Domestic Fuel

A new international project is kicking off to produce biofuels from algae. The BIOfuel From Algae Technologies (BIOFAT) project is supported by nine partners based in seven countries and the goal is to show that ethanol, biodiesel and bioproducts call all be produced at large scale from algae. Algae supporters believe algal biofuels can be produced in an efficient, economic and environmentally sustainable way and the BIOFAT team intends to prove this with the algorefinery – a facility that can produce high-value co-products in addition to biofuels.

Abengoa Bioenergy’s subsidiary Abengoa Bioenergia Nuevas Tecnologias (ABNT) will be the coordinator for the project. According to BIOFAT, the project will be carried out by a transnational consortium drawn from the academic, industrial and public sectors that includes the University of Florence (IT), A4F-AlgaFuel (PT), Ben-Gurion University (IL), Fotosintetica & Microbiologica (IT), Evodos (NL), AlgoSource Technologies (FR), IN SRL (IT) and Hart Energy (BE). Consortium members were selected to provide research diversity and expertise to the project.

In addition to creating algal biofuels, the BIOFAT project will also demonstrate the integration of the entire value chain in the production of ethanol and biodiesel. The research process will begin with strain selection and proceed to biological optimization of the culture media, monitored algae cultivation, low energy harvesting, and finally technology integration. Training will take place on existing microalgae prototypes in Israel, Portugal and Italy, then scale up the process at a 10-hectare demonstration plant. The project is expected to last four years and produce about 900 tons of algae annually on the 10-hectare plant.

FAO has released a new report that contains methodology designed to aid policymakers assess the pros and cons of investing in the bioenergy industry. The “Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) Analytical Framework” was written to help governments evaluate the potential of bioenergy as well as assess its possible food security impacts. The framework was developed over a three-year time frame and cites development and field tests that took place in Peru, Tanzania and Thailand.

The report is comprised of a series of step-by-step evaluations that seek to answer critical questions regarding the feasibility of bioenergy development and the impacts on food availability and household food security. In addition, social and environmental dimensions are also considered. The paper also serves as a platform for bringing key ministries and institutions together so they can work on the same page.

“Our goal is to help policy-makers take informed decisions regarding whether bioenergy development is a viable option and, if so, identify policies that will maximize benefits and minimize risks,” explains Heiner Thofern, who heads FAO’s Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) project.

The drive to biofuels have been driven by both worries over greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels as well as high oil prices and energy security concerns. FAO believes that one important benefit of investments into the bioenergy sector is that it could spark much-needed investment in agricultural and transport infrastructure in rural areas. This would create jobs and boost household income. These benefits could lesson both poverty and food security concerns. FAO has also conducted separate studies that show small-scale bioenergy projects not designed for export markets can improve food security and help boost rural economies.

“FAO has been saying for years that under-investment in agriculture is a problem that seriously handicaps food production in the developing world, and that this, coupled with rural poverty, is a key driver of world hunger,” says Thofern. “Done properly and when appropriate, bioenergy development offers a chance to drive investment and jobs into areas that are literally starving for them.”

Yet while there are major potential benefits to bioenergy production, FAO warns there are also potential negatives. They write that large-scale biofuel production could come at the expense of food production, leading to less food available, and higher food prices. In addition, deforestation is also a concern. Therefore, potential risks and benefits need to be weighed.

One million jobs could be created in India over the next decade through the transformation of agricultural waste into biofuel. Should this occur, biofuels could meet 59 percent of the demand for liquid transportation fuels by 2020. This according to the Bloomberg New Energy Finance study, “Next-generation Ethanol: What’s in it for India,” commissioned by Novozymes. Already, the Indian government has announced its Indian Biofuels Policy that calls for 20 percent of its transportation fuel to be biofuels by 2017.

The study was released at an event organized under the aegis of the Danish Embassy in India in cooperation with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Consuming 17.3 billion litres per year of gasoline, India is the world’s 6th largest consumer of energy. Through 2020, demand is expected to grow 8.5 percent every year. Based in a barrel of crude oil at $100 USD, India would spend $19.4 billion USD on imported gasoline by 2020.

“By converting agricultural residues into fuel ethanol, India has the potential to reduce its dependence on imported petroleum,” said Thomas Nagy, Executive Vice President for Novozymes. “What’s more interesting is that this can be achieved without changing today’s agricultural land-use patterns or cultivating new energy crops. In addition, we already have the technology ready for deployment.”

