Support Building for Increased Ethanol Blend

Cindy Zimmerman

Go E 13The deadline for submitting comments to the Environmental Protection Agency period on the Green Jobs Waiver to allow up to 15 percent ethanol (E15) blends in gasoline has arrived.

Growth Energy officials believe support for the proposal has grown since it was submitted by the industry in February, with President Obama, administration officials, governors, members of Congress, state and local elected officials and groups across the country all going on record in support of increasing the blend to E15.

MGAJust last week, ten Midwestern governors wrote to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson requesting that ethanol blending levels be increased to 15 percent. “Increasing the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline is an important step that will have dramatic, positive effects on advancement of the renewable fuels industry,” said South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds. “In addition to economic benefits, increased use of ethanol and biofuels will lead to greater energy independence by utilizing homegrown commodities, materials and technologies.”

Earlier this month President Barack Obama said, “We want to be able to compete with countries like Brazil that now are running basically their entire automobile fleet on biofuels. If Brazil can do it, there’s no reason why America can’t do it.” During a stop in Iowa last month, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said, “I don’t want to prejudge what they’re going to find, but if the existing automobile fleet can handle 15 percent, I would say let’s make that a target and go to 15 percent.”

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that she supported a higher ethanol-to-gasoline blend rate as a way to reduce reliance on petroleum imports and that, “It seems to me we should be able to do that.” In addition, a bi-partisan group of 28 Congressional representatives wrote a letter supporting the waiver. “Allowing use of ethanol blends up to E-15 will help us preserve and enhance infrastructure that is critical to the timely development of cellulosic ethanol and advanced biofuels, have significant environmental benefits, foster our nation’s energy independence, create thousands of jobs, and stimulate economic development in communities across the nation,” they wrote. “According to one estimate, allowing blending up to E-15 has the potential to create at least 135,000 jobs.”

Members of the ethanol industry are encouraged to get comments in to EPA on the importance of the Green Jobs Waiver before the close of the business day on July 20. For more information, go to goE15.com.

blends, Ethanol, Government, Growth Energy

Ethanol Promotion at Biker Rally

Cindy Zimmerman

RFA Biker PromoThe ethanol industry is reaching out to motorcyclists this summer with a promotion aimed at bikers attending the 69th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally August 3-9 in Sturgis, SD.

The Renewable Fuels Association is partnering with the popular Buffalo Chip Campground and the Buffalo Chip Gazette to promote the use of ethanol blended fuels as a way to fight dependence on foreign oil. RFA is also providing a wide range of merchandise and promotional materials to staffers, volunteers and riders at this year’s event.

RFA Director of Market Development Robert White says the Sturgis rally offers an opportunity to highlight the efficacy of ethanol-blends in all engine types. “At nearly 10% of the nation’s fuel supply, ethanol can be found in nearly every gallon of gasoline sold. It is providing a growing renewable alternative to petroleum that is safe and effective for use in all engine types, including motorcycles.”

E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Promotion, RFA

Florida Farm to Fuel Summit Registrations Up

Cindy Zimmerman

Florida farm to fuelOrganizers of the 2009 Florida Farm to Fuel® Summit report that registrations for the event on July 29-31 are running ahead of last year.

The fourth annual summit will feature addresses by Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson, USDA Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager, “Fuel” documentary producer Josh Tickell, and many others.

There will also be a special pre-summit “Biofuels Strategic Meeting: Moving Biofuels into Production in Florida” on July 29th from 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm. The meeting will discuss and explore the opportunities and obstacles the state of Florida faces in infrastructure development of biofuel facilities.

Registration and more information is available at FloridaFarmtoFuel.com.

biofuels, conferences, Ethanol News

Lab Tests Cellulosic Biomass Process

Cindy Zimmerman

gulf alternative energyGulf Alternative Energy Corporation (GAEC) recently announced the lab test results on its biomass pre-processing technology that converts cellulosic biomass into a fine, dry powder for processing into ethanol.

