Domestic Fuel

The U.S. Postal Service may be in the red but they’ve been promoting going green this holiday season.

“The Postal Service is one of the greenest mailing and shipping companies in the world,” said Thomas G. Day, chief sustainability officer. The eco-friendly options offered by USPS include mailing and shipping supplies, free package pickup and holiday cards printed on recycled paper available in 2,000 Post Offices.

“We have a ‘fleet of feet’ delivering mail the greenest way possible, by walking,” Day added. “Nearly 9,000 of our carriers will be delivering holiday mail on foot this season. And we also have nearly 80,000 ‘park and loop’ routes, where carriers will drive vehicles from the Post Office to neighborhoods and then deliver those holiday packages and cards on foot.”

The Postal Service will have delivered a total of 16.5 billion cards, letters and packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve using various alternative fuel vehicles in the largest civilian fleet in the world of 215,000 vehicles. Alternatives utilized by USPS include three-wheeled electric vehicles with zero gas emissions that operate at a cost of only 2 cents a mile, as well as vehicles that can operate on compressed natural gas, propane, ethanol, and fuel cell. There’s also 30 large all-electric trucks delivering holiday mail in Manhattan.

USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are studying a new yeast that could help make cellulosic ethanol production less expensive and a commercial enzyme that could reduce overall costs linked with producing ethanol from grain.

Molecular biologist Zonglin Lewis Liu with ARS’ National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria found a biorefinery yeast that successfully ferments plant sugars from cornstalks, wheat straw, and other rough, fibrous, harvest-time leftovers into cellulosic ethanol. According to Liu, the yeast overcomes some of the troublesome compounds in these materials that are created during dilute acid pre-treatment of the crop leftover. The compounds tend to damage yeast cell walls and membranes, disrupt yeast genetic material such as DNA and RNA, and interfere with yeast enzymes’ fermentation abilities, ultimately reducing potential cellulosic ethanol yields.

In research that began in 2003, Liu and his colleagues have worked with dozens of strains of S. cerevisiae, a yeast species already used to make ethanol from plant starch to speed up the microbe’s natural adaptation to the hostile environment created by the inhibitors.

Meanwhile, other research being done at the ARS Eastern Regional Research Center in Pennsylvania is looking at a commercial enzyme that helps extract water from an ethanol byproduct used to make dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS). This could significantly reduce the amount of electricity, natural gas, energy and water needed for production of grain ethanol and its marketable byproducts.

The study was conducted at Center Ethanol Company in Sauget, Ill., a commercial facility that produces 54 million gallons of ethanol and 172,000 tons of DDGS every year from corn. In the study, the scientists added one pound of an experimental dewatering enzyme for each 1,000 pounds of corn. The enzyme was supplied by Genencor, a major developer and manufacturer of industrial enzymes that is now part of DuPont Industrial Biosciences. After the grain had been fermented into ethanol, the researchers transferred the leftover slurry of corn solids and water, called “stillage,” into a centrifuge, where much of the water was extracted.
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Ethanol, biodiesel, propane, natural gas, electricity – even regular gasoline – consumers should have choices at the pump and a new campaign is urging lawmakers in Washington to make that happen.

More than 20 worldwide leaders in the effort to commercialize next-generation transportation fuels today announced the new campaign, called FuelChoiceNow. Among the companies that have joined the effort are Abengoa Bioenergy, Battery Ventures, Propel Fuels, and Qteros.

“The purpose behind FuelChoiceNow is to promote consumer choice at the pump,” said Susan Hager, vice president of corporate communications and government affairs for Qteros. “The advocacy group does not promote one alternative fuel over another, we’re here to advocate for consumer choice.”

The group intends to educate and urge lawmakers to enact policies that promote open fuel markets in the United States. “Today in the United States, the transportation fuel market is not an open market, it’s not competitive,” Hager said. “What we’re advocating is room for innovation and new technologies for consumers to choose from.”

FuelChoiceNow has launched a website, along with a Facebook fan page and Twitter account, to encourage a grassroots effort toward expanding fuel choices.

Listen to or download interview with Susan Hager here. Susan Hager of Qteros

I felt like an academic when I read this week’s book, “The Powers That Be Global Energy For The Twenty-First Century And Beyond,” although author Scott L. Montgomery wanted the book to be “fun.” I sported my black geek glasses and curled up in a chair at a local coffee shop and attempted to give off the personae that I’m smart. Although I’m not sure anyone was fooled, I’m definitely smarter about our country’s energy options now than I was before I read the book.

