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Today we start a new series on NASCAR. But rather than focus on what a great sport it is, we’re going to focus on what a great business it is.
What does it take to run a NASCAR team? Who gets involved in this kind of business? How does it work?
All this week, we’ll discuss how a driver “gets a ride” and who the people are behind the scenes that makes this sport a great business.
When you watch the revolution unfolding in the Middle East, keep in mind that your money has helped tyrants suppress it. That’s right: the money you pay at the gas pump is helping the dictators resist the revolution:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42005048
As the article notes:
“But Colonel Qaddafi probably began hoarding liquid assets far earlier, officials said. He has built up Libya’s cash reserves in the years since the West began lifting economic sanctions on his government in 2004, following his decision to renounce unconventional weapons and cooperate with the United States in the fight against Al Qaeda. That led to a flood of Western investment in the Libyan oil and natural gas industries, and access to international oil and financial markets.”
Let’s end welfare for dictators in the Middle East. Let’s promote domestic renewable energy.
Today our series on gas prices continues with a look at how the whole economy is impacted:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-08/kuwait-says-opec-members-discussing-whether-to-have-an-urgent-meeting.html
As this article notes, what goes on in the Middle East impacts all of us here in America:
“Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members have pledged to ensure adequate supply to the market as violence in Libya reduced output from Africa’s third-largest crude producer. OPEC is also under pressure to assuage soaring fuel prices after New York- traded oil rallied yesterday to $105.44 a barrel, the highest closing price since September 2008 and was at $105.01 as of 1:51 p.m. London time.”
How big has the impact been in America? February saw stock market prices plunge, affecting everyone’s savings and investments. And what caused the plunge? High gas prices. Unfortunately, gas prices are likely to get higher before going lower.
So be prepared and start spreading the news about the need for domestic, renewable energy.
The announcement our company made this week was done in Idaho. But its impact is much bigger than one state.
As this article notes, our nation faces an energy crisis:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/how-oil-could-kill-the-recovery/68933/
With so much of our oil coming from the Middle East and with India and China increasing the global demand on oil, the pain at the pump might get a lot worse a lot sooner than you think:
“If you thought $4 gasoline was bad, wait a year. Americans will pay $5 for a gallon of gasoline by 2012 as global demand grows faster than oil producers’ supply, predicted John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil and current head of Citizens for Affordable Energy. Without a significant investment in alternative energy sources, we’re on a collision course with ‘blackouts, brownouts, gas lines, [and] rationing.’”
Isn’t now the time to start a real effort to produce renewable energy? It is and we are at the University of Idaho.
Gas prices are heading up again:
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/01/04/04greenwire-as-high-gas-prices-loom-new-congress-faces-pres-3445.html
That’s why we need to find new sources of energy…and that’s why the announcement this week at the University of Idaho is so important. The seed money that our company has given to the university will help fund important research on biomass, which creates energy by essentially burning wood chips.
In a few weeks, the university will have another announcement that will show that our company’s involvement with this issue is just getting started!
Written by Alecia Hoene
MOSCOW, Idaho – A $25,000 donation from Texas entrepreneur Randy Hill and his company, APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP, to the University of Idaho has funded research focused on converting woody biomass to energy.
The gift has allowed the university to install a pilot-scale pyrolysis unit at its steam plant. Pyrolysis is a type of incineration that uses almost no oxygen. When applied to an organic material like wood, pyrolysis yields biofuel plus a small amount of charcoal.
Armando McDonald, professor of wood chemistry and wood composites, researches pyrolysis of woody biomass to create bio-oil.
“This involves thermally cracking the wood to break it down into smaller molecules,” said McDonald. “The process yields about 60 percent bio-oil; 20 percent syngas, a gas mixture that is then used to fuel the operation; and about 20 percent char that can be used as a soil amendment.”
McDonald said the value of bioenergy methods like pyrolysis resides in the usability of all products generated. Such processes have the potential to generate substantial amounts of clean energy with little to no waste.
Hill also donated a biomass drying trailer and funding to install it at the university steam plant, and funding to formalize bioenergy and bioproducts efforts at the University of Idaho. In June 2010, the university received a proposal from Hill outlining a vision for the University of Idaho to establish a national level bioenergy research center. In that proposal, Hill committed to this and a number of other research projects and more than $700,000 in future licensing revenues benefiting the university’s bioenergy research. In August 2010, the university committed to the vision. University officials expect to make an announcement in the next two weeks.
“We are improving biomass drying equipment for faster drying equals less fuel, less cost and fewer carbon emissions. We see the University of Idaho as the go to place for innovative research in the future of bioenergy,” said Hill.
University of Idaho Sustainability Director Darin Saul sees research on woody biomass utilization as part of a larger bioenergy and bioproducts effort focused on regionally important feed stocks, including manure, oil seeds and food processing waste.
“Each feed stock has its own needs, byproducts and waste streams,” said Saul. “With this approach, we keep going cradle-to-cradle until each waste stream is turned into energy or a commercial byproduct. The goal is no waste, only energy and value-added products.”
McDonald, Saul and the bioenergy and bioproducts working group plan to collaborate with private sector partners to address identified bottlenecks in bioenergy/bioproducts industry development.
For more information about the university’s sustainability efforts, contact the University of Idaho Sustainability Center at uisc@uidaho.edu or visit www.uidaho.edu/sustainability.
About the University of Idaho
Founded in 1889, the University of Idaho is the state’s land-grant institution and its principal graduate education and research university, bringing insight and innovation to the state, the nation and the world. University researchers attract nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year. The University of Idaho is the only institution in the state to earn the prestigious Carnegie Foundation classification for high research activity. The student population of 12,302 includes first-generation college students and ethnically diverse scholars, who select from more than 130 degree options in the colleges of Agricultural and Life Sciences; Art and Architecture; Business and Economics; Education; Engineering; Law; Letters, Arts and Social Sciences; Natural Resources; and Science. The university also is charged with the statewide mission for medical education through the WWAMI program. The university combines the strength of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities and focuses on helping students to succeed and become leaders. For more information, visit www.uidaho.edu.
About Randy Hill
Randy Hill is president and chief executive officer of APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP, a company whose invention revolutionized the American peanut industry by developing semi-trailers that procure (dry) and transport peanuts and various other agricultural products. In 2007 an Advanced Trailer was used to dry woodchips by researchers at the Herty Advanced Materials Development Center in Savannah, Ga. Since that time Advanced Trailer has provided funding and or equipment to a number of universities and companies for biomass and crop residue drying research. In 2009, Advanced Trailer announced that the University of Idaho had been selected as the recipient for funding related to biomass drying research. On Dec. 8, 2010, Hill received national headlines for funding the ChargerTech initiative at Dallas Christian School in Mesquite, Texas. The nation’s first K-12 school to implement use of Apple iPads in the classroom. www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=208736
Life is what happens to us while we’re making other plans.
That’s an old saying that I’ve learned to appreciate over the years. As readers of this blog know, I was planning to make an announcement last Friday. And while that announcement is still coming, we’re having to work out a few details. This is a great reminder that things don’t always go according to plan. But they always work out in the end.
So stay tuned. The announcement will come. And it will be worth the wait!
Today we continue our series on the patent process by talking about the most important part: a new idea.
http://www.drybiomass.com/dvdorder/
As the video above demonstrates, biomass has the power to change energy policy in our country and in our world. But there is a catch: we haven’t had a way to dry the moisture out of the wood chips that fuel biomass.
Until now. The Advanced Trailer has the ability to dry, store and transport the wood chips and thereby make the dream of a biomass future that much closer to reality. That’s why it’s such great news that the Advanced Trailer has its own patent. Now we can market our trailer with the official sanction of the US government without any fear of losing our intellectual property. Our only goal is to change energy policy in this country. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
Receiving a patent for the Advanced Trailer was the culmination of a long journey. How does the patent process work?
http://www.patentit4u.com/How%20the%20patent%20process%20works.htm
Essentially, once an inventor comes up with an idea, he or she can then take the idea to the US Patent Office and try and get protection for his or her design:
“Each patent application includes a specification, any necessary drawings, an oath or declaration, and U.S. Government filing fees. Each patent application is afforded a date of filing that is the date on which the specification, drawings and at least one claim is received in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (U.S. PTO). The filing date is important for establishing a date of invention with the U.S. PTO.”
The basic policy is to encourage innovators to come up with new ideas. And the way to encourage them is to preserve their investment and their idea with legal protection.
I’m honored that the Advanced Trailer now has a patent. We’ll talk more about what that means in the next couple of days.
Last week we ended by announcing that we received a U.S. patent for our Advanced Trailer. This week we’re going to explain why that’s so important and what it means.
We’ll talk about the patent process, why we received a patent and how this could potentially change the landscape of the biomass industry.
So be sure and check us out each day this week on our blog!
Advanced Trailer Awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,779,556
For Revolutionary Semi Trailer that Dries Agricultural Products
ABILENE, TEXAS—The US Patent and Trademark Office Tuesday granted a patent for the Advanced Trailer, a product of APT Advanced Trailer & Equipment LP in Abilene, Texas. The Advanced Trailer is the only semi-trailer that has a unique drying system that can dry, store and transport peanuts and other agricultural products. This patent confirms their exclusive status as the nation’s leader in agricultural crop drying.
“This patent comes at a great time of opportunity for Advanced Trailer, our intellectual property and the industries we serve,” said Randy Hill, President & CEO of APT Advanced Trailer & Equipment LP. “This will enable Advanced Trailer to further our presence in the peanut industry and agricultural crop drying. Advanced Trailer is now prepared to aggressively move forward as we expand and diversify into the renewable and bio-energy markets.”
In addition, Hill announced that his company has entered into a new financial agreement with Regions Bank in Atlanta, Georgia.
“We are proud to provide financing for Advanced Trailer because we believe this product can revolutionize America,” said Billy Cannon of Regions Bank. “We are investing heavily in the agricultural economy and we believe that Randy will now be able to take his Advanced Trailer and transform the biomass market as well.”
APT Advanced Trailer and Equipment LP is best known for its trailers which are used to procure (dry) agricultural products. Advanced Trailer has more than 3000 drying trailers currently in service in all 10 U.S. peanut producing states across America. Recently Advanced Trailer has gained national recognition for their ongoing bio-energy research which uses their trailers to remove moisture from wood biomass products. Over the past two years Advanced Trailer has funded a number of both State University and private sector research for biomass related projects. Currently over 100 power plants in the U.S. burn biomass to create energy. For more information about Advanced Trailer please visit www.advancedtrailer.com
Today we continue our series on renewable energy. Unfortunately, there is some bad news to report:
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/08/11/renewable-energy-backers-wince-as-congress-raids-doe-coffers/
President Obama and Congressional Democrats just passed into law new spending for teachers and government employees. And from where did the extra money come?
“The $26 billion bill President Barack Obama signed Tuesday may spell relief for teachers’ unions and other public-sector employees, but it’s the latest blow for renewable energy backers. To help pay for the aid bill, lawmakers cut $1.5 billion from the Department of Energy’s renewable energy loan guarantee program. It’s the second time in roughly a year that Congress has raided the program to fund other priorities. Last summer, lawmakers cut $2 billion from the DOE’s renewable energy loan account to extend the highly popular Cash for Clunkers program. Congress has not repaid the agency that $2 billion, despite frequent promises by its leaders to do so. Taken together, the cuts have whittled the program’s budget down to $2.5 billion, less than half the $6 billion Congress appropriated in early 2009.”
Not only is this money being wasted on salaries for civil servants, but it’s taking money out of vital renewable energy programs. We need to be spending less money on government bureaucrats and more money on renewable energy projects that will help us build the future.
The next major challenge facing our state is how to continue growing and diversifying our economy.
Over the years, Texas’ economy has changed many times. In the 1800s, we saw a largely agricultural economy. Then in the 1900s we saw an oil economy. In the 1990s we saw the growth of a high-tech economy. What will Texas’ economy be in the 21st century.
I believe it will be a combination of all of the above. Texas will again be a leader in energy as it was in the 1900s. But rather than oil, we’ll become a leader in renewable energy. And how will we do it? By combining technology with agriculture. For example, rather than just having cattle on a farm, we are seeing more ranch owners put up wind mills that help generate energy for people in other parts of the state. I believe we’ll continue to see more of that.
And I’m personally interested in using my Advanced Trailer to produce biomass energy, perhaps by drying wood chips from Texas Mesquite trees.
But to make Texas the leader in renewable energy, we’ll need a Governor who understands these issues and can create a positive business climate. And that’s yet another reason why I believe we need Rick Perry back in office again.
Here is another company that is offering wood chips to help the clean up in the Gulf:
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Patriot-Energy-Services-LLC-Offers-Help-in-Gulf-of-Mexico-Clean-Up-1163816.htm
As the president of the company says:
“We have a by-product that comes from our unique process that produces a very small wood chip. These Chips are 1 inch minus in size and very buoyant. My team did some testing and realized when mixed with water and oil, the oil attaches to the surface and is absorbed into the chips themselves therefore diverting hazardous material from plant and marine life.”
While this is good news, it’s only part of the solution. We still need a vehicle that can dry the chips and make them as effective as possible when they go into the water. That’s exactly what the Advanced Trailer does. So what are we waiting on? Lets get started!
Sometimes in life the only option is also the best option. And so it is with the idea of using woodchips to cleanup the oil in the Gulf of Mexico:
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/93959229.html
The problem in the Gulf is that nothing else is working. There is simply not a way to get inside the oil booms and sweep up the oil. But woodchips can do that. As the article notes:
“Green Energy said its wood chips would be placed inside the oil booms to absorb and collect oil. The chips would then be skimmed off the surface, delivered to power plants and burned to generate energy.”
