Domestic Fuel

The world’s energy paradigm is shifting and this shift is going to affect every company, CEO, and person in the world. But how? It’s a question I’ve often wondered about so this week I read, “Energy Shift: Game-Changing Options for Fueling the Future.” This book was unique in that it targets business leaders and helps them understand the major forces that are changing how business is being done today. The authors Eric Spiegel and Neil McArthur both work for Booz & Company.

Although the authors cover off on a lot of topics, I wanted to highlight one thing in particular. The authors point out that meeting the world’s growing demand for electric power while limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases is the most urgent imperative for energy policy in the twenty-first century. Developing alternatives to coal has been much talked about as has how to store electricity. However, what you don’t hear as often and that the authors stated quite succinctly as it relates to handling the increase in global demand for electricity is this.

“One additional factor that may push demand even higher in the future is the advent of electricity as an alternative energy source for transportation: the the extent that plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles succeed in the marketplace, they will increase the demand for electricity in proportion to the decrease in demand for petroleum that they create.”

Despite all the attention to the world’s energy situation, the authors note that there has not been sufficient change in the reality of energy production to significantly shorten the timetable for the energy shift. How fast this will happen, they say, depends on how the three major areas of uncertainty are resolved.

1. 1.  The future of greenhouse gas regulations.
2. 2.  Energy Security.
3. 3.  The pace of technological innovation.

So what happens when you mesh these three challenges together? No one knows. But the authors do make suggestions on how this transition can be smoother, faster and more effective, but you’re going to have to read the book to find out.

Click here to buy “Energy Shift”.

Everything. According to the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA). The rationale? Brazil’s highly successful, 30-year experience with sugarcane as a feedstock for ethanol. The country’s ethanol program has been in place since the mid-70s. In this time frame, ethanol has saved nearly 600 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. How much is that? It would take 20 years and six billion trees to have the same results.

Unlike any other country, Brazil’s use of ethanol makes gasoline the alternative fuel. In 2003, flex-fuel cars (FFV) were introduced and today 34 percent of the light vehicle fleet are FFVs and close to 90 percent of new light vehicles purchased are FFVs. In addition, 46 percent of the country’s energy is provided by renewable sources. In addition, all of Brazil’s nearly 400 sugar and ethanol mills are self-sufficient in electricity, and a growing number of mills are generating a surplus by using cane straw and bagasse,

According to the UNICA’s senior international affairs adviser Geraldine Kutas, “Brazil could be a low-carbon economy. Unfortunately, even though the country is a large renewable energy producer, it is also the fourth largest emitter of carbon, because of deforestation. The fight against climate change requires ambitious public policies and joint leadership from the government and the public sector.”

This is just one success story that will be highlighted during Green Week, June 23-26 in Brussels, the largest annual conference to focus on the European Union’s environmental policies. UNICA will participate in both a panel discussion, “Climate Change: What can be asked of emerging economies?” on June 24 as well as have a booth set up in the exhibit area.

For more information about other speakers, topics and events during Green Week, visit www.greenweek2009.alligence.com.

I reported several months ago about VIASPACE’s plans to expand the production of Giant King Grass to be used to produce advanced biofuels. VIASPACE is currently growing Giant King Grass in southern China and pursuing opportunities in other regions and countries. Today, the company announced that their Chief Executive, Dr. Carl Kukkonen, will be making several presentations at the China Agricultural University and the Biofuels and Jatropha Markets Asia conference in Jakarta, Indonesia, June 29-July 1, 2009. His presentation is entitled, “Giant King Grass: An Energy Crop for Cellulosic Biofuels and Electric Power Plants.”

VIASPACE is developing the technology to create “grassoline” through the production of a fast-growing feedstock called Giant King Grass. This feedstock is able to produce low-carbon cellulosic biofuels as well as can be used as a replacement for coal at the heat source for electricity generating power plants.

