1. Biofuels
2. Vehicle electrification and hydrogen
3. Natural Gas Vehicles
4. Biomass-to-Liquids, Gas-to-Liquids, and Coal-to-Liquids.
   

DISCLAIMER: The information and trades provided here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 08:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Probably the safest way to invest in cellulosic biofuels is by investing in cellulosic feedstocks.  Two Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) make this easy and inexpensive, although three individual stocks give better exposure to just biomass.

Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA

It's the Biomass, Stupid!

Although they have considerable political momentum, cellulosic ethanol and advanced biofuels are not the best way to use biomass in order to reduce carbon emissions.  Greater carbon reductions can be had at lower cost by cofiring the same biomass in existing coal plants.  If the goal is more ethanol to displace gasoline, wouldn't it make more sense to feed cows on grass instead of corn, and use the corn to make ethanol, than it makes to use grass to make ethanol?  If the goal is more miles driven per ton of cellulose, you will get more miles per ton by burning the cellulose to make electricity and using that to charge an EV or PHEV.  Finally, biomass can be used to sequester carbon as biochar, while also producing electricity, heat or liquid fuel.  

Given all the possible uses of biomass, it makes far more sense to me to invest in the biomass itself, rather than in any one process for converting biomass into fuel or other form of energy.  I first wrote about this idea over 2 years ago, when I suggested that sustainable forestry companies were a good way to invest in cellulosic ethanol.  Another variation on this theme is waste management companies, two of which I included in a my Clean Energy Stocks Shopping list, while the recently profiled Algonquin Power Income Fund (AGQNF.PK) also manages wastewater treatment facilities.  Here, I'll focus on wood and wood pulp.

Don't Miss The Forest

Many biomass investments are worth pursuing for those of us who believe that we both need to reduce carbon emissions and displace a dwindling supply of liquid fossil fuels.  None, however, is as easy to invest in as forestry.  Unlike most forms of biomass (aside from food), we already have an existing infrastructure to harvest and transport wood.  

The Forestry industry is also well-established as an industry sector.  Since I first started writing about the potential of forestry companies to benefit from the new uses for their timber, two sector Exchange Traded Funds have been launched, the iShares Global Timber & Forestry Index Fund (WOOD), and the Claymore/Clear Global Timber Index (CUT).  Both these ETFs contain about 25 global companies that either own timberland or produce paper-related products.

However, an investor wishing to benefit from new uses of wood would want to own wood and pulp producers, but not wood consumers, such as paper companies that does not own its own timberland.  Wood users are likely to lose from increasing prices for wood, while wood producers should gain.  

I took a look at the portfolio holdings of both WOOD and CUT to see which had the best exposure to producers.  These numbers are very approximate, based on my best guesses after reading the company profiles of the portfolio companies:

Even given my cursory analysis of each fund's holdings, WOOD stands out as clearly superior to CUT for investors interested in a Forestry ETF as an investment in Biomass, because of the significantly higher exposure to producers than consumers.  CUT does have better liquidity, but that hardly makes up for the lower expense ratio of WOOD, and high exposure to wood consumers.

Stocks

Even the 60% exposure of WOOD to biomass producers is not enough so that I think these funds are a good way to invest in the sector.  It would be theoretically possible to get exposure just to producers by going long WOOD and shorting CUT, but such theories tend to work a lot better in theory than in practice.

Hence, I feel the best approach to get exposure to wood producers is with individual stocks.  Most of the holdings of these two funds are international, but there are still a few  US-listed ones.  With the caveat that I have not researched any of these companies, here are the US-traded holdings of the two funds that seem to be mostly wood and pulp producers, as opposed to biomass consumers:

While a portfolio of only three stocks is not very diversified, few investors are likely to commit more than 10% of their portfolio to forestry, and devoting 3% or less of your portfolio to a single company should bring adequate diversification.  The loss of global exposure (the ETFs contain several Japanese and European companies as well as US and Brazilian ones), but this loss seems worth avoiding significant exposure to an industry (paper and packaging) with a significant input (pulp) that we expect to become more expensive due to competing uses.

Timing

Just as farmers are now benefiting from higher corn and soy prices because of the production of ethanol and biodiesel, it seems fairly certain that timber companies will benefit from higher prices for both lumber and previously unused slash.  Nevertheless, there remains a question of when.  Cellulosic ethanol plants are still in the pilot stage, with not nearly enough being produced to make a difference to the forestry industry's revenue.  In contrast, cofiring wood and using it for heat are both established industries.  At the moment, however, these uses for wood tend to be driven by the prices of alternative fuels (coal and heating oil), and not by reduced carbon emissions. 

Although forest waste and sawdust can be practically free at the source, the cost of gathering and transport often means that they are nearly as expensive as the alternatives at the point of use.  In order for the industry to overcome the logistical barriers, a price on carbon emissions is probably necessary.  For US investors considering Plum Creek or Potlatch, it probably makes sense to wait until we see action from the US on climate change before investing.

DISCLOSURE: None.

DISCLAIMER: The information and trades provided here and in the comments are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Biochar is still mostly a research and cottage industry, yet it has the potential to impact returns for a broad range of investors.

Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA

Biochar, or amending soil with biomass-derived carbon, shows great potential to improve the productivity of soils, as well as to increase the utilization of fertilizers by plants, while sequestering carbon to reduce the drivers of climate change.  On August 10, I went to the 2009 North American Biochar Conference to look at the potential for investors. 

Before I went, I took a look at the publicly traded companies involved in biochar.  I did not learn of  any new public companies at the conference, but I have nevertheless become increasingly convinced that biochar has a large role to play in moving to a sustainable economy, not just for energy, but for agriculture.

While the biochar industry is still too early stage for most stock market investors, understanding the economics of biochar will give investors insight into the effects the broad use of biochar will have on the overall economy, and their other investments.  Many types of public companies are likely to be impacted.  Some industries likely to be affected are  

• Agricultural and forestry companies, which may benefit from increased yields and an additional market for their products,
• Advanced biofuel companies which may have to compete with biochar companies for feedstock, as well as for a place in low carbon fuel standards with a biofuel with a much lower carbon footprint, 
• Any participants in environmental markets for carbon offsets, since biochar is likely to be a source of carbon credits.

Carbon Sequestration

Long-term carbon sequestration in the soil is the headline benefit of biochar.  Depending on how the biochar is made, it may stay in the soil for thousands of years.  Biochar has both volatile and fixed or "recalcitrant" carbon fractions.  The volatile fraction decays relatively rapidly, over a few years or decades, while the recalcitrant fraction stays in the soil for centuries or millennia.  The relative fractions depend on the feedstock and how the char is made, but debate continues about the best conditions and feedstocks for a high recalcitrant fraction, which can be the vast majority of the char.

As a potentially vast source of carbon offsets, biochar has the potential to reshape offset markets for carbon dioxide.  Although biochar is not currently accepted as an offset in any climate trading regime, many expect that it will soon qualify.  Peter Weisberg, an Offset Project Analyst at The Climate Trust not only expects that biochar will qualify as carbon sequestration, but says that The Climate Trust is interested in purchasing offsets from biochar projects.

If biochar does qualify for carbon finance, it will place downward pressure on the price of carbon offsets... to a point.  As anyone who has grilled a hamburger knows, char can also be burned to produce useful heat.  Anyone who buries char gives up the use of that energy.  I asked a couple experts what they thought might be the value of the forgone energy.  David Laird, a Research Soil Scientist at the US Department of Agriculture thinks the break even point would be about $10/ton of CO₂, or about $30-$40/ton of carbon.  Dr. Joel Swisher,  Chief Technology Officer at carbon-offset provider Camco International, thinks the number is somewhere between $10 and $20 per ton of CO₂, or about $50/ton carbon.

While these prices are higher than offsets currently trade on most exchanges, they also assume that the only benefit of incorporating biochar into the soil is the carbon sequestration aspect.  That is not the case.

Improved Soil

In all but the most optimal growing conditions, biochar increases plant productivity.   Although the mechanisms are not completely understood, most studies show that biochar allows plants to more effectively use Nitrogen and Phosphorus, as well as other nutrients that either occur naturally in the soil, or are added with either organic or inorganic fertilizers.  It also aids water retention.

The effects of this are significant increases in plant growth, especially in poorer soils or with limited fertilizer or water; heavily fertilized and higher quality soils show lesser effects.  In poor conditions, some studies have seen boosts to plant productivity by as much as 40%, although 15-25% is a more normal range, to judge by the studies presented at the conference.

This improved soil fertility has several benefits, each of which could serve as an added enticement for farmers to use char.  Because plants can use the available nutrients more effectively, a farmer should be able to use less fertilizer and still achieve a high rate of growth from his plants.  Not only does this save the farmer money, but because less fertilizer is used, and a greater fraction of it is taken up by plants, there is less resulting pollution in the form of fertilizer runoff and nitrous oxide formation. Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas and also depletes the ozone layer.

The cost savings from reduced fertilizer use, lowered irrigation costs from improved water retention, as well as any reduced costs of meeting environmental regulations may all have value to farmers which might induce them to sell biochar based offsets at prices below that dictated purely by the cost of the energy forgone.  

These reduced costs for farmers, as well as the potential new revenue streams from offsets and increased crop productivity add weight to my previous conclusion that investing in farms and other sources of biomass feedstocks is one of the best ways to benefit from bio-energy (biofuels, as well as biomass based electricity and biomass cofiring.)

Other Commodities

Increased plant productivity with bichar may eventually increase the supply of available biomass for bio-energy applications and food.  This may benefit the economics of any biofuel technology, but I expect the gains to only be marginal, since most biofuels are commodity businesses, and an increase in feedstock supply may increase volume, but is unlikely to improve long term margins.

Reduced fertilizer use might also be expected to reduce prices in fertilizer markets, but to the extent that fertilizer is made from commodities such as natural gas (which have a wide variety of other uses,) the effect on fertilizer prices can also be expected to be marginal.

Renewable Energy

The whole story, however, is not just the char.  During pyrolysis, a whole range of volatile organic compounds are emitted from the biomass feedstock, and these can be used to 

1. Produce bio-oil, which can be upgraded into liquid fuel.  The company Dynamotive (DYMTF.OB) is working to commercialize this process, as I discussed in my investing in biochar article.
2. Fuel a generator to produce electricity.
3. Produce heat for some other process.

The choice between these options depends on a range of factors, most importantly scale and if there is a local need for heat.  

Some biomass feedstocks, such as poultry litter are available in massive quantities in a single location.  This allows the use of a larger scale plant, and hence will most likely lend itself to the production of higher value energy which requires more processing, such as bio-oil based liquid fuel.  Hence, if a liquid fuel production process is widely adopted, it may not only help the company which commercializes it, but it may also produce significant added value and clean up a pollution problem for producers of concentrated biowaste, such as poultry producer Tyson Foods (TSN).

