Posts Tagged ‘Columbus’

Sapphire Energy photo

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

By Marvin Tessneer

Sapphire Energy has started construction on pond structures eight miles west of Columbus, N.M., in Luna County to produce algae for what is known in the industry as green crude, which can be refined into fuel. AMEC, the prime contractor, is putting up structures that will contain 100 acres of ponds to grow algae, also known as “pond scum,” for green crude.

“This is the first phase of our plan to build 300 acres of a green crude production field,” said Bryn Davis operations manager at the Las Cruces Sapphire office. “This will affect fuel production in New Mexico and ultimately throughout the world.”

Sapphire uses the intense desert sunlight and groundwater to produce the algae. The company owns water rights it acquired with the desert land it has purchased. Since the water is saline, the green crude production will not compete with agriculture, Davis said.

Petroleum is 200 million to 300 million year- old algae that is pumped out of the ground, according to Stephen Mayfield, a Sapphire researcher based from San Diego.

Mayfield was a key player during the start­up of Sapphire Energy, Davis said.

“Algae already make oil that looks like crude oil,” Mayfield said. “The oil we extract from algae goes directly into a refinery and gets converted into diesel or gasoline.”

“We’re on line to start producing algae in Luna County at the end of next summer,” Davis said. “That’s the goal, but it’s always changing and progressing.”

When asked how long it would take until drivers would be able to fill their storage tanks with algae biofuel, Mayfield said, “We’re probably 10 years away. Many scientists said the biofuel is worth the wait because there will not be much choice as the world’s population increases along with the need for oil.”

The green crude possibilities are so promising, the federal government and venture capitalists are investing millions of dollars in the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology, where Mayfield is the director.

The facility has received a $4 million state grant to train workers in the biofuel industry, Mayfield said in a Sapphire news release.

Algae grow fast in ample sunlight and small amounts of water. It can produce about 5,000 gallons of fuel per acre in a year. The best places to produce the green crude are deserts in New Mexico and the algae research farm in Imperial Valley, Calif. where the land is cheap and doesn’t compete with food production, Mayfield said.

“The enormous advantage that we have is, unlike corn, when you can get one crop a year, which is used to make ethanol, we can get one crop a week,” Mayfield said.

Green crude critics argue that algae-oil is too expensive, putting the cost at $24 per gallon.

“Technology and innovation will drive the price down while gas prices will continue to rise,” Mayfield said. “Within a decade, algae will be a less expensive fuel and the answer to independence from foreign oil. The country that controls energy controls the world. If we can’t find a domestic source for energy to power this country, we will have serious economic problems in the next 10 to 20 years.”

Sapphire also operates a series of research and development ponds in the West Mesa Industrial Park that covers more than 2 acres. The research on the West Mesa in going into the second full summer, Davis said.

Article courtesy of El Paso Times

By Vic Kolenc

SANTA TERESA – With a stroke of a pen, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez on Tuesday started the wheels rolling for a proposed $400 million Union Pacific rail facility in Santa Teresa.

Martinez, appearing in a Santa Teresa warehouse filled with politicians and area business people, signed recently passed state legislation exempting Union Pacific from paying locomotive fuel tax so the railroad company will develop the new facility.

The locomotive fueling station and intermodal freight yard are expected to create 3,000 jobs during four years of construction and to bring 600 permanent jobs, Union Pacific officials have said.

Martinez also signed two other pieces of recently passed legislation: one creating a zone around Santa Teresa and Columbus, N.M., for overweight cargo trucks, which economic developers say should attract more industrial distribution centers, and another to create a border infrastructure fund to make it easier for the New Mexico Border Authority to attract private and public funds for international port of entry improvements.

“As activity increases, Santa Teresa will reap benefits for new commercial and industrial development,” Martinez said. “Today, with the signing of these bills, New Mexico has the opportunity to expand on the possibility of growth.”

Former El Paso Mayor Joe Wardy, vice president of strategic development for Stagecoach Cartage & Distribution, an El Paso trucking and warehousing company, said the Union Pacific complex should help the entire area because Union Pacific’s facilities in El Paso are at capacity. “This helps us as a logistics center,” Wardy said.

