Domestic Fuel

The National Algae Association’s Mid-South Chapter will be holding a workshop on how to best use wastewater to grow algae, especially algae for use in biodiesel.

The workshop, entitled “Algae: Mining Wastewater for Nutrients, Fuel, and Fertilizer,” will be held in Huntsville, Alabama on Friday, March 26, 2010:

With US fresh water supplies slowly dwindling and algae culture quickly becoming the centerpiece of bioenergy/bioremediation research , we must carefully examine our water and nutrient sources for an efficient, sustainable algal industry. This workshop explores how to minimize algae’s fresh water and nutrient footprints by recycling anthropogenic wastewater streams including agricultural, municipal, and industrial, while at the same time producing a host of valuable algal end products. In addition, we will learn of algae’s tremendous potential as a cost-effective bioremediation tool for wastewater streams, effecting a more stable and healthy ecosystem.

The group is also calling for white papers to include in the workshop looking at wastewater applications for both open pond and closed loop algae systems, technologies and support equipment. But you’ll need to hurry, because papers must be submitted by March 1st.

For more information on the workshop and white paper submission, contact Tamra Fakhoorian at TamraF.NAA@wk.net.

On February 24th, E85 will sell for 85 cents per gallon at Propel Sacramento fueling locations within the state of California. This promotion will be in partnership with CALSTART to announce and celebrate expansion of the clean burning fuel throughout the state. The promotion is also an effort to bring awareness of E85 to the over 400,000 flexible fuel vehicles in California.

Propel’s E85 stations were partially funded through a US Department of Energy grant administered from CALSTART. According to a CALSTART press release, as a result of this grant, 14 new stations have been opened throughout California in the past 18 months.

“This growing network of E85 stations from our partner, Propel, offers California consumers more choice, while cleaning the air and boosting our efforts to cut petroleum use in the state,” said John Boesel, President and CEO of CALSTART.

A press event will kick off the promotion at 10:00 a.m. at 7741 Auburn Blvd. in Citrus Heights, CA. Propel currently has 11 E85 stations throughout the states of California and Washington. To see a listing of E85 stations that will offer the 85 cent promotion, click here.

At least one ethanol industry representative has been appointed to an expert work group attempting to assess the true carbon footprint of all fuel sources under the California’s proposed Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

POET Senior Vice President of Science and Technology Mark Stowers has been appointed to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is one of 30 experts from around the world appointed to the group. The group has been charged with assisting the Board in “refining and improving the land use and indirect effect analysis of transportation fuels,” according to a CARB resolution. The group will come up with recommendations to present to CARB by Jan. 1, 2011. The group’s first meeting will be Feb. 26 in Sacramento.

“The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is an important piece of energy policy, too important to rely on theories or unproven models,” Stowers said. “As the lone representative for ethanol producers in the workgroup, I want to make sure than all carbon accounting is based on the wealth of facts and accumulated data regarding agriculture, energy and deforestation. I also want to ensure that all fuels, including oil and electricity, are held to the same accounting standards as biofuels so that the rule truly can lower carbon emissions.”

The group also includes Jesper Hedal Kløverpris of Novozymes, which produces enzymes to further the development of advanced biofuels, as well as a number of university and energy researchers – but Stowers is the only ethanol industry representative on the panel. Stowers has led efforts at POET to create new, efficient processes for producing grain-based ethanol that save energy, limit water use and improve ethanol yields. He also leads POET’s cellulosic ethanol effort, known as Project LIBERTY, which produces ethanol from corn cobs.

GreenShift Corporation has simultaneously announced that it has filed for its third patent on its corn-oil extraction technologies while at the same time, commencing legal action against Big River Resources Galva, Big River Resources West Burlington and Cardinal Ethanol for infringing on GreenShift’s U.S. patent covering its corn oil extraction technology.

GreenShift's Corn Oil Extraction Technology

The complaint against Big River alleges that they infringed upon GreenShift’s U.S. Patent No. 7,601,858, titled “Method of Processing Ethanol Byproducts and Related Subsystems” (the “858 Patent”). The patent covers processes for recovering corn oil by evaporating and mechanically processing thin stillage, a precursor to the distillers grain co-product of corn ethanol production (“DGS”). Greenshift is claiming that Big River has caused a loss of income and irreparable harm.

