NBB, RFA Submit Biodiesel, Ethanol Comments to EPA

John Davis

The comment period for the EPA’s proposed Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) has come and gone, and the leaders in the biodiesel and ethanol industries have turned in the comments they’ve collected from their members and interested parties.

The National Biodiesel Board’s main contention is that the proposal contains several significant flaws:

NBB-logo• EPA’s GHG [Greenhouse Gas] methodology relies on outdated data that artificially penalizes U.S. biodiesel. GHG emission reductions associated with biodiesel produced from vegetable oils compared to petroleum will significantly exceed the 22 percent assumed by EPA in its proposed rule if the agency relies on scientifically valid analysis and practices. Even with EPA’s assumptions and methodology, correcting the outdated data pertaining to nitrogen fixation, energy balance and co-product allocations would give biodiesel produced from vegetable oil a 62 percent GHG reduction compared to baseline petroleum. When just some of the major flawed assumptions from EPA’s indirect analysis are corrected, the GHG emissions lifecycle reduction for biodiesel from vegetable oils is 99% percent lower than diesel fuel. This number includes penalties to biodiesel for international indirect land use change.

NBB also took issue with the international Indirect Land Use provisions of the RFS2… a stance echoed by Bob Dinneen, RFA president and CEO:
rfa-logo
“International indirect land use change simply should not be included,” Dinneen said. “Congress did not intend to penalize America’s ethanol producers for decisions made by farmers and governments in other countries.”

Now, we’ll have to wait to see if anyone at EPA is paying attention.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Indirect Land Use, NBB, News, RFA

Subsidies Should Help Nearly Double Canadian Biofuels

John Davis

Canadianflag1Biodiesel and ethanol production in Canada is expected to rise more than 75 percent over the next two years, thanks to subsidies from that country.

Reuters reports that total biofuel output north of the border will reach 660 million gallons each year by 2011, including about 500 million gallons of ethanol and about 160 million gallons of biodiesel:

“We’re certainly on track to build that production capacity, no question,” [Gordon Quaiattini, president of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association] said.

Canada currently produces 1.3 billion litres of ethanol annually and 120 million litres of biodiesel, he said.

On Friday, the federal government gave operating subsidies of C$70 million ($64.2 million) annually to Husky Energy’s Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, ethanol plant and C$5.4 million to Methes Energies Inc’s biodiesel plant in Mississauga, Ontario.

The funding is for seven years, with the exact amount calculated on a per-litre basis, and designed to pay more in a weak market than when conditions are favorable.

The Canadian government has given out funding to 23 biodiesel and ethanol plants, distributing about $1.38 billion over nine years since 2008.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

RINWorld Summit Fast Approaching

Joanna Schroeder

EPA regulations as part of the Renewable Fuels Standard has impacted thousands of businesses working in the biofuels industry. As part of this regulation, the EPA now requires that each gallon of ethanol or biodiesel must have a Renewable Identification Number, known as RINS. While some perceive RINS to be a burden, others have learned how to improve their bottom line profits.

rinlogosmThe 2nd Annual RINWorld Summit is being held in Dallas, TX on November 4-6, 2009 and last year, several hundred people learned about how the RFS is changing their business and more importantly, how to profit from these changes. This year speakers include John Wienouch, EPA, Office of Transportation and Air Quality (OTAC) as well as Erv Pickell, EPA, Office of Enforcement Compliance Insurance.

Topics include:

  • ~Implementing RFS2 into your business
  • ~The New “Burden of Proof” Facing Producers
  • ~RFS1.75 and the more immediate standard
  • ~California Raises the Mark in 2010 with the LCFS
  • ~How EMTS will impact your business and what you can do to be Prepared
  • ~Trading the RIN as an Asset and How to Maximize Profits
  • ~The 38 Steps to RIN Validation and How to Implement them
  • ~The Blend Pump Initiative and its Impact on Ethanol Demand

Current RINSTAR members receive one free registration. Not a member? Attend as the guest of a RINSTAR member and receive a 50 percent discount off the current registration rate. Click here for more information and to register.

Biodiesel, conferences, Ethanol

Dine with General Wesley Clark

Joanna Schroeder

wesclarkKen Field, Chairman of Greenfield Ethanol, Canada’s largest ethanol company, is inviting people to attend a private reception and fire side chat with General Wesley Clark on September 29, 2009. Clark is most notably known in the biofuels industry as the Co-Chairman of Growth Energy. In addition he owns his own strategic consulting firm, Wesley K. Clark & Associates.

