Domestic Fuel

The National Biodiesel Board is asking the U.S. EPA to implement targets for biomass-based biodiesel required under the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) … a standard already overdue by a year.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that the NBB has sent a letter to the EPA asking the agency early next year to put in the standards of 500 million gallons of biomass-based Diesel in 2009; 650 million gallons in 2010; 800 million gallons in 2011; and 1 billion gallons in 2012:

“We are rapidly approaching the end of 2009, a year beyond the statutory deadline for RFS2 implementation,” noted Manning Feraci, NBB’s Vice President of Federal Affairs. “The U.S. biodiesel industry has made vital business decisions based on the RFS2 renewable targets, and the nation’s ability to meet these modest renewable goals will be undermined if the EPA does not take immediate steps to implement the Biomass-based Diesel Program.”

“Further delay implementing the RFS2 volume requirements will prolong the severe economic hardship facing the domestic biodiesel industry, and we hope the EPA will take the common-sense steps called for in this letter,” concluded Feraci.

You can read Feraci’s letter to the EPA here.

December 1 is the deadline for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue a decision on the waiver to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in regular gasoline and the industry is anxiously awaiting a positive outcome.

The waiver request was submitted by Growth Energy and an alliance of ethanol producer organizations and companies in early March and by law EPA must take action on it by December 1 and the word from EPA officials last week was that they are committed to making an announcement by the deadline. Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis says they are optimistic. “We think we made the case,” Buis said. “The data we submitted proves there is no impact on engine performance or durability that would prevent the EPA from deciding in favor of E15.”

Matt Hartwig with the Renewable Fuels Association says the decision could go in several directions, three of which his group suggested in comments to the agency. “Obviously one is, yes – E15 is a safe and effective fuel. That’s the one we believe should be their decision,” said Hartwig. “Another option is the E12 pathway, taking that intermediate step while they continue to work on the full E15 waiver.”

He says a third option might be a partial waiver, “Where they say you can use up to E15 blends for on-road vehicle engines, but would put off a complete decision on the waiver with small engines or marine engines until they were comfortable with the data.”

The fate of the ethanol industry hinges on the EPA’s decision, since the so-called “blend wall” has already been reached and without the waiver there will be no way to utilize the production of ethanol required under the Renewable Fuel Standard mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. However, if the EPA denies the waiver, the industry may consider other regulatory or legislative options to overcome the blend wall issue.

European biodiesel makers are poised to file another complaint against their counterparts in the U.S.

Last March, the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) was able to successfully lobby European Union trade officials to impose tariffs of 26 euros ($39.02) to 41 euros ($61.53) per 100 kg (220 lbs) on American biodiesel, complaining the American biodiesel was unfairly subsidized. The tariffs have virtually shut the Yankee green fuel out of the European market. Biofuels International reports that the new complaint says U.S. biodiesel is still getting into Europe by way of third countries:

The EBB said: ‘Against the background of persisting circumvention practices, the EBB General Assembly decided to proceed with the lodging of an anti-circumvention complaint to the EU trade authorities. If and when established, these practices will lead to heavy and retroactive financial penalties.’

The allegedly offending companies have not been identified as of yet, but the EBB is expected to file the complaint in the next few weeks.

Of course, the Europeans don’t seem to want to talk about how high taxes on their own biodiesel, such as in Germany, have severely hurt their own industry.

Electronics giant Sanyo and renewable energy company Coenergy are teaming up to build one of the East Coast’s first and largest solar energy plants that will treat and transport water for Aqua Pennsylvania, a public water and wastewater utility, serving more than 3 million residents in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, New York, Indiana, Florida, Virginia, Maine, Missouri, and South Carolina.

This Sanyo press release says the 1.1 MW solar energy plant will be built on a 4.5-acre sedimentation basin and will save Aqua Pennsylvania $77,000 a year on its energy bill:

The project – known as Ingram’s Mill Farm – is slated to produce @ 1,300,500 kWh of peak-time energy a year for the treatment and transportation of water for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania… When completed, Ingram’s Mill Farm will be one of the largest solar farms on the East Coast. Construction is slated for completion as early as the end of this year.

