Domestic Fuel

A senior agency official with the U.S. EPA says they may need another year to determine how blending ethanol in gasoline over the current 10 percent limit would affect vehicles and nonroad equipment.

EPA is working with the Energy Department to try to determine whether “mid-level” blends at 13 or 15 percent will affect emissions controls and engine durability. EPA is under ethanol-industry pressure to allow blends up to 15 percent, especially as the “blendwall” — the point at which the market is saturated at the current 10 percent limit — looms.

Margo Oge, head of EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, said her agency has been analyzing the issue for years but that more work remains. “We have been working especially closely with the Department of Energy (DOE) to evaluate the impacts of the use of higher blends on the in-use fleet of highway vehicles and nonroad equipment, and hope to complete the testing over the course of the next year,” she said in a statement for a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee panel, which held a hearing on biofuels today. She also noted that DOE is conducting tests on a sampling of newer vehicles to gauge the emissions effects of higher blends.

The 10 percent blend, or E10, is the highest amount that can be blended into most vehicles and equipment, but auto companies are also making flex-fuel vehicles that can run on a much higher blend, up to 85 percent ethanol.

Three of the nation’s top ethanol producing states – Nebraska, Iowa and Kansas – are also the top three financially happiest states in the nation.

According to MainStreet.com’s new Happiness Index - which used unemployment figures, foreclosures and non-mortgage debt to determine a state’s overall financial well being – the Cornhusker state is the happiest place to live. The index found that Nebraska has the second lowest unemployment rate in the country at 4.2% and the second lowest number of foreclosures nationwide.

Nebraska’s overall “Happiness Index Value” was 9 – the lower the better – which far outranked number two Iowa with a value of 25 and number three Kansas with a value of 34.

Ethanol production got some of the credit for Nebraska’s happiness in a Good Morning America story aired on Monday morning, which noted that Nebraska’s “ethanol plants, in particular, have flourished and the ongoing effort to grow industry has enabled people who lose jobs to find new ones relatively easily.”

Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, along with his Cabinet and members of his staff will be visiting a biodiesel plant Thursday as part of the first “Cabinet Community Day” of 2009. The Governor holds four such events each year, visiting eight regions of the state twice over the course of the administration.

The governor will visit Red Birch Energy – the first and only “closed loop system” delivery system for biodiesel in the United States. Red Birch Energy grows the crop, produces the fuel and sells the fuel all in one location, minimizing transportation costs.

Governor Kaine will also visit the Virginia Employment Commission, the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Martinsville Speedway as part of the event.

This summer, General Motors (GM) will begin testing prototypes of their electric flexible fuel Chevrolet Volt. The company is in discussions on its outreach efforts for the 2011 vehicle on how it will be attractive to buyers.

One of the attractions of the vehicle will allow the consumer to charge the Volt any time through their OnStar communication system.

“We will have a customer-selectable car-charging feature at a minimum,” Vehicle line director of the Volt, Tony Posawatz said. “We don’t have to put in smart meters to get those kinds of features and accommodations.”

Posawatz also noted that the Volt will have an internal combustion engine that can run both gasoline and E85. The engine acts as a generator for the battery for rides beyond 40 miles.

GM executives have said they expect to lose money on the first generation of Volts.

A new certification for commercial labs will help ensure the most reputable biodiesel quality program will be verifying the green fuel.

This press release from the National Biodiesel Board says the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission (NBAC) has created the BQ-9000 Lab Program:

“Reliable lab results are a major factor in guaranteeing fuel quality,” Rod Lawrence, Manager of Quality Control for Magellan Midstream Partners L.P. “This rigorous program will offer biodiesel customers the confidence that the lab used to test the renewable fuel is using best practices and has met standards for excellence synonymous with the BQ-9000 program.”

* test result reporting
* equipment calibration and maintenance
* quality control
* proficiency testing

The BQ-9000 program combines the ASTM standard for biodiesel, ASTM D6751, and a quality systems program that includes storage, sampling, testing, blending, shipping, distribution, and fuel management practices.

It’s named for the Greek phrase for wingless flight and practically slips through air nearly as effortlessly as Lance Armstrong bicycling through France (half the drag of a Toyota Prius). The beauty you see on the left is the battery-powered Aptera 2E… a three-wheeled, two-seater due out this fall.

Mother Nature News’ Jim Motavalli road along with Aptera CEO Paul Wilbur as they took the green car out for a spin in New York City:

Wilbur didn’t let me drive the car—it was New York, I guess—but I rode shotgun for enough miles to form an opinion. Like most EVs, it was fairly quiet, though noisier than most, and the potholes and cobblestones set off some rattles. The car was comfortable and felt stable on its three wheels, but a few minutes behind the wheel would have allowed more of a diagnosis.

