Domestic Fuel

Daryl Hannah has changed her hat, per se, and along with the promotion of biodiesel, she is now promoting higher blends of ethanol. On Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Hannah’s ’79 Pontiac Trans-Am, that was featured in the movie “Kill Bill,” will be featured in the TV show EcoReview. The Topic is The Greening of the Auto Industry: from Paint to Fuel and the host of the program is Tom Harvey. The show will take viewers though how alcohol fuel is produced and used around the world for transportation, cooking and heating. In addition, the program will highlight a new California certified smog station test that recently compared unleaded gas emissions to those of E10, E15 and E85. For those unable to get the show, you can watch it here.

Hannah’s next appearance will be during a press conference in Sacramento on March 24, 2010 to promote the E15 waiver. She along with David Blume, author of Alcohol Can Be a Gas, will present the Environmental Protection Agency with more research to substantiate the benefits of using E15 and higher blends of ethanol as a gas additive – information the EPA claims is lacking. The research presented will include the “Kill Bill” Trans-Am which was converted to run on ethanol last year and tested using the California certified smog test for E10, E15 and E85. The test shows that all blends not only meet but exceed the standards set out in the Clean Air Act. The event is being hosted at Sacramento’s “Flyer” E85 station located at 4250 John Madison Avenue, Sacramento California, beginning at 2:30 pm Pacific Time. For those that are interested but can’t make the event, it will be streamed live here.

A recent study by some University of Virginia researchers who say that algae might not be as environmentally friendly as some regular row crops when it comes to making biodiesel is coming under fire by algae and algal-biofuel organizations.

As you might remember from my post back on January 22, 2010, a study headed by Andres Clarens said that “algae’s environmental footprint is larger than other terrestrial crops.” But according to the executive director for the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (and several other groups that commented on that January 22 article), those Virginia researchers got it wrong. And NAABB’s Dr. Jose Olivares tells me that the main problem is in the fact that Clarens used data that just is not current anymore.

“A lot of [the data] came out during the aquatic species program, which ran for quite a few years, but ended in the early [1990s].”

He says that old data doesn’t account for the technological advances made in the last 15+ years that have cut algae oil’s production’s energy usage by 100 fold, while creating an environmental footprint for algae that is 20-100 times smaller than row crops.

[There's] a huge danger of misinterpreting what is possible with these types of technologies.”

Olivares points out that there are some positive aspects of the Virginia study, including pointing out that algae can be grown using wastewater … which Olivares says the algal-biofuel industry is already doing.

You can hear more of my conversation with Dr. Olivares below.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (3.1MB)

It’s come a long ways since its early days as part of West Central CO-OP’s Ralston, Iowa (right next to this author’s hometown of Glidden, Iowa) operation, and now Renewable Energy Group has become North America’s largest wholly-owned biodiesel manufacturing and marketing source.

This company press release says REG gained that status after recently acquiring biodiesel plants in Iowa and Illinois:

Shareholders in Central Iowa Energy, LLC, (30 MGY facility in Newton, Iowa) and Blackhawk Biofuels, LLC, (45 MGY facility in Danville, Ill.) voted affirmatively in late February to an all-stock transaction making their facilities wholly-owned by Renewable Energy Group, Inc. The consolidation brings REG’s wholly-owned manufacturing capacity to 122 MGY.

REG’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Stroburg cited demand by major petroleum distributors and oil refiners as a key factor in the decision to move forward with plant consolidation. “With the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) now in effect, the distillate market is demanding technical expertise, dependable supply, more efficient distribution and creative pricing options from major biodiesel partners,” Stroburg said.

The transaction is part of a nearly year-long process to bring the plants under the REG umbrella. REG’s other wholly-owned facilities include a 12-million-gallon-a-year plant where it all began, Ralston, Iowa, and a 35 MGY biodiesel refinery in Houston.

The E15 waiver was a hot topic during Commodity Classic and for good reason: EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, in response to a question asked during a Congressional hearing, said she felt they’d be ready to make a decision late summer. Originally, the EPA was to have ruled on the E15 waiver, that would waive the Clean Air Act to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in motor vehicles, by the beginning of last December. At that time, they deferred to mid-summer – now they are saying possibly by end of summer.

“Though without giving a date, clearly that date has passed and that’s troubling I think, and we’ve got to keep the pressure on,” said Brian Jennings, the Executive Director of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) during an interview with DomesticFuel during Commodity Classic.

According to Jennings, Robert White with the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the EPA is doing more work on small engines and the effect of ethanol blends on catalytic converters. This despite the large number of research already available.

“But it does seem frustrating to us that they keep looking for some sort of excuse to delay or not to make the decision when we feel the preponderance of evidence, so far, and as it continues to come in, is going to justify this,” continued Jennings.

