The Money in Dirt
Cleantech firms are sometimes criticized for pie in the sky thinking. Harvest Power, though, looks like a pretty down to earth company. It makes dirt*. Mind you, this is high quality dirt*.
Compost. Black Gold? Credit: Harvest Power
Late last week, Harvest Power said it had raised $110 million in a third round of venture capital funding. That’s a tidy sum for a messy business. Harvest is an industry that some call “organics management.” According to the firm’s website, it works at a community level to gather and re-use organic materials (food waste, lawn clippings, pieces of lumber). It produces mulches, organic fertilizer, and soil products using composting and anareobic digestion.
These technologies are not exactly new. But it seems that the value is in its system approach and its facilities. Harvest ties into local communities where organic materials are separated from the waste stream. In addition to recyling the waste into soil-related products – which it sells to local farmers and gardeners - its digestors produce renewable energy from biogas.
The biogas is used in combined heat and power plants, exported as pipeline-grade (i.e. purified methane) natural gas, or compressed gas to be used for transportation. High heat content materials like wood chips are also processed into fuel for use in industrial boilers.
According to PrivCo, a firm that tracks the finances of privately-held companies, Harvest can boast significant revenues (this contrasts the firm with some cleantech plays that go public before making any money from sales). Founded in 2008, it made close to $50 million last year and is expected to rake in $75-$100 million in 2012.
The financing will be used by the company to expand its reach. PrivCo reports Harvest is finishing two Canadian energy plants and has plans for waste to energy facilities in New Jersey and Florida.
* [update] Harvest actually produces soil, as The Phytophactor points out in his comment.
Hitting Pause on BPA
Last Friday morning I was looking for news about the FDA decision on bisphenol A (BPA) - a court mandated answer to a petition from the Natural Resources Defense Council. On my way to a Forbes blog entry on the topic, I was first confronted with Forbes’ randomly generated quote of the day:
“Life, as it is called, is for most of us one long postponement. ”— Henry Miller
Of course, as my colleague Britt Erickson details in her news story, FDA has opted not to ban BPA, saying the research submitted by NRDC wasn’t compelling enough. The agency, however, has gotten in deep with it’s own research and it says this is not the last word on the substance.
I’ve looked into the use of BPA in canned foods, and the dearth of adequate substitutes that protect cans from food, and vice versa. Erickson reports that packaging makers are still working very hard to find alternative technologies for can coatings. They are getting requests from their customers – food makers – who are themselves being pressured by consumers and by some shareholder groups to remove BPA.
The shareholder activist group As You Sow has been asking canned food brands to disclose how they are dealing with BPA in their products. They have also proposed shareholder resolutions to get companies to stop using cash register receipts coated with BPA. Actions by the group and others seem to have had some effect – most major brands like Campbell Soup are now talking about what they are doing, and are at least phasing out their use of BPA. Yum Brands and Walmart are two firms that no longer use BPA register receipts.
As You Sow CEO Andrew Behar says his group is meeting to discuss its strategy about BPA in the wake of the decision (non-decision?) by FDA. He says that consumer and investor pressure on the issue is not going to abate. “It’s far from over. This is a momentary pause to get some science done,” Behar says. As You Sow believes that BPA is indeed dangerous to humans, but Behar emphasizes that science needs to address the effects of small doses since BPA is an endocrine disruptor. Human exposure and downstream effects on unborn children as they grow up are also important research topics, he adds.
Two Weeks of Bee News
It has been a busy spring season for bee research. Last week, C&EN ran a news story about field research suggesting a link between pestides used in seed treatments and honeybee deaths. And C&EN’s Elizabeth Wilson has reported on two new studies that show that exposure to pesticides may interfere with the hive health of both honeybees and bumblebees.
The pesticides are from the neonicotinoid family, and include clothianidin and imidacloprid. Their use as seed treatments actually reduces the need to spray incecticides on to the plant’s leaves. Instead, small doses in a seed coating confer systemic protection to the plant as it grows. (Formulations of the products may also be used as foliar sprays).
