NEC 2027

Cellulosic Ethanol Still Needs to Get Cheaper

Cindy Zimmerman

A cost comparison study between corn based and cellulosic ethanol has found that corn is still the cheapest way to make the alternative fuel.

The study, published in the international journal Biofuels, Bioproducts & Biorefining, concludes that “the production of ethanol from lignocellulose-rich materials such as wood residues, waste paper, used cardboard and straw cannot yet be achieved at the same efficiency and cost as from corn starch” and that it will be 2020 at the earliest before it can become competitive. The study did identify many opportunities for reducing costs and improving income within the lignocellulose-to-ethanol process, and provides insight into the priority areas that must be addressed in coming years.

Reasons for the higher cost of cellulosic ethanol include that the cost of building large scale ethanol-producing facilities will likely be higher for second generation ethanol compared to first generation technologies due to the need for significant and costly pre-treatment, according to the study’s lead author Jamie Stephen, who works in the Department of Wood Science at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

“Researchers and companies are going to have to concentrate on reducing the cost of pretreatment and increasing the output of the digester in order to reduce the costs of the lignocellulose-to-ethanol process,” says Stephen. Another reason costs are higher is that lignocellulose is made of multiple kinds of sugar, while corn starch consists of pure glucose. Corn starch can be reduced to glucose with low-cost amylase enzymes, while pre-treated lignocellulose requires a cocktail of cellulase enzymes. Providing these enzymes is one of the major costs of the whole process, but you currently need 12 times more cellulase than amylase protein to generate the same amount of ethanol from woody biomass.

Finally, while the input to sugarcane- and corn starch-based systems is fairly constant, the feedstocks that go into lignocellulose systems are much more variable. Different species of tree produce wood that has different properties, and waste paper and agricultural wastes will have many different types of material in them. To get maximum efficiency, each type of biomass needs to be processed under different conditions, which introduces another challenge for anyone wanting to make ethanol from these materials.

Read the study here.

advanced biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

First Commercial Flight Made on Advanced Biofuel

Cindy Zimmerman

The friendly skies of United Airlines are now friendlier for the environment as subsidiary Continental flew the first commercial flight on advanced biofuel yesterday.

“United is taking a significant step forward to advance the use of environmentally responsible and cost-efficient alternative fuels,” said Pete McDonald, United’s executive vice president and chief operations officer. “Sustainable biofuels, produced on a large scale at an economically viable price, can one day play a meaningful role in powering everyone’s trip on an airline.”

A Boeing 737-800 made the historic flight from Houston to Chicago Monday on an algae-derived renewable jet fuel made by Solazyme. The plane was fueled with 40 percent Solajet™ and 60 percent petroleum-derived jet fuel. United also signed a letter of intent with Solazyme to purchase up to 20 million gallons per year of renewable jet fuel starting in 2014.

“Looking at United, a company that understands the sustainability of tomorrow means environmental responsibility today, we see a true pioneer in the future of flight,” said Jonathan Wolfson, Solazyme’s CEO. “Solazyme is deeply committed to commercializing our renewable oil production technology, and we’re excited to be partnering with United on the first U.S. commercial biofuel flight.”

Solajet is made using microbial algae that grow in fermenters by feeding on sugars from plants. According to United, the biofuel meets the ASTM International specification for bio-derived aviation fuels, approved in July 2011 and referred to as “Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids” (HEFA) fuel. “HEFA fuels underwent rigorous testing and review by engine and airframe manufacturers, the U.S. military, the FAA and airlines. Solajet(TM), powering this United flight, met the certification requirements established by the ASTM and approved by the FAA.”

Read more from United.

advanced biofuels, algae, biojet fuel, Ethanol

Biodiesel Industry Pleased with Supreme Court Decision

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a case brought by petroleum interests against the Environmental Protection Agency over the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2).

The petition made by the National Petrochemical Refiners Association (NPRA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) was rejected by the District Court of Appeals in December 2010. The petition filed in March 2010 claims that the RFS2 “violated the statutory requirements setting separate biomass-based diesel volume requirements for 2009 and 2010, that it was inappropriately retroactive without proper lead time and compliance provisions.”

National Biodiesel Board vice president of federal affairs Anne Steckel says they are happy with the court decision.

“The RFS program is working just as Congress intended. It’s creating jobs across the country. It’s breaking our addiction to oil. It’s helping clean our air, and it’s reducing greenhouse gases,” said Steckel. “This year alone, the biodiesel industry is on pace to produce at least 800 million gallons of advanced biofuel while supporting more than 31,000 jobs. We’re pleased to see the Supreme Court put an end to this litigation as we continue building a strong U.S. biodiesel industry.”

Ethanol industry group Growth Energy was also pleased with the decision which mainly impacts biodiesel producers as they had intervened in the court case to defend the mandated volumes and make sure that the volumetric levels were retroactive as of Jan 2010. “The intent of Congress was clear when it passed the Energy Independence and Security Act – domestically-produced biofuels do strengthen our national defense and help support our economy. We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision as the right decision,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Growth Energy, NBB

Europe Charges US With Unfair Ethanol Imports

Cindy Zimmerman

The association which represents European ethanol producers is requesting that the European Commission take action “against unfair imports of fuel ethanol from the United States.”

ePure claims that U.S. ethanol policy has encouraged production to the point that it can be sold at much lower prices on the world market. “Massive and sudden imports of US ethanol, combined with unfairly low prices over the last few years, have seriously damaged the economic situation of European producers” said ePure Secretary-General Rob Vierhout. “The unfair competition of US imports is simply depriving the EU industry from the benefit of this positive evolution on its own domestic market.”

According to the Renewable Fuels Association, ePure is specifically alleging that international ethanol traders were exporting E90 (90 percent ethanol blends) to Europe to take advantage of the European Union’s (EU) lower tariff on such blends as well as the $0.45 per gallon tax credit (VEETC) for ethanol blending in the U.S.

The RFA disputes the allegations. “Moreover, the U.S. ethanol tax incentive that lies at the root of the European allegations will expire at the end of 2011, rendering the tax incentive portion of the alleged trading impossible in the future. Importantly, domestic ethanol producers are not eligible for the tax incentive referenced by the Europeans. That tax incentive is specifically made available to gasoline blenders, marketers, and other end users. Therefore, U.S ethanol producers cannot nor should not be the focus of any potential European action.” The bigger issue, notes RFA, is the EU tariff schedule that encourages the import of E90 blends by classifying them at a lower tariff rate than other ethanol imports.

RFA says U.S. ethanol “remains the lowest cost, most cost effective ethanol in the market today. This fact has led to a surge in U.S. ethanol exports to Brazil, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.”

The U.S. has become a net exporter of ethanol since the beginning of 2009 and exports continue to increase at a rapid pace. The latest reported figures for August from the Energy Information Administration showed 456,000 gallons of imports versus export demand of 52.3 million gallons. Through August, net exports are running at about 15.2 million barrels and are on pace to be double last year.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, International, RFA

GROWMARK Watches Energy Markets

Cindy Zimmerman

One of the benefits of membership in the GROWMARK cooperative system is daily information about the energy markets and recommendations on contracting fuel at different times of the year.

Harry Cooney is manager of customer risk management for GROWMARK Energy and he is constantly keeping an eye on the energy complex, especially gasoline, propane and diesel fuel. He says the primary influences on the energy market lately have been the situation in Europe, the value of the dollar and the stock market.

growmark“In the past six months to a year, there’s been a strong connection between the stock markets and the energy markets,” Cooney said. “When things look bad in Europe, then our stock market tends to fall off and when the stock market falls off the energy markets tend to fall off.” He says world events in the currency and stock markets and whether the economy is strengthening or weakening have more impact on energy markets than public policy decisions, like the blenders tax credit for ethanol and the Renewable Fuels Standard.

In the diesel market, Cooney says we are seeing strong demand and falling stocks. “Diesel stocks have fallen under the five year average for the first time in many months,” he said. “The economy is starting to come around so stocks are coming down and diesel demand is back well over the five year average after just bottoming in July.”

As propane users look ahead to contracting for 2012, Cooney says they are currently making recommendations for summer through winter of next year. “Given the somewhat tight stocks situation and the fact that crude oil tends to want to go up, it makes us want to be a buyer of propane,” he said.

Listen to my interview with Harry Cooney here: Harry Cooney Interview

Audio, Energy, Ethanol, GROWMARK, Propane

Nebraska Corn Completes Ethanol Co-Product Research Initiative

Cindy Zimmerman

A three-year initiative by Nebraska corn growers to fund research into feeding the ethanol co-product distillers grains to cattle has resulted in some new breakthroughs.

The initiative created a beef cattle advisory committee to work with University of Nebraska researchers to identify research projects that would benefit cattle producers and the Nebraska Corn Board then provided funding for the projects.

“We were very pleased with how everything came together, as it allowed the corn checkoff to fund key research and more quickly advance the understanding of feeding distillers grains to cattle,” said Kelly Brunkhorst, director of research for the Nebraska Corn Board. “While this initiative has ended, the Nebraska Corn Board continues to fund research and further expand our knowledge and understanding of feeding distillers grains to cattle. We believe distillers grains, which are produced by ethanol plants, give Nebraska cattle producers a tremendous advantage in the marketplace, so the more we know the better.”

Studies involved both feedlot cattle and forage cattle. Among the findings for feedlot cattle is the drying distillers grains increases production costs and greenhouse gas emissions and has a less positive an impact on cattle performance compared to using wet distillers grains. Modified distillers grains, meanwhile, is intermediate to wet and dry distillers grains. Understanding this has huge implications for Nebraska as Nebraska cattle producers can utilize wet distillers grains due to the proximity of corn, cattle and ethanol plants. “The research provided excellent results on comparing these types of distillers grains,” said Galen Erickson, a beef feedlot specialist with the University of Nebraska.

For cattle on forage, the study found that the energy value of distillers grains in forage based-diets was a major need by the industry. “Thanks to research conducted through the initiative, this is now known and is well established,” said Aaron Stalker, a beef range specialist with the university. The comparison was also made to other major energy supplements in forage diets, such as corn.

Brunkhorst said continued research is necessary as ethanol production technology continues to advance and new techniques like extracting corn oil for other uses results in changes to the make-up of the distillers grains.

corn, Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Ethanol Industry Left Out of Hearing Again

Cindy Zimmerman

The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment is holding a hearing today on “Conflicts and Unintended Consequences of Motor Fuel Standards” with a witness list that the ethanol industry claims is biased against biofuels.

“This is the second time this year that this subcommittee has held a hearing on ethanol without bothering to include a witness from the ethanol industry. A hearing whose witness list is comprised overwhelmingly of anti-ethanol critics can hardly be considered fair and balanced,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis.

Since ethanol advocates were excluded from presenting testimony, the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) wrote a letter to subcommittee Chair Andy Harris(R-MD) and Ranking Member Brad Miller (D-NC) to re-emphasize the advanced ethanol industry’s commitment to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and efforts to grow the market for ethanol blended fuels.

AEC Executive Director Brooke Coleman wrote that the industry is concerned that the testifying witnessesmay not be “interested in discussing the true value of the federal RFS.”

“First and foremost, the federal RFS is the single-most effective policy ever enacted to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. It is the cornerstone of a bioenergy economy that emerged in rural America in stark contrast to economic trends in which our country lost incredible wealth to China and OPEC,” Coleman said, noting that advanced ethanol industry is currently engaged in developing commercial advanced ethanol biorefineries in several states from California to Kansas to Mississippi.

“Weakening or walking away from the RFS would greatly impede efforts to develop the next generation of biofuel technologies and further embed America’s dependence on foreign oil,” wrote Coleman.

Read the letter here.

advanced biofuels, AEC, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Growth Energy, RFA

Positive View of New Free Trade Agreements

Chuck Zimmerman

Our latest ZimmPoll didn’t excite too many people judging by the response. Thanks to all of you who did take the poll though. We asked the question, “How do you view the new free trade agreements for U.S. ag?” The majority view the agreements as Positive at 54%, while 28% view them as Negative and 18% as Neutral. I guess we’ll see what happens. You know that time will tell!

Our new ZimmPoll is now live. We’re asking the question, “What is the cause of obesity?” It seems like we read about this “crisis” all the time. Is this something we should look to the government to fix? Or is this something that people need to take personal responsibility for? Do we blame someone else or look in the mirror? Are efforts like the USDA’s Choose My Plate having any affect on obesity? What do you think? Let us know and thank you.

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

ZimmPoll

Contract Awarded for Florida Waste to Fuel Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Vogelbusch USA has been awarded a contract to supply the ethanol distillation and dehydration equipment for the INEOS Bio waste-to-bioenergy facility near Vero Beach, Florida.

“We chose Vogelbusch’s distillation and dehydration systems for their proven capabilities, which are vital as we commercialize our advanced bioenergy technology,” said Mark Niederschulte, COO of INEOS Bio. “Our project is on schedule, and we look forward to working closely with Vogelbusch as we bring this advanced biorefinery online in 2012.”

The project will use INEOS Bio’s feedstock-flexible BioEnergy technology, which combines gasification and fermentation technologies, to turn different types of waste materials, including municipal solid waste, into advanced biofuels and renewable power. When completed, the BioEnergy Center will be the first commercial facility in the world to use this advanced technology with the capacity to manufacture eight million gallons of cellulosic ethanol and provide power for 1400 homes in the area.

The plant is scheduled to begin operations in the second quarter of 2012.

advanced biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Waste-to-Energy

College Seeks Bioenergy Program

Cindy Zimmerman

A community college in Florida is seeking a grant to start a bioenergy education program.

Highlands Today reports that South Florida Community College (SFCC) in Avon Park is working with biofuels companies in the region on the effort to create a program that will prepare individuals to enter the field of advanced biofuels production. The main industry partners are BP Biofuels’ Tampa-based Vercipia Biofuels, along with U.S. EnviroFuels and Southeast Renewable Fuels. All three companies are involved in the development of advanced ethanol production facilities in south Florida.

advanced biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News