Kevin Kreisler, chairman and CEO of GreenShift said in a company statement regarding the lawsuits, “There was no market for corn oil extraction from dry mill ethanol plants before we invented our now-patented technology in 2004. We estimate that more than about 20 percent of the ethanol industry has begun to use our technology without a license. While we are eager to earn the business of each last producer, we expect to have the opportunity to do so by helping each to realize additional value.”

Kreisler continued, “We innovated corn oil extraction technology, created the corn oil extraction market, and subsidized disruptive value creation for the U.S. corn ethanol industry; we have earned our patents and we deserve the full measure of the first mover competitive advantage. This, and any other, continued infringement is causing GreenShift irreparable and immediate harm and it must stop.”

However, ICM has come to the defense of Cardinal Ethanol, as the suit is against ICM equipment. ICM built the ethanol plant that went online in November of 2008.

“ICM will defend its customers as a companion matter to ICM’s own litigation against GS CleanTech and its affiliate, GreenShift Corporation, which we filed in Kansas in October 2009,” said Chris Mitchell, ICM’s vice president of marketing. “ICM believes that GS CleanTech’s alleged patent claims will be proved to be invalid. In the Kansas litigation, we have asserted that GS CleanTech/GreenShift misrepresented the liability of ICM’s customers for operating the ICM system, and that various actions of GS CleanTech/GreenShift constitute unfair competition and wrongful interference with ICM’s existing and prospective business and contractual relationships. Our customers continue to operate their oil recovery systems acquired from ICM, and we continue to see strong interest from prospective customers for further orders for ICM’s equipment.”

And patents they seek.
Read the rest of this post…

American Le Mans Series (ALMS) is known globally for its environmental initiatives, and today is taking another green step with its partnership with American Forests to support its “dollar-a-tree” Global ReLeaf program. Nonprofit American Forests, has a goal of planting 100 million trees by 2020. ALMS has pledged to plant at least 5,000 trees during the 2010 race season with the focus on areas that have been damaged by natural disasters such as fires and floods and areas that have been overdeveloped.

“Since its inception, the ALMS has been at the forefront of developing green initiatives and solutions in motorsports,” said American Le Man Series President and CEO Scott Atherton.”We are very proud of our efforts with the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy as they relate to our on-track efforts. Our involvement with American Forests enables us to contribute to similar solutions away from the race track and is another way the American Le Mans Series can advocate for a greener tomorrow.”

With the implementation of the Green ReLeaf campaign, the Series will begin every race weekend by displaying a Survivor tree in the paddock. The Survivor Elm – donated by the Series and its teams through American Forests’ Historic Tree program – will encourage fans to do their part for the planet. For every three trees planted, roughly one ton of carbon will be sequestered, allowing for over 1,666 tons of CO2 to be taken out of the atmosphere overall, and every acre of trees planted (approx. 340-490 trees) by the Series will offset about the amount of CO2 produced by driving a car 26,000 miles, or about twice the amount the average driver drives per year.

This initiative is part of the Series’ Michelin Green X Challenge, a season-long green competition.

Lux Research has recently released a new report, “Ranking Biofuel Startups on the Lux Innovation Grid, which analyzes a number of key criteria to indicate which companies are more likey to succeed as the market matures. One of the companies given top honors is Mascoma Corporation.

“We are proud to be considered a top biofuels company by Lux,” said William J. Brady, CEO of Mascoma. “This distinction validates our efforts to be a leader in the growing cellulosic ethanol industry. Coupled with this award, our strong financial backing and proven technology breakthroughs in Consolidated Bioprocessing emphasize that we are ahead of the pack on the road to commercialization.”

This is not the first award that Mascoma has received in the past few months. The company was ranked #10 in the Biofuels Digest’s “Hottest Companies in Bioenergy.”

The Lux Innovation Grid is used to predict which segments of the biofuels markets are poised to succeed based on selective criteria including revenue per employee, patents, performance metrics, production capacity, and other data.

Click here to get more information about the report.

The next time you are looking to buy a car, considering reserving a fuel-efficient car by texting. The Ford Fiesta, a popular car in Europe for its good gas mileage, is soon to make its way to the US. Ford is taking reservations for the car, which is estimated to get 40 miles per gallon (mpg) on the highway and 30 mph in the city. To get on the waiting list, simply text “reserve” to 4Ford.

