GE Capital Fleet Services Launches New Interactive Website Focused on Alternative Fuels and Sustainability

Press release:

22 August 2012

GE Capital Fleet Services Launches New Interactive Website Focused on Alternative Fuels and Sustainability

 

Eden Prairie, Minn. – August 22, 2012 – GE Capital Fleet Services today announced the launch of a new eco-focused website that provides access to the company’s depth of knowledge regarding alternative fuels and related sustainable products. The website can be accessed via this link:

www.gefleet.com/eco.

The new website provides interactive tools that allow visitors to learn more about how GE Capital Fleet Services helps customers reduce costs, improve fleet performance and increase productivity via alternative fuel strategies. Highlights include:

• A video presentation focusing on GE’s Vehicle Innovation Center, a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to the alternative fuel vehicle experience
• An interactive Learning Center featuring an alternative fuel locator app and guides, resources and news for drivers, fleet managers and businesses
• An overview of GE’s WattStation™ technology and associated smart grid products and services
• Built-in accessibility to GE’s Intelligauge tool, an easy-to-use online app that calculates current and projected fuel costs and CO2 emissions
• Educational videos demonstrating the benefits of alternative fuel vehicles and infrastructure solutions

“Our new, enhanced eco website presents users with an interactive and educational experience that shows how our green solutions can help optimize customers’ fleets,” said Deb Frodl, chief strategy officer for GE Capital Fleet Services and global alternative fuels leader for GE. “GE’s global depth of knowledge around alternative fuel vehicles allows us to tell the story of sustainability in fleet management from a unique perspective.”

“Our goal is to create a web experience that puts current and prospective customers in the driver’s seat of the total alternative fuel vehicle experience,” said Jadine Starmer, web product manager. “We continually strive to identify ways to help our customers preserve capital and look to greener solutions by use of the latest technologies and interactive tools.”

The launch of the interactive website follows the May 31^st 2012 opening of GE’s world-class Vehicle Innovation Center at the company’s Fleet Services headquarters in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The center provides current and prospective customers the ability to test drive and learn about the latest advancements and innovations for alternative fuel vehicles, via an on-site test track and education center.

About GE Capital, Fleet Services

GE Capital Fleet Services, based in Eden Prairie, Minn., is a global fleet management company with operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Visit the website at gefleet.com or follow the company’s eco news and updates via Twitter (@GEFleetSvcs).

GE Capital offers consumers and businesses around the globe an array of financial products and services. For more information, visitwww.gecapital.com or follow company news via Twitter (@GECapital). GE (NYSE: GE) works on things that matter. The best people and the best technologies taking on the toughest challenges. Finding solutions in energy, health and home, transportation and finance. Building, powering, moving and curing the world. Not just imagining. Doing. GE works. For more information, visit the company's website at www.ge.com.

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The Renewable Fuels Standard, Ethanol, and the U.S. Corn Crop

Press release:

For Immediate Release
August 1, 2012

The Renewable Fuels Standard, Ethanol, and the U.S. Corn Crop

Mr. President,

The President and CEO of Smithfield Foods, Larry Pope, took to the opinion pages of the Wall Street Journal again to blame all that ails him on the Renewable Fuels Standard.

Some may recall that he did the same thing back in April of 2010 when commodity prices were rising.  At that time, he perpetuated a smear campaign and blamed ethanol in an attempt to deflect blame for rising food prices while boosting Smithfield’s profits.  And now he’s at it again.

I may start referring to Mr. Pope as Henny Penny from the children’s folk tale Chicken Little.  Every time Smithfield has to pay a little more to America’s corn farmers to feed his hogs, Mr. Pope starts up with the same argument that the sky is falling and it’s all ethanol’s fault.

Mr. Pope’s opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal might lead some to believe that he’s very knowledgeable about the ethanol industry.  But there are many areas where he’s not.  He continues to perpetuate the myth that ethanol production consumes 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop.  Mr. Pope states, “ethanol now consumes more corn than animal agriculture does.”

Everyone with a basic understanding of a livestock farm, a corn kernel or an ethanol plant knows that’s not true.  According to USDA, 37 percent of the corn supply is used in producing ethanol. But the value of the corn does not simply vanish when ethanol is produced.  One-third of the corn re-enters the market as a high value animal feed called dried distillers grains.

