Domestic Fuel

A state commission in New Hampshire is considering the viability of the green fuel in the state.

This story from New Hampshire Public Radio says the group made up of representatives from state agencies, oil industry producers, distributors and dealers, along with scientists and environmentalists is looking into the issue:

New Castle State Representative David Borden chairs The New Hampshire Biodiesel Commission.

Borden says that the goal of the panel is to spur the use of bio-diesel in the state. “Just now, they’re already using bio-diesel in one D.O.T. Truck, Department of Transportation truck, but if they start using it in more vehicles, and if they start using it in school vehicles and state buildings for heating, that will begin turning the tide in favor of bio-diesel”

As you might remember from my post back on April 8th, Borden wants 20 percent of the heating oil used in the state to be biodiesel. One of the biggest obstacles the commission is trying to overcome is the higher cost of biodiesel. Hopefully, the area will open up more biodiesel plants to solve that problem.

Detroit motorists had the opportunity this week to get bargain-priced 10 percent ethanol fuel pumped by some top racers at a Marathon Station in Taylor, Mich.

The pump promotion, sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, was in honor of the American Le Mans Series Detroit Sports Car Challenge on September 1 and the IndyCar Series Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix on September 2. ALM drivers Peter Dumbreck and Dirk Mueller Peterson of Motorsports/White Lightening Racing and IRL Team Ethanol car driver Ryan Hunter-Reay of Rahal Letterman Racing did the pumping. The price for an hour and a half on Wednesday was a cool $2.45 per gallon, the time allotted for the Detroit Sports Car Challenge presented by Bosch.

Read an article about the promotion from the Detroit Free Press.

Florida International University‘s Energy and Business Forum and General Motors are having an open symposium to discuss the status of E85 ethanol in South Florida.

E85 ethanol infrastructure, technology, and availability will be discussed by senior engineers from General Motors and distinguished panelists from the areas of academia and industry on Wednesday September 12 at FIU University Park Campus.

The objectives of the panel are to highlight the progress of South Florida’s E85 ethanol infrastructure, educate consumers and media on E85 ethanol benefits, promote E85 ethanol as a bio-fuel with potential to displace petroleum-based fuels and reduce emissions in the U.S., and discuss all relevant issues surrounding E85 ethanol.

More information and registration available on-line.

VeraSun Energy Corporation and The Kroger Co. this week announced the opening of 20 VE85™ fueling locations at Kroger convenience stores in Ohio and Kentucky.

This makes Kroger the first national retailer to offer VeraSun’s branded E85. With the addition of the 20 Kroger locations, VeraSun now has more than 100 retail fueling stations in 11 states and the District of Columbia selling VE85™.

Located in Cincinnati, Kroger currently operates almost 2,500 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states. The company also has more than 750 convenience stores and 650 supermarket fuel centers. Currently, Kroger has 40 locations offering E85 in the states of Texas, Ohio and Kentucky.

Read more from VeraSun.

The U.S. ethanol industry is ready to hit the ground running as the full Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) is implemented beginning September 1.

According to Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president Bob Dinneen, “The U.S. ethanol industry has worked diligently with the Environmental Protection Agency and our petroleum customers to ensure that the implementation of the RFS is as smooth as possible. The RFA has sponsored workshops, produced educational material and surveyed the industry and we are confident U.S. ethanol producers are prepared to meet the regulatory requirements of the full RFS. America’s ethanol producers look forward to the challenge of being a renewable energy industry that is standing up to meet America’s growing demand for energy.”

Starting September 1, 2007, the full RFS will be in effect, including the generation and transfer of Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) used to track the amount of renewable fuels used.

US BioEnergy has completed its acquisition of Millennium Ethanol.

According to a news release, members of Millennium Ethanol approved US BioEnergy’s acquisition of the 100 million gallon per year South Dakota facility, which will now be known as US Bio Marion.

The plant located near Marion, South Dakota is expected to begin production in the first quarter of 2008.

