Domestic Fuel

Despite the government’s best efforts to be all-inclusive with the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference, it’s all too obvious that liquid fuels are the main attraction. That was evidenced by the attendance at the afternoon break-out sessions – one on heat and electricity and one on liquid fuels. The liquid fuels session was SRO, probably around 600-700 people, if not more. I’m not good at judging that stuff – I just know it was full – and they were actually scanning our name badges at the doors to get an accurate count, so I should know that at some point.

Anyway, point being, the heat and electricity session was half empty, as you can see by the picture. The room was also laid out differently, with tables and chairs, instead of just chairs – so I would estimate the attendance was maybe a quarter of what the fuels session was, at the most. Not that there are not exciting things going on with renewables in heat and electricity – just that the big money and interest is obviously in the fuel field.

The US Secretaries of Agriculture and Energy are the hosts of the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis this week. Both addressed the crowd, estimated at upwards of 1500 people, showing the huge interest in renewable energy nationwide.

Both Secretaries talked about the great need for cellulosic ethanol – in fact, just about every speaker today has at least touched on the topic. Secretary Johanns had the pleasure of announcing $17.5 million dollars in biofuels research and development grants, funded jointly by USDA and DOE. “Developing renewable energy is a priority for the Bush administration,” said Johanns. The 17 projects to be funded by this grant money include projects such as development of commercial corn hybrids for cellulosic biomass to ethanol, willow biomass crop management, waste biomass feedstocks for ethanol production, and doubling switchgrass yield by 2020 for cellulosic ethanol.

Johanns took on a few of the arguments of the (mostly ethanol) “naysayers,” starting with the claim that ethanol costs too much to be competitive with oil without subsidies.
“It costs about $1.10 to produce a gallon of ethanol,” said Johanns. “In fact, ethanol will continue to be competitive with gasoline as long as oil prices don’t drop below $30 per barrel.”

Regarding whether we can produce enough corn to meet the demand, Johanns said people who say that, “haven’t met the same farmers I have.” Johanns added that USDA economists estimate that ethanol production “could nearly double in the next five years, without forcing us to choose between corn for food or for fuel,” and he added that research into new varieties, biomass and new technology will make that happen.

Secretary Bodman noted some of the exciting research the Department of Energy is doing in rapid DNA sequencing and advanced light sources which are making “energy from biomass more promising than any time before.”

Bodman says the goal of the administration is to make cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive by 2012, but that their efforts “are not confined exclusively to cellulosic ethanol. We are also sponsoring promising research on other biofuels from biomass, inlcuding bidiesel, biofuels for aviation, and biologically produced or inspired hydrogen and other fuels from sunlight.”

Listen to a segment of Johanns’ remarks here: Johanns (5 min MP3)

Listen to a segment of Bodman’s remarks here: Bodman (3 min MP3)

Coverage of the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

There’s a huge crowd at the America’s Center in St. Louis for the Advancing Renewable Energy Conference. First main speaker up was Pat Woertz, CEO for ADM, who gave an impressive address on how we can and must meet the energy and food needs of the world.

Coming up shortly will be the US Secretaries of Energy and Agriculture. More to come with coverage sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

President Bush is now confirmed to be the grand finale for the Renewable Energy Conference this week in St. Louis. He will make the final address on Thursday to attendees at the event, who will be hearing from other top administration officials on Wednesday, including Secretary of Energy Sam Bodman and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns.

Just about everybody who is anybody in the renewable energy business will be in St. Louis this week. The conference includes liquid fuels like ethanol and biodiesel, as well as other bioproducts and renewable sources for electricity and heat. See the whole conference agenda here.

I will be bringing you as much of this event as possible, courtesy of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, which is sponsoring coverage of the conference.

See you in St. Louis!

The newest breed of Dodge Ram comes factory-fueled with biodiesel.

Under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis Tuesday, representatives from the National Biodiesel Board and Daimler-Chrysler announced that every 2007 Dodge Ram diesel coming off the assembly line at the company’s Fenton, Missouri north plant will be fueled with B5, a blend containing 5 percent biodiesel made from soybeans grown in the U.S. (read full release)

According to Reginald Modlin, Director of Environmental Affairs for Daimler Chrysler, delivering their diesel vehicles fueled with biodiesel is a first step in educating customers about the advantages of the fuel.

“We want to have our diesel products seen as environmentally-responsible products, which they are,” said Modlin. “We have also seen the public taking a great interest in renewable fuels, so we see a great opportunity here for manufacturers to get the word out that biofuels help reduce greenhouse gases and emissions over all. In addition, the natural lubricity of biodiesel actually helps us with engine maintenance. So, it’s an all around win for our customers.”

“What Chrysler is doing is advocating biodiesel blends in this advanced diesel technology,”said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board, the industry’s nonprofit trade association. “They were the first to promote the use of B20 for fleets in the Dodge Ram. They are really leading the way in terms of promoting energy conservation and renewable energy.”

Listen to my interview with Reg Modlin here: Reg Modlin (5 min MP3)

Listen to my interview with Joe Jobe here: Joe Jobe (5 min MP3)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.4MB)

The New York Times reports that two ethanol giants are talking about joining forces.

Undisputed ethanol production king ADM met with with ethanol’s financial guru Vinod Khosla to “discuss opportunities they might pursue together” regarding cellulosic ethanol according to ADM CEO Patricia Woertz.

