Domestic Fuel

According to a new report, “Making Integrated Food-Energy Systems (IFES) Work for People and Climate – An Overview,” the simultaneous production of food and fuel by farmers can help to reduce poverty in countries such as Africa, Asia and Latin America. This according to FAO who published the report this week.

“Farming systems that combine food and energy crops present numerous benefits to poor rural communities,” said Alexander Müller, FAO Assistant Director-General for Natural Resources. “For example, poor farmers can use leftovers from rice crops to produce bioenergy, or in an agroforestry system can use debris of trees used to grow crops like fruits, coconuts or coffee beans for cooking.”

Müller noted that other types of food and energy systems use byproducts from livestock or biogas production and with this type of integrated systems, farmers can save money – they don’t have to buy expensive fossil fuel or chemical fertilizers. Rather, than can use the slurry from biogas production, a more sustainable, less costly alternative.

“They can then use the savings to buy necessary inputs to increase agricultural productivity, such as seeds adapted to changing climatic conditions — an important factor given that a significant increase in food production in the next decades will have to be carried out under conditions of climate change. All this increases their resilience, hence their capacity to adapt to climate change,” said Müller.

IFES are also beneficial to women as they can eliminate the need to leave their crops to go in search of firewood. In addition, the report concludes that IFES farming can help to mitigate climate change, especially emissions stemming from land use change, because there is less chance land will need to be converted.

In conclusion, Olivier Dubois, an FAO energy expert said, “Promoting the advantages of IFES and improving the policy and institutional environment for such systems should become a priority. FAO is well placed to coordinate these efforts by providing knowledge and technical support for IFES implementation.”

SoloPower, a manufacturer of flexible thin film solar cells and modules announced that it has received a conditional commitment from the U.S. DOE for a $197 million loan guarantee. The funds will be used to help complete construction of their manufacturing facility located in Wilsonville, Oregon, when complete, will produce around 400 MW of thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules each year.

“This announcement is the latest confirmation that when it comes to energy policy, Oregon is on the right side of history,” said U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. “The project in Wilsonville will hire hundreds of highly skilled, highly paid Oregonians to manufacture the latest in renewable energy technology.  Oregon is already an epicenter for renewable energy projects. A loan guarantee to help companies such as SoloPower get important projects off the ground is the right approach that will keep Oregon where it belongs – at the forefront of technology.  I look forward to working with the folks at SoloPower in putting Oregonians to work creating the products that represent the future of renewable energy.”

SoloPower CEO Tim Harris added, “We appreciate and commend the DOE’s emphasis on supporting innovative, clean-tech companies as a way to further the goal of energy independence while stimulating employment and helping secure our nation’s manufacturing base in this important emerging industry. This backing allows us to rapidly ramp up our production and to promote the spread of clean, distributed solar power to the rooftops and on the ground, while providing hundreds of quality manufacturing jobs using some of the most advanced technology in the world.”

Also this week, the Nuclear Energy Institute released the results of a national survey that determined, “By a four-to-one margin, an overwhelming majority of Americans support the use of federal loan guarantees to encourage investment in the clean-energy technologies identified by President Obama in his recent State of the Union address.”

The survey found that 79 percent of respondents agree that, “to jump-start investment and maintain U.S. competitiveness, the federal government should provide guarantees backing loans for building solar, wind, advanced-design nuclear power plants or other energy technology that reduces greenhouse gases.” Nineteen percent of those surveyed do not agree, and two percent don’t know.

The ethanol industry is excited for Daytona 500, set to take place on Fox at 1:00 pm EST on Sunday February 20th. This race kicks off the first race that Sunoco Green E15 will be used, a blend of 15 percent corn-based ethanol – produced by American farmers, right here in America. To kick off the weekend, Growth Energy, who is a NASCAR partner, held a press conference from the Daytona International Speedway to give us a quick update on the festivities and promotions on the track surrounding the race and ethanol’s debut.