The specific type of biomass also affects the use of the volatile organics.  Some sorts of biomass, such as corn stover, contain large amounts of silica or other impurities which can cause buildup in electric generators and add to maintenance costs.  In such cases it may make more sense to produce bio-oil or heat, rather than electricity.

Heat can be produced by directly burning the volatile organics, or recovered in a combined heat and power operation when generating electricity. Generating heat is the simplest process, and hence will lend itself most readily to distributed biochar facilities.  The catch is that, in order to capture the economic value, there has to be a local use for the heat.

One practical variation is the use of specially designed efficient cookstoves in the third world.  These are optimized to both improve cooking efficiency, indoor air quality, and biochar production.  Biochar advocates hope this approach could impact developing nations in a number of significant ways including improved health of woman and children, improved nutrition from the garden amendment, and decrease the need for biomass in cooking due to improved cook stove efficiency.

Even if the heat is not used, however, it is important to flare the gasses released when creating biochar, since volatile organics are pollutants in their own right.

Conclusion

Biochar, although a simple technology, is still at a very early stage of commercial development.  Nevertheless, stock market investors would be wise to be aware of the broad ranging effects the industry might have on carbon trading, biofuel, fertilizer, and agricultural markets.  Even these industries may not be a complete list: There is ongoing research into using biochar for remediation of mine tailings.  Backyard gardeners may also be able to improve their productivity and reduce fertilizer use by incorporating biochar into their soil.  

It is important to note that not all biochars are created equal.  Most biochars are slightly basic, and will produce greater benefits in acidic soils.  It's worth knowing the properties of what you plan to be putting in your soil before you incorporate it.  It's also worth noting that biochar has its greatest effects when combined with small to moderate amounts of conventional or organic fertilizers, since biochar is not a fertilizer in and of itself, but rather helps plants make better use of the nutrients in fertilizer.

Mantria sells a commercial biochar called EternaGreen from a biochar plant in Tennessee, with a distribution center in Georgia. I hope this is just the first of many, so most of us will be able to use biochar without having to worry about the carbon footprint of shipping.  Or, rather than waiting, we can make (probably lower quality/less recalcitrant) biochar ourselves.

DISCLOSURE: None.

DISCLAIMER: The information and trades provided here and in the comments are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA

BioChar, or using black carbon directly as a soil amendment holds the promise of both increasing agricultural yields and locking up carbon in the soil for centuries or millennia.  Are there ways for stock market investors to benefit?

The technology is simple, but the results are potentially quite profound.  By pyrolyizing (heating in the absence of oxygen) biomass, and mixing the resulting char into the soil, it is possible to produce 

1. Energy, in the form of heat, electricity, and or liquid fuel
2. Carbon sequestration
3. More productive agricultural land.

Key to producing both energy and sequestering carbon is what would otherwise have happened to the biomass if it had decayed under normal conditions: The carbon content would have been returned to the atmosphere as CO₂ or methane.  Pyrolysis produces two products: pyrolysis gasses or BioOil, which can be burned for energy or upgraded into transportation fuels, such as jet fuel, gasoline, and diesel, and char, which  can either be used as a fuel (charcoal- the same stuff we grill hamburgers on), or as a soil amendment (biochar.)  

Biochar resists ordinary decomposition in the soil, and hence stays there for centuries or millennia.  In addition, it enhances soil fertility.  Although biochar alone has not been shown to enhance soil fertility.  Biochar's complex surface area and intricate pore structure is hospitable to soil bacteria and fungi which help plants absorb nutrients from the soil.  Christoph Steiner, a researcher at the University of Georgia's Biorefining and Carbon Cycling Program says, "We believe that the structure of charcoal provides a secure habitat for microbiota, which is very important for crop production."

For all these reasons, biochar has broad support in the environmental community as one more tool to devote to combating climate change.

An Investing Perspective

Such win-wins are essential for us to tackle climate change without crippling our economy, but can stock market investors benefit?  The low-tech nature of creating biochar is a challenge.  No high technology is needed to create charcoal.  In fact, the benefits of biochar as a soil amendment were discovered thousands of years ago by Amazonian aborigines who used the process to enhance crop production in the poor soils of the Amazonian basin.  Portuguese colonialists called it terra preta, or "Black Earth."

Modern pyrolysis enhances traditional methods of creating charcoal by capturing the volatile organic compounds as Bio-oil, reducing pollution and creating a second potential value stream.  One company attempting to commercialize this process is Dynamotive Energy Systems (DYMTF.OB), which recently obtained an independent analysis of their upgraded BioOil, confirming that 80% by weight could be distilled into gasoline, jet, and diesel fuel.  Dynamotive expects that it can "deliver advanced (second generation) fuels from biomass at a cost of less than $ 2 per gallon of ethanol-equivalent fuel in facilities processing about 70,000 tonnes of biomass per annum."

Although I have not taken an in-depth look at Dynamotive's business model, I'm cautious.  The price of the biomass input is highly variable, and will have considerable impact on the eventual fuel cost. The company's technology seems to center around upgrading the BioOil, but I am uncertain if this is the best use of the volatile organics; it may end up being much simpler to simply burn them to generate electricity or heat to use on site.  

There is also private competition.  There are at least two private companies: Carbon Diversion, Inc., and Alterna developing competing reactors for producing energy and biochar.  Just as I discussed regarding Algae biofuel companies, public equity investors should be cautious when the majority of an industry is still private; because the private companies do not disclose, it becomes much more difficult to tell which company is in the strongest competitive position.

In the same article, I concluded that price and supply of feedstock will be essential to the profitability of advanced biofuel companies, and I see the likeliest beneficiaries to be the growers of the biomass feedstock advanced biofuels companies such as Dyamotive use in their processes.  The potential for additional revenue streams from biochar and carbon offsets could accrue to the technology firm, but it could just as easily accrue to the owner of the biomass, depending on the local competitive uses for the biomass.  Meanwhile those same biomass growers may benefit from increased productivity with biochar.

Probing Deeper

At the moment, I don't see any practical way to invest in the potential of biochar.  However, next month I plan to attend the North American Biochar Conference 2009 in Boulder.  I hope to discover ways investors can help sequester carbon through Biochar, and see a good return on their investments at the same time.

DISCLOSURE: None

DISCLAIMER: The information and trades provided here and in the comments are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by Charles Morand at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

There's much excitement about second generation biofuels made from cellulosic feedstocks and algae, be they cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, biocrude, or electricity from biomass.  There will be winners, but they may not be the technology companies.

Tom Konrad, Ph.D., CFA

At the 2009 Advanced Biofuels Workshop, there were two major themes: developing new feedstocks, especially algae, and the development of new pathways to take biomass into products such as biocrude, which can be used in exiting oil refineries.  

Big Market, Many Competitors

The current federal Renewable Fuel Standard requires the use of 36 million gallons of biofuels, including at least 21 billion gallons of advanced biofuels by 2022.  Advanced biofuels are defined as fuels other than corn-based ethanol and with greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions half that of the fuel they replace.  This creates a gigantic market, so large that some industry observers doubt if it can be met.

Many of these fuels will not be ethanol, a fuel which poses problems with the current fuel transport and distribution infrastructure.  Even for cellulosic ethanol, there are several different processes that different companies are pursuing: Acid hydrolysis, Thermochemical conversion, Biochemical conversion, and Consolidated Bioprocessing, and combinations of these three used in various combinations by various companies.  

Potential products not only include fuels such as ethanol, butanol and higher-carbon alcohols, but biocrude which can be fed into existing refineries.  Other potential products include plastics, and many other products currently produced by the petroleum based energy industry.  

The bewildering array of potential pathways and products make for a very challenging investment landscape.  An investor in any company would need a lot of confidence that the company they are investing in will be able to take their chosen feedstocks to a potential salable product at lower cost than all the competitors out there.  Unsurprisingly, nearly every company feels it has the best process.

Lessons From the First Generation

With so many variables, I find it's often better to take a step back to see what impact the development of the advanced biofuels market will have on the larger economy.  Will there be impacts on the broader economy which will be independent of the eventual mix of products and processes in the advanced biofuels market?

We can learn from the experience of first generation biofuels.  

Below is a chart from William Thurmond, President of Emerging Markets Online and author of Algae 2020: Biofuels Commercialization Outlook, and Biodiesel 2020: A Global Market Survey:

It shows how biodiesel feedstocks (Palm oil, rapeseed oil, and soybean oil) are increasingly following diesel prices.  There is a massive overcapacity for biodiesel production in the EU, as shown in the shown in the following graph, also from Thurmond:

With this excess capacity, if biodiesel feedstock prices were to fall relative to diesel prices, biodiesel producers would purchase feedstock either until they fill their excess capacity, or until feedstock prices rise again to a point where it is no longer profitable to run additional biodiesel capacity.  Put another way, biodiesel producers cannot be more than marginally profitable (and may be unprofitable) so long as there is significant excess capacity.  Excess capacity can only be filled if additional feedstock can be found, or plants permanently shut down.

What does this mean for advanced biofuels?  As advanced biofuel technologies advance, feedstocks prices are likely to rise.

Why Advanced Biofuels are Different

Unlike with biodiesel and starch based ethanol, many second generation feedstocks are not generally internationally traded; many are actually waste streams from other processes, such as yellow and brown grease (the restaurant industry), corn stover, forest trimmings (the lumber industry,) and even municipal waste.  The more that these feedstocks are internationally traded and easy to transport (such as yellow and brown grease), the more likely they are to follow the patterns seen in the feedstocks for first generation biofuels.  According to Thurmond, this has already happened with yellow grease, and the rise in price was a surprise to most biodiesel industry participants.

Many emerging biofuels companies have learned this lesson.  ZeaChem's strategy specifically includes setting up a long term contract to purchase feedstock from dedicated energy plantations because "the availability of sustainable, cost effective raw materials is essential for an economically viable cellulosic biofuel facility," according to Andy Vietor, ZeaChem's CFO, who spoke at the workshop.  BioFuelBox Corporation is tackling the same problem from a different direction: by developing a biorefinery that they expect can produce biodiesel from a zero-cost waste stream (trap grease), but I'm not sure that they have completely absorbed the lesson.  Even trap grease will acquire some value if they can consistently make fuel from it.  I think they could improve their business model by selling their technology as a turnkey solution to the waste stream owner.

Investments and the "Everything vs. Fuel" debate

Investors who expect advanced biofuels to be successful should pay close attention to feedstocks.  Just as supply constraints for batteries will shape the electric and hybrid electric auto market, limited supplies of biomass will shape the advance biofuels industry.  

If an advanced biofuel company expects to make biofuel from an easily shippable commodity, such as wood chips, they'd be advised to stay away, unless that company also plans to contract for their supply of feedstock well ahead of time, and such agreements will probably constrain a company's ability to react to changing conditions.  Lack of flexibility can be fatal to start-up companies.