The question that these studies are trying to explore is whether, and to what extent, use of neonicidinoids contribute to massive die-offs of bees, commonly called Colony Collapse Disorder.
In Europe, Italy, Germany, and France have placed restrictions – some are temporary – on the use of neonicitinoids in agriculture. The rules vary widely by country. Earlier this month beekeepers and environmentalists in the U.S. petitioned EPA to ban the use of clothianidin.
iPad: Pushing the Limits of Materials
In addition to the famed design sense and technological know-how that make the iPad possible, Apple also must call in some key material innovations to fit all that fun into such a small package.
In this week’s issue of C&EN, I talk to the companies that make materials for today’s hot mobile devices and their sleek touch screens. Like Corning’s Gorilla Glass. And I show how surface chemistry‘s contributions to making better consumer goods is spreading to other categories including sneakers, make-up, house paint, and new LED light bulbs.
The new iPad, with its 4G internet speeds and energy hogging retina display, is also pushing the limits on battery materials. It is a bit thicker and heavier than the first version, mainly due to needing a larger battery. In a guest post on a Forbes Tech blog aimed at executives, Noam Kedem, VP of marketing for Leyden Energy, says that the new iPad’s need for more power also makes it run hotter, and also is the reason it takes longer to recharge the battery. Heat, and irreversible chemical changes over a battery’s lifespan, are major materials problems for lithium ion batteries, he writes.
Leyden Energy is a Calif.-based firm has developed a new electrolyte chemistry for batteries that the company claims will help to fix the heat/degradation process. Almost all consumer rechargeable li-ion batteries use LiPF6 as their electrolyte; Leyden is working with a chemistry based on lithium imide. According to the firm, lithium imide makes batteries much less temperature sensitive.
I hope that Apple’s engineers have seen this week’s lead news story by my colleague Mitch Jacoby on research that tantalizingly suggests new chemistry for “low-cost batteries with greater capacity and longevity than today’s commercial Li-ion batteries.” In this case, it is not the electrolyte but rather the anode that has been improved. In research published in the ACS Journal NanoLetters, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists were able to make anodes of silicon-carbon nanocomposite. Li-ion battery anodes are normally made of carbon.
Past efforts to make silicon anodes ran into problems; during charging, they swell to three times their size. In addition to making a more stable version, the PNNL folks found the resulting battery “exhibited a charge capacity more than five times as great as that of conventional carbon anodes.” Wooo! That’s a lot more YouTube on the ol’ iPad. The story comes complete with descriptive photos and a video of the anode undergoing the charging process.
[3/27/2012 - updated to reflect that Leyden "has developed" and add corrected "imide"]
Spring Themes: Composting
[you can skip my musings and go straight to Alex's compostable plastics story!]
Today’s forecasted high temperature where I live in the Northeast is 78 degrees. That just doesn’t seem right. This time last year, we still had an impressive layer of snow which didn’t melt until sometime in April. [insert random thoughts of global warming, La Nina, and how yesterday was almost 20 degrees warmer than the forecast promised]
Over the weekend I took the opportunity to turn my compost pile. It’s got mostly kitchen scraps, a few bits of brown paper bag (worms love ‘em) and leaf litter. Home composting is both an art and a science – my pile had too much nitrogen and not enough carbon, so I added more dried leaves.
I also noticed a plastic spoon in the pile, normally a no-no. But this one was made of PLA, a plastic derived from corn that is supposed to be biodegradable. It still looked pretty new, though, mostly because my backyard pile cannot reach the high temperature and rabid microbial activity of an industrial scale composting operation.
If I lived in San Francisco (and today it feels like I do!) I would put the spoon and my kitchen scraps, and perhaps some lawn wastes into a compostable plastic bag and set it out to be picked up. This week’s issue of C&EN features an in-depth, fascinating story by Alex Tullo on how compostable plastic trash bags – plus disposable dinner ware – can enable cities to divert 50% or more of trash away from landfills.
