Quick Brief Delves Into Bio-Industry Sustainability

Joanna Schroeder

How do we make the biofuels and bioproduct industry sustainable? This question is answered in the lastest “quick brief” published by Advanced Biofuels USA. According to the paper, the key is the development of low cost, decentralized biomass to biofuel production systems that can economically increase the travel distance of biomass. It is also important to make biomass available year round. Subsequently the industry could become a seamless system ready to meet market supply and demand and bioenergy producers would no longer have to rely on single crops grown close to home.

The quick brief was authored by Robert Kozak and in the paper he describes the sustainable system as able to “efficiently convert harvested field crops, slash timber, and agricultural residues at their point of production into biofuel and bioproduct precursors [oils or sugars] with sufficient value so they may be economically transported in excess of 500 miles.”

Upon completion of the journey, the paper continues, the biomass arrives at a large-scale biorefinery designed to produce bioproducts from multiple sources of biomass. In many cases, the biorefinery would be co-located with existing petroleum refineries.

Joanne Ivancic, Executive Director of Advanced Biofuels USA noted, “This paper makes clear the importance of committing to decentralized/centralized research in the 2012 Farm Bill. Turning these innovative ideas into realities will allow agricultural communities to remain viable and will bring badly needed jobs to depressed industrial areas. A commitment to this exciting future makes it clear that the Farm Bill benefits all Americans; not only farmers and farming communities.”

advanced biofuels, biofuels, biomass, biomaterials

Record Attendance at Ethanol Safety Seminar

Cindy Zimmerman

Nearly 160 emergency personnel, first responders, hazmat teams, safety managers, and local emergency planning committee members attended an ethanol safety seminar in Forsyth, Georgia this week.

The free seminar was co-hosted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), Norfolk Southern Corp., and Motiva Enterprises to provide in-depth information on proper training techniques for responding to ethanol-related emergencies. Several more are planned in various locations during 2012.

The goal of these safety seminars is to provide full ethanol emergency response training experience that can be put to use immediately in the field as well as passed along to other first response teams. A majority of this training is based on the Complete Training Guide to Ethanol Emergency Response, a training package created by the Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition (EERC) that has been distributed throughout the United States and to several countries worldwide. The seminars include an introduction to ethanol and ethanol blended fuels, chemical and physical characteristics of ethanol and hydrocarbon fuels, transportation of ethanol blended fuels, storage and dispensing locations, firefighting foam principles and ethanol, ethanol blended fuel emergencies, and incidents at tank farm and bulk storage locations.

“Almost 14 billion gallons of ethanol are produced at 209 biofineries spread across 29 states,” said Kristy Moore, RFA VP of Technical Services. “As the product is increasing in use and transportation throughout the states, first responders need to be familiar with the fuel and how to effectively respond to an ethanol related incident. This program details the response information that is essential to these emergency situations.”

The RFA and Norfolk Southern Corp. will be hosting Ethanol Safety Seminars throughout 2012 in the following locations: Chattanooga, TN on April 18th, also co-sponsored with Tate & Lyle; Spartanburg, SC on May 7th; Raleigh, NC on July 11th; Decatur, IL on August 22nd, also co-sponsored with CN Railway and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM); and Pittsburgh, PA in late summer. RFA has additionally partnered with Canadian National (CN) Railway for several Ethanol Safety seminars in 2012.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, safety

Virent and Virdia Make Jet Fuel From Trees

Cindy Zimmerman

Under a joint energy project, Virent and Virdia (formerly HCL CleanTech) this week announced the successful conversion of cellulosic pine tree sugars to drop-in hydrocarbon fuels.

The development is part of the BIRD Energy project, a joint program started in January 2011 and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Israeli Ministry of National Infrastructure and the BIRD Foundation.

According to the companies, Virent used Virdia’s biomass-derived sugars to produce gasoline and jet fuel, the latter being sent to the U.S Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for analysis where it passed rigorous testing. “This fuel passed the most stringent specification tests we could throw at it (such as thermal stability) under some conditions where conventional jet fuels would fail,” said Tim Edwards of the Fuels Branch of the AFRL said, adding that the fuel is “worth further evaluation.”

Virdia’s CASE™ (Cold Acid Solvent Extraction) process uses low temperature, low pressure hydrolysis coupled with its closed loops of acid recovery and solvent extraction to produce high purity fractions of sugars and lignin. Virent’s BioForming platform utilizes a combination of catalytic processes to convert water-soluble oxygenated hydrocarbons derived from biomass to non-oxygenated hydrocarbons that can be used as drop-in compounds in gasoline, jet fuel and diesel fuel. Virent’s BioForming platform catalysts and reactor systems are similar to those found in today’s petroleum oil refineries and petrochemical complexes.

advanced biofuels, aviation biofuels, biojet fuel, biomass

Ethanol Supporters Flock to DC for Biofuels Fly-in

Cindy Zimmerman

More than 60 grassroots members of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) are on Capitol Hill this week for the “Biofuels Beltway March” annual fly-in.

