Feds Give $228 Mil. for Sun- and CO2-to-Fuel Projects

John Davis

The federal Department of Energy is giving $228 million for projects that will turn sunlight directly into fuel and carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuel and other products, such as plastics, cement and fertilizers.

This article from Biofuels Digest says $122 million will go to start an Energy Innovation Hub for the sun projects, and $106 million for six projects dealing with CO2:

The Fuels from Sunlight Energy Innovation Hub is one of three Hubs that will receive funding in FY10. The Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP), to be led by the Cal Tech in partnership with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The goal of the Hub is to develop an integrated solar energy-to-chemical fuel conversion system and move this system from the bench-top discovery phase to a scale where it can be commercialized. JCAP research will be directed at the discovery of the functional components necessary to assemble a complete artificial photosynthetic system: light absorbers, catalysts, molecular linkers, and separation membranes.

The Hub will then integrate those components into an operational solar fuel system and develop scale-up strategies to move from the laboratory toward commercial viability.

In addition to the major partners, Cal Tech and Berkeley Lab, other participating institutions include SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford, California; the University of California, Berkeley; the University of California, Santa Barbara; the University of California, Irvine; and the University of California, San Diego.

The article goes on to say $156 million in private cost shares will match the $106 million for the CO2-to-products grants.

Government, Solar

Ethanol Tariff Tiff

Cindy Zimmerman

UNICAThe Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association UNICA this week drew attention to conflicting statements made in the past week by Growth Energy representatives about what they would like to see done with the tariff on foreign ethanol that is tied to the blenders tax credit under the Fueling Freedom plan introduced by the organization last week.

In a post on the blog SweeterAlternative and a YouTube video, UNICA noted apparent discrepancies between statements made by Growth Energy Co-Chairman Jeff Broin of POET and fellow co-chair Gen. Wesley Clark.

Growth EnergyIn an interview, Broin said that under an open market “a tariff becomes less important because we would have access to the entire market.” However, he adds that “if Brazil has a tariff, I think the U.S. should have a tariff that’s the same.” During a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing this week, Clark said they were “strongly in favor of keeping that tariff in place” adding that “There is absolutely no reason for the United States to trade dependence on foreign oil (for) dependence on foreign produced ethanol.”

Joel Velasco of UNICA writes, “What I find most interesting today is that the two chairmen of Growth Energy seem to have completely different positions on the tariff. Which is it? Does Growth Energy support market competition and consumer choice or not?”

Growth Energy sought to clarify the organization’s position on the tariff in relation to the “Fueling Freedom” plan in a blog post today, saying that the two co-chairmen were talking about different scenarios – with or without an “open market.” “Growth Energy’s position on the tariff has been consistent: it makes no sense to remove the tariff when all we will do is shut down domestic ethanol production,” the post concludes. “However, if lawmakers implement the Fueling Freedom plan and we transition to an open market, the tariff becomes less important.”

Brazil, Ethanol, Exports, Growth Energy, UNICA

Truckstop Operators Lobby for Biodiesel Incentive Renewal

John Davis

The group that represents truckstops and travel plazas is urging renewal of the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive.

Refrigerated Transporter reports that NATSO has teamed up with other partners in the industry, such as the National Association of Convenience Stores, the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America, to send a letter to U.S. Senate members, asking them to support U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley’s amendment to the Small Business Lending Act of 2010 that would extend the biodiesel tax credit through December 31, 2010:

“It is vital that Congress reinstate the biodiesel tax credit to ensure a healthy biodiesel market for producers and consumers,” said Lisa Mullings, NATSO president and chief executive officer. “The lapse of this credit and drastic cuts in production are undermining fuel retailers’ commitment to offering alternative fuels to the public and to investing in biodiesel infrastructure. The expiration of the tax credit has put thousands of jobs at stake and threatens the industry’s ability to meet the mandated renewable fuels standard.”

Since the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit expired, US biodiesel production has plummeted by more than 80%. At the same time, motorists are changing buying habits as the price of biodiesel surpasses other fuels. The $1-per-gallon blender tax credit makes biodiesel cost competitive with conventional diesel fuel. The expiration of the tax credit, coupled with sagging consumer demand, has caused many producers to shut down or severely scale back production.

Truckstop operators say this is also part of their efforts to support environmental efforts.

Biodiesel, Government, Legislation

EPA Data on Canola Biodiesel Pathway Released

John Davis

Canola-based biodiesel is closer to becoming a fuel authorized for biomass-based diesel Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), now that the EPA has released a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) for its recent modeling of the canola oil biodiesel pathway.

