Eligible costs must be related to construction or repowering improvements, such as engineering design, equipment installation and professional fees. The application deadline for this program to receive funds for Fiscal Year 2012 is June 1, 2012. For additional details, please see pages 5232 through 5234 of the February 2, 2012, Federal Register.

Second, USDA also announced the availability of up to $25 million to make payments to advanced biofuels producers who expect to produce eligible advanced biofuels at any time during Fiscal Year 2012. To be eligible for these funds, an advanced biofuels producers must have enrolled in the program by October 31, 2011, even if the producer has an existing contract with the Agency.

Payments will be made to producers of advanced biofuels derived from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch. These include cellulose, sugar and starch, crop residue, vegetative waste material, animal waste, food and yard waste, vegetable oil, animal fat, and biogas.

Contract payments will be made quarterly. For additional details, please see pages 5229 through 5232 of the February 2, 2012, Federal Register.

“President Obama has laid out a new era for American energy—an economy fueled by homegrown and alternative energy sources that will be designed and produced by American workers,” said Vilsack. “These programs support that vision by helping biorefineries use renewable biomass as a replacement fuel source for fossil fuels and supporting advanced biofuel producers as they expand production.”

ZeaChem is further developing its integrated biorefinery through implementation of a second project to add the capability of using cellulosic biomass on the front end and converting ethyl acetate into ethanol on the back end. This separate “bookends” project is currently underway and supported by a $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Once operational in 2012, it will result in the production of up to 250,000 gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol.

“Beginning operations at the core facility is another indication that ZeaChem continues to successfully execute its strategic roadmap,” said Jim Imbler, president and chief executive officer of ZeaChem. “Our phased development approach minimizes risk by allowing us to produce marketable products as we scale up our biorefining operations. We will continue to build out our biorefinery platform to produce a broad portfolio of sustainable and economical chemicals and fuels derived from cellulosic biomass.”

In addition to this work, ZeaChem, headquartered in Lakewood, Colo., has been named, “This Week’s Colorado Company to Watch,” for the company’s work in growing their business of building bio-refineries that produce advanced biofuels and bio-based chemicals.

The collaboration between DuPont and the bio-based firm NexSteppe will be working on new feedstocks for renewable energy, including sweet sorghum and high biomass sorghum hybrids.

Under the agreement, DuPont has made an equity investment in NexSteppe, and through its Pioneer Hi-Bred business, will provide knowledge, resources and advanced technologies to help the company accelerate the breeding and commercialization of new hybrids of these crops in the United States and Brazil.

“We’re using science-based innovation and collaboration to develop scalable, sustainable feedstock options for the biobased industries,” said John Bedbrook, vice president for DuPont Agricultural Biotechnology. “Collaborations like this one with NexSteppe will provide new opportunities for growers to address the rising demand for secure, environmentally sustainable and affordable alternatives to fossil fuels.”

“Sorghum is a crop with significant genetic diversity and great potential that has received relatively little research attention and funding,” said Anna Rath, NexSteppe founder and CEO. “Combining DuPont’s world-class research and development capabilities with our industry knowledge, experienced team and singular focus, we will be able to rapidly improve the crop to produce feedstocks tailored to the needs of the biofuels, biopower and biobased products industries.”

Sorghum has many advantages as a feedstock. It is naturally tolerant to both drought and heat and can grow in marginal rainfall areas with a short growing season and the ability to work in crop rotation systems. Sweet sorghum can be used as a complement to sugarcane in existing Brazilian sugar to ethanol mills, and as a feedstock for advanced biofuels and other biobased products produced from sugars. High Biomass Sorghum is a high-yielding crop that can be used as a feedstock for biopower and cellulosic biofuels. DuPont, through its Industrial Biosciences business, operates and develops industrial processes that use sugar as a feedstock.

BASF, through subsidiary BASF Biorenewable Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG led a $50 million financing round in the technology firm Renmatix Inc.

Renmatix has developed the patented Plantrose™ platform whereby industrial sugar can be produced from lignocellulosic biomass (wood, cane trash or straw). In the Plantrose technology, biomass is split into cellulose and sugar in supercritical water at high temperature and pressure in a two-step process.

Industrial sugars are important renewable resources for the chemical industry and can be used, for example, to produce biofuels or basic chemical products and intermediates by fermentative processes. The availability of industrial sugars in sufficient quantities and at favorable cost is therefore important for the competitiveness of the products.

