MORE NEWS, 5-8 (MANUFACTURING NEW ENERGY; BIG STIM BUCKS TO BLM FOR NEW ENERGY; THE KINDS OF BIOFUELS)

MANUFACTURING NEW ENERGY
Can Clean Energy Revive Manufacturing?
Kate Galbraith, May 4, 2009 (NY Times)

"The manufacturing sector in the United States continues to shrink — but could the renewable-energy rush spur a manufacturing revival?

"A number of solar-panel factories are coming online in the United States…Makers of wind turbines are also establishing factories in the heartland, where the factories’ proximity to wind farms on the Plains slashes the cost of shipping the giant machines from Europe…"

Inisde a solar cell plant. It has to be very clean because solar panels must be flaw-free to carry electrons efficiently. (click to enlarge)

"…[M]any renewable-equipment manufacturers want to set up operations in the United States because they perceive it to be the largest market for the technologies in the years ahead. (Tax credits in the stimulus package for domestic production of renewable-energy equipment also help.) A key factor in bringing SolarWorld to Oregon…was the work force — and especially Oregonians’ [commitment to New Energy]… Proximity to a cluster of semiconductor factories, some of whose workers SolarWorld has recently poached, was another attraction.

"Among states, the competition to lure renewable-energy manufacturers is fierce. Money can make a difference. Oregon gave SolarWorld $40 million in business tax credits, though it was less than the company had asked for…"

Inisde a blade plant. It has to be very big because, well, because...(click to enlarge)

"… [Oregon Governor Ted] Kulongoski — who noted that the availability of land zoned for industrial use was also important — has also succeeded in luring Sanyo, which is due to open a solar factory in Salem this fall. But he admitted that his overtures do not always succeed. He courted Schott, a solar manufacturer, but it went to New Mexico instead and will inaugurate an Albuquerque plant later this month.

"Other states are hoping to edge in on the competition. Texas is currently considering incentives in the state legislature that would boost the state’s use of solar power, and that could help lure plants. SunPower, a panel maker, is looking at Texas, among other states, for a plant. (SunPower’s manufacturing of panels and cells is concentrated in the Philippines and China, though the company makes smaller solar components in this country.)…"


BIG STIM BUCKS TO BLM FOR NEW ENERGY
BLM to get $300 million for stimulus projects
Kathleen Hennessey, May 3, 2009 (AP)

"The Interior Department is sending more than $300 million in federal stimulus money to the Bureau of Land Management to update its facilities and jump-start renewable energy projects across the country…

"…[T]he 650 approved projects will "restore our landscapes and our watersheds" and help fulfill the Obama administration's target for renewable energy development."

Federal lands. (click to enlarge)

"…[T]he announcement [was made] at the Red Rock Conservation Area outside Las Vegas… one of several facilities slated to receive solar panels under the effort.

"The money is part of the $3 billion sent to the Interior Department under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The $787 billion stimulus bill was intended to spur economic growth and revive the nation's flagging economy."

Where the assets are. (click to enlarge)

"…[DOI has] no estimate on how many jobs would be created by the $305 million in BLM spending announced Saturday. The total allocation to the Interior Department is expected to create roughly 100,000 new jobs…

"The largest chunk of the funding — roughly $143 million — will go toward new construction, deferred maintenance and energy efficiency upgrades on existing facilities…

"The spending also will include $37 million in habitat restoration, $53.4 million in abandoned mine cleanup and $15 million to construct and repair recreational trails…"


THE KINDS OF BIOFUELS
Biofuels Battle: Chemistry Versus Biology; What's the best way to turn plants into fuel?
Jonathan Fahey, April 29, 2009 (Forbes)

"There are 1,865 biofuels companies out there…[Take] agricultural waste, easy-to-grow non-food crop or just sunshine; add water and carbon dioxide and turn it into some type of fuel, like ethanol, butanol, gasoline, diesel or jet fuel…The entrants: enzymes, algae, yeast, bacteria and plain old chemistry.

"The winners will be the methods that use the least amount of energy to produce a fuel that stores the most amount of energy, at the best cost. Since the beginning of 2007, $1.8 billion has been invested worldwide in the race to these so-called next generation biofuels…[T]he finish line is not close. Helena Chum, a research fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, estimates that next-generation biofuels now cost anywhere between $5 and $1,000 a gallon, with a median of about $25…"

click to enlarge

"Current generation biofuels work because yeast likes the same food we do. Yeast thrives on the loads of sugar found in corn kernels and sugar cane, and they happily turn out lots of ethanol as a waste product…[T]he hope is that the parts of plants that aren't so easy to digest can be turned into fuel. Cellulose, which comprises cell walls; hemicellulose, polymers found in plant walls; and lignin, the stiff stuff in cell walls that gives plants, such as trees, their support.

"All the methods (except for the algal approach) first require that the plant matter be busted up, usually violently…The approach that is most straightforward, and furthest along, is to use a mild acid to pre-treat the plant material, then use enzymes to break down the constituents, then use yeast to ferment the sugars, then distill the output into ethanol…Companies like Iogen, POET, Verenium and Abengoa are working on pilot plants to develop this method…"

click to enlarge

"Companies like Range Fuels and Virent… cut the bugs out. Range Fuels uses heat and pressure…Virent takes a slurry of sugars from broken-down plant matter and, like an oil refinery, uses metal catalysts…[C]ompanies like LS9, Amyris, Mascoma and Qteros [are] trying…to engineer bacteria and yeast that will chew up the broken-up plant material and spit out ethanol, gasoline or diesel….

"Finally, there's algae. The algae people argue that growing a plant just to break it down is a waste of energy. Algae don't have to grow leaves or stalks; they can be trained to just turn out ethanol (…Algenol…) or diesel (Solazyme).