Ethanol Production Continues Record Pace

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association LogoU.S. ethanol production continued on a record pace in February. According to information from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), February 2010 ethanol production averaged more than 833,000 barrels per day, 186,000 more than February 2009.

Ethanol demand, as calculated by the Renewable Fuels Association, also reached an all time high of 795,000 barrels per day in February. However, production continues to outpace demand at this point since the allowable blend level of ten percent ethanol in gasoline has basically been reached, according to RFA president Bob Dinneen. “American ethanol markets are nearly full do to the arbitrary 10% restriction EPA currently enforces on ethanol blending,” said Dinneen. “EPA must approve the use of up to 15% ethanol in all vehicles.”

It is expected to be later this summer before EPA rules on the E15 waiver to allow up to 15 percent ethanol blends in regular gasoline.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Gulf Oil Spill Could Shape Biodiesel’s Future

John Davis

While the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has had no measurable effect on the petroleum markets, it could end up having an impact on the biodiesel industry in this country.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is pouring thousands of gallons of oil into coastal ecosystems and has been designated as an event “of national significance” by President Obama. Heatingoil.com reports it could also be a turning point in our energy policy:

The environmental and economic devastation of the spill could have major political fallout that shapes future US energy policy. A shift in public opinion away for supporting offshore drilling could put the brakes on a federal plan to expand drilling allowances and build support for the development on biodiesel and other green energy sources.

It was just about a month ago that Obama was calling for more offshore drilling. Maybe this will get him to push Congress to finish work on the federal biodiesel tax incentive and save the biodiesel industry before it’s too late.

Biodiesel, Government

Colorado Biodiesel & CO2 Projects Get Federal Grants

John Davis

A pair of projects in Colorado to help develop renewable energy will be getting some federal money.

The Denver Post reports $9.1 million in U.S. Department of Energy grants are hoped to create jobs and speed innovation:

OPX Biotechnologies Inc. will receive $6 million to engineer microorganisms to use renewable hydrogen and carbon-dioxide inputs for producing a biodiesel-equivalent fuel at low cost. The award said catalysts will be explored to convert microbial fuel into jet fuel.

The University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded $3.1 million to create very-thin ionic liquid membranes that allow carbon dioxide to pass through at high rates, reducing the size and cost of membranes needed for carbon-dioxide capture.

The projects were part of $106 million handed out by DOE for 37 projects across the country.

Biodiesel, Government

Growth Energy Pleased With Obama Visit to Ethanol Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

obama buisGrowth Energy CEO Tom Buis gave President Obama a big hug after his speech at the POET ethanol plant in Macon, Missouri on Wednesday.

“It’s a great honor to have the president of the United States come out to an ethanol plant and demonstrate again his long support for production of renewable fuels,” Buis said in an interview with Domestic Fuel at the event. “He again reiterated this nation continues to face economic challenges based on our addiction to foreign oil and we need to produce renewable fuels here in America and that’s a powerful message from the most powerful person in the world.”

Buis also talked about the recently introduced Growth Energy advertising campaign for ethanol and reaction they have received to it. “The feedback has been very positive,” he said, noting that ethanol needed some visibility on national television next to the other sources of energy that are advertised. “The old line is that if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu and we wanted to be at the table and get the positive message out there.”

Listen to the interview with Tom Buis here:

Audio, Ethanol, Growth Energy, POET

Corn Utilization Conference to Feature Ethanol Issues

Cindy Zimmerman

cutcIndirect land use change and DDGs quality are just two of the ethanol-related topics that will be featured at the 2010 Corn Utilization and Technology Conference scheduled for June 7-9 in Atlanta.

Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association is chair of the “Maximizing DDG Quality” technical session. “We are coming off of a very late, wet harvest that presented a variety of quality challenges,” said Cooper. “It is important that both producers and processors of the grain recognize the unique quality challenges that they face and take appropriate steps to maintain and maximize quality throughout the process.”

The plenary session “Land Use Conundrum…Corn, an Advanced Biofuel?” will focus on the role land use criteria played in the decision that corn does not currently meet the qualifications of an advanced biofuel, the session will include both presentations and a panel discussion. The session will also explore how the United States will meet its greenhouse gas reduction mandates given that corn is currently the only significant source of ethanol in today’s marketplace.

CUTC is designed for anyone seeking to learn the latest developments in technologies related to corn. Registration information is available on-line.

corn, CUTC, Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Indirect Land Use, NCGA

Wind Energy Co. Launches Buoy off New Jersey

John Davis

Perhaps buoyed by the federal Interior Department’s decision to let an offshore wind energy farm be built off the coast of Massachusetts – the first of its kind in this country – a New Jersey wind energy company has launched a real buoy to test the winds for what might be that state’s first offshore wind farm.

The Press of Atlantic City reports Fishermen’s Energy set out the buoy to gather for the next two years weather data, such as wind speed and barometric pressure, while also monitoring migrating whales, dolphins, birds and bats:

Fishermen’s Energy and two other companies plan to build offshore windmills between Atlantic City and Avalon. But the Cape May company has a head start on its competition, Garden State Offshore Wind and Bluewater Wind, because Fishermen’s Energy is building a 20-megawatt demonstration project in state waters where there is less red tape.

This smaller project 2.8 miles off Atlantic City will help determine the viability of Fishermen’s Energy’s larger 350-megawatt project planned for 10 miles off the coast.

The buoy will record the sounds of passing whales, dolphins, birds and bats. Studies have shown that bats are especially vulnerable to windmills, which create areas of low pressure between their spinning blades that can kill the small flying mammals.

New Jersey has set a goal of producing 3,000 megawatts of offshore wind power by 2020.

