LanzaTech & Centre for Advanced Bio-Energy Partner

Joanna Schroeder August 19, 2013

LanzaTech, a producer of low-carbon fuels and chemicals from waste gases, has partnered with the Centre for Advanced Bio-Energy (Centre), a joint venture between Indian Oil Corporation, Ltd. (IOC) and the Indian government’s Department for Biotechnology (DBT), to create a novel process for the direct production of low carbon fuels from industrial carbon dioxide emissions. LanzaTech and the Centre will leverage their expertise to create a new process for the direct conversion of waste CO2 into drop-in fuels through an acetates-to-lipids pathway.

LanzaTech has developed gas fermentation technology that can directly convert waste CO2 gases into acetates, and the Centre is working to increase the production yield of lipids (oils) by “feeding” acetates to microalgae. These oils can then be refined into fuels using a range of existing processing technologies.

“India has made it a national priority to balance its meteoric economic growth with environmental and social sustainability,” said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. “By converting India’s industrial waste CO2 emissions into low carbon fuels and chemicals, LanzaTech and the Centre can reduce overall emissions while creating a sustainable, domestic supply of transportation fuels. We look forward to extending our technology platform and our existing partnerships in India as we work with the team at the Centre on this initiative.”

Dr. R K Malhotra, Director, (R&D) of Indian Oil and Head of the DBT-IOC Centre said that “Any developments leading to useful conversion of carbon dioxide are most desirable,” and expressed hope that DBT-IOC Centre will come up with viable solutions in association with LanzaTech.

LanzaTech already has a working relationship with Indian Oil, India’s largest national oil company, to develop a domestic ethanol supply chain by leveraging LanzaTech’s technology with a range of carbon-containing waste streams widely available in India, including industrial carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from steel plants. The country is expected to become the world’s largest steel producer by 2015.

advanced biofuels, International

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder August 19, 2013

POET Biorefining plants in Gowrie and Coon Rapids, Iowa have donated $1,000 each to support the Fly Iowa 2013 Airshow that will feature the ethanol-powered Vanguard Squadron. The event takes place on August 24, 2013 and will be held at the Perry Municipal Airport, and is free and open to the public.
Huaneng Power International, Inc. has announced that Huaneng Liaoning Changtu Laocheng Wind Farm Project has obtained the approval from the Development and Reform Commission of the Liaoning Province. The project has a planned installed capacity of 48MW.
Duke Energy Renewables has acquired a 4.5 megawatt solar project in San Francisco, California from solar project developer Recurrent Energy. The Sunset Reservoir Solar Power Project is the largest solar generation facility in San Francisco.
CHS Inc., a farmer-owned cooperative and a global energy, grains and foods company, has named Brian Legried as the vice president, Refined Fuels Sales and Energy Services. In this role he will provide strategic leadership and direction for the refined fuels sales organization focused on growing the Cenex brand.

Bioenergy Bytes

Alberta Looks to Become Canada’s Biofuel Leader

John Davis August 19, 2013

A Canadian province most well-known for its petroleum products could be that country’s leader in non-petroleum energy. According to this article in the Edmonton Journal, Alberta, in all the headlines for its oilsands, could end up leading Canada by replacing half of its transportation fuels with biodiesel and ethanol.

“We now have ethanol from grain and biodiesel from oilseeds, and we can also have ethanol from poplar which is not used in many forestry management areas and we can grow dedicated energy crops,” said Bradley Saville, a professor of chemical engineering from the University of Toronto.

He spoke Friday at an event organized by the Biorefining Conversions Network on the University of Alberta campus.

He said a recent study determined that by using just five per cent of the arable land in Canada, 29 billion litres of biofuel could be produced.

“And while Alberta is the energy superpower because of its oil production and the oilsands, this scenario sees the province as remaining the superpower in biofuel production because of the large amount of really productive land in the province.”

But the trick for Canada is to get “from where we are now, which is a pretty low level, to a higher level. You have to have confidence as an investor, so this process will be incremental over the years,” said Saville.

