Domestic Fuel

According to a new report by @GlobalDataEnergy, #bioethanol is the car fuel of the future. The report, “#Cellulosic Ethanol – Global Production, Major Trends, Regulations, and Key Country Analysis to 2020,” finds that #ethanol is the most widely acclaimed alternative or additive for gasoline used for running vehicles. In addition, the U.S. ranked number one in biofuel production using natural waste feedstocks. According to the latest report, the U.S. is the global leader in cellulosic ethanol production, manufacturing 5.42 million gallons in 2012.

Bioethanol is produced through the fermentation of cellulosic feedstock such as forest and agricultural waste. The reports finds that the U.S. has an abundance of biomass feedstock, and dedicated energy crops such as #switchgrass and #miscanthus that are grown exclusively for conversion into cellulosic ethanol to help the nation’s ambition to meet fuel needs while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The U.S. is the only country currently working to promote the cellulosic ethanol market, says the report, with the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE) providing grants to help companies establish a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. As a result, several companies have set up pilot and demonstration plants and a few commercial plants are expected to be commissioned in late 2013. The report also finds that the U.S. have also mandated the addition of 10% ethanol in gasoline fuel, setting steady domestic demand for the industry, while certain recently released cars are able to run on a 85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline mix.

The report finds corn stover and wheat straw are among the most freely available types of feedstock used in countries producing cellulosic ethanol, and growing ethanol demand may see these nations utilizing the residue of their corn crop for ethanol production, creating a sizable market for agricultural waste. GlobalData expects that the growing feedstock demand will create a structured market, in which biomass feedstock prices will be set based on their ethanol yield and the prevailing trading price of ethanol.

Some EU countries such as France and Italy have cellulosic ethanol production infrastructure, but a limited supply of biomass feedstock. Growth of commercial production in these countries may fuel the need to import feedstock from nearby countries or expand production to other countries with ample feedstock availability. A few producers with upcoming commercial scale plants in the U.S. have already started signing agreements to procure agricultural residue and other kinds of cellulosic feedstock.

Global cellulosic ethanol is expected to increase from 14.25m gallons in 2012 to 412.25m gallons in 2020, with commercial production anticipated to take off on a large scale in late 2013 and 2014, thanks to major players adding substantial production capacity and new companies joining the market. The report finds that the U.S. is expected to retain its market dominance until 2020.

USDA has announced a new collaboration with DuPont to promote sustainable harvesting of bio-based feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol.

The joint agreement between USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and DuPont aims to set voluntary standards for the sustainable harvesting of agricultural residues for renewable fuel, and supports rural job creation, additional income for farmers, bio-based energy development, and the safeguarding of natural resources and land productivity.

“USDA and DuPont share a common interest in the wise use and management of soil, water and energy resources,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “Both organizations also share an interest in helping individual farmers adapt to new market opportunities in ways that are consistent with the wise use of these natural resources.”

“Working with farmers is critical to maximizing the land’s productivity and protecting natural resources,” said Jim C. Borel, executive vice president of DuPont. “With this new collaboration, we have a partner in the Natural Resources Conservation Service to ensure that the collection of corn stover for the production of cellulosic renewable fuel makes sense for an individual grower’s operation and the land they farm.”

Under the agreement, NRCS will provide conservation planning assistance for farmers who supply bio-based feedstocks to biorefineries as the industry begins to commercialize. Conservation plan, written for individual operations, will ensure sustainable harvest of corn crop residues while promoting natural resource conservation and land productivity. A conservation plan is a voluntary document, written in cooperation with farmers, which helps them protect natural resources while promoting a farm’s economic sustainability.

Genera Energy Inc. (Genera) was awarded the 2013 Sustainable Biofuels Award in the Sustainable Feedstock Innovation category at the World Biofuels Markets 2013 Congress and Exhibition, held in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The award recognizes outstanding achievement for a project that displays “innovation to enhance sustainability in feedstock supply.” According to Genera, it’s integrated solution covers the full biomass system from the farm to the biorefinery including: energy crop selection, land acquisition, production, harvest, collection and logistics.