ADM has a solid investment in ethanol from corn while Khosla, the founding chief executive of Sun Microsystems, has been investing in companies working on cellulosic ethanol and other alternative fuels.

Both Woertz and Khosla will be speaking at the USDA/DOE Renewable Energy Conference on Wednesday.

Here’s an article on ADM CEO Pat Woertz, who will be one of the many speakers at this week’s Renewable Energy Conference in St. Louis.

The story talks about Woertz’s former life as a Chevron executive and her opposition to ethanol at the time, which she said was “tied to federal clean-air standards for vehicle emissions and the debate over how to meet them.” Now she says, “Things have evolved,” she said, and the oil industry and ethanol producers “have come to work much more closely on the fuel supplies for this country.”

Construction of Pacific Ethanol’s first plant in Madera, California is now finished and the ribbon will be cut on October 16. The 35 million gallon plant will then begin construction and should reach capacity by next month.

This is the plant with Microsoft money behind it (see previous post) – Bill Gates personally invested about $84 million dollars in Pacific Ethanol back in April.

The Broin Companies last week announced plans for the development and construction of Ultimate Ethanol, LLC near Alexandria, Ind.

The plant will initially produce 60 million gallons of ethanol a year, but is designed to expand to 100 million in the future.

Ultimate Ethanol will be the 29th ethanol plant built by the Broin Companies, who will provide turnkey development, design, engineering, construction, management and marketing services for the project. Broin Companies is also constructing Premier Ethanol near Portland, Ind., which is scheduled for completion next fall.

Dr. Robert Fraley, Monsanto’s Chief Technology Officer, will be one of the presenters at the Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance conference on Wednesday, October 11 in St. Louis. Dr. Fraley will be a panel speaker at the “Liquid Fuels and Bioproducts: Supply and Demand” breakout session on Wednesday afternoon. Dr. Fraley will share his scientific vision of agriculture’s role in helping to fuel our future energy demands.

St. Louis is the home of Monsanto, so the company is also offering tours for conference participants of its Crop Analytics Lab samples are analyzed daily to understand seed components and the potential energy, protein, and oil they provide for use as feed, fuel and food.

DaimlerChrysler and the National Biodiesel Board are promising a “new breed of St. Louis Ram.”

Look for a big announcement on Tuesday when representatives will discuss new programs to promote modern, clean diesel vehicles and the benefits of renewable biodiesel fuel.

The diesel Dodge Ram is produced in St. Louis.

Over 1,000 people are now registered to attend the big USDA/DOE event next week in St. Louis, Advancing Renewable Energy: An American Rural Renaissance. There are rumors that President Bush himself will be attending the conference, although he is still listed as “invited.” Chances are pretty good the boss will show up, considering the magnitude of this event and the fact that his “America’s addition to oil” state of the union address has become a rallying call for renewables nationwide this year.

Even if Bush doesn’t show, there will still be plenty of others on hand to talk about the future of domestic energy sources – from ethanol and biodiesel to wind and solar. Wednesday, October 11 is the main day of the conference, featuring some 34 speakers and panelists. Ten more are on deck for Thursday, with the President of the United States penciled in as the grand finale.

Domestic Fuel will be providing coverage of the entire event.

There are now over 1,000 E85 fueling locations in the United States, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Association.

NEVC identifies a Cenex station in Bemidji, Minnesota as the nation’s 1,000 facility.

According to a news release from NEVC, the number of stations in the country has more than doubled since October of last year when there were just 438.

The organization notes that in January of 2003 there were just 100 E85 pumps in the country. That number increased to 600 in January of this year – and now 1000 just 10 months later.

“The World’s Largest Market Research Resource” is now offering a Cellulose Ethanol Market Report. According to Dublin, Ireland-based Research and Markets, “given its environmental and economic benefits, together with the vast availability of feedstock, ethanol has taken on prominence as one of the most favored alternatives to fossil fuel.”

The Market for Cellulose Ethanol report is an in-depth analysis of the prospects for the use of cellulose ethanol as a fuel. The report includes a comprehensive analysis of how cellulose ethanol is produced, its cost-effectiveness, the growth drivers promoting the use of ethanol over other fuels, the barriers to market, and much more. The report also focuses on the steps the U.S. government is taking to promote ethanol use, including tax incentives, funding for research and development, funding for technology, and other measures. The report also covers the basics of ethanol production; how ethanol differs from other fuels and the benefits to consumers from using ethanol.

Two technology leaders in the growing biofuels industry, DuPont and Broin, have announced a partnership in the United States to take the next steps needed to bring cost-effective ethanol derived from corn stover to market.

According to a press release, “We are pleased to partner with Broin, a company that is regarded as a technology expert in biorefining,” said DuPont Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation Officer Tom Connelly. “We have worked over the last three years to develop a technology package that can efficiently break down the complex sugar matrix found in corn stover into ethanol from cellulose at a high yield. We are excited about the progress we have made and, while we still have to complete more research, we are ready to take the next steps to bring cellulosic ethanol to market. This is a further demonstration of DuPont’s commitment to bring to market renewably sourced materials that reduce global reliance on petroleum.”

“The partnership between Broin and DuPont brings together much of the needed technology that is important to the future development of cellulose to ethanol,” said Mike Muston, executive vice president of corporate development, Broin. “The ability to combine the global science of DuPont with Broin’s ethanol production technology puts us in position to make the commercialization of cellulose to ethanol a reality much sooner.”