Domestic Fuel

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.

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

“The 50th Anniversary of OPEC made our nation and others dependent on a few countries for oil – many that don’t have our best interest at heart,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy during a press conference at the Farm Progress Show currently being held in Boone, Iowa.

OPEC was formed on September 14, 1960 and today, America’s dependence on oil from OPEC countries has put our country’s security at risk. One answer to this is ethanol; yet ethanol’s future in uncertain with several policies in jeopardy including the E15 waiver, ethanol tax credit and ethanol tariff.

The industry is currently being held hostage by a fickle federal policy and today, Washington is pretty much in a stalemate. “It’s not because there aren’t great ideas, or not great needs to move forward, but it’s a very politically competitive town,” explained Buis. “And both political parties want to win this next election. It’s like Iowa State playing Iowa in football. Neither side wants to see the other team score any points. The opportunity for bipartisan working relationships is not the most conducive at this time. Hopefully that changes after the elections.”

There is still some hope for this year, as Senator Reid (D-NV) has called for a lame duck sessions to help on November 15, 2010.

Buis has stressed that the ethanol industry doesn’t have a production problem, but a market access problem and passing these varied policies, especially the E15 waiver, will help to open up new markets. The simple act of doing this, says Buis, is that ethanol will help reduce an additional 7 billion gallons of ethanol per year. “It’s like saying to Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan oil, we’re not buying your oil any more.”

Iowa Ag Secretary Bill Northey, noted that just this week, an ethanol plant sold a gallon of ethanol for $1.62. “We actually have ethanol plants right now that are producing ethanol, selling ethanol, for less than the cost of gasoline and that’s without the tax credit.”

He continued, “Certainly we need some of those incentives to continue. We need some predictability, we need more than three months predictability with those incentives going off this December. We need a longer-term vision of what can happen out there.”

A longer term vision is definitely needed if America truly wants to meet is goal of achieving energy independence, and a major step to achieving this is passing more comprehensive policies including the ethanol tax credit, E15 waiver and flex-fuel vehicle policy.

Farm Progress Photo Album

You can listen to the Growth Energy press conference here. Growth Energy Press Conference During Farm Progress Show

Donnie Bowles has become the first member of the ROUSH Drag Team to take a liquid propane-powered Mustang to victory circle. The win was achieved during the August 29, 2010 elimination rounds of the 4th Annual NMCA Muscle Car Nationals at Milan, Michigan Dragway.

While things started out well, the biggest drama of the event came during the third round when the team discovered a crack in the wishbone. The team was able to recover in time for the next round and ultimately Bowles captured the win by only 0.01-second.

“It was very satisfying to get the first win for the ROUSH Powered by Propane Drag Team. My teammate Susan (Roush-McClenaghan) and I have both gone to final rounds this year, but haven’t quite been able to close the deal until this weekend at Milan. It required a total team effort, as we faced our share of challenges on Sunday,” explained Bowles.

Bowles currently leads the NMCA Open Comp point standings and races a 2005 ROUSH Stage 3 Mustang which was converted during the off-season to run on liquid propane. This car, along with a 2010 ROUSH Stage 3 driven by teammate Susan Roush-McClenaghan, are an offshoot of the kits that ROUSH Performance uses to convert gasoline-powered Ford pickups and vans to run on propane.

Both cars use an all-aluminum 5.4L, V-8 Ford engine that was originally designed for the Ford GT supercar. This engine is naturally-aspirated with a 12.5:1 compression ratio. Several other changes were required to run on liquid propane, including CNC ported cylinder heads, high performance camshaft and valvetrain, and a wet sump lubrication system, all of which helps these liquid propane-power engines to generate in excess of 700 horsepower.

This year has marked the first year in several that wind installation in the U.S. is on the decline. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) reported in July in that only 700 megawatts (MW) of wind energy were added in the second quarter of this year. This is down 57 percent from 2008 and 71 percent from 2009 levels. One of the reasons cited for the decline is a lack of investor confidence in the long-term viability of the industry. This could be overcome, in part, by the passage of a federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES).

