Domestic Fuel

Next month, Wisconsin will host a summit to focus on the state’s future in bioenergy. The Wisconsin Bioenergy Summit, hosted by the Wisconsin Bioenergy Initiative (WBI), will be held on October 14, 2010. This year’s event will focus on fueling Wisconsin’s future and will feature presentations from multidisciplinary university experts, state policymakers and innovators from the private sector.

One of this  year’s keynote speakers at the Summit is Greg Hartgraves, POET’s Senior Director of Research. Hartgraves will be discussing the progress in advancing both cellulosic and corn ethanol and how they will work together in the future to make ethanol in more sustainable. Hartgraves will speak at 3:45 pm at the Montona Terrace in Madison, Wisconsin.

Last month, Project Liberty, POET’s first cellulosic pilot plant that when in production will produce 25 million gallons per year of ethanol from light corn stover and corn cobs, began the world’s largest biomass harvest.

Registration for the event is open for both professionals and students and is $25 for professionals and free for students. Click here to learn more.

Utah-based Green Star Products, Inc. has announced it will build an algae-to-biodiesel refinery on the west coast.

This company press release says Green Star has already started building the 13 modules to process the algae oil into biodiesel:

The algae to biodiesel plant will be rated initially at two million gallons per year with all necessary provisions incorporated so that the plant can easily be expanded to larger capacities in the future. The algae bioreactor system associated with this biodiesel plant is still under negotiation. Green Star will also participate in the engineering, fabrication and construction of the algae facility.

Mr. Joseph LaStella, President of Green Star, stated: “There are many technologies that will be incorporated into the facility including the MMB formula for algae growth, which has been verified by industry professionals in the past two years to increase algae growth 200% and more over a six day growth cycle. This algae growth booster formula has been successful in many types of algae strains including saltwater and freshwater species.”

More information is on Green Star’s website.

Kentucky-based Alltech Inc. has bought a $14 million state-of-the-art algae fermentation facility in Winchester, Kentucky from Martek Bioscience Corporation.

This press release from the natural animal nutrition company says the facility will be used, in part, to make biofuels, including ethanol:

“For Alltech, algae fermentation presents our latest technological platform from which we expect incredible opportunities in the areas of food, feed and fuel to arise.” said Alltech Founder and President, Dr Pearse Lyons. “We have worked in this area for several years and see it playing a major role in both human and animal health and nutrition as one of the world’s more renewable food and energy sources. As with virtually all facilities we acquire, we expect to start an expansion phase here in Winchester within the next 18 months. I am confident that this will be one of the key pieces that will help our company pass the $1 billion revenue threshold in 2015,” Lyons continued.

The facility will allow for continued work with Alltech’s carbon dioxide sequestering algae strains as well as strains that are grown with other carbon sources. The algae will then be used for value-added feed products, algae derived bio-fuel, and the production of ethanol.

Alltech’s rural Biorefinery, which started the company’s interest in algae, will be shown off at the Future of Farming section in the Alltech Experience Pavilion at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 held in Lexington, Kentucky from September 25 to October 10, 2010.

The U.S. federal government may be dragging its heels on its support for biofuels, but many states, including Ohio, are stepping up to plate. The Dayton Business Journal has reported that Ohio has designated an $8 million fund to boost biofuel production by subsidizing ethanol and biodiesel refining equipment purchases. The program is designed to give ethanol and biodiesel equipment manufactures based in Ohio a market boost.

The money is actually coming from the state’s $96 million energy project allocation as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Ohio Department of Development’s Energy Resources Division is currently accepting applications for funding under the Advancing Biofuels Beyond the Basics program. Awards will be given for projects not to exceed $1 million for any one project, and are designated for the purchase of equipment that will increase second generation ethanol refining capacity or biodiesel production facilities.

Requirements of the program include a stipulation that the company receiving the award must pay at least 25 percent of the total project cost, the project must be complete within one year of the award and it must demonstrate a direct economic benefit to Ohio.