“With improved state and local permitting processes and Conergy’s project expertise, this solution will allow us to reap the economic and environmental benefits of renewable energy in very short order,” said Aqua America Chairman, President and CEO Nicholas DeBenedictis. “It’s a way for us to reinforce our commitment as environmental stewards, cut operating costs, create a hedge against rising energy costs and better serve our communities and investors,” DeBenedictis said.

This project is being funded by a $1 million Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority (PEDA) grant in the amount of $1 million, which is funded in part with federal stimulus dollars.

Aqua America, Inc. Chairman and CEO Nick DeBenedictis, Conergy Projects, Inc. President Kurt Zwerko, Aqua Pennsylvania President Karl Kyriss, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner Rob Powelson, U.S. Congressman Joe Pitts, Pennsylvania Senator Andrew Dinniman and Pennsylvania State Representatives Barbara McIlvaine-Smith and Duane Milne took part in a groundbreaking earlier this month.

Several counties in central-Montana are working together to develop, what could be, the largest wind development project of its kind in the state. National Wind, working with Billings-based Montana Wind Resources, LLC and along with area ranchers, have formed Judith Highlands Energy, LLC to develop over 500 megawatts (MW) of community-owned wind projects.

“Area ranchers are realizing that National Wind’s established business model is distinctly different than “traditional,” corporate wind farm developments,” said Patrick Pelstring, Co-Chair of National Wind, LLC. ” Our National Wind model seeks to allow local community participation, which provides potential for sharing in both turbine leases and revenues from a successful project.”

A 2009 Harvard study suggests that Montana is second only to Texas with the country’s greatest wind potential.  The Department of Energy’s Wind Powering America Program has reported that 1,000 MW of installed wind capacity in Montana could add $1.2 billion in cumulative economic benefits, reduce C02 emissions by 2.9 million tons, and save over 1,200 million gallons of water annually.

According to Judith Highlands Energy, the project incorporates over 50,000 acres, nearly 100 percent of the land needed to develop the wind farm’s first phase. The company is expected to be developed in multiple 100+ megawatt phases over the next 5-8 years, and has stated that they have executed two leases for on-site meteorological equipment (met tower) installation within the next 30 days. The met towers will help determine where the turbines should be placed.

Pacific Ethanol has announced that it is preparing to resume production of ethanol at its 60 million gallon per year Magic Valley facility located in Burley, Idaho. The company suspended production in February of this year at the Magic Valley facility due to extended unfavorable market conditions.

In May, the company’s subsidiaries which own four ethanol production facilities, including the Magic Valley plant, filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in an effort to restructure.

Since market conditions for ethanol have improved, Pacific Ethanol plans to restart the Magic Valley facility in January 2010, subject to approval by the bankruptcy court, final documentation and a number of other conditions, including rehiring and training staff and restocking corn and other raw materials.

The Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer will return once again to the Iowa Speedway in 2010.

The Iowa Corn Growers Association, the Iowa Corn Promotion Board and Pioneer have renewed their sponsorship for the 4th Annual race, to be held on June 20, 2010. There were concerns that the race started specifically to highlight the United States ethanol industry might be discontinued after Brazil took over sponsorship of the Indy Car Series this year, but Iowa corn growers and Pioneer have agreed to sponsor the race for at least one more year.

“Powering Indy Cars at top speeds is the ultimate in ethanol performance,” said Tim Burrack, a farmer from NE Iowa and Chairman of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board. “Iowa Corn is at the track again this year because the cars are not only running on corn ethanol, but thousands of Iowans hear and see our messages about the power, performance, reliability, and energy independence from homegrown corn ethanol.”

Previous Iowa Corn Indy 250 presented by Pioneer races have set record attendance at the Iowa Speedway with over 40,000 fans packing the stands.

Two powerful renewable energy companies are combining efforts to build a new wind turbine plant in the U.S.

