Abengoa Bioenergy, a worldwide leader in advance biofuels technology and production, formally announced the restart of its Portales New Mexico bioethanol plant, which is located in the Portales Industrial Park, is New Mexico’s only commercial-scale bioethanol plant, and is designed to produce up to 30 million gallons per year of fuel ethanol, produced primarily from sorghum grown on the High Plains of West Texas and Eastern New Mexico.
Javier Salgado, President and CEO of Abengoa Bioenergy, said that the Portales plant became viable again due to more favorable market conditions, supported by an increasing demand scenario. Recent legislative and administrative actions supporting the industry and expanding ethanol blend levels are also expected to have a positive impact. "Abengoa is a worldwide leader in sustainable fuel technologies and we are proud to have our operations up and running again in Portales", said Salgado.
Ethanol produced from the Portales facility is also expected to have a higher value than ethanol produced at some other grain based facilities under the provisions of both the Energy Investment and Security Act of 2005 (which established a Renewable Fuel Standard) and under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard being implemented by the state of California this year. Salgado explained that, "due to its energy efficient production setup and the unique sorghum feedstock, which is typically grown without irrigation in Roosevelt County and the surrounding region, Abengoa’s Portales plant is a model for sustainable American fuel production that can help our rural farmers maintain their way of life while also preserving our precious water resources."
Salgado also stated that the restart of the Portales facility was assisted by the strong support from New Mexico’s political leadership, including New Mexico’s United States Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall. New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman welcomed the reopening of Abengoa Bioenergy’s Portales facility stating, "The resumption of operations and the hiring of 40 new employees for this facility will bring a tremendous economic benefit to the Portales and Roosevelt County areas. Not only does this bring new jobs back to the area, but the benefits from local grain purchases and feed sales, as well as the additional contributions to the area’s tax base, will be dramatic as they filter through the local economy."
January 12, 2011
January 11, 2011
OriginOil Focusing on Algae Extraction Technology
“It’s becoming clear the algae industry will be massive – as you’d expect a true petroleum alternative would be,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “No one company is going to do it all, and that’s why we have decided to focus on extraction, a highly specialized technology that we can embed in algae production systems worldwide.”
Extraction is a critical bottleneck in commercial algae production. At time of harvest, algae live in a great volume of water. Conventional extraction, adequate for specialty products, such as pharmaceuticals, is far too energy-intensive for large-scale uses such as fuel and chemicals. A scalable and proven solution to the extraction challenge is vital to the future of the fast-growing algae industry.
“Upstream, algae producers are beginning to invest in very large growing facilities and are finding success,” said Brian Goodall, OriginOil CTO. “Downstream, some very savvy companies are learning how to convert algae into fuel and many other products.”
“At the critical connection between them is what we call the ‘midstream’, where efficient harvesting, dewatering and oil extraction remain major challenges. That’s our new, long-term specialization,” Goodall said.
“Extraction is relatively less capital-intensive than growth or refining, and can generate very high returns on investment,” added Eckelberry.
“We are confident that this is the best area of focus for OriginOil. Capitalizing on our market leading competitive advantage will lead to long term business success.”
OriginOil has developed three extraction processes: Single Step Extraction™, Live Extraction™ and the Hydrogen Harvester™.
Single Step Extraction is currently implemented in the field at MBD Energy’s James Cook University site in North Queensland, Australia. It can be deployed in two ways: dewatering only for conversion of the entire algae mass to a refinable bio-oil, or full separation of lipids and biomass to create more valuable products along with fuels.
Live Extraction is OriginOil’s process for extracting very high quality lipids on a continuous basis from algae that heals after it has been ‘milked’ of its oil content. Live Extraction is in a prototype stage and further developments are expected in 2011.
The Hydrogen Harvester is OriginOil’s most recent development. It is a continuous, passive extraction system for removing hydrogen gas from algae. It is also at the prototype stage and further developments are expected in 2011.
The value of OriginOil’s hydrogen extraction process lies in recovering more energy from algae production systems than simply oil and biomass. Hydrogen is also essential to the refining process, enabling algae producers to refine algae at the place where they grow it.
See Also :
OriginOil Announces Successful First Phase of Commercial Pilot Program
OriginOil Achieves Hydrogen Production Comparable to Photovoltaics
Greenwave Biodiesel Facility in Fort Lauderdale Operational
Raptor Fabrication and Equipment, Inc. has started up its newest biodiesel plant for its customer, Greenwave Biodiesel of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The facility successfully produced its first batch of ASTM certified biodiesel and will now begin its commercial production of biodiesel fuel.
