It’s that time of year again… to start making plans to attend the National Biodiesel Board’s Conference & Expo! This year’s event takes place Feb. 1-4th, 2009, in San Francisco. While that is a while off, now is the time to sign up to save some serious money on your registration.
It’s an event you won’t want to miss!
Conference features include:
Keynote Speakers
Gavin Newsom – Mayor, City and County of San Francisco
Pete Bethune and Bryan Peterson – Around the World on Biodiesel
Hear the harrowing tales from two men who led pioneering expeditions powered by Biodiesel!
Educational Tracks
Production, technical, fuel distribution, policy/regulations, and markets/users sessions
Exciting Networking Events
Golf Tournament
Super Bowl Party
Special California Wine Tasting & Jazz Reception
You can do your registration online by clicking here!
If you think you’ve got a long drive this Memorial Day Weekend, check out what these travelers have ahead of them.
Earthrace, a biodiesel-powered boat trying to set a record for circling the globe on water, is somewhere between Hawaii and the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean. According to this story posted on Powerboat-World.com, it has not exactly been smooth sailing:
At 0400 GMT on Thursday the port engine high pressure fuel line began leaking at a joint. A bio-diesel mist filled the engine bay. Pete Bethune, the New Zealand skipper shut down the engine and Earthrace continued on the 2050 nautical mile leg with just one engine at 14-15 knots.
A liquid medal repair was attempted but after the 12 hour cure time and the port engine was brought back on line but the leak failed under the 30,000 psi.
But the Earthrace is still more than 2,000 miles ahead of schedule. In fact, if you read the latest entry on the captain’s blog, he talks about a cornflake eating contest between crew members John and Rob:
John, is halfway through his fifth bowl as well, but he looks even worse than Rob.
“Actually Rob I’m willing to concede”, he says slowly. “I’ve had enough cornflakes to last a lifetime. I just hope I make it through the night.”
Rob raises his arms in the air. “England one, USA nil”, he says triumphantly.
You can follow the Earthrace’s progress and read the captain’s blog at www.earthrace.net.
Robert Winslow, Universal Senior Director Engineering and Environmental Sustainability Technical Services, gave a behind the scenes tour for the media during the Biodiesel Conference, which included a look at how they are using ethanol.
“In November of 2007, Universal Orlando joined NBC Universal to initiate our “Green is Universal” program,” said Winslow. “We can now say that all diesel equipment runs on biodiesel and every gasoline engine runs on either ethanol E10 or E85.”
Listen to Winslow’s comments here:
Here’s a You Tube video of Winslow talking about ethanol use at theme park in Orlando shot by Domestic Fuel reporter John Davis.
The National Algae Association has moved into a new headquarters at the group’s Texas location.
In a press release e-mailed to Domestic Fuel, the group says the new headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas will serve all areas of the algae industry… touted as the next great feedstock for biofuels:
Algae researchers and producers can come together to exchange ideas concerning the latest developments in Algae production and the products made from Algae. The Association provides an open exchange forum for the publishing of technical papers and the announcement of the results of research into the latest Algae related technologies. The Association also supports discussion and development of new markets that take advantage of the tremendous potential of Algae, not only as a source of renewable energy, but also in the exploration and development of other markets for algae products, such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and fertilizers.
Now I can tell you that algae as an additional feedstock for biodiesel was a hot topic of discussion at the recent National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida. In fact, the last general session of the conference included a discussion of the various feedstocks, including talk about how algae could produce a thousand gallons of oil for every acre grown.
Probably the biggest issue facing biodiesel producers today is what to use as a feedstock. With soybean prices going through the roof, refiners are trying to find additional feedstocks. During the recent National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida, the last general morning session focused on the question of what to use for the green fuel.
The forum, led by Alan Weber, economic consultant to National Biodiesel Board, with Dr. Jack Brown from the University of Idaho, Keith Bruinsma, Vice President of Corporate Development for ethanol producer VersaSun, John Sheehan, Vice President of Strategy and Sustainability for Live Fuels, and John Soper, Senior Research Director for Soybean Product Development for Pioneer International.
Brown, who is Scottish, brought a European perspective and made the case for feedstocks made from non-traditional (at least in America) oilseeds, such as rapeseed. Bruinsma talked about how you can also get biodiesel from the same grain of corn used to make ethanol, while Soper talked about high oil corn and soybean seeds his company is developing. Sheehan, whose company makes biodiesel from algae, pointed out that they can get thousands of gallons for every acre of green pond scum they grow.
But most importantly, all of them agreed that ALL of the feedstocks are necessary, and no one gets ahead by tearing down the other guy. It wa’s a good point, and a great discussion.
Listen to some of that discussion here:
You can read more about what happened this week in Orlando by going to the conference blog.
A new analysis was unveiled today at the National Biodiesel Conference in Orlando that shows the energy balance of biodiesel is a positive ratio of 3.5-to-1, up from the 3.2 to 1 ratio determined by the Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and USDA in 1998.
According to a release from the National Biodiesel Board, the new research conducted at the University of Idaho in cooperation with USDA.
“The bottom line is that the energy balance of biodiesel has definitely improved in the last decade,” says University of Idaho Department Head of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Jon Van Gerpen, who credits Assistant Professor Dev Shrestha and graduate student Anup Pradhan for their work on the study. “The increase in soybean yields and a decrease in herbicide use greatly contributed to the increased energy balance. Meanwhile, energy used for crushing soybeans is significantly lower than what was reported in the NREL study.”
