Domestic Fuel

Port Corpus Christi is a leader in import facilities for major manufacturers including wind energy component cargo from global markets. But the wind is changing course. New wind energy market trends have created a reverse trade this year, and on May 18, 2013, wind components destined for export markets were loaded at Port Corpus Cristi for the first time.

Vessel carrier NYK-Hinode’s m/v Kuwana loaded 36 Mitsubishi wind blades destined for Japan at Port Corpus Christi’s cargo dock 9. The operation marks a first-time export opportunity for wind cargo components via the Port. The blades were staged at Mitsubishi’s laydown yard located in Santa Teresa, New Mexico and manufactured in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. In April, the blades were trucked from New Mexico to a Port Corpus Christi open storage area to await the export operation.

“The Port anticipates additional wind cargo export opportunities within the upcoming months. We continue our commitment to better serve the logistics of wind energy markets,” said John LaRue, Executive Director, Port Corpus Christi.

According to the 11th annual Energy Industry Outlook Survey conducted by the KPMG Global Energy Institute, 62 percent of energy executives believe the U.S. can attain energy independence by 2030, eliminating dependency on foreign oil. The survey polled more than 100 senior energy executives in the U.S. and found that this is a 10 percent increase from last year’s survey. Of this number, 23 percent believe the country can attain energy independence as soon as 2020.

In addition, 17 percent of respondents believe that U.S. energy independence will never happen, a drop of 10 percent.

“Increased domestic production, particularly from shale assets, is having a profound impact on the global energy sector, introducing new sources to the energy matrix,” said John Kunasek, national sector leader for energy and natural resources for KPMG LLP.

He continued, “This ‘shale gale’ is certainly contributing to the increased optimism among energy executives on the potential for U.S. energy independence and driving large investments into the development and production from these shale assets, including ‘Greenfield’ investment plays.”

The survey shows that natural gas is predicted to play an important role and 79 percent of those surveyed agree that the energy industry’s emphasis in developing environmentally friendly technologies should focus on natural gas, followed by nuclear (39 percent), solar (33 percent), and clean coal technologies (32 percent), indicating a slight shift away from the total bullishness around natural gas seen in the 2012 survey results, to a more balanced view with solar and wind technologies making gains.

Ninety-five percent of energy executives expect continued R&D investment in alternative energy projects this year while 55 percent anticipate investments will remain unchanged in 2013. However, the percentage of respondents predicting a 10 percent increase in R&D investment nearly tripled, from 11 percent in 2012 to 30 percent in 2013.
Read the rest of this post…

According to a recent study by the United Nations, less than 1 percent of all patent applications relating to clean energy technology have been filed in Africa, with the majority of this 1 percent filed in South Africa. The study find that Africa is a mecca for clean energy and has the ability to leapfrog existing fossil-fuel energy sources. “Patents and Clean Energy in Africa,” finds the country has an untapped potential for generating clean energy including enough hydroelectric power from its seven major river systems to serve the entire continent’s needs. In addition, the country has great potential for solar, wind and geothermal energy sources.

Hydropower, the most commonly used renewable energy source, is estimated to be utilized at just 4.3 percent of the continent’s total capacity – although recent years have seen efforts to ramp up clean energy, with North African nations leading in solar and wind categories, Kenya in geothermal, Ethiopia in hydro and Mauritius in bioenergy.

The study also points out that intellectual property and patenting in particular have been highlighted as a significant factor limiting the transfer of new clean technologies to developing countries, and identified as a barrier to these countries meeting new emission limits for CO2 and other greenhouse gases. While the lack of patents filed means CETs can be freely exploited in Africa, the lack of these patents to protect their products means source companies may be reluctant to offer up their know-how to promote technology transfer, according to a news release on the study.

“The development and transfer of technologies are key pillars in both mitigating the causes of climate change and adapting to its effects; patents are a crucial part of this process,” said UN Environment Programme spokesperson Nick Nuttall. “In addition to an accelerated response to climate change, boosting clean energy technologies have multiple green economy benefits including on public health – for example, in sub-Saharan Africa more than half of all deaths from pneumonia in children under the age of five, and chronic lung disease and lung cancer in adults over 30, can be attributed to solid fuel use,” he added.

