Energy Efficiency Showcased in E-Power House

Joanna Schroeder

You hear about new energy efficient technologies for your home almost every day but how do you incorporate them into your own household? Well that question has been asked and answered in the new E-power House, a 15-foot-tall cutaway model home that debuts on May 1, 2011 at the Da Vinci Science Center located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Visitors will be able to look into all the rooms in the home to see both the energy efficient technologies as well as important energy-saving tips. Another cool feature – a bike parked in front of the home will light up side-by-side incandescent compact fluorescent and LED light bulbs when children (or adults) activate some pedal power.

“This partnership with the Da Vinci Science Center is a great way to teach visitors about the value of energy efficiency and give them information they can use in their daily lives,” said Thomas C. Stathos, director of Customer Programs and Services for PPL Electric Utilities. “Most of the center’s visitors are children, and this exhibit focuses on them. These youngsters can influence energy efficiency in their own homes right now. They are the tenants and homeowners of the future, so it’s important they become educated energy consumers.”

The E-power House, located on the center’s first floor, features a bathroom, bedroom, laundry room, kitchen, and living room. Features include rooftop solar panels, examples of attic insulation, a ceiling fan, and a computer.

“The E-power House is a first-rate addition to the Da Vinci Science Center experience,” said Troy A. Thrash, the center’s executive director and chief executive officer. “Electricity is vital to all we do, for our necessities and life’s conveniences. Using energy efficiently is vital as well and this exhibit shows visitors how they can be smart energy consumers.”

The E-power House is sponsored by PPL Electric Utilities. In addition, their parent PPL Corporation, has been a long-time supporter of the science center and sponsors the Watt’s Up” section of the center where the house is located.

Education, Electricity, Energy, Environment, Solar

New Propane Autogas Station Opens in Michigan

Joanna Schroeder

Rochester Hills, Michigan is the home of the newest propane autogas station. The site was commemorated during a ribbon-cutting ceremony today that featured the recently installed 1,000 gallon propane fuel tank by Ferrellgas. Also on hand for the event was Wright & Fillippis, who unveiled 12 new propane autogas powered Ford E-350 and F-450 cargo vans that featured the ROUSH CleanTech technology. Clean Energy Coalition rounded out the group.

A DOE Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant secured by the Clean Energy Coalition enabled the conversions of the cargo vans to propane and helped to pay for the propane fuel tank installation. “Clean Energy Coalition provides funding and resources for partnerships like ROUSH CleanTech and Wright & Filippis to flourish,” said Sean Reed, executive director for Clean Energy Coalition. “These partnerships are resulting in remarkable advances in alternative fueling options and making it difficult for any transportation company to say ‘no’ to cleaner, more cost-effective alternatives for their fleets.”

Wright & Filippis’ fleet vehicles travel more than 975,000 miles each year to serve patients needing home delivery of medical products. By switching to propane autogas, the company’s fleet is expected save more than $3,000 per vehicle, burn 48,000 fewer gallons of gasoline and potentially eliminate more than 930,000 pounds of carbon dioxide from its yearly carbon footprint.

“We can’t take chances when we are delivering products that are critical to people’s lives,” said A.J. Filippis, president of Wright & Filippis. “We have to make sure our vehicles are reliable, and we have that comfort level by utilizing propane autogas to power them.” He continued by noting that these companies are “putting into play opportunities for other local companies” to take advantage of the technologies.

Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing at ROUSH CleanTech added, “Propane autogas powered vehicles help reduce our dependence on foreign oil because 90 percent of U.S. propane supplies are domestic. We’re proud to develop new technologies that utilize alternative fuel sources to help fleet operators, such as Wright & Filippis, meet their goals of reducing both the operating costs and carbon footprint of their fleet.”

Propane

Avjet Biotech in Strategic Negotiations with BioJet

Joanna Schroeder

Avjet Biotech (ABI) is on the move again. Today they have announced negotiations are underway with BioJet International to form a strategic relationship. Avjet has developed small 10-15 million gallon per year refining systems and BioJet is an international supply chain integrator for biojet fuel and related co-products. The agreement gives BioJet the license to use Avjet’s patented RWR System to build aviation biofuel refineries from native feedstocks throughout the world.

