Domestic Fuel

Brazil-based GranBio has announced plans to expand to the U.S. with an office in San Francisco and has name Vonnie Estes as the managing director. In this new role, Ms. Estes will lead GranBio’s efforts to access new technologies and establish key public and private collaborations for the company’s continued global expansion in advanced biorefinery development.

Ms. Estes joins GranBio from Codexis, a developer of engineered enzymes for pharmaceutical, biofuel and chemical production, where she most recently was Vice President of Corporate Development. Prior to Codexis, she was the Chief Commercial Officer at DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE)as Executive Vice President, Business Development. Prior to joining DDCE, she led DuPont’s commercialization program for cellulosic ethanol. Her multifunctional team was responsible for the $140 million joint venture between DuPont and Danisco.

“GranBio intends to expand its profile in North America and our new office in the United States will allow us to build a team and execute our strategy,” said Alan Hiltner, Executive Vice President, GranBio. “We are extremely pleased that Ms. Estes will lead our effort. Her track record of success at large, established multi-national and early stage start-up companies is the mark of a true entrepreneurial spirit and savvy industry trendsetter. These are exactly the qualities we want to be known for as GranBio begins its strategic global expansion.”

In April, GranBio completed the acquisition of a 25 percent equity investment in the North American Cleantech pioneer American Process Inc. (API). Under the agreement, GranBio will have access to a proprietary biomass pretreatment platform that makes it possible to cost-effectively develop cellulosic sugars as a feedstock for conversion to a variety of biochemicals and biofuels.

• World Energy Solutions, Inc. has named Martha Danly as its Chief Operating Officer, promoting her from Chief Product Officer. As COO, Danly will oversee company-wide operations, product strategy, product marketing, software development, IT and the ongoing delivery of the Company’s signature online energy platform, the World Energy Exchange.
• Mounting Systems has introduced the ground mount system Sigma II GO Kits – the pre-packaged versions of its Sigma II open terrain photovoltaic substructure. With an inclination angle of 25 degrees, the Sigma II GO Kits arrive with a Professional Engineer (PE) certification and are ready to be installed on ballast blocks or concrete piers, and configurations and are designed to accept all 60-cell, crystalline modules.
• @RealGoodSolar and Smart Energy Capital are installing solar power systems at Stockton Unified School District buildings. The 5.1 megawatt combined systems are expected to save the school district nearly $600,000 in energy costs during the first year.
• American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has appointed Tom Kiernan as the new Chief Executive Officer. He officially takes the helm on May 28, 2012.
• Legislative Bill 104 is sweeping through the Nebraska, Legislature, a bill if passed, would provide more than $300 million in tax breaks for the wind energy industry. Similar tax breaks are offered to wind companies in Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma.

Earlier this week, the Florida Legislature passed HB4001, a bill that repeals the state Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Senator Greg Evers was a huge supporter of the bill, that allows Florida consumers the ability to purchase gasoline that is ethanol free.

In a statement, Evers said, “The bill eliminates the unnecessary power of the government to force Florida citizens to buy and sell ethanol blended gasoline. It returns that power to the people and restores the power of the free market by giving consumers and retailers a choice regarding what fuel they wish to buy.”

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Growth Energy responded to the news in a joint statement:

“Today’s Senate vote was a pyrrhic victory for ethanol detractors. It substantively changes nothing because the state mandate was redundant. The federal Renewable Fuel Standard will still apply and, thankfully for consumers who will continue to see savings at the pump, ethanol and other renewable fuels will be sold in Florida.

All this bill has done is put politics and oil industry profits ahead of economic opportunity and jobs in the state. The only result of this legislation will be a loss of jobs and economic opportunity in Florida. Florida has made it clear — biofuels and the valuable jobs that are created in the renewable fuels industry are no longer welcome in Florida.”

Mosaic, an online marketplace that connects investors to high-quality solar projects, has released its largest solar project to date with $700k in investment opportunities. This is the company’s second project in its Golden State Series, a $100 million series of solar investments available to residents of California. Mosaic’s first offering, a $153,000 project for a charity in San Diego, sold out in less than six hours.

The company’s newest investment offering is a 487 kW solar project that will be located on the roof of the Wildwoods Convention Center. Wildwoods has hosted over a million visitors since it first opened in 2002 and is within a day’s drive of one-third of America’s population.Their project provides 24 percent of the convention center’s electricity and reduces the facility’s CO2 emissions by 179 tons annually, equating to 387,500 vehicle miles not traveled.

