San Diego, A Hot Bed of Algal Activity

Joanna Schroeder

Good news for biofuels this week as the California Department of Labor awarded the San Diego Biofuels Initiative a $4 million grant to train workers to join the biofuels workforce. The award was given through the “Green Innovation Challenge,” a green jobs initiative that is overseen by the state’s Department of Labor.

According to an article on SanDiego.com, the San Diego area is a hotbed for biofuels companies. There are nearly 30 businesses engaged in biofuels development, with many of these companies focused on algae. Two of the most notable companies in the region are Synthetic Genomics and Sapphire Energy. Both companies have received funding from oil companies and both companies believe they will be producing biodiesel from algae by next year.

The San Diego Biofuels Initiative is a consortium of associations that include CleanTECH San Diego, BIOCOM, San Diego Regional EDC, San Diego Workforce Partnership and the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology (SD-CAB), located at UC San Diego.

On another note, in June, SD-CAB received $9 million dollars to be dispersed over the next three years for research on algal biofuels from the Department of Energy.

According to a study released by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), algal biofuels research employs 410 scientists and other workers in San Diego but increases to 784 jobs when you include indirect jobs. The industry provides nearly $44.6 million in salaries and provides the region with $108.3 million in economic activity.

algae, biofuels, News

Missouri Congressman Supports Biodiesel Tax Credit

Cindy Zimmerman

biodiesel roy bluntMissouri Congressman Roy Blunt, fresh off a primary win to be the Republican candidate for Senator, stopped at the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) in Jefferson City, Missouri on Friday to voice his support for reinstating the biodiesel tax credit which expired at the end of 2009.

“I’m very concerned that we continue to see good, job-producing tax credits in the energy industry generally held hostage to cap and trade,” Blunt said during a press conference at NBB headquarters. “We need more American energy of all kinds. We need to develop more, find more, use less – conservation is an important part of this – and invest in the future.” He said continuation of the $1 per gallon biodiesel blenders tax credit, which was only in effect for five years, is essential for to keep growing the industry. “So we need to not just have an extension of these credits, but an extension for as long as we can possibly argue that these credits would be needed to create more American energy,” he said. Blunt is running against Democrat Robin Carnahan for the seat being vacated by the retiring Senator Kit Bond (R-MO).

biodiesel roy bluntAsked why he voted against a bill this year that would have reinstated the tax credit, Blunt replied that it included tax increases that he was against. “It’s not necessary to slow down one part of the economy in order to encourage another,” Blunt said. He is hopeful that there will be another vehicle to bring back the tax credit before the end of this Congress. “They’re talking now about an energy bill, sometimes called “Energy Light,” because it wouldn’t have the burdensome and ill-conceived cap and trade,” he said. “Hopefully, we can move forward with things that encourage all kinds of American energy.”

NBB CEO Joe Jobe noted that the biodiesel industry made great progress with the tax credit in place. “The biodiesel tax credit took effect in January of 2005, and in just that five short years, the biodiesel industry built more than 150 biodiesel plants nationwide, it brought green jobs and investment to rural areas, and most importantly has displaced petroleum with the first commercially available advance biofuel,” said Jobe. “It’s our number one priority to get that tax credit reinstated, retroactively, as quickly as possible.”

In answer to a reporter’s question, Jobe admitted that most of the nation’s 172 biodiesel plants have either closed or cut back production since the beginning of this year, but he did not have an exact number.

Listen to the press conference with Congressman Blunt and Joe Jobe here: Cong. Blunt and Biodiesel

Audio, Biodiesel, Government

Iowa Central Fuel Testing Lab Wins BQ-9000 Accreditation

Joanna Schroeder

There is a lot of talk today about creating “green jobs” and how best to train those people to enter the green sector. One of the early adopters of green education was Iowa Central Community College (ICCC). This week, the college announced that they have become the first laboratory to earn accreditation as a BQ-9000 laboratory. This accolade means that the lab has become a national leader in testing biodiesel and biodiesel blends to ensure they meet fuel quality standards.

