Domestic Fuel

The waste vegetable oil at a potato processing facility is now becoming the green fuel biodiesel, thanks to some new technology from a California maker of biodiesel refining equipment.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that BioFuelBox Inc. has installed the first of a new biodiesel technology that has been operational since August at the potato plant in American Falls, Idaho:

San Jose, Calif.-based BioFuelBox came out of stealth mode earlier this year with the announcement that its patented and trademarked NovoStream process had successfully overcome a technical obstacle in removing sulfur from biodiesel made from low quality waste-based feedstocks. Reddy described NovoStream as a continuous flow, supercritical process using high heat and pressure to convert free fatty acids (FFA) and triglycerides to biodiesel in one pass with high yields. The process can handle up to 100 percent FFA, high contaminant levels as well as high moisture content. Pretreatment is limited to removing solids and excess water, according to Reddy. He added that the net energy ratio for the process is roughly twice that of standard biodiesel, in spite of the use of more energy for the heat and pressure used in the process. The company says the process yields 7 units of energy out for every 1 unit used, the primary energy savings coming from the minimal energy contribution from on site production and the waste feedstock itself.

The 1 million-gallon-a-year, turnkey operation BioFuelBox modular unit can drop into any place that has a ready supply of biodiesel feedstock. Look for it to become a standard fixture at other places that have lots of grease or oil outputs, giving those places some high-quality biodiesel that they can either use themselves or sell to add value to their products.

Going to the ballpark, whether its a football field or a baseball diamond, fans are used to seeing plenty of green grass (well, unless you’re a Boise State fan!). But more and more teams are also going green when it comes to the fuel they use in those stadiums.

The National Biodiesel Board has this story about how biodiesel is making the team with many professional sports:

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Chris Dickerson is one of the founders of We Play Green. The group works to unite athletes in encouraging environmental awareness and promoting alternative energy.

“Growing up in Iowa, I understand the importance of biofuels to our farmers and rural communities,” said Clark. “I’m also excited that the Colts will donate $100 in the name of Indiana farmers to a scholarship program for every catch I make this season.”

Other professional sports teams and organizations that are using biodiesel to win the clean energy game include the Philadelphia Eagles, Houston Astros, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, the Kansas City Chiefs, and sports network ESPN.

Backers of weaning the U.S. off of non-renewable, foreign petroleum are giving mixed reviews to the latest climate bill introduced today in the U.S. Senate.

Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and John Kerry (D-Mass.) debuted the “Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act,” an 821-page bill designed to “create clean energy jobs, reduce pollution, and protect American security by enhancing domestic energy production and combating global climate change,” as well as creating millions of green energy jobs. Part of that includes reducing carbon emissions by 20 percent by the year 2020 and 80 percent by 2050 compared to 2005 levels:

This is a security bill that puts Americans back in charge of our energy future and makes it clear that we will combat global climate change with American ingenuity. It is our country’s defense against the harms of pollution and the security risks of global climate change,” said Kerry. “Our health, our security, our economy, our environment, all demand we reinvent the way America uses energy. Our addiction to foreign oil hurts our economy, helps our enemies and risks our security.”

Senator Boxer said, “We know clean energy is the ticket to strong, stable economic growth — it’s right here in front of us, in the ingenuity of our workers and the vision of our entrepreneurs. We must seize this opportunity, or others will move ahead.”

Reaction to the measure has been mixed. U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), Ranking Republican Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, is not a fan:

“As I have stated many times before, I want to support legislation that addresses climate change and provides a more secure energy future for America. Unfortunately, the legislation introduced today by Senators Boxer and Kerry follows the House-passed bill down the path of higher energy costs, job losses and economic pain for no benefit. Further, it would only hurt farmers, ranchers and forest landowners and provide them no opportunity to recoup the higher costs they will pay for energy and the other inputs necessary to work the land. I cannot support this bill.”