“We are currently the world’s largest biodiesel consulting group, and most of our consultants and strategic partners are already very involved in the other alternative fuels,” said principal owner Wayne Lee.

Lee notes that the group’s current appraiser, environmental expert, QA experts, and grant writers have backgrounds and experience in these areas, and that the group’s larger strategic partners – Stoel Rives (legal), Christianson & Associates (accounting), IMA of Kansas (insurance), FCStone Merchant Services (feedstock financing), and Executive Leadership Solutions (staffing) – already have very significant presences in these other alternative fuels sectors. “Our goal over the past several years has been to put together a top notch team of the best biodiesel experts in the world”, says Lee. “I am quite satisfied that we have accomplished that goal and now address almost every need in the biodiesel sector.”

“I am a firm believer in biodiesel as the best alternative to diesel fuels and I strongly believe in its future” says Lee. “But, the overall solution to the world’s oil dependency rests with all the alternative fuels working together”. As a result, Lee wants his consulting group to be able to provide the same depth of assistance for all kinds of alternative fuels as they currently provide for biodiesel.

Another new breakthrough in the study is the successful combination of modern pulp and biotechnology. Finland’s advanced forest industry provides particularly good opportunities to develop this type of bioprocesses.

Wood biomass is made up of three primary substances: cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin. Of these three, cellulose and hemicellulose can be used as a source of nutrition for microbes in bioprocesses. Along with cellulose, the Kraft process that is currently used in pulping produces black liquor which already can be used as a source of energy. It is not, however, suitable for microbes. In the study, the pulping process was altered so that, in addition to cellulose, the other sugars remain unharmed and therefore can be used as raw material for microbes.

When wood biomass is boiled in a mixture of water, alcohol and sulphur dioxide, all parts of the wood – cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin – are separated into clean fractions. The cellulose can be used to make paper, nanocellulose or other products, while the hemicellulose is efficient microbe raw material for chemical production. The advantage of this new process is that no parts of the wood sugar are wasted.

In accordance with EU requirements, all fuel must contain 10 percent biofuel by 2020. A clear benefit of butanol is that a significantly large percentage – more than 20 percent of butanol – can be added to fuel without having to make any changes to existing combustion engines. The nitrogen and carbon emissions from a fuel mix including more than 20 percent butanol are significantly lower than with fossil fuels. For example, the incomplete combustion of ethanol in an engine produces volatile compounds that increase odor nuisances in the environment. Estimates indicate that combining a butanol and pulp plant into a modern biorefinery would provide significant synergy benefits in terms of energy use and biofuel production.

With an exclusive license to commercialize Freedom giant miscanthus, the company will have live field demonstrations and presentations by industry experts for growers, landowners and end-users.

A tentative itenerary includes industry speakers, research presentations, equipment displays and more. The Freedom Field Day is open to the public but advance registration is required.

Among the companies receiving funding is NC-CHP Owner I, LLC of Asheville, N.C., which received a $5 million loan for the installation of a combined heat and power system in Montgomery County. The system will generate steam by using a boiler system powered by wood chips and will also generate 5.25 million kWh of electricity per year. Also in Montgomery County, applicant EWP, LLC will receive a $146,000 grant to install equipment at an existing hydroelectric plant so it can be reopened. The project has the potential to generate an estimated 2.8 million kWh per year.

Other projects to be funded include:

Alaska Alaskan Brewing – $448,366 grant for biofuel from waste grain
Iowa Iowa Firewood Products – $24,232 grant for firewood kiln
Mass. CommonWealth Resource – $49,875 grant for biofuel from waste
S.D. Legend Seeds – $17,035 grant for boiler installation
Tenn. Mountain Wood Products – $500,000 grant for Wood Pellet Processing
Utah Washakie Renewable Energy – $496,750 grant for biofuels pretreatment/ products plant

“Rural America has done a great job of helping to develop the domestically-produced renewable energy and fuel. That job must continue because when we create those opportunities, we create jobs, we reduce our reliance on foreign energy sources, and we enhance our national security,” Vilsack said during a speech at a John Deere facility in Des Moines on Monday. “USDA has to have the tools to be able to continue to help this biobased and biofuel and renewable energy economy, and we need to make sure that it’s vibrant in all regions of the country. Continuing our investment in renewable energy, biofuel, and biobased products will improve the bottom line for farmers as we find creative ways to use that which they grow.”

