NEC 2027

Book Review – The Impending World Energy Mess

Joanna Schroeder

With only two days left in 2010, I thought “The Impending World Energy Mess” was only fitting for review as we head into 2011. It is also fitting for another reason, it ties nicely into the story I brought you earlier this week, $5 Gas Prices on the Horizon. The authors, Dr. Robert L Hirsch, Dr. Roger H. Bezdek, and Robert M. Wendling, bring you decades of experience in energy from economics to oil to technologies. In the book, they lay out their premise that the most serious energy mess facing the world today is the impending decline in world oil production. It just so happens that it is taking place at the same time energy use is all an all-time high and continues to grow.

The authors write, “The warming signs include the six-year long plateauing of world oil production, the escalation of oil prices, and the analyses of a number of highly trained professionals and competent organizations.”

They authors don’t use the term “peak oil” because world oil production, they say, has been and is likely to stay on the current fluctuating world oil production plateau for a few more years before the onset of production decline.

So what’s the problem you ask? We have hoards of alternatives? According to the authors, the realities of these alternatives are that they are “very costly and insufficient to satisfy our overall energy needs, let alone our liquid fuel needs.” The energy sources they discuss are numerous including biofuels, solar, wind, nuclear, natural gas, hydrogen, electric vehicles, oil shale, coal to liquids, and more. But let’s delve into this deeper using biofuels, more specifically, corn ethanol as an example.Read More

biofuels, book reviews, Natural Gas, Oil, Solar, Wind

New Yeast Strain Could Help Cellulosic Ethanol Production

Cindy Zimmerman

A collaborative effort has produced a yeast strain that speeds up the process of making ethanol from cellulosic materials.

Researchers at the University of Illinois, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of California at Berkeley, Seoul National University and the oil company BP worked together to develop the newly engineered yeast strain that can simultaneously consume two types of sugar from plants to produce ethanol.

The sugars are glucose, a six-carbon sugar that is relatively easy to ferment; and xylose, a five-carbon sugar that has been much more difficult to utilize in ethanol production. The new strain, made by combining, optimizing and adding to earlier advances, reduces or eliminates several major inefficiencies associated with current biofuel production methods.

“Xylose is a wood sugar, a five-carbon sugar that is very abundant in lignocellulosic biomass but not in our food,” said Yong-Su Jin, a professor of food science and human nutrition at Illinois and a principal investigator on the study. “Most yeast cannot ferment xylose.” A big part of the problem with yeasts altered to take up xylose is that they will suck up all the glucose in a mixture before they will touch the xylose, Jin said. A glucose transporter on the surface of the yeast prefers to bind to glucose. “It’s like giving meat and broccoli to my kids,” he said. “They usually eat the meat first and the broccoli later.”

The research objective was to develop a way for the yeast to quickly and efficiently consume both types of sugar at once, a process called co-fermentation. According to the researchers, the new yeast strain simultaneously converts cellobiose (a precursor of glucose) and xylose to ethanol just as quickly as it can ferment either sugar alone. They say it is at least 20 percent more efficient at converting xylose to ethanol than other strains, making it “the best xylose-fermenting strain” reported in any study.

Read more from the University of Illinois here.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Research, University

POET Designs New Ethanol Co-Product Loader

Cindy Zimmerman

New equipment designed by POET has made loading distillers’ grains (DDGS) safer, faster, easier and ultimately more profitable for the company’s ethanol plants.

It’s called the Load Toad™ and it was designed to allow rail cars to be packed more densely by forcing DDGS to the sides of the rail car, a process that is usually done by hand with a shovel. By distributing the DDGS load more evenly and efficiently, POET plants have been able to pack 3%-5% more DDGS into each car.

“The Load Toad not only allows us to put more DDGS in a railcar, which increases our production efficiency, but this device also allows the commodities team to more safely load a railcar,” said Dave Hudak, general manager at POET Biorefining – Alexandria (Ind.). “We no longer have to shovel any product nor stand on the top of the car to load it. The potential for a back injury has been eliminated.”

Commodities Assistant Ryan Schroeder from POET Biorefining – Leipsic in Ohio developed the first prototype of the Load Toad as a solution to a common loading problem that led to cone-shaped pileups in the rail cars. These pileups dramatically lowered efficiency in each rail car and created a great deal physical work for staff. “It felt good knowing that not just our plant would benefit, but the commodities people at all the POET plants would benefit,” Schroeder said. The Load Toad is currently being used at POET plants, but the company is exploring opportunities to market the technology to other ethanol producers in the future.

Here’s a video of the Load Toad in action from the POET website.

Distillers Grains, POET, Video

Ag Has Work To Do To Improve Public Image

Chuck Zimmerman

It looks like agriculture has a ways to go to change public perceptions according to our latest ZimmPoll. In answer to the question, “Do you think the general consumer perception of agriculture changed in 2010?” 43% say “No it didn’t really change,” while 30% say “Yes, it got worse,” and 27% said “Yes, it improved.” Where do you fall in those categories? That’s 73% of our respondents who think it didn’t change or got worse. Sounds like we really do need some campaigns to reach out to consumers doesn’t it?

The new poll is now live and the question is, “What do you think will have the biggest influence on ag in 2011?” There are no doubt many factors that will have an influence. We’ve picked a couple. When I post the results next week you can add any others you’d like to the discussion.

Remember, you can submit your questions for us to pose and add your feedback anytime by using the comment feature.

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

ZimmPoll

Agrisys Building Big Algae-to-Biofuels Facility

John Davis

A Florida company is building the world’s first large-scale, vertically integrated algae-to-biofuels facility.