From the story:
In a landfill, food scraps generate methane, a much more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. They also form acids that leech out of landfills. “If you ask all these cities what the largest component of their waste going to the landfill is, it’s food,” he says. “And what is one of the worst things to go to the landfill? It’s food. The only thing worse is hazardous waste.” [quote from Jack Macy, commercial zero-waste coordinator for SF Environment, San Francisco’s environmental department.]
Now think about your household’s waste. To reach San Fran’s goal of diverting 100% of municipal trash from landfills, it would have to be either recycled or composted. Plastics can be recycled, but if they get into the composting supply (like a random fork, or the trash bag holding the food waste) then you’ve already broken your system.
They’re the Tops: Leading Solar Module Producers
According to the new Lux Research Solar Supply Tracker, in 2011 the top ten solar module producers made 12.5 GW worth of solar modules, and accounted for 44% of the year’s total module production. That makes for a fairly consolidated industry. The research firm says that crystalline silicon modules made by so-called tier 1 firms were selling for the low, low price of 90 cents per watt.
Lux also points out that Japan and South Korea both have a manufacturer on the list – the two countries are motivated by the Fukushima nuclear disaster and competition from China to ramp up their PV industry.
First Solar stands out in the list – not just for being the #1 producer with a 7% share of global production – but because it makes thin-film cadmium telluride modules. The CdTe photovoltaics sell for a bit less than crystalline silicon versions. First Solar’s manufacturing facilities are in the U.S. as well as in Germany and Malaysia.
Here’s the top ten list, then, without all the details and numbers which you can get from Lux’s website (or download the PDF).
1. First Solar (HQ: US)
2. Suntech Power (HQ: China)
3. Yingli Green Energy (HQ: China)
4. Trina Solar (HQ: China)
5. Canadian Solar (HQ: Ontario)
6. Sharp (HQ: Japan)
7. Hanwha Solar One (HQ: South Korea)
8. Jinko Solar (HQ: China)
9. LDK Solar (HQ: China)
10. SolarWorld (HQ: Germany, but is world’s largest PV cell producer in North America)
Making Markets for Bio-based Fuels and Chemicals
Minnesota has long been the heart of ethanol fuel consumption. With plenty of corn and corn ethanol facilites – and a lot of drivers in E85 vehicles – the state was an early and enthusiastic supporter of bio-based fuel. But times have caught up with the northern-Midwesterners.
Now a new ethanol facility, owned by Gevo and being renovated to make isobutanol from corn, has run into an obstacle in state legislation that prevents the company from selling the alcohol to in-state fuel blenders. According to the Star Tribune, the state’s laws only specify that ethanol can be blended with gasoline (at 10% biofuel). Gevo’s Lucerne, Minn. isobutanol plant will have to ship out of state to access the fuel market.
Currently the site is being renovated to switch from making corn-based ethanol to isobutanol. Though the goal is to sell into the higher-margin chemicals market, fuels are usually a key destination to make the capacity/revenue equations work out.
There’s still time to get that settled, though. Gevo won’t be in commercial production until June, and the state can update the regulation to include other bio-based fuels. The Star Tribune points out that the President of the state’s ethanol trade group, Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association, is also CEO of Highwater Ethanol, which is also considering making isobutanol.
Highwater says it is in discussions with Butamax, a joint venture of BP and DuPont and competitor to Gevo. The two firms are been engaged in a major patent dispute. With Gevo poised to be the first in Minnesota to make isobutanol, I’m sure the firm would like to see the law changed sooner, rather than later.
