NBB Says IRS On Side of Big Oil

John Davis

IRS logoNBB logoAs we close in on income tax deadline day, biodiesel advocates are blasting the U.S. Internal Revenue Service for allowing petroleum producers to cash in on the same dollar-a-gallon tax credit orginally set up to help the fledgling biodiesel industry.

According to a National Biodiesel Board press release, special interests have successfully lobbied the U.S. Department of Treasury to to gain access to a renewable diesel tax credit for a specific process called thermal de-polymerization (TDP):

Joe Jobe“Certain powerful oil companies have managed to get the government to expand the definition of a separate provision that was added into the biodiesel tax credit law late in the legislative process,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB). “It’s our belief that this credit was developed to help a specific emerging technology, and not to further subsidize existing petroleum refineries.”

“This is bad energy policy, bad agricultural policy and bad fiscal policy,” Jobe said. “If Congress lets this stand, our government will be handing over U.S. taxpayer money to some of the richest companies in the world, and it will not provide many of the benefits that the biodiesel tax incentive has given back to America.”

NBB goes on to say that allowing large integrated refineries to claim a subsidy for dumping raw domestic or imported vegetable oil into the refining process won’t add refining capacity, it will hamper energy security efforts, and it will subsidize oil companies for what they are already doing. The board goes on to say it worries this would allow Big Oil to put a stranglehold on the biodiesel industry.

Since the original biodiesel tax incentive started in 2004, it has helped the biodiesel industry grow from just 22 plants producing about 157 million gallons a year to today’s 105 plants making 864 million gallons with 1.7 billion gallons of capacity under construction.

Biodiesel, Government

Arnold Pumps Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger talked about making biofuels cool and sexy during two speeches last week on the East Coast.

Schwarzenegger spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations Board in New York on Thursday and at the Global Environmental Leadership Conference at Georgetown University on Wednesday, making nearly identical speeches comparing the environmental movement to bodybuilding and the need to make being green sexier.

Arnold “You have to make things cool, you have to make things sexy and cutting edge,” he said. “And so we don’t have to take away the cars from the people, the SUVs, the Hummers, and the muscle cars. No. That formula is a formula for failure. Instead, what we have to do is make those muscle cars and those SUVs and those Hummers more environmentally muscular. That is what we have to do. This is why now one of my Hummers runs on biofuel, and the other one of my Hummers runs on hydrogen fuel.”

At the Georgetown conference, which was sponsored by Newsweek, the governor appeared on stage next to a large poster of the current Newsweek cover, which portrays a smiling Schwarzenegger balancing Earth on one finger above the headline, “Save the Planet – Or Else.”

Full text and video of Schwarzenegger’s speeches available on the governor’s website.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, global warming, Government, Hydrogen, News

Prairie Grass Mixes for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Cellulosic ethanol might be better made from a blend of prairie grasses, rather than just one variety.

That is the finding of research being done at the University of Minnesota, according to researcher Dr. Jason Hill who testified at a Field Hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, held April 3 in Fargo, ND.

Jason HillAccording to the ND Farm and Ranch Guide, Hill testified that their study found that mixtures of 16 native prairie species produced 238 percent more energy on average than a single prairie species such as switchgrass and as an added bonus, the stands made up of the plant mixtures removed large amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and stored it in the soil, but that the single species stands did not.

“The environmental benefits of producing biofuels from diverse prairie biomass are striking,” Hill said in his testimony. “Most amazingly, producing and using ethanol from diverse prairie biomass can actually reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This is because a diverse prairie removes more carbon dioxide from the air and stores it in the soil than is released into the air when fossil fuels are burned to farm prairie biomass and convert it into ethanol. This, along with the nitrogen added to the soil by native legumes, actually restores fertility to degraded farmlands, and, a prairie also provides wildlife habitat and reduces soil erosion and pollution of waterways with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers.”

More on the research can be found on the University of Minnesota website.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

E85 Viper Sets Speed Record

Cindy Zimmerman

E85 ViperA Dodge Viper fueled with 85 percent ethanol set a world speed record when it hit 189 mph last week on the runway at the Mojave Air & Space Port.

Not the one that speed enthusiast Karl Jacob was looking for, but a record nonetheless.

According to the LA Times, the 189 mph speed on that one run was the first — thus the best — speed recorded for the standing mile in an ethanol-powered, street-legal car. Jacob said he wanted to best the 217.85 mph record for street-legal, gasoline-powered cars.

The Times also features a video of the Viper. More pictures and video can be found at www.e85viper.com.

E85, Ethanol, News

New Biodiesel Plant for Kansas

John Davis

Ground-breaking is planned for this summer for a new 60-million-gallon-a-year at Emporia, Kansas. According to this story in the Lawrence (KS) Journal-World, Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group will build the refinery with hopes of opening in just more than a year:

Renewable Energy GroupCompany president Nile Ramsbottom said the company looked at Emporia because of its location and an ongoing partnership with soybean processor Bunge North America.

“They have a large soybean processing facility there, so they’re a natural supplier of soybean oil to us,” Ramsbottom said. “And (Emporia) is in a site where there’s animal fats available from the feedyards.”

REG officials say the plant will produce little or no noise or odor promising to be good neighbors. The company already has a 12-million-gallon-a-year plant at Ralston, Iowa.

Biodiesel

Emerald Isle Going Greener

John Davis

Ireland has broken ground on its first large-scale biodiesel refinery, expected to be making the alternative fuel by 2008.

According to a story in Biofuel Review, the plant will use a variety of sources… many from local farmers:

Green Biofuels Ireland intends to commence production of biodiesel from oil seed rape, recovered vegetable oil and animal fats in 2008. The raw materials for the biodiesel production will be sourced principally from the company’s shareholders which include existing RVO handlers, as well as the Wexford Farmer’s Co-op, which has 4,000 farmer shareholders.

The plant will produce 34 million liters (about 8 million gallons) a year.

Ireland is moving to a biofuel obligation with a target of 5.75% market penetration by 2010 and 10% by 2020.

Biodiesel, International

Missouri Senate Moves Biodiesel Mandate

John Davis

The Missouri State Senate has given first round approval to a 5% biodiesel mandate.

Senator Bill StoufferThis story on eTrucker.com says Senator Bill Stouffer’s bill would require all diesel sold in the state would have to have at least five percent biodiesel beginning in April 2009:

Not only would the biodiesel mandate benefit agriculture, but “This is something that’s good for the environment, and I think it’s going to be very good for the trucking industry,” Stouffer said.

While the trucking industry has opposed similar biodiesel mandates elsewhere, the Missouri Motor Carriers Association remains neutral on this bill. Association officials say the difference is that this bill sets quality standards for biodiesel.

Biodiesel

Wind Energy Makes Big US Gains

John Davis

AWEA logoA new American Wind Energy Association report shows that in 2006, more than 2,400 megawatts of new power generation was installed in the U.S.. According to an association news release, that represents a $4 billion investment.

Texas leads the way with nearly 2,800 MW of wind energy production in the state. California is in second place with Iowa, Minnesota, and Washington state rounding out the top five:

“These wind power rankings tell the story of a vibrant industry that is growing fast, competing hard, gaining market share, and all the while powering a cleaner, stronger America,” said AWEA executive director Randall Swisher.

The AWEA report includes wind energy production by Congressional district. Association officials also point out a long-term extension of the renewable energy production tax credit is vital to continue the growth.

Wind

Eagles Making Philly Windy City

John Davis

The Philadelphia Eagles color is green, and officials with the organization also want to make it a way of life. According to a press release on the team’s web site, owner Christina Lurie says employees living in the Philadelphia area and New Jersey will be reimbursed for buying wind energy. The announcement came during the NFL’s Business Summit being held in Philadelphia:

“As representatives of the 32 NFL teams convene here in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Eagles will have the opportunity to share its best practices that can make a difference to our planet and to the future of our children,” Lurie said. “We hope to serve as an example for NFL teams and the corporate sector.”

The team estimates that if each employee purchased 300 KW of wind energy, that would equal planting 268 trees every year or not driving 3,600 miles.

It’s part of the Eagles’ Go Green program started in 2003.

Wind

Biodiesel Beats Lamborghini

John Davis

Impala on Pimp My Ride
Recently, I told you about an upcoming episode of MTV’s “Pimp My Ride” where a 1965 Chevy Impala is souped up with a biodiesel engine and blows away a Lamborghini in the quarter mile.

Now, I’ve had a chance to talk to the man behind that Impala, Johnathan Goodwin, co-partner of SAE Energy… a company that specializes in converting gas-guzzlers into lean, green, fuel-efficient biodiesel burners.

When Goodwin met with the producers of Pimp My Ride, they didn’t think the conversion could be done. “I ensured them that I didn’t have any problems whatsoever, and they were kind of taken aback.”

More of a shock would come when Goodwin’s converted 850 horsepower hot rod would face off with a Lamborghini in a quarter-mile race. “Actually, we had to kind of let off the throttle half track, and wait for (the Lamborghini) to catch up so it wouldn’t look bad for TV,” says Goodwin.

And the surprises would continue with how clean the Impala ran. Goodwin says, “at this kind of horsepower level, you’d expect a lot of black smoke out of a diesel engine, but it was very clean. The only black smoke was from the tires.”
Flex-fuel Hummer
Goodwin builds more than just classic muscle cars. He’s also converted a Hummer (pictured above) to run on biodiesel, ethanol, propane, or hydrogen. He’s even working on converting a Jeep for The Terminator himself, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The MTV Pimp My Ride special featuring the biodiesel Impala-Lamborghini will air on Earth Day, April 22nd.

Listen to the entire Johnathan Goodwin interview here: Listen to MP3 File

Biodiesel, Miscellaneous