Domestic Fuel

This latest edition of Domestic Fuel Cast communicates some important information for those who communicate the story of renewable energy.

The Communicating Renewables Summit takes place April 21-23 at the Hilton in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is touted as “THE conference to attend if you are a communications professional working for a company, association or agency that promotes wind, solar, biofuels, geothermal, hydrogen and more!”

Domestic Fuel’s parent company, ZimmComm New Media, is the media partner with our old friend Joanna Schroeder… whose 4R Communications is putting on the summit.

“This conference is designed to help communicators evolve the skills they are going to need to be successful in communicating why consumers should adopt their product.”

Schroeder says they’ll have sessions on crisis communications, such as how to handle issues like the food-versus-fuel debate.

Some of those speaking at the summit also include Sean O’Hanlon, Executive Director and founder of the American Biofuels Council… a group the coordinates biofuels research, analysis, development and education in the country… and Tom Collina, the executive director of 20-20 Vision… a non-profit organization dedicated to solving global challenges where international security, energy and the environment come together.

You can hear some of their ideas for renewable energy communications by listening to this week’s Domestic Fuel Cast here: DFCast-3-13-09.mp3

Of course, for even more information, you really need to make plans to attend the Communicating Renewables Summit, April 21-23 in Minneapolis.

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

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

Ethanol came up in a meeting this week between President Barack Obama and regional newspaper reporters in Washington D.C.

According to the Des Moines Register, the president did not say whether the administration would increase the amount of ethanol that could be added to regular gasoline, as requested by the ethanol industry, but did indicate he would ultimately make that decision, which he said would involve “reconciling a lot of different issues.”

Obama also said that while he does not believe corn-based ethanol will “provide us with the energy-efficient solutions that are needed” he does want to maintain the “progress we’ve made in building up a biofuels infrastructure and the important income generation that has come from ethanol plants.”

The president met with 15 newspaper reporters from around the country in a round table discussion that allowed them to ask about topics pertinent to their particular areas.

POST UPDATE: Here is a link to the official transcript of Obama’s answer to the Des Moines Register question on higher blends, courtesy of the Quad City Times.

Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO), in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, will be saving money as well as doing its part to save the environment. Facilities management have devised a recycling and waste management plan and will also purchase flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs).

According to The Arrow, SEMO will use the oil that dining hall kitchens would normally dispose of to heat the facilities management shops. The recycling program will be boosted by adding more bins around campus. And, over spring break, facilities management plans to purchase fuel-efficient vehicles that will use E85, rather than gasoline.

“We plan on purchasing two vehicles from Tiger Trucks,” Terry Major, manager of grounds, custodial, fleet and support services, said. “We want a pick-up truck for the grounds and a van for maintenance.” The University had purchased electric cars in the past but they were proven more of a hassle than a convenience.

Currently, there are no E85 fueling locations in the city of Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

This week I read the book, The Tyranny of Oil by Antonia Juhasz. It started off highlighting a lot of what other energy books discuss but then it got interesting. So much so that I’m giving the theme of this review, “How long will American citizens live in denial?”Here are a few facts as laid out in the book that it seems the average American refuses to acknowledge.

1) Big Oil runs our country – not the federal government.

2) Over 30% of the price of gasoline at the pump falls directly under the control of a Big Oil. Huh. Yet they don’t have any role in price manipulation techniques or the prices at the pump.

3) The war in Iraq is an “Oil War” facilitated in part by Big Oil’s desire to get their hands on Iraqi oil. It is believed that Iraq has the second largest amount of untapped oil in the world.

4) Although Big Oil is touting its “alternative energy investments” on average, they equal less than five percent of all company expenditures. Oh, and most oil companies consider development and research in oil shale as an investment in alternative energy.

I could go on but I will say that Juhasz lays out a plan for taking on Big Oil. One of the most important elements, she claims, is the Separation of Oil and State. She writes: “a separation of oil and state”: a commitment to renounce money from the oil industry and support sustainable clean energy alternatives.” A DC based group, Oil Change International, is fighting for this. The alternative energy industry is not represented in this campaign but needs to be involved.

Well if you need something to fire you up and reafirm your support of alternative energy, this is just the book to get you going.

As the ethanol industry seeks a waiver to allow the use of up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline, corn-based ethanol remains the basic building block for increased use of the product nationwide.

“We have to build the cellulosic industry on the foundation of corn-based ethanol,” Growth Energy co-chairman Wesley Clark told reporters during an appearance at the National Press Club’s Newsmaker Series last week. “Corn-based ethanol has been the pioneer. It’s set up the marketing, it’s set up the distribution, it’s encouraged vehicles to be flexible-fuel, and all of this sets the basis for cellulosic.”