I would imagine that millions of hogs raised by Smithfield every year are fed a diet containing this ethanol co-product.  Mr. Pope appears unaware of its existence.  When the distillers’ grains are factored in, 43 percent of the corn supply is available for animal feed.  Only 28 percent is used for ethanol.

This is the inconvenient truth for ethanol detractors.  They prefer to live in a bubble where they believe that ethanol is diverting corn from livestock use.  That’s just not the case.

Mr. Pope also proclaims, “Ironically, if the ethanol mandate did not exist, even this year’s drought-depleted corn crop would have been more than enough to meet the requirements for livestock feed and food production at decent prices.”

I’d like to ask Mr. Pope, why do you think that is?  Why did farmers plant 96 million acres of corn this year?  Why have seed producers spent millions to develop better yielding and drought resistant traits?  The answer is simple:  Ethanol.

If not for ethanol, farmers wouldn’t have planted 96 million acres of corn this year.  Without ethanol, I doubt we’d have seen investment in higher yielding and more drought tolerant corn plants.

I’m sure Mr. Pope is an intelligent man.  But he’s woefully uninformed on the issue of what the ethanol industry and the demand for corn has done for the size and genetic improvement of the corn crop.

It’s easy to understand Smithfield’s motive.  They benefit from an abundant supply of corn, just not the competing demand for it.  What is Smithfield’s primary problem?  Again, the answer is simple:  cost and profit.  They still want to pay $2 for a bushel of corn.

This is an important point that I hope people understand.  For nearly 30 years, until about 2005, companies like Smithfield had the luxury of buying corn below the cost of production.  Corn prices remained at about $1.50 to $3.00 a bushel for nearly 30 years.  Farmers routinely lost money.

The federal government then provided economic support for the farmers.  Producers like Smithfield had the best of both worlds.  They were able to buy corn below the cost of production, and let the federal government subsidize their business by guaranteeing a cheap supply of corn.

In the view corporate livestock producers, subsidies are just fine if they allow them to buy corn below the cost of production.  Anybody could look like a genius with that business model.

Mr. Pope also continues to overstate the impact of corn prices on the consumer.  Agriculture Secretary Vilsack recently stated that farmers receive about 14 cents of every dollar spent on food at the grocery store.  Of that, about three cents is the value of the corn costs.

A research economist at the USDA recently stated that a 50-percent increase in the price of corn will raise the total grocery shopping bill by about one percent.  To put it in perspective, the value of corn in a four-dollar box of corn flakes is about ten cents.

Mr. Pope also exaggerated the impact of ethanol on food prices in 2010, and he’s doing it again today.  He’s using the devastating drought to once again undermine our nation’s food, feed and fuel producers.  And he’s doing it to make more money.

Repealing the Renewable Fuels standard won’t bolster Smithfield’s profits.  Because of the flexibility built into the renewable fuels mandate, a waiver won’t significantly reduce corn prices.

A recent study by Professor Bruce Babcock at Iowa State University found that a complete waiver of the Renewable Fuels Standard might reduce corn prices by only 4.6 percent.  The report states, “The desire by livestock groups to see additional flexibility in ethanol mandates may not result in as large a drop in feed costs as hoped.”  And, “…the flexibility built into the Renewable Fuels Standard allowing obligated parties to carry over blending credits from previous years significantly lowers the economic impacts of a short crop, because it introduces flexibility into the mandate.”

The drought is enormous in both scale and severity.  But we won’t know the true impact until September, when the harvest begins.  The latest estimates from USDA indicate an average yield of 146 bushels per acre.  That would result in a harvest of 13 billion bushels.  This would still be one of the largest corn harvests.

I would suggest that those claiming the sky is falling withhold their call for waiving or repealing the Renewable Fuels Standard.  It’s a premature action that will not produce the desired result.  And it would increase our dependence on foreign oil and drive up prices at the pump for consumers.

TE Modeling 2008 Algal Biofuels Workshop

Electrofuels

From the blog of the U.S. Dept. of Energy:

Electrofuels: Tiny Organisms Making a Big Impact

February 16, 2012

Alexa McClanahan

Communications Support Contractor to ARPA-E

They say a picture is worth a thousand words — but what happens when what you want to look at is impossible to see?