Wind

Wheelabrator Technologies Buys Waste-to-Energy Plants

John Davis

A subsidiary of garbage giant Waste Management is buying a public utility’s waste-to-energy facility.

Wheelabrator Technologies Inc. has acquired the Southeastern Public Service Authority’s Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) plant and adjacent waste-to-energy facility in Portsmouth, Virginia for $150 million:

The purchase concludes a lengthy process that commenced more than two years ago when SPSA began consideration of a proposal to sell the two plants in order to reduce debt and operating costs and draw on the expertise of a private vendor. Three other companies submitted competing bids. After narrowing the candidates to two, the Authority chose Wheelabrator on November 17, 2009. A newly constituted SPSA Board, which took office January 1, 2010 as a result of a change in state law, continued the sale process, ending with the Board votes on April 28.

SPSA will use the $150-million from the sale to pay down debt to the Virginia Resource Authority (VRA) and other lending institutions, and repay money owed to the City of Virginia Beach.

The 164 SPSA employees will now become Wheelabrator employees. The waste-to-energy facilities turn up to 2,000 tons a day of municipal solid waste (MSW) into 600,000 pounds of steam per hour and 60-megawatts of electricity. The steam will go to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard repair operations, with the electricity going into the grid.

Waste-to-Energy

Farm Bureau Supports Extending Biofuel Tax Incentives

Cindy Zimmerman

afbfTax incentives play a key role in the development and production of renewable energy, and the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is urging Congress to pass two bills that would extend renewable fuel tax credits for five years.

In a statement presented for the record to a House Ways and Means Committee hearing this week on energy tax incentives, AFBF said long-term tax incentives are needed to boost renewable energy technologies and support development of the market infrastructure necessary to make these technologies more competitive.

AFBF supports legislation that would extend the biodiesel tax incentive for five years and change the biodiesel tax incentive from a blenders excise tax credit to a production excise tax credit. The general farm organization also backs the Renewable Fuels Reinvestment Act that extends the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit and the Small Ethanol Producers Tax Credit for five years through 2015. That bill also extends the Cellulosic Ethanol Production Tax Credit for three years, through 2015 and the secondary tariff on ethanol that offsets the benefit received by imported ethanol.

“Clean and renewable domestic energy will help America achieve long-term economic growth, create a cleaner environment and shield our energy supply from unreliable foreign sources,” said AFBF President Bob Stallman. “Renewable fuels are vital for rural America. They create much needed jobs and open new markets for farmers and ranchers. Tax incentives play a key role in the development and production of renewable energy.”

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farm Bureau, Farming, Government

Developing Specialized Sorghum for Energy

Cindy Zimmerman

An Illinois biotech company is working on the development of sorghum varieties specifically suited for energy production.

SorghumChromatin, Inc. CEO Daphne Preuss told the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C. this week that the company is expanding its technology development portfolio to produce fit-for-purpose sorghum as a renewable feedstock for the biofuels, green power and renewable chemicals sectors.

“Feedstock quality and compositional attributes are key drivers of efficiencies for industrial bioprocessors, and whether the process requires starch, sugar or lignocellulose, we believe sorghum makes an ideal platform for feedstock development,” said Preuss. “By applying our proven and innovative technology portfolio to this plant, we will provide energy crops and value-added products that are uniquely suited for a broad range of applications, precisely matched to the needs of bioprocessors,” she said.

Chromatin plans to build and commercialize its sorghum product portfolio to optimize sorghum for specific bioprocessors’ needs.

sorghum

Meat Producers Oppose Ethanol Tax Incentives

Cindy Zimmerman

American_Meat_Institute_LogoMajor livestock and poultry trade associations sent a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee this week asking that they allow the blenders’ tax credit and associated tariff for ethanol to expire at the end of this year. The request was made in a letter signed by industry trade associations, including the American Meat Institute, the National Turkey Federation, the National Chicken Council and the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association.

“The blender’s tax credit, coupled with the import tariff on foreign ethanol, has distorted the corn market, increased the cost of feeding animals, and squeezed production margins — resulting in job losses and bankruptcies in rural communities across America,” the groups wrote.

cornThe ethanol industry begs to disagree and contends that the livestock industry just wants cheap feed. “Once again, corporate livestock interests are seeking to return to the days they bought corn under the price of production for the American farmer. Such practices resulted in farmers getting more income from the government than they could from the marketplace, while corporate livestock industries prospered,” responded the Renewable Fuels Association in a statement. “Ethanol is not the major driving force behind corn prices, whether they are rising or falling. Oil prices, speculation, weather, and a host of other factors have far more to do with the price of corn than ethanol production. Consider that since the peak of corn prices in 2008, oil prices have fallen by half and speculation in grain markets has eased considerably.”

Indeed, the meat producers’ letter points out that a September 2008 report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) stated that the dramatic increase in livestock production costs were attributed to higher costs for feed. The CRS report said that “the main driver was feed, which may account for 60%-70% of total livestock production costs in any given year.”

What the letter does not point out, however, is that the same report gave a number of reasons for the higher feed costs, including strong economic growth in developing countries, weather-related crop shortfalls (mostly in other countries and not corn), surging U.S. corn exports, higher demand for feed from livestock producers, increased corn production costs mainly to higher energy-related (fertilizer and fuel) costs, and actions by a number of foreign governments to insulate their own markets from high commodity prices. Government biofuels policy was noted as a contributing factor as well, although it was also noted that ethanol by-products can be fed by livestock producers to help offset higher feed corn prices, which makes the overall impact on feed prices difficult to assess.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, livestock feed, RFA