Blended Standards

Is E15 Gasoline Safe?

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 ~ The American Petroleum Institute (API) is fighting the EPA over how much ethanol should be blended into gasoline. Is 15% ethanol content, E-15, safe for modern cars?

The [EPA] and the biofuels industry say the blend — which contains 15 percent ethanol, rather than the standard 10 percent — is safe for those vehicles.

But the oil and gas industry has produced studies finding that the mix would damage vehicle engines, and some automakers have said they would not honor warranties in cases where E15 was used.

“E15 could leave millions of consumers with broken down cars and high repair bills,” said Bob Greco, API group downstream director. “It could also put motorists in harm’s way when vehicles break down in the middle of a busy highway. We are asking the Supreme Court to step in and protect consumers by striking down EPA’s dangerous E15 mandate before it’s too late.”

Well, of course it "could". But will it? The API's studies have been called "scientifically weak" and there are, naturally, many other studies that show no harm. Could it be that the science is not settled?

Reminds me of another contentious argument of interest to the API...

Pterofin

Renewable Energy Using Biomimicry

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 ~ My friend Wally Kempkey has been working very hard on this for many years.



Not only is it incredibly cool and creative, the concept is very well-suited to slow currents. Faster currents can be harnessed by conventional turbines like those made by Hydrovolts and others, but such currents are comparatively rare. Slower currents can be found all over the world in watercourses both natural and man-made. While the power generated can be small, the Pterofin device would provide huge value in off-grid developing world locations for water pumping or trickle-charging batteries.

Want a scale model for your desk? Give some love on Kickstarter.

Primitive Energy

Advancing Society?

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 ~ How would you explain our society to a visiting alien?

Neil deGrasse Tyson is not Bill Nye or Carl Sagan, but he is at least as effective in making science accessible and understandable to the general public.

He's embarrassed by our addiction to fossil fuels. We should all be so, because it is an indication that our society is primitive.

Why? Consider the anthropological arc of humanity.

A Renewable Future

Present-Day Germany

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 ~ Europe's largest national economy hit a milestone in the first half of this year—for the first time, 25% of German electricity generation came from renewable sources.

Wind energy was the largest contributor of green power, accounting for 9.2 percent of all energy output... Biomass, or material acquired from living organisms, accounted for 5.7 percent and solar technology for 5.3 percent.

Germany is the largest market for electricity in Europe, and has long been a leader in boldly reshaping its energy policy, including forswearing all nuclear after Japan's Fukushima disaster.

Interestingly, the policy has been driven the past many years by the country's conservative parties. Preserving resources and the environment for the future is a truly conservative notion, a truth lost on this country's radicals who inappropriately like to be called conservative.

Energy Lies—V

Getting Their Pander Up

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 ~ An Exxon executive complains that Democrats are pandering to the deficit "Super Committee" when they urge rolling back oil and tax breaks. He's evidently unfamiliar with political pandering, one definition of which is to assert views "merely for the purpose of drawing support ...and [that] do not necessarily reflect one's personal values."

It is too much of a stretch, however, to say that these Senate Democrats are pushing this merely for political support and even less credible to suggest it doesn't match their personal values. Rather, a $2B annual reduction in largesse to Big Oil appears as an extremely modest step to address the current deficit hysteria:

Despite the oil companies’ insistence to the contrary, we know from analyses by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service and Joint Economic Committee that cutting $2 billion in annual oil subsidies and tax breaks for oil companies would not make oil and gasoline more expensive. The price of oil and gas is set on the world market, and federal subsidies play no role in prices consumers pay at the pump. To put it another way, if the five largest and wealthiest private oil companies were willing to live with $142 billion in profits this year, rather than their projected $144 billion, they would be paying their fair share in taxes without raising gasoline prices one penny.

What does real pandering look like? Newt Gingrich does show and tell:

Cellulosic Aviation Biofuels

Record USDA Grants to UW, WSU

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 ~ The announcement of the record grants for aviation biofuel research are exciting indeed and a great coup for biofuel researchers in the Pacific Northwest.

