Domestic Fuel

West-Central Missouri is about to become home to an algae-biodeisel refinery… the first of its kind in this nation.

This story from the Marshall (MO) Democrat-News says commissioners of Saline County, Missouri have signed a resolution and intend to issue $141 million in bonds to help Green Star Products Inc.’s EcoAlgae USA build a commercial algae production facility in conjunction with an integrated biorefinery complex:

The EcoAlgae project will involve algae production at the heart of this biorefinery complex because its high production biomass feedstock only requires sunlight, CO2 and brackish or saltwater.

“(This) should make us a home base for research and advanced renewable fuels in the future.”

“The biorefinery will be the first of its kind and will incorporate all the technologies to produce oil, cattle feed, electricity, biodiesel, cellulosic ethanol and steam,” the company said in a press release.

EcoAlgae must come up with an economic development plan, as well as getting the proper permits and complying with state laws before the bonds will be issued. That process, including some public comment time, could take 60 to 90 days.

The fight between Democrats and Republicans in Washington, DC has hurt the biodiesel and wind energy programs in this country.

The Des Moines (IA) Register reports that Congress, deadlocked and heading for its August break, failed to renew tax credits for wind power and biodiesel that are due to expire at the end of the year:

Republicans have successfully blocked the tax package and other legislation from getting through the Senate because of the Democratic leadership’s restrictions on what GOP energy proposals can be put to a vote.

The biodiesel industry is heavily dependent on a $1-a-gallon tax credit that is at stake in the bill. The primary feedstock for biodiesel is soybean oil, and prices for that have been so high recently that biodiesel producers have been struggling to stay in operation even with the subsidy.

The August break is a chance for lawmakers to go back home and hear from their bosses… the people who elected them in the first place. Maybe its time they got an earful from all of you for them to get their heads together and get these important tax credits passed… before they run out at the end of the year.

CNN’s trip across the country (as we first reported this past Monday) in a 1978 International Scout running on biodiesel has made it to Hoover Dam, (with acknowledgments to Chevy Chase’s “Vegas Vacation”) where they shot some dam video, filed some dam reports, and did some dam blogging!!! (Where can I get some dam bait?).

Seriously, though, CNN.com producer Cody McCloy and web developer Brian Hardy are out to prove during the two-week, cross-country trip that started earlier this week how viable biodiesel is as a fuel for a road trip of this magnitude. Here’s one of their latest entries:

[A]s we attempt to drive from California to Georgia on biodiesel fuel, our 1978 Scout is thirsty, and Haycock Petroleum came through for us. Haycock is a wholesaler to area Sinclair stations, which in turn sell B5 to retail consumers. Although we aren’t a retailer, Haycock let us fill up the Scout and a fuel can with their higher-blend fuel. Maybe this will get us to Grand Canyon.

The duo is also testing other green energy measures, such as solar panels to power their computers and video gear. You can follow their progress by clicking on the CNN interactive map of the trip here.

Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen called on representatives of Florida’s growing biofuels industry to join him and the rest of the industry nationwide in setting the record straight on ethanol and other alternative fuels.

At the Florida Farm to Fuel Summit on Thursday, Dinneen told the group that opponents of ethanol have created a “fantasy world that rivals anything Walt Disney could have created.”

“The reality is, the US ethanol industry is producing both fuel and food,” Dinneen said. He went through all of the attacks and misconceptions about ethanol that have been perpetuated by the media.

“I think the group that is assembled here reflects the fact that American voters understand the reality, but only if we are all doing our jobs in telling our public policy makers to continue the investment in domestic and renewable fuels,” Dinneen continued. “There is no good ethanol and bad ethanol – it’s all better than petroleum.”

“My plea to you today is to work with us to move forward,” Dinneen concluded. “I want to hear ads in the state of Florida that we should start our engines everyday with 100 percent, all natural Florida ethanol.”

The Summit also heard from Brian Dean, U.S. Executive Director for the Interamerican Ethanol Commission and Gordon Quaiattini, President of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer traveled to Florida to address the third annual Florida Farm to Fuel Summit in Orlando.

“This is the theme park capitol of the world, it is a city of dreams and the power of imagination,” Schafer told the group. “As we sit here in the land of imagination and dreams, it’s up to all of us to meet the needs of the future through renewable fuels and we can change from wild imagination to realizable dreams.”

“Biofuels are an important part of the solution to our nation’s energy challenges and they are an important part of the economic future of rural America as well,” Schafer said. “That means that agriculture is going to be right in the middle of the game.”

“Here in Florida, the sheer variety of agriculture really make you a state that is a great laboratory for the future,” he added. “When breakthroughs come, I’m really counting on Florida to lead the way.”

He commended Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson and the state legislature for the state’s efforts to stimulate innovation with the Farm to Fuel program.

Listen to Secretary Schafer’s remarks here: f2f-08-schafer.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.8MB)

Florida Governor Charlie Crist spoke to a group of over 450 gathered for the third annual Florida Farm to Fuel summit in Orlando Thursday, following an address by US Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer.

“You know that Florida is a top agricultural state already,” Crist told the group. “The development of ethanol and other biofuels is incredibly important to Florida’s future and America’s future. I truly believe that investing in renewable and alternative energies in the Sunshine State can propel us as a leader, no question about it.”

Governor Crist highlighted Florida’s historic, comprehensive energy and economic development legislation, which was created by the 2008 Florida Legislature and signed by the Governor at last month’s 2008 Serve to Preserve Florida Summit on Global Climate Change in Miami. As proposed by the Governor, the legislation expands the previously existing renewable energy grants program to include energy efficiency projects. The 2008-09 budget includes $7 million for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects, with another $8 million for bioenergy projects to be administered by the new Florida and Energy and Climate Commission, also created by the legislation.

Listen to Governor Crist’s remarks here: f2f-08-crist.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.8MB)

The Central Florida Regional Transit Authority LYNX system will become the nation’s first transit agency to build its own biodiesel blending facility at Rosen Shingle Creek in southeast Orange County.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist joined LYNX CEO Linda S. Watson, Orange County Mayor Richard T. Crotty, State Senator Lee Constantine and Jeremy Susac, executive director of the Florida Energy & Climate Commission, to officially sign the contract awarding $2.5 million for the project.

The project will enable LYNX to reduce its use of fossil fuel by 1.2 million gallons and lower its carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 26 million pounds each year. LYNX will be the first transit agency in the nation to own, operate and produce “on demand” blending to fully convert its fleet. It will also be the first to distribute custom blending to a partnership of other local governmental agencies such as the Orange County Convention Center and Orlando Utility Commission.

The conversion should take place by next July. Ground breaking for the facility should be in October 2008.

This morning the Florida Farm to Fuel Summit got underway. I think this is the third one. We missed our old friend Charlie Bronson, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture, although he’ll be here later this afternoon. We did see him on video though.

Right now our U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer, is speaking. I’ll add a link to some audio after his remarks and press availability. The Secretary is here to speak on Food, Conservation and the Energy Act of 2008.

Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson believes that Florida can be a leader in the effort of producing energy from crops and timber because of the vast amount of farm acreage in the state and its mild climate, which permits crops to be grown virtually year round.

The nation’s biggest biodiesel refinery has installed a quality control system that promises to cut testing times from hours to minutes.

This press release from Cognis Corporations’ QTA (Quality Trait Analysis) says GreenHunter BioFuels in Houston, Texas, which produces 105 million gallons of biodiesel a year, has put in QTA’s new biodiesel testing system:

“Biodiesel quality testing traditionally requires gas chromatographs and a trained chemist” said Kerry Staller, Corporate Engineer with GreenHunter. “As such. quality control is difficult to integrate with operations because testing needs to be done in a separate lab by a chemist with the results coming up to an hour after a sample was taken. But with Cognis’ QTA System, our operators are able to conduct the quality tests right in the control room and see easy-to-understand results that they can act upon–all in less than 2 minutes after the sample is taken.”

Cognis’ QTA patented Biodiesel Analysis starts by digitizing the light spectra of a fresh biodiesel sample using proven infrared technology. Those spectra are then sent, via the internet, to Cognis’ central database where algorithms convert the spectra, in real-time, into highly accurate standard quality measurements that are viewed online by plant personnel. All this occurs in less than two minutes.

QTA says the service is subscription-based and does not require capital investment.

Battling the myths and misinformation that swirl around both ethanol and biodiesel seems to be a fulltime job these days. While some groups, such as the American Soybean Association and the Renewable Fuels Association, fight these battles daily, they could use a little help from the novices and those interested in the success of biofuels. That’s why the ASA is giving them the tools to beat back those naysayers against the green fuels.

The ASA has created the document called “Myths and Realities Behind Rising Food Prices“:

Anyone who buys groceries or eats in a restaurant knows that food prices have increased, but few people truly understand the global factors that are driving the present situation…

Higher energy prices have greatly added to the costs of transporting, processing, manufacturing, storing and distributing the food we eat. Higher energy prices also have dramatically increased the prices U.S. farmers are paying for the inputs they need to plant, grow and harvest their crops. Compared to just two years ago, farmers today are paying twice as much for the diesel fuel they need to run their tractors, combines and grain trucks. Fertilizer, which requires a great deal of energy to produce, has quadrupled in price.

The fact sheet goes on to point out how, worldwide, ethanol and biodiesel have cut the amount of non-renewable petroleum crude oil by a million barrels a day… saving the world $43 billion in savings each year.

My suggestion is to print out the fact sheet and have it ready the next time some loud-mouthed, Big-Oil backer starts bashing biofuels. Then, you can bash back with FACTS!

True rock and roll fans will recognize the name Chuck Leavell as keyboardist for the Rolling Stones – in addition to many other well-known rock legends such as The Allman Brothers and Eric Clapton.

He is also a Georgia tree farmer and an environmentalist who actively supports the development of ethanol production from woody biomass. “I think it’s one of the most important things we can do right now,” Leavell says. “And we are doing it. There’s a number of pilot programs out there getting off the ground. It’s not perfected yet, but that’s the great thing about this country is that we put our minds to it and we can make it happen.”

Leavell points out that trees are organic, natural and renewable. “And we will be using parts of the trees that are normally not used – the slash, the twigs, the limbs, and so forth.” He advocates harvesting forest waste to make biofuel, which at the same time helps to protect against wildfires. “If we take care of the forests, they’ll take care of us,” he said.

Leavell has taken an active interest in the development of Range Fuels, a cellulosic pilot project in his home state of Georgia using woody biomass, and he thinks the southeast is becoming very aware of the potential for this technology in the future.

You can listen to an interview with Chuck Leavell here: ams-08-leavell-1.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.9MB)

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has signed into law a measure that is hoped to make his state a leader in biofuels by exempting cellulosic biofuels (ethanol) from state taxes and creating a mandate for biodiesel in home heating oil.

The Boston Globe was there when Patrick signed the bill:

“It’s law,” he said, seated at a table at the Allston office of Mascoma Corp., flanked by state legislators, his energy secretary, and US Representative William D. Delahunt. Mascoma is one of a number of Massachusetts companies pursuing so-called advanced, or cellulosic, biofuels, which are made from agricultural wastes and forest products, rather than corn.

The law also requires all diesel and home heating fuel to be 2 percent biofuels by 2010 and 5 percent by 2013.

The new law also contains a provision that will require the development of a low-carbon fuel standard for vehicles so greenhouse gases would be reduced by 10 percent.

In 2006, Missouri state lawmakers passed legislation to require all fueling facilities to sell E10 (10% ethanol and 90 percent gasoline) whenever the price is no more than traditional gasoline. This summer, with recent debates over the renewable product, lawmakers are looking to see if the mandate should be kept as Missouri law.

The Missouri Corn Growers Association fully supported the ethanol fuel requirement. They say agriculture should focus on food, but it should also have a place in the state to contribute to energy. They say that the standard has assisted in reducing the price of fuel at the pump. This is due to the tax credit that is received when blending the product with gasoline.

“Ethanol and food are topics that touch everyone, and I’m encouraged that our public policy makers are focusing on this,” Ashley McCarty, Missouri Corn’s director of public policy.

Several lawmakers who voted for the ethanol requirement sponsored a bill earlier this year to repeal the biofuels mandate, but the bill did not pass.

Last month’s floods in the Midwest might not have put the corn and soybean crops, which are vital to ethanol and biodiesel production, in as much peril as originally feared.

In a news conference in Washington, DC today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief said that the Midwest corn and soybean crops have not been hurt as badly as first thought from last month’s flooding in the region. And Secretary Ed Schafer says that the number of farmers who want to take their Conservation Reserve Program acres because it is more financially advantageous is adequate enough his agency won’t be allowing any penalty-free releases of CRP acres this year:

Despite the damage and disruption caused by the very severe floods that hit the Midwest last month, the indications so far are that the impact on this year’s corn and soybean crops will be less than what was originally feared. The markets have been reacting favorably to the good growing weather we have been experiencing in recent weeks and encouraging reports on crop conditions. Cash prices for corn are down 25 percent and for soybeans 14 percent from their record highs just last month.

The recent easing in prices is helpful to the livestock industry and will allow current CRP contract holders to make informed decisions about whether they want to make an early exit from the program.
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A nationwide survey from the United Soybean Board shows that a vast majority of the people in the United States believe American farmers and biodiesel are the solution… not the problem… in the issues of high fuel and food prices.

This story from CattleNetwork.com says that the National Agriculture Image Survey says more than 80 percent of consumers see foreign oil-producing countries and the high cost of fuel as the real culprits for food price spikes:

Other key findings show:

“In a time when we all are feeling the pinch of high energy and food costs, it’s encouraging to know the American public realizes the benefits of soy biodiesel as a clean-burning, renewable, homegrown fuel,” says USB Vice Chairman and Nebraska soybean farmer Chuck Myers. “The soybean checkoff believes it’s important that consumers understand the rising cost of petroleum represents the major reason for higher consumer food prices and that biodiesel represents a viable, useful and beneficial alternative to imported oil.”

Myers also point out that demand for soy biodiesel is having very little impact on food prices because 98 percent of the soymeal is not lost in the biodiesel process and goes on to feed livestock. That means biodiesel and its by-product soymeal can fuel and feed the nation and the world.