Big bets on alternative energy
Two large undertakings revealed Thursday could, if successful, give a big boost to the alternative energy industry.
On the same day Maverick oilman T. Boone Pickens revealed he has placed a $2 billion bet on wind power in Texas, plane maker Airbus and diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. announced they are developing a biofuel that by 2030 could satisfy nearly a third of the worldwide demand from commercial aircraft, without affecting food supplies.
Pickens’ investment marks just the first of a four-phase project to build the world’s largest wind farm in Texas, and he said the total cost of the deal will grow considerably after the initial investment in General Electric Co. turbine technology.
Pickens’ Mesa Power said the Pampa Wind Project in the Texas Panhandle will eventually cover 400,000 acres and generate enough power for more than 1.3 million homes.
“We are making Pampa the wind capital of the world,” Pickens said. “It’s clear that landowners and local officials understand the economic benefits that this renewable energy can bring not only to landowners who are involved with the project, but also in revitalizing an area that has struggled in recent years.”
Pickens, who was born in nearby Oklahoma and made the early part of his fortune hunting for oil and natural gas, said that developing alternative energy projects is critical for the nation’s future.
It also may be critical for stemming the steep increase in fuel prices over the past few years.
Airlines have been among the industries hardest hit by the rise in fuel prices.
Along with JetBlue Airways Corp. and International Aero Engines, Airbus and Honeywell plan to produce fuel from vegetation and algae-based oils that do not compete with existing food production or land and water resources.
International Aero Engines is a multinational consortium whose shareholders include United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce.
Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell said in the “technical partnership,” each company will invest time and intellectual property into developing and testing a biofuel that can later be sold to refiners or others interested in producing it.
Currently, commercial airlines run their planes on kerosene, though some alternative fuels are being tested.
President Bush in December signed an energy bill that requires refineries to use 36 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2022 with at least 21 billion gallons of the alternative fuel coming from nonfood raw materials.
The U.S. currently produces nearly 7 billion gallons of ethanol annually, all from corn. Critics say reliance on that crop has helped inflate food prices, while skeptics note there is no way to know when biofuels from other sources will be commercially available.
Airbus and its partners are undeterred.
“In order to replace a significant portion of that jet fuel with bio-jet, we need to find something that has much greater yield than the current biomass sources available,” Sebastien Remy, head of alternative fuels research programs for Airbus, said in a release. “Airbus believes that second-generation bio-jet could provide up to 30 percent of all commercial aviation jet fuel by 2030.”
Airbus, which is owned by European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. NV, and Chicago-based rival Boeing Co. dominate the global market for commercial airplanes carrying 100 or more people. The new biofuel is expected to be a “drop-in” replacement for kerosene jet fuel that won’t require engine modifications, according to Airbus and Honeywell representatives.
On Wednesday, DuPont executives said a new joint venture with a Danish company will enable production of cellulosic ethanol that costs less to manufacture than corn-based ethanol and won’t drive up food prices. The companies plan to invest $140 million in the U.S.-based venture and hope to have a commercial-scale demonstration facility, making fuel from the leaves and stalks of corn and from the remnants of sugarcane stalks, operating by 2012.
On the same day Maverick oilman T. Boone Pickens revealed he has placed a $2 billion bet on wind power in Texas, plane maker Airbus and diversified manufacturer Honeywell International Inc. announced they are developing a biofuel that by 2030 could satisfy nearly a third of the worldwide demand from commercial aircraft, without affecting food supplies.
Pickens’ investment marks just the first of a four-phase project to build the world’s largest wind farm in Texas, and he said the total cost of the deal will grow considerably after the initial investment in General Electric Co. turbine technology.
Pickens’ Mesa Power said the Pampa Wind Project in the Texas Panhandle will eventually cover 400,000 acres and generate enough power for more than 1.3 million homes.
“We are making Pampa the wind capital of the world,” Pickens said. “It’s clear that landowners and local officials understand the economic benefits that this renewable energy can bring not only to landowners who are involved with the project, but also in revitalizing an area that has struggled in recent years.”
Pickens, who was born in nearby Oklahoma and made the early part of his fortune hunting for oil and natural gas, said that developing alternative energy projects is critical for the nation’s future.
It also may be critical for stemming the steep increase in fuel prices over the past few years.
Airlines have been among the industries hardest hit by the rise in fuel prices.
Along with JetBlue Airways Corp. and International Aero Engines, Airbus and Honeywell plan to produce fuel from vegetation and algae-based oils that do not compete with existing food production or land and water resources.
International Aero Engines is a multinational consortium whose shareholders include United Technologies Corp.’s Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce.
Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell said in the “technical partnership,” each company will invest time and intellectual property into developing and testing a biofuel that can later be sold to refiners or others interested in producing it.
Currently, commercial airlines run their planes on kerosene, though some alternative fuels are being tested.
President Bush in December signed an energy bill that requires refineries to use 36 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2022 with at least 21 billion gallons of the alternative fuel coming from nonfood raw materials.
The U.S. currently produces nearly 7 billion gallons of ethanol annually, all from corn. Critics say reliance on that crop has helped inflate food prices, while skeptics note there is no way to know when biofuels from other sources will be commercially available.
Airbus and its partners are undeterred.
“In order to replace a significant portion of that jet fuel with bio-jet, we need to find something that has much greater yield than the current biomass sources available,” Sebastien Remy, head of alternative fuels research programs for Airbus, said in a release. “Airbus believes that second-generation bio-jet could provide up to 30 percent of all commercial aviation jet fuel by 2030.”
Airbus, which is owned by European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. NV, and Chicago-based rival Boeing Co. dominate the global market for commercial airplanes carrying 100 or more people. The new biofuel is expected to be a “drop-in” replacement for kerosene jet fuel that won’t require engine modifications, according to Airbus and Honeywell representatives.
On Wednesday, DuPont executives said a new joint venture with a Danish company will enable production of cellulosic ethanol that costs less to manufacture than corn-based ethanol and won’t drive up food prices. The companies plan to invest $140 million in the U.S.-based venture and hope to have a commercial-scale demonstration facility, making fuel from the leaves and stalks of corn and from the remnants of sugarcane stalks, operating by 2012.
Copyright © 2002-2009 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.