One of the oilseeds seen as having great potential north of the border is camelina, although right now, it’s not as economical because there’s no market for the seed’s meal. But experts believe that will change.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, International

Quad County Seeing Success with Enogen

Joanna Schroeder August 16, 2013

Quad County Corn Processors, a biorefinery based in Galva, Iowa is definitely an innovative ethanol facility and its paying off. During a visit with Delayne Johnson, whose plant recently broke ground on its bolt-on cellulosic technology coined “ACE,”I got a quick update on how the Enogen corn was faring in their ethanol process. Quad County was the first ethanol plant in the country to adopt Enogen corn, featuring a trait specifically developed to maximize the ethanol production process.

Johnson said they starting using Enogen in their plant full time on January 8, 2013. To date, he said the plant has been able to reduce its energy use, and thus energy costs by approximately five percent, because with Enogen they can put more starch in each fermenter. (The starch is what is converted to sugar and then converted to ethanol.)

Quad County has also seen the ethanol yield per bushel of corn increase approximately 1 percent. Johnson noted that the 2012 corn crop was very weather stressed. He said he is optimistic that they will see the same, if not better results as they get corn that was grown in more ideal weather conditions.

Johnson said these are only early results and they are pleased with what they have seen to date.

To learn more about Quad County’s success with Enogen corn, listen to my interview with Delayne Johnson here: Delayne Johnson Talks Enogen

Visit the Quad County Corn Processors “ACE” Groundbreaking photo album here.

Audio, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News

New Mexico State University Awarded $5M Grant

Joanna Schroeder August 16, 2013

New Mexico State University (NMSU) has been awarded a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to improve algae-based fuel that is compatible with existing refineries. The principal investigator of the project, entitled REAP: Realization of Algae Potential, will be Peter Lammers, director of the NMSU Algal Bioenergy team.

Lammers will coordinate efforts at partner institutions that include Los Alamos, Argonne and Pacific Northwest national laboratories; Washington State and Michigan State universities and four companies, Phycal, Algenol Biofuels, Pan Pacific Technologies and UOP-Honeywell.

Key goals of the 2.5-year project are to improve the yields and stability of algal biomass and cultivation systems while also improving oil content at harvest. Each of the necessary process elements, or unit operations, required to produce drop-in fuels from algal biomass are targets for improvements by various team members.

NMSU’s key role will be to integrate all of the unit operations at a single location to demonstrate start-to-finish process compatibility. For example:

strain improvement work will be conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Michigan State University and Phycal;
cultivation simulation and validation work will be conducted at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and NMSU respectively;
bio-crude extraction methods will continue to be developed at Washington State University;
quantitative modeling of the unit operations and integrated processes will occur at Pan Pacific Technologies, Algenol Biofuels and Argonne National Laboratory; and
Algenol Biofuels also will provide closed cultivation systems that dramatically reduce water losses to evaporation and enhance the stability of algae cultures.

The REAP award follows two other federal awards for the NMSU Algal Bioenergy team – Department of Energy funding through the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts consortium amounting to $700,000 over two years for NMSU to support the algal cultivation testbed located at the Fabian Garcia Science Center, and a National Science Foundation EPSCoR award for which NMSU will get $1.5 million over five years for the algal effort.

advanced biofuels, algae, Research

Australian Algae Production Test Site Completed

John Davis August 16, 2013

An Australian algae company has completed a new test cultivation site. Biofuels Journal reports Aurora Algae, working Durack Institute of Technology, Aurora Algae finished building the new facility in Geraldton, Western Australia. The project will evaluate the potential in that area the production of microalgae and adds to Aurora Algae’s pilot-scale algae cultivation facility in Karratha, Western Australia that produces up to 15 tonnes of dried algal biomass per month.

“We have fully leveraged the Karratha site, demonstrating the efficient functioning of a small-scale operation, while continuing to refine our cultivation and harvesting processes,” said Greg Bafalis, CEO of Aurora Algae. “With the Karratha site, we believe we have demonstrated the most technologically advanced algae production system in the world. Having achieved this milestone, we are now preparing for the commercial production stage of our operation, beginning with a careful evaluation of various additional potential cultivation sites.”

Geraldton, approximately 1,000 kilometres south of Karratha, is one potential commercial site location being evaluated by Aurora.

