Second Generation Biofuels Get Needed Shot In The Arm With $600 Million Of Federal Money

December 4, 2009

First generation biofuels made from corn, sugar cane and other edible crops continue to make steady, if lackluster, progress.

POET, the nation’s largest producer of Ethanol from corn, says production costs at its South Dakota plant are now $2.35 a gallon. In another two years, the company should be able to compete head-to-head with gasoline.

Energy Department favors advnaced biofuels over corn-based ethanol

The price parity may make little difference. On Friday the Energy Department announced its intent to back second-generation efforts that rely on non-edible plants and which promise more energy per acre.

The DOE doled out more than $600 million in funds and loan guarantees to 19 projects. The money, some of which came from the Agriculture Department, was matched by more than $700 million in private and non-federal funds.

With a relatively small number of advanced refineries in the testing or pilot stage, the financing will prove a powerful accelerant as companies validate technologies for large-scale production. Of the total, $336 million is earmarked for the more advanced of these efforts – demonstration and early commercial projects – and will be matched by $537 million of outside funds.

Included on the list are the Bluefire ethanol refinery in Missouri, the Sapphire Energy algae project in New Mexico and the BioEnergy International sorghum project in Louisiana. Sapphire hopes to cultivate algae to produce diesel and jet fuel.

The $283 million of funding for earlier pilot projects will go to efforts proposed by Arymis Technologies, Archer Daniels Midlands, Solazyme (also working with algae), ZeaChem and others.

The push by the Energy Department clearly represents a determined effort to put biofuels back at the top of the nation’s green agenda alongside solar and wind. It will take years to know whether it succeeds. It will be interesting to watch.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

California Energy Standards For TVs Will Spur Innovation

December 4, 2009

California’s energy standards for flat-panel televisions are the toughest in the world, requiring a 33 percent efficiency improvement by 2011 and a 50 percent gain by 2013.

Critics complain they will stifle innovation and raise prices for televisions affected – those 58 inches and smaller.

Ultra thin, energy efficient LED TVs might benefit from the California standards

But manufacturers such as Samsung disagree. About three quarters of the televisions on store shelves already meet the 2011 standards and about 25 percent pass the 2013 ones.

Samsung says it produces some of them. “We’re already there today,” says Scott Birnbaum, vice president in the company’s LCD business. “We’re not intimidated by these standards.”

An array of new technologies will help manufacturers keep pace with the market changes. The result is an acceleration in innovation, says Birnbaum.

For instance, Samsung is working to further reduce the power demands of LCD backlights with thinner bulbs, more transparent optical screens and transistors with wider apertures. It also is deploying technology to dim areas of the screen that don’t need the most intensive light – such as nighttime skies. Backlights can consume as much as 60 percent of a set’s electricity.

Yet the Golden State’s market is likely to see significant changes in the next several years. Plasma screens, which use more energy than LCDs, will probably see slowing sales. At the same time, more efficient LED will capture a greater share of the market, despite their higher price.

LEDs already are a fast growing segment, says Birnbaum. The bright pictures and micro-thin designs are a powerful draws.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

The Case For Biofuel From Giant Miscanthus Grass

December 3, 2009

The Deep South isn’t exactly the renewables capital of the nation.  Only 1,000 homes in South Florida have solar panels, for instance, despite an abundance of sunshine.

One company hopes to turn this desert of energy awareness into a paradigm of bio-energy – and it believes Giant Miscanthus Grass holds the key.

Giant Miscanthus Grass produces 2.5 times more Ethanol per acre than corn.

SunBelt Biofuels calculates that if Georgia were to dedicate 2.4 million acres of cropland to the grass it could become energy self-sufficient. The state has a total of 10 million acres of farmland.

There are reasons to believe SunBelt, which announced Thursday it has begun converting the grass into commercial fuel, has a good case.

Most people think of Giant Miscanthus as an ornamental grass, growing in bright green clumps that can stand 15 feet tall and displaying flat leaves that can measure 1.5 inches across.

What they don’t realize is that it requires less than half the acreage of corn and switchgrass and produces 2.5 times the ethanol. A mature field re-grows in a year, and the grass is tolerant of poor soils and salty, coastal environments.

The grass could be a boon for rural economies, argues SunBelt, bringing Georgia farmers an extra $2 billion in income. No subsidies would be needed.

SunBelt said Thursday it has struck an exclusive licensing deal with Mississippi State University, which has studied the grass for 15 years. Now all it has to do is to convince the global warming disbelievers who continue to nonchalantly drive their SUVs across the Georgia pinelands.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Billions In Federal Loan Guarantees Are Coming, But Then What

December 3, 2009

The Energy Department has been pouring billions of dollars this year into alternative energy companies and technologies designed to bring greater efficiency to buildings, homes and the electrical grid.

What will happen when the funding spigot is turned off?

"There is a serious risk of falling off a serious funding cliff when these dollars dry up," says Google's Dan Reicher

That question is increasingly a source of concern for clean-tech executives and industry leaders as they look toward a time when U.S. stimulus funding and loan guarantees are gone.

“There is a serious risk of falling off a serious funding cliff when these dollars dry up,” notes Dan Reicher, director of climate and energy initiatives at Google.

The novel use of the stimulus money under the Obama Administration is clearly giving a boost to the clean-energy economy and to technologies under development in labs and companies across the country.

More money is on the way. More than $50 billion of Energy Department loan guarantees is poised to begin supporting ventures and corporate expansion. Already companies such as Solyndra, Fisker and Tesla Motors have qualified.

The challenge ahead is finding sources of funding that will last for a decade or more, long after these monies are gone. “That is what it will take” to remake the nation’s energy system, says Ernie Moniz, director of MIT’s energy initiative.

Reicher estimates the financial support might need to be $15 billion a year. But with federal budget deficits, a slow economy and a war in Afghanistan, such a sum will be hard to get.

The result is “it’s going to be tough sledding over the next couple years,” he says. And rapid pressure for technologies to stand on their own without government support will take hold – putting some of the youngest, most ambitious projects at risk.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

New Push Behind East Coast Wind Energy Highlights Considerable Potential In The US

December 2, 2009

It is not like the United States has ignored its considerable capacity for harvesting energy from the wind.

Sure, countries such as Denmark, Germany, China, India and Spain have taken great strides, installing turbines at a rapid clip. But so too has the U.S.

New York State has unveiled efforts to build large wind farms in Lake Erie

America now has 31,000 MW of wind power generation, enough to light up 9 million homes. This year it has added 5,800 MW despite the recession, with states like Oregon, Illinois and Colorado showing big gains. (Texas, Iowa and California are still the big three.)

Now a new push behind East Coast wind could considerably expand its role in the country’s energy mix and for the first time bringing the right edge of the country to the party.

On Tuesday, the New York Power Authority began seeking proposals for a massive offshore wind farm(s) in the Great Lakes of Erie and Ontario. The wind farm(s) could be the first in a body of freshwater and produce from 120 MW to 500 MW of electricity. Proposals are due by June 2010 and commercial operation is targeted for 2015.

Only several weeks earlier, the governors of Virginia, Maryland and Delaware unveiled a tri-state partnership to develop wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean. They agreed to find a common way to bring that energy to shore.

The efforts show that the East Coast is not sitting idly or resigning itself to the belief that wind only makes sense where it blows strongest and steadiest – in the West Texas and New Mexico.

There is substantial offshore wind along the East Coast from Maine to South Carolina, says Dan Reicher, director of climate and energy initiatives at Google.  Developers can build far enough offshore so that their turbines aren’t seen and still plant their towers in relatively shallow water, he said.

The Great Lakes also have steady breezes ripe for turning generators.

“There are great wind resources” to be harnessed in the U.S., says Reicher.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Intergovernmental Panel To Recommend Higher Renewable Energy Use

December 2, 2009

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is ready to raise its target for renewable energy use.

At the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen next week, the panel will recommend states and municipalities shoot for what it calls a “zero carbon” energy mix. The goal will require renewables to account for 85 percent of energy use by 2050 and fossil fuels the remainder.

There is not question the new targets can be met, says Berkeley professor Daniel Kammen

The new formula is an acceleration of the targets progressive states and cities have in place today, where decade-long initiatives will bring renewables to 15 percent, 20 percent or perhaps 33 percent levels. Many laggard states haven’t yet put plans in place.

Daniel Kammen, a Berkeley professor and a coordinating lead author for the panel, says climate scientists haven’t sent strong enough signals of the gathering dangers of climate change. But he describes himself as a optimist as to the new target.

“There is no question in my view it can be accomplished,” he said this week at a Google sponsored green-tech event in San Francisco.

The 85 percent renewables and zero carbon target can be met with solar providing up to 25 percent of a state’s energy; wind, 20 percent; nuclear, 20 percent; hydroelectric, 10 percent; and carbon capture and sequestration, 20 percent.

Energy efficiency measures could make up for any shortfalls in the mix.

Ready, set, the new renewables race is on.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Clean Tech University Research In The US Shows Strong Emphasis On Solar

December 1, 2009

Clean-tech research at American universities appears to have a heavy focus on solar technologies as the nation looks for 21st Century ways to battle climate change.

Several of the country’s top educational institutions list solar as their top green research area, including novels approaches such as using nano-materials, organic semiconductors and solar thermal systems to get more energy from the sun.

MIT's Ernie Moniz says he is optimistic about the development of clean tech technology. But business models won't change until public policy is in place

This emphasis appears to earmarked more resources for solar breakthroughs than for other green-tech efforts, such as advanced batteries development and the evolution of smart energy grids.

