ACE Conference 2026

Sustainability Hard To Define

Chuck Zimmerman

We had the most results of any ZimmPoll so far with the question: “What does “sustainability” really mean to the public?” By a big margin, most say “A combination of factors” at 47%. That’s followed by “Farm managed for profit/growth,” 25%; “green,” 13%; “organic,” 10% and “local,” 5%. So I think it’s safe to say that sustainability is not understood to mean any one thing and probably within the ag community as well as the general public. For this reason I don’t see how we can expect people to agree on a definition much less use this word to create meaningful legislation. Your thoughts?

Our next ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question of our farm readers, “Which tillage practice do you employ on most of your farming operation?” Let us know and thank you for participating.

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

ZimmPoll

Canola Biodiesel-Powered Jet Car Heading to Vegas

John Davis

A jet car that runs on biodiesel made from canola is expected to be featured in one of the premier car shows later this year.

Western Canada’s PortageOnline.com reports the Prairie Gold, owned by Kevin and Gwen Therres of Prairieland Motorsports, produces 7,500 horsepower and can make it up to 254 miles per hour in a quarter mile (see some pretty cool video of it in action below), and it will be featured at the SEMA show in Las Vegas:

“We were just at the PRI (Performance Racing Industry) show in Orlando. They came to us at PRI and asked us if we wanted to be featured in the SEMA show in Las Vegas,” [Kevin] says. “For a lot of people in the car world, the SEMA show is the ultimate show to have a car come to. Incredible. Here we are from Humboldt, Saskatchewan and we’re being invited to that show. We’re just ecstatic.”

The Canadian Canola Growers Association sponsors the car.

Biodiesel, Video

Biodiesel, Ethanol on Sidelines in State of the Union

John Davis

Just like a year ago, proponents of biodiesel and ethanol must be wondering if their green fuels were part of President Barack Obama’s “clean energy” comments in this year’s State of the Union address. Meanwhile, solar, nuclear and electric vehicle advocates have to be feeling pretty good about themselves as they received specific shout-outs during the hour-long speech.

Appearing before a joint session of Congress (and what seemed like a much more collegial environment), Obama outlined in very broad, non-specific terms, such as “clean energy,” “renewable energy,” and “biofuels,” his vision for the future of alternative energy:

We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology – an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.

Already, we are seeing the promise of renewable energy. Robert and Gary Allen are brothers who run a small Michigan roofing company. After September 11th, they volunteered their best roofers to help repair the Pentagon. But half of their factory went unused, and the recession hit them hard.

Today, with the help of a government loan, that empty space is being used to manufacture solar shingles that are being sold all across the country. In Robert’s words, “We reinvented ourselves.”

That’s what Americans have done for over two hundred years: reinvented ourselves. And to spur on more success stories like the Allen Brothers, we’ve begun to reinvent our energy policy. We’re not just handing out money. We’re issuing a challenge. We’re telling America’s scientists and engineers that if they assemble teams of the best minds in their fields, and focus on the hardest problems in clean energy, we’ll fund the Apollo Projects of our time.

At the California Institute of Technology, they’re developing a way to turn sunlight and water into fuel for our cars. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory, they’re using supercomputers to get a lot more power out of our nuclear facilities. With more research and incentives, we can break our dependence on oil with biofuels, and become the first country to have 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2015.

The President also set a new energy goal: getting 80 percent of this nation’s electricity from clean energy sources by the year 2035, and he proposes using wind, solar, nuclear, coal and natural gas … all renewable energy sources … to get to that number. He says we can pay for this by cutting the billions of taxpayer dollars now going to the big oil companies.

Biodiesel, Electric Vehicles, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, News, Solar

Demand for Glycerin to Keep Pace with Supply

John Davis

As the production of biodiesel is expected to grow with (finally!) the renewal of the federal $1-a-gallon tax credit and the new Renewable Fuels Standard requiring 800 million gallons of biomass-based diesel to be blended this year is implemented, the amount of glycerin is expected to also climb, possibly flooding the market.

