St Patty’s Day Foodmaker Goes Green with Solar

John Davis

freirichsolar1A maker of a traditional St. Patrick’s Day favorite is doing more than just wearing the green; it’s going green! Salisbury, North Carolina-based Freirich Foods, makers of some fine corned beef, put in 93 kilowatts of photovoltaic solar at its headquarters plant, according to this story in the Salisbury Post:

The rooftop system is comprised of 377 solar panels using roughly 5,600 square feet of roof space. The system uses a non-penetrating solution that clamps to the standing-seam metal roof.

The system will produce enough electricity to meet the requirements of 10 average American homes and offset the annual CO2 emissions equivalent to 8,113 gallons of gasoline. The project was engineered, procured, and constructed using a local workforce by commercial solar contractor United Renewable Energy LLC and financing was provided by Vantage South Bank.

Freirich is already considered pretty good at being green (and not just on St. Patty’s Day). The company developed a comprehensive recycling program that takes 200 tons of waste a year from landfills. And Freirich employees get cash incentives for purchasing electric vehicles and are provided charging stations for free.

Solar

Plenty of Diesel Vehicles for Biodiesel Production

John Davis

KotrbaTo those who think there’s not enough diesel-capable vehicles out there to help boost biodiesel’s demand, our friends over at the Biodiesel Magazine blog say that’s just not true. Ron Kotrba writes that while he’d like to see more diesel engines on the road, the current group of them out there is more than enough to put up big numbers for the green fuel… if they all would just use it.

But the fact is, according to the Energy Information Administration, in 2012 the U.S. consumed 57.5 billion gallons of diesel fuel (excluding jet fuel). If you assume the U.S. EPA’s 2012 biodiesel production figures of 1.1 billion gallons are accurate, and if you further assume that the entirety of that production was consumed in the U.S., then biodiesel penetration in the diesel fuel pool comes in at a meager 1.9 percent.

With up to 5 percent allowance in ASTM D975 and D396 (diesel fuel and heating oil specs, respectively) without labeling, there’s still plenty of room to grow just to reach a 5 percent penetration rate—in the existing consumption model that consists mostly of heavy-duty applications.

To reach B5 saturation, this would require 2.874 billion gallons of biodiesel, nearly three times the production achieved last year, and significantly more than twice the 1.28 billion gallons the RFS2 requires this year.

Kotrba goes on to say that if all the heavy-duty vehicles in the country become B20 compatible, that would see biodiesel consumption jump to 11.5 billion gallons of use each year … 10 times the current levels.

Biodiesel, Opinion

Wind Could Blow Away Nuclear, Coal

John Davis

WindTurbineinIowa-Photo-Joanna-SchroederWind energy might be poised to do something that should warm the hearts of environmentalists: kill off the nuclear power industry and hurt coal-powered energy operators. This Businessweek article says the news comes on the heels of a record 13,124 megawatts of wind turbines added to the country’s power grid at the end of 2012, trying to take advantage of an expiring federal tax credit.

“Right now, natural gas and wind power are more economic than nuclear power in the Midwestern electricity market,” Howard Learner, executive director of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, a Chicago-based advocate of cleaner energy, said in a phone interview. “It’s a matter of economic competitiveness.”

Wind-generated electricity supplied about 3.4 percent of U.S. demand in 2012 and the share is projected to jump to 4.2 percent in 2014, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The wind power boom has benefited consumers in regions where wind development is fastest, contributing to a 40 percent wholesale power-price plunge since 2008 in the Midwest, for example. Yet the surplus is creating havoc for nuclear power and coal generators that sell their output into short-term markets.
‘Perfect Storm’

The impact is greatest in the capacity-glutted Midwest. There, Richmond, Virginia-based Dominion is closing a money- losing reactor and selling coal plants, Exelon warns of shrinking nuclear margins and an Edison International (EIX) merchant coal-plant unit has gone into bankruptcy.

In fact, wind power is becoming so plentiful and so cheap that prices are actually falling below zero, because some utilities are required to keep buying wind power even when they don’t need it. Add in the $22-per-megawatt-hour federal tax credit, and wind can keep blowing away the other guys. Plus, the wind production tax credit has been extended for another year, through the end of 2013.

Wind

Ethanol Groups Address RIN Misconceptions

Cindy Zimmerman

The Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) is working to stamp out RIN illiteracy, offering an education to the media on just what the compliance credits are and how they work under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

rin-dummies-1AEC sent a response entitled “RIN Credits for Dummies” to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial which argues higher prices for RIN compliance credits are driving up the price of gasoline.