Only 10 percent of African inventors apply for patent protection in Africa; the majority tend to seek protection in four other regions: the United States (27 percent), the European Patent Office (24 percent), Germany (13 percent) and Canada (10 percent), according to the study.  The report adds that there are signs that the situation is changing. Despite low patent application numbers, the overall inventive activity in African countries grew by 5 percent between 1980 and 2009, compared to 4 percent at the global level. With a 59 percent increase, mitigation technologies grew most significantly in that period.

GE will be rolling out a new wind turbine for a wind farm in Michigan. This company news release says GE will supply 59 of the 1.7-100 brilliant wind turbine, the world’s most efficient wind turbine in its class, for the NextEra Energy Resources, LLC’s wind farm in the thumb region of Michigan.

The 1.7-100 machine is the second brilliant wind turbine in GE’s portfolio. GE’s brilliant wind turbines harness the power of the Industrial Internet to analyze tens of thousands of data points every second, helping to manage wind’s variability and provide smooth, predictable power. In addition to the brilliant features, GE’s new 1.7-100 meter wind turbine advances its 1.6-100 wind turbine series by utilizing electrical system upgrades to allow higher energy productions.

“GE is a trusted partner and a leader in wind turbine technology and innovation. Wind turbine innovation is key to the continued growth of the wind industry and we look forward to installing this new 1.7-megawatt technology machine,” said Armando Pimentel, president and CEO of NextEra Energy Resources.

The turbine’s blades will measure 100 meters in height. GE says the turbines are its highest capacity ones and the flagship products in its portfolio.

Legislation has been re-introduced in Congress that would give investors in renewable energy projects access to a corporate structure currently only available for fossil fuel-based energy projects.

The Master Limited Partnerships (MLP) Parity Act modifies the federal tax code by helping additional energy-generation and renewable fuels companies form master limited partnerships, which combine the funding advantages of corporations and the tax advantages of partnerships.

“The bipartisan Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act levels the playing field to help clean and renewable energy projects compete fairly with traditional energy projects,” said bill co-sponsor Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “This market-driven solution supports the all-of-the-above energy strategy we need to power our country for generations to come.”

In addition to Coons, the Senate bill is co-sponsored by Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). The MLP Parity Act was also introduced in the House on Wednesday by Reps. Ted Poe (R-TX-02), Mike Thompson (D-CA-05), Peter Welch (D-VT-AL) and Chris Gibson (R-NY-19).

According to FaegreBD Consulting, an MLP is a publicly traded partnership that is largely measured by the predictability and sustainability of its cash flow. As a partnership, the MLP is not subject to taxation at the MLP or corporate level, but instead is taxed as a pass-through entity. As such, MLP cash flows are enhanced, and tax savings from this single level of taxation contribute to a cost of capital advantage over competitors organized or taxed as a corporation. In the late 1980’s, legislation was passed restricting the use of MLPs to the energy and natural resource industry, excluding renewable sources of energy. As a result, MLPs have been largely limited to the ownership and operation of midstream oil and gas assets such as pipelines and storage terminals, and more recently the exploration and production of oil, gas and coal.

A new floating wind turbine is making its debut. The Bangor (ME) Daily News reports the University of Maine unveiled the VolturnUS, a one-of-a-kind offshore wind turbine:

VolturnUS will be the first grid-connected floating wind turbine in North America and the first concrete-composite floating turbine in the world, according to Habib Dagher, director of the UMaine Advanced Structures and Composites Center.

The 65-foot-tall turbine prototype is a one-eighth-scale version of the huge 6-megawatt turbines that would create a 5-gigawatt farm 20 miles off Maine’s coastline by 2030. About 170 turbines, each taller than the Washington Monument, would create the 5 gigawatts of energy, which is equivalent to the energy output of five nuclear power plants. Officials estimate that project could bring $20 billion of private investment to the state and create thousands of jobs.

Officials say, when complete, the wind farm will be able to produce electricity for about 10 cents per kilowatt hour by 2020. The first full-scale turbine with blades bigger than a 747′s wingspan is scheduled to go into the water in 2016.

