Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hydrogen, Green Daily

Sometimes, it seems like people are out there studying things just to get our little community here up in arms. Case in point, a study published in Science Direct that looks at the well-to-wheels emissions of various “vehicle and fuel platforms,” including plug-in vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells that get their energy from different places (like hydro-power and night-time electricity generation). The goal of the study is to determine what impact the various studies will have on California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, an effort to reduce the carbon impact of transportation.

Looking at the “marginal electricity mix” – defined as “the mix of power plants that is used to supply the incremental electricity demand from vehicles and fuels” – the study’s authors found that even though most of the electricity used to move plug-in vehicles would come from “relatively inefficient steam- and combustion-turbine plants,” those plug-in vehicles will still be loads better, carbon-wise, than traditional gasoline vehicles and hybrids.

So, what’s the problem? Reading through Green Car Congress‘ take on the article, we learn that the study found that “All of the pathways except for [fuel cell vehicles] using hydrogen from electrolysis reduce [greenhouse gas] emissions compared to ICEs and [hybrid electric vehicles].” Hydrogen fans can rest easy, though, since the most greenhouse gas emissions are reduced when using either pure electric vehicles “recharging according to the load-level profile” or fuel cell vehicles that use hydrogen made from steam methane reforming.

[Source: Science Direct via Green Car Congress]
Photo by Kenneth Hynek. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.

Study: Plug-in cars are cleaner than gas, hydrogen cars could be worse originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is calling the decade of the 2000’s “the era when biofuels came of age.” The ethanol advocacy organization reflects on the last ten years:

As we prepare to begin a new decade, the Renewable Fuels Association is taking just a moment to look back at the decade that saw ethanol emerge as the leading renewable fuel alternative to our dependence on foreign oil.

No matter what the calendar says, the decade of the 2000 aughts began on September 11, 2001. That tragic day ushered in a new consciousness of America’s vulnerability, to terrorist attack most assuredly, but also to the very high price we pay for our dependence on imported oil. When President Bush announced a few months later that we would break our addiction to oil, Americans knew well why it was necessary – national security was now linked to energy security and the consequence of inaction was now tangible. By decade’s end, concerns about climate change provided additional momentum to the effort to wean the world from oil and develop sustainable, secure alternatives to oil.

Thus it was that the past decade truly was the era when biofuels such as ethanol came of age. From just 1.4 billion gallons of production in 1999, the U.S. ethanol industry last year produced an astonishing 10.6 billion gallons. Ethanol is now, truly, a ubiquitous component of the U.S. motor fuel market, with ethanol blended in more than 80% of every gallon of fuel, and ethanol blends sold virtually coast to coast and border to border.

As ethanol production has increased, so have the industry’s contributions to the American economy. As recently as January, 2000, there were only 54 ethanol plants in the U.S. Nine years later, there were more than 200 plants in 26 states, with even more under construction.

Throughout the nation, the ethanol industry supports almost half a million jobs and contributes to the coffers of every level of government, generating an estimated $12 billion in federal tax revenues and $9 billion in state and local revenues in 2008. Ethanol’s benefits were among the economy’s few steady strengths during the rollercoaster ride of the past decade. For instance, in 2008, despite a deepening economic downturn, the U.S. ethanol industry opened 31 new plants and added 240,000 jobs.

The American biofuels industry has been able to build for the future because landmark legislation provides a floor from which we can grow with confidence. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 created a Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that requires refiners to use an increasing percentage of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel in their fuel mix, as well as creating new incentives for ethanol production from sugar, cellulose and other on-traditional feedstocks. Building on this historic legislation, the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, required the use of 9 billion gallons of renewable fuel in 2008, growing to more than 15 billion gallons in 2012 and 36 billion gallons by 2022.

These policies are being vindicated by biofuels’ performance. Clean-burning American ethanol reduces oil imports by more than 300 million barrels a year, making the U.S. less dependent on OPEC and unfriendly governments from unstable parts of the world. And ethanol diminishes the dangers of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 61 percent compared to gasoline.
The years from 2000 through 2009 are only the third decade in ethanol’s evolution from a novelty item to a major source of energy. Over the past decade, the industry’s innovativeness has increased exponentially, with the development of improved efficiencies, new technologies, and the next generation of feedstocks.

According to a survey compiled by Argonne National Laboratories, covering the years between 2001 and 2006, the nation’s ethanol biorefineries reduced their water consumption by 26.6%, their use of electricity by 15.7%, and their total use of energy by 21.8%. With new technologies such as heat fermentation and fractionization, the industry is becoming even more efficient, while increasing the value of its co-products, such as the 27 million tons of high-quality livestock feed produced in 2008.

Meanwhile, a new cellulosic ethanol industry is emerging, with biorefineries producing fuels from new feedstocks, including corn stalks, sugar wastes, wood chips, wheat straw and even plain old garbage.

As we begin the new decade, the biofuels industry has overcome great challenges and is now poised to seize even greater opportunities, nationally and globally. Here in the U.S., we need to break through the 10% blend wall and move on to blends of 12%, 13% and, eventually, 15% and beyond, while expanding the vehicle fleet and blender pump infrastructure for E85.