However, Clark pointed out that ethanol production has essentially capped out under the current regulatory standard, so moving to a higher approved blend level is essential for the industry to move forward. “The E15 is perfectly acceptable in American cars because vehicle fuel systems have been upgraded to meet US regulations and tested against even more aggressive fuels,” Clark said.

A measure that promises to promote biodiesel gowth in Iowa, create green collar jobs and reduce dependence on foreign oil has passed a key committee in the Iowa legislature.

This article from the Des Moines (IA) Register says Sen. Daryl Beall’s (D-Fort Dodge) biodiesel mandate bill cleared the Senate Transportation Committee. And if it passes the full legislature and is signed by the governor, it would kick in as early as this summer:

Under the new proposal, the required blend of biodiesel would ramp up from 5 percent this summer to 20 percent by 2015. Among those opposed to the bill are truckers and convenience stores…

The credits, which amount to around $5 million a year, are set expire anyway in 2011, Beall said. After three years, the state would save about $15 million per year.

During cold weather months… between November 1st and March 31st… only a 5 percent blend would be required. If the measure passes, Iowa would join Minnesota as states with a biodiesel mandate.

Honda has introduced the world’s first flex-fuel motorcycle. No surprise, the CG150 Titan Mix, is being sold by a subsidiary of Honda in Brazil, a country that really leads the world in biofuels production.

This article from Gizmag.com has details:

The 150cc motorcycle is equipped with a Mix Fuel Injection System, a newly developed fuel supply and fuel injection control system that enables consumers to use a flexible mixture of environmentally-responsible bio-ethanol and gasoline fuels, hence reducing CO2 emissions and fuel costs.

In Brazil, penetration of flexible-fuel technology is well advanced, and approximately 90% of new automobiles sold there are equipped with flexible-fuel technology. As the first flex-fuel motorcycle, the BRL 6,340 real (USD$2700) CG150 TITAN MIX looks certain to grab a hug chunk of the market, and Honda expects to sell in excess of 200,000 units a year – approximately 10% of the market – in the first year. In 2008, Honda sold approximately 1.326 million motorcycles in a market with 1.91 million units.

The National Biodiesel Board seems happy with what it heard from USDA regarding what the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS-2) will bring in the future.

Members of the NBB’s Governing Board had a meeting today with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack:

“Implementation of a workable RFS-2 program is consistent with a national energy strategy that values the replacement of petroleum diesel with domestically-produced low carbon fuel,” stated Joe Jobe, NBB CEO. “Secretary Vilsack clearly understands this, and the U.S. biodiesel industry applauds his leadership on this important issue.”

RFS-2, enacted as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, for the first time specifically requires the use of low carbon, renewable diesel replacement fuel. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently crafting the rule to implement this program. Under RFS-2, fuels must hit greenhouse gas (ghg) emission reduction targets to qualify for the program. The U.S. biodiesel industry is concerned that the methodology being employed by EPA to calculate the ghg emission profile of biodiesel produced from vegetable oils – particularly as it relates to Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) assumptions – is being based on inaccurate and unreliable assumptions. The result would be a program that disqualifies vegetable oil as a biodiesel feedstock, an outcome that would be make it impossible to meet the Advanced Biofuels targets established in RFS-2.

Jobe added that his group is looking forward to helping the Ag Secretary achieve a successful implementation of RFS-2.

An oil refiner has dropped a lawsuit against the California Air Resources Board (CARB) challenging a regulation that would boost ethanol consumption in the state by 2010.

According to a story in the Sacramento Business Journal, Tesoro Corporation dropped the lawsuit after a judge denied the company’s request for a temporary injunction to delay a new gasoline standard set to take effect next year which would increase the percentage of ethanol required to be blended into gasoline sold in California from 5.7 percent to 10 percent. The company claims that the standard is in conflict with a state law that calls for a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions because some studies suggest the production of ethanol increases greenhouse gas emissions.

The paper reports that Judge Timothy Frawley said he was not persuaded that Tesoro would prevail on the merits of its case at trial or that the company would suffer “irreparable harm” from the new standard. He also said a 1999 environmental evaluation that assessed impacts of using ethanol in amounts up to 10 percent was sufficient to meet state health code.

Tesoro is an independent oil refining and marketing company which operates two refineries in California.

The drive toward higher blends of ethanol in gasoline is accelerating and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is working to ensure that the blend wall is just another bump in the road for ethanol to ride over.

This edition of “The Ethanol Report” podcast features comments from RFA President and CEO Bob Dinneen, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, EPA Acting Biomass Program Manager Valri Lightner, and Outdoor Power Equipment Institute Executive Vice President Kris Kiser about work being done to increase the amount of ethanol approved for use in regular gasoline.