A bidders’ conference is scheduled in Columbus on Oct. 6. Registration is required by e-mail at Recovery.Stickel@em.ohio.gov.

Despite the growing number of people who are calling for a global halt or scale back of biofuels development, global biofuel demand is still expected to grow. Biofuel use is projected to grow by 133 percent by 2020, primarily driven by government policies and renewable fuel mandates. However, despite the growing demand, the market is expected to be short by more than 8 billion gallons during this same time frame. This according to the newly released Hart report Global Biofuels Outlook, 2010-2020: Projecting Market Demand by Country, Region and Globally. The report looks at biofuel supply and demand in four key global regions and 35 countries.

“Many countries are projected to find themselves with a supply deficit for ethanol and biodiesel by 2020,” said Tammy Klein, Assistant Vice President, Hart Energy Consulting, and global study leader. “This deficit is worse for ethanol than for biodiesel,” she said.

Hart projects that the global supply may be short 5 billion gallons for ethanol, and 3.4 billion gallons for biodiesel by 2020. Meantime, demand for biofuels is expected to grow through 2020 driven by public policies requiring biofuels blending. “We actually see the biofuels supply deficit begin to appear around the 2015 time frame,” said Klein.

It should come as no surprise that Brazil is leading the way for biofuel expansion and development followed by the U.S. Next in line is China, Japan, the UK, and Germany.

Frederick L. Potter, Executive Vice President, Hart Energy Publishing notes why Brazil has the lead. “With its favorable GHG profile, these countries will primarily look to Brazilian advanced sugarcane bio-ethanol for supply, especially given the global context of tightening GHG limits — and limited commercial volumes of cellulosic ethanol. Obligated parties in the U.S. will find themselves competing for these volumes as never before. We expect this to lead to continued price appreciation for sugarcane ethanol over the 2011- 2020 period.”

Klein noted that not only will Brazil retain its position as the world’s top exporter of ethanol through 2020 (Brazil is estimating that its ethanol production will double in the next 10 years)
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The Ethanol Producers and Consumers (EPAC) is hosting an Agricultural Biofuel Summit on October 19 & 20, 2010 at the MSU Northern Bio Energy Center. The focus of the Summit will be wheat and barley ethanol production using small grains. Discussions will also focus on barely research and development, the Appomattox Barley to Ethanol plant model, biofuels and biodiesel in agricultural business, biodiesel products and warranties, the closed loop system of ethanol production, and more. Additional partners involved in the event include the Montana Department of Agriculture, Bear Paw Development Corporation, Montana Economic Developers Association, and the MSU Northern Bio Energy Center.

Of special interest will be speaker Craig Shealy, President of OSAGE BioEnergy who will present the Appomattox Barley Ethanol Plant model. The plant, which is scheduled to go online in November, will become the first working barley to ethanol plant in the country. Additional speakers include Phil Madson, President of KATZEN International, who served as the construction and service provider for OSAGE.

Also speaking is Bruce Nelson, Farm Service Agency State Executive Director, who will conduct a brief community outreach forum focusing on the 2010 USDA Biofuels Strategic Production Report. The presentation will follow the Biofuel Summit. Nelson chairs USDA’s Montana Food and Agriculture Council.

Individuals including agricultural producers, consumers, biofuel distributors, educators, students, livestock producers, and financing institutions are especially encouraged to attend. The event is open to the public and is free to attend compliments of funds provided by a Growth Through Agriculture Grant from the Montana Department of Agriculture. Registration forms and additional information is available at the EPAC website at www.ethanolmt.org, or by calling 1-406-785-3722.

Mississippi Solar is getting excited for the National Solar Tour, an event that showcases solar energy for home buyers, businesses and everyone in between. The event is overseen by the American Solar Energy Society (ASES), and this year more than 650 tours are already scheduled for early October. This is the second year that Mississippi Solar will participate in the natural grassroots event.