Don Heck, who runs the nonprofit Iowa Central Fuel Testing Laboratory at ICCC, said in a press statement, “Testing fuel may not sound glamorous, but it is fundamental to the future of the biodiesel and the renewable fuels industry in terms of reliability and consumer confidence.”

Unlike the ethanol industry, which addressed and fixed quality issues back in the 1970s, biodiesel still struggles with quality issues. The BQ-9000 accreditation is the industry’s way of overcoming these fuel quality issues but it is not a mandatory label – it is voluntary. The quality assurance program is overseen by the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission.

The lab offers cost-effective, rapid testing for biodiesel producers nationwide. It also tests other fuels such as ethanol and petroleum. The team that runs the lab, along with its supporters, hope that the new biodiesel accreditation will attract new customers, including the Iowa Department of Agriculture’s Weights and Measures Bureau, who is in charge of ensuring all fuels meet quality standards before they fill a consumer’s tank.

“Having the first BQ-9000 laboratory located in Iowa will drive business to our state, and further enhances Iowa’s position as a national biodiesel leader,” said Randy Olson, executive director of the Iowa Biodiesel Board, which helped make the lab a reality.

Steve Howell, National Biodiesel Board technical director, said other labs will follow suit, which will help ensure a high quality fuel supply for producers and consumers alike.

“Not every biodiesel plant has its own laboratory to test its fuel, so there is a need for qualified, credible laboratories to test fuel samples,” Howell said. “Becoming accredited is a rigorous process, and the Iowa Central Fuel Testing Laboratory deserves our congratulations for being the first.”

Biodiesel, News

Oodles and Oodles of Biomass, Oh My!

Joanna Schroeder

There are several barriers to the success of converting biomass to biofuels including harvesting, transportation and storage. But of these three challenges, one of utmost importance is not only how to store the biomass but how long can it be stored without compromising the feedstock?

The most advanced commercial scale corn stover to ethanol project in the U.S. is Project Liberty, a biomass project funding by POET. Ultimately, the plant will produce 25 million gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol, but how much biomass will that take? According to POET, the plant will need 770 dry tons of biomass (corn cobs, some leaves and husks) for each day of operation. Yet how do you store that much material?

This is the very question that the Project Liberty team is working on with researchers at Idaho National Laboratory (INL). They are studying factors at POET plants in Hurley, SD and Emmestburg, IA, like the heat and moisture content of the biomass bale to determine how different types of piles and configurations will affect the quality of the bale. The answer to this question will aid farmers in storing the biomass in their fields until it is needed at the plant.

INL currently has 800 different bale configurations under study and they are attempting to discover the best balance of heat and moisture in the biomass bale. Kevin Kenney, and INL researcher, notes that they are looking at two areas in their research. First, the risk of biomass storage to farmers. Second, how the biomass degrades over time. After this year’s study is complete, the research team will discard the least effective methods and move forward with refining those configurations that hold the most promise.

You can lean more about the project in this video featuring INL researcher, Kevin Kenney.

biomass, Cellulosic, Ethanol, POET

ACE Honors Corn Growers for Ethanol Promotion

Cindy Zimmerman

The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) honored corn growers for their efforts in promoting ethanol at the 23rd Annual Ethanol Conference and Trade Show in Kansas City this week. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and 11 corn grower states were recognized by ACE with the “Paul Dana Marketing Vision Award” for their support in making the BYOEthanol campaign possible.

ace darrin ihnenNCGA President Darrin Ihnen, a grower from Hurley, S.D., addressed the conference on the organization’s efforts to promote ethanol and their work with ACE and other ethanol organizations to ensure ethanol supporters speak with a unified voice in Washington on issues important to the industry.

Ihnen also discussed the important issues the ethanol industry faces such as the expiration of the blenders tax credit at the end of this year, EPA delaying the approval of E15 and the Senate’s current failure to produce an energy bill that includes ethanol.

“We are disappointed that the Senate will not pass an energy bill before they recess this week, but at the same time, the bill Reid introduced did not have ethanol provisions. This will give us additional time to educate legislators on the importance of this renewable, domestically produced fuel,” said Ihnen. “The downside is that by pushing it back to September, the bill would have to pass extremely quickly as the Senate will recess in October for the 2010 elections.”