But maker of algae-based renewable fuels, Sapphire Energy, sees great potential in the legislation:
Read the rest of this post…

Windmills might soon be going up all over San Francisco, as a a task force is recommending that the city start putting up the turbines at places like Treasure Island, the San Francisco Zoo, city parks, and the city airport as demonstration sites for how urban wind farms could help power the city.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the recommendations come after a year-long study of the potential of wind power in the city:

“We should absolutely harness the wind,” said Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who as a city supervisor in July 2008 joined Mayor Gavin Newsom in convening the urban wind power task force, which is publishing the report.

The ideas proposed in the San Francisco study are intended to help the city reach its goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. While turbines are typically associated with farms and rural areas, cities like San Francisco are increasingly interested in using what is considered a cleaner energy generator.

City hall itself might even sport its own urban wind farm one day.

Two more Iowa schools will be the benefactors of Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) grants aimed at educating communities about biodiesel and incorporating biodiesel and renewable fuels into school programming.

The latest $2,500 Biodiesel Backer Awards will be awarded in December and follow this past summer’s awarding of three grants:

IRFA has created the Biodiesel Backer Toolkit to help schools in this endeavor. The toolkit includes a variety of informational materials as well as communication tools that will assist schools in teaching their communities about biodiesel. These resources include fact sheets, brochures, curriculum, PowerPoint presentations, and a public service announcement. The Biodiesel Backer Award Application is also located in the Biodiesel Backer Toolkit, which can be found online at www.iowarfa.org/educators.php.

“IRFA is excited to keep the Biodiesel Backer Award program rolling for Iowa schools,” said IRFA Biofuels Manager Grant Menke. “Fueling Iowa’s school buses with biodiesel—rather than conventional petroleum-based diesel—is safer for children, healthier for Iowa’s economy, and friendlier to the environment. We strongly encourage Iowa schools to continue educating students about the benefits and uses of biodiesel and to apply for a Biodiesel Backer Award today.”

The deadline for application for the grants is Dec. 11, 2009, and more information is available here.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has joined the chorus of renewable fuel advocates who are calling on the EPA to give biodiesel and ethanol a fair shake in the proposed Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2).

BIO’s remarks come as a growing number of green fuels backers say the EPA has to acknowledge the full extent of the uncertainty in its estimation of biofuels’ lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that biofuel technologies are not preemptively disqualified from the RFS2:

Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section, stated, “EPA’s proposed methodology yields highly uncertain estimates of biofuels affect on international land use change, due in part to starting assumptions about future crops productivity and land constraint, causality, and the role of other countries’ land use policies. EPA must acknowledge the limitations of the current state of the science of estimating international land use change and not preemptively disqualify biofuels from the program unless they are clearly demonstrated to exceed the greenhouse gas emission thresholds set in the law. Because of the high degree of uncertainty in the model and the embryonic state of the emerging science, EPA should expressly disclaim any intent to establish precedent in this rulemaking for how international land use change may be measured under a different regulatory program.

“Technology innovation is occurring at a rapid rate across the biofuels industry, even as petroleum exploration pursues more environmentally questionable sources of oil. EPA has already recognized the contributions biotechnology makes to a “best case scenario” for future conventional biofuel production. The agency should also recognize the contributions biotechnology can make in continuing to increase crop yields, decrease fertilizer inputs, increase drought tolerance and lower the overall carbon footprint of biofuel feedstocks.

Erickson goes on to say that the EPA is being too inflexible in its categorizing of biofuel production technologies and suggests the agency adopts an approach that allows biodiesel and ethanol producers to estimate their plants’ carbon footprints based on specific data plugged into a flexible, technology neutral analysis tool that can account for future improvement and innovation.

The comments come on the heels of the National Biodiesel Board’s and Renewable Fuels Association’s official comments on RFS2, which they have just submitted to the EPA.

Growth Energy has joined Veyance Technologies, Inc., to seek approval from Underwriter Laboratory (UL) for a liquid fuel hose capable of dispensing ethanol from blender pumps. This is the first ethanol hose to be submitted for UL approval since the lab revised its standards in October 2006 for equipment to carry high-level ethanol blends.

