Windesal is a South Australian start up company that claims to offer a packaged "solution for Environmental Sustainability in the 21st Century" which, "meets the challenges of a world seeking technologies to sustain life with minimum enviromental impact". They say it ideally suited to coastal communities and remote areas .

The package is :
1. Standard Diesel generators (gensets) , powered by fossil / biofuel mix ( Australian Federal Government legislation prohibits claiming the Diesel Rebate on any fuel with a bio-diesel content of over 20%).Methane / Natural gas is an option.
2. Wind generators of standard design.
4. Energy management package that uses typical gensets that are modified in our factory to incorporate a low-load and fast start-up capability. These are fully controlled by our computer controlled switch gear. Turbine overproduction is controlled by a thermal dump-load.
5. De-salination using standard commercial reverse osmosis technology with a claimed output to over 55,000m3/day (55ml/d). This is from 1gigal to 20gigal per annum.

The 2 outputs are, A) drinkable water (ice if required to cool the beers) and B) an intermittent supply od electricity to local industry / domestic needs / Grid.

This is based apparently on a unique , patented stand-alone power station had been developed in 1993 by the Danish RISO Laboratory and which has been adopted by a group of Adelaide businessmen who in 2007 recognised the potential of the technology.

Cleantech 08 Top 100 Private Company in the World in the Water Technology and Water Management section and Winner of the News Ltd Australian Solution Award.

If you want more information contact David Handyside, Development Director tel +618 8260 8202fax +618 8260 8100 mob +61 418 820 470 david@windesal.com
Innovation HouseTechnology ParkMawson LakesSouth Australia, 5095

Reverse osmosis is a very energy hungry and thus an expensive method of des-salinating water - widely used on ships . Two large units have just been ordered for the Royal Navy's Aircraft Carriers which may or may not be built.

As land based wind powered generators can reasonably expect a maximum of 30% utilisation and very high capital costs, this, whilst a green / clean solution looks like being a very expensive solution - certainly of interest in very remote areas - where supplies of diesel / biofuel are available readily.

Pacific Ethanol adds to third-quarter loss

Those poor deluded souls, excited by Bill Gates's investing in Pacific Ethanol (NASDAQ GM: PEIX), "Meeting the demand for clean burning fuels", will feel let down after the Sacramento refiner revealed the third-quarters loss just got worse, although the adjustment won't affect the company's cash outlays.

The corn based ethanol producer has announced it's increasing its non-cash "impairment charge" resulting from its decision last fall to suspend construction on the new plant in the Imperial Valley.

The charge was increased to US$40.9 million. Last week, in announcing its earnings, the company had pegged the charge at $26.6 million.

That brings the company's total loss for the quarter came to $69.2 million, or $1.23 a share. With profit margins eroded by lower ethanol prices and higher costs for corn, investors saw the shares down 3 cents to 70 cents.

Despite this setback the company are still upbeat and claim that they have achieved their goal of
220 million gallons per year of ethanol production capacity in 2008 - which they intend to grow to 420 million gallons total capacity per year in 2010.

In addition, they are working to identify and develop other renewable fuel technologies, such as cellulose-based ethanol production and bio-diesel.

Bill's Cascade Investments which had 21% of the company however saw the light almost exactly a year ago on November 18th 2007 and bailed out. They converted its preferred stock to 10.5 million common shares and selling. He lost US$24 million on the investment. He paid US$84 million for his stake in 2005.

US average ethanol producer price last week was US$ 1.8768 per gallon (ethanolmarket.com) , the pump price for gasoline (EIA) this week is US$2.08 .

Corn used for ethanol production for 2007/8 is said to have increased to 3.3 billion bushels, up from expected use of 2.125 billion bushels in 2006/07.

Shiites hit the fan in Basra - USAF and RAF start bombing / strafing civilians - the air war helter skelters out of control

Iraq´s average crude oil production for February was 2.4 million barrels per day. Exports averaged 1.93 million barrels per day in the month - although any oil producion/refining/export figures must be viewed with a great deal of caution. "Overall progress has been very slow and there is still no comprehensive metering at oil fields, storage facilities or refineries," U.N. controller Warren Sach told the Security Council December 19th 2007 (Reuters)

Basra Rumaila South and North oil fields produce around 1.3 million barrels per day. The city also is home to one of Iraq´s three largest oil refineries, the Shuaiba refinery which has a capacity of 160,000 barrels a day but has been functioning below capacity at about 100,000 barrels per day.

Control over the southern oil fields and resources is what is really at the heart of the Battle of Basra...