This article from Florida Trend, which goes in depth on that state’s algae-biofuels industry, says Orlando businessman Nick VandenBrekel’s Agrisys will be growing algae to turn into jet fuel and biodiesel, as well as omega-3 “fish oil.”

Scaled up, VandenBrekel envisions a host of 1,000-to-20,000-acre farms across the Southeast where algal fuel is grown, processed and used locally, from community gas stations to diesel fleets such as school buses. Success, he says, would create no less than a “rebirth of American agriculture.”

Like Agrisys, a troop of other Florida companies — including PetroAlgae of Melbourne; Algenol of Bonita Springs; AquaFiber of Orlando; and Algae Aviation Fuel of Sarasota — sees the same promise in algae as a source of biofuel. Algae grows faster than any other potential crop, reaching maturity in less than 24 hours. As it grows, it devours CO2, generating oxygen as a byproduct. Most important for its potential as fuel, algae produce lipids, which store energy as fat.

The Florida firms all boast unique algae strains or proprietary processes they say can make fuel.

Agrisys, for example, has developed or licensed technology for growing and processing its algae in partnership with a research institute called CEHMM and a private technology firm called ARA, both in New Mexico. VandenBrekel says researchers there have been able to squeeze 125 gallons of oil daily from 1,000 gallons of algae-water mix piped from five acres of ponds.

The article goes on to say the biggest issue is making these operations profitable. Maybe they should listen to our latest Domestic Fuel Cast and see if some of that technology would help.

algae, biofuels

Soybeans Gain from Biodiesel Incentive Renewal

John Davis

The main feedstock for biodiesel in the U.S., not surprisingly, has gotten a boost from the renewal of the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive.

The Inside Futures website says contracts for January soybeans have hit a new high for the year at nearly $14 a bushel … and could go over that mark:

The soy complex has been led by the Soy Oil which also made a new high for the year. From a technical standpoint this is rather bullish, however it is important to note that we are experiencing thin holiday trade and with less then normal volume technical indicators may be less reliable. Either way, the new highs could suggest that we could now continue to move higher with sights set on 14.000.

Fundamentally the Soybean market got a major boost when Congress approved a $1.00 per gallon tax credit for Biodiesel. This is significant because this had expired a year ago and had put a major damper on Biodiesel demand. The Soybeans have a tight balance sheet, which could potentially get tighter.

The site does note that trading has been light during this holiday week.

Biodiesel, Soybeans

So. Sioux City Approves $25 Mil Bond for Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

A new biodiesel plant in South Sioux City, NE is getting a boost from that city’s council.

The Sioux City (IA) Journal reports city officials have OK’ed issuing $25 million in revenue bonds to help fund a proposed biodiesel plant:

City Manager Lance Hedquist said the South Sioux City Council approved issuing the bonds for Nature’s BioReserves at Monday night’s council meeting. However, he said the city will have no obligation for payment of the bonds.

The city held a public hearing prior to approving the bonds.

Nature’s BioReserves is planning a 60-million-gallon-per-year biodiesel fuel plant that will make biodiesel out of beef tallow from Beef Products Inc. The proposed plant will be constructed on the north side of BPI.

Construction is to start this summer and be completed sometime in the fall of 2012.

Biodiesel

DF Cast: OriginOil to Prove Algae-to-Fuel Process

John Davis

The developer of technology that turns algae in to renewable fuel is going down under to do some long-term testing of its process.

OriginOil recently announced the successful completion of the first phase of its commercial pilot program with Australian company, MBD Energy, OriginOil’s first customer and pilot partner. In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we talk to OriginOil’s CEO, Riggs Eckelberry, about his company’s testing of its algae-to-renewable-fuel technology in an in-the-field, real-world situation.

“We were looking for one of our pilot customers that would enable us to scale up our technology in real conditions.”

Eckelberry says his company’s bread and butter is focusing on extracting all that water from the algae and then extracting the oil by a process that he describes as “shocking” the algae. This testing should take several years with Eckelberry hoping at the end of the day, his technology will prove successful.

This announcement comes on the heels of the news that OriginOil has another project in the works, this time a little closer to home. The company will help build a new Advanced Algae Center with Sustainable Resources, Incorporated on the site of the original Aquatic Species Program in Roswell, New Mexico, scheduled to start sometime next year. Eckelberry jokes that they’ll even hold a job fair for any little green men who might be visiting Roswell to work at the facility.

Hear more from Eckelberry on both these projects in the Domestic Fuel Cast here. Domestic Fuel Cast

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

algae, Audio, biofuels, Domestic Fuel Cast

2011 Ethanol Symposium Kicks off New Year

Joanna Schroeder

Although January is just around the corner, it’s not too late to add an event to your calendar.

The 2011 Ethanol Symposium: An Examination of Demand vs. Availability is scheduled for January 14 at Rio Hondo College in Whittier, CA. This free event is part of the Clean Transportation Education Project, a collaboration of the Clean Cities Coalition and the N.C. Solar Center at North Carolina State University and Wake Technical Community College. It is funded through the U.S. DOE. The symposium begins at 8:00 a.m. PST and ends at 4:00 p.m.

Confirmed speakers include: Judy Chu, California Congresswoman 32nd District;  Rich Cregar, Wake Tech College; Peter Ward, California Energy Commission; Joe Irvin, California Ethanol Vehicle Coalition; Paul Wikoff, Policy Advisor for CEVC; Warren Turner, V.P., Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Association; Lunch Keynote Speaker A.G. Kawamura, Secretary of CDFA; and more.

The Clean Transportation Education Project is holding a total of 36 workshops over two years covering ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas as a transportation fuel and fuel efficiency topics.

For more information contact Jennifer at Purpose Focused.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Education, Ethanol

$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