“The appetite for solar in America’s southeast is growing, and Mississippi Solar’s Will and Carolyn Hegman are serving up some mouth-watering, cost-effective ideas to feed that hunger during their “Down on the Farm Solar Tour,’” said ASES National Solar Tour Manager Richard Burns. The tour is part of the non-profit American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour, the world’s largest grassroots solar event.

The “Down on the Farm Solar Tour” takes place October 2, 2010 from 9 am to 4 pm at 211 Popes Road, Carthage, Mississippi, 39051. Guided tours, which run every two hours beginning at 9 am, will highlight three distinctly different grid-tie installations. The first is a 2.4 kW solar carport ready for Tennessee-made electric vehicles rolling off assembly lines next year. Also featured is a ground-mount system with battery back-up. However, homes are not the only stop on the tour. Participants will also see the 8.4 kW, solar PV solution that sits atop a chicken house located at Spencer Pope Farms.

“We’re in the business of solar, but here in Mississippi we’re also in the business of educating. That’s what this tour is about,” said Hegman. “There are so many myths we’re battling, like there’s not enough sunshine to make solar viable – or that solar is just a fad. Truth is, all production figures for our solar installations have exceeded forecast projections thus far.”

Schools are getting involved in the tour by hosting their own solar day. In addition, the Choctaw Central High School, winners of the Hunt-Winston Solar Car Challenge, will also have their car on display. Click here to learn more about the “Down on the Farm Solar Tour.”

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN is preparing to hold a global meeting focusing on grains and rice in response to a recent surge in wheat prices and rising concerns of wheat shortages as a result of drought in the Russian Federation. In anticipation for biofuels to take the blame as a component of rising food prices, the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) is calling for the UN to reveal the true impact that crude oil has on food prices. GRFA says that a heavy reliance on crude imports is one of the leading causes of food inflation and price spikes.

“The FAO has recognized a variety of drivers behind food price spikes, such as drought, energy prices and trade restrictions; however, the impact of crude oil prices on food inflation cuts across all national boundaries and has a disproportionate impact on food prices,” said GRFA spokesperson, Bliss Baker. “As long as we are dependent on crude oil for our primary source of energy, we will continue see food prices climb as crude oil prices climb.”

According to GRFA, this crude oil / food price connection is even more acute in developing countries where 37 of the 44 poorest countries on earth are net energy importers. The rising long-term outlook for energy prices puts true food security for many of these countries in jeopardy.

However FAO claims, “increased demand for biofuels will help revitalize the worldwide agricultural sector without putting our secure food supply in jeopardy. Next generation biofuels production hold even greater promise and will create new markets for farmers in developing countries and help bring unproductive land into production.”

Baker stressed that the global biofuels industry is very concerned about food prices and supports the World Bank’s recent analysis highlighting the crippling impact of oil prices and drought on food prices. He noted that, “There is no doubt that Biofuels are part of the solution. They reduce our reliance on crude oil and therefore limit the impact of crude oil prices on food inflation.”

According to School Transportation News, the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute (AFVI) announced that it will no longer hold their Alternative Fuels & Vehicles National Conference + Expo (AF&V), a four-day annual conference that brought together groups interested in advancing alternative fuels. The conference, which was formally called the annual Clean Cities Conference and Exposition, held 16 years of consecutive conferences.

“Over the past 20 years, we’ve seen alternative fuels go from the obscure to the mainstream,” said Annalloyd Thomason, Executive Director. “Federal Recovery Act funding puts the alternative fuels and vehicles industries in extremely good positions for the future. While the Conference once served as a tool to foster the further development of the industry, we see that role shrinking…and that’s a good thing.”

Thomason added that she sees alternative fuels not being an “alternative” for much longer. With strict federal emission and fuel economy mandates coming into effect soon, fleets will increasingly use alternative fuels and vehicles to meet the new standards.

“It’s a bittersweet ending,” she said. “We so appreciate the support of our sponsors and exhibitors throughout the years, and we’ll continue to work with them in the future on other projects.” Thomason doesn’t rule out resurrecting the Conference in the future. “If the marketplace demonstrates a need, we’ll re-evaluate it at that time.”

