tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67527147531720230422024-03-20T22:33:33.077+01:00Renewable Energy BlogWelcome to the renewable energy blog of Jens Søgaard Jacobsen, Sales Director and Partner in The Modern By-products Group. I will be using this blog to explore the exciting world of renewable energy. Should you be interested in my work, don't hesitate to leave a comment or contact me through jsj (at) mbpgroup.euJens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-20230248782610743052012-12-03T22:14:00.000+01:002012-12-03T22:21:01.734+01:00Who are influencing the debate on Renewable Energy?Here at the renewable energy blog I am quite happy to comment on the elements of the renewable energy debate that I find interesting. However, I found myself wondering, who are actually the more influential in the debate on renewable energy.<br />
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After much googling around I found many blogs and sites that were high ranked on Google, but were they really also the right ones to follow if I wanted to stay on top of the RE debate. I had the suspicion that that was not the case, as some of the sites/blogs were clearly not updated.<br />
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In order to explore this aspect in a more thorough way I asked the influence analysis authority <a href="http://www.onalytica.com/">Onalytica</a> for assistance. Onalytica is a young company that has achieved great results based on their unique algorithm driven analyses of the internet buzz. Recently they published a <a href="http://www.onalytica.com/blog/post/2012/06/28/Impact-Factors-of-Economics-Blogs.aspx">top 100 list of economic blogs</a>.<br />
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Using Onalytica's Influencemonitor I identified the Top 10 <a href="http://www.onalytica.com/about-us/faq#q15">influencers</a> on the Renewable energy debate.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKRzWs4kDiUZgBO7QaP0AeCnml7nrD8mXnkQTtcY6b8vU38asbiuOYaTH57gJgoUo9CaQ77LxPsqrziH3_cBLafC62AqORdrdGvNW6ZR-k2mHfRXm5Nl_J906H8bf0E9mgDCVKpt72fo/s1600/top+10+renewable+energy+influencers.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyKRzWs4kDiUZgBO7QaP0AeCnml7nrD8mXnkQTtcY6b8vU38asbiuOYaTH57gJgoUo9CaQ77LxPsqrziH3_cBLafC62AqORdrdGvNW6ZR-k2mHfRXm5Nl_J906H8bf0E9mgDCVKpt72fo/s400/top+10+renewable+energy+influencers.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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The list is clearly a list of heavyweights. Five on the list are Newspapers (<a href="http://global.nytimes.com/">New York Times</a>, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/">the Guardian</a>, <a href="http://europe.wsj.com/home-page">Wall Street Journal</a>) or syndicated news agencies (<a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/">Bloomberg</a>, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/">Reuters</a>). The other five are either connected to the US government (<a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/">Whitehouse</a> and <a href="http://energy.gov/">Department of Energy</a>) or the EU (<a href="http://europa.eu/index_en.htm">the European Union</a>,<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm"> the European Commission</a> or the<a href="http://www.eib.org/"> European Investment Bank</a>).<br />
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I invite you to explore these sites in more detail. They contain a wealth of information and most have special sections dedicated to renewable energy.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-38375940613574347412012-10-22T23:04:00.001+02:002012-10-24T13:49:53.639+02:00Why is Biofuels the only industry to struggle with ILUC?OK, so maybe it wasn't such a good idea to grow agricultural crops in order to be able to fuel my car. I realise that using agricultural land to grow biofuel does compete with other crops that feed man and beast. Let's call it<a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-12-787_en.htm?locale=en"> ILUC</a> (indirect land use change) - and make it very complicated.<br />
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What I don't understand is why biofuel crops (oilseed, oil palm, sugarcane and corn/wheat) are the only crops that are unwanted. Cotton you say is OK, because of course we need clothes, but hey we can wear clothes made from woodfibres/viscose or made from crude oil we pump out of the ground aka nylon. No need to wear these agriculturally grown fibres? When we wash our hands or hair in the bath, did anyone ever cry ILUC? As well as for biodiesel the oil crops are also the only feedstock for production of a whole range of soaps, shampoos and technical products that we like to use. We could also use products derived from mineral oil, but we prefer the natural products.<br />
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I think it is amazing how the green troops have managed to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/16/biofuels-industry-demonised">set the agenda selectively</a>. The reality is that no matter what we do when we try to manage nature, we will get negative side effects.<br />
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Let's take a look at the next big thing. Everybody agrees that it would be just wonderful if we could "just" make biofuel from cellulosis and agricultural waste. Has anybody tried to calculate how much wood waste would be necessary to "feed the beast"? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulosic_ethanol">Wikipedia</a> suggests that close to 20% of US land (similar to the area used to grow crops) would be needed to cover US transportation fuels from ethanol from switchgrass - quite significant numbers - that will definitely have a significant ILUC effect.<br />
What will happen to the ecosystem and the nutrient content of the soil if much more of the biomass is removed from the land in order to be processed/turned into biofuel? Well - the soil is going to be deprived of organic material, which constitutes an important part of the slow release system for nutrients and water of the soil - also known as humus. Depriving the soil of the organic material will be slowly spoiling the carrying capacity of the soil.<br />
Using wood and forest by-products has similar problems. Enormous quantities are needed, there will be competition with other uses of forest products, from firewood, over cellulosis to fibreboards and construction wood. And the forest is potential agricultural land and vise versa - so also an ILUC effect here. I guess our politicians are in for <a href="http://renewable-energyblog.blogspot.ch/2012/08/why-bother-with-renewable-energy.html">a tough job to find the "good" solution</a> to our energy and transport fuel problems. Unfortunately they are not going to get any help from the green NGOs.<br />
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Update: <a href="http://www.r-e-a.net/blog/eu-draft-threatens-energy-turnaround-in-germany-23-10-2012">A German view on the same issue</a> comes to largely the same conclusion.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-55650273498331154042012-09-18T00:27:00.000+02:002012-09-26T20:03:44.206+02:00The Investor's View of Renewable EnergySolar and Wind are the investors' favorite renewable energy types. The <a href="http://unep.org/">United Nations</a> UNEP publish an <a href="http://fs-unep-centre.org/sites/default/files/publications/globaltrendsreport2012final.pdf">insightful yearly publication</a> on investments in renewable energy. This is interesting because this cuts through the nice talk and zooms in on where the money flows.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictZS6O3Buys2EyRQ_bSdz9PcmvHRfgi7mosFKGy0S8i_1i11bQ0_hNYcut2Ej5BxxB1yabUL-jBFDDnqw9V_MeWUOMbv1025ZoQkUDXozR6iArVs3JMi_3g170E9_Owbqfbsv264v1aY/s1600/investments+in+renewable+energy+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEictZS6O3Buys2EyRQ_bSdz9PcmvHRfgi7mosFKGy0S8i_1i11bQ0_hNYcut2Ej5BxxB1yabUL-jBFDDnqw9V_MeWUOMbv1025ZoQkUDXozR6iArVs3JMi_3g170E9_Owbqfbsv264v1aY/s400/investments+in+renewable+energy+2011.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Global investments in 2011 in billion USD in different types of renewable energy. Right hand figures show 2011 growth on 2010.
