New Holland Still Supporting Biodiesel Alliance

Chuck Zimmerman

New Holland BiodieselNew Holland sponsored coverage of last week’s Farm Progress Show on our sister website, AgWired.com. Domestic Fuel readers know we’ve worked with the company a number of times in recent years and have documented how committed they are to supporting biodiesel.

While at the show last week I talked with Gene Hemphill, New Holland and Tom Verry, National Biodiesel Board about The Biodiesel Alliance. NBB was the founder of the Alliance and New Holland was the first company of their kind to join.

The Biodiesel Alliance is a diverse coalition of organizations, agencies and businesses from across the nation who find common ground in their support for biodiesel fuel. Founded and managed by the National Biodiesel Board, the Biodiesel Alliance supports information sharing and opportunities to help advance the use of clean-burning, renewable biodiesel fuel that meets high industry standards. As a result, the Biodiesel Alliance is instrumental in helping others to recognize the benefits of biodiesel to human health, the environment, national energy security and the US economy.

Gene and New Holland have been big supporters of the biodiesel industry since the days when it was called soydiesel. The company has been innovative in warranting their tractors on blends of biodiesel fuel up to 100 percent. They’ve also encouraged their dealers to join the alliance and many, many people to join the Biodiesel Backers.

Tom says the number one issue facing the industry right now is the proposed RFS2 that EPA has put forth and for which they’re soliciting comments until later this month. The proposed regs require 1 billion gallons of biomass biodiesel by 2012. That should be accomplished mostly by biodiesel but EPA is penalizing biodiesel through its measurement of its carbon score from the controversial indirect land use issue. He says they’re failing to take into account things like increased efficiency and production of soybeans.

You can listen to my interview with Gene and Tom below:

You can also see a lot of our photos from the show in our Farm Progress Show Photo Album.

Audio, Biodiesel, Farm Progress Show, New Holland

Ethanol Supporters Urged to Comment on RFS2

Cindy Zimmerman

choose ethanol 18 daysThe clock is ticking down on the comment period for the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard, better known as RFS2. The Environmental Protection Agency will be taking comments until September 25th – just 18 days from now.

Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is urging ethanol supporters to make their voices heard now on this important issue. “I am concerned that (the EPA) get this regulation implemented right,” Dinneen said during an interview last week at Farm Progress Show. “This is the first time the agency has been tasked with the responsibility of determining the carbon footprint of an industry and they are learning that’s not an easy thing to do and there is no scientific consensus to do it.”

Choose EthanolDinneen calls the principal of indirect land use being considered by the EPA “not just not scientifically sound, but silly” because it literally equates an acre of land used to grow ethanol in the United States with an acre of Brazilian land forest being destroyed. “This is a very big issue and we’re a long way from having it resolved.”

RFA has provided a simple way for people to make comments to the agency through an online advocacy tool at the website ChooseEthanol.com. Comments need to be received by EPA no later than September 25, 2009.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, RFA

HERO BX Biodiesel Plans to Lead Green Energy Revolution

Cindy Zimmerman

Global Biodiesel Producer Lake Erie Biofuels today announced a name change to HERO BX and a new technology pathway for the future of biofuels.

HERO BXCEO Leonard Kosar says America needs a hero in the biofuels business. “HERO BX stands for high-quality biodiesel and that is what we produce everyday using multiple feedstocks,” said Kosar. “In the future, we will utilize our proprietary blending technology to determine what the most efficient and cost competitive second and third generation feedstocks are and add them to our feedstock portfolio. We are not only a biodiesel company, we are a fuel technology company.”

Kosar says their biodiesel production strategy involves using multiple feedstocks primarily from vegetable oils and waste oils. “What most second and third generation biofuels are not doing today is actually producing biodiesel,” said Kosar. “HERO BX is producing superior biodiesel today using first generation feedstocks from waste oil to catfish oil, to vegetable oil, and tomorrow we will add to our feedstock portfolio the most efficient and cost competitive second and third generation feedstocks such as camelina and algae.” He stressed the need to control the feedstock supply, rather than have it control them.

HERO BX is supporting the new award winning documentary “FUEL” starring and directed by Josh Tickell. The film is launching nationwide this month. “We are a major supporter of the film,” Kosar said. “We don’t support everything in it, certainly in its position with oil companies, but we do support the full story that it gives on what biodiesel is and how it fits into energy policy over the next decade and what it means to America.”

HERO BX, formerly Lake Erie Biofuels, LLC, started operations in 2007 and is Pennsylvania’s first large-scale biodiesel production facility. A fully accredited BQ-9000 producer and marketer of biodiesel, HERO BX is the leading producer of biodiesel in the United States and distributes its fuel around the world.

