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Researchers Turning Sugar Beets into Biofuels

John Davis

sugarbeet1Researchers believe they have found a way to turn sugar beets into a low-cost biofuel, thanks to the development of an enzyme that speeds up the process.

A press release from Atlantic Biomass, a Frederick, Maryland, biotech-biofuel company focused on developing cutting-edge systems to produce advanced biofuels from sustainable, non-food biomass, says work with Hood College has produced a thermostable enzyme that opens the way to a new pathway for low-cost biofuel production using sugar beet pulp as feedstock. The researchers have put their findings in the latest issue of the American Society of Microbiology’s journal Applied and Environment Microbiology:

Thermostability, or the ability to perform at high temperatures, is needed in biofuel and other industrial applications so enzymes can survive in the higher temperatures of commercial production systems and use the higher temperatures to speed up conversion reactions. The pectinmethylesterase (pme) enzyme developed by the Hood College/Atlantic Biomass team was fashioned to function in the sugar beet production environment of 650C (approximately 1500F) which is at the top end for this class of enzymes.

“This development alone is important for opening up the use of beet pulp and similar agricultural residues for biofuel production,” said Atlantic Biomass president and founder Bob Kozak. “More important, the development of this enzyme led us to an understanding of how enzymes break down plant cell walls and overcome biomass recalcitrance.” Using this research, Atlantic Biomass is currently patenting that process in addition to the pme enzyme. “Overcoming biomass recalcitrance is the Holy Grail of economical biofuel production,” Kozak pointed out. “I think we’re finally on the right path.”

Kozak hopes the Obama Administration will be able to see the value in research like this and fund more of it.

biomass

Land Lease Moves Minnesota Community Wind Project

John Davis

rootrivernationalwindA 20,000 acre land lease is helping move forward a community wind project in Minnesota.

Root River Energy and managing partner National Wind have announced they have secured the 20,000 acres in Mower and Fillmore Counties in Southeast Minnesota. This press release from National Wind says the land represents about two-thirds of the leased acres needed to develop up to 300 megawatts of community-owned wind energy in the area:

“The project is really coming together nicely as we continue to receive a positive community response from both the Fillmore and Mower County footprints,” says [Root River Energy’s Jim] Connolly. “The Mower County expansion has helped accelerate the project’s development. Also, landowners are realizing that our business model focuses on building positive relationships, allowing the community to share in the project’s revenues and influence the process to meet their needs.”

Root River officials say they are working with local farmers to make sure access roads to the project don’t interfere with current farming operations.

Wind

RFA Questions CARB on LCFS Issues

Joanna Schroeder

The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is set to go into effect in less than two weeks yet there are concerns among the ethanol industry that regulations will be implemented without having the appropriate reporting and compliance tools in place.

rfa-logo-09Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association submitted a letter earlier this week to Dean Simeroth, Chief of the Criteria Pollutants Branch at CARB. In the letter, Dinneen wrote, “Many of our member companies, including both ethanol producers and marketers, have raised numerous questions regarding LCFS reporting and compliance requirements. Unfortunately, the final regulation order and the supporting materials released Nov. 25, 2009, did little to address these lingering questions and concerns.”

As declared in the ruling, the first year of the program will require quarterly and annual reports; however, mandatory greenhouse gas reductions will not be enforced until 2011. The problem with meeting this requirement lies in the fact that the means of demonstrating compliance with the program and submitting reports is still unavailable to regulated parties.

“With the CARB about to implement far reaching regulations for its Low Carbon Fuel Standard, it is vital that the agency have in place all of the methods and systems necessary to collect information to make the program operate,” said Dinneen. “Unfortunately, those methods and systems are not in place – a situation which is likely to cause confusion and delay in getting the program up and running.”

Several of the issues identified included: reporting requirements for ethanolproducers when ownership of fuel is transferred once the fuel is inside the State of California; CARB’s definition of “neat ethanol”; if CARB was developing a standardized application form for the submission of information on delivery methods; why the CARB had not yet publicly released its online Compliance and Reporting Tool (CRT) and when it intended to do so; and more.

Dinneen concluded, “It is incomprehensible that implementation of a regulation could occur before the means of demonstrating compliance is completed and accessible to regulated parties. For these reasons and others, we believe the Office of Administrative Law will be forced to return the LCFS package to CARB and require the agency to complete its unfinished work related to the compliance and reporting system.”

