Inside this edition: Oil embargo's 40th anniversary, Innovation Month in Mississippi, USDA-ARS listening session outcomes, REVSup graduate wins solar award

The 40th anniversary of the Arab oil embargo against the United States, which lead to a devastating economic recession, was October 16. While the day passed without much fanfare, it should serve as a reminder to diversify the sources of the nation's petroleum and to develop different ways to propel our vehicles. According to the Energy Information Administration, 94 percent of the transportation sector is dependent on oil to this day. While the United States has increased petroleum production in recent years and is expected to become a net exporter of oil within a few years, petroleum is still a finite resource. The current North American oil boom is expected to last 50 years or more, but then what? In contrast to the transportation sector, the power generation sector is much more diversified because it relies on a mix of coal, natural gas, renewables and nuclear.  Renewable energy accounted for nearly 50 percent of added capacity in 2012 in the United States. Renewable energy projects in the United States experienced a banner year in 2012, with wind deployment adding a record 13,124 MW of capacity and solar adding 3,313 MW of solar photovoltaic capacity, according to a recent report from Ernst & Young. More fuel choices are needed today in the form of biofuels, compressed and liquefied natural gas, and electrical propulsion (batteries and fuel cells) to have a more balanced portfolio for energizing the transportation sector.      

I have always used the analogy of investing in renewable energy as akin to investing for your retirement. We need a diversified portfolio and, more importantly, we cannot wait to invest in these technologies till we are about to run out of oil or, as an investment advisor will say, getting close to retirement age. We should look at the new-found oil reserves as an extension on the window we have been granted by nature to perfect additional technologies to make them more dependable, robust, and economically and environmentally sustainable than the current choices. It is also important to develop higher value uses for biomass feedstocks as biofuels alone will not necessarily provide the profit margins needed to maintain financially viable enterprises. The recent announcement by Elevance Renewable Sciences is great example of companies focusing on biochemicals that have a greater monetary value in the marketplace. I am proud to say that Strategic Biomass Solutions staff played a leading role in attracting Elevance to Mississippi. I have included these points in my written testimony to the United States Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Hearing, which was originally scheduled for October 3 in Washington, D.C, but was postponed due to the partial shutdown of the federal government.

It is quite obvious that more innovation is needed in the energy sector, including the power generation sector and in using energy more efficiently. A report by the American Energy Innovation Council shows that the energy sector spends the smallest percentage  of its share or sales on research and development when compared to pharmaceuticals, aerospace and defense, computers, and electronics and automotive.

Talking about innovation, Innovate Mississippi has been leading the charge in partnership with the Mississippi Development Authority and numerous other organizations to have the declaration for a dedicated innovation month in Mississippi. Governor Phil Bryant proclaimed November as the first ever Innovation Month today before an audience of more than 1,500 movers and shakers gathered at an event organized by the Mississippi Economic Council. Visit www.MSInnovationMonth.com to see all the cool activities taking place around the state to celebrate Innovation Month and use #MsInNov to join the conversation on Twitter.

The outcomes of the very first "listening session" held in the southeast by USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) are now available and included in this newsletter. This session was moderated by Strategic Biomass Solutions and allowed the attendees to give feedback on biomass feedstock issues directly to ARS officials from Mississippi and Washington, D.C. Innovate Mississippi has a Partnership Intermediary Agreement with the ARS and is one of the founding members of the  Agricultural Technology Innovation Partnership (ATIP) that has a goal to help commercialize research conducted in the ARS laboratories. Stoneville, Mississippi, is home to one the top ARS research facilities in the country.

Our next RVESup will be in Orlando, Florida, November 10, in conjunction with PowerGen International and Renewable Energy World North America Conference. We are pleased to announce that one of last year's graduates from a REVSup workshop recently received nearly $400,000 in USDA grants for the installation of large solar photovoltaic system in Mississippi with a power purchase agreement by the Tennessee Valley Authority. We interviewed another graduate, Michael Hornsby, from the RETECH 2013 REVSup session and you may read the exclusive interview in this newsletter. Michael is an adjunct professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and has many years of experience with renewable energy policies and technologies.

We always want to hear from you about your success stories or challenges you may be facing, so please contact me at sarora@innovate.ms or 601-960-3659. Also, follow us on Twitter at @SBS_Renewable or me personally at @DrSumeshArora.

The rumor mill is swirling around a set of numbers that appear to show U.S. EPA's plans for next year's renewable fuel targets. Some in the biofuels industry have speculated that the numbers originated from members of the oil industry in an attempt to discredit ethanol. One biofuels industry representative said that in a meeting about a month ago, an EPA official indicated that the agency was not considering putting a cap on the conventional ethanol target next year.

Renewable Fuel Organizations Claim Changes to RFS Could Hurt Growth

Nearly three dozen advanced biofuel companies warned the White House Tuesday that as the administration considers making changes to the country's renewable fuels policy, it should be careful not to irreversibly harm the next generation of fuels.