Domestic Fuel

The Brazilian sugarcane harvest is in full swing and sugarcane crushing in the South-Central region totaled 2.44 million tons in the second half of December 2010, a 76.39 percent drop from the same period in 2009. This raises the total since the beginning of the 2010/2011 harvest to 555.00 million tons. In early January, only 21 mills were operating in the region and between now and the end of the official harvest on March 31st, numbers are only expected to change slightly.

In the second half of December, sugar production reached 67.48 thousand tons, adding to the 33.46 million tons produced from the beginning of the harvest to December 31, 2010. That total is 18.22 percent more than the amount produced during the same period of 2009, and 16.82 percent more than the final tally for the entire 2009/2010 harvest.

The country’s ethanol production reached 142.7 million liters in the second half of December. Of this total, 53.24 million liters were anhydrous and 89.23 million were hydrous ethanol. Since the harvest began through the end of December 2010, total ethanol production was 25.27 billion liters, which was an increase up 10.34 percent compared to the same period in 2009. Of this volume, 17.87 billion liters were hydrous ethanol – a 6.25 percent increase from last year, and 7.41 billion liters were anhydrous ethanol, an increase of 21.64 percent from last year.

When you take into account the current harvest is near completion, and compare overall production at the end of December with final numbers for last year’s harvest, there were increases of 2.41 percent in total cane crushing, 16.82 percent in sugar production and 6.71 percent in ethanol production. However, when you only factor ethanol and sugar into the equation, the increase is 11.10 percent.

Sales of ethanol by mills in the South-Central region totaled 2.22 billion liters in December, a 2.64 percent increase compared to the previous month. Of that, 108.33 million liters were exported and 2.11 billion liters went to the domestic market. On the domestic front, 1.50 billion liters of hydrous ethanol were sold in December, a 2.44 percent increase compared to December of 2009. Anhydrous ethanol sales totaled 608.66 million liters against 524.39 million liters in 2009, an increase of 16.07 percent.

During a meeting held on Wednesday Jan.12 with members of the various government organizations, it was determined that there would be continuous monitoring of the ethanol market during the inter-harvest period, with regular meetings between the government and market agents.

“Given the latest figures, it became evident that the current productive scenario offers total peace of mind as far as supplies of ethanol for the domestic market. Mills in South-Central Brazil should produce about two billion litters more ethanol in the current harvest year and, so far, exports are down by more than a billion liters compared to the previous harvest,” said UNICA’s Rodrigues. The numbers show the amount of ethanol available for domestic needs should increase by approximately three billion liters, he added.

Earlier this week, I announced that I was kicking off a series on waste-to-energy and many people have already expressed comments and feedback on the subject. It is probably no coincidence that the hot button was the term incineration, aka combustion or burn. No one can see this term and not think pollution. While incinerators are still in use today, and will be the focus of Part 1 of this series, there are many new cutting edge waste-to-energy technologies that don’t use incineration and as the series progresses, we’ll be discussing these technologies.

One of the first people I spoke with was Ted Michaels with the Energy Recovery Council based in Washington DC. The first question I asked him was how has the technology developed from the 1970s until now? Michaels began by explaining that the commercial waste-to-energy industry has existed since 1975 and today there are 86 waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities in 24 states that turn trash into energy through combustion.

The biggest differentiation of WTE facilities today, versus the WTE facilities of yesteryear, according to Michaels, are their ability to capture the energy and their utilization of emission control equipment. “America’s waste-to-energy facilities meet some of the most stringent environmental standards in the world and employ the most advanced emissions control equipment available,” said Michaels. “In fact, the US Environmental Protection Agency concluded in 2003 that America’s waste-to-energy plants have demonstrated “dramatic decreases” in air emissions, and produce electricity “with less environmental impact than almost any other source of electricity.”

According to Michaels, WTE achieves the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) through three separate mechanisms: 1) by generating electrical power or steam, waste-to-energy avoids carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel based electrical generation; 2) the waste-to-energy combustion process effectively avoids all potential methane emissions from landfills thereby avoiding any potential release of methane in the future; and 3) the recovery of ferrous and nonferrous metals from MSW by waste-to-energy is more energy efficient than production from raw materials.

