Domestic Fuel

Thorntons, Inc., a leading, independent gasoline/convenience-chain retailer carrying E85 fuel throughout the Midwest, is teaming up with the Kentucky Corn Growers Association (KyCGA) and the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition (KCFC) to give away $17,000 in free E85 fuel at the 2010 Kentucky State Fair.

From August 19 until August 29, flex fuel vehicle owners can visit the Kentucky corn Shack, under the Great Kentucky Cookout Tent, to pick up free E85 fuel gift cards. The first 106 who stop by the shack each day will receive a $5, $20 or $100 promotional card. These cards can be used at any of the 11 Thornton’s E85 fueling facilities in Kentucky and Southern Indiana – including the nine in the state of Kentucky, two of which will be open by the end of August.

“We are very excited about the expansion of E85 fuel in our stores,” said Matt Thornton, Chief Executive Officer of Thorntons. “We support the use of ethanol, wherever it is economically available”.

“Not only are corn farmers feeding the world’s people and livestock, they are producing enough corn for all-American fuel ethanol. While ethanol can be found in 10 percent blends in all of Louisville’s gasoline, KyCGA, Thorntons, and KCFC have partnered to increase awareness about E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline,” said Executive Director of KyCGA, Laura Knoth. “This fuel can only be used in Flexible Fuel Vehicles, but there are nearly 100,000 of these vehicles on Kentucky’s highways today, and vehicle manufacturers continue to make more.”

Growth Energy recently partnered with Thorntons to open 20 E85 stations within five states through their 2010 E85 and Blender Pump program. You can find the listing of these stations at www.E85Refueling.com.

Last week,USDA announced as part of their August numbers that they believe corn farmers will achieve a record crop again this year. The expectation for harvest is 13.37 billion bushels, a 2 percent increase from the final 2009 harvest numbers.

However, the report, that reports a month behind, did not account for the widespread rain and flooding in the state of Iowa. Just yesterday, state officials announced that there are now 32 counties that have been declared “disasters” and are eligible for financial support from the federal government.

I reached out to the Iowa Corn Growers Association to learn more about how the rains would affect Iowa’s farmers and if they felt there could be a strain on the commodity with the growing use of corn for ethanol.

First, Iowa Corn said that despite the challenges facing Iowa farmers there is still optimism for a strong harvest. “We have farmers across the state who have battled with water this spring and summer to varying degrees. They are relatively optimistic about what the corn crop looks like on a statewide average. We don’t have any specific numbers on the crop, but the last report from WASDE said that Iowa’s corn crop was 65-75% good to excellent.”

The association noted that their farmers are confident that the crops that are doing well will carry the weight for those whose fields are under water. And the USDA has also predicted that they expect the per bushel per acre numbers to break records this year as well. They also stressed our country will produce more than enough corn for all markets, of which ethanol and livestock are the drivers in Iowa.

Iowa corn concluded by reiterating that American farmers can do it all. “We are sad to see so many weather issues affecting farmers across the state but we know that farmers battle weather of some kind or another each year and continue to do what they do best – produce food, fuel, feed, and fiber for the world.”

One of the longest running and top rated Do-It-Yourself (DIY) shows on cable TV, “Man Caves,” will soon be rolling on up to transform a room or garage into a man’s dream room in a ROUSH liquid propane-powered E-350. The show, which airs on DIY Network, is in its seventh season and features a virtual rolling hardware store replete with construction materials in a truck.

“We are looking forward to having a ‘Man Caves’-size rolling tool box for the biggest season yet of ‘Man Caves.’ This thing is functional and just amazing,” said an enthusiastic Cameron, co-host of the show, upon seeing the new propane-powered van for the first time.

Thanks to Knapheide and Sortimo, there are a variety of organizational systems which allow the hosts, licensed contractor Jason Cameron and former NFL great Tony “The Goose” Siragusa, to quickly and efficiently complete any project at hand. The Knapheide Utility Vehicle will be mounted on the back of the ROUSH propane E-350 and will include a number of Sortimo S-, M-, and T-BOXXES to organize the tools and small parts it carries, many with adjustable shelves and dividers. The cargo area has retention poles to hold large parts and sheet material, as well as a bed slide to assist in loading heavy equipment or parts. This allows the “Man Caves” crew to be most efficient from the truck to the work site.