The secretary noted that expansion in the biofuel industry has already had an impact. “We’ve gone from importing 60 percent of our oil to 52 percent,” he said. “As a result of our biofuel industries, consumers across America are paying about $0.90, on average, less for gas than they would otherwise pay. So it’s a great opportunity for consumer choice, it’s a job creator, and it improves income opportunities for farmers.”

Specifically, Vilsack wants to see at least the BCAP (Biomass Crop Assistance Program) and the REAP (Rural Energy For America Program) programs continued.

Ontario-based New Energy Farms, a developer of the energy crop Miscanthus in North America, has teamed up with Muddy Boots Software to provide this new service to the energy crop market.

According to the companies, the platform will enable direct trading of energy crops or arable biomass from farmer to end user and allow users to work with large numbers of farmers directly through an aggregation system. Other benefits include accurate energy balance and audit reporting for the whole year or even each load, energy crop yield predictions and allowing a secure route to market for plant breeders to commercialize and license new cultivars.

“We offer our bill as a thoughtful option for consideration by the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, as well as the Congressional Deficit Reduction ‘Super’ Committee charged with making real federal spending cuts by the end of the year,” Lugar said of the bill they have entitled “The Rural Economic Farm and Ranch Sustainability and Hunger Act” or REFRESH.

In the energy section, the legislation would “extend the current loan guarantee authority to help demonstrate new technologies, processes, and techniques for production of advanced biofuels and co-products.” It would also reform the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) to focus on “demonstrating opportunities for farmers to diversify their income through rearing bioenergy crops and improving techniques and equipment for collecting biomass from the land for delivery to advanced biofuel production.”

The bill would would also reform farm programs, update conservation programs and close nutrition program eligibility loopholes. It also proposes to repeal the mandatory federal sugar program, allowing for market pricing of sugar.

Among the grants is $15 million for research to be led by the University of Tennessee to develop sustainable feedstock production systems using switchgrass and woody biomass that will “produce low-cost, easily converted sugars for biochemical conversion to butanol, lignin byproducts and forest and mill residues, and dedicated energy crop feedstocks to produce diesel, heat and power.” Created to implement the research project is the Southeast Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems (IBSS) and one of the core partners of that group is ArborGen, a South Carolina-based company that specializes in the development and commercialization of technologies that improve the productivity of trees for wood, fiber and energy.

According to ArborGen officials, the company’s expertise will be utilized to explore the performance and cost advantages of short-rotation woody crops such as Eucalyptus, Pine and Poplar, matching the economic and environmental performance of each feedstock with a preferred conversion platform.

ArborGen’s focus in the IBSS partnership will be on optimizing wood characteristics for optimal conversion to advanced “drop in” biofuels and on developing sustainable methods for harvesting, transporting and storing purpose grown trees. ArborGen will also work closely with IBSS on ensuring that technology developed at IBSS will benefit rural economies. A key component of the IBSS partnership will be to ensure that information is developed to help land owners, rural communities and the emerging biofuels industry make decisions that promote sustainable development.

Altogether, the five-year program will deliver more than $136 million in research and development grants to public and private sector partners in 22 states. University partners from the states of Washington, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Iowa will lead the projects, which focus in part on developing aviation biofuels from tall grasses, crop residues and forest resources. Vilsack made the announcement with partners from private industry, research institutions, and the biofuels industry.

Among the five projects are two $40 million grants to Washington State University and the University of Washington to study the feasibility of producing jet biofuel from woody feedstocks in the Pacific Northwest. “This is a significant investment in biofuel production research, and the work at both Washington State University and the University of Washington will help ensure that Washington state remains a national leader in renewable energy research and development,” said U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA).

Senator Maria Cantwell added, “The investment announced today will leverage the resources of our entire region, helping build up a biofuels supply chain and boost clean energy job growth across the nation.”

The WSU project will focus on converting closed timber mills into bioenergy development centers to develop a regional source of renewable aviation fuel for the Sea-Tac Airport. Weyerhaeuser Company is a participant in the WSU project as part of the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance. As a subcontractor to the WSU-led grant, Weyerhaeuser will focus on determining the feasibility of sustainable production of woody feedstocks for use in biofuel and value-added products and exploring ways to convert woody biomass lignin components into value-added bio products.

“This region has a wealth of research capability and knowledge,” said Sea-Tac Airport Managing Director Mark Reis. “We recognize in order for us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we cannot do it without aviation biofuels.”