Jerry Pacheco, executive director of the International Business Accelerator in Santa Teresa, said, “We’re talking about a project that will change the face of our region and make this the logistical hub of the border.”

Zoe Richmond, director of public affairs for Union Pacific’s Phoenix office, which oversees this area, said the railroad plans to keep its El Paso facilities, including a small intermodal freight yard. But some of its 400 El Paso jobs will eventually be shifted to Santa Teresa, she said. “We had no room to grow. We are land locked in El Paso,” Richmond said.

Union Pacific hopes to begin construction on the 2,200-acre Santa Teresa facility this summer, Richmond said. The company has already begun talking to area educational institutions about work-force development, she said.

This is the third time bills have passed the New Mexico Legislature to bring the Union Pacific facility to Santa Teresa. The project never took off in 2006 because Union Pacific had trouble securing all the land it needed, Richmond said. The project was again ready to be launched in 2008, but the recession killed it, she said.

Everything looks good this time for construction to start this summer, she said. Union Pacific hopes to have the facility open by 2015, Richmond said.

James Robinson III, president of J.H. Rose Logistics, which operates a 65,000-square-foot distribution center in Santa Teresa, said the rail facility should bring more freight traffic into the area. And the overweight truck zone will allow more cargo from Mexico to come into Santa Teresa warehouses, which should help his company and other distribution centers bring in more business, he said.

Pacheco said the overweight truck zone allows trucks to cross from Mexico to Santa Teresa warehouses without heavy loads having to be broken up into several loads as is done today. This can be done at the Santa Teresa port of entry because it has no bridges, which are sensitive to heavy loads, as do other El Paso-area ports, Pacheco said.

Loads of cement or scrap metals that need to be returned from Mexico manufacturing operations to be processed in the United States, are some of the heavy loads that could be processed at Santa Teresa, he said. More finished manufactured goods also could go into the overweight truck zone, he said.

Vic Kolenc may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; (915)546-6421.

Article courtesy of the International Business Accelerator

By Jerry Pacheco

In my 20 years of working the legislative session to support initiatives related to international trade, I have to say that the 2011 session was the most successful one that I can remember. The following are bills that passed the 2011 New Mexico legislative that will have an impact particularly on cross-border commerce:

HB 24 (Border overweight cargo zone bill): This bill passed both houses and is sitting on the governor’s desk waiting for her signature. Because this bill was endorsed by the governor during the session, it is highly likely that she will sign this. After signature, this bill will become law on July 1st.

This bill, sponsored by Mary Helen Garcia in the House of Representatives and supported by Senator Mary Kay Papen in the Senate, creates a six-mile zone around the Santa Teresa and Columbus Ports of Entry. It allows for reducible loads above the maximum 80,000 lbs, but not exceeding 96,000 lbs (a 15% increase in weight). There will be a $250 annual permit per truck/unit for haulers of irreducible loads within the zone.

The creation of these overweight zones will help create a new economic development opportunity by attracting importers of products from Mexico, such as tile and cement, which can bring their loads into warehouses located within the zone. The loads can then be broken down and distributed from these warehouses throughout the rest of the U.S. It is estimated that up to 100 jobs within the zones could be created within the first year of their establishment.

This bill was supported by the New Mexico Border Authority, the New Mexico Department of Transportation, and the Motor Transportation Department.

HB 322 (Revolving border infrastructure fund): This bill, which was sponsored by Representative Mary Helen Garcia, passed both houses and is sitting on the governor’s desk waiting for her signature. Because this bill was endorsed by the governor during the session, it is highly likely that she will sign this. After signature, this bill will become law on July 1st.

HB 322 creates a permanent Border Infrastructure Fund, to be managed by the New Mexico Border Authority, to plan, design, and construct border infrastructure. Border infrastructure needs are intimately tied to manufacturing, international logistics, and foreign trade patterns, which are often complex and require a comprehensive approach to be properly addressed. The creation of a permanent fund would allow the New Mexico Border Authority to finance multi-year, all-inclusive, border infrastructure plans.