Companies which produce easily transportable feedstocks being considered by advanced biofuel companies stand to benefit from new markets for their products.  These include forestry companies (wood chips), waste management companies, and most owners of arable or marginal land.  Wood chips are likely to see price escalation even without the advent of advanced biofuels based on them.  Wood chips and pellets can be cofired in many existing coal power plants with only relatively inexpensive modifications, a process which offsets large amounts of carbon emissions at very low cost.  Biomass cofiring was the cheapest renewable energy opportunity identified in California's RETI study last year.  For an apples-to-apples comparison, the greater efficiency of electric motors means that electricity produced from biomass can propel an electric vehicle 81% farther than an otherwise comparable ethanol-fueled vehicle running on cellulosic ethanol produced from the same amount of biomass.

Furthermore, the existing biofuel industry may also find better uses for cellulosic feedstocks than turning them into biofuels.  I attended a session at the 2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop the following day where gasification of cellulosic waste streams such as corn cobs or stover was presented as an economical way to reduce the carbon footprint of corn ethanol by displacing natural gas used in the production process.

The flip side of the feedstock equation is that industries which compete for feedstock with the biofuels industry are likely to be hurt by rising prices.  Advanced Biofuels may resolve the "Food vs. Fuel" debate, but they will be doing so by, at least in part, replacing it with a new "Everything vs. Fuel" debate.  For instance, the paper industry (especially those companies which do not own forestry assets) will likely be hurt by rising pulp prices, like Mexicans who found they could not buy tortillas.  Recycled paper pulp is an excellent cellulosic feedstock as well.  On the other hand, businesses which produce or collect paper waste may find more robust markets for their products.

This line of reasoning might also give you pause if you're considering warming your home with a wood pellet stove.  The advent of biofuels from wood chips will mean that the price of your wood pellets will start to track the price of petroleum, just like the price of vegetable oils are already doing.   From an economic perspective, heating with wood pellets may become not much different than using heating oil.  We saw the start of this trend last year with wood pellet factories starting to price dairy farmers out of the market for sawdust in the Pacific Northwest.

Algae to the Rescue?

Algae is the only feedstock that has the potential to be productive enough to supply most of our current liquid fuel demand, but it is still unproven.  Most current algae to biofuel production methods cost an order of magnitude more than the fossil fuels they hope to displace.  This is why most algae biofuel companies are currently targeting higher-value synthetic bioproducts, such as animal feed additives.  But Will Thurmond believes that some algae companies may be cost competitive with fossil fuels as early as 2012, but only in his most optimistic scenario; the process of bringing down costs could take much longer.

There are now three publicly traded Algae companies.  I've previously written skeptically about PetroSun (PSUD.PK,) and Thurmond told me, "Petrosun appears to doing well in the news, but if you examine their financial statements, it's a different story."   More recently OriginOil (OOIL.OB) and PetroAlgae, (PALG.OB) have also gone public.  PetroAlgae is the industry high flyer, and is doing some interesting work growing duckweed, at least according to a hallway conversation.  Unfortunately, the stock is so thinly traded that it would be difficult for even a small investor to get in without significant price impact.  OriginOil shows better volumes, but they, too, are early in their technological development.

Algae has great promise, but the only investments currently available to the retail investor are very early stage.  Even if we were to assume that the algae industry will quickly meet its potential, these three companies only amount to a tenth of the current players, and the rigors of being a public company are not the best environment in which to develop an emerging technology.  Algae could well be a monumental success story, but that does not mean that any of these three companies will participate in that success.

DISCLOSURE: None.

DISCLAIMER: The information and trades provided here and in the comments are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the emerging wood pellets industry and how this form of biomass was experiencing rapid growth as a coal substitute in power generation, mostly in Europe as a result of renewable energy and climate regulations. In the time since I wrote that article, I have been looking for ways to invest in the global wood pellets sector. Unfortunately, my search came up mostly empty (except for 1 stock discussed below).

In response to my previous post, a reader pointed me to an article Joe Romm at Climate Progress had recently written about biomass co-firing. In that article, we learn that co-firing biomass with coal has the technical and economic potential to replace at least 8 GW of America's coal-based generating capacity by 2010 (~2.4% of  the 2007 nameplate coal installed capacity), and as much as 26 GW by 2020 (probably somewhere between 5 and 8% by then). We also learn that demonstrations and trials have shown that biomass can replace up to about 15% of the total energy input at coal-fired plants with only minor modifications - this is thus probably a good figure to go by given that international trade in pellets can overcome supply limitations in the US.

As I was searching for ways to invest in the wood pellets sector, I came across some additional information on the current state of the market provided by Andritz Group. In 2008, the global market for wood pellets was estimated at around 9 million metric tons in volume, which replaced around 6.3 million metric tons of coal (you thus need around 1.43 metric ton of pellets per ton of coal displaced). Whereas coal packs in about 24 gigajoules of energy per metric ton, wood pellets contain about 17 GJ/metric ton (17 x 1.43 = 24.31). To put the volume numbers into perspective, over the past few years, the US electric power sector has been using around 1.04 billion short tons of coal per year, or about 944 million metric tons. 15% of this total would represent around 144 million metric tons of coal, or about 206 million tons of pellets. There is thus plenty of theoretical room to grow in the US alone, even if you cut that number down by 50%.        

The fuel substitution from those 9 million metric tons of pellets has helped save around 7.5 million metric tons of CO2 emissions. Assuming CO2 prices of €25 ($33)/metric ton, this could be worth around $248 million gross, from which the fuel cost difference would be subtracted to get to a net figure. Although I did not run the numbers, it is safe to assume this difference yields a positive amount given how popular wood pellets have become in Europe for exactly that purpose (i.e. meet regulatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions). 

What drew my attention to wood pellets the most is that they offer a standardized means of moving carbon-neutral energy around, much in the same way crude oil or coal are used to transport carbon-positive energy (of course neutral and positive are relative terms in this context, but let's leave that discussion for another time).

The North American forest industry is currently facing a difficult time, and using biomass for power generation is one means of killing two birds (the environment and the economy) with one pellet, although as the numbers above indicate it is no a panacea. In fact, wood biomass will most likely never account for more than 10-15% of total power production and is unlikely to be cost competitive with coal without a price on carbon. However, given that a price on carbon is forthcoming in the US, it is fair to assume that wood pellets will represent one of those fundamental bridge solutions to reduce the costs of moving to a de-carbonized economy. This is a point Joe Romm makes in his articles on the topic.    

However, the trade in wood biomass for power generation cannot be expected to scale up if a standard isn't adopted around which transportation logistics and technology requirements can be established. Wood pellets provide this standard. This is why I have left other wood biomass sources such as wood chips or waste wood from logging operations out of my analysis. If a sizeable market for wood biomass is to emerge, it will have to be in the form of a market for pellets. 

A Wood Pellet Stock

The wood pellet production process is relatively simple (see video below): (1) wood material is dried and turned into a dough-like mass by being passed through a hammer mill; (2) and this mass is then squeezed through a high-pressure die with holes of the size required (i.e. standard pellet size) - the pressure causes a rise in temperature which causes the lignin in the wood to plastify and hold the pellet together.    

Andritz Group (ADRZF.PK) currently has, according to itself, an about 50% share of the global market for wood pellet production equipment. Andritz is an Austrian firm that provides equipment and services for the global hydro power, pulp & paper, steel, animal feed & biofuels and other industries. In fact, following the acquisition of a large chunk of GE Energy's hydro power operations, Andritz cemented its position as a dominant player in large hydro globally.

The main problem with Andritz is that its US listing is on the Pink Sheets Grey Market (this is common for foreign shares), making it hard for some investors to trade the stock through their brokers. Moreover, trades on the Grey Market are not always efficient as the lack of a Market Maker for the security can result in lower liquidity and higher prices. The quality of the company is not problematic however, as Andritz is a blue chip stock in Austria.

Despite this limitation, Andritz is, in my view, an interesting beast. In 2008, revenue (€3.61 billion/$4.85 billion) was broken down as follows between the business segments: Hydro (electromechanical systems and services for large hydro power stations), 33%; Pulp & Paper (equipment and services for all forms of pulp and paper production), 37%; Metals (production and finishing lines for metallic strip), 16%; Environment & Process (equipment and services for solid/liquid separation for various industries), 10%; and Feed & Biofuel (equipment and services for production of animal feed and biomass pellets), 4%.   

Last week, I mentioned that I had attended a conference focused on opportunities in the biomass and bioenergy sectors. One of the article ideas I got from this conference was on the emerging market for wood pellets (tightly packed sawdust and other wood shavings) for heat and electricity. How interesting that, over the weekend, the magazine Science published an article suggesting that the US should ramp up its use of wood for small-scale heat and electricity production (the article is not available free of charge but you can find a summary here).

The Wood (Pellet) Advantage

It must be stated from the get-go that wood harvested at sustainable levels will never account for a significant percentage (i.e. >20%) of total energy consumption. The Science article states that total US energy consumption currently stands at around 100 quads annually, and that wood-based energy makes up about 2% of this. At sustainable harvest levels, the authors estimate that wood could represent about 5 quads, or roughly the amount of energy contained in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. That number is for all wood-based energy and not only pellets, so the potential market for the latter is even smaller.

That said, wood pellets are rapidly gaining acceptance as a readily-available, carbon-neutral fuel source that can be used on its own or co-fired in coal plants. The global trade in wood pellets is not especially extensive just yet, so pricing data can be a little difficult to obtain. Various sources I looked at seem to put the price range at between $150-200/ton. The International Energy Agency conducted a detailed study of the global marketplace for wood pellets in 2007, and reported that pellets cost in the neighbourhood of $11.50/million BTU. It is therefore no surprise that with residential fuel oil and, increasingly, nat gas prices pushing above that level in 2007 and 2008, wood pellets bbecame a popular option in the colder US Northeast and Northwest.

Environmentally, wood pellets are considered greenhouse-gas neutral as wood is existing biomass (i.e. not ancient biomass trapped beneath miles of Earth's crust) and it is assumed that forest re-growth will, in time, sequester the carbon dioxide emitted through photosynthesis.

With regards to conventional air pollutants, SOx emissions are reduced almost on a 1-to-1 basis when pellets are co-fired with coal (i.e. a 20% pellet/80% coal mix will reduce SOx emissions by 20%). The relationship between wood and NOx is apparently not as straight forward and I didn't find a good source on this.  

The Science article claims that advanced wood combustion technologies can reach thermal efficiencies of around 90%, which compares very favorably with other fossil-fired technologies.

The Wood Pellet Trade

At the end of 2006, pellet demand in the US stood at around 1.4 million tons, a >200% jump on 2002. Pellets in the US are used mostly in residential and small-scale applications and very little if at all in large-scale power generation. Although pellet popularity is growing, the US market remains comparatively small.  

