Domestic Fuel

Presidential candidate Barak Obama visited the nation’s number one ethanol producing state over the weekend. During his visit to Davenport, Iowa, he did an interview with local television station WQAD-TV during which he was asked about his support for ethanol, in light of the current high price of corn.

“I think what we’re seeing is the market for alternative fuels expand and there’s going to be some growing pains,” Obama answered. While he admits that hog farmers are being affected by higher feed prices, he believes ethanol is the most promising way for the U.S. to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

“What we’re going to need to do is set up a distribution system. Gas stations need to be carrying E-85 gasoline. We had a bill last year that I introduced, that passed, that would provide incentives for stations to start having E-85 pumps. We’re going to have to continue creating a science that makes ethanol more efficient as the distribution systems and production start aligning, then I think we’re going to see this to be one of the most promising areas to wean ourselves off Middle Eastern oil but there’s going to be periodic disruptions as a consequence that the market for ethanol is not fully developed.”

Read the full interview with WQAD.

The picture found on Senator Obama’s website is from an appearance he made in August at the Bunge Plant in Cairo, Illinois after the company announced that it would begin building a new bio-diesel plant.

During a press conference Friday with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President Bush said, “I hope the citizens of Brazil, like the citizens of the United States, are as optimistic about the future as these two Presidents are. And one reason we’re optimistic is because we see the bright and real potential for our citizens being able to use alternative sources of energy that will promote the common good.”

The two countries signed a memorandum of understanding Friday that includes joint research to develop commercial cellulosic ethanol, developing industrial biofuels standards and helping Caribbean and Central American countries produce more ethanol. Bush and Lula will meet at Camp David on March 31 to continue discussions.

President Lula noted that the agreement will also include joint development of biodiesel between the two countries. “In the field of ethanol we have an extremely successful program that’s come out of over 30 years of very much work and technological innovation. We are doing the same thing in our betting on biodiesel. By 2010, Brazilian diesel, 5 percent of it will come from native abundant plants in our country, such as African palm, cottonseed, sunflower, castor beans, and many other seeds,” said Lula.

“Also, our biodiesel program has a major social impact. It is aimed at small farmers to family farmers. It will help create jobs and income in the poorest regions of our country, especially in the northeastern semi-arid region, where many of these crops are actually native.”

The agreement makes no mention of the tariff on Brazilian ethanol imports to the United States, which is meant to offset the blenders tax credit for ethanol use that provides an incentive for domestic production and utilization. Bush had said going into the discussions with Brazil that the tariff would remain in place and was not open to negotiation.

Read the entire text of the presidents’ press conference from the White House website.

Leaders from a broad alliance of agricultural, energy, environmental, business and labor groups recently rolled out a set of specific recommendations for reaching an ambitious renewable energy goal: 25 percent of the nation’s energy supply from renewable sources by 2025. Members of the 25x’25 Alliance were at the recent Commodity Classic to answer questions and discuss goals with members of the agriculture industry.

The 25x’25 Action Plan: Charting America’s Energy Future was written by the 28-member 25x’25 Steering Committee based on the consensus reviews and policy recommendations of the more than 400 organizations that have endorsed the 25x’25 vision.

The Action Plan, which was presented to Congressional leaders, contains 35 specific recommendations that “would cost just five percent of what America spent on imported oil in 2006 and would result in a dramatic increase in new jobs and economic activity, along with significant reductions in oil consumption and global warming emissions.”

The recommendations include expanded research and development for cellulosic biofuels and long-term incentives for renewable electricity generation; new infrastructure for expanding delivery of renewable fuels and renewable energy; new program to ensure increased availability of flex-fueled cars; a new requirement for use of renewable energy by the federal government; new mechanisms for renewable energy credit trading among states, and new funding for renewable energy systems.

The City of Coral Gables, Florida will be the first city in South Florida to use biodiesel in the city’s vehicle fleet.

According to a city press release, Coral Gables has inked an agreement with SolarDiesel Corp. to test 20% biodiesel in the city’s trucks.

“Coral Gables continues to be a leader and on the cutting edge of providing municipal services. This new initiative, part of the greening effort, is so important to the environment in today’s world,” says City Manager David L. Brown. “We are proud to be the first here in South Florida to partner in a pilot program with SolarDiesel Corporation.”

The city will track the biodiesel in three vehicles for 60 days. If it works out, Coral Gables may increase the number of trucks under the program for six months.

Often times we hear about the added value alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol bring to an area. The Seattle, WA area will begin to see those effects as it opens a major biodiesel plant.

When it opens this summer, the Imperium Renewables plant is expected to produce 100 million gallons of biodiesel a year and will become the largest in the country. And all that biodiesel means increased shipping for the area. In fact, the Grays Harbor (WA) Daily World reports that port will see the number of cargo ships in and out of the harbor double.

Imperium officials promise moving the green fuel will keep things green for the environment:

Brian Young, Imperium Renewables’ director of business development, said the company will deal only with experienced shippers. Imperium has its own contingency plans should spills occur while ships are loading or unloading, he added.

