Domestic Fuel

Researchers at Clemson University have a new mobile biofuels processing plant that will help do new research on new biomass feedstocks, like algae and fungio, while spreading the word of what biodiesel can do.

This press release from the school says its $125,000 piece of equipment from Piedmont Biofuels in North Carolina will provide the research platform and take the demonstration to the public:

“We had our initial successful run last week using waste algal and sunflower oils from Martek Biosciences in Kingstree and then used the biofuel to cycle back to a generator to achieve net-zero production,” [biosystems engineer Terry Walker said].

Walker said support for the purchase came from many sources, including Clemson Public Service Activities; the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences and others at Clemson; Piedmont Biofuels in Pittsboro, N.C.; and SunStor Inc. in Greer.

The school will be showing off the new mobile facility at the annual biomass meeting this fall at the Pee Dee Research and Education Center on October 7th.

Some new clean air regulations in California could lead to a popular ferry shutting down. But it might not have to if the vessel uses biodiesel.

This article from the Daily Pilot says the Catalina Flyer, a 500-passenger catamaran that runs between the mainland and Santa Catalina Island could have to shut down while the owners buy and install a new engine in line with the state’s environmental law. But it doesn’t have to be that way:

Bob Black, general manager for the tour boat company, said that unless he’s able to find a catamaran to lease, he may suspend service to Avalon as early as Sept. 12.

Although the new law seems like it is three years old, it didn’t actually go into effect until 2009, which is why the Catalina Flyer is having to search for a replacement boat until the new engines are bought and installed.

But later on in the article, it’s pointed out that “[a]ll diesel engines on commercial harbor craft must be fueled with California Air Resource Board diesel fuel, with a sulfur content less than or equal to 15 parts per million, or an alternative diesel fuel such as biodiesel.”

So what gives? Are Californians so opposed to biofuels (note the state’s fighting of the use of ethanol instead of MTBE as an anti-pollution additive for gasoline) that they’ll lay off workers instead of using biodiesel … which will run in any current engine that runs on diesel … that might just burn clean enough to meet regulations? I’ll need to investigate this further, and maybe, in the meantime, someone can come up with an explanation.

Did you know that 60 cents of each gallon of E85 purchased stays in the state of Iowa? I didn’t know that until I participated in the Iowa Corn Fed Game Day pump rally at Riverside, Iowa to get people “pumped up” for the upcoming Iowa State versus Iowa football game. Another way to look at this is for each gallon of E85 you purchase, 85 cents stays in America; whereas if you purchase E10, only 10 cents stays in America while 90 cents heads out of our borders.

Here are two more interesting facts. Did you know that Iowa is ranked #9 in the country; yet non-ranked Iowa State has the most difficult schedule this year?

And one more…Did you know that Iowa is the leading producer of corn and ethanol in the country? Iowa boasts 40 ethanol plants that produce more than 3 billion gallons of ethanol each year saving consumers money at the pump with each mile they drive.

So where did I learn these nifty facts? From an actual corn farmer, Dick Gallagher, who was on hand to educate consumers about ethanol blended fuels as well as educate consumers about all the products that have corn in them..shirts, biodegradable plastics, carpet, tires, and more. They all use corn as one of their ingredients and whether you realize it or not, our lives would not, and could not, be the same without our corn farmers.

Speaking of our corn farmers, they are growing enough corn to meet all of our needs for food, feed and fuel, both here in America as well as overseas and they are doing it each year using less land.

But let’s hope that Iowa State doesn’t score less than Iowa but scores more than Iowa, but I digress.

Kum & Go was a sponsor of today’s pump rallies and they have been a long-time ethanol supporter. Matt Chase, with Kum & Go told me that 31 of their stores in Iowa sell E85, more than any other retailer, and all of their stations sell E10 blended fuels.

The Iowa Corn Fed Game Day promotion is sponsored by Iowa Corn Growers Association and continues all week long leading up to game day on Saturday. The game begins at 2:30 pm CST but come early. Iowa Corn will have a booth set up at Krause Family Plaza at 10:00 am where they will hosting some fun games as well as the chance to win $5,000 in free food and $2,500 in free ethanol-blended fuel. You can also sign up online at www.iacornfed.com.

And one last cool fact to leave you with….Herky the Hawk is a HUGE fan of ethanol.

Columbia, South Carolina is the latest municipality that is getting waste grease out of its sewer system and into its vehicles in the form of biodiesel.

The Columbia Free Times says the city has set up a system to collect residents’ used cooking oil and use it in a trash truck:

When restaurants need to get rid of used cooking oil, they can usually donate or sell it to companies that convert it into fuel. Columbia’s backyard chefs, on the other hand, have had to throw away their oil — the Thanksgiving turkey-frying oil; the used oil from family fish frys; the gallons and gallons of oil it takes to perfect a fried chicken recipe or the world’s best raw fries.

