NEC 2027

U.S. Firms Sign Climate Declaration

Joanna Schroeder

Twenty-two American investment firms with nearly $240 billion in assets under management have signed a Climate Declaration, calling on U.S policymakers to seize the American economic opportunity of addressing climate change. The move was timed with the start of the Global Investor Forum on Climate Change that took place this week in Hong Kong. The declaration asserts. “Tackling climate change is one of America’s greatest economic opportunities of the 21st century … There must be a coordinated effort to combat climate change—with America taking the lead here at home.”

Jack Ehnes, chief executive officer of CalSTRS, one of the organizations who signed the Climate Declaration said, “As the global economy moves toward a low-carbon future, governments that act aggressively to enact strong, long-term climate and energy policies will reap the biggest rewards. In order to tackle the global climate crisis, we must realize the strength of our combined efforts. That is why CalSTRS signed the Climate Declaration. U.S. policy leaders need to step up on this issue and embrace climate change policies as an economic opportunity.”

Investors have been an important force in supporting policy changes related to clean energy and efficiency. Last year, investors managing $800 billion in assets called on Congress to renew the Production Tax Credit for renewable energy, which was ultimately extended for another year. Investors have also been outspoken proponents of state Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) that more than two-dozen states have enacted to boost sourcing of wind, solar and other renewable energy. RPSs have catalyzed billions of dollars of investment, thousands of new projects and hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, including 30,000 new jobs in 2012 alone.

“Being smarter when it comes to climate change is the right thing to do for all of our families, and it also will translate into economic and investment opportunities,” said Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, who has previously called for better disclosure of climate-related opportunities and risks and who also signed the declaration. “I am proud to stand with Oregon’s largest employers and premier ski destinations to recognize that a cleaner future will also be a more profitable one.”

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Alternative energy, Climate Change, Environment, Video

API Still After RFS

Joanna Schroeder

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is still after the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and E15, a blend of 15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline by filing yet another waiver. Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) responded by Dont Mess with RFSsaying this is another example of oil companies unnecessarily scaring people and “it’s just flat out wrong.”

“The Renewable Fuel Standard has created jobs, helped the economy and saved consumers money at the pump. It’s ironic that the industry that brought us MTBE, benzene, tar sands, fracking chemicals, Deepwater Horizon, Exxon Valdez, and other environmental disasters is suddenly concerned about ‘consumer safety’.

Dinneen continued by asking the question, “How many times is API going to trot out the same tired study? They have pointed to their self-sponsored NERA study over and over again. But as we have noted in the past, that study ignores the flexibility of the RFS to make it easier for refiners to meet their RFS obligation. API is simply misleading people in suggesting the RFS will increase gasoline costs. The opposite is true. Ethanol is less expensive than gasoline today. It lowers prices at the pump. That’s the fact.”

“API is being irresponsible in suggesting ethanol harms vehicles. API points to the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) study on E15 that has been widely criticized by the Department of Energy and many others. Ten percent ethanol is safe and approved for all vehicles on the road today. E15 is safe for all vehicles for which EPA has approved its use, 2001 and newer,” added Dinneen.

Click here to see a review of the facts.

E15, Ethanol, RFA, RFS

Ethanol Veterans Honored During FEW

Joanna Schroeder

few13-schwartzkopf and hicksTwo 30-year ethanol veterans were honored during the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis, Missouri this week. Kevin Hicks, research leader for the Sustainable Biofuels and Coproducts Research Unit of the USDA’s Eastern Regional Research Center, received the Award of Excellence. And long-time friend of DomesticFuel, ethanol dragster, and true ethanol champion Dan Schwartzkopf with ICM, was presented with the High Octane Award.

Listen to Kevin Hicks’ remarks here: Award of Excellence

Listen to Dan Schwartzkopf’s remarks here: High Octane Award

Visit the 2013 FEW Photo Album.

Audio, Ethanol, FEW

Study: Alt Fuels Developing Faster Than Expected

Joanna Schroeder

According to a new study commissioned by a coalition of investors, utilities and makers of alternative fuels, the alternative fuels market has developed faster than anticipated. Electric vehicle sales are beating early projections, the surge in natural gas supply is helping decrease the carbon intensity in trucking, and consumption of biodiesel and renewable diesel supplies are growing rapidly, according to the report. The coalition includes CalETC, Ceres, E2, the California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, the National Biodiesel Board, and the Advanced Biofuels Association.

Screen Shot 2013-06-17 at 9.43.40 AM“The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is exceeding our expectations and driving us towards a clean fuels future,” said Eileen Tutt, executive director of the California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC). “The standard is doing exactly what it was designed to do – open the way for new fuels and technologies to compete fairly in the marketplace.”