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It is interesting to see that Solar and Wind run with the majority of the investments. Of total investments in 2011 of 257 BUSD, solar and wind represent 90%. Solar has seen an extraordinary growth in 2011, contrary to all other types of renewable energy except small hydro. The investments are a result of national energy policies and subsidies as well as developments in technology and costs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcadJ95yJ8DjlT5MGtk5g8T2c6L10ZmLDemiU8xSyeedkR-Zd4U8bUbr0YrZSvwaj1SKfwisO-ipIOoKy3MjrhmY3rhrBOg6okCthrysgbtVW8eKExXcc3eD1qlnp631VCm2NlecZ2kYg/s1600/investments+in+RE+by+region+2011.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="371" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcadJ95yJ8DjlT5MGtk5g8T2c6L10ZmLDemiU8xSyeedkR-Zd4U8bUbr0YrZSvwaj1SKfwisO-ipIOoKy3MjrhmY3rhrBOg6okCthrysgbtVW8eKExXcc3eD1qlnp631VCm2NlecZ2kYg/s400/investments+in+RE+by+region+2011.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Global investments in billion USD in 2011 by region.</td></tr>
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Europe emerges as the region with the largest investments in RE, whereas China is the country with the largest investment. China invests mainly in wind, whereas in Europe solar PV especially in Germany and Italy is the favorite technology.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ewrTX_sDuFVRuNgXEwLNF7LeSn60QZPNKMWVDlpWVzXM2nXjVR-a86dQp5RElsgXKOOp9cjsUkfckSI1bW8BSceF8_203W2biD_TkKD04f6BJPTBXC3rI7_j6cSNOzoT374e2Vbq4uw/s1600/levelised+costs+of+renewable+energy+2011.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ewrTX_sDuFVRuNgXEwLNF7LeSn60QZPNKMWVDlpWVzXM2nXjVR-a86dQp5RElsgXKOOp9cjsUkfckSI1bW8BSceF8_203W2biD_TkKD04f6BJPTBXC3rI7_j6cSNOzoT374e2Vbq4uw/s640/levelised+costs+of+renewable+energy+2011.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Levelised costs of different renewable energy technologies, costs in USD/MWH, Q1 2012 vs Q1 2011
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Compared to my previous <a href="http://renewable-energyblog.blogspot.ch/2012/09/what-is-cost-of-renewable-energy.html">post</a> this report has much more up to date data. It is interesting to note that solar PV is currently getting more competitive as we speak with more than 30% reduction in cost in only one year. This is quite extraordinary, and is due to the overcapacity and shake out that is currently happening in the solar industry.We can see that several RE technologies (wind, hydro and landfill gas) are now competitive towards conventional energy, which is also the reason why these are prefered by China and other developing countries that cannot afford the luxury of choosing RE over conventional just because it is "cleaner". This is encouraging reading that confirms that RE is competitive in many cases and costs continue to fall in many cases. Actually RE investments are only trailing slightly behind investments in conventional energy.<br />
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There are other problems associated with renewable energy such as the fact that the most popular solar and wind are variable in nature and are therefore challenging to manage. This is an issue we will have to look at in a later post.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-91830055350098894162012-09-14T00:20:00.000+02:002012-09-24T20:40:17.808+02:00Biofuels in Troubles<b>Food versus Fuel</b><br />
The European biofuel market is setting the agenda for the world of biofuels. Biofuels has come under severe attack from many sides again lately. This is nothing new, as we have previously discussed here on this <a href="http://renewable-energyblog.blogspot.ch/2011/03/future-for-biodiesel-industry.html">blog</a>. Last time around was back in 2008 when oil prices as well as most agricultural commodities rallied until they collapsed in the summer of 2008. This time around it was the drought in the US and the consequently high prices of corn/maize that started the debate. The debate was started by authoritative UN food agency that called for a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19206199">suspension of US bioethanol scheme</a>. As roughly 40% of the US corn production is used for ethanol biofuel production, the usual players started the fuel versus food debate. Nestle, Swiss multinational food company issued a <a href="http://www.nestle.com/Common/NestleDocuments/Documents/Creating%20Shared%20Value/Rural_development/Commitment%20on%20Biofuels.pdf">statement</a> already back in 2011, but were happy to repeat the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/sep/04/us-eu-biofuel-food-crisis-nestle">message</a> in 2012. European politicians already under financial pressure have already scaled back their support for biofuel. With the introduction of the Renewable Energy Directive in 2009 and introduction of the double counting for waste based biofuels (a programme which makes it easier to meet blend in targets) are now again under pressure to repair the biofuel policy. So it was really no big surprise when on <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/10/us-eu-biofuels-idUSBRE8890SJ20120910">September 10 Reuters</a> could rumour a EU document that spoke about limiting crop based biofuels to 5% of transport fuels by 2020.<br />
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<b>Biofuel already under pressure to improve</b><br />
This EU initiative really should not come as a surprise. It is clear that current 1st generation biofuel will not solve the fuel issue, and biofuel that is either unsustainable or comes at the cost of human starvation is not a long time option. Already the<a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=Oj:L:2009:140:0016:0062:en:PDF"> Renewable Energy Directive</a> has some quite ambitious targets, as the green house gas savings requirements rise from 35% over 50% in 2017 to 60% in 2018. Ongoing discussions over the so-called ILUC (Indirect land use changes) have been ongoing for years, and it boils down to the fact that no matter how you look at it, if you grow crops for use as biofuel they will inevitably end up having replaced a food crop and thus potentially contributing to reduction in food supply.<br />
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<b>Silence from the industry?</b><br />
So who is actually standing up for the biofuel industry. Well nobody really. The European Biodiesel Board, the European biodiesel manufacturer's association seeems to so be busy fighting their colleagues in the <a href="http://www.ebb-eu.org/EBBpressreleases/EBB%20position%20on%20positive%20outcome%20of%20OLAF%20investigation_Final_6Sep2012.pdf">US</a>, <a href="http://www.ebb-eu.org/EBBpressreleases/Notice%20of%20Initiation%20August2012.pdf">Argentina and Indonesia</a> that they have not had the time to go in and defend the industry.<br />
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<b>The future for the biofuel industry</b><br />