“The containers are an investment,” Spence says.

The city will use a B20 blend of this waste grease biodiesel for the garbage truck and could use it in other equipment. Columbia’s fleet of other diesel vehicles is already running on B5.

In addition, the city says it spends $1.5 million a year dealing with grease, mostly from residents and not restaurants, in its sewer lines. Officials hope this will cut those costs down significantly.

Did you know that Iowa is leading the way in both corn production and ethanol production but corn is not only used for ethanol? It is also an ingredient in more than 4,000 products including toothpaste, pizza, tires, drywall, bubblegum and more. The Iowa Corn Growers realized that many people don’t know this so they have developed a consumer promotion to educate Iowans about corn. It’s called the Iowa Corn Fed Game Day promotion and entails a sponsorship of the Iowa State vs. Iowa football, wrestling and basketball games.

I spoke with Mindy Williamson, the Iowa Corn Growers Director of Communications, to learn more about the benefits of their Iowa Corn Fed Game Day sponsorship. “We like to call it the Super Bowl of Iowa because Iowa and Iowa State is our biggest rivalry here,” said Williamson.

“The Iowa Corn Growers in Iowa wanted to get together and talk about things other than ethanol,” continued Williamson. “We love ethanol as corn growers but we know there are also 4,000 other products made from corn. We want Iowans to know what those are and how those affect their life.”

Williamson said that one benefit of the sponsorship is that it gives them a venue to educate people about how many products use corn. Another benefit is that they want to bridge the gap between food and fuel and this is a way to do that. “There’s not a competition there. There is plenty of corn. We are excellent at growing corn for both markets,” explained Williamson.

Iowa Corn Growers have launched a promotion to bridge that gap along with the Iowa Corn Fed Game Day. They are giving away $5,000 in groceries and $2,500 in ethanol. You can sign up multiple times online at www.iacornfed.com or at the upcoming football game or even during some of the pump rallies leading up to the game which are being held September 7, in and around Iowa City, Iowa.

Flex-fuel vehicle drivers can fill up their tank with E85 for .85 cents and any driver can sign up to win food and fuel. Herky the Hawk will also be there to get everyone jazzed up for the game. If you miss the pump rallies, then come on over to the Krause Family Plaza Friday, September 11 starting at 10:00 am. CT.

Can’t wait to see you there!

You can learn more about the Iowa Corn Fed Game Day events by listening to my interview with Mindy here. Iowa Corn Fed Game Day

We hear a lot about the blend wall for ethanol in the United States market, but there’s also a wall that the ethanol co-product Dried Distillers Grains (DDGS) in hitting with the livestock industry.

“We’ve already run into a feed wall,” says Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “While domestic markets for DDGS continue to expand, quite frankly we’ve grown that market pretty rapidly over the last several years and the opportunity for continued expansion domestically are fewer and farther between.”

So expanding export markets for DDGS is important for the U.S. ethanol industry, and that opportunity is substantial. “We are exporting more and more DDGS these days,” Dinneen says. “But more needs to be done to get suppliers and buyers together.”

And that is why RFA is working with the U.S. Grains Council on the 2010 Export Exchange in Chicago next month and why Dinneen believes it is a must-attend event for ethanol producers. “Because DDG marketing is so important to the bottom line of an ethanol producer. About 40 percent of your feedstock costs can be recovered in the marketing of DDG,” Dinneen said.

The Export Exchange is being held October 6-8 at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place Hotel in Chicago, Ill. More information and registration is available on-line here.

Listen to Bob Dinneen’s interview about DDGS and the Export Exchange here: Bob Dinneen Interview

Researchers have found a feasible way to turn wet algal biomass directly into biodiesel.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that University of Michigan scientists have published a paper on a two-step hydrolysis-solvolysis process that eliminates costly biomass drying, organic solvent extraction and catalysts:

In the first step, wet algal biomass contained 80 percent moisture and was reacted with subcritical water to hydrolyze intracellular lipids, conglomerate cells into an easily filterable solid that retained the lipids and produced a sterile, nutrient-rich aqueous phase. In the second step, the wet, fatty acid-rich solids underwent supercritical transesterification with ethanol to produce fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs). The team used Chlorella vulgaris algae, which contained 53.3 percent lipid content.

The research yielded promising results, Savage added, but the project is anticipated to be refined and optimized in order for to demonstrate greater economic and environmental feasibility of the process on a larger scale.

The researchers say more work will need to be done to improve the yields and cut down on inputs.

Make your plans now to attend the free Alternative Fuel Trade Alliance Workshop, Thursday, Sept. 9, at the Crowne Plaza in Denver, Colo.