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.
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A new coal to liquids plant has gone online in China that is expected to produce the equivalent of 80 barrels of oil per day. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, one of the largest crude oil and petrochemical companies in China and Asia, along with Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Syntroleum Corporation celebrated the grand opening of the Sinopec/Syntroleum Demonstration Facility (SDF) today in Zhenhai, China. The process uses the Syntroleum-Sinopec Fischer Tropsch technology and is able to convert coal, asphalt and petroleum coke to synthetic petrochemical products.

The two companies entered into a technology transfer agreement in 2009 and as part of the deal, Sinopec relocated its natural gas fed Catoosa Demonstration Facility to the Zhenhai Refining and Petrochemical Complex. Upon success at demonstration scale, Sinopec plans to build a commercial scale plant.

“We are pleased to be working with Sinopec on the SDF,” said Gary Roth, President and Chief Executive Officer of Syntroleum. “This facility will make a significant contribution to the global endeavor to pursue alternative feedstocks for growing economies.”

The American Lung Association in Minnesota is offering a free lecture on alternative fuels and vehicles that are currently available in Minnesota. The event will be held on Wednesday, July 20th from 6:30-8:00 pm CST, at the American Lung Association in Minnesota’s building located at 490 Concordia Avenue, Saint Paul. The lecture is taking place in the Mississippi room. The focal point will be vehicles that can use cleaner fuels such as E85, biodiesel, propane or natural gas. This the the second lecture in the “Clean Air Choices” series focused on air pollution in Minnesota.

“Vehicle emissions are the single largest source of air pollution in the state of Minnesota, but we are also a leader in cleaner alternative fuels and vehicles,” said Robert Moffitt, a spokesperson for the American Lung Association in Minnesota. “Unlike many other parts of the country, Minnesota drivers have choices they can make that can reduce air pollution and the harm it causes to our health. The purpose of this lecture is to explain what these choices are.”

Parking is free, and light refreshments will be served. To reserve a spot, call Courtney at (651) 262-5084 or email Courtney.Blankenheim@lungmn.org.

Carbon Sciences has announced plans to produce samples of diesel fuel derived from natural gas and carbon dioxide in a demonstration facility. The refinery will utilize its catalyst technology to produce syngas that can then be converted into gasoline and other fuels using conventional Fischer-Tropsch (“FT”) gas-to-liquids (“GTL”) technology.

The company believes that of varying technologies to produce syngas from natural gas, a method of dry reforming using CO2, is the best approach due to lower projected capital and operating costs. The Carbon Sciences team also believes its technology has solved the problem of a lack of commercial catalyst robust enough to sustain dry reforming reactions on an industrial scale. With the completion of 2,000 hours of lab testing and 600 hours of commercial testing, Carbon Sciences says its catalyst has been proven to work continuously at high conversion efficiency and is the most robust catalyst available today for dry forming of methane.

“After achieving very positive commercial test results for our catalyst, we are moving ahead aggressively to accelerate the production of larger quantities of the catalyst, as well as completing the technical and economic analyses in preparation for discussions with strategic partners,” said Byron Elton, CEO of Carbon Sciences. “Working with the GTL experts at our engineering firm, Emerging Fuels Technology, we also plan to demonstrate an end-to-end process that will produce samples of diesel fuel that can be used by existing diesel vehicles.”

Elton continued, “Our diesel fuel will have the same characteristics as conventional petroleum based diesel fuel. However, our fuel will burn cleaner than conventional petroleum based diesel fuel simply because it is molecularly manufactured from natural gas and carbon dioxide, without the contaminants found in petroleum based diesel. Making samples of clean burning diesel is just one of the ways we intend to demonstrate our breakthrough technology.”

Carbon Sciences’ robust dry reforming technology does not require the use of a capital-intensive air separation unit, and the company believes it has the potential to successfully enable FT technology and change the course of the transportation fuels industry.

Ever wonder how much carbon dioxide (CO2) you are emitting when you drive? How about when you’re driving an electric vehicle (EV)? Well, technically EVs don’t emit CO2 but there is CO2 emitted during the process of creating the electricity used to “charge up” the batteries.  There is an online tool helps people calculate their greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from flying, driving and home energy use. Now this tool created by TerraPass makes it possible to calculate your GHGs from driving all electric vehicles.

Using the U.S. EPA’s figures, the TerraPass calculator uses the “miles per gallon-equivalent” figure shown on vehicle sales stickers as an input to its calculations. Since EVs don’t use gasoline, a “gallon-equivalent” was determined to be 33.7 kilowatt-hours, the quantity of stored electrical energy equivalent to the energy stored in one gallon of gasoline. For example, the EPA rates the all-electric Nissan Leaf at 99 miles per gallon-equivalent.