Both Vilsack and White agree and feel that the E15 waiver will pass – especially since the Renewable Fuels Standard mandates 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022 and the E10 blend wall is approximately 14 billion gallons and White notes that there are 22 billions gallons above the blend wall that need to find a home.

“E15 is great, but it’s still a band aid for the real issue and the sticking point is going to come very soon and the problem we’ve been facing for well over a decade is you simply can’t flip a light switch for this infrastructure to be there,” explained White.

You can download (mp3 file) or listen to a Robert’s interview here: WhiteE15.CC10.mp3

You can download (mp3 file) or listen to Brian’s interview here: JenningsE15.CC10.mp3

It’s been a long road, but according to a company statement released by Dresser Wayne, Underwriters Laboratory (UL) has approved the use of the company’s Ovation Eco Fuel dispenser for the use ethanol blends up to 25 percent (E25). This is great news as the ethanol industry waits to hear if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will rule in favor of the E15 waiver, which would allow up to 15 percent ethanol blends to be used in conventional vehicles.

“Motorists continue to call for greener fueling solutions and retailers are demanding technologies that will help them stay in front of the market opportunity while managing regulatory changes,” noted Scott Negley, Director of Alternative Energy Products at Dresser Wayne. “Our Eco Fuel dispenser is in use across North America and is designed to handle the higher blends without modifications.”

UL has been working to certify various pump dispensing equipment for use with higher ethanol blends even though there has been widespread use of these components to dispense E85 for more than a decade. Should the E15 waiver be passed, retailers who have installed the Eco Fuel dispenser will not have to modify or upgrade any equipment. For those consumers looking to use more than E15 and own a flex-fuel vehicle, will be able too use any blend of fuel between E10-E85.

“UL’s certification of this dispenser for up to 25 percent ethanol use is an important step forward and will help expand the use of ethanol,” said Renewable Fuels Association Director of Market Development Robert White. “With EPA expected to approve 15 percent ethanol blends sometime this year, this announcement provides some comfort to gas station owners facing increased ethanol blending. Likewise, it provides comfort to stations looking to install blender pump technology offering a wide range of blends from 10 up to 85 percent.”

There have been several recent announcements from the ethanol industry to increase the number of blender pumps across the country. The RFA is working alongside the American Coalition for Ethanol and numerous state corn groups to install 5,000 blender pumps in the next three years as part of its Blend Your Own Ethanol campaign. Growth Energy recently announced that it is offering funding for blender pump installation between $2,500-$5,000.

In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” we hear from Geoff Cooper, Vice President of Research and Analysis for the Renewable Fuels Association, about what is right and what is wrong with the rule for the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard released early last month by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The good news is that the RFS2 improves upon the rule EPA proposed last year, and that it is much better than what California is using to determine lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. The bad news is the continued reliance on the non-scientific indirect land use change. EPA’s new calculations determined that corn ethanol was better than they first thought when it comes to indirect land use change, so they cut that penalty in half, while they totally eliminated it for sugarcane ethanol – a move that has RFA mystified.

This podcast was recorded at the recent National Ethanol Conference, where RFS2 was the main topic of discussion. We reference a presentation done at the conference by EPA’s Sarah Dunham, which you can find in a previous post here on Domestic Fuel.

You can subscribe to this twice monthly podcast by following this link.

Listen to or download the podcast here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (6.0MB)

A team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have figured out how to get the the sugar molecules trapped inside inedible plant biomass, a key step in the creation of cellulosic biofuels.

This press release from the school says the process, featured in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, converts up to three-quarters of the sugars locked up in raw corn stover into simple, fermentable sugars … an attractive alternative to the enzyme-based approaches currently favored by biofuels researchers:

“Our chemical process is extremely efficient,” says Ron Raines, a UW-Madison professor of biochemistry and chemistry. “It also has marked advantages over the existing processes-both chemical or enzymatic-for producing sugars from biomass.”

Raines’ chemical approach, which he developed with graduate student Joe Binder, a doctoral candidate in the chemistry department, on the other hand, relies on a mixture of an ionic liquid and dilute acid-both of which can slip past lignin-to dissolve the long chains of sugars in biomass and break them up into individual molecules of glucose and xylose.

The article goes on to say that the researchers were able to get about the same amount of sugar out of the biomass as the more-expensive enzymes usually used. This could significantly cut the cost of cellulosic ethanol, helping move that industry forward.