“For the past three years, our efforts to promote an open fuel market where consumers have a choice about what kind of fuel to pump have been stymied by regulatory obstacles to establishing a certified fuel dispensing system,” said Bernie Punt, Growth Energy board member. “Most state and local fire officials require UL certification or similar accreditation. The submission by Veyance Technologies is a landmark step in completing the higher-level blender certification process and opens the market so consumers have more choices of fuel.”

“Veyance Technologies is pleased to be in a position to make the submission to UL for its review and consideration,” stated Paula Russell, Veyance Technologies. “We have invested significant resources in development of a curb-pump hose and are confident it will meet the robust U.L. standards. We appreciate the financial support being provided by Growth Energy that is allowing us to submit the hose without further delay. The UL certification testing process is expensive and Growth Energy’s financial support has been critical in allowing us to move forward with the effort.”

Punt said that final certification and approval of a curb-pump hose — also referred to as a blender pump — capable of dispensing different grades of ethanol-blended gasoline, is expected by next spring.

Baltimore police may have charged the wrong suspect in the crime of disabling city cop cars last week.

A Baltimore Sun blogger is now reporting that the gasoline supplier, IsoBunkers, conducted its own tests and “found the gas was 10 percent ethanol — just what it was supposed to be.”

In a story that went nationwide, Baltimore city officials blamed an ”unusually high amount of ethanol in gasoline” when over 200 police cars experienced engine problems after fueling up at a city-run pump.

IsoBunkers officials noted that only police cars were affected by the breakdowns, not other city vehicles that used the same pump. City officials are now saying they will continue the investigation to determine exactly what did cause the problem.

Dave Blume’s Alcohol Fuel For Sustainable Living and the International Institute for Ecological Agriculture held a live event today which you can watch the recording of below. It was conducted at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles this morning.

Presenters included Actor/activist Daryl Hannah, actor/activist Ed Begley Jr. (honorary MC), L. Hunter Lovins (President of Natural Capital Solutions) and David Blume (author Amazon.com best selling Alcohol Can Be A Gas!).

Included in the presentation are:

* Tour the Daryl Hannah Pontiac TransAm Firebird (featured in the movie series Kill Bill) newly converted to run on Alcohol Fuel, too cool/totally GREEN
* Watch Ed Begley Jr. (as he Daryl Hannah and David Blume) install an Alcohol Fuel conversion kit in Ed’s Toyota Prius (easy and practical!)
* Hear global sustainability initiative report from Hunter Lovins (as she recently presented at the International Green Industry Conference in Asia)
* Witness a smog shoot-out between gas and Alcohol Fuel powered cars
* See home heating and cooking solutions that run on Alcohol Fuel
* Learn how Permaculture science and small-scale Alcohol Fuel production are being used globally to create economic and ecological balance

An E85 promotion will be held at the Holiday Kranz Super Stop at 1185 Main Street South in Sauke Center, Minnesota on Tuesday September 29. The alternative fuel will sell for 85 cents off per gallon from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Additional in-store specials will be a 2-liter of Pepsi for 85 cents and 85 cents deluxe car wash with E85 purchase.

Event Supporters include the Stearns County Corn Growers, Kranz Super Stop (Holiday), Minnesota Corn Growers Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota and the Minnesota Clean Air Choice™.

There are now 361 E85 fueling locations in the state of Minnesota; the most E85 stations of any state.

As I posted earlier, RFA has a new logo. That prompted me to call on CEO Bob Dinneen, the Reverend of Renewable Fuels, to find out what the new look signifies for the organization. To start with, Bob says that RFA has doubled in staff size in the last 18 months with new staff in the area of marketing, technical resources and lobbying. He says that just as the industry has grown they’ve had to grow to continue to serve it. He says they have more than 100 years of ethanol experience represented on the staff.