The real story volume-wise has been occurring in Europe, where renewable power generation and greenhouse-has emissions regulations have triggered a boom in wood pellet use. Current EU commitments call for 20% of final energy consumption to come from renewables by 2020 and the meeting of the Kyoto Protocol's targets. It is estimated that the EU currently supplies about 4% of its total electricity from wood waste (vs. 2% in the US) and this number is expected to double by 2010. Current consumption is now greater than 6 million tons annually.

In 2006, EU nations consumed around 5.5 million tons of pellets, but produced only 4.5 millions, an 18% 'deficit'. Canada is currently the largest pellet exporter to the EU but there is also significant export potential in the US, as evidenced by the fact that pellet manufacturing capacity has been expanding rapidly.

In the US, the low price of coal and its prominence in power generation (coal accounted for roughly 48% of electricity generated in the US in 2008) present the biggest challenges to the growth of the wood pellets market. However, upcoming greenhouse gas regulations could change this. Because wood pellets are considered greenhouse gas neutral, co-firing them with coal reduces CO2 emissions on a 1-to-1 basis.

This has been one of the major drivers in Europe, and can represent a comparatively cheap way of transitioning toward cleaner power generation technologies. Given the relative abundance of biomass across North America (don't forget Canada, the biomass superstore to the North), federal greenhouse gas caps could jump start the wood pellets market here.

Wood Pellets Stocks

This is admittedly a sector I knew very little about, so ramping up my industry knowledge alone took a bit of time. When I started my search for stocks on this, nothing evident jumped at me. I therefore thought I would break this article into two, with the next part dedicated only to company analyses. I will publish it next week. In the meantime, if you know of stocks related to this, please let me know.

Posted by Charles Morand at 09:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Last week, Tom brought you a piece on the Algonquin Power Income Fund (AGQNF.PK), in which he opined that shift in investor attention away from capital gains toward yield might eventually provide a catalyst for the prices of yield-focused securities such as income trusts to rise. So-called utility trusts, or income trusts where the underlying corporation is engaged in utility activities such as power generation, are a common feature of the Canadian income trust sector (the mother of all income trust sectors). A sub-set of utility trusts is the clean power utility trust, where the power generation assets consist of technologies such as wind, small hydro, biomass and waste-to-energy (WtE). Though new tax rules have effectively made it impossible for new income trusts to be brought to market (barring certain exceptions such as REITs), existing clean power utility trusts (existing as of Oct. 31, 2006) get to operate under the old tax regime until 2011.

The clean power utility trust model is similar to the clean power Independent Power Producer (IPP, see definition) model, whereby firms are pure-play clean power generators (i.e. they own only generation assets) that sell their electricity to utilities, with the exception that the tax treatment awarded to income trusts allows them to pay higher yields by avoiding double taxation.

While changes in legislation mean that this investment vehicle is dying a slow death, Tom was correct to point out that in times where the prospects for strong capital gains are uncertain and interest rates low, income trusts provide a good way for investors to access high yields. What's more, clean power utility trusts, this most unique of Canadian investment sub-sector, allow investors (including US investors) to play North American clean power in a way that does not entail a risky bet on a technology play but is rather much more akin to a utility investment.

Clean Power Utility Trusts             

*As at close on Friday Jan. 9, 2008

One of the major risks facing income trusts is distribution cuts, something that generally happens when the fundamentals of the underlying business are severely diminished or distributions were set too high to begin with (in order to attract investors). As can be noted from the table, the yields on some of these trusts (i.e. Boralex Power Income Fund and Macquarie Power & Infrastructure Income Fund) appear to indicate that investors are anticipating distribution cuts and are demanding a risk premium. Yet preliminary screens on both funds don't uncover much evidence that distribution cuts are in the cards (caveat: these were very preliminary screens).  

While growth will be challenging as long as credit conditions remain tight (individual projects typically use over 50% debt), the underlying business model and existing assets of these funds remain largely immune from a slowing economy - they are utilities with a clean twist. Barring another major round of indiscriminate selling in equity markets, investments in one or more of the clean power utility trusts is a good way of generating returns in the form of cash yields (something that's worth a lot more than the promise of future capital gains in this economic environment) from a comparatively low-risk sector.

Some of the things to look for as red flags in assessing these trusts are: liquidity position (cash on hand; quick ratio) and ability to borrow for emergency purposes (undrawn line of credit); leverage level (debt-to-capital ratio) and the need to roll over debt in the next 12 months; any signs that operating conditions have deteriorated (e.g. for wood biomass, indications that pulp/saw mill closures related to the bad economy are decreasing fuel supply).

DISCLOSURE: Charles Morand does not have a position in any of the securities discussed above.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a registered investment advisor. The information and trades that I provide here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.

Posted by Charles Morand at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Romm v. Kholsa

In a persuasive series of articles, entitled "Pragmatists vs. Environmentalists" (Parts I, II, and III) on Gristmill, Vinod Khosla provides the reasoning behind his "dissing" of plug-in hybrids, which drew the ire of Joeseph Romm.  Neither seems to think the argument is settled, and Joeseph Romm returns fire here.

As someone who knows as much about investing as Joe Romm and has written as much about Climate Change and Energy Policy as Vinod Khosla, I feel the need to jump into the debate and settle the matter.  (Will either of them will notice?)

To summarize, Khosla argues that cellulosic ethanol shows more promise for reducing carbon emissions than plug-in hybrids because he sees the barriers to plug-ins (the need to improve batteries and clean up the grid) as harder to surmount than the barriers to cellulosic ethanol (the improvement of conversion technology.)  In his words, 

I consider replacing coal-based electricity plants (50-year typical life) a much longer, tougher slog than replacing oil with biofuels (15-year car life).

Romm blasts back reiterating the multiple problems of corn ethanol in response to the first of Khosla's series, but has not yet responded to his point about cellulosic.  I thought I'd tackle the point about cellulosic myself.

There Isn't Enough Biomass

According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's From Biomass to Biofuels [.pdf] study, given all the available biomass in the United States, we will only be able to displace a little less than 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent a year.  But we currently use about 7 billion barrels of oil a year, so to displace all our oil usage, we would need nearly a 4x increase in fuel efficiency (not the 1.5x increase in internal combustion engines Khosla talks about.) 

Image source: NREL (From Biomass to Biofuels)

If the problem we're trying to solve is the need to displace petroleum as the transport fuel of choice (because of both climate change and peak oil), Khosla's "solution" can at best only tackle about 40% of the problem.

A Third Way: Cellulosic Electricity

Now let's return to Khosla's belief that it is simpler to replace the fuel (petroleum) in vehicles than the fuel (coal) in the grid, because of the longer lifetimes of coal plants than cars.  If you take a moment to review my article Ten Insights into Carbon Policy, you will note (insight #2), co-firing biomass in existing coal plants is more effective for reducing carbon emissions than turning it into liquid fuels.  You will also note (insight #9) that electric drivetrains are inherently more (5x) efficient than gasoline drivetrains.

Khosla may be right that we are not going to shut down old coal plants quickly (although my own utility, Xcel Energy, is planning to do just that.)  But even given an existing fleet of coal plant some biomass can be cofired with coal in existing plants with relatively easy retrofits.  Cofiring biomass is part of the Arizona Renewable Energy Assessment, which Black and Veatch predict would cost about 6-7 cents per kWh, and the limited amount included in the assessment is mostly due to Arizona's limited biomass resource.

According to the NREL report referenced above, converting biomass into cellulosic ethanol can be done at about a 45% efficiency (i.e. 45% of the energy of the biomass makes it into the fuel.)  In contrast, biomass can be converted at 33-37% efficiency [pdf] when cofired.  Combining this with the 5x improvement of drivetrain efficiency that comes with electric propulsion, and the same amount of biomass converted to what I'll call "cellulosic electricity" will take a vehicle 3.8x as far as it would in the form of cellulosic ethanol.  In a more recent article on Biomass, Vinod Khosla states "we consider [Energy Return on Investment] a less important variable than carbon emissions per mile driven."  If carbon emissions per mile driven are the most important variable, a 3.8x increase in miles driven on the same energy source will lead to a less than 27% of the carbon emissions per mile driven.

While cellulosic electricity is still not sufficient to displace all of our current petroleum use, it comes much closer than cellulosic ethanol.   Biomass cofiring with coal also tends to reduce SO_x and NO_x emissions.

Direct Combustion of Biomass

Biomass is a distributed resource, seldom available in large quantities in any one place.  This will be a problem for the cellulosic ethanol and cellulosic electricity industries.  Only a fraction of the available biomass will be close enough to existing coal plants that it will be practical to transport for cofiring.  Cellulosic visionaries see a system of distributed ethanol plants, yet that still leaves the problem of getting the fuel to market, since the current pipeline system for petroleum products has difficulty accommodating ethanol.  

On the other hand, while distributed direct- fired biomass generation of electricity is probably twice as expensive as cofiring with coal, distributed generation leads to opportunities for Combined Heat and Power (CHP), or cogeneration.   CHP can displace heating fuels such as natural gas, propane, or electricity, and often have combined efficiency from 50% to 80%.  In addition to the potential of displacing additional fossil heating fuel, cellulosic electricity is identical to the fossil fuel derived kind.  Therefore, unlike cellulosic ethanol, cellulosic electricity is completely compatible with the existing electric grid, leading to far fewer difficulties in transport.

A Cellulosic Sideshow

While I'm sure that economic techniques to convert various forms of biomass into ethanol and other liquid fuels will be developed, including by some of the companies in Khosla's portfolio, I think it is unlikely that a large fraction of what is likely to become an increasingly valuable and scarce resource, biomass, will be used for ethanol.  As a scarce resource with relatively inelastic supply, the price will rise to the point where only the most efficient uses will be profitable.  In most cases, cellulosic ethanol is unlikely to be one of the most efficient uses of biomass.

Khosla's dichotomy of replacing cars versus replacing coal plants is a false dichotomy.  While it is easy to retrofit gas cars to burn ethanol, it is also easy to retrofit coal plants to burn some biomass.  Given the dispersed and varied nature of the feedstock, both solutions are likely to coexist for a long time, but biomass cofiring has a little-heralded head start (unlike cellulosic ethanol, it is already progressing beyond the experimental stage), and cofiring's superior efficiency should allow it to keep, and widen its lead.

But Vinod Khosla will have little reason to weep.  His Concentrating Solar Power investments will also be fueling our cars, and his "clean coal" technology has the potential to produce carbon-negative cellulosic electricity.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 02:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

Renewable energy is still very much in its infancy, which means that companies in the space are either profitless or high-multiple startups, or divisions of much larger companies (GE Wind (NYSE:GE), or utilities such as FPL Group (NYSE:FPL) and Xcel (NYSE:XEL) which get much of their power from conventional generation.) This presents a dilemma for investors who understand the compelling drivers for the sector, but whose risk tolerance or financial needs indicate an income-based investing strategy.