Breathing easier is what the American Lung Association is all about, and that’s why the group’s North Dakota chapter has teamed up with the North Dakota Soybean Council, North Dakota Office of Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency, Red River Valley Clean Cities Coalition, and the North Dakota Department of Commerce to offer a free workshop on clean-burning biodiesel, Friday, March 26th, from 9-11:30 a.m. at the Ramada Plaza Suites and Convention Center in Fargo:

The Red River Valley Clean Cities Coalition, established by the U.S. Department of Energy, is offering a free workshop on biodiesel and diesel fuels, presented by nationally recognized fuel expert Hoon Ge of MEG Corp. , Minneapolis. Ge will discuss recent refining changes in traditional petroleum diesel, how to recognize and respond to problems with diesel fuels, and the growing role of biodiesel in North Dakota’s transportation industry.

Registration and parking are free, but seating is limited. Contact Kelly Marczak at 651.268.7590 or Kelly.Marczak@lungmn.org to register.

Our friends at the Mid-South Chapter of the National Algae Association are holding another seminar. This time the talk will be “Algae: Mining Wastewater for Nutrients, Fuel, and Fertilizer” at the Holiday Inn Research Center in Huntsville, Alabama on March 26, 2010.

I caught up with the chapter’s president, Tamra Fakhoorian, to talk about this information-packed workshop that will explore using wastewater streams to grow the algae for end-products to include biodiesel.

“Algae production is gaining momentum all over the world, and I want to ensure the algae industry gets off on the right foot regarding sustainability,” says Fakhoorian.

She adds that using wastewater to grow algae is a win-win-win situation: getting oil for growing biodiesel and end-products industries, minimizing the impact on fresh water sources, and saving the environment.

You can hear more of my interview with Fakhoorian below.

Fakhoorian has some pretty good experts slated for this one-day workshop, including:

Mark Zivojnich/Hydromentia
Aron Stubbins/ Old Dominion University- Deputy Director of Virginia Coastal Energy Research Consortium
Dr. Michael Baron
Chuck Pardue/Algae Bioenergy Solutions, LLC
Luke McConnell/Renewergy, LLC
Bob Vitale/WaterWheel Factory
Victoria Kurtz/Fluid Imaging

For more information, contact Fakhoorian at 270-328-8314 or e-mail her at tamraf.naa@wk.net. Also you can check out the Web site: www.nationalalgaeassociation.com and click on the Mid-South Chapter link. Registration is available at the door.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.1MB)

There’s only one week left to get the early registration discount for the Ethanol 2010: Emerging Issues Forum. The event will be held at the Magnolia Hotel on April 8 and 9 in Omaha, Nebraska.

The fifth annual forum features a number of experts on topics including marketing, transportation, RINS and lifecycle emissions of the ethanol production process. This two-day conference is designed to encourage dialogue between speakers and participants, and seating is limited to 125.

Guest speakers include USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager; RINstar founder Clayton McMartin; Marty Ruikka of PRX Geographic on feedstock supply and demand issues; and Trevor Hinz of ICM on enhancing production efficiency and capacity.

The Nebraska Ethanol Board will be hosting the forum. The Ethanol Board assists ethanol producers with programs and strategies for marketing ethanol and related co-products. The Board supports organizations and policies that advocate the increased use of ethanol fuels – and administers public information, education and ethanol research projects. The Board also assists companies and organizations in the development of ethanol production facilities in Nebraska.

To register for the conference, click here.

Earlier this week, Governor Jack Markell announced that he would be seeking legislation aimed at creating new green jobs, help home and businesses secure energy from alternative sources and spur the growth of emerging industries such as solar and wind power. The Clean Jobs Act would add a longer-range target to the state’s existing Renewable Portfolio Standard which sets a target for the state to receive 30 percent of its energy supplies from renewable energy by 2029.

“The purpose of the initiative – the Delaware Clean Energy Jobs Act – is simple: to create quality jobs, expand local manufacturing and establish Delaware as a national leader in the adoption of renewable energy,” Markell said. He continued, “To restore our economic promise and prosperity, the State can and will lead by example when it comes to creating efficiencies, supporting jobs and being good stewards of our environment.”

Solar power would get a boast in The Clean Jobs Act, which, if passed, would support nearly 300 MW of new solar photovoltaic systems by 2029. In addition, it would facilitate the installation of more than 1000 MW of utility-scale wind power by 2029. Hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs would be created to fulfill this piece of legislation, and additional jobs would be created by prioritizing Delaware renewable-energy projects and incentivizing the use of locally manufactured systems.

Markell made the announcement at Motech Americas, a solar company in Newark. Motech Americas currently employs more than 70 people and is in the process of expanding manufacturing capacity. They are expected to add 75 more jobs before the end of the year. Markell was joined by many other state leaders and concluded, “We are working closely with our neighboring states to create a vibrant mid-Atlantic clean energy market, but we also want to maximize capital investment and quality jobs in Delaware. We can move more rapidly, respond to opportunities more quickly and get people back to work.”