“Jack Roush has cars racing on TV nearly every weekend, but this will mark the first time that a ROUSH liquid propane-powered van will have a starring role on television,” said Joe Thompson, executive vice-president and general manager of ROUSH. “ ‘Man Caves’ is a program that has a very dedicated audience and it’s going to be exciting to have a ROUSH vehicle play a role in the space transformations they have planned for this season.”

Chris Weiss, Knapheide vice-president of engineering concluded, “Building the ‘Man Caves’ work van is a perfect opportunity to show off the organizational capabilities of the ROUSH/Knapheide Utility Vehicle. Our partnership with ROUSH helps us provide efficient work solutions for our contractor customers with the advantage of using green technology like liquid propane.”

Dyadic International, Inc. reported a loss in second quarter revenues as compared to the same time period in 2009. Total revenue for the second quarter ending on June 30, 2010 decreased to $2.2 million compared to a reported $11.9 million the previous year. Total revenue for the first six months of the year was also down compared to 2009, with a reported $4.2 million so far in 2010 and $16.9 million in the first half of 2009.

The company attributes the second quarter decline in revenue to a decrease in licensing revenue and also reported that the lower revenue for the first six months was due to a decrease in licensing revenue as well as a decrease in research and development revenue.

“During the second quarter, we made significant progress in positioning Dyadic for future long-term growth by continuing to enhance our C1 technology and hiring key personnel and advisors to unlock the value of that technology primarily in the areas of biofuels and chemicals,” stated Dyadic’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Emalfarb.

“We also laid the foundation to apply our C1 technology to the development and commercialization of biopharmaceuticals. All of this is now being pursued without the overhanging risk, cost and distraction of protracted stockholder litigation which we have put behind us,” Emalfarb concluded.

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT), a New Jersey-based company focusing on harnessing energy from oceans, announced a major step towards the approval of a license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build the first commercial wave park on the West Coast. OTC has signed a Settlement Agreement (SA) with 11 federal and state agencies along with three non-governmental stakeholders for its utility-scale wave power project to be located 2.5 miles offshore near Reedsport, Oregon.

The wave park will be comprised of 10 PB150 PowerBuoys with a maximum sustained generating capacity of 150 kiloWatts, an undersea substation to collect the power and a submarine cable to deliver the power to the Pacific Northwest Grid. Once complete, it is anticipated that 4,140 MegaWatt hours per year will be delivered to the grid – or enough electricity to power up to 375 homes. The company reports that the first PB150 PowerBuoy is already being constructed at the Oregon Iron Works.

As reported in a company press release, this first-ever wave energy SA was reached after extensive technical, policy, and legal discussions to place to discuss appropriate prevention, mitigation and enhancement measures.

Oregon’s Governor, Ted Kulongoski, said, “The Settlement Agreement is a groundbreaking document that demonstrates the State’s commitment to partnering with the private sector and coastal communities to explore how we can tap into the renewable resource of ocean waves to power our communities. The manufacture of the first buoy has already created dozens of green-energy jobs in Oregon and when the 10-buoy wave power project is built, a whole new industry will be created to benefit our coastal communities. This is an exciting time for our State and I look forward to continuing to foster this new industry in Oregon in a way that is sensitive to marine habitat and continues to value this important resource for Oregon’s fishermen.”

Camelina continues to show promise as a second-generation feedstock for biodiesel. The feedstock has several advantages including a high oil content, grows on marginal land and needs little to no fertilizer or water. It contains a high amount of Omega-3s and its dried distillers grains have already been approved as cattle feed. Researchers at Penn State have been working with farmers along with HERO BX to test the viability of camelina for several years and early tests are showing great promise.

However, camelina began its upward trajectory as a viable feedstock for biodiesel when aviation tests were successfully conducted using biodiesel blends including camelina (HERO BX was involved in some of these tests).

