274 000 More Jobs with 25% Clean Energy Mandate

A national mandate requiring utilities to generate 25% of power from sources such as wind and solar energy by 2025 will create three times more jobs than the weaker measures US Congress is considering, a study released in Washington last week by renewable energy advocates, while IPO fever is gripping greentech, with rumours circulating that Amryis, the company that made synthetic biology a household word, could be next.

Ayesha Rascoe for Reuters World Environment News ( 5 February 2010):

WASHINGTON – A national mandate requiring utilities to generate 25 percent of power from sources such as wind and solar energy by 2025 will create three times more jobs than weaker measures Congress is considering, a study released by renewable energy advocates said in Washington last week.

RES-Alliance for Jobs, a coalition of green power businesses and trade groups, is using the new study to promote the benefits of a high federal renewable electricity mandate.

“A strong renewable electricity standard is crucial to create a stable investment environment and grow this highly promising sector,” said Don Furman, senior vice president for development, transmission, and policy at wind energy company Iberdrola Renewables.

“Without a strong RES, the US wind industry will see no net job growth, and will likely lose jobs to overseas competitors,” Furman added.

Clean energy backers have been lobbying Congress to adopt a higher national renewable mandate than the measures lawmakers are considering, but they face opposition from lawmakers concerned about raising energy prices during a recession.

The study commissioned by the alliance found the industry would create 274,000 more jobs under a 25 percent renewable power standard than it would create without a mandate.

Such a standard would add three times more jobs than would be gained under a House approved renewable power target and a similar measure that’s pending in the Senate, the study found.

The House passed a bill last year that would require at least 15 percent of electricity generated by utilities to come from renewable sources by 2020.

A mandate approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee would also set a 15 percent renewable power target, but states could meet up to a quarter of the mandate through energy efficiency measures.

Lawmakers from regions without a great deal of solar and wind resources have argued against imposing a stringent renewable electricity standard, saying their constituents would be penalized with more expensive power bills.

To counter this opposition, the alliance pointed to the study’s findings that every state would gain more jobs from a higher renewable standard. The Southeast, which is heavily reliant on coal, would benefit from thousands of new jobs in the biomass industries, the study said.

Source: www.planetark.org

Michael Kanellos for GreenTech Media (5 February 2010):

Will Amyris Be Next to File for an IPO?

IPO fever is gripping greentech, and rumors are circulating that Amryis, the company that made synthetic biology a household word, could be one of the next to file.

The company, which spun out of research conducted at UC Berkeley, could file the necessary documents for an IPO in the second quarter, according to sources. So far, Amyris has raised around $165 million. Codexis, which makes enzymes for fuel production, filed its S-1, the prelude to an IPO, in December and Mascoma, which wants to make cellulosic ethanol, has been trying to raise a few hundred million from the private equity markets to pay for a plant.

Amyris specializes in concocting microbes that feed on sugars and secrete made-to-order hydrocarbon molecules that can be converted into jet fuel, industrial chemicals or biodiesel. In nature, yeast ordinarily eat sugar and produce alcohol. (Fine wine is what happens when microbes go to the bathroom, but don’t expect a sommelier to tell you that.) Developing a genome so that yeast secrete hydrocarbons instead of beer or wine is Amyris’ secret sauce.

Amyris, potentially, will be able to biodiesel that it can sell for $2 a barrel at wholesale, CEO John Melo told us in late 2008.

The first product out of the company was an artificial version of artemisinin, an antimalaria drug that drew millions in support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The metabolic pathway for developing fuel is different, but similar to the one for making artemisinin.

“Some people refer to it (synthetic biology) as metabolic engineering on steroids,” Jack Newman, one of Amyris’ founders, told us earlier. “There are a few things we have adopted from plants. Plants are great for making hydrocarbons.”

Although we spoke to Melo and Newman earlier, we didn’t talk to either of them for this story.

If anything, the company has been notably active lately. In December, it paid $82 million to Brazil’s São Martinho Group for a 40 percent stake in an ethanol mill project that the parties hope will be operational by 2011 or 2012. The Brazilian company already controls three ethanol plants that make about 600 million liters (158 million gallons) of ethanol per year.

Five days later, it entered into letter of intent agreements with three other Brazilian companies-Acucar Guarani, Bunge Limited and Cosan-to produce ethanol and high value chemicals. Later in that month, it hired a chief commercial officer (Peter Boynton) and a COO (Mario Portela).

The company is also working with the state of Alabama to build sugarcane plantations and yeast-powered fuel refineries in that state. Amyris does not want to license its technology. Instead, it wants to produce fuel itself with industrial partners and sell it, initially to large fleet buyers.

If Amyris does file for an IPO, and Codexis follows through a public offering, it will mark a notable moment in biofuels. Investors have plunked hundreds of millions into cellulosic ethanol and biodiesel companies in the last five years. So far, though, only a few of these companies have produced much fuel and no one really is producing large, commercial volumes. Successful IPOs could jumpstart the market by giving these two companies the needed capital to build factories. The U.S. is also woefully behind in meeting its own biofuel mandates so expect some support and encouragement from the government too.

Then again, the road to fuel nirvana has been paved with delays. Back in 2008, Melo said he hoped the company would be able to produce 200 million gallons or so out of its first Brazilian plant. Hey, wait. 2010 is now.

Amyris has said that the company could produce 600 to 800 gallons of fuel per acre. That’s far better than corn ethanol and somewhat on par with sugarcane ethanol. However, it is lower than what cellulosic ethanol and algae growers say they will get. Some algae companies claim they will get 5,000 gallons per acre per year.

Source: www.greentechmedia.com