According to the report, biofuels from agricultural residues could become a critical alternative to liquid transportation fuels. However, for this to happen, the report says issues such as policy implementation, the absence of incentives for the collection of the ag residue (only 25 percent of the waste is currently recovered by the fields) and infrastructure need to be addressed in order for biofuels to play a critical role in India’s energy needs.

Expanding on the policy requirements, the report lays out the need for India-wide mandates, coherent and innovative polices at the centre and state levels and cohesive policy incentives. Only these measures, says the report, will encourage stakeholders to make necessary changes and investments.

OriginOil, Inc. and its French partner Ennesys have confirmed they are working with various institutions to develop two separate large-scale algae projects. Global 500 Multinational Bouygues Construction has engaged Ennesys to study the integration of waste water algae production in two building projects in the Greater Paris region both at the scale of a million square feet (80,000 m2 and 150,000 m2). The algae produced will be converted to fuel, electricity and industrial chemicals. The project, in part, was spurred by France’s RT 2020 sustainable energy law that calls for all major buildings to have a positive energy balance by the year 2020.

“Europe and France have made unconditional sustainability commitments, and this is driving fast-moving commercial algae projects for us in France,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “We are committed to supplying our technology, know how and integrated supplier network to help Ennesys get these projects up and running quickly.”

The second project will focus on marine fuel applications. ITSASOA is collaborating with Ennesys on a plan to absorb agricultural runoff using algae that will then converted to fuel for fishing vessels. ITSASOA is an advanced biofuels program financed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the European Union.

“Algae in France has taken off with the new eco-building law that forces large developers to innovate without delay on their new projects,” added Pierre Tauzinat, Ennesys president. “Due to its many benefits, algae is more productive than solar panels, and will generate continuing jobs here in France. That’s a huge benefit over solar, which is often manufactured in other countries and generates few jobs once installed.”

I just returned from Toronto, Canada after attending the 2011 BIO World Congress (great stuff and check back as I post a series of audio interviews from the conference) and the country is feeling the impacts of rising gas prices. Consumers in Central Canada have seen gas prices rise nearly 30 cents almost overnight despite the drop in oil prices and many consumers are asking the question of who to blame. The front page article in The Globe and Mail on Wednesday, “The gas price puzzle,” stated that gas prices are higher now than in 2008 when a barrel of oil hit a record high of over $150 a barrel.

According to the article a “confluence of events” has caused the prices to skyrocket. “They include an unusual price discrepancy between European and North American oil and below average gasoline supplies in the U.S., which drives up whole-sale prices that also affect Canada.” Other factors include geography and bad weather south of the border.

Don’t let out sigh of relief that biofuels escaped blame. They didn’t and today a coalition of Canadian on-road diesel fuel associations are raising concerns that the biodiesel mandate set to go into effect in Canada on July 1st will actually cause gas prices to go even higher.

According to the coalition, which includes the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), Motor Coach Canada (MCC) and the Owner-Operator’s Business Association of Canada (OBAC), the Canadian government’s own regulatory impact analysis statement predicts the biodiesel mandate will cost taxpayers $2.5 billion over the next 25 years and increase pump prices for diesel fuel. The report also believes fuel economy will decrease and any greenhouse gas emission reductions will be negligible.

To support their point, the coalition pointed the finger at Massachusetts and New Mexico’s biofuel mandates that allow for the suspension of the regulation should the price of diesel fuel be more than conventional diesel fuel. In addition, the coalition says that U.S. state biodiesel mandates have raised diesel prices anywhere from 1-8 cents per gallon, even with subsidies.

The coalition also cited other fears.
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The World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing (BIO World Congress) kicked off this morning in Toronto, Canada with a bang. GreenField Ethanol, the largest producer of ethanol in Canada, announced the launch of G2 BioChem, a collaborative partnership that will validate and bring to commercialization GreenField’s innovative patented process technology. The partnership includes companies such as Novozymes and Andritz and the company has been given full support from a number of federal and Ontario programs including Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), Innovation Development Fund (IDF), Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (SCA) and Center for Research and Development in the Bio-economy (CRIBE).

