In Tanzania, ceremonies were held at two representative schools in Kilimanjaro: Vumari Secondary School also attended by His Excellency Mr. Masaki Okada, Japanese Ambassador to Tanzania, and Mabilioni Secondary School. They were warmly welcomed with music and dances by the students, their parents and other people from the community. Donations in the last fiscal year also included Kirangare and Tae Secondary Schools.

In Uganda, ceremonies took place at all three schools in Bushenyi: Nyakarama Boarding Primary School, Ryakasinga Model Primary Boarding School, and Rweigaaga Day & Boarding Primary School, with the attendance of Mr. Yukihisa Nakano, First Secretary of the Embassy of Japan in Uganda at the first two schools.

The installations are part of larger donation projects that have been ongoing since 2009, in which Kyocera has been providing solar power generating systems to schools in Tanzania and Uganda that have no access to the electricity grid. The five-year projects consist of 600-watt solar power generating systems for 35 schools in total, each with storage batteries as well as basic equipment such as lamps, TV sets and radios — lighting up the classrooms and diversifying learning activities for the students.

In addition, the solar systems are occasionally used as an electricity source for the people of the community to charge their mobile devices. With additional installations at seven schools in the last fiscal year, donations have already been made to a total of 28 schools, with seven more to follow by March 2014.

Under the 10-year contract, ECC will compete for projects to develop, construct, finance, own, and operate geothermal energy projects on Department of Defense installations located throughout the U.S. under long-term (20+ year) power purchase agreements using private sector financing. Geothermal technologies utilize the internal heat of the earth as a power source, including ground source heat pump systems and deep well geothermal systems.

“We see an increase in demands and Congressional mandates placed on Federal agencies and all branches of the U.S. military to implement renewable and alternative energy solutions for the future,” said Paul Sabharwal, ECC Chairman of the Board. “ECC is proud to utilize this contract to help the U.S. Army come one step closer to meeting those goals.”

Sabharwal continued, “ECC is ideally suited to pursue these types of contracts. We have the right mix of development, financing, engineering, and construction resources, capabilities, and experience, combined with the passion, leadership, and trusted partnering approach needed to succeed.”

This award marks the first of four renewable and alternative energy technologies being awarded this year under the $7 billion MATOC program.  Awards for solar, wind, and biomass technologies will be awarded through the end of 2013.

“Just like the coal character in The Coal vs Clean Energy Show, the coal industry continues to turn a blind eye to the dangerous health and environmental effects of mining and burning coal,” said Mary Anne Hitt, director of the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “We hope this series helps to educate viewers on the dangers of coal and the benefits of clean energy, in a fun and engaging way.”

“Wind variation, because it’s unpredictable, can have a very big influence on the volatility of the power market that day,” Chris says, adding that once a wind farm is built, the information really comes in handy for those farm owners optimizing their operation. Now, wind farm owners have to decide every day whether they will sell tomorrow’s power at today’s price, but not know the output, or wait until tomorrow and sell at tomorrow’s price, but not know what that price would be. Either choice involves risk, but Chris says their technology offers predictions of wind output levels and pricing. “That can be used to help wind producers make better decisions about how to schedule that power into the market.”

He says bringing more transparency into the market also helps consumers by making wind energy producers more efficient and able to pass that efficiency and reliability to the customer.

And he believes Genscape allows the whole energy sector, including renewables, work together better for the good of all.

“What we do in providing a lot more visibility in what’s happening in the market minute-to-minute and providing that transparency improves the reliability of the system.”

Listen to Joanna’s interview with Chris here: Chris Seiple, Genscape

“Central America is at a crossroads,” said Alexander Ochs, Director of Climate and Energy at Worldwatch and co-author of the study. “As the economies of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama expand, regional use of fossil fuels is growing quickly while the use of traditional fuel wood, primarily for cooking, remains unsustainably high.”

Ochs continued, “These developments come with significant health, societal and economic costs, including rising greenhouse gas emissions and worsening air and water pollution. Central America has the potential to meet 100 percent of its electricity needs with sustainable renewable energy, but the proper policies and measures need to be put in place now.”

