JinkoSolar has introduced its new series “Eagle” solar modules that are certified under weather conditions of 85 degrees Celsius and 85 percent relative humidity.- Santa Cruz County Office of Education and Chevron Energy Solutions have completed a solar installation and energy efficiency improvements expected to reduce both carbon emissions and energy costs, saving more than $2 million over the program’s life.
- SeaRoc has been appointed principal contractor to oversee the completion of the offshore wind farm construction at Teesside Offshore Wind Farm on behalf of EDF Energy Renewables.
- According to a new report by GlobalData, “Biogas Power – Global Market Size, Feedstock Analysis, Competitive Landscape, Regulations and Key Country Analysis to 2025,” carbon capture and storage could be the technology that makes the world’s carbon emission reduction targets achievable.
- Natural Power has delivered a comprehensive energy yield study on a proposed wind turbine project in Northern Ireland for Graham Bell.
- According to a new report, “Solar Photovoltaic (PV), 2012 – Global Market Size, Average Installation Price, Market Share, Regulations and Key Country Analysis to 2020,” the global solar PV market growth will be significant through 2020.
Iberdrola Renewables Completes 3 Wind Farms
Iberdrola Renewables has completed three new wind energy projects in the U.S. The wind farms were all commissioned in December 2012, representing a total investment of approximately $700 million, and most of the power has already been purchased via long-term contracts. The three projects include:
- The Manzana Wind Power Project located in Kern County, California includes 126 GE 1.5MW wind turbines, with the capacity to produce 189 MW of wind energy each year. Lease payments to landowners are estimated to be more than $30 million over the life of the wind farm.
- The Hoosac Wind Power Project is located in Monroe, Massachusetts and expands into Florida, Massachusetts. The wind farm consists of 19 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines with the ability to generate 28.5 MW annually. Lease payments to landowners are estimated to be $3 million over the life of the wind farm.
- The Groton Wind Farm is situated along two ridge features in the town of Groton, New Hampshire. The wind farm consists of 24 Gamesa G87, 2.0 MW wind turbines and has the capacity to produce 48MW per year.
“These projects have begun delivering the environmental benefits of clean, renewable energy, but they also create significant economic impacts resulting from hiring numerous local workers and companies, and making long-term tax and lease payments to the local communities,” said Martín Mugíca, president and CEO of Iberdrola Renewables, LLC. “Each project represents the culmination of years of hard work, and we could not do it without the vision and support of our shareholders, customers and employees.”
Earlier in 2012, Iberdrola Renewables completed a 46-MW project in Pennsylvania, a 100-MW project in Iowa and a 304-MW project in Ohio.
Register Now for Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit
If you want to spend a day next week with Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, author and energy security expert Anne Korin, Growth Energy President Tom Buis and USDA Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager – today is the last day of pre-registration for the 7th Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit on January 30 in Altoona.
Registration is free and you can register on site, but Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Managing Director Lucy Norton says it’s good to know about how many people will be attending. “It’s open to the general public,” said Norton. “We encourage everyone to come out and hear more and learn more about renewable fuels.”
Much of the summit is focused on the importance of renewable fuels to Iowa, one of the leading states in the production of both ethanol and biodiesel. “The summit is the way that the renewable fuels industry gets the word out on renewable fuels and what it means to the state economy, for the federal economy,” Norton said, noting that both Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds will be at the event this year.
Norton says the Iowa RFA will be encouraging attendees to sign a letter to Chrysler. “We are asking Chrysler to follow suit with General Motors and Ford and approve their vehicles for the use of E15,” she said.
Find out more about what is in store at the 2013 Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in this interview: Lucy Norton with Iowa RFA
Coalition Urges New Farm Bill for Energy
The Agriculture Energy Coalition (AgEC) today urged Congress to begin work on a new five-year Farm Bill with strong mandatory funding for energy programs.
The coalition notes that programs included in the farm bill Energy Title including the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP), Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), Biorefinery Assistance Program (BAP) and Biobased Markets Program (Biopreferred) have helped create jobs and economic growth in rural America, develop new agricultural markets, and improve farmers’ and ranchers’ energy self-sufficiency.
