REG Upgrades Biodiesel Plant to Take Fats, WVO

John Davis

REGalbertlea2Biodiesel giant Renewable Energy Group (REG) recently finished a $21 million upgrade to one of its biodiesel plants in Minnesota that allows the refinery to also use locally-sourced agricultural byproducts, such as animal fats, used cooking oils, inedible corn oils and yellow grease as well as vegetable oils. This REG news release says the Albert Lea plant is already cranking out a high-quality fuel.

REG LogoWithin days of start-up, all biodiesel produced met the company’s REG-9000® quality specifications, which exceed the industry’s ASTM B100 standard. The multiple feedstock product has been available since June 19, 2013 and enhances biodiesel product availability options as the State of Minnesota prepares to increase its diesel blending requirement from B5 to B10.

The company will hold a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony later this summer. REG has more than 225 million gallons per year of owned/operated production capacity at its network of refineries nationwide.

Biodiesel, REG

Hartzler Cites “Priority and Balance” in Energy Bill

John Davis

vicky-hartzlerThe U.S. House has passed a $30 billion energy and water bill that has some significant cuts to renewable energy programs. Led by Republicans, the measure passed mostly along party lines. Missouri GOP Rep. Vicky Hartzler, who sits on two key committees tied to the bill, Agriculture and Budget, acknowledged in an interview with Cindy that many of her rural constituents want to see green energy sources preserved, while at the same time, making needed cuts to the budget.

“It keeps a priority and balance in that we do have a focus on energy programs, but it does reduce some of the spending for some of the renewable green programs and some of the research. But they’re not eliminated,” Hartzler said.

She pointed to the electric vehicle loan program as one of the areas that needed to be eliminated. “That’s something that perhaps a private bank would like to do, but I don’t think it’s right to take your tax dollars to promote electric cars.”

Hartzler said the bill promotes an “all-of-the-above” energy approach, so there’s an overall effort to reduce reliance on foreign oil and cut gas prices. She also sees the energy side of the bill as being important to national security … another important issue for her as she sits on the House Armed Services Committee. She added this is part of an overall process that looks to balance the budget within 10 years without raising taxes.

“So you’re going to see all these appropriation bills … spending less overall than last year. That means we have to be smarter and wiser in how we spend our dollars, looking at every government program,” she said, calling it a good process that was long overdue.

The House’s version of the bill could face quite an uphill battle, lower than the Senate’s version by $4 billion and being threatened with a presidential veto.

Listen to Cindy’s interview with Rep. Hartzler here: Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO)

Audio, Government, Legislation

House Passes Cuts to Renewable Energy Measures

John Davis

kaptur-windA marathon session in the U.S. House concluded after Congress wrangled over several renewable energy measures and passed a $30 billion energy and water programs bill. Environment & Energy News reports that House Republicans, already making substantial cuts to some clean energy programs in the bill, have blocked Democrats’ attempts to restore those cuts. Despite those efforts, the overall bill has passed mostly along party lines, 227-198, and will be sent to the Senate, where it faces an uphill battle due to the $4 billion gap between it and the Senate’s version, as well as President Obama’s threatened veto of the House numbers.

The bill would combine the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, while cutting their combined budget by more than half. And the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy would lose more than 80 percent of its budget under the House bill.
Environment & Energy News

One example of the debate that went on included Rep. Marcy Kaptur, a Democrat from Ohio, rising to oppose an amendment that would have slashed federal money for wind energy projects.

“Overall, America’s wind energy capacity grew by 28 percent, but the recent success of wind energy in our country doesn’t mean we should stop investing in it. In fact, we need to do more,” Kaptur said. She also pointed out that we cannot afford to let China get ahead in clean wind energy, that is good for the environment and has supported 80,000 jobs last year in this nation. “At a time when the global clean energy market is getting more competitive the United States is starting to lag behind. In 2012, China’s level of clean energy financing surpassed our country’s for the first time.”

She went on to say Kentucky GOP Rep. Ed Whitfield’s amendment to eliminate all Department of Energy wind energy programs is the wrong approach and not consistent with an “all-of-the-above” energy approach. Kaptur also pointed out that the U.S. provides more subsidies to fossil fuels than any other country in the world to the tune of more than $500 BILLION.

The amendment was overwhelmingly defeated.

Listen to Kaptur’s opposition to the amendment here: Rep. Marcy Kaptur opposition to DOE wind energy funding cuts

President Obama has already to threaten the House bill, and there are $4 billion in difference with a similar bill in the Senate.

