Tag Archives: alternative
Artificial Areas Cover Only 5% Of EU – Survey
Eurostat data | Friday 25 October 2013 Artificial areas, such as buildings, roads and rail networks, covered only 5% of the total surface area of the EU in 2012. Forests and other wooded land occupied around 40%, farmland one fourth and grassland one fifth. These figures, published by Eurostat on 25 October, are the findings of a large-scale land survey, the ‘Land use/cover area frame survey’ (LUCAS), conducted most recently in 2012. LUCAS is the largest harmonised land survey ever implemented in the EU. Photographs can be found in the statistical atlas on the Eurostat site (1). More than half of Sweden (76% of total land area), Finland (72%), Estonia (61%), Slovenia (60%) and Latvia (56%) is covered by forests. The highest shares of cropland are observed in Denmark (49%), Hungary (47%), Romania (36%), the Czech Republic and Poland (both 34%), Germany (33%), Bulgaria and Italy (both 32%) and France (31%). More than two thirds (67%) of Ireland is covered by natural or agricultural grasslands, followed by the United Kingdom (40%), the Netherlands (38%), Luxembourg (37%) and Belgium (32% Finland (16%), Sweden (12%) and the Netherlands (11%) have the largest proportions of water areas. A third of Malta is covered with built-up and other artificial areas, followed by Belgium (13%), Luxembourg and the Netherlands (both 12%). Continue reading
Khosla, Gates Commit Financing To KiOR’s Columbus II Project
By Erin Voegele | October 23, 2013 KiOR Inc. has announced the execution of $100 million in committed equity-related financing in two separate private placement transactions to support the company’s recently announced expansion of production capacity at its Columbus, Miss., location. The first private placement includes $85 million of committed equity-related financing from Khosla Ventues III and various other Khosla entities. The financing consists of the immediate issuance of $42.5 million of senior secured mandatorily convertible notes plus the conversion of nearly $52.2 million of KiOR’s existing senior debt held by the Khosla entities. The second private placement includes $15 million of committed equity financing from new investor Gates Ventures LLC, an affiliate of Bill Gates. The equity financing consists of the immediate purchase of $7.5 million of Class I common stock and the commitment to purchase an additional $7.5 million of Class A common stock. The future equity commitment is contingent upon, among other things, KiOR fully funding the Columbus II project. KiOR announced the Columbus II project in late September. The company is pursuing plans to double production at its existing Columbus location through the construction of a second facility incorporating its technology. The $225 project is scheduled to break ground within 90 days of KiOR raising sufficient equity and debt capital to commence the project. The facility is expected to take 18 months to construct and start-up. According to Fred Cannon, CEO of KiOR, the Colmbus II facility will produce cellulosic gasoline and diesel from southern yellow pine wood chips. He also noted there are several benefits associated with developing a second production facility at the Columbus site. “As we build Columbus II, we’ll be able to achieve significant operational and technological synergies between the two facilities, as we expect to incorporate our most recent technology developments into both the new Columbus II facility and retroactively into Columbus I,” Cannon said. “These synergies will result in decreased execution and start-up risk of Columbus II, reduction in construction timing and cost, and a shorter start-up period for Columbus II as a result of shared personnel, infrastructure, and operational knowledge with Columbus I.” KiOR is also still working to develop its proposed production facility in Natchez, Miss. “As we build Columbus II, we’ll also be refining the design, based on the newest technology improvements, of our next standard scale commercial production facility in Natchez, Miss.,” Cannon continued., noting that as a result of these additional efforts, his company expects to improve both the capital and operating costs associated with the Natchez plant. Continue reading
Biodiesel Tops 1 Billion Gallons Produced This Year
Biodiesel board says RFS has helped industry grow Compiled by staff Published: Oct 25, 2013 New EPA statistics released Thursday show the biodiesel industry has cracked the 1 billion gallon mark for the third consecutive year, with several months of production remaining, the National Biodiesel Board said. Anne Steckel, NBB vice president, called the production levels a testament to the hard work of the biodiesel industry, noting the impact of the Renewable Fuels Standard in diversifying fuel supplies. Biodiesel, the first EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel to reach commercial-scale production nationwide and 1 billion gallons of annual production, uses a mix of resources such as recycled cooking oil, soybean oil and animal fats. The latest production figures, which cover volumes reported through September, show that the industry produced 140 million gallons in September, for a year-to-date biodiesel total of nearly 1.1 billion gallons. EPA’s production volumes are reported under the Biomass-based Diesel category of the RFS. The monthly numbers show a total of nearly 167 million gallons under the Biomass-based Diesel category for the month of September. That total includes some 27 million gallons of renewable diesel. For the year, total Biomass-based Diesel production under the RFS stands at more than 1.2 billion gallons, on pace to reach some 1.7 billion gallons by year’s end, significantly exceeding the RFS requirement of 1.28 billion gallons, NBB said. Continue reading
