Lowe's Selects Sungevity for Residential Solar Partnership

Lowe's, the world's second largest home improvement retailer, and Sungevity, the nation's fastest growing residential solar company today announced a new agreement that will offer homeowners the easiest and most affordable solar solutions in the marketplace, marking a significant step in the mainstream adoption of residential solar.  Through the agreement, Lowe's will provide consumers with Sungevity's quick, easy and proprietary iQuote, a process that utilizes satellite images and aerial photography to calculate a same-day, firm installation estimate, eliminating the need for a home visit.  As part of the interactive, in-store experience, consumers will be able to view a rendering of the proposed installation and get a firm understanding of the cost-savings related to Sungevity's innovative solar lease program.  Customers typically experience an immediate savings on their electricity bills through Sungevity's solar lease, which includes monitoring, maintenance, repairs, insurance, and a money-back performance guarantee. Additionally, as part of the agreement, Lowe's has taken an equity position in Sungevity.

"I am thrilled about the potential of reaching Lowe's 15 million weekly customers at their more than 1,750 retail locations, with Sungevity's services," said Andrew Birch, chief executive officer, Sungevity.  "This partnership marks a major acceleration point in our mission to make solar power easily accessible and affordable to homeowners nationwide."

"Lowe's has always delivered innovative energy solutions for our customers and we are seeing an increased demand for solar solutions," explained Patti Price, senior vice-president, merchandising, Lowe's.  "Lowe's new partnership with Sungevity responds to customer demand by providing a convenient and affordable process for going solar."

The partnership will commence with interactive Sungevity branded displays in select Lowe's stores, beginning Summer 2011, and continue to roll-out at all Lowe's stores in states where Sungevity provides services.  Sungevity currently operates in eight states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. 

U.S. Department of Energy Awards Metabolix $6 Million Grant to Develop Renewable Biofuels

Metabolix, Inc., a bioscience company focused on developing clean, sustainable solutions for plastics, chemicals and energy, today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded the company a $6 million grant. The grant is part of the Obama administration’s $42 million research and development project fund to support the production of biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products. Metabolix will use the funding to continue research of engineered switchgrass in an effort to provide a sustainable alternative to petroleum feedstocks.

For several years, Metabolix has advanced its biomass biorefinery platform using switchgrass. Under the new grant agreement, the company plans to attempt to further enhance expression of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) in switchgrass to allow co-production of chemicals and densified biomass. In addition to attempting to produce densified biomass with transportation and fuel properties closely matching coal, Metabolix also plans to further develop and scale-up its selective thermolysis process which utilizes moderate temperature to recover a new platform chemical directly from PHA containing switchgrass. This platform chemical, crotonic acid, can be readily converted through simple known chemical conversion steps to a range of commodity chemical intermediates including butanol and propylene.

“The DOE funding is another exciting step towards creating a bioenergy infrastructure that has the potential to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and increase economic development in America,” said Oliver Peoples, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and vice president of Research and Development at Metabolix.

SG Biofuels Signs Customers for 250,000 Acres of JMax Hybrid Jatropha Seed

SG Biofuels today announced it has signed customers for the deployment of 250,000 acres of Jatropha using its JMax hybrid seeds.  Jatropha is a non-edible energy crop that produces large volumes of sustainable plant oil used for biodiesel, bio jet fuel and specialty chemicals.  The JMax hybrid seeds on average provide double the yield of existing commercial varieties planted in similar conditions, resulting in greater uniformity and vigor while significantly reducing seed handling and deployment costs.

"Energy companies, governments and growers are recognizing that we have entered a new era for Jatropha based on the time-honored principals of crop science, breeding, biotechnology and proper agronomics," said Kirk Haney, president and chief executive officer.  "In addition to our signed customers, we have a large global pipeline totaling more than 1 million acres of planned Jatropha projects worldwide."

The company is adding to its Jatropha crop improvement network by deploying JMax development centers in multiple locations around the world where SG Biofuels will optimize elite hybrid varieties of Jatropha that are well adapted to the specific growing conditions of its customers.  The centers feature hybrid material from the company's germplasm library totaling more than 12,000 unique genotypes.  