ACE also presented the South Dakota Corn Growers Association and Corn Utilization Council with the President’s Award for “principled dedication and support” of the industry.

Listen to or download my interview with Darrin Ihnen here: NCGA president Darrin Ihnen

ACE, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA

San Jose Becomes Top Solar Community in California

Joanna Schroeder

The California Public Utilities Commission has reported that San Jose is now the largest installer of solar power in the state of California. Today, the city’s newest and largest solar installation was unveiled that included more than 2,500 solar panels covering 44,448 square-foot parking lot. The building that is now solar powered is Power Integrations’ headquarters in the Edenvale Technology Park. Power Integrations manufacturers high-voltage integrated circuits for energy efficient power conversions.

During a special ceremony today, U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, along with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, Council member Ash Kalra, and Silicon Valley Leadership Group President and CEO Carl Guardino unveiled the $3.6 million solar array. The project took six months to complete.

“Power Integrations is a great example of how Silicon Valley companies are embracing clean tech innovation,” said City of San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. “Between the company’s own line of energy-efficient products and its expansive new solar installation, Power Integrations is playing a key role in helping San Jose achieve its Green Vision goals.”

At 600 kilowatts, the system is among the 10 largest solar facilities in Silicon Valley. The installation will fully power one of Power Integrations’ two buildings as well as all parking-lot lights at the company’s headquarters.

The solar panels are expected to cut more than 10,000 tons of greenhouse-gas emissions over the next 25 years, an amount equivalent to the emissions caused by roughly 20 million miles of car travel. In addition, the installation’s smart design covers 280 parking spots, providing shade for employees’ cars. A real-time data feed showing current and cumulative energy production from the array can be found on Power Integrations’ corporate sustainability website at www.powerint.com/solar.

“For more than a decade, Power Integrations’ EcoSmart technology has drastically reduced ‘standby’ power waste in electronic products, saving consumers and businesses more than $4 billion and preventing millions of tons of CO2 emissions,” said Balu Balakrishnan, president and CEO of Power Integrations. “As a socially responsible company, we saw an opportunity to make a profound impact on our own energy consumption by using renewable solar energy to power our operations. We are very proud of this project, which effectively takes an entire building off the grid, and will reduce our energy bills enough to pay for itself in just 12 years.”

News, Solar

Cab Co. Opens E85 Facility in Phoenix

A new public fueling facility will soon be opening in Phoenix, Arizona. AAA Yellow Cab is opening an E85 station, 1/4 mile from Sky Harbor Airport, at 3030 S. 45th St.

According to KPHO.com, tomorrow, a grand opening will be held from 10 until 11 a.m. where the first 50 customers in line between that time can fuel their flexible fuel vehicle tanks for $1.99 per gallon.

AAA Yellow Cab has 140 flexible fuel cabs on the road and thus is the reason they decided to install the 12,000 gallon tank in just 41 days. Many of these taxis are Chevy HHR vans and Dodge Caravans.

Currently, there are 28 stations in the state of Arizona carrying the clean, alternative fuel – E85.

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

RFA: EPA Overestimates ILUC Emissions

Joanna Schroeder

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has sent another letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding what they call errors in the calculations of biofuels’ carbon intensity under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2). In the August 4th letter, RFA writes, “according to [EPA’s] own analysis, EPA grossly overestimated potential emissions from land use change (LUC) attributable to the [greenhouse gas] lifecycle of corn ethanol and other biofuels.”

The result of correcting this error, says RFA, is that it would greatly increase the greenhouse gas reduction benefits offered by ethanol under EPA’s calculations.

“Correcting this miscalculation reduces net LUC emissions (international and domestic) assigned to corn ethanol by 62% from 28.4 grams of CO2-equivalent/mega joule (g/MJ) to 10.8 g/MJ. Such a reduction in LUC emissions means overall lifecycle GHG emissions for 2022 average corn ethanol would be 38% less than baseline gasoline emissions, rather than the 21% estimate finalized by EPA.”