So, how should the industry go about overcoming this issue and others? They can learn this very thing during the inaugural  Midwest Wind Summit & Expo October 4-6, 2010 in Brookings, SD. The event will be headlined by Cascadia Capital Chairman and CEO, Michael Butler, who will provide a keynote address focusing on energy policy and future demand for transmission. These two key issues will set the foundation for more investment, new financing and mergers and acquisitions in the industry.

“Although the wind sector is forecast to have a turbulent 2011, we believe that local content requirements, investment by the turbine manufacturers in the U.S., and the reopening of the U.S. capital markets present opportunities for those who understand the changing dynamics of the U.S. market,” said Michael Butler, chairman and CEO of Cascadia Capital. “The Midwest Wind Summit will dissect key trends in wind investment and finance to help industry leaders understand how the market will evolve and what steps companies can take to stay at the forefront of the sector.”

The event will bring together leaders from the wind and solar industry, federal and state government, academia, trade groups, environmental leaders, and research centers to address the opportunities and urgency to develop more investment and expansion in wind, solar, transmission capabilities, and a smart grid for the Midwest and the nation.

“We are excited to present an all-star program at the Midwest Wind Summit, which will focus on several key issues including investment and finance, energy policy and regulations, said Randy Stratton, Summit Co-Chairman. “With Michael Butler, Susan Sloan from AWEA, along with PUC Commissioners Dusty Johnson-SD, Tony Clark-ND and Dr. David Boyd-MN, we will get a clear understanding of what is next for the wind industry and for transmission developments in the region.”

Registration is now open. You can learn more about the conference including the speaker line-up and agenda as well as register online by visiting the Midwest Wind Summit & Expo website at www.midwestwindsummit.com.

“I think people are going to catch on. That this thing is real and it going to work,” said Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles A. Bronson during an interview about Farm to Fuel. One of Bronson’s long-term goals has been to turn Florida into an alternative energy leader in areas such as biofuels.

This year marked the fifth year of the Farm to Fuel Summit, where academia, growers, investors, distributors and everyone in between came together for three days in Orlando, Florida “cut deals” that will grow the states biofuels industry.

“From the beginning we decided we wanted to include all potential sides of the alternative fuels business,” said Bronson. “Every single meeting we’ve had, a deal has been put into place. Every year we’ve had at least one big deal to come out of these meetings.”

Bronson believes that interest in biofuels has grown, in part, because people have become more informed. He also believes that the alternative energy revolution is going to happen. He stressed that new technologies will be more efficient and said, “We’re going to be growing crops that will be 8-10 times more efficient than corn ethanol production.”

While Bronson is in all the way for biofuels, he is not in for the reason that many may suspect. “I’ve never been a global warming theorist but I do believe in weather patterns,” said Bronson. “And sooner or later, we’ll run out of oil.”

You can listen to Bronson’s interview here with special thanks to Southeast AgNET. Bronson Discusses Success of Farm to Fuel

Last week, Creighton University economist Ernie Goss was quoted on NPR saying the country is preparing itself for another wave of lay offs. It will start at the coasts and move its way to the Midwest. Not good news for the millions of people who are currently unemployed. Unfortunately, a good number of people have become unemployed in the alternative energy industry, but a group in California is set to reverse this trend.

A new alliance of California business, labor, environmental and community leaders have formed the California Apollo Program to help create clean energy jobs in the state. According to the organization, the program is a “blueprint for moving California toward broadly shared economic prosperity, energy security and climate stability, while reinforcing the state’s commitment to a new clean energy future.”

“By implementing the California Apollo Program, we will be making the right moves to secure our economic future, retain our global leadership in clean energy and technological innovation, and engage the workers and businesses who can keep the world’s eighth-largest economy growing,” said Phil Angelides, chairman of the national Apollo Alliance. “The Apollo Alliance will work with our diverse coalition of business, labor, community and environmental leaders to ensure our state seizes the opportunity to invest in California businesses and create new jobs producing the clean technologies of the future.”

