Pocono Raceway Solar Farm Hits 15 million kWh

Conversations about renewable energy and IndyCar tend to focus on the series’ use and endorsement of locally-grown, high-octane, low-emission biofuels and E85 ethanol blends. There’s more to it than that, however, especially at the Pocono tri-oval!

First installed at the facility back in 2010, the Pocono tri-oval’s 39,960 American-made photovoltaic modules (or solar panels) have already passed the 15 million kWh mark – and are well on their way to producing a projected 72 million kWh of energy by 2030!

“It is amazing to see the amount of energy produced by the solar farm in this short period of time,” said Pocono Raceway President and CEO Brandon Igdalsky. “To put the amount of energy produced into layman’s terms, the solar farm has saved over 1,215,000 gallons of fuel. This would equal 121,500 trips from New York City or Philadelphia to Pocono Raceway in a vehicle, such as an RV (or large pickup) using 10 miles per gallon of gasoline … (now) when I watch the NASCAR Green commercial during race broadcasts, there is a line which asks Greg Biffle, ‘Go solar to power the sport?’ The amount of fuel we have saved (here at Pocono) would power the top three levels of NASCAR for about two-and-a-half seasons. So, I guess, we really could power the sport!”

So, in addition to providing returning champion and Gas 2 favorite Juan Pablo Montoya with a storybook win a few weeks ago, we now have even more reasons to love the “tricky triangle”.

For those of you curious enough to check it out the next time you head to the track, the Pocono Raceway Solar Farm can be located along Long Pond Road, and sits adjacent to Pocono’s storied 2.5 mile tri-oval. I’d try to call ahead for a tour, though.

Source | Images: Racer Magazine.

Cool Planet Predicts Its High-Octane Biofuel Will Sell At $1.50 A Gallon

Can America really develop an affordable replacement for oil, or is the effort akin to dope fiend chasing the dragon? Well Cool Planet Energy Systems projects that its patented method for producing carbon-negative, high-octane biogasoline could be sold for as low as $1.50 a gallon…without government subsidies.

Cool Planet’s fuel processing uses the input of raw, inedible biomass that produces both fuel streams and a byproduct called “bio-char.” The bio-char can then either replace coal, or be used as a “soil conditioner,” basically improving the composition of fields used to grow feedstocks. Using this method results in a 150% reduction of the carbon footprint for the fuel processing.

Emissions wise, a 5% blend of Cool Planet’s biogasoline met all emissions requirements in a test car, including those for California’s 2020 Low Carbon Fuel standard….8 years early. Most importantly though is the price.

Cool Planet’s processing system uses targeted micro-refineries that can be transported directly to the location of the feedstock. This cuts down on shipping costs, though each micro-refinery can still produce upwards of 10 million gallons of fuel.

Even without government subsidies, Cool Planet says they can produce this much fuel at a cost of about $50 a barrel, or a $1.50 a gallon. That’s less than half the cost of a gallon of gasoline. Can private enterprise really create a cost-competitive fuel without government aid?

Cool Planet’s biogas and bio-char certainly look promising…but there’s no word on when this biogas will be heading to retail markets. It could be a long time before America gives biofuels another chance after all the drama surrounding ethanol.

Source: Green Car Congress

How America can use 'half the oil' by 2035

It's going to take a concerted effort to make a big dent in the oil use in the U.S. Everyone's pretty much in agreement about that. But how big and how do we get there? The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has an idea on how to make the dent as big as half of all the oil we use. It'll take a while, but it's a target to shoot for.

Called "Half The Oil: A realistic plan to cut the United States' projected oil use in half over 20 years" (PDF), the UCS says there is a way to save a total of nearly eight million barrels per day by 2035 using efficiency strategies and another four million through innovation. In this situation, efficiency means things like doubling cars' fuel economy (saving four million barrels a day) and retrofitting buildings to make them more efficient (2 mbd). Innovation means getting serious about "the full potential of electric vehicles" (1.5 mbd) and making better biofuels (1.5 mbd). You can see a breakdown of these numbers below, even if the plan doesn't offer a lot of really specific projections for how to achieve the targets it calls for.

Oil Savings Strategies	Oil Savings (millions of barrels per day) in 2035*
Double the fuel efficiency of new cars and light trucks by 2025.	4 mbd
Double the fuel efficiency of most commercial vehicles (delivery trucks, buses, and big rigs) by 2030	1 mbd
Make planes, trains, and ships more fuel-efficient.	0.5 mbd
Retrofit buildings to use less energy, make boilers more efficient, and adopt substitutes for oil to heat our homes and manufacture goods.	2 mbd

Oil Savings Strategies	Oil Savings (millions of barrels per day) in 2035*
Unleash the full potential of electric vehicles so that more than 40 percent of new vehicles sold by 2035 run on electricity instead of oil.	1.5 mbd
Produce 40 billion gallons of better biofuels from non-food sources like perennial grasses and waste products.	1.5 mbd
Expand transportation options.	1.5 mbd

Scania receives large order for biofuel buses in Sweden - Press Release

Scania has received an order for 158 buses from public transport company Keolis Sverige. By ordering buses that run on biofuels, the company strengthens its position in sustainable urban transport.

Enlarge photo

Keolis Scania ethanol bus

Ethanol is the most cost-effective bio fuel in the market in terms of availability, infrastructure and access to tried-and-tested technology

The delivery to Keolis consists of urban, suburban and intercity buses. The majority, 123 urban and suburban buses, will be used in the greater Stockholm area, where Keolis operates for Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL).

“The order is very important to us and helps strengthen our position as a strong partner in the public transport industry,” says Ove Forsberg, Bus Sales Manager at Scania-Bilar Sverige. “We have had a rewarding partnership with Keolis in Sweden for a long period, and we see this order as a result of that.”

Scania has previously delivered ethanol- and biogas-fuelled vehicles to Keolis, and the new buses will be equipped with engines for the renewable fuels ethanol and rapeseed methyl ester (RME). Compared to using a conventional diesel engine, Keolis reduces carbon-dioxide emissions by 70 percent by using ethanol; for RME, the corresponding figure is 64 percent.

Deliveries of the buses will take place from April until July, and the buses will start operating between June and August.

Keolis Sverige’s vision is to use locally suited, sustainable transport to double transit ridership in Swedish cities. By the second half of 2011 Keolis’ vehicle fleet in Sweden will consist of approximately 2,000 buses, of which over 60 percent will be running on renewable fuels.

Keolis’ Technology and Environmental Director Håkan Björk says, “This and previous large orders to Scania are a result of a close cooperation, giving us well-developed and customised products for our operations.”

Scania has more than 20 years of experience with ethanol buses, having delivered a total of about 800 ethanol buses. More than 700 of them have gone to Swedish cities, but the company has also delivered ethanol buses for commercial service to countries such as Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Norway.

The world's largest fleet of ethanol buses operates in the greater Stockholm area, where Stockholm County Council has set the goal that at least 50 percent of all passenger traffic will employ renewable fuels by 2012.

Ethanol accounts for around 90 percent of renewable vehicle fuels available today. It is the most cost-effective such fuel in the market in terms of availability, infrastructure and access to tried-and-tested technology

For further information, please contact:

· Leif Nyström, Marketing Director, Scania-Bilar Sverige, +46 8 553 511 52
· Hans-Åke Danielsson, Press Manager, Scania, +46 8 553 856 62

Scania is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. A growing proportion of the company’s operations consists of products and services in the financial and service sectors, assuring Scania customers of cost-effective transport solutions and maximum uptime. Employing some 32,000 people, Scania operates in about 100 countries. Research and development activities are concentrated in Sweden, while production takes place in Europe and South America, with facilities for global interchange of both components and complete vehicles. In 2009, net sales totalled SEK 62 billion and net income amounted to SEK 1.1 billion. Scania press releases are available on www.scania.com (http://www.scania.com/)