ACE Conference 2026

Propel Fuels’ E85 for 85 Cents Event Draws Attention

Joanna Schroeder

Ethanol champion David Stoltz's converted E85 truck

Earlier this week, my colleague posted a story about Propel Fuels’ E85 promotion that took place on February 24 and several of its stations in Sacramento. It was a big success, drawing quite a bit of attention from both consumers and the media alike. Biofuels enthusiast, Paul Wikoff participated in the event and sent DomestcFuel some photos including one of local Sacramento resident Dave Stoltz’s and his 1984 Toyota truck that he converted to run E85 (larger jets in the carburetor). Stoltz also restored Darryl Hannah’s “Kill Bill” Trans Am and converted it to run on E85. Darryl Hannah is also a huge supporter and spokesperson for biodiesel.

Propel Fuels CEO Matt Horton Kicks Off E85 Promo

On hand for the event were Propel Fuels’ CEO Matt Horton, representatives from Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District and the US Postal Service. Wikoff noted that thousands of gallons of both ethanol and biodiesel were sold offsetting imported petroleum and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, which is a goal of the Low Carbon Fuels Standard that took effect in January of this year.

Propel Fuels was happy with the event and plans on monitoring its E85 and biodiesel sales over the next few weeks to determine if they gain more ethanol and biodiesel customers. The company is also planning on opening 50 more stations in San Francisco and Southern California this year and anticipates that it will support these new stations with additional E85 promotions. BTW – I just wanted to send Paul a special thanks for sending us the story and pictures!

Biodiesel, E85, Ethanol, Promotion

New Ideas for Funding Sustainable Biofuels

Joanna Schroeder

If you did a survey among the biofuels industry and asked if the funding programs for biofuels research and development were working, most would say no. Actually, many outside of the industry would say no. As the country continues forward on the federal goals set out in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) things will need to change if we’re going to achieve them claims Advanced Biofuels USA. The organization recently passed a resolution to introduce new ideas to generate federal funding and investments in the development of sustainable biofuels.

The answer: the Highway Trust fund along with an increase in the transportation fuel user fee.

As part of this resolution, Advanced Biofuels USA provides a summary analysis of the “causes of the failure to surmount technical challenges, to obtain adequate financing, and to assure demand for biofuels consistent with the expectation expressed in the RFS.” It also provides suggestions to reverse these issues. In a nutshell the group states that for a successful future of biofuels, the oversight should belong in the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and removed from the Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The overarching idea is that a dedicated funding source to be used only for advanced biofuel (meeting RFS and beyond) commercial deployment should be established as part of the Transportation Trust Fund. It would be funded by a $.01/gallon user fee (between $850 million and $1billion/year) and a similar fee on electricity used for plug-in vehicles.

Should an idea like this take effect…Read More

Biodiesel, biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol

Obama Changes Tune from Biodiesel to Biofuels

John Davis

Some others have started to notice something I told you about back in January. It seems that while he campaigned on the word “biodiesel,” President Barack Obama is now talking “biofuels” … a more ambiguous term that is leaving some biodiesel producers scratching their heads wondering whether the president backs them.

This piece from Biodiesel Magazine points out that Stimulus Act monies seem to be going to too many unproven technologies, such as fuel cells, cellulosic ethanol and electric motors, instead of proven, reliable biodiesel:

The Obama administration coming out with billions of dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to increase “clean energy manufacturing” could seem almost like a taunt to biodiesel producers.Obama announced “awardees” of the $2.3 billion clean energy manufacturing tax credits as existing biodiesel producers languish over the lapse of their specific federal blender tax credit. “Projects are assessed based on the following criteria: commercial viability, domestic job creation, technological innovation, speed to project completion, and potential for reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions,” the White House stated on Jan. 8.

While the word “biofuels” was good to hear spoken by the president, there’s a word that describes the 2009 biodiesel year—idle. Huge plants sat quiet for months as vegetable oils were high and diesel prices were not. Imperium Renewables Inc., which suffered an explosion at its Grays Harbor plant in Washington State, said it was in no big hurry to make repairs while the tax credit is nonexistent.

“I don’t think this Obama administration is any different than any other—Republican or Democrat—in that often the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing,” said Joe Gershen of Los Angeles’ Tellurian Biodiesel. “So it does hurt, but I will say that I don’t think they’re doing it on purpose.”

I think the fact that the biodiesel tax incentive was allowed to expire and the White House not pushing for renewal speaks volumes … actions always speak louder than words.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Government, Opinion

Iowa Biodiesel Board Refutes Truckers’ Claims

John Davis

Things are getting a bit tough in the fight to get a biodiesel mandate implemented in Iowa.

This post from the Des Moines Register says a letter that Decker Trucking of Fort Dodge sent to the legislature outlining the company’s two million mile biodiesel study that hurts biodiesel’s case is being refuted by the Iowa Biodiesel Board.

The letter says that biodiesel is not a cost-effective solution at this time … a charge the board obviously disagrees with:

“We have nothing but respect for Iowa’s truckers, but it seems fear and politics are overtaking facts,” said Randy Olson, executive director of the Biodiesel Board. “The study found few significant differences between 20 percent biodiesel and ultra low sulfur diesel in performance and operation.”

Olson added “truckers are known to be patriotic and dislike dependence on foreign oil, which makes it disappointing that they oppose this legislation.”

Last year, a biodiesel mandate cleared the State Senate but never made it to the House.

Biodiesel

Ethanol Industry Donates to Haiti Relief

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association LogoMembers of the Renewable Fuels Association have donated more than $70,000 to the American Red Cross to help victims of the earthquake in Haiti.

RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen announced the donation during a luncheon at last week’s National Ethanol Conference in Orlando. “The story may have slipped from the front pages of the newspaper, but it has not slipped from the hearts and minds of the men and women who work in this industry,” Dinneen said. He publicly thanked those ethanol producers and organizations that donated to the fund – Absolute Energy, The Andersons, Big River Resources, Chippewa Valley Ethanol, Golden Grain Energy, Illinois River Energy, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association and the Renewable Fuels Foundation.

Donations are still being accepted. Members of the ethanol industry who would like to contribute should send a check made out to the American Red Cross to the RFA office in Washington, DC.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Register Now for Energy Communications Summit

Cindy Zimmerman

Another approach and discussion is emerging surrounding messaging and education of global climate change. Green communication specialists will gather in May for a summit to refine the cause that clean energy and sustainable business practices are good policy and good business.

renergizeThe first-ever Green PR summit rEnergize Communications Summit will be held May 23-25 to discuss how corporate brands, products and initiatives will be best positioned for success in the new era of climate change and sustainability. Communication experts from corporations, organizations, trusts, foundations, and local and state government will be working together to create a unified messaging strategy that will prepare people for the global changes already under way to alleviate the destruction of climate change.

“There is a disconnect between the importance that people place on the environment and what sustainability actions they are willing to adopt,” said Joanna Schroeder, APR and Principal of 4R Communications, the company spearheading the summit. “Now that the world has embraced the issues surrounding climate change, and policy is underway to mitigate potential damage, we need a concerted communications effort that will help educate and prepare the public for these inevitable changes.”

Conference speakers include Cara Pike, Director of Our Social Capital Project and author of Climate Crossroads: A Research-Based Framing Guide; Autumn Salamack, Aveda; Greensburg, Kansas Mayor Bob Dixson; Brian Davis, CleanBiz Horizons; Jim Lane, Biofuels Digest; and Greg Pahl author of The Citizens Energy Handbook.

Register by March 15 to receive free registration to the webinar, “5 Key Barriers to Environmental Engagement,” as well as for conference registration discounts. For a full list of speakers, and to register, visit www.rEnergizeMedia.com. You can also follow news about the conference on Twitter at #GRPR.

conferences, Education, Energy, Environment

IKA Bio Reactor For Algae Production

Chuck Zimmerman

One of the exhibitors at the recent National Biodiesel Conference that I met with was Drew Harrison, Analytical Sales Manager for IKA Works, Inc. The company was displaying its new Bio Reactor, seen brightly lit in this photo.