Audio from the HERO BX announcement is posted here:

algae, Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, feedstocks

Biodiesel-Fueled Motorcycle to Circle Australia

John Davis

BioBike2009Two years ago, a biodiesel-powered motorcycle made a 3,000 km (1,800 miles) trip across Australia(see my post from Oct. 22, 2007).

Now, the folks in charge of the BioBike will up the ante as former oil driller Paul Carter will make a 20,000 km (12,000 miles) journey around the land of down under. This University of Adelaide press release has details.

The 40-year-old author and former offshore oil rigger will ride an award-winning biodiesel bike nicknamed “Betty”, built by the University’s Mechanical Engineering students in 2007.

The BioBike, which runs on used cooking oil and waste fats, won acclaim for generating minimal greenhouse gas emissions in completing a 3000km trek in 2007 between Darwin and Adelaide in seven days.

Mr Carter says his journey will hopefully raise awareness of the potential of used cooking oil as a viable alternative to hydrocarbons as a fuel source for farming.

The motorcycle enthusiast says after spending 20 years in the oil industry, he is interested in giving something back to the environment.

“I will sit on about 95km/h riding `Betty’ and expect to use about 650 litres of vegetable oil for the duration of the trip,” he says.

The biodiesel bike was conceived by Dr Colin Kestell, coordinator of the Automotive Engineering program at the University of Adelaide, and built by students within the School of Mechanical Engineering.

Releasing just 71 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre travelled on the Adelaide-Darwin trip in 2007, the BioBike won the major environment award in the Panasonic World Solar Challenge Greenfleet Technology Class that year. Its fuel efficiency was 3.5 litres per 100km.

Kestell says this trip will show just how effective biodiesel can be in the long haul for commercial vehicles. The trip will go from Adelaide, head south to Melbourne and then up the east coast of Australia to Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin before making a counter-clockwise trip around Australia, expecting to finish in November.

Biodiesel

Book Review – Investing in Solar Stocks

Joanna Schroeder

405267I was going to begin my review with a bad cliche, “solar never sleeps,” but alas it does since it harnesses the energy of the sun. But I couldn’t think of anything else clever so I decided to run with it. This week I reviewed the book, “Investing in Solar Stocks: An Investor’s Guide to Winning in the Global Renewable Energy Market.” With our economy you might think you can’t win in any investment but according to author Joseph Berwind, Founder of Alternative Energy Investing, this is not true. You just need to learn what factors will determine the winners and losers.

Now, I’m a loser when it comes to all things financial and investing is no exception. That’s why I have “people”. That being said, I struggled with the terminology but someone who dabbles in investments will find reading this book a breeze and full of great advice.

Here are a few key points. You can tell which technologies are most promising with three criteria: cost is everything, manufacturing matters, and conversion efficiency matters. From here, Berwind explains how to determine whether the technology is promising, how to assess the success of a companies manufacturing strategy and how to determine the efficiency factors of the technology.

Bertrand also talks about the importance of legislation and subsidies and their roles in the success or demise of the industry and the companies. He has some great charts to explain this including one that includes all the U.S. states’ renewable energy mandates.

In the end, he points out that no industry, including solar, has no risk, but learning how to understand these risks will help you pick the winners.

To read this book or any book I review visit my bookstore. If you have a book you’d like me to review, email me at jomschro2071@gmail.com.

book reviews

Brazil to Have Record Breaking Sugar & Ethanol Production

Joanna Schroeder

Conab has released the results of its national crop survey and reported that the Brazilian sugar and alcohol sector will grind a record-breaking volume of sugarcane this year. Total harvest is expected to reach an estimated 629 million tons, a 10 percent increase over 2008. The increase in production is attributed to both good rains and expanded planted area, which reached 7.74 million hectares.

3064960337_eb32b8dc18Approximately 55 percent of the crop, or 438.56 million tons, is intended for ethanol production, which will generate 9.13 billion liters of anhydrous-type fuel (to be added to gasoline) and 18.68 billion liters of hydrated alcohol (to be sold as fuel at the pumps). These figures represent respectively a reduction of 9.30 percent and an increase of 12.41 percent In total, there will be 27.80 billion gallons of ethanol, or 4.22 percent more than the 26.68 billion gallons produced last season.

“Most Brazilian mills are capable of producing both ethanol and sugar, which gives the industry flexibility to opt for production of one or the other,” said Conab’s Agribusiness Information Superintendent Airton Camargo. He said the favorable price on the international market has led industries to prefer the food production.