Tom Buis, Growth Energy’s CEO said that they were excited about this partnership with NASCAR and this the partnership they have put together under the banner of ethanol in order to educate millions of fans and followers of NASCAR nationwide about the benefits of ethanol – its good for our country, its good for America’s energy security and its good for the environment. Additional major partners in this effort are the National Corn Growers Association, American farmers and American ethanol producers.

Buis said the race will be started with the green flag that will feature an American ethanol logo, and all the cars will also feature American ethanol logos. But he encouraged viewers to pay special attention to #33 Chevrolet driver Clint Bowyer, with Richard Childress Racing who is the latest addition to the ethanol team and is being sponsored by the industry during the 2011 season. In prelims yesterday, he just missed winning the “race” by inches so he should be a real contender to win the race on Sunday. During the race, there will be other on-track and on-TV promotions as well.

You can follow the ongoing NASCAR promotions on www.americanethanolracing.com, www.growthenergy.org or www.ncga.org.

Also on the call was Growth Energy Co-Chair Ret. General Wesley K. Clark who seconded Buis’ comments and added that the fact that NASCAR is using E15 is a huge testament to the skill of farmers, to the agricultural community, to ethanol pioneers and America’s Midwest. “It’s an All-American fuel,” he said.

In conclusion, Jeff Broin, Growth Energy’s Co-Chair and CEO of POET concluded, “NASCAR is the great American race and ethanol is the great American fuel and it’s fun to see the two things come together.”

Listen to Growth Energy’s On the Track At Daytona 500 Press Conference here: Ethanol On The Track At Daytona 500

Daytona 500 is two days away and this year two of the emergency fleet vehicles will be comprised of the Ford F-250 Super Duty pickup trucks equipped with the ROUSH CleanTech liquid propane autogas fuel system. These vehicles will be tested throughout the 2011 NASCAR season.

“NASCAR is famous for serving as a proving ground for new technology,” said Jack Roush. “It is a privilege to show race fans and the sport what we at ROUSH CleanTech know about clean alternative fuels. Propane autogas is already the third most widely used fuel in the world. It’s readily available in the U.S., and we’re ready to test it as a workhorse on the track this season.”

In addition to testing the propane autogas system in its Track Service vehicles, NASCAR us also unveiling some other “green” fuels this season. Daytona 500 will also be the kick-off for Sunoco Green E15 race fuel, a blend of 15 percent corn-ethanol that will be used in all three of its national series. In addition, NASCAR has other sustainability initiatives on and off the track this year including recycling all tires, oils, fluids, and batteries used in competition; rolling out the largest bottle-and-can event recycling program in sports; launching the largest tree-planting program in sports to neutralize all the carbon produced by Sprint Cup Series racing; and attaining LEED certification for new office buildings in Charlotte and Daytona Beach.

“Green is not an exclusively NASCAR-led initiative,” said Dr. Mike Lynch, managing director of green innovation for NASCAR. “It takes the efforts of our entire industry contributing to and collaborating on new initiatives such as this.”

According to ROUSH their propane autogas-powered vehicles lower emissions fuel costs while maintaining the vehicle’s factory warranty coverage and trademark durability. They cite research that shows propane autogas burns cleaner than gasoline or diesel, with up to 20 percent less nitrogen oxide, up to 60 percent less carbon monoxide, up to 24 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and fewer particulate emissions when compared to gasoline.

“ROUSH CleanTech is driven to win the alternative fuels race with a lineup of propane autogas-powered Ford vehicles unparalleled in performance, dependability, and environmental soundness,” said Joe Thompson, president of ROUSH CleanTech. “Our propane autogas-fueled trucks impart green power at peak performance, and we can’t wait to showcase that to the millions of NASCAR fans across the nation.”

GROWMARK FS cooperatives promote a platform of homegrown fuels.

That was the message Kevin DeGoey of the GROWMARK FS cooperative New Century in Iowa gave at the recent Iowa Renewable Fuel Association summit in Des Moines during a panel presentation by retailers and fuel distributors on how the approval of 15 percent ethanol blends can bring more fuel choices to Iowa.