There is also research underway at Washington State University (WSU) and researchers Scott Hulbert and Bill Pan are working with local farmers to refine camelina varieties, cropping practices, economics and marketing. The research is part of a new major initiative called the “Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest” project. In partnership with Alaska Airlines, Boeing, the Port of Seattle, the Port of Portland, and Spokane International Airport, the project will look at biomass options, including camelina, within a four-state region as possible sources for creating renewable jet fuel.

According to a press release from July 12, announcing the project the partnership will examine all phases of developing a sustainable biofuel industry, including biomass production and harvest, refining, transport infrastructure and actual use by airlines. It will include an analysis of potential biomass sources that are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest, including algae, agriculturally based oilseeds such as camelina, wood byproducts and others. The project is jointly funded by the participating parties and is expected to be completed in approximately six months.

“The Pacific Northwest is a global gateway for people, cultures and commerce and aviation is a vital contributor to that process,” said Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Jim Albaugh. “Developing a sustainable aviation fuel supply now is a top priority both to ensure continued economic growth and prosperity at regional levels and to support the broader aim of achieving carbon-neutral growth across the industry by 2020.”

According to Pagusus News, the City of Denton Fleet Services Division in Denton, Texas has been awarded a $599,860 grant to install E85 and Biodiesel. The award is part of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds by the North Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG).

The City of Denton will construct and operate a Fuel Island at 1251 South Mayhill Rd. and will carry E85, B20, unleaded, and diesel fuels to fuel 37 alternative fuel vehicles and 18 hybrid city fleet vehicles.

“Because many air quality issues are intricately linked to energy consumption, strategies for increasing energy efficiency often have the dual benefit of reducing operational costs while simultaneously improving air quality,” said Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs. “This Alternative Fuel Station is just the latest initiative taken by the City to continue to do what we can improve our air quality and sustain our environment.”

The new fueling island is slated to open in September 2010.

Good news for biofuels this week as the California Department of Labor awarded the San Diego Biofuels Initiative a $4 million grant to train workers to join the biofuels workforce. The award was given through the “Green Innovation Challenge,” a green jobs initiative that is overseen by the state’s Department of Labor.

According to an article on SanDiego.com, the San Diego area is a hotbed for biofuels companies. There are nearly 30 businesses engaged in biofuels development, with many of these companies focused on algae. Two of the most notable companies in the region are Synthetic Genomics and Sapphire Energy. Both companies have received funding from oil companies and both companies believe they will be producing biodiesel from algae by next year.

The San Diego Biofuels Initiative is a consortium of associations that include CleanTECH San Diego, BIOCOM, San Diego Regional EDC, San Diego Workforce Partnership and the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB), located at UC San Diego.

On another note, in June, SD-CAB received $9 million dollars to be dispersed over the next three years for research on algal biofuels from the Department of Energy.

According to a study released by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), algal biofuels research employs 410 scientists and other workers in San Diego but increases to 784 jobs when you include indirect jobs. The industry provides nearly $44.6 million in salaries and provides the region with $108.3 million in economic activity.

There is a lot of talk today about creating "green jobs" and how best to train those people to enter the green sector. One of the early adopters of green education was Iowa Central Community College (ICCC). This week, the college announced that they have become the first laboratory to earn accreditation as a BQ-9000 laboratory. This accolade means that the lab has become a national leader in testing biodiesel and biodiesel blends to ensure they meet fuel quality standards.

Don Heck, who runs the nonprofit Iowa Central Fuel Testing Laboratory at ICCC, said in a press statement, "Testing fuel may not sound glamorous, but it is fundamental to the future of the biodiesel and the renewable fuels industry in terms of reliability and consumer confidence."

Unlike the ethanol industry, which addressed and fixed quality issues back in the 1970s, biodiesel still struggles with quality issues. The BQ-9000 accreditation is the industry's way of overcoming these fuel quality issues but it is not a mandatory label – it is voluntary. The quality assurance program is overseen by the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission.

The lab offers cost-effective, rapid testing for biodiesel producers nationwide. It also tests other fuels such as ethanol and petroleum. The team that runs the lab, along with its supporters, hope that the new biodiesel accreditation will attract new customers, including the Iowa Department of Agriculture's Weights and Measures Bureau, who is in charge of ensuring all fuels meet quality standards before they fill a consumer's tank.

