Feds Approve Transmission Line for Wind Project in East Oregon

The following excerpt is from the January 7 djcoregon.com.

Feds approve transmission line for wind project in East Oregon

A $300 million wind project proposed in the high desert of Harney County is one step closer to construction thanks to recent federal approval for a 46-mile, 230-kilovolt transmission line.

The transmission line last week won support from the U.S. Department of the Interior – a crucial green light for the proposed 104-megawatt Echanis wind project. But concerns continue to be raised by groups that have opposed development within the scenic region that surrounds Steens Mountain.

 For details, click the link below:

http://djcoregon.com/news/2012/01/04/feds-approve-transmission-line-for-wind-project-in-east-oregon/

Winter Weather No Match for Biodiesel Blends

From the National Biodiesel Board:

New York City Plows the Way with Biodiesel Blends

The largest municipal user of biodiesel, New York City, even counts on biodiesel blends to power snow removal equipment. The New York City Parks & Recreation Department was the first city agency to pilot biodiesel in 2005 and continues its use of B20.

The 850-vehicle strong diesel fleet helps to maintain more than 29,000 acres in New York City. The fleet includes more than 40 different types of vehicles and equipment – handling everything from snow removal to landscape and parks maintenance to road construction and waste management.

The New York City Sanitation Department also uses biodiesel blends in vehicles used to fight winter weather, such as salt spreaders and plows. "We can't afford for our garbage trucks not to run," said Supervisor of Mechanics Spiro Kattan. "Our trucks don't only pick up garbage, they are also equipped with snowplow hitches. We're a part of the city's snow emergency plans and the residents of New York City would not be too happy if our vehicles went down during a snow storm."

Further, JFK International Airport uses B20 to keep runways clear even in the worst of snowstorms.

Bioheat ® Warms Homes & Offices

In addition, New York City enacted a groundbreaking law requiring that all heating oil sold in the city contain at least 2 percent biodiesel beginning in October 2012. Bioheat® is already keeping many homes and offices warm this winter, including New York City Parks buildings.

For More Information

NBB’s website includes a number of resources about the operability of biodiesel blends in cold climates -- www.biodiesel.org/cold. For more information on Bioheat®, visit: http://www.bioheatonline.com.

China Airlines Refuse to Pay EU Carbon Charge

Chinese airlines will not pay a charge on carbon emissions imposed by the European Union, said a national aviation industry group.

http://news.yahoo.com/china-airlines-refuse-pay-eu-carbon-charge-031145597.html

Biodiesel Tax Incentive Lapses, Industry Remains Hopeful

From The Biodiesel Bulletin, January 2012:

The National Biodiesel Board expressed disappointment with Congress’ failure to extend the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive before it expired on Dec. 31 but saw some reason for hope that lawmakers could act early this year.

Leaders in both parties have said they want to take up a package of tax extensions early in 2012, and many have said the biodiesel incentive should be part of such a package. NBB is urging everyone involved in the biodiesel industry to continue calling on their elected officials to support an extension.

"We're disappointed," said Anne Steckel, NBB’s vice president of federal affairs. "Jobs and the economy are supposed to be the top priority in Washington, yet Congress has left thousands of workers in limbo by failing to extend this tax incentive. It's a missed opportunity, and we are urging Congress to pass an extension immediately to limit the economic damage."

The biodiesel industry saw a remarkable turnaround in 2011 after Congress reinstated its $1-per-gallon tax incentive following a one-year lapse in 2010. The increased production in 2011 supports some 39,000 jobs - up from fewer than 13,000 in 2010 - while generating at least $3 billion in GDP and $628 million in federal, state and local tax revenues, according to a recent economic study. In addition to creating jobs and economic activity, biodiesel is reducing U.S. reliance on foreign oil, bolstering economic and national security by diversifying our fuel supply, and reducing tailpipe pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

State (Biodiesel) Energy Initiatives Successful in IL & TX

From the Biodiesel Bulletin, January 2012:

Just before the holidays, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signed into law a five-year extension of the state’s biodiesel tax exemption. The omnibus jobs bill containing the biodiesel provision extends the incentive’s sunset date from December 31, 2013 to December 31, 2018. The incentive provides a complete exemption from the state’s 6.25% road sales tax for biodiesel blends above B10, a policy that is largely responsible for Illinois’ position as the nation’s largest domestic marketplace. Extension of the Illinois biodiesel tax incentive demonstrates the power of America’s advanced biofuel as a job and economic driver in the state. “We applaud Illinois leaders for their vision and long-term support of the state incentive and call on our national leaders to follow suit and extend the biodiesel tax incentive at the federal level,” said National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe. In addition, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) issued regulatory guidance that removes biodiesel from the U.S. EPA-mandated Texas Low Emission Diesel (TxLED) program. The TCEQ guidance document indicates that biodiesel has no measurable negative impact on air quality, including NOx. Previous to this announcement, biodiesel blends between B6 and B20 required additization to achieve legal fuel status. With this announcement, biodiesel is no longer regulated for NOx, or any other type of emissions, in any U.S. state. A copy of the regulatory guidance document can be found HERE.

Building Storehouses for the Sun's Energy, for Use After Dark

The following was gleaned from a January 3 New York Times article with the above title.

Building Storehouses for the Sun’s Energy, for Use After Dark

The solar power industry must overcome a major stumbling block: finding a way to store it for use when the sun isn’t shining.

Solar thermal power makes electricity by using the sun’s heat to boil water. The water can be used to heat salt that stores the energy until later, when the sun is no longer shining.

The U.S. Energy Department recently gave a $737 million loan guarantee to a solar thermal company for a plant that will generate 110 megawatts at peak and store enough heat to run for eight to 10 hours when the sun is not shining.

One advantage of adding storage capacity has to do with the equipment that makes electricity being the most expensive part of a solar thermal system.  If it is connected to storage technology, it can run almost twice as many hours as a plant without storage. That means the unit cost of electricity drops.

Another has to do with the arcane economics of electricity. A utility must assure a supply of electricity in two forms: energy and capacity. The difference has never meant much to most consumers, who directly pay only for energy, as measured in kilowatt-hours.

But capacity, the dependable ability to produce power, is becoming more important as renewable energy forms a larger and larger part of the grid.

Wind and sun provide a lot of energy but not much capacity. Today, backup capacity for wind and solar power comes in the form of expensive gas-fired generators, which sit idle most of the year but operate when the wind stops blowing or the sun stops shining.

Storage could cut costs by 4 cents a kilowatt-hour, Mr. Denholm calculates — a considerable benefit for a commodity that retails for an average of 11 cents. A big part of the savings is not having to build the gas-fired generators for backup.

After Three Decades, Federal Tax Credit for Ethanol Expires

The following was gleaned from a January 2 New York Times article with the above title.

The New York Times

Monday, January 02, 2012

After Three Decades, Federal Tax Credit for Ethanol Expires

WASHINGTON — A federal tax credit for ethanol expired on Saturday, ending an era in which the federal government provided more than $20 billion in subsidies for use of the product.

The tax break, created more than 30 years ago, had long seemed untouchable. But in the last year, during which Congress was preoccupied with deficits and debt, it became a symbol of corporate welfare. Fiscal conservatives joined liberal environmentalists to kill it, with help from a diverse coalition of outside groups.

In the United States, most ethanol is produced from corn.

Nearly 40 percent of the United States corn crop goes to ethanol and byproducts, including animal feed.

The tax credit, which cost the government nearly $6 billion in 2011, went to gasoline refiners that mixed ethanol with gasoline.

Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, said the ethanol industry had enjoyed “a trifecta, a triple crown” of federal support. Federal law requires that certain minimum amounts of renewable fuels like ethanol be blended into gasoline. Refiners received the tax credit for doing so. And the government imposed a tariff on imported ethanol, protecting the domestic industry.

The tariff, like the tax credit, expired Saturday. But the requirement to use increasing amounts of ethanol in gasoline continues.

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