Subsidies, Initiatives & New Efficiency Drive Profits

Joanna Schroeder

solarandwindAccording to a new report, companies that invest more money in the research and development more efficient means of producing renewable energy, the better able the company is to satisfy consumers and drive growth. Additional growth is, and can be continued, through government subsidies and initiatives. Recently, there has been an increase in investments in the renewable energy field, especially in solar and wind energy.  Companies such as First Solar and SolarCity prove that R&D drives both growth and greater profits.

Last week First Solar announced a partnership with Intermolecular to increase conversion efficiency. SolarCity has recently announced a 117 percent growth of the amount of energy the company installed in 2011 (72 MW). Early indications show that 2013 is expected to beat the company’s original projections.

The report concludes that if consumers continue to see the long-term benefits of renewable energy, green energy companies should expect to have a strong and stable position in the overall market. The report anticipates a strong macro trend towards companies focusing on renewable resources and “green” products. In addition, institutional funds are adding corporate responsibility, ethical investing and environmental concerns as priorities when screening for new investments. The report believes that this change in dynamic within the investment community will create a “mass exodus” of investment dollars from aggressive cost-cutting companies towards companies focused on ethical approaches to business, consumers and the environment.

Alternative energy, Renewable Energy, Solar, Wind

Appeals Court Denies Challenge to 15% Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today denied petitions for rehearing in the case of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, et al. v. EPA, which challenges the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency to allowing commercial sales of 15% ethanol (E15).

“Today’s order leaves in place an earlier decision by the Court denying challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to allow for E15 to enter the U.S. market,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis of the action, which he calls a “major victory for the renewable fuels industry and opens the door for further investment in new fueling technology to offer E15 to consumers.”

In January 2011, EPA approved E15 for use in cars and trucks made in 2001 or later. The Grocery Manufacturers and other groups, including the American Petroleum Institute (API), challenged the approval contending the E15 will cause harm to motor vehicle engines. The organizations also continue to challenge the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). During a media conference call today, officials with API called the RFS “unworkable” and said they would “like to see complete repeal” of the law.

Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen refuted those comments in a statement calling the RFS “a proven success.”

“It is a highly flexible, effective, proven energy policy,” said Dinneen. “API knows this to be a fact which is why they are continually running to the courts and Congress to kill it. The RFS is stimulating investment in next generation ethanol which is coming to fruition before our eyes. The RFS is also driving the marketplace beyond ethanol’s use as an ‘additive’, which was a fundamental objective of the program. Higher ethanol blends, from E15 to E85, will be key to providing consumers the choice at the pump they want and the relief for the wallet they need. E15 and E85 are available right here, right now and Big Oil doesn’t like it.”

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, RFA

Third National Climate Assessment Released

Joanna Schroeder

Climate Change Photo Joanna SchroederA draft of the Third National Climate Assessment (NCA) has been released by the Climate Assessment Development Advisory Committee (NCADAC).  The committee says this is the most peer-reviewed analysis of climate change impacts on the United States. The assessment was written by 240 scientists and other experts from academia; local, state, and federal government; business; and the non‐profit sector. The public can review the draft and submit comments, and the final draft is expected to be released in early 2014.

Several key findings include new and stronger evidence that global climate is changing, extreme weather and climate events are increasing, and that the increase is related to human activities. In addition, the report finds:

  • Global climate is changing, and this is apparent across the US in a wide range of observations. The climate change of the past 50 years is due primarily to human activities, predominantly the burning of fossil fuels and is expected to accelerate if action is not taken.
  • Some extreme weather and climate events have increased in recent decades, and there is new and stronger evidence that many of these increases are related to human activities.
  • Impacts related to climate change are already evident in many sectors and are expected to become increasingly challenging across the nation throughout this century and beyond.
  • Climate change threatens human health and well-being in many ways, including impacts from increased extreme weather events, wildfire, decreased air quality, diseases transmitted by insects food and water and threats to mental health.Read More
Carbon, Environment, global warming

2013 Waste to Biofuels Market Analysis

Joanna Schroeder

According to a recent white paper from Renewable Waste Intelligence, there are two key issues facing the biofuels industry: consumers and vehicle manufacturers must be persuaded to adopt new, more environmentally friendly gasoline blends; and advanced biofuels manufacturers must demonstrate commercial capability and play catch-up to Environmental Protection Agency targets for production.