Canadian Income Trusts in Renewable Energy

A few Canadian Income Trusts have historically gone some way towards filling this niche. These include the Boralex Power income trust (BPT-UN.TO / BLXJF.PK), Algonquin Power (APF-UN.TO/AGQNF.PK), and the Clean Power Income Fund (CLE-UN.TO/CEANF.PK).

The Boralex Power Income Fund owns an electricity generating asset mix of approximately 45% hydroelectric (by 2005 revenues), 32% wood residue (biomass) with some cogeneration, and 23% natural gas fired cogeneration. It is managed and 23% owned by its parent utility, Boralex (BLX.TO/BRLXF.PK).

Algonquin Power Trust owns a mix of hydroelectric generation (25% of sales), cogeneration (42% of sales), Alternative fuels (9% of sales), and infrastructure (24% - mostly waste disposal and treatment. Percentages based on 2005 data.) Alternative fuels (mostly landfill gas, municipal solid waste, and some wind) comprise the fastest growing segment of the portfolio.

Finally, the Clean Power Income Fund, which trumpets itself as "the first income fund to be certified under Canada’s Environmental Choice^MProgram," owns a mix of electricity generation assets consisting of landfill gas (37% based on 2005 cash flow), biomass (27%), hydropower (26%), and wind (10%). They are completing the Erie Shores 99MW wind project which will increase the wind portion of the portfolio.

Disappearing Tax Advantages

While none of these have the stability of a bond fund, they have gone some way towards bridging the gap between volatile startups and predictable income, allowing a broader spectrum of investors to participate in renewable energy. However, they were all organized to take advantage of a provision of Canada's tax code which conferred significant tax advantages, similar to the advantages enjoyed by REITs and Master Limited Partnerships in the US. Those tax advantages were scheduled to be phased out over the next four years to the surprise of the financial markets in November, and while some are still fighting the tax law changes, the trust management of these three trusts have, by their actions acknowledged the reality of the changes.

Within the last week, The Clean Power Income Fund board has agreed to be acquired by Algonquin Power, subject to the approval of its unitholders, while The Boralex Power Income Fund has announced that it is up for sale, possibly to be acquired by its parent, Boralex, which currently owns 23% of the fund and acts as its manager.

Risks and Opportunities

For the traditional income investor, primarily interested in stability, all this activity and the volatility is bad news, but it presents opportunities for the risk tolerant investor interested in purchasing solid, income producing assets, something of a rarity in retail renewable energy investing. It's impossible to say what good price entry levels are for any of these funds, but they are all considerably cheaper than they were before the tax changes were announced in November.

Prospective investors should also understand the tax implications (which depend not only on the changing laws, but on the nationality and tax status of the account used) before investing.

Tom Konrad, Ph.D.is an independent investment adviser registered in the state of Colorado who helps people reach their investment goals while protecting the environment.

DISCLOSURE: Tom Konrad and some of his clients hold positions in The Clean Power Income Trust and the Algonquin Power Trust.

DISCLAIMER: The information and trades provided here are for informational purposes only and are not a solicitation to buy or sell any of these securities. Investing involves substantial risk and you should evaluate your own risk levels before you make any investment. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Please take the time to read the full disclaimer here.

Posted by Tom Konrad at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) has received the gas conditioning equipment slated for use in creating pipeline quality gas from its Whitesides Biogas facility. The two semi loads of proprietary equipment will be installed over the next several weeks and brought into operation. The equipment is unique in that it can process a smaller gas stream from the existing two digester array, as well as the full ten digester array that is currently under construction.

The cost of this gas conditioning equipment is equivalent to the entire book value of the existing plant, effectively doubling the asset value of the facility. Independent sampling of the product gas will be performed to verify the entire system's ability to produce pipeline-quality gas. The company plans to sell product gas from the existing two digester system in July and then begin the installation of the additional eight tanks which will be completed in late 2006. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 07:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) announced that it has ordered the additional eight digester tanks and has begun the excavation work to accommodate the five-fold expansion of their operating Whitesides Biogas Production Plant near Rupert, Idaho. This expansion will take Intrepid's annualized gas production to as high as 95,000 mcf annually, a quantity sufficient to heat 1,000 homes in the Boise, Idaho area. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 06:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Veridium Corp. (VRDM.OB) announced its execution of an amended license agreement with Ohio University ("Ohio") for its patented bioreactor process for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from fossil-fuelled combustion processes.

Veridium's original license with Ohio provided for non-exclusive rights to the technology for the purpose of processing exhaust gas streams from electrical utility power generation facilities, and exclusive rights to the technology for applications involving all other sources. The amended license agreement increases the scope of Veridium's license to provide for exclusivity in all applications, including electrical utility power generation facilities. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Veridium Corp. (VRDM.OB) announced its receipt of an order from a Wisconsin based ethanol producer for the second stage of Veridium's patent-pending Corn Oil Extraction Systems(TM).

Veridium's proprietary new Corn Oil Extraction Systems(TM) extract high grade corn oil from an ethanol by-product called distillers dried grain ("DDG"). Currently, the majority of ethanol production is based on a dry milling technique that utilizes more than 1 billion bushels of corn to produce 3 billion gallons per year of ethanol. The dry mill process converts the starch from the kernel of corn into sugar and then the sugar into ethanol. The balance of the corn (non-starch components) then goes through a dewatering and dehydration process where the byproduct is sold as a commercial feed ingredient called DDG. DDG contains the majority of the corn oil that was present in the kernel. Today, the 1 billion bushels of corn currently used in the dry mill ethanol process contain roughly 300 million gallons of corn oil that is currently sold for about $0.03 per pound as commercial feed. The new Veridium technology presents another option - cost effective conversion of the oil in the ethanol by-product into biodiesel. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NanoLogix Inc. (NNLX.PK) announced today that the Company has completed the construction of its first commercial hydrogen bioreactor facility at a Welch's Food plant in North East, Pennsylvania. The company also announced that the facility will begin hydrogen generation from Welch's waste organic matter on or about the first of April 2006.

The technology behind the hydrogen bioreactor, developed and patented by NanoLogix in coordination with the Gannon University Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, allows for the limitless production of hydrogen from organic containing waste waters and any waste organic materials, such as sewer water, ground up garbage, etc. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Syntroleum Corp (SYNM) announced today that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding that provides for exclusive joint business development of projects that will integrate Sustec's FUTURE ENERGY GSP® gasification technology with Syntroleum's Fischer-Tropsch (FT) and Synfining® technology.

The joint venture is aimed at converting coal and other carbonaceous materials such as petroleum-coke, residual fuel oil and biomass into ultra-clean fuels. Each company will own 50 percent of the joint venture. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DynaMotive Energy Systems Corp. (DYMTF) announced that it has granted a master license to Rika Ltd., a company that has extensive operations in Latvia and Ukraine. Under the Agreement, Rika has agreed to market DynaMotive's technology as well as develop and operate facilities in the territories. Two projects are initially targeted for development.

Rika Ltd. and DynaMotive have further agreed to scope the feasibility of bio energy crops in Ukraine, where Rika has leased 25,000 hectares of farm land. The companies are considering the allocation of 10,000 hectares for growth of biomass for BioOil production. Once in production, it is estimated that each hectare will yield up to 30 tonnes of dry biomass per annum. This will potentially provide for a total production capacity of 300,000 tonnes annually of biomass, equivalent to 800 tonnes per day of processing capacity. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Environmental Power Corp (EPG) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Microgy, Inc. has entered into agreement with Applied LNG Technologies USA, Inc. , for the development of biogas-supplied LNG projects in California. The Agreement provides that Microgy and ALT (http://www.altlngusa.com) will cooperate to identify, evaluate and develop projects, principally in California, that combine Microgy's anaerobic digestion technology, which extracts methane-rich biogas from animal waste, and ALT's LNG transport and distribution technology. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thermoenergy Corp. (TMEN.OB) announced the start of a $310,000 federally funded project to develop compact zero air emission power plants for medium to heavy industry. Commonly referred to as Combined Heat & Power (CHP) plants, these systems would allow main-stream industries to switch from natural gas to lower priced alternative fuels to supply their energy needs. Switching fuel sources could allow many companies to save hundreds of millions of dollars in energy costs, reduce air pollution, keep their US based plants operating, and lessen dependence on imported energy resources. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

DynaMotive Energy Systems Corp. (DYMTF) announced today that the Company and Mitsubishi Canada Ltd., have entered into a wide-ranging Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") which expresses their mutual intentions to develop definitive agreements for marketing and distribution of DynaMotive's patented technology in Canada and internationally. [ more ]

Clean Break has more to say about this agreement as well. [ more ]

This is the second MOU announcement they have made in the last month and it looks like something is happening here. This stock has been moving strong this last month and it has piqued my interest. I will have to take a closer look at it and I have added it to my potential buylist.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Podfather (ex-MTV VJ) Adam Curry gives details about his new Bio-Diesel Benz on his most recent podcast. [ more mp3 file ]

If your not familar with podcasting, you don't know what your missing. Here are some links for you here, here, and here.

There is also a great podcast produced by The Watt that provides updates on Alternative Energy and Cleantech.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 02:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPTC) announced that next month the company will begin shipping an enhanced line of 65-kilowatt microturbine models that will replace its popular C60 series of power and heat generators.

The new natural gas fueled C65 and C65-ICHP (with factory-integrated heat recovery) will deliver higher electrical and thermal output without any change to the product's weight and dimensions, which are much lighter and more compact than similar capacity generators. This reduces footprint requirements and enables greater flexibility in indoor, outdoor and rooftop setting. [ more ]

Capstone also released news that the new C65 model will also be retrofitted so that it can use waste gases from landfills and sewage treatment plants as an alternative to natural gas. The stock gapped up this morning over 6% and looks like it is trading nicely off the current near-term support levels of $3.50.

I will be adding to my current holdings of this stock this morning in the Marketocracy mutual fund. This will bring my total up to 2/3rds of my planned holdings for this stock.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NanoLogix Inc. (NNLX.PK) announced that it has signed an agreement to install a NanoLogix hydrogen generation system using Welch Food's waste organic matter. The NanoLogix methodology for hydrogen production is being developed for the limitless production of hydrogen from organic containing waste waters. The NanoLogix reactor will utilize multiple proprietary methodologies for synergistically creating a hydrogen bioreactor. The hydrogen production method will utilize organic waste from Welch Food's waste stream. [ more ]

NanoLogix is very much a penny stock and has been steadily declining over the last year. It now sits at a low of $0.15. They are primarily a genomics/biotechnology company and are in the process of transforming themselves into an hydrogen production company. The company first hit my radar when they started to use their biotechnology for bioremediation for toxic land cleanup. The press release above is the first news presented that details a commercialized effort to enter the hydrogen marketplace. Hopefully the press releases will keep flowing from the company to generate some interest in the stock.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 07:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) has announced plans to build a 50 million gallon Biodiesel production facility in North Dakota. This will be ADM's first wholly-owned venture into biodiesel in the US. Currently the US consumes about 30 million gallons of Biodiesel a year. This is a significant investment by ADM in the US marketplace.