Michaels explains that these three mechanisms provide a true accounting of the greenhouse gas emission reduction potential of waste-to-energy. “A lifecycle analysis, such as the EPA Municipal Solid Waste Decision Support Tool, is the most accurate method for understanding and quantifying the complete accounting of any MSW management option,” explained Michaels.
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In what Perdue believes to be one of the largest commercial solar installations on the East Coast, the company has announced they are installing 11,000 solar panels divided between two different facilities. The agribusiness company has entered into a 15-year agreement with Washington Gas Services, Inc. (WGES) to purchase the electricity generated by the solar panels at a set price. WGES will own and operate the system that is expected to generate an average of 3,700 megawatt hours of electricity each year, or approximately enough electricity to power 340 American homes. At peak production, the panels could produce at much as 90 percent of the electrical demand for each facility.

The ground-mounted panels will cover nearly 10 football fields. Nearly half of the solar installation will be located at the Perdue corporate offices in Salisbury, Maryland and the remaining will be located at their feed mill in Bridgeville, Deleware. The panels are being installed by Standard Solar Inc.

“Stewardship is one of our company’s core values, so this is a perfect fit for the way we do business,” said Steve Schwalb, Perdue’s Vice President of Environmental Sustainability. “Using solar power means we’ll have a clean energy source that doesn’t pollute or create greenhouse gases, while lowering Perdue’s energy costs over the life of the project.”

Perdue has also engaged in several other “green” projects. Last year they began renovation their corporate office and hope to obtain LEED certification for environmental leadership from the U.S. Green Building Council. Three years ago, the company began the first to sign a Clean Waters Environmental Initiative with the EPA to aid poultry growers in adopting better pollution prevention practices.

Harry Warren, president of WGES said of the project, “By hosting this project, Perdue is also helping both Maryland and Delaware achieve their statewide solar energy goals. “The Maryland and Delaware Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards Acts call for a growing contribution from solar energy each year through at least 2022, and Perdue’s project will contribute significantly to Maryland’s and Delaware’s total solar power production goals for 2012 and beyond.”

Attendance for the 16th annual National Ethanol Conference on February 20-22 in Phoenix is going so strong that they have added an overflow hotel for attendees and there is still a few more days to get the early bird discount for registration.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Building Bridges to a More Sustainable Future” and features a variety of session focused on the future, including Biofuels Tax Policy, Next Generation Biofuels Commercialization, Moving Beyond E10, Global Ethanol Outlook and a “Behind the Scenes Look at Impact of 2010 Elections on Congress and Presidential Politics, featuring Mary Matalin and James Carville.”

Rooms at the conference hotel, the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, have sold out, but there are still plenty of rooms available at the Marriott Residence Inn Phoenix Desert View just one mile away. Early bird registration for the conference ends January 26 – after that, registration goes up $100.

Hope to see you there!

From what I’m hearing from my friends back up north, it’s been a particularly tough winter, especially in Minneapolis, where snowfall has been plentiful this year. Remember the collapse of the Metrodome? (By the way, to my friends shivering their way through another below-zero, snowy night, a balmy 70 degrees in south Texas today).

But Corn & Soybean Digest reports that a biodiesel-powered Snow Dragon is helping the city battle back by melting 30 tons of snow an hour:

The snow melter’s 9-million-BTU boiler separates pollutants and trash from the water, which is then sent down a storm drain cleaner than when it was snow.

The melter is being used primarily around parking meters and intersections. The only municipally owned snow melter in Minnesota, the city received federal funds to help purchase it as part of a transit upgrade.

The Snow Dragon helped clear the field when the Vikings had to move their last home game to the University of Minnesota’s outdoor stadium. Now, if it could just help my Vikes chalk up a few more wins next season!

Recognizing just how important the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo is to everyone with ties to the industry, our friends at the National Biodiesel Board have extended the deadline to register for the Feb. 6-9 event in Phoenix, Arizona to Feb. 1.