"Having the first BQ-9000 laboratory located in Iowa will drive business to our state, and further enhances Iowa's position as a national biodiesel leader," said Randy Olson, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, which helped make the lab a reality.

Steve Howell, National Biodiesel Board technical director, said other labs will follow suit, which will help ensure a high quality fuel supply for producers and consumers alike.

"Not every biodiesel plant has its own laboratory to test its fuel, so there is a need for qualified, credible laboratories to test fuel samples," Howell said. "Becoming accredited is a rigorous process, and the Iowa Central Fuel Testing Laboratory deserves our congratulations for being the first."

The California Public Utilities Commission has reported that San Jose is now the largest installer of solar power in the state of California. Today, the city's newest and largest solar installation was unveiled that included more than 2,500 solar panels covering 44,448 square-foot parking lot. The building that is now solar powered is Power Integrations' headquarters in the Edenvale Technology Park. Power Integrations manufacturers high-voltage integrated circuits for energy efficient power conversions.

During a special ceremony today, U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, along with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, Council member Ash Kalra, and Silicon Valley Leadership Group President and CEO Carl Guardino unveiled the $3.6 million solar array. The project took six months to complete.

"Power Integrations is a great example of how Silicon Valley companies are embracing clean tech innovation," said City of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. "Between the company's own line of energy-efficient products and its expansive new solar installation, Power Integrations is playing a key role in helping San Jose achieve its Green Vision goals."

At 600 kilowatts, the system is among the 10 largest solar facilities in Silicon Valley. The installation will fully power one of Power Integrations' two buildings as well as all parking-lot lights at the company's headquarters.

The solar panels are expected to cut more than 10,000 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions over the next 25 years, an amount equivalent to the emissions caused by roughly 20 million miles of car travel. In addition, the installation's smart design covers 280 parking spots, providing shade for employees' cars. A real-time data feed showing current and cumulative energy production from the array can be found on Power Integrations' corporate sustainability website at www.powerint.com/solar.

"For more than a decade, Power Integrations' EcoSmart technology has drastically reduced 'standby' power waste in electronic products, saving consumers and businesses more than $4 billion and preventing millions of tons of CO2 emissions," said Balu Balakrishnan, president and CEO of Power Integrations. "As a socially responsible company, we saw an opportunity to make a profound impact on our own energy consumption by using renewable solar energy to power our operations. We are very proud of this project, which effectively takes an entire building off the grid, and will reduce our energy bills enough to pay for itself in just 12 years."

A new public fueling facility will soon be opening in Phoenix, Arizona. AAA Yellow Cab is opening an E85 station, 1/4 mile from Sky Harbor Airport, at 3030 S. 45th St.

According to KPHO.com, tomorrow, a grand opening will be held from 10 until 11 a.m. where the first 50 customers in line between that time can fuel their flexible fuel vehicle tanks for $1.99 per gallon.

AAA Yellow Cab has 140 flexible fuel cabs on the road and thus is the reason they decided to install the 12,000 gallon tank in just 41 days. Many of these taxis are Chevy HHR vans and Dodge Caravans.

Currently, there are 28 stations in the state of Arizona carrying the clean, alternative fuel – E85.

One of the country’s most touted, and failed, ethanol concepts may be sold. Last year, Hereford Biofuels, the first commercial scale plant in the country intended to operate using methane from cattle operations, went belly-up. Construction was halted when owner, Panda Energy, an energy firm based in Dallas, Texas, sold the plant to creditors earlier this year for a reported $25 million.

The reported suitor is Murphy Oil Corporation, an international oil and gas company based in El Dorado, Arkansas. Their plans to increase their stake in the biofuels market comes on the heels of a July 22, 2010 announcement that the company will be exiting the refinery business as early as first quarter of 2011. The move was approved by the Board of Directors and now their refineries in Meraux, Louisiana; Superior, Wisconsin; and Milford Haven, Wales along with the retail system in the United Kingdom are now up for sale.

In a company statement made earlier this month by President and CEO David Wood, “Murphy’s Upstream and U.S. Retail businesses have demonstrated marked growth and financial performance over the last several years. By exiting the refining business, we can fully focus our attention and resources on continuing that growth, developing a premier international upstream business and a top quartile U.S. retail franchise.”