US warplanes bombed Shia militiamen in Basra last night and helicopter gunships fired rockets in militia-controlled areas of Baghdad, as Iraqi government forces proved incapable of dislodging die-hard rebels on their own. The U.S. warplanes killed three militia fighters, the British military reported. The targets were a militia mortar team and a militia stronghold, said Maj. Tom Holloway, a British military spokesman.

“Basra’s government hospitals received more than 60 people killed and 300 others wounded in the clashes that erupted since the midnight of Monday until Thursday evening,” the medical source, who asked not to be named, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

Updated at 9:20 p.m. EDT, Mar. 28, 2008
At least 163 Iraqis were killed and 214 were wounded in the latest reports of violence. These figures included updated numbers from the Mahdi Army battles taking place since Tuesday.

Iraq’s prime minister has set a deadline for Shia militants in Basra to hand over their weapons, “All those who have heavy and intermediate weapons are to deliver them to security sites and they will be rewarded financially. This will start from March 28 to April 8,” the prime minister said.

Authorities imposed a three-day curfew in Baghdad to contain the violence, since the government launched the offensive on Tuesday. The U.S. military reported killing 78 "bad guys" in Baghdad in the past three days; American forces backed by combat helicopters continued Friday to battle members of the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, in Baghdad.

Mortar shells hit the offices of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, (a Sunni ,Iraqi Islamic Party and No 3 in the political line of precedence - 2 of his brothers and a sister were killed by Shiite death squads in 2006.) killing two guards and wounding 4 others.

Green Zone attacks this week have killed two Americans; embassy personnel are sleeping in the thick-walled former palace of Saddam Hussein for protection. U.S. government employees are going outside only on urgent business and wearing protective gear.

In an e-mail Friday night, Philip T Reeker, US Embassy spokesman said sleeping in the embassy was clearly a temporary precaution but "highly recommended given the harassing fire we've received in the past week. I, for one, have pulled out a cot in my office."

At 4 a.m. in Sadr City, a helicopter killed four fighters who were engaging U.S. forces with small-arms fire, officials said. At 7 a.m., a U.S. helicopter's Hellfire missile targeted a vehicle armed with rocket-propelled grenades, killing two fighters in the Adhamiyah district of northern Baghdad.

Later in the morning, soldiers fired on militants setting up improvised explosive devices and returning fire from and killing fighters who had rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

"In the last 48 hours, we have seen more extremists," said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a military spokesman in Baghdad. He said the military had killed 78 "bad guys" in the past three days. "They are violating the rule of law. They are firing rockets indiscriminately. They are criminals and terrorists, and they deserve to die."

Red Ken has trouble with wind : It is someone else's fault- the race is not to the Swift Mk. I

Peter Hulme Cross: (One London Party member of the London Assembly Environment Committee) Please can the Mayor update me on progress with the faulty wind turbines removed from the LDA head office roof?

Ken Livingstone: The wind turbines were removed due to a product recall (Swift turbines manufactured by Renewable Devices in stalled Nov. 2006 and recalled after 6 weeks). The LDA is pursuing the installation of replacement wind turbines following the re-engineering of the software that controls the wind turbines as soon as possible.

At the time the Great and Noble Leader said: "This innovative renewable energy scheme will provide clean, green electricity for the new headquarters of the London Development Agency and the London Climate Change Agency. It demonstrates my commitment for the Greater London Authority organisations to lead the way in taking measures to tackle climate change through reducing carbon emissions.

"The London Climate Change Agency has provided the expertise for this project which will act as a living example of how the Agency can help other organisations to become more sustainable in their use of energy."

Barry Marsh, Director of Solar Technologies, the contractor installing the project at Palestra, said: "This is a renewable energy first and complements our other renewable energy projects"

The installation of the wind turbines on Palestra was supported by an Energy Saving Trust grant of £155,276 under the DTI Major Photovoltaic Demonstration Programme. The total cost was £436,000 and the project comprised an 84kW renewable energy system - a combination of 63kWp of photovoltaic panels on the roof and 21kW of fourteen building-integrated wind turbines also on the roof. The combined renewable energy system was designed to generate 3,397,000kWh of renewable electricity . The total amount of electricity produced since the solar panels were installed and connected to the distribution network in October 2006 to September 2007 is 45,264kWh (11 months operation) and was claimed to exceed the predicted output of the solar panels. The economic value of this electricity was said by the LDA to be £3,560 in its first year of operation. Also see here see here

On the 8th January the LDA announced that they will trial the new Swift II wind turbine - which has been developed by Renewable Devices using re-engineered software and different construction to the original Swift Turbines - and one other turbine. Full installation will be subject to the results of the trial installation and is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2008.

