Patriot – The Little Biofuels Plant That Did

Joanna Schroeder

Remember when you were growing up the story your mom or dad read to you called, “The Little Engine that Could“? It was a motivational story about a little train engine that overcame doubt and adversity to save the day. Patriot Renewable Fuels based in Annawan, Illinois is the little biofuels plant that could in part by mading a recent announcement to build a $10 million dollar, 4-5 million gallon biodiesel plant amidst the uncertainty of the biofuels industry.

Patriot President Gene Griffith

Patriot Renewable Fuels President Gene Griffith gives a plant update during their RFS rally and roundable.

On November 15, 2013 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its proposed rules for the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that not only didn’t keep the status quo, but took a step backward in requiring biofuels in the U.S fuel supply. The RFS mandates that by 2022, 36 billion gallons of biofuels be used in our fuel supply to help reduce dependence on foreign oil, improve the environment through the lowering of greenhouse gas emissions and help improve rural economies throughout the country.

Five years ago Patriot began producing ethanol and today the plant produces 120 million gallons of domestically produced ethanol. During an RFS rally and biodiesel plant ground breaking, President an CEO Gene Griffith gave a brief overview of how Patriot has achieved all the goals of the RFS.

More than 200 local investors came together in the grassroots project to create Patriot and Griffith says its is a shining example of how people can come together to create something positive for a local community and the country.

Giffith noted:

  • Patriot Renewable Fuels was created to develop new markets for corn. Today the plant buys about 40 million bushels of corn per year or approximately 45,000 truckloads a year. This is about the same amount of corn produced in Henry County, Whiteside County or Bureau County in Illinois.
  • Patriot Renewable Fuels was created as part of the city’s economic development goals. The biorefinery created 50 permanent jobs and when taking into account payroll and benefits for their employees over 5 years they have paid nearly $18 million dollars in salary and benefits. This money goes back into the local economy.
  • Patriot Renewable Fuels was created to produce both food and fuel. The ethanol plant produces 120 million gallons of ethanol per year, and from a revenue standpoint this is about $272 million dollars in revenue. In addition the plant produces dry distillers grains (DDGs) that is a high quality protein animal feed that can be sold domestically or internationally. Patriot created an export market to China and other areas of Asia who are in need of protein to feed the growing populations. This equates to about $85 million dollars in export revenues per year and over five years they plant has contributed over $400 million dollars to the U.S. balance of trade.

Today, Patriot produces enough corn oil to produce about 4 million gallons of biodiesel per year and with the $10 million biodiesel facility that should be operating within 10 months they will hire another nine employees further adding to economic development and U.S. balance of trade.

Gene Griffith, Patriot Renewable Fuels and Illinois Representative Cheri Bustos break ground on Patriot's 4-5 million gallon biodiesel facility.

Gene Griffith, Patriot Renewable Fuels, and Illinois Representative Cheri Bustos break ground on Patriot’s 4-5 million gallon biodiesel facility.

“Probably the thing I’m most emotional about is our need to reduce dependence on foreign oil,” said Griffith. “Our grassroots project has added about $1.2 billion dollars to the biofuels industry in a little over five years. That’s money that this country doesn’t have to send to the Middle East to buy foreign oil and its money that saves our balance of trade.”

Griffith says its important to share these positive biofuel stories more now than ever with the continued uncertainty of the industry. He encourages people to sign their White House petition in support of the RFS as well as send personal letters to the EPA and to their state and federal legislators to ensure the future of the industry.

Listen to Gene’s highlights about Patriot Renewable Fuels here: Patriot-The Little Biofuels Plant That Did

And check out Patriot Renewable Fuels photo album.

Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Patriot Renewable Fuels, RFS

Farmers Head to Washington in Defense of the RFS

Joanna Schroeder

ncga-logo-newFarmers from around the country are heading to Washington, D.C. today in defense of the RFS (Renewable Fuel Standard). Hundreds of biofuel and agricultural supporters are descending on DC in for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) hearing on the 2014 RFS proposed rules that across the board lower the renewable fuel volumes for next year.

The National Corn Growers Association says by cutting the amount of corn ethanol required by 10 percent it will affect corn prices and rural economies. Farmers plans to tell EPA their personal stories of what such an action would reap across rural America.

More than 30 corn farmers and their allies from around the country are attending the hearing including growers from 13 states including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

20120717-bowling200x250“It’s great to see so many people willing to leave their farms at this time of year for an important opportunity to give the EPA a piece of their mind,” said NCGA First Vice President Chip Bowling, a Maryland corn grower scheduled to speak at the hearing. “This has already had a negative effect on our farms, and if the EPA gets its way, it could cause serious harm to the rural economy – not to mention cutting the environmental benefits of domestic, renewable ethanol.”