Earlier amendments of the energy bill that failed included:Read More

Alternative energy, Audio, Government, Legislation, Renewable Energy

Hybrid PVT Solar System Successful In Oahu

Joanna Schroeder

The SunDrum Hybrid PVT solar system operating at the Inn at Schofield Barracks, a large hotel in Oahu, Hawaii, has returned 25 percent of its installation costs in the first six Solar PV Panels at Inn Schofield Barracksmonths of operation. Installed by AllNuEnergy, Inc., the system is expected to break even in less than two and a half years and provide an ROI of more than 29 percent.

The SunDrum thermal collectors are a unique design in that they take advantage of the excess heat generated by the solar PV panel. Solar PV panels convert only 10-15 percent of the Sun’s energy into electricity. The remainder is thrown off as waste heat. By attaching the SunDrum thermal collector to the underside of a standard PV panel, the SunDrum System is able to capture up to 75 percent of this waste energy, thereby heating fluid running through the SunDrum system which heats the hot water of the hotel.

The unique SunDrum System allows the greatest amount of renewable energy to be generated in a given amount of space. Also, by drawing heat directly from the PV panel, the SunDrum collector cools it, thereby improving the electrical output between 5-10 pecent. In contrast, according to SunDrum Solar, dual systems require their own space and are unable to generate both electrical and thermal energy in the same footprint.

By utilizing the SunDrum Solar unique PVT design at the Inn at Schofield Barracks, SunDrum says the hotel will realize over 27 percent or an additional $1.1M in total savings even though only 40 percent of the PV panels have SunDrum Solar attachments.

Alternative energy, Electricity, energy efficiency, Solar

OnStar & TimberRock Partner on EV Solar Charging

Joanna Schroeder

OnStar-TimberRock-mediumOnStar is partnering with TimberRock Energy Solutions to develop advanced EV solar charging technologies. TimberRock uses aggregation software and solar charging canopies with integrated storage to manage the flow of solar power to the electric grid. The project will be the first “real-world” use of OnStar’s Smart Grid solutions.

As part of the project, TimberRock will monitor the output of its solar charging stations, how much stored energy is available and when it can sell energy back to the grid to help meet peak demand. To help balance this system, TimberRock will then manage its fleet of four Chevrolet Volts to help regulate energy flow. This practice is known as Market-Based Regulation.

“The future of electric vehicle charging will be a marriage of renewable energy and battery storage as we look to address the intermittency of renewable solar and wind power,” said Rob Threlkeld, General Motors’ manager of renewable energy. “This project supports GM’s goal of using all factors of the charging equation: electric vehicles, solar power, and battery storage.”

The ability to control the Volts’ charging using software algorithms is made possible by an OnStar solution called Demand Response, accessed through OnStar’s Smart Grid application programming interface, or APIs. OnStar has given TimberRock access to this solution so that it can start, stop and modulate the amount of charge going to a particular Volt in coordination with energy need. TimberRock’s software determines when the EVs can be used to support the grid.Read More

Electric Vehicles, Electricity, Renewable Energy, Solar

EDP Adds Natural Gas to Fleet

Joanna Schroeder

Portuguese energy company EDP is adding a compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling station to fuel it’s fleet with natural gas. In addition, the company plans on purchasing 20 natural gas vehicles. Ballast Nedam IPM has been hired to install the CNG station in Porto, Portugal and the CNG station is expected to be online by August 2013.

Ballast Nedam has designed a customized fast-fill refueling installation for CNG. The rapid and complete handling of the vehicles will require the compressor installation to be Ballast Nedamequipped with a storage facility, and there will also be a specially designed dispenser with fast-fill connector. A release and recording system will also be installed, allowing only authorized EDP users to operate the installation, and supporting the periodic remote reading of volume and consumption information by the company.

According to Ballast Nedam, the market for natural gas as a vehicle fuel is growing in Portugal. There are only a few natural gas refueling stations in Portugal currently, but increasing awareness of the environmental and financial benefits of running on natural gas is creating expectations of a sharp increase in the number of stations over the next few years.

Ballast Nedam has selected a Portuguese partner for the local work. ERI Engenharia S.A. will take responsibility for the permit acquisition, civil engineering and technical installation on the project site. After commissioning, the company will continue to handle the service and maintenance for the station.

Alternative energy, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)

Interested in Online Ag News Programs?

Talia Goes

Before we get to our new ZimmPoll let’s look at the results of our latest one which asked the question, “What is the greatest threat to our freedom to farm”. Our poll results suggest that environmental and anti-agriculture groups are the greatest threat to our freedom to farm at this time.