TMCnet.com reports that the venture between Chinese company A-Power Energy Generation Systems, Ltd. and the U.S. Renewable Energy Group, or “US-REG,” will build highly advanced wind energy turbines for renewable energy projects throughout North and South America and comes on the heels of US-REG announcing a major wind farm in Texas:

With an estimated 320,000 square feet, the new wind turbine facility is projected to produce 1,100 megawatts of wind energy turbines annually. Additionally, after the facility is completely finished, over 1,000 individuals will be employed.

On October 29, 2009, Shenyang Power Group and US-REG announced plans to develop a $1.5 billion, 600MW wind farm across approximately 36,000 acres in Texas, for which A-Power has been designated as the turbine supplier.

No word on when the factory would be completed.

Locomotives north of the border will be testing biodiesel to see how well the green fuel works in cold weather conditions.

Canadian Pacific will test four locomotives running on biodiesel on some lines between Calgary and Edmonton:

The pilot project will evaluate the cold weather application of biodiesel in real world conditions. It is the first cold weather use of biodiesel by a railroad. The pilot is a partnership with Natural Resources Canada under the National Renewable Diesel Demonstration Initiative.

Canadian Pacific will undertake routine detailed mechanical examinations of the locomotives in the pilot project. The information gathered will be used to evaluate whether a biodiesel mixture of up to 5% (B5) has any significant adverse effects on a locomotive or its associated systems in cold weather operation. Impact to reliability, potential changes to the overhaul or maintenance work scope and reviews of specific components on the locomotives will also be monitored.

This link is supposed to have some video … none there as I post this, but I’ll keep checking, and let you know if there’s anything to see.

UPDATE: The link now has some pretty cool video of the biodiesel-powered locomotives in action. Check it out!

A $22 million grant … thanks to the federal Stimulus Bill … will help Duke Energy research using batteries to store wind energy from a Texas wind farm.

This story from UPI says the North Carolina company will match the U.S. Department of Energy grant to design, build and install batteries for the storage of wind energy from its Notrees Windpower Project in western Texas:

Duke said it plans to develop a large-scale battery to store excess wind energy for the distribution of electricity when wind turbines are not in cycle.

“Energy storage truly has the potential to serve as a game-changer when it comes to renewable power,” said Wouter van Kempen, president of Duke Energy Generation Services, a Duke Energy subsidiary involved in renewable energy.

There are 95 wind turbines on the Notrees wind farm, which can produce up to 151 megawatts of clean electricity.

Some places in the Upper Midwest will see a bit more biodiesel next winter.

This article from Biodiesel Magazine says that petroleum distribution company Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. has agreed to install winter biodiesel blending equipment at its Sioux Falls terminal, making more biodiesel available in the South Dakota-Southwest Minnesota region … and that pleases ag officials in both states:

[Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene] Hugoson says the Minnesota Biodiesel Task Force has been working to find a company that would be willing to install biodiesel blending equipment at a major fueling terminal to serve southwestern Minnesota.

Magellan’s COO, Mike Mears said “our multi-million dollar investment in biodiesel infrastructure at the Sioux Falls terminal comes at a time when our customers are looking for state-of-the-art systems that accurately, efficiently and safely blend biodiesel into diesel fuel.”

Magellan officials point out no state money went into the upgrade. The new equipment is expected to be installed sometime next year with winter biodiesel blends available next fall.

As you might remember from my post earlier this month, this year’s Capitol Christmas tree is making its approximately 4,000-mile trip from Arizona to Washington, D.C. fueled with biodiesel.

Now you can track the trek of the two trucks (besides the 85-foot blue spruce, they’re also hauling nearly 10,000 handmade ornaments and 80 companion trees that will be placed in offices throughout the Capitol Complex) running on B5 on this Web site.