“Beyond favorable weather conditions and proximity to the coast, Geraldton also offers a stable, local work force and the additional benefit of being home to the Batavia Coast Marine Institute, whose facilities provide a great environment for ongoing research and development activities,” Mr. Bafalis explained.

Part of Durack Institute of Technology, the Batavia Coast Maritime Institute (BCMI) is a state of the art training, research and development facility located at Separation Point in Geraldton.

Durack officials say their facilities, expertise and infrastructure should help with the evaluation stage.

algae

Two Geothermal Areas in Cali Moving Forward

Joanna Schroeder August 16, 2013

Early this week, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell delivered a keynote address at the National Clean Energy Summit. Her remarks included support for the growth of renewable energy including geothermal energy.

“We applaud Secretary Jewell for the announcement today reaffirming the Administration’s commitment to approve 20,000 megawatts of renewable energy production on public lands by 2020,” said Karl Gawell, executive director for the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) in response to her speech. “With roughly one-half of the geothermal power produced today located on federal public lands, it is important for the Department of Interior to maintain a priority for leasing and permitting new geothermal power projects.”

Gawell said the Administration’s commitment will move forward two geothermal areas in Southern California, establishing a new area in the West Chocolate Mountains and approving a new 40 MW power plant in Mono County. Gawell said it has been estimated that together these federal lands could add 190MW of new geothermal capacity, and for comparison purposes that would produce the equivalent power of over 1,000 MW of solar photovoltaics. If the full capacity expected at these sites is developed, it would mean over 1,200 construction and manufacturing jobs on an annual basis, and approximately 325 full-time permanent jobs in Southern California alone.

There is strong interest in geothermal development in this area, according to Gawell, with several companies recently permitting or building new power plants. “We expect as California moves forward to increase its commitment to a carbon-free power system, geothermal power will grow in importance because it can provide the firm or flexible power needed to maintain system reliability, achieve climate goals, and do so with low integration costs,” Gawell added.

GEA recently released an updated Air Emissions Comparison and Externality Analysis showing geothermal energy provides significant benefits to public health and the environment as one of the least-polluting and most environmentally friendly forms of energy. The analysis found binary geothermal plants produce virtually no greenhouse gases (GHG) and dry steam and flash geothermal plants put out only trace amounts of emissions. GEA estimates geothermal provides approximately $88 million in externality benefits per year to California and $29 million to Nevadans by avoiding fossil fuel emissions.

In addition, GEA, together with the California Geothermal Energy Collaborative, have published a report “Energizing Southern California’s Economy” that examines the geothermal power potential in Southern California and the economic benefits to the region of developing them.

Electricity, Geothermal, Renewable Energy, Solar

Northern Power Expands Into South America

Joanna Schroeder August 16, 2013

Northern Power Systems has entered into a strategic partnership with WEG Equipamentos Elétricos S.A., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electronic equipment. WEG and Northern Power are cooperating to bring next‐generation wind turbine technology to the South American wind market. This partnership combines WEG’s extensive production capabilities and market knowledge with Northern Power’s PM/DD technology and wind industry experience to deliver value‐enhanced wind energy products for customers of WEG.

As part of their collaborative efforts, WEG is offering a utility‐scale technology platform that will include wind turbines rated between 2.1 and 2.3MW and rotors sized from 93m to 110m to meet customer requirements in a range of a wind classes. WEG has already secured commitments for initial orders and will be scaling production operations throughout 2013 and 2014.

“We believe that Northern Power’s PM/DD technology offers a significant performance advantage to a vast array of customers in South America,” said João Paulo Gualberto da Silva, WEG’s Head of Wind Energy Generation Business. “The South American wind market, particularly Brazil, is growing at an incredible rate, and the initial market response to WEG’s turbine offerings has been very positive. Having a partner like Northern Power with proven technology which is capable of providing solutions for both current and evolving wind market demands, positions WEG to be a leader in this expanding space now and in the future.”