The organizations blueprint has identified several key areas it believes will create and retain clean energy jobs including: modernizing the power grid to support clean energy generation and smart grid technology; revitalizing rural California by expanding environmentally sustainable renewable energy and carbon sequestration projects; investing in clean energy research and development; and helping manufacturers retool their factories and retrain their employees to produce clean energy product.

Several of California’s environmental and energy laws are under fire citing the “economic” costs of implementing the technologies required under the laws will cause financial destruction for companies in the state. The supporters of the policies claim that they will help generate up to $104 billion in economic activity by 2020.

Brazil-based Cosan S.A. has announced a partnership with Shell to form a $12 billion joint venture for the production and commercialization of ethanol and power from sugarcane. According to company sources, the venture, which must receive regulatory approval, would create the 3rd largest ethanol producer in the world, manufacturing 440 million gallons of ethanol per year, and result in more than 4,500 global retail stations selling ethanol blends.

“While there is still plenty of integration planning to do before we launch the proposed joint venture, this is an important milestone in our effort to create one of the world’s most competitive sustainable biofuels companies,” said Rubens Ometto Silveira Mello, Cosan’s Chairman of the Board and non-executive Chairman-elect of the proposed joint venture.

As part of this partnership, Shell will contribute its 16 percent equity interest in Silicon Valley-based advanced biofuels company Codexis, Inc. They will also offer up its equity interest in Canadian celluosic company, Iogen Energy.

“The proposed joint venture is set to pool our complementary businesses, enhance our growth prospects in ethanol production globally and support our growth platform for our retail and commercial fuels businesses in Brazil,” said Mark Williams, Shell Downstream Director.  “Over the next 20 years, sustainable biofuels are one of the most realistic commercial solutions to reduce CO2 emissions from transport.”

But what may be most interesting about this venture, is that Shell and Cosan are competitors, both selling ethanol to consumers via retail stations. Could this pave the way for more oil-to-oil industry ventures?

As the cellulosic industry gets closer to bringing cellulosic ethanol to market, there have been some concerns regarding how biomass harvesting will affect soil health and yields. These very issues were discussed by Dr. Stuart Birrell a professor at Iowa State University, whom with his team, have been studying soil sustainability as it relates to biomass harvesting.

His latest research has been in partnership with POET’s Biomass division, who is now in the midst of the largest biomass harvesting of light corn stover and corn cobs in the world. Birrell notes that to determine how much biomass a farmer can remove from his field without having adverse effects, it is important to the farmer to understand the health of his soil.

Birrell said during Project Liberty’s BIomass Harvest Kickoff, that there is a lot of variability in fields. In some fields, a farmer won’t be able to remove much, if any biomass whereas in other fields, he may remove more. On average, POET is asking for 1 ton from each field, which averages out to around 20-25 percent of the total biomass. However this could change in the future as bushels per acre increases. In fact, seed companies are predicting that within the next 15 years, corn harvests will double and this feat will be achieved without putting any additional land into production.

Birrell also noted that biomass harvesting may encourage some farmers to move to no-till techniques, which help reduce the amount of carbon released from the soil.

So ultimately, how will a farmer know how much biomass he can remove from his field? With some new technology that Birrell’s team is working on – variable rate removal machines. As a farmer is harvesting his biomass, the machine will automatically adjust how much biomass is removed based on certain soil health characteristics. This will ensure that soil health is not jeopardize by removing too much biomass.

Jasper Alternate Fuels, a division of Jasper Engines & Transmissions, has signed an agreement with Icom North America to install and service their JTG propane liquid-injection fuel system on commercial fleet vehicles. Jasper added the new technology to its line-up due to the increasing market demand for propane fueled vehicles.

“Jasper has more than 40 highly-skilled installation centers across the U.S. to perform either liquid propane gas or compressed natural gas conversions on commercial vehicles,” said Ed Zoglman, Jasper Alternate Fuels division manager.

According to the company, Icom’s liquid-injection systems can be installed on virtually any gasoline vehicle with multi-point injection. Research has shown that as compared to conventional fuels, propane lowers emissions and provides an increase in fuel economy, drivability and overall performance. In part these benefits are achieved because propane is less expensive.

