Articles Of Interest
- Wind Farms Could Bring Wyoming Ranchers Windfall
- Utah Startup Hits Geothermal Jakpot
- Study predicts millions of green jobs
- It's stinkweed to the rescue with its biodiesel potential
- Making jet fuel from algae oil is very green
- Many tech firms place chips on solar power
Wind Farms Could Bring Wyoming Ranchers Windfall
By Addie Goss
Wyoming Public Radio
December 26, 2008
It's been a rough year for the ranching industry as fuel and hay prices skyrocketed and Americans ate less beef. Many ranchers are beginning to look for extra sources of income, and they're finding it in their backyards — wind.
In Wyoming, some landowners are forming "wind associations" by pooling their land together to market it to companies eager to harness and profit from the wind power of the plains.
Kathy Speiser, who owns a farm in Laramie Valley with her husband Pep, says wind speeds in this valley can reach 80 miles per hour. Pep says that can be deadly in the winter.
"When the temperature is 20 degrees, maybe, and you get a 30 mph wind, it doesn't take long to chill a calf," Pep Speiser says.
But about two years ago, that cruel Wyoming wind started to become a commodity. Strangers began to drive up the long dirt roads in the valley, knocking on ranchers' doors. They were wind developers who wanted the rights to build wind turbines in the area or to sell those rights to bigger companies.
Putting A Price On Wind
Rancher Jim Rogers says some of his neighbors felt pressured to sign leases, but they didn't know what their wind was worth.
"You had to be kind of careful at first — lot of wind companies trying to tie up land," Rogers says.
Grant Stumbough, the visionary behind Wyoming's new model of wind development, says many of the landowners "didn't know how to deal with that." Stumbough, who works for a state branch of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has a deep affinity for people who work the land. Two years ago, when Stumbough heard reports of wind developers roaming the state, he had an idea:
"Why can't we work together and get a better price?" he says.
To build a wind farm, developers lease large blocks of land. They usually approach many landowners and make separate deals.
But Stumbough saw an opportunity to give landowners more leverage. Ranchers and farmers pool their land together — up to 100,000 acres in some cases. They work with developers as a group and share the profits. That idea can be a tough sell for many in Wyoming, who value their independence and privacy, but Stumbough says the handful who join wind associations have an advantage with developers.
"When you put these larger blocks of land together, that's exactly what [developers are] looking for — so it becomes a whole lot more marketable," Stumbough says.
'A One-Stop Shop' For Developers
Susan Williams Sloan, who works with the American Wind Energy Association, a trade group for the wind industry, says wind associations have streamlined the process for developers.
"They kind of are a one-stop shop for the developers to come to," Sloan says.
But wind associations often don't wait for developers to come to them. Instead, they market their blocked land to dozens of companies. Sloan says that can lead to bidding wars. Working with associations is potentially more expensive for developers, but ultimately, Sloan says, landowners in associations are better informed — they understand their contracts. She says that's good for the landowner and for the developer.
The Wyoming model is spreading to other Western states, including New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado. In Wyoming, there are now eight wind associations, including the ranchers in the Laramie Valley. Kathy Speiser says a wind lease might ease one of ranching's major burdens: unreliable income.
"It's not like a normal job where you get paid every month or every two weeks or whatever. You get paid once a year" when calves are sold, she says. But calf prices this year were the lowest since 2002, according to reports from the Livestock Marketing Information Center in Denver.
Rogers says ranchers are hurting for extra income.
"Well, if we're going to continue doing this, we're going to have to find other ways than trying to make the old cow make all the payments," Rogers says.
Wind revenue should help, and Stumbough says if a wind project goes ahead, turbines are built, and transmission is available, a rancher's royalties could be hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Everyone in the wind association would get a share — even those without turbines on their land.
Rogers says that sounds great to him and his neighbors who have a choice to make: whether they'd rather look out at a wind turbine or at a subdivision.
UTAH STARTUP HITS GEOTHERMAL JACKPOT
By Paul Foy
Associated Press - PROVO
December 24, 2008
Within six months of discovering a massive geothermal field, a small Utah company had erected and fired up a power plant � just one example of the speed with which companies are capitalizing on state mandates for alternative energy.
Anticipation of new energy policies has sparked a rush on land leases as companies like Raser Technologies Inc., based in Provo, lock up property that hold geothermal fields and potentially huge profits.
Raser's find, about 155 miles southwest of Provo, could eventually power 200,000 homes.� The company said it will begin routing electricity to Anaheim, Calif. within weeks.� Earlier this month, California adopted the nation's most sweeping plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions.� "We made a pleasant discovery, let's put it that way," said Brent M. Cook, the company's chief executive.
