Posts Tagged ‘Renewable Energy’

Philip Bond, who leads the strategic planning effort at White Sands Missile Range (WSMR), will be the featured speaker at the upcoming June luncheon meeting of the High Tech Consortium. The meeting will be held on Friday June 17th 2011 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Sunset Grill at Sonoma Ranch Golf Course.

White Sands Missile Range is home to the US Army’s premier test center that provides services to the Department of Defense and others top quality “experimentation, test, research, assessment, development, and training in support of the Nation at war, according to the WSMR official website.”  Successful support of these customers requires strategic planning that focuses on understanding who the customers are, what they need and how to best provide service.  Mr. Bond will present an overview of some of the initiatives currently being conducted at WSMR and will try to answer questions about the skills and requirements that are needed from the high  tech community in southern New Mexico.  Projects that he will discuss include the Joint Urban Testing Capability, Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor (JLENS), energy scavenging, and renewable/alternative energy initiatives.

Mr. Bond is a native of Clovis, NM and has worked at WSMR since 2007.  He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1982 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Basic Science Interdisciplinary. He was commissioned in the Field Artillery and served in Europe and Honduras. When he returned from overseas, he earned a Master’s Degree in Operations Research/Systems Analysis from Kansas State University. He left active duty in 1992 and worked for Ford Motor Company as a Production Supervisor, Industrial Engineer, Manufacturing Efficiency Specialist, and Production Engineering Manager. Phil returned for Retired Reserve status to serve in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. He moved to Las Cruces in 2006 and has worked at White Sands since 2007.

For more information contact Richard Majestic, rmajestic@msn.com or (575) 521-0018.

Article courtesy of the Las Cruces Bulletin

Sapphire Energy photo

By Marvin Tessneer

Sapphire Energy has developed its West Mesa Industrial Park plant into an algae field research and development center, said Bryn Davis, New Mexico operations manager. The algae “green crude oil” production company is constructing a half-acre greenhouse that will be covered with plastic to allow sunlight to stimulate the algae. “We’ll be able to grow algae in small containers with a controlled environment,” Davis said. “This will allow us to experiment faster on a small scale at our field test site before moving outside to larger ponds.”

The process will be a blend of engineering, science and agriculture in one operation. The company has acquired 10 acres at the West Mesa Industrial Park and has the option to purchase up to 100 more acres. Sapphire has also acquired 1,000 acres in Luna County to produce green crude.

The company and contractors are reviewing designs to construct water raceways to cover from 100 to 300 acres underwater to produce algae, Davis said. Many researchers have good ideas, but they have to develop them to make them work, he said. Algae are microorganisms that use sunlight and photosynthesis to produce green crude oil.

The Luna County site will not compete with agriculture. The land is marginal and the water is brackish, but there is ample sunlight, the Sapphire information report emphasized. Producing algae green crude oil does not depend on crops or valuable farmland. It can deliver 19 to 100 times more energy per acre than field crop biofuels. The Sapphire goal is to produce green crude as a “drop-in fuel” transportation replacement fuel can be used as gasoline, diesel or jet fuel.

“There’s no need to change the energy infrastructure or equipment,” Davis said. “The fuel that we’re producing is indistinguishable from the fuels that we’re producing now.” Sapphire plans to start extracting green crude by the summer of 2012.

Algae raceways are constructed with concrete blocks that are lined with plastic. Small paddle wheels circulate the water to keep the algae from settling. Green crude is the oil that algae produce by combining sunlight and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which can be refined into fuel, gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

Sapphire has compiled a list titled “Why Does Energy Matter So Much?” that discusses countries energy consumption. Driven primarily by transportation fuel consumption, the United States’ demand for crude oil exceeds its supply, forcing the nation to rely on imports to meet the domestic supply deficit. As the U.S. produces renewable fuels, it provides energy security and reduces carbon dioxide emissions. Algae biomass is among the renewable energy leaders.

Electric, thermal and transportation energy use in the U.S. emit about 5,890 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, and liquid fuel and coal emit 4,715 million tons per year.