Earlier this year, EPA announced the final rule for the new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2), but the canola pathway was not yet looked at as biofuel feedstock able to meet required greenhouse gas reduction standards. Now, Biodiesel Magazine reports that the EPA says canola oil biodiesel could reduce GHGs by 50 percent compared to petroleum-based diesel:

“These results, if finalized, would justify authorizing the generation of biomass-based diesel RINs for fuel produced by the canola oil biodiesel pathway modeled, assuming that the fuel meets the other definitional criteria for renewable fuel (e.g., produced from renewable biomass, and used to reduce or replace transportation fuel) specified in EISA,” EPA said in the NODA memo.

EPA analyzed canola oil as a feedstock “assuming the same biodiesel production facility designs and conversion efficiencies as modeled for biodiesel produced from soybean oil.” To assess the impact of producing biodiesel from canola oil, the EPA also created a control case projection estimating 200 million gallons of canola-based biodiesel per year by 2022. “While we recognize that some canola oil has historically been used to make biodiesel for domestic use,” EPA said, “this range of production (zero to 200 million gallons) covers the range of production likely by 2022.” To create the projection, the EPA used a number of factors including historical volumes, potential feedstock availability and competitive uses, potential increases in crop acreage and potential increases in crop and conversion yields.

“As with other EPA analyses of fuel pathways with a significant land use impact, the proposed analysis for canola oil biodiesel includes a best estimate as well as a range of possible lifecycle greenhouse gas emission results based on formal uncertainty analysis conducted by the agency,” EPA also noted.

The EPA believes canola crop yields will increase in the long term.

Biodiesel, Government

ISU Testing Biomass/Coal Blend to Reduce Emissions

Joanna Schroeder

In a recent article published in Inside Iowa State (ISU), researchers are looking into the replacement of some coal with wood pellets. The biomass is being studied as an additive to coal, to reduce it’s carbon footprint. Beginning on July 15, 2010, two coal-fired boilers located on the ISU campus, began to burn wood pellets as part of a series of tests that utilities staff are conducting over several weeks. The tests will help officials assess the feasibility of replacing some coal with biomass, which is considered a cleaner fuel source, according to Jeff Witt, assistant director of utilities.

“We’re doing this to see what other alternative energy sources are feasible,” he said. “We’ll be assessing both the environmental and economic impacts of using these sources.”

The first test will involve a mix of 10 percent wood pellets with 90 percent coal. In a recent test the mix was 5 percent wood pellets to 95 percent coal. The researchers have approval from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to test up to a 20 percent wood pellet blend. The study is estimated to take three months with air emissions one of the major components of the project.

The wood being used in the tests is from Colorado pine trees that have been decimated by pine beetles. For more than a decade, pine beetles have been attacking the trees and currently in Colorado and Wyoming, more than 3 million acres of trees have been lost.

One of the drawbacks of using wood pellets is the expense – nearly double the cost of coal – according to Witt. He notes, however, that like other technologies, long-term contracts and the maturity of a technology will lower the costs.

biomass, News, Research

CFDC Urges More Dialogue on Biofuels Tax Incentives

Joanna Schroeder

Recent Department of Commerce figures are showing that despite an effort for America to curb its imports of foreign oil, they are actually increasing. This at the cost of billions of dollars flowing to foreign companies, governments and citizens. For this reason, Clean Fuels Development Coalition (CFDC) is urging Congress to be mindful of the significant contributions from ethanol. They also applauded Growth Energy’s call for new thinking about ethanol tax incentives and the need to improve market access.

Douglas A. Durante, CFDC Executive Director, in a call with reporters this week, said that disjointed policies regarding tax incentives and market initiatives needed to be reconciled if first generation ethanol is going to lead to 2nd and 3rd generation biofuels. Durante noted that the incentives to blend have certainly been effective but with the E10 blend wall facing the industry, such an incentive has little or no value when there is nowhere to put the product.

To support his claims, Durante cited a report released by the Congressional Budget Office last week and commissioned by U.S. Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-MN). The report suggested the current lower tax rate for biofuels actually might not be the most effective method of incenting new production.Read More

biofuels, Ethanol, News

Green Scissors 2010 Calls for Cut in Wasteful Spending

Joanna Schroeder

At the helm of Friends of the Earth, a new report was released today highlighting government programs and subsidies that are wasteful to taxpayers, harmful to the environment and bad for consumers. The Green Scissors 2010 report targeted four major areas for budget cuts including energy, agriculture and biofuels, infrastructure, and public lands.