The report assesses the status of renewable energy technologies in Central America and analyzes the conditions for their advancement in the future. It identifies important knowledge and information gaps, evaluates key finance and policy barriers, and makes suggestions for how to overcome both. The study serves as a “roadmap of a roadmap,” scoping the improvements needed to facilitate the transition to a sustainable energy system and establishing the necessary methodology and groundwork for comprehensive regional and national energy strategies.

The reports focuses on four “high-impact” areas for transitioning Central America’s energy systems:

• Expanding access to sustainable energy in underserved communities through distributed renewable energy.
• Slowing the region’s rapidly rising fossil fuel use for centralized power generation.
• Addressing more aggressively the unsustainable use of fuel wood for cooking.
• Tackling the region’s rapidly rising energy use for transportation, a sector that in some countries already contributes the highest share of carbon dioxide emissions.

“Central American countries have issued ambitious policy statements that express political will for the further advancement of renewables, and some of them have made significant progress. However, there is much room for improvement to reach the region´s full potential,” added Ana María Majano. INCAE Business School’s Latin American Center for Competitiveness and Sustainable Development (CLACDS) and a co-author of the study. “In many cases, countries lack binding long-term goals and a coherent development strategy to reach them. Concrete policy instruments are often missing or not working properly, and administrative ineffectiveness sometimes impedes full implementation.”

The report is the culmination of the first phase of Worldwatch’s Central America Sustainable Energy Initiative, launched in partnership with CLACDS.

In one week, Vista Solar finished the project on-time and on-budget. “Working with Vista Solar went really smoothly. We had great communication from Vista Solar, and we are really happy with our solar system,” said Mary Medeiros McEnroe, Public Benefit Program Manager for the City of Santa Clara.

Henry Schmidt Park’s lighting, internal electric baseboard heating, and other electrical appliances are now being powered by solar energy. The City of Santa Clara is turning to Vista Solar again for a 125 kW solar system at the Jenny Strand Solar Research and Development Park.

Tallow shipments from the U.S. may decline to 680,000 metric tons in 2013 from 706,000 tons last year, the Hamburg-based industry researcher wrote in an e-mailed report. They’ve dropped from a record 1.32 million tons in 1998, Oil World said.

“Virtually stagnating world supplies and the increasing consumption from the biodiesel industry have considerably squeezed supplies available for other consumers,” Oil World said. “We expect this trend to continue in 2014, keeping tallow prices well supported.”

Around the world, biodiesel is credited with helping push up tallow use to 1.6 million tons last year from 1 million tons in 2010.

“We are excited to hire someone of Lindsay’s skills and experience and to be expanding our office to better meet the needs of our growing industry,” said Anne Steckel, NBB’s vice president of federal affairs. “Biodiesel is already a great RFS success story, and adding Lindsay to our team will only build on that success.”

“Her extensive knowledge of the RFS will be a tremendous benefit to our industry and to our members as they navigate the program,” Steckel added. “We look forward to working with EPA to ensure that advanced biofuels and the RFS continue meeting our goals of increasing U.S. energy security, strengthening the economy and reducing emissions.”

Fitzgerald has previous experience as a research analyst and legal assistant and graduated Indiana University in Pennsylvania.

In a recent conversation I had with Dinneen, he noted that a lot of issues the ethanol industry faces are issues they have faced for decades. “Food versus fuel, nothing new there. We’ve been hearing it for a long time. Energy balance, nothing new. We’ve been hearing it for a long time,” said Dinneen.

“The one new twist that you have on the Hill is that the RFS (Renewable Fuel Standard) itself is an anachronism today because we’re producing more oil domestically. We’ve found this nirvana in North Dakota where we get all these tight oil supplies. And so since we’re getting all this oil from North Dakota, we should stop producing ethanol from South Dakota. Well, I don’t really think so.”

Dinneen explained that members of Congress are interested in the industry’s arguments about the impact on the consumer because all that North Dakota oil isn’t helping to reduce the price of oil because those facilities, that production is not going to pencil out at ninety dollars a barrel.

“You need a high oil price to encourage those investments to continue,” explained Dinneen. “So the only relief that consumers are going to have is if we continue to add supply with domestic renewable fuels that pencil out a lot lower than that.”

