NEC 2027

AG CONNECT Expo Preview

Chuck Zimmerman

Ag Connect ExpoZimmComm New Media is the social media sponsor of AG CONNECT Expo. This is the new show being produced by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers. I’ll be there all next week covering the activities mostly on our AgWired website. Cindy will be joining me mid week and we’ll post information of interest to the renewable fuels industry right here. I know there are several presentations on the subject on the agenda. In the meantime, here’s a preview interview I did this morning with the show director. I used the interview in my weekly podcast, the ZimmCast.

The floor of the upcoming AG CONNECT Expo is very busy right now. This morning I spoke with Show Director, Sara Mooney, who was on-location. In this week’s ZimmCast she provides a last preview and let’s us know how the final preparations are going. I’ll be there by the end of the weekend for the pre-show activities that take place on Monday and Tuesday.

Sara says ACE is meeting or exceeding its goals because of things like the co-located industry events and many educational opportunities in addition to a great trade show. She says they’ve seen a major push in registration in the last couple weeks and the average number of acres farmer registrants have is currently at 3,400. There are registrants from 46 states in the U.S. and from 45 countries.

The 2010 show will feature more than 30 education sessions with top industry experts. More than a dozen events are co-located with AG CONNECT Expo 2010, including Agrievolution, the Second World Summit on Agricultural Machinery. AG CONNECT Expo 2010 has the support of more than 40 leading industry groups worldwide, including as strategic partners Agritechnica, the world’s largest agriculture machinery show, and its organizer, DLG (the German Agricultural Society).

Sara is going wild with her new Flip camera too. Here’s one her latest YouTube videos with one of the exhibitors (Krone).

You can listen to my interview with Sara below:

Audio

Ethanol Group Critical of Biofuels Policy Paper

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association LogoThe Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is calling the new policy paper by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy released this week a continuation of “the orchestrated campaign to limit, and ultimately eliminate, the use of biofuels to displace foreign oil.”

The report, which was funded by Chevron Technology Ventures, concludes that “the current U.S. biofuels program that promotes corn-based ethanol is far from environmental sustainability and should be dramatically revamped.” Policy recommendations made by the institute are to revise the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) to make it “more achievable,” eliminate the tariff on imported ethanol, get rid of the blender’s tax credit and “avoid defining corn-based ethanol as a ‘low-carbon fuel,’ a move that would be based only on political expediency and not on scientific analysis.”

RFA contends that the Baker Institute researchers used “out-of-date information and questionable assumptions to denigrate Congress, farmers, and ethanol producers for their support of domestically-based renewable fuels.”

“Not surprisingly, this oil industry-sponsored analysis relies on myths, generalities, half-truths to dismiss ethanol while providing no comparison to our increasingly dangerous and costly addiction to oil,” said Renewable Fuels Association Director of Public Affairs Matt Hartwig. “A debate about the appropriate role of biofuels is valid and should occur, but not without proper context and based upon last century’s assumptions.”

Read RFA’s critique of the policy paper here.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Mascoma Appoints William Brady as CEO

Joanna Schroeder

mascoma_logoEffectively immediately, William J. Brady has taken over the helm as the new CEO for Mascoma Corporation. In addition, Brady will also join the Boards of Directors of Mascoma and Frontier Renewable Resources. He brings to the organization 23 years of experience at Cabot Corporation in various positions including Executive Vice President and General Manager of several operating divisions.

Brady will work with the Mascoma team to help achieve technical and commercial milestones, including continuing to reduce costs for ethanol produced from cellulosic feedstocks, developing additional partnerships for Mascoma’s commercial-scale ethanol project in Kinross Township, Michigan and creating strategic joint ventures to commercialize Mascoma’s proprietary Consolidated Bioprocessing (CBP) technology for production of advanced biofuels and chemicals.

In a press statement, Bruce Jamerson, Chairman of Mascoma and Frontier Renewable Resources stated, “I am delighted to introduce Bill Brady as the new CEO of Mascoma and to work closely with him on achieving our goal of full scale commercial production of cellulosic ethanol. Bill has extensive experience running large commercial divisions for a major chemical company, which is exactly the skill set we need as Mascoma transitions into a commercial enterprise.”

Cellulosic, Company Announcement, Ethanol

New Smart Wind Turbine Sees Breeze and Adjusts

John Davis

A new wind turbine coming out of Denmark will be able to “see” the wind and make adjustments that optimize power production.

RisoeDTU_Logo_ukThis post from TreeHugger.com says Denmark’s Risø National Laboratory for Sustainable Energy has successfully tested the world’s first wind turbine that uses a built-in anemometer to adjust itself to the oncoming wind:

The system works by using a laser (“wind LIDAR”) to essentially see the wind before it reaches the turbine blades and adjust to what the conditions are going to be a moment later. By doing so electricity production can be increased by 5%, translating into increased revenue of DKr 200,000 ($39,000) per year for a 4 MW turbine.

The article goes on to say that the LIDAR system makes turbine blades more reliable by better coping with the wind’s irregularities.

Wind

Report: Enough Corn, Soybeans for Ethanol, Biodiesel

John Davis

AgMRC3A new report indicates there will be enough corn and soybeans for ethanol and biodiesel production, as well as the feed, food and export uses those crops are tasked with.