The ethanol advocates were greeted on Tuesday by U.S. Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and John Thune (R-SD) and they have nearly 200 meetings scheduled with Congressional representatives and staff over the course of two days to share ethanol information to lawmakers representing 47 states. The group’s priorities include highlighting the effectiveness of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), emphasizing how ethanol helps lower prices at the pump, the safety and affordability of E15 ethanol blends, and other issues such as oil subsidies and the clean octane value of ethanol.

“With gasoline prices and energy issues taking center stage in the national discussion recently, I can’t think of a better time our grassroots members to make the case for how ethanol is part of the solution to moderating pump prices and reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” said Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President of ACE.

Fly-in participants come from 13 different states, and represent a diverse group of ethanol plants and other companies with an interest in agriculture and the biofuels industry.

For members who are not able to be a part of the DC fly-in, ACE has for the second year organized a “Virtual Fly-In,” which makes it possible for ethanol supporters to send email messages to Members of Congress to coincide with the group’s face-to-face meeting. The messages urge Congress to continue to keep the Renewable Fuels Standard intact. Messages may be sent this week through ACE’s Legislative Action Center at www.capwiz.com/ethanol.

ACE, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Amyris Names New CFO

Joanna Schroeder

Steven R. Mills has been named as Amyris’s new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and will take over the reigns on May 2, 2012. He is replacing Jeryl L. Hillman who announced last August that he would be leaving the company. “Amyris is leading the way in an array of renewable chemicals and fuels. I’m looking forward to joining Amyris’s extraordinary team at a time when the Company is bringing its technology to full-scale production and commercialization,” said Mills.

Mills has a long career in the agricultural industry where he joined ADM in 1979 and served in several roles for the company. While there, he became the CFO in 2008 and in his most recent role Mills was the Senior Executive Vice President, Performance and Growth where he focused on business development.

“Steve’s three decade career at ADM brings the set of skills we need as we enter a new growth stage for our Company,” said John Melo, President & Chief Executive Officer of Amyris. “As we near completion of our first purpose-designed, industrial-scale renewable hydrocarbon plant, Steve’s tested financial and strategy expertise will help ensure Amyris remains on a strong path to meet our customer and investors expectations.”

advanced biofuels, Company Announcement

Ethanol Advocates Unite for RFS

Cindy Zimmerman

Eight ethanol-advocating organizations joined together to champion the success of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) in a letter to Congressional leaders this week.

The letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker John Boehner(R-OH) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) highlighted “ethanol’s proven ability to lower gas prices and reduce this country’s dependence upon foreign oil” and pointed out that any changes to the RFS “could dampen investment in the development of next generation biofuels.”

The groups signing the letter were the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC), Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the Energy Future Coalition, Growth Energy, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), and the 25×25 Alliance.

“Today, ethanol is approximately $1 cheaper than gasoline and blending ethanol into U.S. gasoline saves consumers at the pump,” the letter noted. “Thanks in part to the RFS, U.S. oil imports fell below 50 percent in 2010 for the first time since 1997, and, oil imports stand at just 45 percent today. Ethanol accounts for 81 percent of all new domestic fuel production since 2005.”

Ethanol advocates are also meeting with Congressional representatives this week on Capitol Hill to talk about the importance of renewable, domestic fuels. “This week, I am with a number of other corn growers and leaders in the biofuels industry in Washington to drive home the message that the ethanol industry is an important part of the rural economy and that it plays an important role in moving our nation’s energy independence forward,” said NCGA President Garry Niemeyer, a corn grower from Illinois. “The Renewable Fuel Standard is an important tool to help decrease our reliance on foreign oil by supporting jobs here at home.”

More than 60 grassroots members of the American Coalition for Ethanol are in Washington this week for the annual “Biofuels Beltway March.”

ACE, advanced biofuels, AEC, BIO, biofuels, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Growth Energy, NCGA, RFA

Dates for 2012 Process Optimization Seminar Announced

Joanna Schroeder

It may seem like only yesterday the last Process Optimization Seminar took place but the next seminar is right around the corner. You do not want to miss out; every past seminar has been sold out well before the deadline. This year’s conference will be taking place on July 17-18, 2012 at the Hilton President Kansas City.  The seminar is targeted for operators of ethanol plants and is focused on helping a plant achieve its highest level of profitability from its fermentation process.

The seminar features four separate areas of education:

  • Antimicrobials – This session will focus on solutions for and preventing infection and is sponsored by Phibro Ethanol Performance Group.
  • Water Treatment – This session will build on the basic of proper water treatment and is sponsored by Fremont Industries.
  • Yeast Management – This session will address the specific needs of the bioethanol producer in terms of fermentation performance and is sponsored by Fermentis.
  • Enzyme Management – This session will address optimization needs from an enzyme perspective in bioethanol processing facilities and is sponsored by Novozymes.

Attendees will be broken into groups and during the two-day seminar will attend each in-depth session. The knowledge gained by the operator will be able to be put to immediate use in the plant.

The Process Optimization Seminar is not just all about hard work and invaluable information, it is also about fun. All attendees will also have the opportunity to attend a Kansas City Royals versus Seattle Mariners game on July 17th and will watch the game in a suite at Kauffman Stadium. So don’t miss out! Early registration is now open for the investment of $325 and ends on July 6th. Registration after July 6th is $375 based on availability. You can register at  www.processoptimizationseminar.com.

biofuels, Education, Ethanol

Death Tax Unwelcome

Chuck Zimmerman

Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What do you think is a fair “death tax” rate?” It is no surprise that common sense and fair thinking respondents said Zero – 66%; 35% over $5 million – 0% under (current) – 21%; Other – 8 % and 55% over $1 million – 0% under (pre 2001) – 5%. This really is one of the most unfair taxes we’ve got and in my opinion there should not be any tax on a person’s estate after death. What are your thoughts?

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, “Should ABC News be Liable for Job Losses due to Lean Beef Trimmings Story?” This is one of the worst examples of supposed “news” reporting I’ve seen lately. It shows how a desperate for ratings news network will not just distort facts but publish erroneous information. They have no credibility. However, a gullible public has embraced their misinformation. The result? Job layoffs for people with families to feed who were making a very safe and nutritious product. That’s twisted. Do you think ABC News should be held liable? Should the media be held accountable for the financial impact inaccurate news stories have on jobs and businesses? Another likely outcome of this debacle will be higher beef prices. Nice, huh?

If for some reason you don’t know what this is all about, here’s a link to the ABC News story and here’s where you can get the truth – BeefisBeef.com.

ZimmPoll is sponsored by Rhea+Kaiser, a full-service advertising/public relations agency.

ZimmPoll

Senators Urged to Extend Advanced Ethanol Initiatives

Cindy Zimmerman

Advanced ethanol producers are urging a Senate subcommittee to extend key cellulosic ethanol tax provisions set to expire at the end of 2012.

RFA AECWith the Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure holding a hearing this week on expired and expiring energy tax incentives, the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) sent a letter to Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Ranking Member John Cornyn (R-TX) outlining the importance of two critical tax incentives.

“The Cellulosic Biofuels Producer Tax Credit (PTC) and the Special Depreciation Allowance for Cellulosic Biofuel Plant Property are vital to the ongoing development of the domestic advanced ethanol industry,” wrote Brooke Coleman, Executive Director of the AEC. “With gas prices soaring, it is increasingly important to diversify U.S. motor fuel markets with viable and competitive alternatives to gasoline, such as advanced ethanol, that will offer American consumers greater choice at the pump.”

Coleman notes that several billion dollars have already been invested in the development of advanced biofuels “with the expectation that Congress will stay the course with regard to its commitment to the industry” and that “allowing the PTC and accelerated depreciation allowance to expire runs counter to the goals set forth by Congress to foster the development of advanced biofuels under the Renewable Fuels Standard.”

advanced biofuels, AEC, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Low Carbon Fuel Standard Could Double Gas Prices

Cindy Zimmerman

A new study released today by the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) indicates that a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states could result in doubling gasoline prices and other negative economic impacts.

The study, “Analysis of the Economic Impact of a Regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard on Northeast/Mid-Atlantic States,” estimates that an LCFS over ten years would result in the loss of 147,000 jobs, decrease disposable income by $28.8 billion, and result in a combined negative economic impact of $306 billion.

Eleven Northeast and Mid-Atlantic (NE/MA) states have been evaluating the implementation of a LCFS through an initiative coordinated by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), which released a final report in August of last year – an analysis that CEA believes was “lacking in depth, methodology and analysis, and failed to account for the region’s energy needs.”

CEA Executive Vice President Michael Whatley said their study found that “NESCAUM relied on flawed assumptions about the market’s ability to secure an adequate supply of biofuels, the infrastructure needed to support that demand, and the projected replacement of existing vehicles. These findings further support an analysis conducted by IHS-CERA in October 2011 that found NESCAUM’s economic analysis to be deeply flawed and riddled with unrealistic assumptions regarding the availability and price of advanced biofuels, electric and natural gas powered vehicles during the timeframe of the potential LCFS mandate.”

Listen to or download comments from Whatley during a press conference this morning: CEA's Michael Whatley
Read the study here.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Electricity, Energy, Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Oil