The number of government land leases and drilling permits have risen quickly, said Kermit Witherbee, who heads up the leasing program for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, with more than two dozen companies now trying to make a score like Raser.
Two years ago, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management approved 18 geothermal drilling permits. That number more than doubled in 2007 and has nearly quadrupled this year.
The government leased a staggering 244,000 acres for geothermal development in the past 18 months. Another 146,339 acres went up for bid Friday in Utah, Oregon and Idaho.� All of it was claimed.
Raser's find "has the potential to become one of the more important geothermal energy developments of the last quarter century," said Greg Nash, a professor of geothermal exploration at the University of Utah.
The company quickly redrew its business plan, bumping up its planned development of 10 megawatts of power to 230 megawatts. That is in line with the field's power potential according to calculations by GeothermEX Inc., a consulting firm.
By comparison, the largest group of geothermal plants in the world are The Geysers, about 60 miles northeast of San Francisco. The Geysers geothermal basin produces about 900 megawatts of energy, enough to power the city, said Ann Robertson-Tait, a senior geologist and vice president of business development for GeothermEX.
Geothermal technology creates energy using heat that is stored in the earth. But geothermal still generates less than 1 percent of the world's energy, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency.
"The outlook for geothermal is great," said Brian Yerger, an energy analyst for New York-based Jesup & Lamont.
Geothermal companies are relatively small players in the energy market and have had to scramble to lock up financing, particularly during a recession.
Merrill Lynch & Co. has pledged to fund Raser's first 100 megawatts of projects and says it is staying in the game.
"We've done a lot with Raser," said Merrill Lynch spokeswoman Danielle Robinson. "We're very committed to the company."
Cook said his company can raise additional money from joint ventures and stock sales. "This is where the money flows, to alternative energy projects that pencil out," he said. The company made its first major stock sale Nov. 14 to Fletcher Asset Management of New York.
"We are enthusiastic about our investment," said Kell Benson, Fletcher's vice chairman. The firm bought $10 million in stock at $5 a share, with an option to double the stake.
Raser and its supplier, UTC Power, plan to build another seven geothermal energy plants across the western United States by the end of 2009 and 10 plants a year for the next decade.
The push for geothermal power has been accelerated by state mandates like those in California, which this month said utilities must obtain a third of their electricity from renewable sources by 2020.
Raser, which specializes in low-boil geothermal sites, started buying leases five years ago on hundreds of thousands of acres that had been passed over because of their lower heat potential.
New technology, however, has made low-boil water useable for geothermal power. Raser buys 250-kilowatt power units from UTC Power, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp.
Geothermal is also being used on a smaller scale.
"These things are slot machines. They make money," said Bernie Karl, owner of Chena Hot Springs Resort, off the grid 60 miles northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. On geothermal energy from early UTC prototypes, Karl powers light bulbs, heats lodges and rooms for 210 guests, warms a greenhouse that grows food and spices, keeps an ice house frozen and makes hydrogen for resort vehicles.
Raser hit hot water at a few thousand feet below the surface circulating inside a zone of porous limestone a mile deep. The underground "lake" cycles hot water endlessly under the power of the Earth's internal heat like a steam engine, throwing up loops of hot water intersected by wells that return it to the system.
The company holds rights to 78 square miles of land in the area and believes it has barely tapped the full potential.
Utah Startup Hits Geothermal Jakpot
The 4.7 million jobs by 2038 would come from a big shift for the nation to alternative sources of fuel and power.
By H. Josef Hebert
Associated Press
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Washington - A major shift to renewable energy and efficiency is expected to produce 4.2 million new environmentally friendly "green" jobs over the next three decades, according to a study commissioned by the nation's mayors.
The study being released today by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, says about 750,000 people currently work in what can be considered green jobs ?- from scientists and engineers researching alternative fuels to makers of wind turbines and more energy-efficient products.
But that's less than one-half of 1 percent of total employment. By 2038, an additional 4.2 million green jobs are expected to be added, accounting for 10 percent of new job growth over the next 30 years, according to the report by Global Insight.
"It could be the fastest growing segment of the United States economy over the next several decades and dramatically increase its share of total employment," the report says.
However, the study cautions such job growth won't be realized without an aggressive shift away from traditional fossil fuels toward alternative energy and a significant improvement in energy efficiency.
For example, it assumes by 2038 alternative energy will account for 40 percent of electricity production with half of that coming from wind and solar; widespread retrofitting of buildings to achieve a 35 percent reduction in electricity use; and 30 percent of motor fuels coming from ethanol or biodiesel.
Alternative energy, such as wind, geothermal, biomass and solar, currently accounts for less than 3 percent of electricity generation and nonfossil sources such as ethanol and biodiesel about 5 percent of all motor fuels, the report notes.
Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, the conference's president, said the report makes "a very compelling economic argument for investing in the green economy and that we're going to get a huge return for it."
"These are things we have to do," said Diaz, adding that "Washington needs to get on the train."
Both presidential candidates have cited the jobs potential if the country embraces alternative energy and efficiency.
Democratic nominee Barack Obama predicts investments in a "clean energy economy" over the next 10 years "will help the private sector create 5 million new green jobs" ?- a more ambitious projection than outlined by the study provided the mayors.
Republican rival John McCain's energy blueprint makes no specific job growth forecast but declares development of green jobs and green technology "vital to our economic future."
The report, being presented at a mayor's conference in Miami, predicts the biggest job gain will be from the increased use of alternative transportation fuels, with 1.5 million additional jobs, followed by the renewable power-generating sector with 1.2 million new jobs. An additional 81,000 additional jobs will be generated by industries related to making homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient, the study said.
And it predicted an additional 1.4 million green jobs related to engineering, research, consulting and legal work.
"We're trying to show the size of the green jobs economy" assuming policy shifts toward less dependence on fossil fuels, said Jim Diffley of Global Insight.
It's stinkweed to the rescue with its biodiesel potential
Plant is tough, easy to grow and isn't part of the food supply
By MICHAEL HILL Associated Press
Joe Dickson, an executive with Innovation Fuels, examines pennycress in the garden of his New Woodstock, N.Y., home. The weed is a potential source of biodiesel fuel.
ALBANY, N.Y. The request caught dairy farmer Brian Ziehm off guard: Would he devote an acre of his fields near the Vermont line this fall to grow stinkweed?
"It was like, 'What the heck? I've been trying to get rid of these things for 30 years. Now you want me to plant them?' "
But Ziehm happily agreed to grow the hardy weed called field pennycress aka stinkweed to help test a potential new source of fuel for the booming biodiesel market. A handful of fields around upstate New York will be planted with pennycress later this month under the pilot program launched by an Albany-based biodiesel company, Innovation Fuels.
Past promises of cheap fuel grown on American soil have sometimes become stuck in the weeds, so to speak, as prices for commodities like corn and soybean oil rose. But a number of researchers now believe that this winter weed with oily little seeds has an advantage in that it is not a food crop.
"Our intention is to create a crop that has a niche and does not displace anything else that is already growing," said Steve Vaughn, a plant physiologist with the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Ill.
Biodiesel is a fuel derived from vegetable oils or animal fats that can power diesel engines and be used for heating. Biodiesel production has skyrocketed with the spike in fossil fuel prices, from 25 million gallons in 2004 to 500 million gallons last year, according to the National Biodiesel Board.
Biodiesel can be produced from animal fat, used cooking oil and a host of plants, though most biodiesel in the U.S. comes from soybean oil. Soybeans, like corn, are a commodity in demand for both food and fuel.
Prices for soybean oil have more than doubled since 2005, giving the industry added incentive to experiment with other potential sources of fuel.
As researchers look for ways to increase soybean yields, they also are looking at alternative fuel sources ranging from winter canola to algae. A few promising candidates are weeds, which are attractive to growers for the same reasons they exasperate homeowners: They sprout fast and are aggressive.
Farmers in warmer climates around the world are looking at a plant called jatropha, and in Oregon this summer, they are planting camelina sativa, sometimes called false flax.
Researchers at the agricultural center stumbled on pennycress a few years ago after noticing it growing wild. Its seeds are 36 percent oil, it's easy to harvest and has potential for a high yield. According to the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service's Web site, it grows in only a few places in Texas.
Vaughn said what separates pennycress from some other plants is that it's a winter annual. It's planted in the fall and harvested in May or June. That could let them "double crop" pennycress in the winter complementing a summer crop.
Innovation executive Joe Dickson, who grows pennycress in his garden, cautions that the crop work is still in its infancy. "We are domesticating it as we speak," Dickson said.
Making jet fuel from algae oil is very green
Ilana DeBare, Chronicle Staff Writer
Solazyme - a South San Francisco startup focused on producing oil from algae - said Tuesday that it had produced the world's first algal-derived jet fuel.
Company officials said that their algae-based fuel had been tested by one of the nation's leading fuel analysis laboratories and had passed eleven tests necessary for use in aviation.
"This is not like conventional biodiesel, where you can take french fry grease from McDonald's and turn it into oil in your garage," said Harrison Dillon, president and co-founder of the 50-person company. "Planes will fall out of the sky if you don't have a high-quality fuel that meets strict standards. ... What Solazyme has done is demonstrate the first-ever manufacture of high-quality jet fuel from algae."
Solazyme has been experimenting with different strains of algae since 2003 in an effort to develop renewable alternatives to petroleum for use in transportation, cosmetics, cooking and manufacturing.
