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Clemson Univ. Partners with Arborgen to Research Biomass

clemson_universityClemson University will be partnering with ArborGen LLC, a company who researches tree genetics, to form a cooperative focused on the growth of biomass for the biofuels industry. The two will develop woody biomass as feedstock for biofuel development.

According to Charleston Regional Business Journal, the research will focus on development and conversion of cellulose, such as switchgrass, wood chips and other fibrous plant matter, into ethanol.

arborgen“This kind of research has global implications for climate change, energy security and the long-term stability of our local and national economy, particularly as it can help develop the rural infrastructure and jobs we need,” said Barbara Wells, president and CEO of ArborGen.

Joint areas of research include exploration of possible sources of biofuel, such as sweetgum, loblolly pine and poplar trees; equipment engineering; field trials; and pretreatment of woody biomass.

“This relationship marks a big move for the collaborative into trees as a feedstock,” said Karl Kelly, director of corporate operations at the Clemson University Restoration Institute in North Charleston. “ArborGen is a key industry leader — based in South Carolina — that can develop our existing switchgrass-to-ethanol program into other forms of biomass.”

biomass, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

Ethanol Report on Petroleum Impacts

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol Report PodcastThis edition of “The Ethanol Report” features comments from Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association on his remarks to the annual meeting of the Society of Environmental Journalists on the issue of international indirect land use change and new reports about the environmental impacts of petroleum.

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

Listen to or download the podcast here:

Audio, Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Indirect Land Use, RFA

POET Introduces New Ethanol Co-Product

Cindy Zimmerman

A new ethanol co-product could replace more petroleum products such plastics, film and coatings.

poetPOET has announced the new product, called “Inviz,” which the company says could be used to make a variety of petroleum-based ingredients in household products ranging from pill coatings to plastic packaging.

Inviz is POET’s brand of zein, a biodegradable, low-nutrient protein found in corn. It can be used as a gum base or in films, packaging, adhesives, coatings and glazes. Inviz zein is extracted using a patent-pending process developed by POET.

Inviz is derived from the less valuable protein in POET’s Dakota Gold HP® distiller’s grains. It differs from other zein products because POET’s production process fractionates the corn kernel and ferments ethanol without using heat. For that reason, Inviz is a more pure corn protein than other zein products, which are typically exposed to sulfur dioxide in the wet-milling process.

POET’s research into zein started in 2004 through collaboration with the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research (NCAUR) in Peoria, Ill. Those efforts ramped up considerably 2.5 years ago with the hiring of Senior Scientist John Lawton, a leader in zein research, from the NCAUR. Lawton was intrigued by the potential for zein in POET’s no-cook ethanol production.

“Inviz can be used to make biodegradable plastics, time-release capsules for pills and other substances, varnish, there are just so many possibilities,” Lawton said. “It has been the focus of much of my research throughout my career, and I’m excited to see this product brought to market.”

Read more from POET here.

Ethanol, POET

Company Developing Algae Farm & Power Plant

John Davis

RWElogoRenewed World Energies Corp. is working on turning a 5 acre site into an algae biomass farm that will make biodiesel as well as producing electricity at Georgetown, South Carolina with hopes of being in production by late next year.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that 3 to 4 acres of photo-bioreactors are planned to produce algae-based fuels to generate electrical energy:

[Rick Armstrong and Tim Tompkins, co-founders of Renewed World Energies Corp.] applied their experience in automation and process control to develop what they believe will be a cost-effective photo-bioreactor. Armstrong said their projections show a 12.8 percent return on investment for a 1.6 megawatt (MW) unit, while a larger 5 MW system should provide a return on investment closer to 15 percent. An individual photo-bioreactor panel measures 4 feet wide by 6 feet high by 3 inches thick, with 550 panels contained in one cell and five to six cells covering an acre of land. The process utilizes automated harvesting, reducing the moisture content in a prescreening process to about 20 percent, before being pumped to a final screen and dried further if necessary prior to processing. The estimated yield per acre is between 95 and 125 tons of dried biomass per year, according to Armstrong.

