ACE Conference 2026

Innovation Challenge Leads to Cool Innovation

Joanna Schroeder

Innovation Challenge 2The 2014 Northrop Grumman Corporation High School Innovation Challenge (HSIC) has led to some, well, cool innovations in renewable energy and engineering. On February 21, 2014, six student teams from Los Angeles, California high schools took an engineering problem, limited budget and little time and created renewable energy-powered model vehicles. The event was part of National Engineers Week.

The challenge is modeled after a Northrop Grumman program or engineering capability, and designed to stimulate student interest in pursuing careers in scientific or engineering fields. The goal of this year’s competition was to design and build a renewable-energy-powered model vehicle that could carry a payload as efficiently as possible over a set distance.

“The Northrop Grumman High School Innovation Challenge exposes students to the major steps required to develop, document and demonstrate an engineering concept,” said Krystal Puga, a systems engineer on Northrop Grumman’s James Webb Space Telescope project and the company’s HSIC deputy coordinator. “It teaches them how to develop, document and present their ideas; manage a schedule and budget; and prove that their concept meets the customer’s requirements.”

The teams participating in this year’s HSIC included the California Academy of Math and Science in Carson; Da Vinci Science High School in Hawthorne; El Segundo High School; Lennox Math, Science and Technology Academy in Inglewood; Hawthorne Math and Science in Hawthorne; and Palos Verdes Peninsula High School in Rolling Hills Estates.

Over the course of the 12-week competition, the HSIC teams – each one mentored by a Northrop Grumman engineer – were graded on their ability to develop and document their vehicle’s design in a written report; present the concept orally to a panel of engineers; and prove the vehicle’s performance on the test track.Read More

Alternative Vehicles, Education, Solar, Wind

Making Sugarcane into the Next Biodiesel Feedstock

John Davis

Sugarcane could be a better feedstock for biodiesel than soybeans, but it only grows in warm weather areas. But researchers at the University of Illinois believe they have a way to grow what could be a rich, oil-producing variety of sugarcane in colder climates.

long1“Biodiesel is attractive because, for example, with soybean, once you’ve pressed the oil out it’s fairly easy to convert it to diesel,” said Stephen P. Long, a University of Illinois professor of plant biology and leader of the initiative. “You could do it in your kitchen.”

But soybean isn’t productive enough to meet the nation’s need for renewable diesel fuels, Long said.

“Sugarcane and sorghum are exceptionally productive plants, and if you could make them accumulate oil in their stems instead of sugar, this would give you much more oil per acre,” he said.

Working first with the laboratory-friendly plant Arabidopsis and later with sugarcane, the team introduced genes that boost natural oil production in the plant. They increased oil production in sugarcane stems to about 1.5 percent.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot, but at 1.5 percent, a sugarcane field in Florida would produce about 50 percent more oil per acre than a soybean field,” Long said. “There’s enough oil to make it worth harvesting.”

The multi-institutional team aims to increase the oil content of sugarcane stems to about 20 percent by using genetic engineering to increase photosynthetic efficiency in sugarcane and sorghum by 30 percent, and then cross sugarcane with Miscanthus to allow it to be grown in northern regions.

Biodiesel, Research

Rapeseed King of Europe’s Biodiesel Feedstock

John Davis

Soybeans might rule the roost as far as biodiesel feedstocks in the U.S. goes, but in Europe, rapeseed is king. A new study from the UFOP (Union zur Förderung von Oel- und Proteinpflanzen e.V. – Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants) shows that rapeseed makes up nearly 90 percent of the material used to produce biodiesel in winter.
UFOPbiodiesel
UFOP has established that the high content of rapeseed oil in the biodiesel sampling is attributable not least to the decline of the rapeseed oil price after the 2013 harvest. According to information from the Agricultural Information Service (AMI), at the current price of 700 EUR per ton, a price level has been reached at which the processing of imported palm oil (638 EUR/t CIF Rotterdam – see UFOP market information “Oil Seeds and Biofuels” 02/2004) is not necessarily economical. Furthermore, the levying of punitive duties on biodiesel against Indonesia and Argentina has a decreasing effect on the imports from these countries. The increased demand from the domestic and European biodiesel industry for European rapeseed oil has, however, not yet been able to bring about a positive change of direction in the rapeseed oil price, the reason obviously being the huge worldwide supply quantities of vegetable oils.

