VeraSun Honors VE85 Retailers

Cindy Zimmerman

VeraSun Energy has announced recipients of its 2007 VE85™ Awards, recognizing five independent fuel marketers for retail sales, promotion and education of VeraSun’s branded E85 for use in flexible fuel vehicles.

VeraSunGas City, Ltd. earned the VE85™ Retailer of the Year Award, VeraSun’s most prestigious award for 2007. The independent petroleum marketer is located in Frankfort, Ill., and owns and operates stations in northeast Illinois, northwest Indiana, Florida and Arizona. Currently, Gas City has 34 fueling locations in Illinois and Indiana offering VE85™. In addition to the Retailer of the Year Award, the company also received the Driving Change Award and the Fueling Growth Award for three of its Illinois VE85™ fueling locations in Schaumberg, Shorewood and Romeoville. Gas City’s Executive Vice President William Shireman was awarded the 2007 Ambassador of the Year Award.

The Fueling Growth Award was also given to Brookings BP in Brookings, S.D.; GROWMARK’s Fast Stop in Waterloo, Ill., and JD Streett’s Lowells Service Station in Collinsville, Ill. Three stores owned and operated by Sheetz, Inc., were recognized with the Driving Change Award. Two of those fueling locations are located in Pittsburgh, while the third location is in Monroeville, Pa.

E85, Ethanol, News

Ethanol Podcast on Efficiency and Food Prices

Cindy Zimmerman

RFA PodcastThe latest “Ethanol Report” podcast from the Renewable Fuels Association features comments from RFA President Bob Dinneen on the new report from Argonne National Laboratory about the increased efficiency of U.S. ethanol plants, as well as how higher oil prices are the real cause of food price inflation.

You can subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” by following this link.

Or you can listen to it on-line here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/ethanol-report-4-21-08.mp3]

Audio, Ethanol, RFA

Americans Worried About Energy Issues

Cindy Zimmerman

A new poll shows that when it comes to energy, Americans are most worried about dependence on foreign oil.

Renewable Fuels NowThe survey, commissioned by Renewable Fuels Now and conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates Inc., polled 1200 voters earlier this year about a number of issues facing Americans.

The top three concerns were the war in Iraq, health insurance and energy. Almost half rated imports one of their two biggest energy concerns. A distant second is the lack of viable alternatives to fossil fuels.

When asked what is the best way to solve America’s energy problems, 51 percent said the answer is to invest in renewable energy sources; 28 percent call for energy efficiency and conservation policies; and only 17 percent favor more drilling and mining for domestic fossil fuels. Eighty percent of the voters in the survey say government should give more incentives to encourage the development of renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. Seventy-six percent want government to require more renewable fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel to be blended into fuel for cars and trucks.

“These numbers show Americans are worried about how they’re going to fill their gas tanks and heat their homes in the future — and they should be,” said Toni Nuernberg, executive director of the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, a member of the Renewable Fuels Now Coalition. “Using more ethanol and other renewable fuels means we’re going to be less dependent on oil from unstable parts of the world.”

Biodiesel, Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, News

Oklahoma to Grow Switchgrass for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

The state of Oklahoma is getting into the switchgrass business for cellulosic ethanol production.

SwitchgrassThe Oklahoma Bioenergy Center has secured land for more than 1,000 acres – the “world’s largest stand of switchgrass” – of production-scale demonstration fields. Planting will take place within the next 45 days.

The land is located near Guymon in the state’s panhandle. This switchgrass field will be the first of its size anywhere in the world focused on biomass production. Additional acreage of sorghum and switchgrass will be planted near Chickasha and Maysville in central Oklahoma.

AbengoaA cellulosic biorefinery currently being constructed by Abengoa Bioenergy in Hugoton, Kan., will be less than 35 miles from Guymon, and the switchgrass fields in the panhandle will provide material to this biorefinery. The Abengoa Bioenergy facility is expected to be operational in 2010.

“The value of the Oklahoma Bioenergy Center to the cellulosic ethanol industry cannot be overstated,” said Gerson Santos-Leon, executive vice president, Abengoa Bioenergy New Technologies. “The early and aggressive establishment of 1,000 acres of switchgrass will provide researchers, scientists, agricultural producers and industry — not only in Oklahoma but across the nation — with important information that will help establish the emerging cellulosic ethanol industry.”

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

Flex Fuel Energy Victory

Cindy Zimmerman

Robert ZubrinAerospace engineer and author Robert Zubrin has been getting some media attention lately for his book, “Energy Victory,” in which he outlines a simple plan for “winning the war on terror by breaking free of oil.” Most recently, he was featured on a segment of the Business News Network, a popular nationwide TV show in Canada.

Zubrin believes the American public is getting tired of being beholden to foreign oil interests and he advocates Congress passed a law requiring that all new cars sold in the USA be flex-fueled.

E85, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

US-Brazilian Companies Team Up for Sugar Cane Biodiesel

John Davis

amyris-crystalsev.gifWith the Brazilian massive sugar cane crops being turned into ethanol and Americans leading the way in biodiesel production, it was just a matter of time before these two biofuels giants put their heads together to combine the best of both worlds.

This Reuters story says U.S. company Amyris Biotechnologies and Brazil’s Crystalsev, a sugar and (naturally) ethanol producer to make and sell the world’s first commercially-available biodiesel made from sugar cane instead of oilseeds:

Amyris developed the so-called second-generation biofuels technology, using microorganisms to take juice extracted from crushing sugar cane and transform it into a biodiesel closely resembling the fossil fuel.

Brazil has been the world’s largest producer of ethanol from sugar cane for nearly three decades and the country has more than 30,000 filling stations that market the biofuel.