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has recently released a new report that champions jatropha as a promising biodiesel crop especially for global rural farmers. The report, “Jatropha: A Smallholder Bioenergy Crop, the Potential for Pro-Poor Development,” set out to examine the potential for jatropha as a sustainable biodiesel crop and has been in development since 2008.

The authors write, “As developing countries face increasing local demand for energy in rural areas, they also must deal with both economic and environmental pressure on agricultural lands in general. The possibility of growing energy crops such as Jatropha curcas L. has the potential to enable some smallholder farmers, producers and processors to cope with these pressures.”

The report says jatropha is a promising crop in part because it can grow on marginal lands, in drought conditions and animals do not graze on the crop. It also holds the promise of high oil output. The report also notes some of the feedstock’s drawbacks which include the fact that no consistently high yielding varieties have been developed and because the plant is toxic to both humans and animals, it can not be used for livestock feed, a major added value to most biofuel feedstock production.

Jatropha  originated in Central America and is making headway in Africa and parts of Asia for biodiesel development. Experts predict that by 2015, Indonesia will be the largest jatropha producer in Asia, Ghana & Madagascar in Africa and Brazil in Latin America.

While the report ultimately favors the crop, it does caution that depending on how programs are developed, there could be significant environmental damage that would outweigh the positive environmental attributes of biodiesel.

The report does not study the possible future of jatropha in the U.S., although at this time there are a few studies underway. In addition, it is not recognized as a biodiesel feedstock under current Renewable Fuels Legislation (RFS2).

Ord, Nebraska has a new blender pump. Country Partners Cooperative joined forces with Growth Energy to install the community’s first blender pump that now offers flex-fuel drivers E20 and E30. Driver’s can fill up with these higher ethanol blends at 424 North 14th Street, on the corner of Highway 70 and Highway 11.

“We took advantage of Growth Energy’s funding to install a blender pump. We needed to upgrade our pumps and we believe that ethanol is a huge part of our sales and our community, ” said Scott Haller, Petroleum Manager for Country Partners Cooperative. “We are a farmer based cooperative so we wanted to get in the structure of burning something we are producing. We have seen a lot more FFV’s out there so it’s great to give the consumer a choice at the pump.”

Consumers were able to begin purchasing the higher ethanol blends on July 10 and opening day sales were more than 1,300 gallons.

Todd Sneller, the Administrator for the Nebraska Ethanol Board, said of Nebraska’s newest blender pump, “The expansion of blender pumps in Nebraska offers consumers additional fuel choices at the pump. The increased use of higher ethanol fuel blends helps to retain energy dollars in the Nebraska economy and support the investment in ethanol plants. The Nebraska Ethanol Board applauds this partnership and continues to encourage fuel marketers to offer additional ethanol fuel choices at locations across the state.”

In past posts, I’ve written (or re-published) about how countries like Brazil are taking a leadership role in global biofuels development. I came across an article recently in the Business Daily that discusses how Brazilian biofuels experts are working with Kenya to boost their biofuels development.

While there are still global concerns about biofuels relationship to food, especially food security, Kenya is moving forward with its increased production of sugarcane for ethanol. Brazilian experts are helping the country improve sugarcane production as well as aiding them in the development of ethanol production facilities strategically located throughout the country.

Back in July, a pact was signed between the two countries that ensures cooperation in the development and promotion of both ethanol and biodiesel. The pact includes the exchange of expertise and training support.

“These joint consultations and efforts will enable Kenya to tap our 85 years of experience and expertise to discover her potential in biofuel production,” a Brazilian foreign affairs ministry official, Mr Luciano Sousa, said in Nairobi after a meeting with Kenyan experts last week.

Today, more than 100 countries have some energy policy that requires the development and use of bioenergy, and according to Brazilian biofuel expert Daniel Machado da Fonseca, Brazil’s biofuels model can be replicated in these countries.

“One of the highlights of this pact is to assist countries map out the biofuel zones to ensure that its commercial production does not pose a threat to food security,” said Machado.

Kenya is not the only country that Brazil has signed a pact with. They are also working with Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, the Sudan, and Mozambique to help them develop their biofuels programs.