Energy News
Coal company says its exporting to Asia
AP | Posted on October 17, 2016A company with coal mines in Wyoming and Montana has begun exporting fuel to Asia through a Canadian port - a rare bit of a positive news for an industry that's been in a prolonged tailspin. Utah-based Lighthouse Resources had been seeking approval since 2011 for two coal export terminals in Oregon and Washington. It's faced strong opposition from environmentalists, American Indian tribes and some state officials.
EPA Proposes Updated E16-E83 Blend Regs
DTN | Posted on October 17, 2016The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing several enhancements to the Renewable Fuel Standard and related fuel regulations "to support market growth of ethanol and other renewable fuels in the U.S." One of the key actions proposed is an update to fuel regulations to expand the "availability of high ethanol fuel blends for use in flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs)," said EPA in their proposal found on the agency's rulemaking website. FFVs, which currently account for roughly 8% of the U.S. passenger vehicle fleet, are designed to operate on any gasoline-ethanol mixture up to an 83% concentration of ethanol. "EPA is revising its gasoline regulations to make it clear that E16-E83 fuel blends are not gasoline, and hence not fully subject to gasoline quality standards," said the agency.
Nano-spike catalysts convert carbon dioxide directly into ethanol
Science Daily | Posted on October 17, 2016In a new twist to waste-to-fuel technology, scientists have developed an electrochemical process that uses tiny spikes of carbon and copper to turn carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into ethanol. The team used a catalyst made of carbon, copper and nitrogen and applied voltage to trigger a complicated chemical reaction that essentially reverses the combustion process. With the help of the nanotechnology-based catalyst which contains multiple reaction sites, the solution of carbon dioxide dissolved in water turned into ethanol with a yield of 63 percent. Typically, this type of electrochemical reaction results in a mix of several different products in small amounts.
America’s First Offshore Wind Farm Blows Up Controversy
The New American | Posted on October 17, 2016The United States’ first offshore wind farm is going to cost about $17,600 per home it will power. Private investors will turn a profit, and government officials can pat themselves on the back for having done something to combat “climate change.” But the owners of those homes, some of whom are already paying among the highest power rates in the nation, will end up shelling out nearly twice as much as the average American for this “green” electricity. Deepwater Wind, a private energy firm, put the finishing touches on the Block Island Wind Farm in August. The five wind turbines, each 600 feet tall, were installed in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of Block Island, a 10-square-mile cay situated 13 miles south of the Rhode Island mainland. The turbines are expected to begin generating electricity in November.
Energy development gets a pass, kind of, for global methane rise
Agri-Pulse | Posted on October 17, 2016Global methane emissions from fossil fuel development are up to 60 percent greater than estimated by previous studies, according to a new report. But the analysis shows that fossil fuel facilities are not directly responsible for the increased rate of global atmospheric methane emissions measured between 2007 and 2013 - estimated at some 28 million tons per year. The study, led by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), found that fossil fuel activities contribute between 132 million and 165 million tons of the 623 million tons, or about 20-25 percent, of methane emitted by all sources every year.
Fed approval paves way for low-cost cellulosic ethanol production
The Business Journal | Posted on October 13, 2016In a first-of-its-kind ruling, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved Pacific Ethanol’s registration of its Stockton ethanol plant to generate valuable credits by producing cellulosic ethanol with the same equipment the company uses to produce corn-based ethanol. The EPA approval now allows Pacific Ethanol to generate so-called “D3 RINs” (Renewable Identification Numbers) using proprietary technology from one of its partners, Visalia-based Edeniq. “This approval is a landmark for the ethanol industry and our company,” said Brian Thome, president and CEO of Edeniq, which is privately held and focuses on developing biorefining technology for cellulosic ethanol. “This [approval] opens the door for low-cost production of cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber in existing fermentation vessels,” Thome added. “While we have long heard that cellulosic ethanol will be here in five to ten years, Edeniq’s Pathway Technology for profitably producing cellulosic ethanol is here today,” Thome said. “A 120 million-gallon-per-year corn ethanol plant can increase its revenue by up to $10 million or more through integration of Pathway, with very little investment and a less than one-year payback,” Thome added.
IEEFA Update: The Many Hurdles Facing the U.S. Coal-Fired Power Fleet
Institute for Energy Economics | Posted on October 13, 2016Why has U.S. coal production declined so enormously in recent years? Because the coal-fired power industry is producing less of the country’s electricity than ever. As recently as 10 years ago, coal-fired power plants provided half of U.S. power needs. Today that number is closer to 30 percent—and falling. Coal is not likely to fade entirely from the scene any time soon, but its share of the U.S. energy mix stands to drop to less than 20 percent in the not very distant future. This is largely a market phenomenon driven by cheap natural gas and by low-cost renewables, which, because they are so inexpensive, have become go-to fuels for power generation. Coal does not have a regulation problem, as the industry claims. Instead, it has a growing market problem, as other technologies are increasingly able to produce electricity at lower cost. And that trend is unlikely to end.
Utilities squeezed as corporations seek renewable energy elsewhere
Midwestern Energy News | Posted on October 13, 2016As large corporations increasingly demand 100 percent renewable energy, many utilities are left in a bind: Add to their already excess capacity, or they can risk losing new customers to lower-priced third-party agreements. “We have to figure out how to thread the needle with utilities,” said Letha Tawney who, as the director for utility innovation at the World Resources Institute, spends many of her waking and working hours trying to guide utilities into a new energy paradigm. Many large power consumers have clearly demonstrated that, with or without their local utilities, they are moving towards a renewable future. That message was reiterated recently in Nevada when MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts paid a hefty upfront fee to Nevada Powerto stop purchasing power from the utility and start buying it from other sources.
2 more Hoosiers plead guilty to RIN, tax credit fraud
Biodiesel | Posted on October 13, 2016The owners of an Indiana biofuel producer pleaded guilty to conspiracy, fraud and false statements for participating in a scheme that generated more than $60 million in fraudulent tax credits and U.S. EPA renewable fuels credits, or RINs, at Triton Energy LLC, a company that purported to produce and sell biofuel for use as transportation fuel. Fred Witmer, 46, and Gary Jury, 58, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Magistrate Judge Susan Collins of the Northern District of Indiana, announced Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, Assistant Administrator Cynthia Giles for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Special Agent in Charge Kathy A. Enstrom for the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and Special Agent in Charge W. Jay Abbott of the FBI’s Indianapolis Field Office. According to their pleas, Witmer and Jury were co-owners of Triton Energy LLC and Gen2 Renewable Diesel LLC, both located in Waterloo, Indiana. Witmer admitted to participating in a scheme with other co-conspirators to fraudulently claim tax credits and RIN credits on nonqualifying renewable fuel. Although the credits required that the fuel be used domestically for transportation, Witmer admitted selling it for uses that included the production of fire starter logs and asphalt and also for power generation. Jury admitted to participating in a conspiracy to fraudulently claim tax credits and to providing false statements to the EPA.
New regulations of shale drilling take effect in Pennsylvania
Farm and Dairy | Posted on October 12, 2016New Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulations on unconventional gas drillingtake effect Oct. 8. The new rules regulate unconventional drilling practices and hydraulic fracturing, as well as related activities. “These regulations are a long time in coming and have undergone one of the most transparent and participatory processes ever overseen by DEP,” said Acting DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. The new rules, which have been under development since 2011, are the first modernization of the Commonwealth’s oil and gas surface regulations since the implementation of new horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques to capture natural gas from Pennsylvania’s shale deposits.