Currently, border infrastructure development is conducted by reacting to specific crises with isolated projects; funding is usually contingent to availability and subject to politics involved in obtaining executive or legislative capital outlay allocations. A predictable funding source allows for proactive and methodical border planning and development, taking into account both present and future needs.

HB 523/SB 179 (diesel tax abatement bill – these were companion bills in the House and Senate): Both of these bills passed both houses and are sitting on the governor’s desk waiting for her signature. The House bill was sponsored by Representative Jane Powdrell-Culbert and the Senate bill was sponsored by Senator Cynthia Nava. The governor will have the option of signing either bill, which is critical for Union Pacific Railroad (UPR) to proceed with its publicly announced project to establish a diesel refueling station and swamp yards (intermodal yards) in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.

Union Pacific Railroad’s investment in its Santa Teresa project will exceed $400 million and have an overall economic impact of $500 million for the New Mexico economy. The construction of these facilities will create 3,000 jobs during the construction phase from 2011 to 2015, and will eventually be headquarters for more than 600 permanent jobs.

The UPR project was the first major economic development project announced by New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez and Secretary Jon Barela a week after the new administration took office.

SB 373 (Capital Outlay Reauthorization): This bill was sponsored by Senator Carlos Cisneros and most likely will be signed by Governor Martinez. The $800,000 that had long ago been appropriated to complete the planned hazmat station at the Santa Teresa Airport reverted, due to the slowness in the advancement of this project. SB 373 reauthorized the $800,000 so that the facility can now be completed. An additional $250,000 was reauthorized for the Santa Teresa Safety Inspection Station.

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

By Gabriel Vasquez

Momentous scientific and manufacturing advances have marked the trail blazed by American innovation over the last 200 years.

That innovation continues in the arid desert of southern New Mexico, where private and public research firms are investing their expertise and money into developing green crude from algal fuel.

Photo courtesy of Sapphire Energy

“There is a biofuels revolution in New Mexico,” said U.S. Rep. Harry Teague during a biofuels roundtable discussion Monday, Oct. 11, at the Dona Ana Community College Workforce Center. “It is an industry that has tremendous potential to grow and expand.”

At the roundtable, representatives from Sapphire Energy, the Center of Excellence for Hazardous Material Management, New Mexico State University, the state’s Economic Development Department and the Southwestern Biofuels Association discussed both economic and social implications of developing large-scale biofuel production facilities in southern New Mexico.

“We need to be making energy in America and making jobs in America,” Teague said. “The biofuels industry will help us make it in America.”

The business model for the large-scale production of algae-based biofuel is in its early stages. Already, Sapphire Energy, a San Diego-based company backed by two of the biggest venture capitalists in the world – Bill Gates and the Rockefeller family – has set up a 100 acre test-and-demonstration facility near Las Cruces in preparation for a much larger biofuel production facility.

The company plans to break ground on the 300-acre biofuel refinery in Luna County, near Columbus, early next year.

“We have a very unique technology in that it uses a combination of CO2, algae and non-potable water that delivers a drop-in replacement for transportation fuel,” said Tim Zenk, Sapphire’s vice president of corporate affairs. “We’re talking about algae oil that can be converted and refined to gasoline, diesel and jetfuel.”

Similarly, Massachusetts company Joule Unlimited Inc. is looking at New Mexico to build its first biofuel production facility. Joule President Bill Sims said the state is at the top of his company’s list. The Joule plant, at an estimated 5,000 acres, would create up to 1,500 jobs in the state, he said.

Bringing more energy jobs to New Mexico is also the focus of the Southwestern Biofuels Association, said SWBA spokesperson Maria Zannes. “We’re here about jobs,” she said. “It’s what we focused on when the SWBA first started to develop its statewide plan.”

The SWBA is working with private industry, in conjunction with academia and the state government, to develop a biofuel business model that pays off and creates jobs for New Mexico.

Meghan Starbuck, an NMSU associate professor of economics, has been part of SWBA’s primary counsel in developing that model.