“Homegrown fuels gives us better performance, better for the environment, reduces our dependence on foreign oil,” DeGoey said, noting that New Century has eight retail fuel locations and six tank wagon routes in all or part of nine Iowa counties. New Century just installed an ethanol blender pump at its Vinton, IA location last October. Currently, 87% of New Century’s gasoline sales are E10 and two percent are E85.

DeGoey discussed the opportunities for ethanol under the E15 waiver by the Environmental Protection Agency and the need for increased use of blender pumps. “E15 moves the blend wall forward, better economics for the consumer, keeps our ethanol industry strong, it’s good for Iowa,” he summarized.

When it comes to biodiesel, DeGoey said that about four percent of their diesel sales are currently B2-B20 blends and they are committed to the biodiesel quality assurance program. “GROWMARK and New Century pride themselves in not only meeting standards, but we also like to exceed them, if possible,” he said.

Check out DeGoey’s power point presentation from IRFA’s website and listen to or download his remarks at the summit here: Kevin DeGoey with New Century FS

Advanced biofuels from new feedstocks are facing a “chicken and egg” situation on the way to commercialization and that is why government funding remains vital to the industry.

That was the message delivered by Chris Standlee, Executive Vice President of Abengoa Bioenergy, during a teleconference with other advanced biofuels company officials on Thursday. “It’s a critical ‘chicken and egg’ scenario since few people are willing to grow the feedstocks before the facilities are built and few people are willing to build the facilities until the biomass feedstocks are available, so government incentives are critical,” said Standlee.

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) hosted the roundtable call – which also included officials from Ineos Bio, Coskata and POET – to discuss how USDA programs such as the Biorefinery Assistance Program and the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels are needed to coordinate market efforts to create a sustainable value chain for bioenergy and biofuel production. USDA recently announced progress in implementing those two programs and previously implemented the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), including designation of Qualified Biomass Conversion Facilities. “The BCAP program is a critical program to develop this infrastructure,” Standlee said. “It provides payments direct to farmers and people who deliver the feedstock to the qualified facilities.”

However, funding for some of these programs may be in jeopardy due to opposition in Congress. “We certainly want to point out our belief that this opposition is short sighted and impedes our significant efforts to provide this increasing alternative to imported foreign petroleum,” Standlee said.

He also noted the importance of advanced biofuels commercialization in creating jobs and revitalizing rural economies, using the Abengoa plant to be built in Hugoton, Kansas as an example. “We anticipate roughly a two year construction period, during which there will be 300 minimum direct construction jobs created in this rural area of southwestern Kansas,” he said. Once construction is complete, which they hope to start this year, the plant will provide 65 permanent local jobs and will purchase feedstock from farmers in the surrounding area.

Abengoa is one of the founding members of the new Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) announced this week and Standlee is serving as vice chairman of the new group. “Our primary goal is to make sure that biofuels are allowed to grow and given the support necessary, particularly the advanced biofuels which are just now coming into their own, and given the opportunity to assume a significant role in reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” he said.

Listen to Standlee’s comments from the teleconference here: Chris Standlee, Abengoa

Usually we talk about alternative energy being used on the roads, but this time, I’d like to introduce you to a technology that harvests energy FROM the roads.

Continuing my conversation from yesterday with New Energy Technologies’ President and CEO John Conklin, he tells us today about MotionPower, that captures the kinetic energy produced by moving vehicles.

“If solar and wind energy can be used to generate electricity for commercial and residential use, we began to wonder, ‘why can’t automobiles and trucks?’”

Conklin says more than 250 million vehicles drive about 6 billion miles each day on this nation’s roadways, providing a great feedstock for this new technology. Only about 15 percent of the energy in transportation fuels actually moves the vehicle; the rest is lost to the moving parts of the engine. And of the 15 percent, 10 percent of that is lost to the rolling resistance known as braking. Capturing that lost energy is the basis of the MotionPower technology.

He adds that MotionPower is really divided into two types of energy-capturing technologies: one that uses a mechanical treadal-type of system that generates the electricity from a deceleration area, such as an off-ramp or a low-speed road area; and the other that uses a peristaltic system that pushes a fluid through the mechanism to take advantage of wave motion energy generation (which would be used more commonly with heavy-duty trucks).

