Iowa Researchers Report on Climate Change

Researchers from Iowa’s three regent universities presented findings from a climate change study to the Iowa General Assembly this week and recommended seven legislative policy initiatives to address climate change in Iowa. Researchers noted that Iowa has experienced a long-term trend toward more precipitation, an increase in extreme summer rainfall, and warmer temperatures, particularly over the winter and at night. Read more...

Hawkeye Sells Iowa Ethanol Plants

Hawkeye Renewables announced today that it is selling its ethanol plants located in Iowa Falls and Fairbank, Iowa, to Flint Hills Resources Renewables, LLC in an all-cash transaction. Flint Hills Resources Renewables is an affiliate of Koch Industries, Inc. and Flint Hills Resources, LLC, a leading provider of transportation fuels used in the Upper Midwest. The transaction is expected to close early in the first quarter of 2011. Read more...

New Small Wind Turbine Announced

Arizona-based Southwest Windpower has unveiled its latest product – the Skystream 600. The company said the turbine produces 40-60% more energy than its predecessor, the Skystream 3.7, and is capable of generating an average of 7,400 kWh of renewable energy each year with average annual wind speeds of 12 mph. The unit will be available for sale in March 2011. Read more...

Republicans Seek to Tame EPA on CO2 Rules

As widely expected, key Republicans joined together yesterday--the opening day of the new Congress--to introduce legislation that would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse-gas emissions. Read more...

DOE Publishes CO2 Storage Manual

Washington, DC The most promising methods for assessing potential carbon dioxide (CO₂) geologic storage sites – a crucial component of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology – is the focus of the latest in a series of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) CCS "best practices" manuals. Read more...

DOE Demonstrates Clean Coal Technology

Washington, DC -- A novel technology that could help release some of the currently unusable energy in an estimated 2 billion tons of U.S. coal waste has been successfully demonstrated by a Department of Energy (DOE) supported project. Read more...

New Wind Farm Approved for Minnesota

The largest wind farm to date in Minnesota has been approved for construction in Mower County in the southeastern part of the state. Last week, the county board approved three substations and two transmission lines for the 300 MW facility to be called the Pleasant Valley Wind Farm Project. The wind farm will consist of between 130 and 200 turbines and will cover approximately 70,000 acres. The developer is Colorado-based Renewable Energy Systems Americas. Read more...

Infrastructure Needed for More Ethanol Consumption

The United States doesn't have the infrastructure to meet the federal mandate for renewable fuel use with ethanol, but could meet the standard with significant increases in cellulosic and next-generation biofuels, according to a Purdue University study. Read more...

Spiritwood Start-Up Date Announced

A $350 million lignite-fired power plant near Jamestown, North Dakota will go online on Jan. 1, 2012, according to a news report today. The plant, known as the Spiritwood Station, is owned by Minnesota-based Great River Energy and originally was set to start up in 2010. The date was postponed due to a weak economy in Minnesota, where most of the electricity will be sold.  Spiritwood is Great River Energy's first baseload power plant built since 1981 and North Dakota's first coal-fired power plant in a quarter century.

Does the DDG Flap Mean Trouble for Iowa Ethanol?

Iowa ethanol producers are monitoring the trade dispute between the U.S. and China over dried distillers grains (DDGs) and wondering what it means for them in 2011. Last week, China announced an investigation into what it says may be illegal dumping of DDGs by the United States. DDGs are the dried corn kernel shells left over during ethanol production. They typically are sold for livestock feed at prices less than regular corn.  Sales of DDGs contribute up to 30% of the revenue generated by a typical ethanol plant. Iowa leads the nation in the number of ethanol plants with 40 and accounts for about one-third of U.S. ethanol production.  Read more...