NBB CEO Joe Jobe says:

The uncertainty surrounding the biodiesel tax credit and the implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard-2 made 2010 tough on all of us, to be sure. But we have high hopes that this conference will be the springboard to greater opportunities. In fact, 2011 has the potential to be a banner year for biodiesel production. The RFS2, now that it is fully implemented, will be the driving force behind biodiesel demand in 2011 and beyond. NBB recognizes that this relatively new legislation is still unclear to many in the industry. That’s why we are offering a comprehensive workshop, free with your full registration, which will dive into the “nuts and bolts” of the RFS2, featuring some of the top experts on the issue. This is truly a “can’t miss” event if you plan to be part of the biodiesel industry moving forward.

More information is available on the conference website. Plus, you can follow our coverage of the event on the conference blog!

Just a quick update …
The good folks at Renewable Energy Group (REG) will host their Corporate Update & 2011 Market Outlook at the biodiesel conference. Make sure to join them on Monday, Feb. 7, 2011 at the Phoenix Convention Center, North131C, 100 Level.

E-mail your RSVP to alicia.clancy@regfuel.com.

A new product from a Florida biodiesel technology developer could cut down on the amount of methanol to brew biodiesel by up to 5 percent.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that Florida Biodiesel Inc. has developed the Cyclonic Mixer:

“The Mixer is a device that is made to shear the catalyst and the feedstock,” said Bill Gehrs, president of Florida Biodiesel, “giving a more complete mixing, which is able to reduce the amount of methanol used.” The mixer, Gehrs said, can save the plant operator between 2 to 5 percent in methanol costs.

Described by Gehrs as a “passive” device, the mixer has been used in other consumer and commercial systems and the Florida Biodiesel version can be scaled to work in a 60 gallon system all the way up to a 2.3 MMgy facility. “It has no moving parts. The high shear mixer is encased in a pipe and when the feedstock and the catalyst are moved through the multi-veined system in the mixer,” Gehrs explained, “it creates a high shearing action,” that ultimately does a better job of mixing.

Florida Biodiesel doesn’t produce the green fuel itself, but it has 187 dealers who sell add-on pieces for the industry.

Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Gevo, Inc. for its use of Butamax biobutanol technology. The lawsuit was filed January 14 in U.S. Federal District Court in the District of Delaware.

“The U.S. patent system is designed to encourage research and development and to protect inventions. Butamax and its owners were the first to develop this technology and it is our belief that the protection of intellectual property serves the best interest of the biofuels industry, our customers and the U.S. energy policy,” said Tim Potter, Butamax CEO.

The Butamax patent was granted in December 2010, encompassing biocatalysts developed to produce isobutanol and provides protection for Butamax and its pioneering work in this field. Butamax has filed an extensive patent portfolio for its proprietary technology across the biofuels value chain including biocatalyst, bioprocess and fuels. In November, the company unveiled its biobutanol technology laboratory in Brazil.

The fifth annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) Summit has an amazing line-up of speakers who will focus on the future of ethanol and biodiesel, both in the state and the nation.

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad will kick off the one-day event on January 25 by talking about Growing Iowa’s BioEconomy. Key Iowa biodiesel leaders will then detail biodiesel’s 2011 resurgence and its impact on local communities and Iowa’s economy.

Next on the program, Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen will take a look at the National Landscape for Ethanol Blends, leading into an address by Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Following lunch, a panel of speakers, including Gary Haer with the Renewable Energy Group and Kyle Althoff of DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol will discuss “Advanced Biofuels – A Turning Point for Renewable Energy.”

NASCAR Champion Rusty Wallace keynotes the event and will talk about E15 powering the 2011 NASCAR racing season at its three major national touring series. The rest of the afternoon will be devoted to the new limited approval of 15% ethanol blends for 2007 and newer cars and light-duty trucks. EPA senior policy advisor Paul Argyropoulos will discuss what led to the decision to boost the ethanol content and what lies ahead, followed by a panel of retailers and fuel distributors who will outline the challenges and opportunities in bringing E15 to Iowa motorists.

Last, but certainly not least, former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum rounds out the program addressing national energy policy. The event will be held on January 25 from 8:30-4:30 at the Polk County Convention Complex in Des Moines. More information and registration is available on-line from the Iowa RFA. As long as the weather permits, Domestic Fuel will be there to cover the entire event.