“Our unique small distributive refining systems blueprint is perfectly matched to BioJet’s goal to increase international use of sustainable biofuel,” said Marty Oliver, president of ABI. “The refineries that BioJet will be able to place will help the aviation industry continue to find renewable sources of energy.”

Don Evans, chairman and CEO of ABI added, “The aviation industry continues to face increased regulations regarding emissions and demonstrated use of biofuel. BioJet’s use of the RWR System will increase the availability of aviation biofuel for commercial air carriers.”

Most recently, ABI completed a license agreement with Professor Roberts, who works in the biofuels program at NC State University. The partnership allows ABI to commercialize all patents and intellectual property related to Roberts’ work.

Mitch Hawkins, CEO of BioJet concluded, “We are committed to helping airlines increase their use of sustainable biofuel, and this technology will allow us to place refineries that will turn native feedstock into aviation biofuel. Avjet is one of the first companies to have the technology that allows for the creation of small, distributive refineries, and we are looking forward to implementing it at multiple locations world-wide.”

biofuels, biojet fuel, Company Announcement

Biofuels Researcher Receives Award

Cindy Zimmerman

A biofuels researcher at UC Davis has been selected for a national career award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

uc davisThe early career development award was given to Tina Jeoh, a UC Davis assistant professor of biological and agricultural engineering. The award is worth $407,573 over five years and will support Jeoh’s studies of how microbial enzymes break down plant cell walls to release sugars for conversion to biofuels and other products. Jeoh is hoping to help the commercial development of next generation biofuels by discovering how cellulase enzymes break down cellulose.

“In nature, microorganisms produce many different enzymes that cooperatively release the sugars,” Jeoh said. “Our goal is to identify the mechanisms of these enzymes, and to learn to consistently reproduce their natural actions in a controlled setting on an industrial scale.”

Jeoh’s team is developing molecular-scale atomic force microscopy methods to analyze cellulase-cellulose reactions as they occur. The researchers will incorporate their findings into models that will help predict reaction outcomes in commercial settings.

Read more from UC Davis news.

advanced biofuels, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, University

Canadian Farmers Release Biofuels Report

Cindy Zimmerman

ontarioThe Grain Farmers of Ontario have proclaimed that the food versus fuel debate should be over with the release of a new report that says farmers can serve both markets.

The study on “Effects of Biofuels and Bioproducts on the Environment, Crop and Food Prices and World Hunger” they say “should put an end to the ongoing debate of whether the grain we grow should be used for food or fuel. We can and should do both.”

As farm yields climb and investments are made in farm production in the developing world, feeding and fueling the world can even be done cost effectively. “My corn yields have increased by 35 percent since I started farming in 1975,” says Don Kenny who farms just outside of Ottawa and is the chair of Grain Farmers of Ontario. “I am confident that my land will continue to be productive and that new products and technologies will ensure my family supplies our local livestock market and the ethanol plant down the road for many years to come.”

The study found that global grain production has increased by 1.5% per year over the past 20 years, more than the 1.1% per year food demands are growing, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. “Quite frankly, it is a relief for us to learn that production of biofuels, like ethanol, here in Ontario makes such a positive contribution to our environment without any notable impact on overall food prices and the world’s ability to supply food,” says Barry Senft, CEO for Grain Farmers of Ontario.

Read the study here.

biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, food and fuel

The Changing Face of Biodiesel

Joanna Schroeder

There are few people who know the biodiesel industry like Brad Albin, vice president of manufacturing for REG. Albin has been in the industry for more than 20 years – before many of us even knew what biodiesel was. Albin was on hand for the briefing and tour of REG’s Newton, Iowa biodiesel plant by USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. Vilsack is the former governor of Iowa and in this role, played an important part in growing Iowa’s renewable fuel industry. However, Jackson is much newer to the industry and she was very animated and engaged throughout the events.

Since Albin has such a colorful history with biodiesel, I first asked him how the industry has evolved over the past 20 plus years.

“Over the last ten years I have seen the industry go from a few different feedstocks such as soybean oil to using 30 to 40 different feedstocks all the way from the used cooking oil that comes from McDonalds or Burger King all the way to inedible corn oil that is now being produced on the back-end of an ethanol plant,” said Albin. “So the amount of feedstocks we use are reducing the price, the quality is outstanding and the industry is going forward at a great pace.”

Listen to my full interview with Brad Albin: The Changing Face of Biodiesel

Albin said that the future of the biodiesel industry is taking lower cost feedstocks that are inedible and changing those into biodiesel versus using higher cost refined oils. REG believes they have conducted the largest feedstock study ever. The study looked at emerging feedstocks such as camelina oil, to future feedstocks such as jatropha and algae. He is excited for the potential of algae, which REG was able to convert into biodiesel in their feedstock study. He explained where you get a certain amount of oil per acre from soybean or canola, there is the potential to get 10,000 times that much oil per acre with algae.

Albin said that you could see EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson’s eyes opening up quite a bit she saw the possibilities for feedstocks to be converted to biodiesel. This is key because confidence in the biodiesel industry is essential as the EPA continues to raise the fuel goals each year to meet the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2).

I asked Albin what the next step is for REG and he said it is to continue the path. “To push the envelop. Use new feedstocks. We’re building plants and upgrading plants all across the United States. It’s just continuing that effort. We need the support from everyone because its all about energy security. We’ve got these great renewable products that are a huge competitive benefit for the United States of America and I think if everyone gets on the same bandwagon it’s just a great thing.”

Click here to see photos from the USDA/EPA REG biodiesel plant briefing and tour.

Audio, Biodiesel, REG

Ethanol Safety Class Heads to Texas

Joanna Schroeder

Two FREE Ethanol Safety Seminars are heading to Texas and targeted to first responders, hazmat teams, safety managers and local emergency planning committees. Hosted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the first seminar will be located in Houston, TX on May 2nd in partnership with the Houston-Galveston Clean Cities Coalition. The second seminar will be hosted on May 3rd in Beaumont, TX in partnership with the South East Texas Clean Cities Coalition. In an effort to accommodate the large number of people who have responded, each location will host two sessions: one from 9:00 am-2:00 pm CST and another from 5:30 pm – 10:00 pm CST. The public is also welcome to attend.

“First responders need to feel secure in ethanol emergency situations so the public can feel secure. Let’s be prepared to respond to any incident efficiently and effectively by providing ethanol fire safety training information to our communities. Ethanol is a safe and environmentally friendly fuel alternative to foreign petroleum,” said Kelli Angelone of the Houston-Galveston Clean Cities.

Safety has been and continues to be a top priority for the ethanol industry. Therefore, to ensure those responsible for safety in their communities, the seminars are designed to help them be prepared and trained for responding to any ethanol related emergency. 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 U.S. and to several countries worldwide. Following the completion of the Ethanol Safety Seminar, Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) Certificates will be distributed for training hours.

The Ethanol Safety Seminars focus on numerous important areas of ethanol safety including 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.

“Ethanol use continues to increase in production and transportation year after year,” said Robert White, RFA Market Development Director. “First responders need to be familiar with the fuel and know how to effectively respond to an ethanol related incident. This program details the response information that is essential to these emergency situations. We are happy to provide this type of information to those that dedicate their lives to protect their communities.”

For more information and to register, visit www.rfa.traincaster.com.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

PA Awards $1.3M Grant for Coal-Biomass-to-Liquids Plant

Joanna Schroeder

The state of Pennsylvania has awarded a $1.3 million grant to Accelergy Corporation to enable construction on their integrated coal-biomass-to-liquids (CBTL) facility to move forward. The CBTL plant is located at Intertek PARC, located at the U-PARC facility in Pittsburgh. Prior to this award, the company received a $175,000 grant for a feasibility study that included recommended site locations. Once completed, the pilot plant will prove out Accelergy’s coal to liquids technology and provide the base needed to move to commercial scale technologies.

“This grant is a strong endorsement of Accelergy and its partners’ technology, and shows the commitment of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the development of advanced technologies that leverage the state’s abundant natural resources and will bring jobs to the state,” said Tim Vail, CEO of Accelergy. “We are laying the foundation for the commercialization of the domestically sourced fuels that will power U.S. fleets and help the United States achieve its energy security goals.”

During the pilot phase of the project, Accelergy will produce and test various types of non-petroleum fuel including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. In addition, CO2 will be utilized by algae – another source of liquid fuels. The company is also looking into the feasibility of turning the algae into a bio-fertilizer. Energy Strategy Environment LLC (ESE), a systems integration provider, will oversee the marriage of the technologies and business partners for the algae based carbon capture and recycle components of the project. Accelergy has agreements in place with the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory and the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering (TARDEC) Center to test and certify the resulting fuels for various applications.

“Recycling industrial CO2 emission into valuable carbon feedstocks for production of additional liquid fuels creates a sustainable pathway for CBTL,” said ESE founder Mark Allen, P.E. “Algal biomass from the project will be adapted for use as a natural bio-fertilizer with the potential to reduce the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer and to sequester carbon in agricultural soils and reclaimed mine site soils, further benefitting the environment.”

algae, biomass

REG Insights on Biodiesel State of the Industry

Joanna Schroeder

All eyes are on the biodiesel industry including those of the USDA and EPA. Last week, USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack along with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, stopped by REG’s Newton, Iowa biodiesel plant for a little learning and a hands-on biodiesel tour. During the event, the big question: will the biodiesel industry be able to meet RFS2 goals this year? The resounding answer is yes.

To learn more about the state of the biodiesel industry, I spoke with REG’s Gary Haer, the company’s VP of sales and marketing. “Right now all the biodiesel producers in the U.S. are getting back on their feet,” said Haer. “Two thousand and ten was a very disruptive year for us because we had the lapse in the blenders tax credit. There was some question about the RFS2 being enforced and implemented and there was a legal challenge from the petroleum industry but that’s been resolved.”

“And so for 2011, we have the blender’s tax credit back in place. We have the renewable fuels standard in force and we’re starting to see the petroleum industry respond to that,” continued Haer. “We’re seeing an increase in demand and that’s very good for our industry. It took a little while for us to see the demand in the Renewable Fuels Standard for biodiesel, but now we’re starting to see that demand and the industry is responding by ramping up and production is going well.”

Listen to my full interview with Gary Haer: REG Insights on Biodiesel State of the Industry

Exactly how much biodiesel does the industry need to produce and the obligated parties (Renewable Volume Obligation or RVO) need to blend for 2011? According to the EPA, 800 million gallons. Haer noted that the industry is not currently adding pace at a monthly production level where the industry can achieve the RFs goal, but he assured the USDA and EPA that the industry will respond. In fact, back in 2008 the industry nearly produced 800 million gallons so the capabilities are there.

Since fuel prices are on everyone’s minds, I asked Haer about the economic benefits of biodiesel. He answered, “Biodiesel does provide some economic benefits to blenders. So because of the energy increase in fuel prices, gasoline and diesel prices, we’re seeing some economic advantages to biodiesel blends. That enables the blending of biodiesel to take place widespread across the country. We’re also seeing people and fleets that are searching for alternatives to recognize the value of biodiesel and what the opportunities are there as well. It’s really been nice to see our industry respond in a way we can produce more gallons, as well at times, provide an economic benefit through cheaper fuel to customers across the country.”

Click here to see photos from the USDA/EPA REG biodiesel plant briefing and tour.

Audio, Biodiesel, REG

Social Media And Farmers

Chuck Zimmerman

We know a portion of the Domestic Fuel community is made up of farmers so after seeing the results of our latest ZimmPoll all we can say is, “Get with it farmers!” Actually we know many of you are very involved in the use of social media. Sometimes you may not even realize it. So here’s what the results were.

A whopping majority of 61% chose Less than average in answer to the question, “How do farmers compare in social media use?” That’s followed by 27% who chose Same as general public and 12% who chose More than average. This really surprises me. Is this because of the average age of a farmer do you think? This response opens the door for a lot more questions. I’ll bet you have some. Please add a coment.

Our next ZimmPoll is now live and as planting season gets underway (in some places) we thought we’d pose one about the technology going into the crops of tomorrow. So the question is, “What should the next seed traits focus on?” Let us know what you think and thank you for participating.

And if you have any questions you want to suggest for future ZimmPolls please let us know.

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

ZimmPoll