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Legislation, RFA

Gen. Clark Focuses on Security During COP15

Joanna Schroeder

Growth Energy’s Co-Chairman (Ret.) Gen. Wesley Clark, warned today that continuing dependence on petroleum for automotive fuel is not only a carbon risk, but is a security risk as well. Clark delivered this message during a side event hosted by the Danish Climate Consortium and organized by Novozymes during the COP15 conference in Copenhagen.

Gen_Clark.jpg.scaled.1000Gen. Clark’s remarks were part of his speech titled, “Global Energy Security in a Climate Affected World,” where Clark noted that continuing on our dependence on imported petroleum was a dangerous course.

“We suffer the inefficiencies of cartel pricing and oil shocks… Then there is the military cost to ensure steady access to foreign oil from parts of the world that are volatile, or outright hostile to Western values and policies. Taxpayers fund the defense of oil shipping routes with an estimated annual cost of more than $50 billion,” said Gen. Clark.

While expressing concerns about America’s dependence on foreign oil, he also offered a solution. “Ethanol is a low-carbon fuel – as much as 59 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the production of gasoline. The most advanced technology, with closed loop biorefineries, offers us even cleaner alternatives, as much as 67 percent fewer GHGs compared to gasoline. With cellulosic ethanol, we could produce 86 percent fewer.”

Gen. Clark concluded, “What does ethanol offer us to solve this dilemma? The domestic production of nearly 6.5 billion gallons of ethanol in the United States in 2007 eliminated the need to import at least 228.2 million barrels of oil for gasoline.”

Ethanol, Growth Energy, International

Speedling & Mendel to Commercialize Miscanthus

Joanna Schroeder

Speedling3Miscanthus appears to be the hot feedstock for December. Last week, Sunbelt Biofuels announced that it will be licensing Freedom Giant Miscanthus, and today, Speedling Incorporated and Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. announced an agreement to work together to research, develop and commercialize a “cost-effective propagation and production system for Mendel’s advanced Miscanthus product candidates.”

Neal Gutterson, Mendel’s president and CEO said, “Commercial-scale deployment of genetically diverse, high-yielding perennial grasses will be required for the country to meet its renewable energy and fuel targets in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner. Speedling has demonstrated best-in-class capabilities in vegetative plug production with superior customer service.”

Speedling will apply its proprietary propagation methods to optimize production that Mendel will use for testing in emerging Mendel-Logo-180pxbioenergy markets. The two companies also plan to deploy several biomass power projects in target locations that are well suited to grow Mendel Mischanthus products.

Greg Davis, CEO of Speedling noted, “We believe that the surest path to success in the rapidly emerging bioenergy industry is partnerships that match complimentary skills and expertise. Speedling’s proven productions capacities and Mendel’s biogenetic expertise certainly meet that criterion.”

biofuels, biomass, News

New Jersey Station Celebrates Anniversary of Biodiesel

John Davis

wooleysign1The first commercial service station in New Jersey that offered biodiesel is celebrating the first anniversary of that historic event.

As you might remember from my post last year, it was an early Christmas present for the area around Maplewood, New Jersey as Woolley Fuel became the first in the state to offer Biodiesel to the public. Proprietor Norm Woolley, Jr. first offered B5 biodiesel and now offers up to 30 percent biodiesel blends … with plans to up that to higher percentage blends in the future.

The green fuel has been a hit with the locals:

“The use of Biodiesel in our jitney buses is a success; Maplewood’s commitment to lowering our carbon footprint makes the use of this type of fuel a natural step in the process”, said Maplewood Mayor Victor DeLuca. Biodiesel displaces foreign oil, improves air quality and improves diesel engine performance.

Since Woolley Fuel became the first to publicly offer the cleaner burning fuel 10 more biodiesel dispensers have opened. “It’s nice to be the first, but it’s also good to see that others are able to make a difference in different regions of the State.”

And for those who try to argue that it’s not financially viable, Woolley says that biodiesel demand has upped the company’s sales by 8 percent each month. And there are plans to start selling BioHeating oil for homes.

Congratulations and happy anniversary, Woolley’s!

Biodiesel

PowerPellets Touted as “Coal from the Farm”

John Davis

NextStepBiofuelsIt could become the next great fuel source from the agricultural community. A Nebraska-based biomass supplier and manufacturer has debuted a product it touts as “Coal from the Farm.”

Next Step Biofuels, Inc. has launched PowerPellets, a green fuel made from corn stover – all the leaves, cobs and stalks leftover after the corn is harvested – that burns like coal and will help with that state’s Renewable Portfolio Standard laws that require utilities to generate more of their power from renewable sources:

PowerPelletslogoNext Step COO Russ Zeeck explained that PowerPellets solve the logistical and operational problems that have thus far prevented wide-scale use of biomass to generate electricity. “Utilities have long been aware of the environmental benefits of burning biomass, but they’ve had a hard time adopting it,” said Zeeck.

