Sorghum Poised for Bigger Role in Ethanol Production

Joanna Schroeder

Today, about 1/3 of the sorghum crop goes into ethanol production. An interesting little piece of information I picked up when I spoke with Gerald Simonsen, the Chairman of the National Sorghum Producers during Commodity Classic. Sorghum is a good feedstock for ethanol production for several reasons. First, it uses half the amount of water used in corn production and second, the sugar-based sorghums, like sweet sorghum and energy sorghums produce more ethanol per acre than other starch-based feedstocks.

Simonsen told me that his organization is very focused on the ethanol industry not only from a research, development and marketing standpoint, but also policy. The RFS2 rules were recently announced and Simonsen said that while they were happy to be included, they do have a few issues with some of the things said about sorghum. Therefore, his organization is working with the USDA and EPA to “iron out some of the rough edges and make sure sorghum has a viable future in ethanol.”

Currently, you can produce the same amount of ethanol from a bushel of corn or ethanol. However, Simonsen noted, you can also make sugar-based ethanol out of sweet sorghum and in terms of cellulosic ethanol, energy sorghum and forage sorghum are feedstocks that the US Department of Energy is excited about. These types of feedstocks produce more ethanol from a bushel of sorghum than what we’re seeing today.

“We have a three-way punch. We’ve got the whole ethanol thing surrounded. We just have to bring it together and move forward,” concluded Simonsen.

You can listen to my interview with Gerald below.

Audio, Commodity Classic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, feedstocks, sorghum

“Baby Girl” Wins Cutest Kid Photo Contest

Joanna Schroeder

The winner for the Renewable Fuels Association’s (RFA) E85 Flex-Fuel Challenge Cutest Kid Photo Contest is in – Latisha Martinex of Virgina Beach. Ms. Martinex will receive free ethanol for one year and her photo was selected by the judges based on creativity and quality.

More than 1,000 photos were submitted and of those, “Amira and her Snow Love,” submitted by Megan Pomeroy of Le Mars, Iowa, is the winner of a $500 ethanol fuel card after receiving the Most Voted award from daily votes on the E85 Challenge website.

“The Cutest Kid contest is the E85 Flex Fuel Challenge’s most successful marketing effort to date, reaching more than 1,000 families nationwide, said RFA Market Development Director, Robert White. “Contests such as this allow us to reach out to non traditional groups, like mothers, to introduce ourselves and better educate them on the value of renewable fuels. Congratulations to all the winners.”

The first 1,000 entrants for the Cutest Kid Photo Contest received a free eco-friendly reusable shopping bag filled with consumer information about Flex-Fuel Vehicles (FFVs), ethanol facts and a reusable bag fact sheet. The Cutest Kid Photo Contest was the 4th E85 Flex-Fuel Challenge Contest.

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

GWEC Releases “Great Expectations” Wind Report

Joanna Schroeder

“It is clear that Congress must pass a strong federal renewable electricity standard so that investors, developers and state policy makers are working together to achieve a common goal,” said Iowa Governor Chet Culver today during a press call to release the findings of a new wind energy report: Great Expectations: U.S. Wind Energy Development, the Governors’ Wind Energy Coalition’s 2010 Recommendations. This comprehensive report is the first ever to be submitted to Congress by a national group of governors, and today representatives of the organization including Governor Culver and Rhode Island Governor Donald L. Carcieri met with President Obama, Senator Reed, Speaker Pelosi and the minority leadership in both the House and Senate to present their findings.

Governor Carcieri noted that Congressional action on the energy bill appears to have stalled and he hoped that these bipartisan recommendations will advance the energy deliberations currently underway. He stressed, “In order to achieve energy independence in the United States, we must increase the role of wind. Why is that? Wind energy is clean, it’s cost effective and it’s abundant.”

While the main recommendations were centered around passing a Renewable Electricity Standard, developing a new interstate electric transmission system infrastructure and reducing the time it takes to permit both offshore and on-shore wind projects, there were several other recommendations of note:

  • • Fully Support Coastal, Deep Water, and Offshore Wind Energy Technology and Transmission Research and Development
  • • Expand the U.S. Department of Energy’s Work with the States and the Wind Industry to Accelerate Innovation
  • • Extend the Treasury Department Grant Program in Lieu of the Investment Tax Credit, and Adopt a Long-Term Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit With Provisions to Broaden the Pool of Eligible Investors

Both governors highlighted the importance of creating green collar jobs through the increase of wind power. A national 25 percent renewable electricity standard by 2025 could create more than 300,000 new green collar jobs.

Governor Culver also put out a call to action to keep the wind manufacturing here in the States. “If Congress fails to pass a strong national goal on renewable energy and transmission upgrades, the continued uncertainty will cause the nation to potentially surrender wind manufacturing to other countries.”

You can click here to download a copy of the full report.