So clearly production of biodiesel from virgin oils and bioethanol from corn and other food crops is not the final solution. However it is an important stepping stone in the search for better and more sustainable technologies. Already in Europe the biodiesel industry is under so much economic pressure that the majority of biodiesel plants are idle, and a large part of the remaining plants are running on used cooking oil, waste animal fats and other low quality non-edible by-product oils. A number of new technologies are under development, where the greatest hopes are tied to the cellulosic ethanol, which as a 2nd generation biofuel with no food versus fuel dilemmas is seen as very green. The hope is that you can really turn low value wood and agricultural by-products into valuable biofuel with clever technology. We are still waiting for the technology improvements that will allow profitable commercial scale production. In the meantime it is important that politicians do not rock the boat so much that all the commercial players will drown. Who is going to invest - next time the politicians want us to be more green?Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-60502362939027142762012-09-06T00:43:00.000+02:002012-09-06T00:47:42.393+02:00EU opens anti dumping investigation against biodiesel from Argentina and IndonesiaAfter pressure from European biodiesel producers the <a href="http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2012/august/tradoc_149876.init.en.C260-2012.pdf">EU published on 29 August 2012</a> an investigation into whether biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia is being dumped in the EU. Both countries have for years been operating a differential export tax, with higher tax on vegetable oil than on biodiesel. Now the EU has decided to strike, which comes at a time where the EU and Argentina is already in a <a href="http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news12_e/ds443rfc_17aug12_e.htm">struggle in WTO</a>. Hardly a coincidence.<br />
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The mere existence of the investigation will put a dampener on the appetite to import biodiesel from these countries into the EU, as soon the EU can implement a preliminary anti-dumping duty with short notice - should they wish to.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-48910125869167548912012-09-03T00:14:00.001+02:002012-09-03T00:36:17.055+02:00What is the Cost of Renewable Energy?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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What is the cost of renewable energy? This is the question that politicians should be asking themselves before they compose their energy policy. Obviously there are a lot of variables that influence the answer here. Technologies are developing all the time so efficiency is likely to improve over time - and thus the cost will fall. In wind energy the costs are being driven down by size, the latest and largest wind mill to date was erected in August 2012 in Denmark, a Siemens giant at 6 MW and 196 meters height.
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ing.dk/modules/xphoto/cache/34/68934_616_1500_0_0_0_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Siemens 6 MW 196 meter height" border="0" height="320" src="http://ing.dk/modules/xphoto/cache/34/68934_616_1500_0_0_0_0.jpg" title="World's largest windmill" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World's largest Windmill 2012. Credit: <a href="http://ing.dk/artikel/131562-se-billeder-af-thys-ny-196-meter-hoeje-vartegn#0" target="_blank">Ingeniøren</a></td></tr>
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Subsidies, tax exemptions as well as unit compensation is likely to change over time, <a href="http://renewable-energyblog.blogspot.ch/2012/08/why-bother-with-renewable-energy.html">as politicians change policies</a>. Unit costs are influenced by the size of the investment, but also by the life time of the investment as well as the operation and maintenance costs. In some cases there are fuel costs that can change over time as demand and supply can change over the life time of the investment, in other cases (wind, solar, hydro and wave) the "fuel" generally is free, but can vary in quality and quantity.<br />
With this list of variables it is clear that it can be difficult to compare different technologies. But we would still like the answer, thank you very much. So how about this chart from <a href="http://www.altenergystocks.com/archives/2009/06/what_does_clean_energy_cost_1.html">Alt Energy Stocks</a>:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIioNhrPzlpNVoVX488ieU5oRdHZm9ipYyQVujRlhqBiHGPRHRBhHQyIMoCFJWACxxYKILNWif5sVhLg_us4N6ODFwYqdeSr0iySAt93hv6mxBxCtQYzVLG8DQFERuYBbG6KC9Fwlz_A/s1600/cost+of+different+renewable+energy+technologies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIioNhrPzlpNVoVX488ieU5oRdHZm9ipYyQVujRlhqBiHGPRHRBhHQyIMoCFJWACxxYKILNWif5sVhLg_us4N6ODFwYqdeSr0iySAt93hv6mxBxCtQYzVLG8DQFERuYBbG6KC9Fwlz_A/s400/cost+of+different+renewable+energy+technologies.jpg" title="cost of different renewable energy technologies" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cost comparison of different renewable energy technologies. status 2009. Credit: <a href="http://www.altenergystocks.com/">altenergystocks.com</a></td></tr>
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The chart dates back from 2009 and is based on a California context. Interesting to see that solar comes out as a very expensive type of energy. Surely the <a href="http://dp.solarmediastore.com/t/12512#">Solar PV industry shakeout</a> has changed this picture a bit. But is it enough to defend the big move Germany has made into solar? Resulting in a <a href="http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/germany--record-40-percent-solar-weekend_100006953/#axzz25Lwp1pf1">record 40% supply</a> of national energy production on one sunny day in May 2012.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_FVzQnNsfYfYx_3VhlD23pyrel52PlzuZU__yX4vTKXk-ffR17Y8M1csqIji96pYCT5NG21dqEnk9dFFyJM2i-TPF_qE9pNgE-dYyb79Lq64t1cCNyrm-7GrRzSmVwKhdrgCsTrjsUA/s1600/Solar+PV+price+development+Germany+2006-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_FVzQnNsfYfYx_3VhlD23pyrel52PlzuZU__yX4vTKXk-ffR17Y8M1csqIji96pYCT5NG21dqEnk9dFFyJM2i-TPF_qE9pNgE-dYyb79Lq64t1cCNyrm-7GrRzSmVwKhdrgCsTrjsUA/s1600/Solar+PV+price+development+Germany+2006-12.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Installation price of solar PV plants in Germany have fallen 50% since 2009 after the industry shakeout. Credit: <a href="http://www.solarwirtschaft.de/preisindex">Bundesverband Solarwirtchaft</a>.</td></tr>
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This is surely an interesting subject that I hope to revisit soon, so we can get more facts on the table.<br />
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Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-55512046432153806472012-08-20T00:00:00.000+02:002012-09-05T23:49:24.780+02:00What is Renewable Energy?A lot of people get a bit confused, when they hear about renewable energy. The energy part most people understand, but what is really renewable? The term renewable energy comes as an alternative to finite energy sources also known as petroleum or mineral oil in its wider sense. In the time perspective of the human being the energy that we pump up or extract from the interior of our planet are finite and exhaustible and NOT considered renewable.<br />