“G2 BioChem’s technology is feedstock agnostic and optimizes next-generation ethanol yields using all available sugars,” began Barry Wortzman, President of G2 BioChem during the press conference. “Also, our process technology results in a low cost, per litre, which is essential to the viable commercialization of next generation ethanol.”

Listen to Barry Wortzman’s remarks during the press conference: Greenfield Ethanol Launches G2 BioChem

G2 BioChem’s research team has conducted thousands of trials and demonstrated success with various feedstocks including agricultural residues such as corn stover, corn cobs and bagasse as well as energy crops such as sorghum & miscanthus and woody biomass such as poplar.

“G2 BioChem’s advanced biofuels technology has the potential to fundamentally change the burgeoning renewable fuels and biochemical industries – while protecting our environment and boosting Ontario’s economy,” said Glen Murray, Minister, Ontario Research & Innovation. Ontario boosts the third largest biotech cluster in the world.

Listen to Glen Murray’s remarks during the press conference: Murray's Remarks during G2 BioChem Press Conference

The new collaboration was in part made possible from several industry partners including Novozymes. “As a collaborative partner, Novozymes’ goal is to enable and facilitate the realization of cellulosic ethanol production at commercial scale, as quickly as possible; and in our opinion, this technology is leading the way to accomplishing that objective,” said Cynthia Bryant, Global Business Development for Novozymes.

Listen to Cynthia Bryant’s remarks during the press conference: Bryant's Remarks during G2 BioChem Press Conference

Bertil Stromberg, VP, BioFuels for Andritz added, “Andritz is excited to be partnering on this initiative, and to contribute its expertise in process equipment technology for the commercial scale up of the process.”

Listen to Bertil Stromberg’s remarks during the press conference: Stromberg's Remarks during G2 BioChem Press Conference

Check back for audio from the announcement and click here to see photos from the 2011 BIO World Congress.

A national laboratory in Thailand has signed an agreement that will allow them to produce biofuels using the University of California, Riverside’s process to convert biomass and agricultural wastes into fuel. The project is a collaboration between the UC Riverside Bourns College of Engineering and the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research. The work will focus on utilizing steam hydro gasification as a means to convert the biomass into fuel. This is a thermal chemical process that turns carbon-based materials into “drop-in” fuels such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

“It’s really an exciting project because Thailand is showcasing the UCR technology,“ said Joseph Norbeck, a professor emeritus at UC Riverside. “It’s a showcase for all of Asia.”

Norbeck, along with Dr. Chan Park and his students have led the development of steam hydro gasification at the College of Engineering Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT). The steam hydro gasification process was recently determined by the U.S. Department of Energy to be the most efficient and least capital intensive of all gasification processes.

The duration of the partnership is currently set for three years and will allow an exchange of researchers to execute the research, an exchange of information and publications relating to the research, advice on related technology, implementation of cooperative research and joint publication of the research.

Norbeck has been working with researchers in Thailand for more than 15 years. The relationship has spawned several other collaborations between UC Riverside and Thai researchers including some work studying algae as a biofuel.

The agreement was signed on Monday with UC Riverside Chancellor Timothy P. White. Also present from Thailand were Sutiporn Chewasatn, deputy governor of Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research and Chanchira Sinoulchan, foreign relations officer with the institute.

Reza Abbaschian, dean of the Bourns College of Engineering added, “It is critical to our mission that we be engaged with institutions and researchers throughout the world. Developing and sharing new knowledge across cultures and among nations ensures that we solve problems on a global as well as regional scale.”

Interjet, Mexico’s domestic airline carrier, along with Airbus received praise today from The Consejo de Promocion Turistica de Mexico for the first successful test flight using biofuels. The test was conducted earlier this month with an Airbus A320 aircraft using a 30 percent biofuel blend produced from jatropha. The biojet fuel blend was made from locally sourced jatropha grown and harvested in Chiapas, a southern Mexican state. In the region, jatropha is also used by the indigenous Seri people of Sonora to make baskets as well as to tan leather.

Many countries around the world are looking to produce biofuels from jatropha including Mexico, the Philippines and Brazil. In 2007, these regions were cited as the best candidates for future biofuel production by Goldman Sachs. Although this was the first biofuel test flight in Mexico, it is anticipated that others will commence and Interjet and Airbus intend to speed up the development and commercialization of aviation biofuel in the country. This movement was spurred by the National Development Plan mandated by Mexican President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa. This plan calls for Mexico to include the environment as one of the elements for competitiveness, economic and social development.