Energy, Legislation, Wind

Actress Daryl Hannah Speaks Out for Ethanol Blends

Joanna Schroeder

Daryl Hannah has changed her hat, per se, and along with the promotion of biodiesel, she is now promoting higher blends of ethanol. On Tuesday, March 23, 2010 Hannah’s ’79 Pontiac Trans-Am, that was featured in the movie “Kill Bill,” will be featured in the TV show EcoReview. The Topic is The Greening of the Auto Industry: from Paint to Fuel and the host of the program is Tom Harvey. The show will take viewers though how alcohol fuel is produced and used around the world for transportation, cooking and heating. In addition, the program will highlight a new California certified smog station test that recently compared unleaded gas emissions to those of E10, E15 and E85. For those unable to get the show, you can watch it here.

Hannah’s next appearance will be during a press conference in Sacramento on March 24, 2010 to promote the E15 waiver. She along with David Blume, author of Alcohol Can Be a Gas, will present the Environmental Protection Agency with more research to substantiate the benefits of using E15 and higher blends of ethanol as a gas additive – information the EPA claims is lacking. The research presented will include the “Kill Bill” Trans-Am which was converted to run on ethanol last year and tested using the California certified smog test for E10, E15 and E85. The test shows that all blends not only meet but exceed the standards set out in the Clean Air Act. The event is being hosted at Sacramento’s “Flyer” E85 station located at 4250 John Madison Avenue, Sacramento California, beginning at 2:30 pm Pacific Time. For those that are interested but can’t make the event, it will be streamed live here.

blends, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Biofuels Alliance Disputes Virginia Research

John Davis

A recent study by some University of Virginia researchers who say that algae might not be as environmentally friendly as some regular row crops when it comes to making biodiesel is coming under fire by algae and algal-biofuel organizations.

As you might remember from my post back on January 22, 2010, a study headed by Andres Clarens said that “algae’s environmental footprint is larger than other terrestrial crops.” But according to the executive director for the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (and several other groups that commented on that January 22 article), those Virginia researchers got it wrong. And NAABB’s Dr. Jose Olivares tells me that the main problem is in the fact that Clarens used data that just is not current anymore.

“A lot of [the data] came out during the aquatic species program, which ran for quite a few years, but ended in the early [1990s].”

He says that old data doesn’t account for the technological advances made in the last 15+ years that have cut algae oil’s production’s energy usage by 100 fold, while creating an environmental footprint for algae that is 20-100 times smaller than row crops.

[There’s] a huge danger of misinterpreting what is possible with these types of technologies.”

Olivares points out that there are some positive aspects of the Virginia study, including pointing out that algae can be grown using wastewater … which Olivares says the algal-biofuel industry is already doing.

You can hear more of my conversation with Dr. Olivares below.

algae, Audio, Biodiesel

REG Becomes North America’s Largest Biodiesel Maker

John Davis

It’s come a long ways since its early days as part of West Central CO-OP’s Ralston, Iowa (right next to this author’s hometown of Glidden, Iowa) operation, and now Renewable Energy Group has become North America’s largest wholly-owned biodiesel manufacturing and marketing source.

This company press release says REG gained that status after recently acquiring biodiesel plants in Iowa and Illinois:

Shareholders in Central Iowa Energy, LLC, (30 MGY facility in Newton, Iowa) and Blackhawk Biofuels, LLC, (45 MGY facility in Danville, Ill.) voted affirmatively in late February to an all-stock transaction making their facilities wholly-owned by Renewable Energy Group, Inc. The consolidation brings REG’s wholly-owned manufacturing capacity to 122 MGY.

REG’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Stroburg cited demand by major petroleum distributors and oil refiners as a key factor in the decision to move forward with plant consolidation. “With the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) now in effect, the distillate market is demanding technical expertise, dependable supply, more efficient distribution and creative pricing options from major biodiesel partners,” Stroburg said.

The transaction is part of a nearly year-long process to bring the plants under the REG umbrella. REG’s other wholly-owned facilities include a 12-million-gallon-a-year plant where it all began, Ralston, Iowa, and a 35 MGY biodiesel refinery in Houston.

Biodiesel

Delay on E15 Waiver “Troubling”

Joanna Schroeder

The E15 waiver was a hot topic during Commodity Classic and for good reason: EPA administrator Lisa Jackson, in response to a question asked during a Congressional hearing, said she felt they’d be ready to make a decision late summer. Originally, the EPA was to have ruled on the E15 waiver, that would waive the Clean Air Act to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in motor vehicles, by the beginning of last December. At that time, they deferred to mid-summer – now they are saying possibly by end of summer.

“Though without giving a date, clearly that date has passed and that’s troubling I think, and we’ve got to keep the pressure on,” said Brian Jennings, the Executive Director of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) during an interview with DomesticFuel during Commodity Classic.

According to Jennings, Robert White with the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, the EPA is doing more work on small engines and the effect of ethanol blends on catalytic converters. This despite the large number of research already available.

“But it does seem frustrating to us that they keep looking for some sort of excuse to delay or not to make the decision when we feel the preponderance of evidence, so far, and as it continues to come in, is going to justify this,” continued Jennings.

Both Vilsack and White agree and feel that the E15 waiver will pass – especially since the Renewable Fuels Standard mandates 36 billion gallons of ethanol by 2022 and the E10 blend wall is approximately 14 billion gallons and White notes that there are 22 billions gallons above the blend wall that need to find a home.