Read more here.

This is an extremely in-depth look at what our energy landscape looks like today. It also reviews where we stand, as a world, with regard to resources and options as well as politics and policies that are driving the future. In addition, it looks at where we are headed.  As I look at our country, I’ve felt for a long-time that we are “energy illiterate” and need to become better students of energy education. While Montgomery agrees to some degree, he feels the problem lies more in lack of curriculum and the inability for people to learn about energy in a nonpartisan setting.

Montgomery writes, “Energy matters are critical to understand because they are fundamental to our way of life and because they are the subject of endless misconception, misrepresentation, and, as already noted, myth.”

Throughout the book, Montgomery takes an approach that many other authors have not and that’s the view that he doesn’t categorize energy as “dirty or clean” or necessarily “evil versus good.”  He explains that fossil fuels help build and transport renewable sources and also reminds us that every type of energy has an impact on the environment. Yes everyone, there is no “renewable” energy source that is developed, produced or transported without a fossil fuel.

So what does the future look like? Montgomery notes that in the future we’ll see great, more varied use of electricity. Despite “efforts” at energy efficiency, globally energy use will increase as countries such as China and India come online as well as other developing countries seek to emerge from poverty though tools such as electricity.

Montgomery believes that our current energy sources: natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, and petroleum will continue to play a vital role in our energy future and their use will even grow over the next few decades. He also believes that all other sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels, and more will have a role moving forward. However, he does advocate that not all sources will become winners.

He writes, “Today natural gas, uranium, biomass, solar, wind, and geothermal energy all provide power, and millions of diesel, hybrid, and flex-fuel vehicles roam the roads, with all-electric species soon to arrive. Multiplicity has its limit: some technologies will likely cancel out; others may come to be dominant. Yet the grand pattern is clear: no single wonder-source lies in our future, but instead a portfolio of options demanding thoughtful balance. Progress in energy means technological diversity.”

Also unlike other authors, Montgomery does not predict the future or lay out how to get there. He does give us 20 things to contemplate as we diversify our energy future and leaves it up to us to follow a path (or three or four). While this was an educational read, it was not easy and is not for someone who wants a quick overview of the energy landscape of yesterday, today or tomorrow. However, this is a good book for the serious energy student and one that should help to craft our thinking.

The Integrated Biorefinery will be located at the Tesora Corp. refinery in Kapolei. The goal of the plant is to prove out the viability of the technology, test the fuels produced and evaluate the environmental footprint of the fuel. The first phase of production is expected to be begin in 2012 with the plant fully operational by 2014.

“Biomass is abundantly available today, and it is an important opportunity to consider as we seek alternatives that will reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and improve our environmental footprint,” said Jim Rekoske, vice president and general manager of Renewable Energy and Chemicals for Honeywell’s UOP.

“Our Integrated Biorefinery will illustrate these benefits as well the potential that biorefineries have to enhance the local economy and provide new green jobs. Our island home is far too dependent on imported fossil fuels, and I am very pleased that this alternative energy initiative has the support of the federal government,” he added.

According to Rekoske, once the technology is proven out, it could produce up to 50 million gallons of drop-in fuels. The Integrated Biorefinery is testing the RTP, rapid thermal processing technology to convert the biomass to biofuels.

Hawaii Senator Daniel K. Inouye said of the project, “Hawaii will play a critical role in helping the domestic biofuel industry thrive and this project will create much needed jobs in Kapolei. I am also pleased that Honeywell’s UOP is partnering with a number of local stakeholders including Hawaii BioEnergy, Group 70, Kai Hawaii, University of Hawaii and Leeward Community College. I will do all I can to ensure that Hawaii continues to serve as the laboratory for renewable energy initiatives in the Pacific.”

With the offer of a conditional commitment now received, Abengoa Bioenergy has announced that they intend to start construction shortly on the site, which is located near Hugoton, in Stephens County Kansas.

“Abengoa has been developing this technology for 10 years, and the project itself has been in the development stages for over 5 years,” said Manuel Sánchez, CEO of Abengoa. “In preparation for construction of the Hugoton project, the company has developed and perfected its proprietary technologies and produced cellulosic ethanol for thousands of hours from laboratory scale, to a biomass pilot plant facility in York, Nebraska, and ultimately from a demonstration scale facility in Salamanca, Spain. As a result, we are very pleased to finally achieve this financing milestone, and we thank the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for their offer of a conditional commitment, that if realized will allow us to construct one of the first commercial scale biomass conversion plants in the world.”