Photo by Tom McConnell

One of the largest concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems in North America is expected to be online this summer on 39 acres in the Hatch Industrial Park, 7 miles west of the Village of Hatch. The 5-megawatt (MW) system, with 81 solar tracking concentrator panels, is being built and operated by NextEra Energy Resources, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, Inc. The project was funded by Village of Hatch Industrial Revenue Bonds. The Village put an emphasis on New Mexico jobs for New Mexicans.

Blattner Energy of Albuquerque is the construction contractor for the solar array and Warren Construction of Las Cruces will build the operations and maintenance building. The project began in February 2011 with approximately 60 employees during the construction phase.

The Village is actively working on a second solar project. Power generated from the projects will be sold to El Paso Electric under Purchase Power Agreement (PPA) to help meet the Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (“RPS”) requirements of the New Mexico Renewable Energy Act.

As many of you are already aware, MVEDA has a core, focused approach to economic development that concentrates on growing the economic base of Dona Ana County.  Economic based approaches focus on industries that export a product or service outside the region thereby bringing new dollar flow into the local economy.   It is one of the fundamental means by which a region can build and create new wealth and demand.  New dollar flow into an economy then leads to greater disposable spending that can be used to purchase the local goods and services that we rely on each day.    We have had success in this approach to economic development and as move closer to entering the fourth quarter of our fiscal year the impact from economic based industry development becomes evident; not only in job creation but in the new tax base that it creates.

For example, currently this fiscal year MVEDA has been involved in efforts that have assisted in the creation of 216 new jobs as well as the retention of 42 jobs within the City of Las Cruces with the total capital investment estimated in new construction and equipment estimated at $40mm.  Utilizing IMPLAN economic impact analysis, a 3^rd party statistical software that measures direct, indirect, and induced economic impacts, new tax revenue to the City of Las Cruces would exceed $700,000 during the construction phase and over $226,000 per year in subsequent years should employment levels be maintained.  Likewise, the increased tax revenue to the State of New Mexico as a result of these projects is estimated at over $2.3mm during the construction phase and over $347,000 in subsequent years.  Our educational institutions also benefit as a result of these economic based projects.  Las Cruces Public Schools property tax revenues could grow by as much as $200,000 per year.

Also, MVEDA is working closely with a handful of projects that have considerable impact to Dona Ana County; primarily with Union Pacific’s $400mm refueling station and intermodal ramp which would create over 3,000 construction jobs and eventually over 500 permanent, high wage jobs in Santa Teresa.  The impact of this project would create $19.9mm to the State of New Mexico and $3.5mm to Dona Ana County in new gross receipts and compensating tax paid on construction services alone.   As the State of New Mexico is currently faced with large budget deficits, the identification and creation of a new tax base becomes even that much more critical.  As evident from the above discussion, the attraction of economic based industry to the State and County is the solution.

Economic development practitioners and leaders around the United States value economic based industry growth and it is for this reason that competition continues to grow.  And even during these challenging economic times, and even with budget deficits, we see that States and regions across the country are investing more in their economic development efforts.  For example, just to the south of Dona Ana County in Horizon City (a suburb of El Paso), the city has adopted a new tax to build an economic development fund.  This is in addition to the State of Texas’ Enterprise Fund which provides the State with deal-closing dollars to attract industry.  Recently, Arizona legislators began a special legislative session to begin consideration of business tax cuts and the creation of a $25mm closing fund to attract new business to their State.   On a recent trip to Atlanta, MVEDA met with several national site selectors and two messages became clear.  First, that there would be an exodus of companies from California, and second, that Arizona and Texas had firmly placed their flag in the ground as the business friendly destination.   With less than a month left in New Mexico’s 60-day legislative session, we are hopeful that the State of New Mexico remains aggressive in the pursuit of economic development.  For this reason the Dona Ana County Legislative Coalition has been supporting the following economic development issues:

1.    Support of a State economic development recruitment budget by expanding the New Mexico Partnership beyond present funding levels, with the purpose of creating new private sector employment opportunities, creating new jobs for New Mexicans and expanding business in the State.  Currently, past year funding has been at $1.1mm.  This is a significant decrease in funding from when the program began in 2003. It is also a small budget in comparison to neighboring cities, much less other State recruitment budgets.  The Partnership also provides lead generation flow to smaller communities that do not have their own marketing budget to work with.  Rural communities that have benefited from the Partnership’s involvement have included Clovis, Roswell, Gallup, and Dona Ana County to name just a few.   To compare this funding level against some of our neighbors;

o    El Paso, TX has a recruitment program funded at about $1.5mm, and

o    The Greater Phoenix Economic Development Council has a recruitment program funded at about $4mm.