The reception will be held at the National Club beginning at 5:30 p.m. followed by a dinner. The fire side chat will be moderated by Diane Francis, Editor at Large, Financial Post.

For more information, or to RSVP contact Debra Conlon, d.conlon@greenfieldethanol.com or via phone at 416-304-1700 x8447.

Ethanol

Ford Debuts B20 Biodiesel, E85 Compatible Trucks

John Davis

FordSuperDutyBack at the end of August, I told you about how Ford was getting ready to debut a new engine that would be compatible with more blends of fuels, including B20 biodiesel. Today, at the State Fair of Texas, the automaker unveiled its new line of F Series trucks that will not only take the higher blend of biodiesel but also a line of engines that will take E85 ethanol.

This company press release says the new engine, which was code-named “Scorpion,” should make a pretty big, green splash:

* The 2011 F-Series Super Duty boasts all-new powertrains, led by the Ford-designed, Ford-engineered and Ford-built 6.7-liter Power Stroke® V-8 turbocharged diesel engine, which delivers significantly improved torque and horsepower as well as class-leading fuel economy while maintaining best-in-class towing and payload capability; new engine also has biodiesel compatibility up to B20

* A new 6.2-liter V-8 gasoline engine also is added to the lineup; it also delivers significantly improved torque and horsepower as well as class-leading fuel economy; new gas engine can run on regular-grade gasoline, E85 or any blend in between

Ford says the new trucks, due to the market in 2011, will have a six-speed transmission that gets the new diesel engine’s low-end torque to the ground faster and will come in an automatic or manual option.

Biodiesel, Car Makers, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Biodiesel Boosts Renderer’s Bottom Line

John Davis

darlingA Texas-based company that has made its living rendering grease and animal carcasses has seen a recent boost to its bottom line… thanks to biodiesel.

CNNMoney reports that Darling International, a company that picks up the waste at 116,000 restaurants and slaughterhouses and is the largest independent renderer in the nation, has also turned profits of $55 million. That makes it CNNMoney’s 13th fastest growing company of 2009, in part, because of its investment in the green fuel:

Now Darling is eyeing a potentially lucrative new market: renewable fuels. The industrial giant Honeywell approached Darling 2½ years ago offering to license technology to make “green diesel” fuel using animal fats.

For 30 years biodiesel has been produced by combining vegetable oil and diesel. But as analyst Jin-Ming Liu of Ardour Capital explains, the fuel gums up engines and performs poorly in cold weather. Researchers have been studying a more efficient formula using animal fats for the 60-billion-gallon-a-year diesel market.

Since a green diesel refinery costs twice as much to build as a standard biodiesel plant, Darling sought a Big Oil partner for capital and refining know-how. It had little luck courting one…

Now things are different. As part of the latest government energy act, the U.S. Department of Energy is offering loans for up to 80% of the cost to build a renewable-fuel factory. Darling just announced that Valero Energy has agreed to be a partner in its proposed $270 million green diesel plant in Louisiana. The government’s final loan decision may come early next year.

Analysts say while animal fats and greases equal just 5 percent of the diesel the country needs, it’s enough to keep this specialty company going and growing.

Biodiesel, Miscellaneous

MotionPower Moves to Big Rigs

John Davis

MotionPowerA couple of weeks ago, Joanna told you about how a company had installed a system that would capture the energy of cars and light trucks that went through a fast-food drive through (see her post from Sept. 14, 2009).

Now, New Energy Technologies has announced it has successfully tested its MotionPower technology for generating electricity from the movement of heavy trucks and long-haul vehicles, and the renewable energy company will now develop a full-scale system suitable for field testing, and ultimately, commercial deployment:

The Company’s MotionPower™-‘Heavy’ system for heavy vehicles has been engineered to generate electricity while addressing utility demands and commercial considerations unique to large vehicles, including minimizing payload disruption, ensuring passenger comfort, and making special allowances for integration of the system at commercial trucking sites such as ports, weigh scales, border crossings, and central distribution sites.