"ADM is a world leader in renewable fuels," stated Mike Livergood, ADM Vice President-Global Oleo Chemicals. "Leveraging the success of ADM's experience in the biodiesel market in Europe and ADM's success in the ethanol market in the U.S., we are pleased to bring biodiesel, a cleaner burning and renewable fuel, to the U.S. market through this facility." [ more ]

This press release quickly follows an release announcing the plans to build a third Biodiesel production facility in Germany. ADM is the largest biodiesel producer in Germany and one of the leading producers in Europe.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Clean Break has found another company to add to the watchlist.

DynaMotive Energy Systems Corp. (DYMTF), uses a patended "pyrolysis" process to convert forest and agricultural waste -- everything from sawdust to tree bark -- into a clean-burning renewable fuel it calls BioOil. This fuel can be used for power generation in gas turbines, diesel engines and boilers. Tyler has a nice writeup about the company at his CleanBreak website.

DynaMotive joins Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) and Green Energy Resources (GRGR) in the biomass space on my watchlist.

They are also trying to compete in the synthetic fuel space as well.

Successful Conversion of DynaMotive's BioOil to Synthetic Gas Demonstrates Potential for Production of Synthetic Diesel and Other Advanced Fuels
announced today the successful conversion of BioOil to Syngas following full-day gasification testing at the research institute Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK), Germany on September 16th. The objective of testing DynaMotive's BioOil was to establish if it could be gasified and converted to Syngas with characteristics within the predicted range.

The test results showed that DynaMotive Energy Systems Corporation's BioOil is suitable for Syngas production through demonstrating that a consistently good quality, industrial grade Syngas composition with low methane was achievable. With these very encouraging results, further testing and optimization of Syngas composition will be planned. [ more ]

In other synthetic gas news, Syntroleum Corp (SYNM) is under pressure today due to the closing of a well off the coast of Nigeria. Syntroleum said in late August that it felt the Aje-3 well "could be an ideal location for Syntroleum's unique marine-based GTL technology." [ more ]

SYNM is currently trading down over 30% today.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 02:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Environmental Power Corp (EPG) is formally commissioning the first of its electricity generating anaerobic digester systems. This facility has been designed and constructed by Microgy, Inc., Environmental Power's principal operating subsidiary. The facility is believed by Microgy to produce substantially more electricity from a given quantity of animal and organic wastes than any other anaerobic digester system built for commercial purposes in the United States. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding that includes purchasing ITR's planned methane produced natural gas using anaerobic digester technology at participating diaries in southern Idaho.

The agreement runs for 15 years and provides for Intermountain to purchase all of the pipeline quality methane gas produced by the digesters and delivered to the Intermountain distribution system by ITR over the life of the contract. Furthermore, Intermountain will provide assistance for the installation, operation and maintenance of the gas gathering system that will collect and transport the gas produced by the participating dairies. Prices paid will be determined by current market conditions with a "floor price" to help secure ITR's financing. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reclamation Consulting and Applications Inc (RCAA) announced the signing of a Letter of Intent between Topia Energy Production Ltd. and RCAI to create a new company called Topia Global Energy. This Joint Venture company, to be owned 50/50 by Topia Energy Production Ltd. and RCAI, will focus on the production and distribution of BioDiesel worldwide. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Infectech Inc (IFEC) announces that preliminary data and results of a study which confirms laboratory proof-of-concept measurements have shown it possible to generate hydrogen in high yields via the use and adaptation of its intellectual property. In this study, the bioreactor produced biogas consisting of 50% hydrogen by volume, without any trace of methane.

Recently, NanoLogix, Inc. (formerly Infectech, Inc.) signed a feasibility study with the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering of Gannon University in Erie, PA to develop a bioreactor which utilizes NanoLogix's patented bacterial culturing methods in order to produce hydrogen inexpensively. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 05:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fuelcell Energy Inc (FCEL) announced that one of its 250-kilowatt Direct FuelCell® (DFC®) power plants, sold by its Asian distributor Marubeni Corporation (TSE:8002 - News), will supply power as part of the electric grid servicing a school, a hospital, apartment buildings and city hall in a planned, renewable energy community on the western coast of Japan.

In keeping with the Kyoto Eco-Energy organization's desire to balance intermittent power generated by sources such as wind and solar, a 250 kilowatt DFC plant will efficiently convert waste from a food processing plant into high quality electricity. Heat energy produced by the power plant also will be used to warm water flowing into the food waste digestion process, thus increasing overall system efficiency. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 07:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Green Energy Resources, Inc. (GRGR) announced it has met with Chinese government ministers to discuss Renewable Energy. Negotiations were led by Mr. Andrew Tong of Green Energy Resources China office. China enacted a new Renewable Energy law in March, and signed the international Kyoto Treaty. Discussions center on a 10 year, 250 million ton deal to deliver wood biomass for Co-firing to China. Green Energy Resources would buy 10 woodchip ships built and manufactured in China valued around $350 million dollars, and provide shipping lease back options to the Chinese government in the future. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Green Energy Resources, Inc. (GRGR) announced plans for expansion. The company plans to sell upwards of 50 million tons of wood biomass to the utility industry for cofiring. Cofiring is an environmentally friendly application of mixing wood biomass with coal to reduce harmful green house gases. Coal powered generation accounts for 51 % of American electric power. The potential market is in excess of 250 million tons annually and valued over $12 billion dollars. The Federal EPA Air rules effective last month,favor cofiring as the most viable and cost effective option for the utility industry. The company plans to add at least five new representatives to liason with the coal and utility industries. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) announces that the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has provided written concurrence that the Whitesides Biogas Facility meets the permit to construct exemption requirements of Idaho rules for the control of air pollution. Intrepid submitted an exemption request based on calculations and modeling of air emissions for the plant. To the company's knowledge, no other dairy digester system has produced the emissions modeling to receive an exemption. Two compounds of sulfur in digester emissions, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, are regulated under the Clean Air Act. The Whitesides Biogas facility has sulfur removal equipment that provides a competitive edge in an area where emissions, and compliance to clean air requirements, is a growing concern. Future, larger digester projects may require an air permit, but the groundwork established in the DEQ review of the Whitesides data will aid the company in the preparation of those permits. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Renewable energy like wind and solar power and hydrogen fuel cells could blossom into a $100 billion a year global market in less than a decade as technology costs fall, according to a study.

The combined market for "green" sources of energy has already grown 68 percent since 2002 to more than $16 billion last year, according to Clean Edge, a research and publishing firm based in California. [ more ]

You can view and download the complete Clean-Energy Trends report at the following link. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Green Energy Resources, Inc. (GRGR) announced today the opening of a port facility in Philadelphia. The port will export up to 1 million tons annually of wood biomass internationally. The renewable energy industry has created an opportunity for the United States to become energy exporters.

Philadelphia joins several other cities exporting wood biomass, including Cape Canaveral, Fla., Mobile, Ala., Wilmington, N.C., and Baltimore, Md. Green Energy Resources is looking to open facilities in New York, Tampa, Fla., and California in the future. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 10:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) announced that its proprietary anaerobic digestion process may provide a significant benefit in conserving and recycling water in drought-stricken Idaho.

Dr. Dennis Keiser, ITR's President, noted, ``Dairies are big users of water and water conservation is becoming a critical consideration for their sustained operations, particularly given the severe drought conditions that threaten the agriculture industry in southern Idaho and other parts of the country. Processing manure using ITR's system provides the potential to recycle significant volumes of wastewater back into beneficial reuse in a variety of agricultural or other applications. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Environmental Power Corp (EPG) announced that Chaffee Farms in New York has signed a Development Agreement to deploy an anaerobic digestion ("AD") system from the Company's primary operating subsidiary, Microgy Cogeneration Systems ("Microgy").

Chaffee Farms, located in Niagara County, is the third farm in the state of New York to sign a Development Agreement with Microgy. This proposed, on-farm facility would use manure from Chaffee Farm's approximately 800 dairy cows, and other organic waste, to generate methane-rich biogas. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Green Energy Resources, Inc. (GRGR) met coal producers to discuss cofiring and development of premixed fuels. Cofiring is an environmentally friendly application of mixing wood biomass with coal, to reduce harmful green house emissions. Biomass is the 4th largest energy source in the world, with potential application in 65% of the US and world power generation markets. Retrofitting existing coal burning power plants (for cofiring) would elevate biomass into the top three energy sources in the world. Barrons featured Green Energy Resources in this weeks edition, reporting its 1st qtr profit and forecasts for growth in 2005. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 01:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

ENER1 INC (ENEI) announced that it had received an award of $550,000 from the Florida Hydrogen Initiative to develop a renewable energy source that will power a rest area on an interstate highway. ENER1's 10 Kilowatt (KW) fuel-cell based energy source uses methanol created from Florida's two largest industries -- food waste from theme parks and orange peels from citrus processing.

The project, known as the HyTech Rest Area, is an example of Florida's commitment to developing its hydrogen infrastructure. To be completed in 18 months, it will provide not only a demonstration and test-bed for the technology, but will also act as a sustainable energy "road show" for tourists and commuters and as a briefing center for state agencies and local government entities looking to deploy this technology for their own projects. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 01:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The announcement of a natural gas pipeline, built by Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV), in the heart of southern Idaho's dairy industry has one rural mayor pretty energized.

Mayor Paul D. Isaacson in Wendell believes that the renewable energy company will not only bring to his community as many as 125 jobs, but it will measurably reduce the affects of the 350,000 head of milk cows and cattle that surround the area. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) has determined that due to recent positive developments related to new financing options and better than predicted gas production rates being experienced at the Company's operating Whitesides facility, expansion of the previously announced WestPoint Dairy Project now will include a commercial pipeline.

The WestPoint Dairy, on which ground breaking will begin this spring, is ITR's second commercial biogas production facility and is the "anchor" dairy for the much larger Westside Project planned for the Wendell, Idaho area. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) announces that its biogas facility at the Whitesides dairy has processed over 500,000 gallons of manure in its initial month of operation.

The manure has been rendered into irrigation water and fed back into the dairy's lagoons for use during the upcoming irrigation season. The process has proven reliable with improvements already made to the feed and control system. The hydrogen sulfide removal system, which was designed to meet pipeline gas specifications for the contaminant, has performed flawlessly. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) has signed a contract with the Idaho Department of Water Resources Energy Office, whereby a $289,000 U.S. Department of Energy grant will be awarded to ITR. The funds will be used to upgrade ITR's Idaho Falls alternative vehicle fuel Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station. Upon completion, the modifications will transform the CNG station to a state-of-the-art Liquid Natural Gas/Compressed Natural Gas (LNG/CNG) public fueling facility. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Environmental Power Corp (EPG) announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Microgy Cogeneration Systems, Inc. ("Microgy"), has entered into a Project Development Agreement with South-Tex Treaters, Inc. of Odessa, Texas ("South-Tex"), which for almost 20 years has been a leader in the gas processing industry.