For 2014, the EPA has proposed a 1.4 billion gallon reduction in how much corn ethanol will be required under the RFS, the federal law that requires the blending of domestic, renewable, cleaner-burning corn ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply.  Because of the record crop, growers are already seeing corn prices falling below the cost of production, and due to the planting cycle are having to buy inputs such as fertilizer, seed and fuel at much higher prices, Bowling said.

NCGA is strongly urging all its members to comment directly to the EPA about this issue before the Jan. 28, 2014 deadline. More information about how farmers can do this is available here.

biofuels, corn, EPA, Ethanol, NCGA, RFS

China’s Offshore Wind Power Industry on Track

Joanna Schroeder

During the 18th Congress of Chinese Communist Party meeting, a call was made to create a “Biological Civilization” strategy that would encompass a plan for more use of green energy including offshore wind. On June 4-6, 2014 Offshore Wind China 2014, Wind Farm O&A China 2014 and Distributed Generation China 2014 are simultaneously taking place at the Shanghai New International Expo Center and Shangri-La’s Kerry Hotel Pudong.

Optimale Bedingungen / Ideal conditionsThe organizers of the June events include Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Association, Chinese Renewable Energy Industries Committee, China National Renewable Energy Centre and Shanghai International Exhibition Co., Ltd. The groups have announced they will focus on the seven topics for the conferences in an effort to move the offshore wind industry and green energy industries forward.

1. Experience Wind Power Industry’s Turn-around through Release of Latest Progress on Offshore Wind Projects. Offshore wind power developers along with planning and design organizations will be invited to deliver speeches on progress of offshore wind power projects.

2. Catch New Industry Trends by Bringing together Leading Wind Turbine Manufacturers. Key offshore wind turbines manufacturers, including Vestas / Mitsubishi, Goldwind, Gamesa, United Power, Sinovel, Shanghai Electrics / Siemens and Ming Yang will gather to present the advanced offshore wind technologies.

3. Capture Future Market Opportunities in Sector of Wind Farm Operation and Maintenance. The event features Wind Farm O&M Market to explore life-cycle management and after-sales services of onshore and offshore wind farms.

4. Provide Full-range Solutions with Focus on Offshore Installation and Construction. With a focus on offshore installations and construction, leading offshore installation companies including CCCC Third, ZPMC, Jiangsu Longyuan Zhenhua, CCCC Fourth will gather at this event to showcase installation equipments and share practical experiences.

5. Join Hands with Leading Wind Power Nations to Share in Advanced Experience. Attendees will meet with associations and delegations from developed countries including U.K., Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and U.S. to have exchanges with overseas firms.

6. Improve Trade Mechanism by Expanding On-site Communications and Negotiations. The event will further enhance the trade mechanism to hold “On-Site Match-making Meetings between Turbine Manufacturers and Components Suppliers”.

7. Witness Offshore Mega Project by Visiting Offshore Wind Farm under Construction. Attendees will have opportunity to visit East Sea Bridge Offshore Wind Farm (Phase II) during its construction stage, and the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the first of its kind in China.

Clean Energy, conferences, Electricity, offshore wind, Wind

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFGROWMARK, Inc. has acquired the Canton, South Dakota Propane Terminal from Magellan Pipeline Company, L.P. This acquisition will bolster GROWMARK’s access to propane, expand its propane storage capacity, and enhance GROWMARK’s ability to provide a reliable supply of propane to its members and customers. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
  • Registration is open for the upcoming 2014 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo. The event is taking place January 20-23, 2014 in San Diego. The forecast for the conference: mostly sunny with a strong chance of success. Click here to register before early bird rates fly away.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) have released the 2014 Fuel Economy Guide, providing consumers with a valuable resource to identify and choose the most fuel efficient and low greenhouse gas emitting vehicles that meet their needs. The 2014 models include efficient and low-emission vehicles in a variety of classes and sizes, ensuring a wide variety of choices available for consumers.
  • Renew Energy Resources, Inc. has launched Vertically Integrated Renewable Solutions, a new and progressive way of creating profitable renewable energy through vertical integration and end-to-end supply chain management, partnerships, and ownership. This concept was first filed in the company’s 2007 10K and has been in constant revision and experimentation since then. The company anticipates rolling out multiple partnerships, acquisitions and operating opportunities first in biodiesel and then in sucrose-based ethanol. The initial phase of the plan is anticipated to commence in Q-1 2014.
Bioenergy Bytes

E85 Sales in Iowa Strong

Joanna Schroeder

E85 pump handleE85 (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) sales in Iowa remain strong with the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) announcing that third quarter sales were the second highest on record, doubling first quarter 2013 numbers. Iowans purchased more than 3.61 million gallons of E85 in the third quarter, nearly double the 1.83 million gallons purchased in the first quarter. The data was released by the Iowa Department of Revenue.