“We want to give people the opportunity to do good and do well at the same time,” said Mosaic CEO and Founder Dan Rosen. “Investing in real, tangible, solar projects, that generate electricity, is a great way to do that.”

In January, Mosaic launched its first return on investment solar projects to the public, selling out all three in less than 24 hours with over $300,000 invested. Since then, Mosaic has partnered with Standard & Poor’s, DuPont and Distributed Sun, among others, as part of the truSolar working group to standardize risk assessment and develop a score — similar to a credit rating — for each solar project.

According to a story from Radio Iowa, Jay Parikh, vice president of infrastructure engineering for Facebook, was in Altoona, Iowa earlier this week to officially announce they will be constructing a 476,000 square-foot data center. One of the reasons cited for the social media giant to choose Iowa: it’s commitment to renewable energy including wind energy. Parikh said the company is committed to achieving a 25 percent renewable energy mix by 2015 for its data center footprint.

“The site has ample access to power and water. It is also very close to great network connectivity, which will allow us to connect to all of the billions of people out there,” Parikh said. “Most importantly, we’re very excited about the talent pool in the surrounding area.”

The data center is expected to create approximately 31 full-time operations jobs and Parikh said Facebook plans to build up to two more data centers in Altoona over the next few years.

It’s spring and most people are tired of the snow, but not Berkshire East, who has completed a solar installation that enables the Massachusetts family ski run area to be powered entirely from onsite renewable energy. The year-round resort recently developed a 500kW solar tracker farm that will produce 700,000kWh annually. The solar farm will supplement a 900kW wind turbine the company installed in 2011. Together, the two systems will cover the area’s entire annual electric demand. The solar farm is expected to produce 700,000 kWh annually and the wind turbine produces 1.4 million kWh annually.

“We view on-site renewable as a hedge against the rising price of power,” said Jon Schaefer, Berkshire East, located in Charlemont, Massachusetts and hosts over 100,000 skiers annually, has six lifts and two lodges. “Energy is our largest non-labor expense and it’s the one thing we are most dependent on beyond the snow.”

The recently commissioned 500kW solar farm consists of 90 dual-axis AllSun Trackers, which are manufactured in Vermont and follow the sun throughout the day to boost energy production by up to 45 percent more than rooftop installations. Sustainable Energy Development Inc. (SED) of Ontario, NY developed the project. SED chose the solar trackers for the project and managed the design and installation. The solar trackers at the farm use GPS and wireless technology to position the more than 2,000 solar panels directly into the sun throughout the day, boosting production by up to 45 percent over rooftop installations.

“We built our product produce more energy from the sun each day and withstand the harshest of northeastern climates,” said David Blittersdorf, CEO of AllEarth Renewables. “We were particularly excited to be involved in this unique project and thrilled to have AllSun Trackers helping power Berkshire East’s operations.”

Kevin Schulte, CEO of SED, added, “Berkshire East Ski Area is a prime example of how distributed energy projects like wind and solar can help small, family-owned businesses thrive.”

Heliae has revealed its latest microalgae production platform, Volaris, the result of five years of research and development. The technology was designed to produce high purity microalgae at competitive prices. According to the company, Volaris will enable large-scale production for diverse markets and provide a natural, sustainable and consistent supply of alage-based products to meet worldwide demand.

“Good science takes time,” said Dan Simon, Heliae’s president and CEO. “We’ve developed a technology platform that finally delivers on what the industry has been promising for more than a decade. With Volaris technology, we’re now able to offer algae solutions for a range of markets, which have not been possible with existing technology. This technology will unlock the industry.”

Volaris combines the best of existing algae production pathways, utilizing both sunlight and waste carbon feedstocks to optimize facility economics according to Lee Tonkovich, Heliae’s vice president of research and development. “The algae industry has been hindered by the limits of conventional technology. Phototrophy and heterotrophy, both have their weaknesses – namely contamination and low growth rates in phototrophy and extremely high capital and operating expenses in heterotrophy.”

Tonkovich continued, “We’ve developed a hybrid mixotrophic pathway which drives down capital costs, reduces contamination, and increases productivity to dramatically improve the economics of algae production. The productivity gains Volaris provides will reduce much of the land required for a commercial facility.”

