Tag Archives: press-releases
The Slow Creep Of Next-Gen Biofuels: KiOR Misses Production Targets
by Katie Fehrenbacher AUG. 9, 2013 SUMMARY: Next-gen biofuel company KiOR misses its production targets from its new biocrude making plant by 75 percent. It’s still slow going for these companies trying to scale up and compete with oil. If you’ve ever read anything about the next-generation of biofuels — the ones made from plant waste, trash, or energy crops called cellulosic ethanol — then you know that they’ve forever been trapped on the brink of commercialization. The thesis still seems to apply for the young companies that are trying to scale up. This week KiOR, a venture capital-backed startup that went public in the Summer of 2011 , revealed in its second quarter earnings that it was about 75 percent below its forecast for producing and shipping its next-gen biofuel last quarter . KiOR shipped 75,000 gallons last quarter from its Columbus, Mississippi plant, but was hoping to ship between 300,000 and 500,000 gallons in the quarter. Revenue for the quarter was of course below estimates, too, alongside the slower than expected scale up in production. As a result, KiOR’s stock dropped almost 10 percent on Thursday, rallied a bit and is now trading around $4.14 on Friday. KiOR went public at $15 per share in mid-2011. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that’s been following any next-gen biofuel startup. It takes eons to get to the scale where they can make biofuels for cheap enough to compete with oil. KiOR started producing its biocrude at the Columbus plant last November and started shipping it shortly after that. At the time KiOR CEO Fred Cannon called the first shipment “the world’s first cellulosic gasoline and diesel fuel products.” KiOR has developed technology that allows it to convert biomass (plants and bio waste) into a bio substitute for crude oil. The company emerged in late 2007 as a joint venture between Khosla Ventures and Netherlands-based biofuel startup BIOeCON . Khosla Ventures provided the early rounds of funding and BIOeCON provided the intellectual property for its “biomass catalytic cracking process,” a thermochemical process that’s been used in the oil industry for decades and which turns out can also produce biocrude from grass, wood and plant waste. Cannon has described KiOR’s technology as being able to do in seconds what has taken millions of years in nature (the natural process of how biomass has been crunched into oil). About a year ago I wrote a really long indepth piece on KiOR. Check it out here: The perils of cleantech investing: KiOR and the long term, high risk view . Continue reading
USDA’s Farmland Price Update Report (August 2013)
By K. McDonald on August 5th, 2013 The USDA comes out with an annual farmland price report every August. The newly issued report summarizes farmland price changes since a year ago. Here are this year’s report highlights: ● The United States farm real estate value, a measurement of the value of all land and buildings on farms, averaged $2,900 per acre for 2013, up 9.4 percent from revised 2012 values. ● Regional changes in the average value of farm real estate ranged from a 23.1 percent increase in the Northern Plains region to no change in the Southeast region. ● The highest farm real estate values were in the Cornbelt region at $6,400 per acre. ● The Mountain region had the lowest farm real estate value at $1,020 per acre. ● The United States cropland value increased by $460 per acre (13.0 percent) to $4,000 per acre. ● In the Northern Plains and Corn Belt regions, the average cropland value increased 25.0 and 16.1 percent, respectively, from the previous year. ● In the Southeast region, cropland values decreased by 2.8 percent. ● The United States pasture value increased to $1,200 per acre, or 4.3 percent above 2012. ● The Southeast region had the largest percentage decrease in pasture value, 1.5 percent below 2012. ● The Northern Plains had the highest increase in pasture value, at 18.4 percent. (Click to enlarge) Note that separate maps like the above are included in the report for cropland and pastureland values. SOURCE: Land Values 2013 Summary (PDF) Continue reading
Drax First Half Earnings Down Amid Heavy Biomass Investment
30 July 2013 Drax: continued invetment in biomass Drax Power’s earnings have fallen in line with expectations as it continued to invest heavily in biomass and carbon costs ramped up in the first half of 2013. The coal generator on Tuesday reported underlying earnings of £120 million in the six months ending 30 June 2013, down 22 per cent on the previous year. It invested £138 million in its capital programme, including £106 million in biomass. The first of three units to be switched from coal to run on biomass went live in April and is said to be performing to plan. Dorothy Thompson, chief executive of Drax, said: “We are investing significant capital this year and next to transform our business, with earnings during this period impacted by the increasing costs of carbon. However, as we move beyond this investment phase and replace substantial quantities of coal with sustainable biomass, we are confident that we will deliver attractive returns for our shareholders.” The company is considering whether it is attractive to convert further units with support from the contracts for difference being brought in through the government’s Energy Bill, she added. It is also looking at the opportunity for its coal generation to participate in the planned capacity market. The converted biomass unit has proven able to generate 585MW, around 10 per cent less than each coal burner. It has been available 76 per cent of the time since it started, which the company is confident will rise to 80 per cent on average for 2013. The load factor was lower, at 57 per cent, attributed to temporary fuel constraints. Drax is also investing to build up the biomass supply chain and construction has started at US pellet plants to prepare fuel for import to the UK. Haven Power, the company’s retail arm, is expanding. It increased sales 67 per cent to £323 million, or 3.7TWh, winning big customers including Muller and Santander. Drax aims to sell 12-15TWh through Haven in 2015. Source: Utility Week Continue reading
