Join the Ethanol Twitter Revolution: #FuelChat

Joanna Schroeder

twitter_logo_headerTwitter has become all the rage and the ethanol industry is not to be left out. Next week, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is hosting a Twitter chat, #FuelChat where for one hour, people can chat about all things ethanol. The first #FuelChat will be Wednesday, July 29 at 8:00 p.m. EDT. Every other week the RFA will seek to bring expert opinion, policymakers, and other influential voices in the biofuels world to the Twitterverse to discuss the most pressing issues facing the industry.

The RFA is also pleased to be working with ZimmComm as the moderator of #FuelChat. If you have any questions about the event, please tweet Chuck Zimmerman at @agriblogger or Robert White with the RFA at @fuelinggood.

So how does it work? For those of you already using Twitter, we recommend using the application TweetChat to participate. The name of the chat is #FuelChat. For those of you not using Twitter, the first step is visit Twitter and set up your account. After that, the same steps apply.

The first #FuelChat will focus broadly on the topic of ethanol use in America and explore issues such as E15, E85, blender pumps, small engines and more. If you have a question related to this topic that you would like to see posed, please tweet Chuck Zimmerman at @agriblogger or Cindy Zimmerman at @farmpodcaster. And BTW, I also Twitter @jmschroeder.

When you realize how cool this is, keep up to date on ethanol issues every day by signing up to follow the RFA and ZimmComm staff. Here are RFA’s Twitter handles:

Official RFA @ethanolrfa
Bob Dinneen @ethanolbob
Christina Martin @ethanolt
Robert White @fuelinggood
Missy Ruff @renewablefuel
Bailey Rall @brall

#FuelChat: See you in the Twitterverse on July 29th at 8:00 p.m. EDT.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

Winners of $6.3 Million for Biofuels Research Selected

Joanna Schroeder

And the money keeps a coming. U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the joint selection of awards of up to $6.3 million towards fundamental genomics-enabled research leading to the improved use of plant feedstocks or biofuel production. The seven projects announced came after the end  of the green jobs and renewable energy Rural Tour event which took place last weekend in Virgina. The goal of these investments is to further the Obama Administration’s efforts to broaden the nation’s energy portfolio while decreasing our dependence on foreign oil.

Vilsack said, “Helping expand and diversify production of biofuels is an example of the Obama Administration’s commitment to developing a sustainable domestic biofuels industry that can help strengthen rural America while decreasing our dependence on foreign oil.”

Chu added, “Part of the solution to the energy problem will be home-grown energy crops.” These projects will help us unlock the true potential of advanced biofuels, decrease our dependence on foreign oil, and create new jobs and a thriving biofuels industry in America.”

These grants will be awarded under a joint DOE-USDA program begun in 2006; the DOE will provide $4 million in funding for four projects, while USDA will award $2.3 million to fund three projects. Initial funding will support research projects for up to three years.

Awards recipients include:

  • •    USDA-ARS Northern Plains Area (Lincoln, NE), $1,182,000
  • •    USDA-ARS Western Regional Research Center (Albany, CA), $1,300,000
  • •    University of Georgia (Athens, GA), $1,200,000
  • •    University of Georgia (Athens, GA), $705,000
  • •    Michigan Technological University (Houghton, MI), $900,000
  • •    University of Florida (Gainesville, FL), $643,000
  • •    University of Nebraska (Lincoln, NE), $390,000

Click here for more information on the individual projects and the DOE-USDA biomass genomics research program.

biofuels, Ethanol News, USDA

Webinar Features Talk on Algae for Fuels & Chemicals

John Davis

df-logoLast time, we told you about how researchers are working on ways of making algae into a viable feedstock for Midwest biodiesel production. In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we continue the conversation on algae and it’s potential as a fuel… and the chemical by-products and processes it can bring to the table.

BIOlogo.2During the recent 2009 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) hosted a webinar so that reporters and those who could not attend in person could still participate in a discussion on the feasibility of algae to fuel our vehicles, feed our bodies and even free our air of carbon emissions.

Folks like Steve Gluck, a scientist with Dow Chemical Company; Tom Burn of XL Renewables; CEO of Culturing Solutions Dean Tsoupeis ; and Chief Operating Officer of Algenol Biofuels Ed Legere; discussed different methods of algae production and the future for it in the fuel and chemical fields.