AFVi will continue its efforts to develop the alternative fuels market and continue to brand itself as “The Answer Place for Fleets” through market development and consulting.

Renewable aviation fuel was a hot topic during the recent Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva. During the event, the Sustainable Use of Renewable Fuels (SURF) consortium was announced with the intention of accelerating algae for aviation fuel. SURF was developed to support Cranfield University’s Sea Green project that will harvest algae to produce jet fuel at commercial scale. SURF is comprised of Airbus, British Airways, Rolls-Royce, Finnair, Gatwick Airport, IATA, and Cranfield University.

Cranfield currently has a pilot facility on campus that is growing and processing algae for biofuels. However, the long-term the goal is for Sea Green to be an ocean based facility and producing commercial scale levels of bio-jet fuel within three years. According to a press release, Sea Green’s ocean based facility, “will be designed to use the expanse of the world’s near-shore waters to rapidly grow microalgae at a faster rate than any other initiative and capture CO2 from the atmosphere and seas at the same time”

Researchers argue that this is a more sustainable method of biofuel production because it does not compete with agricultural land, doesn’t require fresh water, doesn’t result in deforestation, and doesn’t damage the environment.

“Many biofuels compete with agricultural land and fresh water which results in the price of food being pushed up. This project and consortium aim to see how algae could benefit the aviation industry,” said Professor Feargal Brennan, Head of Cranfield University’s Department of Offshore, Process and Energy Engineering.

Brennan continued, “It will look at ways to grow and harvest naturally occurring species of algae in large volumes and to process these into fuel. Algae grows naturally in sea water and with over 70 percent of the surface of the earth being water, Cranfield’s Sea Green project is a logical and potentially high yield solution. Few replacement options to kerosene for fueling commercial aircraft have been identified but jet fuel produced from algae produced in this way, could be a major break-through.”

A Maryland company has found a way to vaporize biodiesel into a natural gas substitute that can be turned into renewable electric power.

LPP Combustion, LLC announced it has installed the hardware on a demonstration unit in Columbia, MD to get some operational experience:

Generally, combustion of biodiesel in gas turbines requires extra refinement of the fuel due to impurities that can be harmful to gas turbine components. However, by vaporizing the biodiesel into nitrogen before introducing it to the gas turbine as LPP Gas™, the LPP Combustion hardware substantially reduces operational problems associates with conventional burning of biodiesel in gas turbines. Emissions from the C30 gas turbine, operating at full load on LPP Gas™ derived from biodiesel, are 5.6 ppmv NOx and 9 ppmv CO, at 15%O2, improving on the baseline natural gas emissions.

The fuel tested was a canola-based biodiesel provided to LPP Combustion, LLC by Northern Biodiesel, an Ontario, NY company. The C30 gas turbine was on loan from Harbec Plastics, an Ontario, NY based plastics manufacturer. Harbec Plastics intends to convert all 25 of its Capstone C30 gas turbines to operation on biofuels using the LPP Combustion technology, thereby eliminating the CO2 footprint from its plastics manufacturing.

The company has already successfully tested the same gas turbine using this technology on naphtha and on ethanol

More information is available at the company’s website, www.lppcombustion.com.

The Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER), part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois, is hosting a symposium on Near-term Opportunities for Biorefineries on October 11-12, 2010. Among the topics discussed will be the impact of technology improvements and utilization of value-added co-products of corn ethanol production. Attendees will also learn about the political and economic considerations that affect the development of improved technology as well as the proposed Renewable Fuels Standards (RFS2) requirements and implications.

“Modest tweaks in technology can reap substantial economic and environmental benefits for current corn ethanol plants. This symposium will address near term technologies and utilization of co-products that can add another revenue stream,” said Dr. Hans Blaschek, Director of CABER. “We’ll also discuss biochemicals, including butanol, which is considered a next generation biofuel as well as feedstock chemical that can add to the portfolio of products being produced in a biorefinery.”

