Domestic Fuel

Cows often get a bad rap for emitting methane – a global warming gas. Maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on Elsie the milk cow since her production of methane can be harnessed for energy.  Not sure how to go about converting animal waste to energy? Then consider attending the first National Biomethane Summit being held in Sacramento, CA on June 23, 2009.

The National Biomethane Summit will offer a full day’s focus on applications, equipment, and emerging technologies in the sciences of landfill gas, dairy waste methane recovery, and wastewater treatment. Speakers include representatives from the California Air Resources Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture and state and local politicians.

According to the conference’s website, the goal of NBS is, “to showcase fuels and technologies, policies and actions, and other ongoing efforts that will enable California to meet its goals to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions, strengthen its transportation fuel supplies, and establish a long-term sustainable market for cleaner-burning fuels.”

The only thing they forgot is how to convert human waste to biomethane. Well maybe next year.

San Jose wants to become energy independent but they’re not going about it in a traditional fashion. Instead, they hope to be the first city in the U.S. to generate its electricity through an organics-to-energy biogas facility. Should this plant come to fruition, it would be sited on a 40-acre site near the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant and convert 150,000 tons of organic waste into energy. The plant will be constructed and operated by Zanker Road Biogas.

Once the project becomes “official” several partners will work together to replicate the technology that has already been used successfully in Europe. The partners will include Zero Waste Energy Development Company, Harvest Power, GreenWaste Recovery and Zanker Road Resource Management. The project is waiting approval from several city organizations.

As landfills become full and some cities across the country are having difficulty getting rid of their waste, this technology would help reduce the amount of waste going into the landfills. Once the waste in converted to energy, it will be sold to the regional electrical utility power grid.

“This project not only demonstrates San Jose’s leadership in the production of renewable energy but will help us meet the economic development, zero waste and energy goals of our city’s Green Vision,” said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed.

The proposed facility could employ 30 to 40 during development and construction and is expected to create and retain 50 to 60 direct and supporting jobs when fully operational.

The National Corn Growers Association is planning a conference in August to focus on land use and climate impacts of corn-based ethanol.

The conference will feature sessions on topics such as land use change, nitrous oxide, new technologies and their effect on greenhouse gas emissions, domestic and international yields, satellite data and land conversion greenhouse gas emission factors, defining renewable biomass and distillers grains.

Presenters already scheduled for the conference include Dr. Bruce Dale of Michigan State University, Dr. Wally Tyner of Purdue University, Dr. Pat Westhoff of the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute and Dr. Michael Wang of Argonne National Laboratory.

Cost for the conference is $250, and includes refreshments, a cocktail reception and lunch. The meeting will take place at the Renaissance St. Louis Airport Hotel. Registration information is available on-line.

At this week’s Fuel Ethanol Workshop we had a very large panel discussion titled, “Research, Technology and the Future of Ethanol Production.” This was a pretty serious group of industry leaders and thinkers that was introduced by Tom Bryan, BBI International. Included were:

* Moderator: Per Falholt, Executive Vice President-Head of R&D, Novozymes
* Dave Vander Griend, CEO, ICM Inc.
* Rob Elliott, Processor Preferred Marketing Manager, Monsanto Company
* Neal Briggi, Global Head of Enzymes, Syngenta Biotechnology Inc.
* Wes Bolsen, Chief Marketing Officer & Government Affairs, Coskata Inc.
* Larry Johnson, North American Business Development, Inbicon
* Vonnie Estes, Vice President-Business Development, DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol
* Jeff Broin, CEO, Poet LLC

I recorded the presentation and thought you might be interested to hear their thoughts in answer to a couple of questions. I’ve included their response to a few of the first ones, including:

How has your company changed within the last 18 months?
What about your company could you have not predicted a year and a half ago?
How will the ethanol industry look a decade from now?
How will it be transformed by both crop and production technologies?

2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop Photo Album

You can listen to this segment of the panel presentation below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (10.2MB)

Two biofuels promoters took part in the 4th annual New Holland/Michael Peterson Celebrity Tractor Race held Sunday at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville. Chuck Leavell (left) is probably best known as the versatile keyboardist for the Rolling Stones and Joe Jobe is CEO of the National Biodiesel Board.