You can hear part of the conversation in this week’s Domestic Fuel Cast here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/domesticfuel/DFCast-7-24-09.mp3]

The entire hour and a half webinar is also posted online here.

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

algae, Audio, BIO, Biodiesel, Domestic Fuel Cast

REG to Open Biodiesel Research Facility

John Davis

Feedstock photos 011_2
reglogo1Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group will be opening a new multi-million dollar research and support lab for seven network biodiesel production plants and others in the industry this coming Tuesday, July 28th at its Ames locaiton.

The company is promising reporters some pretty cool photo and video opportunities with a live demonstration of biodiesel production and more than 25 biodiesel feedstocks of tomorrow including coffee bean oil, jojoba, coconut and karanja oils.

WHO: Public Officials, Media, Industry Partners and Special Guests

WHAT: Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for REG Research Center

SPEAKERS: Jeff Stroburg, Chairman and CEO, Renewable Energy Group
Roya Stanley, Executive Director, Iowa Office of Energy Independence
Ron Hallenbeck, VP, Existing Business & Industry, Ames Chamber of Commerce

WHEN: Tuesday, July 28
9:30 a.m. Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Refreshments
10:00 a.m. Guided Media Tours Begin

WHERE: 416 S. Bell Ave.
Ames IA 50014

WHY: Without continued research and feedstock commercialization, the biodiesel industry will grow stagnant. The REG Research Center staff conducts fuel quality analysis and feedstock commercialization research for the REG network of biodiesel production facilities and others in the biofuels industry. Laboratory functions include simulation and troubleshooting commercial-scale production processes and research on the newest and most interesting feedstock available. With more than a decade of biodiesel quality and feedstock commercialization experience, this laboratory and its staff will showcase cutting-edge biodiesel industry technologies during this event.

Media are encouraged to contact REG Communications Specialist Alicia Clancy at alicia.clancy@regfuel.com; phone: (515) 239-8118 or mobile: (515) 450-9692. She can even set up exclusive interviews and photo opportunities can be arranged to suit individual needs.

Biodiesel

Trucks Line Up for BioTrucker Biodiesel

John Davis

BioTruckerline2It was quite a scene today as more than 50 semis, pickup trucks and cars lined up for biodiesel at the newest stop in the BioTrucker network at the Gas City station in Romeoville, Ill.

This press release from the National Biodiesel Board says Gas City was offering off per gallon on the purchase of B11:

The B11 blend, common in Illinois, normally sells for about the same price as regular diesel fuel. BioTrucker is a network of more than 5,000 fueling locations offering trucking companies and owner-operators the benefit of purchasing fuel without a transaction fee, and at cash prices.

NBB-logo“The over-the-road trucking market represents 38 billion gallons of diesel usage a year,” said Jess Hewitt, Chairman of the National Biodiesel Board’s Marketing Committee, and President of Houston-based HYPERFUELS. “Every gallon of biodiesel they use displaces foreign oil, reduces emissions, and supports 50,000 green jobs in the U.S.”

“Gas City is pleased and proud to be the newest addition to the BioTrucker fuel card network in Illinois,” said Bill Schireman, Executive Vice President of Gas City, Ltd. “In 2006 we made the conscious effort to go green, and offering biodiesel to our customers helps us do that. Biodiesel offers great benefits, as a homegrown fuel reducing emissions and our dependence on foreign VWTDI2oil.”

One of the first to benefit from the low-cost biodiesel was the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup racing series transport team. They filled up on the way to the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, Ill. for a race this weekend. Even some of the biodiesel powered race cars from the series were at the opening today.

Biodiesel, NBB

Phibro: Dried Distillers Grains Safe

Joanna Schroeder

Dried_Distillers_Grains_And_SolublesThere has been concern about the quality of dried distillers grains (DDG) but once again, tests show that they are safe. Phibro Animal Health Corporation (PHAC) has just released test results from its Ethanol Performance Group™ that no virginiamycin has been detected in distillers’ grain. Virginiamycin is the active ingredient in Lactrol®, the company’s market leading antimicrobial for ethanol production. PAHC just concluded testing over 40 samples, which included wet and dry distillers’ grain and distillers’ grain with syrup. Samples were taken from 11 facilities and testing was conducted by an outside laboratory and by Phibro’s technical service laboratory in St. Paul, Minn. These results are not different than those from 2005 and 2007.

