Shale Gas The Next Big Play?

March 8, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
No Comments

It’s called “unconventional hydrocarbons” and it sure isn’t green. But you do need to know about it, because energy competes with energy. (And see my comments below.)

Here’s the latest word from Energy and Capital newsletter:

I know what some of you are thinking: Perhaps it’s better to take a ‘wait and see’ approach to shale gas.

But you need some assurance that these unconventional gas fields are on the rise, just watch the big oil and gas companies scramble to get their piece of the pie.

Call it unconventional wisdom if you will, but the major players have made it known that shale gas is on the big thing. They’re aggressively going after the remaining unconventional hydrocarbons in the U.S.

Naturally, the immediate deal that comes to mind is the latest $31 billion deal between Exxon and XTO (Exxon will also assume $10 billion in XTO debt).

In today’s natural gas climate, it’s not about the short term. Exxon knows this. In the long term — maybe five or ten years down the road — this was a smart play by Exxon.

On the heels of

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Algal biofuels commercialization: Two years or 10 years away?

February 24, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
No Comments

View the Biofuels Digest poll.

The Digest comments today:

US companies reporting early commercialization in 2-3 years; “People who are more realistic think this will take at least 10 years”, cautions Sandia’s Pate.

News and views from the European Algae Biomass Association as well as presenters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference in San Diego offered news on business models, new research and timelines for algal fuel commercialization.

In California, Scientific American is reporting on co-location schemes for access to carbon dioxide or wastewater. “Various scientists speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual conference, which wraps up here today, were promoting the notion that algae operations should be located next to industries that can supply one or more of the nutrient streams.

In Europe, the European Algae Biomass Association said that its Scientific Committee “confirmed that a low cost, low carbon production of algae biofuels is an attainable technology objective for industrial development”.

Also in California, Sandia National Laboratory researcher Ron Pate said that “People who are more realistic think this will take

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What happens when solar loses its subsidies?

February 24, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
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Watch Europe, where feed-in tariffs are being slashed:

The feed-in tariff (FIT) that the biggest economy in Europe has used to stimulate its domestic photovoltaic (PV) market for the past decade is about to be cut by double digits. It’s partly a response to fiscal pressure and complaints from some constituents, but Chancellor Angela Merkel and her center-right Bundestag (German parliament) colleagues hope to maintain market dominance despite the changes.

Here’s how the drafted FIT shift breaks down:

  • Ground-based modules installed in yards and other open, non-arable patches of land will be 15% less funded by the changed FIT.
  • PV projects at dumps and old army bases, which along with contaminated industrial plots are called “brownfields,” are set for an 11% cut.

The most dramatic shift we can expect in the second half of 2010 is a complete elimination of incentives for large solar panel arrays on arable land. State news agency Deutsche Welle reports that farmers have been crying foul about investors snapping up fertile tracts to “harvest the sunshine.”

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China Takes The Lead

February 16, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
No Comments

…they’ll meet their 2020 solar target of 1.8 GW next year.

According to Green Chip Review:

Last year, Chinese companies produced about 50% of the world’s solar cells. And that’s likely to rise to 70% in the next few years, as costs continue to fall more quickly there than in Europe or the U.S. In fact, firms based in Germany — the cradle of the modern solar industry — have been finding it’s cheaper to buy from the Chinese than it is to make their own solar cells.

And they’re not just ramping up production; solar installations are also on the upswing. China will meet its 2020 target of 1.8 GW next year, and Greentech Media is forecasting installed solar capacity could actually hit 10 GW in the next decade, implying a 450% expansion.

Wind energy is witnessing a similar scenario. The Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) has reported that China “doubled its entire installed capacity

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“Four Freedoms” for transition from fossil fuels

February 16, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
No Comments

Without “energy justice”, can the transition from a fossil fuel-based society ever hope to succeed? – asks Jim Lane, Biofuels Digest Editor

In the 2010 Dodgen Lecture at the annual meeting of the Mississippi Academy of Sciences, and in the Q&A that followed, Digest editor Jim Lane described Four Principles that he suggested must be observed in order to successfully complete the transition away from a fossil-fuel based society. An abridged version follows – the full text is here.

1. The right to clean, affordable energy is a fundamental component of “Freedom from Want”.

2. Energy must be consumed within the radius that it is produced. Long-distance transportation systems for energy reduce sustainability imperatives to price mechanisms which cannot account for the hidden social and environmental costs of energy.