But the evaluation from the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center‘s Robert Wisner, Professor of Economics and Energy Economist, says things could get tight if next year’s crop is hit with bad weather or a natural disaster:

WisnerFor 2009-10, the current corn crop estimate points to adequate corn supplies for feed, food, fuel, and export uses. Carryover stocks on August 31 of next year are expected to be about 1 and one-half weeks above minimum working stocks levels. Our early and very tentative normal-yield projections for 2010-11 show corn carryover stocks declining slightly by August 31, 2011 but still remaining marginally above minimum working stocks levels.

Wisner does note that there’s not a lot of margin for error in case the Corn Belt gets hit with drought or flooding. He says that will keep corn prices volatile should any inclement weather show up.

As far as soybeans and biodiesel, they should be OK, if, once again, the crops turn out as expected:

[T]he availability of soybeans and soybean oil for 2009-10 and 2010-11 is not indicated to be a major constraint on biodiesel production in U.S. if South American crops are near normal. Supplies for the current marketing year are a little tighter than indicated at this time last year because of extreme weather problems in South America last winter and early spring. However, U.S. and EU government policy actions that limit biodiesel demand and create uncertainty about future policies are a constraint on U.S. biodiesel production. That, in turn, makes 2010-11 soybean availability for biofuels and other uses look a little more adequate than anticipated a year ago.

You can read all of Wisner’s report in the January 2010 edition of the Ag MRC’s Renewable Energy Newsletter.

Biodiesel, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News, Soybeans

FTC Approves Valeros Purchase of Ethanol Plants

ftcAccording to Opis, two former VeraSun ethanol plants and one Renew Energy plant were approved by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to be purchased by Valero. This will bring the total production of Valero ethanol to 1.1 billion gallons per year.

“The Hart-Scott-Rodino Act requires under certain circumstances that prospective acquirers of voting securities or assets apply for clearance from regulators,” the FTC explained. “Requests for early termination or clearance are granted when the Federal Trade Commission and the antitrust division of the Department of Justice have determined that they won’t take action during the waiting period.”

“We expect these transactions to close in the early part of this year,” said Valero spokesman Bill Day.

The purchase of the Renew Energy plant is still in question because of a challenge from another group who states they were the highest bidder of the plant at a recent auction. More information on this can be found on a previous post.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

Auto Execs Rate Hybrids First, Biodiesel Last in Alt Fuels

John Davis

KPMGAutoExecCar makers put more stock in hybrid systems than biodiesel.

This post from CNET News says a survey conducted by KPMG asked 200 senior auto executives to rate the most important alternative fuel technologies to their industry over the next five years:

When asked to rate which were the most important alternative fuel technologies to the auto industry over the next five years, hybrid systems were ranked first followed by battery electric power, fuel cell electric power, and biodiesel, respectively.

“Automotive manufacturers are in the challenging position of being asked to compete on both technology and cost. With global consumers still feeling the pinch of the recession, those OEMs who can deliver on this equation will be in the driver’s seat,” Gary Silberg, national automotive industry leader for KPMG, said in a statement.

An interesting twist to the survey says that the execs believe that fuel efficiency and environmental friendliness are the top two biggest impacts on customers’ buying decisions … which are two of the biggest attributes of biodiesel. Go figure.

Biodiesel, Car Makers, Electric Vehicles

Keynote Speaker Announced for Ethanol Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels AssociationThe keynote speaker for next month’s 15th Annual National Ethanol Conference will address the issue of using mid-level ethanol blends from the automobile industry perspective.

The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has announced that Thomas G. Stephens, General Motors Vice President for Global Product Operations, will keynote the conference in Orlando on February 15-17.

“The importance of a cooperative and constructive relationship with the auto industry to America’s ethanol producers and marketers cannot be overstated,” said RFA President Bob Dinneen. “Whether it is working on technical issues surrounding mid-level blends or expanding the infrastructure for blender pumps and higher level ethanol blends, having auto companies at the table is critical.”

Registration for the 2010 National Ethanol Conference is available on line.

conferences, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Cellulosic Ethanol Demo Plant to Open in TN

Cindy Zimmerman

DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE) and University of Tennessee/Genera Energy will hold a grand opening celebration later this month for one of the nation’s first cellulosic ethanol demo plants, located in Vonore, Tenn.

BredesenAmong the featured speakers at the grand opening on January 29 will be Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, who helped with the groundbreaking for the plant in October 2008.

The facility is expected to begin producing fuel ethanol from both agricultural residue and bioenergy crops prior to the grand opening. The 74,000-square-foot facility has the capacity to produce 250,000 gallons of ethanol from corncobs and switchgrass and is preparing for commercial production by 2012.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Japanese Whalers Sink Biodiesel Boat

John Davis

earthraceA biodiesel-fueled boat that set the world record for circumnavigating the globe (see my post from June 27, 2008) has been sunk by a vessel accompanying Japanese whaling ships.

According to WCJB World News, the Earthrace (now owned by the environmental organization Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and renamed the Ady Gil), a 79-foot “batmobile-looking” trimaran, was sunk by Japanese sailors providing security to whalers during a confrontation in Australia’s territorial Antarctic waters:

The six men who on board were unhurt and have been rescued, said founder of the environmental organisation Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson.

Captain Watson said his boat was suddenly hit by the Japanese ship Shonan Maru, as his crew was idling around Commonwealth Bay in the Antarctic. The Shonan Maru was providing security to a fleet of Japanese whaling vessels.

He said that this incident has the consequence of seriously escalating the situation between the Japanese whaling industry and environmentalists.

You can view the video below and decide for yourself who is at fault. But one thing that is not in dispute is that a great biodiesel boat now is at the bottom of the ocean.

Biodiesel, International, Video