ACE Conference 2026

$5 Gas Prices On the Horizon

Joanna Schroeder

According to former president of Shell Oil, John Hofmeister, Americans will be paying $5 per gallon for gas by 2012 due to growing demand for oil, tighter supplies and inadequate responses by the U.S. government. His remarks were made during his appearance on Platts Energy Week television.

Not necessarily news Americans want to hear as gas prices have been on the rise for the past few weeks and the worst recession in decades holds on as the country makes preparations for the new year.

Hofmeister also predicted that little or no new drilling would take place in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico for the next two years as Washington still tries to find the adequate response to the BP oil spill. However, drilling new wells would not bring about an immediate relief to high gas prices as it takes years to bring new wells into production.

“If we stay on our current course, within a decade we’re into energy shortages in this country big time,” said Hofmeister, who retired from Shell in 2008 and now heads a grass-roots group called Citizens for Affordable Energy.

“Blackouts, brownouts, gas lines, rationing–that’s my projection based upon the current inability to make to make decisions,” Hofmeister said during the program. “The politically driven choices that are being made, which are non-choices, essentially frittering at the edges of renewable energy, stifling production in hydrocarbon energy–that’s a sure path for not enough energy for American consumers. When American consumers are short or prices are so high–$5 a gallon for gasoline, for example, by 2012–that’s going to set a new tone. It’s going to be panic time for politicians. They’re suddenly going to get the sense that we better do something.”Read More

biofuels, Oil, Opinion

Research to Study Impact of Ethanol on Older Vehicles

Cindy Zimmerman

Kettering University in Flint, Michigan is one of several that have been tapped by the Department of Energy (DOE) to study the impact of higher ethanol blends on older vehicles.

The use of up to 15 percent ethanol in gasoline for 2007 model year vehicles or newer has been approved by the federal government, while the use of E15 in model year 2001-2006 vehicles is still being evaluated. The research at Kettering will look at vehicles older than 2000 model year, for which the use of higher ethanol blends has been denied by the EPA.

The $125,000 grant marks the second time Kettering mechanical engineering professors have studied the impact of ethanol on older vehicle engines. Kettering professors Craig Hoff andGregory Davis did a study last year that looked at how ten percent ethanol blends may impact classic cars from as far back as the 1940s. In that study, which included 1,500 hours of testing, the researchers concluded that “it’s safe to assume that you can continue to drive your collector vehicle using E10; it may just cost you more in the long run” because of additional costs associated with sealing fuel tanks and cleaning and rebuilding fuel systems more frequently.

blends, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Research, University

Restarting Idled Biodiesel Plants Could Pose Problems

John Davis

The renewal of the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive is giving some idled biodiesel plants new life, but a biodiesel consultant is warning that there are some risks to consider.

Wayne Lee, principal owner of Lee Enterprises biodiesel consulting group in Little Rock, Arkansas, says one area producers need to consider is Renewable Identification Numbers (RINS):

“While the EPA allows a biodiesel producer to detach and trade RINS,” says Lee, “this can only be done in two very specific ways.” He notes that if compliance is not followed “to the letter” plants will subject themselves and their RINS customer to rejected trades. “I think some producers are operating under the assumption that they can simply detach the RINS from B99 at will,” says Lee. “Without the proper paperwork, those people are likely to be very unpleasantly surprised.”

Another issue is safety … in the process and training sides … according to Lee’s in-house legal counsel John Hardy:

“OSHA has some pretty strict guidelines with respect to its [Process Safety Management] standards, and some very large fines for non-compliance,” says Hardy. “I think many biodiesel plants may be operating under the assumption that they are not covered by OSHA’s process safety management standards. Hardy notes that most commercial biodiesel plants are probably covered by PSM standards, and need to make sure they are compliant. He also notes that safety training is an ongoing process, not a one-time event, and that all plants should address PSM and safety training upon startup, and at least yearly thereafter. “With the magnitude of potential fines, one problem could literally devastate a non-compliant plant,” says Hardy.

