Domestic Fuel

American companies seem to be betting that biodiesel will continue its explosive growth it has seen in recent years.

This story from Reuters says high oil prices along with the Bush Administration’s commitment to promoting the green fuel industry through monetary incentives seems to helping the industry along:

There are 115 biodiesel plants in the United States with a combined production capacity of 865 million gallons a year — about five days of total U.S. distillate consumption, according to industry group, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB).

Nazzaro said output capacity grew exponentially after biodiesel producers received a $1 per gallon tax credit a few years ago. The provision is due to expire next year but his group is lobbying aggressively to get it extended, he said.

The article does point that there are still some sticking points with biodiesel such as improving the delivery system and making sure the higher percentage blends don’t gel up in cold weather. But if big oil companies such as ConocoPhillips trying to cash in on the business and tax incentives as well is any indication, this could be just the start of a major change in the domestic fuel business.

One of the people I met at the Kansas Speedway this weekend was Troy Hobbs, Monsanto Corn Biofuels Strategy Lead (left). He’s pictured here with EPIC Executive Director in front of the Rahal-Letterman hospitality tent on race day.

Troy explains why Monsanto has supported EPIC since it started. He believes that it’s very important to educate the public about the benefits of ethanol because of what that means for agriculture and our country. Troy also talks about the Monsanto Processor Preferred program that’s helping corn growers obtain a premium price for their product.

Listen to my interview with Troy: Troy Hobbs Interview (4 min MP3)

I think the photo album wound up with about 350 pictures in it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.0MB)

Seattle-based Imperium Renewables is making an investment in its own future by loaning money to Propel Biofuels to build its first biodiesel filling stations in Washington state.

According to this story posted on SeattlePI.com, the undisclosed loan amount will help open the first station soon and four more in the coming weeks… and that could be just the start:

Rob Elam, president of Propel Biofuels, said that the company is looking to have its biodiesel equipment installed at about 20 fueling stations in Washington, Oregon and California by the end of this year.

As part of the deal, Propel has agreed to distribute some of the Washington grown biodiesel being produced by Imperium.

As you might remember from our earlier posts, Imperium has become a major mover and shaker in the biodiesel business securing a record $214 million in investments and getting ready to open the nation’s largest biodiesel refinery… a 100 million gallon a year plant.

During a White House press briefing on Monday with European leaders, President Bush commented on his goals for renewable fuels and the current research in producing ethanol from sources other than corn in response to a foreign journalist’s question about global environmental concerns:

I have said we’ll have a mandatory fuel standard, not a voluntary fuel standard, but a mandatory fuel standard that will reduce our uses of gasoline by 20 percent over a 10-year period of time. We believe that ethanol and biodiesel, the spread of ethanol and biodiesel are — the goal of spreading ethanol and biodiesel is achievable, that’s what we believe. And we’re spending a lot of money to achieve that goal.

Now you talk about helping alleviate poverty in the developing world — wouldn’t it be wonderful if the developing world could grow crops that would enable them to power their automobiles, so they wouldn’t have to be dependent on foreign oil, either. And that’s the message I took down to South America, with Lula, and to Central America. For example, sugar cane is the most — you’re learning about ethanol here, but sugar cane is the most efficient way to make ethanol. It turns out in Central America there is a lot of land and opportunity to continue to produce cane, which means that the Central American countries could be eventually net exporters of energy. So we’ve got a lot of common ground and a lot of area to work on.

Cornell University researchers have reportedly discovered a class of plant enzymes that potentially could allow plant materials used to make ethanol to be broken down more efficiently than is possible using current technologies.

According to Jocelyn Rose, Cornell assistant professor of plant biology, the breakthrough could make the production of cellulosic ethanol less expensive.

“The bottleneck for conversion of lignocellulose into ethanol is efficient cellulose degradation,” said Rose in a Cornell news release. “The discovery of these enzymes suggests there might be sets of new plant enzymes to improve the efficiency of cellulose degradation.”

The diagram from Cornell Theory Center shows the newly discovered class of plant enzymes with a cellulose-binding module (shown in blue), sticking to a plant cell wall. The binding module of the enzyme helps the catalytic region of the enzyme (shown in more detail in gray in the pullout part of the picture) break down the crystalline cellulose.

It was a very competitive race here in Kansas City and at the end we get to see a familiar sight. Dan Wheldon holding up the trophy.

As I’ve pointed out before, no matter who wins the race, ethanol really wins since all the cars are running on 100% ethanol this year.

For those who are wondering, Jeff Simmons placed 10th, so he’s got two consecutive top ten finishes. We’re very proud of him.

Please take a few minutes to browse through the over 300 pictures I’ve got in my online photo album. I’m going to be packing up and heading on home. It’s been a great week here in Kansas City as we’ve followed the promotion of ethanol and the relationship with the Indy Racing League.

The green “e” Flag got the race started once again here today. However, the race is now over.