We can and will maintain the momentum ethanol has garnered through this past decade. The opportunities that lay before this industry are vast, and are a direct result of the progress it has achieved through a collective belief in a rising tide lifting all boats. Ten years from now, there can be little doubt that ethanol from a wide array of sources will be a more significant and even more meaningful piece of America’s energy future.

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Construction is complete on a 149-megawatt wind farm in North Dakota.

This post on RenewableEnergyWorld.com says the $300 million Iberdrola Renewables Rugby Wind Power Project near Rugby, North Dakota with 71 turbines created more than 250 construction jobs and will support 29 more jobs while in operation:

Missouri River Energy Services (MRES) purchases 40 MW of output from the Rugby project. MRES, based in Sioux Falls, is an organization of 60 member communities in the State.

Iberdrola Renewables Inc. now operates more than 3,500 MW of wind power in the U.S. It is part of Iberdrola Renovables, the largest provider of wind power in the world according to New Energy Finance, with more than 10,000 MW in operation in 23 countries.

The power purchased by Missouri River Energy Services will meet the energy demands of 11,000 subscribers.

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Biodiesel producers could get a new trading instrument that will help them hedge against fluctuations in the price of feedstocks and the actual fuel.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that if a new trading instrument proposed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange gets approved by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, green fuel makers could hedge both feedstocks and biodiesel production in a more liquid market with a single swap contract that ties a soybean oil futures contract with a heating oil futures contract:

John Stotts, director of agricultural trading for Infinium Capital Management LLC, explained that while a biodiesel swap does exist, “the volume and open interest are next to nothing. It looks like the ethanol market did five or six years ago.” Infinium has become more active in the ethanol markets in the last few months, he added, and is closely watching the development of the new tools for biodiesel.

With biodiesel futures nonexistent and the available swaps thinly traded, many producers have turned to hedging their biodiesel production through the heating oil market, which is used globally as a proxy for biodiesel because of the very high correlation in the two markets. While not quite as large as the soybean or corn markets, the heating oil futures market is more liquid than soybean oil futures. “You have a lot of participants in the heating oil market,” Stotts explained. “From the crude side, there are distillers and big oil that have a lot of participation—it’s definitely more robust in open interest and traded volume.”

Swaps give producers a cleaner hedge because they tie soybean oil futures contracts to heating oil futures contracts. In addition, swap contracts are listed monthly, as opposed to eight contracts for soybean oil or seven months listed for soybeans.

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Image via Seven Null7

A new survey shows that clean tech investing will do just fine in 2010, despite the unfortunate outcome of the Copenhagen talks. The Jeffreys survey shows that globally, investments will remain healthy but particularly strong in Europe. In fact, rather than slowing, analyst firm New Energy Finance predicts that global clean tech investments will reach $160 billion in 2010, up from $125 billion in 2009. But, investments will stil… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Images via Designboom

Touted as a device for avid birdwatchers who don’t have time to get out in the field, the Birdwatchercam can be mounted to a tree to track your feathered friends. But, if you’re an avid birdwatcher, wouldn’t you rather see the birds? Well, if you lack the time, here’s a gadget you might be interested in. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Photo via Green Erg

This is, well, strange. It’s a device you can drag around behind you to gather kinetic energy. Called the Green Erg, it is a human-powered electricity-generator developed by Dr. Cedrick Ngalande, who hopes that it will be a solution for cheap electricity for rural Africans…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Image via Olive Barn

These clocks made in part from recycled bike components are a fun addition to a room. However, the specifics on it show that for some home accessories, it’s probably better to break out the tool box than to shell out money for a just-missed-the-mark green product.

… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Buying a new home is the preferred choice for many people who don’t like the idea of living in an older house. Even the recession isn’t putting people off wanting a new home. With this rise in demand, it is clear to see one of the favourable reasons why a new home is preferable, and it is due to the central heating that’s already installed. Take Nottingham, for example – central heating Nottingham is a popular must and new property developments sell well when there is central heating already installed.

So, with central heating already pre-installed in a new home, this is naturally going to attract a flock of buyers, both in Nottingham and other areas of the UK. Indeed, you could opt for an old house, but isn’t it much better to move in to something that is brand new and hasn’t been lived in before? There are even some homeowners that couldn’t bear to live in a used house and will only opt for new developments. At least you can be sure the central heating works properly in it! Being brand new means it has an up to date central heating system and this helps to reduce heating bills and potential problems. Old systems suffer with problems and the engineer has to come out to repair them quite frequently in some homes. New boilers, on the other hand, are supremely energy efficient and work like a dream in a new home.

The number of brand new homes that have been sold recently is showing a steady incline compared to this time last year when people were dealing with the worst of the recession. Once people can get a mortgage, its up to them how they use it, but there is clearly a demand for a new home with pre-installed central heating. Older homes are beset with a plethora of problems such as leaking roofs, faulty boilers and damp to name but a few. It’s personal preference at the end of the day, but for many people, a new home that has central heating Nottingham is more popular than an older one that needs its central heating system replaced.

Read more on Purchasing A New Home Benefits Pre-Installed Central Heating…

Energy Tags: energy resources, solar energy

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As the year draws to a close we wanted to bring you the latest in talk and news from around the world on solar power and solar energy solutions.

India's Largest Utility to set up 301 MW Solar Power – buildaroo.com

Read more on Solar Power Roundup End of 2009…

Energy Tags: wind power, battery technology

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