Meanwhile, back in Washington, there are efforts to greatly expand the products that carry the USDA BioPreferred label. The program is a labeling/economic development/domestic bio-based materials promotion vehicle. President Obama gave it a boost last week when he signed a presidential memo requiring government agency purchasers to increase the amount of BioPreferred products they purchase. He also asked USDA to double the number of categories and products that are designated BioPreferred over the next 12 months. In the Senate, Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) has introduced the Grow It Here, Make It Here Bio-based Manufacturing Act which would further invigorate the effort.
I’ve been seeing a great deal of support Senator Stabenow’s bill in my in-box, from groups who expect to benefit from a higher profile for bio-based materials. DuPont, Novozymes, and the Biotechnology Industry Association trade group have publicized their support.
From a DuPont press release this morning: “The President’s action and the Grow It Here Make It Here bill demonstrate that the administration and policymakers understand the value of U.S. leadership on innovative biobased products in the United States,” said James C. Collins, president, DuPont Industrial Biosciences. “This action is a shot in the arm to America’s bioeconomy – helping support our overarching goals of boosting the U.S. agricultural sector and reducing our reliance on imported petroleum while offering a wealth of
environmental and health benefits. This is U.S. innovation that can help create U.S. jobs for a growing global market for sustainable products.”
Tough Times for Thin Film Solar Makers
Two U.S. manufacturers of thin film solar cells based on cadmium telluride have been having a tough couple of weeks.
Tempe, Arizona-based First Solar put out a sobering fourth quarter earnings report. While sales were up a bit from last year’s quarter – to almost $2.8 billion, the firm reported a net loss of almost $40 million, compared to net income of $664 million for the fourth quarter of 2010. First Solar used the last quarter of the year to take a big goodwill impairment charge of $393 million – residue of acquisitions of OptiSolar and NextLight.
Without the goodwill charge and some restructuring charges, the quarter still brought in less profits than the previous year’s quarter. Going forward, the company cut its 2012 guidance on net sales to $3.5 billion-$3.8 billion from $3.7 billion-$4 billion. First Solar stayed firm on an earnings forecast of $3.75-$4.25 per share.
But other issues are haunting First Solar – the company’s filing with the SEC says that it is spending more than expected on warrantee replacements of solar panels deployed in hot climates. And it has a new head of investor relations after an internal investigation of company leaders who may have improperly disclosed that First Solar would not receive a DOE loan guarantee for a large utility solar installation due to not making a deadline for application. Its SEC filing said that the SEC was now investigating the issue (the loan news negatively affected First Solar’s stock price).
Meanwhile, Abound Solar, which makes solar cells similar to First Solar, but is a smaller firm, recently said it would lay off 180 workers in Colorado. It plans to shift manufacturing to a more efficient production line, and says the workforce action is temporary. House Republicans have already been asking DOE why the company received a $400 million DOE loan guarantee for its manufacturing operations in Indiana.
First Solar and Abound Solar will go on, in spite of these hiccups. But they will continue to struggle to compete against traditional crystalline silicon solar cells because the latter have gone down in price by close to 40% in the last year. Thin film modules are well liked – First Solar is doing well with utility scale projects. But the firms have to move very quickly to increase efficiencies while decreasing production costs. To do so, they will have to stop work on older production lines – and they may have to do so abruptly or they will lose money on each module they sell.
Amyris: Earnings with a scent of patchouli
- I learned an interesting new detail while listening to an earnings call. On Monday evening, bio-based chemicals maker Amyris listed a handful of collaborations that would kick in some revenues in 2012. Amyris makes bio-based farnesene from sugar via fermentation. New to my ears is a project with fragrance and flavor maker Firmenich to make patchouli oil.
Amyris has had agreements with both Firmenich and Givaudan for flavor and fragrance products based on farnesene raw materials, but this is the first time I’ve heard about a particular end target. Two things come to mind to connect Amyris to patchouli, and neither have to do with insense burning or the counterculture (though these may be the first thing one thinks of related to patchouli).
