Sweetwater Energy Closes Cellulosic Deal

Joanna Schroeder January 29, 2013

Sweetwater Energy has announced a 15-year commercial agreement with Front Range Energy to produce cellulosic ethanol at Front Range’s current corn ethanol facility located in Weld County, Colorado. Sweetwater will install its process to convert local biomass, such as crop residues, energy crops, and woody biomass, into sugar that will then will converted to ethanol.

“It’s very exciting to be an early adopter of Sweetwater’s technology and to bridge that gap from grain to cellulosic ethanol,” said Dan Sanders Jr., Vice President of Front Range Energy. “Supplementing our corn with this sugar allows us to displace some of the volatility of the corn market, with the goal of moving a higher and higher percentage of our production to cellulosic. We’ve had great success fermenting Sweetwater’s sugar, and from a business standpoint, we have great confidence in Sweetwater’s management team.”

Sweetwater will place one of its cellulosic facilities near the Front Range site and will deliver enough refined monomeric sugar for Front Range to produce up to 3.6 million gallons of ethanol per year during the initial phase. As the project ramps up, economics will ultimately determine the pace and volume with which Front Range’s corn ethanol facility will migrate to Sweetwater’s cellulosic feedstocks.

“To say we’re enthusiastic about this relationship with Dan and the whole Front Range team is an understatement,” said Arunas Chesonis, Chairman and CEO of Sweetwater. “They’re a progressive team looking to stay ahead of the curve, and that’s a very rewarding mindset to have in a company you’ll be working with for the next 15 years. We’re going to kick this off by replacing about 7 percent of the corn currently processed, and as our partnership grows and we see how well both parties are benefiting from the cellulosic ethanol production, we’ll increase the amount of cellulosic material and really open up the cellulosic markets to Front Range.”

In December 2012, Sweetwater was awarded a patent for the manufacture and deployment of distributed pretreatment units designed for the extraction of sugars from any cellulosic feedstock for the production of ethanol.

advanced biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol

Ametis Takes Advantage of EPA Sorghum Pathway

Joanna Schroeder January 29, 2013

California-based Aemetis is taking advantage of the new EPA approved grain sorghum along with biogas and combined heat/power pathway as part of the Renewable Fuels Standard as an advanced biofuel. The company says this ruling creates a “level playing field” for U.S. ethanol producers by providing the same RIN value that is received by Brazilian sugarcane ethanol producers selling biofuel to the U.S.

Aemetis owns several ethanol plants, one in Keyes, California, that will be able to take immediate advantage of using sorghum as the primary feedstock, said Aemitis Chairman and CEO Eric McAfee. “The high efficiency standards and extra capital investment applied during the retrofit of the facility is now paying off with a rapid transition to the production of Advanced Biofuels at the Keyes plant.”

After an extensive review process, the EPA found that grain sorghum requires significantly less water and less fertilizer than corn, and can grow on land that is not as suitable for growing food crops. Grain sorghum is also drought tolerant due to a waxy covering on its leaves, enabling water to be retained during times of high heat or a lack of water, while still growing to full yield and maturity when rains occur late in the growing season.

According to the company, its 60 mgy capacity Keyes ethanol plant was designed for highly efficient energy use, including natural gas boilers providing steam for process use and powering a steam turbine for process electricity. The existing design and operation of combined heat and power at the biorefinery enables the facility to quickly convert to the use of biogas without permitting delays or equipment installation. In addition, the Aemetis Keyes plant is located about 40 miles from the deep water Pacific port of Stockton, California.

In October of 2012, the company announced that is has imported and successfully processed sorghum from Argentina. The company says its close proximity of the Keyes plant to the Stockton port enables them to import grain sorghum at potentially a significant discount to the price of sorghum produced in the Midwest and delivered to California. However, the company is looking to develop production of grain sorghum in California for 2013 and later harvests.

advanced biofuels, Ethanol, RFS

More Transmission Key Policy Issue for Wind Industry

Joanna Schroeder January 28, 2013

Wind on the Wires is an organization based in St. Paul, Minnesota launched about a decade ago to focus on wind policy issues and wind transmission line issues. To learn more about some key policy initiatives for 2013, I spoke with Beth Soholt, Executive Director, who was in Des Moines, Iowa during Iowa Wind Energy Day.

The big issue for 2013? “Quite simply its more transmission,” explained Soholt. However, she said, this is a long process. First you have to study where transmission needs to go. You need to study how much transmission is needed for what you want to achieve, and then you have to decide where it’s going to be built. You also have to get somebody who is willing to build it, and this includes convincing them it needs to be built. Once that has been achieved, the project must go through a state regulatory process, and it needs to be funded.

“So the planning piece on what to build and where to build it and the cost recovery piece are two of the big barriers,” said Soholt.

The industry, advocates, think tanks and more banter around numbers in the dozens of billions as the cost to build the needed transmission. But Soholt said that transmission is actually a very small percentage of a consumer’s bill – only about 7 percent. The rest of the bill is to pay from getting the energy from the generator to your house, and other kinds of investments.

