Domestic Fuel

A new wind turbine blade plant in Wisconsin is expected to put more than 600 new workers on the job.

This post on the GreenRightNow.com Web site says the Energy Composites Corp. (ECC) facility in Wisconsin Rapids got some help in the form of $238 million in municipal tax-free bonds from a pool of money created with federal stimulus dollars:

“Tax-free bonds are a critical component of our financing plan for the 535,000 square foot plant,” noted Sam Fairchild, Energy Composites’ CEO, in a statement. “Development costs for our new factory are too large for traditional Industrial Development financing programs, and the Recovery Zone Bond program, which expires at the end of 2010, is precisely the right solution at precisely the right time…

The 535,000 s.f. plant will be capable of making wind blades 65 meters in length that can supply both onshore and offshore wind farms, and will be build with “a maximum range of flexibility in production design” to be able to accomodate technological advances. The facility will partner with Mid-state Technical College, where prospective employees can get training in blade fabrication.

So at a time when we hear about how too many of the stimulus bucks are going overseas and stimulating economies overseas, it’s nice to hear about some of the money staying home and helping here.

Sacramento-based Propel Fuels has announced it is investing $20 million into an effort that will put its biofuels, as well as hydroge and electric vehicle charging areas, into stations in every major market in California.

This company press release says the move supports California’s emissions reduction goals while stimulating jobs:

“California has the largest fleet of alternative fuel vehicles in America and the market is significantly underserved,” said Matt Horton, CEO of Propel. “This funding allows us to build on strong consumer demand and bring alternative fuels to more than 2 million alternative fuel vehicles on California roads today.”

Concerns over the price, long‐term supply and environmental impacts of petroleum have led California companies to invest hundreds of millions of dollars into advanced biofuel production technologies. With numerous advanced biofuel production facilities preparing to break ground in the state, Propel’s fueling infrastructure is a critical link between California’s citizens and the next generation of low
carbon fuels. In addition to liquid fuels, Propel’s retail platform is extensible to meet demand for future transportation technologies including hydrogen and electric vehicles.

Propel officials believe they have the right business model for the current and future demands for renewable fuels.

A town in Tennessee has bought a new biodiesel processing system that will also reduce the city’s waste.

Biofuels International reports the city of Clarksville got some help from a federal grant that allows Clarksville Gas and Water to convert used cooking oil into the green fuel:

The city hopes that the biodiesel produced will eventually power the city’s buses. This will cost significantly less, as ordinary diesel is priced at almost $2.80 per gallon (€2).

‘We think that we’re procuring this product for about $0.92 to $0.95 a gallon. That’s, of course, very much lower than diesel,’ said Tommy Williams, a supervisor at the wastewater plant in Clarksville.

The feedstock is donated used cooking oil from a dozen restaurants, keeping the grease out of the sewer lines and providing biodiesel into buses and other city vehicles.

Yesterday I reviewed the book Crude World and today I watched the documentary Crude directed by Joe Berlinger. Ironically, Crude follows the multi-year struggle of 30,000 indigenous and colonial rainforest dwellers of Ecuador as they struggle to hold Chevron accountable for what many environmentalists are saying is the world’s worst case of oil contamination ever. This story was told in one chapter of Crude World, but you don’t really embrace the full effect of the devastation and human struggling until you witness it yourself.

The lawsuit was filed against Texaco but when Chevron merged with Texaco in 2001 they inherited the suit. Originally filed in the United States, the suit was dropped and moved to Ecuador where against all odds, the courts proceeded with the case. The people are led by local lawyer Pablo Fajardo who is being assisted by American lawyer Steven Donzinger. The documentary covers three years of the case and follows the plaintiffs to three continents and begins with the judges orders to visit the contamination sites.

Eventually, the judge orders a third party to come in and test the various contamination sites (which Chevron has claimed to test and found no pollutants that exceed U.S. EPA regulations). When the 4,000 page report is released in 2008, it “recommends compensation for environmental remediation, excess cancer deaths, impacts on indigenous culture, and Texaco’s ‘unjust enrichment’ from its operations.” The monetary cost: $27 billion dollars. 
Read the rest of this post…

The second ethanol blender pump has opened in Missouri. The Temp Stop is located at 100 SE Todd George Road in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. The station will offer E20, E30, E85 and regular gasoline.

“With the addition of these blender pumps, consumers can seize the opportunity to utilize a homegrown, renewable fuel,” said Bradley Schad, Missouri Corn associate director of ethanol blends. “Not only does ethanol burn cleaner than gasoline, it helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil and keeps U.S. dollars here at home.”

According to the Missouri Corn Growers Association, the Temp Stop blender pumps are part of a pilot program with Missouri Corn and the Missouri Department of Agriculture Division of Weights and Measures.