"Following four years of advancements, we are now able to produce high quality, elite hybrid seeds of Jatropha that far surpass the productivity and profitability of unimproved varieties," said Miguel Motta, vice president of marketing and strategy.  "Hybrid seed technology is resonating with customers because they are assured higher, more consistent yields and an economic model that truly scales."

Hybrid seed production is considered superior to other mass propagation techniques because of lower costs and improved plant performance.  Hybrid seeds have historically been responsible for significant increases in agricultural production and profitability.  Since the introduction of hybrid corn in the 1940's, along with improved agronomic practices, the average U.S. bushel per acre has increased by more than 400 percent from 30 to approximately 140.

Through its growing network of JMax centers, SG Biofuels continues to expand the regions for which JMax hybrid seeds are available.

AE Biofuels Restarts 55 Million Gallon Per Year Ethanol Production Facility In Keyes, California

AE Biofuels, Inc. announced this week that its wholly owned ethanol subsidiary AE Advanced Fuels Keyes, Inc. (AE Keyes) has restarted operations at the 55 million gallon per year ethanol production facility located in Keyes, California. Approximately 50 full time employees have been hired at the AE Keyes facility.

The original $130 million construction and commissioning of the plant was completed in November 2008 by Cilion, Inc. In early 2009 the plant was closed due to technical and market issues. AE Keyes took possession of the facility under a project agreement with Cilion in March 2010, signed a facility lease for up to five years, and funded $8 million of financing to retrofit and restart the plant.

The Keyes plant is a leader in environmentally responsible ethanol production with a 2.6:1 positive energy balance and near zero water discharge. In addition, the plant’s natural gas and steam powered turbine cogeneration unit generates all of the operating electric needs of the plant (4.3 megawatts), thus eliminating dependence on the state’s electrical grid.

AE Keyes was recently awarded a $1.88 million matching grant from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to accelerate the commercial implementation of AE Biofuels’ patent-pending, enzyme based, cellulosic ethanol production technology. The integrated cellulose/starch pre-commercial facility will be located near the 55 million gallon per year commercial ethanol facility. The CEC grant will enable the company to build upon prior enzyme optimization work conducted at its cellulose/starch pilot facility in Montana which was opened in 2008, and will help the State of California achieve the goals of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS).

“The retrofit and restart of the Keyes plant was accomplished by a talented, dedicated management and operations team that has been expanded to more than 50 members,” said Eric McAfee, chairman and CEO of AE Biofuels, Inc. “We’re very pleased that the AE Keyes plant is now fully operational and delivering product to our California biofuels and animal feed customers."

Cellana Receives $5.5 Million USDA and Doe Grant to Develop New Algae-Based Animal Feeds as Algal Biofuel Byproduct

Cellana LLC, a leading developer of algae-based biofuels and bioproducts, has received a three-year $5.5 million grant to develop a protein supplement from algae as a byproduct of algal biofuels production and to demonstrate its nutritional and economic value in livestock feeds.

Funding is provided through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Biomass Program through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative and will help increase the availability of alternative renewable fuels and biobased products to diversify the nation's energy resources. The award was made through a competitive selection process.

Cellana LLC, a subsidiary of Cellana, Inc. (formerly HR BioPetroleum, Inc.), will receive $5,521,173 for the project, titled "Developing a New Generation of Animal Feed Protein Supplements." Under this grant, Cornell University will be conducting large-scale animal feeding trials using algae biomass provided by Cellana to identify the most economical and efficacious strains of algae.

"Cellana is looking forward to providing affordable and nutritious food supplies from its production of marine microalgae. These bioproducts support Cellana's biorefinery business model and can help the livestock industry remain competitive in Hawaii and in other parts of the world," noted Martin Sabarsky, president and CEO of Cellana, Inc.

In addition to the new grant program, Cellana has programs with universities in the U.S. and Norway to test proteins from top candidate strains to replace fishmeal in aquaculture feed. Fishmeal protein, an increasingly unsustainable source of aquaculture feed, has reached its peak in global production and become expensive.

"Cellana is also looking forward to providing a commercially viable supply of renewable biofuel in Hawaii to help it meet its renewable energy goals. All critical elements of the company's algae cultivation technology have been demonstrated at our six-acre facility in Kona and will be incorporated at our proposed commercial plant in Maalaea, Maui. We are on track for this commercial deployment by 2014," Sabarsky added.