Read more from Abengoa here.

As part of their ongoing ecological restoration work, The Earth Partners will work with farmers and conservation property landowners to grow and sustainably harvest biomass from land with invasive vegetation or land where restorative plant species are grown. POET will then evaluate the best use of the biomass to generate heat, power or for liquid fuel production.

The initial project will deliver Conservation Biomass to POET Biorefining – Chancellor, a 100 million-gallon-per-year grain ethanol plant in Chancellor, S.D. that burns wood waste and landfill gas in a solid fuel boiler to generate all of its process steam. Burning biomass at the plant to generate power will allow the partnership to test the commercial viability of the Conservation Biomass business model at scale. POET and The Earth Partners will continue to research the potential for utilizing Conservation Biomass sources like prairie grasses for cellulosic ethanol production.

Read the story from POET here.

“Developing the next generation of American biofuels and bioenergy will help diversify our energy portfolio, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and produce new clean energy jobs,” said U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “This study identifies resources here at home that can help grow America’s bioenergy industry and support new economic opportunities for rural America.”

The study confirms that there are ample volumes of biomass feedstocks available for conversion into ethanol and other biofuels that would meet the requirements as set forth in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The RFS sets out a goal of producing 21 billion gallons of fuel by 2022 from advanced or cellulosic biofuels – in other words, biofuels produced from non-starch crops. The DOE study states, “This potential resource is more than sufficient to provide feedstock to produce the required 20 billion gallons of cellulosic biofuels. The high-yield scenario demonstrates potential at the $60 price that far exceeds the RFS mandate.”

Brooke Coleman, executive director of the Advanced Ethanol Council said of the study, “America has both the resources and the know-how to break our addiction to foreign oil. What is lacking is the political will to stand up to oil special interests and level the playing field for all biofuels, including next generation ethanol, to compete. Scores of promising technologies are ready for commercial deployment, but are being held up by an unstable and unpredictable policy climate.”

He concluded, “In order to deploy these technologies to harness the potential of America’s vast biomass resources, and to compete in the global race to produce next generation fuels, consistent and stable policy relating to biofuels is essential. That means continuing investment in new technologies, expanding refueling opportunities for domestically produced, non-petroleum fuels like ethanol, and protecting the integrity and the intent of the RFS.”

When you include large and small hydropower, which is estimated to have added 30 gigawatts of power in 2010, renewable energy accounted for approximately 50 percent of total added power-generating capacity in 2010. Also increasing in capacity last year was the solar water and space heating industry which added approximately 25 gigawatts-thermal (GWth) or about 16 percent.

“The Global Status Report shows that despite the recession, renewables are growing at an enormous rate,” said Director of Climate & Energy Alexander Ochs who contributed to the report. “Still, there are 1.5 billion people who don’t have any access to energy, and 3 billion people relying on traditional biomass sources and coal. If we want to prevent climate change from spinning out of control, we need to scale up our efforts to accelerate renewable energy development and deployment at all levels. Worldwatch will continue to provide guidance as to how this can be done.”

The driver for growth continues to be renewable energy policies. By the beginning of 2011, there were at least 119 countries that had some policy target or renewable energy policy at the national level. In 2005, this number was only 55. The report details that more than half of these countries represent the developing world and at least 95 countries have policy specifically to grow renewable power generation. In the United States, for example, 30 states (plus Washington, D.C.) have Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS).

While feed-in tariffs are somewhat taboo in the United States, they remain the most common mechanism worldwide to encourage adoption of renewable energy sources. Also somewhat lacking in the U.S. private investments in the industry on a global scale reached $211 billion last year, up from $160 billion invested in 2009. Money invested in renewable energy companies, utility-scale generation, and biofuel projects increased to $143 billion, with developing countries surpassing developed economies for the first time, according to the Global Status Report’s recently released companion report, “UNEP’s Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2011.” Not surprisingly, China attracted $48.5 billion, or more than a third of the global total.

In addition to the report, REN21 also launched its Renewables Interactive Map, a tool for gathering and sharing the renewable energy developments.

“Can we grow biomass on the farm and put it in your car tank? Yes, we know it’s possible, and we’re getting closer to that day, but we’re still sometime away from it,” said Funk. “My fear is that we’ll have a bio-refinery system built, based on what we’re learning about turning cellulosic materials into liquid product, but we won’t know how to get huge quantities of biomass to those refineries.