“We’re proud to be part of this movement to promote a cleaner environment,” says Terry Green, CEO of Temp Stop in Lee’s Summit. “Together with our fuel supplier, CarterEnergy, we’re making E20, E30 and E85 available to our customers and offering them more choices than ever before when it comes to refueling their vehicles. These blended fuels give them a way to join the ‘green’ movement, too.”

Missouri Corn is currently working with additional retailers to establish more ethanol blending pump facilities in the state.

If you’ve ever attended a National Biodiesel Conference then you know Emily Richards and Jason Brock. These music stars are passionate about their belief in renewable fuels and have been regular performers at the conference.

This morning they took the stage during the closing general session and played some songs from a new album they’ve put together to promote biodiesel. I’ll have more on that in a later post as well as more stories from the conference. You can also find coverage on the Biodiesel Conference Blog.

In the meantime, I thought you’d enjoy a video of Emily and Jason being joined on stage by National Biodiesel Board Chairman, Ed Hegland and CEO, Joe Jobe. They did a variation of a song you’ll recognize and so give a listen to “Time For A Fuel Change.”

You can also listen to the song here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.3MB)

Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board took the stage to lead the final general session today. I spoke to him afterward to get his comments on the conference and the industry in light of what the speakers have said during the last several days.

Joe says “it’s really been good” referring to the conference. There was an expectation that attendance would be down and especially with the weather and the announcement of the final rule on the RFS-2 last week but people showed up. Joe says that NBB is planning webinars to help the industry understand the new rules. He says that he echoes a feeling of optimism as expressed by many of the speakers who were on the program. Looking ahead he says that the industry is policy driven and NBB will work as hard as it can to “get the policy right.” That includes not only the RFS-2 but a long term biodiesel tax credit.

You can listen to my interview with Joe below.

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.2MB)

The final general session of the National Biodiesel Conference featured a panel session titled, “Feeding the Biodiesel Machine: Understanding Feedstock Realities of Today and Tomorrow.”

Captivating new feedstocks for biodiesel have grabbed headlines around the world. But which hold the most promise for expanding the biodiesel industry’s immediate and long-term feedstock needs? What’s the secret behind playing the commodities market… and winning? In this panel we heard from industry experts with the inside track on feeding the feedstock machine. They included Dr. Dick Auld – Texas Tech University, Anne Frick – Prudential, Dallas Hanks – Utah State University, FreeWays to Fuel, Mary Rosenthal – Algal Biomass Organization and David Slade – Renewable Energy Group.

You can listen to the panel discussion below.

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (17.7MB)

There have been three panels discussions on the new RFS-2 at the National Biodiesel Conference and they had to be moved to larger than scheduled rooms to handle all the people who wanted to hear about the new rules. The National Biodiesel Board is working on this issue and will be producing several webinars on the topic in the near future.

In the meantime, to learn more about it, I spoke with Paul Argyropoulos, EPA Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Transportation & Air Quality, who spoke at one of the sessions. I asked him what’s most important for the industry to know now. To start with he says, “We have a final rule which I think provides certainty to the market.” He then provides some additional points of importance specific to the biodiesel industry. I can’t figure out how to summarize them and they’re too long to translate so you’ll have to listen to the interview to hear them. That’s just the way it is with regulations this long and complicated. At this point he encourages you to dig into the regulations and understand what the reporting requirements are. He says they’re willing to work with you and they’re planning to produce some webinars as well. Paul says you can go to their website to get more information.

You can listen to my interview with Paul below.

National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (1.8MB)

Hello from the final general session at the National Biodiesel Conference. Emily Richards and Jason Brock are performing for us once again. I’ll have a very special announcement from them for biodiesel supporters to post later today.

I’m busy taking lots of photos for the Conference and a little behind on posts but will get caught up by tomorrow so don’t get too impatient. I’ve got good interviews on RFS-2 and all the activity from this morning’s session.

So stay tuned.

A Nevada utility will get some of its power from wind energy.

This story from Las Vegas Review-Journal says NV Energy has signed a a deal to buy energy from a wind farm near Ely for the next 20 years:

Pattern Energy Group of San Francisco will build the 150-megawatt Spring Valley Wind Project, which would be Nevada’s first major, utility-scale wind plant.

“We’re pleased to add more clean renewable energy for our customers, and this project is a good example of developing renewable energy resources in remote parts of our state,” said NV Energy President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Yackira in a statement.

In addition to creating clean energy, the wind farm will create more than 150 jobs during construction with another 10 permanently employed at the wind farm.

The deal is part of a state requirement that NV Energy get 25 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025.