The study sampled 60 fillings stations belonging to mineral oil companies throughout Germany. Officials admit they cannot detect the amount of used waste oils or animal fats used in the biodiesel.

Biodiesel, International

Novozymes Joins Advanced Ethanol Council

Joanna Schroeder

aeclogoNovozymes has become the newest member of the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC). The global company is best known in the biofuels space for its work on first and second generation enzymes used to improve biofuel production, including cellulosic ethanol.

“Novozymes and the Advanced Ethanol Council share a strong focus on facilitating the commercialization and growth of advanced biofuels,” said Adam Monroe, Americas Regional President at Novozymes. “Advanced biofuel plants are commercializing now and we must continue engaging in policy discussions along with the AEC to ensure the long-term stability and success of advanced renewable fuels.”

Novozymes operates the largest enzyme plant dedicated to biofuels in the United States, located in Blair, Nebraska. The $200 million plant specializes in making world-leading enzymes, a key technology component for both the conventional and advanced biofuel markets.

“We are very pleased to be working with Novozymes,” said Brooke Coleman, Executive Director of the AEC. “The cellulosic biofuels industry is breaking through at commercial scale and it is absolutely critical that the industry speak with one voice and stay together when it comes to how we engage on policy and regulatory matters. Novozymes is highly engaged on both the business and political fronts, and we look forward to working with them on strategies that will put the industry in a position to succeed in 2014 and beyond.”

The Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) represents worldwide leaders in the effort to develop and commercialize the next generation of ethanol fuels, ranging from cellulosic ethanol made from dedicated energy crops, forest residues and agricultural waste to advanced ethanol made from municipal solid waste, algae and other feedstocks.

AEC, biofuels, Cellulosic, enzymes, Ethanol, Novozymes

Cali Drought Intensifies, Climate Action Calls Heat Up

Joanna Schroeder

As California battles the worst drought the state has seen in centuries, calls for climate action are heating up. During the U.S. Climate Leadership Conference taking place this week in San Diego, California, more than a dozen businesses including Apple, SolarCity, San Diego International Airport, Sapphire Energy and Sungevity signed the Climate Declaration. The declaration urges federal and state policymakers to “seize the economic opportunity of addressing climate change”.

Launched last year by Ceres, a nonprofit sustainability advocacy organization, and its business network, Business for Innovative Climate & Energy Policy (BICEP), the Climate Declaration has more than 700 signatories nationwide. The California signatories have added their own special message to the declaration for Washington:

Ceres_BICEPDeclaration_Ad_CA_022414_1“As the world’s 8th largest economy, California is a champion of clean energy progress and innovation,” states the declaration. “Thanks in part to its smart energy policies including its landmark climate law, AB32, California has been a global leader in job creation, clean energy investments and GDP growth.”

In 2012, California supported more than 43,700 jobs in the solar industry (one-third of all solar jobs in the U.S.) and more than 7,000 jobs in the wind industry. In 2013, the state doubled its solar rooftop installations, from 1,000 megawatts to 2,000 megawatts. It also ranks 48th in the country in per capita energy consumption, due in part to the state’s strong energy efficiency programs.

“The 140 plus California companies which have signed the Climate Declaration see the financial upside of tackling climate change today, both for their own bottom lines and the overall economy,” said Anne Kelly, director of policy and BICEP at Ceres. “We welcome them, invite others to come on board and applaud the state of California for its bold steadfast leadership on climate and energy policy.”

Among those is Sungevity, a Bay-Area based solar provider whose workforce has grown from four to about 400 since 2007. The company has operations in nine U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Europe and Australia, and its global network of customers has offset over 100 million pounds of carbon emissions to date.

