Ford withdraws from nonprofit U.S. Climate Action Partnership

Ford Motor Company formally withdrew from the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, an environmental lobby organization which uses corporate support to promote a cap-and-trade framework for carbon emissions.

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CPS Energy to buy 200 MW from Texas ‘clean coal’ project

CPS Energy of San Antonio will annually pay for 200 megawatts of electricity generated by Summit Power Group Inc.’s $2.4-billion, 400-MW Texas Clean Energy Project,a carbon capture and storage project which uses coal gasification, carbon dioxide sequestrationand urea production technologies, when the facility is completed by 2015. The plant will be receiving $450 million in funding from the United States Department of Energy’s Clean Coal Power Initiative, of which $211 million came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

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Renewable Energy Group I.P.O. ‘lacks luster’; $72 million raised

<p><img src="http://www.ecoseed.org/articleImages/Renewable-Energy-Group-IPO-lacks-luster-72-million-raised_60x60.jpg" align="left" />The first renewable energy initial public offering in the United States this year made little gains as the Renewable Energy Group Inc. raised $72 million in its trading debut yesterday. The company sold 7.2 million shares for $10 each on the Nasdaq Stock Market, trading under the symbol REGI, according to a statement.  
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<p class="written_by">By Oliver M. Bayani</p>
  <img src="http://www.ecoseed.org/articleImages/Renewable-Energy-Group-IPO-lacks-luster-72-million-raised_295x220.jpg" alt="Renewable Energy Group I.P.O. ‘lacks luster’; $72 million raised" title="Renewable Energy Group I.P.O. ‘lacks luster’; $72 million raised" align="right" />
 
<p align="justify">The Ames, Iowa-based company makes biodiesel from inedible animal fat, used cooking oil, inedible corn oil and other feedstocks.
The first renewable energy initial public offering in the United States this year made little gains as the Renewable Energy Group Inc. raised $72 million in its trading debut yesterday. </p>
 
<p align="justify">The company sold 7.2 million shares for $10 each on the Nasdaq Stock Market, trading under the symbol REGI, according to a statement.</p>
 

</p><div class="latest-news" align="left"><h3>Latest News - Finance</h3>
 

• Australia’s largest biorefinery to renew operations by end of 2013
• Ming Yang sees loss in 2012, looks to China and India for 2013
• China leads in clean energy investments with $65.1 billion in 2012
• China Sunergy sees almost 400 MW of solar panel shipments in 2012
• Xzeres Corp. gets $6.5 million to expand small wind turbine business

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<p align="justify">The company's shares rose 1 percent to $10.10 at 4 p.m., New York time, when trading closed January 19 with an all-day high of $10.29. </p>

<p align="justify">Renewable Energy Group earlier planned to price its I.P.O. between $13 and $15 a share. </p>

<p align="justify">The Ames, Iowa-based company makes biodiesel from inedible animal fat, used cooking oil, inedible corn oil and other feedstocks. The fuel produced can be used in existing diesel engines without modification.</p>

<p align="justify">Founded in 1996, Renewable Energy Group bills itself as the largest biodiesel producer in the country. It sold almost 68 million gallons of biodiesel in 2010, about 22 percent of total United States biodiesel production, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. </p>

<p align="justify">Renewable Energy Group runs six biodiesel plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Texas and Illinois with a total capacity of 212 million gallons per year, and owns five of them. It also has three partially completed plants in Louisiana, Kansas and New Mexico.</p>

<p align="justify">The company has shown growing revenues, generating $216.46 million in 2010, $131.5 million in 2009 and $85.45 million in 2008. </p>

<p align="justify">The company posted losses of $21.59 million in 2010, $68.86 million in 2009 and $15.88 million in 2008. But for the first quarter of this year, the company posted a net income of $3.74 million, up 21 percent from $3.08 million in last year's first quarter.</p>

<p align="justify">Plans on how the proceeds will be used remain unchanged. According to its S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission last July, about $12 million will be spent to purchase a plant in Seneca, Illinois which it currently leases. </p>