Jobe noted that New Holland Boomer being used for the race was fueled with biodiesel and he was proud to be part of the event once again this year. “Not only does New Holland support and approve the use of biodiesel in their vehicles, but they also promote the use of biodiesel nationwide,” said Jobe. Leavell not only supports biodiesel but ethanol as well since he’s a Georgia tree farmer and very interested in cellulosic ethanol production. “There’s a lot of experiments going on with several companies trying to make liquid fuels out of wood chips, cellulosic material and as time goes on it will get easier and easier,” said Leavell.

Here’s a video of Joe Jobe racing in the biodiesel-fueled New Holland Boomer:

See photos from the event here in the 2009 CMA Music Festival Photo Album

Listen to or download Chuck Zimmerman’s interview with Joe Jobe and Chuck Leavell here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.5MB)

Plans were announced this week for a cellulosic ethanol demonstration and research plant to be built in Florida that will produce both fuel and other products from the refining process.

The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, Buckeye Technologies and Myriant Technologies (formed by BioEnergy International) are partners in the project that will explore ways to harness byproducts from some of the most promising cellulosic ethanol techniques to make environmentally friendly versions of petroleum products.

The plant will be located at Buckeye’s facility in Perry, a small town near the armpit of the Florida peninsula, roughly halfway between Tallahassee and Gainesville. It will be built using a $20 million grant allocated by the Florida Legislature and groundbreaking is planned for this fall.

“We’re trying to break our dependence on petroleum. Fuel is a big part of that, but it’s not the only part,” said Lonnie Ingram, the UF distinguished professor of microbiology and cell science who led development of the technology. “Learning how to develop these valuable byproducts not only helps to make cellulosic ethanol more economically feasible, but it takes the environmental impact of cellulosic ethanol and extends it to new areas-like plastic water bottles that won’t take up space in a landfill for thousands of years.”

Feedstocks for the facility will include wood, sugarcane bagasse, and rice hulls. The plan is to use the genetically-modified bacteria developed by Dr. Ingram to convert the biomass into sugars, the first and most commercially challenging step in the production of cellulosic ethanol. The cellulosic by-products can then be used as feedstock for sustainable production of high-value chemicals.

Add two university deans to the growing list of scientists who are backing biodiesel.

According to the National Biodiesel Board, more than 100 scientists have signed the “Scientists for Biodiesel” declaration, which highlights biodiesel’s sustainability and its benefits to reduce dependence on petroleum, help address climate change and boost domestic economies:

Thomas Payne, Vice Chancellor and Dean at the University of Missouri School of Agriculture, sees biodiesel as playing “a key role in our nation’s future energy and environmental security.” He added, “I am proud to add my voice to the growing chorus of scientists who are singing the praises of biodiesel and advocating for an increased commitment that will ensure that biodiesel reaches its full potential as a vital U.S. energy source.”

“Our industry is at a critical juncture as we await details on implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard, and the future of the biodiesel tax incentive remains uncertain,” said National Biodiesel Board (NBB) CEO Joe Jobe. “This show of support from the scientific community will hopefully help people see through the misinformation that defenders of the status quo have spread.”

You can see the full list of the scientists who have signed the declaration and read the full text for yourself at www.biodieselsustainability.com.

Artists and activists Graham Evans and Emily Nelson are getting ready to tour the Northeast and Midwest, teaching people how to grow and cook their own food in a sustainable way… in a sustainable set of wheels. The pair and their Nourish(meant) project will be refurbishing a 14-passenger school bus that will run on waste vegetable oil, have a kitchen inside, and a garden on top.

As they meet, feed, and build relationships, they will begin a series of conversations about how to grow your own food, the importance of local and regional food systems, and general sustainability practices. In addition to this, they will teach those who are interested about biofuels, seed banking, and the many other topics they expect to learn about on the voyage. Nourish(meant) will function as a traveling art and education center geared toward addressing hunger and food insecurity in this country at the personal, community, and regional scales.

Nourish(meant) is broken down into three sub-projects: bodily nourishment in the form of the container garden growing on top of the bus, spiritual or creative nourishment, and mental nourishment.

The pair will hit the road (hopefully) in early July as they spend this month fixing up the bus. You can read more about the Nourish(meant) project at www.nourishmeant.org

Sunoco is now the owner of a 100 million gallon per year ethanol plant in Volney, NY. Northeast Biofuels, LP was purchased $8.5 million. This ethanol production faciltiy is the largest in the Northeastern United States, where much of Sunoco’s retail gasoline network is located.