Funk said he felt there was a need to pull people together to discuss opportunities, what markets are available today that could accept large quantities of biomass and how to put together supply chains.

To answer those questions, Funk and others, including Hans Blaschek and Natalie Bosecker from the Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research at Illinois, and Fred Iutzi from the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University, organized a conference to analyze three markets they felt were currently open to the use of biomass for heat and power. One market is pellets to replace liquid propane, a second market is biomass to replace some of the coal used in industrial boilers and the third market is gasification.

“The IBWG has been an excellent way to get the right people in the room and start talking about possibilities,” added Funk. “We feel that the main function of the IBWG is to identify supply chains and put things together,” he concluded, “so that when the bio-refinery system is here, the supply chains will be here as well.”

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, keynoting the Department of Energy Biomass 2011 conference today, announced the creation of four additional Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) project areas in six states to expand the availability of non-food crops to be used in the manufacturing of liquid biofuels.

Two of the new BCAP project areas, targeted for California, Montana, Washington and Oregon, will grow camelina at a significant scale. Camelina, an oilseed, is a rotation crop for wheat that can be established on marginally productive land. Biofuel from camelina is an ideal jet fuel substitute, and the announcement of these projects coincides with the first anniversary of a joint announcement by USDA, the Boeing Corporation and the Air Transportation Association on an initiative to bring sustainable and renewable aviation fuels to the marketplace. The project has a target of 51,000 acres. The sponsors are Beaver Biodiesel, LLC and AltAir Fuels LLC. The project areas are near biomass conversion facilities in Bakersfield, Calif., Tacoma, Wash., and Albany, Ore.

Additionally, a BCAP project area in Kansas and Oklahoma, sponsored by Abengoa Biofuels, has been designated to grow up to 20,000 acres of switchgrass. The project area surrounds the future facility’s biomass conversion facility in Hugoton, Kan.

The projects are expected to create more than 3,400 jobs in the biorefinery, agriculture and supporting sectors, and provide the feedstocks to produce more than 2 million gallons of biofuels annually when full production levels are achieved.

This year’s conference, Biomass 2011, will focus on topics surrounding the use of biomass as a replacement for petroleum to supply the energy, products, and power markets. The Biomass 2011 theme will explore the new horizons of bioenergy technologies and deployment strategies, business practices, policies, and partnerships that will help sustainably transform the energy landscape.

Among those on the conference agenda is POET’s Project LIBERTY Director Jim Sturdevant who will outline the company’s vision for expanding the reach of its technology to other ethanol producers and new feedstocks. He will also show how the industry will spread to make every state an energy-producing state and what that will mean for America’s economy. Sturdevant will join Richard Wynne, Director of Environment and Aviation Policy for Boeing Company; Henry Bryndza, Director of Biochemical Science and Engineering for DuPont and Mark Maher, General Motors Executive Director for Powertrain and Vehicle Integration in a plenary session “Industry Perspectives on Bioenergy” on Wednesday morning.

Cellulosic ethanol has achieved a victory. The Dynamo, a concept car created by a student team called the Roadrunners, and fueled by ethanol made from straw, won the Urban Concepts class of the 2011 Shell eco-marathon in Europe. In tandem to the win, the car set a new miles per gallon record of 1,197 (509 km/1) when adjusted for energy equivalence with gasoline. The cellulosic ethanol was provide by Inbicon and was produced at their the Inbicon Biomass Refinery in Kalundborg, Denmark.

“The Roadrunners team from the Technical University of Denmark designed, built, tuned, tested, and drove the Dynamo to victory over all 35 European teams competing. And they also beat North America and Asia’s winning mileage,” said Christian Morgen, Inbicon manager of international marketing. “Since they use only a liter at a time, I don’t believe there’s any danger of depriving Danish retail customers of our eco-friendly fuel.”

The winning team was overseen by Jesper Schramm, a DTU associate professor. Six out of the last seven years his team has taken the trophy for energy efficiency in one of two main categories. A car is designated as an urban concept car, if with minor modifications, it could actually operate on city streets. This year is team used a 50cc 4-stroke Yamaha moped engine because the higher compression rate is able to take advantage of the higher octane level of ethanol fuel. To hone-in on an aerodynamic car, the team used wind-tunnel testing. Amazingly, the Dynamo ran 28% farther than its closest competitor.