GAEC reports that testing conducted by Microbac Laboratories of Colorado Lab “showed that all sugars were produced from Gulf Sorghum in 16 hours compared to 64 hours for unprocessed control samples. This is a 400% increase in processing speed under controlled lab conditions.”

John Shearer, President of GAEC, said, “This test lays to rest any questions regarding the validity and value of Gulf’s process to development of the cellulosic ethanol industry.”

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

BP to Focus on Ethanol Only

Joanna Schroeder

jatropha_plantJust when ExxonMobil finally gets into the biofuels game with its announcement of $300 million in funding for Synthetic Genomics, BP quits its biodiesel efforts. BP has extracted itself from a jatropha biofuel project with D1 Oils to focus on production of ethanol in both the United States and Brazil. The company will also pursue the development of advanced  biobutanol in conjunction with DuPont.

D1 Oil has agreed to purchase BP’s 50 percent interest in their joint D1-BP Fuel Crops Ltd. venture which was launched in June 2007. Jatropha has originally been considered a “wonder” crop to produce biofuels, but as of late has been under fire with many calling it the “blunder crop“. It is no wonder that with tightening funding for biofuels the project was unable to find any additional investors.

According to an article today from Bloomberg News, BP spokeswoman Sheila Williams, commented, “To ensure the success of these investments, BP is concentrating new business development in these areas and will no longer be directly involved in the jatropha as a biofuel feedstock.”

BP Alternative Energy has earmarked $8 billion for project investment in the decade through 2015 and $500 million for biofuels research specifically. The company forecasts that biofuels will account for 11 percent to 19 percent of the world’s transport-fuel market by 2030.

In the past year, BP has partnered with several other ethanol companies including Tropical BioEnergia on a sugarcane project, Verenium on a cellulosic ethanol project and Associated British Foods and DuPont on a wheat-based ethanol plant in Hull, northeast England.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Ethanol News

World Wind Potential Much Higher than Estimates

John Davis

wind_turbineA new study says the potential of wind energy around the world is much higher than what either wind industry groups or government agencies have been estimating.

This story in the New York Times says a Harvard University study shows that the U.S. could end up being the big leader in wind power:

Using data from thousands of meteorological stations, the Harvard team estimated the world wind power potential to be 40 times greater than total current power consumption. A previous study cited in the paper put that multiple at about 7 times.

In the lower 48 states, the potential from wind power is 16 times more than total electricity demand in the United States, the researchers suggested – significantly greater than a 2008 Department of Energy study that projected wind could supply a fifth of all electricity in the country by 2030.

While remote regions of Russia and Canada have the greatest theoretical potential, the Harvard study pointed out that there are real gains to be made in high-emission nations, especially China, which has been rapidly constructing coal plants. “Large-scale development of wind power in China could allow for an 18-fold increase in electricity supply relative to consumption reported for 2005,” the Harvard study said.

The findings are “further validation of what we’ve been saying – that the United States is the Saudi Arabia of wind,” said Michael Goggin, an electricity industry analyst for the American Wind Energy Association.

The authors based their calculations on the deployment of 2.5- to 3-megawatt wind turbines situated either in accessible rural areas that are neither frozen nor forested, or relatively shallow offshore locations. They also used a conservative 20 percent estimate for capacity factor, a measure of how much energy a given turbine actually produces.

Study authors point out that other wind energy forecasts were based on 50- to 80-meter turbines. They say that turbines could be as large as 100 meters and based their estimates on the larger possible generators.