With feedstock prices high for several feedstocks, including corn for ethanol and soybeans for biodiesel, many producers are looking for alternative feedstocks, or to move into “advanced” biofuel production. An interesting phenomena is that as waste feedstocks are more readily adopted for biodiesel production, such as yellow grease, animal fats, waste oil, etc. are used, the feedstock prices increase.

Screen Shot 2013-01-09 at 11.18.44 PMThis is one reason, according to the white paper, that producers are looking to lower-cost feedstocks and a burgeoning market is waste. The white paper cites 2005 EPA estimates more than 246 million tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) was generated with 133 million tons sent to landfills, 79 million tons recylcled and 33.4 million tons used to generate energy. Of this, millions of tons that is ordinarily sent to landfills would make a suitable feedstock.

In many cases, local governments pay for waste to be shipped to a landfill, the average is $42 per ton. However, by citing a biofuels facility near municipal processing facilities, biofuel producers can benefit from undercutting these costs while achieving “negative” feedstock costs, according to the paper. Some analysts have noted that MSW prices could eventually increase, as happened with other waste feedstocks, technological barriers make it unlikely for this to happen any time over the next decade.

The quest for the best technologies and most affordable feedstocks will continue for many years. Many of these issues will be discussed during the 3rd Annual Municipal Solid Waste to Biofuels and Bioproducts Summit being held in Orlando, Florida February 20-21, 2013. Click here for more information and to register online.

advanced biofuels, Agribusiness, Biodiesel, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Waste-to-Energy

New Markets Tax Credits Spur Investment

Joanna Schroeder

There is a little secret in the renewable energy sector that many don’t know about – New Markets Tax Credits. These tax credits provide incentives for private investors to help fund projects that create jobs and diversify economics, and were extended for another year as part of the American Tax Relief Act.

CEI logoCongress first established the program in 2000 to stimulate investment and economic growth in low-income and under-served rural and urban communities that are often overlooked by conventional capital markets. Investors receive a seven-year, 39-percent federal tax credit as incentive to finance loans and investments in businesses and economic development projects in distressed communities. They are not restricted to energy projects.

According to CEO Charles Spies, CEI Capital Management is a national leader in awarding New Markets Tax Credits, having invested nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in the last nine years. CEI Capital Management has its own triple bottom line investment criteria, where projects must benefit the local community, demonstrate economic gain and have a positive impact on the environment.

Last year, CEI Capital Management allocated $20.7 million in new markets tax credits to the $275 million Burgess BioPower Plant in rural Berlin, New Hampshire. Built on the site of a defunct paper mill, the plant will produce 75 megawatts of power from 759 thousand tons of sustainably grown wood annually. The project currently employs about 300 construction jobs and is on track to sustain 40 jobs in management and plant operations plus hundreds more in the woods associated with harvesting and transporting biomass.Read More

advanced biofuels, Alternative energy, biomass

Algae.Tec Awarded $12.15M from Australian Gov.

Joanna Schroeder

Photo From Algae.TecAlgae.Tec has been awarded AU$12.15 million cash refund on Australian and overseas development costs for the financial years June 30, 2012 through June 30, 2015. The terms of the payment allow for an additional investment of AU$27 million on Algae.Tec technology developments, of which the Australian Government will reimburse 45 percent or $12.15 million. The approval is to support the funding of at least three algae bioreactor facilities in Australia, Asia and the U.S. The refund will be paid in cash to the company following expenditure. In addition, additional investments above the AU $27M will also be eligible for further government grants.