Sponsored by our friends at the Renewable Fuels Association, the National Biodiesel Board, the Clean Vehicle Education Foundation and the Propane Education & Research Council, this one-day event promises to be a must-attend event for a wide range of alternative fuel users, producers and marketers:

This training seminar will cover alternative fuel quality, infrastructure, available vehicles, safety, and environmental impact of propane, ethanol, biodiesel, and compressed natural gas. Attendees will include fleet managers, petroleum marketers, policy makers, fuel station owners, and media.

To register and for more information, check the alliance’s website, www.altfuelsalliance.org, or contact Julie Puckett at julie@thesales.net or 703-675-0520.

A Florida company is trying to win a $250,000 grant from Pepsi to bring alternative fuels to the Gulf Coast region.

Pura-Vida-Ventures is an independent company based in Sarasota that has a proposal in to Pepsi for a share in $1.3 million they are offering to fund ideas that “refresh the Gulf.” Their concept is to convert a closed gas station into a community resource center, offer biodiesel and ethanol blends, then add electric, hydrogen, or CNG/LPG and offset energy consumption by using solar panels and wind.

We will create an Alternative (to petroleum) Oasis. It becomes a “community center” by offering information and access to a product mix that is unavailable in the marketplace. It will become the local resource for green/eco products and services. It will utilize solar panels to decrease energy consumption, harvest rainwater to diminish its use onsite, and be surrounded by lush native landscaping. The market will engage its customers by offering services such as local volunteer information, educational presentations, and encourage local buying habits.

You can vote for the Pura-Vida plan here and find out more on their Facebook page.

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy have teamed up to hand out some research awards to designed to improve and accelerate genetics in plants for bioenergy production.

This USDA release says the announcement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Energy Secretary Steven Chu will make $8.9 million available:

“Cost-effective, sustainable biofuels are crucial to building a clean energy economy,” said Secretary Chu. “By harnessing the power of science and technology, this joint effort between DOE and USDA will help accelerate research in the critical area of plant feedstocks, spurring the creation of the domestic bio-industry while creating jobs and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”

The research grants will be awarded under a joint DOE-USDA program focused on fundamental investigations of biomass genomics, with the aim of harnessing lignocellulosic materials–i.e., nonfood plant fiber–for biofuels production. Emphasis is on perennials, including trees and other nonfood plants that can be used as dedicated biofuel crops. Since such crops tend to require less intensive production practices and can grow on somewhat poorer quality land than food crops, they will be a critical element in a strategy of sustainable biofuels production that avoids competition with crops grown for food. Combining DOE’s leadership in genome-scale technologies with USDA’s long experience in crop improvement will help accelerate development of such specialized crops and improve their effectiveness as feedstocks for biofuels production.

The Energy Department will be handing out $6.9 million for seven projects across the country and USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture will give $2 million for two projects in Illinois and Texas.

By the end of the year, Canadians will be using more ethanol in their fuel. According to The Epoch Times, regulations were finaized by the government yesterday requiring that all gasoline must contain 5% biofuels starting December 15.

“Regulating renewable fuel content in gasoline is just one of several steps the Government is taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector, which account for about a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions,” said Environment Minister Jim Prentice in a statement.

This regulation is part of a strategy by the government to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.

“Support for renewable fuels is support for farmers, rural communities and our economy,” said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz in a statement. “This is a vital step in generating new market opportunities for our farmers and maximizing Canada’s high quality resources to produce food and fuel for the world.”

Chuck and Joanna have been giving you some great coverage of Farm Progress Show from Boone, Iowa here on Domestic Fuel and over at AgWired.com. It only seems fitting that the country’s premier farm show is being powered by Iowa-based biodiesel producer Renewable Energy Group (REG). And in the same tradition of having a cold beer after a long day at Farm Progress (I understand that maybe one or two have been consumed during the time in Boone, Iowa), REG is playing a major role in a beer tour throughout the Midwest.

New Belgium Brewing of Ft. Collins, Colo. recently called on biodiesel producer Renewable Energy Group of Ames, Iowa to provide sustainable, clean-burning B100 to power the Midwest portion of the brewing company’s renowned thirteen-city, national bicycle festival.

“New Belgium has made a commitment to using biodiesel made from sustainable sources like waste oils, fats and greases in order to help reduce our corporate carbon footprint by at least 25 percent. We are pleased that we can continue that commitment by burning Iowa-produced biodiesel produced from another industry’s waste stream,” stated tour impresario Matt Kowal, who works at the brewery year ‘round producing the festival and emceeing its 13 stops (this year) around the country.

Now that’s something you can truly raise a cold one to.

A California-based producer of renewable oil from algae production products is getting ready to ship a system that uses a single step to get the oil out of the green pond scum to one of its customers down under.

OriginOil, Inc. has notified Australian MBD Energy Limited that it is ready to ship a Single-Step Extraction™ System (seen in the video below), a cheaper method of algae-oil extraction that eliminates the use of petrochemicals or alcohol solvents and is the second product to be delivered in its multi-phase commercialization agreement:

OriginOil Extracts Oil from Algae Timelapse from OriginOil on Vimeo.