Last week, the Energy Information Administration released the ethanol production numbers for June 2009 (for U.S. only) noting that U.S. production is on the rise with record setting production. With record ethanol production in both the U.S. and Brazil, Growth Energy announced a campaign last week during the Farm Progess Show to label ethanol’s country of origin in an attempt to gain consumer support for the fuel to be American made.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

Don’t Miss the Cellulosic Feedstock Summit

Joanna Schroeder

banner_cellulosicbiofuels09The 4th Annual Cellulosic Feedstock Summit is being held this year November 16-19 in Washington D.C. This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Kristina M. Johnson, Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In addition to the keynote, there are three key events taking place.

The Finance & Investment Forum – The Forum will convene the cellulosic biofuels industry and the financial community, as well as a variety of government funding sources, to explore the business models and financing strategies essential for the realization of the first wave of cellulosic biofuels plants.

The Cellulosic Biofuels Summit – The Summit once again brings together the major players from across the entire biofuels value chain to report on their activities, determine the next steps forward and share their perspectives on the progress in reaching the commercial production of cellulosic biofuels.

The Feedstock Supply Forum – The Feedstock Supply Chain Forum will assemble the key players committed to making the goal of ensuring the reality of a high volume supply chain that is both economical and sustainable.

Click here to learn more about the conference and to register.

conferences, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Studying New Feedstocks for Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

The “World’s Largest Urban Farm and Research Test Facility” is studying a wide variety of new feedstocks that hold promise for future sources of both ethanol and biodiesel.

bioworksAgricenter International recently offered a closer look at the new crops being grown there by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation AgBioworks program and BioDimensions, Inc. Among the crops that were planted this season were sweet sorghum (pictured), switchgrass, castor, pearl millet and sunflowers.

“Our intent with hosting this new crops field day was to educate people on the opportunities for these crops in the region by inviting a range of speakers to talk about crops from the field to the factory and also showcase these crops in the field, “ says Hillary Spain, AgBioworks 25Farmer Network Coordinator.

Spain says about 50 farmers and other interested individuals from throughout the region attended the field day on August 15 to learn about each crop, ask questions and see the crop under actual growing conditions in the field.

Biodiesel, biomass, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farming, feedstocks, Research

EPA Officials Visit Iowa Biofuels Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

EPA officials visit REG with Sen GrassleySenator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) hosted officials from the Environmental Protection Agency last week for a tour of agriculture and biofuels in Iowa. Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, and Margo Oge, Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality, represented EPA on the visit that included the BioCentury Research Farm in Boone, an Iowa family farm and the Renewable Energy Group‘s (REG) Central Iowa Energy plant in Newton, which included an overview and update from the ethanol and biodiesel industries.

“The EPA has tremendous power and authority, and the decisions it makes on several issues will have a major impact on the rural economy, from the family farm to opportunities in value-added agriculture industries, including renewable energy. It is absolutely essential that the government officials in charge understand the issues and the impact of their rules, regulations and directives,” Grassley said.

EPA is in the process of taking comments on implementation of the renewable fuels standard (RFS2) under the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. In their comments to EPA, REG chairman Jeff Stroburg said, “We firmly believe that the intent of policy makers and the administration to reduce our dependence on foreign petroleum supplies, support American agriculture, and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emission can be successfully achieved with the implementation of RFS2.”

Thanks to REG for the photo of the Grassley/EPA tour. More photos can be viewed here.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Farming, Government

Company Touts ‘Dual Fuel’ as Green Solution

John Davis

AmPowerGroupAn Iowa-based energy company is claiming that its one-of-a-kind technology is a solution America needs as the country looks to reduce greenhouse emissions and lower energy costs, while helping put people back to work.

American Power Group’s “dual fuel” blends diesel (which should have the ability to use biodiesel, right) and compressed natural gas or methane:

APG’s technology couldn’t come at a better time as customers look for ways to cope with rising fuel costs and search for solutions that will allow them to use federal stimulus monies aimed at cleaning up the environment and reduce dependency on foreign oil. The application, which perfectly blends conventional diesel fuel with compressed natural gas or bio-methane, delivers greener power to municipal vehicles, stationary generators and backup applications to name a few. While some companies are able to offer customers only a dedicated diesel fuel or natural gas fuel solution, APG’s technology is the first to allow an engine to run on both diesel and natural gas simultaneously. The technology is innovative, and it benefits are simply astounding. The dual fuel solution reduces the use of fuel by as much as 40 percent, increases the diesel fuel run time of generators by 300 percent and decreases emissions by over 40 percent. It also minimizes fuel storage space requirements by as much as 50 percent.

“Our technology is freeing up businesses to do what they know best while helping them to improve their bottom line,” said Rick Kremer, VP Sales & Marketing.

APG says one of its clients has been able to run off a generator burning the dual fuel for two week, where it would have lasted only 48 hours before. Plus, company officials claim it will work in existing engines. Check ’em out for yourself here.

biomethane, Natural Gas, technology