Not driving an electric vehicle? The calculator also works for those driving all gas cars, ethanol or biodiesel fueled vehicles and even those running on compressed natural gas. In these situations, the driver enters the miles per gallon (or gallon-equivalent) from their own driving experience or from the numbers published by the EPA. They also drive the number of miles they drive each year, and walla, you know now have many GHG’s you’re spewing out.

The calculator update also provides emissions estimates for all 2011-model cars on sale nationwide. This makes the TerraPass calculator the most comprehensive U.S. vehicle calculator available. While many calculators use EPA data, the EPA’s public dataset contained substantial errors and omissions this year.

“For literally hundreds of car models, we went back to source data and either corrected or supplemented the EPA dataset,” said Erin Craig, TerraPass’ CEO. “Our customers were helpful in road-testing our calculator to make sure we got it right.”

Here is a quick look at a few of the most fuel-efficient vehicles provided the following figures (lbs of CO2 per year with 12,000 miles driven):

Toyota Prius: 4,661 lbs CO2
Lexus CT 200h: 5,549 lbs CO2
Nissan Leaf: 5,588 lbs CO2
Honda Civic Hybrid: 5,684
Honda CR-Z: 6,298 lbs CO2

Ready to try out your own vehicle? I did and the pic included is of my GHG emissions. Now try it for yourself.

The U.S. Department of Energy has released a national ranking of Clean Cities programs that have had the most impact in the reduction of gasoline use. At the top of the list is the Saint-Paul-based Twin Cities Clean Cities Coalition. The group has been instrumental in a reduction of 135,175,133 cumulative gallons of gas displaced between 2005-2009. The release was actually part of a move by the DOE to help accelerate the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs). As part of the program, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the availability of $5 million in new funding for community-based efforts to deploy electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure and charging stations.

“The Department of Energy’s Clean Cities initiative is bringing together local governments and industry to demonstrate the benefits of advanced technology vehicles and help communities use less oil and gasoline to power their vehicles,” said Secretary Chu. “The initiatives announced today are just the latest steps in our broader efforts to reduce America’s dependence on oil, improve our energy security, and save families and businesses money.”

Much of Minnesota’s efforts to reduce gas use has focused on the use of higher blends of ethanol including E85. The state has more than 360 E85 pumps and was the first to pass a 5 percent biodiesel blend mandate. The cities of Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Brooklyn Park were early adopters of alternative fuel vehicles, as were Hennepin, Dakota and Ramsey counties. The state fleet includes 2,500 flex fuel vehicles that can use E85 or gasoline that used nearly 1 million gallons of E85 in 2010.

“We are very pleased to see the hard work of our many partner organizations reflected in our number one ranking,” said Lisa Thurstin, manager of outdoor air programs for the American Lung Association in Minnesota, which administers the Twin Cities Clean Cities Coalition. “The ranking was determined based on the amount of E85, biodiesel, natural gas, propane and other cleaner-burning alternative fuels reported by each Clean Cities coalition to the Department of Energy.”

The EV program was announced during a call with Chu, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, and St. Paul Mayor Christopher Coleman.

More Ryder trucks in Southern California will be riding on natural gas.

This company press release says Ryder has ordered 202 heavy-duty natural gas trucks as part of an agreement with the San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG):

The heavy-duty natural gas truck rental and leasing project in Southern California is a $38.7 million project funded as part of a joint public/private industry partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy, the California Energy Commission, and Ryder. The project is expected to displace an estimated 1.5 million gallons of diesel fuel with 100 percent domestically produced natural gas. Ryder will begin taking delivery of the trucks in April and expects to integrate the full order into its fleet by September. Ryder has also begun work to upgrade the first of three existing maintenance facilities in its network to be properly equipped for the indoor servicing of natural gas vehicles and will soon commence construction of two natural gas fueling stations.

Ryder also announced that it will take part in the “NGVs Take the Hill” event this Wednesday, April 13, 2011, just down the street from the U.S. Capitol building. The event is designed to educate the public about the use of natural gas as a clean, viable alternative to foreign oil.

“Providing leadership to promote the use of natural gas in heavy-duty commercial fleets is a key initiative for Ryder,” stated Robert Sanchez, President, Global Fleet Management Solutions for Ryder. “Participation in this event underscores our commitment to bringing cost-effective, environmentally-sound commercial transportation solutions to market that help businesses reduce both fleet fuel costs and emissions.”