According to the company, they already have 6,000, 2011 Fiesta’s on hold, with half coming from non-Ford owners. You can also order your car “old-school” by going online and customizing your car. Once it is virtually built, the site will tell you the price.

The cost for the Fiesta begins around $14,000 and will be available Summer of 2010.

A trio of ethanol industry executives showed their creative side as the live entertainment during the Tuesday night reception at the Renewable Fuels Association National Ethanol Conference last week.

“Green Floyd” is made up of Frontline Bioenergy CEO Bill Lee, Neil Koehler with Pacific Ethanol and bioenergy consultant Paul Kamp. The group played a variety of songs from blues to folk to rock, and entertained with a couple of original parodies designed with the ethanol audience in mind. Here are the lyrics to “The Blend Wall” (to the tune of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”) and a short video clip to enjoy.

We don’t need o-ver production
We could use some E-15
Lisa Jackson, approve our waiver
Listen to our man, Dinneen

Hey, Lisa –
Listen to Bob Dinneen!
All in all it’s just another wicked Blend Wall
All in all it’s just another wicked Blend Wall

(For those not in the industry, the references are to EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, the waiver to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in regular gasoline, RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen and the blend wall faced by the industry if the allowable blend is not increased – trust us, it’s funny!)

The name of the game in the biodiesel biz is getting the most out of your feedstocks. Some researchers at the University of California-Davis have found a way to squeeze another 24 percent out of oilseeds such as safflower.

This press release from the school says the new process converts both plant oils and carbohydrates into biodiesel in a single process, improving the performance of the biodiesel, especially in cold weather:

Conventional biodiesel production extracts plant oils and then converts them into fatty acid esters that can be used to power engines, said Mark Mascal, professor of chemistry at UC Davis and co-author of the paper with postdoctoral researcher Edward Nikitin. That leaves behind the carbohydrate portion of the plant — the sugars, starches, and cellulose that make up stems, leaves, seed husks and other structures.

The new process converts those carbohydrates into chemicals called levulinic acid esters — at the same time and in the same vessel that the oils are converted to fatty acid esters — resulting in a fuel cocktail that performs better at low temperatures than conventional biodiesel.

The article goes on to say the process might cost a bit more, but improved fuel yields and performance would make up the difference.

Two schools in the Hawkeye State have picked up Iowa Renewable Fuels Association Awards of $2,500 each.

This press release from the association says Clay Central-Everly and Galva-Holstein Schools were awarded the Biodiesel Backer Award Program grants to educate their students and communities about biodiesel and incorporate biodiesel into their school programming:

“IRFA congratulates Clay-Central Everly and Galva-Holstein on their well-deserved selections as Biodiesel Backer Award winners,” said IRFA Biofuels Manager Grant Menke. “These two northwest Iowa schools have implemented unique and impressive programs that highlight the benefits Iowa schools can realize by making the switch to biodiesel blends. Clean, renewable Iowa biodiesel is the best fuel choice for school bus fleets, and more importantly, the healthiest choice for students. IRFA encourages all Iowa schools to learn the facts about biodiesel and then try it out in their school buses.”

Clay Central-Everly Community School does not currently use biodiesel. However, that status may change very soon due to the efforts of its high school ag science class. After completing a unit on biodiesel in the classroom, this eight member group of students and its teacher set the goal of educating Clay Central-Everly’s school administration, elementary students and communities in order to convince the school to begin fueling its buses with biodiesel.

The IRFA will be awarding another four $2,500 Biodiesel Backer Awards. The application deadline is May 28, 2010. For more information, check out the IRFA Web site.

The University of Illinois is sponsoring a series of seminars focusing on biofuels and renewable energy.

The school’s Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER) is holding the presentations, which are open to the public, Mondays at 4 pm at the U of I Urbana-Champaign campus:

“This bioenergy seminar series provides a broad range of topics from different perspectives – academia, research, government and industry,” said Dr. Hans Blaschek, director of CABER. “We welcome anyone interested in learning more about the research and technologies presented and encourage questions and participation from the audience.”

The next one will be this coming Monday, February 22 and is entitled “Environment Enhancing Energy – Synergism of algae biofuels with waste treatment for agricultural, energy and municipal applications.” Lance Schideman, Assistant Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will be the featured speaker.

As I mentioned before, the seminars will be held on successive Mondays (well, nearly every Monday) through the beginning of May at 4 pm. You can find the entire schedule here.