Why the new twist to an old story now? Listen to my interview with Bob here to find out: A New Twist to an Old Story

Visit the 2013 FEW Photo Album.

“I am pleased to report that we have been successful in operating our full-scale fermentation and our GIFT® separation system that separates the isobutanol from the fermentation broth. This serves to further validate our technology as we had not previously run the GIFT® system at full scale. I can now say that it runs beautifully,” said Patrick Gruber, Gevo’s Chief Executive Officer.

Gruber continued, “As you may recall, we had some microbial contamination in our plant that we have since learned to control and manage. The fixes included changing the fermentation conditions and related operating parameters, making equipment modifications to improve sanitization, and, most importantly, improving our operating discipline—the procedures we use at the plant.”

“We plan to be producing isobutanol and operating throughout the rest of this year,” Gruber added. “While we are currently operating a single production train, we plan on bringing all of our fermenters and GIFT systems online in the third and fourth quarters, testing run rates, then ramping up production and sales in 2013 and 2014.”

Gevo will sell the isobutanol it produces, to the specialty chemicals market, the specialty oxygenated fuel blendstock market, and as a building block to make jet fuel and chemical products such as paraxylene for PET used in the production of bottles and fibers.

EPA is set to release the final 2013 RFS volumes. And this is important, said Jennings, to make sure the cellulose numbers are high enough to incent some of the production. At virtually the same time, the EPA will propose the 2014 RFS volumes, or numbers.

“What’s really important here, is that in the past EPA has reduced cellulose but have assumed that other advanced biofuels, sugarcane ethanol from Brazil, domestic advanced, biodiesel, can make up the difference when they reduce cellulose.” Next year the cellulose number is so high, 1.75 billion, that they’re going to have to reduce it such that there probably isn’t sufficient advanced biofuels to make up the difference, explained Jennings.

“So we could be looking for the very first time in 2014 with changes across the board of the RFS from EPA not Congress.” Jennings added that ACE is trying to get their arms around how they want to tackle this with EPA.

Jennings also discussed the farm bill and the Energy and Commence Committee Renewable Fuel Standard (RFA) white papers. He believes hearings may take place in July but is not sure if ACE or any other association will be invited to participate in the hearings. But, he stressed, ACE will be active in the debate.

Listen to my interview with Brian here: EPA Set for Action

Visit the 2013 FEW Photo Album.

In response, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) held a press call to discuss motorcycles and E15. On the call were Robert White director of market development for RFA and Harley Davidson owner, as well as engine experts Bobby Likis and Bryan O’Neill.

All the participants stressed during the call that since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved E15, it has never been approved for motorcycles – only E10 has been approved for motorcycles. The message back to AMA and all motorcycle riders, said White, “…is to not use the fuel. In fact, it would be illegal, and will remain illegal no matter what any testing would confirm.”

The big question – Why E15? “I think we need to look not further then the event sponsor, the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, known as our nation’s oil refiners,” said White. He also noted that the RFA has taken concerns of AMA and others seriously when it comes to E15.

In addition to the call, RFA also released a fact sheet specifically for motorcycle owners answering common questions about E15 (85 percent gasoline/15 percent ethanol) and motorcycle engines. The document entitled “E15 and the Motorcycle Industry” makes it clear that E15 is illegal to put into a motorcycle engine, but E10 is approved for use.

Listen to the full press call here: Motorcycles & E15

“We are very proud that our two high schools will be supplied with renewable power and that we will be making a valuable contribution to sustainability in our community,” said Al Sena, responsible for building management at the Rio Rancho public schools. “This will allow our students to experience the benefits of clean power generation, first hand. With the solar installations, we cover about 80% of our total annual power requirements while cutting our electricity costs at the same time – without major upfront investment.”

The power plants consists of more than 8,200 solar modules installed on 4.7 kilometers of Conergy SolarLinea mounting systems. They will produce nearly 4.3 million kilowatt hours of energy each year. This is the same amount of energy as needed by 43,000 laptops running 8 hours a day for one year.

Anthony Fotopoulos, Managing Director of Conergy USA added. “In many regions of the USA, grid parity has been achieved for end consumers, and solar power is already considerably cheaper today than power from the grid. Local consumption via power purchase agreements is the future of the American electricity market.