Let’s talk about E15, or the use of 15 percent ethanol, 85 percent gasoline, in our conventional cars and light duty trucks. I don’t think people understand well enough why the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is conducting so much research on the fuel. What it really comes down to is emissions. Let me explain.

Last Friday I attended the California Ethanol Symposium: An Examination of Demand vs. Feasibility and Viability. It was one of 32 events being held around the country sponsored in part by the Clean Transportation Education Project. Other companies participated in this event including the Antelope Valley Clean Cities, Clean Cities Coalitions (part of U.S. Department of Energy), Advanced Transportation Technology & Energy located at Rio Hondo College, and Purpose Focused Alternative Learning Corporation.

Rich Cregar, an Instructor of Automotive Systems Technology at Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, NC as well as the Co-Director of the Code Green CIP Project gave an in-depth presentation on ethanol that included comprehensive information about E15. He explained that there are three main reasons why E15 is safe to use in conventional vehicles and light duty trucks manufactured after 2007 (for the sake of space, I’ll shorten the reference to model year 2007 or newer from this point forward).

First, they all CAN networked and the car’s computer, if needed, can be easily and inexpensively updated to use E15. Second, All 2007 cars and new have an onboard air fuel ratio sensor that maintains correct emission levels. Third, there is an issue with the catalytic wash code. Ethanol tends to cylinder out emissions of aldehydes, which are carcinogenic hydrocarbon compounds. Catalytic converters in 2007 vehicles or later can deal with these aldehydes effectively, aka emission control.

Whereas 2007 vehicles have the ability to control “emissions” per se of E15, some, but not all cars manufactured before 2007 may not have this ability. That is why the EPA is still waiting for tests before they make a decision on whether to allow 2001 and newer vehicles to use e15.

So what happens if you use it and something goes wrong?
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The Maryland Grain Producers Utilization Board (MGPUB) have awarded a grant to the Clean Fuels Foundation to support a statewide program to increase the sale of high level ethanol blends. MGPUB will be supporting the National FlexFuel Vehicle Awareness Campaign in a statewide program to increase awareness among owners of flexible fuel vehicles that are capable of utilizing ethanol blends up to 85%.

MGPUB joins the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and more than 30 national companies and organizations that are part of the FFV Awareness Campaign working in several other states across the country. The overall campaign has been developed and is coordinated by the Clean Fuels Foundation, a Maryland based non-profit organization. With 16 E85 stations in the state and another half dozen scheduled to open in 2011, Maryland is a prime location to increase the use of ethanol and continue to expand infrastructure.

According to Marion Wilson, the President of the MGPUB, the FFV Awareness Campaign is a perfect compliment to the recent investment they have made in refueling infrastructure. “This program is the next step in the evolution of the ethanol program. We are getting more refueling locations all the time and the cars are becoming increasingly available. We will make sure current FFV owners are aware their vehicles have this capability and then inform them that these fuels are available and where they can get them,” said Mr. Wilson. “We are sure that when drivers know this we will see an increase in the use of ethanol which provides a range of environmental, energy, and economic benefits,” he said.

“Maryland is a prime candidate to use our small grains like barley for the production of advanced biofuels like ethanol,” said Lynne Hoot, Executive Director of the MGPUB. “By increasing the use of ethanol right here in the state we would offer a great advantage to anyone developing a project in Maryland,” she said.

Waste Management is developing a new organics facility in Okeechobee, Florida. The facility, which will sit on eight acres, will process yard, food and clean wood waste to produce soil amendments as well as bagged lawn and garden products that may be sold back to the public as an alternative to chemical fertilizers. The facility will be sited adjacent to Waste Management’s existing Okeechobee Landfill operation and will be the company’s first attempt at a dedicated composting site and should be operational by spring of 2011.

“We want to extract the highest value possible from the materials we manage. Recycling organics through composting and other technologies that may produce energy, transportation fuels or specialty chemicals enables us to generate more value from this specific material stream,” said Tim Hawkins, market area vice president for Waste Management. “With this facility, we will be able to offer southern Florida customers dedicated organics processing capability as well as generate beneficially useful products such as nutrient-rich organic compost that can close the loop with local homes and businesses in South Florida.”

