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DuPont and Genencor of Palo Alto, CA have announced they are working together to create the World's-Leading Cellulosic Ethanol Company. Why is this important? Well as you may have read lately there is a large debate over making ethanol from existing food stocks and causing shortages and price in creases for those items such as corn and sugar.

If these companies can create viable ethanol product using no food stock sources then it will mean a boom to our economy of energy production and not a bust.

Here is the announcement of the joint venture:

DuPont and Genencor, a division of Danisco A/S, today announced an agreement to form DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC, a 50/50 global joint venture to develop and commercialize the leading, low-cost technology solution for the production of cellulosic ethanol — a next generation biofuel produced from non-food sources – to address a $75 billion global market opportunity.

The partners plan an initial three-year investment of US$140 million, which will initially target corn stover and sugar cane bagasse. Future targets include multiple ligno-cellulosic feedstocks including wheat straw, a variety of energy crops and other biomass sources.

“With food and gas prices surging at double-digit rates, there is an imperative for sustainable biofuels technologies. This joint venture addresses this issue head on,” said DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday, Jr. “By integrating our companies’ strengths and expertise in this new venture, we are significantly increasing the potential to make cellulosic ethanol from multiple non-food sources an economic reality around the world.”

“By combining the world-class capabilities of DuPont and Danisco, our joint venture will offer the technology standard for cellulosic ethanol production,” said Danisco CEO Tom Knutzen. “This joint venture will be a powerhouse of discovery, development and engineering. It represents a major step forward in Danisco’s new strategic intent to be a leading force in the field of industrial biotechnology.”

Through the scientists and technologies of both companies, DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol LLC will launch an accelerated effort to integrate the unique cellulosic processing capabilities of both companies to economically produce ethanol from non-food sources. The parent companies will license their combined existing intellectual property and patents related to cellulosic ethanol. The goal is to maximize efficiency and lower the overall system cost to produce a gallon of ethanol from cellulosic materials by optimizing the process steps into a single integrated technology solution.

In the United States, the joint venture will scale up an optimized technology package for corn cobs from integrating the proprietary DuPont pretreatment and ethanologen technologies with the innovative enzyme technology of Genencor, while DuPont continues to analyze the collection and storage of cellulosic feedstocks. The global joint venture expects its first pilot plant to be operational in the United States in 2009, and its first commercial-scale demonstration facility to be operational within the next three years. The joint venture will be headquartered in the United States and will be formed after receipt of required regulatory approvals.

The joint venture will license its technology package directly to ethanol producers for deployment in the United States and around the world, as well as through the establishment of regional cellulosic ethanol affiliates. The regional ethanol affiliates will invest in equity interests with strategic partners, including ethanol producers and energy companies, to enable the rapid deployment of the joint venture’s cellulosic ethanol technology at commercial scale. The joint venture’s technology package can be used both as a “bolt-on” to an existing ethanol plant — expanding its capacity to accept cellulosic feedstocks — or as the design basis for a stand-alone cellulosic ethanol facility. The joint venture expects to enable production of commercial volumes of cellulosic ethanol by 2012.

A video primer on Cellulosic Ethanol:

Energy Tags: hybrid cars, biodiesel" rel="tag">biodiesel

It was announced today that Toyota and GM are working towards some sort of partnership that would lead to working together on the next generation of clean vehicles. That could include both hybrid and hydrogen fueled cars. Toyota of course has had a strong market share in hybrid cars in recent years and seems to be ahead of the pack with regard to devleoping fuel efficient cars for a world suffering from oil shortages.

Here is some of the news that was announced today:

"Toyota Motor Corp. is considering bolstering its alliance with General Motors Corp. in environmental technology and production in the United States, sources close to the matter said Friday. GM is currently in talks with Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. for a possible three-way tie-up, and Toyota plans to approach GM over forming closer ties after checking the direction of the ongoing talks.

Carlos Ghosn, head of Nissan and Renault, and GM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner met earlier this week in France to discuss issues related to the possible alliance, and their talks are scheduled to continue until Oct. 15.

Given that their talks are reportedly proceeding with difficulty, Toyota may be asked for some kind of help from GM, industry analysts said.

Should Toyota and GM enhance their cooperation, it would be most likely in the development of a next-generation eco-friendly car, a field where Toyota is strong."

Read the rest of this news here

The sun comes to the southwestern US reliably for so many days every year that is is like a beacon to the rising number of solar energy companies around the world. Ausra was founded in Australia a couple years ago but last year they moved to Palo Alto in order to enter the US market. Ausra builds solar thermal technology that focuses sunlight onto pipes filled with water. The sunlight heats the water to steam which then drives turbines to create energy. Nothing too new there. However what Ausra is doing is using large mirrors that are focused on pipes overhead. They call it Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector technology. Here is what the mirrors look like.

And here is what the power schematic looks like for their plants.

On the drawing board to be built in the next two years is a 1 square mile solar thermal power plant capable of generating 175 mega watts of power. This is utility grade zero carbon power. Ausra has raised $40 million form VC sources for the development of this plant. The impact of this plant on the environment is negligible. You can hardly even see it from a distance unlike some of the solar thermal projects which rely on a tower construction.

I sat down and talked with their Chairman David Mills. He told me how it works and what they hope to accomplish.