The agreement provides that Microgy and South-Tex will cooperate to identify, evaluate and develop projects in the United States that combine Microgy's anaerobic digestion technology, which extracts methane-rich biogas from animal waste, and South-Tex's cleaning and compression technologies that can be used to refine biogas to a pipeline-grade methane. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) that the Methane gas being produced at the Whitesides bioreactor located near Rupert, Idaho is now being used as process heat in the anaerobic digester replacing previously utilized expensive propane.

ITR President Dr. Keiser stated, "This is obviously a significant step in demonstrating the commercial viability of our Methane to market technology where clean gas is produced and sold for residential, industrial or transportation applications. This technology and our proprietary processes and this first use of our gas bring us significantly closer to actual gas sales. The hydrogen sulfide equipment is working exceptionally well and the biogas being produced is absolutely odorless after processing." [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) announces that its biogas facility at the Whitesides dairy has achieved its production goal two months after starting up the plant. The flow of biogas significantly exceeds the 30 cubic feet per minute yield the company had predicted for the two-digester tank system.

This is a significant milestone in the company's business plan. Specifications for gas conditioning equipment, that will bring the Methane to pipeline quality, are now being established based on actual gas yields. Preparations are underway to begin using produced biogas as process heating for the digesters, eliminating the use of expensive natural gas. [ more ]

This penny stock has moved up over 50% in the last couple of days.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 12:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reclamation Consulting and Applications Inc (RCAA) announced that it has signed a new Exclusive Distributorship Agreement with Topia Energy, Inc. for the sale and distribution of biodiesel.

Ottawa-based Topia Energy, Inc. is Canada's largest commercial producer and supplier of biodiesel fuel oils with production capabilities throughout North America. Biodiesel is the only fuel to be classified as entirely non-toxic; it biodegrades faster than sugar, is ten times less toxic than table salt and produces exhaust that some say smell like popcorn or French fries. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) announces it has signed the agreements to design and build its second methane production facility. This renewable energy production plant will be built on the 6000 head WestPoint Dairy near Wendell, Idaho.

ITR will own and operate the plant with the WestPoint Dairy granting a 20-year lease on the property in exchange for ITR processing the approximate 20 million tons of annual animal waste that the dairy produces. The WestPoint Dairy will retain the mineral rich liquid effluent and solid material that remains after processing. ITR will also provide the dairy with additional engineering services that maximize the effectiveness of the operation to the dairy. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 07:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) announces the company's flagship Methane anaerobic digester located at the 4000 head Whitesides Dairy near Rupert Idaho has achieved a fully automated operational status.

The anaerobic digester, which processes animal and industrial waste products, produces substantial quantities of Methane gas as a by-product. Methane is the primary combustible component in normal household and commercial natural gas.

ITR intends initially, to sell the excess gas to a pipeline carrier. However ITR will, in 2005, power an alternate fuel vehicle with this gas making ITR one of the few companies ever to take animal waste and utilize it to power a car or truck in the United States. This will also make ITR's compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station in Idaho Falls the first commercial station in the U.S. to dispense gas from a waste product for vehicle use. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Infectech Inc (IFEC) has signed a feasibility study with the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering of Gannon University in Erie, PA to develop a bioreactor which utilizes Infectech's patented bacterial culturing methods in order to produce hydrogen inexpensively.

Infectech believes the most likely method for low cost production of massive quantities of hydrogen as an alternate energy source is hydrogen combustion using Clostridia bacteria, which produces hydrogen as a by-product. Infectech has ascertained through its patent counsel that there are eleven relevant U.S. patents concerning the database containing the terms "Clostridia" and "Hydrogen Production." Infectech presently owns five of these eleven issued patents. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nathaniel Energy Corporation (NECX) entered into an amendment to its agreement for the waste- to-energy power plant project in Cologna Veneta, Italy, resolving the contract issues announced on November 2, 2004.

Under the amended contract, the Company received $300,000 at the time of signing, and will receive $750,000 upon the completion of final testing of the first Thermal Combustor(TM), and will receive $1,050,000 upon the completion of final testing of the second Thermal Combustor(TM). Nathaniel Energy will also receive $275,000 for reimbursement of shipping and handling costs upon the completion of final testing of the second Thermal Combustor(TM). [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reclamation Consulting and Applications Inc (RCAA) announced that it has initiated an aggressive marketing program for the sale of BioDiesel fuel oil manufactured by Topia Energy.

Topia Energy has developed a unique BioDiesel blending process, and is Certified: BioDiesel Driven(TM). In order to earn the right to call their fuel Certified: BioDiesel Driven(TM), Topia must subject their product to rigorous and consistent long-term testing. BioDiesel Driven(TM) is a mark of quality that BioDiesel users trust to meet the most rigorous standards in the world. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Capstone Turbine Corp (CPST) has been selected to provide a biogas-to-energy demonstration project in West Bengal, India. The project is expected to be online mid-2005. It will be the first installation of Capstone MicroTurbine(TM) energy systems in India.

The project will encompass two new anaerobic digesters (which create biogas from manure), gas pre-treatment equipment, two Capstone C30 systems and a microgrid to export power. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) has completed all required testing on their bioreactor located at the Whitesides dairy near Rupert, Idaho and have began the process of loading animal waste from the dairy into the twin 35,000 gallon tanks. [ more ]

This is a significant development for this company. The stock is trading up over 10% today on this news. The next milestone is a confirmation of the methane gas output for this plant and if it will meet or exceed projections.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As mentioned in a previous entry, the Pennsylvania legislature passed SB1030, the Alternative Energy Bill, on November 20, 2004 which will require a total of 18% of Pennsylvania's electricity to be generated by alternative energy sources by 2020.

The standard requires 8% of Pennsylvania's electricity to be generated by so-called "Tier I" renewable sources of energy by 2020. Tier I resources include solar, wind, geothermal and biomass. The standard also requires 10% of the state's electricity to come from a second category of resources that include waste coal, integrated combined coal gasification technology, municipal solid waste, large-scale hydro, demand-side management and distributed generation systems. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Green Energy Resources, Inc. (NYIL) announced today that it has signed a new supply contract with Texas Energy Resource Management. Texas Energy has three locations in Eastern Texas including a chip mill facility in Crockett, a recycling facility in Buna and a recycling facility in Houston. This contract will supply approximately 500,000 tons annually of whole tree wood chips. The chips are exclusively for export to other NYIL customers throughout the EU. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Right on the heels of Colorado passing Amendment 37, Pennsylvania is waiting for State House approval on the passage of their own legislation mandating clean energy production. [ more ]

This new bill states that by 2020, utilities would be required to provide 18 percent of the electricity used in Pennsylvania from alternative sources, like wind, solar and waste coal. Wind should be the big winner for this region.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 02:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of the General Electric Company (GE), announced that it was selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) to lead $11 million of research projects in the development of hydrogen as a fuel source. The programs are focused on near and long term solutions for the production of hydrogen with sustainable, clean technologies. GE Global Research will contribute approximately $2.5 million to the projects with the balance coming from DOE and other industry partners. [ more ]

This project plans to study the creation of hydrogen from solar water splitting, naturual gas/bio production, and next generation electrolyzer technologies to make more efficent fuel cells.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Colorado voters have approved an amendment requiring utilities to get part of their electricity from the sun, wind or plant and animal waste.

The amendment requires the state's seven largest utilities to get a portion of their retail electricity sales from renewables, beginning with 3 percent in 2007 and climbing to 10 percent by 2015. Four percent of the renewables should be solar sources. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After its official groundbreaking, the Northern Wood Power Project, New Hampshire's first non-hydro, commercial-scale renewable energy project, is now underway at the Schiller Station in Portsmouth.

The US$75 million project, developed by Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH), will replace a 50 MW coal-fired boiler with a new boiler of equal size that will burn wood chips and other clean wood products. In addition to creating a market for woodchips from the state's many logging operations, the facility will become a major regional contributor of renewable energy. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nathaniel Energy Corporation (NECX) announces the successful gasification of refuse derived fuel (RDF) in Italy, proving that its patented technology is successful and viable on a commercial level.

The Company successfully gasified and combusted RDF and produced over one megawatt of electricity with one of its Thermal Combustors(TM) in Cologna, Veneta, Italy. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aarhus United USA Inc. has awarded Northern Power Systems, Inc. a subsidiary of Distributed Energy Systems Corp (DESC), a contract for a $1.7 million turnkey on-site power system that will use the oil distillate and waste byproduct of the company's vegetable oil processing operations as fuel. Northern's system will be designed to deliver 65% of the Port Newark, New Jersey facility's electrical needs and 12% of its thermal consumption. The NJ Clean Energy Program has deemed the fuel a renewable source that is CO2 emissions-free and has therefore committed funds to pay 30% of the project cost. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Green Energy Resources, Inc. (NYIL) will acquire three (3) biomass power plants in Italy as a result of the recently announced merger/acquisition of ICL. The plants will generate approximately $150 million annually ($1.1billion dollars through 2012) and provide a before tax profit of approximately $30 million for each of the next seven (7) years. The merger is on target to be completed before the end of December 2004.

Green Energy Resources export sales of woodchips from the United States are projected at approximately 2 million metric tons for 2005, generating approximately $100 million dollars in gross sales revenues. New export clients include buyers in Sweden (200,000 Mts annually), Netherlands (120,000 Mts annually) and the UK (150,000 Mts annually). [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

O2Diesel Corp (OTD) announced that one of the largest sugar millers and ethanol producers in the world, COSAN (annual revenues of US$500 million) of Brazil, began using O2Diesel(TM) in the diesel powered fleet located at their mill in Barra Bonita, State of Sao Paulo. This mill is the world's largest sugar and ethanol production facility with the capacity to process 6.8 million tons of sugar cane per year. The patented fuel technology developed by O2Diesel Corporation of Newark, Delaware, will be used in a wide variety of trucks and agricultural equipment. COSAN operates 12 mills in Southeastern Brazil with an annual consumption of approximately 50 million liters (13,208,993 gallons) of diesel fuel. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Green Star Products Inc (GSPI) announced today that according to an article published in the Salt Lake Tribune (September 17, 2004) B2 biodiesel blend is now selling at 3 cents below average diesel price in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The article states, "Alternative fuel enthusiasts have a new place to fill up. The first biodiesel fuel pump in Utah opened Thursday at Dal Soglio Sinclair, 7398 S. 700 West, in Midvale. The station now sells diesel fuel that is a 2 percent biodiesel blend (B2), along with conventional unleaded gasoline. The B2 blend costs $1.94 per gallon, which compares favorably to the average cost of diesel in the Salt Lake City-Ogden area, about $1.97 per gallon." [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Clean Diesel Technologies Inc. (CDTI) announced today that it has completed extensive independent testing of its Platinum Plus® fuel-borne catalyst (FBC) in a wide range of fuels on four different engines at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio. Results from these tests confirm that the FBC, when added to various commercial diesel fuels, can provide up to 35 percent reduction in diesel particulate emissions (PM) and up to 11 percent NOx reduction. Both particulates and NOx are a major focus of worldwide efforts to reduce diesel emissions, and the U.S. EPA has challenged the industry to clean up the more than 11 million existing diesel engines that are used in a wide range of on-road and off-road applications. While new engines will see dramatic emissions reductions starting in 2007, many existing engines will continue to be in service for another 10-20 years. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Researchers from the University of Wisconsin at Madison have found a way to use the carbon monoxide to produce more energy in a reaction that can take place at room temperature.