“Actively addressing climate change is the biggest economic opportunity of our time,” said Danny Kennedy, co-founder of Sungevity and author of Rooftop Revolution, How to Save Our Economy – and Our Planet – from Dirty Energy. “Sungevity’s rapid growth is proof positive that the solar service sector can spur the economy with high-paying jobs that cannot be easily off-shored, particularly in sales, service and maintenance.”

Beyond signing the declaration, or taking their own steps to become more sustainable, many of the company signatories are engaging further with policy makers. Seventy percent of the major company signatories (those with over $100 million in annual revenues) have expressed their views on the need for climate policy by lobbying on Capitol Hill, sending a letter, and/or engaging with the public through social media.

Clean Energy, Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Solar, Wind

Honolulu Port Moves to Portable Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Joanna Schroeder

The Port of Honolulu is moving to portable hydrogen fuel cells by 2015. The move to the emerging technology comes on the heels of a 2013 study and analysis that confirmed the viability of hydrogen fuel cells to provide auxiliary power to docked or anchored ships. Hokulani-KaholoHydrogen researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have joined with several partners in the project, which will result in a portable, self-contained hydrogen fuel cell unit that can float on a barge, sit on a dock or be transported to wherever it’s needed to provide electrical power.

The next phase of the fuel cell demonstration project led by Sandia National Laboratories will feature a portable, self-contained hydrogen fuel cell unit currently in the design phase. Once completed, it will be deployed to the Port of Honolulu by Young Brothers, Ltd., one of the project partners and a primary shipper of goods throughout the Hawaiian Islands. The unit is undergoing detailed engineering and design through mid-2014. After fabrication, assembly and training for Young Brothers operators, the hydrogen fuel cell unit will be operational during a six-month deployment in early 2015.

“No one has ever built this kind of custom unit for this purpose,” said Sandia’s project manager, Joe Pratt. The unit, he said, will fit inside a 20-foot shipping container and will consist of four 30-kilowatt fuel cells, a hydrogen storage system and power conversion equipment.

Ports have been a major source of water and air pollution in the U.S. but remained relatively unregulated until recent years. As ports have begun to expand and their impact on the environment has become more apparent, port operators face a variety of regulations. Many ports have begun to enact sustainability goals or adopt green practices, and that’s where fuel cells can play a role.

The Hawaii project is jointly sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD).

Alternative energy, Hydrogen

RFS is Revitalizing Rural Iowa

Joanna Schroeder

The United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released its Preliminary 2012 Farm Census data and according to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA), it’s easy to see that increased in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) have revitalized rural Iowa.

Iowa-FarmThe USDA data shows that since the increase in the RFS in 2007, Iowa has experienced nearly a 51 percent increase in the value of Iowa farm products, with a more than 67.7 percent increase in crop values and a more than 33.5 percent increase in livestock values. These value increases took place during a time when the amount of land being farmed in Iowa actually dropped 132,193 acres to 30.6 million acres.

“It’s no coincidence the increases in the RFS since 2007 have coincided with the most impressive run of rural prosperity in Iowa history,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw. “Throughout history, farmers have been so innovative and productive they usually produce themselves out of profitability. This time, the growth in renewable fuels provided new markets for increased production, resulting in the positive economic results detailed by the USDA. However, if the Obama Administration’s proposal to slash the RFS is allowed to move forward, we could see a complete reversal in this rural revitalization.”

Iowa was not the only state to benefit from the growth in renewable fuels. Nationally, farm product values increased 32.8 percent from 2007 to 2012, with crop values increasing 47.9 percent and livestock values increasing 18.7 percent. Meanwhile, U.S. land devoted to farming declined by nearly 7.5 million acres.