“We are going to take every precaution just like we were a petroleum company. Our whole theory is that nothing should spill into the water,” he said.

Port officials cannot say exactly how much more money the increased traffic will bring, but Imperium will be using smaller tankers to bring in the raw materials and barges and tugs to ship out the biodiesel.

A 40-million-gallon-a-year plant in Claiborne, AL has produced its first gallon of biodiesel. The project has been a quick turnaround as Independence Renewable Energy Corporation announced it wanted to build the plant just six months ago.

This story from The Birmingham (AL) News:

Plant manager Greg Martin said the biodiesel plant is expected to generate annual revenue of $120 million by distributing the alternative fuel to markets in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida and Mississippi.

The biodiesel plant will use an estimated 27 million bushels of soybeans and will make the company the largest producer in the Southeast United States.

A ceremony with Alabama Gov. Bob Riley will be held later this month.

Meet the latest racer in the alternative fuel racing game… the man behind the wheel of the spiced red, number 24 Volkswagen Jetta TDI… Jim Osborn, the President of Chili Pepper Racing.

“We race in what’s considered the most relevant racing series in North America. It’s called the Speed World Challenge Touring Car Series.” Osborn explains that they take street cars, modify them a bit to make them faster and safer, and basically hit the road in much the same car as what would roll off a dealer’s show room. “The premise of the series is to basically have cars you recognize.”

Osborn says the first race of the season is the Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17th on Speed TV. It will be the first time a production-based alternative fuel (diesel) car will race in professional road race series in the United States.

Osborn says the alternative portion is the fact that his VW runs on diesel… an alternative to the racing petrol most other racers use. And he says since it does run on diesel, there is always the possibility of another alternative… biodiesel… could make it into his racer. “The performance issues with diesel and biodiesel are sonmething at their infancies in the United States, and something we’d like to puruse.”

While he likes to grab the checkered flag, Osborn says his racing has a bigger purpose. Chili Pepper Racing has been racing for charities for years. Now, he races for a more personal purpose. Last year, he lost his eight-week-old infant son to cancer. “Over the winter, we took some of this pain we had were feeling and tried to turn it into some positive energy and formed the Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer.” Osborn says they’ll race this season in “Hatch’s” name.

He promises some news of special significance for readers of this web site for the race at Sebring. Stay tuned!

Listen to the entire interview with Osborn: Osborn Interview (6 min MP3)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (2.9MB)

The first all-biodiesel-powered power plant in the country has started producing electricity in Texas. According to this story posted on Manufacturing.net, Biofuels Power Corp. is producing and selling electricity from its plant in Oak Ridge North, Texas.

The plant will produce up to five megawatts of electricity and will run on biodiesel from a Safe Renewables Corp. refinery just two miles away:

According to Ken Crimmins, COO of Biofuels Power, the new Oak Ridge North plant will help environmentally conscious companies reduce their air pollution footprint by satisfying their electricity needs with carbon neutral and 100% renewable fuels.

The article goes on to say that Biofuels Power Corp. is building a 10-megawatt electric plant on the site of the Safe Renewables Corp. refinery.

Imperium Renewables has announced it has achieved a BQ-9000 certification for its Seattle-based refineries. According to a company press release, the certification is a measure of fuel quality requiring companies to have approved quality management systems, including storage, sampling, testing, blending, shipping, distribution, and fuel management practices:

“From day one our pledge was to produce biodiesel from vegetable oil that would meet or exceed the quality and performance of petroleum diesel,” said John Plaza, Founder and President of Imperium Renewables. “BQ-9000 builds on the work we do to provide ASTM specified products to validate to our customers and distributors that our fuel meets the same quality standards as petroleum diesel. Unlike petroleum diesel, however, our fuel is made 100 percent from renewable energy resources, such as soy and canola oil, and emits up to 78 percent less carbon dioxide. Same quality, just better for our planet.”

Imperium has been grabbing some recent headlines, at least on this web site, over the past month or so. Previously we told you how Imperium had set a possible record for investment with $214 million. Its biodiesel has also made its way into the gas pumps at Safeway stores, and the company is about to open a 100-million-gallon-a-year refinery in Washington state… the largest in the country.

To anyone concerned about high grain prices, the impact of biofuels on the livestock industry, or whether we will have enough corn to meet all needs, Dean Kleckner has just one message: “Let the market sort it out.”

Kleckner is the chairman of Truth About Trade & Technology, an industry group that is pro-trade and pro-biotechnology. He is also a hog and grain farmer from Iowa who served for 14 years as president of the country’s largest farm organization, the American Farm Bureau Federation. During an interview at the 2007 Commodity Classic, he said his biggest concern about the biofuels boom and competition for corn is the government.

“Will there be enough corn?” he asks. “My short answer is yes, if the darn government just stays out of it.” In other words, let the market sort it out. “The market will make the decisions if we let it.”

He expects the next few years to be tough for livestock producers with higher grain prices. As a hog farmer, Kleckner says “I’m concerned about it,” but he believes it will all work out in the long run.

Listen to an interview with Dean here: Dean Kleckner Interview (12 min MP3)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (5.5MB)