The 5-year grants, part of the Agricultural and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) are the largest ever from the USDA. USDA was surprised at the level of interest when the funding opportunity was announced. 63 groups expressed interest and 35 were selected to submit full proposals. Of those, 30 made application, and 8 finalists were invited to Washington to present their proposals. The 5 winners include the teams led by researchers from the UW and WSU, each of which received $40M in funding. Each team is a consortium of members; approximately 62.8% of the funding will go to land grant universities and 22.9% to industrial (business) partners, with rest divvied up among other universities, federal partners and one non-profit organization.

Programmatically, the 5 teams are all striving to develop sustainable biofuels, particularly for aviation, a pressing need also a focus of the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest (SAFNW) initiative announced earlier this year. The teams have some research overlap in their proposals: 62% of the funding targets woody biomass and 25% perennial grasses, with the rest going towards sorghum and other feedstocks. None of the funded research seeks to repurpose food crops into biofuels.

Some challenges the teams will face in creating a sustainable biojet fuel:

• Building an energy industry in rural areas
• Developing viable lignin coproducts. (As the old joke has it, “You can make anything out of lignin, except money”)
• Tremendous variability in the lignocellulosic cell walls of different feedstocks (e.g. between hardwoods such as poplar, alder and the ubiquitous North American softwoods, especially the Northwest’s Douglas fir) and between the different parts of the plant: stem, bark, leaves, etc. There are many tradeoffs between ease and cost
• Cost-effective pre-treatment alternatives, including optimal chip or particle size, and the presence of dirt and other contaminants (especially from woody municipal solid waste)
• Feedstock development strategies
• Establishing viable supply chains from landowners to aviation fuel
• Determining feasible transportation logistics that optimize what is being transported, how, and how far
• Stakeholder/community/social outreach: the project is unique because of the extraordinary level of vertical integration required

Energy Subsidies

Buying Winners

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 ~ I'll write much more about Solyndra another day, but one meme heard currently is the undue influence supposedly exerted by renewable energy companies in their quest for subsidization and financial risk mitigation. A new report from DBL Investors is timely, especially its lead quotation which sets the tone of the report:

Some argue that the consumer can purchase warmth or work or mobility at less cost by means of coal or oil or nuclear energy than by means of sunshine or wind or biomass. The argument concludes that this fact, in and of itself, relegates renewable energy resources to a small place in the national energy budget. The argument would be valid if energy prices were set in perfectly competitive markets. They are not. The costs of energy production have been underwritten unevenly among energy resources by the Federal Government.

—August 1981 report of the DOE
Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

The report shows government subsidy support for different forms of energy over time, with a focus on the earliest stages of each energy industry's growth. Thus, it shows the extent to which subsidies were provided to different energy technologies when each of those technologies were as yet new and unproven, lacking infrastructure and market adoption.

With differing periods and different eras, comparisons are difficult. But the report calculates that nuclear subsidies came to more than 1 percent of the federal budget in their first 15 years, and that oil and gas subsidies made up one-half of 1 percent of the total budget in their first 15 years. “Renewables have constituted only about a tenth of a percent," the report says.

The money graph, in more ways than one:

Car Runs on Wine and Cheese

Sustainable Wine Touring?

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~ This would be a great way to tour wine country:

[A] new experimental car, called the Lotus Exige 270E Tri-Fuel ... is capable of running on an ethanol fuel made from wine that isn't up to drinking grade, or whey, which is also a byproduct of the cheese or chocolate-making process.

One could taste a wine and skip the cuspidor. Just spit into the tank, and on to the next stop.



Update: More here.

Hybrid Airplane

Capable of Battery-Only Take-Offs

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~ It's long been thought that replacing liquid fuels in airplane power-trains would be nearly impossible. Apparently not:

Similar to General Motors' Chevy Volt drive train, the DA36 E-Star uses a serial hybrid electric drive train in which a main engine is powered alternately by a gasoline-powered generator and batteries.

A 70-kilowatt Siemens engine runs the aircraft's propeller. That engine is powered alternately between a small Wankel combustion engine made by Austro Engine that runs on gasoline and acts as a generator, and EADS batteries. Additional EADS batteries are used during takeoff and ascent.