Midwest-based MidAmerican Energy Co. is investing $1.9 billion in wind energy by adding up to 1,050 megawatts of wind generation, consisting of up to 656 new wind turbines, in Iowa by the end of 2015. This article from the Iowa City Press Citizen says the utility’s investment will create lots of green jobs in the state, without tapping any state tax dollars to do it:

MidAmerican Energy, a utility serving 714,000 customers in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and South Dakota, said the project would create 460 construction jobs over two years and 48 permanent jobs, primarily workers needed to maintain the 656 wind turbines the utility will build through 2015.

“That is marvelous news,” said Harold Prior, executive director of the Iowa Wind Energy Association. “MidAmerican is one of the top utilities in the country as far as embracing wind energy.”

In addition, the project is expected to lower consumer’s utility bills. Officials in the Hawkeye State also believe this sends a message to the rest of the country that Iowa is innovative, especially when it comes to wind energy. The state is on track to generate 10,000 megawatts of wind power by 2020.

While MidAmerican is not getting state aid for this project, it will receive federal wind production tax credits.

Northern Power Systems has launched two new wind turbine models specifically designed for low wind sites. The NPS 60-23 and the NPS 100-24 are based on the NPS 100-21 platform, but according to the company, leverage product features that produce higher energy capture in low winds while reducing the noise profile of the turbine. To date, more than 20 of these turbines are operating in the U.S., United Kingdom and Italy.

“NPS is committed to delivering enhanced offerings that lower costs and increase performance for turbine owners,” said Troy Patton, President and CEO of Northern Power Systems. “We are increasing the value proposition of our already highly-capable NPS turbines through an integrated road-map of expanded product and services offerings, of which our proven low wind enhancements are just one example.”

The NPS Low Wind turbine fleet has surpassed 50,000 operational hours with availability in excess of 97 percent, and has generated more than 1,500 MWh of energy, enough to power more than 150 U.S. (or 450 UK) homes for an entire year. The company says these improved models are optimized for low wind and yield comparatively more energy in low wind regimes.

The NPS 100-24 is based on the platform of the NPS 100-21, which was originally designed to service remote areas such as Alaska, where regular maintenance is not an option. The NPS 100 utilizes permanent magnet direct-drive technology and has fewer moving parts than a conventional gear-box based wind turbine. The larger rotor diameter, lower rpm and tip speed of the NPS 100-24 and 60-23 makes for quieter operation, while the longer blades capture more energy at lower wind speeds. The NPS 60 model generates 59.9kW rated power and is utilized in areas where grid connection capacity is a constraint.

Scottish farmer Mervyn Wallace recently installed an NPS 60 at his farm, his second Northern Power Systems wind turbine. “I’m excited that Northern Power came out with a new turbine that is designed specifically for lower wind speeds. I am very pleased with the revenue that both of my Northern Power turbines are now earning for me. NPS turbines are an excellent return on capital invested.”

The First Reserve Energy Infrastructure Fund (FREIF I) of First Reserve and Renovalia Energy have announced the expansion of their Renovalia Reserve joint venture with the addition of two wind power plants in Southern Mexico. The investments diversify the Renovalia Reserve portfolio beyond Europe into North America and nearly double the power capacity of the wind farm assets worldwide. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

“Adding wind power plants in Mexico to Renovalia Reserve’s portfolio is a natural extension of the company’s strategy,” said John Barry, Managing Director of First Reserve and member of the Board of Directors of Renovalia Reserve. “Growth in electricity demand is expected to continue to trend upward based on the pace of population and industrial and manufacturing growth, and the legal and regulatory framework signals stability and predictability of renewable energy policies for the region.”

Barry continued, “These conditions provide a fertile environment against which we can apply our growth equity capital and strong operational model to provide predictable EBITDA and cash flow over the long term, with the principal short term variability being wind resource.”

The first 90 Megawatt (MW) farm in Mexico has been operational since June 2012.  The second 137.5 MW farm is under construction and expected to be fully operational in early 2014.  The 228 MW of the combined farms is estimated to be enough to power between 287,000 – 359,000 Mexican households annually.