The National Biodiesel Board is pretty proud that the green fuel is part of this holiday event:

“This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase how biodiesel is a green, sustainable part of the solution to meeting America’s energy needs,” said National Biodiesel Foundation Executive Director Tom Verry. The route was specially tailored to allow for easy refueling with biodiesel blends, and public education is planned along the way about the benefits of biodiesel…

“This is the first time Arizona has contributed the Capitol Christmas Tree, and it’s appropriate that we made this landmark trip with a biodiesel blend,” said Colleen Crowninshield, manager, Clean Cities Program of the Pima Association of Governments. “Using biodiesel reduces emissions at the same time it cuts dependence on foreign oil.”

The tree will be presented on Monday, December 30.

Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega has confirmed that government will extend tax breaks to flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) and others that are “environmently friendly”. According to Reuters, the Brazilian government will allow and extension on tax breaks given to E85 compatible cars with 1-liter engines until March of 1010 and trucks until June of 2010. Reversely, taxes on traditional gasoline-powered vehicles will rise in December.

“We want the automobile industry in Brazil to consolidate and to bring new environmental technologies to the country” Mantega told reporters at a news conference in Brasilia.

The government will lose an estimated 1.3 billion reais ($751 million) in revenue as a result of the measure. But taking into account potentially higher car sales, saved jobs, and unemployment benefits not paid, the government would come out even, Mantega said.

“If we look at the whole package, we may neutralize this (tax) loss,” Mantega said.

Oi from Brasil! I have spent the last three days learning about the ethanol industry in Brazil. I have been traveling with a group of 20 international journalists in the State of Sao Paulo, where 60 percent of the country’s sugarcane is grown and consequently where the majority of the ethanol is produced.

I’ll be writing a series of posts about my trip over the next week but I can sum up my experience in one sentence. Where there is a will, there’s a way. When the country of Brazil decided in the 1970s during the oil crisis that it would become energy independent, it did. Today, Brazil gets the majority of its energy, both renewable and fossil fuel based, within its boarders. In addition, the majority of the ethanol produced in the country stays in the country.

Also, unlike the U.S., Brazil produces most of its electricity needs from renewable sources as well. Today, more than 80 percent of its power comes from hydroelectricity, but this poses a problem during drought conditions and will be a bigger problem as water issues become more paramount. A solution? To sell the extra electricity from the sugar mills into the grid during the months the plants are operational, which happens to be during the dry time of the year. UNICA, the organization that represents the Brazilian sugarcane industry, predicts that sugarcane could supply 15 percent of the power by 2017.

While I don’t agree with all of Brazil’s polices and many in the country agree there have been some good and bad decisions, they offer the world demonstrable options and thus, a shorter learning curve to solid energy policies and technologies.

You can take a virtual tour via my Flickr account. Until tomorrow, Tchau.

CE-CERT development engineers Junior Castillo (left) and Eddie O’Neil (right) display the results of the steam hydrogasification process that converts urban waste feedstock (rear container) into clean synthetic diesel fuel (foreground container). The fuel was produced in the lab-scale reactor behind them.

University of California, Riverside’s College of Engineering-Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT) has been awarded a $1 million grant from the California Energy Commission to build a demonstration plant to convert biosolids to clean synthetic diesel fuel. As evaluated by the National Energy Technology Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy, this process is 12 percent more efficient and 18 percent lower in capital costs than all other mainstream gasification technologies.

The plant will use a steam hydrogasification process coined the “CE-CERT Process,” to convert biosolids from the the city of Riverside’s wastewater treatment facility, along with other ‘waste’  feedstocks, to produce energy. The state of California has committed to reducing its petroleum use by 2.4 billion gallons per year, and the intent for the fuel produced using this process is to be integrated into the transportation mix as a clean alternative to fossil fuels.

According to a UC Riverside news statement, California produces an estimated 83 million dry tons of biomass wastes per year, including agricultural and forestry wastes and wastewater treatment biomass that must be disposed of. Virtually 32 million dry tons of this biowaste are estimated available for fuel production.

According to researchers, the advantages of this process are many including access to a diversity of feedstocks that typically go to landfills, lower capital investment required to build a plant, and smaller plants can be located near the feedstock sources for an economic and environmental advantage.

Proof of technology of the pilot plant is the last step before full scale commercial production.