Today, the technology has not been approved for use in California and so Icom is working with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to obtain certification and once that is achieved, they will pursue the same certification with the California Air Resources Board.

“Jasper Alternate Fuels is well-respected throughout the propane industry as a leading conversion source for propane and CNG powered engines,” said Ralph Perpetuini, CEO of Icom North America. “As interest in propane as an alternative fuel continues to grow, it will lead to increased business for both of our companies and enable the further expansion of the propane vehicle industry in the USA.”

KL Energy Corporation and Brazil-based Petrobras have announced a new joint development agreement to optimize KL Energy’s cellulosic ethanol process technology for the conversion of sugarcane bagasse feedstock to ethanol. As a component of this partnership, Petrobras will invest $11 million to adapt KL Energy’s demonstration facility to use bagasse. The money will also be dedicated to validating the company’s optimized process.

In addition, the technology will be integrated into one of Petrobras’ Brazilian sugarcane mills and is scheduled to go online sometime in 2013. Once the plant is operational, it will produce approximately 15 million liters per year.

Miguel Rossetto, CEO of Petrobras Biocombustivel, said, “Petrobras views cellulosic ethanol as a very promising technology to substantially increase the ethanol output by some 40% without increasing the planted area output and further improve the carbon footprint of its sugarcane mills. This agreement with KLE will considerably accelerate this development effort and we are optimistic about the commercial potential of the optimized technology platform.”

The initial agreement is for the two companies to work together for 18 months and provides a mutually exclusive agreement to jointly develop cellulosic ethanol from bagasse. The agreement also gives Petrobras the option of securing a technology license for the use of KL Energy’s technology within the Petrobras Group.

“Brazil is the global leader in the production of affordable biofuels and biomass, and we believe that bagasse is a perfect feedstock for our process. KLE plans to be at the forefront of the emerging cellulosic ethanol market in Brazil,” said Peter Gross, President and CEO of KL Energy Corporation. “We are very excited about this opportunity and we can think of no better partner for this endeavor than Petrobras, a company globally recognized for its technological competence, social and environmental responsibility and its investments in clean energies.”

This partnership marks yet another American company to partner with a Brazlian-based company with the intention of developing biofuels.

The largest global cellulosic biomass harvest in history is underway and already the world is watching. Last week, Project Liberty kicked off their one-year biomass harvest pilot program as an effort to ensure all the correct logistics are in place in time for Project Liberty to go online in early 2012.

During the event, I caught up with Scott Weishaar, who runs POET’s biomass division. He and his team have been working for years on commercializing cellulsoic ethanol using light corn stover and corn cobs and this pilot program represents that last major hurdle for success.

As part of this program, POET Biomass will have a biomass storage building completed in time for harvest that will house up to 23,000 tons of biomass bales at any given time.

Along with progress comes concerns and Weishaar is very cognizant that people have concerns over what impact the removal of biomass will be on the soil. “We know there are concerns. So we want to make sure we understand all the aspects that are associated with that – soil erosion, nutrients, compaction, and storage characteristics,” said Weishaar.

All of these elements are being studied in conjunction with several partners including Idaho National Laboratory, Iowa State University and USDA’s Biomass Program and the goal is to have all major questions answered prior to the cellulosic ethanol plant going online.

“We are working around the logistics surrounding the collection, storage, and handling of the biomass so we’re ready to supply the feedstock in 2012,” said Weishaar.

As the world watches, there are still many who doubt commercial cellulosic ethanol will ever succeed. To that, Weishaar says the “proof is in the pudding” and they are ready to meet the country’s challenges of producing 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022 and reducing its dependence on foreign oil.”

Listen to the interview with Scott Weishaar here: Scott Weishaar Talks Biomass

The University of Illinois (U of I) has recently announced that one of their metabolic engineers has taken a major step in helping biofuels production become more efficient and economical. Yong-Su Jin, an assistant professor of microbial genomics as well as a faculty member in the U of I’s Institute for Genomic Biology, has developed a strain of yeast with increased alcohol tolerance. Yeast is used during the biofuel fermentation process to convert sugars from biomass into biofuels.