Jaime Galobart CEO of Renovalia Energy and Director of Renovalia Reserve noted that Renovalia has been present in Mexico since 2007 through its affiliate Demex. Galobart said the development of 228MWs of Mexican wind assets reflects the successful implementation of our international asset diversification strategy in countries with superior growth in GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and energy consumption, outstanding wind resource, and solid legal and political frameworks, such as Mexico.

“We are very impressed by the commitment shown by the Mexican Authorities in promoting the development of clean and competitive renewable energy,” he added. “We are delighted to continue sharing our expansion plans with such a solid partner as First Reserve.”

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.”

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

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

Walmart President and CEO Mike Duke has announced the company’s next step on the path to achieving its goal of being supplied 100 percent by renewable energy. Unveiled at Walmart’s Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting, the company committed to achieving the following by Dec. 31, 2020: drive the production or procurement of 7 billion kWh of renewable energy globally every year, a 600 percent increase over 2010 levels; and reduce the kWh/sq. ft. energy intensity required to power Walmart’s buildings globally by 20 percent compared to 2010 levels.

“More than ever, we know that our goal to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy is the right goal and that marrying up renewables with energy efficiency is especially powerful,” said Duke. “The math adds up pretty quickly – when we use less energy that’s less energy we have to buy, and that means less waste and more savings. These new commitments will make us a stronger business, and they’re great for our communities and the environment.”

Walmart’s six-fold increase in renewable energy projects is expected to be equal to eliminating the need for roughly two U.S. fossil fuel power plants. Based on external estimates of projected energy costs and other factors, the two new commitments are anticipated to generate more than $1 billion annually in energy savings once fully implemented. For the first time, the company is projecting this GHG decrease even with significant anticipated growth in stores and sales.

“When I look at the future, energy costs may grow as much as twice as fast as our anticipated store and club growth,” Duke said. “Finding cleaner and more affordable energy is important to our every day low cost business model and that makes it important to our customers’ pocketbooks. Our leadership in this area is something our customers can feel good about because the result is a cleaner environment. And savings we can pass on to them.”

In 2012 alone, Walmart added nearly 100 renewable energy projects, bringing the total number of projects in operation worldwide to nearly 300 today. According to the Solar Energy Industry Association, it has more solar power capacity and number of systems than any other company in America. Walmart has also been cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as America’s leading user of onsite renewables, using more onsite renewable power than any other company in the U.S. In addition to onsite solar, the company will continue to develop projects in wind, fuel cells and other technologies. It will also procure offsite renewable energy from utility-scale projects, such as large wind projects, micro-hydro projects and geothermal.

According to the American Wind Energy Association’s (AWEA) U.S. Wind Industry Annual Market Report for 2012, wind energy grew 28 percent in America last year, setting a new installation record. Wind energy topped all energy sources with a 42 percent of all new electric generating capacity. Over 6,700 new wind turbines were erected that produce enough electricity to power the equivalent of 3.5 million homes. Overall, the U.S. finished the year with 45,100 wind turbines that can power 15.2 million homes.

AWEA says all 50 states benefited from the growth in wind energy through $25 billion in private investment in new U.S. wind farms, tens of millions of dollars paid to landowners and local communities in lease payments and property taxes, and billions in projected savings for electricity consumers. The impact of wind power development was so strong that an industry analyst said it caused a noticeable uptick in the entire U.S. economy in the fourth quarter.

Xcel Energy remains the number one utility provider of wind energy in the U.S. for the ninth consecutive year. At the end of 2012, Xcel Energy had nearly 4,900 megawatts of wind electricity generating capacity on its system, enough to power 1.5 million homes and at least 600 megawatts more than the next leading utility. Wind power currently represents about 12 percent of the energy the company supplies to its customers.

“I am proud that Xcel Energy is once again the nation’s leading clean energy utility,” said Ben Fowke, president, CEO and chairman of Xcel Energy. “Our customers and communities are strong supporters of renewable energy, and wind energy plays a vital role in our strategy to meet customers’ energy needs with clean, reliable, and affordable energy.”

AWEA says wind power also helped address the disaster-level drought affecting half of U.S. counties by saving over 35 billion gallons of fresh water (120 gallons for every American), versus other water-intensive energy sources. Wind energy also avoids over 4 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the power sector annually.
Read the rest of this post…