The report analyzes recent developments in the transportation sector and presents three scenarios that ratchet down the carbon intensity of transportation fuels 10 percent, to meet the goal of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard by 2020. All three projections point to an increasingly diverse fuel supply, with more innovation leading to more renewable fuels and advanced vehicles.

Emerging as the report’s biggest surprise is the promise of substitutes for diesel, including biodiesel, renewable diesel, and natural gas – all of which can be produced from waste materials, including animal fats, corn oil, and the gas that would otherwise escape from landfills. The report stated, “2013 promises to be a banner year for biodiesel consumption in California.”

The report also highlights the benefits in terms of greenhouse gas reductions from two additional low-carbon fuel strategies: the addition of off-road electrification (such as electric locomotives and battery-powered forklifts), and improvements to California’s fuel-recovery and extraction processes (using solar energy in crude oil extraction or installing carbon capture and storage technologies at oil and gas wells).

advanced biofuels, Alternative energy, Electric Vehicles, Research

Report Shows Biodiesel, Natural Gas Promise

John Davis

CalETCBiodiesel and its close cousin, renewable diesel, along with natural gas show the most promise in the alternative fuels arena… that’s according to a report from the California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC). The report says the alternative fuels sector in California has developed faster than expected, and recent developments indicate the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and its goal to decrease fuels’ carbon footprint by 10 percent by 2020 is helping drive that.

Emerging as the report’s biggest surprise was the promise of fuels that substitute for diesel, including biodiesel, renewable diesel, and natural gas. These fuels, which can all be used in trucks, are produced from waste materials, including animal fats, corn oil, and the gas that would otherwise escape from landfills. California drivers are rapidly increasing their consumption of biodiesel, up from the range of 20-­‐25 million gallons in 2010. In fact, “2013 promises to be a banner year for biodiesel consumption in California,” the report declared.

The group points out that biodiesel and renewable diesel don’t require any modifications to engines or infrastructure, and natural gas supplies and vehicles able to burn it are increasing.

You can read the full report here.

Biodiesel, Natural Gas

Global Wind Day Puts Pressure on G8 Summit

Joanna Schroeder

This Saturday, June 15, is Global Wind Day, and this year the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) is asking people globally to put pressure on world leaders leading in to the G8 summit to keep their commitment to phase out fossil fuels and adopt renewable energy.

According to EWEA, the level of fossil fuel subsidies has increased nearly 30 percent to $620 billion since 2010. Today, fossil fuels receive six times more subsidies than renewable energy. Simultaneously, global carbon dioxide (CO2) levels have reached a record high of 400 ppm, a level that climate change experts say is hindering efforts to bring human-produced emissions under control.

“While world leaders pay lip service to combating climate change, what they are actually doing is subsidizing CO2 emissions to the tune of US$110/tonne. Fossil fuel energy GWDAppsubsidy reform could take us a long way towards protecting the climate,” said Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of the Global Wind Energy Council.

EWEA says wind energy has become a mainstream technology: it is already cheaper in Australia and Brazil than conventional energy sources and directly competes with them in an expanding number of markets including Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and parts of China and the U.S. Wind power is turning into the power technology of choice as utilities, energy planners and governments seek to diversify their energy mix, reduce CO2 emissions and air pollution, protect their economies from volatile fossil fuel prices and benefit from increased investment and job creation. EWEA says with the right policy support wind could reach 1,000 GW by 2020 avoiding over 9 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Opinion polls and surveys across the markets show overwhelming public support for wind power providing an important signal to decision-makers: According to a Eurobarometer survey 89 percent of EU citizens are in favor of wind energy, compared to 43 percent for coal and 36 percent for nuclear. In 2012 a survey conducted in the U.S. showed that 71 percent of Americans want to see more wind power development and in Canada a research poll found that 78 percent of Ontarians say that wind is one of the safest forms of electricity generation. In a recent survey in the UK, two-thirds of the Britons voted in favor of wind energy.

Alternative energy, Carbon, Climate Change, Renewable Energy, Wind

NACS Survey Shows Good News for E15

Joanna Schroeder

A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) has very good news for E15 and the ethanol industry. The survey found that 59 percent of surveyed drivers would by E15 (15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline) if it was priced the same as regular fuel. This, according to Ron Lamberty, senior vice president for the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) demonstrates there is public interest in E15 blended fuel.

zarco-ethanol pump“I think this shows that despite all of Big Oil’s misinformation and scare tactics, consumers are interested in purchasing E15 as an alternative to gasoline, even if the price were the same as gas. It’s especially encouraging when you consider the fact that at current prices, E15 would be 15 to 20 cents less than gasoline, and two to five cents under E10,” said Lamberty. He noted the survey results “mirror what we have been hearing from the marketers that are selling E15. In most cases, E15 becomes one of the top sellers in stations that add it.”