The propane industry is speaking out against a new bill introduced by backers of the Pickens Plan (aka T. Boone Pickens). The New Alternative Transportation to Give Americans Solutions Act (NAT GAS Act) would provide federal incentives for natural gas while excluding all other types of renewable energy. Supporters of propane autogas are upset and calling for federal legislators to stop cherry picking who will be the winners and losers in the alt energy race.

“If Boone and his team of lobbyists were serious about American energy security, they would include other American-made alternative fuels like propane autogas in their push for incentives,” said Autogas for America founder Stuart Weidie. “Natural gas is an abundant natural resource, but it’s not our only clean-burning alternative to gasoline and diesel. The NAT GAS Act doesn’t give Americans solutions; it crowns a single solution as the victor.”

According to Autogas for America, 90 percent of the propane autogas is produced in America. Of this percent, 60 percent is generated from domestic natural gas refining. The organization also says propane autogas is less expensive than gasoline or diesel. Customized fleets that are operating with the fuel, on average, see more than $1.00 per gallon savings as compared to their previous fuel.

Weide continued, “Our legislature should not manipulate the market by giving a special interest advantage to one solution. They should recognize that taxpayers want multiple clean-fuel options to reduce harmful emissions and replace oil imports with affordable, American-made energy. The NAT GAS Act is an example of legislative cherry picking, the kind of legislation that skews the natural selection process that otherwise enables innovation in a free market economy.”

ROUSH CleanTech, one of the companies that have deployed auto technologies to convert fleet vehicles to run on autogas is ready to support President Obama’s energy goals, but is also frustrated with the introduction of the NAT Gas Act.

“An important, strong national energy policy was outlined by President Obama and Secretary Chu last week that will dramatically increase the adoption of fleet vehicles powered by domestically produced alternative fuels,” said Joe Thompson, president of ROUSH CleanTech. “While we are supportive of all alternative fuels, we won’t be as successful in achieving the President’s vision if each industry introduces legislation that plays to their own agenda, like we saw with the introduction of the NATGAS Act.  Wouldn’t we find the most success with one piece of legislation supporting all domestically produced alternative fuels?”

Several announcements were made last week surrounding the “greening” of fleets. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a streamlined certification process for aftermarket alternative fuel conversion systems that make it easier for companies to offer alternative fuel conversions for a broad range of vehicle makes and models. Also last week, the Department of Energy together with the White House announced the National Clean Fleets Partnership. This program highlights the need for fleets to adopt “advanced technology vehicles or ones that use alternative fuels, such as electricity, natural gas, biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, or propane.”

President Obama today released his administration’s Blueprint for A Secure Energy Future that outlines the comprehensive national energy policy.

“In an economy that relies on oil, rising prices at the pump affect everybody – workers and farmers; truck drivers and restaurant owners,” said the president during a speech in Georgetown. “The only way for America’s energy supply to be truly secure is by permanently reducing our dependence on oil.”

As alternatives to oil, Obama voiced support for both natural gas and biofuels, “not just ethanol, but biofuels made from things like switchgrass, wood chips, and biomass.”

“That’s why we’re investing in things like fueling stations and research into the next generation of biofuels,” he said. “Over the next two years, we’ll help entrepreneurs break ground on four next-generation biorefineries – each with a capacity of more than 20 million gallons per year. And going forward, we should look for ways to reform biofuels incentives to make sure they meet today’s challenges and save taxpayers money.” Obama also urged the expansion of alternative vehicles in the federal fleet and announced that he is directing agencies to purchase 100% alternative fuel, hybrid, or electric vehicles by 2015.

The ethanol industry was pleased with the president’s comments. “America’s ethanol industry stands ready to work with the Obama Administration and Congress to transform current biofuel policies to reflect the evolving nature of the industry and the fiscal concerns voiced by many on Capitol Hill,” said Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen. “That means we must think outside the box when it comes to incentivizing the use of ethanol, expanding the market for ethanol, and accelerating the commercialization of advanced ethanol technologies.”

“President Obama deserves credit for identifying both short and long term solutions to reducing our nation’s dependence on foreign oil by encouraging the increased use of ethanol and next generation biofuels. He particularly recognized the role of America’s farmers in the production of corn ethanol today and next-generation biofuels in the future. Ethanol is part of the solution, whether that ethanol comes from grain or cellulosic biomass,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy.

The president also encouraged the increased use of other clean energy sources, including wind and solar and encouraged Congress to maintain critical investments in clean energy. “At a moment like this, sacrificing these investments would weaken our energy security and make us more dependent on oil, not less,” he said.