“Farm energy programs have paid a tremendous return for rural Americans, in terms of new jobs, investments in new energy efficiency and bioenergy technology, and new biobased products,” said Lloyd Ritter, Agriculture Energy Coalition co-director. “Economic growth and job opportunities in rural America are at risk without a renewal of funding for these effective programs.”
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extended the 2008 Farm Bill without funding for energy title programs. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) re-introduced the five-year farm bill passed by the Senate last year, calling it a “revolutionary piece of legislation.” The House failed to pass a farm bill last year.
Are You Ready for 2013 National Biodiesel Conference
For the first time ever the National Biodiesel Conference will be held in Las Vegas. The Domestic Fuel team will be there. Here’s where you can find registration information.
To get a preview of what’s to come listen in on an interview with Jessica Robinson, Director of Communications for the National Biodiesel Board. The conference theme is Momentum. Jessica says the theme fits on several levels. To start with, the National Biodiesel Board and biodiesel is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Then you have to look at the challenging year the industry had in 2012. Now NBB feels like it is poised for new growth in 2013. It is the first time the conference has been held in Las Vegas.
You can listen to my preview interview with Jessica here: Preview Interview with Jessica Robinson
American Farm Bureau Supports RFS
Delegates for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) last week voted overwhelmingly to support continuation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), despite the fact that membership in the organization includes a substantial percentage of livestock producers.
“The livestock guys still have concerns about high feed costs, and I’m one of them, I’m a beef producer,” said AFBF president Bob Stallman. “On the other hand, we have this renewable fuels infrastructure that’s in place, a very large industry that employs lots of people and provides a market for a lot of products, so we need to be very careful not to have policies trying to dismantle that.”
There were 362 voting delegates at the 94th AFBF Annual meeting in Nashville last week representing every crop and livestock sector in the 50 states and Puerto Rico. The policies approved at the annual meeting will guide the nation’s largest general farm organization in its legislative and regulatory efforts throughout 2013.
E15 Hot Topic at Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit
Giving consumers more choice at the pump with an E15 ethanol fuel blend will be a feature presentation during the 7th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit and Trade Show being held in Altoona, Iowa on January 30, 2013.
“E15 and Beyond – The Future of Consumer Fuel Choice” panel will include Scott Zaremba, President of Zarco 66, the nation’s first fuel retailer to offer E15 as a registered fuel to 2001 and newer vehicles. Mr. Zaremba will discuss his experience in becoming the nation’s first E15 retailer. Joining Zaremba will be Jim Becthold, Service Manager for Linn Co-op Oil Company. Becthold will discuss his role in becoming the first retailer in Iowa to offer E15 to 2001 and newer vehicles, as well as the benefits of the fuel. The final panelist and moderator, Lucy Norton, Managing Director, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, will highlight the impact of E15 on consumer fuel choice and how ethanol fits into future engine concepts.
“This panel will provide the Summit audience with a glimpse of what to expect in the future regarding E15 and consumer fuel choice,” said Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Managing Director Lucy Norton. “This panel will be an excellent compliment to an already great lineup of announced speakers like Gov. Terry Branstad, Author and Energy Security Expert Anne Korin, Growth Energy President Tom Buis and USDA Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager.”
Norton says the FREE Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit provides a great opportunity to hear experts address state and national issues facing the future of renewable fuels. Also discussed will be opportunities for the biofuels industry.
Although the Summit is free, pre-registration is required by January 23, 2013. The event is taking place at The Meadows Conference Center in Altoona, Iowa.
Iowa Wind Energy Association Announces 6th Conference
The Iowa Wind Energy Association has announced the dates for its 6th Annual Wind Conference: March 25-27, 2013 at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines. This year’s event will focus on four general themes that reflect the national and world leadership position that Iowa has achieved in the wind energy sector. Topics include technology development, small and community wind, operation and maintenance, education and training, and research. Confirmed speakers include Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds.