Recycling is becoming more and more important in waste management and companies are looking for creative and cost effective ways to reduce waste and lessen environmental impact. Waste Management (WM) is looking at organics recycling as one possible solution to both waste management but also as a new revenue stream. To accelerate their pathway into the marketplace, WM acquired a major equity interest in Garick LLC, a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of organic lawn and garden products. In addition, the company has invested in technologies to convert waste into transportation fuels, petrochemicals and chemicals.

According to WM, North America generates over 80 million tons of organic waste each year. In the United States, approximately a third of municipal solid waste is organic, including food, yard and wood waste. Approximately 65 percent of yard waste and 2.5 percent of food waste collected in the United States is currently diverted from disposal.

Researchers at Purdue University have discovered a genetic mutation that allows a plant to better endure drought conditions without losing biomass. This discovery could prove significant because it could lead to plants that need less water to survive and thrive despite adverse climatic conditions.

Mike Mickelbart, an assistant professor of horticulture; Mike Hasegawa, a professor of horticulture; and Chal Yul Yoo, a horticulture graduate student, found that a genetic mutation in the research plant Arabidopsis thaliana reduces the number of stomata. Stomata are important because they are pores that take in carbon dioxide and release water. During drought conditions, a plant might close its stomata to conserve water. However, by doing this, the plant also reduces the amount of CO2 it can take in which limits photosynthesis and growth. But in the stomata of the mutated plants, instead of limiting CO2 intake, the gene creates a beneficial equilibrium.

“The plant can only fix so much carbon dioxide. The fewer stomata still allow for the same amount of carbon dioxide intake as a wild type while conserving water,” said Mickelbart, whose results were published in the early online version of the journal The Plant Cell. “This shows there is potential to reduce transpiration without a yield penalty.”

According to a news release, Mickelbart and Yoo used an infrared gas analyzer to determine the amount of CO2 taken in and water lost in the Arabidopsis mutant. CO2 is pumped into a chamber with the plant and the analyzer measures the amount left after a plant has started to take up the gas. A similar process measures water lost through transpiration, in which water is released from a plant’s leaves.

Analysis showed that the plant, which has a mutant form of the gene GTL1, did not reduce CO2 intake but did have a 20 percent reduction in transpiration. The plant had the same biomass as a wild type of Arabidopsis when its shoot dry weight was measured.

“The decrease in transpiration leads to increased drought tolerance in the mutant plants,” Yoo said. “They will hold more water in their leaves during drought stress.”

Of the 20 genes known to control stomata, SDD1, which is a gene responsible for regulating the number of stomata on leaves, was highly expressed in the mutant. Whereas in the mutant, with GTL1 not functioning, SDD1 is highly expressed, which results in the development of fewer stomata.

Mickelbart said the finding is important because it opens the possibility that there is a natural way to improve crop drought tolerance without decreasing biomass or yield. The next step in the research is to determine the role of GTL1 in a crop plant such as corn.

The results are in for the latest ZimmPoll. The question: “What do you think about the number of farm groups?” Our readers are not shy about letting us know their opinions and we appreciate that. The results: 33% say there are too many, 28% say the more the merrier, 25% say some are not needed but most are and 14% say there are just enough for everyone to have a voice. What do you think? Got a different answer? One thing is for sure. When it comes to energy and policy agriculture is right in the middle of it and various farm groups provide farmers with a voice to represent them on the issues.

Our next ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “What does “sustainability” really mean to the public? This ought to be interesting. Let us know what you think and thank you for participating.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

Last month President Obama signed into law legislation that included the extension of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) and the alternative fuels infrastructure tax credit. These two credits will continue to be key in the expansion of ethanol-blended fuels and blender pumps and a free webinar Wednesday is designed tohelp retailers learn more about how ethanol can increase profit opportunities while giving consumers more options.

The Blend Your Own Ethanol webinar, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), will be held on January 19 starting at 1:00 pm central time. More information about the webinar and how to register can be found at byoethanol.com.