“Taking the time to celebrate the innovation and invention in this industry is really the heart of these Awards,” said Nadim Chaudhry, Chief Executive Officer of Green Power Conferences, organizer of both the awards and the conference. “Our industry has such outstanding leaders, innovative technology and groundbreaking partnerships happening all the time, every year the nominations increase and the judges find it more difficult to choose a winner.”

Over the last six years, Genera, has worked with the University of Tennessee, to establish a comprehensive program for purpose‐grown energy crops, contracting with more than 60 farmers to produce more than 2,000 hectares (5,100 acres) of switchgrass. According to the company, with a focus on sustainability, farms were carefully selected to represent a wide cross section of what a full‐scale commercial energy crop supply region, or bioshed, would look like.

Throughout the development of its integrated system, Genera has tested more than 30 separate energy crop and logistic system alternative and has identified the optimum energy crop supply chain—a system that is cost efficient and meets robust sustainability performance criteria. Genera’s says it’s solution focuses on managing an integrated commercial supply chain to reliably supply a biorefinery with cost competitive, uniform, industrial biomass feedstock.

“It is an honor to receive the 2013 Sustainable Biofuels Award,” said Kelly Tiller, CEO of Genera. “Building a bulletproof biomass supply chain system requires unique skills and experience. We were lucky to have forward‐looking partners at the University of Tennessee and in the State capital. They all contributed to our success here today and we are very grateful to them.”

Duckweed may be a viable material for biofuel production according to a new report in ACS’ journal Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. Duckweed is a fast growing floating plant that turns ponds and lakes green.

Christodoulos A. Floudas, a professor at Princeton and Xin Xiao with Langfang Engineering and Technology Centre, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with several colleagues explain that duckweed, an aquatic plant that floats on or near the surface of still or slow-moving freshwater, is ideal as a raw material for biofuel production. It grows fast, thrives in wastewater that has no other use, does not impact the food supply and can be harvested more easily than algae and other aquatic plants. However, they say, few studies have been done on the use of duckweed as a raw material for biofuel production.

In the article, Floudas and Xiao describe four scenarios for duckweed refineries that use proven existing technology to produce gasoline, diesel and kerosene. Those technologies include conversion of biomass to a gas; conversion of the gas to methanol, or wood alcohol; and conversion of methanol to gasoline and other fuels. The results show that small-scale duckweed refineries could produce cost-competitive fuel when the price of oil reaches $100 per barrel. Oil would have to cost only about $72 per barrel for larger duckweed refiners to be cost-competitive.

The research was partially funded from grants from the National Science Foundation and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Nearly all of POET’s ethanol plants have now producing corn oil: 25 of their 27 plants have installed corn oil technology bringing its total capacity to approximately 250,000 tons per year, enough feedstock to produce 68 million gallons of biodiesel annually. Branded Voilà, POET has been selling the corn oil since January 2011 with its ethanol plant in Hudson, South Dakota the first.

“Having a more diverse portfolio of products has been a benefit for POET, particularly when ethanol margins are challenging,” said POET CEO Jeff Lautt. “Expanding our product line is an important part of our strategy for growth.”

According to Lautt, one of POET’s four four Ingreenuity goals is to increase production of bio-based products, and corn oil is playing an important role in reaching that goal.

“There’s a bio-based solution to so much of what petroleum supplies today. It’s exciting for me to see POET playing a large part in providing those solutions,” added Lautt.

As the World Future Energy Summit takes place in Abu Dhabi, the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance called on policy development, business and technology sector leaders to commit to increasing biofuels’ share of the future global energy mix. The goal of the Summit is to advance future energy, energy efficiency and clean technologies.