The Greenwave facility utilizes Raptor's flagship mid-sized, multi-feedstock production system and is capable of producing 3.6 million gallons of biodiesel per year. System production can be remotely monitored by Raptor to insure maximum efficiency and up-time.
"The Greenwave plant is our first launch of the new year and we have introduced exciting new remote monitoring technology in the plant giving us the ability to monitor production and diagnose any problems increasing overall production and customer satisfaction," said Tom Gleason, President and CEO of Raptor Fabrication and Equipment. "With the reinstatement of the federal biodiesel tax-credit and facilities we currently have in production for customers, 2011 is expected to be a strong year for Raptor," added Gleason.
The Greenwave facility utilizes Raptor's flagship mid-sized, multi-feedstock production system and is capable of producing 3.6 million gallons of biodiesel per year. System production can be remotely monitored by Raptor to insure maximum efficiency and up-time.
"The Greenwave plant is our first launch of the new year and we have introduced exciting new remote monitoring technology in the plant giving us the ability to monitor production and diagnose any problems increasing overall production and customer satisfaction," said Tom Gleason, President and CEO of Raptor Fabrication and Equipment. "With the reinstatement of the federal biodiesel tax-credit and facilities we currently have in production for customers, 2011 is expected to be a strong year for Raptor," added Gleason.
January 10, 2011
Green Plains Renewable Energy Signs Purchase Agreement to Acquire Otter Tail Ag Enterprises
"We remain focused on our growth strategy of acquiring operating assets that expand our ethanol platform and contribute immediately to our financial results," stated Todd Becker, President and CEO of Green Plains Renewable Energy. "If we are successful in the auction process, we believe our proven management capabilities will add value for all stakeholders."
If completed, the acquisition would increase Green Plains' ethanol production capacity by approximately 8% to an annual capacity of 712 million gallons. Green Plains plans to finance the transaction through a mix of available cash on hand and debt financing from existing lenders.
See Also :
Green Plains Renewable Energy Completes Acquisition of Global Ethanol, LLC
Green Plains Renewable Energy to Implement Corn Oil Extraction Technology
Green Plains Renewable Energy and BioProcess Algae to Break Ground on Phase II of Algae Project
Southern California Edison Signs Contracts for More Than 800 Megawatts of Solar Photovoltaic Power
Electricity generated as a result of these contracts will total 831 megawatts. Three contracts with SunPower will total 711 megawatts and include one of the largest single solar photovoltaic installations – 325 megawatts – in the United States. Contracts with FRV allow for the delivery of 120 megawatts of solar energy from four projects.
“This is an unprecedented time for solar photovoltaic,” said Marc Ulrich, SCE’s vice president, Renewable and Alternative Power. “We’re seeing growth in technological advances and manufacturing efficiencies that result in competitive prices for green, emission-free energy for our customers.”
The solar photovoltaic projects are located in California’s Kern, Los Angeles and Merced counties. SCE estimates that when the projects all come online, the 831-megawatt capacity will be enough to power more than 540,000 average California homes.
The three contracts with SunPower include:
* 110 megawatts from Solar Star California XIII, LLC, located in Los Banos, scheduled to be operational by Dec. 31, 2014.
* 325 megawatts from Solar Star California XIX, LLC, located in Rosamond, scheduled to be operational by Oct. 31, 2016.
* 276 megawatts from Solar Star California XX, LLC, located in Rosamond, scheduled to be operational by Oct. 31, 2016.
The four contracts with FRV include:
* 60 megawatts from Regulus Solar L.P., located in Lamont, scheduled to be operational by Dec. 31, 2013.
* 20 megawatts from Cygnus Solar L.P., located in Arvin, scheduled to be operational by Sept. 30, 2013.
* 20 megawatts from Mojave Solar L.P., located in Mojave, scheduled to be operational by Dec. 31, 2013.
* 20 megawatts from Mojave Solar 4 L.P., located in Lancaster, scheduled to be operational by Dec. 31, 2013.
The projects will interconnect with existing and forthcoming transmission lines.
These contracts are a result of SCE’s competitive renewables solicitation, and are contingent on approval by the California Public Utilities Commission.