More than 3,000 students and 187 teams from 27 countries took part in the eco-marathon held at the EuroSpeedway in Lausitz, Germany. Professor Schramm hopes that the experience and knowledge that has come from this project will launch their careers in a multitude of industries including automotive design and engineering.

Inbicon has coined its fuel “The New Ethanol” and has been producing it for use since 2009. Using Kalundborg as a guide, Inbicon plans on rolling out its biomass-based cellulosic ethanol worldwide.

Photos: Dynamo races to eco-victory at German speedway & Winning Roadrunners team, Technical Institute of Denmark. *Photo Credits Kasper Duncan Gram

“I was honored to be selected for the Council and have the opportunity to share with national policy makers what biomass production can do for farmers, rural communities, job creation and energy independence,” said Rund. “I invited the President to visit my farm to see first-hand what we’re doing to create change.”

Rund has been an early adopter when it comes to biomass research. He is actively developing biomass markets and has been working with local home owners, community school districts and businesses to educate them on how they can utilize biomass energy produced by local farmers.

The meeting Rund attended was just one in a series of meetings being held in DC this summer as part of the White House Rural Council and the White House Business Council to improve economic conditions and create jobs in rural communities. Champions of Change recognizes Americans who are accomplishing great achievements in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.

The report highlights the potential of biomass production and aims to identify where the biomass may come from including forest and agricultural residues and energy crops. However, despite availability, one key to success, says the report, is the ability to mobilize, or harvest, transport and store the biomass. The report lays out three scenarios for mobilization of new biomass sources by 2020, based on various regions. In addition, a cost-curve analysis for each region and each scenario illustrates the implications for biomass pricing and imports.

According to RISI, lignocellulosic biomass is currently the largest renewable energy source (RES) although wind, solar and geothermal are rapidly developing. Therefore, the study also analyzes the economics of biomass versus other RES’s using macro demand drivers and the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) to forecast biomass demand by sector through 2020.

“The NREAPs offer insights into how governments plan to meet the renewable energy targets by 2020,” said Glen O’Kelly, author of the study. “But forecast biomass demand is based on announced investments, carbon costs and the relative economics of biomass, as well as an analysis of macro drivers: forecast GDP, population, household energy use, forest industry production – all considered in this study.”

The European Biomass Review covers EU27 countries as well as Norway and Switzerland with six regional designations including North, West, East & South Europe, UK, and Ireland.

To break this code, the researchers are turning to those found in the complete genome sequences of halophilic (salt-tolerant) organisms. As a test of this bioenergy-related application of DNA sequencing and enzyme discovery, researchers led by the Director of the DOE JGI, Eddy Rubin, and the Vice-President of the JBEI Deconstruction Division, Blake Simmons, employed a cellulose-degrading enzyme from a salt-tolerant microbe that was isolated from the Great Salt Lake.

The microbe in question, Halorhabdus utahensis, is from the branch of the tree of life known as Archaea. It was isolated from the natural environment at the Great Salt Lake and sequenced as part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea (GEBA) project. The researchers believe that salt -tolerant enzymes may offer significant advantages over conventional enzymes. They can tolerate high temperatures and are resistant to ionic liquids.

“This is one of the only reports of salt-tolerant cellulases, and the only one that represents a true ‘genome-to-function’ relevant to ionic liquids from a halophilic environment,” said Simmons. “This strategy enhances the possibility of identifying true obligatory halophilic enzymes. This project has established a very important link between genomic science and the realization of enzymes that can handle very demanding chemical environments, such as those present in a biorefinery,” said Simmons.

Results of the study were published June 30, 2011 in Green Chemistry. The next step is for the research team to expand this research to develop a full complement of enzymes that are tailored for the ionic liquid process technology. Their ultimate goal is to demonstrate a complete biomass-to-sugar process, one they hope can enable the commercial viability of advanced biofuels.

During the first three months of 2011, energy produced from renewable energy sources (biomass/biofuels, geothermal, solar, hydro, wind) generated 2.245 quadrillion Btus of energy equating to 11.73 percent of U.S. energy production. During this same time period, renewable energy production surpassed nuclear energy power by 5.65 percent. In total, energy produced from renewables is 77.15 percent of that from domestic crude oil production.