General session presentations will focus on national policy and wind energy growth and sustainability issues. Many of these sessions will focus on the utility scale segment of the wind energy industry with a major presentation about transmission development and large scale wind farm deployment in Iowa and the nation.
Again this year, IWEA will provide a Research Poster Display project, sponsored by Exelon Energy, that will provide an opportunity to highlight research being done to improve the function and profitability of the wind energy industry.
I had the opportunity to speak with IWEA Executive Director Harold Prior, Ph.D. during Iowa Wind Energy Day at the Iowa State Capitol. Prior said that the conference has a good history of attracting the six Iowa Congressional delegation who give attendees an update on public policy issues in Washington.
Prior noted that the wind industry is a relatively young industry and one of the key benefits of the conference is the ability for IWEA members and attendees to network. Despite its youth, Iowa is the nation’s leader in the number of wind energy manufacturing companies and number of wind energy jobs. Prior said Iowa is ranked as the 7th best wind resource in the nation and the state is a central location with convenient access to major navigable rivers and the national interstate highway system.
For more information about the conference, listen to my interview with Harold here: 6th Annual Wind Energy Conference
Marginal Lands Well Suited for Biomass
According to an article in Nature, researchers with Michigan State University (MSU) show that marginal lands can serve as prime real estate for meeting alternative energy production goals. By growing mixed-species cellulosic biomass, marginal lands could annually produce up to 5.5 billion gallons of ethanol in the Midwest alone.
“Understanding the environmental impact of widespread biofuel production is a major unanswered question in the U.S. and worldwide,” said Ilya Gelfand, lead author of the paper. “We estimate that using marginal lands for growing cellulosic biomass crops could provide up to 215 gallons of ethanol per acre with substantial greenhouse gas mitigation.” According to Gelfand, this is the first study to provide an estimate for greenhouse gas benefits, and an assessment of the total potential of these lands to produce significant amounts of biomass.
Researchers from MSU, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland used 20 years of data, focused on 10 Midwestern states, from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site. Kellogg Biological Station is one of 26 such NSF LTER sites in ecosystems around the world from grasslands to deserts, coral reefs to tundra.
“The study underscores the critical role that long-term basic research plays in determining the optimum balance between economic prosperity and environmental sustainability,” said Saran Twombly, program director in NSF’s Division of Environmental Biology. “Long-term basic experiments suggest that wise management of marginal lands, rather than wholesale conversion of valuable agricultural lands, could contribute significantly to a sustainable future.”Read More
Europe Plans for Electric Vehicles
A European consortium, consisting of DNV KEMA, Fraunhofer ISE, EMD International, RAH and RFVV, have begun an EU funded project to develop modeling and simulation tools for optimally integrating electrical vehicles (EVs) into electricity networks. The project, Novel E-Mobility Grid Model (NEMO), will play a key role in the continued development of electric mobility in Europe and will also be an important element in the further development of smart grids.
As electric vehicle adoption grows in Europe and charging stations are installed and connected to the existing grid, the NEMO project will support European grid operators and service providers in assessing the impact of EVs on the power grid, and to evaluate possible solutions such as grid extension or load management.
The consortium will develop a NEMO simulation and optimization tool suite based on the existing complementary simulation tools PLATOS, SimTOOL and energyPRO, which were each developed by the respective NEMO core partners. When combined, the simulation tools will address both market-oriented and technical problems that may result from the predicted influx of EVs on the electricity grid, such as identifying grid constraints in the network or determining the optimal use of available electricity generators.
“Our three tools will be further extended and integrated into one single tool suite to assess the impact of a large volume of EVs on both the electricity network and energy markets in its entirety. The combined project team will be able to offer cooperative services that none of the partners could offer individually,” said Dr. Martijn Huibers, NEMO project coordinator at DNV KEMA.
The project team aims to enable the exchange of simulation data between the models of each tool, and the NEMO consortium will work closely with stakeholders to ensure the suite addresses key market needs.