The plane first flew a month ago in Austria but made its public debut two weeks ago at the Paris Air Show.

Boeing should worry; EADS is the parent company of arch-rival Airbus and the development target is obvious:

While it's in early development, Siemens claims its drive train can be scaled up for use on a large passenger plane, and under further development hopes to create a drive train that can save 25 percent in fuel consumption.

Can we compete with biofuels?

(h/t Grist)

Energy Lies—II

"Gulf of Mexico Oil Drilling Stymied by Regulation"

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~ Hardly a day goes by without some lobbyist or cash-captured Congressional corpocrat griping about the urgency and importance of greatly increased offshore oil drilling and the supposedly onerous and unnecessary regulatory burden under which the industry chafes. If only the Obama Administration would get out of the way, so the recurring complaint goes, the industry could boost production, increase royalty revenues to combat the deficit and create jobs:

Onerous regulations, endless layers of red tape, restricted access to critical supplies of domestic energy and a lack of direction from government are only a few of the many examples of artificial barriers that paralyze business and make it difficult for America to grow and prosper.

Is any of it true?

Not much. The criticism of lacking a coherent energy policy and direction hits home, especially in the haphazard and half-hearted support for renewables, but otherwise Big Oil and its shills are largely getting away with doing as they please, same as always. Yeah, they doth protest too much.

Growing Cleantech Businesses

Matchmaking

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~ Ever been to the PSE Auditorium in downtown Bellevue? While not the same as the space of the same name that is a frequent site of weddings, perhaps it is fitting nonetheless as the Washington Clean Technology Alliance (WCTA) and the Cleantech Open (CTO) pair up there on Friday for what will be one of the year's outstanding events. Our friends at Business Leaders for Climate Solutions are sponsoring as well.

Hear speakers on the Sustainable Aviation Fuels NW initiative, a panel on the future of nuclear power and several local entrepreneurial leaders and the announcement of this year's Pacific Northwest CTO semi-finalists. And of course good food, great networking, fun and probably a few surprises along the way.

Get your tickets here (while they last!)

Full agenda:

Vehicle Research Institute

WWU a National Leader

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~ While I was in Bellingham on business today I had the pleasure of meeting Director Eric Leonhardt and getting a tour of Western Washington University's Vehicle Research Institute.

Too cool.

The cars that nearly won the 100 MPGe X-Prize Competition

Automobile magazine has written of VRI that it is "very possibly the best school in the country for total car design." They are certaibly among a very select group in creating designs for high-efficiency cars of the future using lightweight materials, elctricity, hybridization, biofuels, solar power and other techniques.

UW EIC Winners

3rd Annual Competition Best Yet

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~ It was a great afternoon at the Seattle Center Exhibit Hall for the culmination of the University of Washington's Environmental Innovation Challenge. 17 teams made it to the finals and were scored on their 1-page executive summary, a 2-minute stand-up pitch, the caliber of their exhibit hall demo, and the judges' assessment of the potential impact of their idea.

The first prize winner was Voltaic, maker of modular components for electric vehicle drivetrains, including motor, transmission, braking, and power electronics. The team installed their prototype in a Honda Accord donated from Burien Honda and showed how they could both power the car and brake it by running the motors backwards. Regrettably, we couldn't take it for a real test drive, but I'd sure like to see it out on the track to see what it can really do.

Priorities

The Deficit Scold Agenda

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~ For two years we've been hearing from many quarters about the urgent need to cut government spending to bring down the deficit. Some of the rationales may have merit, but what passes for debate on the subject is deeply unserious.

For proof, one need look no further than subsidies to oil and gas.

President Obama wants Congress to chop $3.6 billion in 2012 oil and gas tax breaks for a total of $46.2 billion over the next decade. Among Mr. Obama’s targets: a nearly century-old oil and gas industry tax deduction for the costs of preparing drill sites and a manufacturer's tax break granted the oil industry in 2004.

