Study: Switchgrass Better Ethanol Producer than Expected

John Davis

A long-term study in the Midwest shows that switchgrass is a better feedstock for ethanol than previously thought.

This AFP story says the trial showed that native North American prairie grass could produce a whopping 540 percent more renewable energy than what it takes to produce the ethanol:

Previous estimates, based on small scale research plots, suggested the grass would yield a net energy production of about 343 percent. Net energy production is considered an important measure of sustainability.

vogel.jpg“When you go to the farm scale, results are better than predicted,” said Kenneth Vogel, a research geneticist with the US Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service based at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

“There is a lot of potential to make further improvements,” he added. “The plants used in this trial were developed for pasture and conservation. We’re now breeding plants specifically to be used as energy crops.”

The story goes on to say that cellulosic ethanols, such as the switchgrass ethanol, are gaining popularity as refiners look to become more efficient in their energy production.

Ethanol, News

E States Number 28

Cindy Zimmerman

EPIC mapThe Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) state branding program has added another three states to the list of those that have approved the “e” label for ethanol at the pump.

Maine, Mississippi and Wisconsin are the latest to approve the pump label, a project EPIC has been working on for just about a year now. The map shows all of the states that have approved the label so far. The idea is to have a recognizable symbol to identify ethanol blended fuel no matter where a motorist fills up.

It may seem odd that Iowa is one of the state not marked yet, but as EPIC Acting Executive Director Robert White explains, “Iowa is one of the states that has a set label that they use and we are working with our partners, the Iowa Corn Growers Association, to revisit that label.” White says that the Iowa Department of Agriculture wants to have consistency for consumers in the labeling of ethanol from state to state and since they are literally surrounded by states which have now adopted the “e” logo, he is confident that Iowa will soon approve it as well.

The approval means that the state has “given its blessing” for the logo to be used to identify ethanol blends at the pump. It is then up to grassroots efforts within each state to get retailers to use the labels.

EPIC, Ethanol, News, Promotion

Melon Fuel Still in Development

Cindy Zimmerman

Melon EthanolThe National Watermelon Association is still working on making fuel from melons.

Executive Director Bob Morrissey says they still believe there is a future in the idea, which we first reported on here in September 2006. “We still have to do some homework on the logistics portion and the economics portion,” he said.

“Our initial idea is to get a test project going in Florida and a test project going in Georgia and see how those work and then we can branch out to other producing states,” Morrissey said, adding that it may not work out, but at least they are trying to see if it will.

The association has been doing some research with USDA, the University of Georgia and an ethanol plant in Florida to use the estimated 700 million pounds of watermelons that are wasted each year for ethanol production.

Listen to the story from USDA Radio News reporter Gary Crawford.
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/melon-fuel.mp3]

Audio, Cellulosic, Ethanol, News, Research

State Grant Helping Move Biodiesel Plant to PA

John Davis

altfuelsinc.pngBinghamton, NY-based Alternative Fuels, Inc. is looking at putting a biodiesel plant in Northeast Pennsylvania after the state has come up a $1 million grant to help the refiner make biodiesel out of algae.

This story in the Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times Leader says the company has several options where it could relocate, and company officials seem pretty serious about the move:

Precisely where the company will relocate is yet to be determined, but chief executive officer Richard Smith said he’s expanded his search for sites in Luzerne County (in Northeastern Pennsylvania).

In an e-mail Friday, Smith said he is looking at four locations. He intends to further narrow the selection process in the next week.

“The right spot is tough to find,” Smith said.

afmove.jpgSmith has until the end of the year to get his production facility up and running in order to receive the state funding. The “Moving to Pennsylvania” notice on his company’s Web site and a published report Tuesday in the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin that Smith is selling his biodiesel plant there could be indications he’s serious about meeting the deadline.

Last October, Smith’s company was one of the recipients of $10 million in Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants awarded by Gov. Ed Rendell as part of his energy program to reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuels, especially from politically unstable or hostile nations.

Alternative Fuels, Inc’s timing couldn’t be better as the announcement comes on the heels of $100-a-barrel crude oil.

Biodiesel

WIREC 2008 Agenda Set

Cindy Zimmerman

WIREC 08The agenda has been set for the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, or WIREC 2008. Cabinet-level government officials from more than 70 countries will gather with industry leaders at the event to discuss the opportunities and challenges of a global, rapid deployment of renewable energy.

WIREC 2008 is the third global ministerial-level conference on renewable energy, following events in Beijing in 2005 and Bonn in 2004. The schedule has been designed to complement that of the Trade Show and Business Conference at WIREC 2008, which is being organized by the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE).

Participants will address key drivers of greater renewable energy production and use, including: Market Adoption and Finance; Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development; Technology, Research and Development; and State and Local Government Initiatives. Each theme will examine policy initiatives that can facilitate rapid scale-up of renewable energy.

Registration information is available on-line here.

conferences, Energy, Ethanol, Government, News

MO Governor Pushes More Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

MO Governor Matt BluntMissouri Governor Matt Blunt is serious about making the Show Me State a renewable fuels leader.

As of January 1, the state became only the third in the nation to implement a statewide 10 percent ethanol standard. Now the governor has proposed several initiatives targeted at promoting the use of and expanding access to E85 in Missouri.