Sunoco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lynn Elsenhans said, “We are pleased to join the Oswego County community and look forward to playing a productive role in the region. Operating this facility, and sourcing as much corn as possible from local growers, will contribute to the region’s economy and support the creation of ‘green’ jobs.”

According to their website, as a provider of transportation fuels, Sunoco views this purchase as a first step into alternative fuels, an area of possible growth for the company that it will continue to evaluate. The group is located in Philadelphia, PA and manufactures and markets petroleum and petrochemical products. With 825,000 barrels per day of refining capacity, approximately 4,700 retail sites selling gasoline and convenience items, approximately 6,000 miles of crude oil and refined product owned and operated pipelines and 43 product terminals, Sunoco is one of the largest independent refiner-marketers in the United States. Sunoco is a significant manufacturer of petrochemicals with an annual production capacity of approximately five billion pounds, largely chemical intermediates used to make fibers, plastics, film and resins. Utilizing a unique, patented technology, Sunoco’s cokemaking facilities in the United States have the capacity to manufacture approximately 3.0 million tons annually of high-quality metallurgical-grade coke for use in the steel industry. Sunoco also is the operator of, and has an equity interest in, a 1.7 million tons-per-year cokemaking facility in Vitória, Brazil.

“Where has all the water gone?” Asks author Maude Barlow in her book, “Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle For the Right to Water“. Living in America, many people may not realize that water shortages are already occurring throughout the country and more are expected if we don’t modify our water footprint.

Barlow lays out three scenarios that “collude toward disaster”. Scenario one: The world is running our of freshwater. Scenario two: Every day more and more people are living without access to clean water. Scenario three: A powerful corporate water cartel has emerged to seize control of every aspect of water for its own profit.

Considering that water is essential to life, the realization that water is becoming a scare resource is quite disturbing. Barlow discusses water apartheid, which we’re seeing in third world countries; water wars which are happening throughout the world and even here in the states; virtual water trade, which describes the water used in the production of crops or manufactured goods that are then exported; and maybe most appalling, discusses whether water is a right to life. Most countries have determined that water is not a right to life but fortunately through grassroots activism, this is changing.

“Every day, the failure of our political leaders to address the global water crisis becomes more evident. Every day, the need for a comprehensive water crisis plan becomes more urgent.” says Barlow. The answer, she writes, is a Blue Covenant.
Read the rest of this post…

Non-hydro sources of electricity continues to gain market share according to the latest statistics published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its “Electric Power Monthly” report released on June 15, 2009. The even better news is while renewable energy is growing, coal and natural gas use in steadily decreasing (five and four percent respectively) while nuclear power has remained virtually stagnant.

When comparing the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2008, renewable energy sources used for electrical production increased by 7.2 percent and accounted for 10 percent of the nation’s electrical generation. Conventional hydroelectric power increased by 4.6 percent while all other renewables combined (biomass, wind, geothermal, and solar) increased by 12.4 percent. When comparing 2009 to 2008 renewable resources have been and continue to be on a steady uphill trajactory.

“Apologists for the nuclear and fossil fuel industries persist in trying to mislead the public by repeatedly spreading the myth that renewables account for only a tiny fraction of U.S. electricity production,” comments Ken Bossong, executive director of the SUN DAY Campaign.  “However, the hard numbers document the continuing dramatic growth in renewable energy’s already-significant contribution to the nation’s electricity supply – a contribution that will eventually leave coal and nuclear behind in the dust.”

As 2009 continues, the momenteum continues to gain traction as renewables accounted for nearly 10.9 percent of net U.S. electrical generation in March 2009. Conventional hydroelectric power provided more than 6.9 percent of total U.S. electrical generation while other renewables generated almost four percent of electric power. Most notably, net generation from wind sources was 38.5 percent higher in March 2009 than it had been in March 2008.

I’ll be leaving the Fuel Ethanol Workshop soon but have several interviews to post over the next several days. Today’s a travel day back home after a week on the road that included working with biodiesel in Nashville and ethanol in Denver!

In the trade show last night I ran into Brian Jennings and Ron Lamberty, American Coalition for Ethanol. Brian says that although there’s a realization that things in the industry have changed significantly since the last FEW, he senses some optimism due to what’s happening with blending economics that are making their way back into the marketplace. I also got a complete update on how things are going for the organization. He wants everyone to know that their conference will be taking place August 11-13 in Milwaukee where they’ll be tackling a lot of the issues facing the industry. In my interview with them you can hear Ron talk about the work he’s been doing on blender pumps.

2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop Photo Album

You can listen to my interview with Brian and Ron below:

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

POET CEO, Jeff Broin, announced a new division for the company this morning at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop. POET Biomass will be “a division of POET devoted to managing harvest and transportation logistics for corn cobs – POET’s cellulosic feedstock – as well as waste wood and other feedstocks to be used for cellulosic ethanol and alternative energy projects at their production facilities.”

In addition to the new division, Broin, says the company has installed an anaerobic digester at POET’s pilot cellulosic plant in Scotland, SD to create a “a self-sustaining energy cycle for producing cellulosic ethanol.”

Corn cobs at Project LIBERTY will not only be used to produce ethanol; the liquid waste will go to an anaerobic digester to power the cellulosic plant and offset natural gas usage at the attached grain ethanol plant as well. That’s renewable energy created at the plant, powering the plant and powering the adjacent facility.

2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop Photo Album

You can listen to the full press conference below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (18.8MB)

According to the Clean Fuels Development Coalition, two timely publications addressing the environment were recently released at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop by the Ethanol Across America (EAA) education campaign.

The first publication is part of the highly successful Issue Brief series which to date has covered subjects such as Net Energy Balance; Economic Impacts of Ethanol; Food, Feed and Fuel; and other areas. The latest in the series released is the Environmental Impacts of Ethanol Production.

Ethanol Across America Director Douglas A. Durante said the focus on the environment and the urgency to go green makes this is a timely publication. “As ethanol production increases in response to the Renewable Fuel Standard, it is important that people understand the environmental impacts of ethanol, and this Issue Brief should serve that purpose very well. With reduced emissions, low energy use, minimal water consumption, increasingly efficient farming practices, and a resulting low impact on land use, we have a good story to tell.”

The direct and indirect land use issue has been particularly visible of late due to proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations and Durante said the new White Paper also released here this week is a complimentary piece to the brief. The White Paper series is an editorial-like forum for ideas, proposals, concepts, and “think pieces” according to Durante and has featured numerous guest authors.

“Rethinking the Value of Corn Ethanol Co-Products in Lifecycle Assessments: Producing More Food and Fuel with Less Carbon” is written by Dave Vander Griend, President and CEO of ICM, Inc., one of the nation’s leading ethanol process design and engineering firms. Mr. Vander Griend makes a compelling case in the White Paper for totally rethinking the land use issue in consideration of several critical factors that EPA models and others are not considering.

“It is important we look at the net impact of corn usage for ethanol, and that net is considerably lower than what the numbers might indicate on the surface. We return 1/3 of the volume of corn back to the animal feed supply, but we are returning nearly 1/2 of the nutritional, or feeding value. The end result is that for every two bushels of feed corn we use for ethanol we are returning one back into the supply.”

Vander Griend goes on to explain in the White Paper that along with the feed value, the increased yields of corn grown per acre means that meeting the first 15 billion gallons of ethanol demand of the RFS from corn will have no land use impact in that essentially no new land is being used — and over time there will be a reduction in land use. “All of this leads to less carbon emissions, which is a fundamental objective of our energy strategy,” he said.

He preached a powerful sermon this morning. He’s the Reverend of Renewable Fuels. He’s Bob Dinneen, CEO, RFA. Bob was on our program at the opening general session of the Fuel Ethanol Workshop. This is the 25th FEW and Bob has attended 21 of them now!

As always, Bob provided a very positive outlook by starting out looking at the industry’s accomplishments in the last year.

“Look at last year – in the face of a deepening economic downturn, negative 3% growth and rising unemployment, the U.S. ethanol industry grew by 34%, 0pening 31 new plants and adding an additional 240,000 new jobs!

As our industry grows, we are transforming our nation’s motor fuel market, and we are transforming the rural landscape of America.”

Bob touches on carbon, critics, food vs. fuel, land use, market expansion and cellulosic. He concluded by saying:

“We may have troubles, but we in the ethanol industry have a great story to tell, a compelling case to make, new opportunities to seize, and new markets to win over.

Thank you all for listening, and for the honor of being one of you.

2009 Fuel Ethanol Workshop Photo Album

You can listen to Bob’s speech below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (12.4MB)