Drew says IKA is a hundred year old company. Working with a marine science center they helped them build a photo bio reactor to grow algae. They built a prototype which the marine center used effectively and now they’ve come out with a production model which was on display at the trade show. The unit is a small R&D 10 litre fermenting tank with light for the photosynthesis reactions. He says this can be done in larger volumes too. They will work with a client company to build one to the size they need. Their customers will be “anybody who is looking to harvest algae for biodiesel, nutriceuticals, pharmaceuticals and food.”

You can learn more by listening to my interview with Drew here:

algae, Audio, Biodiesel Conference

California Solar Plant Gets $1.37 Bil Federal Loan

John Davis

A California company planning to build a large-scale solar power plant has received a Department of Energy $1.37 billion loan guarantee.

The New York Times reports that BrightSource Energy of Oakland will put in the first utility-scale solar power plant to undergo licensing in California in nearly two decades:

It would use solar thermal technology, in which mirrors concentrate sunlight to heat a fluid and generate steam. If built, it would be the largest of its kind.

“We’re not going to sit on the sidelines while other countries capture the jobs of the future — we’re committed to becoming the global leader in the clean energy economy,” Steven Chu, the energy secretary, said in a statement.

BrightSource has already signed contracts to deliver 2,600 megawatts of electricity to Pacific Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison. The plant in the Southern California desert is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs.

Solar

Growth Energy Responds to Cornell Paper

Joanna Schroeder

The debate rages on regarding ethanol’s greenhouse gas emission reductions (GHGs) as compared to conventional gasoline. Today, Growth Energy came out against two Cornell University professors’ recent paper that criticizes the Environmental Protection Agency’s calculations that grain ethanol boasts a lower GHG than gas.

Harry de Gorter and David R. Just, professors of Applied Economics and Management, will have their findings published in the inaugural March issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Applied Economics Perspectives and Policy, Vol. 32, Issue 1, Oxford University Press. The article, “The Social Costs and Benefits of Biofuels: The Intersection of Environmental, Energy, and Agricultural Policy,” criticizes both corn-based ethanol’s GHG reductions as well as ethanol subsidies and mandates.

Tom Buis, Growth Energy’s CEO stated, “What it appears these two professors at Cornell would have us do is maintain the status quo – keep our addiction to oil, no matter what the cost to our economy in lost jobs and money we send overseas, no matter what the cost to our environment, no matter what the cost to our national security.”

“The Cornell paper is pretzel logic at its worst. The truth is that when we fuel up with domestic ethanol in the U.S., we need less gasoline refined from carbon-heavy oil. And the science on this is clear: a peer-reviewed study published by Yale University found that grain ethanol is 59 percent cleaner than gasoline – with cellulosic ethanol 86 percent cleaner than gasoline,” continued Buis.

Buis concluded, “Academic studies, government agencies and independent papers have concluded that innovation and new technology in the ethanol industry is bringing us ever closer to a high-tech domestic fuel that can contribute significantly to cleaning our skies, while creating jobs and strengthening our national security.”

corn, Ethanol, Growth Energy

Researcher to Genetically Modify Algae for Biodiesel

John Davis

A researcher at Iowa State University is genetically modifying algae to make it a better feedstock for biodiesel.

This article from Biodiesel Magazine says Martin Spalding, ISU professor of genetics, development and cell biology,has received a $4.37 million grant U.S. Department of Energy to stack traits in algae, specifically, one type of alga, Chlamydomonas, whose genome has already been mapped out:

Spalding hopes stacking Chlamydomonas’ desirable traits will lead to more oil production and thermal resistance, ultimately developing a desirable feedstock for biodiesel and other renewable fuels production.

“We have a sequenced genome, we understand the metabolism, and we have the tools available to us to work with this alga,” Spalding said. Much of the current research on algae is being conducted on wild strains that have certain desirable traits such as high oil yield, but Spalding said, “The limitation with that strategy is that it has no flexibility because the algae can’t be manipulated genetically.”

Since the Chlamydomonas genome is already mapped, however, work can be done to tailor the genetic makeup of this alga to meet the growing biofuel industry’s needs.

It’s a three-year study that Spalding will conduct with some fellow ISU professors and Purdue University researchers as well.

algae, Biodiesel