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So what is renewable energy? If we turn to people already in the market as authorities on this subject in this case Kachan & Co, the inventor of the cleantech term they have recently published<a href="http://www.kachan.com/content/two-years-later-revisiting-taxonomy-cleantech" target="_blank"> their revised definition of renewable energy</a>. They consider renewable energy to consist of the following 11 technologies: </div>
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- Wind</div>
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- Solar</div>
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- Renewable fuels (biofuels)</div>
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- Marine</div>
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- Biomass</div>
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- Geothermal</div>
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<span style="color: red;">- Fuel Cells</span></div>
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- Waste-to-Energy</div>
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<span style="color: red;">- Nuclear</span></div>
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- Emerging (osmotic power and kinetic power)</div>
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<span style="color: red;">- Measurement and Analytics</span></div>
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In fact Kachan & Co seem to get a bit carried away, maybe because they come with a cleantech perspective. In my objective nuclear cannot be included as a renewable energy source. Nuclear can be argued to be relatively clean, but the source of energy is mined and finite and thus does not fit the definition. Fuel cells also seems a bit out of place. Kachan argues that fuel cells today are not just storage of energy, but also generation of heat and power. However, it seems that Fuel Cells is more a technology that is a special case of one or more of the previous categories. Measurement and Analytics, is also a category that we can safely take away. For some reason Kachan is not mentioning Hydro. I have marked with red the Kachan technologies that I cannot accept in my understanding of renewable energy.</div>
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If we cross check with Wikipedia they are a bit more conservative, as they are only listing six different <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy" target="_blank">sources of renewable energy</a>: wind, solar, biofuels, biomass, geothermal and hydro. Our last authoritative source of <a href="http://www.iea.org/aboutus/faqs/renewableenergy/" target="_blank">definition is the International Energy Agency</a> that use the same categories as Wikipedia but add a seventh the Marine.</div>
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I agree with all of the categories used by the International Energy Association. For the purpose of this blog I shall be using also the emerging as well as the waste-to-energy technologies in my definition. The emerging technologies seem still to be quite exotic, whereas the Waste-to-energy in my opinion is an important source of energy, which it would be wrong not to take into the energy mix.</div>
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So my list looks like this, and these will be the subjects that will be considered in more detail in this blog going forward:</div>
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- Wind</div>
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- Solar</div>
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- Renewable fuels (biofuels, liquid and gaseous)</div>
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- Marine</div>
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- Biomass</div>
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- Geothermal</div>
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- Hydro</div>
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- Waste-to-Energy</div>
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- Emerging (osmotic power and kinetic power)</div>
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Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-59610653326612959222012-08-06T23:23:00.000+02:002012-08-06T23:23:53.465+02:00Why Bother with Renewable Energy?If you ask an economist if <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy" target="_blank">renewable energy</a> is good? He will answer you that it depends on the cost of renewable energy and the alternatives. Ever since <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis" target="_blank">the first oil crisis in 1973</a> we have seen a surge in interest for renewable energy. At first it was mainly something that occupied the idealists but gradually as the production costs came down, technologies matured, politicians put in place policies to make renewable energy more competitive and<a href="http://www.wtrg.com/oil_graphs/oilprice1947.gif" target="_blank"> conventional energy prices went up</a> - it gradually dawned on the business people and other rational decision makers that money could be made working with renewable energy.<br />
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In Denmark the first large windmill was put up by the socialist school and sect, Tvind in the 1970'ies as an ideological project and a<a href="http://www.panoramio.com/photo/2443734" target="_blank"> land mark</a>. Later wind mills developed into a political show case with favourable rates for production and subsidies for erection of mills, from this the Denmark developed several global wind mill champions as Vestas, Bonus (bought by Siemens Wind Power in 2004) and NEG Micon (merged with Vestas in 2004), Nordex and Nordtank (merged 1997 with Micon). In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Denmark" target="_blank">2008 wind mills accounted for 24% of electricity generation capacity</a> in Denmark.<br />
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Politicians are interested in renewable energy for several reasons. The first reason and the thing that really chocked the western world during the first oil crisis is that conventional energy can be very expensive. When oil prices go up the price of energy goes up and expensive foreign currency has to be used to import oil and energy. At least this is the case for most countries. High oil prices lead to a negative trade balance and in the old days (1970-1980'ies) it would also lead to high inflation.<br />
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Secondly energy is a very strategic thing, as you can't run a modern society without energy in different forms. If you cannot trust our friends in OPEC or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia%E2%80%93Ukraine_gas_disputes" target="_blank">in Russia</a> to actually deliver the goods when you need them, then you will have to develop an alternative, although importing energy might otherwise seem quite favourable from a strictly economic point of view.<br />
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Thirdly politicians have come to look more closely at what economists call externalities connected with conventional energy. The main externality with fossil fuel is the emission of carbon dioxide or green house gasses (GHG), which is under severe suspect of being the cause of global warming. Without going into the scientific debate, it is sufficient in this context to realise that the concern since the Kyoto agreement in 1997, where the first countries committed themselves to reduce GHG emissions it has become clear that the global climate is getting warmer - quite fast and consequences can be scary - as the recent report in <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/07/120725-greenland-ice-sheet-melt-satellites-nasa-space-science/#" target="_blank">National Geographic</a> of melting of 97% of Greenland's ice in July 2012 showed.<br />
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So facing these aspects politicians have tried their best to devise incentive systems in order to promote alternatives to the imported conventional energy. In some cases politicians have become derailed by lobbyists, so they have mixed up things, which I'm sure we will revisit in a later post.<br />
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In the current state of world economic crisis many countries have decided to down play their economic support for renewable energies. Understandably governments think they cannot afford the luxury to pay for nice green window dressing when greater and more urgent issues are at the stake.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-9090151583272755292012-08-06T21:17:00.000+02:002012-08-06T21:21:32.407+02:00New Blog Name - New ScopeToday this blog has changed the scope. From being quite company centric the blog has now widened the scope and is now focusing on exploring the wider world of renewable energy. There are several reasons for this.<br />
Firstly the development of my company <a href="http://www.mbpgroup.eu/" target="_blank">website</a> has improved so this site now covers to a large degree the subjects that were previously an important part of this blog when it was named the modern by-product blog.<br />
Secondly from a professional point of view I have realised that in order to understand the renewable energy world it is necessary to look at many different technologies, as so far no one winner has materialised.<br />
Thirdly I have not been able so far to find one place which takes a broader look at the whole renewable energy area.<br />
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I have made a small survey of other blogs with a similar name to the Renewable Energy Blog and it seems that most of these are currently dormant, so I guess there is a vacant slot here. Part of the purpose of this blog will be to consolidate much of the available information in the area. As we go along I expect the blog to be more clearly defined, as I get to grips with the area. so consider this a work in progress.<br />
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My approach will be that of the environmentally conscious economist. I am educated a M.Sc. in forestry as well as a executive MBA, together with my day job as a sales director in recycling and bio fuel company I have a good background for understanding the technical background as well as the need for the numbers to add up in order to different technologies to be competitive.<br />
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My starting point for this blog was the biodiesel industry and the bio heating oil industry. This will continue to be my home turf. But new areas of the renewable energy world will now also be included. The aim will be to provide a better overview of the many different technologies that are today relevant in the industry and the many that are still under development and may be relevant in the future.<br />
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I welcome your comments and input. I also welcome any potential media partner, who can help bring a larger audience to this blog.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-38810855579694604142012-05-31T21:45:00.002+02:002012-05-31T21:48:19.909+02:00King of Biofuel?Ever heard about <a href="http://www.chemrec.se/" target="_blank">Chemrec</a>? I had heard about them but never really realised what they were doing until today. Today I visited the stand of Chemrec at the <a href="http://www.elmia.se/sv/worldbioenergy/" target="_blank">World Bioenergy 2012</a>. The exhibition was a bit slow on the afternoon of the last day, and maybe this was the reason that nobody was around at the Chemrec stand to answer all of my questions.<br />
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Basically Chemrec is using Haldor Topsøe technology in converting black liquor to BioDME and Biomethanol in the far north of Sweden. I took this illustration from their brochure. It looks nice, I'm going to see if the graphics are more than just good marketing. How much black liquor do you actually get from one hectare?<br />
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Some of the questions that I would have liked to ask are: how much black liquor is there actually around? Do you need any modifications to trucks and infrastructure in order to run on DME?Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-40776850603845786712012-05-28T16:32:00.000+02:002012-09-13T23:02:10.381+02:00The New RealitySometimes when you think you have it all figured out you get surprised. The way that the market behaves in the by-product oil industry continues to come up with new surprises. Currently close to record level Brent oil prices as well as PFAD prices makes it difficult for some to understand why prices of low quality bio oils have fallen 25-30% since the autumn.<br />
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In my optics there are two main reason for this unusual situation:<br />
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1. The relatively short and mild winter in Europe in 2011-12 resulted in much lower consumption of bio oil for heating than usual. Many contracted volumes were not consumed and are still in stock. With full stocks, demand is currently low and prices low as well.<br />
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2. The latest dioxine scandal in animal feed oils in early 2011 (<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/chemicalsafety/contaminants/dioxin_germany_en.htm" target="_blank">the Harles and Jentzsch scandal</a>) caused a lot of animal feed oil buyers to tighten their requirements for supplier documentation and analyses. A new EU feed regulation will step into force in August 2012 and will make it more expensive and in many cases very difficult to use lower quality oils for animal feed. This has already lead to more of this oil being used to technical applications.<br />
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Market changes and changes in legislation have changed the dynamics in the market forcing the oils to flow in new directions. With very high price levels of PFAD companies in the biodiesel and oleochemical industry that can take in the acid oils are benefiting from this. Ability to take high FFA material is all the rage in the biodiesel industry these days.<br />
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Combined with the new requirements for certification according to the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) changes are plenty and the need for people and companies that are competent in understanding and navigating in the constantly changing landscape is increasing.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-58105326670211842532011-05-16T22:24:00.000+02:002012-09-13T22:57:34.642+02:00Red Herring Europe 100 finalistWow - next week we will be going to the <a href="http://www.herring100.com/RHE/2011/finalists.html">Red Herring Europe 100 Final in Amsterdam</a>, where we are going to present our company MBP Group to a large group enthusiastic entrepreneurs and investors. We are very proud to be invited for this event, even more so as this event typically has a majority of IT and Web centered companies. We are looking forward to the event - I'm convinced we will meet a lot of interesting people and learn a lot.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-9287681724383895462011-05-01T23:26:00.000+02:002011-05-01T23:32:51.084+02:00Neste Oil goes online with 2.000.000 t per year capacityNeste Oil from Finland has for some years operated a biodiesel plant in Finland employing a unique technology NExBTL. The technology is unlike the normal FAME transesterification and seems to be quite smart. Neste opened in March their new plant in Singapore of 800.000 t/a capacity and a similar plant in Rotterdam is to follow mid 2011. this is on to of the existing almost 400.000 t/a year capacity in Finland. According to Neste the two new plants are to run on a mix of palm oil, tallow and rape oil. But think about the scale of these plants...<br />
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2 M t/a of palm oil and tallow, how much is that? annual production of palm oil from Malaysia and Indonesia, the worlds largest producers by far is around 45 M t/a and world production of tallow is appr. 8 M t/y, so Neste will be taking care of a significant chunk of world production. Remember that palm is also an important source of food, feed and feedstock for the oleochemical industry (soap and technical applications) and also tallow is an important feedstock for the oleochemical industry. In my opinion Neste is on the wrong track. They are going to significantly affect the world balance of oil raw material, and good feedstock should not be used for biodiesel, when it can be used for and is displacing other more vital and necessary applications. This is clearly not sustainable.. no wonder Neste is busy claiming how sustainable they will be in the future: <a href="http://www.nesteoil.com/default.asp?path=1,41,540,2384,7906,16306">http://www.nesteoil.com/default.asp?path=1,41,540,2384,7906,16306</a> But as we know Jatropha oil is nothing but a future mirage so far, and microbial and algae oil is also still hopes at best. So for the foreseeable future I assume they will stick to palm and tallow. It will be interesting to see if they are able to consolidate these volumes and how this will affect world prices.<br />
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Greenpeace have their own way of communicating about the same theme:<br />
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<br />Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-52313049446273774382011-03-20T21:40:00.000+01:002012-09-13T22:56:38.301+02:00A future for the Biodiesel Industry?<div>
<b>A Crisis for the Biodiesel Industry</b></div>
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Just back from participation in the <a href="http://www.pocmalaysia.com/">Bursa Malaysia Palm Oil Conference Price Outlook 2011</a> it is clear that it is not possible to dedicate more vegetable oil for biodiesel production. The biodiesel industry in Europe has for years been in a deep crisis. Expensive plants have gone from hugely profitable to bankruptcy. At the same time as plants overseas in Indonesia, Argentina and Brazil are profiting from national export tax regimes to stay in business. The whole industry strongly depending on the goodwill of politicians as they try to find an appropriate answer to the strategic and environmental problem: crude oil. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_vs._fuel">The Fuel versus Food dilemma</a>, isn't really a dilemma, as it is clear that good quality biological oil (vegetable or animal origin) must be used for human (or animal) consumption, as the global population continues to grow.<br />
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<b>Is there a Future for the Biodiesel Industry? </b></div>
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Well, frankly it is difficult to see in the longer term. Worldwide biodiesel plants are scrambling to turn to by-product based feedstock like used cooking oil and tallow. This however will not save the industry, as the relevant by-products is very limited in volume world wide. The rise in demand has already driven up prices for these feedstock to levels where plants are hardly profitable. It seems like nobody took the time to do the math. At the current stage the biodiesel industry is consuming close to 12% of world wide production of biological oils, and it is still only a drop in the ocean in terms of the demand for transportation fuels. </div>
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<b>By-product based Feedstock is the new Cool Aid</b></div>
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For many biodiesel manufacturers producing biodiesel from by-products seems to be the way to go. With a better environmental profile, support from NGOs and lower raw material cost this seems to many manufacturers to be the way forward. While we wait for a better solution to our need for carbon dioxide neutral transportation fuels, we in MBP Group are ready to assist biodiesel manufacturers with access to by-product based feedstock from all over the world. MBP Group is ready with a Renewable Energy Directive (RED) compliant supply chain solution for the German marked already from 2011. Germany is the first European market to fully implement the EU RED and we are ready with a solution for this market starting now.</div>
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<b>World Biofuels Markets 2011 in Rotterdam</b></div>
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MBP Group is the proud silver sponsor of the <a href="http://www.worldbiofuelsmarkets.com/sponsors.html">World Biofuels Markets 2011</a> conference in Rotterdam from 22nd to 24th of March. Here it will be exiting to hear the industry's interest in working with MBP on securing suitable by-products for feedstock. At the WBM MBP will also be promoting our own <a href="http://www.mbpgroup.eu/content/factories-storages">biofuel production in Scandinavia</a> where we produce and distribute by-product based, RED compliant biofuels as an alternative to mineral oil based heating oils. </div>
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It will be interesting to hear where the experts think the biofuel industry is going. Is Neste Oil actually going to be able to turn their investments in two biodiesel plants in Rotterdam and Singapore into profitable operations? When will cellulosic bioethanol become a commercial and competitive product? No doubt the World Biofuels Markets will be an interesting event.</div>
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If you are going to WBM, drop me a line so we can meet up.</div>
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Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-28119899275408882232010-11-14T17:45:00.000+01:002010-11-14T18:36:15.946+01:00New Company WebsiteAs Sales Director in MBP Group I'm also responsible for our marketing and online presence. The old company webpage had become quite outdated in many aspects and we felt we need an update and a new touch. <div><br /></div><div>In order to get the job done we decided to depend on help from a consultant.<a href="http://bertelbolt.dk/"> Bertel Bolt-Jørgensen</a> had the kind of profile that we were looking for. In fact he was able to add focus, updated knowledge about web technology, pictures and dedication. It turned out to be a good decision to bring him on board. </div><div><br /></div><div>We wanted to make a web page that reflects the company that we are. We know that our web page is used a lot by our business connections that want to read more about MBP. After they have had contact with our people on the phone, e-mail or in real life. A good web page is a unique possibility to tell in more detail about what we do and our business concept. We wanted to be able to present the company not just in words, so we have made an effort to produce original photos of our factories and storage facilities, products, people and thematic illustrations.</div><div><br /></div><div>The second feature that we wanted to add with the new web page was multi language. With our offices in more than eight countries we felt that it would be relevant to be able to communicate with more of our customers in their own language. The web page has been launched in English and we are now in the process of rewriting in a number of different languages. We are excited to see the results once we go online - in early December. </div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime I invite you to visit our <a href="http://www.mbpgroup.eu/">home page</a> - and maybe leave a note on what you like or if you have suggestions for improvements....</div><div><br /></div>Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-48441970222812452872010-10-27T23:10:00.000+02:002010-10-28T00:11:26.434+02:00What is it good for?<div><b>The Blog Crisis</b></div>Like many bloggers I have been through the phases of enthusiasm and frustration. This blog is a unique way to tell in a more personal way about the way I see the business that I'm in. On the other hand does anybody care? The internet is a fascinating media, but a challenge to use productively. A couple of events have convinced me that it does make sense. <div><br /></div><div><b>Advice From an Expert</b></div><div>Talking to a communication expert, he had been given our corporate communication an audit, and he came up with a whole lot of good and relevant comments. On of his final comments were. "I see that you have a blog. A blog is a great communication tool. But if it is not active - you should close it down". For a while I was thinking about closing down or not. The reality is that in a growth company time is often a very limited factor, every day I have a long list of things that I should do that just never gets done because of lack of time. The Time times Urgency times Importance factor just never got big enough for a while.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><b>People Actually Read This</b></div><div>The other day I had the great experience that talking to a person interested in working for our company. I learned that the fact that this person had read my blog actually made a difference and had him given a good understanding about our company and the drive that we get every day from working with a subject that is contributing to a better world. <div><br /></div><div><b>Regaining Motivation</b></div><div>Also recently I was speaking to a group of international business people about our company. I was realising that the things that I take for granted should not be taken for granted. Many companies are struggling to communicate on the soft values, how they take responsibility, how they work with Corporate Social Responsibility CSR), and how they reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. In MBP CSR is such an integrated part of our corporate DNA that we sometimes take it for granted. I see this blog as a suitable tool to work with improving my understanding of how MBP makes a difference, putting things in perspective and improving communication.<div><br /></div><div><b>Future Great Subjects</b></div><div>Obviously we have been so occupied with our growth and the challenges that come along with it that this takes up a lot of focus - and so it should be. A good manager need to focus on the right issues at the right time. Over the coming months I look forward to blog about some of these exiting issues. </div><div><ul><li>Our <a href="http://www.mbpgroup.eu/">new company websit</a>e that we have recently released in a new version. </li><li>Update on the biodiesel industry</li><li>More sophisticated industrial biofuel customers</li><li>Exciting new partnerships in by-product services</li><li>How EU's<a href="http://www.r-e-a.net/policy/european-policy/Euro-legislation/renewable-energy-directive"> Renewable Energy Directive (RED)</a> intended to improve biofuel sustainability actually works</li><li>How EU's reform of chemicals registration <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/reach/reach_intro.htm">REACH</a> is actively discouraging reuse of by-products</li></ul></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-56655736973059071912009-01-19T21:03:00.000+01:002012-09-13T23:01:17.682+02:00Are Bio Fuels Truly Sustainable?A lot of exiting things are happening in the world at the moment - and I'm not just thinking about the economic crisis. For some years now the climate situation has been on the agenda. The <a href="http://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol/items/2830.php">Kyoto Protocol</a> put the negative effect of the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on the agenda and several countries committed to reducing carbon dioxide emission. Former vice president Al Gore managed to communicate the consequences of these emissions in his "<a href="http://www.climatecrisis.net/">Inconvenient Truth</a>" in a way that everybody could understand. So now we are at the point where we know that we have to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, but how do we do it?<br />
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A number of challenges are facing us.<br />
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<strong>The clean technology race</strong>. A lot of different technologies are now effectively competing against each other for investments and customer attention. Photo voltaics, algae based bio diesel, 2nd generation ethanol from wood and agro waste, wind power and wave and tidal power and many more.<br />
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<strong>The sustainability dilemma</strong>. As it has turned out the initiatives that were taken to act, and to actually shift from petro-fuel to bio fuel ended by being pooh poohed - first by NGOs as the <a href="http://www.foei.org/en/media/archive/2007/worlds-biggest-palm-oil-trader-shamed">friends of the earth</a> in their campaign against use of palm oil in bio fuels, due to the fact that palm oil plantations are replacing virgin rainforest. - and then at the top of the commodity price hike by the UK <a href="http://www.renewablefuelsagency.org/reportsandpublications/reviewoftheindirecteffectsofbiofuels.cfm">Gallagher Review </a>that recommends less widespread usage of bio fuels due to potential negative environment effects, as well as undesirable competition towards food usage and in some cases questionable environmental effects.<br />