“The GRFA has demonstrated that increasing biofuels production and use in the future will lower GHG [greenhouse gases] emissions while positively contributing to our economy and reduce our reliance on crude oil,” said Bliss Baker, spokesperson for the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance.

According to the GRFA, biofuels will help shape the future of renewable energy because they are good for the global environment and economy. According to a report commissioned by the GRFA, the global biofuels industry contributed $277.3 billion and supported nearly 1.4 million jobs in all sectors of the global economy in 2010. It is estimated that 85.2 billion litres of ethanol were produced in 2012 which is estimated to have reduced GHG emissions by over 100 million tonnes, the equivalent of taking more than 20 million cars off the road.

Baker continued, “Because biofuel feedstocks can be developed anywhere in the world, biofuels are a significant opportunity for all nations, especially developing countries, to develop and be part of an industry that is making such a significant contribution to global economy.”
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Yesterday the EPA announced that grain sorghum is now an official pathway for a renewable fuel under the RFS. Currently, Pacific Ethanol has successfully produced ethanol from sorghum feedstock that was bred by Chromatin. According to Chromatin, this achievement paves the way for future opportunities to use locally grown sorghum as a versatile and resilient crop that is a more energy efficient and lower cost alternative to corn. Due to the positive results, Chromatin plans to expand its sorghum acres in 2013.

R Mussi Farms of Stockton, CA produced 40 acres of sorghum that were harvested and delivered to Pacific Ethanol’s ethanol production plant in Stockton, CA. “We were pleasantly surprised by sorghum’s flexibility. It’s a high-yielding, easy to grow crop regardless of environmental conditions, and it uses less fertilizer and less water than corn,” said Rudy Mussi co-owner of Mussi Farms.

Daphne Preuss, Chromatin’s CEO noted that growers were able to plant and produce high quality sorghum with minimal modifications to their current practices. He also commented that Pacific’s ethanol plants encountered no difficulties when substituting sorghum for corn. Additionally, he said the residue left over after the harvest of sorghum grain can be used as high quality animal feed.

Although sorghum imported from other regions has been used in California ethanol plants in the past, Chromatin’s program is the first instance of supplying locally grown grain to the Pacific Ethanol plant in Stockton, CA. Initial results show greater cost efficiency and an improved carbon footprint.

“During the third quarter, Pacific Ethanol used sorghum for approximately 30 percent of the feedstock at our Stockton plant,” added Neil Koehler, CEO of Pacific Ethanol. Blended with corn, sorghum has similar conversion properties to corn and produces even lower carbon ethanol.”

Could biofuels be produced from the tobacco tree? With a grant from the European Union, researchers at Royal Holloway, School of Biological Sciences, will test this theory based on initial findings that the Nicotiana Glauca produces compounds that could be used to produce biodiesel or cracked to produce petroleum products.

There are some advantages of the tobacco tree: it is known to grow well in warm and arid climates; it does not require fertile ground; and it can thrive in regions that only 200mm of rainfall a year, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius.

“This is a crucial factor,” said Dr Paul Fraser from the School of Biological Sciences. “It means that growing this crop will not be in competition for land space with food crops. Indeed, many farmers have already raised concerns about giving their land over to biofuel crops. Our discovery could potentially solve this issue.”

Initial studies have shown that the plant is able to grow in desert climatic conditions, such as those found in the United Arab Emirates, North Africa and other arid tropical regions of the world.

The European Union has awarded funding to develop this work further through the MultiBioPro project. Together with partners in industry and academia Royal Holloway has received a research grant totalling 5,770,922 euros (approximately £4.4 million). The project will look to provide new insights into biological processes and improve the use of renewable energy resources.

Giant King(TM) Grass is now growing in the Virgin Islands and could help the U.S. territory meet its goal of 22 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. California-based Viaspace, Inc. sent the first shipment to St. Croix, and Tibbar Energy USVI LLC has planted it with hopes that it will become a key part of that company’s 6 MW biomass energy project on the 1,000-acre Giant King Grass plantation.