Volaris will play an important role in Heliae’s new 20-acre commercial facility currently under construction in Gilbert, Ariz., slated to open in late Q3 of 2013.

“Volaris is the next generation in algae growth technology,” added Adrian Galvez, vice president of operations for Heliae. “With it, we can drop the dollar per kilogram cost to a point that makes algae immediately attractive. The flexibility we have in this technology allows us to control output traits and deliver exactly what a customer needs from our algae. This increased product optionality will open new markets for algae.”

I have this urge to travel to Morocco if nothing for the sheer desire to re-enact Casablanca as Ilsa Lund, played by Ingrid Bergman. (Who wants to come along and play my husband Victor Laszlo played by Paul Henreid and Rick Blaine, played by Humphrey Bogart? Apply to @jmschroeder) While many people will be mumbling to themselves this is the stupidest idea they have ever heard, I now have a better reason to go: Morocco was one of the major cities selected to host major environmental events to celebrate Earth Day. Who knew that Morocco and the environment go together like Pringles and applesauce (Try it; it’s tasty!).

Rabat, the country’s capital was one of six cities around the world representing Global Earth Day for its environmental initiatives. For instance, Morocco has launched a $9 billion project to harness the Sahara sun; the solar farm is expected to supply 42 percent of its power by 2020. His Majesty King Mohammed VI, one of Green Morocco’s strongest advocates, has launched a project to plant a million palm trees by 2015. He has also directed creation of a national agency for the development and safeguarding of oases zones and Argan trees across the country.

In fact, back in 2010, then EPA Administer Lisa Jackson praised Morocco as a model for “its commitment to a clean, green economy.” She also praised Morocco’s leadership on the environment and sustainable development and noted that their projects offer a great example for how sustainable ideas can be spread around the globe.

Leading up to Earth Day, the city held dozens of events including environmental awareness workshops, seminars and presentations on innovative, environmentally friendly technologies. On April 22nd, Morocco unveiled its “National Charter for the Environment and Sustainable Development,” the first of its kind in Africa and the Arab and Muslim work, according to Earth Day Network President Kathleen Rogers. As part of this charter, 10 major new environmental projects were announced ranging from preserving ecosystems to environmental education in schools to fighting desertification to establishing rural development through environmental programs.

Today is the Day of Global Celebration and internationally known musician Seal, along with Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai as well as other celebrities joined Moroccans for Earth Day celebrations and asked the country to support the commitment for a Green Morocco.

I’m ready to celebrate a Green Morocco. I’m just going to arrive circa 1942 style.

Earlier this month, the winners were announced in the Clean Energy Challenge, and prize winner, Ornicept, has a unique technology that can aid in the mitigation of bird issues associated with wind turbines. The technology was developed last May by young entrepreneurs Justin Otani and his co-founder Russell Conard, who graduated from Indiana University. Early on they won a business plan competition called the “Best Competition,” that gave them the initial seed capacity. From there they relocated to Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Conard, says Otani is computer scientist with a bird habit and in college set out to create a computer program that could identify birds with video. When reaching out to biologists and other people on how he could improve the system, the commercial applications became apparent. Simultaneously, while Conard was working with biologists, Otani was working at the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship for Innovation and running the on campus incubator and also serving as a consultant for student-started companies. It was through this process that he was connected with Conard.

Otani said there needs to be a balance between business and the need to protect wildlife – an issue that the wind industry is also dealing with. Eventually, the technology emerged and when it did, it was a state-of-the-art network of distributed cameras, computers, and computer vision algorithms. When working in tandem, it is a system for remotely collecting data on birds by species as they move through a survey zone.

What’s interesting, Otani explained, is that it may not be a whole wind farm that creates risks to bird but maybe one or two wind turbines that have the majority of impact. So if it’s pre-construction, using their data that lets you know where those high use areas are, you can often offset the placement of the turbines, even a 100 meters, and dramatically reduce the risk to birds.

Today, the technology is being beta-tested and refined and the plan is to roll-out the technology full scale soon. In anticipation of the launch, the Ornicept team will be displaying and discussing their technology during the upcoming American Wind Energy Association Conference & Exhibition taking place May 5-8, 2013 in Chicago.

Listen to my interview with Justin Otani here: Wind Energy Technology for the Birds

Earlier this month, Hall of Fame recording artist Neil Young stopped by Sioux Falls, South Dakota to fill up his LincVolt with POET-DSM cellulosic ethanol. LincVolt is a hybrid-electric 1959 Lincoln Continental with onboard charging powered by cellulosic ethanol. He’s on a cross-country tour to highlight renewable energy.