But this article from Biodiesel Magazine says many new applications for the biodiesel by-product could help alleviate that surplus:

One of those areas being considered in particular is glycerin’s use as a potentially feasible feedstuff for swine. According to a study led by University of Illinois graduate research assistant Omarh Mendoza, diets for growing-finishing pigs may include up to 15 percent glycerin and achieve similar performance compared to conventional corn/soybean meal diets. The research was published in the Journal of Animal Science…

As more biodiesel plants are expected to come online this year, many will be open to finding new markets and uses for their glycerin. One of them, Ames, Iowa-based biodiesel producer and marketer Renewable Energy Group Inc., is expected to be a leading supplier of glycerin into the market. According to Dave Elsenbast, vice president of supply chain at REG, the company predicts glycerin production volumes will ramp up as new applications of the product rise.

“We think there will be more supply in 2011 as the biodiesel industry gets ramped up for RFS2,” Elsenbast said. “But, we think that there’s going to be a lot of continued new demands that hit the glycerin market that will be a good off-take for these additional supplied as they come on.”

REG, which owns a network of five operating biodiesel plants with the capacity to produce more than 160 million pounds of glycerin annually, predicts more than 700 million pounds of glycerin is expected to hit the market in 2011. That’s a near 59 percent spike in glycerin supply compared to the 427 million pounds of crude glycerin produced in 2009.

Elsenbast also noted that supply and demand will have the biggest impact on crude glycerin prices.

Biodiesel

Iowa Economy Powered by Renewable Fuels

Cindy Zimmerman

Iowa is an undisputed leader in renewable fuels production and that is extremely good for the state’s economy

IRFA Monte ShawAt the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) released a new study detailing the positive benefits that provides for Iowa.

According to the report, the renewable fuels industry, both ethanol and biodiesel, accounts for $13.1 billion – about 8% – of Iowa’s gross domestic product. The industry generates $2.4 billion of household incomes, supports nearly 49,000 jobs and accounts for $588 million in state revenue.

“This is a profound success story that should be heralded from Shenandoah to St. Ansgar and from Sioux Center to West Burlington,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw.

Listen to or download Shaw’s address at IRFA here: Monte Shaw at Iowa RFA Summit

IRFA Terry BranstadProof of the industry’s importance to the state was the appearance of Iowa Governor Terry Branstad at the summit. It was not the first time that Branstad attended the conference. “I’ve been here in the audience in the past,” said Branstad. “This is the fifth and I’ve been to two or three of them.”

Branstad is proud of Iowa’s standing as the number one state for the production of both ethanol and biodiesel. He says one of his goals is to revitalize Iowa’s economy. “We know the renewable fuels industry can help us create jobs all over the state of Iowa, good paying jobs that add value to what we produce in agriculture,” he said.

Branstad says he would like to see the state legislature change the incentive for fuel in the state from 10 percent ethanol to 15 percent and he plans to continue to play a role on the national level to support renewable fuels. “I was one of the governors that helped found the Governor’s Ethanol Coalition and I’m looking forward to working with the new governors that are joining from states all over the country this year,” he said, adding that he will be talking to presidential candidates about the importance of renewable fuels.

Listen to or download Branstad’s address at IRFA here: Governor Branstad at Iowa RFA Summit


Click here to see photos from the IRFA Summit on Flickr.

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

RAND Says Alt Fuels Out, Coal & Biomass In, for Military

Joanna Schroeder

RAND National Defense Research Institute has released a study today amidst a firestorm of criticism with many claiming that the report sounds like an advertisement for the coal industry. The study, commissioned by the Department of Defense, was to conduct an examination of alternative fuels for military applications. For the past several years, the military has been testing alternative fuels, including biodiesel and algal fuels, in aviation and marine applications and has set clear goals to use alternative fuels by 2016 and beyond.

The report concludes that in the short term, “considering economics, technical readiness, greenhouse gas emissions, and general environmental concerns, FT fuels derived from a mixture of coal and biomass represent the most promising approach to producing amounts of alternative fuels that can meet military, as well as appreciable levels of civilian, needs by 2030.”

The report continues by saying, “It is highly uncertain whether appreciable amounts of hydrotreated renewable oils (biodiesel) can be affordably and cleanly produced within the United States or abroad.” The report questions whether renewable fuels can ramp up to commercial scale, be economically competitive and it questions their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. All of these issues rule biodiesel and algae out, where too much money and resources are being spent, according to the report, as being a viable candidate to meet the military need’s over the next decade.

If these findings weren’t enough to stir up the hornet’s nest, the report also called for Congress to reconsider the military’s budget for alternative fuel-projects. This is a sure-fire way to invoke debate in Washington, especially as a Republican Congress searches for ways to cut the federal budget.

In a New York Times article, the report elicited quick criticism. “Unfortunately, we were not engaged by the authors of this report,” said Thomas W. Hicks, deputy assistant secretary of energy for the Navy. “We don’t believe they adequately engaged the market,” he said, adding, “This is not up to RAND’s standards.”Read More

algae, BIO, Biodiesel, biofuels, biojet fuel, Research

Sen. Harkin Introduces “Biofuels Market Expansion Act”

Joanna Schroeder

U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced a new piece of legislation today, called the “Biofuels Market Expansion Act of 2011.”  The bill, if passed, would ensure an increasing number of automobiles in the U.S. be flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), expands the number of blender pumps and make renewable fuel pipelines eligible for the federal loan guarantee pipeline program. The bill is co-sponsored by Senators Tim Johnson (D-SD), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Al Franken (D-MN).

“While we appreciate the fact that the EPA is taking steps to approve E15, the ensuing litigation by opposing groups and red tape of the agency’s E15 pump labeling rule is creating a great deal of uncertainty about when E15 will be made available,” said Brian Jennings, Executive Vice President of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) who is hosting a “Biofuels Beltway March” at the end of March.

Jennings continued, “Consumers deserve the kind of fuel choice that can only be achieved if there is a blender pump on every corner and an FFV in every garage. We must begin building flexibility into our nation’s fuel system so the power to choose the best fuel is put into the hands of the consumer – and not decided by EPA bureaucrats or by the oil industry through a de facto 90 percent petroleum mandate.”

“Flexible fuel vehicles and blender pumps allow a wide range of fuels to be offered by the gas stations and selected by the motorists, ensuring that homegrown renewable fuels have access to the marketplace and that motorists have the ability to choose the best fuel for their own vehicle.  We fully support the Harkin-Johnson market expansion bill and encourage their colleagues to sign on in support so that the legislation can move forward.”

The bill would require 50 percent of vehicles for sale in the U.S. to be flex-fuel vehicles in model years 2014 and 2015, and 90 percent to be FFVs in model year 2016 and after. The legislation also authorizes a grant program for the installation of blender pumps.

ACE, biofuels, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Legislation

Newt Gingrich Wows Iowa RFA Summit

Cindy Zimmerman

newt gingrichIf it were up to the Iowa renewable fuels industry, Newt Gingrich would probably be elected the next president of the United States.

The former speaker of the U.S. House spoke to a full house at the 5th annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday. Hitting all the right notes, Gingrich was interrupted several times by applause during his 25 minute address at the summit.

“We need an American energy plan that is designed for good environmental reasons, good economic reasons and good national security reasons,” Gingrich said. “I would rather have the next building boom in Des Moines than in Dubai.”

Gingrich says he is for all types of energy – oil, natural gas, nuclear, wind, solar, renewable fuels and coal – but he thinks food versus fuel is a farce. “The people who talk about food versus fuel are just plain flat wrong,” he said. He said if anyone is to blame for any food shortages, it is the European opposition to using genetically engineered crops.

