On the GreenBeat: Hara announces Abu Dhabi deal, ethanol braces for subsidy cuts

Here are the stories we’re following today on the GreenBeat:

The U.S. ethanol industry is bracing for subsidy cuts — Ethanol subsidies that offer tax credits to fuel blenders and place tariffs on imported ethanol are due to expire at the end of this year. Analysts say that Congressional renewal of such subsidies will be difficult and that there would likely be an immediate drop of 10 to 15 percent in ethanol production if the measures do not pass, Reuters reports. Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla writes on Greentech Media that it’s “time to move on” from subsidizing ethanol, arguing that biofuels have evolved to the point where they are becoming cost competitive with oil.

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Hara gets big deal with United Arab Emirates — In a multi-year, multimillion-dollar deal, the energy efficiency software company expects to save the state-run Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority $3 billion over 10 years. Hara also estimates that its peak demand reductions will allow for the deferred construction of several 500-megawatt conventional natural gas power plants and net energy savings of over 12,000 gigawatt-hours by 2020.

Alstom will fund Codexis and CO2 Solution’s carbon capture research — Power and transportation conglomerate Alstom will help fund the joint effort, in which biofuels company Codexis took a 16.6 percent stake in CO2 Solutions for $2 million last year. The two companies are working on carbonic anhydrase enzymes, which have shown promise in decreasing the costs of capturing carbon in coal-fired power plants, Bloomberg reports.

DOE funds french smart grid demonstration project – French conglomerate Alstom was one of five chosen for $6 million in federal funding that will optimize the U.S. electrical grid with smart grid technologies. The Alstom Grid is designed to integrate distributed energy and renewable energy into the grid, Power-Gen Worldwide reports.

Cleantech blog names the best and worst green investors — The list names CMEA, Bayard Capital and CalPERS among the top. CMEA backed the risky Solyndra venture and is also behind some top cleantech IPOs in recent memory, like A123 and Codexis. On the blacklist: cellulostic ethanol investors as well as Advanced Equities and Kleiner Perkins.

[Image from Flickr/La Grande Farmer’s Market]