That’s where the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy’s Electrofuels program comes in. The 13 projects that make up the program seek to develop renewable liquid fuels that use microorganisms to harness chemical or electrical energy to convert carbon dioxide into liquid fuels, without using petroleum or biomass. For example, scientists at Columbia University are using bacteria to optimize the conversion of carbon dioxide and ammonia into a liquid transportation fuel similar to gasoline.

If successful, the projects supported by ARPA-E could change the game – breaking our dependence on imported oil and powering our vehicles with homegrown fuels.

Check out the infographic above to see how tiny organisms are making a big impact, or see electrofuels projects in action at ARPA-E’s 2012 Energy Innovation Summit, held February 27-29 right outside Washington, D.C. For more information, visit http://energyinnovationsummit.com/

Executive Summary; Algal Biofuels Roadmap

On December 9 and 10, 2008, the National Algal Biofuels Workshop was held in College Park, Maryland.  In May, 2010, a report based upon the workshop called National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap was published.  Below is the Executive Summary of the Roadmap.



"Developing the next generation of biofuels is key to our effort to end our dependence on foreign oil and address the climate crisis – while creating millions of new jobs that can’t be outsourced
— Secretary of Energy Steven Chu at the White Houseceremony on May 5, 2009, announcing $800 million in new biofuel research activities"

In recent years, biomass-derived fuels have received increasing attention as one solution to our nation’s continued and growing dependence on imported oil, which exposes the country to the risk of critical disruptions in fuel supply, creates economic and social uncertainties for businesses and individuals, and impacts our national security. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) established a mandatory Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requiring transportation fuel sold in the U.S. to contain a minimum of 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels, including advanced and cellulosic biofuels and biomass-based diesel, by 2022. While cellulosic ethanol is expected to play a large role in meeting the EISA goals, a number of next generation biofuels show significant promise in helping to achieve the goal. Of these candidates, biofuels derived from algae have the potential to help the U.S. meet the new RFS while at the same time moving the nation ever closer to energy independence. To accelerate the deployment of advanced biofuels, President Obama and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced the investment of $800M in new research on biofuels in the American Recovery and Renewal Act. This announcement included funds for the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE) Biomass Program to invest in the research, development, and deployment of commercial algae-to-biofuel processes. Additional funding is being directed to algae-to-biofuel research both in EERE and other government agencies and programs.

The term algae can refer to microalgae, cyanobacteria (the so called “blue-green algae”), and macroalgae (or seaweed). Under certain conditions, some microalgae have the potential to accumulate significant amounts of lipids (more than 50% of their ash-free cell dry weight). These characteristics give great potential for an immediate pathway to high energy density, fungible fuels. These fuels can also be produced using other algae feedstocks and intermediates, including starches and sugars from cyanobacteria and macroalgae. In addition to fungible biofuels, a variety of different biofuels and products can be generated using algae precursors.

There are several aspects of algal biofuel production that have combined to capture the interest of researchers and entrepreneurs around the world. These include:

1) high per-acre productivity, 2) non-food based feedstock resources, 3) use of otherwise non-productive, non-arable land, 4) utilization of a wide variety of water sources (fresh, brackish, saline, marine, produced, and wastewater), 5) production of both biofuels and valuable co-products, and 6) potential recycling of CO2 and other nutrient waste streams.

The DOE-supported Aquatic Species Program, an effort undertaken from 1978 to 1996, illustrated the potential of algae as a biofuel feedstock. Much has changed since the end of the program. Rising petroleum prices and a national mandate to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, provide environmental benefits, and create economic opportunities across the nation have renewed interest in developing algal feedstocks for biofuels production.

While the basic concept of using algae as an alternative and renewable source of biomass feedstock for biofuels has been explored previously, a scalable, sustainable and commercially viable system has yet to emerge. The National Algal Biofuels Technology Roadmap Workshop, held December 9-10, 2008, was convened by DOE-EERE’s Biomass Program. The two-day event brought together more than 200 scientists, engineers, research managers, industry representatives, lawyers, financiers, and regulators from across the country to discuss and identify the critical challenges currently hindering the economical production of algal biofuels at commercial scale.