According to Kukkonen, “In addition to biofuels, another near-term use of biomass such as Giant King Grass is to simply burn it, instead of coal or oil, in an electricity generating power plant. An existing coal fired power plant can replace up to 30% of its coal with biomass. Co-firing grass with coal can be accomplished by a straightforward modification of existing power plants, which does not require the large capital expense of building a new power plant. This is probably the simplest and cheapest way to reduce net carbon emissions from coal-fired power plants. However, new 100% biomass-dedicated power plants are also being built, as there are long-term operating and environmental benefits for biomass power plants, compared to coal-burning plants.”

A detailed article about the process was included in the latest edition of Scientific American magazine. The article’s authors believe that cellulosic biofuels are the most environmentally attractive and technologically feasible near-term alternative to oil and possess advantages, in contrast to first-generation biofuels from corn and other edible feedstock.

Farm state lawmakers led by Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) have reached a compromise with Democratic leadership in the House on the so-called climate change bill that makes it more palatable to agriculture and biofuels interests.

Part of the agreement includes allowing USDA to have oversight for agricultural carbon offset programs instead of EPA. “The climate change bill will include a strong agriculture offset program run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will allow farmers, ranchers, and forestland owners to participate fully in a market-based carbon offset program,” said Peterson. “This agreement also addresses concerns about international indirect land use provisions that unfairly restricted U.S. biofuels producers and exempts agriculture and forestry from the definition of a capped sector.”

The compromise over indirect land use issue was that bill sponsor Henry Waxman (D-CA) will ask the EPA to commission a study of indirect costs and that any method of counting those costs should be agreed to by both USDA and EPA.

Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, was pleased that Peterson and Waxman were able to reach a compromise on the issue. “We believe that additional study of the issue of indirect land use change will further demonstrate that these provisions should never have been a part of the 2007 energy law to begin with,” Buis said in a statement. “This is a good first step in a longer process, including full review by the House and Senate.”

The American Clean Energy and Security Act is expected to come up for a vote on Friday and President Obama encouraged passage during his press conference yesterday. “It is legislation that will finally spark a clean energy transformation that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and confront the carbon pollution that threatens our planet,” Obama said.

According to the Governors Biofuels Coalition, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said in Des Moines the nation’s car manufacturers ought to make all new automobiles able to run on E85 ethanol-blended fuel. But Chu said the government could face resistance should it insist on the new standard, despite two of the nation’s three main automakers’ having recently filed for bankruptcy protection.

Chu, in Iowa awarding the state a share of its federal stimulus money, later said all pumps ought to offer at least a blend of 15 percent ethanol. “We should think about doing the following. I’ve been told it costs about $100 in gaskets and fuel lines to turn a car so that it can go all the way to E85,” Chu said, addressing public officials and news media at the Des Moines Botanical Center. “But a new car , it would only cost $100 out of $15,000. Wouldn’t it be nice to put in those fuel lines and gaskets so that we can use any ratio we wanted,” Chu added. “It’s just a thought, I don’t think you’re going to get any objections in this audience.”

Chu stopped short of saying the Obama administration would require the companies to build all vehicles as flex-fuel-ready. “It’s beginning to be discussed,” Chu said. “But, again, it’s one of those things where I think with virtually anything, once the government steps in the natural tendency is to resist government intervention.”

There is legislation pending in Congress that would require all domestic automobiles to eventually make all vehicles capable of running on E85.

Recent accidents involving transportation fuel, including ethanol, have highlighted the importance of safety when it comes to moving flammable and hazardous materials. It turns out that the tanker truck explosion in California on June 13 was actually carrying petroleum, not ethanol as the media reported, but the Canadian National Railway train that derailed in Illinois over the weekend was carrying ethanol.

This edition of the Ethanol Report features comments from Renewable Fuels Association Director of Technical Services Kristy Moore discussing the importance of safety to the ethanol industry and what RFA has done to develop and distribute safety information specifically related to ethanol production and transportation.

More information about ethanol safety can be found on the Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition website – ethanolresponse.com.

You can subscribe to this podcast by following this link.