In the spirit of educating, AEC pointed out the very basic facts about RIN credits and how they work, such as:

A RIN is produced when a gallon of renewable fuel is produced. Oil companies can then split the RIN from the gallon when they buy the gallon of renewable fuel and sell it on the open market. Oil companies can either buy a gallon of renewable fuel to comply with the RFS or buy a RIN credit on the open market.

According to AEC, “oil companies have indeed bid up the price of RINs over the last few weeks, but they are doing so voluntarily to avoid the alternative of adding more ethanol to gasoline.”

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen says oil companies have essentially “gone on strike” by refusing to move to higher ethanol gasoline blends. “The RIN program was designed to meet any shortages of renewable fuels, not to allow oil companies to avoid blending ethanol with gasoline,” Dinneen wrote in a blog post today.

Also on the RFA E-xchange Blog, VP for research and analysis Geoff Cooper provides a good primer on RINS called Stop the RINsanity. Cooper walks through the math of RINS and gas prices and calculates that even in the worst case scenario for RIN pricing, ethanol-blended gasoline still saves consumers money.

“If RIN prices average $0.80 and the ethanol discount to gasoline averages $0.58 per gallon, and if both impacts are fully passed through to retail, E10 would still be $0.05 per gallon cheaper than unblended gasoline,” Cooper concludes.

ACE, advanced biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Governors’ Biofuels Coalition Meeting This Week

Cindy Zimmerman

governor-biofuelsThe Governors’ Biofuels Coalition (GBC) is holding its annual meeting this week in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the headquarters of ethanol production company POET.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, GBC chairman, and South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard, a GBC member, will be leading a discussion of the accomplishments of the federal Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS). Governor Branstad was one of the founders of the coalition and instrumental in the passage of the RFS. The meeting will also include presentations on innovative pubic-private partnerships to expand retail infrastructure and spur economic development, the use of biofuels to cost effectively meet clean air requirements, gasoline quality, and opening markets for cellulosic and advanced biofuels.

The Governors’ Biofuels Coalition was started in 1991 as the Governors’ Ethanol Coalition. Membership now includes representatives from 36 states and eight countries.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

ZeaChem Closer to Commercializing Cellulosic Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Cellulosic ethanol got a little closer to commercialization with an announcement today from ZeaChem, Inc.

zeachemlogoZeaChem officials report they have produced commercial-grade cellulosic chemicals and ethanol at their 250,000 gallons per year (GPY) biorefinery in Boardman, Ore.

“ZeaChem is developing the first truly-integrated biorefineries for the production of a broad portfolio of economical and sustainable biofuels and bio-based chemicals,” said Jim Imbler, president and chief executive officer of ZeaChem. “The demonstration plant is fully integrated and operating as we ramp up to full capacity. The start of cellulosic production is a significant milestone for ZeaChem as we demonstrate our highly efficient biorefining technology, develop the first commercial biorefinery project, and expand global development opportunities.”

Similar to a petrochemical refinery that makes multiple fuels and chemicals, ZeaChem’s demonstration facility is employing its C2 (two-carbon atom) platform to produce cellulose-based ethanol and intermediate chemicals such as acetic acid and ethyl acetate. Unlike conventional biorefineries, ZeaChem can convert nearly any non-food biomass into fuels and chemicals. This provides ZeaChem with the opportunity to source feedstock locally and inexpensively. The demonstration facility will receive its feedstock from nearby-GreenWood Resources’ tree farms and other local agricultural residue processors.

Read more here.

advanced biofuels, AEC, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

United Refining Acquires Brooklyn Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

MetroBiodieselplant1As the song goes, United Refining Company wants to see if it can make it in New York. In this case, “it” is biodiesel, and this United news release says it has acquired a partially completed 50 million gallon per year biodiesel facility in Brooklyn, New York from getting certain assets of Metro Fuel Oil Corp.

The state-of-the-art facility is estimated to become operational in approximately 12 months and upon completion, will be able to process a variety of feedstocks. When completed, it will be one of the largest biodiesel facilities on the east coast.

United Refining Company has a conventional oil refinery in Warren, Pennsylvania and sells gasoline at 360 Kwik Fill® / Red Apple® and Country Fair® outlets in western New York and western Pennsylvania.

Biodiesel

Dublin (Georgia) Goin’ Green with Solar Power

John Davis

Dublinsolar1The Georgian namesake for that famous city on the Emerald Isle is putting on a bit of green itself (and why not? since we’re so close to St. Patrick’s Day!). Georgia Solar Utilities, Inc. congratulated Dublin, Ga.’s high school for the launch of the solar schools project that is expected to offset 40 percent of the schools annual power costs through solar power.