According to Algae.Tec, its enclosed bioreactor technology takes waste C02 from power and manufacturing facilities and uses it to grow valuable algae oil for transport fuels. The tax offset payments, called R&D Tax Incentives, are awarded and managed by the Australian Government entity AusIndustry and are designed to provide business with a “more predictable, less complex,” financial support structure.

Algae.Tec Managing Director Peter Hatfull said the company had applied for the approval last year as part of a range of attractive financing options available for the Company’s growth plans. “It was a rigorous process involving a complete review of our technology and global expansion plans. We see this as a real endorsement of our technology and strategic direction, and we are very pleased to have the support of the Australian Government’s AusIndustry. This is excellent news for the Company and our Australian and international investors,” said Hatfull.

advanced biofuels, algae, International, Renewable Energy

AFPM Updates RFS Cellulosic Waiver Petition

Joanna Schroeder

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) kicked off the year with a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to waive the 2012 cellulosic biofuel mandate. The organization says the biofuel industry has repeatedly failed to produce the cellulosic biofuel needed to meet the government mandate under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

AFPM LogoOn January 9, 2012, EPA announced the applicable volumetric requirements for various renewable fuels under the RFS and established the 2012 regulatory requirement for cellulosic biofuel at 10.45 million ethanol-equivalent gallons. According AFPM, they relied upon EPA’s most recent data reported through October 2012 as the basis for their position. AFPM said available information indicated just 20,069 gallons of cellulosic biofuel actually produced, all of which was exported generating no Renewable Identification Numbers (RINS), or credits for refiners to use to comply with the federal biofuel mandate. Citing the lack of domestic supply, AFPM President Charles T. Drevna called EPA’s timeline for introducing cellulosic biofuel into the fuel supply market as “ambitious” and “unrealistic.”

EPA has since updated its data and announced that in November 2012 cellulosic production was an additional 1,741 ethanol equivalent gallons of cellulosic diesel fuel. In response, Drevna said, “I stand corrected. November’s data reporting that the biofuel industry produced 1,741 ethanol equivalent gallons of cellulosic diesel shows excellent progress toward complying with the EPA’s 2012 mandate of 10.45 million ethanol equivalent gallons of cellulosic biofuel. Six thousand additional months at this production level and the country will finally achieve EPA’s 2012 mandated volumes.”

Several cellulosic production facility went online during 2012 with several more expected to begin production during 2013. In addition, Project Liberty and DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol biorefineries, which will both use corn stover and cobs as feedstock, are expected to be in production by mid-2014.

advanced biofuels, Cellulosic, RFS

USDA Invests in Bioenergy Research Projects

Cindy Zimmerman

vilsack-renmatixAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited a state-of-the-art bioindustrial facility in Pennsylvania on Friday, where he announced $25 million to fund research and development of next-generation renewable energy and high-value biobased products from a variety of biomass sources.

“USDA’s continuing investments in research and development are proving a critical piece of President Obama’s strategy to spur innovation of clean bioenergy right here at home and reduce our dependence on foreign oil,” said Vilsack. “The advances made through this research will help to boost local economies throughout rural America, creating and sustaining good-paying jobs, while moving our nation toward a clean energy economy.”

Vilsack made the announcement while visiting Pennsylvania-based Renmatix, a leading manufacturer of cellulosic sugars for biobased chemical and fuel markets, for the commissioning of the company’s BioFlex Conversion Unit, a multiple-feedstock processing facility at the company’s King of Prussia headquarters.

The four projects approved for investment are:

Kansas State University – $5,078,932 The goal of this project is to make the oilseed crop camelina a cost-effective biofuel and bioproduct feedstock.

Ohio State University – $6,510,183 This project will result in an anaerobic digestion system for the production of liquid transportation fuels and electricity from animal manure, agricultural residues, woody biomass and energy crops.

