Domestic Fuel

Petra Solar and Enviromena Power Systems have formed an alliance so the two can develop solar and smart grid projects in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Petra Solar is the pioneer and market leader of Smart Solar, an innovative approach that couples solar with smart grid technology to generate clean, safe renewable energy while making the electric infrastructure more stable, efficient and energy independent. The platform is scalable to future smart grid applications including energy efficiency.

Enviromena Power Systems is the leading developer of solar projects in the MENA. Their highly experienced team finances, designs, installs and operates solar power plants. Enviromena Power Systems is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.

“The increasing demand for solar energy and grid reliability provides a tremendous opportunity for Petra Solar throughout the Middle East and the world. Collaborating with Enviromena, the leading developer of solar projects in the Middle East and North Africa, will facilitate the international expansion of our products and business development in the region,” said Dr. Shihab Kuran, President and CEO of Petra Solar. “Enviromena has an impressive list of completed projects including the Masdar 10MW Power Plant and has the largest installed capacity of any solar developer in the Middle East and North Africa.”

“Petra Solar’s unique technology greatly expands our portfolio of photovoltaic solutions available to the MENA region,” said Sami Khoreibi, CEO of Enviromena. “We see a large market here for distributed solar applications, particularly where smart grid iitiatives are taking place.”

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a brand new report that recognizes the importance of renewable energy for the nation’s future.

The inaugural Quadrennial Technology Review report (DOE-QTR) is billed as “an assessment of the Department’s energy technology research and development portfolios” establishing a framework for energy technology activities and priorities.

“Innovation in energy technology is going to be central to solving our energy challenges,” said John P. Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “New energy technologies can reduce the cost of energy services to firms and families, improve the productivity of manufacturing, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, increase the reliability and resilience of our energy infrastructure, and reduce the risks from climate change, even as they strengthen and sustain U.S. competitiveness in global markets.”

The DOE-QTR defines six key strategies: increase vehicle efficiency; electrification of the light duty fleet; deploy alternative fuels; increase building and industrial efficiency; modernize the electrical grid; and deploy clean electricity. According to the report, “Reliance on oil is the greatest immediate threat to U.S. economic and national security, and also contributes to the long-term threat of climate change.” The DOE-QTR promotes “out of the box” ideas for improving all types of energy alternatives, including battery and fuel cells, biofuels, solar, and wind, with a strong emphasis on modernization and efficiency.

Read the report here.

Back by popular demand, the 6th Process Optimization Seminar will take place on September 28-29, 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. To date, more than 120 ethanol plants have participated and 300 plus people have been trained. I was able to speak with Tom Slunecka, the VP of Marketing for Phibro Ethanol Performance Group this morning, one of the founders of the training seminars, to learn more about the upcoming event. The other supporting companies are Fermentis, Fremont Industries and Novozymes.

Slunecka told me that the training seminars came about by the request of the ethanol industry itself. This seminar was designed a little differently – it is set up so that after two days, an attendee can go back to his or her plant and immediately put the information learned to work. Also unique to the seminar is that class size is small and this fosters good interactions with the instructors and other attendees.

“One thing we’ve also held as a core of the Process Optimization Seminars is that the class sizes are small. So the one-to-one relationship between the trainer and those who’ve come to learn new technologies, is a very personal one,” explained Slunecka. “You’re right there, you’re with the instructor, you’re class is small with folks that are doing the same thing you are. So the flow of information back and forth is really refreshing.”

Listen to my interview with Tom Slunecka here: The 411 on the POS Seminars

He also stressed that the instructors make sure they are giving information that is usable, immediately, as soon as the operators get home to the plant. And this is important, he said, because training is paramount to how well a plant is going to run and how profitable that plant is running.

Success stories have come out of each of the five seminars to date and Slunecka said many plants have told him their ethanol yield per bushel has gone up. “Maybe only a point or two but that can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars for that plant.”