“These astounding third quarter sales numbers prove the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was working, but now the EPA is trying to pull the rug out from underneath us,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw. “During the third quarter, Iowa motorists using E85 routinely saved $1.00 per gallon compared to regular gasoline. But when the EPA announced their proposal to gut the 2014 RFS numbers, they gutted the incentive for retailers to promote low-cost E85. We saw the E85 price savings pull back, and it won’t be surprising if fourth quarter E85 sales taper off as well.”

The IRFA recently launched a wholesale E85 price reporting service with wholesale E85 prices posted every Tuesday, to promote greater transparency for retailers and distributors of E85 in order to aid retailers in supplying their customers with the lowest-cost E85 available.

biofuels, E85, Ethanol, Iowa RFA

Ecosphere Receives U.S. Patent for Ecos PowerCube

Joanna Schroeder

Ecosphere Technologies, Inc. has announced that the United States Patent & Trademark Office has approved U.S. Patent No. 8,593,102 for Ecosphere’s Ecos PowerCube® – a portable, self-contained micro-utility that uses solar power to provide electricity in the most remote, off-grid locations. Designed to meet the growing demand for off-grid energy, with a unique array of stacked solar panels, the Ecos PowerCube maximizes the total amount Ecos PowerCubeof solar power generation possible in 10’, 20’ and 40’ standard ISO shipping container footprints. With power generation capabilities up to 15 KW, the technology can be transported by land, air, or sea and is ideally suited to support off-grid military, disaster relief, humanitarian and mobile communication efforts.

The company says electricity generated by the Ecos PowerCube can be used to power various onboard systems including satellite communications, Internet connectivity, and mobile water treatment systems. The system can also be used to supply military or disaster relief teams with life-sustaining, mobile infrastructure modules, such as hospitals, command centers, sleeping quarters, and temporary schools.

Dennis McGuire, Chairman and CEO of Ecosphere Technologies, said, “We are pleased to finally announce the U.S Patent Office’s decision to grant our Ecos PowerCube patent and the commercial launch of the Ecos PowerCube product line. We believe the Ecos PowerCube addresses significant infrastructure deficiencies in remote field camp installations or when responding to large-scale disasters. Consistent with Ecosphere’s business model, we are seeking to license the Ecos PowerCube to a wide range of entities, including branches of the U.S. and global armed forces, as well as corporations that provide equipment for the military and a wide variety of disaster relief agencies worldwide.”

With the Army embracing renewables to make the business of war safer for soldiers, Ecosphere believes the Ecos PowerCube system is ideal for the military. In May 2013, the Army announced plans to spend $7 billion buying electricity generated by solar, wind, geothermal and biomass projects over the next three decades.

“The Army’s target is to install 1 gigawatt of renewable capacity in the U.S. by 2025 and to reduce non-tactical fuel consumption 30 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels,” said Dean Becker, director and intellectual property strategist for Ecosphere. “The Ecos PowerCube is the world’s most powerful mobile solar powered generator that can ship in standard 10 to 40 foot ISO container dimensions. It can be shipped by truck, rail, air, and sea – just like a standard shipping container.”

Becker added, “When you ship and deploy an Ecos PowerCube, there is no assembly required. Press a button and the solar panels deploy, producing power from the sun. It is a revolutionary solar design that the U.S. Patent Office recognized as being unique and patentable. Unlike conventional solar arrays systems that are placed on the ground or on top of containers, Ecosphere’s patented solar arrays can be retracted to protect the panels in the kind of inclement weather that is prevalent in war zones or disaster relief type scenarios.”

Alternative energy, Electricity, Microgrid, Solar

Argentina Helps Biodiesel by Upping Blend

John Davis

argentinaflagArgentina will be using more biodiesel in its power generation and vehicles. In a move to help its biodiesel industry hit by European sanctions, Biofuels International reports the South American country will require a 10 percent biodiesel blend in fuel burned for power generation and will step up vehicle blends to 10 percent starting next month.

Biodiesel producers have been pushing hard to convince the government to raise the local blending requirements for mixing biodiesel with conventional fuel to compensate for European trade lost after the EU imposed strict anti-dumping duties on Argentinian imports earlier this year.