Howerver, Lamberty called NACS’ announcement of the survey “puzzling”. “NACS calls demand for E15 ‘insufficient’. I’ve been working in the convenience store industry for over 30 years and don’t think I’ve ever seen a product – much less a fuel product – that three out of five customers say they want. If there was, I can’t imagine that NACS would call that kind of demand ‘insufficient’. Most stations don’t sell one-tenth that much premium gasoline, and that has always been enough for oil companies to mandate it’s sale in their customers’ stations.”

NACS also said consumers need to be “educated about the positive attributes of these new fuels.” Lamberty responded by pointing out, “ACE, RFA, and our joint BYO Ethanol campaign hope that NACS will take us up on our standing offer to assist with E15 education. Over the past few years, most of the “education” marketers have received about E15 have been recycled ghost stories from the oil industry – which stands to gain the most if E15 is stopped before it even starts.”

Lamberty concluded, “Marketers that we have been able to educate on the real risks and real rewards of E15 and E85 have seen incredible benefits, especially this year, as control of RINS have added literally tens of thousands of profits to their bottom line. This survey shows EXACTLY why we want consumers to have the option of E15 and why Big Oil is fighting so hard against E15.”

ACE, E15, Ethanol

Texas Company to Recycle Tires into Biodiesel

John Davis

harlingenA city on Texas will be turning old tires into biodiesel. KGBT-TV reports that the City of Harlingen will send the old tires to The Tire Recycling and Processing LLC facility where they’ll be turned into the green fuel:

“This effort will result in fewer tires being disposed of in landfills effectively decreasing the volume of debris in our landfills,” the city said in a statement.

The Tire Recycling and Processing LLC facility will use a pyrolysis process to convert the recycled tires into biodiesel.

They believe the company is the only one in the nation using the process to create biodiesel.

The program will run through the end of April next year.

Biodiesel

American Ethanol up for Michigan NASCAR Race

Cindy Zimmerman

American Ethanol will be on center stage at the Michigan NASCAR race this weekend including driver Austin Dillon behind the wheel of the #33 car in a cool black and green ethanol paintout.

american-ethanol-paintDillon says the use of 15% ethanol blended fuel as a clean burning alternative has had great benefits for NASCAR racing. “If you look back on our history on performance and see how clean our engines burn, it’s been an easy transition from our old fuel to American ethanol,” he says. “Our engines run great and create horsepower each and every race and you don’t have a fuel problem as far as running out of fuel and you can still run the long runs over a long period of time.”

Dillon also uses ethanol in his everyday car because he believes it is helping to create a better, greener future for future generations. “The fuel speaks for itself, the way that it’s enabling us to have cleaner burning fuel,” he said. “To be able to go out and really perform well and still have a fuel that burns clean is awesome. I want my kids to be able to enjoy the same things that I have been able to enjoy with our country and I feel like moving to a green initiative like American ethanol is important for everyone.”

As the grandson of racing legend Richard Childress, Dillon and his family have been involved in the racing business for generations and he says having American Ethanol as a sponsor has opened their eyes to the benefits of ethanol to the environment for the future.

The Sprint Cup series race will begin at 1:00 pm Eastern time on Sunday. American Ethanol partners include Growth Energy, National Corn Growers Association, and New Holland.

American Ethanol, corn, Growth Energy, NASCAR, NCGA

Propane’s Message Hits Track with ROUSH CleanTech

John Davis

RoushCleanTechford1Alternative fuel vehicle technology leader ROUSH CleanTech is getting out the message about the beauty and performance of propane with some recent big victories and upcoming milestones on the NASCAR racetrack. Roush Fenway Racing’s (RFR) Trevor Bayne won a dramatic victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) at Iowa Speedway; earning Ford’s 200th win in the NNS. And now the No. 6, ROUSH CleanTech-bedecked Ford Mustang is shooting for Ford’s 1,000th NASCAR win at the Michigan International Speedway this week.

“I haven’t run a Nationwide car at Michigan since they repaved it, but the Sprint Cup cars are unbelievably fast,” said Bayne.

“We are thrilled to have ROUSH CleanTech’s message of clean and economical propane autogas hit the track with Trevor as he hopefully continues his winning streak,” said Joe Thompson, president of ROUSH CleanTech. “Across the nation, a growing number of fleets operate on this readily available and domestically produced alternative transportation fuel.”

ROUSH CleanTech officials point out that propane autogas is the most commonly used alternative fuel in the nation, operates school buses, trucks, vans and taxis.

Good luck on Saturday in Michigan!

Propane, Racing