The company genetically modifies algae from around the world to consume a wide range of feedstocks, such as wood chips, switchgrass and sawdust. When the algae consume more of these substances than they immediately need, they produce oil as an energy storage mechanism.
Last winter, Solazyme produced fuel that powered a Mercedes diesel car around the Sundance Film Festival.
Its initial output of jet fuel was a modest 5 to 10 gallons - just enough for lab testing.
But Dillon said that the potential output will only be limited by the availability of feedstock.
"You won't replace 100 percent of fuel with biofuel for a long time, but this is not something that is going to top out at half a percent of all jet fuel," he said. "It's got a lot of potential."
Dillon predicted that Solazyme will be able to bring production costs down to a point where its fuel will be competitive with $40- to $80-per-barrel oil in two or three years.
Before then, though, there is a lot more testing to do.
So visitors to this year's Sundance Film Festival are not likely to be able to fly there in an algae-fueled plane.
"There is a pretty stringent process for bringing new jet fuels to market," said Dillon. "I can't give you an exact date when we are going to fly a plane on this stuff, but we are in active conversations with oil companies as well as aviation companies."
No peanuts and pretzels, and no algae oil - yet.
Many tech firms place chips on solar power
By Bob Keefe
Cox Washington Bureau
Published on: 07/17/08
San Jose, Calif. - Semiconductor companies, which made computers and other electronic devices ubiquitous, now are setting their sights on solar power.
In the past few months, just about every major company in the semiconductor business has joined a rush into the solar industry, paving the way for what industry observers predict will be cheaper, better and more efficient equipment for both consumers and businesses.
Semiconductor companies think they can bring the type of precision technology and manufacturing techniques they perfected with computer chips to solar cells, both those based on silicon and other types.
"Right now these are fairly dumb, passive electronics," said Ralf Muenster, strategic market development director for National Semiconductor Corp., which in late June introduced its first solar product, a device it claims makes solar cells work better in the shade.
Muenster said that's just the start. "We have a whole vision of making these arrays smarter," he said. "There's a lot more to come."
On Wednesday, the venture capital arm of the biggest semiconductor company, Intel Corp., announced that it was plunking $38 million into a German solar company, just weeks after Intel announced it was spinning off its own solar business. IBM Corp. has jumped into the business, too, partnering with a Japanese company to develop new solar technologies.
Even Hewlett-Packard Co., which doesn't make semiconductors but has done extensive research in the area, recently licensed its transparent-transistor technology to a Silicon Valley company that promises it can make solar panels twice as efficient and half as expensive.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc. is one of the few semiconductor makers that hasn't announced any solar plans.
Equipment makers are getting in the game, too. Earlier this year, semiconductor equipment maker Tokyo Electron Ltd. teamed up with Sharp Corp. to start developing new tools for solar cell manufacturing.
And last week, Tokyo Electron's archrival, Applied Materials Inc., broke ground on a new $60 million-plus factory in Singapore that will expand its capacity to make both solar and semiconductor equipment.
"The timing is right" for the solar business, Mark Pinto, Applied's chief technology officer, said in an interview in April.
That's not just because oil and gas prices are soaring and the world is going greener. Solar technology, Pinto and others said, is now ripe for the kind of innovation and production know-how that high-tech companies can offer.
Making semiconductors and making solar cells - at least crystalline silicon cells, the most common type - is similar. Both are based on silicon and integrated circuits and require giant pieces of specialized machinery to manufacture.
Meanwhile, the solar industry is projected to grow much faster than the computer chip business.
Driven by dramatic increases in demand, worldwide installations of photovoltaic equipment soared by 60 percent last year by some measures and are predicted to grow by more than 25 percent annually in coming years. The semiconductor industry, on the other hand, is growing at about 5 percent. Tech industry forecaster iSuppli Corp. predicts that worldwide investments in solar cell production will equal investments in semiconductor manufacturing by 2010.
The semiconductor industry "is now a very large market with a somewhat lower annual growth rate," said Jim Hines, an analyst with technology research firm Gartner Inc. "Many of these companies ... are seeing [solar] as the next opportunity for some really high growth potential."
Traditional solar companies are taking an optimistic view of the invasion of tech titans. While their arrival means more competition, it also is bringing a lot of legitimacy to a business that not long ago was considered more whimsical than wise.
"I think it's fantastic," said John Baumstark, chief executive of Suniva Inc., an Atlanta-based solar cell company. "The fact that these large, established companies are [getting into the business] is a real validation of the space and the market opportunity."
Hines and other industry analysts say there's a chance the industry may be attracting too many new players.
"We're going to see a great deal of consolidation ... over the next five years or so," he predicted.