“The test flight is the realization of a two year ambition for Interjet to develop a production chain for renewable biofuel, with the purpose of creating a Mexican platform for sustainable aviation bio-kerosene,” said Interjet President Miguel Aleman.

In addition to developing biofuels for the aviation sector, Mexico also expects to produce 100 million liters of biodiesel by 2012 from its biodiesel pilot plant in Chiapas.

Biofuels can provide up to 27% of world transportation fuel by 2050, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The report says that “the widespread deployment of biofuels can play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions in the transport sector and enhancing energy security, when produced sustainably.”

With the transportation sector growing considerably, and demand for transport fuels rising globally, the IEA assesses biofuels – liquid and gaseous fuels derived from biomass (organic material derived from plants and animals) – as one of the key technologies to reduce CO2 emissions and reduce dependency on liquid transport fuels. The report shows how global biofuel consumption can increase in a sustainable way – one in which production of biofuels brings significant life cycle environmental benefits and does not compromise food security – from 55 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe) today to 750 Mtoe in 2050; this would mean that the global share of biofuel in total transport fuel would grow from 2% today to 27% in 2050.

According to Bo Diczfalusy, the IEA’s Director of Sustainable Energy Policy, this means that biofuels “will eventually provide one fifth of emission reductions in the transport sector.”

Bliss Baker with the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) says the report’s findings confirm that biofuels can reduce GHG emissions and improve energy security without jeopardizing food security, “(The) report reaffirmed the GRFA’s long standing principle that through the development of new technology and refined industry practices, biofuels can help secure the world’s energy future,” said Baker. “The GRFA also endorses another key IEA action to guarantee funding and support so that advanced biofuel technologies can reach commercial production in the next 10 years and demonstrate their ability to achieve cost and sustainability targets.”

Read the full report here.

Italy is soon to be the home of one of the world’s largest cellulosic ethanol biorefineries. Yesterday, Mossi & Ghisolfi Group (M&G) held a groundbreaking ceremony for a 13 million gallon per year plant located in northwestern Italy. The company believes its plant will be 10 times larger than the largest demonstration facilities in operation today and is scheduled to be fully operational in 2012. The technology will enable the facility to produce cellulosic ethanol from a variety of feedstocks. Novozymes will be supplying the enzymes for the plant. The plant will also use the lignin, a co-product as a result of the production process, to burn in an attached power plant. Any excess bioelectricity will be fed back to the grid.

“Laying the foundation for the world’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant here in Crescentino is an important milestone for us and at the same time a new beginning,” says Vittorio Ghisolfi, President of the M&G Group. “This plant proves cellulosic bioethanol can be produced in a sustainable manner for the environment and for the industry. But research is not stopping here. We are assessing bio-based substitutes for a range of other petrochemical products and chemical intermediates.”

The cellulosic ethanol will be produced from a variety of biomass-based feedstocks including wheat straw, corn stover or other energy crops. In the production process, the biomass is first broken down into a pulp. At this point, enzymes are added turning the biomass cellulose into sugar. From there, the sugar is fermented into ethanol. Novozymes has been working with M&G for several years to refine the enzyme portion of the process.

“Today’s groundbreaking is fantastic news and signals the dawn of a new green era,” says Poul Ruben Andersen, Marketing Director Bioenergy at Novozymes. “With this state-of-the-art facility, M&G proves there is a cure for the world’s addiction to fossil fuels. Biofuel made from lignocellulosic biomass is no longer a distant pipe-dream. The technology is ready and plants will be built and run on commercial scale, offering a compelling alternative to conventional gasoline.”

The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) is calling on delegates to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) meeting in Rome to focus on the price of oil as the real driver behind rising food costs.

Last week while addressing the South American renewable fuels industry in Buenos Aires, GRFA spokesperson Bliss Baker presented data showing the direct link between the recent increase in crude oil prices and the UN FAO’s world food price index.

“There is very clear evidence that oil prices are continuing to have a disproportionate affect on the price of our food,” said Bliss Baker. The UNFAO’s Deputy Director, David Hallam confirmed this same finding in early March by saying that “unexpected oil price spikes could further exacerbate an already precarious situation in food markets.”

