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Worldwatch Institute: global biofuel production fell in 2012 for first time since 2000

In 2012, the combined global production of ethanol and biodiesel fell for the first time since 2000, down 0.4% from the figure in 2011, according to the Worldwatch Institute’s latest Vital Signs Online report. Global ethanol production declined slightly for the second year in a row, to 83.1 billion liters (22 billion gallons US), while biodiesel output rose fractionally, from 22.4 billion liters in 2011 to 22.5 billion liters (5.9 billion gallons US) in 2012. Biodiesel now accounts for more than 20% of global biofuel production, according to the report. Biofuels for transport—essentially ethanol and biodiesel—account for about 0.8% of global energy use, 8% of global primary energy derived from biomass, 3.4% of global road transport fuels, and 2.5% of all transport fuels. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Scale Model WWII Craft Takes Flight With Fuel From the Sea Concept

Navy researchers at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Materials Science and Technology Division, demonstrate proof-of-concept of novel NRL technologies developed for the recovery of carbon dioxide (CO) and hydrogen (H) from seawater and conversion to a liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Flying a radio-controlled replica of the historic WWII P-51 Mustang red-tail aircraft—of the legendary Tuskegee Airmen—NRL researchers (l to r) Dr. Jeffrey Baldwin, Dr. Dennis Hardy, Dr. Heather Willauer, and Dr. David Drab (crouched), successfully demonstrate a novel liquid hydrocarbon fuel to power the aircraft’s unmodified two-stroke internal combustion engine. The test provides proof-of-concept for an NRL developed process to extract carbon dioxide (CO) and produce hydrogen gas (H) from seawater, subsequently catalytically converting the CO and H into fuel by a gas-to-liquids process. (Photo: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory) Fueled by a liquid hydrocarbon—a component of NRL’s novel gas-to-liquid (GTL) process that uses CO and H as feedstock—the research […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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BlackLight Power Announces Sustained Production of Electricity Using Photovoltaic Conversion

BlackLight Power, Inc. today announces that it achieved sustained electricity production from a primary new energy source by using photovoltaic technology to transform brilliant plasma, with power comprising millions of watts of light, directly into electricity. By applying a very high current through its proprietary water-based solid fuel in BlackLight Power’s breakthrough Solid Fuel-Catalyst-Induced-Hydrino-Transition (SF-CIHT) technology, water ignites into brilliant plasma, an extraordinary bright flash of extraordinary optical power that has a power density of over 1,000,000 times that of any prior controllable reaction. Remarkably, the light emitted from the plasma is nearly a perfect spectral equivalent of the Sun, but at 50,000 times the intensity. BlackLight Power has now successfully converted the brilliant plasma directly into electricity using photovoltaic cells (solar cells) which have been increasingly perfected to convert the Sun spectrum into electricity for more than five decades costing an estimated $1 trillion. […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Greenpeace sees growth in renewable energy use

Environmental campaign group Greenpeace said Monday major world economies were showing an increase in renewable energy in their grids. "Renewable energy has expanded, fallen in price and is ready to challenge traditional, polluting forms of energy," Kaisa Kosonen, a senior political adviser for Greenpeace International, said in a statement . A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found the burning of fossil fuels was a contributing factor to abnormal weather phenomena. Greenpeace said, with IPCC members set to convene Saturday in Berlin, the focus should be on renewable energy resources. IPCC’s report showed the level of greenhouse gas emissions have increased since its 2007 report, though global solar power capacity has increased by a factor of 10 and wind capacity has increase threefold since then. Demand dynamics, meanwhile, have shifted to Asian economies. Chinese coal consumption is changing in response to major […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Steyer, NRG’s Crane share visions for energy industry’s future

Two of the energy industry’s most visible agents of change delivered messages here yesterday on policies and business models they believe are needed to reshape how energy is generated and how it’s used. Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer and NRG Inc.’s David Crane delivered separate keynote speeches as part of the Clean Energy Challenge, a competition among early-stage companies and student teams from around the Midwest who were pitching business models for a share of $500,000 in prizes. Crane, the outspoken CEO of the nation’s largest independent power generator, covered a broad range of topics during a lunchtime question-and-answer session. And many of his answers revolved a central theme — his belief that today’s electric power business won’t be recognizable in five, 10 or 20 years, and that distributed generation will gradually supplant the current centralized power system. "The fact that distributed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Steyer, NRG's Crane share visions for energy industry's future

