Presentations and Photos From Farm to Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

Farm to FuelPresentations from the 2007 Farm to Fuel Summit in Florida are now available on-line at floridafarmtofuel.com.

All of the power point presentations from panels on Renewable Fuels Status Reports, Advancing the Science of Bioenergy, Business of Bioenergy, Biomass Resources/Feedstocks in Florida, and Renewable Energy Technology Grants Program are available, as well as the presentation on “25x’25 – America’s Energy Future” and more.

Domestic Fuel photos taken the summit are also now available on-line.
Click here to see a Flickr Photo Album of pictures from the summit.

Also, a nice summary of the summit from “a Californian’s view” can be found on Scott Miller’s BIOstock Blog.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, EPIC, Ethanol, News, RFA

Government Incentives Key to Ethanol Expansion

John Davis

Right now, 98 percent of the ethanol produced in the U.S. is made from corn. But in order to meet the 2005 federal mandate of 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol a year by 2012… and then President Bush’s lofty goal of a 20 percent reduction in gasoline usage by 2017… and possibly now the U.S. Senate’s latest proposal of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022 (with 21 billion gallons coming from something other than corn), it’s obvious there will have to be something other than corn fueling the green fuel. That’s where government incentives come in.

This article in Missouri Ruralist says state and federal subsidies that helped jumpstart much of the current growth will be instrumental in finding an even better source than corn to make ethanol:

While Congress is backing its standards with increased funding for renewable fuels research and development, the administration is taking steps as well. The Department of Energy announced this summer that it will spend $375 million in Tennessee, Wisconsin and California to develop non-food crops into biofuels. The department is already investing another $385 million in six alternative-feedstock ethanol plants in California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa and Kansas.

The article goes on to point out that government incentives helped ethanol double its output since 2003. It seems to reason that those same kind of incentives will spur the next feedstock’s growth.

Ethanol, News

Peanuts for Biodiesel

John Davis

peanutsNo, it’s not cheap biodiesel… although it certainly could end up being biodiesel for just peanuts. What I’m talking about is scientists at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service looking at using peanuts as the feedstock for biodiesel… maybe even cheaper than soybeans.

USDA logoThis article from the ARS web site says it could push the goober into the forefront of biodiesel research:

Agronomist Wilson Faircloth at the ARS National Peanut Research Laboratory at Dawson, Ga., and Daniel Geller, a collaborative engineer at the University of Georgia, are testing a peanut called Georganic. It’s not suited to current commercial edible standards for peanuts, but is high in oil and has low production input costs.

Georganic—or similar varieties—will likely be the future of peanut biodiesel because it can be planted and grown with just one herbicide application for weed control, compared to the three to four applications typically sprayed during a growing season for edible peanuts. Additionally, these fuel peanuts are grown without fungicides, which are the greatest input cost in traditional peanut production.

Right now, soybeans are primarily used for biodiesel, and they produce about 50 gallons of the fuel per acre. But peanuts could produce as much as 120 to 130 gallons per acre.

Biodiesel

Fill Up, Feel Good in Florida

Cindy Zimmerman

e-podcast Florida stands ready to fill up and feel good as it endeavors to become a leader in both the production and consumption of biofuels, including ethanol.

This edition of “Fill up, Feel Good” discusses the “Florida Needs Ethanol” campaign being conducted by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council and features comments made by Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson, and EPIC Director of Operations Robert White at the recent Florida Farm to Fuel Summit in St. Petersburg.

The “Fill up, Feel Good” podcast is available to download by subscription (see our sidebar link)
or you can listen to it by clicking here (4:30 MP3 File): [audio:http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3?http://www.zimmcomm.biz/epic/epic-podcast-7-31-07.mp3]

The Fill Up, Feel Good theme music is “Tribute to Joe Satriani” by Alan Renkl, thanks to the Podsafe Music Network.

“Fill up, Feel Good” is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Audio, EPIC, Ethanol, Fill Up Feel Good, News, Promotion

May Ethanol Numbers

Cindy Zimmerman

RFAAccording to the Renewable Fuels Association, both ethanol production and demand moved higher in May, reflecting the growth in the ethanol industry and the increased gasoline demand at the beginning of the summer driving season.

As oil refiners struggled to keep their facilities operating, ethanol production grew to an average of 406,000 barrels per day (b/d), according to information released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This increase in production helped to mitigate the price spikes American drivers endured as a result of refinery maintenance problems, reduced gasoline inventories and higher crude prices.

Additionally, demand for ethanol also increased to an estimated 427,000 b/d per day. Both production and demand represent increases of 38 and 22 percent respectively over May 2006 figures.

Ethanol, News, RFA

Corn Prices Down

Cindy Zimmerman

CornRecent rain in the Midwest has helped the corn crop rebound and led to lower corn prices, according to a Forbes article.

After as much as 6 inches of rain in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, much of corn crop received relief after a dry June.

In mid-June, a little more than half of Illinois’ corn crop was in good to excellent condition, according to USDA’s crop reports. Last week, that figure was 81%. In Iowa, it was still healthy at 63%, held down by dry conditions in the western end of the state.

Corn prices hit $4 a bushel in February, but cash-market corn has lowered to around $3.