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It is not difficult to understand that many people are now confused and don't know how to act. We thought bio fuels were the way to go, now we are told that they are bad for the environment. This is however just a classical example of refinement of the solution as time passes.<br />
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Bio fuels were never THE solution. There is simply not enough land and resources to allow us to both produce the food that we need for 6 billion people AND at the same time replace all the petro-oil that we consume in the world. But bio fuels are also in the future a part of the solution, if the bio fuels are produced in a sustainable way: sustainable bio fuels are so called 2nd generation bio fuels. 2nd generation bio fuels are produced from what would otherwise be waste. A lot of these 2nd generation bio fuels are already here. They include wood and bark pellets made from sawdust and wood paste after wood processing, other bio material pellets made from various waste from processing of agricultural crops, straw, waste bio oils from industrial processing of food. And then there are the liquid bio fuels that we are all waiting for, because we will be able to run our cars on them: bio diesel from Jathropa oil, bio ethanol from agricultural waste as well as the exiting bio diesel from algae. In the case of Jathropa we are still waiting for somebody to grow the bushes that are going to give the oil, <a href="http://www.d1plc.com/global.php">D1 Oils</a> are busy developing this after they shut down their UK operation. In the case of bio ethanol the Danish companies <a href="http://biomass.novozymes.com/fuel-ethanol/">Novozymes</a> and <a href="http://www.danisco.com/cms/connect/genencor/media_relations/news/frontpage/pressrelease_425_en.htm">Danisco </a>are both busy developing the killer-enzymes that are going to make them rich. Bio diesel from algae, this is one I'm not so familiar with, however it is my impression that there are still a number of years before we will see commercial large scale plants.<br />
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So where is my <a href="http://www.modernbyproducts.com/">Modern By-products Group</a>. We are really concerned about the environment and it is our mission to utilise food and agricultural waste/by-products in the best way possible. In many cases the answer lies in bio fuels. We run our trucks on by-product fish oil and ethanol based bio diesel as well as many of our partner's trucks. We sell thousands of tons of 2nd generation liquid bio fuel for heating and electricity generation. We supply bio fuel to a power plant that has achieved the world's toughest ecolabel, the <a href="http://www.naturskyddsforeningen.se/In-english/Ecolabelling/">Swedish "Bra Miljöval"</a>.Personally I enjoy driving the <a href="http://www.saabbiopower.co.uk/default.asp?docId=12599">SAAB 9-5 Biopower</a>, which runs on any bio ethanol and gasoline mix, and actually gets more HP the more ethanol I add.<br />
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But as I said - a lot of exiting thing are happening in many different companies. My friend and former colleague Lars Jagd is heading the upcoming technology provider <a href="http://www.sd.econtent.dk/">Stirling</a>. Take a look at their offering, as this is really a cool alternative, if you want your own CHP plant. Another friend of mine is busy shaking up the Danish electricity market by offering <a href="http://natur-energi.dk/">green electricity</a>, it will be interesting to see if the Danish consumer really cares.<br />
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I think that the solution lies in many different ways of intelligently using the resources that are available to us. Different technologies will be used in different regions and existing facilities can be used in new and more environmentally friendly ways.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-50641816311209207202009-01-03T19:01:00.000+01:002009-01-03T19:49:48.021+01:00From Used Cooking Oils to biodiesel<a href="http://www.sveprol.se/">Sveprol Bio Production AB</a>, a company in The Modern By-product Group recently signed a countrywide contract with <a href="http://www.mcdonalds.se/">McDonald's</a> in Sweden. MBP collects the used cooking oil from 230 restaurants in all of Sweden, and makes sure that the used oil is reused for biodiesel manufacture. As part of the contract MBP provides McDonald's with biodiesel from 2nd generation biological oils, in what can be described as a green circle. (for more details please refer to McDonald's press release (in Swedish) from 3 November 2008 on their <a href="http://www.mcdonalds.se/">homepage</a>)<br /><br />Sveprol has the ability to collect the used cooking oil in a cost efficient way, which is not an easy task in a country with only 19,8 people per square kilometer (only Norway, Finland and Iceland are more sparsely populated in Europe). After collection the oils are filtered and treated in order to be used as substitute for virgin oils. This is a good illustration of what Modern By-products is all about. At the same time as we are reducing waste, we are substituting virgin oils that can instead be used for human consumption - and last but not least the biodiesel from renewable sources replaces normal diesel from mineral oil, which we all know is a finite resource.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6752714753172023042.post-84089706395383724782009-01-03T18:32:00.000+01:002009-01-03T19:00:23.975+01:00Modern By-products in 10 yearsIn 2009 The Modern By-products Group celebrates its 10 year anniversary. From being a good business idea 10 years ago, born by company founder David Magnussen, the concept has grown and been successful, so that we are today active with offices in 8 countries and a growing business. The concept has been clear from the beginning: we want to help companies in the food, oleochemical and biodiesel industry to better manage their by-products. Many companies have over the years come to rely on MBP to handle their by-products in an optimal way ensuring that by-products are handled optimally from an environmental, legal and economical point of view. In this process we have developed extensive knowledge and technical expertise necessary in order to manage what is for many companies seem trivial tasks.<br /><br />In the year of our 10 year anniversary we have decided to share some of our ideas and thoughts with a wider group of people through this blog. We do this because we are passionate about what we do; and because we often find that people are very interested in what we do. In this blog I look forward to share our insights in reuse of resources, renewable energy technologies and green policies in different countries. I hope that you will find these thoughts interesting and I look forward to any thoughts and feedback that you wish to share.Jens Søgaard Jacobsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11859932347080583899noreply@blogger.com0