“I’ve been working in biofuels for several years now, and I agree that biofuels is an important and exciting sector,” she said. “As a state and a country, it’s really vital for us moving forward and fixing the economic harm and damage of the last few years.” Starbuck calls the biofuels industry a “combination of high-tech science and agriculture,” the perfect fit for southern New Mexico.

By 2022, the biofuel industry will have to produce 21 billion gallons of transportation fuel to meet national energy standards, Starbuck said. “It will have to come from somewhere, and New Mexico is the place to start,” she said.

A “small” algal biofuel production facility that produces 100 million gallons of biofuel per year, such as the one Sapphire plans for Luna County, would generate about 454 direct and indirect jobs, Starbuck said. The value added to the state’s economy for such a facility would be about $28 million, with $8 million going directly into the state’s tax coffers, she said. Eventually, with several facilities around the state, the industry’s tax revenue could help offset the tax revenue received by the state’s oil and gas industry, which tends to fluctuate unpredictably from year to year. “If we are able to capture 25 to 30 percent of that market it has a large impact on the state,” she said.

The technology is proven, Zenk said – it’s just a matter of making it commercially viable. Already, Zenk’s company has outfitted a car with algal derived fuel that drove cross-country with no problems, and it continues to test other fuels successfully in big rigs and jet planes. “We made molecularly identical jet fuel as the kind you would normally see in a jet,” he said. “In fact, it had a 4 percent higher energy density, which means the plane can fly farther, and because it has a much lower freezing point, fly higher.”

Luz-Elena Mimbela, a researcher at New Mexico State University, said the science behind the algal oil extraction process is well-suited for this area. “You add nutrients such as CO2, nitrogen, phosphorous and trace metals,” she said. “You gently mix the (ponding solution) to keep algae in suspension to maximize its exposure to light. Photosynthesis does the rest.” The harvesting and concentration process is where it gets complicated, she said. “But the technology exists and is available.”

Zenk added that algal biofuel is a “scalable business, cost-competitive with oil, is fungible, has a low-carbon footprint based on its lifecycle and doesn’t compete with other agriculture products.”

Mimbela disagreed; saying that biofuel from algae is still too expensive to compete with petroleum based fuels.

Doug Lynn of the Center of Excellence for Hazardous Materials Management in Carlsbad, which is conducting its own algal biofuel research in conjunction with NMSU, said he’s convinced “algae is going to work.”

“When I first saw this myself, it was inconceivable that we could walk away from this project considering its potential,” he said. “We have to be good farmers. We must learn how to best grow it, manipulate it and make oil.”

To learn more about algal biofuels or the SWBA, visit www.swbiofuels.org.

Release Courtesy of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson

SANTA FE – Governor Bill Richardson today commended Sapphire Energy, Inc. for a successful application to the U.S. Department of Energy for a grant to launch a new multi-million dollar algae biofuels demonstration project in Luna County, New Mexico.

Sapphire Energy has been awarded a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy as well as a loan guarantee of $54.5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The San Diego-based company plans to build a demonstration project in Luna County near Columbus and Deming. The company also has a research and development complex in Las Cruces.

The grant award is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the loan guarantee is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Biorefinery Assistance Program, authorized through the 2008 Farm Bill.

“Investments in advanced biofuels are crucial to improve America’s energy independence and to keep energy dollars at home,” Governor Richardson said. “This project will create jobs, invest in new technology and boost the economy in rural New Mexico.”

The project is being funded to demonstrate the technology developed by Sapphire Energy to produce a large scale algae facility which cultivates algae in open ponds to produce Green Crude which can be refined into fuels.

The project is expected to create 750 direct and indirect jobs. Sapphire has an option to buy roughly 2,200 acres of land near Columbus. With the infusion of capital from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the company plans to build a demonstration project to validate the economics of large scale algae to energy production. As part of the project the company also plans to set up an extraction facility to convert the oil from the algae into Green Crude which can be refined into a variety of fuels.

“Governor Richardson is a true advocate for smarter energy resources,” Sapphire Chief Executive Officer Jason Pyle said. “His leadership has played a crucial role in the federal grant funding for our algae-based fuel work. This is a win-win for New Mexico, Luna County, and Sapphire Energy.”