Renewed World Energies plans to use the algae produced at its Georgetown facility to fuel a green diesel biomass refinery under order from Unified Fuels. The catalyzed gasification unit has four products— the greatest proportion being a liquid green diesel, a smaller proportion of green gasoline, non-condensable gases dominated by methane and ash. RWE’s facility will include two 800 kilowatt generators, one a natural gas generator modified to burn the methane and the other a reciprocating engine to burn the green diesel. The generator exhaust will be recycled through the system. Negotiations for a purchase power agreement are nearing completion with the regional utility, Santee-Cooper Electric, Armstrong added.

One of the hopes of the development of the system is that it can be adjusted to get the most out of any type of algae. Company officials say there had not been a lot of work done on automation and process control side of photo-bioreactors.

algae, Biodiesel

Biodiesel Could Be Ultimate Solar Power

John Davis

NBB-logoA new study shows that the ultimate form of solar power could be biodiesel.

Researchers at the University of Idaho and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have released a study that shows that for every unit of fossil energy needed to produce biodiesel, the return is 4.5 units of energy. And the National Biodiesel Board points out that soybean-based biodiesel has a high ratio of energy-in to energy-out… a high “energy balance”…. because the main source of energy to grow soybeans is the sun:

“This gives Americans even more reason to put their faith in the environmental and societal benefits of biodiesel,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board. “The Environmental Protection Agency should take this into account when considering biodiesel’s greenhouse gas reductions,” he said.

Jobe was referring to EPA’s proposed rule to implement the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2). EPA used 2005 baseline numbers for petroleum and biodiesel to project carbon impact 22 years in the future. That stacks the deck in favor of petroleum.

“In its rulemaking, EPA should recognize that biodiesel production is growing more efficient, while oil exploration and drilling becomes more intensive each day,” Jobe said.

Biodiesel is also a source of valuable co-products, like glycerin, for which EPA did not credit biodiesel. The USDA/Idaho study finds key drivers that continue to make biodiesel an efficient fuel choice:

* New seed varieties and management practices are upping soybean yields.
* Farmers have minimized cultivation of the soil. These reduced tillage practices have cut how much fuel they need to grow soybeans.
* Modern soybean varieties have reduced the need for pesticides.
* Today’s soybean processing and biodiesel plants are more energy efficient.

The study goes on to say that farmers, soybean processors and biodiesel producers are getting better at using renewable energy resources, as well as more efficient energy practices.

Biodiesel, NBB

Evolution Fuels Plans Dallas Ethanol Station

Cindy Zimmerman

The state known for its oil wells may be in for a fuel evolution.

ethanolDallas-based Evolution Fuels, Inc. is planning to start its new brand of renewable fuel stations in the heart of the Dallas metropolis.

The company has signed a letter of intent to lease a location for their first fuel station under the brand “Evolution Fuels” that will offer renewable fuel blends at the pump. The plan is to offer a variety of ethanol-gasoline blend levels, including E10, E20, E30, and E85, as well as 20 percent biodiesel blends (B20).

The fuel dispensers, to be provided by Dresser Wayne, are uniquely designed to blend petroleum fuels with renewable fuels from the underground storage tanks within the dispenser as the fuel is delivered into the vehicle.

The Company plans to uniquely image the station and offer specialty foods, beverages, and other products in order to help create a recognizable brand as it rolls out more stations according to its business plan.

blends, Ethanol, Ethanol News

National Wind Challenges President Obama

Joanna Schroeder

Earlier this week, National Wind CEO Leon Steinberg, challenged President Obama to take a stand by insisting that legislators pass an energy bill establishing a federal oversight committee to implement an interstate transmission highway. Steinberg likens the challenge as similar to President “Ike” Eisenhower’s initiative of creating a federal interstate system. The only difference is that while the nation’s interstate system is for cars, the transmission highway is for electricity.

Transmission_MapThe Midwest is prime real estate for wind energy, especially Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa enabling the states to produce more energy than the people need. However, today, it is nearly impossible to capture and transfer the excess energy from wind turbines for use in overpopulated areas like California. The next logical step is to design a way to do just this all while providing lower cost energy to consumers.

Just like the biofuels industry is struggling to increase the blend wall (if not the country can’t meet the 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022), the electrical industry cannot meet President Obama’s goal of 25 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2025 if the grid is not overhauled and upgraded.

Steinberg writes in an op-ed piece, “President Obama’s goal of securing 25 percent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2025 is restricted by state regulators who act only in the interests of their state and disregard the potential benefits of new, high capacity, interstate transmission line.” If the country is serious about energy security, he continues, then the President should emulate Eisenhower’s approach and, “demand action by Congress to bring our energy infrastructure into the 21st century.”

