

Renewable Energy, Wind

Alstom’s Team Awarded DOE Offshore Wind Grant

Joanna Schroeder

Alstom is part of a team awarded a $47M grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for phase II of the Virginia Offshore Wind Technology Advancement Project (VOWTAP) led by Dominion Virginia Power. This next phase includes the completion of Front End Engineering Design (FEED), installation and testing of two Alstom Haliade 150-6MW (megawatt) offshore wind turbines approximately 24 miles off the coast of Virginia Beach.

Alstom Wind TurbineAlstom says the award strengthens the long-standing partnership with Dominion and advances their common goals to improve the competitiveness of offshore wind in the U.S. The team will explore innovative approaches to optimize turbine and balance of plant designs while addressing environmental conditions including hurricanes, transportation and installation strategies, and operations and maintenance (O&M) methodologies. The group, which includes the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), among others, is one of three teams selected to receive funding for phase two of the project.

“After successful and highly collaborative completion of the initial Front End Engineering Design we are looking forward to implementing this innovative and challenging project with our strategic partner Dominion and the other world class members of the team,” said Andy Geissbuehler, head of Alstom’s North American Wind business. “We are getting closer to the DOE goal of providing clean, affordable offshore wind energy to homes and businesses throughout the East Coast.”

Alstom’s Haliade 150-6MW offshore wind turbine is engineered to achieve the goals and objectives outlined by VOWTAP. It’s 150-meter rotor contributes dramatically to reducing the cost of offshore wind power while the direct drive permanent magnet generator and the Alstom Pure Torque technology increase reliability, availability, and efficiency.

VOWTAP is one of several offshore wind R&D programs led by the DOE that Alstom is collaborating on. This month a team led by Alstom was awarded an additional $3.4M by the DOE for phase II of its program to develop, test and validate advanced control technologies and integrated sensors for offshore wind turbines.

Electricity, offshore wind, Renewable Energy