Researchers at the University of Florida are looking into the feasibility of using the jatropha tree as a source for biodiesel.

This story from the University’s web site, says the plant is a native of Mexico and produces an oil that is ideal for biodiesel:

“For maybe a year and a half now, I have been working on an idea that here in deep South Florida we can grow a biodiesel crop that does not conflict with food and that we have a comparative advantage in growing,” said Roy Beckford, a Lee County extension agent who specializes in sustainable farm development.

Beckford, who works for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, has been pushing Jatropha as an alternate crop to South Florida farmers the past couple years through IFAS newsletters.

The hardy trees can live for 50 years and can be ready for twice-a-year harvests just 18 months after planting. Each acre can produce 600 to 1,000 gallons of oil a year… although researchers are working on even more productive varieties. It even grows in land not suitable for other types of agriculture.

Just recently, 1,500 Jatropha seedlings were donated to Lee County by a company called Dream Fuels in hopes of getting the plant established as a biodiesel feedstock in Florida.

Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group is one of just three companies in the country to earn both BQ-9000 certified statuses from National Biodiesel Accreditation Committee (NBAC). It’s a quality assurance program for the production nd marketing of biodiesel.

REG has now earned the Certified Marketer status. This press release from the National Biodiesel Board says its certification is a standard the group hopes all producers and marketers try to obtain:

The voluntary program couples universally accepted quality management systems with the biodiesel product specification ASTM D-6751. The program covers storage, sampling, testing, blending, shipping, distribution and fuel management practices to help ensure quality biodiesel throughout the supply chain.

“With the addition of the BQ-9000 Certified Marketer status, REG can provide added confidence to our customers through our extensive biodiesel handling, storage, transportation and testing methods,” said REG chief executive officer Jeff Stroburg. “We want to ensure that every gallon of high quality biodiesel that leaves one of our production facilities is handled properly all the way to the fuel tank of a school bus, commercial truck, tractor or diesel vehicle.”

REG was already a BQ-9000 Accredited Producer. The other two companies with both certifications are Peter Cremer North America and FUMPA Biofuels.

As Cindy mentioned earlier this week, I’m attending the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, IL and biofuels is still a major topic of discussion in agriculture. Many of the booths here are featuring new products that will make the production of ethanol and biodiesel more efficient as we continue to grow our own fuel here in America.

We had a high level visitor yesterday from Washington, DC. Our Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns held a press conference and visited the New Holland tent to see Jay Leno’s Ecojet, the concept car that runs on 100% biodiesel. In the picture he’s being shown the car’s jet engine by Ricky “Skip” Tyler who travels with the car. Also with the Secretary are Alan Kemper, VP of the American Soybean Association and Harold Boyanovsky, CEO of CNH.

I asked Sec. Johanns what he thinks of a company like New Holland working with an entertainer like Jay Leno to promote biodiesel.

You can listen to Secretary Johanns reply here: fp-07-johanns-quote.mp3

I also asked him to make a statement about USDA’s commitment to the development of rural America and biofuels.

You can listen to his reply here: fp-07-johanns-fuel.mp3

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Owensboro Grain is the latest company to join the ranks of biodiesel producers with the opening of its 50-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant.

This article on Grainnet.com says the biodiesel operation is a natural progression for the 101-year-old company that started out as a small grain merchant:

The company started out shipping corn on barges, according to John Wright, vice president of strategic planning and development, and a fourth-generation family operator of Owensboro Grain.

“I believe my great-grandfather and grandfather would be extremely proud.”

The company produces 75 million gallons of soybean oil a year, so its feedstock supply seems to be in good shape right now.

The National Biodiesel Board says there are now 151 biodiesel plants across the country pumping $24 million into the U.S. economy.

A biodiesel start-up in Southern California is getting $8 million in low-cost funding from the State of California. American Biodiesel, Inc. started building a plant at the Port of Stockton in April and will be doing business as a company called Community Fuels.

This article in the Los Angeles Times says the biodiesel will be sold to wholesalers, including some that deal with retailers in Northern California:

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer lauded the state’s move to assist the renewable fuel company.

She expects annual production to double to 15 million gallons after the first year, with further expansion to follow if warranted.

Midwestern soybean oil will be used to start, and officials hope to go to a locally-grown source such as mustard seed oil or canola oil.

While wind energy has been a very promising energy source with unprecedented growth in the last few years. Unfortunately, that growth has led to a shortage of the parts needed to make the turbines and keep them turning.

This article on the Renewable Energy Access web page features American Wind Energy Association Communications Editor Carl Levesque answering what is causing the problem. It boils down to the huge demand for parts and raw materials common to other industries:

(Y)ou need parts and raw materials to assemble turbines, and the shortage—both in the U.S. and worldwide—is largely due to a shortage in components, as the Wall Street Journal article correctly explained. It’s important to remember that many of the parts and materials used by the industry are also used by other industries.

“The global market is more than just turbines,” said Clipper Windpower Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations Robert Gates during a panel discussion at AWEA’s WINDPOWER 2007 Conference & Exhibition, which took place in June in Los Angeles, California. “We’re competing against the basic industrial capacity of the world.”

Levesque points out that the industry is very demanding of the level of quality, and good parts can’t be rushed. But he says the future is still bright… the parts just need to catch up with the demand.

Most people would agree, one of the smartest places in the country (and on the Earth, for that matter) is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology… better known as MIT. Well, the school is more than just smart… it’s green!

A story in MIT’s online newspaper, The Tech, says the school is already running its shuttle buses on ultra-low sulfur diesel and is now looking at switching to biodiesel:

In April, the Biodiesel@MIT student group won a $25,000 grant through the Ecomagination Challenge sponsored my mtvU and GE, allowing them to purchase a biodiesel processor. The processor will convert used vegetable oil from dining halls into biodiesel fuel that eliminates sulfur dioxide emissions and produces 68 percent less carbon dioxide than petroleum-based alternatives, according to the group’s Ecomagination proposal.

According to Sara A. Barnowski ’10 who worked on the biodiesel project as part of a summer UROP, the program is trying to find space on campus for the fuel processor. “We’re still hoping to get the biodiesel processor installed by the end of IAP,” she said. The current MIT shuttles will not require any modifications to run on biodiesel, Barnowski said.

Organizers had hoped to have the filling station up and running by the beginning of this school year, but red tape has delayed it a bit. They expect it will become a reality in the near future.

With the slogan “Fueling America, Feeding the World,”LifeLine Foods is opening a new generation ethanol plant in St. Joseph, Missouri that could eventually put to rest the whole “food versus fuel” issue.

This episode of “Fill up, Feel Good” features comments from LifeLine Foods CEO Bill Becker, ICM Inc. President Dave VanderGriend and National Corn Growers Association president and one of LifeLine’s grower-owners Ken McCauley. The interviews for this program were recorded during LifeLine’s grand opening on August 24.

The “Fill up, Feel Good” podcast is available to download by subscription (see our sidebar link) or you can listen to it by clicking here (5:00 MP3 File): epic-podcast-8-28-07.mp3

The Fill Up, Feel Good theme music is “Tribute to Joe Satriani” by Alan Renkl, thanks to the Podsafe Music Network.

“Fill up, Feel Good” is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.2MB)

Farm and Ranch Guide reports that recent figures from the Nebraska Public Power District show that the ethanol industry in Nebraska has created nearly 700 permanent jobs at ethanol plants. An additional 1,500 have been indirectly created by the ethanol industry in related industries and from increased economic activity created by the ethanol industry.

Jobs at Nebraska ethanol plants average an annual salary of $49,000 according to a 2006 survey by the Nebraska Ethanol Board, well above the average Nebraska salary of $34,300, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“The ethanol industry not only provides employees with excellent compensation opportunities, it also generates wealth for entire communities, and by extension, all Nebraska,” said Todd Sneller, administrator of the Nebraska Ethanol Board.