“PowerPellets overcome the three major problems that utilities have had with biomass. First, unlike raw biomass, PowerPellets are easy and affordable to ship and store. Second, unlike other pelletized biomass, PowerPellets are hard and friable which means they pulverize and feed just like coal; PowerPellets can be folded into a coal-fired plant’s operations with little or no additional capital.
And, third, because Next Step makes PowerPellets from corn stover – America’s most abundant source of renewable biomass – there is a deep, reliable and price-stable supply.”

Next Step Biofuels says the PowerPellets were recently tested and found to do what was claimed of them during rigorous testing conducted at the Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota.

Next Step plans to negotiate with several utilities to supply PowerPellets starting next year.

biomass

Audi Tells Obama, “Forget Plug-Ins, Think Biodiesel”

John Davis

The top executive at Audi’s U.S. offices says American political leaders need to think less about plug-in electric vehicles and more about vehicles that run on biodiesel, as well as standardizing the rules for biodiesel.

The Detroit News reports that Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen made the remarks at Washington, D.C.’s National Press Club, where he told the audience that despite the current administration’s love of extended-range electric cars, such as the Chevy Volt, that technology is not financially viable:

“I understand why political leaders have fallen in love with hybrids and electrics. But this may be the one time you’ll hear someone in Washington say it shouldn’t be a monogamous relationship,” de Nysschen said.

President Barack Obama, however, is one of those enthusiastic backers of electric vehicles. The administration awarded $2.4 billion in cash grants in August to spur electric vehicle and battery improvements. He wants 1 million plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2015…

De Nysschen favors using diesel technology and allowing the marketplace to pick the winners and losers. He urged the government not to be “prejudging winning and losing technologies” and urged more work to standardize biodiesel rules.

He noted that if one-third of U.S. vehicles used diesel power, “America would save 1.5 million barrels of oil a day” — the same amount the United States imports from Saudi Arabia daily.

Of course, Audi’s pushing of biodiesel is not just coincidental. The article points out that half of the company’s European sales are diesels, and Audi has a couple of diesels on the U.S. market, including the A3 TDI, which just picked up the “Green Car of the Year” award during recent Los Angeles Auto Show.

Biodiesel, Car Makers, Government

NREL Tests Sorghum for Cellulosic Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

National Sorghum ProducersRepresentatives of the National Sorghum Producers (NSP) witnessed a pilot test of bioenergy sorghum at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) this week.

NSP collaborated with NREL to provide almost 100 different sorghum samples for testing, eventually choosing two for pilot testing. The resulting data shows that high biomass forage sorghum demonstrates great potential to fit into cellulosic ethanol conversion. Sorghum varieties have a wide range of basic sugars and structure which could ultimately meet the needs of multiple biofuel systems.

Colorado sorghum farmer Terry Swanson, Vice Chairman of the NSP Board of Directors, is pleased with the NREL research because of potential it holds for both the nation and sorghum producers. “Renewable energy will play a critical role in the future of our nation’s quest for energy independence, and the work NREL is doing will help the sorghum industry establish itself as a major contributor to that cause,” said Swanson.

The test this week showcased three years of bioenergy sorghum research that was made possible by a Department of Energy grant obtained through NSP’s efforts.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, sorghum

Energy From Cows Could Reduce Emissions

Cindy Zimmerman

Producing more energy from cow manure could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

At the climate summit in Copenhagen, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced an agreement with U.S. dairy producers to accelerate adoption of innovative manure to energy projects on American dairy farms.

“This historic agreement, the first of its kind, will help us achieve the ambitious goal of drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions while benefiting dairy farmers,” Vilsack said from Copenhagen. “Use of manure to electricity technology is a win for everyone because it provides an untapped source of income for famers, provides a source of renewable electricity, reduces our dependence on foreign fossil fuels, and provides a wealth of additional environmental benefits.”

Under the agreement, USDA intends to increase the number of anaerobic digesters supported by USDA programs. Beyond promoting the digesters, the agreement will encourage research, and development of new technologies to help dairies reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Anaerobic digester technology is a proven method of converting waste products, such as manure, into electricity. The technology utilizes generators that are fueled by methane captured from the animal manure. Currently, only about 2 percent of U.S. dairies that are candidates for a profitable digester are utilizing the technology. Dairy operations with anaerobic digesters routinely generate enough electricity to power 200 homes.

biogas, Environment, USDA