University of Illinois researchers, along with staff from the USDA, Argonne National Laboratory, and biofuels industry leaders will share their views of the current and future status of corn ethanol.

Topics for the symposium include:

• • Potentials for a biorefinery and a portfolio of products
• • Co-product utilization and conversion
• • Overcoming impediments to scale-up and commercialization
• • Technologies to make ethanol and butanol an advanced fuel
• • Economic advantages to diversification of products produced in a traditional corn ethanol plant

The early-bird registration fee is $249; after October 1 the registration fee is $299. Click here to learn more about the symposium and to register.

Renewable Energy Group has acquired a New Mexico biodiesel plant in an agreement that will see a California company invest in the Iowa-based biodiesel maker and distributor.

REG has announced that ARES Corporation will become a strategic investor, putting in an additional $8 million into REG in return for control of ARES’ 15-million-gallon-a-year Clovis, New Mexico plant:

“In support of RFS2, REG continues to expand its national footprint of production facilities and related logistics to better serve our growing customer base of regional and national businesses. We consider this position in the Southwest to be a long-term, strategic move for our company,” said Daniel J. Oh, President and Chief Operating Officer of Renewable Energy Group. “ARES’ strategic investment provides REG access to ARES’ world class engineering, risk management and government contracting expertise.”

“Renewable Energy Group has shown strong biodiesel industry leadership when it comes to creating green collar jobs at its industry leading biodiesel production facilities,” said Clovis Industrial Development Corporation Executive Director, Chase Gentry. “We look forward to REG’s involvement in this ongoing green economy project as the City of Clovis, State of New Mexico and the Southwest region look to reduce our dependence on imported oil and improve our air quality.”

REG is the nation’s largest largest biodiesel producer and marketer.

They’re some of the newest and brightest scientific minds in the country, so it just makes sense that the Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel would choose one of the most cutting-edge formats to hold the first interactive virtual conference on biodiesel for students.

These biodiesel champions will join one of the nation’s foremost biodiesel researchers from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and National Biodiesel Board staff in leading the online event on September 28, 2010 from 7 – 9 p.m. Eastern time.

Higher education students and faculty interested in the future of biodiesel – from emerging research, to the state of the industry and career trends to environmental attributes – are invited to register for this one-of-a-kind virtual conference.

* Don Scott, NBB Director of Sustainability
* Dr. Bob McCormick, Principal Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, Colo.)
* Jason Strull, Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel Co-chair (University of Nevada -Reno)
* Lucas Ellis, Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel Co-chair (Dartmouth College)
* Bernardo del Campo, Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel Co-chair (Iowa State University)

The NBB is hosting the event with support from the United Soybean Board and soybean checkoff.

It’s always a good day for ethanol when we hear about new E85 or blender pumps opening. Today, the United Farmers Cooperative (UFC) has installed two new blender pumps in Shelby, Neb. with the help of Growth Energy’s 2010 E85 and Blender Pump Program. The pumps are located at 600 East Hwy 92. This Friday, UFC will host a Blender Pump Open House from 11:00 am – 2:00 pm CST where they will be holding drawings and offer fuel discounts for E10, E20, E30 and E85.

“UFC’s decision to install blender pumps versus upgrading with traditional pumps and adding E85, is all about giving our customer the ability to support the ethanol programs and still have the flexibility to chose based on his or her blended preference,” said Dick Munn, United Farmers Cooperative Vice President of Energy.

UFC became a member of Growth Energy’s E85 and blender program for the assistance they offer with fueling infrastructure as well as for financial assistance. This year has been a good year for retailers to install E85 and blender pumps since the federal government is currently offering a tax credit that gives station owners a 50 percent tax credit, up to $50,000, for installing E85 infrastructure.

“Every blender pump we install gives consumers a choice at the pump that includes domestic, renewable ethanol,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis. “Growth Energy is pleased to have been able to assist in the United Farmers Cooperative in their efforts and we remain committed to assist with the addition of more blender pumps across the nation.”