Heavy-duty trucks have up to 25 times more kinetic energy than a typical car traveling at the same speed. New Energy Technologies Inc.’s engineers have developed the MotionPower™-Heavy technology as a fluid-based system, uniquely capable of drawing significant amounts of energy from a single vehicle without jarring its payload or creating passenger discomfort. The efficient transfer of energy from heavy vehicles to the MotionPower™-Heavy system ensures greater electricity production and easier device adoption.

Company officials believe the system will be scalable for electrical generation.

You can see a video of the technology here.

Energy, technology

Ethanol Group Finalizing Comments to EPA

Cindy Zimmerman

The Renewable Fuels Association today released comments to be filed with the Environmental Protection Agency regarding proposed regulations to implement the expanded renewable fuel standard (RFS) program enacted by Congress in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) in 2007.

RFA“Reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil was part of the Energy Security Act, providing economic opportunity and job creation and supporting rural communities were all equally important goals,” said RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen during a press conference to announce the organization’s comments. “We’re concerned that EPA appears to be ignoring those objectives as it pursues greenhouse gas reduction based on unproven theory.”

In specific comments to be submitted to EPA, Dinneen says they will stress that, “International indirect land use change simply should not be included,” Dinneen said. “Congress did not intend to penalize America’s ethanol producers for decisions made by farmers and governments in other countries.”

The RFA also released a report conducted by Informa Economics that will be included in comments submitted to the EPA. “It calculates that the land needed to meet the demands of the growing RFS mandate would be in the range of 2.2 million acres,” said Dinneen. “Put in perspective, that is one half of one percent of U.S. crop land, one tenth of one percent of world cropland, and six 100ths of a percent of world arable land – certainly not enough to have any meaningful impact on greenhouse gases across the globe.”

Dinneen says RFA is in the process of finalizing its comments to EPA, which will be submitted tomorrow on the final day of the comment period.

Listen to Dinneen’s opening comments here:

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Indirect Land Use, RFA

EPA Admits Uncertainty in Indirect Land Use

Cindy Zimmerman

A group of Midwest senators led by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) dropped an amendment to appropriations legislation that would have prohibited the EPA from spending funds to include international indirect land use change (ILUC) emissions in the implementation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).

Sen. Harkin withdrew his amendment after receiving a letter from EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson that promised the agency would be taking a closer look at the proposed regulation regarding ILUC that would penalize biofuel production such as corn-ethanol.

Jackson said in her letter that it is “clear that there are significant uncertainties associated with these estimates and in particular, with the estimate of indirect land use change.”

“Therefore, I have asked my staff to quantify the uncertainty associated with specifically the international indirect land use change emissions. They are working closely with USDA as well as incorporating feedback from experts who are commenting on the rule. This analysis will allow us to quantify the impact of the uncertainty on the lifecycle emissions. We will present these estimates in the final rule, and I plan to incorporate those estimates of uncertainty in my regulatory decisions.”

Harkin was pleased with the EPA administrator’s admission and promise to address the issue. “I think our amendment got EPA’s attention,” Harkin said.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Indirect Land Use

Industrial Biotech To Save 2.5 Billion Tons of CO2?

Joanna Schroeder

wwf_logoA new WWF report, “Industrial biotechnology – more than green fuel in a dirty economy,” has concluded that industrial biotechnology could generate between 1 and 2.5 billion tons of greenhouse gas reductions per year by 2030, as well as build a new green economy that works with nature to meet human needs. As such, the WWF is calling for increased political backing for the industry to leverage the positive environmental effects. The findings were peer-reviewed by Novozymes as well as WWF experts.

“In a few years sugar will be the new oil. Already today close to 200 biorefineries are operating in the U.S. and yet we have only seen the beginning. Industrial biotechnology today is a sector with a number of pioneers who are demonstrating that this is technically feasible,” says Steen Riisgaard, CEO of Novozymes. “However, to make the biobased economy into reality, they will require political backing. Novozymes is dedicated to helping ensure a radical shift in the way our societies work, and to reduce our dependency on oil.”

In 2008, the use of Novozymes’ technologies across industries resulted in the reduced CO2 emissions totaling more than 28 nzlogomillion tons – the equivalent of taking 4 million cars off the road.

“WWF sees industrial biotech as an industry that can play a very significant role in the development of a new, green economy if developed in the right way. The world can’t afford to ignore this opportunity,” says John Kornerup Bang, Head of Globalization Programme for WWF.

Click here to read the full press release. Click here to download the full report.

Biotech, Environment, global warming, News