When looking at all energy sectors, production of renewable energy has increased by a little over 15 percent when compared to first quarter of 2010, and by more than 25 percent when compared to the first quarter of 2009. Of this total, biomass/biofuels accounted for approximately 48 percent of this total followed by hydropower at 35.41 percent, wind at 12.87 percent, geothermal at 2.45 percent and lastly solar at 1.16 percent.

Despite a seemingly low number for solar power, when compared to first quarter last year, solar power has increased by 104.8 percent while wind power increased by 40.3 percent. Hydropower and geothermal energy also increased by 28.7 percent and 5.8 percent respectively. While nuclear energy has seen a slight increase in power generation, for the most part it has remained steady.

“Notwithstanding the recent nuclear accident in Japan, among many others, and the rapid growth in energy and electricity from renewable sources, congressional Republicans continue to press for more nuclear energy funding while seeking deep cuts in renewable energy investments,” said Ken Bossong, Executive Director of the SUN DAY Campaign. “One has to wonder ‘what are these people thinking?’”

“Most ethanol produced in the U.S. is currently made from corn grain, and the government would like to limit that process and encourage ethanol to be produced instead from non-food crops like switchgrass or hybrid poplar,” said Hoagland. “These poor quality acres can sometimes be profitably converted to switchgrass or other energy crops, but only if a biorefinery is nearby to buy the biomass energy crop.”

The USDA has programs in place to encourage farmers to grow bioenergy crops including the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). However, this program is in jeopardy when at the beginning of June, the Senate voted to discontinue any funding for the program in 2012. The bill still needs to go to the House for vote but the industry is confident that it will look much different than the Senate version.

Hoagland presented her research during the Annual Meeting and International Research Conference of Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society in Raleigh, North Carolina. She has been studying energy for more than a decade.

“Getting the internship changed my life. In class, it helped me see the big picture. When you’re taking a 300 or 400-level class, it’s hard to put the information into context, but if you’ve completed an internship, when the information is presented, you can understand it UTC had been very welcoming place for adult students,” Hoagland concluded.

“How does aviation protect itself in the future against the depletion of fossil fuels and the uncertainty of foreign sources of energy?” asked WCAA Interim CEO Genelle M. Allen. “Part of the answer may be to grow it.”

The AgriEnergy Technology Demonstration project is funded by a $476,000 grant from the Michigan Energy Office, part of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Combined, the two airports have nearly 1,700 acres of property that could be suitable for growing biomass crops. Already, WCAA has leased three acres of land to MSU Extension where several biomass crops have already been planted, including canola and oriental mustard seed, and this fall will be harvested, refined and tested.

Allen added, “WCAA has been interested in exploring the potential of developing airport-owned property around both airports for bioenergy production for some time. If successful, this project could attract businesses to the vicinity of the airports that would produce alternative fuels for use in aircraft and other vehicles. This project has possibilities for not only bringing economic development to Southeast Michigan, but also protecting land around our airports from further encroachment.”

In addition to airport property, the grant also includes bioenergy sites on other types of land not traditionally used for growing biofuel crops such as vacant urban lots and highway right-of-ways. According to MSU Extension Project Manager Dennis Pennington, he expects the project will also determine the economic impact of growing, refining, storing, and transporting the biomass as a drop in fuel alternative, aka biojet fuel.

The project is expected to be completed by February 2012.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) today announced the establishment of two Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) project areas in Missouri that will produce the dedicated energy crop miscanthus to be used for heat, power, liquid biofuels, and bio-based products.

“We are hopeful that as a result of this announcement we can assist the creation of up to 8250 acres in those two project areas of land that can be used to grow miscanthus,” said Vilsack. Yields for biomass from giant miscanthus are expected to range between 10 and 12 tons of dry matter per acre and can be as high as 15 tons per acre.

“This energy crop is a crop that will grow on land that is not necessarily the best farmland for anything else,” added Senator Blunt.

Despite the fact that future funding for BCAP is in danger, the $20 million for these projects has already been approved by Congress, and Blunt says this kind of spending benefits the economy. “If you’ve got a program like this where you can take a relatively small amount of money and create a private sector job that helps us solve our energy problem, I’m going to continue to be supportive of those kinds of policies.”

In addition to Missouri, project areas will also be established in Ohio, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. USDA estimates that these project areas and conversion facilities would earn about $50 million per year and create nearly 4,000 jobs by 2014.

Listen to or download the Vilsack-Blunt press conference here: Miscanthus BCAP Projects

More details on the project areas can be found here.