As many have said and will continue to say, including Steinberg, our government needs to get out of its own way in order to usher in new environmental and economic security for generations now and to come.


Commentary, Energy, Environment, Wind

Project Looks to Link Wind, Solar Projects to Rest of US

John Davis

One of the big knocks against solar and wind energy is the lack of infrastructure to connect the power generated in remote areas of the American West with the large population centers back east. But a project in New Mexico could change that.

TresAmigasmapGreenBeat reports that state’s governor has unveiled a plan to build a massive electric transmission station in Clovis, New Mexico. The Tres Amigas Super Station is designed to connect the U.S.’s three main power grids and better channel solar and wind energy:

The proposed project, which would take about five years to build beginning in 2011 or 2012, would be the largest power converter in the world, covering 22 square miles and fundamentally changing how electricity flows across the country. New Mexico, which would benefit tremendously from the jobs and revenue created by the facility, was chosen because it is located nearest to where the three power grids — referred to as the East, West and Texas interconnections — meet up. On top of that, conditions in the state would allow it to geenrate up to 27 gigawatts of solar and wind energy.

The $600 million project will have a capacity of 5 gigawatts to begin with and could be scaled up to 30 gigawatts. It’s expected to put $4 billion back into the local economy.

Solar, Wind

Future is Today for Five Producing Algae Biofuels

John Davis

AlgaeinbeakerWhile I know we’ve talked about the promise of algae-based biofuels, especially biodiesel, many of you have pointed in derision to the seemingly always present caveat: in about five years… the amount of time the ideas seem to take until they’re ready for the street.

But there are some companies that are not still five years away from making algae biofuels viable. They are on the verge of producing it in usable quantities now. This article in Popular Science profiles five companies that are making biofuels out of algae, although those companies are still working on making it commercially viable. Here are a couple of the projects now working in the United States:

Solix Biofuels
The Project /// A demonstration facility that could produce up to 3000 gallons of algal biofuels per acre per year by the end of 2009

The Location /// Coyote Gulch, Colo.

The Technology /// Solix uses specialized photo-bioreactors in which batches of microalgal cultures are grown in large, closed-growth chambers under controlled light and temperature conditions. The company claims its closed systems can produce up to seven times as much biomass as open-pond systems. Once the cultures are fully grown, their oil is extracted through the use of chemical solvents like benzene or ether. The solvents are mixed into the chambers to separate the oil from the algae, and it is then collected from the surface. Solix is also collaborating with the Los Alamos National Laboratory to use its acoustic-focusing technology to concentrate algal cells into a dense mixture by blasting them with sound waves. Oil can then be extracted from the mixture by squeezing it out; this makes the extraction process much easier and cheaper, obviating the need for chemical solvents.

To Market /// Tentatively by the winter of 2009.Read More

algae, biofuels

Corn Plus Awarded for Energy Efficiency

corn_plusCorn Plus, a 49 million gallon ethanol plant in Winnebago, Minnesota, has been granted an energy efficiency award. Shared-savings programs are offered by Alliant. They include low-cost financing and financial incentives to help purchase new energy efficient equipment.

There were three major projects that Corn Plus has taken on since 2004 that apply toward the shared-savings energy efficiency projects: a fluid bed reactor which has saved the company $24 million over the past four years; the use of variable frequency drives instead of standard motors which cut the company’s energy use by 35 percent and saved about $200,000 in the past four years; and the ethanol plant’s choice of a distillation upgrade which allowed them to grind the same amount of corn and produce more alcohol.

“Through these programs, that’s how we were awarded for energy efficiency,” said Keith Kor, general manager of Corn Plus.

The plant has taken small steps, too, to improve its efficiency: updating its lighting; installing energy-efficient centrifugal fans and compressed air; and adding a palletizing plant and ash plant.

Alliant estimates all those improvements have saved the company 37.5 million kWh of electricity – enough to power 3,906 typical homes for a year.

“We’re looking at another project that will help reduce our natural gas and increase energy savings and another to reduce our water usage,” Kor said. “There will be less evaporation load on our cooling towers. They’re not evaporating as much water – they don’t need to take up as much water in the cooling process.”

The energy efficiency awards were given to five businesses.

Energy, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News