Finally, Lee advises that producers make sure their re-start quality level of biodiesel is up to standards.

Biodiesel

Offshore Wind Could Boost Ontario’s Economy

Joanna Schroeder

In a new study released by The Conference Board of Canada and financed by the wind company Vestas Offshore, the development of offshore wind farms could boost Ontario’s economy by $4.8 billion to $5.5 billion a year between 2013-2026. During the same time frame, development could lead to a total of $10 billion in capital investment and operations spending and support around 4,000 jobs during the construction phase.

“Employment and Economic Impacts of Ontario’s Future Offshore Wind Power Industry,” was based on the economics if seven new offshore wind energy projects were developed totaling 2,000 megawatts (MW) by 2026. The Conference Board felt that this number was “conservative compared with market potential.” While there are no offshore wind farms currently operational in North America, there are two in development near Kingston, Ontario.

“An offshore wind industry in Ontario – one that develops enough projects to be sustainable in the longer term – would create both short-term construction employment and permanent green jobs in the operations phase,” said Len Coad, Director, Environment, Energy and Technology Policy, The Conference Board of Canada. “Should development progress as anticipated, it is likely that new industries will develop in the province to service the needs of the growing sector.”

According to IESO, there is 2,600 MW of wind energy capacity expected to be online in Ontario by the end of 2011 with the number growing significantly over the next five years. The organization said that wind energy is well positioned for growth with the implementation of the Green Energy and Green Economy Act of 2009 as well as the Ontario Power Authority’s Feed-in-Tarriff (FIT) program that promotes renewable energy.

Energy, International, Research, Wind

Oil Independence Act Introduced

Joanna Schroeder

Earlier this week, Rep. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) introduced H.R. 6554, “Domestic Fuel for Enhancing National Security Act of 2010.” Now, he has introduced “Oil Independence for a Stronger America Act of 2010” along with Mike Castle (R-Del.). This proposed legislation would create or extend a diverse array of federal programs necessary to help advanced biofuel producers secure financing for construction of first-of-a-kind projects.

Rep. Inslee stated, “This legislation creates a path forward to achieve energy independence and invigorate American industries. The legislation will help redirect the billions that we send overseas to pay for our addiction to foreign oil and instead invest those dollars into homegrown biofuels and America’s transportation sector.”

Brent Erickson, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO) Industrial & Environmental Section, stated, “The United States needs to produce large volumes of advanced biofuels to reduce reliance on foreign oil, enhance both our energy and national security, and jump start economic growth. More than 65 planned and operating projects in 30 states are looking to build an advanced biofuels and biobased products industry. But, even with the rapid pace of technology development and the demonstrated commitment of Congress and the Obama administration, federal policies to date have fallen short in helping the industry to secure needed capital investment in biorefineries and infrastructure.”

Erickson stressed that federal policies can provide potential investors the type of certainty they need to make a long-term investments in new cellulosic and algae-based advanced biofuel facilities and asked for the enactment of an investment tax credit similar to those given to other nascent industries.

BIO, biofuels, Government

Biodiesel, Ethanol Contribute to Gasoline Demand Drop

John Davis

A new report from the U.S. Department of Energy says that gasoline demand will drop in this country by another 20 percent by the year 2030.

And this article from the Examiner.com says part of that drop is due to alternative-fueled vehicles, including those running on biodiesel and ethanol:

“A combination of demographic change and policy change means the heady days of gasoline growing in the U.S. are over,” said David Vergin, chairman of IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for his history of the oil industry. Exxon-Mobil’s CEO Rex W. Tillerson acknowledged that U.S. gasoline demand peaked in 2006, anticipating future declines. While the country’s “Great Recession” and high gas prices have kept Americans off the roads, more fuel efficiency and alternative-fuel vehicles promise to keep demand down. Current and past administrations continue to press for alternatives to fossil fuels.