“We will now allow Dublin High to claim the title of greenest high school in Georgia…and not because of its shamrock.” [Robert E. Green, CEO of Greenavations and Georgia Solar Utlities]

“This is going to be a very positive thing for us. It will start saving money for us immediately,” Dublin City Schools Superintendent Dr. Chuck Ledbetter said.

The solar panels will be installed on the roofs and ground at the high school. The panels are expected to save the school district $100,000 in the first year and $3.5 million over the next 25 years.

Solar

Big Oil “Century of Subsidies” Birthday Party in DC

Joanna Schroeder

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) is teaming up with the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) during their annual Biofuels Beltway March fly-in in Washington, D.C. to hold a celebration for Big Oil. Monte Shaw, executive director of IRFA, said they decided it would be a great time to hold a birthday party to celebrate the oldest, continuous oil subsidy, specific to the oil industry, that was enacted in 1913.

happy_birthday“And it dawned on us a few months ago that this is in fact the 100th birthday for oil subsidies and this calls for a party, and I think people can assume our tongues are firmly planted in our cheeks when we say we’re going to celebrate that fact,” said Shaw.

The “Century of Subsidies” Birthday Party will feature a thematic birthday cake sculpture from Charm City Cakes, made famous by its Food Network reality television show Ace of Cakes and take place at 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building (Washington, DC) on Thursday, March 14, 2013 from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm. On hand will be Senators Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (Minn) and Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa) has also been invited.

The ethanol blenders tax credit, that Shaw explained actually went to Big Oil if they blended ethanol, expired at the end of 2011. “So little old ethanol somehow manages to get by without it but the 100 year old oil industry, the most profitable industry in the history of the world, still needs that taxpayer crush to get by at least that’s the way they tell it,” said Shaw.

Shaw explained there are several oil subsidies with the oldest federal subsidy going back to 1913. However, he said, to be fair they are not going to make the case that they all should go away. “What we’re saying is, they’re there. And we’re sick and tired of members of Congress who don’t know any better or don’t want to know any better, saying, oh, why do you need the RFS?  Why do you this, why do you need that? Can’t you just compete on a level playing field?”

“When the fact of the matter is, our competition has had 100 years of subsidization. They’ve had nearly 40 years of a petroleum mandate written into federal law that says unless you drive a flex-fuel vehicle, you will purchase gasoline with a minimum amount of petroleum (85% percent of petroleum). The playing field is overwhelmingly tilted to the oil industry and that has got to be a part of all discussions around the RFS,” said Shaw.

Learn more about the “Century of Subsidies” in my interview with Monte: Century of Subsidies

ACE, Audio, biofuels, Iowa RFA, Oil, RFS

Is the Fossil-Fuel Industrial Era Over?

Joanna Schroeder

According to Ethical Markets’ Green Transition Scorecard, which tracks private investments growing the green economy since 2007, $4.1 trillion was invested or committed by the fourth quarter of 2012. The Green Transition Scoreboard tracks five sectors: Renewable Energy; Green Construction, Energy Efficiency; Corporate R&D and Green Transition ScorecardCleantech. The report is based on Ethical Markets president Hazel Henderson’s research as a science advisor.

“The output of Rio+20 was an unprecedented reintegration of human knowledge, realizing that environmental, social and human capital must be assessed and integrated into financial markets in order to achieve equitable and sustainable forms of development and resulting in new global shared goals and paths toward low-carbon, cleaner, greener, information-richer economies,” said Dr. Henderson.

According to the March 2013 GTS report “Green Transition Inflection Point,” many private investors are following our recommended avenue for institutional investors to shift to green sectors. This transition strategy, which suggests 40 percent of portfolios should be in Green Transition sectors, validates models indicating that investing $1 trillion annually until 2020 can scale innovations and reduce costs. With over $4.1 trillion invested since 2007, investors and countries growing green sectors globally are on track to reach $10 trillion in investments by 2020.

The report omits nuclear, clean coal, carbon capture & sequestration, and biofuels from feedstocks other than sea-grown algae. Fossilized sectors are becoming increasingly stranded assets as low-carbon regulations are implemented and oil, coal and gas reserves become harder to exploit. The report also looks closely at nanotech, genetic engineering, artificial life-forms and 3D printing, determining their green contribution on a case by case basis.

Clean Energy, Renewable Energy