You can listen to “The Ethanol Report” on-line here:
ethanol-report-28.mp3

Or you can subscribe to this podcast by following this link.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (4.5MB)

The newest supply demand report out from the US Department of Agriculture today increases estimates of corn for ethanol usage.

According to the report, “U.S. corn ending stocks for 2008/09 are projected 50 million bushels lower this month as higher ethanol use more than offsets a reduction in exports. Corn use for ethanol is projected 100 million bushels higher on indications of improving blender incentives and higher ethanol use. Blender margins have become increasingly favorable since late February as gasoline prices have risen relative to those for ethanol. A continuing recovery in weekly production of gasoline blends with ethanol is also supportive of ethanol demand as are the latest data on ethanol production, imports, and stocks which indicate record use in December.”

Harvesting willow trees for biomass in Vermont… turning corn stover into biofuels in Minnesota… these are just a couple examples of projects sponsored by the growing number of colleges and universities in the country that are finding greener alternatives to non-renewable petroleum sources of fuel.

There’s a fascinating story in the Christian Science Monitor about how some of these institutions of higher learning are “walking the walk” by changing they way they operate:

In December 2006, 12 college and university presidents joined together to form the American College and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment. They pledged to set target dates for becoming carbon neutral – reducing the carbon emissions from their heating, cooling, electrical, and transportation needs as much as possible and then buying carbon offsets to complete the task. A little more than two years later, 614 colleges and universities in all 50 states have made the commitment. They represent about one-third of the student body at colleges and universities in the United States.

Interest on college campuses in taking steps to slow climate change have “exploded,” says Anthony Cortese, president of Second Nature, a Boston-based nonprofit group that works with colleges on environmental and sustainability issues.

The article goes on to point out how some schools are using these green projects to get donors to underwrite the costs… something considered to be a pretty easy sell in these days of tight markets.

A Kansas biodiesel and ethanol seller has been recognized for its efforts to sell the green fuels in a station that reflects that commitment to a better environment.

Zarco 66, which boast eight gas stations and convenience stores in Lawrence, Kansas, has picked up the Convenience Store Petroleum (CSP) Excellence in Green Design Award for its innovation to bring biofuels to the customer in some pretty green buildings:

“There are so many reasons for any business to incorporate environmentally-friendly practices, but there are even more reasons for fueling stations to start making the transition,” Scott Zaremba, president of family-owned Zarco 66, states. “With the volatility of the petroleum industry and foreign oil sources, we are on the front lines of two important battles—the environment and economic preservation.”

“We chose Zarco 66 as the winner of this award because they are proof of how one business can make a difference,” Mitch Morrison, group editor of CSP, describes. “Scott Zaremba and his team do more than simply offer eco fuels; they educate consumers about the use of alternative energy in their vehicles, at home and at work. It is this type of comprehensive approach that will have the greatest impact on future generations.”

Zarco 66 is the first winner of the new award in the category of Excellence in Green Design.

Many fuel retailers have begun offering blends between 10 percent and 85 percent ethanol for flexible fuel vehicles. The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) now has available E20, E30 and E40 labels for retailers to use for their blending pumps.

These labels are offered at a member rate and non-member rate. The coalition also offers the mandatory pump labeling for these blends. Besides blend pump labels, the NEVC offers a complete “pump imaging package” for E85 fueling stations. A listing of all items offered for pump labeling can be found by clicking here.

An Illinois-based technology services company recently unveiled a new set of “2nd Generation” technologies aimed at increasing the sustainability and profitability of corn-based ethanol plants.

According to MOR Technology, the MOR-Frac Plus+ Milling System in combination with their supercritical CO2 corn oil extraction technology can help plants “increase and diversify revenues by producing premium, value-added food-grade products, while also decreasing operating costs and environmental footprint.”

The company says its MOR-Frac™ Plus+ Milling System combines both dry and wet milling technology to offer the product purity and product yields achieved in wet milling, but with the energy efficiency, environmental impact, and capital/operating costs much closer to those of dry milling.

MOR is currently working with a number of customers, design-build firms and financing institutions to install the technology in corn-based ethanol plants around the country.

In addition, MOR Supercritical – an affiliate of MOR Technology based in Allentown, Pennsylvania – has started construction on a state-of-the-art plant that will showcase the company’s breakthrough supercritical fluid extraction technology for low-cost, high-volume commodity products. The 15 tonne-per-day plant will be located in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, and officials expect to complete construction in the third quarter of 2009.

MOR Supercritical has developed a corn oil and commodity oilseeds extraction system that uses proprietary breakthroughs in supercritical CO2 technology allowing for operating costs and energy use below that of hexane or mechanical extraction while also producing an all-natural, hexane-free corn oil for human consumption.