What are we waiting on? Let’s use the woodchips to clean up the oil. And let’s use the Advanced Trailer to dry and prepare the chips so that they are the most efficient way to absorb the oil.
So how exactly would wood chips clean up the oil spill in the Gulf?
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/woodchip-plan-for-gulf-oil-spill-clean-up-under-technical-review-green-energy-resources-grgr-receives-loi-for-340-million-15-year-woodchip-contract-to-the-uk-2010-05-17
The concept is simple: just like you use a towel to wipe and collect a spill in the kitchen, we could use wood chips to wipe and collect oil in the Gulf:
“…woodchips for the BP gulf oil spill is under ‘technical review’ both in Florida, where Green Energy has been activated to deploy, and in Louisiana at the BP command center overseeing operations….the plan entails utilizing woodchips inside the booms to absorb and collect oil, skim them off the top and deliver them to power plants to be burned as energy.”
Of course, the only problem with wood chips is how to deliver them to the power plants. That’s where the Advanced Trailer enters the picture. Collecting and transporting large amounts of it is what the Advanced Trailer is all about.
Last week Advanced Trailer announced that it had been asked by BP to submit a proposal for how the trailer might help in the Gulf. Here is how it all started:
According to this Fox Businss story, BP has been considering using wood chips for some time:
“Woodchips for oil containment is a proven technology listed with the Federal EPA. The woodchips are put inside the containment booms and through their honeycomb cell structure absorb the oil as well as collect it through adhesion. Unlike other technologies, woodchips don’t sink to the bottom (like peat moss) but rather can be collected and skimmed off by idled fishermen that can be employed using their nets to collect the floating woodchips at the surface. The woodchips can then be delivered to some power stations to generate electricity cleanly and efficiently, disposing of the contaminated woodchips without negative environmental impact on land or in landfills.”
And what better vehicle to deliver the chips to powerstations than the Advanced Trailer? We’re ready to go to work right now to help clean up the spill in the Gulf.
Randy Hill, President and CEO of Advanced Trailer, announced today that he has submitted an application to use trailer drying technology to help with the cleanup of the BP oil spill in the Gulf. The Advanced Trailer would be used to procure (dry) the wood chips in preparation to be used to absorb oil along beaches and shoreline in the Gulf Region. Advanced Trailers could also be a very valuable tool in transporting large amounts of wood chips to various locations in the Gulf region affected by the BP oil disaster. Randy Hill has offered BP free consulting and use of an Advanced Biomass Trailer to test how it can help in the clean up.
“The environment has been one of our primary areas of research and development over the past three years,” Hill said in making the announcement. “This is not something we originally had in mind for drying wood chips in an Advanced Trailer. But I believe I speak for all of our staff, employees and shareholders: we are happy and willing to do our part helping with cleaning up this horrible mess. Were not just selling a product, were solving problems.”
Earlier this week, BP requested that Advanced Trailer submit an application to help with the clean up process. A number of new technologies are being tried including Kevin Costner’s water separation machine. On Tuesday the ABC affiliate in Dallas, WFAA, reported that BP had ordered mulch wood products from a local company to be bagged and used to absorb oil on beaches and marshes. Advanced Trailer has received national attention for its recent work to remove moisture from woody biomass which is used in steam power plants worldwide. The use of an Advanced Trailer could potentially help lower moisture levels in the wood chips which would prepare them and increase the efficiency and amount of oil the wood will take in.
During the past year, Advanced Trailer has provided funding and equipment to a number of U.S. universities and research centers for the drying of woody biomass products. Research at the University of Idaho using the Advanced Trailer successfully reduced moisture levels from over 80% down to near zero. The dryer the wood the greater its ability to hold more oil.
Former President Bill Clinton recently made news when he talked about what to do about the BP oil spill:
http://theweek.com/article/index/204558/bill-clintons-bp-bombshell
Basically, the Clinton idea is blow the site up. Literally. But before you laugh this off, listen to him explain it. It’s not as crazy as you might think:
“Bill Clinton suggested the military may have to blow up the BP oil well. Speaking at a media forum in Cape Town, South Africa this weekend, the former president called the still-leaking well a ‘geological nightmare,’ and raised the specter of sending ‘the Navy down deep to blow up the well and cover the leak with piles and piles and piles of rock and debris.’ Clinton added that we ‘don’t have to use nuclear weapons,’ as some have suggested.”
This might be a solution worth considering. If we blew up the well and then covered it up, wouldn’t that be better than what we have now?
© 2012 Randy Hill. All Rights Reserved.