Bob sees that the challenges faced by the industry have grown along with it. So he sees it as a dynamic industry and marketplace that RFA has had to adapt to. He sees improvements in the industry financially just as improvements are being seen in the economy in general but it is still “tough.”

Bob says the organization will be holding its annual meeting this week and members will be discussing priorities for RFA like the RFS2 and “helping EPA get it right” and next year’s sunset of the ethanol tax incentive. He believes the industry is up to the challenges though.

Listen to my interview with Bob below:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.9MB)

The Department of Energy (DOE) awarded POET $6.85 million to help establish a market for corn cobs. This is the first portion of the funds which are expected to provide an additional $13.15 million next year. Cobs are the feedstock for POET’s effort to commercialize cellulosic ethanol which is officially dubbed Project LIBERTY and under construction in Emmetsburg, Iowa.

The second portion of the funds will be dedicated to helping develop the feedstock infrastructure for cellulosic ethanol production. For many months, POET has been working with equipment manufacturers to help speed the process of getting cob-harvesting technology into fields.

“DOE has shown an incredible commitment to speeding the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol,” POET CEO Jeff Broin said. “With this grant, we’ll be able to help farmers take advantage of this new revenue stream while helping our nation realize all the benefits of second-generation ethanol.”

The DOE has been a major supporter of Project LIBERTY. The two grant increases will bring the total financial commitment from DOE to $100 million. The entire project is estimated to cost $250 million and is expected to go online in 2011.

The U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC) Annual China Corn Tour currently underway is finding big demand for the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains for livestock feed in that country.

According to Cary Sifferath, USGC Senior Director in China, drought conditions in China this year have led to high corn prices. “Those high prices have led to some opportunities for US feed grains products, specifically distillers dried grains (DDGS) products from the US ethanol industry,” Cary said. “We had roughly 8,000 metric tons of DDGS that was exported from the US into China and right now for 2009 we can easily predict 250,000 to 300,000 tons of distillers dried grains being imported by China’s feed and livestock industry, especially in the southern and coastal areas of China where DDGS has become a very competitive feed ingredient.”

Drought conditions in some areas of China are expected to result in crop losses of up to 50 percent this year.

Pictured in the photo are Sam Niu, USGC assistant director for China, Sifferath, and National Corn Growers Association board member Guy Davenport of North Carolina.

The Renewable Fuels Association has a new look and color scheme. The organization announced their new logo today but says they will supply the “same great service.”

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), long recognized as the voice of America’s ethanol industry, has gone through some changes in the past 24 months. New staff additions have bolstered the RFA’s already unparalleled expertise and expanded its activities beyond its traditional role as ethanol’s chief advocate in Washington.

“America’s ethanol producers are in a constant state of innovation, creating new processes and developing new technologies that will increase our ability to produce ethanol is an increasingly sustainable manner. As it is with the ethanol producers, so too is it with the trade association representing them. The Renewable Fuels Association has undergone a transformation over the past 24 months, adding expertise and capabilities to better serve America’s ethanol industry beyond its traditional role as the voice of the industry in Washington. Such expansion in the capabilities of the RFA required a refreshing of our logo and image. Thus, the new look – but same unparalleled expertise – of the Renewable Fuels Association. “

Wisconsin’s corn ethanol industry is putting on the green and walking for clean air at Milwaukee’s annual Lung Walk October 4 at the Milwaukee County Zoo and is offering free Green Team T-shirts to everyone who joins them.

The walk is a major fund-raising event that helps the ALA, the oldest nationwide voluntary health agency in the United States, fight lung disease through education, community service, public policy and research. As part of the year’s promotional efforts supported by Wisconsin’s corn checkoff, the Wisconsin Corn Promotion Board is the official sponsor of the Lung Walk’s Green E85 Team and paid for the commemorative T-shirts shirts for all team members. Badger State Ethanol, Didion Ethanol, United Ethanol and the UWGP ethanol plant, along with several individual corn growers made major donations to the Green E85 Team effort, helping meet the team fund raising goal of $1,500.