Patchouli scent comes from a bush, for now. Credit: Wikipedia (cc)
First, farnesene is one of a large family of chemical compounds that make up the sesquiterpenes. Various forms of farnesene contribute to smelly compounds made by plants and insects, and the E isomer of beta farnesene is a constitutent of essential oils. Compounds like essential oils and other volatiles are part of the arms race between plant and insect. Patchouli scent is made from the essential oils of a member of the mint family; various species of the genus Pogostemon are cultivated in Asia and Africa for the fragrance.
Second, though you might not notice it, many personal care products as well as soaps and detergents have scents that include patchouli. And it is widely used in perfumery. But patchouli and other essential oils pose tricky supply chain problems for consumer product makers – natural and man-made disasters can signficantly disrupt supplies. In 2010, for example, a volcanic eruption in Java destroyed patchouli crops in Java. This suggests that a renewable, steady supply of the stuff might make for a solid, high-value marketplace for Amyris’ farnesene.
Trending in Liquid Fuels
I’ve never had an automobile that ran on anything other than gasoline. Sure, sometimes I buy the high-octane stuff, and nowadays my go-to fuel has 10% ethanol in it. Someday soon it may have 15%. But I’m old school. If I were more cool, I’d be filling up on trendier stuff – perhaps some home-brewed diesel from vegetable oil, for example.
Actually, french fry grease drivers are also getting to be passe these days – its so hard to keep up! According to former Pennsylvania Governor (and our first Homeland Security head) Tom Ridge, methanol is the way cool fuel. Or so he contends in an OpEd in today’s New York Times.
Sprint car drivers run on methanol. Maybe you will to. Credit: Ted Van Pelt (cc)
This idea is pretty timely for me, as I was thinking of trading in my Mazda for a sprint car. If Ridge’s idea gets traction, I won’t have to – I’ll be able to fill up with the way high octane stuff without needing to upgrade my ride. He points out that just as a normal car can run on ethanol (or be cheaply converted to run on ethanol) the same is essentially true for any alcohol fuel. It takes way more methanol to go the same miles as on the same amount of gasoline, but worry not, it’s cheap. The bottom line? Methanol can be made from (say it with me) clean-burning, domestic natural gas.
This thread continues neatly over at the Department of Energy, where $30 million in grants will go to projects to make it possible to fuel a car on compressed natural gas (those tanks are too big, bulky, and pricey to use now, but can be improved).
And in the same press release, DOE says it will make available $14 million to explore making transportation fuels from algae.
Meanwhile, on a recent drive through Eastern Pennsylvania I again pondered the meaning behind a billboard on Interstate 81. “Future Site of the Nation’s First Waste Coal to Clean Transporation Fuels Plant.” Questions that came to mind were “what is waste coal? how do you make transporation fuels from it? that sounds like it would be expensive? and are my tax dollars paying for this?”
Anyway, that pilot plant, which was originally slated for operation in 2006, was never built. Cost over-runs and difficulty arranging the neccesary financing (at last count the cost was around $1 billion) seem to have made that idea a trend of the past.
From The CENtral Science Blogs
Newscripts
May 14th, 2012Fun With Lasers
By Sophia CaiThe Safety Zone
May 11th, 2012Friday chemical safety round-up
By Jyllian KemsleyTerra Sigillata
May 2nd, 2012Do you remember your PhD defense?
By David KrollThe Haystack
Apr 26th, 2012Epizyme & Celgene to Develop Epigenetics-Based Cancer Drugs
By Lisa JarvisJust Another Electron Pusher
Apr 26th, 2012Highlights from Pittcon 2012 Chemistry Careers Networking Session, Part II
By Christine HermanArtful Science
Apr 23rd, 2012100-Year-Old Sacred Congolese Statues Have Digestive Tracts
By Sarah EvertsCleantech Chemistry
Apr 19th, 2012The Money in Dirt
By Melody BomgardnerThe Chemical Notebook
Apr 13th, 2012America’s Energy Balances
By Alex Tullo
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