“With this electricity market model, end consumers benefit from considerable electricity cost savings from the green power – without substantial upfront costs. In the sunshine state of California, for instance, around 70% of all solar plants on private homes are already financed by third parties today; in the case of commercial power plants, the figure is over 40% – and the trend is upwards,” Fotopoulos concluded.

I sat down with Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy recently who is a Washington insider and has been working on behalf of the agricultural industry and now the biofuels industry for many years to learn more about the current farm bill, or lack thereof.

Buis explained that the 2008 Farm Bill was the first ever with an energy title, all designed to help investment into next generation biofuels. This year, the Senate extended the program and funded it and those are two critical programs said Buis. If a new bill isn’t passed, the extension will expire on September 30, 2013 and with it all the energy programs.

He continued, what the House does is only authorize the programs but don’t put in any money in the bill. “It’s a good press release but it doesn’t mean anything. And the battle will probably end up like that if and when it gets through the House they won’t have any funding for the programs and restrictions on whether or not USDA can fund development under the REAP program, flex pumps in rural communities. They’ll probably have a prohibition which the Senate does not and will have it work in out in conference.”

Tom along with his members have been extremely active in defending ethanol on the Hill and will continue to do so. Realizing that they need more boots on the ground, several years ago Growth Energy launched its “Growth Force” where anyone from around the world can sign up to support biofuels. Now the association is taking it one more step, and individuals from around the country can become members of Growth Energy.

During our sit down, Buis also discussed several other current issues including market access and the ongoing debate over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Listen to my interview with Tom here: Needed Now: Farm Bill with Energy Funding

Visit the 2013 FEW Photo Album.

This article posted on Stockhouse.com from biodiesel producer FutureFuel Corp. looks at where some of the best prospects for biodiesel are – in particular how biodiesel demand is projected to grow, the biodiesel supply appears limited, and the robust economics and public support biodiesel enjoys:

The Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) … helped the biodiesel industry reach production levels of nearly 1.1 billion gallons per year over the past two years, exceeding the programs requirements.

The third key factor for investors to consider beyond supply and demand is public support and cost economics, since the industry’s growth does demand on government subsidies. Fortunately, it has become clear that the biodiesel industry offers a number of enormous economic benefits, environmental benefits, and public benefits worth considering. These benefits … suggest that support for the industry remains robust.

Interesting read. Check it out!

“This represents an entirely new mode of travel and will allow for the public-transport system to contribute to a more pleasant urban environment,” said Olof Persson, president and CEO of Volvo. “A silent and emissions-free public-transport system will enable the inclusion of locations in the city that are currently off limits. It is immensely satisfying to be able to launch this in our hometown, in cooperation with Region Västra Götaland and the City of Gothenburg.”

The use of electric power not only places Gothenburg on the map in terms of sustainable and innovative solutions for public transport; the new bus service will also open up new possibilities in city and urban planning. Commencing in 2015, the electric buses are to run between Johanneberg Science Park adjacent to Chalmers and Lindholmen Science Park in Hisingen.

Anneli Hulthén, Chairman of the Municipal Board added, “The electric bus service entails a new mode of public-transport system usage, which is highly positive for Gothenburg. It will highlight Gothenburg as a progressive city in terms of city planning. This is also in line with our prioritized objective of having Gothenburg reduce its climate impact to become a climate-neutral city, and increasing sustainable travel.”

In addition to the electric buses, the cooperation also includes the creation and trial runs of new bus-stop solutions, traffic-routing systems, safety concepts, energy supply and business models.

Aqueous Pretreatment of Plant Biomass for Biological and Chemical Conversion to Fuels,

The just-published book focuses on aqueous pretreatment of cellulosic biomass to promote sugar release for biological, catalytic, or thermochemical conversion into fuels and chemicals. Introductory chapters provide the rationale for converting biomass to fuels; its importance to national security, balance of trade, and the environment; and insights into biological and catalytic processing to fuels. Also included are in-depth information on the chemistry and biology of cellulosic biomass, leading pretreatments to facilitate its biological and chemical conversion to sugars, and methods important to assess the effectiveness of biomass conversion technologies.