Many of the recommendations of this report come as no surprise to the agricultural and biofuels industry, as over the past two weeks, members of Friends of the Earth surreptitiously called agricultural organizations across the country, questioning them about their methods of production.

According to an industry insider whose company received multiple calls from various people in the employ of Friends of the Earth, the organization was asking questions about ground water quality (ag production, mainly corn and soybeans have been linked to the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone) and hypoxia; two issues that have made national headlines in recent weeks. It is also no secret that Friends of the Earth has engaged in an active anti-agribusiness and biofuels campaign over the past few years, and the environmental organization has been tied to Big Oil through contribution monies.

It should be known that, Friends of the Earth, along with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Clean Air Task Force are currently engaged in a campaign to end the ethanol tax credit (VEETC) as well as the ethanol tariff. They have specifically attacked Growth Energy’s corn-ethanol advertising campaign in the Beltway.

They write on their website, “Tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer money has already been wasted under the credit [VEETC]. And these funds do little more than to further line the coffers of the oil industry. This coalition is working to prevent an additional 30 billion plus dollars from being lavished on the industry to fulfill a legally mandated requirement to blend an environmentally harmful fuel into another environmentally harmful one.”Read More

biofuels, Ethanol, Oil, Opinion, politics, Research, Solar, transportation, Wind

Pitching for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol hit a home run at the Iowa Cubs game last night in Des Moines.

With the help of Renewable Fuels Association chairman Chris Standlee of Abengoa Bioenergy throwing out the first pitch, the Iowa Cubs beat Oklahoma City RedHawks 8-5 Wednesday night in front of 9,088 fans on Ethanol Night at Principal Park.

The promotional event featured ethanol information and displays, ethanol t-shirts and giveaways. Ethanol industry leaders from Iowa and around the nation attending the event, which was held in conjunction with RFA’s quarterly board meeting being held in Des Moines this week.

Looks like it was lots of fun for everyone – see all the photos here in the RFA Flickr Photo Album from the event.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Promotion, RFA

Energy Crop Production Looks Good in Tennessee

Joanna Schroeder

The University of Tennessee Biofuels Initiative (UTBI) is closely watching how more than 1,000 acres of newly planted varieties of switchgrass will compare to current varieties. This project is part of a U.S. DOE project that was developed to study improved efficiencies in bioenergy production from biomass. The scale of the acreage will allow for assessment of the environmental and economic sustainability of the different varieties. Farmers and researchers should gain useful information on seed stock performance including disease and drought resistance, tolerance to humidity, and other agronomic variables.

The project team is headed by UT researchers Dr. Sam Jackson and Dr. Nicole Labbe who are also working with Ceres and Dupont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE). Farmers from nine east Tennessee counties, along with members of the research team, have planted more than 1,000 acres of switchgrass varieties that have been developed by Ceres. The results will be compared with 1,000 acres of a more traditional variety of switchgrass known as “Alamo”.  These acres have been established on private farms as part of the UTBI farmer incentive program that now totals nearly 6,000 acres.

Once the switchgrass is harvested, it will be turned into cellulosic ethanol at Genera Energy/DDCE’s demonstration-scale biorefinery located in Vonore, Tenn. Genera Energy is hosting a groundbreaking of the facility located in the Tennessee’s Biomass Innovation Park on July 29, 2010.
Read More

biomass, News, Research

Railway to Test Montana Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

A switch engine in Havre, Montana is making the switch to 20 percent biodiesel for a year-long experiment to see how it works on trains in the Treasure State.

On July 17, BNSF Railway celebrated the official start of the project where Montana State University-Northern’s Bio-Energy Center will test biodiesel produced by Earl Fisher Biofuels in one of two BNSF Railway switch engines used at the Havre Depot. The testing will take place during the four seasons of Montana weather from extreme cold to intense heat. During the year long program one switch train will continue to use diesel to act as a control and the other will run on a mix of 20 percent biodiesel, which BNSF requires be made with Montana-grown oil seeds. With BNSF now a steady client, Earl Fisher Biofuels will have year-round demand for biodiesel and for the crops — such as camelina, canola and safflower seeds — that produce it.

Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) was on hand for the kick off event, pictured here between Greg Kegel, dean of MSU-Northern’s College of Technical Sciences (left) and Beau Price of BNSF (right) with a jar of biodiesel. The MSU Northern Bio Energy Center will be the site of the Agricultural Biofuel Summit on October 19-20, facilitated by Ethanol Producers And Consumers (EPAC) made possible through a Growth Through Agriculture grant. EPAC provided the photo and information for this story.

Biodiesel