Nothing in the LDA is ever straightforward or simple and "Scottish and Southern Energy have refused to re-install the wind turbines on behalf of Solar Technologies Ltd. Therefore the London Climate Change Agency ( LCCA ) has decided to re-install the new turbines outside of the Solar Technologies Ltd original contract."

Sounds a splendid way of ;
a) Spending the tax payers money
b) Demonstrating how uneconomic, such small scale "renewable energy" schemes are (Capital Payback 100 years ?).

The charming, polite, helpful Rachel Clark at the LDA Media Team on 020 7593 8616 or email rachelclark@lda.gov.uk. will answer ay questions you might have.

ABF / British Sugar's Wissington sugar beet / bioethanol plant on stream and opened by Lord Rooker

Defra's gormless man in the House of Lords Lord Jeff" Rooker "officially" opened the UK’s first bioethanol plant opened which is operated by British Sugar’s Wissington factory in Norfolk yesterday. It is planned to produce 70 million litres of bioethanol annually from locally-grown sugar beet.

Production trials finally started at the £20Mn. plant at Wissington in September with commercial deliveries starting at the end of September. "The plant will be completed and operational by February 2007 and will manufacture 55,000 tonnes (70 million litres) of bioethanol each year." - British Sugar Press release Jan 26th 2006 when Baroness Gillian Shephard of Northwold attended a breaking ground ceremony at the site.

“Sustainable biofuels can play an important role in reducing our carbon footprint and I am pleased to see the UK is leading the way in promoting sustainable biofuel production,” Lord Rooker said - as Brazil have been producing ethanol from sugar for over 20 years it is difficult to see how the UK leads the way.

British Sugar chief executive Mark Carr is quoted saying that “We are delighted to take the UK lead in this exciting new industry. Against a background of unprecedented change in the European sugar industry we are transforming our business.”

Wissington also provides its own electricity and exports up to 50Mw to the national supply network from a 50Mw gas turbine and a 30Mw steam turbine. The combined heat and power (CHP) plant also provides heat and carbon dioxide to the adjacent horticulture business, which produces tomatoes under 11ha of glass.

New bioethanol plant at Saltend Hull

BS has also entered a joint venture with BP and DuPont to build a 420million litre bioethanol plant at Saltend, Hull. UK-grown wheat will be used to supply the plant and production is expected to come on stream in 2009.

The commercial-scale plant will convert a variety of feedstocks, from wheat and sugar beet to ethanol, and will produce 420 million litres of fuel ethanol a year. Wheat will be sourced locally via an agreement between the joint venture and two other ABF businesses, Frontier Agriculture and AB Agri.

BP and the ABF subsidiary British Sugar plc will each own 45% of the new grass roots facility, with DuPont owning the remaining 10%.Of the £200MN construction costs The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing £60m at an "attractive rate of interest". When operating the plant will require 70 staff.

Biobutanol in the future

A biobutanol pilot plant is planned to run alongside the bioethanol plant which will be used to develop the next generation of sustainable biofuels (capable of producing 20,000 l a year) from a wider variety of feedstocks.

Aker Kvaerner are leaders of the construction consortium to execute the Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) for the project. Aker Kvaerner will then work on the project in conjunction with its joint venture (BioCnergy Europa) partner Praj Industries (Praj) from India to provide the technology and process package.

In June 2007 Aker Kvaerner formed a joint venture with Praj Industries,(with global experience in alcohol and brewery technology and related bioprocessing and engineering) to form a new company called BioCnergy Europa. Praj holds 60% in BioCnergy, while Aker Kvaerner holds 40% of the shareholding.The Company will be headed by Ronald van der Vlist, presently Director of Technology at Aker Kvaerner who claims ,"'There is no equivalent Company which operates exclusively for the biofuels industry offering turnkey solutions".

The bioethanol plant will be constructed in conjunction with a biobutanol pilot plant which will be used to develop the next generation of sustainable biofuels (capable of producing 20,000 l a year) from a wider variety of feedstocks.

Biobutanol can be used in engines with little conversion and has been put forward as the clean fuel for aircraft ( bearded wonder Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic hopes to run his fleet of aircraft on butanol and is investing other people's money in the technology).

See also the total fucking failure of biofuels in the region Saturday, July 14, 2007 - Biofuels plc - all that is green is not golden

See Tuesday, June 12, 2007 The Problem With Biobutanol for a useful report about this much hyped fuel . e.g Butanol is obtained by fermentation of biomass using Clostridium acetobutylicum (which Weizmann used for producing acetone).Butanol inhibits cell growth even at relatively low concentrations, and its final titers are limited to ca. 13 g/liter = 1.3% butanol which then requires distillation and the use of more energy.

You can also visit http://www.butanol.com/ a site unashamedly hyping the product.e.g