In recent decades, interest in converting cellulosic biomass to fuels has closely tracked the price of petroleum: support jumps when petroleum prices are high and wanes when prices drop.

“That creates a big challenge,” Wyman said. “The volatility of oil prices and associated enthusiasm for alternatives results in a very unstable environment in which to build a business.”

Yet, cellulosic biomass conversion has unique and powerful benefits. It has the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions and imported petroleum dependence and is widely available and inexpensive. For example, cellulosic biomass costing $60 per dry ton has about the same cost per energy content as petroleum at about $20 per barrel.

“The challenge is, and has always been, reducing the cost of breaking down cellulosic biomass into sugars and other fuel precursors that can be converted into products, and aqueous pretreatment plays a pivotal role for leading biological, catalytic, and thermochemical routes” Wyman added.

Wyman’s passion for renewable energy was first expressed through a junior high school science fair project focused on solar energy storage. It grew as he earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Princeton, became a leader in biomass conversion at the Solar Energy Research Institute, now known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and as an endowed professor at Dartmouth College. Today, he is also holds the Ford Motor Company Chair in Environmental Engineering in the Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) of the UC Riverside Bourns College of Engineering.

In 1996, during his tenure at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, he edited the book Handbook on Bioethanol: Production and Utilization. He also co-founded Mascoma Corporation, a startup company focused on advanced technology for biomass conversion to ethanol, in 2005.

The move gained the praise of the Advanced Biofuels Association’s president Michael McAdams:

“The Advanced Biofuels Association applauds the Senate Armed Services Committee for their leadership in supporting the Department of Defense initiatives in advanced biofuels. The Senate continues to recognize the mission value of investments in biofuels that meet multiple national security objectives, and contribute to growing jobs in American agriculture and technology.”

Of course, both of these bills are still to pass both the full House and Senate and the inevitable joint committees to hash out the differences. Both of these might have been wins for biofuels, but the war’s not over. Stay tuned.

“ICM sees that as a co-location facility, next to Generation 1 facilities,” explained Kurt Dieker, ICM’s Director of Product Development during an interview with Joanna. He said they’ll see a differentiated feedstock going in, so the process won’t be that much different than their 1.5 technology, with corn stover and other cellulosic crops being turned into fuel. And the 1.5 technology would serve as a cheaper proving ground before stepping up to the more expensive 2.0 technology. And since the 2.0 can be located in existing ethanol plants, farmers can have one stop to bring their corn and stover to make the two generations of ethanol. “Our mission is to add value to sustainable agriculture through renewable fuels and chemicals. Not only can the plants make more money, but also the farmer make more money per acre.”

Another benefit of ICM’s Generation 2.0 technology is using the existing infrastructure, such as power and water, which can make up to 30 percent of the costs of building a plant, and using a first generation plant’s steam, making the second generation plant cheaper.

Kurt said they’ll be doing the first integrated run of the Generation 2.0 technology in the third quarter of this year, and the market will drive the future.

“The bigger thing for us is to continue to add value for our customers, continue to invest into the industry as a whole, and to give overall producers options for the future and a positive outlook.”

Listen to Joanna’s interview with Kurt here: Kurt Dieker, ICM

“Having served as Chairman of the US Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, I understand the strong desire of the Indian Tribes to build ‘Indian owned’ wind power projects to create new jobs and affordable power for their Tribes,” said Senator Dorgan. “This project is a unique opportunity for the Sioux Tribes in South Dakota to chart their own destiny. They live on lands that are rich with wind resources and they can use those resources to build a large wind energy project that can both help the Tribes and produce clean, renewable power for our country for decades to come.”

Dorgan continued, “Together with my colleagues at Arent Fox, I have been honored to work with elected leaders of the Tribes to plan this project and I am especially proud of the recognition given it today by President Clinton and the Clinton Global Initiative.”

Through the project, the Tribes stand to infuse up to $3 billion directly into the South Dakota economy, an amount roughly equal to the impact of the entire manufacturing sector in South Dakota in a given year. The planned project could generate 1-2 gigawatts of power annually. Measured conservatively, that’s more than enough power to electrify the homes in Denver, Colorado for the next 20 years, the typical useful lifespan of the wind turbines.