“At a certain concentration, the biofuels that are being created become toxic to the yeast used in making them. Our goal was to find a gene or genes that reduce this toxic effect,” said Jin.

Jin worked with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the microbe most often used in making ethanol, to identify four genes (MSN2, DOG1, HAL1, and INO1) that improve tolerance to ethanol and iso-butanol when they are overexpressed.

“We expect these genes will serve as key components of a genetic toolbox for breeding yeast with high ethanol tolerance for efficient ethanol fermentation,” explained Jin.

According to a news release, researchers assessed the overexpressed genes’ contribution to the components that have limited biofuel production by testing them in the presence of high concentrations of glucose (10%), ethanol (5%), and iso-butanol (1%). These were then compared with the performance of a control strain of S. cerevisiae.

The results showed that overexpression of any of the four genes remarkably increased ethanol tolerance. However, the strain in which INO1 was overexpressed elicited the highest ethanol yield and productivity—with increases of more than 70 percent for ethanol volume and more than 340 percent for ethanol tolerance when compared to the control strain.

“Identification of these genes should enable us to produce transportation fuels from biomass more economically and efficiently. It’s a first step in understanding the cellular reaction that currently limits the production process,” Jin concluded.

Did you know that the Scottish have a $6.2 billion a year whiskey habit? I didn’t until I came across an article in the Guardian about how researchers in Edinburgh Napier University are researching turning whiskey waste into butanol. During the whiskey distillation process, two main waste products are created – pot ale, a liquid, as well as draff, which are the remains of grains used when distilling the alcohol. These are now being turned into biofuel.

Unlike ethanol, researchers are finding that butanol gives 30 percent more power output than ethanol and can be used in conventional vehicles without engine modifications. They also like the fact that no “food” products are used in the creation – only waste and say that the process is more environmentally sustainable than other forms of ethanol production.

The European Union has set a goal that biofuels should account for 10 percent of all fuel sales by 2010 but this regulation has been under fire recently as concerns have continued to surface over using grains for biofuels in addition to land use and soil sustainability issues. In fact, England has actually scaled back on their biofuels goals and other countries are considering following suit unless they determine that other feedstocks will be more sustainable.

Regardless, turning alcohol waste into biofuels is not a new concept – Coors has been doing this in one of their breweries in Colorado for several years. Well, I can’t help but wonder if a new drinking saying will be. “I drink so that I can drive on biofuels.”

Tennessee is becoming a hotbed for switchgrass activity, and one of the newest partnerships is between Alcoa, Inc, the steel giant, and Genera Energy. Alcoa has leased nearly 238 acres of land to a local farmer who is participating in an incentive program with Genera Energy. Genera Energy, along with the University of Tennessee, is  researching and developing technology to bring commercial cellulosic ethanol to market using switchgrass.

The crop was planted in June by farmer Gerald Orr, who planted three varieties of the seed including one standard and two improved varieties to determine which varieties have the highest performance. When the crop is harvested in three years, researchers have estimated that the acres could produce up to 160,000 gallons of ethanol per year.

“Participating in the switchgrass program is giving me the opportunity to put this acreage to use for something that will hopefully have long-lasting benefits,” said Orr. “I look forward to seeing the switchgrass crop continue to grow and prosper.”

Genera’s research is showing that there are some environmental benefits of the feedstock including its ability to sequester between one and two tons of carbon per acre in the soil each year. In addition, it improves soil stability and structure.

“With more than 1,600 acres of property here in Blount County, Alcoa is constantly looking for environmentally-friendly, effective uses of the land,” said Dave Hensley, property manager and interim smelting plant manager. “We are pleased that Mr. Orr is involved in this program and we believe his effort align with the ‘green’ qualities of Alcoa’s products. Recycling aluminum to save energy and offsetting oil consumption with biomass go well together.”

Most recently, Genera opened a bioenergy production plant located in Vonore, Tennessee in late 2009 and it is expected to be operational by the end of this year.