Using the only testing method accepted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in virginiamycin feed assays, no residues were detected in any of the 42 DDG samples. This method will be part of PAHC’s food additive petition to be submitted to the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) in September 2009 for its Lactrol® antimicrobial. Lactrol® is a market leading infection management tool used for decades by the fuel ethanol industry and to date is the only antimicrobial product ever to be reviewed by the CVM for use in ethanol production. Results continue to demonstrate that Lactrol®, when used as indicated, allows ethanol producers to produce the most alcohol from the least amount of corn.

Antimicrobials are a widely used and important tool for infection management in ethanol production. While technical advances continue in manufacturing design and operation, bacteria are still present during fermentation and prevent optimal yields of ethanol. The ethanol industry has recognized that through the use of small amounts of antimicrobials such as Lactrol®, the United States annually gains an extra 1.5 billion gallons of ethanol from the corn feedstock currently used by the industry.

Domestic Fuel is sponsoring a Process Optimization Seminar being presented by Phibro Ethanol Performance Group, Fremont Industries, Fermentis and Novozymes. The event is July 29-30 in Minneapolis, Minn. You can register by clicking here.

Company Announcement, Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News

New “BioTrucker” Stop Offers Biodiesel Savings

Cindy Zimmerman

NBBThe National Biodiesel Board (NBB) welcomed the Gas City station in Romeoville, Illinois as the latest addition to the BioTrucker network. BioTrucker is a program that encourages truck stops to sell environmentally friendly, domestically produced biodiesel blends.

Biodiesel is an alternative to diesel fuel. It’s made from diverse renewable resources, such as recycled cooking oil and soybean oil.

Bill Schireman, Executive Vice President of Gas City, says they will be celebrating by offering customers a savings of 50 cents per gallon on the purchase of B11 – diesel fuel blended with 11 percent biodiesel – on Thursday, July 23 from 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. The B11 blend, common in Illinois, normally sells for about the same price as regular diesel fuel.

“Gas City is proud to be part of this program and we always look for ways to improve the environment and reduce the dependency on foreign oil and we think it will benefit us going forward in the future,” said Schireman. “In fact we are going to add a few more locations here in the next couple of months.”

biotruckerBioTrucker is a network of more than 5,000 fueling locations offering trucking companies and owner-operators the benefit of purchasing fuel without a transaction fee, and at cash prices.

NBB BioTrucker Consultant Sharon Bell says BioTrucker is a program to encourage more truck stops to make biodiesel available. “We developed maps that show the truck stops and truck accessible locations that are now available on BioTrucker.com, so it’s a way to help truckers find biodiesel and a way to educate them about biodiesel and how it can help their engines, help the American farmer and alleviate some use of petroleum and imported oil,” she said.

The Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup racing series transport team will be visiting the Gas City BioTrucker stop Thursday as they fuel up their trucks with the biodiesel blend. They are en route to the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet for the race this weekend, July 25-26. Volkswagen is using biodiesel blends to power its racecars, transport vehicles and generators throughout the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup racing season, in partnership with its official fuel sponsor, HYPERFUELS.

Jess Hewitt, President of HYPERFUELS and NBB Marketing Chairman, says the racing series and the BioTrucker program are complementing each other in helping to promote the benefits of biodiesel to truckers and the public in general.

“These drivers love the biodiesel blends. They do stop at every truck stop that is BioTrucker networked and they are filling up with biodiesel as they go across the country,” said Hewitt.

Listen to short back-to-back comments from Schireman, Bell and Hewitt here:

Biodiesel, NBB

Ethanol Night at the Races

Joanna Schroeder

Nebraska corn farmers are teaming up with the Junction Motor Speedway to promote Ethanol Night at the Races. The event takes place during Junction Motor Speedway’s Fifth-Annual O’Reilly POWRi Cornhusker Midget Challenge happening Tuesday, July 28 and Wednesday, July 29.  The race brings the best of the best to compete for the twin “Cornhusker Crystal & Chrome” trophies.

