ACE Conference 2026

Iowa Biodiesel Plant Gets $3.9 Mil State Grant

John Davis

REGlogo2An Iowa biodiesel plant that picked up a $2.5 million federal grant earlier this month (see my post from Dec. 7) has picked up another $3.9 million from the state.

Wallaces Farmer reports that Elevance Renewable Sciences of Bollingbrook, Illinois and the Renewable Energy Group biodiesel plant in Newton received the Iowa Power Fund money to develop a Nobel Prize-winning technology that will expand biodiesel products to include jet fuel and specialty chemicals, such as cosmetics:

Elevance says the technology could be used at other biodiesel plants. Biodiesel manufacturers have struggled for profitability as they are contending against uncertain demand for biodiesel fuel used by the trucking industry.

The new technology will be added to the Central Iowa Renewable Energy biodiesel plant at Newton, which is managed by Renewable Energy Group, headquartered at Ames. The plant employs 28 workers. Elevance and REG say an additional 40 to 50 worker positions would be created in 2010 by adding Elevance’s olefin metathesis technology.

Cargill is one of the investors in this new technology

Elevance is backed by Cargill and the Texas Pacific investment group of Ft. Worth, Texas. “We look forward to completing the contracts, beginning construction of the plant at Newton, and bringing these products to market as quickly as possible,” says K’Lynne Johnson, CEO of Elevance. A company called Materia Inc. of Pasadena, Calif., owns the patents to the olafin metathesis process that won the 2005 Nobel Prize.

Experts say the new technology can be used in other biodiesel plants.

Biodiesel, Government

Valero’s Purchase Renew Energy Challenged

valero2The purchase of Renew Energy by Valero is being challenged. As originally posted, Valero was to purchase the 110 million gallon per year ethanol plant for $72 million. However, ALL Fuels & Energy out of Iowa has filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court stating that stated that they were the highest bidder for the plant and they should take ownership.

ALL Fuels & Energy has asked the bankruptcy court to reconsider Valero’s $72 million bid earlier this month when they said they submitted a bid of $77 million. ALL Fuels & Energy explained, “During the auction, at approximately 8:45 p.m., Valero submitted a $72 million cash bid as a ‘conditional’ bid, with an expiration time of 9:15 p.m,” the company explained. “At 9:01 p.m., a $77 million bid by ALL Fuels-Jefferson, LLC was announced, based on a discount formula, as a ‘bid of $72.1 million’. Blair and Bankers’ Bank [the lead creditor for the bankruptcy proceeding] then advised the auction participants that ‘time had run out, the auction closed,’ and announced that the ‘best bid is Valero,’ even though Valero’s bid was $5 million less than the All Fuels- Jefferson, LLC bid,” the company continued. “At 9:06 p.m., the ALL Fuels- Jefferson, LLC attempted to enter a substantially higher bid than its previous $77 million bid. ALL Fuels-Jefferson, LLC was not permitted to enter this bid by Blair and Bankers Bank.”allfuels

The court noted recently, “As the background facts of this case demonstrate, confirmation of Valero’s bid over that of ALL Fuels was in error; the auction was tainted by defects, and therefore it is within the court’s discretion to reconsider the Sale Confirmation Order, signed on Dec. 17, 2009…It would be manifestly unfair to ALL Fuels to allow the confirmation of sale to Valero to stand, when the procedures of the auction were so skewed and tainted.”

Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

Chevron to Install Rhode Island Wind Turbines

John Davis

wind_turbineRhode Island’s governor has selected Chevron Energy Solutions to install and operate six wind turbines on public land in the state.

The Providence (RI) Journal reports that Governor Donald Carcieri made the announcement about the San Francisco-based clean energy company getting the contract at a Narragansett Town Council meeting:

“Chevron is a proven leader in renewable energy and a proven partner with states and municipalities,” the governor said in a statement.

Chevron will work with the state Department of Environmental Management [DEM] and the Town of Narragansett to develop a plan to erect up to six large wind turbines on properties owned by the state or the town. The exact number of turbines and locations will be determined during the talks with the developer…

Energy produced by the proposed turbines would be used at DEM facilities at the Port of Galilee, which use about $100,000 worth of electricity annually, and at state camping grounds and beaches in Narragansett. It would also be used to power the Scarborough Treatment Plant and other Narragansett town facilities.