“This has really helped to increased the profitability for ethanol producers,” said Rick Kment, an ethanol analyst with DTN, an Omaha, Neb.-based agricultural market information company.

“You can make very good returns at $3 corn,” says Dave Nelson, chairman of Minneapolis-based Global Ethanol LLC, which has plants in Iowa and Michigan. “When it gets to $4, it gets pretty tight.”

“A meaningful decline in corn prices would suggest the potential for improving profitability and drive ethanol stock prices up,” Citibank analyst David Driscoll, who expects corn prices to level off at $2.75 a bushel in the long term, wrote in a note to investors.

Ethanol, News

Wind Association to Call for Renewable Electricity Standard

John Davis

AWEA logoThe American Wind Energy Association is calling on Congress to enact a Renewable Electricity Standard (RES). Leaders from the AWEA will join with Congressmen Tom Udall (D-NM) and Mark Udall (D-CO) on Tuesday, July 31st at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Capitol to call for wider support of the amendment that would require power companies to use 20 percent renewable sources to produce energy by the year 2020. Pennsylvania Congressman Todd Platts (R. PA) is also a co-sponsor of the measure.

This press release on the AWEA web site says the association will also debut a TV ad to promote their arguments of why this country needs an RES:

Studies show that an RES would:

* Slow global warming: By displacing the use of fossil fuels to generate electricity, an RES can cut emissions of conventional pollutants and greenhouse gases. A 20 percent RES would reduce carbon dioxide CO2 emissions by 15 percent below business-as-usual levels, equivalent to taking nearly 71 million cars off the road;
* Reduce energy bills: Energy research firm Wood Mackenzie found that an RES would lower natural gas and electricity prices and save more than $100 billion for American consumers;
* Create jobs: Wind and solar energy are likely to be among the largest sources of new manufacturing jobs worldwide during the 21st Century. A recent Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) study found that a 20 percent RES by 2020 would create over 350,000 new American jobs;
* Revitalize rural America: Farmers and rural land owners in windy areas are reaping payments of $3,000-$8,000 per turbine per year, while still being able to work their land. The “wind harvest” can carry hard-pressed farmers through difficult times, such as droughts, even if crops fail; and
* Strengthen energy security: Domestic renewable energy can reduce projected imports of liquid natural gas (LNG) from such unstable regions as Qatar, Russia and Iran and reduce U.S. energy payments to these nations.

Check out the ad at Power of Wind.com

Wind

Down at the Circle K

Cindy Zimmerman

AlexAt the recent Farm to Fuel Summit in Florida, the state’s chief financial officer told the crowd that biofuels have made it into the mainstream.

Circle KCFO Alex Sink related a story of how she had gone into her local Circle K convenience store that morning for coffee and newspapers on the way to the conference and the clerk at the counter noticed her “Farm to Fuel” shirt and asked her what she did. “I said I’m getting ready to go to a conference to talk about ways to grow crops to turn into fuel,” Sink said. “And she said, ‘You mean like ethanol?’ and I said ‘yeah’ and she said ‘that’s good, that’s very good, we need to protect our ozone layer.'”

Sink says she realized at that point, “If the checkout girl at the Circle K in Thonotosassa is getting it, everybody’s getting it.”

Sink noted that one of the turning points in Florida’s history was when citrus first started to be grown in the state. “My bold prediction is that this sea change that we are seeing in addressing opportunities that we have to be involved in biomass is going to change the face of agriculture in Florida potentially as much as citrus did.”

Listen to Sink’s Farm to Fuel address here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-to-fuel-07/f2f-alex-edit.mp3]

Audio, Energy, Ethanol, News

Good Fortune, Great Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

KirinKirin Brewery Company of Japan reportedly plans to begin experimental production of ethanol using the residue of malt used to make beer as feedstock.

According to an Autochannel.com story, an estimated 300 million yen ($2.5 million) will be invested to construct a pilot plant which will have the capacity to produce 15 kilolitres of ethanol a year.

Production is expected to start later this year.

Kirin, together with Mitsubishi of Japan, is a member of a consortium taking part in a government-backed project to build an ethanol plant in the northern island of Hokkaido.

Ethanol, International, News

POETic Tribute

Cindy Zimmerman

POET FlagThe nation’s largest dry mill ethanol producer was recently honored by U.S. troops serving in Iraq.

The American flag in the photo being handed to POET CEO Jeff Broin by Major Andrew Chontos, MD was flown over the Sather Air Base at Baghdad International Airport, Iraq during OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM on Sunday, June 24, 2007. The flag was flown “in honor of POET” for “strengthening our nation through energy independence,” according to the commemorative certificate presented with it.

POET Flag 2During the presentation at POET headquarters in Sioux Falls, SD, Major Chontos noted that the US Air Force is the highest fuel consumer of all the military branches. During a training weekend at the South Dakota Air National Guard, 10 F-16s typically fly two missions a day for two days consuming 60,000 gallons of fuel. One mission uses 1,500 gallons of fuel. At Camp Sather, 10,000 gallons of fuel are used per day for air conditioning and other electrical generation to support 1,000 airmen.

Thanks to Nathan Schock who alerted me to the post on Rhapsody in Green about the presentation.

Energy, EPIC, Ethanol, News