Now, while the article’s author makes a good point about the alternatives helping bring down overall gasoline demand, I think he makes some wrong assumptions that ethanol hurts the environment, especially the water supply. He does make some good points that more alternatives in public transportation, such as natural gas buses, electric subways and light-rail, will contribute greatly to the overall drop in petroleum-based gasoline demand.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

New Patent to Add Value to Canola-Biodiesel By-Product

John Davis

A new patent could end up being a big boost to the canola-based biodiesel industry.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that Clean Power Concepts Inc. of Regina, Saskatchewan has picked up an exclusive patent that will allow it to extract protein from lipid sources from biodiesel production plants:

Originally developed as a result of scientific research conducted by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, CPC President and CEO Michael Shenher said the patented technology is ideal for extracting proteins from canola meal where it then can be converted into livestock, chicken and fish feed products and sold into those respective markets. Deploying the newly-acquired patent technology, according to Shenher, would be ideal for financially distressed biodiesel manufacturing refiners or existing producers running on a reduced capacity basis seeking additional revenue streams.

“We believe that this is going to be able to change the economics of biodiesel production because it’s going to significantly supplement the revenue from the canola crush operations,” Shenher said. “There’s a lot of interest right now in value-added agriculture and aquaculture feed products.”

The company plans to put the process in place at its own 5 million-gallon-a-year biodiesel plant in Regina and hopes to license the technology to other biodiesel producers.

Biodiesel

ZimmPoll Says Social Media Participation Strong

Chuck Zimmerman

Here are the results of our latest ZimmPoll. In answer to the question, “Do you participate in social media?” the majority say they do. According to the numbers, 53% say yes and they post regularly, 28% say yes but they rarely create their own posts, 27% say no and they never will and only 1% say no but plan to start participating soon. Thanks to all our poll takers. Quite a few more did in our second week!

It is possible, as has been pointed out to me, that our results might be skewed slightly since so much of this particular poll question is being seen by those who already participate in social media. I can see that. However, we have a lot of website visitors who I’m sure are not yet social media savvy. If you’re not then I recommend you get started. For motivation, you might consider getting on Twitter and participating in the weekly BioChat session each Wed. at 7pm ET. It will start back up after a holiday break in January.

The new poll is now live and the question is, “Do you think the general consumer perception of agriculture changed in 2010?” This should resonate since the whole topic of consumer perception of farming is so top of mind right now. In fact, it has given rise to new agricultural organization efforts like the USFRA and of course it is one of the goals of the AgChat Foundation to help consumers better understand where their food comes from and who is producing it and how. Can’t wait to see the results from this one!

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

ZimmPoll

AC Propulsion Wins EV Grant

Joanna Schroeder

AC Propulsion, a company that specializes in electric drive development, has been awarded a $300,000 grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD) to integrate its electric drive system technology into commercial vans operating in Southern California. The company will launch the conversion program by developing the electric propulsion system and conversion process for full-size vans that are used in service fleets.

“AC Propulsion’s electric drive system is proven and patented to work for a broad range of vehicles,” said Tom Gage, CEO of AC Propulsion. “The grant from AQMD is allowing us the opportunity to take gasoline-fueled commercial trucks and replace all of the components that contribute to air pollution with a zero-emissions system.”

The converted vans will be zero emission plug in electric vehicles. The first phase of the project will include the conversion of three vehicles that will be evaluated by several service industry partners. The first vehicle will be a developmental prototype, the second vehicle will be utilized for safety and crash testing and the third will go to in-use testing. The first conversion vehicle is slated for road testing in early summer 2011.

“Cleaner technologies such as AC Propulsion’s electric drive system have great potential to help improve air quality in Southern California through cleaner vehicle fleets,” said Barry Wallerstein, AQMD’s Executive Officer.

AC Propulsion was awarded the $300,000 grant out of a total program budget of $750,000. The concept for the conversion van program evolved through a collaboration between AC Propulsion and AutoPort, Inc., an automobile conversion company located in New Castle, Delaware.

Electric Vehicles