Our poll results: Twenty percent say All of the Above, eighteen percent say Groups Like HSUS as well as Environmental Wackos, fifteen percent say Climate Change, eleven percent said EPA as well as Congress, and two percent said Labor Force, Supreme Court, No Threats and Other. Results show that there is more than one major threat to our freedom to farm. Now the question is: which one will be the first to take that freedom away?

Untitled

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Do you watch or want to watch live or recorded ag news television programs online?” Many things are being done via online resources due to technological advances and improvements. Daily lives are becoming so busy that there doesn’t leave much time to sit down to watch television or read the newspaper. People resort to going “online” for news resources and TV episodes using smart phones and tablets while they are on the “run”. Does this sound like you? Let us know.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by New Holland Agriculture.

ZimmPoll

State RPS’s Hold Steady

Joanna Schroeder

The Center for the New Energy Economy at Colorado State University has released its most recent white paper, “State Renewable Portfolio Standards Hold Steady or Expand in 2013 Session,” as part of its series on legislative policy trends in advanced Energy. The white paper was based on data analyzed in the AEL Tracker dataset.

Center for New Economy at CSUAccording to the report, at the beginning of 2013, there was a great deal of public discourse around efforts to roll back state renewable energy generation standards. These efforts appear to have failed thus far in the 2013 legislative session. While more than 30 states voted on or considered legislation this session to change their Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS), only eight have enacted modifications or increases to existing policies and no state has rolled back an existing standard.

The Center for the New Energy Economy’s Advanced Energy Legislation Tracker database contains a comprehensive inventory of over 2,300 state advanced energy bills including the 121 bills introduced this session that would increase, modify or decrease RPS policies. Of those 121 introduced bills, 16 have been enacted to date, none of which would repeal or delay RPS statutory requirements or generation deadlines.

“Despite attempts to roll back state renewable energy policies this year, the net impact thus far in the 2013 session is that the U.S. renewable energy market is stronger, particularly in the three states that increased their RPS standards – Nevada, Colorado and Minnesota,” said Bill Ritter, Jr. Director of the Center. “States are clearly defending their RPS policies and in some cases, increasing them,” Ritter added.

Electricity, energy efficiency, Legislation, Renewable Energy

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFIMPCO Automotive, a subsidiary of Fuel Systems Solutions, Inc., has received ship to commerce approval from General Motors to release completed model year 2014 2500 GM Crew Cab Bi-Fuel Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fuel systems for shipment. IMPCO also obtained certification by the California Air Resources Board and Environmental Protective Agency for its bi-fuel systems installed in the 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD and GMC Sierra 2500HD pickup trucks.
  • Canadian Solar has completed construction on two utility-scale solar power projects in North Carolina with a third expected to be completed in mid-July. The projects, Lenoir 1, Lenoir 2 and Wilson 1, total 18 MW and are part of a 15-project portfolio totaling 85 MW being jointly developed with Strata Solar.
  • Register now for the ACORE U.S. Military & Renewable Energy Industry Forum to be held in Washington, D.C. on July 18, 2013. The event will include discussions with military and industry leaders, as the military services and renewable energy industry continue to strategize ways to address the challenges that remain for renewable energy in military operations, transportation and at bases.
  • Solectria Renewables has introduced the PVI 14TL and PVI 20TL, three-phase transformerless, 600 VDC inverter. The inverters are designed to maximize return on investment through their lightweight design, high efficiencies, easy installation, dual MPPT zones and wide MPPT range.
  • ET Solar Group Corp is supplying 10.8MW photovoltaic modules to Ormat Technologies, for their first photovoltaic power plant in California. The PV plant is located near Ormat’s geothermal power plant in Imperial Valley.
Bioenergy Bytes

Big Green Biodiesel, Solar Bus on Gulf Coast Swing

John Davis

biggreenbus1Students spreading the gospel of biodiesel and solar are on the southern Gulf Coast swing of their country-wide tour of the U.S. WLOX-TV reports the Big Green Bus, an environmental project from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, stopped in Biloxi, Miss., using biodiesel and solar power to teach about how to go green.

“This summer, we are traveling the country and we are learning about sustainability and environmental issues in different areas. And how they affect different communities,” said Meegan Daigler, the 21-year-old manager of the Big Green Bus project.

Big Green runs on bio-diesel. Solar panels transfer power to ten batteries which convert the sun’s energy to electricity.

“Solar powers the fridge and all the electronics. So, all these outlets. They are all powered by solar panels,” said Daigler.

Grand Biloxi, a local casino, hosted The Big Green Bus, as part of its efforts to go green and save some green.

The Big Green Bus will make its way to and then up the West Coast before turning east, through the Rockies, across the Midwest and back to New England.

Biodiesel, Solar