2.    Support of retaining existing economic development incentives to include:

o    Funding the State’s Job Training Incentive Program,

o    Maintaining the Technology Jobs Tax Credit, the Manufacturing Investment Tax Credit, and Rural Jobs Tax Credits.

3.    Support of regional border issues which comprise New Mexico’s second largest existing industrial base:

o    Reinstatement of the Locomotive Diesel Refuel Tax Exemption to make southern New Mexico more competitive against Texas as a bi-modal, transportation and logistics hub.

o    Creation of an Commercial Overweight Zone which will assist in attracting new logistics and distribution companies to New Mexico, &

o    Creation of a border infrastructure fund to plan, design and construct border infrastructure to allow for pro-active economic development planning.

Regardless of the outcome at the State level, we still have tremendous economic growth opportunities here in Dona Ana County.  This stems from a direct industry focused marketing approach that leverages the unique assets of the region.  They include our border logistics and port of entry with Mexico, our proximity to White Sands Missile Range, our natural assets in solar, a strong agricultural region, and the continued development of an aerospace industry with Spaceport America as its anchor.  As illustrated in the Lead Generation chart, MVEDA continues to receive diversified industry interest lead first by manufacturing and logistics, followed by renewable energy, and increased growth in the aerospace and food processing sectors.  We have also recently seen a renewed interest in high tech companies looking at the area.

In terms of performance output versus past years, MVEDA has assisted in the creation of 237 new jobs in Dona Ana County as of March 1 of this fiscal year which places us well ahead of job creation numbers in each of the past previous two years, only overshadowed by the positive economic climate of 2007-’08.  However, there remains a strong potential that we will see a handful of projects close before the end of the current fiscal year which would then create a record year for MVEDA.

As also illustrated in the Completed Projects chart, as of March 1^st we have already surpassed past years’ results in the industrial square footage taken off the marketplace and in the total capital investment that these projects have brought to Dona Ana County.

In addition to economic based industry attraction, MVEDA is working on solutions to connect local businesses to the opportunities that economic based industry brings to the region.   Therefore we were pleased to announce our first “Business Connection Series” on Monday, March 7, 2011 where SunEdison provided local vendors, suppliers, and sub-contractors with a pre-bid briefing on their 12 MW solar project at the West Mesa Industrial Park.  We are hopeful that this will be the first in a series of localized economic-based business building opportunities.

Additionally, in conjunction with the Border Industrial Association (BIA), MVEDA hosted a Business Incentives Workshop for the southern New Mexico industrial base and the CPA firms that service them.   The workshop which also counted towards CEP credit was provided by Moss Adams, a MVEDA Partner and covered, not only the details of applying for state incentives, but federal incentives as well.

As evident, even with the budget challenges at the State level, we are optimistic about the future of economic development in Dona Ana County and appreciate the continued support of all of our partners and stakeholders.

The USDA Rural Development will hold training on two federal programs designed to help support rural businesses, create new markets for agricultural products, and assist our country in becoming more energy independent. The training sessions will be held on Monday, February 28, 2011 from 1:30-3:30pm in Room 127 at the DACC Workforce Center, 2345 E. Nevada in Las Cruces.

Eligible applicants for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) are agricultural producers and rural small businesses; program provides grants and loan guarantees for renewable energy systems and energy efficiency improvements for business/commercial (not residential).

Eligible applicants for the Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG) are independent producers, farmer or rancher cooperatives, agricultural producer groups, and majority-controlled producer based business ventures; program provides grants for value-added planning and working capital.

Attendance is free but RSVP is encouraged to ensure sufficient seating and handouts. RSVP to Kim Giang at (505)761-4953 or kim.giang@nm.usda.gov.   Questions may be directed to Jesse Monfort Bopp at (505)761-4952 or jesse.bopp@nm.usda.gov or Kim Giang.  For more information on these and all USDA Rural Development business and cooperative programs, visit http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs.