Domestic Fuel

Gulf Alternative Energy Corporation (GAEC) recently announced the lab test results on its biomass pre-processing technology that converts cellulosic biomass into a fine, dry powder for processing into ethanol.

GAEC reports that testing conducted by Microbac Laboratories of Colorado Lab “showed that all sugars were produced from Gulf Sorghum in 16 hours compared to 64 hours for unprocessed control samples. This is a 400% increase in processing speed under controlled lab conditions.”

John Shearer, President of GAEC, said, “This test lays to rest any questions regarding the validity and value of Gulf’s process to development of the cellulosic ethanol industry.”

Just when ExxonMobil finally gets into the biofuels game with its announcement of $300 million in funding for Synthetic Genomics, BP quits its biodiesel efforts. BP has extracted itself from a jatropha biofuel project with D1 Oils to focus on production of ethanol in both the United States and Brazil. The company will also pursue the development of advanced  biobutanol in conjunction with DuPont.

D1 Oil has agreed to purchase BP’s 50 percent interest in their joint D1-BP Fuel Crops Ltd. venture which was launched in June 2007. Jatropha has originally been considered a “wonder” crop to produce biofuels, but as of late has been under fire with many calling it the “blunder crop“. It is no wonder that with tightening funding for biofuels the project was unable to find any additional investors.

According to an article today from Bloomberg News, BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams, commented, “To ensure the success of these investments, BP is concentrating new business development in these areas and will no longer be directly involved in the jatropha as a biofuel feedstock.”

BP Alternative Energy has earmarked $8 billion for project investment in the decade through 2015 and $500 million for biofuels research specifically. The company forecasts that biofuels will account for 11 percent to 19 percent of the world’s transport-fuel market by 2030.

In the past year, BP has partnered with several other ethanol companies including Tropical BioEnergia on a sugarcane project, Verenium on a cellulosic ethanol project and Associated British Foods and DuPont on a wheat-based ethanol plant in Hull, northeast England.

A new study says the potential of wind energy around the world is much higher than what either wind industry groups or government agencies have been estimating.

This story in the New York Times says a Harvard University study shows that the U.S. could end up being the big leader in wind power:

Using data from thousands of meteorological stations, the Harvard team estimated the world wind power potential to be 40 times greater than total current power consumption. A previous study cited in the paper put that multiple at about 7 times.

The authors based their calculations on the deployment of 2.5- to 3-megawatt wind turbines situated either in accessible rural areas that are neither frozen nor forested, or relatively shallow offshore locations. They also used a conservative 20 percent estimate for capacity factor, a measure of how much energy a given turbine actually produces.

Study authors point out that other wind energy forecasts were based on 50- to 80-meter turbines. They say that turbines could be as large as 100 meters and based their estimates on the larger possible generators.

One of the leaders in lodging is working on becoming a leader in sustainable green energy.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has announced that it will be recycling its used kitchen grease into biodiesel to power its hotels worldwide:

As part of the brand’s focus and commitment to sustainability, more than 22 Fairmont locations worldwide are reducing their waste disposal costs and supporting the switch to a cleaner economy by manufacturing used kitchen oils into biodiesel, a domestic and renewable fuel derived from natural oils. No one method or solution is universal and biodiesel initiatives vary by property. At The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, the hotel gets the job done by partnering with Yokayo Bio-Fuels, a local biodiesel firm, to gather approximately 150 gallons of kitchen grease each quarter, turning it into tallow or feed. The Fairmont Scottsdale has also teamed up with an outside firm to transform leftover oil into fuel for vineyards and other businesses that rely on diesel, generators, forklifts and cars. The resort collected 1,901 gallons in 2008 and 650 gallons so far in 2009, for a total of 2,551 gallons of grease to date, which in turn has been recycled into biodiesel; enough to supply the annual fuel consumption of approximately five cars. By not discarding the kitchen grease down the drain, other benefits are also realized including fewer clogged pipes and reduced use of harmful chemicals to clear drains and treat wastewater systems.

You can read more about Fairmont’s Green Partnership Program here.

The North American Equipment Dealers Association has come out in support of the Green Jobs Waiver. Mike Williams, VP of Government Relations for NAEDA along with Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, held a media conference call today to discuss the endorsement.

In June, NAEDA endorsed the waiver through comments submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “We believe increasing the amount of ethanol produced and used will create green jobs, provide environmental benefits, help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and enhance the quality of life in rural America through development of our natural resources,” Williams wrote to the EPA.

Earlier this year, Growth Energy submitted on behalf of 54 ethanol producers a waiver to the EPA asking it to lift the decades-old, arbitrary limit on the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline from 10 percent (E10) up to 15 percent (E15). The U.S. EPA public comment period for the Green Jobs Waiver ends Monday, July 20.

A car maker that plans to build the world’s first police car designed from the ground up specifically for law enforcement officers and that will happen run on biodiesel has narrowed its choices to three states for its factory.

This press release from Carbon Motors Corporation, a new homeland security company, says Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina are finalists for the plant that is expected to create 10,000 new direct and indirect American jobs and make a $3 billion positive economic impact on the selected region over the next ten years:

“We are honored and tremendously appreciative to have such great choices on where to produce the world’s first purpose-built law enforcement patrol vehicle for our nation’s law enforcement first responders. Additionally, it is very important that we recognize and extend our appreciation to Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) and Governor Bev Perdue (D-NC), their respective teams, as well as the citizens and first responders of the State of Michigan and the State of North Carolina for their interest in Carbon Motors,” remarked William Santana Li, chairman and chief executive officer, Carbon Motors Corporation. “Although there has been a great deal of focus on which state will be our home, we must remember that it is ‘country first’. The United States of America has a national security interest in seeing that this vehicle get into production as quickly as possible,” continued Li.

A final announcement is expected sometime this summer, maybe as early as the end of this month.

Neat article I just read in Car and Driver about the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series, which features young drivers (16 to 26 years old) driving practically identical VWs running on a 5 percent biodiesel blend.

Writer Mark Gillies got to take one of cars out during an actual qualifying run at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Columbus:

The engine is very torquey and the brakes are superb. The DSG transmission is so well tuned that you can leave it in auto-Sport mode and go pretty quickly, but I preferred to use the paddles and shift manually just before redline. This was on the good advice of an 18-year-old—Timmy Megenbier, a hotshoe ex-karter who was really helpful to this rookie. Despite the limited horsepower, the cars lap Mid-Ohio at an average speed of around 81 mph, which is plenty fast. There’s a strange feeling in this car, because the engine is quiet and it doesn’t rev very high.

Back in April, I told you about this series for young drivers sponsored by Houston-based HYPERFUELS, which is powering the series with its high performance Syndiesel® B5. Nice to see these guys getting a mention from one of the country’s premiere auto magazines.

Just as the European Union was extending for five years the temporary duties the EU has slapped on American biodiesel, you would think would be the time the U.S. Trade Representative would want to talk about the protectionist tariffs with his European counterpart. Nope. Ambassador Ron Kirk had bigger fish to fry when he met with European Union Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton in Washington this week. Like a dispute over playing Irish music in American commercial establishments. I kind you not. While what could be a lifesaver for the U.S. economy and the world’s environment is being shut out of one of the biggest markets on earth, Kirk wanted to beat his sheleighly over whether Danny Boy should be sung in pubs (I’m not sure if that’s EXACTLY what the musical dispute is all about, but you get the idea).

To be fair, as noted in this Examiner.com story, there were several other important trade issues that were discussed at the meeting this week. But, c’mon. There wasn’t enough time to fit the biodiesel issue into the agenda? Between this and EPA official Margo Oge thinking that it takes 64 acres of soybeans… no, make that 400 acres of soybeans… to make a gallon of biodiesel (she’s a little off on her math. It’s actually 64 gallons of biodiesel out of each acre of beans.), you gotta start to wonder if anyone in Washington, D.C. is really looking out for U.S. biodiesel producers.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that biodiesel production in Europe jumped by more an 35 percent in 2008 and is expected to grow even more this year, despite the fact that half the plants on the continent are not operating because of poor demand. The tariffs keeping the American biodiesel out of Europe are seen as major factors for the projected growth.

There is less than one week left for you and other clean fuel proponents to actively support one of the most important issues in the ethanol industry today: increasing the allowed ethanol blend to E15.

This is the most immediate way to grant clean, American-made fuel access to a market currently dominated by the oil industry. The ethanol industry must continue to grow if it is to produce enough product to meet the growing demand that more blender pumps and FFVs will create. The current limit on the amount of ethanol that can be blended into a gallon of gasoline is at ten volume percent ethanol (E10) for conventional (non flex-fuel) vehicles. Growth Energy and 54 ethanol manufacturers submitted the E15 waiver application on March 6, and EPA must make a decision by December 1, 2009.

An immense amount of testing has shown that there is no scientific justification for the 10 percent limit on ethanol. In the past two years, multiple comprehensive studies involving over 100 vehicles, 85 vehicle and engine types, and 33 fuel dispensing units have been completed to evaluate the affects of ethanol-gasoline blends above 10 percent ethanol. These studies include a year-long drivability test and over 5,500 hours of materials compatibility testing. This research all shows that emission control systems are unaffected by a 5 (or in some cases 10) percent increase in ethanol content.

There is only one week left for you to send your supportive comment to the EPA as the public comment period ends July 20. Please send your comments today by going to www.GoE15.com.

It’s not too late to get your early bird discount when you register by August 4th for the National Corn Growers Association’s Corn Ethanol Land Use Conference. This two-day event will be held in St. Louis on August 25-26 and will discuss the land use and climate impacts of corn ethanol.

Registrants can participate in a myriad of topical sessions including 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.

“This conference provides a unique opportunity to get the latest information on land use from some of the most prominent experts in industry and academia. We are fortunate to have speakers representing each of the various models used in developing the rules implementing the new Renewable Fuel Standard,” said Jamey Cline, NCGA Director of Biofuel Programs.

Newly confirmed presenters at the conference include Steven Del Grosso, Colorado State University; Dr. Bruce McCarl, Texas A&M; Nancy Harris, Winrock International; Keith Kline, Oakridge National Laboratory, and Ken Copenhaver, University of Illinois, Chicago.

The cost os $250 per person and registration is available online.

Congress is being urged to make more money available for wind-energy research.

This story from the Abilene Reporter News says that Andrew Swift, director of the Wind Science and Engineering Research Center at Texas Tech, made the case for a federal proposal to pump $200 million a year into research and development for wind power:

“I believe if research and education investments are made on the scale proposed that this industry can provide 20 percent of the nation’s electrical power by 2030,” the Lubbock professor said in testimony.

Authored by Rep. Paul Tonko, a New York Democrat, the bill would provide $200 million a year for wind-energy related research through 2014.

Wind energy experts point out that while unemployment has climbed and energy supplies have tightened, the wind industry has added 35,000 jobs and put out enough power for more than 2.5 million homes.

Legislation introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) could get more natural gas-powered vehicles on the road.

This article from The Mainstreet Business Journal says the bill is a follow-up to Hatch’s measure a few years ago:

“In 2005, as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, I was able to get the CLEAR Act enacted into law,” Hatch said. “That legislation has promoted the purchase of alternative-fuel and hybrid vehicles, alternative-fuel infrastructure and the use of alternative fuels in vehicles. I have been very pleased with the growth in the use of hybrid-electric vehicles in this country since the passage of the CLEAR Act, but I have been less pleased with the growth in natural gas as a transportation fuel. I believe strongly an extra push is needed to spur the greater use of natural gas and to get more natural gas vehicles on our roads.”

The Menendez/Hatch Natural Gas Act (S. 1408) would extend the life of the CLEAR Act credits for natural-gas vehicles, natural-gas filling infrastructure and for the use of natural gas in vehicles. It also creates a new incentive for the manufacture of natural-gas vehicles and trucks.

The bill hopes to address the shortage of commercially-available natural gas-powered vehicles.

Some folks in Missouri are trying to educate the government (I know, I know) about the possible implications of a rule that could hurt the biodiesel industry.

As many of you are aware, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering a rule change to the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) that would basically leave soybean-based biodiesel out of the RFS… putting the biodiesel component of the RFS in serious jeopardy. This story from Missouri Ruralist says that to preserve soybean biodiesel’s role, representatives from the Kansas City and St. Louis Regional Clean Cities partnered with the Kansas Soybean Commission and the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council and took some EPA officials on a field trip to a soybean field and a soybean processing facility and biodiesel plant near Kansas City:

“We wanted to be able to show every step of the biodiesel process from the field to the tailpipe,” said Dale Ludwig, executive director of the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council. “Sometimes people need to see something firsthand before they can truly understand it. We hope this educational session will help government officials make informed decisions regarding biodiesel.”

The indirect land use theory is based off the assumption that an increase in production of biodiesel in the United States results in the deforestation of Brazil and other countries to plant more crops to make up for demand. This assumption penalizes biodiesel for the release of carbon from trees that have been cut down. However, statistics from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service show deforestation in the Amazon rainforest has actually decreased since 2004, when U.S. biodiesel production began to increase significantly.

The backers of soy-biodiesel are not confident the EPA will use the best information to make the decision without the right input. Remember this little piece of video where EPA official Margo Oge testified before a House panel in May regarding the indirect land use issue first saying that it takes 64 acres for a gallon of soy biodiesel, and then, correcting herself even more incorrectly by saying it takes 64 acres for corn ethanol and over 400 acres for a gallon of biodiesel. Actually, one acre of soybeans makes 64 gallons of biodiesel and one acre of corn makes over 400 gallons of ethanol.

So, there you go. Don’t forget, the deadline to comment is September 25, 2009. Try to set them right on the biodiesel quantity issue, would you?

The oil giant Exxon Mobil, whose chief executive once mocked alternative energy by referring to ethanol as “moonshine,” is about to venture into biofuels. Exxon Mobil Corp. said that it will make its first major investment in greenhouse-gas reducing biofuels in a $600 million partnership with biotech company Synthetic Genomics Inc. to develop transportation fuels from algae.

The agreement could plug a major gap in the strategy of Exxon, the world’s largest and richest publicly traded oil company, which has been criticized by environmental groups for dismissing concerns about global warming in the past and its reluctance to develop renewable fuels.

Despite the widely publicized “moonshine” remark a few years ago by Exxon’s chairman and chief executive, Rex W. Tillerson, the company has spent several years exploring various fuel alternatives, according to one of its top research officials.

“We literally looked at every option we could think of, with several key parameters in mind,” said Emil Jacobs, vice president for research and development at Exxon’s research and engineering unit. “Scale was the first. For transportation fuels, if you can’t see whether you can scale a technology up, then you have to question whether you need to be involved at all.”

He added, “I am not going to sugarcoat this — this is not going to be easy.” Any large-scale commercial plants to produce algae-based fuels are at least 5 to 10 years away, Dr. Jacobs said.

Exxon’s sincerity and commitment will almost certainly be questioned by its most galvanized environmentalist critics, especially when compared with the company’s extraordinary profits from petroleum in recent years.

“Research is great, but we need to see new products in the market,” Kert Davies, the research director at Greenpeace, said. “We’ve always said that major oil companies have to be involved. But the question is whether companies are simply paying lip service to something or whether they are putting their weight and power behind it.”

While we here about millions of dollars going to big renewable energy programs, it’s nice to hear about a few bucks going to some small, grassroots efforts. A high school biodiesel program from New Hampshire known for beating some colleges in energy competitions has received $5,000 from an anonymous donor.

This story from the Nashua (NH) Telegraph says the Merrimack High School science department will get the money:

In late June, Superintendent Marge Chiafery received an anonymous letter, saying the writer was so impressed by the school’s Biodiesel Team and Science Olympiad, that he or she wanted to donate $5,000 to the school: $1,000 for each of those two groups and $3,000 to the general science department.

Chiafery said department head John Snell will be thrilled when he learns of the donation and will meet with the teachers when they come back from vacation in August to discuss the best use of the funds.

The only catch is the school district has to accept the money (c’mon, a school district NOT taking money?). Officials say the money will most likely go toward entrance fees for competitions… maybe some more chances to beat those college kids!