This document represents the output from the Workshop, supporting scientific literature, and comments received during a public comment period. The Roadmap document is intended to provide a comprehensive state of technology summary for fuels and co-products from algal feedstocks and to document the feasibility and techno-economic challenges associated with scaling up of processes. This document also seeks to explore the economic and environmental impacts of deploying algal biomass production systems at commercial scale. By documenting the challenges across the algal biomass supply chain and highlighting research and coordination needs and gaps, this document will serve to guide researchers and engineers, policymakers, federal agencies, and the private sector in implementing national research, development, and deployment efforts.

In summary, the Roadmap Workshop effort suggests that many years of both basic and applied science and engineering will likely be needed to achieve affordable, scalable, and sustainable algal-based fuels. The ability to quickly test and implement new and innovative technologies in an integrated process will be a key component to accelerating progress.

WM Named EPA LMOP Industry Partner of the Year

Sometimes propaganda can have informational value.  News release from Waste Management:


Waste Management Named EPA Landfill Methane Outreach Program Industry Partner of the Year

North America's largest landfill gas-to-energy owner and operator recognized for leadership in waste-based renewable energy development



Houston — January 18, 2012 — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) has named Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM) its 2011 Industry Partner of the Year for leadership in developing waste-based renewable energy. Waste Management is the largest landfill gas-to-energy (LFGTE) developer and operator in North America and is continuing to expand its roster of energy facilities. This year’s awards were presented earlier today at the 15^th Annual LMOP Partner and Project of the Year Awards Ceremony in Baltimore, MD.

To view a short video explaining how landfills can power homes, college campuses and more, visit the WM video- Landfill Power: Turning Gas into Energy.

In 2011, WM commissioned nine LFGTE facilities with a collective capacity of 29.5 MW, bringing the number of LFGTE facilities to 133 active projects in North America. In total, these facilities produced the equivalent of 617 MW of power – enough to power 473,000 homes, and offset the consumption of over 2.4 million tons of coal. Waste Management plans to commission four additional projects in the first quarter of 2012 and is working on at least eight additional projects through its dedicated in-house project development team, which works on both WM-owned sites and those owned by municipalities and industry partners.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a leading partner in this sector by the EPA, and a testament to the hard work of our team over the last several years,” said Paul Pabor, vice president of renewable energy at Waste Management. “Waste Management developed much of the technology still in use today, and continues to find new ways to capture resources in waste. We’re looking forward to continued innovation, creating electricity, generating renewable fuels and powering local businesses with the resources at our disposal.”

Waste Management was active in two projects that won 2010 Project of the Year. The first, the University of New Hampshire EcoLine^TM project, brought gas from Waste Management’s Turnkey Landfill through a 12-mile pipe, supplying 85 percent of the campus’s heat and electricity needs. The second, at the Altamont Landfill Resource and Recovery Facility in Livermore, CA, consisted of a partnership with Linde North America. There, the companies produce up to 13,000 gallons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from landfill gas every day to fuel hundreds of WM fleet vehicles. The Altamont project is the largest landfill gas-to-LNG project in the world.                                                   

Landfill gas, generated by the natural breakdown of organic materials in a landfill, contains large amounts of methane that can be collected to generate electricity, power local businesses or be turned into transportation fuel. A successful program can turn a modern landfill from a mere disposal site to a source of clean, renewable energy to power homes and fuel vehicles.

Waste Management is continually exploring new technologies and services to generate renewable energy from waste. LFGTE complements the company’s other waste services in the areas of recycling, landfill operations and waste-based energy technology. LFGTE projects also contribute to one of Waste Management’s sustainability goals, doubling energy generation by 2020 to power the equivalent of 2 million homes.

EPA’s LMOP has assisted with more than 500 LFG energy projects over the past 16 years. The United States currently has about 575 operational LFG energy projects which annually supply more than 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and ~102 billion cubic feet of LFG to direct-use applications. There is still significant potential for expansion of the technology; LMOP has identified over 500 landfills that could provide an additional 1,155 MW of electrical power.

New Tool to Access 2010 GHG Data

News Release from the EPA:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:January 10, 2012
Media Alert: EPA to Hold Webinar to Showcase a New Tool to Access 2010 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data from Large Facilities

WASHINGTON – For the first time, comprehensive greenhouse gas (GHG) data reported directly from large facilities and suppliers across the country are now easily accessible to the public through EPA’s GHG Reporting Program. The 2010 GHG data to be released includes public information from facilities in nine industry groups that directly emit large quantities of GHGs, as well as suppliers of certain fossil fuels and high global warming gases. 

