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Toyota Joins California Hydrogen Push in Station Funding

Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) is funding a startup led by General Motors Co.’s former marketing chief to speed up the opening of hydrogen-fuel stations in California needed for zero-emission cars. Toyota is backing FirstElement Fuel, led by Joel Ewanick , with at least $7.2 million, according to letters filed with the California Energy Commission and obtained by Bloomberg News . FirstElement, based in Newport Beach , California, plans to operate pumps and sell hydrogen for passenger cars from at least 19 new stations in California. The Japanese automaker’s support for the closely held company comes as California provides grants worth $46.6 million for hydrogen-fuel stations that will help companies including Toyota, Hyundai Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. build a market for hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles arriving this year and next. “This is really the first step in creating a fueling network that for the first time allows people to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Why Wave Power Has Lagged Far Behind as Energy Source

Researchers have long contended that power from ocean waves could make a major contribution as a renewable energy source. But a host of challenges, including the difficulty of designing a device to capture the energy of waves, have stymied efforts to generate electricity from the sea. It’s not difficult to imagine what wind energy looks like — by this point we have all seen the towering turbines dotting the landscape. The same goes for solar power and the panels that are spreading across rooftops worldwide. But there is another form of renewable energy, available in huge quantities, that doesn’t really call to mind anything at all: What does wave power technology look like? Wind and solar power have taken off in the past decade or two, as costs have come down rapidly and threats from climate change have made clear the need to transition away from fossil fuels. Meanwhile, numerous […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US biodiesel production falls 48% in January: EIA

GMT US biodiesel production fell to 70 million gallons in January, down 48% from December, Energy Information Administration data showed Wednesday. Production was up 6.1% compared with January 2013. Of the 530 million lb of feedstock used to produce US biodiesel in January, soybean oil’s share reached 45.47%, down 8.85 percentage points from December, the EIA said. Article continues below… Platts Biofuelscan is a daily report, covering the latest worldwide biofuel news and prices. It provides a daily summary of market events and developments, along with closing market price assessments from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Platts Biofuelscan includes prices assessmenst for ethanol, ETBE, renewal indentification number (RIN) biofuels (US market0 and biodiesel. It also includes graphs depicting historic and current trends for major assessments. Soybean oil remained the largest biodiesel feedstock, with 241 million lb consumed. The next three largest feedstocks were corn oil […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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U.S. probes waves as source of energy

More than $10 million will be invested into a program that will test the ability to convert wave energy into a source of power, the U.S. Energy Department said. The Energy Department announced the test program for wave energy off the coast of Hawaii. "The Energy Department-supported demonstrations at the U.S. Navy’s wave energy test site off Hawaii’s island of Oahu will help develop reliable wave energy options and collect important performance and cost data for wave energy conversion devices," it said in a Monday statement . Two prototype wave energy converters will be deployed in open waters at depths of 196 feet and 260 feet. The demonstration projects are aimed at examining wave energy technology that’s in the late stage of development or close to full-scale operations. The test program will run for one year. The project gives the federal government the ability […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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EPA cuts 2013 cellulosic-ethanol mandate

The US Environmental Protection Agency lowered the amount of cellulosic ethanol required in 2013 to the amount actually produced, relieving refiners and importers of the need to buy credits to cover shortfalls against the earlier mandate. The adjusted volume is 810,185 ethanol-equivalent gal. The earlier requirement, published on Aug. 15, 2013, was 6 million gal. EPA made the change in response to petitions for reconsideration from the American Petroleum Institute and American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers. AFPM welcomed the move. “I expect EPA to use the same rational thinking to revise its proposed 2014 ethanol and biodiesel requirements, which are already long overdue,” said AFPM Pres. Charles T. Drevna. He said EPA has proposed a mandate of 17 million gal of cellulosic ethanol for 2014 and noted production of the material in the first quarter totaled less than 75,000 gal. Because commercialization of cellulosic ethanol has been slow to […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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US Midwest ethanol margin tumbles to six-week low as prices slide

The estimated production margin for a typical US Midwest dry-mill ethanol plant for the week ended Friday fell 20.06 cents, or 15.6%, to a six-week low of $1.0854/gal, a review of US Department of Agriculture and Platts data showed. As weekly stocks data and added imports had a starkly bearish effect on ethanol prices, the margin retreated for a fourth straight week from an eight-year high hit in the last week of March. The estimated ethanol price used in calculating the margin was the weekly average of the Platts Chicago Argo ethanol assessment, which tumbled 19.4 cents, or 8.13%, to a seven-week low of $2.3870/gal. Article continues below… Platts Biofuelscan is a daily report, covering the latest worldwide biofuel news and prices. It provides a daily summary of market events and developments, along with closing market price assessments from the Americas, Europe, and Asia. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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A battle is looming over renewable energy, and fossil fuel interests are losing

Wind turbines are silhouetted by the setting sun near Beaumont, Kan. Kansas ranks sixth in the country in wind output, which jumped by a third last year and equalled 19 percent of the state’s electricity. In state capitals across the country, legislators are debating proposals to roll back environmental rules, prodded by industry and advocacy groups eager to curtail regulations aimed at curbing greenhouse gases. The measures, which have been introduced in about 18 states, lie at the heart of an effort to expand to the state level the battle over fossil fuel and renewable energy. The new rules would trim or abolish climate mandates — including those that require utilities to use solar and wind energy, as well as proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules that would reduce carbon emissions from power plants. But the campaign — despite its backing from powerful groups such as Americans for Prosperity — […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Pacific islands need focus on renewables, EU says

Renewable energy for Pacific island nations will help fight climate change and stimulate the region’s economy, the European development commissioner said.Commissioner Andris Piebalgs and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully announced plans Tuesday to spend four days touring Pacific islands. The aim of the tour, which begins Wednesday, is to highlight the benefits of renewable energy and energy efficiency. "Energy is crucial for education and healthcare, for growth, tourism and even for the supply of water," PIebalgs said in a statement . "In short, renewable energy is a country’s main route towards growth and development." Rising sea levels attributing to climate change are endangering low-lying nations in the Pacific region. The situation is compounded further by the high costs of importing fossil fuels to their isolated territories. Solar projects will be the primary source of investment targets for the European and New Zealand officials. […]

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Study: Fuel from corn waste worse than gasoline

Biofuels made from the leftovers of harvested corn plants are worse than gasoline for global warming in the short term, a study shows, challenging the Obama administration’s conclusions that they are a much cleaner oil alternative and will help combat climate change. A $500,000 study paid for by the federal government and released Sunday in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change concludes that biofuels made with corn residue release 7 percent more greenhouse gases in the early years compared with conventional gasoline. While biofuels are better in the long run, the study says, they won’t meet a standard set in a 2007 energy law to qualify as renewable fuel. The conclusions deal a blow to what are known as cellulosic biofuels, which have received more than a billion dollars in federal support but have struggled to meet volume targets mandated by law. About half the initial market in cellulosics […]

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Dual Turning Point for Biofuels

There is an old joke in the energy business that advanced biofuels are the fuel of the future, and always will be. A Spanish company, Abengoa Bioenergy , has bet $500 million on robbing that joke of its punch line. In the middle of a cornfield here it is building a 38-acre Erector set of electrical cable and pipe that will soon begin producing cellulosic ethanol, which it calls a low-polluting alternative to petroleum products. This is just as the George W. Bush administration and Congress intended seven years ago with legislation promoting energy independence. But even as Abengoa and other companies prepare to produce significant amounts of cellulosic ethanol, using corn stalks and wheat straw as opposed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple