-May 16,2020-

California’s vast lithium deposits –  as much as one third of the world’s current lithium demand according to some industry estimates – are also seen as a way to propel the state’s green economy.

Lithium recovery projects awarded in May 2020 are designed to help reduce costs and environmental impact. They include:
• $6 million to BHER Minerals, LLC for a demonstration project at an existing geothermal power facility in Calipatria that can cost-effectively process at least 100 gallons of geothermal brine per minute to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate.
• $1.8 million to Palo Alto-based Materials Research LLC for a pilot-scale demonstration project that uses a newly developed sorbent material to extract lithium from brine and a separate process for the direct formation of high-purity lithium carbonate, which has additional economic value in industry and medicine.
In recent years the global demand for lithium has increased significantly as clean energy resources rapidly replace fossil fuels in the transportation, building, and energy sectors.
California’s vast lithium deposits –  as much as one third of the world’s current lithium demand according to some industry estimates – are also seen as a way to propel the state’s green economy. Deposits in the Imperial Valley alone could potentially produce up to $860 million annually in revenues, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
Because of the huge impact lithium recovery could have on the state; the ecosystem of new business, investments, and jobs it could create; and the transformative effect it would have on clean energy, some are dubbing the emerging industry as “Silicon Valley 2.0” or “Lithium Valley.”
For more information about lithium recovery efforts in California and beyond, click here to view presentations and an archived recording of the California’s Lithium Recovery Initiative Symposium held February 12, 2020.

Good time to fill that propane tank

Rural folks who depend on Propane for heat and cooking are getting a bargain right now with the wholesale price for the fuel down to 30 cents from $1 per gallon in 2019.

-May 6,2020-

The Tulare County Board of Supervisors is in support of SB 1352 (Hueso) which would require California natural gas utilities to procure at least 20 percent of gas for residential and small-to medium-sized businesses from renewable resources. They approved a letter of support this week.

In 2016, Senate Bill 1383 established a statewide goal of reducing methane emissions by 40% below 2013 levels by 2030.

“As roughly 80% of the methane emissions in California come from agricultural or solid waste sources, SB 1352 presents an enormous emissions reduction opportunity. In Tulare County, we understand the importance of responsibly reducing methane emissions due to the dairy production and processing being one of our largest industries and economic driver in the County.

 Many of our local dairies are already a part of the USDA Dairy Digester Research and Development Plan. Dairy digesters are a renewable technology that utilizes livestock manure to produce methane, which is then used as a renewable source of electrical energy generation and transportation fuel.

Utility procurement of biomethane has the potential to create in-state jobs and increase in- state economic activity, especially for rural and agricultural regions such as Tulare County. The construction and ongoing operation and maintenance of biomethane facilities will require skilled labor on-site at dairies, wastewater treatment plants, and diverted organic waste facilities. Many of these facilities fall within communities identified as disadvantaged by the state, including those in Tulare County. Our County and the San Joaquin Valley Region will greatly benefit from the increased economic activity associated with biomethane technology.”

-May 4,2020-

South Coast’s Rincon Island will lose its oil wells

A symbol of the time that oil wells covered large swaths of southern California, Rincon Island – off the south coast near Ventura- is about to lose more of its oil wells.The job should be complete by June 2021.

The state Lands Commission says they have abandoned about 60 percent of the Rincon wells. The state ended up directing the work after the owners‘ lender- UBS AG Bank granted the Commission a quitclaim in December 2017 meaning the last operational offshore oil drilling and production facility in the Santa Barbara Channel is over.

The nonprofit California’s Coastal Sanctuary will inherit it.

The latest work involves the permanent plugging and abandonment of all 75 oil and gas wells located both offshore on Rincon Island and the onshore facility (50 offshore and 25 onshore). The man-made island – some 2.3 acres was built in 1957-1958 and is 3,000 feet offshore in 55 feet of water. It is connected to the mainland by a one-lane wooden vehicular causeway known as the Richfield Pier, which contains the gas and oil pipelines. The offshore leasing of the Rincon Oil Field began from 1929 to 1931 with the issuance of leases for the lands and ended in 1955 with the issuance of a new state lease. Several different oil companies have held these leases over the years. By the end of the 1980s, Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) and Berry Petroleum Company held all the various state leasehold interests at Rincon.British Petroleum (BP), which acquired ARCO, now has this liability.

Solar project moving forward in Fresno County

Longroad Energy, a U.S.-based renewable energy developer, owner and operator, has reached financial close and started the construction of Little Bear Solar – comprising four separate projects totaling 215 MW DC – in Fresno County.

PUC upgrades emission goal – more storage in works

The state’s Public Utilities Commission set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 46 million metric tons by 2030, 56% below 1990 levels. The goal outpaces the state’s overall goal of slashing emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.

California electricity providers will need to develop nearly 25 gigawatts of renewable energy and battery storage to achieve the goal, nearly double the amount the state has currently, CPUC Commissioner Liane Randolph said in a statement. The agency anticipates 8,900 MW of energy storage will be included in that total, or about eight times more than existed in the entire United States at the end of 2018

Vistra will expand Oakland battery storage

Texas-based Vistra, who owns the mothballed power plant in Morro Bay, has announced that it is increasing the size of its battery energy storage project located at the site of its Oakland Power Plant. The battery will now have a capacity of 36.25 megawatts/145 megawatt-hours instead of the previously announced capacity of 20 MW/80 MWh. Vistra anticipates the battery storage project will enter commercial operations by January 2022. The project has received necessary approvals from East Bay Community Energy (EBCE), a Community Choice Energy provider, and from Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E).

Kings biogas project moves forward

The Hanford Biogas Cluster Project will get a hearing this week at the Kings County Planning Commission. With some incentive funding forth state the project would involve the construction, installation and operation of a 7.3-mile pipeline and a biogas upgrading facility. The primary purpose of the project is to transport raw biogas from nearby dairy facilities and upgrade that gas to natural gas standards.The biogas facility will connect Cloverdale Dairy, Wreden Ranch Dairy, and Hollandia Dairy, there are nine other bovine facilities located within the project vicinity.Biogas from the dairies will be cleaned up to use as a transportation fuel.

-April 28,2020-

Fuel sellers offering diesel fuel this week for an an average of $3.29 a gallon in California are doing pretty well considering the plunge in their wholesaler costs. 

The federal Energy Information Agency reports that the wholesale price for diesel in California is down to 58 cents a gallon this week. California taxes including the federal portion, add up to $1.11 a gallon – so sellers total cost other than overhead is $1.69 /gal. Sellers are doubling the price to the end user.

The average price for a gallon of diesel fuel across the U.S. again dropped from last Monday, according to an April 27 report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, coming it at $2.437.

Weekly average diesel fuel prices for the U.S. have been dropping since Jan. 6. This is the 16th week of decreases in the weekly average.One year ago the average U.S. price was 73.2 cents higher.

Oil prices have plunged around the world including in Kern County where the price per barrel has declined to $11 a barrel – a price  similar to what it was in the late 1980s.

-April 15,2020-

We’re in hot water!

The Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean waters have warmed to 88 degrees in some locations this month sending land temps soaring and increasing chances for violent storms, stronger hurricanes in coming months and flooding in the South and Midwest.Like last year farmers cant get into their fields. Last Friday, the state of Yucatan, Mexico tied its all-time high with 113°F in Motul…and on Sunday, Miami had its warmest April low on record: 81°F.

March 2020 was Earth’s second-warmest March in 141 years of temperature records, NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) reported in its monthly summary of global climate in the past few days.

NOAA’s report released Monday found that global land and ocean temperatures in March were 2.09 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average. That was the second-highest monthly temperature departure from average for any March in 141 years of recordkeeping, and it tied with February 2020 and December 2015 as the third-highest departure from average for any month in the 1,683-month record.

Earth’s five warmest Marches have occurred since 2015.

What if every window in your house could generate electricity?

What if every window in your house could generate electricity? One Redwood City, California-based startup thinks its technology can achieve that by transforming the way solar power is collected and harnessed.
Ubiquitous Energy has developed transparent solar cells to create its ClearView Power windows, a kind of “solar glass” that can turn sunlight into energy without needing the bluish-grey opaque panels those cells are generally associated with. The company, spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2012, hopes to use that tech to turn practically any everyday glass surface into a solar cell.
From East Bay Times

WSJ: Oil price below zero?

“The coronavirus pandemic is turning oil markets upside down.While U.S. crude futures have shed half of their value this year, prices for actual barrels of oil in some places have fallen even further. Storage around the globe is rapidly filling and, in areas where crude is hard to transport, producers could soon be forced to pay consumers to take it off their hands—effectively pushing prices below zero.”

Coal production heads south

For the week ended April 4, 2020 the estimated U.S. coal production totaled about 10.2 million short tons.This production estimate is 6.9% lower than last week’s estimate and 22.5% lower than the production estimate in the comparable week in 2019. source EIA

Rail shipments down 16%

 

Lompoc Wind farm

Strauss Wind Energy Project is located on a 1561 acre site is 1.8 miles southwest of the City of Lompoc. It would feature 29 wind turbines producing 98-MW and would create approximately $40 million in tax revenue over its 30-year projected operation according to proponents. Opponents continue to file appeals against the project despite recent approval from California Fish and Game.

CPUC targets lower emissions

The California Public Utilities Commission recently set a target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 46 million metric tons by 2030, 56% below 1990 levels. The goal outpaces the state’s overall goal of slashing emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030.

California electricity providers will need to develop nearly 25 gigawatts of renewable energy and battery storage to achieve the goal, nearly double the amount the state has currently, CPUC Commissioner Liane Randolph said in a statement. The agency anticipates 8,900 MW of energy storage will be included in that total, or about eight times more than existed in the entire United States at the end of 2018.

Stay in place – your place!

-April 10,2020-

Turns out it is easy to cut California gas prices, after all. Just don’t go anywhere! Right now that is just what is happening. Probably at your place, no?

All across the Golden State residents are largely abiding by a stay-in-place mandate with the clear benefit being California’s slow growth in the spread of the virulent COVID 19 virus.

So it’s no wonder California gas station operators are feeling the pinch.Take a look at these webcam shots of mostly empty major highways shot today on both the Central Coast and around the San Joaquin Valley.

California’s 10,000 gas stations are looking at a decline of 40 to 70% of the average amount of gas sold in April according to a Sacramento trade group.

James Allison, spokesman for California Fuels and Convenience Alliance, says stay-at-home customers are not buying gas but not coming inside either to buy convenience items, where many small operators make their money.”It’s definitiley hurting but so are all of us” he admits.

Despite tougher regulations, Allison says “there has been resurgence in the number of gas stations in the state” as well as an increase in their size and array of offerings. “We are seeing more selection of fresh and healthy food items’ bigger variety of beverages and more automotive items.”

Unfortunately this larger selection is just sitting there as demand, for now, having dried up.

Demand is also down across the US says oil analyst Tom Kloza.

“Gasoline demand continues to drop, although the pace of the decline has slowed a bit in April.”  Kloza expects “ that last week’s 52-year low in consumption will show up via sub-5-million b/d demand figures soon.  We haven’t plumbed the bottom yet.”

The 5 million barrel a day numbers are from the Energy Information Agency (EIA)  that show demand for gasoline nationwide is less than half it was in April of 2019.

Prices are reflecting the drop in demand. Several California gas stations are selling regular for under $2.The average is down to $2.87 a gallon compared to $3.44 at the beginning of the year and $3.92 year ago.

California wholesale fuel prices are now cheaper than NYMEX prices- typically they are the other way around.

For now prices at the pump in California are still going down a little every day according to AAA. But that could change if the major players,OPEC and Russia agree to limit production.

California is an island however and our low demand pegged to shelter in place rules and an oil price pegged to Alaskan crude may keep gas prices down here. Alaskan crude that was selling for $50 a barrel in March is for sale this week for $18.

-April 3,2020-

California-based Pacific Ethanol is on to ropes this month announcing in the past week they would look to restructure the Sacramento company after losses mounted during  the coronavirus crisis. 

In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing March 30 the company said ‘We do not expect to have sufficient liquidity to meet our anticipated working capital, debt service and other liquidity needs unless we successfully restructure our debt, sell assets, experience a significant improvement in margins and/or obtain other sources of liquidity.”

With no sign margins might improve anytime soon, the SEC statement added “If margins do not promptly and sustainably improve from current levels, we may be forced to further curtail or cease production at one or more of our operating facilities.”

The company, the largest producer and marketer of low-carbon renewable fuels in the United States but is only the 6th largest producer with nine plants including 2 in California supplying the ethanol fuel blended with California gasoline. 

The company noted the latest virus impact is not the only factor citing “significant adverse conditions throughout most of 2018 and 2019, and thus far into 2020, as a result of industry-wide record low ethanol prices due to reduced demand and high industry inventory levels.”

Plants in California include facilities in Madera and Stockton. There is one plant in Oregon and one in Idaho as well as 5 in the Midwest.

On an annualized basis they market nearly 1.0 billion gallons of ethanol and over 3.0 million tons of ethanol co-products on a dry matter basis.

In March, Pacific Ethanol secured a two-month deferral of principal and interest payments on its secured debt through May 20th, as the company works with its lenders to restructure its balance sheet and improve liquidity while continuing to pursue its strategic initiatives. To support Pacific Ethanol in these efforts, the company has engaged a Chief Restructuring Officer, Winston Mar, on a consulting basis. In addition, the company is on track to close the sale of its 74% ownership interest in Pacific Aurora, LLC to Aurora Cooperative Elevator Company, the definitive agreement for which the company signed in February.

In their investor presentation the company said they will idle at least 60%of their capacity.

Meanwhile, Pacific Ethanol says they are now  focusing on alcohol production to be used in santizers and are doing everything possible to increase capacity to meet the uptick in alcohol demand.

The collapse of oil and gas prices has further impacted fuel ethanol margins as Saudi Arabia decided to flood the global market with crude has caused gasoline and, by extension, ethanol prices to fall to multi-decade lows. This happened at a  time the supply of ethanol had grown to all time highs.

The trade war hurt ethanol exports at the same time.

Pacific Ethanol was founded in 2003 in Fresno by farmer and former California Secretary of State Bill Jones and Green Party member Neil Koehler.Their business model included extracting ethanol from the corn, and selling a byproduct of the extraction process, wet distillers grain–one of the most nutrient-rich cattle feeds available–to dairy farms in central California. It was ethanol’s capability of serving as a total or partial replacement for gasoline that prompted the federal government to encourage its use in the wake of the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973. 

Legislation including the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1992, mandated the use of oxygenated fuels in certain areas, but the market for oxygenates quickly was dominated by another smog-fighting gasoline additive, Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether, or MTBE, derived from natural gas and petroleum. At the turn of the century, however, MTBE began to lose its grip on the market. In 1999, some states began to ban MTBE’s use after it was discovered that the additive polluted groundwater and caused cancer in animals, prompting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to recommend a national ban the following year.

As the outlook for MTBE soured, ethanol, including a derivative of ethanol, Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE), stood as the only other commercially viable way to make mandated oxygenated fuel.

Pacific Ethanol, has claimed their renewable fuel helps to clear the air.“Ethanol a clear net benefit. As a fuel additive, ethanol changes the emissions profile of gasoline, creating a cleaner, safer motor fuel. Real-world evidence demonstrates that ethanol blending reduces municipal smog levels and cuts down on atmospheric concentrations of harmful toxins.” the company said.

-March 28,2020-

Kern oil industry suffers

Rural Fresno gas stations are leading the way as gasoline prices continue  to plunge in California and nationwide. Two stations  -one in Reedley and one in Auberry are now offering fuel for under $2 a gallon, one at $1.98 today and one at $1.99 according to Gas Buddy.In th Midwest and South more
stations are selling fuel for 99 cents. The US oil industry is reeling due the the sudden collapse of prices worldwide  due to Saudi Arabia’s price war.Kern crude is selling for $18 a barrel as of today.It was priced at $46 in early March and $64 in January -almost a 70% decline.

TV station 17 of Bakersfield interviewed a Kern producer. “Local independent oil producer Chad Hathaway admitted the numbers look scary.

“I was trying not to watch,” said Hathaway, president of Hathaway LLC. “Yeah, (the price has) cratered… It’s cratered quite a bit… I’m not looking because I don’t want to jinx it.”

Hathaway, like many, has ratcheted back in a big way.“For me this is my third downturn, substantial turndown,” he said. “And I grew up around it as well.

“We act immediately. We can’t afford to get into the red ink too much for too long. We have to start cutting back. We cut our capital projects. We cut our workforce. We cut our hours. We cut everything and anything that we can.”

 

Renewable milk cartons are here

Clover Sonoma, a third-generation family-owned and operated dairy, today announced its B Corporation recertification and the first fully renewable plant-based milk carton in the United States as part of its continued focus on sustainability. As a result of better employee and community engagement, environmental standards, and corporate governance, the company received an improved score of 100.5 during its B Corporation recertification. Clover Sonoma attained a 96.9 score during its original certification in 2016. During its three-year certification term, Clover Sonoma’s commitment to curating its relationships with farmers, employees, community, suppliers, and consumers across California has improved its social and environmental impact, and influence as a mission-driven business.

-March 25,2020-

California gasoline prices approach $2/gallon

The one-two punch of the virus war and surprise oil trade war may be helping to lower California motorists gas prices approaching $2 a gallon this month but it is devastating the oil-based economies of not just California but in Texas,Pennsylvania,Mexico and Canada while boosting Saudi Arabia.

Gas Buddy reports that the lowest price in California is ratcheting down daily – nearing the $2 level  -$2.17 in Selma  California today – compared to as little as $1 at a few stations in the Midwest and South, 99 cents in Oklahoma and Tennessee.

Farmers will be able tho save on diesel for their Spring planting season but they wont be cheering for any kind of world depression.

Kern oil is selling for $20 a barrel this week( lowest in decades) while Mexico’s crude is down to $14 and Canada’s western oil price has sunk to $5 a barrel. Meanwhile Saudi Arabia’s price war has likely bankrupted the US shale oil industry and threatens to make the US a net oil importer again. California already gets 29% of our oil from Saudi Arabia.

The collapse of energy prices is part coronavirus crisis combined with Saudi and Russian refusals to curb production.The competition has forced the suspension of a Shell project that Trump touted in Western Pennsylvania last summer to bring jobs to that state. Texas is in the same sinking boat.

Politco reports that “ The crash is also estimated to knock out about half of all shale producers, according to analysts at Raymond James Inc., if prices remain at between $20 and $30 per barrel. (The price as of midday Monday was $22.73 per barrel by the standard West Texas Intermediate benchmark.) A price at that level would cost thousands of jobs and deal a serious blow to the vision of U.S. energy independence. 

“There is no sugar coating it, U.S. oilfield activity will collapse with oil prices well below $30,” on the WTI benchmark, said analyst Praveen Narra of Raymond James in a market update published on March 23. “The pace of rig count declines is likely to occur at a pace we have not seen before.”

Worse, some industry executives say, Trump seems either not to recognize the threat or to be unwilling or unable to address it, touting instead his excitement over lower prices for consumers.

“Good for the consumer, gasoline prices coming down!” Trump tweeted on March 9, as the domestic oil price fell by 25 percent.”

Ethanol producers have that sinking feeling

With the Trump administration undecided on who to back in a closely watched court battle between the oil industry and the Midwest corn ethanol sector, prices for ethanol blended with gasoline are following gas prices to the basement as well as to economic ruin.

Domestically, the Trump administration has granted waivers to petroleum refiners, allowing them not to follow federal mandates to blend ethanol into motor fuel. Now a court may limit those waivers.

Some ethanol companies (Poet) are shutting down and California-based Pacific Ethanol is hurting with its stock price down around 24 cents.

The US could help clear Mexican skies if they would buy US made  ethanol but recently the Mexican Supreme Court ruled against the modification of a fuel rule that would have allowed higher ethanol content in gasoline, similar to content rules in the US, arguing that regulators exceeded their authority.

Distillers switch to hand sanitizers

Distillers including Tito’s Handmade Vodka are using their excess alcohol to make hand sanitizers, after federal regulators loosened restrictions on producing sanitizers amid a nationwide shortage reports the Wall Street Journal.

Carbon capture plan produces liquid fuel

Liquid fuels produced with renewable energy could be cost competitive with petrol and gasoline within the next two years, according to a new commentary published on the prospects of ‘direct air capture’ techniques that convert carbon dioxide into net zero emission fuels.

The prospects for cost competitive renewable fuels have been detailed by the founder and CEO of silicon valley start-up Prometheus, Rob McGinnis, in the academic journal Joule. Prometheus is a US-based company that is commercialising techniques for drawing carbon dioxide from the air and using it to produce liquid fuels.

“Recent breakthroughs in separations and catalysis, along with long-trend reductions in solar and wind electricity costs, have significantly increased the potential for cost-competitive renewable fuels from direct air capture (DAC) of CO2,” McGinnis says in the paper.

The “DAC” technique being developed by Prometheus captures carbon dioxide from the air and dissolves it in water. The process then uses a form of electrolysis to combine carbon and hydrogen together to produce a form of syngas.

The process, which effectively combines a form of carbon capture with the production of  renewable fuel, could be a key tool in reducing emissions in the transport sector.

 

-March 9,2020-

Energy notes

Kern County’s future could include carbon sequestration

The Bay Area’s Lawerence Livermore Lab has proposed a green future for Kern County if they back plans to bury 125 megatons per year of carbon dioxide by 2045 through land management practices, waste material processing, capturing atmospheric CO2 and storing the gas deep underground.

This week the Kern Board of Supervisors said they would consider the plan.

The Bakersfield Californian describes the technology this way.

The findings draw upon technologies that have existed for years but have not been attempted at very large scale. They suggest the local economy might be able to avoid fallout from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality, in part, by managing the decline of California’s Kern-centric oil industry.

Notably, the report also points to Kern’s previously recognized geologic capacity for storing CO2 in oil formations deep underground.

Two ambitious “carbon sequestration” projects, one of which was abandoned in 2016 for various reasons, proposed permanently burying the gas in the county’s western reaches. Both initiatives touted the dual value of sequestering CO2 and using it to promote local oil production.

Authors at Lawrence Livermore wrote in a summary of their report, “Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California,” that the entire effort would cost less than $10 billion per year, or less than half of 1 percent of the state’s economic output.

“This, I call the ‘no kidding, this is actually how you do it, no miracles’ path to carbon neutrality, which not coincidentally has enormous opportunities for the southern San Joaquin Valley,” Steven Bohlen, a program manager at Lawrence Livermore, told supervisors on Feb. 25. “I gave a talk at the energy summit here in the fall, and the title of my talk was ‘Where Is the Next Valley of Innovation in California,’ and I made a case that it’s right here.”

The study calls for 17 million tons of carbon dioxide to be taken out of the air, through a method known as direct air capture, and stored underground. Kern County’s vast network of underground oil formations are ideal for storing CO2, according to the Livermore lab, introducing the possibility that after a hundred years of taking substances out of the ground, Kern County could be in for another hundred years of putting substances back in.

“We already know that nature has stored petroleum for millions of years, and putting CO2 in there — which is much like petroleum — it’ll stay there for millions of years as well,” Bohlen said.

They said their plan would create new jobs, mostly in the Central Valley and northern counties, and have environmental benefits apart from achieving a net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

“The value of pursuing negative emissions extends beyond carbon … and includes improved air and water quality, ecosystem health and resilience, wildfire prevention, exportable technological innovation and economic development in the Central Valley,” the authors wrote.

Fresno County Solar Projects Purchased

US-headquartered First Solar, Inc. announced this month that Longroad Energy has acquired four solar projects with a combined capacity of 160-megawatts. Located in Fresno County the projects, called Little Bear are backed  by a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a Community Choice Aggregator  Marin Clean Energy (MCE). The projects, which range from 20MWAC to 50MWAC and are expected to be completed by the end of the fourth quarter of 2020, are designed to have a low impact on local land and water resources, and the environment. In addition to creating approximately 500 jobs during the construction of the facility, Little Bear Solar is also expected to benefit local businesses.

Longroad is owned by the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, Infratil Limited, and Long road Energy Partners, LLC.