This seminar series is one of the required classes for students pursing a bioenergy Professional Science Master’s degree.

Earlier this month, the EPA finally released its new Renewable Fuels Standard, better known as RFS2. It was just in time as both the biodiesel and ethanol industries held their national conferences just days after the announcement, prompting multiple sessions at each gathering to discuss the implications of the new rules.

In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we hear from National Biodiesel Board Vice Chairman Gary Haer with Renewable Energy Group, who spoke at the National Biodiesel Conference and Expo, and President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, Bob Dinneen, talking from the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, Florida, and get their thoughts on RFS2.

It’s an interesting conversation, and you can hear more of it below.

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.3MB)

Three different companies announced the introduction of new enzymes for cellulosic ethanol production at this week’s National Ethanol Conference in Orlando.

Novozymes made the biggest splash with its Cellic® CTec2 for the production of biofuel from agricultural waste, but the other two are no less significant in the race towards commercialization of advanced biofuels.

Verenium Corporation‘s new introduction into the enzyme mix is called Xylathin, which is specifically designed to improve the economics of fuel ethanol production from cereal grains. According to the company, “Xylathin rapidly breaks down xylan, a compound found in cereal grains such as wheat, rye and barley and significantly reduces mash viscosity. This faster acting enzyme allows producers to shorten retention times and reduce enzyme dose. Xylathin also reduces grain water retention lowering grain drying energy requirements.”

At the same time, Danisco’s Genencor introduced Accellerase® DUET, a step up from Accellerase® 1500. “Accellerase® DUET employs a whole broth formulation, which provides nutrients for fermentative organisms and lowers the chemical load introduced into our customers’ processes. Higher performance at lower dose will lead to significant improvements in enzyme cost in use for producers, which is critical to enable the cellulosic biofuels industry.”

Representatives from all three companies, as well as others in the field, made presentations at two different sessions during the National Ethanol Conference to talk about advanced biofuels technology and the path to commercialization. If you attended the conference, those presentations are now available on-line.

The futures hold a new climate of opportunity for corn, ethanol and livestock producers.

CME Group this week announced the launch of Distillers’ Dried Grain agricultural commodity futures contracts, scheduled to begin trading April 26. Information about the new contract was released during the Renewable Fuels Association’s National Ethanol Conference in Orlando where CME Group was a sponsor.

Distillers’ Dried Grains, a byproduct of corn-produced ethanol, is used for animal feed, including livestock and dairy cows. The electronically traded and physically delivered futures contracts can be used by livestock and ethanol producers, commercial corn interests and others to lock in the price of feed or to hedge their ethanol refining margin in combination with corn, natural gas and ethanol futures.

The contracts will be listed with the Chicago Board of Trade and more information is available on the CME Group commodities website.

The newly reopened Shell Quik Mart at 532 East Second Street in Muscle Shoals, Alabama now offers E85. For the first time, flexible-fuel vehicle owners and operators looking to refill their tanks in Muscle Shoals will have a choice to refuel with traditional gasoline grades or E85.

“We are pleased to be the first and only station, not only in Muscle Shoals, but all of Northwest Alabama, to offer a renewable fuel alternative for conscientious consumers,” said Edwards Oil Company’s President, Jonathan Edwards. “Our customers who own flexible-fuel vehicles have been asking for it, and now they have a choice to refuel their vehicles with a product that reduces air pollution, lowers our dependence on foreign oil, and helps support American farmers.”

Officials with the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition, which is the principal coordinating point for alternative fuels in the state, say they have seen a dramatic increase in the development of ethanol infrastructure and use in Alabama.

“In 2006, we had zero stations in Alabama offering E85 ethanol, very few entities that had flex-fuel vehicles, and only a handful of people looking for creative ways to implement ethanol,” said Mark Bentley, Executive Director of the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition. “Today, we have the first station in the Shoals to offer ethanol, our state government and many local communities utilize flex-fuel vehicles, we were part of the nation’s first biofuels clean corridor along Interstate 65, and the City of Hoover, Alabama, was the first in the country to turn yard clippings and wood debris into ethanol to fuel their municipal vehicles. What a difference a few years makes!”

Edwards Oil Company owns and operates forty-one Shell Quik Mart Convenience Stores, fourteen of which are located in Northwest Alabama (Colbert, Lauderdale, Lawrence and Limestone Counties) with the other 27 located in the south-central portion of middle Tennessee.