“With kinetic energy being related to mass and velocity, we can develop systems to target low-speed automobiles, high-speed automobiles and heavy trucks,” Conklin explains.

Conklin says these technologies are very close to being installed in our roads and sees 2011 as key to his company’s commercialization efforts.

Listen to more of my conversation with Conklin here: John Conklin, New Energy Technologies, part 2

As part of a bigger expansion plan, a biodiesel maker from Wisconsin is adding a 24-hour biodiesel fueling station, as well as using a truck that runs on biodiesel with an electric backup.

SunPower Premium Cold Flow Biodiesel‘s Cumberland, Wisconsin station will have B11, B20 and B99 blends available plus a winter additive to increase engine performance:

“The owners of SunPower Biodiesel are ecstatic that the dream of locally grown fuel – available to the public – is now a reality for the people of Northwest Wisconsin,” said SunPower CEO Ron Ruppel. “We welcome all consumers to try our fuel, and are confident that all will agree that locally grown diesel fuel is superior to all the other available diesel fuels in our marketing area. We envision the day when none of us in rural America will be held hostage to imported oil!“

Any equipment, machinery or vehicle that normally runs on traditional diesel fuel can run on biodiesel, a cleaner-burning and renewable form of fuel. SunPower’s biodiesel has a higher cetane rating, has 10 times the lubrication properties, and produces up to 50% less emissions than petroleum diesel fuel–making it a greener fuel alternative that is just as efficient as petroleum diesel. In a 60,000 gallon market test, SunPower’s biodiesel users reported more power, cooler-running engines and increased mileage. SunPower also uses biodiesel in its fleet, and recently added a hybrid diesel truck that uses biodiesel and an electric-back up. The new hybrid truck has an increased fuel economy of 20-30 percent, and meets emissions, anti-idling and noise regulations. The purchase of the truck and fueling station equipment was made possible with substantial funding from the Wisconsin Clean Transportation Program and is the first of its kind in the state from the Wisconsin Kenworth dealership.

Company officials say the new Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) is helping SunPower move forward with this expansion.

Missouri-based MFA Oil Company, a farmer-owned cooperative, has partnered with Aloterra Energy to form a biomass venture.

This MFA press release says the new company, MFA Oil Biomass LLC, will pay about 1,700 family farmers to grow miscanthus for use as a biomass fuel and possibly ethanol in the future:

[T]he 2008 Federal Farm Bill created the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP), a federally‐funded initiative that encourages the development of renewable energy sources. MFA Oil Biomass will synergistically combine the benefits of growing miscanthus as a renewable energy source with the BCAP incentives that encourage farmers to grow a biomass crop.

The first priority for MFA Oil Biomass is to secure BCAP funding. Under current guidelines, BCAP will reimburse farmers up to 75 percent of planting costs and pay an annual rent payment while farmers wait for their crops to mature. Once the crops mature, farmers will be eligible to receive two years of matching payments for their tonnage, up to $45 per ton beyond the selling price. Land that is currently in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) is excluded from the program.

So far, MFA has signed up about 250 farmers to grow more than 12,000 acres of miscanthus and hopes to eventually have that number up to 150,000 acres.

Considering Republication opposition to ethanol initiatives in the House Continuing Resolution, some ethanol producers are taking to Capitol Hill for face-to-face discussions with their lawmakers about the importance of ethanol to the country.

Two representatives from Marquis Energy of Hennepin, Illinois were in Washington, D.C. this week for personal meetings with representatives from their state, including Robert Schilling (R-17), Aaron Schock (R-18), Randy Hultgren (R-14), John Shimkus (R-19) and Adam Kinzinger (R-11). Mark Marquis, President of Marquis Energy (left), is pictured meeting with Rep. Schock in this photo provided by Growth Energy, of which Marquis Energy is a member.

“These meetings present us with a unique opportunity to speak candidly with our policy makers about the benefits of homegrown ethanol,” said Marquis. “These benefits include reduced emissions, stronger national security and job creation not only in Hennepin, but throughout the state of Illinois and across the country.”