The Giant King Grass will be used as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion, generating biogas which will be used to produce electricity. No grass is burned in this process. Anaerobic digestion is a biological process.

– The branding of St. Croix as a renewable energy producer
— Helping to meet the Virgin Islands renewable energy goal of 22% by 2025
— Provides organic fertilizer for local farmers, agricultural scholarships and new agricultural activity
— Developing co-operative growing agreements with local famers
— Creates high quality permanent jobs.
— Converts 800 acres of underutilized land to agricultural use
— Invests millions of dollars into the island”

This is part of Tibbar’s 20-year project, expected to be fully online early in 2014.

Besides growing Giant King Grass, Viaspace is also growing its social media presence. You can also follow the company on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/viaspaceinc, and through Twitter @viaspace.

Here is a new twist on an old idea: rather than simply recycling used cooking oil into biodiesel, a new initiative will locally grow canola, press the seeds into oil, deliver to local restaurants, pick up the used oil, and then repurpose it into biodiesel. The pilot project, known as Field to Fryer to Fuel (F3) received a $130,000 grant from the Biofuels Center of North Carolina from AdvantageWest to help the state develop a clean energy industry.

The project consists of three core activities: feedstock testing and analysis to assess the economic viability of a large-scale biodiesel and renewable biochemicals production facility in the region; demonstration the F3 business model; and the completion of a biofuels end-user market survey of large consumers of diesel fuel for transportation and heating oil.

“Our objective with this collaboration is to develop and expand Western North Carolina’s hub of clean energy industries,” said Matt Raker, vice president of AdvantageWest’s green-tech program, AdvantageGreen. “A cluster analysis we published with Land-of-Sky Regional Council and other business and community members of the EvolveEnergy Partnership identified biofuels as an area of great potential for our region. We expect this project to measurably advance biofuel production and commercialization.”

Field to Fryer to Field is underway with nearly 50 acres of canola seed already planted on the Biltmore Estate. The crop will be harvested in the spring of 2013 and then the seeds will be pressed into food-grade oil in a mobile unit supplied by Appalachian State University and then processed and refined Blue Ridge Biofuels’ facility.

The resulting 7,000 gallons of food-grade oil
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University of Illinois agricultural economists have been calculating the costs for farmers to produce biomass energy crops, and as a result have created a feedstock cost and profitability calculator for farmers to make their own assessments using their individual agribusiness parameters.

Illinois Ag Economist Madhu Khanna says farmers can customize the costs based on their current farming operation, current returns on the land they are considering converting and determine what it would cost to put the land in production to grow an energy crop. Using these calculations, a grower can then determine the minimum price they would need to be paid in order to make a profit.

Khanna recommends farmers gather information about their current operating expenditures before using the calculator, such as the discount rate. She says if farmers are thinking of growing energy crops purely as an investment decision, then they should be interested in getting the same return from their investment in an energy crop over time as they would get if they put the money in the bank. That is the discount rate they should use, she says, so if the bank would give them four percent then they should at least get a four percent return on growing an energy crop instead.

Just as ethanol producers have been able to market the co-product dried distillers grains (DDGs) as livestock feed, those folks producing algae for biodiesel want to find more uses for what’s leftover once you get the fuel out.

“The Departments of Energy and Defense have been interested in producing biofuels, both jet fuels and transportation fuels from algae,” Texas A&M’s Tyron Wickersham told USDA reporter Rod Bain. “We began looking into [by-product of algae] to figure out a way to market or place the co-product into some useful market that could make use of those nutrients, and they naturally turned to livestock with an emphasis on beef cattle.”

Wickersham’s colleague at Texas A&M, Merritt Drewery, explained they are experimenting with feeding the algae by-product directly or mixing it with DDGs or cotton seed. “And this project actually told us that algae was palatable, because they ate it here.”

The researchers are already noting in their study that the algae co-product has a high-protein content.