All indications are that this will be yet again another sold out show. Slunecka said they have been so overwhelmed with the response of the industry that every single one of these training seminars has been sold out. So hurry and register – there are only few slots left and the early bird registration date is nearing. To learn more and to register, visit www.processoptimizationseminar.com.

In the third installation of RFA Vice President of Research, Geoff Cooper’s series on ethanol plant improvements, he highlights how improvements in farming practices and ethanol efficiency have allowed greater productivity and cost efficiencies. He explained that in 2008-2010, the ethanol industry was producing nearly 440 gallons of ethanol per acre, a 50 percent improvement over the average from just 15 years earlier. He continued by noting that future projections, which include the use of cellulosic ethanol such as producing fuel from corn stover and corn cobs, plus corn could approach 800 gallons of ethanol per acre.

So how else have these efficiencies improved the ethanol industry? They have directly contributed to ethanol ability’s to lower greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from gasoline on a well-to-wheels basis (or better known as lifecycle analysis), explained Cooper. He said that six recent reports show that corn ethanol reduced GHG’s by 28-53 percent using current technologies. He continues by highlighting that GHG reductions will continue to improve as technology improves.

Simultaneously, GHG emissions are getting worse for the oil industry. This is due to the fact that oil is getting harder to extract and oil shale and tar sand technologies create more emissions than predecessor technologies.

Cooper concluded by saying that both American farmers and ethanol producers are investing in technology that will continue to lower their carbon footprint while at the same time producing more food, feed and fiber than ever before with less resources.

A CCSE Residential Energy Roadshow has kicked off an 18-week tour in San Diego, California designed to “educate and inspire” Southern Californians to learn more about energy saving technologies, alternative fuel transportation and energy efficiency. The sponsors are the California Center for Sustainable Energy (CCSE), ROUSH CleanTech and Ferrellgas.

“Thanks to generous donations from ROUSH CleanTech and Ferrellgas, hundreds of thousands of Californians will be able to learn about home energy efficiency, solar energy and the products and incentives available to them when visiting the mobile exhibit,” said Irene Stillings, CCSE executive director. “This is a perfect example of how multiple clean technologies can work together to demonstrate energy savings, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote more sustainable practices.”

The tour includes a trailer that is being towed by a Ford F-250 pickup converted to run on propane autogas. When the truck needs to fill up, it will roll on into one of Ferrellgas’s 200 propane stations to refuel. In addition to ROUSH and Ferrallgas, the tour is also funded with money from the Department of Energy’s BetterBuildings Neighborhood program along with two state programs: Energy Upgrade California and go Solar California!

“Ferrellgas is proud to partner with the California Center for Sustainable Energy and ROUSH CleanTech to educate Californians about ways to save money and the environment by implementing energy efficiency solutions in their homes and at their businesses,” said George Koloroutis, president of Ferrell North America and senior vice president of Ferrellgas. “As the nation’s leading propane retailer, we’ve been doing just that for more than 70 years.”

Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing for ROUSH said that this is a great way demonstrate that propane autogas is the most readily deployable and flexible alternative fuel that can immediately address air concerns.

Today American farmers are producing twice as much corn on virtually the same amount of acres as a generation ago. This makes them the most productive and efficient of any farmers around the world. Similarly, productivity and efficiencies are being mirrored across domestic ethanol production.

The Renewable Fuels Association has begun a series on efficiency and as part of the dialogue, RFA Vice President Geoff Cooper takes on the critics who claim that both farming and ethanol production is simply too energy-intensive. Cooper says those critical of farmers and by extension ethanol producers, will tell you that the tremendous growth in corn production is due to increased fertilizer use.

Yet Cooper says these are not the facts. USDA data shows that 2010 application rates of three common macronutrient fertilizers (nitrogen, potassium and phosphate) were the same or below the application rates seen in the early 1980s. As such, nitrogen application per bushel of corn has decreased more than 30 percent since this time while potassium and phosphate usage per bushel is down nearly 40 percent.

