In Business, Creating Sustainable Enterprises & Communities

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENTS

In Business, July-August, 2005, Vol. 27, No. 4, p. 8

COOPERATIVE MAKES AND MARKETS BIODIESEL FROM CONVERTED VEGETABLE OIL
A communication from the Piedmont Biofuels cooperative in Pittsboro, North Carolina explains how its biodiesel fuel is made and marketed - also how a new tank has been built behind the Carrboro, NC

Public Works Department that holds B100, a form of biodiesel made from converted vegetable oil. Biodiesel advocates tout its advantages - burns cleaner, releases fewer toxins into the air, is renewable, nonflammable and nontoxic, and also helps engines. Here's some of the data provided by Piedmont (they can be contacted at (919) 321-8260):
“We make our own biodiesel fuel in a 75-gallon batch reactor located at our refinery in Chatham County where we use methanol, potassium hydroxide and waste vegetable oil collected at local restaurants. We produce under 250,000 gallons per year. We sell reactors, since local, microscale biodiesel production and consumption makes sound environmental, economic and social sense. We consult, design and build small biodiesel reactors training our customers on how to use them properly. We provide straight vegetable oil conversion kits and installation services for any commercial kit like Elsbett, Greasel, Grasecar or Neoteric. We continue to refine techniques for bulk fats and oils handling and filtration.
“Biodiesel is most often used as on-road fuel, off-road fuel, heating oil and marine boating fuel. We deliver biodiesel to our co-op members from our mobile retail pump on the back of a 1,600 gallon tank truck or from a handful of pumps in the 'triangle' area. The mobile retail pump can fill any fuel storage container - vehicle gas tanks, 5 gallon portable carboys, or any bulk storage container.”

ENERGY COMPANY UPDATE: WIND FARMS ON TRIBAL LANDS
From George Hoguet, Director of Mid-Atlantic Operations for NativeEnergy LLC in Media, Pennsylvania comes news that eight wind farms will soon be located on tribal lands throughout the Great Plains. NativeEnergy is building relationships with the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe - a single turbine is possible by late 2005 at their reservation in eastern South Dakota as a first step to one of the Council On Utility Policy (COUP) wind farms. This year, customers will help with construction of a single wind turbine with plans underway for a future wind farm - Three Affiliated Tribes' Ft. Berthold wind farm project. The Rosebud St. Francis Wind Farm project construction likely will be delayed until 2006. Adds Hoguet: “There's good news and bad news in the wind industry: there's more demand than ever for new commercial wind turbines, but because of the double-digit percentage increase in demand, the manufacturers are scrambling to fill orders and are not accepting wind farm orders for delivery in 2005. As a result, the St. Francis wind farm, which was slotted to begin construction this summer, is on hold until turbine manufacturers can guarantee a delivery date. It looks like 2006 before the turbines can be delivered. Thanks to continued support of our customers, the tribe will be “planting” about 15 wind turbines with more than twice the output of the initial Rosebud 750 kW turbine.”
More news on NativeEnergy projects will appear in a coming In Business issue.

RENEWABLE ENERGY COMPANY GETS $16.5 MILLION IN VENTURE FUNDS
Currently developing a low-cost rooftop photovoltaic solar concentrator system, Energy Innovations, Inc. of Pasadena, California, last month announced it received $16.5 million in new venture funding. The round was led by MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures, based in Menlo Park, California, with additional participation from founding investor, Idealab, also based in Pasadena. The new funds will be used to further the company's sales and product development initiatives and for company operations.
“Clean energy technologies will provide a vital foundation for 21st century economies, and we were greatly impressed with the potential we saw in Energy Innovations,” said MDV General Partner Erik Straser, who will join the Energy Innovations board of directors. “They have made some important breakthroughs that have the potential to drive down the cost of solar electricity, and we look forward to working with them on commercializing these new technologies.”
“MDV's history of backing fundamentally important technology companies will help us accelerate our growth and customer reach,” said Andrew Beebe, president of Energy Innovations. “We've got a long road ahead of us, and it's great to have MDV by our side. As important as the financial backing, we value MDV's knowledge and industry depth, and we look forward to their guidance as we attempt to meet the needs of the thousands of businesses and institutions looking for cost-effective renewable power.”
Energy Innovations is developing a new low-cost rooftop solar system, called the Sunflower. Each Sunflower module is composed of an array of mirrors that track the sun throughout the day and year, concentrating its light onto a small panel of PV cells that generate electricity. By replacing large amounts of very expensive, silicon-based PV cells with inexpensive mirrors, Energy Innovations expects to drive down the cost of solar electricity by half or more.
The company is currently testing the Sunflower on its own roof in Pasadena and will soon be rolling out additional test units to sites in different climate zones. Following Underwriters Laboratory certification later this year, Energy Innovations will begin installing Sunflower systems on customer rooftops in the fourth quarter. The system is designed to meet the electrical needs of grid-tied, flat-roofed commercial, government and other institutional buildings, the fastest-growing segment of the solar market. Additional information on this system can be found at www.energyinnovations.com.

GREEN BANK OFFICE COMES WITH EXCELLENT RANGE OF RECYCLED PRODUCTS
The first of 90 “green branches” for the PNC Bank in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania features renewable and recycled materials that include: Countertops made with recycled paper; Floor tiles with glass taken from landfills; “Wood” decorations on walls and windows made from wheat by-products; and Toilets with filtered rainwater that runs off the roof into a holding tank. The design for the branch will be used as a template for all new branches, but may be “tweaked slightly” as improvements are found. The building will be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, an industry group that supports environmentally superior structures.