Posts Tagged ‘clean energy’

Article courtesy of Las Cruces Sun-News

By Brook Stockberger

As you travel on Interstate 10 south of Las Cruces near Mesquite, the discernible aroma of cow is often in the air. Now that smell could be a multimillion dollar business that helps the environment as well.

R-Qubed Energy, a New Mexico-registered company operated by a group of El Paso business folks, hopes to break ground this summer on a $74 million, 11-acre plant that will employ 80 to 90 full-time workers and turn methane from cow manure into energy.

And, oh yeah, the process could cut down on the odor in the area by collecting up the manure. Sound too good to be true? Michael Weatherly, who owns Buena Vista farm in Mesquite, believes in the process. He is selling land to R-Qubed to build the facility. “You have the cows and they produce manure (and) people have complained about the odor of the dairies,” Weatherly said. “This is kind of a win-win for everybody. It takes our dairy waste and converts it into energy. It’s just better for the communities and the neighbors.”

The company already has a deal to sell gas to PNM, the utility company that provides electricity to much of the state, although not Dona Ana County.

Lori Hughes, manager director with R-Qubed, said that the company researched a variety of places, but that the location of multiple dairy farms near Mesquite made the most sense. “Within about 16 miles, you have between 40 and 50,000 cows,” she said. “And of course you’ve got the waste stream here 24/7, it just doesn’t stop.”

John Davis with the company said that, as green source of energy, this will be one of the most consistent. “Wind will produce as long as wind blows and sun as long as the sun shines but biogas is a very stable, 24/7 product,” Davis said.

The plant will be built by Austrian-based company Entec Biogas GMBH. It will be constructed in four quadrants, with the first scheduled to break ground in June or July.

Manure will be captured and piped to the plant, into what is called a digester. There, it will spend about 30 days in a one of several, 60-foot tanks, where it will be constantly stirred and kept at a temperature of about 100 degrees. The methane released will be routed through a pipe in the top of the tank, go through a scrubbing process and sent on its way to a PNM transmission pipe.

“It’s like a continuation of a cow’s stomach,” Davis said. “It works on the microbes that are already in the manure, so putting it in digester is just continuing the process.”

After 30 days, much of the manure will have been degraded, or converted to methane, and what Hughes called the “slurry” left behind will then be pumped into a centrifuge to separate liquid from solid. The solid will be collected for compost and the liquid will either be used for fertilizer or pumped to a water treatment facility there. In fact, the composting and water treatment process are every bit as important to the company as the methane collection.

“It is not economically viable as a commercial operation based on energy alone,” Hughes said. “There had to be other revenue streams that were developed; that brings in the composting and water side of that.”

In addition, carbon dioxide is also produced during the process, and that gas can be sold as well, for use in oil wells to help push oil out of the ground or even to Sapphire Energy, which is producing algae in Las Cruces in hopes of extracting oil from the plant-like organism. In return, Keith Hughes with the company said that algae left over by the process can be composted at the plant.

R-Qubed is not the only group in the area working on the manure-to-energy angle. New Mexico State University researchers Zohrab Samani and Adrian Hanson have developed a digester system as well.

The school reports that it received a $321,000 grant that will enable the researchers to build a full-scale digester system to test their process. The model digester will be built in La Mesa, where a local grower will use this electricity to heat greenhouses and will use a byproduct compost to help grow plants.

Hughes said that the idea, which has been in use in Europe for years, is catching on in the area, although the understanding of the process is still in its infancy. The point was driven home when the company made a presentation to government officials in Santa Fe. “We did a presentation up at the Roundhouse and one of the comments made was, ‘This better not be a scam,’” he said.

If R-Qubed vision comes true, one day when you flip your light switch, you could just have Bessy to thank.

Release Courtesy of the Governor’s Office

January 8, 2010
Alarie Ray-Garcia (505) 476-2248

SANTA FE- Governor Bill Richardson today announced Johnson Plate and Tower will build a wind tower manufacturing facility in Santa Teresa. The facility is expected to create dozens of construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs.

“I am pleased that Johnson Plate and Tower chose New Mexico to build its new wind tower manufacturing plant and plans to create 150 new jobs in our state,” Governor Richardson said. “This announcement shows that our aggressive efforts to create jobs, especially during this global recession, are paying off. Manufacturing of green technology is an important component of building a green jobs economy here in New Mexico.”

Today President Obama announced that Johnson Plate and Tower is one 183 projects that will share $2.3 billion in Recovery Act Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy manufacturing projects across the United States. Johnson Plate and Tower was awarded $2,385,000 in credits for its Santa Teresa facility.

Johnson Plate and Tower will build its more than 84,000 square-foot manufacturing facility on 22 acres in the Verde Logistics Park. The company expects to employ 40-50 people during the construction phase and then move to a full time operation employing 150 people in the manufacturing of wind towers for wind farms across the country.

“We are excited that Johnson Plate and Tower chose to locate in our growing industrial border-plex region here in New Mexico,” Economic Secretary Fred Mondragon said. “I want to commend Dona Ana County for the passage of the Local Economic Development Act that helped make this project possible.”

Release Courtesy of U.S. Congressman Harry Teague

Washington, DC – Thursday, Congressman Harry Teague introduced legislation that would make algae-based biofuels eligible for the same tax incentives available for cellulosic biofuels such as ethanol.  H.R. 4168, the Algae-based Renewable Fuel Promotion Act, expands the definition of cellulosic biofuel to include algae for the cellulosic biofuel producer credit, and the special allowance for cellulosic biofuel plant property.

“In New Mexico’s second congressional district we have already started to take algae-based biofuel to the commercial level and there is enormous potential to expand this industry,” said Congressman Harry Teague.  “It is time to give this proven source of renewable fuel the same advantages that other renewable fuels currently enjoy so we can continue to create good clean energy jobs in New Mexico producing homegrown American power.”

Algae to produce green crude can be grown on non-arable land, in salt or brackish water, and using carbon dioxide and sunlight as its primary feedstocks.  Therefore, algae has not presented the same land use concerns as other biofuels and does not have any of the ‘food versus fuel’ implications that plague some other biofuels.

Green crude derived from algae can be refined into drop-in transportation fuels, such as jet, gasoline, and diesel that are entirely compatible with existing infrastructure and engines.  Algae can also be used to produce ethanol and biodiesel.

Recently, algae has been tested in the real world.  On Jan 7, 2009, algae-based fuel was used to successfully propel one of the two engines of a Continental 737-800 jetliner.  And this summer, a modified Toyota Prius dubbed “the Algaeus” successfully drove cross-country fueled by algae-based gasoline.

The legislation is endorsed by Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the Algal Biomass Organization (ABO), the Southwestern Biofuels Association, Sapphire Energy, and Algenol Biofuels.