The majority of the project’s funding will come through the sale of bonds by a Multi-Tribal Power Authority, which are expected to be made available to investors in about two years, following a critical planning and preparation stage. For this reason, the Tribes have partnered with the crowdfunding platform Rally.org to seek funding and raise general awareness for the project.

The Tribes participating in the project include Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, and Yankton Sioux Tribe.

Over the past year we have had the pleasure of providing fuel to a wide range of drivers, from local residents to landscape companies to cross country travelers – Woody Harrelson and New Belgium Brewing Company’s Tour de Fat, just to name a few. Everyone who provides grease or purchases our fuel has been key to our success this year. By using the fuel from our retail station, you are helping prevent carbon dioxide from being emitted into the air, making a real difference in the environment.

Our biodiesel is the only biodiesel in the country produced using 100% solar energy. It is also completely locally sourced, meaning that every cent is pumped right back into the Georgia economy. Our biodiesel also meets the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International Standard, which ensures quality and consistency that rivals conventional diesel.

The company also touts their turning of old grease into biodiesel as a way to lift a “burden on our landfills and sewers into the greenest transportation fuel available.”

Check out the pictures from the event on Clean Energy Biofuels’ Flickr page.

“SiNode’s game-changing battery technology will change the way we use cell phones, computers and even electric cars,” said Amy Francetic, CEO of Clean Energy Trust. “We are enormously gratified that we could help advance such a dynamic and creative company since its initial formation through the 2012 Challenge.”

SiNode, a cleantech startup from Northwestern University, is commercializing an anode for lithium-ion batteries that allows the battery to charge more quickly and hold a charge 10 times longer than current technology.  SiNode’s anode could greatly enhance battery life for electric vehicles and smartphones. The startup won first prize and more than $800,000 at the 2013 Rice Business Plan Competition.

“These wins validate the Midwest’s clean energy ecosystem and demonstrate its ability to launch viable businesses with homegrown technology from our world-class research institutions,” Francetic said. “We are thrilled to have a Clean Energy Trust company win the national title two years in a row.”

Politicians are taking the stance that all drivers, no matter what they drive, are responsible for helping to maintain the roads they use as well as build new ones. Whereas hybrid and EV drivers along with other alternative fuel vehicles say this is the wrong approach to promoting U.S. energy independence with sustainable infrastructure funding.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), gas taxes comprise nearly 40 percent of all state highway revenues and more than 90 percent at the federal level. However, the Institute on Taxation on Economic Policy says revenues are not keeping up with rising construction costs, falling 41 percent in real value at the federal level since they were last increased 18 years ago. State are facing the same problems.

Some say the solution is to overhaul the gas tax system to miles traveled but this approach has not been well received.

“I think so far what we’re seeing is the trend seems to be either an additional annual fee or some type of registration fee seems to be much more popular than the miles-driven tax, because that is a newer technology and raises some privacy concerns,” said Kristy Hartman, a transportation and environment analyst at the NCSL in the article.

The fix in North Carolina was to include an additional $100 annual registration fee for EVs and $50 for hybrid cars. This should raise an estimated $1.5 million each year. Proposed by the Senate, it is awaiting its fate in the House.

In the meantime, while advocacy groups admit that all cars should contribute in some way, they are fighting back against the states, including North Carolina in search of better solutions.

“We’re seeing Canadian-based canola being shipped into the United States for upgrading and then sent back into Canada. They are describing that as an import,” said CRFA president Scott Thurlow.


The existing federal mandate requires about 600 million litres of renewable diesel per year.


The CRFA also questions the charge that HDRD is going to be such a large chunk of renewable diesel in the eastern part of the country. While the association acknowledges the high quality of the imported fuel, Thurlow makes the case that it will be not cost-effective to use that imported fuel.

“Its disadvantage is that it is ruinously expensive,” he said.


“More and more biodiesel is pushing the HDRD out of the marketplace and that’s being done almost entirely because of price.”


