| The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced last week that its Conservation Security Program (CSP) will start accepting sign-ups from farmer and ranchers on March 28th. Although the program is primarily meant to support ongoing stewardship of private agricultural lands, this year's program sign-up includes a renewable energy and energy efficiency component. Eligible producers will receive compensation for conducting energy audits, for cutting their energy use, for converting to renewable energy fuels (such as biodiesel or ethanol), and for implementing renewable energy production, including methane production as well as wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal energy. See the USDA press release and the CSP job sheets for energy enhancement activities. According to the USDA, roughly 235,000 farmer and ranchers in 220 watersheds will be eligible for this year's CSP. The 220 watersheds represent more than 185 million acres in every state and the Caribbean, including 2 million acres of tribal lands. Congress funded the CSP at $202 million in fiscal year 2005, which will allow the USDA to write an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 contracts. The payments are divided into three tiers, based on the level of conservation achieved, with the highest tier earning up to $45,000 annually for 5 to 10 years. See the CSP Program Web site, which includes the latest amendment to the rules and a list of eligible watersheds. The bankruptcy of California's Pacific Gas and Electric Company in 2001 was bad news for the electric utility industry, but the utility's return to solvency last year has an unexpected benefit for clean energy technologies: As part of its bankruptcy settlement, the utility provided $30 million to create a new investment fund, the California Clean Energy Fund (CalCEF). CalCEF announced last week that three leading venture capital firms will make equity investments in clean energy companies on its behalf, with each firm investing $8.5 million in companies involved in renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, and enabling technologies and services. CalCEF intends to make profitable investments that generate economic growth while reducing California's dependence on fossil fuels. Any profits from the investments will be reinvested in CalCEF. See the CalCEF press release. Ormat Nevada, Inc., a subsidiary of Ormat Technologies, Inc., broke ground last week on the first geothermal electric generating plant to be built at Steamboat, Nevada since 1991. Known as the Galena Geothermal Project, the 20-megawatt plant will bring the total output from the Steamboat geothermal complex to 44 megawatts. According to Ormat, the Galena Geothermal Project is the first to begin construction since the Nevada Legislature passed laws in 2001 requiring utilities to supply a portion of their power from renewable energy resources. See the Ormat press release. Efforts to develop the first geothermal power plant in Idaho also continue to press ahead. In February, U.S. Geothermal Inc. acquired two parcels of land and energy rights at the proposed location of its Raft River Idaho geothermal power project. The acquisitions add 417.5 acres of surface land and 259 acres of new energy rights to the company's holdings at the site. See the U.S. Geothermal press release (PDF 88 KB). Download Acrobat Reader. One common concern about ethanol production is the amount of energy required to produce each gallon of ethanol, often referred to as the energy balance of ethanol production. Last week, two companies announced an innovative approach to tip that balance further in favor of ethanol: Headwaters Incorporated has signed an agreement to build an ethanol plant next to Great River Energy's Coal Creek Station power plant near Underwood, North Dakota. The proposed facility would use the waste heat from the coal-fired power plant in place of a boiler, thus saving energy while reducing emissions from the ethanol plant. The plant will be able to produce 50 million gallons of ethanol per year, and the two companies plan to begin construction in the fall and start producing ethanol in fall 2006. The coal-heated ethanol facility is a natural fit for Headwaters, which is involved in coal combustion and the production of synthetic fuels from coal. See the press releases from Headwaters (PDF 57 KB) and Great River Energy. Download Acrobat Reader. Another ethanol plant near Richardton, North Dakota, is taking a more direct route: the facility will burn lignite coal as its energy source. The plant's developer, Red Trail Energy LLC, claims the plant will produce 50 million gallons of ethanol per year with an energy savings of 70 percent compared to ethanol plants that use natural gas. Red Trail Energy recently raised sufficient cash to start the project and has begun site preparation for construction of the plant. See the Red Trail Energy Web site. By the way, even existing ethanol plants produce about 34 percent more energy (embodied in the ethanol fuel) than they use in growing the corn, harvesting it, transporting it, and distilling it into ethanol, according to a July 2002 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). See the USDA report, "The Energy Balance of Corn Ethanol: An Update" (PDF 168 KB). Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich announced on March 8th that $500,000 in funding is now available to establish new E85 facilities at retail gasoline outlets throughout the state. E85 is a blend of gasoline with 70 to 85 percent ethanol for use in flexible fuel vehicles, which are designed to burn E85, unleaded gasoline, or any combination of the two fuels. Illinois' E85 program, run by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, will provide up to $2,000 to convert an existing refueling facility to E85 operation, or up to $40,000 for the construction of a new E85 refueling facility. See the governor's press release. For anyone wanting to build an E85 refueling facility, DOE's Alternative Fuel Data Center recently launched the "E85 Fleet Toolkit," a Web resource for fleet managers and other interested parties. The Toolkit includes information on fueling equipment and processes; procedures for building new stations or converting existing equipment to be E85 compatible; E85 fuel specifications and suppliers; and much more. See the E85 Fleet Toolkit. Here's an unusual fleet of vehicles that will soon switch to ethanol: the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series. Although the vehicles run on methanol today, the IndyCar Series racers will add 10 percent ethanol to their fuel in 2006, then shift to 100 percent ethanol in 2007. That means locally grown fuels will soon be powering the Indianapolis 500. See the Indy Racing League announcement. Prepare yourself for a boom in clean energy technologies: Markets for solar energy, wind energy, and fuel cells are poised to grow from $16 billion in global revenues in 2004 to more than $100 billion by 2014, according to a report released yesterday by Clean Edge, Inc., an energy research and publishing firm. Clean Edge projects that over the next ten years, markets for solar photovoltaic devices will grow from $7.2 billion to $39.2 billion; wind power installations will expand from $8 billion to $48.1 billion; and fuel cells and distributed hydrogen will grow from $900 million to $15.1 billion. See the Clean Edge report, "Clean-Energy Trends 2005". Another indicator of the burgeoning clean energy industry is the growth of key conferences. The POWER-GEN Renewable Energy conference, held early this month, experienced a 100-percent growth in exhibitors and a 60-percent growth in attendees, according to the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), a major sponsor. See the ACORE press release (PDF 51 KB). Download Acrobat Reader. The POWER-GEN conference essentially kicks off the 2005 conference season, as many major renewable energy conferences are coming up soon. Today is the start of Globalcon 2005, a conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, sponsored by the Association of Energy Engineers and featuring themes of energy efficiency and renewable energy. On March 29th, the National Hydrogen Association (NHA) brings its Annual Hydrogen Conference to Washington, D.C., accompanied by the NHA's Hydrogen Financing Forum and the Hydrogen Expo USA. On May 1st, the 11th Annual Clean Cities Conference and Exposition gets underway in Palm Springs, California, while the International Conference on Solar Concentrators for the Generation of Electricity or Hydrogen begins in Scottsdale, Arizona. On May 4th, the Third Annual Greening Rooftops Conference kicks off in Washington, D.C. In mid-May, the Windpower 2005 Conference and Exhibition comes to Denver, Colorado. Finally, for the international travelers, the World Renewable Energy Congress 2005 launches on May 22nd in Aberdeen, Scotland, accompanied on May 25th by the Renewable Power Association's Wave and Tidal Technology Symposium (WATTS). |
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