“E15 is great, but it’s still a band aid for the real issue and the sticking point is going to come very soon and the problem we’ve been facing for well over a decade is you simply can’t flip a light switch for this infrastructure to be there,” explained White.

You can download (mp3 file) or listen to a Robert’s interview here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/commodity-classic/WhiteE15.CC10.mp3]

You can download (mp3 file) or listen to Brian’s interview here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/commodity-classic/JenningsE15.CC10.mp3]

ACE, Audio, blends, Commodity Classic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Higher Ethanol Blends Score a Victory

Joanna Schroeder

It’s been a long road, but according to a company statement released by Dresser Wayne, Underwriters Laboratory (UL) has approved the use of the company’s Ovation Eco Fuel dispenser for the use ethanol blends up to 25 percent (E25). This is great news as the ethanol industry waits to hear if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will rule in favor of the E15 waiver, which would allow up to 15 percent ethanol blends to be used in conventional vehicles.

“Motorists continue to call for greener fueling solutions and retailers are demanding technologies that will help them stay in front of the market opportunity while managing regulatory changes,” noted Scott Negley, Director of Alternative Energy Products at Dresser Wayne. “Our Eco Fuel dispenser is in use across North America and is designed to handle the higher blends without modifications.”

UL has been working to certify various pump dispensing equipment for use with higher ethanol blends even though there has been widespread use of these components to dispense E85 for more than a decade. Should the E15 waiver be passed, retailers who have installed the Eco Fuel dispenser will not have to modify or upgrade any equipment. For those consumers looking to use more than E15 and own a flex-fuel vehicle, will be able too use any blend of fuel between E10-E85.

“UL’s certification of this dispenser for up to 25 percent ethanol use is an important step forward and will help expand the use of ethanol,” said Renewable Fuels Association Director of Market Development Robert White. “With EPA expected to approve 15 percent ethanol blends sometime this year, this announcement provides some comfort to gas station owners facing increased ethanol blending. Likewise, it provides comfort to stations looking to install blender pump technology offering a wide range of blends from 10 up to 85 percent.”

There have been several recent announcements from the ethanol industry to increase the number of blender pumps across the country. The RFA is working alongside the American Coalition for Ethanol and numerous state corn groups to install 5,000 blender pumps in the next three years as part of its Blend Your Own Ethanol campaign. Growth Energy recently announced that it is offering funding for blender pump installation between $2,500-$5,000.

blends, Company Announcement, Ethanol

Ethanol Report on What’s Wrong With RFS2

Cindy Zimmerman

In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” we hear from Geoff Cooper, Vice President of Research and Analysis for the Renewable Fuels Association, about what is right and what is wrong with the rule for the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard released early last month by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Ethanol Report PodcastThe good news is that the RFS2 improves upon the rule EPA proposed last year, and that it is much better than what California is using to determine lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. The bad news is the continued reliance on the non-scientific indirect land use change. EPA’s new calculations determined that corn ethanol was better than they first thought when it comes to indirect land use change, so they cut that penalty in half, while they totally eliminated it for sugarcane ethanol – a move that has RFA mystified.

This podcast was recorded at the recent National Ethanol Conference, where RFS2 was the main topic of discussion. We reference a presentation done at the conference by EPA’s Sarah Dunham, which you can find in a previous post here on Domestic Fuel.

You can subscribe to this twice monthly podcast by following this link.

Listen to or download the podcast here:

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, Indirect Land Use, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Wisconsin Researchers Unlock Biomass Sugars for Fuel

John Davis

A team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have figured out how to get the the sugar molecules trapped inside inedible plant biomass, a key step in the creation of cellulosic biofuels.

This press release from the school says the process, featured in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, converts up to three-quarters of the sugars locked up in raw corn stover into simple, fermentable sugars … an attractive alternative to the enzyme-based approaches currently favored by biofuels researchers:

“Our chemical process is extremely efficient,” says Ron Raines, a UW-Madison professor of biochemistry and chemistry. “It also has marked advantages over the existing processes-both chemical or enzymatic-for producing sugars from biomass.”

Working under a strong federal mandate, scientists across the nation are developing next-generation biofuels from inedible plant materials such as corn stover, switchgrass and wood chips. Unlike most ethanol on the market today, these so-called cellulosic biofuels would not be derived from food sources, potentially reducing the stress on food systems. But the complex structure of plant material keeps cellulose’s energy-rich sugars locked up in tangled webs, making the process of converting it to fuel difficult. In recent years, scientists have been trying to find and engineer enzymes that can break down the sugars more efficiently, potentially opening the door to the commercial production of fuel from cellulose.

Raines’ chemical approach, which he developed with graduate student Joe Binder, a doctoral candidate in the chemistry department, on the other hand, relies on a mixture of an ionic liquid and dilute acid-both of which can slip past lignin-to dissolve the long chains of sugars in biomass and break them up into individual molecules of glucose and xylose.

The article goes on to say that the researchers were able to get about the same amount of sugar out of the biomass as the more-expensive enzymes usually used. This could significantly cut the cost of cellulosic ethanol, helping move that industry forward.

biofuels, biomass, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News