Two of the energy industry’s most visible agents of change delivered messages here yesterday on policies and business models they believe are needed to reshape how energy is generated and how it’s used. Billionaire climate activist Tom Steyer and NRG Inc.’s David Crane delivered separate keynote speeches as part of the Clean Energy Challenge, a competition among early-stage companies and student teams from around the Midwest who were pitching business models for a share of $500,000 in prizes. Crane, the outspoken CEO of the nation’s largest independent power generator, covered a broad range of topics during a lunchtime question-and-answer session. And many of his answers revolved a central theme — his belief that today’s electric power business won’t be recognizable in five, 10 or 20 years, and that distributed generation will gradually supplant the current centralized power system. "The fact that distributed […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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British solar plan to shift to rooftop installations

British Energy Minister Greg Barker said Friday the government wants to install solar panels on top of the more than 900 square miles of south-facing rooftops. "There is massive potential to turn our large buildings into power stations and we must seize the opportunity this offers to boost our economy as part of our long term economic plan," he said in a statement . Barker said the measure is part of the so-called Solar Strategy, touted as the first plan of its kind for the country’s renewable energy sector. He said the strategy envisions a shift away from large-scale solar farms to one that expands the market on top of the estimated 250,000 hectares of south-facing commercial rooftops in the country. The British government estimates there are about 2.7 gigawatts worth of solar capacity installed in the country. The Solar Strategy calls for as […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Rail congestion, cold weather raise ethanol spot prices

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration based on Oil Price Information Service (ethanol prices) and Thomson Reuters (RBOB prices). Note: RBOB is reformulated blendstock for oxygenate blending gasoline, a motor gasoline blending component intended for blending oxygenates to produce finished reformulated gasoline. Ethanol spot prices have increased steadily since early February. By late March, New York Harbor (NYH) spot ethanol prices exceeded prices for RBOB (the petroleum component of gasoline) by more than $1 per gallon. Ethanol spot prices in Chicago and Gulf Coast markets also rose above NYH RBOB prices. The premium of New York Harbor over Chicago spot ethanol prices, which averaged 25 cents per gallon in January (close to the typical transportation costs of moving ethanol from production centers in the Midwest to terminals on the East Coast in recent years) widened to $1 per gallon in early March. Logistical constraints in and around ethanol production centers […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Ethanol, Railroad Groups Clash Over Shipment Snarls

An ethanol plant in Stockton, Calif. Analysts say a backup of railcars has kept ethanol from making it to coastal refineries that mix it into gasoline. U.S. ethanol and railroad industry groups clashed Thursday over transportation constraints that have triggered soaring prices for the biofuel in recent weeks. Renewable Fuels Association President Bob Dinneen said in a letter to the Association of American Railroads that the "sheer chaos" of the rail system has pushed up prices for ethanol—a corn-based biofuel that is blended into gasoline—and caused consumers to pay more at the pump. The higher costs, he argued, have damaged the image of the ethanol industry. Ethanol prices have jumped in recent weeks as supplies have declined amid transportation snarls. A bitterly cold winter and rising crude-oil shipments have slowed rail traffic in the Midwest. Most ethanol is made from corn grown in that region. The backup of railcars […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Does Tesla Really Need a $5 Billion Battery?

In a project that is befuddling industry experts and competitors, Tesla Motors Inc. is looking for possible sites for a giant electric-car battery factory in four Southwestern states. The plant, dubbed a "gigafactory" by Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk , would be the world’s largest factory by a long shot. Mr. Musk has outlined a proposal to spend $5 billion on it, hiring up to 6,500 workers and creating thousands of ancillary jobs. He compares the undertaking to auto-industry pioneer Henry Ford’s early 20th century Rouge complex. It took in iron ore and other raw materials at one end and rolled out completed Model Ts at the other, aiming to control and cut costs at every stage of production. Mr. Musk wants to begin making batteries at the plant in 2017, a timeline that puts pressure on the company to break ground this year. Tesla executives say they need […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple