2011 Florida Energy Summit Dates Set

Joanna Schroeder

The 2011 Florida Energy Summit has been moved to October 26-28 in Orlando, Florida. The official announcement came today from the Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam who made the announcement during a visit to the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa where he learned about the research and development of energy technologies to advanced the production of hydrogen, fuel cell, solar energy and biomass.

“The Florida Energy Summit will advance the expansion of the production of renewable energy in Florida by bringing together leaders in energy development, agriculture production, government, academic research, technology and finance,” said Commissioner Putnam. “By taking a more comprehensive look at prospective energy resources, we will gain a better understanding of Florida’s energy potential to not only capture, but also capitalize on the rich resources available.”

The Florida Energy Summit replaces the Farm to Fuel Summit, and will be hosted by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS). The change in focus came from the 2011 Legislative Session where they transferred the responsibilities of the Florida Energy and Climate Commission to DACS and thus creating the Department’s Office of Energy. The new summit will broaden the energy focus from “biofuels” to all forms of renewable energy.

Information about the Florida Energy Summit can be found at www.floridaenergysummit.com.

biofuels, conferences, Energy, Hydrogen, Solar

JBI Partners to Produce Waste Into Fuel

Joanna Schroeder

Thorold, Ontario – based JBI has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Rock-Tenn Company to covert mill by-product waste into fuel. The process will feature JBI’s Plastic2Oil technology. As part of the agreement, JBI has an exclusive 10 year license with a renewal option to build and operate Plastic2Oil processors at RockTenn’s facilities. The plan is to convert waste plastic at paper mills and material recovery facilities to biofuels. In addition, JBI will mine and process plastic from RockTenn’s plastic-filled monofill sites.

RockTenn has been producing thousands of tons per day. For many years, the company has been storing the plastic in company-owned plastic-only landfills. Now, rather than disposing of the plastics, JBI will mine it for biofuels.

“We are honored that RockTenn has chosen JBI to be its long-term partner in this venture and believe this provides further validation that we have a viable commercial process to handle not only the critical issue of waste by-product but also rising energy costs,” said JBI’s Founder & CEO John Bordynuik. “RockTenn has the industrial relationship and feedstock to support hundreds of Plastic2Oil™ processors. We anticipate a mutually beneficial relationship for both parties and intend to expand as quickly as possible.

Bordynuik continued, “RockTenn currently has sites that can support clusters of processors. In preparation for this agreement, we have designed our processors to be modular ’plug and play’ to allow rapid deployment across RockTenn’s locations.”

biofuels, Cellulosic, Waste-to-Energy

Continuous Algae Harvesting Network Developed

Joanna Schroeder

OriginOil has announced that it has developed a real-time control network to supervise continuous algae harvesting operations aimed for large scale algae production sites. The network, code named “Green Stick,” will be installed at Australian algae producer MDB Energy’s power plant test site. In this configuration, the system will interface with MBD’s own growth control system and integrate its operations with the Single Step Extraction and downstream concentration and separation processes.

“Anyone harvesting algae at large scale has to deal with literally hundreds of variables in real time,” said Paul Reep, OriginOil’s Senior VP of Technology. “That’s why we built this dynamic system that can adjust harvest settings on the fly.”

The company says that there are hundreds of interactions that are critical to automate and scale large production operations including algae growth, detwatering, flocculation, cell lysing and oil recovery and have been primarily done manually. Their technology automates the entire process. The system is managed by a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) that connects the biology and engineering with high throughput process control.

OriginOil recently filed for a patent of the new control technology; this is its 16th patent application. Inventors include Reep and Gavin Grey, senior director of engineering.

algae, biofuels

GE to Provide 228 Wind Turbines

Joanna Schroeder

General Electric Co. (GE) has secured an order for 228 wind turbines to be used for two different wind projects. The order came from Wind Capital Group and along with supplying the turbines, GE will also aid in operations and maintenance for the projects in Oklahoma and Kansas. As part of the agreement, GE will supply 94 of its 1.6-100 wind turbines for the Oklahoma project and 134 of its 1.5-82.5 wind turbines for the Kansas project.

The wind turbines are scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2012 and when the projects are complete, will provide more than 350 megawatts of power. This will boost Wind Capital’s U.S. wind power footprint to more than half a gigawatt. According to GE, the 1.6-100 wind turbine to be used in the Oklahoma project is one of its most advanced. It features a 100-meter rotor diameter and offers a 47 percent increase in swept area, resulting in an 18 percent increase in annual energy production compared with previous models.

Electricity, Energy, Wind

“Creating a Path for Cellulose” Paper Released

Joanna Schroeder

A new white paper outlining the future of cellulosic ethanol, “Creating a Path for Cellulose,” has been released by Ethanol Across America. The paper was authored by Wes Bolsen, chief marketing officer and vice president of government affairs for Cosaka, Inc. The goal of the paper is to educate the industry and the public on second-generation ethanol and to correct misconceptions about the fuel.

“Often times what is missing from the conversation about ethanol, particularly non-grain based cellulosic ethanol, are the facts; our white paper sets the record straight,” said Doug Durante, Executive Director of the Clean Fuels Foundation and Director of the Ethanol Across America Campaign. “This paper in particular lays out the reasons why the U.S. must stay the course and reap the benefits of producing homegrown biofuels.”

The white paper outlines the benefits and role the fuel could play, especially when meeting the requirements of the Renewable Fuel Standard. In addition, the paper discusses the importance of building upon grain based ethanol and how the advances made by first generation ethanol plants have built the blocks for future fuels. Finally, it presents a scientific perspective behind ethanol on a molecular level and outlines the benefits the fuel can bring to the country.

“Cellulosic ethanol technology is ready today and is being deployed at commercial scale,” said Bolsen. “Throughout the paper, we detail why ethanol is scientifically the best fuel coming from biomass, the importance it holds for the future of the United States’ energy mix, and the predictable and enduring government support needed to commercialize.”

You can download a free copy of Creating a Path for Cellulose here.

biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Research

Biodiesel Industry Update

Joanna Schroeder

There are some changes taking place in the biodiesel industry. Enervation Advisors has purchased its third biodiesel plant, this one located in Adrian, Michigan. The company has purchased the closed NextDiesel plant and its first step is to update the technology and put the plant back online. When this occurs, the plant will operate as LVA Adrian Biofuel LLC. This is the third distressed biodiesel plant Enervation Advisors have purchased – the other two are located in Iowa.

Down south, Vanguard Synfuels, LLC held a grand opening of its newly refurbished 15 million gallons per year biodiesel plant today. The plant is located in Pollack, Louisiana and was founded by a local group of foresters and loggers who turned a vacant ammonia plant into a biodiesel biorefinery. The plant became idle in 2007 due to high soy oil feedstock prices but the company has updated its technology to enable the plant to produce biodiesel from various feedstocks including used cooking oil and waste fats from poultry, fish and farm animals.

In other positive news for biodiesel, government trucks in Athens, Georgia are running on biodiesel again. Many Athens-Clarke County vehicles operated on biodiesel until 2007 when their distributor stopped selling biodiesel. This year, the county began purchasing the renewable fuel from a new supplier, Down to Earth Energy, based in Monroe. Nearly 200 county-owned tractors, trucks, bulldozers and other heavy equipment use about 20,000 gallons a month of B5 which is produced locally form cooking oil pine trees and algae.

Biodiesel, biofuels

The Search For Used Cooking Oil

Joanna Schroeder

Used cooking oil is in high demand. Cream City Grecycling, a division of Fushion Renewables, is in search of used cooking grease from local Milwaukee, Wisconsin restaurants. After collecting the used cooking oil, the company will then turn it into biodiesel. The company has a goal of collecting at least 30,000 gallons a month by the end of the year and 50,000 gallons per month by the end of 2012.

“I think sustainability and this local flavor is something that Milwaukee really gets,” said Robert Stensberg, a quality control manager for Fusion Renewables in an article in the Journal-Sentinel.

Since launching in July, the company is offering 50 cents to $1.50 for a gallon of used grease depending on the purity. They also offer free collection containers and pick up. The pay their collectors about $2 per gallon and estimate that the recycling and refining process costs around $1.30. Biodiesel is selling on the market for around $3.50 a gallon right now. All in all, they estimate that after the used grease is converted in biodiesel, they earn about 70 cents after the $1 per gallon federal tax credit. The company currently has 5 employees and hopes to expand soon.

“We have a feeling this is going to be really successful here. We can capture a lot of market share, and we’re doing a good thing for the city,” said Jake Turetsky, a company consultant. “We’re paying restaurants for it and turning it into a renewable fuel that’s used right here in Milwaukee.”

Biodiesel, biofuels

Improving Safety at Biorefineries

Joanna Schroeder

Many of us have had the opportunity to visit an ethanol or biodiesel plant and have experienced first hand the safety measures a plant has in place to keep its workers, and visitors safe. Yet despite precautions, accidents can still happen. Unfortunately for the biofuels industry, these rare occurrences tend to get major media play while the hundreds of days a plant goes without an accident is never reported.

Accidents can happen anytime, anywhere in any type of refinery – whether it be oil, natural gas, ethanol or biodiesel. So it is always good to keep safety top of mind. Therefore, energy.agwired.com is going to launch a four-part series on Biorefinery Plant Safety.  The series will focus on the areas where plants should be especially aware. Part One will focus on eliminating slips, grips and falls. Part Two will focus on interactions with chemicals. Part Three will focus on equipment, while Part Four will focus on everything else.

To help kick off the series, this week’s ZimmPoll question, sponsored by RHEA + KAISER asks the question, “What do you think the biggest safety issue is at a biorefinery?” While the series will explore safety, it will also feature real-world examples of accidents or measures biofuel plants have taken that have prevented accidents. So we’d like to hear from you. If you are willing to share your experience with DomesticFuel readers, please email your story to DomesticFuelEditor@hotmail.com.

I’ll even throw in a little incentive – one person who contacts me with a story will get a chance to win one of the books I’ve reviewed on this site, your choice.

biofuels, Ethanol, safety

Technology Generates Electricity on Flexible Plastic

Joanna Schroeder

New Energy Technologies has announced they have successfully generated electricity on flexible plastic using their ‘spray-on’ coating methods. Last year, the company engaged in a successful public demonstration of its SolarWindow application on glass. When applied, electricity is generated from the glass, but doesn’t block the sun – you can see still the view outside your window. Since this breakthrough, the company has been working on applications beyond glass.

“Today’s breakthrough supports a brand new commercial application for our core SolarWindow™ technology and is the direct result of numerous patent-pending methods, materials, and processes we have worked hard to invent and develop,” said Mr. John A. Conklin, President and CEO of New Energy Technologies, Inc.

There is optimism from the scientific community that commercially developed electricity-generating flexible plastic could be deployed as tinted window film, which remains see-through while generating electrical power. The achievements from New Energy researchers were accomplished by spraying the electricity-generating coatings onto flexible, lightweight lab-scale plastic (polyethylene terephthalate or “PET”) at room temperature and at low pressure. The company believes this product will lower manufacturing costs and is now moving forward with plans for commercial development.

Electricity, Energy, Solar

Protec Fuel Celebrates E85 in Little Rock

Cindy Zimmerman

A promotion offering 85% ethanol fuel for 85 cents a gallon will celebrate the grand opening of five new E85 pumps in the Little Rock, Arkansas area next week.

Florida-based Protec Fuel supplies the fuel and conducted installation of Coulson Oil‘s E85 pumps which are already open to the public. The big celebration will be held on August 10 at the Shell SuperStop in Little Rock, starting at 10:00 am. The event will feature the $.85 fuel promo for flex-fuel vehicles and speakers will include Lt. Governor Mark A. Darr, Energy Office Director Scott Hamilton, and company representatives.

More information about the event is available on-line from Coulson and Protec Fuel.

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Promotion