WHAT: Media teleconference to explain the agency’s new tool for accessing greenhouse gas emissions data

WHO: Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

WHEN: Wednesday, January 11, 2012, noon, Eastern Time

HOW: To participate, please use the following dial-in numbers.
Call-in: (866) 900-8984 Toll Free for U.S. and Canada; and (706) 679-8357 for international callers

Conference ID: 41836951
To access the Webinar use GoToWebinar link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/288135930

Wanted or Not: Alternative-Fuel Cars Flood Auto Show

The following is an excerpt from a January 10 New York Times article with the above title.  It highlights a real problem as the U.S. tries to cope with GHG emissions through greater vehicle efficiency.  That problem is that Americans love their big cars.  Muscle cars from the '60s and '70s are still considered glamorous.  Try picking up chicks in a Smart car or hybrid and see how far you get.

The New York Times

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Wanted or Not: Alternative-Fuel Cars Flood Auto Show

By NICK BUNKLEY

DETROIT — In the race to claim ever-higher fuel-economy numbers and keep up with government regulations, automakers are rolling out hybrids and electric cars aplenty at this week’s Detroit auto show.

If only buyers were arriving as fast as the cars.

Hybrid sales waned as gasoline prices ebbed in 2011, declining to 2.2 percent of the market from 2.4 percent a year earlier, according to the research firm LMC Automotive. Meanwhile, sales of the Nissan Leaf electric car and the Chevrolet Volt plug-in each fell short of expectations.

Analysts do not expect the segment to grow significantly this year: the combination of gas prices below $4 a gallon and higher upfront costs for the cars is not attracting consumers.

 But that is not deterring Toyota, Honda, Ford Motor and several European carmakers from introducing new hybrid and plug-in models.

“The market is going in one direction and fuel-economy regulations are going the other direction,” said Jeremy Anwyl, vice chairman of the automotive information Web site Edmunds.com. “Just because people start building more of something doesn’t mean the segment grows.”

Regardless, the automakers have little choice but to develop and try to push more hybrids as they prepare for fuel-efficiency requirements that call for significant increases later this decade. Advances such as Ford’s EcoBoost technology have increased mileage for gas-powered engines — the new Fusion midsize sedan it unveiled Monday can get 37 miles to the gallon, Ford said — but bigger gains are needed.

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EPA Finalizes 2012 Renewable Fuel Standards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sent this out today:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 27, 2011

EPA Finalizes 2012 Renewable Fuel Standards

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today finalized the 2012 percentage standards for four fuel categories that are part of the agency’s Renewable Fuel Standard program (RFS2). EPA continues to support greater use of renewable fuels within the transportation sector every year through the RFS2   program, which encourages innovation, strengthens American energy security, and decreases greenhouse gas pollution.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) established the RFS2 program and the annual renewable fuel volume targets, which steadily increase to an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022. To achieve these volumes, EPA calculates a percentage-based standard for the following year. Based on the standard, each refiner and importer determines the minimum volume of renewable fuel that it must ensure is used in its transportation fuel.

The final 2012 overall volumes and standards are:

Biomass-based diesel (1.0 billion gallons; 0.91 percent)
Advanced biofuels (2.0 billion gallons; 1.21 percent)
Cellulosic biofuels (8.65 million gallons; 0.006 percent)
Total renewable fuels (15.2 billion gallons; 9.23 percent)

Last spring EPA had proposed a volume requirement of 1.28 billion gallons for biomass-based diesel for 2013. EISA specifies a one billion gallon minimum volume requirement for that category for 2013 and beyond, but enables EPA to increase the volume requirement after consideration of a variety of environmental, market, and energy-related factors. EPA is continuing to evaluate the many comments from stakeholders on the proposed biomass based diesel volume for 2013 and will take final action next year.

Overall, EPA’s RFS2 program encourages greater use of renewable fuels, including advanced biofuels. For 2012, the program is implementing EISA’s requirement to blend more than 1.25 billion gallons of renewable fuels over the amount mandated for 2011.

More information on the standards and regulations: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/regulations.htm

More information on renewable fuels: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/index.htm

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