“We believe OriginOil’s concentration and extraction technology holds promise of reducing costs and energy requirements in the algae harvesting process,” said Andrew Lawson, Managing Director at MBD Energy Ltd. “We look forward to now using the equipment we’ve purchased from OriginOil to finalize preparations for our 1 hectare Bio CCS algal synthesizer test facility we’re about to construct at Tarong Power Station in Queensland. If performance tests go to plan we expect to later expand the 1 hectare synthesizer to 80 hectares at which point we hope to produce approximately 10,000 tonnes of oil per year.”

OriginOil’s unit is the second product to be shipped in the test phase of a multi-phase commercialization program under which OriginOil has agreed to supply MBD Energy with progressively larger installations of its algae-to-oil technology as the scale of MBD’s algal synthesizer projects grows. The two products are supplied under a 1 year lease-to-own program. Subject to achieving success in the initial test phase, MBD will purchase significantly larger systems to serve its power station projects in Australia, beginning with the 1 hectare algal synthesizer test plant at Tarong Power Station in South Eastern Queensland, and potentially expanding to full production at all three of MBD’s power station project sites in Australia.

MBD Energy officials say that each of its power station projects can grow 80 hectare commercial pilot plants for algae, each capable of producing about 3 million gallons of oil that can be used for renewable energy and plastics, as well as producing 25,000 tonnes of animal feed each year. Furthermore, the plants could eventually be expanded to 1,500 hectares each, feeding the the algae with the power station’s flue-gas emissions.

BP Biofuels is now the official proud owner of Verenium’s cellulosic biofuels business. The companies announced the closing today of the $98.3 million transaction announced on July 15, 2010.

Under the sale, BP acquires the Jennings, LA biofuel pilot plant and the demonstration facility, as well as the San Diego R&D facilities. BP also receives Vereniums cellulosic biofuels and enzyme technologies and related IP. Verenium retains its commercial enzyme business, including its biofuels enzymes products and has the right to develop its own lignocellulosic enzyme program. Verenium will also retain select R&D capabilities, as well as rights to access select biofuels technology developed by BP using the technology it is acquiring from Verenium through this agreement.

“We are very pleased that our strategic development partnership with BP has successfully advanced our cellulosic ethanol technology to the cusp of commercialization,” said Carlos A. Riva, President and Chief Executive Officer at Verenium. “We believe that BP is the right company to make the investment needed to carry this forward and expedite the commercialization of the technology.”

BP will also become the sole investor in Vercipia Biofuels and Galaxy Biofuels; both 50-50 joint ventures of the two companies.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) recently debuted a new blog on their website that offers commentary from RFA staffers on various topics.

The E-Xchange Blog debuted earlier this summer and the staff have proven to be quite prolific in their posting. We are going to start featuring posts from the blog as a regular feature here on Domestic Fuel.

Speculators returning to the grain market is the topic of the most recent post by RFA Vice President for Research Geoff Cooper, who notes that “hedge and index fund investors have quietly returned to the agricultural commodities market in droves over the past few weeks.”

With the stock market continuing to flounder, these speculators are positioning themselves for another bull run on agricultural commodities and crossing their fingers that corn prices go higher. They’ve laid down their bets that the drought in Russia and flood-induced crop failures in Pakistan will leave the world short of grain and spur demand and prices for U.S. grains. As clearly demonstrated by the 2008 commodities bubble, supply-demand fundamentals take a back seat to frenzied speculation when this many trigger-happy gamblers are in the market. Don’t be surprised if even the slightest hints of higher demand for U.S. crops or lower-than-expected U.S. supply touches off speculative hysterics not seen since the spring and summer 2008. If a speculative rally on corn does come to pass this fall, let’s at least hope that the pundits recognize the role of speculators and avoid immediately jumping to the conclusion—as they did in 2008—that biofuels had anything to do with it.

Cooper gives a nice analysis of what happened in 2008 when oil, gas, and corn prices skyrocketed and then the bubble burst and what is happening right now in the market.

Speculators are returning to the agricultural commodities markets in numbers not seen since the weeks leading up to the spectacular bursting of the 2008 bubble. In fact, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) latest Commitments of Traders report shows speculative investors hold as many corn futures contracts today as they did at the height of the 2008 bubble. Not since May 2008 have “non-commercial” investors (CFTC’s parlance for “speculators”) held as many net long positions as they do today (long, or “bullish,” positions are contracts that are purchased and held in the hope of profiting from an increase in prices). Speculators held 358,000 net long positions on corn last week, which is the equivalent of 1.8 billion bushels. That compares to a previous high of 360,000 net longs in mid-May 2008, at the height of the bubble.

Read Cooper’s entire commentary here.