Marquis says his meetings with lawmakers included discussion about Growth Energy’s Fueling Freedom proposal to develop the infrastructure to deliver ethanol to consumers. “By reforming the market for alternative fuels, ethanol can strengthen the Illinois economy and clean its environment.”

The National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC) has been training renewable fuel industry members, technicians and consumers for more than a decade and chances are you’ve encountered their work but may not have realized it. The consortium was founded in 1992 initially to train and educate the natural gas industry. This was when the first natural gas vehicles were coming on the scene and there was a need to train technicians to work on these vehicles. Thus, West Virginia University formed NAFTC.

Today, the organization has expanded to other gaseous fuels, renewable fuels and advanced technology vehicles. Executive Director Al Ebron said that they have three key areas that they focus on: project management where they manage large projects in the renewable fuels and advanced technology vehicle areas, curricula development and subsequently turning that curriculum into training programs, and outreach and education.

With the support of key members comprised of national training centers (that are made up of community colleges, universities and private training institutions), and their associate members that include high schools, NAFTC goes around the country and conducts specialized training workshops. Ebron explained that when they do technical training, they focus on one fuel. However, there are some courses, for example when they do first responder safety training, where they focus on multiple fuels.

Today, NAFTC, a nonprofit organization, is doing a lot of work with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). They have several major initiatives including the Clean Cities Learning Program where they are developing first responder safety training programs and they are developing petroleum reduction technologies, manuals and training programs. In addition, they are working on the Advanced Electric Drive Education Program. This is a very large program focusing on electric drive vehicle programs and the first elements of this program will be launched in the coming months.

The majority of their training sessions are in the summer when more people have the flexibility to attend and for those interested, you can view a schedule on NAFTC’s website. You can also obtain more information about how to become involved in supporting various programs in which the consortium is currently engaged.

To learn more about all of the work of NAFTC, listen to my interview with Al here: Interview with Al Ebron

2011 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Photo Courtesy of RES Americas

The Flat Water Wind project has been completed in Southern Nebraska’s Richardson County and Kansas’ Nemaha County. This 60 megawatt (MW) wind farm is comprised of 40 1.5 MW GE wind turbines and was completed on November 15, 2010 – one month ahead of schedule. The wind farm was developed and constructed by Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES) for Flat Water Wind Farm LLC, which is a partnership between Gestamp Wind North America, a subsidiary of Gestamp Renewables and Banco Santander, S.A.

“We are delighted to be working with Gestamp Wind North America and look forward to a continued partnership in the future. Working together we have successfully completed a project that will bring clean, renewable energy to the Omaha Public Power District,” said Susan Reilly, President and CEO for RES Americas. “Harvesting the wind has and will continue to be rewarding to the communities of Richardson and Nemaha Counties, bringing economic benefits and jobs, and contributing to a clean energy future.”

Javier Mateache, President and CEO of Gestamp Wind North America, added, “The construction of this wind farm was a remarkable success. Teaming up with RES Americas in this endeavor surpassed our expectations. At the peak of construction the project employed up to 150 skilled American workers, who demonstrated the highest level of performance and execution. Gestamp Wind is very proud to be a part of the Nebraskan community for the next year and will continue to work to become a significant player in the US wind industry.”

GROWMARK, based in Bloomington, Illinois has a long history with selling renewable fuels. The company began marketing ethanol back in the late 1970s. Today, they are a major player in Illinois in selling high quality biodiesel. I had the chance to sit down with Mark Dehner, the company’s marketing manager of refined and renewable fuels during the National Biodiesel Board Conference. Although ethanol is a big part of their business, we focused on how biodiesel has helped to grow their business.

Dehner said that the company sells a performance blend of diesel fuel called Dieselex Gold that helps improve fuel efficiency and protects the fuel while in the hands of GROWMARK’s customers. From there, GROWMARK adds various biodiesel blends to that fuel, whether it be B2, B5, B11, which is typical in Illinois, or B20.

Illinois has been very progressive when it comes to the use of biodiesel. The state has a sales tax motor fuels between 6 1/4 percent up to 7 1/2 percent. However, the state passed a waiver that if you use a blend of biodiesel of B10 or higher, effectively B11, there is no sales tax. This becomes very cost effective for the user.