We only had a couple caution flags so it was a pretty clean and fast race which is just over. Dan Wheldon has won once again.

I’ll be heading out to victory lane to get a picture of Dan who won the race in Homestead, FL too. He’s definitely on a roll this season.

Just before the drivers get in their cars they line up for the national anthem.

This is a great looking group and I know they’ve been working hard out here on a hot sunny day.

Jeff Simmons is running tenth as of this post.

Jeff Simmons has been running in the top ten for most of the race here in Kansas City so far today.

We’re nearing the end and hoping he can keep his place for a top 10 finish.

Just prior to the race all the drivers are introduced in front of the grandstand on a temporary stage.

I’ve been collecting pictures and interviews and will be getting those posted over the next week so look for a lot more information about how ethanol is involved with the IRL.

A 100% biodiesel-fueled boat has had to give up its quest to break a world record for racing around the world. According to this story posted on C/Net.com, the captain of the Earthrace says it would be impossible to break the 75-day record set in 1998 by a group of British sailors in a regular diesel boat:

TV 3 in New Zealand reports that Pete Bethune, captain of the Earthrace, has conceded that it will be impossible to beat the record.

“Even if we had a perfect run from here, there’s no way we’d get the record by Barbados,” Bethune, who is from New Zealand, wrote in his blog. Bethune’s last post was April 26, on the early side of the International Date Line. The TV 3 story was posted April 27, New Zealand time.

Some biodiesel refiners had been providing fuel for the Earthrace. However, the green fuel is not available in Palau where it is now stuck.

The truck that transports Team Ethanol got a new paint job for this season. I hadn’t seen it before today. Looks pretty slick to me.

It’s the end of the day for me here at Kansas Speedway. The Indy car qualifying is over now and Jeff Simmons got through it okay. His qualifying time is 210.994 MPH. That ethanol fuel definitely has a kick. After they qualify the drivers all come by the IRL Bull Pen for pics and interviews. Of course I interviewed Jeff. He’s our ethanol champion out there and we’re definitely rooting for him tomorrow.

Jeff wishes he had done a little better in qualifying but says the car races better than it qualifies. I guess we’ll see tomorrow.

Listen to my interview with Jeff: Jeff Simmons Interview (1 min MP3)

My photo album for this weekend is growing. Check out all the ethanol related activities.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (561.7KB)

The Indy cars are on their final round of practice right now. One of them is our favorite, #17, Jeff Simmons.

Jeff is coming into the pits here. All the cars seem to be running pretty well today. Of course, they’re running on 100% ethanol so what do you expect, eh?

Jeff had a great race last week in Japan and we’ll be rooting for him again tomorrow.

The coolest looking Indy cars have to belong to Rahal-Letterman Racing. However if you look at the other cars this year, several have new designs and color schemes.

Here’s Scott Sharp doing a practice lap here at Kansas Speedway this morning. He’s the Patron car driver. It’s got a real glowing green and black design.

Besides the Patron car Rahal has the Ethanol car which is my personal favorite. I really think that the color and design of this car is largely responsible for the fact that the other cars have really updated their designs.

Organic snack bar maker… and environmentally-active company… Clif Bar is now using eight biodiesel trucks to help marketing managers deliver their snacks, along with an Earth-friendly message.

This story on GNET.org says the change is part of the company lessening its impact on global warming:

By converting its field marketing vehicles to biodiesel and eliminating the need for 8,000 gallons of gasoline each year, Clif Bar expects to reduce the fleet’s CO2 emissions — the major cause of global warming — by about 40 percent, or 60,000 pounds of CO2.

“We’re always looking for ways to reduce our ecological footprint — it’s one of our bottom lines,” said Clif Bar Owner and Founder Gary Erickson, who drives biodiesel-fueled vehicles for personal use. “We’re using as many organic ingredients as possible in our food, reducing waste in our packaging, ‘greening’ our office space, and reducing our impact on global warming by helping build wind farms and planting trees. The use of biodiesel is another important step in our ongoing journey to operate a sustainable business.”

The fleet will be in Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Los Angeles, Northern California, the Northwest, San Diego/Arizona and Texas where the marketing managers rack up more than 120,000 miles a year.

The latest move is in line with Clif Bar’s campaign known as “Start Global Cooling.” Check out the cool logo.

Looks like they’re talking the talk and, in this case, driving the walk.

Tennessee’s Department of Transportation (TDOT) announced today that it is expanding its use of biodiesel into vehicles used in Nashville.

According to a release on TDOT’s web site, the agency has been using biodiesel for two years in a 130-vehicle test fleet in East Tennessee as part of the Pilot Fleet Program:

“It’s imperative that government and businesses begin identifying ways to improve air quality,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “Using biodiesel is an effective way TDOT can reduce harmful emissions and protect our environment.”

TDOT is using B20… 20% biodiesel and 80% regular diesel fuel. Eighty-one heavy-duty dump trucks, bull dozers and back hoes are using the biodiesel.