During his visit, Young said you don’t see much about what is going on with the climate in the media. “It’s just not a fast moving subject. It’s a slow moving big story. But it’s not going to be going away unless we do something.”

He supports American-made fuel and noted that when he filled up with cellulosic ethanol, his vehicle is able to get an 80 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) over traditional gasoline. “This is just incredible for the planet,” added Young.

Check out the video here and I must say his refurbished Lincoln is “DYNOMITE”.

• Redfield Energy, LLC of Redfield, South Dakota has become a member of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA).
• POET Biorefining-Macon has resumed ethanol and Dakota Gold distillers grain production and has now added Voila corn oil to its product mix.
• Solectria Renewables has commissioned a 2.15MW array at Cedarville University located in Cedarville, Ohio, on Earth Day. Cincinnati-based project developer and EPC, Melink Corporation, chose Solectria Renewables’ SGI series inverters to power this installation and SolrenView web-based monitoring, to monitor the array’s energy activity.
• Peak Solar LLC now has a new 24-hour hotline for American homeowners who are working on or interested in DIY solar installation on their homes: 1-805-Solar-81.
• Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. has begun construction on the 250 MW Buffalo Dunes Wind Project. Located southwest of Garden City, Kansas, the project was developed by Kansas-based TradeWind Energy and is jointly owned by GE Energy Financial Services and Enel Green Power North America.

UPS is ramping up its natural gas fleet with the addition of approximately 700 liquefied natural gas (LNG) vehicles. In addition, the company will build four refueling stations by the end of 2014. Once completed, UPS says its LNG private fleet will be one of the most extensive in the U.S. The company has been operating natural gas vehicles for more than a decade. With natural gas prices 30-40 percent lower than imported diesel and U.S. production gearing up, the logistics company is investing more aggressively in the natural gas infrastructure necessary to make it part of the UPS delivery network.

Worldwide UPS has more than 1,000 natural gas vehicles on the road today. UPS’s alternative fuel and advanced technology fleet of more than 2,600 vehicles also includes a wide array of low-emissions vehicles, including all-electrics, electric hybrids, hydraulic hybrids, propane, compressed natural gas and biomethane. Since 2000, the fleet powered by alternative fuels and technologies has driven more than 295 million miles.

“LNG will be a viable alternative transportation fuel for UPS in the next decade as a bridge between traditional fossil fuels and emerging renewable alternative fuels and technologies that are not quite ready for broad-based long-term commercial deployment,” said Scott Davis, UPS Chairman and CEO.

New UPS-built fueling stations in Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., and Dallas, Texas, will serve its heavy-weight rigs traveling into adjacent states. With the addition of accessible LNG fueling stations, UPS also will add LNG trucks on routes from Dallas, Houston and San Antonio to further extend territory.

An initial investment of more than $18 million to build fueling stations will be supported by the purchase of these 700 LNG tractors and continued expansion of the natural gas fleet in the U.S.  UPS already operates 112 LNG tractor trailers from fueling stations in Las Vegas, Nev.; Phoenix, Ariz., and Beaver and Salt Lake City, Utah, and has its own LNG fueling station on its property in Ontario, Calif.

“When other shipping and logistics companies are talking about possibilities, we are putting alternative fueled vehicles on the highway,” said Davis. “LNG is a good alternative to petroleum-based fuel for long-haul delivery fleets as it is abundant and produces reduced emissions at less cost. At UPS, we are helping to knock down some of the biggest hurdles to broad market acceptance of LNG in commercial transportation by continuing to establish vehicle demand, fuel and maintenance infrastructures.”

Have a question about renewable energy? Then look no further than Lee Enterprises Consulting based in Sherwood, Arkansas and your go-to guy, Wayne Lee. Lee has been a consultant for nearly 30 years and about a decade ago, began expanding his expertise into biofuels as people began coming to him with questions. He said he began fairly small with the goal of becoming the one-stop shop for those in the renewable fuels industry. Today, his firm has a breadth of talent in biodiesel, ethanol, biomass, cellulosic, biobutanol, waste-to-energy, wind, solar, and more.

So what types of services do they offer? Lee says in it upwards of 100.

And what might be a common request or question for his team?