Energy Tags: Compact Linear Fresnel Reflector, alternative

DOE Secretary Samuel W. Bodman Names Selected Solar Technology Projects During Visit to Konarka Headquarters, Lowell, Massachusetts

Lowell, Mass. – March 8, 2007 – Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in development and commercialization of Power Plastic™, a material that converts light to energy, today announced the company is one of 13 selected industry-led solar technology projects to be awarded funding by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of President Bush’s Solar America Initiative (SAI), a component of his Advanced Energy Initiative (AEI), announced in his 2006 State of the Union Address. In the photo - Nobel Lauriat Dr. Alan Heeger; Dr, Samual Bodman, US Secretary of Energy; Howard Berke, Chairman and CEO In the photo (L to R) – Konarka Chief Scientist & Cofounder and Nobel Laureate Dr. Alan Heeger; Dr. Samuel Bodman, US Secretary of Energy; Howard Berke, Chairman and CEO

The SAI project sponsors, to receive up to $168 million (FY’07-’09) in funding, subject to appropriation from Congress, were announced today by U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman while visiting Konarka Global Headquarters in Lowell, Massachusetts.

“Solar technology can play a crucial role in moving toward affordable net zero energy homes and businesses – which combine energy efficiency and renewable energy produced on-site,” commented Secretary Bodman. “Efficient buildings with solar power generation can help reduce peak demand and ease the need for expensive new generating capacity, transmission and distributions lines as our economy grows.”

Konarka’s project will focus on manufacturing research and product reliability assurance for extremely low-cost photovoltaic cells using organic dyes that convert sunlight to electricity. Partners for this project include NREL and the University of Delaware. Subject to negotiations, DOE funding for the first year of the project is expected to be $1,200,000, with approximately $3,600,000, available over three years if the team meets its goals.

These projects will help significantly reduce the cost of producing and distributing solar energy. As part of the cost-shared agreements, the industry-led teams will contribute more than 50 percent of the funding for these projects for a total value of up to $357 million over three years. These cooperative agreements, to be negotiated, will be the first made available as part of President Bush’s Solar America Initiative.

President Bush’s AEI challenges Americans to change the way we power our nation. As an integral part of the AEI, the Solar America Initiative aims to bring down the cost of solar energy to make it competitive with conventional electricity sources in the U.S. by 2015. The SAI is also part of the President’s commitment to diversify our energy resources through grants, incentives and tax credits and aims to spur widespread commercialization and deployment of clean solar energy technologies across America, which would provide long-term economic, environmental and security benefits to the nation.

Solar energy is a clean, abundant, widespread, and renewable energy source that can be used to increase electricity generating capacity while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions as compared to other energy conversion pathways. Photovoltaic-based solar cells convert sunlight directly into electricity. They are made of semiconductor materials similar to those used in computer chips. When sunlight is absorbed by these materials, the solar energy knocks electrons loose from their atoms, allowing the electrons to flow through the material to produce electricity. The process of converting light to electricity is called the photovoltaic effect.

Craig Cornelius, the technology manager of the Department of Energy Solar Energies Program, “Because of its potential to deliver very low cost solutions to the existing grid-tied markets, the DoE considers organic photovoltaics to be a vital element of our research and development portfolio. As well, with its manufacturability, high volume potential and desired material attributes, it can open up new applications for the market.”

For more information on the solicitation and facts about the Solar America Initiative, visit: www.eere.energy.gov/solar/solar_america. About Konarka Technologies, Inc. Konarka builds products that convert light to energy – anywhere. As the leading developer of polymer photovoltaic technology that provide a source of renewable power in a variety of form factors for commercial, industrial, government and consumer applications, Konarka has a broad portfolio of patents, technology licenses and an accomplished technical team. The Company's technology is focused on delivering lightweight, flexible, scalable and manufacturable products. Konarka Technologies is headquartered in Lowell, Mass., U.S.A., with European headquarters in Nuremberg, Germany, and research and development facility in Austria. For additional information, visit http://www.konarka.com.

Energy Tags: alternative, energy

Can the election of recent past lead to a change in the way alternative energy is seen in our nation's captial? According to the NY Times it just might.

Now some analysts and money managers are hoping the imminent Democratic takeover of Congress will also be bullish for alternative energy stocks by improving prospects for favorable legislation for the industry. One likely initiative, known as a national renewable portfolio standard, would require utilities to derive 10 percent of their electricity output from renewable sources by 2020. Currently, less than 3 percent of electricity is generated from such sources. Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat of New Mexico, the presumptive chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, says he hopes to pass �some version� of a renewable portfolio standard in the next Congress

Several alternative energy companies look to be likely benefactors of this shift in power. Analysts are pointing at Sun Power, and Zoltek a maker of lightweight carbon fiber windmill blades.

In the meantime, most ethanol in the United States will be derived from corn, and Democrats in Congress plan several initiatives that would help the growing roster of publicly traded corn ethanol producers like Archer Daniels Midland, Aventine Renewable Energy, The Andersons, VeraSun Energy and Pacific Ethanol. In a position paper on energy, the Democrats set a goal of having ethanol available at 10 percent of domestic gas stations by 2015, along with a mandate that would require automakers to increase production of vehicles that can run on either gasoline or an 85 percent ethanol mix. Such a mandate is necessary to push major oil companies that own many gas stations to install ethanol pumps, said Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York. �We believe we have to push the country into alternative fuels whether the oil companies like it or not,� he said.

Other are also pointing to the re election of Gov. Schwarzenegger in California on a strong pro environmental platform as possbily being a catalyst for other states to increase their move towardss green legislation.

quote: NY Times