Ceramatec, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah – $6,599,304 This project will convert lignocellulosic biomass to infrastructure-compatible renewable diesel, biolubricants, animal feed and biopower. New hybrids of energy sorghum will be developed, and other biomass resources include switchgrass and forestry residues.

USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor, PA – $6,865,942 ARS scientists will develop an on-the-farm distributed technology for converting forest residues, horse manure, switchgrass and other perennial grasses into biofuels and high-value specialty chemicals.

advanced biofuels, Biodiesel, biofuels, biomass, Ethanol, Ethanol News, USDA

Pacific Adopts Edeniq’s Cellunator Technology

Joanna Schroeder

Pacific Ethanol logoPacific Ethanol is implementing yield enhancing technology at its ethanol facility in Stockton, California. The company is adopting Edeniq’s Cellunators technology to boost ethanol yields by increasing available starch for conversion. In addition to expected improvements in ethanol yield, the installation of Cellunators technology makes available the adoption of Edeniq‘s Pathway technology integrating the Cellunator with proprietary enzymes to convert the cellulosic fraction of the corn kernel to ethanol, which enables a conventional plant to potentially produce cellulosic ethanol.

Neil Koehler, the company’s president and CEO, said, “Our agreement with Edeniq for its Cellunators technology demonstrates our commitment to improving efficiencies at the plant level and positions us to produce advanced biofuels within a corn ethanol plant. We expect this technology to increase yields and improve overall plant profitability.”

biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol

Ocotillo Wind Project Online Via New Transmission Line

Joanna Schroeder

There is a new transmission line up and running between San Diego and the Imperial Valley in California. The 117-mile 500-kv transition line, “Sunrise Powerlink” is transmitting energy from the now operational Ocotillo Wind project to residents and businesses in Southern California. The 265 megawatt (MW) wind power project consists of 94 turbines with an additional 18 turbines to be installed in the spring. The project is owned by Pattern Energy, and the energy produced is being sold to San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) via a 20 year power purchase agreement.

“The Ocotillo Wind project is a shining example of achieving local, state and national energy goals, while being the first renewable project to connect to the Sunrise Powerlink,” said Mike Garland, CEO of Pattern Energy. “Nearly 70% of the project was ‘made in America,’ producing local construction jobs, manufacturing jobs at the Southern California Ocotillo Wind Farm Photo: ALEJENADRO DAVILA PHOTOfactory where the towers were built and additional jobs in factories around the United States where the turbines and other components were made. The Ocotillo site has the strongest winds in the Imperial Valley, which results in attractive energy prices for San Diego County residents. We would like to thank SDG&E, California ISO, the local community leaders, and the Imperial County Board of Supervisors for their tremendous efforts in helping make the Ocotillo wind project a reality.”

The Sunrise Powerlink transmission line was completed in June 2012 and connects San Diego with the Imperial Valley – one of the most renewable-rich regions in California. The Sunrise Powerlink will eventually carry 1,000 MW of additional power into San Diego, or enough energy to serve 650,000 homes.

The project was selected by the Bureau of Land Management, and utilizes 112 Siemens 2.37 MW turbines, including American made wind towers, blades and nacelles. The Ocotillo Wind project was selected by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to help America reach its clean energy goals and protect its future energy security. The project is utilizing 112 Siemens 2.37 MW turbines, including American-made Siemens wind towers, blades and nacelles. The towers are made in California, manufactured by Ameron International, while the blades are made in Iowa and the nacelles are made in Kansas.

“When the Sunrise Powerlink was put into service this past June, it instantly brought reliability to a region with strained resources; one of the key reasons why the transmission line was designed,” said Michael R. Niggli, president and chief operating officer of SDG&E.  “Six months later, the line is carrying its first green contracted megawatts, solidifying another reason SDG&E proposed and built this project. We applaud Pattern Energy’s perseverance in seeing this project through and we look forward to the Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility being the first of more than a half dozen other renewable projects in Imperial County to connect to the Sunrise Powerlink.”

Alternative energy, Electricity, Energy, Wind