Even though this is a relatively small piece of the overall pie, this is what the utilities know how to do, said Soholt.The harder piece is having them include investments for large amounts of renewable energy.

“This is where Wind on the Wires comes in and can sit down with them and educate them in various stakeholder settings,” said Soholt. The organization can put together a package that lots of different kinds of stakeholders can support and they can also address the cost allocation piece, i.e. who should pay? “If we spread out the cost of transmission among a lot of users it becomes a very, very small percentage for everyone,” said Soholt.

While the “road to market” may be a long one, Soholt said utilities need to go ahead and start implementing.

You can learn more about policy issues, the road to market, and next steps for Iowa’s wind energy industry in my full interview with Beth: Key Policy Issue for Wind Industry: More Transmission.

See the 2013 Iowa Wind Energy Day Photo Album.

Alternative energy, Audio, Electricity, Energy, Wind

Iowa Senator Harkin to Retire

Joanna Schroeder January 28, 2013

Iowa Senator and renewable fuel advocate Tom Harkin has announced over the weekend that he will retire after his current term. Leading up to the 2014 elections, Harkin will have served five terms. He said in a statement he will spend more time with his family. In response to the news, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) today thanked Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) for his unwavering support of Iowa’s renewable fuels industry.

“Sen. Harkin has been a staunch supporter of the renewable fuels industry in Iowa, and the work he’s accomplished in renewable fuels policy serves as a benchmark. Sen. Harkin’s role in implementing the first energy title in the Farm Bill, strong support of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), and personal calls to the White House to increase the 2013 renewable volume obligation (RVO) for biodiesel have been instrumental in ensuring Iowa’ renewable fuels industry can compete against the highly subsidized and mandated petroleum industry,” said IRFA President Rick Schwarck.

Among other accomplishments, Harkin in the chair of the Senate Agriculture and Nutrition Committee and was instrumental in the passage of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

biofuels, Iowa RFA

Battery Storage Project at Texas Wind Farm Completed

Joanna Schroeder January 28, 2013

Duke Energy Renewables has completed a 36-megawatt (MW) energy storage and power management system at its 153 MW Notrees Windpower Project in West Texas. Development of the storage system began in 2009 with a $22 million grant matching from the Department of Energy and in December the project became fully operational.

“Battery storage is an important innovation to address the variability of wind and solar energy generation,” said Duke Energy Renewables President Greg Wolf. “Developing an expertise in this advanced technology will enable us to expand the use of renewable energy, better integrate it into the power grid and become even more efficient at serving our customers.”

Austin-based Xtreme Power designed and installed the 36 MW-capacity Dynamic Power Resource at Notrees and will continue to operate the system. The battery storage project will help mitigate the variability of wind power, storing excess wind energy and discharging it whenever demand for electricity is highest. The system will also stabilize the frequency of electricity traveling throughout the power grid. Duke Energy is working closely with Energy Reliability Council of Texas, which signals to the battery storage system to either dispatch stored energy to increase frequency or absorb energy to decrease frequency.

“Completion of this project represents a singular success for Duke Energy, for the DOE, and for the entire energy storage community in the U.S.” said Dr. Imre Gyuk, program manager for energy storage at the U.S. Department of Energy. “It will demonstrate the capability of energy storage to mitigate the variability of wind energy and to contribute to the stability of the grid”.

The Electric Power Research Institute will collect performance data from the battery storage system and help assess the potential for broader adoption of energy storage solutions throughout the industry. Technical and economic data will also be analyzed for DOE by Sandia National Laboratory. Results from the storage project at Notrees wind farm will be shared publicly through the DOE’s Smart Grid Information Clearinghouse.

Electricity, Energy, Solar, Wind

Great Model – UK-Ireland Wind Power Project

Joanna Schroeder January 28, 2013

The Dublin Energy Minister of Ireland and the UK Secretary of State for Energy have paved the way for the export of Ireland’s wind energy to Britain. The hope is that this project will be a model for other countries as the development of a pan-European electricity grid continues.

“With greater grid integration the UK and Ireland can expect more independence from imported fossil fuels, lower power prices thanks to greater competition, and more zero-carbon wind energy,” said Justin Wilkes, Policy Director at the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA). “This type of win-win-win-wind solution is exactly what consumers, the UK, Ireland and the wind industry will benefit from as Europe’s electricity systems and markets become more integrated. Wind energy is a key driver of this much-needed grid integration.”

The recently published Energy Bill in the UK allows for the direct import of renewable power from neighboring EU Member States, and the Irish government has made clear its support for the export of wind energy from Ireland. In response, EWEA is urging the Irish and UK governments to initiate concrete plans to ensure the memorandum of understanding results in a stable legislative framework which benefits consumers and the wind industry in both Ireland and the UK.

There are a number of UK-Ireland projects under development including the 5,000 MW Energy Bridge project which would deliver Irish onshore wind power to the west coast of the UK, and the 1,100 MW Codling Wind Park which could deliver offshore electricity for 160,000 UK homes by 2020.