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The award winning documentary, “Fuel” produced by Josh Tickell will be featured during the 2009 Farm to Fuel summit being held in Orlando, Florida July 29-31st. Tickell will be the keynote speaker during lunch on Thursday, July 30 and then later that evening summit participants can enjoy a private screening of the movie.

“Fuel” a documentary about “changing your fuel” fueled controversy. But controversy sells, and the film was awarded Best Documentary, audience award at last year’s Sundance Film Festival. The LA Times says about the film, “Fuel” is a vital, superbly assembled documentary that presents an insightful overview of America’s troubled relationship with oil and how alternative and sustainable energies can reduce our country’s — and the world’s — addictive dependence on fossil fuels.”

Fuel will be in selected theaters this fall.

Other speakers during the Farm to Fuel summit include Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture, Charles H. Bronson and Florida Governor, Charlie Crist. To learn more about the event, visit www.floridafarmtofuel.com.

The world’s biggest car maker is promising to launch a new fuel-cell car by the year 2015.

This Wall Street Journal article says Toyota made the pledge during today’s annual shareholders meeting:

Other investors asked about the company’s strategy for low-emission, fuel-economic vehicles, a core growth area for many car makers in the current tough environment.

Toyota, one of leading fuel-cell car makers, currently leases hydrogen-powered vehicles to governments and corporate customers.

The move is part of the car company’s hopes to stop its current sales slump.

A wind farm capable of generating power for 40,000 homes has been completed near the Western Oklahoma town of Elk City.

PennEnergy.com reports that Acciona Energy North America has completed its 123 megawatt Red Hills Wind Farm… the company’s first renewable energy project in the state:

Using 82 Acciona Windpower 1.5 MW wind turbines, Red Hills Wind Farm will generate enough clean energy to power over 40,000 U.S. homes and offset approximately 294,000 tons of carbon emissions annually. The Red Hills facility is spread across 5,000 rural acres. With the exception of the small footprint made by the 82 turbines, at about 1 acre each, land use is dominated by cattle grazing which coexist with the wind energy production.

The energy generated at the Red Hills Wind Farm will be sold to Western Farmers Electric Cooperative (WFEC) in a 20 year power purchase agreement (PPA) that kicked off June 1, 2009.

Acciona Energy has more than 6,000 MW of installed wind capacity owned by the company and other companies.

A year after opening on the Houston Ship Channel, the nation’s biggest biodiesel plant has a “for sale” sign out on its lawn.

The Houston Chronicle reports that GreenHunter Energy is trying to find a buyer while it rearranges some financial obligations on the refinery:

GreenHunter hired an investment banking firm to look for a potential buyer for the 105 million gallon per year plant, the nation’s largest. The firm will also help find domestic or international partners, alternative financing, potential new equity capital and enough working capital to get the plant running again, the company said in a statement today.

But GreenHunter’s Houston plant has been idle since February amid weak domestic demand for the fuel, new trade barriers on U.S. biodiesel exports to Europe and low oil prices that have made renewables less competitive with petroleum based fuels, said Jack Zedlitz, a company spokesman. Last year, the plant also was temporarily forced to shut down after receiving damage from Hurricane Ike last September.

GreenHunter says by amending its credit agreement, the company hopes to survive its current financial problems.

The Director of Technical Services for the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has been recognized by ASTM International for her work on behalf of America’s ethanol producers to make sure fuel ethanol meets standards and has access to petroleum markets across the country.

Kristy Moore received the Award of Appreciation from ASTM International’s Committee D02 on Petroleum Products and Lubricants, which has jurisdiction over 725 standards relating to those materials.

With RFA, Moore works on a number of technical and safety issues important to the ethanol industry and oversees the Technical Committee, the longest standing committee within the RFA. Moore and the committee have been responsible for increasing market share for ethanol, including opening new markets for ethanol including the southeastern states.