The method could eventually be used in portable systems that use renewable fuel produced from plant matter, said James Dumesic, a professor of chemical and biological engineering at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The process could also be used to treat wastewater and contaminated gas streams, he said. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The CS Monitor has a good article about the investment potential of Alternative Energy stocks.

"You can't ride off into the sunset with a hydrogen-powered SUV - or to a middle-class solar home. But as the decades-long transition away from oil begins to take shape, some ethical investors sense a bonanza. " [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

DaimlerChrysler AG (DCX) announced plans to use B5, a 5% blend of biodiesel, in each new Jeep Liberty Common Rail Diesel (CRD) sport-utility vehicle coming off the assembly line. The news is a landmark choice by US auto manufacturers in advancing the use of cleaner burning biodiesel. Chrysler Group President and CEO Dieter Zetsche called the decision an important first step in encouraging wider use of clean, renewable fuels. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) and the California Dairy Campaign (CDC) announce a partnership to make available ITR's proprietary digester technology to the California dairy industry.

Gary Bullard, CDC's environmental project manager was one of the attendees at ITR's demonstration of their first methane bioreactor in Rupert, Idaho. on August 23. "I left the demonstration convinced that the technology and processes that I saw were of paramount importance to our member dairies". Mr. Bullard further stated, "California, which is the nation's largest dairy state, with many individual dairies that exceed 10,000 head, is facing an unprecedented environmental challenge to the continued and successful operation of these dairies due to State requirements on the removal and disposition of animal wastes and the associated air, soil and water quality standards which are the most stringent in the nation." [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Environmental Power Corp (POWR) announced today that it has signed an agreement with Seifert Dairy Farms of Acampo, CA for the on-farm location of an animal feed production system based on Microgy's anaerobic digester ("AD") technology.

The Seifert Dairy project is the second such facility proposed for development under Microgy's Feed System Project Development Agreement with The Scoular Company ("Scoular"), a $2.3 billion in sales merchandiser of agricultural commodities. As previously announced, this Development Agreement anticipates Microgy constructing up to 50 systems designed to use an efficient, environmentally sound process to produce animal feed. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

American Biofuels (ABF), a biodiesel production company 35% owned by Green Star Products Inc (GSPI), announced today that its first container load of U.S. produced biodiesel is on its way to Asia.

The ABF shipment is believed to be the largest order of biodiesel ever shipped from the United States to Asia. The oceangoing container carries approximately 6,000-gallons of biodiesel packaged in over 100-barrels. This is a first major step in opening Asian markets to U.S. produced biodiesel and biodiesel technology. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 04:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Twenty-five proposed renewable energy projects featuring hydroelectric, biomass, wind, solar and biofuel technologies have been selected to receive more than $22 million from the Xcel Energy (XEL) Renewable Development Fund.

More than 200 renewable energy project proposals were considered, three times the number submitted in the program's first funding cycle in 2001. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday the National Biodiesel Board announced that a pump station in Utah is selling a 2% biodiesel blend (B-2) at the same price as regular diesel. Even though there are more than 300 pumps nationwide selling biodiesel, this is the first time in the United States that a biodiesel blend has been offered at regular diesel prices. [ more ]

The Bio-Diesel is being supplied by Green Star Products Inc (GSPI)

Posted by Mark Anderson at 01:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nearly 36,000 jobs could be created in Texas if an increase in the national renewable energy standard were adopted, according to a new study released by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

A national standard would require that 20 percent of the country's electricity come from clean, renewable sources like wind, biomass and solar. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Experts generally agree that our current reliance on fossil fuels is unsustainable. Already oil is near $50 per barrel, and the great millions of Chinese and Indians destined to take to the road in the next decades have not yet gotten behind the wheel."

This week Newsweek has written several special reports about alternative energy in all its forms. All of these reports can be found at the following link. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 06:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Colorado House Speaker Lola Spradley, R-Beulah. and U.S. Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs, co-chairs of Amendment 37—the Renewable Energy Initiative—kicked-off their statewide campaign Thursday with stops throughout Colorado.

Amendment 37 would require 10 percent of Colorado's electricity be generated from renewable energy by 2015. The program is scaled beginning with a 3 percent requirement by 2007, 6 percent by 2011, and 10 percent by 2015. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 05:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Green Energy Resources, Inc. (NYIL) announces it has agreed in principle to merge with Italiana Commissionaria Legnami (ICL) of Monza , Italy. ICL has offices in New York and Brazil. The terms of the merger have not been disclosed.

ICL is the largest importer of woodfiber fuel in Italy. In 2003 ICL supplied approximately 80,000 tons of woodchips per month to the Italian market. The proposed merger will seek to capture the vertical market from procurement, to transportation, to power generation plants and would create one of the largest international biomass/ renewable energy companies in the world today. The combined company is expected to have a capacity to deliver well over one million tons of woodfiber fuel annually. The product is delivered by the two woodchip carriers under contract to existing power plants. All the biomass fuels comply with the strict UTCS certification system and the Kyoto protocol. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tekron Inc. (TKRN) is pleased to announce that Tekron Inc. and Vydexa Industrials Corporation of London, Ontario have received a contract to prepare a feasibility study for Barbados Sugar Industries Ltd. (BSIL) and restructure the fledgling sugar cane industry in Barbados.

The objective of the assignment is to develop an industrial base for production of fuel alcohol and other higher value products from sugar cane biomass. The project undertaking will encompass all aspects necessary for decision-making, relating to technologically sound and profitable utilization of sugar cane biomass residues that are left after conventional sugar extraction, presently practiced in Barbados. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A busload of Indiana farmers rolled into town Tuesday to refuel their tour bus with bio-diesel from a tank previously used exclusively by Franklin trolleys.

“Part of this trip is to promote soy-based diesel,� said Alan Kemper, chairman of the Indiana Soybean Growers Association. “Franklin is one of the few places with soy diesel.� [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Environmental Power Corp (POWR) announced today that it had signed an agreement with De Snayer Dairy of Lodi, California, for the on-farm location of an animal feed production system based on Microgy's anaerobic digester technology. Microgy expects to own and operate the proposed facility that will utilize manure from De Snayer's dairy operations to generate biogas for the operation of equipment developed to process feed ingredients, utilizing a process that is being pioneered by The Scoular Company. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Toyota Motor Corp (TM) are developing a hybrid drivetrain system that can be used for gasoline, diesel, natural gas and fuel-cells. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 04:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) announced today that they have received multiple offers from recognized buyers on their Montana gold property located near the ghost town of Garnet in southwestern Montana.

This sale will allow ITR to appreciably escalate their build out of anaerobic digester plants in southern Idaho and will result in accelerating the expansion of the nearly completed Whiteside refinery and allow construction to begin on the second methane refinery as early as the end of 2004. The sale of the Garnet mine will have a substantial and materially significant effect on ITR's ability to become a leader in the burgeoning alternate fuels industry. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) has begun the final stages of construction on ITR's methane gas refinery located near Rupert, Idaho with the arrival today of the twin 35,000 gallon steel digester tanks.

ITR notes that the system, a first of its kind, has generated considerable interest within the dairy and livestock industry nationwide. This reinforces the belief that demand for the proprietary anaerobic digester systems will remain robust; especially as abundant and reliable new energy sources are needed globally. [ more ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An editorial article from South Carolina's TheState.com expresses concern for funding for Fuel Cell research. The guess columnist expresses his concerns and feels that they would be better served looking at Biomass alternatives.

An abstract of this opinion article is show below, with a link to the full story.

A growing group of distinguished scientists sees the “hydrogen economy� as a ruse � a distraction from the much more viable alternative of biofuels. Nor has the hydrogen illusion escaped the notice of astute investors, as the major fuel-cell companies have seen their share prices drop by half over the past four months from what were already severely depressed values. [ full story at thestate.com ]

Since we are investing in both, we are still not concerned about a move towards Biomass alternatives. He is also missing one point in his editorial. These Biomass fuels can also be used to generate Hydrogen for our fuel stacks.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AutoWeek has an article about one man's quest to travel the entire United States using anything but gasoline to power his variety of alternative fuel vehicles. Featured are bio-diesel Hummers and RVs, a solar-powered canoe, and an poop-powered scooter

[ full story at autoweek.com ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intelligent Energy Inc., a leading energy solutions business, today announces that it has successfully completed trials of its ethanol based fuel cell technology system. These trials show that sufficient electricity can be generated for a rural home from equipment little larger than a shoebox, using fuel derived from sugar cane. [ full press release ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BusinessWeek.com discusses John Kerry's plan to increase alternative energy usage for the country.

John Kerry's blueprint for energy independence doesn't suffer from lack of ambition. In early August, he'll unveil an energy plan that he says can break America's addiction to foreign oil, revitalize the U.S. auto industry, help farmers and coal miners, fight global warming, and create jobs -- all for just $2 billion per year. "We can live in an America that is energy independent," Kerry promises. [ full story at businessweek.com ]

Posted by Mark Anderson at 05:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intrepid Technology and Resources, Inc. (IESV) a renewable energy company announced today that they have begun to evaluate various proposals to purchase their gold property at Garnet, Montana. [ full release ]

The sale of this gold property will give Intrepid additional capital to concentrate fully on its biofuel business.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 07:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An Eastern Iowan made his own fuel to save money, but now the state says not so fast. The state wants to make sure it doesn't miss out on its tax money...

...The tax would be 22 and a half cents a gallon. The same as diesel. He makes anywhere from five to twenty gallons of biodiesel a month. At the most, it would mean an additional four dollars to the state each month. Toal-Rossi says, "I'm not opposed to paying the tax, it's really the paperwork that's more of a hassle for me." [ full story ]

Never underestimate the inefficiency of the government. In Maryland, they give you a tax break (courtesy of the Soy Bean farmer lobby) for the use of Bio Fuels. This is one issue that needs to be addressed at the Federal level if we ever hope to ease our reliance on foreign oil.

Posted by Mark Anderson at 08:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)