Probably the biggest applause came when Gingrich gave his opinions on the U.S. EPA. “One of the things we are working on at American Solutions is to develop an Environmental Solutions Agency to replace the Environmental Protection Agency,” he said.

This is a speech well worth a listen.

Listen to or download Newt’s entire speech at IRFA here: Newt Gingrich at Iowa RFA Summit


Click here to see photos from the IRFA Summit on Flickr.

Audio, Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Enervation Advisors Aquires Tri-City Energy Biodiesel

Joanna Schroeder

Enervation Advisors, an Axis Group Company, has acquired Tri-City Energy biodiesel and glycerin facilities in Keokuk, Iowa. The company is currently staffing the biodiesel plant, that has been shut down, and has already begun a retrofit. Enervation anticipates that the plant will begin producing glycerin by March of this year. This is the first acquisition into the renewables market for Enervation in what the company expects to be many. Once the biodiesel plant is operational, it will produce 5 million gallons of biodiesel per year. The adjacent glycerin purification facility will produce 4 million gallons per year at full capacity.

According to a press release, Enervation is seeking to raise only private funds to restore closed biodiesel and ethanol plants in the U.S. and company founders Paul Tantillo and William Dollard believe that growth in the industry can be achieved without government grants or the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax credit.

“It was the false sense of security that pervaded the industry, just a few years back, that caused hundreds of millions of dollars in bank loans to ultimately fail and plants to close as a result of depending on soybean oil and the dollar per gallon tax credit. Therefore, we choose to be able to operate clear of that dependence,” remarked Paul Tantillo, Enervations Director of Operations and Managing Member.

The company will deploy multiple feedstock technology as rising costs of feedstocks are a common source of financial hardship for biofuel plants. It has recently been reported that rising corn prices are currently squeezing ethanol margins. This strategy is already deployed at the biodiesel facility in Keokuk and engineers are currently designing a front-end component to allow for multiple feedstock processing capabilities. According to the company, this strategy allows for the ability to maneuver feedstocks as needed as prices surge or recede, ensuring that the plant maintain positive cash flows, and protecting the plant’s financial future.

Enervation has also begun the build out for their ethanol plant also situated in Keokuk and should be completed and open by September of this year. Enervation has also placed bids on several plants in various degrees of distress from bankruptcy to bank owned, and are seeking additional plants on an ongoing basis.

Biodiesel, Ethanol

Biodiesel Brewed Up for Future Chefs

John Davis

Students at California’s Culinary Institute of America are learning their ways around the kitchen. And if they’re paying attention to the biodiesel being used in their rides to school, they’re also getting a lesson in sustainability.

Biodiesel Magazine reports the school’s Greystone campus in the Napa Valley is using waste vegetable oil from the kitchens to turn into biodiesel (produced Springboard Biodiesel LLC) for shuttles:

The biodiesel is used in two shuttle vans and other all-terrain vehicles used to move equipment around the campus. The vans, each with a 26-gallon fuel tank, previously used diesel fuel at a cost of roughly $3.35 per gallon. By using the biodiesel-blended fuel, which according to the school costs 88 cents per gallon to make, the CIA was able to save $64 per tank.

The school has been producing biodiesel for the last three months, and Phipps said in the winter the mix will be 50 percent biodiesel while the summer mix will be 70 percent. The idea to use the school’s WVO was first proposed by Charles E. Henning, managing director of the campus. “I have been ‘green-thinking’ for many years,” Henning said. “I grew up in Switzerland where we have been recycling and leading a green lifestyle since the 1960s.” Because sustainability is a large goal of the CIA, Henning started looking at how to put the WVO to better use. “After investigating several options, we ran the numbers on purchasing our own distiller to make the biodiesel,” he said, adding that because the machine would pay for itself in one year, “the decision was obvious.”

School officials say they learned a lot from an Internet biodiesel production class from Utah Biodiesel Supply Co. and also received help from Springboard.

Biodiesel