Fact sheet from the White House on America’s Energy Security

Spanning nearly 500 acres in western Martin County, Florida the first ever hybrid solar power plant connects a field of more than 190,000 solar thermal mirrors to an existing combined cycle natural gas power plant to produce energy. Known as the Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center, the one of a kind facility is owned by Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) and was “put into service” with the help of Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos among others.

“From job creation to cleaner air to energy security, this project demonstrates the many benefits of investing in large-scale renewable energy, especially in Florida,” said FPL President and CEO Armando J. Olivera. “Leadership by the Florida Legislature in 2008 made this project and its myriad benefits possible. We’re hopeful that today’s leaders will take action to enable more cost-effective investments like this so we can continue taking dramatic steps forward to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and get more Floridians back to work quickly.”

FPL’s 75-megawatt Martin Next Generation Solar Energy Center will generate enough energy to power around 11,000 homes. The combined technology is expected to reduce fossil fuel consumption by approximately 41 billion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 600,000 barrels of oil and save FPL customers approximately $178 million in fuel costs over the facility’s estimated 30-year lifetime.

“Energy security is critical to our national security. FPL’s new hybrid solar facility is an important piece of an all-of-the-above energy solution, and I’m glad to see our state is once again leading the way toward a more secure energy future for Florida and America,” said U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney (FL-16).

The center officially went into operation in November of 2010 and is the third of several large-scale solar projects completed by FPL in the past two years. Combined, the three solar plants deliver 110 megawatts of energy to Floridians. In addition, FPL is already planning another 500 MW of solar power projects for the state in upcoming months.

Waste Management (WM) and Terasen Gas are rolling out 20 new compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks to collect the city of Vancouver’s commercial recycling, food waste and garbage. This is part of a sustainability initiative from WM to convert their entire Lower Mainland and Metro Vancouver fleet – 100 recycling and waste collection trucks in total – to CNG. According to WM, the CNG trucks will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23 percent and are quieter than traditional diesel engines.

“This initiative is all about clean air for the Lower Mainland and Metro Vancouver,” said Dean Kattler, vice president for Waste Management-BC and Pacific Northwest. “Transitioning to clean air trucks to serve Lower Mainland communities and businesses shows Waste Management is listening to our customers and championing BC’s bid to sustain its position as a world-class sustainability leader.”

The contribution from Terasen Gas helped offset the incremental cost of the clean air trucks. Terasen, which recently announced it will be renamed and operate under the brand name FortisBC, just completed construction of a state-of-the art CNG fueling station at the Waste Management site at Coquitlam, where the trucks will fuel up.

“With significantly lower emissions and lower fuel costs, natural gas vehicles have a role in helping BC meet its environmental goals,” said Doug Stout, vice president, Energy Solutions and External Relations at Terasen Gas and FortisBC. “Our collaboration with Waste Management is an excellent opportunity to showcase the technology in the region where it is developed and encourage greater adoption of natural gas for transportation.”

The National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium (NAFTC) has been training renewable fuel industry members, technicians and consumers for more than a decade and chances are you’ve encountered their work but may not have realized it. The consortium was founded in 1992 initially to train and educate the natural gas industry. This was when the first natural gas vehicles were coming on the scene and there was a need to train technicians to work on these vehicles. Thus, West Virginia University formed NAFTC.

Today, the organization has expanded to other gaseous fuels, renewable fuels and advanced technology vehicles. Executive Director Al Ebron said that they have three key areas that they focus on: project management where they manage large projects in the renewable fuels and advanced technology vehicle areas, curricula development and subsequently turning that curriculum into training programs, and outreach and education.

With the support of key members comprised of national training centers (that are made up of community colleges, universities and private training institutions), and their associate members that include high schools, NAFTC goes around the country and conducts specialized training workshops. Ebron explained that when they do technical training, they focus on one fuel. However, there are some courses, for example when they do first responder safety training, where they focus on multiple fuels.

Today, NAFTC, a nonprofit organization, is doing a lot of work with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). They have several major initiatives including the Clean Cities Learning Program where they are developing first responder safety training programs and they are developing petroleum reduction technologies, manuals and training programs. In addition, they are working on the Advanced Electric Drive Education Program. This is a very large program focusing on electric drive vehicle programs and the first elements of this program will be launched in the coming months.

The majority of their training sessions are in the summer when more people have the flexibility to attend and for those interested, you can view a schedule on NAFTC’s website. You can also obtain more information about how to become involved in supporting various programs in which the consortium is currently engaged.

To learn more about all of the work of NAFTC, listen to my interview with Al here: Interview with Al Ebron

2011 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album