You can listen to an interview with Van Gerpen here:
One of the most popular sessions at this week’s National Biodiesel Conference in Orlando was “What’s the Rule on Food Vs. Fuel?” which featured a panel of experts including Chris Schroeder with Centrec Consulting, Jim Duffield with USDA and John Urbanchuk of LECG, LLC.
All speakers made the point that biofuels may be getting the blame for higher prices, but energy costs in general are a much bigger factor. Urbanchuk says raw commodity prices play a very small role in food prices. “In fact, the work that we’ve done indicates that energy prices have roughly twice the impact that any individual commodity such as corn and soybeans do in determining retail food prices.”
He says that food items where corn and soybeans play a major role only account about 25 percent of the food basket.
The panel also drove home the point that additional feedstocks will help alleviate the food versus fuel debate and that it is important for the industry to educate the media and consumers about the real reasons behind higher food prices.
You can listen to an interview with Urbanchuk here:
You can also get complete coverage of the National Biodiesel Conference on the conference blog.
A record number of exhibitors are showing their wares to attendees at the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo.
Keep in mind this is only the fifth annual conference for this industry and about 4,000 people are at the event with almost 400 exhibitors. Many of the booths are showcasing new technology for the industry - while others, like New Holland, are focusing on the fun stuff.
The EcoJet is a creation of Jay Leno and General Motors. This bad boy sports a jet engine and runs on 100 percent biodiesel and it could even go head to head with an Indy car since they say it could top 220 miles per hour.
See more coverage of the conference on the official Biodiesel Conference Blog. Your friendly and hard-working conference bloggers - John Davis and myself - will be hard at it again today with coverage to include the Eye on Biodiesel awards and a look at how some big Florida companies are using biodiesel.
Eastman Chemical Company showcased new test data of Eastman BioExtend 30 at the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference & Expo in Orlando on Monday.
Eastman is also be celebrating the one year anniversary of the BioExtend launch, which debuted at 2007’s National Biodiesel Conference.
BioExtend, a high-performance antioxidant for biodiesel fuels, increases shelf life and enhances product protection. The oxidative stability of biodiesel can be improved by the use of antioxidants like BioExtend.
The new test data was presented by Dr. Sharon Cline, Eastman’s BioExtend technology leader. Listen to an interview with Dr. Cline here.
One of the companies at the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo is Solazyme, a company that is making biodiesel out of algae. In fact, the folks from Solazyme brought a sweet ride to the conference… a Mercedes Benz C320 that runs on the green fuel made from the green algae.
I caught up with Jonathon Wolfson from Solazyme and asked him some questions about how his company was able to produce the fuel from what some people might see as an unlikely source.
He pointed out that algae are the original oil producers on the planet. “Frankly, the last time you filled up your car with any petroleum fuel, chances are the oil that fuel was made from came from algae, maybe a hundred million years ago. The strategy has been to take the original oil producers, which, by the way, are the most efficient oil producers and collapse that 100-million-year process into a few days,” Wolfson says.
Wolfson his algal-biodiesel is meeting tough American standards for diesel and the even more stringent Euopean standards. For the consumer, he says they’ll find the fuel performs superbly, sometimes even better than conventional petroleum diesel.
Right now, his company is producing the algal-biodiesel in small quantities, but he hopes that within the next couple of years, they’ll be on a commercially-viable scale of production.
Listen to my entire interview with Wolfson by clicking here:
Check out the conference blog to see more stories and pictures and see more pictures.
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It’s that time of year again… to start making plans to attend the National Biodiesel Board’s Conference & Expo! This year’s event takes place Feb. 1-4th, 2009, in San Francisco. While that is a while off, now is the time to sign up to save some serious money on your registration.
Read more on 
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If you think you’ve got a long drive this Memorial Day Weekend, check out what these travelers have ahead of them.
At 0400 GMT on Thursday the port engine high pressure fuel line began leaking at a joint. A bio-diesel mist filled the engine bay. Pete Bethune, the New Zealand skipper shut down the engine and Earthrace continued on the 2050 nautical mile leg with just one engine at 14-15 knots.
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Now I can tell you that algae as an additional feedstock for biodiesel was a hot topic of discussion at the recent National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida. In fact, the last general session of the conference included a discussion of the various feedstocks, including talk about how algae could produce a thousand gallons of oil for every acre grown. 
Brown, who is Scottish, brought a European perspective and made the case for feedstocks made from non-traditional (at least in America) oilseeds, such as rapeseed. Bruinsma talked about how you can also get biodiesel from the same grain of corn used to make ethanol, while Soper talked about high oil corn and soybean seeds his company is developing. Sheehan, whose company makes biodiesel from algae, pointed out that they can get thousands of gallons for every acre of green pond scum they grow.
“The bottom line is that the energy balance of biodiesel has definitely improved in the last decade,” says University of Idaho Department Head of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Jon Van Gerpen, who credits Assistant Professor Dev Shrestha and graduate student Anup Pradhan for their work on the study. “The increase in soybean yields and a decrease in herbicide use greatly contributed to the increased energy balance. Meanwhile, energy used for crushing soybeans is significantly lower than what was reported in the NREL study.”
One of the most popular sessions at this week’s 
He says that food items where corn and soybeans play a major role only account about 25 percent of the food basket.
Keep in mind this is only the fifth annual conference for this industry and about 4,000 people are at the event with almost 400 exhibitors. Many of the booths are showcasing new technology for the industry - while others, like New Holland, are focusing on the fun stuff.
One of the companies at the 2008 National Biodiesel Conference and Expo is Solazyme, a company that is making biodiesel out of algae. In fact, the folks from Solazyme brought a sweet ride to the conference… a Mercedes Benz C320 that runs on the green fuel made from the green algae.