Agribusiness, biofuels, Iowa RFA, RFS

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFThe AEGPL Congress will be taking place in Genoa, Italy May 14-15, 2014. Hosted by the European LPG Association, the AEGPL Congress is expecting more than 1,200 LPG industry professionals to convene for the event, themed, “Today’s Successes, Tomorrow’s Opportunities”. The event will cover all sectors of the LPG industry with speakers from Europe and around the world.
  • The Asia-Pacific (APAC) solar photovoltaic (PV) module market value is forecast to show modest growth by the end of next year, jumping from $6.7 billion in 2012 to $8.6 billion by 2015, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.9%, says a new report from research and consulting firm GlobalData. The APAC region’s solar PV installed capacity is also expected to increase over the coming years, from 19.6 Gigawatts (GW) in 2012 to 420.6 GW by 2030, at a CAGR of 18.6%. In 2013, China and Japan led the region with a combined total of 77% of its solar PV installed capacity.
  • The Chinese government has approved a biobased aviation fuel for commercial use. On Feb. 12, 2014, the Civil Aviation Administration of China published a notice announcing it has granted Sinopec the first certificate of airworthiness for biobased jet fuel. According to information published by the aviation administration Sinopec filed the application for the certificate in February 2012.
  • Chromalloy announced that it has renewed a 10-year agreement with Solar Turbines Incorporated to provide component repairs and new production support for the manufacturer’s leading power systems. Under the agreement Chromalloy will be the preferred supplier for a number of component repairs including turbine blades, nozzles and cases.
Bioenergy Bytes

Utah Recognizes Biodiesel as Clean, Renewable Fuel

John Davis

It only figures that a state known for some awfully pretty blue skies would recognize biodiesel as a good way to keep that air pollution free. This article from the Deseret News says the Utah state legislature’s Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment Committee has endorsed HJR5, a measure recognizing biodiesel as a clean, renewable resource that should be encouraged in the state.

anderson“I have been extremely impressed with what this particular technology can do with our domestic fuel supply, for clean air, in making use of natural products out there,” said Rep. Johnny Anderson, R-Taylorsville, the resolution’s sponsor. “This is a Utah-based company producing really good, solid-based Utah jobs.” [referring to Washakie Renewable Energy in Plymouth, Utah, that creates 10 million gallons of biodiesel a year from used cooking oil.]

Washakie’s Jeff Peterson said the company made a $40 million investment in its Plymouth location and is bringing on a seed crusher to extract oil from soybeans or other plants that also leaves a protein residual that can be used in feed stock.

Washakie pays 40 cents per gallon for used vegetable oil it collects from restaurants along the Wasatch Front and would also like to tap into supplies from jails and other big producers.

“We take that waste product and turn it into a renewable product,” Peterson said, adding that company’s biodiesel fuel ultimately costs less per gallon than traditional petroleum-based diesel.

Lawmakers say they want to encourage more growth in this type of biodiesel production in the state.

Biodiesel

Changes in the Law Drive U.S. Biodiesel Trends

John Davis

rabobankbiodiesel1While the proposal to cut the amount of biodiesel and ethanol to be blended into the Nation’s fuel supply has green fuel makers nervous, a new report shows that turmoil at the end of 2013 actually helped biodiesel spike. Financial services provider for agricultural producers and agribusinesses Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research (FAR) says the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposal to adjust the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) at the end of last year could actually end up providing an environment for a stable long-term outlook for biodiesel demand

“We saw a record level of biodiesel production in 2013 due to the expiration of the one dollar per gallon tax credit on biodiesel production and an anticipated soybean shortage in 2014,” notes report author and Rabobank analyst Al Griffin.

According the Rabobank U.S. Biodiesel Outlook, the U.S. biodiesel industry is expected to remain commoditized with tightening margins and periods of negative returns. The industry players best positioned for success are those focused on becoming the low cost producer, gaining access to multiple feedstock sources, and accessing adequate working capital to withstand volatile margins.

“Increases in biodiesel production will bolster demand for soy oil, corn oil, canola oil, yellow grease, and palm oil, along with other, less common inputs,” says Griffin. “With biodiesel feedstock being split roughly evenly between soy oil and all other sources, the fats and oils sector will benefit from intensified production.”

The report goes on to point out that while ethanol runs into issues with the blend wall, biodiesel doesn’t really face the same issues. In addition, recent signals from the EPA that it will go back to original RFS mandate levels during 2014 have helped provide the biodiesel optimism in the report.

Biodiesel, Government, Legislation