DSC00491Hamilton, York and Blue River corn grower associations, along with the Nebraska Corn Grower Association (NeCGA), are combining their efforts to be the title sponsor and promote corn ethanol during the two-day Cornhusker Challenge. Tuesday night’s winner receives $3,000, while Wednesday night’s champion gets to cash a $5,000 check.

NeCCA President and member of the Hamilton County Corn Growers Association Brandon Hunnicutt, said in an article in the York News-Times, “The Cornhusker Challenge draws a lot of fans to central Nebraska, to the heart of the nation’s corn industry, so it is a perfect place for farmers to help get out positive messages about corn ethanol.”

Rick Gruber of the York County Corn Growers Association commented, “We’re going to be on hand promoting corn and ethanol and everything that brings to Nebraska and the country as a whole,” Gruber said. “Nebraska is such a great place for ethanol production — we have the corn and we have the livestock industry to take advantage of the distillers grains that ethanol plants produce. Ethanol is a great win-win for us because other states can’t match that synergy.”

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Promotion, Racing

Report: Airlines Should Use 80% Biofuels by 2050

John Davis

PolicyExchangeThe airline industry should shoot to have 80 percent of its fuels come from ethanol and biodiesel by the year 2050.

This post on the gas2.0.org Web site says the “Green Skies Thinking” published today by right wing think-tank Policy Exchange pushes the phase-in of an EU Sustainable Bio-Jet Fuel Blending Mandate by 2020, leading to aviation companies having to commit to a rising proportion of jet fuel from sustainable bio-jet fuels:

Crucially, the report also reckons that growing the feedstock needed for advanced biofuels would require significantly less land and be more sustainable than first generation biofuels such as bioethanol and biodiesel, generally used by road transport.

In detail, the report’s key recommendations are:

* The introduction of a EU Sustainable Bio-Fuel Jet Mandate, starting from 20% of aviation fuel in Europe being sourced from or blended with bio-fuel in 2020 and rising to 80% in 2050. The report claims this could reduce EU aviation sector carbon emissions by 60% by 2050 and save the UK £37.41 billion between 2020 and 2050.
* Minimising the cost of supplying sustainable bio-jet fuels to ensure its production cost drops to around $80 a barrel by 2030, and $70 by 2050, which the report says compared well with the average jet fuel price between 2000 and 2008 of $62.29.
* An increase in UK support for companies conducting research and development (R&D) into producing sustainable biofuels; in particular increasing the current R&D tax credit regime to include companies researching bio-jet fuels. Along with further tax support for the sector, it claims the support would cost less than £5 million a year.
* Charging the Renewable Fuels Agency, which administrates the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, with the task of drawing up and enforcing standards to ensure bio-jet are produced sustainably and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The report’s author says that if aviation emissions are not kept in check through measures such as using biofuels, they could make up a fifth of all global greenhouse emissions.

biofuels

Biodiesel from Chicken Feathers

John Davis

chickenFrom the guys who brought you biodiesel brewed from coffee grounds (see my post from Dec. 11, 2008), now they’ve come up with a process to turn the 11 billion pounds of poultry waste produced in the U.S. each year into the green fuel.

Science Daily has details of the process from the researchers at the University of Nevada-Reno:

In the study Mano Misra, Susanta Mohapatra, Narasimharao Kondamudi, and Jason Strull note that chicken feather meal consists of processed chicken feathers, blood, and innards that have been processed at high temperatures with steam. Currently feather meal is used as animal feed and fertilizer because of its high protein and nitrogen content. With as much as 12 percent fat content, feather meal has potential as an alternative, nonfood feedstock for the production of biofuel, the report says.

The researchers describe a new process for extracting fat from chicken feather meal using boiling water and processing it into biodiesel. Given the amount of feather meal generated by the poultry industry each year, they estimate this process could create 153 million gallons of biodiesel annually in the U.S. and 593 million gallons worldwide. In addition, they note that removal of fat content from feather meal results in both a higher-grade animal feed and a better nitrogen source for fertilizer applications.

Biodiesel