At the Missouri Governor’s Conference on Agriculture Monday in St. Louis, Blunt told reporters that he supports tax incentives for retail outlets to install E85 pumps. “Only about two percent of our gas stations sell E85,” said Blunt. “E85 is a cleaner burning fuel, good for the environment, helpful to Missouri farmers, and from a national security perspective it makes a lot more sense to buy fuel that’s produced right here in the Midwest rather than in the Mid East.”

Blunt’s proposals will be considered by the Missouri legislature during the 2008 session which begins on Wednesday.

Listen to Blunt’s comments in response to questions from Domestic Fuel reporter Chuck Zimmerman.
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/audio/mo-gov-e85.mp3]

Audio, E85, Ethanol, Government, News

NY Grocer Goes Green on Delivery

John Davis

freshdirect.gifNew York City area online grocery delivery service FreshDirect is switching its delivery trucks to biodiesel.

tristatebiodiesel.gifThe gourmet food deliverer says it will get its fuel from locally-based Tri-State Biodiesel. According to this press release from Tri-State, FreshDirect is starting to convert its 150 delivery trucks this month to run on B5 biodiesel:

Starting in the fall, FreshDirect began donating cooking oil from its kitchen to be used in Tri-State’s non-toxic diesel fuel. With this change, FreshDirect furthers its partnership with Tri-State to reduce emissions and cut back on use of fossil fuel products. In fact, biodiesel reduces CO2 emissions over 78 percent compared to petroleum diesel. According to studies, biodiesel will reduce smog and air pollutions, helping to make New York City a cleaner city.

“Our trucks are a mass transit system for food in the communities we serve, and we are committed to make the fleet run as clean-burning and low-impact as possible,” says Adrian Williams, FreshDirect’s Senior Vice President of Transportation. “Our conversion to biodiesel is but one example of our company’s environmental stewardship and support of a sustainable future for New York.”

“We applaud FreshDirect for being a biodiesel pioneer here in New York City. Not only will this transition to clean burning biodiesel fuel result in a big drop in the air pollution levels, but it also helps to bring biodiesel on as a mainstream fuel for the many trucking fleets of the city,” says Brent Baker, CEO of Tri-State Biodiesel.

The move could make FreshDirect truly a green grocer in New York.

Biodiesel

Turning Waste to Energy

John Davis

Allied WasteTwo more landfill gas-to-energy facilities are slated for development in Virginia by Allied Waste. The second-largest non-hazardous solid waste services company already operates more than 50 landfill gas-to-energy products.

The Brunswick County Landfill in Lawrenceville, Virginia is an 8-megawatt generating facility that has been developed with Richmond, Virginia-based Ingenco, which builds, owns and operates distributed generation facilities. The Brunswick County facility, which commenced operations in mid-October, will generate enough electricity to power over 5,000 homes.

The King & Queen County Landfill in Little Plymouth, Virginia is a 12-megawatt generating facility that also has been developed with Ingenco. The King & Queen County Landfill facility will generate enough electricity to power more than 7,500 homes.

Allied Waste says the emission reduction attained by the 52 landfill gas-to-energy projects currently underway is equal to removing about 2.6 million vehicles from the road each year. The projects also provide heat/power to approximately 240,000 homes. The company has 17 projects in permitting or under construction.

Agribusiness, Energy, Facilities, Production

Panda Puts Ethanol in Texas

John Davis

Panda EthanolTexans in Sherman County can expect a new ethanol refinery. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has given Panda Ethanol the okay for an air permit for the company’s plans to build a 115 million gallon-per-year ethanol refinery. Panda says the refinery will be fueled by biomass.

The facility will be designed to annually refine an estimated 38 million bushels of feedstock-grade corn into a clean burning, renewable fuel for the nation’s transportation needs. The biofuel produced by the Sherman plant could displace approximately 2.6 million barrels of foreign oil a year.

Unlike other ethanol facilities which burn natural gas to generate the steam used in the ethanol manufacturing process, the Sherman facility will be engineered to gasify up to 1 billion pounds of cattle manure per year. By using biogas to fuel the plant, Panda is both conserving the energy equivalent of 1,000 barrels of oil a day and helping to address a significant environmental problem for the Texas Panhandle.

Once built, the Sherman refinery should be equal in size to Panda’s Hereford facility, currently nearing completion, which will be the largest biomass-fueled ethanol plant in the United States with one of the lowest carbon footprints of any similar-sized ethanol facility in the nation.

Agribusiness, corn, Energy, Ethanol, Facilities, Production

SolarCity Establishes 100th Solar Learning Station

John Davis

SolarCitySolarCity says it is committed to educating youth about solar energy. That commitment seems to stand as the company plans to install its 100th solar learning station in California.

Leading solar service provider SolarCity today announced at the Green California Schools Summit that the company plans to connect 100 solar learning station installations through the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s “Solar Schools Program,” greatly inspiring renewable energy awareness in educational centers across the state.

SolarCity developed Solar Learning Stations to provide community touch-points for experiencing solar electric generation and illustrate how energy is produced in a tangible and understandable way, further encouraging communities to explore clean, renewable energy alternatives.

SolarCity Solar Learning Stations consist of three elements: a power station, made of a visible solar photovoltaic installation and SolarGuard monitoring services, that provide customized, real-time information on each system performance and live comparisons with other towers. SolarGuard is particularly useful in the classroom setting, providing students with a platform for learning how solar power works and opportunities for integrating solar data into science curriculum.

Energy, Facilities, Solar