“This is a well deserved award,” said Chuck Corr, Manager, Biofuels Technical Service at Archer Daniels Midland and current chair of RFA’s Technical Committee. “We are all appreciative that the RFA provides a forum for the techies to work together on the many technical issues facing the industry. We are also thankful that Kristy is available to provide assistance at every turn.”

ASTM International is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world-a trusted source for technical standards for materials, products, systems, and services.

If you’re interested in learning something about pitching stories to bloggers you might want to participate in a today’s webinar that’s part of the Communicating Renewables Webinar series. There’s still time to register. All the information is posted below. The things we’ll discuss are applicable to any industry but our focus will be on energy. I’m one of the presenters. If you’ve got any thoughts on the subject please feel free to comment here or send me a message via Twitter.

The Communicating Renewables Webinar series is a project of Joanna Schroeder, 4R Communications. Joanna is currently a contributing editor here on Domestic Fuel.

TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2009
1:00 pm — 2:00 pm EST / Cost $49

Pitching Energy Bloggers: Best Practices

Presented by Jim Lane, Editor, Biofuels Digest and Chuck Zimmerman, Editor, DomesticFuel.com

The media landscape has changed and with the proliferation of blogs, the web has become the leader in breaking news, and a primary source for consumers to get their information. So how do you get bloggers to cover your story? This webinar will discuss the power of blogs; how blogs have changed the way reporters report; what types of stories bloggers write about; and how to craft a successful pitch to a blogger.

Click here to register.

Students in Minnesota and South Dakota are the latest recipients of Clean Air Choice Scholarships.

This Biodiesel Magazine story says the winning essays touted the virtues of biodiesel:

Emily Johnson of Minnetonka, Minn., a recent graduate of Hopkins High School, has been awarded first place in the 2009 Minnesota Clean Air Choice Scholarship, presented by the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association and the American Lung Association in Minnesota. Johnson received $1,000 for her winning essay, “The Benefits of the Use of Biodiesel.”

Alex Edward Sproul, a recent graduate of Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, S.D., was awarded a $250 scholarship for his second-place essay about biodiesel. The statewide contest was sponsored by the South Dakota Soybean Research & Promotion Council and administered by the American Lung Association in South Dakota.

You can read the winning essays for yourself at www.CleanAirChoice.org.

A team of students from Ohio State University are in the lead after the first phase of the three-year EcoCar: the NeXt Challenge that took place last week in Toronto, Canada. The actual challenge was to convert a Saturn VUE into an electric vehicle with increased fuel economy and lower tailpipe emissions.

The team from Ohio State utilized a battery pack and E85 to power a 1.8 liter Honda engine which a rechargeable battery pack. The team’s engineering achieved a 300 percent increase in fuel economy.

Launched in late 2008 by the Government of Canada, General Motors, the U.S. Department of Energy, and others, 17 university teams from the U.S. and Canada competed. Approximately half of the teams, including the Ohio State team, designed extended-range electric vehicles, six teams utilized plug-in hybrids, two teams experimented with fuel cell plug-in hybrids using renewable resources, and one team designed an all-electric vehicle. Every team used lithium-ion batteries and then retrofitted them to become plug-in batteries.

GM provided the vehicles, parts, seed money, mentoring, and operational support. The DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory research facility provided team evaluation, technical and logistical support, and competition management.

The first step in the challenge was to design the vehicles using advanced software and computer modeling tools given to the teams by GM. In years two and three, students translate their design into reality and develop a working vehicle that meets the competition’s goals. The teams come together at the end of each academic year to compete against the other university teams in more than a dozen static and dynamic events.

A landfill is now one of the sources of power for a the Lafarge Tulsa Cement Plant.

The Tulsa World reports that an 8,000-foot pipeline will bring methane, produced from the rotting garbage, from the Waste Management landfill where the city’s residential waste is taken:

By substituting methane for coal, a renewable energy source is tapped and reliance on fossil fuels is decreased, said Jim Bachmann, the Lafarge plant’s manager.

“This landfill now can produce a product that can be used,” he said.

The methane is estimated to reduce carbon dioxide output by 200,000 tons each year.