Listen to Rod Bain’s report here: USDA Report on Algae Biodiesel By-Product as Livestock Feed

SG Biofuels has expanded it global network of hybrid trial and agronomic research sites with the addition of eight new JMAX Knowledge Centers located in Brazil, Guatemala and India. The company is also expanding it production facility in Guatemala. Current trials are underway in San Diego, California. The company focuses on the the production of Jatropha for use in biofuels, biochemicals and biomaterials.

According to a company statement SG Biofuels’ hybrids are performing better compared to commercial varieties across multiple geographies in terms of plant vigor, health, flowering consistency, stress tolerance and yield. The success validates the ability to produce crude Jatropha oil for less than $99 per barrel in a range of growing conditions.

“The performance of our hybrids in multiple geographies not only validates the strength of our genetics, but our ability to deploy profitable energy crop projects around the world,” said Kirk Haney, president and chief executive officer. “Through our network of JMax Knowledge Centers, we are developing the highest performing hybrids of Jatropha while establishing best agronomic and production practices for deploying those hybrids at commercial scale.”

According to the company, JMax Knowledge Centers are professionally managed trials using experimental design and statistical analysis to evaluate hundreds of hybrids in a range of environmental and agronomic conditions. The centers serve as outdoor classrooms where SGB agronomists and technical teams conduct training and field tours with customers and growers, develop localized agronomic studies and recommendations and develop high performing Jatropha hybrids for commercial deployment. SGB’s hybrids have been developed following five years of research, drawing from a diverse germplasm library including more than 12,000 unique genotypes.

Giant King Grass is growing successfully in California and according to VIASPACE, who developed the hybrid, it is the highest yielding biomass crop in the world. Targeted for use a feedstock to produce biofuels or to produce renewable electricity, the company’s Giant King Grass is not genetically modified and it is not an invasive species.

After extensive laboratory testing, VIASPACE says it is the lowest cost feedstock for electricity generation using direct combustion or anaerobic digestion or for the use to create biofuels and biochemicals. The California crop is currently 10 feet tall and will be harvested when it reaches 15-18 feet.

Dr. Carl, Kukkonen, CEO, said, “California is a leader in renewable energy, and we believe that Giant King Grass can play an important role in electricity generation, and as a feedstock for nonfood cellulosic biofuels such as ethanol and butanol, and also for biochemicals and bioplastics. California is a leading state for agriculture and its warm weather makes it a good place to grow Giant King Grass. Giant King Grass can be grown on marginal lands and will not displace agriculture production.”

The company plans on expanding throughout the U.S, as well as in the Caribbean and Central and South America. The California crop will provide seedlings for global customers and also serves as a “showroom” for those interested in the feedstock. The company says in an ideal situation, the crop could be co-located with a power plant or biorefinery thus significantly improving logistics and reducing costs thus increasing profitability.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is currently reviewing whether to allow biofuels produced from palm oil as an allowable renewable fuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2). The palm oil industry and the Indonesian and Malaysian governments are applying pressure to the EPA to reverse its finding that the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from palm oil production are too high to quality as a biofuel under RFS2.

In a new study published in Nature Climate Change, by researchers from Yale and Stanford, expanding the use of palm oil in the Indonesian part of Borneo would significantly increase emissions. The area was the focus on the study because of its current use of palm oil, that includes conversion into biofuels. The study finds that if the use of palm oil is expanded:

• Palm oil expansion is projected to release more than 558 million metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere in 2020, more than all of Canada’s fossil fuel emissions.
• Palm oil expansion in Borneo alone is projected to contribute 18 percent to 22 percent of Indonesia’s 2020 C02- equivalent emissions.
• Full lease development would convert an additional 93,844 square kilometers of land in Borneo to oil palm plantations, including 41 percent intact forest. This is in addition to the three fold increase in land converted to palm plantations between 1990-2012, 90% of which was rainforest.

The study also links an increase in deforestation resulting from palm oil production in addition to palm oil production being a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.