Regardless of RFA’s analysis, they still maintain that the inclusion of LUC impacts, particularly international impacts over which the U.S. has no control, is flawed policy and that EPA misinterpreted the intent of Congress when it passed the RFS.

In a recent blog post discussing their letter to EPA, Geoff Cooper, RFA’s Vice President of Research and Analysis, writes, “Despite the fact that real-world data and events have disputed the ILUC theory at every turn, EPA’s final rule for the RFS2 institutes a net LUC penalty (domestic and international) against corn ethanol of 30 kg CO2e/mmBTU (or 28.4 g CO2e/mega joule). This represents nearly 40% of the total GHG intensity of corn ethanol as estimated by EPA. When LUC emissions are excluded, EPA found corn ethanol from a natural gas dry mill reduces GHG emissions by 50% compared to gasoline. With LUC emissions, that benefit falls to around a 20% reduction.”

RFA says that this overestimation occurred as a result of the questionable methodological choice EPA made to isolate the LUC impacts of individual biofuels by increasing their production one at a time and holding all other biofuels at constant levels. More appropriately, the RFA notes, if EPA felt compelled by the statute to penalize biofuels for ILUC, it should have based those penalties on modeling that simultaneously increased production for all biofuels in accordance with the RFS requirements.

RFA notes that these problems are endemic of larger concerns regarding attempts to limit emissions from vehicles by unfairly penalizing biofuels.

You can read RFA’s letter to the EPA here and read Cooper’s comments regarding this issue here.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Indirect Land Use, RFA

New York Officially Passes Bioheat Legislation

Joanna Schroeder

In a follow-up to a story written last week, New York has officially passed air quality legislation that includes a provision to ensure that only Bioheat, a blend of heating oil and biodiesel, is used with the city. The unanimous vote, 45-0, ensures that starting October 2012, all home heating and oil will contain at least 2 percent biodiesel.

The National Biodiesel Board applauded the passage of the new legislation and Shelby Neal, the organization’s state regulatory director issued the following statement.

“New York City has our heartfelt congratulations on once again demonstrating that the city is a leader in renewable energy. Already the largest municipal user of biodiesel in transportation applications, the city has now taken a progressive step towards cleaner emissions from heating the homes and buildings there.

“The biodiesel is likely to be made from many sustainable, renewable resources, including recycled cooking oil. In a city with more than 8 million people and 20 thousand restaurants within its limits, this Bioheat requirement is a golden opportunity to recycle the city’s used cooking oil into cleaner burning fuel. New York City uses more than 1 billion gallons of heating oil a year, so 2 percent biodiesel represents a 20 million gallon market for biodiesel.

“This move to Bioheat will also support green jobs and domestic energy security, and we hope New York City’s progressive actions will encourage other cities serious about greening efforts to follow suit.”

Biodiesel, Legislation, NBB

Murphy Oil Looks to Grow Biofuels Business

Joanna Schroeder

One of the country’s most touted, and failed, ethanol concepts may be sold. Last year, Hereford Biofuels, the first commercial scale plant in the country intended to operate using methane from cattle operations, went belly-up. Construction was halted when owner, Panda Energy, an energy firm based in Dallas, Texas, sold the plant to creditors earlier this year for a reported $25 million.

The reported suitor is Murphy Oil Corporation, an international oil and gas company based in El Dorado, Arkansas. Their plans to increase their stake in the biofuels market comes on the heels of a July 22, 2010 announcement that the company will be exiting the refinery business as early as first quarter of 2011. The move was approved by the Board of Directors and now their refineries in Meraux, Louisiana; Superior, Wisconsin; and Milford Haven, Wales along with the retail system in the United Kingdom are now up for sale.

In a company statement made earlier this month by President and CEO David Wood, “Murphy’s Upstream and U.S. Retail businesses have demonstrated marked growth and financial performance over the last several years. By exiting the refining business, we can fully focus our attention and resources on continuing that growth, developing a premier international upstream business and a top quartile U.S. retail franchise.”

biofuels, Ethanol, News