When factoring in this state incentive, the state biodiesel mandate, along with other state biodiesel mandates, the federal Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and the blenders tax credit, Dehner sees good growth for their business this year and in years to come. Yet he said that to ensure this happens, there still needs to be some consumer education. In his experience, he’s found that when you have a chance to speak one-on-one with a customer or potential customer to address misperceptions and perceived issues about the fuel, you are usually able to clear them up and get them on board with using the fuel. But ultimately, as with any product, the fuel must be handled properly and used correctly.

GROWMARK is a huge supporter of renewable fuels and they believe that when a consumer understands the benefits they will be for the same reasons: its homegrown, its good for the environment; and it reduces our dependence on foreign oil. That’s why the company will continue to sell renewable fuels – because it the right thing to do.

You can listen to my full interview with Mark here: Interview with Mark Dehner

2011 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

The full House Agriculture Committee held a hearing today to hear from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack about the outlook for the farm economy, which is being supported by strong demand for ethanol and biodiesel.

Vilsack told the committee that the farm economy continues to remain strong with U.S. agricultural exports, farm cash receipts and net farm income projected at or above previous record levels. “With biofuel demand expected to continue growing, although at a slower pace in the future, a big challenge will be responding to that demand by developing new feedstocks, producing on more acres, and producing more per acre while protecting the environment,” he said. “I have the utmost confidence that our farmers and ranchers along with the assistance of USDA will be able to meet these challenges.”

In his written testimony, Vilsack expanded on the outlook for ethanol production as it relates to the farm economy. “U.S. ethanol production capacity is now estimated at 14 billion gallons. Production capacity is expected to increase modestly over the coming 18-24 months. New construction could add 560 million gallons of additional ethanol production capacity, bringing total capacity to about 14.6 billion gallons.”

Vilsack noted that returns for the biodiesel industry are expected to improve this year. “Fifteen percent of 2010/11 soybean oil production is expected to be used to produce about 380 million gallons of biodiesel. Soybean oil is the feedstock for about 50 percent of domestically produced biodiesel. The amount of soybean oil used in biodiesel production fell by 17 percent in 2009/10 to 1.7 billion pounds, but is expected to increase to 2.9 billion pounds in 2010/11.”

In 2010 biomass and sugar testing programs, Chromatin sorghum hybrids have demonstrated top performance when compared to other materials from public, private and commercial sorghum collections. This according to a company press release. Chromatin is a biotechnology company and its subsidiary, Sorghum Partners, LLC, sells sorghum seed products to growers.

Several trials were conducted. In the first trial, 50 biomass sorghum hybrids were planted in four replicate plots and tested for total yield, moisture, energy, and ash content. In a second trial, Chromatin tested 50 types of sweet sorghum, measuring total biomass yield and fermentable carbohydrate in harvested juice. The results of the trials have indicated that Chromatin’s hybrids provide the three top-yielding biomass sorghum hybrids. In addition, these hybrids also demonstrated very high energy content (BTU’s), low ash content and low moisture retention. Another notable characteristic – several of the company’s hybrid’s generated more fermentable sugar per acre than many of the competitors.

“These results are highly significant,” said Dave Jessen, Chromatin’s CTO. “With a range in the biomass testing program of 18.8 to 4.3 dry tons per acre (entry mean = 10.6), we are very confident that our best materials will deliver superior biomass yields. Further, two of our sorghum hybrids have sugar yields per acre that surpass many sweet sorghum cultivars that are used today.”

While the test were conducted in small scale, Jessen is confident that the company’s hybrids will still perform as well on larger scale tests.

“These tests show that our biomass has a combination of qualities that are high priority for thermochemical processors, and that our sweet sorghum provide solutions that can meet today’s growing demand for soluble sugar,” said Daphne Preuss, CEO of Chromatin. “BTU values ranged over $1000 / acre between the biomass at the extremes in the trial. This clearly shows that a key economic driver for cleantech projects will be the ability to access a high-performance feedstock.”