Chevron will get no state or local funds to put up the turbines.

Wind

Soybean Checkoff, Clean Cities Promote Biodiesel

John Davis

USBA group that promotes the use of soybeans and a program that works to reduce local petroleum consumption are partnering again to promote the use of soy biodiesel next year.

This article from radio station KFGO in Fargo, ND-Moorhead, MN says the United Soybean Board’s soybean checkoff and the U.S. Department of Energy-affiliated (USDOE) Clean Cities’ chapters will develop programs that promote the benefits of soy biodiesel:

“The soybean checkoff continued this program to support the use of soy biodiesel in any diesel motor to show how biodiesel is cleaner burning and better for the environment while supporting U.S. agriculture,” says Geno Lowe, a soybean farmer from Hebron, Md., and soybean checkoff leader. “We expect we’ll see some inventive proposals such as school bus demonstrations to public transportation uses to heavy equipment uses by state or local governments or maybe even a bioheat promotion project.”

Biodiesel promotion and education has proved to be important to U.S. soybean farmers’ bottom lines. A checkoff-funded study found that U.S. soybean farmers received an additional $2.5 billion in net returns over the last four years due to the biodiesel industry’s demand for soybean oil. It shows this demand added up to 25 cents in support for the per-bushel price of soybeans.

USB will provide up to $100,000 for funding soy biodiesel communications programs. The biodiesel reimbursement application process has been opened up, and USB is encouraging Clean Cities chapters to partner with Qualified State Soybean Boards (QSSBs) for this project. Selected participants will be announced in the middle of next month.

Biodiesel, Soybeans

Baucus, Grassley Vow to Extend Biodiesel Tax Incentive

John Davis

Baucus2Biodiesel producers have seen the last chance at renewing the federal biodiesel tax incentives before they expire at the end of the year slip away. But two key lawmakers have vowed the $1-a-gallon tax credit will be renewed, retroactively.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member of the same committee, say they intend to get the biodiesel tax incentives renewed early next year. The Des Moines (IA) Register has details:

grassley4“These provisions are important to our economy — not only because they help create jobs, but also because they are used to address pressing national concerns,” the senators wrote.

Grassley said taxpayers “need notice that these tax provisions” will be extended next year.

The House recently approved legislation extending the biodiesel subsidy and other expiring tax credits but the Senate took no action on the measures. Republicans objected to including the extensions in a defense bill because it also would have included an estate tax measure to which GOP senators objected, said Grassley.

Some biodiesel producers have said the lapse of the credit could force them to shut down, or at least, make them reduce production.

Biodiesel, Government, Legislation

Hawkeye Energy Files Bankruptcy

hawkeyeUnfortunately, it looks as though another ethanol plant has filed for bankruptcy. Hawkeye Energy currently owns and operates ethanol plants in Iowa Falls and Fairbank, Iowa and has filed for reorganization and Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Hawkeye Energy Holdings CEO Bruce Rastetter said, “The U.S. biofuels industry is going through a period of historic change and we are taking the necessary steps to position our business units to succeed in a dynamic and sometimes volatile business environment. The ethanol industry was severely affected in 2008 and 2009 by unprecedented volatility in commodity prices and margins. While the market for ethanol has stabilized and financial performance has improved in recent months, it nevertheless became clear that a restructuring of the Renewables unit’s balance sheet would be necessary for the company to compete effectively in the future.”

The Iowa Falls and Fairbank plants, each of which employs about 45 workers, will continue to operate under the current management, said Rastetter. They also will continue to buy corn and will honor forward contracts for purchases of corn from farmers.

Hawkeye said it owes bank debt between $500 million and $1 billion to lenders that took out the loans in 2006 after Hawkeye withdrew a planned initial public stock offering. Against that debt, Hawkeye has about $250 in assets, Rastetter said.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

Ethanol Report on E85 GPS Application

Cindy Zimmerman

If Santa is bringing you a new Garmin or TomTom GPS for Christmas, you can use it to find E85 fuel for your Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV) to get you over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house this holiday season.

We’ve already told you about the new applications available from the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), one for the TomTom and one for the Garmin, both designed to guide FFV owners to E85 stations.