It’s Big Oil versus Big Ag in the fight for the heart and soul … but mostly the pocketbooks … of transportation fuels users in this country, and biodiesel and ethanol are playing a key role in the battle.

This interesting post on the Cleantech Blog says that Exxon, Chevron, and Shell … aka “Big Oil” … are having their petro-dollars cut into as we use more fuel-efficient cars and run on renewable fuels produced by “Big Ag” … ADM, Bunge, and Cargill. And the EPA’s new Renewable Fuels Standard … RFS2 … this year will cut into Big Oil’s gas and diesel sales by 8 percent … billions of dollars Big Oil doesn’t want to let slip away:

Exxon Mobil’s CEO Rex Tillerson famously referred to ethanol as “moonshine.” Now Exxon is investing $300 million in Craig Ventor’s Synthetic Genomics with plans to produce fuel from algae. BP Biofuels was voted 2009 Biofuels Corporation of the Year by the World Refining Association at its 4th annual Biofuels Conference. BP has poured hundreds of millions into basic biofuel research and into a variety of partnerships including biobutanol with DuPont and Virgin Fuels, and energy cane in the U.S. with Verenium. Shell has established a $12 billion sugarcane ethanol joint venture with Brazil’s Cosan (CZZ).

In the future, if biotech can deliver low-cost liquid hydrocarbons from biomass that can be profitably blended at the refinery, then Big Oil may partner with industrial agriculture. Valero (VLO), the largest refiner in the U.S. bought a number of ethanol plants at deep discounts from bankrupt VeraSun.

The post goes on to talk derisively about how Big Oil and Big Ag are battling for control of the EPA, federal tax breaks, and billions of federal funds.

You might not agree with everything the author had to say in the post, especially the parts where he puts down the use of corn and soybeans for ethanol and biodiesel, but it’s an interesting take on the new biofuels battles.

A company that turns gas stations into renewable fuel filling spots will open up its latest station in Arkansas.

This press release from Evolution Fuels, Inc. says the company has inked a lease agreement with J&J Developments, Inc. to put in a truck stop featuring biodiesel in Mountainburg, Arkansas:

The truck stop, which will be operated under the Company’s subsidiary, Legends Travel Centers, is located at 901 Highway 282 SW in Mountainburg, which is just off of Interstate 540, approximately 20 miles south of Fayetteville, AR. Under the terms of the lease, Evolution Fuels will assume operations of the truck stop on February 15, 2010. The Company plans to re-image the truck stop over the course of the next 30 days, and to offer a blend of biodiesel at the truck fuel pumps as soon as possible.

According to the release, this is part of a plan by Evolution and J&J to rollout renewable fuel stations that also include various blends of ethanol in the region over the next few months.

POET, the largest ethanol producer in the world, plans to announce plans of their process for Project LIBERTY, a 25-million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. According to their press release, POET’s Senior Vice President of Science and Technology Mark Stowers will speak Thursday at the F.O. Licht’s 3rd Annual Developing and Commercialising Next Generation Biofuels conference in London detailing.

Project LIBERTY’s construction is scheduled to begin this year and will use corn cobs as feedstock. POET has operated a pilot cellulosic ethanol plant in Scotland, S.D. since November 2008. The location of this new plant will be alongside the Emmetsburg grain ethanol plant making a more efficient process.

A documentary of POET’s pilot cellulosic ethanol plant can be found by clicking here.

While alternative energy continues to get a boost from the Obama administration, geothermal still doesn’t seem to be garnering much of the spotlight. However, the energy sector is growing and recently the state of Idaho announced that it will increase its percentage of energy output from wind, solar and biomass and is looking to add more geothermal derived energy.

Photo Credit: U.S. Geothermal Inc.

Based its 20 year Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) filed with the state last December, the most promising form of geothermal energy for Southern Idaho is binary cycle geothermal development. In this type of plant, the hot geothermal water is passed through a heat exchanger which then heats a binary liquid. From there, the liquid is vaporized and the vapor spins the turbine-generator unit where it is then reliquefied and reused in the heat exchanger. After a portion of geothermal water is used for heat, it exits the plant and is returned back to the reservoir.

The first project, Raft River, is already producing electricity and Idaho Power is looking to develop additional projects over the next decade. To date there are only 12 binary cycle geothermal plants in operation in the US.

In the near-term, Idaho Power plans on adding 266MW of wind capacity in 2010 through long-term power purchase contracts and plans to have over 600MW of wind by the end of 2012. In addition, they have hired Black and Veatch to conduct a feasiblity study for solar techologies.

In an effort to increase geothermal funding and projects across the US, the industry is gathering in San Francisco next week for the GeoPower Americas conference where the goal is to raise more attention to this promising form of alternative energy.