Alternative energy, Electricity, Energy, Wind

Advanced Biofuels Gets Court Win

Joanna Schroeder January 28, 2013

Last week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the advanced biofuels requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Biodiesel is classified in the RFS as an advanced biofuels, and last year more than 1 billion gallons were produced by U.S. biodiesel producers. In response, the National Biodiesel Board’s Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs made the following statement:

“This is just the latest in a series of cases in which the oil industry has tried unsuccessfully to re-litigate the standards for renewable fuels, and it is yet another victory for our nation’s shift toward cleaner, more diverse energy supplies,” said Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs for the National Biodiesel Board. “The fact is that the RFS is a very effective program for improving U.S. energy security, creating jobs and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We look forward to working constructively with our partners in the petroleum industry to meet these goals moving forward.”

advanced biofuels, Biodiesel, NBB, RFS

What Cellulosic Biofuel Ruling is Not

Cindy Zimmerman January 25, 2013

The American Petroleum Institute hailed today’s circuit court ruling to “vacate the 2012 cellulosic biofuel standard” as a “decision to end mandate for non-existent biofuels.” Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says it is not.

“The mandate for cellulosic ethanol is not ended by this decision by any way shape or form,” said Dinneen, calling API’s characterization “the height of deception.”

Dinneen explains that the court decision simply means that EPA has to have better justification for cellulosic biofuel target numbers under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “They couldn’t create an incentive for investment,” he said. “All they can do is make a clear headed decision on what is likely to be produced.”

In this edition of the Ethanol Report, Dinneen talks about how the petroleum industry is very afraid of the potential of cellulosic biofuels to take over a greater percentage of the gasoline market. “They’re not happy about having lost 10% of the barrel,” Dinneen says. “They are apoplectic about the potential of losing even more of it to cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels.”

Listen to or download the Ethanol Report here: Ethanol Report on Cellulosic Court Ruling

Subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” with this link.

advanced biofuels, Audio, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, RFA, RFS

POET Biorefining-Macon Suspends Production Due to Drought

Joanna Schroeder January 25, 2013

POET Biorefining – Macon is temporarily suspending plant operations effective Feb. 1 due primarily to a lack of available local corn caused in part by last summer’s drought. All of the plant’s 44 team members will remain employed at their current hours. Many will assist in installation of the approximately $14.5 million in upgrades to the plant that will occur during the down time. The plant will also continue to purchase corn for future use as it is available. There is currently no timeline for resuming production.

The biorefinery started operation in 2000 ad is located in one of the worst-hit areas of last season’s drought, leaving it unable to source corn locally or bring corn in from other areas at a competitive price.

“Macon has been a very successful plant within the POET network,” said POET CEO Jeff Lautt. “Once conditions improve, I know the plant and its hard-working team members will continue to make POET-Biorefining – Macon a star.”

The plant is in the early stages of construction on a number of upgrades that will improve profitability further once production resumes. Those include:

Voilà corn oil technology, which will provide an additional product for new revenue
Full BPX technology, POET’s patented “no-cook” process that significantly reduces heat/energy use
A new control system
A new, more efficient evaporator
A new administration building and scale house

Board President John Eggleston added, “We’re all excited to see these upgrades taking effect. It’s investments like these that will ensure continued long-term success for the plant.”

corn, Ethanol, POET

Photovoltaics Versus Biofuels in Energy Conversion

Joanna Schroeder January 25, 2013

How does energy produced by the sun (solar) compete with ethanol in terms of land use, life-cycle emissions and cost? These questions are being asked by University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) Bren School of Environmental Science & Management Professor Roland Geyer. He wants to know what makes more sense, growing fuel crops to supply alternative-fuel vehicles with ethanol or other biofuels or using photovoltaics (PV) to directly power battery electric vehicles (EVs).

“The energy source for biofuels is the sun, through photosynthesis,” explains Geyer. “The energy source for solar power is also the sun. Which is better?”

To find out, Geyer joined former BrenSchool researcher David Stoms and James Kallaos, of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, to model the relative efficiencies of the technologies at converting a given amount of sunlight to miles driven. The results have been published in the paper, “Spatially Explicit Life Cycle Assessment of Sun-to-Wheels Transportation Pathways in the U.S.,” in the Dec. 26 issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Results showed photovoltaics (PV) to be much more efficient than biomass at turning sunlight into energy to fuel a car.

“PV is orders of magnitude more efficient than biofuels pathways in terms of land use — 30, 50, even 200 times more efficient — depending on the specific crop and local conditions,” said Geyer. “You get the same amount of energy using much less land, and PV doesn’t require farm land.”

The researchers examined three ways of using sunlight to power cars: 1) the traditional method of converting corn or other plants to ethanol; 2) converting energy crops into electricity for BEVs rather than producing ethanol; and 3) using PVs to convert sunlight directly into electricity for EVs. Because land-use decisions are local, Geyer explained, he and his colleagues examined five prominent “sun-to-wheels” energy conversion pathways — ethanol from corn or switchgrass for internal combustion vehicles, electricity from corn or switchgrass for EVs, and PV electricity for EVs — for every county in the contiguous United States.Read More

Alternative energy, biofuels, Electric Vehicles, Research, Solar

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