Ethanol Report PodcastIn this holiday edition of “The Ethanol Report,” we hear more details about the apps from RFA Director of Market Development Robert White and what they are working on down the road for other GPS devices and even the iPhone. The available applications can be downloaded now from ChooseEthanol.com.

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

Listen to or download the podcast here:

Audio, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, RFA

South Texas Getting First Biodiesel Terminal

John Davis

GulfHydroCarbonA company that says it is “introducing biodiesel to the petroeum industry” has announced the first biodiesel terminal in South Texas.

This press release posted on EarthTimes.org says Gulf Hydrocarbon will offer biodiesel at the RTW Terminal in Brownsville:

Gulf Hydrocarbon’s new terminal will offer convenient access to biodiesel truck loading rack. This new gateway for US-made biodiesel will offer easy availability and can serve the local and Mexican distribution-based businesses. In addition to truck access, the terminals also marine transport and the Brownsville Rio Grande International Rail Road serves the terminal for an efficient means of rail transportation.

Jess Hewitt, President, Gulf Hydrocarbon is full of optimism about introducing biodiesel to the South Texas market, “With the addition of our South Texas terminal distribution point we can now make biodiesel available to new markets in the Texas valley region, a vast and productive agricultural area, and new markets for renewable fuel in the frontera border states in Mexico. South Texas school buses, farms and industry now have access to a powerful fuel that is green and fights air pollution. These organizations are eligible for state and federal grants that pay for the addition of biodiesel to fleet and school buses who can now use biodiesel to fight harmful diesel particulate emissions. We intend to spend a good deal of time and effort educating related industries about these government incentives and benefits to the environment.”

The release goes on to say that the biodiesel at the RTW terminal will meet all ASTM D6751 standards. If you’d like to find out more, Hewitt will talk about biodiesel, the new Renewable Fuel Standards and the local economic impact at the upcoming 2010 Energy Expo on January 21, 2010 in Brownsville.

Biodiesel

Canada to Test Year-Round Biodiesel

John Davis

SRCThe cold conditions of Canada will put biodiesel to the test as our friends north of the border take part in a year-long test of the green fuel.

This story on the Canada Views Web site says the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC) is getting more than $750,000 to see how well biodiesel will work in agricultural equipment, including the coldest months in one of the world’s coldest areas:

During the year-long project, eight agriculture producers will operate their equipment using low-level (B5) and high-level (B10) canola-biodiesel blends to determine whether they affect engine performance. Five producers will operate year-round on a B5 blend, while three others will use a B10 blend during warmer months and a B5 blend the rest of the year.

As part of the study, SRC will evaluate approximately 50 tractors, combines, swathers and related farm fuel storage tanks. Biodiesel quality will be closely monitored and evaluated to ensure that the fuel maintains adequate quality throughout the year-round farming cycle. Fuel testing will be conducted at the SRC Biofuels Test CentreTM in Regina.

Hopefully, by this time next year, there should be lots of good information on how to successfully blend, handle and store biodiesel blends in the coldest of climates.

Biodiesel

Making Biodiesel and “Things”

John Davis

EstillI found an interesting piece by Lyle Estill, a founder of Piedmont Biofuels … a Pittsboro, North Carolina-based maker of biodiesel and other “things.”

Estill’s column in the Chapel Hill (NC) News is really good piece that not only talks about his little biodiesel company’s resilience in the face of a tough market, but also of the principles his blue-collar father taught him about American industry:

PiedmontBiofuelsBy the summer of 2009 the biodiesel industry was on the ropes. Feedstocks were too expensive to be used for fuel.

One of our welders, Rick, said, “Hell, we should just make things.”

And that seemed like a good idea.

Nowadays we don’t just make biodiesel. We also make worm bins for vermiculture systems, and we make rain water delivery systems out of scrap, and we make containers for square foot gardeners, and we make boiler fuel out of free fatty acids, and we build custom boiler systems, and we make seed crushing systems that extract oil, which means we also make animal feed.

I really liked Estill’s perspective at the end of the column, where he talked about being back in the manufacturing business … even if it’s not biodiesel:

There was a time when the only thing that shipped from the plant was biodiesel. These days there is no telling what is on the truck.

But it feels good to be making things again. It even smells good.

Good attitude.

Biodiesel, Opinion