“We are making the first diesel from sugar cane in the world,” Amyris President John Melo told Reuters on the sidelines of a news conference in Sao Paulo.

In sugar cane, Melo said, “Brazil has the most sustainable and economic raw material,” adding the new diesel will be competitive as long as crude oil remains above $60 a barrel.

The companies did not specify the investment at the initial plant but said costs to build a diesel plant next to a regular sugar and ethanol mill would be of around $20-$30 million.

The article goes on to say that the first sugar cane biodiesel plant is expected to be on line by 2010, cranking out 10 million gallons a year in its first year. In five years with the addition of more plants, the companies hope to be cranking out a combined total of one billion gallons of the green fuel.

Biodiesel, International

Ethanol Pipeline Across Florida Nears Opening

John Davis

central_florida.gifA pipeline that has carried gasoline the 104 miles from the Port of Tampa to the Orlando since the mid-1960s could soon be carrying ethanol across the Sunshine State.

This story posted on the St. Petersburg (FL) Times web site says the 16-inch pipeline owned by Kinder Morgan is going through some upgrades in preparation of becoming the nation’s first ethanol pipeline by the third quarter of this year:

The booming U.S. ethanol industry is watching the project closely. If successful, it could lead to a boom in ethanol pipeline projects nationwide, since shipping by pipeline is significantly cheaper than shipping by train, barge or truck.

“It’s a test for us, and everybody else, to see if we can make it work,” said Joe Hollier, spokesman for Kinder Morgan. “It will be a big advantage if we are able to move ethanol by pipeline, obviously.”

As you might remember from my February 20th, 2008 post, there’s also another ethanol pipeline in the works… a 1,700-mile venture from the Midwest to the East Coast. That project is still under study with the feasibility of such a pipeline to be determined, hopefully, by the middle of this year.

Ethanol, News

Brothers, 9 & 13, Create Biodiesel Symbol

John Davis

biodiesel_logo.jpgThe two sons of a man who runs the green initiatives portion of a New York metro area company that rents out chillers, air conditioners, generators, electric heaters, oil-fired heaters, comfort cooling, air compressors, propane and natural gas heat, and portable air handlers have come up with what they hope becomes an international symbol for biodiesel (pictured left).

Alex and Austin Gere’s father, Joe Gere, is behind On Site Energy Co.’s biodiesel-fueled portion of the rental company. According to this press release, Gere wanted to find a way to promote the green option his company was offering:

Gere had gone looking for a generic symbol to place on the company’s rental equipment that would show they used Biodiesel fuel. He was shocked to find out that there was no universal symbol and turned to his two sons and along with local Freehold artist Gil Almogi crafted what they are hoping will become the new symbol for Biodiesel. The registered mark consists of a fuel nozzle dispensing a biodiesel droplet in the form of a “Green” earth. Alex & Austin were quoted together saying, “We learn about the environment in school and the effects of pollution and how it affects the globe and not just one country. We wanted to show the planet how it should look – all green and blue.” On Site Energy Co has been the first company to adopt the new symbol and they (the Gere brothers) have commitments from several others as well, their goal is to see their design around the world and hopefully it will allow people to see we can as individuals make a difference no matter how slight it may seem.

And you thought it’s something if your kids just make their beds! Good job, boys! Look forward to seeing your symbol make its way around the world… starting at just one web site at a time.

Biodiesel

Ethanol-Powered Crop Dusters

Cindy Zimmerman

A Brazilian aircraft maker is selling more ethanol-powered crop dusters these days.

Ethanol Crop DusterEmbraer is one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, including commercial and corporate jets as well as defense systems. The company has a subsidiary called Neiva that specializes in smaller planes, like the Ipanema, a low-wing agricultural monoplane – or crop duster.

According to Wired, Neiva recently delivered its 50th ethanol-powered Ipanema.

Since 1973, Neiva has sold over 1,000 of the crop dusters, most of them in the Latin American market. The company began selling ethanol versions of the plane in 2002, which makes sense, considering that Brazil is one of the top ethanol producers in the world.

Embraer also has been selling ethanol conversion kits for earlier versions of the plane. According to the company, in addition to reducing fuel costs, converting an Impanema to ethanol cuts maintenance and operating costs by 20%.

The Ipanema was the first aircraft in the world certified for ethanol operations. Embraer is now reportedly spending $250 million to investigate alternative jet fuels made from babassu, jathopa and algae.

Ethanol, News

CleanTech Researches Waste to Ethanol

John Davis

ctb1.jpgCellulosic ethanol is gaining ground… and CleanTech Biofuels is the next in line to research how to turn waste into fuel.

CleanTech Biofuels is pleased to announce that it has engaged Hazen Research, Inc to construct and operate the pre-commercial stages of our Municipal Solid Waste to Ethanol project at Hazen’s eight acre research facility in Golden, Colorado.

hazen2.gifIn late January of this year, CleanTech Biofuels purchased a reactor system from the Forest Products lab at the University of California at Berkeley and reassembled it at Hazen. This reactor system has successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of our HFTA cellulose conversion technology on wood waste feedstocks at Berkeley. Currently we are utilizing this reactor system at Hazen in the first phase of our project to optimize reaction conditions for our Process Engineered Fuel derived for municipal solid waste as well as other cellulosic feedstocks including corn stover, wood waste, and switch grass.

Hazen Research has an experienced and competent staff supported by the laboratory and pilot plant facilities necessary to apply the most appropriate technology to evaluate any industrial, commercial, and environmental issues we may encounter as our project moves from development to commercialization. They maintain all permits, governmental (Federal, State and Local) permits, licenses, and other approvals necessary to complete this project.

Agribusiness, Cellulosic, Energy, Ethanol, Facilities, Research