Jack Ehnes, chief executive officer of CalSTRS, one of the organizations who signed the Climate Declaration said, “As the global economy moves toward a low-carbon future, governments that act aggressively to enact strong, long-term climate and energy policies will reap the biggest rewards. In order to tackle the global climate crisis, we must realize the strength of our combined efforts. That is why CalSTRS signed the Climate Declaration. U.S. policy leaders need to step up on this issue and embrace climate change policies as an economic opportunity.”

Investors have been an important force in supporting policy changes related to clean energy and efficiency. Last year, investors managing $800 billion in assets called on Congress to renew the Production Tax Credit for renewable energy, which was ultimately extended for another year. Investors have also been outspoken proponents of state Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) that more than two-dozen states have enacted to boost sourcing of wind, solar and other renewable energy. RPSs have catalyzed billions of dollars of investment, thousands of new projects and hundreds of thousands of good-paying jobs, including 30,000 new jobs in 2012 alone.

“Being smarter when it comes to climate change is the right thing to do for all of our families, and it also will translate into economic and investment opportunities,” said Oregon State Treasurer Ted Wheeler, who has previously called for better disclosure of climate-related opportunities and risks and who also signed the declaration. “I am proud to stand with Oregon’s largest employers and premier ski destinations to recognize that a cleaner future will also be a more profitable one.”

The announcement comes on the eve of the first Global Investor Forum on Climate Change, sponsored by Ceres’ Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR) along with the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, the EU-based Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change and the Investor Group on Climate Change, which represents Australian and New Zealand investors.

“Without the participation of the financial community, we won’t get low-carbon solutions to the scale needed to address climate change, nor will the U.S. capture the full economic benefits of building a global clean energy economy,” added Anne L. Kelly, director of Business for Innovative Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), a Ceres-led business network that helped launch the Climate Declaration in April. “We are pleased to see strong support from the investor community on climate change policy, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. We urge the investors meeting at this week’s event to take the challenge of tackling climate change seriously.”

“The Renewable Fuel Standard has created jobs, helped the economy and saved consumers money at the pump. It’s ironic that the industry that brought us MTBE, benzene, tar sands, fracking chemicals, Deepwater Horizon, Exxon Valdez, and other environmental disasters is suddenly concerned about ‘consumer safety’.

Dinneen continued by asking the question, “How many times is API going to trot out the same tired study? They have pointed to their self-sponsored NERA study over and over again. But as we have noted in the past, that study ignores the flexibility of the RFS to make it easier for refiners to meet their RFS obligation. API is simply misleading people in suggesting the RFS will increase gasoline costs. The opposite is true. Ethanol is less expensive than gasoline today. It lowers prices at the pump. That’s the fact.”

“API is being irresponsible in suggesting ethanol harms vehicles. API points to the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) study on E15 that has been widely criticized by the Department of Energy and many others. Ten percent ethanol is safe and approved for all vehicles on the road today. E15 is safe for all vehicles for which EPA has approved its use, 2001 and newer,” added Dinneen.

Click here to see a review of the facts.

Listen to Kevin Hicks’ remarks here: Award of Excellence

Listen to Dan Schwartzkopf’s remarks here: High Octane Award

Visit the 2013 FEW Photo Album.

“The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is exceeding our expectations and driving us towards a clean fuels future,” said Eileen Tutt, executive director of the California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC). “The standard is doing exactly what it was designed to do – open the way for new fuels and technologies to compete fairly in the marketplace.”

The report analyzes recent developments in the transportation sector and presents three scenarios that ratchet down the carbon intensity of transportation fuels 10 percent, to meet the goal of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard by 2020. All three projections point to an increasingly diverse fuel supply, with more innovation leading to more renewable fuels and advanced vehicles.

Emerging as the report’s biggest surprise is the promise of substitutes for diesel, including biodiesel, renewable diesel, and natural gas – all of which can be produced from waste materials, including animal fats, corn oil, and the gas that would otherwise escape from landfills. The report stated, “2013 promises to be a banner year for biodiesel consumption in California.”

The report also highlights the benefits in terms of greenhouse gas reductions from two additional low-carbon fuel strategies: the addition of off-road electrification (such as electric locomotives and battery-powered forklifts), and improvements to California’s fuel-recovery and extraction processes (using solar energy in crude oil extraction or installing carbon capture and storage technologies at oil and gas wells).