The IZOD IndyCar Series makes its debut this weekend in South America with the Sao Paulo Indy 300 powered by Brazilian ethanol.

The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) has renewed its fuel supply agreement with the Indy Racing League for the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season, which opens on Sunday, March 14, with a race in Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo. Under the new agreement, the IZOD IndyCar Series will continue to utilize sugarcane ethanol to fuel its race cars, including at its signature event, the Indianapolis 500.

At the inaugural Sao Paulo Indy 300, to be run on a street circuit in São Paulo, Brazil, the ethanol will be supplied by one of UNICA’s member companies, Copersucar S.A., Brazil’s largest sugar, ethanol and bioenergy conglomerate, with 36 associated sugar and ethanol mills.

The preliminary agenda for the 2010 Fuel Ethanol Workshop has been announced, along with incentive to register early. Register by March 16 to save $200 and be entered in a drawing to win an iPod Touch. The winner will be announced on March 17.

The 26th Annual Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo features more than 120 industry professionals delivering presentations across five topic tracks. This year’s line-up was assembled from over 240 abstracts which were vigorously reviewed by a panel of nearly 40 industry professionals. The result is a compilation of presenters addressing our industry’s most current concepts, processes, technologies, challenges, and opportunities. Topics as varied as plant optimization, advances in fermentation, carbon monetization, and industry salary trends are all available in this one, content-packed event.

The 2010 FEW will be held June 14-16 at the America’s Center in St. Louis.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that Fiscal Year 2009 funding is once again available again for three USDA Farm Bill programs to promote increased production of biomass and bioenergy.

Applications for the Biorefinery Assistance Program, which uses loan guarantees to develop, construct, and retrofit commercial-scale biorefineries, must be received by June 1, 2010. Applications are also being accepted for remaining FY 2009 funding under the Repowering Assistance Program, which provides for payments to biorefineries in existence when the Farm Bill was passed to replace the use of fossil fuels in their operations with renewable energy from biomass. Biorefineries interested in obtaining funding must apply by June 15, 2010.

Finally, those biomass producers eligible under the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels may also apply to receive payment from remaining FY 2009 funds. Applications must be received by May 30, 2010. Under this program, payments are made to eligible producers in rural areas to support and ensure an expanding production of advanced biofuels. Payments are based on the amount of biofuels a recipient produces from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch. Eligible examples include biofuels derived from cellulose, crop residue, animal, food and yard waste material, biogas (landfill and sewage waste treatment gas), vegetable oil and animal fat.

At the recent Commodity Classic, Secretary Vilsack noted that the administration is focused on expanding the biofuels industry. “We’re going to make sure that it is a national industry, not just focused in one particular area, one particular region, or one particular feed stock. There are enormous opportunities here in all parts of the country. Enormous opportunities for farmers and ranchers, enormous opportunities for rural America. And, there needs to be a concerted effort in growing and expanding this industry,” Vilsack told the crowd of more than 4,000 meeting in Anaheim, Calif. “That’s part of the strategy of USDA. So, we’re putting resources behind this, and we’re using our rural development resources to help build these refineries. We’re using our energy title of the farm bill to promote payments to farmers for feed stocks, to help build refineries, to retrofit existing refineries, to put people to work in rural communities.”

Listen to or download Vilsack’s speech from Commodity Classic here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (13.5MB)

When discussing indirect land use it brings a popular saying to mind: If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound? Only in this situation the saying should be modified as follows: If a tree is cut down in a rainforest in Brazil to sell wood, should corn ethanol’s carbon footprint go up? Anyone with an ounce of commonsense would say no.

And here’s why: when a tree is cut down in Brazil, it is not to plant crops for biofuels, it is to sell the wood because the tree is of greater value as wood, then as part of the rainforest. Only then is the land converted to pasture and then to land for crops like soybeans. Sugarcane is rarely grown in the rainforest and Brazil doesn’t produce biofuels from corn. So what I just can’t seem to wrap my head around is what exactly does that tree have to do with corn ethanol?

So what has caused today’s diatribe on indirect land use? A new paper published this month in Bioscience Magazine titled, “Effects of US Maize Ethanol on Global Land Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Estimating Market-mediated Responses.” The paper was authored by Thomas W. Hertel of Purdue University and five co-authors. In a nutshell, the authors argue that the greenhouse gas emission reductions from corn-based ethanol are canceled out when factoring in the increased carbon output from indirect land use change. Therefore, their contribution to California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard is negligible, even when compared to conventional petroleum based fuels.

There are so many things wrong with this paper that I had a hard time deciding where to begin.
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