Wind

Fairmont Hotels Making Own Biodiesel

John Davis

fairmontOne of the leaders in lodging is working on becoming a leader in sustainable green energy.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has announced that it will be recycling its used kitchen grease into biodiesel to power its hotels worldwide:

As part of the brand’s focus and commitment to sustainability, more than 22 Fairmont locations worldwide are reducing their waste disposal costs and supporting the switch to a cleaner economy by manufacturing used kitchen oils into biodiesel, a domestic and renewable fuel derived from natural oils. No one method or solution is universal and biodiesel initiatives vary by property. At The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, the hotel gets the job done by partnering with Yokayo Bio-Fuels, a local biodiesel firm, to gather approximately 150 gallons of kitchen grease each quarter, turning it into tallow or feed. The Fairmont Scottsdale has also teamed up with an outside firm to transform leftover oil into fuel for vineyards and other businesses that rely on diesel, generators, forklifts and cars. The resort collected 1,901 gallons in 2008 and 650 gallons so far in 2009, for a total of 2,551 gallons of grease to date, which in turn has been recycled into biodiesel; enough to supply the annual fuel consumption of approximately five cars. By not discarding the kitchen grease down the drain, other benefits are also realized including fewer clogged pipes and reduced use of harmful chemicals to clear drains and treat wastewater systems.

You can read more about Fairmont’s Green Partnership Program here.

Biodiesel

NAEDA Endorses Green Jobs Waiver

Chuck Zimmerman

North American Equipment Dealers AssociationThe North American Equipment Dealers Association has come out in support of the Green Jobs Waiver. Mike Williams, VP of Government Relations for NAEDA along with Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, held a media conference call today to discuss the endorsement.

In June, NAEDA endorsed the waiver through comments submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). “We believe increasing the amount of ethanol produced and used will create green jobs, provide environmental benefits, help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and enhance the quality of life in rural America through development of our natural resources,” Williams wrote to the EPA.

Earlier this year, Growth Energy submitted on behalf of 54 ethanol producers a waiver to the EPA asking it to lift the decades-old, arbitrary limit on the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline from 10 percent (E10) up to 15 percent (E15). The U.S. EPA public comment period for the Green Jobs Waiver ends Monday, July 20.

Ethanol, Government, Growth Energy, Legislation

Biodiesel Cop Car Maker Picks Three Factory Finalists

John Davis

carbone7A car maker that plans to build the world’s first police car designed from the ground up specifically for law enforcement officers and that will happen run on biodiesel has narrowed its choices to three states for its factory.

This press release from Carbon Motors Corporation, a new homeland security company, says Georgia, Indiana and South Carolina are finalists for the plant that is expected to create 10,000 new direct and indirect American jobs and make a $3 billion positive economic impact on the selected region over the next ten years:

“We are honored and tremendously appreciative to have such great choices on where to produce the world’s first purpose-built law enforcement patrol vehicle for our nation’s law enforcement first responders. Additionally, it is very important that we recognize and extend our appreciation to Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI) and Governor Bev Perdue (D-NC), their respective teams, as well as the citizens and first responders of the State of Michigan and the State of North Carolina for their interest in Carbon Motors,” remarked William Santana Li, chairman and chief executive officer, Carbon Motors Corporation. “Although there has been a great deal of focus on which state will be our home, we must remember that it is ‘country first’. The United States of America has a national security interest in seeing that this vehicle get into production as quickly as possible,” continued Li.

A final announcement is expected sometime this summer, maybe as early as the end of this month.

Biodiesel, Car Makers

Biodiesel Racing Series Featured in Car & Driver

John Davis

vwtdi2Neat article I just read in Car and Driver about the 2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup series, which features young drivers (16 to 26 years old) driving practically identical VWs running on a 5 percent biodiesel blend.

Writer Mark Gillies got to take one of cars out during an actual qualifying run at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course near Columbus:

The engine is very torquey and the brakes are superb. The DSG transmission is so well tuned that you can leave it in auto-Sport mode and go pretty quickly, but I preferred to use the paddles and shift manually just before redline. This was on the good advice of an 18-year-old—Timmy Megenbier, a hotshoe ex-karter who was really helpful to this rookie. Despite the limited horsepower, the cars lap Mid-Ohio at an average speed of around 81 mph, which is plenty fast. There’s a strange feeling in this car, because the engine is quiet and it doesn’t rev very high.

Back in April, I told you about this series for young drivers sponsored by Houston-based HYPERFUELS, which is powering the series with its high performance Syndiesel® B5. Nice to see these guys getting a mention from one of the country’s premiere auto magazines.

Biodiesel