Despite the undeniable strangeness—the Aptera could have been made for a 1960s science-fiction film featuring people of the future in jump suits—the company is serious about building a mainstream vehicle. “Tesla is the new Ferrari,” says Wilbur, gunning past a startled pretzel vendor. “We want to be the volume player in a radical new arena.”

The company is making three differently-powered models… the battery model, a gas-electric series hybrid and a conventional .7-liter gasoline car… all priced between $25,000 and $45,000. The one that runs on batteries is the one out this fall, while the other two models come out next year.

Aptera says the gas-powered model will get 100 mpg and cruise for a thousand miles. And the 2H, the hybrid, will trickle-charge the batteries on the way.

The Aptera plant in California can churn out 20,000 vehicles a year but expect just a few thousand in the first year. Company officials hope to make up to 100,000 annually.

Growing biodiesel oilseed feedstocks along the nation’s highways… capturing the power of the sun by growing algae for biodiesel production… finding multiple uses for the by-products of biodiesel refining… the U.S. is just scratching the surface of the potential biodiesel holds for this country. Those are just some of the findings of a new report.

Entitled “High Yield Pathways for Production,” from the St. Louis, Mo.-based Center for Evergreen Energy , it represents the center’s mission of linking global research, business and policy issues to sustainable energy solutions. This press release has details:

The report released today summarizes findings about biodiesel, which is already the only commercially available advanced biofuel and the most diverse fuel on the planet. The findings are the result of the first symposium hosted by the Center for Evergreen Energy that convened alternative fuels research, industry and policy representatives on Nov. 21, 2008 at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.

The algae working group, a promising source of biodiesel began their discussion with the important premise that a permanent energy solution depends on plants to capture some of the 20,000 terawatts of sunlight that fall on the earth.

You can read the full report for yourself at the center’s Web page: www.centergreen.org.

One of the key messages of a Senate committee hearing on the Renewable Fuels Standard this week was that more research needs to be conducted before mid-level blends of more than 10 percent are approved.

Margo Oge, the director of the Environmental Protection Agency’s office of transportation and air quality, submitted written testimony to the committee that said the agency is working with the Department of Energy (DOE) “to evaluate the impacts of the use of higher blends on the in-use fleet of highway vehicles and non-road equipment, and hope to complete the testing over the course of the next year.”

According to the testimony, EPA may consider a “conditional or partial” waiver of up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline, which would restrict its use to only certain types of vehicles. “If a conditional waiver were granted, it may necessitate changes in the fueling infrastructure to accommodate different blend levels,” said Oge. “New pump labeling requirements or other measures may be needed to ensure consumers use the appropriate fuel for their vehicles and equipment.”

EPA does intend to seek comment on both the ethanol blend waiver request and the proposal to implement RFS2, “as expeditiously as possible.”

The hearing this week featured a panel of witnesses speaking from both sides of the issue, including representatives from the petroleum industry, the American Lung Association and the Natural Resources Defense Council who all called for more testing to be done before higher blends are approved for use. Opening statements from all witnesses, as well as video from the hearing itself is available on-line at the committee’s website.

After the hearing, Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen told USDA radio news, “I’m not smart enough to know if 20 percent is the right number, or 15 percent, but I darn well know that more than 10 percent can be used in vehicles all across the country today and it will help to stimulate more demand, more renewable fuel use and that’s exactly what we need today,” especially if the country is expected to meet the RFS.

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ICM has been tapped by AgStar Financial Services to oversee plant operations and maintenance for the six plants it acquired as part of the VeraSun Energy bankruptcy. AgStar is not allowed to operate the plants due to federal regulations. The Company plans on selling the plants, located in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Michigan to other buyers over the next 2 months. AgStar had originally financed seven VeraSun plants but one was purchased by Valero Energy.

Paul DeBriyn, President and CEO of AgStar, which is headquartered in Mankato, Minnesota, was quoted in The Wichita Eagle as saying, “Our objective in retaining ICM is to maintain a positive environment ensuring all the plants are kept in top condition.”

Company sources says there is buyer interest in the ethanol facilities.

Changes are afoot at the Verenium Corporation due to its commercial joint venture with BP. The two companies are consolidating their research and development departments which includes the demonstration-scale biofuels facility located in Jennings, Louisiana. Gregory Powers, Ph.D., Executive Vice President R&D, will be the new head of this consolidated team.

Verenium is working to develop and bring to market cellulosic ethanol. The company also develops specialty enzymes for the biofuels industry. Its partnership with BP, which was announced in February of this year, was formed to bring advanced biofuels to the consumer market. These advanced biofuels will be developed and tested at their 1.4 million-gallon-per-year demonstration-scale facility.