The number is significant, but still little more than one-tenth of the federal subsidies that oil and gas companies might receive over 10 years. Adjusted for inflation, they currently receive about $41 billion in annual subsidies annually. That amounts to more than half – 52 percent – of total benefits distributed to energy sectors by the federal government.

Carbon Nation

Boeing & WCTA Sponsor Presentation, Reception, Screening

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The Washington Clean Tech Alliance (WCTA) and Boeing are pleased to present an eventful evening Tuesday, March 1 that promises to deeply engage anyone interested in cleantech and climate change.

Featured are a presentation on local cleantech developments, a reception and the Seattle premiere of the climate change solutions film Carbon Nation, including a chance to meet the Producer/Director, Peter Byck, and ask questions. Many local leaders in cleantech, energy government and others are expected to attend. It's free, but RSVP soon as we expect it to fill up.

Details:

Doing Nothing

You Can Pay Me Now, Or...

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An interesting 5-minute video from the Florida Solar Energy Center. While some of the specifics pertain to Florida, the broad comparison applies everywhere. Investment today in renewable generation makes long-term economic sense in the same way that it pays to pony up now to put our kids through college. The cost of acting, while more up-front today perhaps, is a winner long-term over the cost of doing nothing.



Here in Washington we would perhaps not compare ourselves so directly to solar, but instead include bioenergy, wind and perhaps distributed hydropower or tidal/wave generation. The core points about grid parity, the importance of energy retrofits and other efficiency measures, and the value of energy independence are still compelling.

16 Predictions for 2011

Looking Forward, Looking Backward

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It's that time when people make predictions for the coming year.

This is my first try at making a formal list of prognostications, which I plan to revisit a year hence when I make my second list.

Many are about cleantech and renewable energy, or about things that will affect the future of them.

I hope I'm wrong about many of these.

Without further preamble:

"Smells Like Money"

Farm Power Northwest Turns Poop Into Power

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Farm Power Co-founder Kevin Maas
at the Rexville installation

Anaerobic digesters take various kinds of biomass, typically animal manure, and extract methane. The methane can either supply a generator to make electricity, or be used directly as fuel for cooking, heating, or other equipment. The residual liquids and solids can, with some caveats, be used as fertilizer or for soil amendment.

The first anaerobic digester was built more than 150 years ago, but has not previously seen widespread use. That could be changing, for several reasons: preventing uncontrolled emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times more troublesome than carbon dioxide; mitigating the mountains of manure produced by modern concentrated animal feedlot operations (CAFOs); and generating distributed local power and commercial byproducts that raise revenues and cut costs.

Up in Western Washington's Skagit Valley, Farm Power Northwest is building anaerobic digesters for local dairy farmers. This week I traveled up to the Mount Vernon area and met with Kevin Maas, who, with his brother Daryl, founded and run the company. The rest of this post is mostly photos of the Rexville installation, the company's first, online since August 2009. There's lots of good links and information, as well as pictures of construction on their web site and Kevin's blog.

NW Energy Angels

Angels in the Infrastructure

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Tonight I had the pleasure of attending the Northwest Energy Angels (NWEA) annual holiday party, held at the Talaris Conference Center in Seattle's Laurelhurst neighborhood. Many of NWEA's members are veterans of local technology startups, entrepreneurs/business owners, or both. Others include financial, engineering, service and other professionals. The organization has been very active since its founding in 2006, investing over $3M in 18 companies, including such success stories as enerG2, Farm Power, MicroGREEN Polymers, Novinium and Propel Fuels.

Green Garbage

Making the Waste Stream More Sustainable

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Waste Management is the largest trash hauler in the United States and ranks 196th on the Fortune 500, generating almost all of its revenues from transporting garbage from homes and businesses to landfills. They have 273 of them throughout the country with enough capacity to last for at least the next 40 years.

So it's noteworthy that Waste Management is actively looking to cannibalize the "landfill pricing" that drives their own business. How? By taking sustainability seriously. Says CEO David Steiner:

Picking up and disposing of people's waste is not going to be the way this company survives long term. Our opportunities all arise from the sustainability movement.