3. An energy finance system must permit individuals to participate, through investment, in broad, de-risked pools of renewable energy assets. If the small investor only participates in the transition away from fossil-fuel based society through higher energy prices (or taxes) and through unsustainable investments in fossil-fuel based companies, the transition cannot

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Will You Be an Energy Generator?

February 12, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
No Comments

“The pieces are now — or will soon be — in place to enable an explosion of distributed renewable energy in the U.S. It has the technology, the financial mechanisms, the public sentiment, and the right cost of entry: zero. It will not be stymied by musty regulations, utility opposition, or even the recalcitrance of banks.

Solar manufacturers, smart grid players, progressive but risk-averse capital, and most of all the public stand to benefit handsomely.”

Read the full article in Green Chip

A very smart overview, including a review of developments in the exciting area of FITs (Feed-In Tariffs).

Riggs

As China buys Saudi Crude, US Needs Biofuels

February 10, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
No Comments

The Obama Administration recognizes this reality and strongly endorsed the biofuels agenda last week….

With China and other rapidly developing countries acting like a vice on the global crude market, biofuels are rapidly becoming a strategic necessity for the United States, not just a means to mitigate greenhouse gases or create jobs…

Over the past two years, Saudi oil exports to China have increased by 60 percent. And in the meantime, the Chinese appetite for crude continues to grow and grow. Chinese crude oil imports could surge by more than 40 percent over the next three months after hitting an all-time high of 5 million barrels per day in December. The share of Saudi crude in the Chinese markets has now increased from 16 percent to 20 percent. China and Saudi Arabia also aim to boost bilateral trade by at least 50 percent to $60 billion by 2015, the Chinese Trade Minister Chen Deming said last month…

Read the CleanTechies article
Hat Tip to Kelly Lefkowitz
 

Administration Acts On Advanced Plug-In Biofuels

February 4, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
No Comments

…establishes clear “lead agency” responsibilities to pursue advanced biofuels development.

Comment: this is HUGE for the algae industry as we are finally seeing coordinated and concerted action by the government in support of algae as a drop-in biofuel that does NOT need vast infrastructure upgrades.

From Biofuels Digest:

Sweeping changes ordered in US biofuels policy: “Will not make 36 billion gallon target” without change; shift to advanced biofuels; RFS2 released – corn ethanol, biodiesel now OK; USDA to drive commercialization, feedstocks; DOE to drive advanced research.

In Washington, the Obama Administration issued a sweeping new set of rules and directives regarding US biofuels policy, including the release of the revised Renewable Fuel Standard from EPA, and a new set of “Lead Agency” assignments to support first-generation biofuels while driving the development and commercialization of advanced fuels, with a forces on drop-in fuels for aviation and ground transportation.

The announcement followed 14-page report from the Biofuels Policy Working Group – chaired by Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, Energy Secretary Chu, and EPA Administrator Jackson – that found that US biofuels targets for 2022 will not be

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President’s Group Recommendations are welcome news but…

February 3, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
No Comments

I fear they won’t get far in the current Washington climate. Above all, we need to stay focused on R&D support and push for a level playing field for the new drop-in technologies, which will inject renewables on a fully-transparent basis into our fuel distribution system. I believe the Administration can implement most of that within its existing mandate.

Riggs

President’s Working Group wants to eliminate biofuels limits

February 3, 2010
 | by Riggs Eckelberry
No Comments

…a boost to emerging companies developing so- called drop-in fuels, which are hydrocarbons made from plants that are already being tested in airplanes.

from Dow Jones:

President’s Working Group To Offer Agenda To Boost Biofuels

An interagency biofuels group created by U.S. President Barack Obama is set Wednesday to outline a broad agenda for ensuring the U.S. increases the amount of biofuels used in cars, trucks, and airplanes.

The President’s Interagency Working Group will say the U.S. is not on track to meet the federal mandates of adding 36 billion gallons of biofuels to the fuel supply year by 2022 and adding 100 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol this year. The group will cite a lack of financing stemming from a prolonged U.S. economic recession and insufficient coordination among government agencies as part of the problem.

On financing, the group will say that U.S. Energy Department and Agriculture Department research and loan-guarantee programs “could be targeted more effectively to support the emerging industry.” Developers of next-generation biofuels have complained that Energy Department loan guarantees were difficult to win because the industry’s economics didn’t fit neatly

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