Also reduced between 1987 – 2007 is water, energy and land usage required to produce a bushel of corn according to Keystone Alliance. For example, the energy requirement (as measured in British Thermal Units or BTUs) to produce one gallon of ethanol has dropped by 28 percent since 2001, to just shy of 26,000 BTUs. Cooper says that compares to 77,000 BTUs found in one gallon of ethanol. Electricity demand has fallen by 32 percent and water use has decreased by 47 percent.

“As the data clearly demonstrate, America’s ethanol producers are mirroring the efficiency gains of the American farmers upon whom they rely for feedstock,” said Cooper. “As existing processes evolve and new production technologies emerge, ethanol production in the U.S. will not only increase in volume, but also in efficiency. Without a doubt, today’s ethanol industry is high-tech and increasingly energy efficient.”

Community HousingWorks (CHW) and HelioPower hosted a celebration today for the completion of the first multifamily affordable Solar Housing MASH) project to be completed at Las Serenas, an affordable housing community located in San Diego. The 108-unit neighborhood will receive free solar energy from the solar power system and it is estimated that the energy will offset nearly 20 percent of the residents’ annual electricity bills. Additional improvements will also take place to lower utility bills and create a more sustainable community through a $475,000 federal grant from NeighborWorks America.

MASH Track 2 funds supported the installation of a 67.5 kilowatt (kW) DC solar photovoltaic facility with 100% of its production going to tenants using Virtual Net Metering. The solar facility will offset approximately 1,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per unit annually, and are estimated to save each tenant over $100 in their yearly electricity expenses. In addition, with the installation of a performance monitoring system for each inverter, CHW and HelioPower modified the system to offer free wireless internet access to all residents.

Congressman Bob Filner (D-Calif.) was the keynote speaker during the event. “I’m excited to celebrate the completion of the solar power system at Las Serenas! With the combined resources of federal funding to NeighborWorks America and California Solar funding, we are investing in the community and promoting the development of renewable energy sources in our own backyards.”

In addition to the free solar energy, the program also provided residents with job training and educational support on all aspects of sustainable living. Other “green” apartment improvements included the installation of low-e, dual paned windows, water-saving tub and kitchen fixtures, and related kitchen and bath repairs.

Community HousingWorks President and CEO Sue Reynolds concluded, “As a leader in sustainable development, CHW knows the value of creating a safe and affordable place for families to live and thrive while at the same time building exceptional and eco-conscious apartments. Today, Las Serenas has accomplished both of these goals!”

The InterContinental San Francisco has chosen ParkPod to install its electric vehicle charger for its Zipcar Hybrid Electric Vehicle. The hotel was recently awarded LEED Gold certification by the US Green Building Council that includes operational efficiency as well as minimizing environmental impact.

“We’re thrilled to play a part in the InterContinental San Francisco’s initiative and offer our congratulations to them on achieving LEED Gold certification. ParkPod is committed to helping our partners generate real business value from the provision of electric vehicle charging, and this is a perfect example. We look forward to a great relationship with the Intercontinental San Francisco and City Park,” said Tom Brigham, ParkPod’s Vice President of Business Development – North America.

City Park is the hotel’s parking management provider, as such, they made the direct investment in the charging station. The company will also manage its day-to-day operations. Research has shown that one key to ensure EVs gain widespread adoption, the availability of charging stations are a must.

“We are happy to be involved in the project at the InterContinental, as both companies’ values regarding green practices are truly aligned. Looking forward, we are leading the charge to pursue additional opportunities at the other fine hotels we serve, and see electric vehicle charging stations as one of the amenities that benefits the hotels, their guests, and our community,” said Spencer Sechler, director of sales and marketing, for City Park.

InterContinental San Francisco General Manager Peter Koehler added, “The InterContinental San Francisco supports ongoing efforts to be responsible and sustainable in every area of our business. Having a Zipcar Toyota Hybrid Electric Vehicle charged by ParkPod on property further demonstrates our commitment to advancing green business and consumer practices.”