John R. Malloy, former Executive Vice President of Biofuels, has left Verenium to pursue other opportunities, but according to company sources, he will continue to serve as a company consultant.

Ethanol production was still up in January compared to the previous year, and down only slightly from the previous month.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), American ethanol facilities produced 630,000 barrels per day (b/d) in January, up 120,000 b/d from January 2008, but down 50,000 from December of 2008.

Ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, also saw a year over year increase of 123,000 b/d from January 2008. Ethanol demand also outpaced production once again in January. Total production of ethanol in January was almost 821 million gallons, while use was 837.6 million gallons.

For the first time, the EIA also included import data. For January, ethanol imports totaled 15.6 million gallons, while exports were zero.

Earth Day 2009 is April 22, but Agland Cenex fueling stations in Greeley, Colorado will celebrate the day a bit early with their community on April 17. The sites at 1607 2nd Ave. and at 2449 35th Avenue will sell E85 for 85 cents per gallon from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970 with about 20 million people across America. Now Earth Day is celebrated annually around the globe. Through the combined efforts of the U.S. government, grassroots organizations, and environmentally caring citizens, what started as a day of national environmental recognition has evolved into a world-wide campaign to protect our global environment.

The Greeley, Colorado Earth Day event is sponsored by Agland, Weld County Garage and Northern Colorado Clean Cities. The E85 stations in Greeley are two of 81 in the state.

A new study has found no performance problems with doubling the amount of ethanol allowed in motor fuel.

According to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, research conducted by the Minnesota Center for Automotive Research at Minnesota State University found that increasing the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline from 10 percent to 20 percent “causes no significant change in performance of automotive fuel systems.”

The study looked at eight models of fuel pumps, running three identical versions of each model for 4,000 hours using one of three different fuels  gasoline, E10 and E20. Gasoline and E10 were used in the study as a reference to identify what effects two accepted fuels would have on the pumps and sending units. The 24 pumps were selected to represent a variety of manufacturers, model years, common vehicles and designs. In addition, the study examined the effect of E20 on nine different makes and models of sending units.

The study found that the pumps showed significantly less wear when tested with E20 than with gasoline. The study concluded that overall, E20 did not have any greater negative effects than gasoline or E10 on the fuel pumps tested. It also showed there were no substantial differences in the performance of the sending units tested in the three different fuels.

Read the study here.

The latest edition of Domestic Fuel Cast listens in on some of the conversation at this week’s Farm Foundation “Transition to a Bioeconomy: Global Trade and Policy Issues” conference.

This is the fourth in a series of conferences looking at the transition to a bioeconomy the Farm Foundation has sponsored. This week’s event brought people from around the world to Washington, DC, where they were able to combine their divergent viewpoints to come up with workable solutions that everyone can live with. Unlike some other conferences where everyone already agrees before they meet, these Farm Foundation meetings put together people with vastly different perspectives. The conversations are lively, they’re maybe a bit pointed, but they work… and they are something we need to have more of in this country: frank, honest discussions where everyone doesn’t have to agree.

Folks like Purdue’s Wally Tyner or the European Commission’s Laurent Javaudin come with ideas that each might believe is best but walk away with more ideas than what they would have had with just yes-men around them. We picked up on part of the conversation regarding how the U.S. and Europe have different approaches to renewable energy mandates: the U.S. choosing to set a number of gallons of biodiesel and ethanol produced, while Europe wants to base its renewable energy goals on a percentage of all energy produced… regardless of the source. And while the Americans and Europeans had plenty to talk about with the recent tariffs being slapped on U.S. biodiesel coming to Europe, our friends like Joel Velasco with the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association reminds us that there are some pretty steep protectionist tariffs America has put on the import of his country’s ethanol. Finally, David Zilberman with the University of California-Berkeley reminds us to keep our eyes on the prize: becoming free from the yoke of OPEC oil.

It’s a unique conversation, and you can hear some of it on this week’s Domestic Fuel Cast here: DFCast-4-03-09.mp3

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

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College students work best under pressure – so here’s your deadline to enter and win a MacBook Air laptop in the E85 Challenge - 11:59 pm EST April 3rd.

All you have to do is answer the question, “What does renewable mean to you?” Put your answer in the form of a video or photo, and submit it to the E85 Flex Fuel Challenge team.

Once submissions are closed – again, at noon eastern on April 3 – the next step is an on-line voting period with prizes for the voters! So, even if you miss the deadline for submissions, be sure to go and vote for your favorites for a chance to win one of eight weekly drawings for a Passport hard drive.

The contest is sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association to get college students engaged in the debate surrounding issues that impact their future: the economy, energy and the environment. Contest details are available here.