The government has said it wants to raise the biodiesel blending requirement to 20% by 2015, but has so far struggled to increase the actual blend much higher than the original 7% mandate set in 2006.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, Argentina exported 755,200 metric tons of biodiesel from January to September of this year compared to the 1.3 million tons shipped during the same period in 2012, according to Argentine biofuels chamber Carbio.

Biodiesel is big stakes for Argentina, as the country’s refiners have spent about $500 million to build biodiesel plants in recent years.

Biodiesel, International

Biodiesel Production Still at Record Pace; Imports Up

John Davis

The latest numbers from the government show that biodiesel production is still on a record pace for the year. Meanwhile, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says America is importing more of the green fuel while exporting less of it to other countries.

September’s figures put biodiesel production at 127 million gallons in September 2013, down just slightly fromm August’s numbers but still on a pace to reach about 1.7 billion gallons by year’s end, well above the Renewable Fuel Standard requirement of 1.28 billion gallons.
eiachart
Biodiesel Magazine also reports that EIA numbers show the U.S, importing more biodiesel while sending less of it from our shores.

U.S. imports of biomass-based diesel in September nearly doubled August volumes, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Imports for September totaled 28.7 million gallons, up from August import volumes of just more than 15 million gallons. U.S. exports of biomass-based diesel, however, fell significantly in September from August. The U.S. exported only 15.9 million gallons of biomass-based diesel in September compared to nearly 29 million gallons in August.

More than half the U.S. imports of biomass-based diesel for September came from Argentina (11.6 million gallons) and Indonesia (nearly 7.1 million gallons), with imports from Germany (4.7 million gallons), Panama (3.36 million gallons), Canada (1.3 million gallons) and South Korea (630,000 gallons) trailing.

September U.S. exports of biomass-based diesel totaling 15.9 million gallons went to Canada (6.6 million gallons), Gibraltar (5.7 million gallons), Spain (nearly 3 million gallons), Peru (420,000 gallons), Australia (252,000 gallons) and Malaysia (42,000 gallons).

Biodiesel, Government

Global Effort to Bring Clean Energy Amps Up

Joanna Schroeder

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim have announced a concerted effort by governments, international agencies, civil society and private sector to mobilize financing to deliver universal access to modern energy services such as lighting, clean cooking solutions, and power for productive uses in 567790-uncity-1bdeveloping countries, as well as scaled-up energy efficiency, especially in the world’s highest-energy consuming countries.

After a meeting of the Advisory Board of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SE4ALL), which they co-chaired, they welcomed the growing momentum. “Energy powers growth and opportunity,” said the UN Secretary-General. “We count on all actors to lead by example in scaling up and accelerating action that will provide clean, efficient and sustainable energy for all. Today’s many announcements are a testament to the resolve of partners to chart a path forward.”Read More

Clean Energy, Electricity, energy efficiency, International, Renewable Energy

Alliant Energy Cuts Energy Efficiency Goals

Joanna Schroeder

The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) today approved Alliant Energy’s plan to scale back energy efficiency goals at the same time the utility is pursuing a new $920 million plant in Marshalltown, Iowa. According to the Environmental Law & Policy Center Alliant is punting on a chance to lead on energy efficiency and ensuring the utility’s Iowa customers will pay higher electric bills for years.

Alliant-Energy“At a time when Iowa is defining its energy future, the IUB could have advanced Iowa’s leadership on energy efficiency, but instead it put that leadership in doubt,” said Josh Mandelbaum, staff attorney for the Environmental Law & Policy Center, part of a coalition of environmental groups who intervened in the proceedings. “Energy efficiency creates jobs and is the most cost effective way to meet demand for power, but instead we are taking the expensive path of new power plants.”

The new goals represent less than half the efficiency progress possible through cost-effective means even under the utility’s own analysis, commissioned in 2012. The decision comes at a time when many states in the Midwest and nationally are increasing the amount of energy saved, not reducing those savings.

“It is disappointing that the Board approved savings goals for Alliant Energy that leaves significant amounts of cost-effective energy efficiency on the table,” said Nathaniel Baer, energy program director at the Iowa Environmental Council. Energy efficiency is most valuable when new generation is needed, and a precursor to approving plans for a newer power plant should be to ensure that we are implementing all of the available cost-effective energy efficiency.”

Under the new goals, Alliant will attempt to save 1.1 percent in retail sales each year over the next five years. This is a sharp reduction from both the utility’s current goal of 1.3 percent or its recent performance of 1.4 percent.Read More

Alternative energy, Electricity, energy efficiency, Solar, Utilities