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for instance, solar is at the top of the university’s clean-tech agenda, along with energy storage, says Ernie Moniz, director of MIT’s energy initiative.

The research focus includes efforts with solar thermal – or mirror technologies – and organic semiconductors, Moniz said Monday evening at Google-sponsored green tech event in San Francisco.

Stanford University also describes solar as among its biggest research areas. The institution’s Global Climate and Energy Project awards about $20 million a year for projects, and among the initiatives is an effort to use nano-structured materials to better capture energy, says Lynn Orr, director of the Precourt Institute for Energy.

The University of California, Berkeley has a similar emphasis on solar and nano solar research, even as it works on advanced energy storage and wind turbines, says Daniel Kammen, director of the renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab.

MIT is optimistic about the development of technologies to solve global warming, says Moniz. The challenge is putting public policy in place so that energy industry business models can change to keep pace.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Google, Microsoft Update Search Engines

December 1, 2009

Google invites media for a search engine update next week

Update: Here’s Microsoft’s post on Bing’s new features.

The Web search race between Google and Microsoft is kicking up a notch this week, as both companies expect to update their search engine.

First, Microsoft which is having a press event in San Francisco, Calif., tomorrow to unveil new features to its service.

And next Monday, Google is hosting its own media event in Mountain View – but not at its usual tiny packed room at the Googleplex – but at another ex-SGI building: the Computer History Museum.

“It’s an event you won’t want to miss,” reads the invitation.

This is Google’s second major event in 3 weeks, following the ChromeOS briefing and just a week before its traditional Holiday party for the media!

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Posted by Jean-Baptiste Su

Google Takes Big Step Into Solar, Wind Farm Finance

November 30, 2009

Google, the online search engine, is taking another big step into the clean-tech business.

Google's target is medium- and large-scale projects, says Google's Dan Reicher

The Internet titan announced on Monday evening that it would begin providing financing for solar farms, wind farms and other alternative energy developments.

Google’s Dan Reicher, director of climate and energy initiatives, declined to say how much money the Silicon Valley company has set aside. But he described the targets as medium- and large-scale projects.

The initiative, which has been the subject of rumors for several weeks, comes as a surprise from a company that makes its money selling online advertising.

Project finance is a potentially risky and negotiation-intensive business that has traditionally been left to major banks and deep-pocketed private investors. Contracts are difficult and tedious to arrive at and paybacks occur over decades, not years. However with many of these traditional lenders having pulled back during the downturn, Google sees an opportunity, says Reicher.

He said the company is reviewing projects and continues to iron out the details of whether it will work in syndicates or as backers of institutions playing a more hands-on role,

“There is a huge range to look at,” Reicher said at a Google-sponsored clean-tech event in San Francisco. “We need to get started.”

The clean-energy markets will certainly welcome Google’s cash, which at the end of the September was $22 billion. Over the past year, project funding has nearly ground to a halt, loosening a bit only recently, and many of the alternative energy farms simply have not been built.

Reicher said the Google program will kick off shortly.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

Green Tech Space Race Is Seen, But Private Money Will Be Cautious

November 30, 2009

The concept is simple: more than halt the world’s population lives in cities and towns.

So by focusing renewable energy resources on these concentrations of humanity, the greatest good can be done to combat global warming.

Forget about bringing solar to the village in Kenya or the ranches dotting the Wyoming countryside. Spend money where it will do the most.

Electric car hype will dissipate to a more sober realization that efficiencies are needed across the transportation system

This concept seemed to underscore several 2010 predictions Monday from generally rosy Cleantech Group.  First, the research firm said it sees the unprecedented quantities of green stimulus money being doled out in the United States and elsewhere to spur a “space race” of sorts, with cities and states competing to nurture clean-tech industries.

This will likely be the case following all the government pump priming that has taken place in recent months. And momentum for clever approaches could come from a variety of places:, Singapore, Australia, France, Germany, Israel and parts of the U.S., just as Cleantech Group expects.

But a burst in private-equity and venture capital funding for green companies isn’t as much of a done deal as Cleantech Group anticipates. Cleantech Group calls for a level of funding well in excess of 2009’s. An incremental increase seems more likely given the nation’s continuing credit woes. Large funds will certainly be raised and big name investors will follow Warren Buffett’s move and deploy capital in clean-tech plays.

But a sharp reversal of today’s course isn’t probable

Cleantech Group also believes green marketing efforts will increase, oil will rise in price and the hype surrounding electric cars will dissipate. In place of today’s electric-car hype will come a realism that efficiencies are needed more broadly in the transportation sector, from shipping to urban public transport.

All this seems very plausible – and a positive step for a sustainable effort to turn climate challenges into climate successes. I second the motion.

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Posted by Mark Boslet

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