For example, Lee said they are often contacted to do project feasibility studies such as the feasibility to build a biodiesel plant, If the the outcome is a green light, the client will often ask his group to serve as the project manager. In this case, they would help find experts to design and optimize the plant, build the plant, install the plant and bring you up to speed and get you trained. Lee said if this is four different people, he has found that if there is a problem, the four different companies would play the blame game. But if it is one person coordinating all the partners, then he or she can get down to the problem quicker and have it resolved in a timely manner.

As the environment continues to take center stage, I asked Lee if when working with his clients, he kept sustainability in mind. He noted, “If you look at the renewable fuels industry and the alternative fuels industry as a whole, there is a lot of overlap, but really it’s an all of the above approach. I can see an ethanol plant with a biodiesel plant sitting adjacent to it and perhaps add solar panels on the roof and wind turbines on the outside. I think that the key is Mother Earth will give us a lot of free stuff if we’re willing to take it.”

Lee added, “I think that alternative fuels is here to stay. I don’t think that there is bad and a good. There is a what’s good right now. My hope is over the next few years the alternative fuels industry becomes a little more mainstream. Petroleum is here to stay but it’s getting harder to find and harder to get and that’s going to make its price go up. And I think we all have a duty to keep the Earth clean and the way it was meant to be.”

Listen to Wayne Lee’s full interview here: Lee Consulting Enterprises: Alternative Energy Knowledge Center

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced $18 million in investments for four pilot-scale biorefineries that will test renewable biofuels that will meet military specifications for jet fuel, shipboard diesel, cars and trucks. These projects build on the Obama Administration’s broader efforts to advance biofuels technologies to continue to bring down costs, improve performance and identify effective, non-food feedstocks and processing techniques.

The projects selected for negotiation are: Frontline Bioenergy LLC (up to $4.2 million based in Ames, Iowa); Cobalt Technologies (up to $2.5 million based in Mountain View, California); Mercurius Biorefining, Inc. (up to $4.6 million based in Ferndale, Washington) and BioProcess Algae (up to $6.4 million based in Shenandoah, Iowa).

“Advanced biofuels are an important part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above strategy to reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, improve our energy security and protect our air and water,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “The innovative biorefinery projects announced today mark an important step toward producing fuels for our American military and the civil aviation industry from renewable resources found right here in the United States.”

Chu says domestic oil and gas production has increased each year the President has been in office. Simultaneously the administration is taking additional steps to reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil. As part of this effort, the Department is helping to speed the development of hydrocarbon-based biofuels that are more compatible with today’s infrastructure and engines, including heavy vehicles and other applications. According to the Energy Department’s Billion Ton Study, advanced biofuels have the potential to displace approximately one-third of the nation’s current transportation petroleum use.

The pilot-scale biorefinery projects selected today will use a variety of non-food biomass feedstocks, waste-based materials, and algae in innovative conversion processes to produce biofuels that meet military specifications for jet fuel and diesel. The projects will demonstrate technologies to cost-effectively convert biomass into advanced drop-in biofuels and assist these organizations to scale up the processes to commercial levels. Recipients are required to contribute a minimum of 50 percent matching funds for these projects.

BioProcess Algae has been selected to receive a grant of up to $6.4 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), as part of an innovative pilot-scale biorefinery project related to production of hydrocarbon fuels meeting military specification. The project will use renewable carbon dioxide, lignocellulosic sugars and waste heat through BioProcess Algae’s Grower Harvester(TM) technology platform, co-located with the Green Plains Renewable Energy’s ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa.

“BioProcess Algae was the only algae platform chosen to be a part of this project by the DOE,” said Todd Becker, President and CEO of Green Plains. “This project will link our commercial scale platform for growing and harvesting algal biomass with technology partners for conversion into advanced biofuels. While this is a project for the development of drop-in biofuels, we continue to focus our technology for growing and harvesting algae for feed, food or fuel.”

The project will demonstrate technologies to cost-effectively convert biomass into advanced drop-in biofuels and the recipient is required to contribute a minimum of 50 percent matching funds for the project.

Tim Burns, President and CEO of BioProcess Algae added, “We believe our Grower Harvester platform will be vital in the development of this project with the DOE. For this project, we will integrate low-cost autotrophic algal production, accelerated lipid production, and lipid conversion in an effort to develop a cost-effective advanced biofuel for military needs. This development is consistent with our current plans to build the next phase of Grower Harvester reactors in Shenandoah.”