In January of this year the UN FAO’s global food price index hit an all time high which provoked angry responses from several other organizations concerned with food security. World Bank managing director, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, “food prices are not only rising, but they are also volatile and will continue this way into the future.” The International Energy Agency called rising oil prices “dangerous” warning that high oil prices could threaten the stability of an already fragile recovering global economy.

Read more from GRFA

European Union members have voted to extend current tariffs on U.S. biodiesel, and that violates the group’s own laws, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

This Reuters article posted on ForexPros.com says EU officials accuse U.S. exporters of smuggling biodiesel through Canada to avoid tariffs imposed since 2009:

“We think this would be a bad decision that runs directly counter to current EU law,” said Manning Feraci, vice president of federal affairs at the U.S. National Biodiesel Board, the country’s leading biodiesel industry group.

EU firms accuse U.S. producers of being involved in a “splash and dash” scheme, whereby they may import cheap biodiesel from countries such as Brazil and add less than 5 percent of U.S. diesel. The producers then qualify for a subsidy from Washington before exporting it to Europe.

The extension would start in May and last until 2014.

The Chairman of Nestle, who just so happens to sit on the board of ExxonMobil, Peter Brabeck-Latmathe, lambasted global leaders for their support of “immoral” biofuel policies that are starving millions around the world earlier this week. In particular, he attacked the Obama administration for promoting corn-based ethanol and reserved no kind words for U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack who he claimed is making “absolutely flabbergasting” claims for America’s ability to produce food, feed and fiber.

This beat-down occurred during his speech at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in New York and was published by The Independent. During his presentation he said, “Today, 35 per cent of US corn goes into biofuel. From an environmental point of view this is a nonsense, but more so when we are running out of food in the rest of the world.”

Brabeck-Latmathe continued, “It is absolutely immoral to push hundreds of millions of people into hunger and into extreme poverty because of such a policy, so I think – I insist – no food for fuel.”

The fuel versus food debate has been raging for several years. For each report that debunks the theory, another is published that places primary blame on rising food costs at the feet of America’s corn and ethanol industries. Yet, scores of economists have publicly acknowledged while there are dozens of factors that affect food prices, the current spike is being driven by speculators, a global increase in demand for protein and the unrest in the Middle East to name a few reasons.

National Corn Growers President Bart Schott responded to Brabeck-Letmathe’s comments. “It is scandalous, ludicrous and highly irresponsible for the chairman of a global conglomerate that tripled its profits last year to talk about higher corn prices forcing millions into starvation. Perhaps if Nestle is so concerned about food prices, its board will consider putting more of their $35.7 billion in 2010 profits back into poor communities. Just their profits alone represent more than half the entire farm value of the 2010 U.S. corn crop.”
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Propel Fuels CEO Matt Horton was recently honored with the Biofuels Leadership Award at the 3rd Annual Sustainable Biofuels Awards presented at the World Biofuels Markets Congress and Exhibition in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

The award honors an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the development of the biofuels industry and Horton was recognized for “providing thousands of drivers with convenient access to low-carbon, domestic fuels through Propel’s growing network of renewable fuel stations.”

The Sustainable Biofuels Awards coincide with the annual World Biofuels Markets conference, drawing the world’s leaders from across the biofuels industry including infrastructure, advanced fuel research, producers, and policy. Awards are voted on by an independent judging panel that considers the greenhouse gas savings, environmental impact and further benefits of the operations or technology of the nominees.

Following in the footsteps of Canada’s national biodiesel mandate (see my story and Joanna’s post from last month), Saskatchewan has called for a biodiesel producer incentive and mandate in its provincial budget.

The news was welcomed by the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association:

“Saskatchewan’s 2011 budget will be welcome news to farmers and biodiesel producers alike,” said Gordon Quaiattini, President of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association in responding to the budget. “With this budget Saskatchewan will tap into the new opportunities of biodiesel, and lay the foundation for a whole new advanced biofuel industry.”

Saskatchewan will now boast a five-year $26 million program that will provide a 13 cent-per-litre grant to biodiesel producers effective April 1 2011 and a 2% renewable biodiesel mandate that comes into effect on July 1 2012.

Biodiesel and ethanol generate $2 billion a year to Canada’s economy, with a great deal of that money in the farming regions of the agricultural provinces, such as Saskatchewan.