Renova Energy Share Discussion Threads

[the_doctor] 03/4/2008 10:11

How much debt do they need to restructure please?

Debt to equity swap coming?

[seanmiller] 03/4/2008 10:09

3v1

see, if people buy enough it goes back up................and as usual the fundementals are ignored lol.

classic investing, and a traders paradise.

[seanmiller] 03/4/2008 09:58

"you just cant beat market sentiment, poor companies go up, good companies go down.
people will make money trading these shares lol"


lol, meant this was a poor company going back up due to PI's getting stuck in on the drop. As I said though, very good stock to trade in for one day only .......today

[asparks] 03/4/2008 09:44

"LNR is now the only AIM listed Renewables Co. with earnings." according to its CEO. Is that correct?

Excellent results out today btw

[motoben] 03/4/2008 09:40

so is this a good company? when the directors were unaware of a huge cost overrun.
they wont get the funding because the banks are asking for a much bigger proportion of share equity now and it would be many multiplies of the market cap.
sell what they have and dislove the company is the way i see it going

[seanmiller] 03/4/2008 09:29

lol, bouncing now.

you just cant beat market sentiment, poor companies go up, good companies go down.

people will make money trading these shares lol

[seanmiller] 03/4/2008 09:13

lol - bouncing back.

level 2 is 3v1 for anyone who cares, pehaps I should get back to doing some work lol

price 5.0-5.5p

[wavydavy22] 03/4/2008 09:06

Bust within months

[asparks] 02/4/2008 12:17

its stuffed

[stefan2006] 02/4/2008 11:58

There is some news out on these today - can anyone enlighten me as to what it means please.

[chairman2] 25/3/2008 22:36

nobody luv's ya when your down an out!

[crystalclear] 24/2/2008 09:44

Ethanol can be made by distilling a sort of beer made from fermenting corn.
Distillation requires heat to boil off the alcohol and recondense it.

Can anybody tell me whether the power used to create the heat will come from oil or from the ethanol they make. If biofuels are all a big con, then clearly oil has to be used as the power source. If biofuels make a net contribution to society then the distillation can be powered by a part of the fuel they create; some could be used for the tractors that plow the fields, some could be used to power the process that extracts nitrogen from the atmosphere to spread it on the ground in the form of fertlizer, and the rest can be used to power our cars etc.

If biofuels are all a big con, then there would be nothing left over.

I know there is lots of politically biased discussion and also a genuine amount of doubt. That's why I am reducing it to basics. A factory that makes florescent light bulbs will clearly be lit by the fluorescent light bulbs.
An electric power station will be lit by electricity from the stations output [though there is clearly a case to be made for having a backup!].

So can somebody help me get this into investing perspective please. The distilling process for ethanol production is powered by the agrifuels themselves, and not by oil. Am I right?

[motoben] 14/2/2008 16:46

LifeLine Foods to fuel IndyCar Series
By By Kris Bevill

Web exclusive posted Feb. 14, 2008, at 10:10 a.m. CST

When drivers start their engines at the opening IndyCar Series race March 29 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, members of LifeLine Foods Co-op may be cheering whether they're racing fans or not. That's because the St. Joseph, Mo.-based corn processor is this year's official supplier of the 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol that will be used in all Indy race cars. LifeLine was selected as the fuel supplier after submitting a winning bid to the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC). The company will supply approximately 12,000 gallons of fuel to the IndyCar Series throughout the 16-race series.

EPIC spokeswoman Joanna Schroeder said the council and IndyCar reviewed the potential fuel supplier bids, but EPIC made the final decision. Lifeline was chosen for several reasons, she said. "LifeLine is a very unique plant and has a great story."

LifeLine is the first plant in United States to produce both food and fuel from corn in one process, according to Schroeder. Portions of the corn kernels are processed for use in potato chips, cheese crisps and other various foods while other portions become ethanol and distillers grains.

"In addition, there are particular fuel specifications relating to motor sports, and [LifeLine] understood those fuel specs very well," Schroeder said. She added that LifeLine worked with last season's fuel supplier Renova Energy to ensure success in meeting those fuel specs. Renova didn't submit a proposal to become this year's ethanol supplier.

LifeLine will monitor the quality of its ethanol before shipping the fuel to Indianapolis, where it will be stored at Superior Solvents and Chemicals Inc. From there, chemists and technicians will load the ethanol into tankers and distribute it to each racing event.

"Obviously it's really important when you're producing fuel for multi-million dollar race cars that your fuel is really top-notch, and LifeLine is a great partner to work with us on that," Schroeder said. "The ethanol industry in general always produces very high-quality fuel, and [LifeLine] just takes it to that next step."

[bpoole] 11/2/2008 08:47

Something stirring in the corn fields?

[jailbird] 10/2/2008 12:49

rally?!...i say the bigger want out..funding on the way..probably somwhere sub 10p

[davethechef] 09/2/2008 12:31

Brief mention in today's Daily Mail, starts by saying 'Watch for the rally at ethanol fuel producer Renova Energy'...

[motoben] 08/2/2008 17:06

anyone know of an up to date major shareholder list, the rva website is so out of date as blackrock is listed as owning 7.5% instead of the 0 that they have now.

was trying to work out who is left and could have sold that big batch today 1,925,000 is about 6% of total shares. could only have been -
artimis . 10.53% / 3,440,000
saracen 7.76% / 2,535,000
framlington 7.41% / 2,420,800
rathbone brothers 6.12% / 2,000,000

or a director as they hold a large chunk so at least its in their interests to get a good deal
guess we find out next week with an rns.
i thought any holdings above 3% had to be notified on the website to comply with aim rules.


its good that the banks have agreed to suspend the immediate repayment of loans, theres a small article in the ethanol producer magazine about how small plants may be coming back into fashion due to them being so much closer to corn/whatever, markets for ethanol and water, some of the big 100mmg plants are struggling to transport everything economically.

[the_doctor] 08/2/2008 12:17

Im not a holder, just interested

[the_doctor] 08/2/2008 12:11

Anyone know why/how they managed to go so far over project cost estimates?

[opmoc] 08/2/2008 11:57

Biofuels make climate change worse, scientific study concludes

From today's Independent


By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Friday, 8 February 2008

Growing crops to make biofuels results in vast amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere and does nothing to stop climate change or global warming, according to the first thorough scientific audit of a biofuel's carbon budget.

Scientists have produced damning evidence to suggest that biofuels could be one of the biggest environmental con-tricks because they actually make global warming worse by adding to the man-made emissions of carbon dioxide that they are supposed to curb. Two separate studies published in the journal Science show that a range of biofuel crops now being grown to produce "green" alternatives to oil-based fossil fuels release far more carbon dioxide into the air than can be absorbed by the growing plants.

The scientists found that, in the case of some crops, it would take several centuries of growing them to pay off the "carbon debt" caused by their initial cultivation. Those environmental costs do not take into account any extra destruction to the environment, for instance the loss of biodiversity caused by clearing tracts of pristine rainforest.

"All the biofuels we use now cause habitat destruction, either directly or indirectly. Global agriculture is already producing food for six billion people. Producing food-based biofuel, too, will require that still more land be converted to agriculture," said Joe Fargioine of the US Nature Conservancy who was the lead scientist in one of the studies.

The scientists carried out the sort of analysis that has been missing in the rush to grow biofuels, encouraged by policies in the United States and Europe where proponents have been keen to extol biofuels' virtues as a green alternative to the fossil fuels used for transport.

Both studies looked at how much carbon dioxide is released when a piece of land is converted into a biofuel crop. They found that when peat lands in Indonesia are converted into palm-oil plantations, for instance, it would take 423 years to pay off the carbon debt.

The next worse case was when forested land in the Amazon is cut down to convert into soybean fields. The scientists found that it would take 319 years of making biodiesel from the soybeans to pay of the carbon debt caused by chopping down the trees in the first place.

Such conversions of land to grow corn (maize) and sugarcane for biodiesel, or palm oil and soybean for bioethanol, release between 17 and 420 times more carbon than the annual savings from replacing fossil fuels, the scientists calculated.

"This research examines the conversion of land for biofuels and asks the question 'is it worth it?' Does the carbon you lose by converting forests, grasslands and peat lands outweigh the carbon you 'save' by using biofuels instead of fossil fuels?" Dr Fargione said.

"And surprisingly the answer is 'no'. These natural areas store a lot of carbon, so converting them to croplands results in tons of carbon emitted into the atmosphere," he said.

The demand for biofuels is destroying the environment in other ways. American farmers for instance used to rotate between soybean and corn crops but the demand for biofuel has meant that they are growing corn only. As a result, Brazilian farmers are cutting down forests to grow soybean to meet the shortfall in production.

"In finding solutions to climate change, we must ensure that the cure is not worse than the disease," said Jimmie Powell, a member of the scientific team at the Nature Conservancy.