<p align="justify">The remainder of the proceeds will be used on expansion plans into Europe, South America and Asia, and potential acquisitions and joint ventures. </p>

<strong>2011 I.P.O.'s</strong>

<p align="justify">Last year, a number of biofuel companies filed for I.P.O.'s, including Texas-based Kior, which raised $150 million in June; California's Solazyme, raising nearly $200 million in May; and Colorado firm Gevo, which raised almost $96 million in February. </p>

<p align="justify">However, most of these companies saw their shares take a dive later on. </p>

<p align="justify">Analysts at Renaissance Capital said the weak trading performance of some biofuel companies does not mean that 2012 is a bad time for public offerings.</p>

<p align="justify">"We do not believe the lackluster showing is necessarily indicative of current demand for I.P.O.'s. Alternative energy I.P.O.'s tend to appeal to a somewhat limited subset of investors, and there was likely skepticism about the deal because of poor trading from 2011 biofuels I.P.O.'s and the fear of negative impact from regulatory changes," the firm wrote. </p>

<p align="justify">Ten I.P.O.'s will be reportedly be priced in the next two weeks</p>

<p align="justify">The Connecticut-based market research firm said the FTSE Renaissance US IPO Index is also up 8.5 percent year-to-date, against 4.5 percent for the S&P 500, "indicating that recent I.P.O.'s are performing well overall and investor risk appetite for newly public companies is increasing."    <div class="img-left" align="left"><br />
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U.S.D.A. opens new Web site for renewable energy businesspeople

The United States Department of Agriculture has a new Web site which aims to present organized information for businessmen investing in the renewable energy sector. “Improving and modernizing access to U.S.D.A. energy data and resources is essential in today’s highly competitive rural business environment,” secretary of agriculture Tom Vilsack said in a statement.

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Nissan looking into second-life use of EV lithium-ion batteries

What happens to all those used-up batteries in electric cars? As it turns out, after 10 years of use in an electric vehicle, a lithium-ion battery pack has up to 70 percent remaining capacity. Nissan North America is teaming up with power and technology group ABB to get more life out of the lithium-ion battery packs that power their Leaf all-electric vehicles.

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Japanese company to supply world’s largest CIGS solar plant

Japan’s Solar Frontier K.K., a subsidiary of Showa Shell Sekiyu, will supply copper indium gallium selenide solar panels to renewable energy-based California utility EnXco for a planned150-megawatt project in Kern County. The company said the solar farm will be the largest of its kind in the world, if completed. The two-phased project, seen delivering 60 MW of electricity by the end of the year, is estimated to be completed by June, 2013.

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California regulator approves Pattern’s P.P.A. with SDG&E

The California Public Utilities Commission has approved the 20-year power purchase agreement between Pattern EnergyGroup and San Diego Gas & Electric for 315-megawatts of wind energy from the Ocotillo facility in Imperial Valley, Southern California. The project, which was estimated to produce enough energy to power 130,000 households annually, has garnered the support of the Imperial Valley local government, the business community and labor organizations.

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Broadwind Energy secures $23-million in wind tower orders in Q4

Illinois-based clean technology firm Broadwind Energy, Inc. won strong fourth-quarter orders which include a $23-million contract to deliver wind power towers to be produced at the company’s Manitowoc, Wisconsin facility, and to be supplied to a United States wind turbine manufacturer by the second half of 2012.

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San Antonio utility negotiating for 400 MW of solar power

CPS Energy, a municipal utility in San Antonio, is negotiating with OCI Solar Power to be able to buy up to 400 megawatts of solar electricity for 25 years from a generation site rising in Texas’ second largest city. Construction has not been scheduled yet, but the project is said to be built in phases over the next five years. It is estimated that the project will employ more than 800 people and haul in more than $1 billion in construction investment. The projected annual economic impact of the project is placed at $700 million, according to the companies.

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ICF International bags $12 million from Pepco for energy efficiency

ICF International, a consulting services and technology solutions provider to both government and commercial clients, was awarded a $12-million contract to promote increased energy efficiency in the residential consumer market for Pepco Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries Pepco and Delmarva Power.

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