According to Northern Power, turbines leveraging PM/DD technology typically demonstrate higher availability and lower maintenance and repair costs than traditional gear‐based turbines, offering higher energy production over the turbine’s lifetime, and providing enhanced economic returns to owners. The wind turbines initially will be manufactured at WEG’s manufacturing facilities in Jaragua do Sul, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil.

“WEG has tremendous capabilities to supply all aspects of wind power plants integrated with a strong understanding of the needs of the South American wind market, and Northern Power has the experience and technology necessary to provide the right solutions for this market,” added Troy C. Patton, Chief Executive Officer of Northern Power Systems. “We look forward to powering WEG’s capabilities through our technology offerings.”

Electricity, Energy, International, Wind

Edeniq & Pacific Ag to Colloborate

Joanna Schroeder August 16, 2013

Edeniq and Pacific Ag, have announced today a five-year exclusive collaboration agreement to assist existing corn-based ethanol production facilities to add cellulosic ethanol production. The technology will help corn-based ethanol plants diversify their feedstock sources and enhance long-term production margins. In addition, the cellulosic ethanol produced will qualify for as “cellulosic” fuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

“This collaboration holds the potential to enhance the commercial viability of cellulosic ethanol production in the US,” said Brian Thome, the President and CEO of Edeniq. “By combining Edeniq’s bolt-on production technologies for corn ethanol plants with Pacific Ag’s agricultural biomass supply capabilities, we will provide the best turnkey solution for today’s producers to economically integrate cellulosic production into their existing facilities.”

Today there are about 200 operating ethanol plants in the U.S. in 28 states. They produce nearly 14 billion gallons annually representing approximately 10 percent of all gasoline sold. The majority of these plants use corn as their primary feedstock, a commodity grain that has been subject to wide fluctuations in price and supply over the past decade, driven by competing end uses, market speculation and weather.

In an effort to diversify the feedstock pool, the Department of Energy issued its “billion ton” study in 2005. That study determined that U.S. agriculture and forest resources have the capability to produce at least one billion dry tons of biomass annually in a sustainable manner, enough to produce biofuels to meet more than one-third of the current demand for transportation fuels. Yet today, only a small amount of biofuels are produced using biomass and much more is needed.

“This collaboration agreement brings together two companies at the forefront of solving a big risk factor to commercial production of cellulosic ethanol: getting biomass from the field to the plant with maximum reliability and efficiency and successfully converting that biomass at a low per gallon capital investment for existing production facilities,” added Bill Levy, founder and CEO of Pacific Ag. “For Pacific Ag, this potential market represents a key additional sector in our strategy to maximize the role of ag biomass in the nation’s energy supply.”

advanced biofuels, biomass, Cellulosic, Ethanol

7-Eleven Has Success with EV Charging Stations

Joanna Schroeder August 16, 2013

7-Eleven is the first fuel retailer in the New York City area to offer fast charging services for electric vehicle (EV) drivers. Green Charge Networks (GCN) energy storage solutions worked with 7-Eleven as well as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and several utility companies to leverage local solar generation and energy storage. This enables them to use high-powered electric equipment, including EV fast chargers, while avoiding or creating peak energy times and high energy prices.

“Even when the New York City electric grid experienced an all-time peak on July 19 during the recent heat wave, the GreenStation allowed for EV fast charging while reducing peak demand by 56 percent,” said Vic Shao, Green Charge Networks’ CEO.

Green Charge Networks’ energy storage system, GreenStation, manages the power consumption at the 5820 Francis Lewis Boulevard 7-Eleven location in Flushing, N.Y. It monitors the store’s load on a second-by-second basis and counteracts peaks and valleys by discharging and charging from an internal ion battery bank.

“Convenience retailing in today’s world increasingly requires the use of high-powered electrical devices, including foodservice equipment and EV fast chargers,” adds Tom Brennan, 7-Eleven’s vice president of infrastructure services. “Meeting our customers changing needs while keeping demand charges and thus our electricity costs in check is a very attractive value proposition for us.”

According to CGN, the GreenStation enables industrial and commercial ratepayers to manage power consumption and rising demand charges. The root technology is a stochastic controller with sophisticated software that flattens the power load curve during peak consumption periods.

Electric Vehicles, Energy

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