"We cannot afford to ignore the consequences of converting land for biofuels. Doing so means we might unintentionally promote fuel alternatives that are worse than the fossil fuels they are designed to replace. These findings should be incorporated into carbon emission policy going forward," Dr Powell said yesterday.

The European Union is already having second thoughts about its policy aimed at stimulating the production of biofuel. Stavros Dimas, the EU environment commissioner, admitted last month that the EU did not foresee the scale of the environmental problems raised by Europe's target of deriving 10 per cent of its transport fuel from plant material.

Professor John Pickett, chair of the recent study on biofuels commissioned by the Royal Society, said that although biofuels may play an important role in cutting greenhouse gases from transport, it is important to remember that one biofuel is not the same as another.

"The greenhouse gas savings that a biofuel can provide are dependent on how crops are grown and converted and how the fuel is used," Professor Pickett said. "Given that biofuels are already entering global markets, it will be vital to apply carbon certification and sustainability criteria to the assessment of biofuels to promote those that are good for people and the environment. This must happen at an international level so that we do not just transfer any potentially negative effects of these fuels from one place to another."

Professor Stephen Polasky of the University of Minnesota, an author of one of the studies published in Science, said that the incentives currently employed to encourage farmers to grow crops for biofuels do not take into account the carbon budget of the crop.

"We don't have the proper incentives in place because landowners are rewarded for producing palm oil and other products but not rewarded for carbon management. This creates incentives for excessive land clearing and can result in large increases in carbon emissions," Professor Polasky said.

[motoben] 30/1/2008 12:32

Boom or bust?
Will M.V. ethanol gold rush pan out?
By Matt Christensen
Times-News writer

What was once hyped as a regional ethanol boom could be headed for bust. After much fanfare about a regional piece of the ethanol pie, the industry is struggling to get off the ground in southern Idaho. Crop experts are downplaying the significance of a corn surge on the valley's ag sector. Politicians are asking questions about the industry's effects on trade and the environment. Local contractors have walked off the job site at one of the plants near Heyburn, where construction has halted.

The future seemed much brighter just a year ago, when plans for two Cassia County ethanol plants were announced by Renova Energy, a London-based company with offices in Boise, and Pacific Ethanol, a California business. The facilities would be the state's first commercial fuel-grade ethanol facilities, and company officials lauded the economic surge that would come from 70 new jobs. They touted the environmental benefits of 70 million gallons of environmentally friendly fuel that could be produced at the plants each year. Agriculture specialists were excited about diversifying the southern Idaho ag market to include more corn, which is not a traditionally popular southern Idaho crop.

Kernels to cash

Ethanol producers prefer corn, which is a cheaper source for ethanol than potatoes or barley. As a result, corn is being grown in record numbers in states not known for their corn production.

In 2007, U.S. farmers planted the most corn in a season since 1944, up 12 percent from just the year before, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In Idaho, farmers planted more corn than ever: an estimated 300,000 acres - almost 100,000 acres more than just four years ago.

But much of that Idaho corn won't reach an ethanol plant: It winds up in the stomachs of cows.

Ethanol production from Idaho-raised corn may simply not be economical, because livestock producers are willing to pay more for corn than ethanol plants can afford.

In Iowa, a state that leads the nation in corn and ethanol production, corn sold last year for about $3.15 a bushel. In Idaho, corn cost 60 cents more, at $3.75 a bushel.

Corn prices in both states have increased significantly in the past two years, but nowhere near the economic growth seen in Idaho's dairy industry.

In just one year, dairy industry revenue nearly doubled, from $1.28 billion in 2006 to just over $2 billion in 2007, according to University of Idaho economists.

"The guys in the livestock industry are going to pay what they're going to pay," said Steve Hines, a crop specialist with the University of Idaho, who recently finished a report on biofuels in the Magic Valley. "There are just not a lot of incentives for farmers to change what they're doing now."

Traditional Magic Valley crops such as wheat and barley are selling for near record prices, which also keeps farmers from switching to corn that could support the ethanol plants, he said.

Corn is also a water-intense crop, Hines said, which isn't attractive to farmers who are struggling through a drought and water crisis or have money invested in equipment for other crops.

Hines predicts the Magic Valley ethanol plants will have to import most of their corn from Midwestern states, where, despite record harvests, farmers are struggling to produce enough corn to meet ethanol plants' demands.

Ethanol company officials say they'll import most of their corn at first but that local farmers could sell to the plants once they're up and running.

Hines isn't so sure.

"As more ethanol plants come on line, I don't think we'll be able to grow enough corn to meet their needs," Hines said.

The ethanol explosion

There were just 50 ethanol plants in 17 states in 1999, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, a biofuels advocacy group. Eight years later, 134 plants are scattered across 26 states, with 77 more facilities under expansion or construction, including the two in southern Idaho.

Much of the growth can be credited to heavy government subsidies for ethanol producers, which are expected to be extended in the farm bill currently before Congress, and to oil companies' willingness to form long-term deals with ethanol producers.

In fact, most ethanol sold in the U.S. is through long-term, fixed price contracts with oil companies, according to the ethanol industry's trade association. The means the price an oil company pays for ethanol doesn't fluctuate, even when the market does. Some contracts are tied to a gasoline benchmark, so that when gas prices fluctuate, the oil company pays. The smallest amount of contracts is sold on the "spot" market. Last week, ethanol was selling for about $2.35 a gallon.

Producing ethanol from corn costs between $1 and $2 per gallon, depending on who you ask.

The potential for profits has increased competition in the market, which has hurt some companies, including Pacific and Renova. In the past year, stocks in both companies have plummeted. Pacific halted construction of an ethanol plant in December near Calipatria, Calif. Renova recently stopped trading its stock on the London stock exchange for three weeks, prompting local contractors to walk off the job site near Heyburn.

The company resumed trading this month, but workers haven't returned.

"I'm worried I won't get paid," said John Kloepfer, part-owner of a paving company that was working on the plant. Renova owes his business almost $250,000 and as much as $1 million to other contractors.

Kloepfer said the hit to local contractors and the regional economy could be tremendous should the plans collapse. But even if the plans are successful, some worry the ethanol plants will harm existing local businesses, such as the Scoular Co., which sells distillers grain, a byproduct from ethanol production that producers feed to livestock.

An earful for dairies

Nearly every dairy in the area feeds distillers grains, much of it bought from Scoular, said Todd Strayer, a business manager in the company's Jerome office.

Ranchers and dairymen are in an unusual position in the ethanol picture: They're forced to pay higher prices for corn, a staple for their livestock, but they're paying less for distillers grain, which has become more popular as a feed supplement.

Both Renova and Pacific have said they'll sell distillers grain to livestock producers in the area.

Globally, it's not just dairymen feeling the pinch. Speculative demand for corn has driven prices so high, countries dependent on U.S. imports can't afford to feed their poorest residents. In Mexico, for example, tortilla prices tripled and prompted President Felipe Calderon to cap tortilla prices last January at 77 cents per kilogram - about half their peak value. Tens of thousands of protestors marched in Mexico City in February when the cap was largely ignored. At the time, Mexico's Economy Minister Eduardo Sojo blamed ethanol, saying food corn supplies had dwindled.

U.S. politicians are still trying to sort out the repercussions of the ethanol boom. U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, is one of them. An ethanol advocate, Simpson said he's now concerned with the effects of ethanol on trade, including the so-called Mexican tortilla riots, and the environmental consequences of ethanol.

Some environmentalists have blamed the ethanol industry for a large "dead zone" at the mouth of the Mississippi River, where scientists suspect nitrogen fertilizer runoff from increased corn production is killing aquatic life.

A federal report released in the fall warns that increased nitrogen application could threaten groundwater quality. The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality lists the Magic Valley as a high priority area for current groundwater pollution due to nitrogen that could be from fertilizer runoff.

Ethanol supporters say more corn takes greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, but skeptics say the fuel it takes to grow and ship more corn negates the deductions.

It depends on how you do the math, Simpson said.

Despite these concerns, Simpson still sees a bright future for ethanol in Idaho. "I've been a supporter of ethanol, and I think it should be used more widely," he said. "And Idaho could be a center of production for it."

Neil Koehler, Pacific's president and CEO, agrees. His company's plant is scheduled to be finished before the end of summer, and workers for the plant have already been hired. He's not concerned Renova's problems are an indication of a limping industry.

"We're still really excited about ethanol in Idaho," he said. "We're on the final lap of finishing the plant, and we're still going strong."

That remains to be seen for the industry at large, here in the Magic Valley.

Renova needs to renew investor interest in the Heyburn plant. Company officials have indicated, through the company's Web site, they would tour the plant site with investors this month. Calls to the company's Boise office were not returned for this story.

In the meantime, Magic Valley contractors, businessmen and farmers will wait, hoping to find the gold at the end of the ethanol rainbow before it collapses.

Matt Christensen may be reached at 735-3243 or at [e-mail].