Ethanol Co-Product Could Make Fertilizer

Cindy Zimmerman

The leftovers from an ethanol co-product could be used as a fertilizer, according to research being done at South Dakota State University.

When the ethanol by-product known as dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) is heated at high temperatures under limited oxygen to make synthesis gas, or syngas, the remains are a fine, dust-like ash. SDSU Soil Testing Laboratory manager Ron Gelderman set out to learn whether that residue could be applied to fields as a soil nutrient, since the ash likely would be discarded in a landfill otherwise.

An SDSU greenhouse study found that dried distillers grain ash resulted in about the same increase in corn growth as fertilizer phosphorus. Use of dried distillers grain ash as a source of potassium in that study was inconclusive, since the selected soil supplied adequate plant potassium.

However, a separate field study at SDSU showed that DDGS ash was just as effective as fertilizer phosphorus and potassium in providing both nutrients for corn production, Gelderman said.

“After ashing or burning, the inorganic minerals are generally left in the ash and usually are plant-available. But we have to test that to be sure. We found that it worked quite well,” Gelderman said.

However, Gelderman says the problem is that the material is too fine to be used as a fertilizer spreader-type application, which means that further processing of the material — for example, into pellets, or as a liquid slurry, or mixed with manure or lime — might be necessary to get it back onto the land.

Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Research

More Green Collar Jobs for Iowa

Cindy Zimmerman

Iowa Governor Chet Culver is taking action to create more green jobs in Iowa.

CulverCulver signed an executive order last week which creates the Iowa Green Jobs Task Force. “In recent years, thanks to our efforts in biofuels and wind energy, we have created thousands of green-collar jobs for Iowans,” said Governor Culver. “However, if we are to expand these industries, we must also have the workforce necessary to fill those positions. That is why I am creating the Green Jobs Task Force, which will help coordinate our state’s efforts in creating and filling the green-collar jobs of the future.”

Culver previously signed an executive order to require state agencies to purchase more flex-fuel vehicles that use up to 85 percent ethanol.

Energy, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, Wind

Green Fuels from Grass and Leaves

Cindy Zimmerman

ArgonneA newly proposed collaboration between the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and the City of Naperville, Illinois would convert “landscape waste”—essentially, grass and leaf trimmings—into one of several different environmentally friendly fuels, including ethanol, bioelectricity and hydrogen.

This new partnership, known as the “Green Fuels Depot,” provides “a golden opportunity for Argonne to be associated with one of our neighboring communities in promoting new technologies that we have pioneered here at the laboratory,” said Glenn Keller, manager of vehicle systems in Argonne’s Center for Transportation Research.

The depot will use a gasifier from Packer Engineering to convert grass, leaves, branches and other biomass into syngas, a gas mixture that contains carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The syngas can then be used to create cellulosic ethanol, bio-electricity or hydrogen. Although the proposal calls for trying all three fuel types, Keller said it would be more practical to concentrate on producing just one fuel when the depot is built.

Because Naperville’s official vehicle fleet currently includes flex-fuel vehicles that run on both gasoline and ethanol, any cellulosic ethanol produced by the depot could be quickly put to use. Although the pilot project will use only 3 percent of the annual landscape waste collected by the city, if all 48,000 cubic yards of Naperville’s landscape waste were used in a full-scale Green Fuels Depot, it would be enough to fuel all 300 vehicles in the city fleet.

Cellulosic, Energy, Ethanol News, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Research

NREL Installs Two Giant Wind Turbines for Testing

John Davis

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado has installed two of the biggest wind turbines ever tested at the facility.

The video above shows workers putting up the 220 tons of wind turbine parts for the 253-foot diameter blades. This story in EnergyCurrent.com says they’ll be able to generate 1.5 megawatts of power:

“This turbine is a modern, utility-scale machine that will serve as a general-purpose research platform,” said Fort Felker, director of the wind center.

Thousands of similar turbines are already being used at wind farms across the country, but the blades on those machines need to keep spinning, generating as much electricity as possible and working to recoup investments in the farm.

But at the wind center, researchers will be able to tweak the turbine to get the most energy possible from the available wind in an effort to close the already-shrinking gap between the cost of wind energy and the cost of electricity from fossil fuels.

“Wind energy is cost-effective now, but there are lots of opportunities to be more reliable and more efficient,” said David Simms, manager of testing and operations. “We’re trying to figure out how to get more wind turbines out there that are more effective.”

The article goes on to say that an even bigger wind turbine with a rotor diameter of 331 feet will be put up at NREL’s National Wind Technology Center later this year. Researchers believe the extreme wind conditions, along with snow, ice, lightning and severe storms, in that part of Colorado will be a great testing ground to see how much the big blades can take.

Wind

Rising Diesel Prices Good for Biodiesel Biz

John Davis

dieselpriceschartPrices for diesel continue to climb in the U.S., hitting their highest point of the year… and that’s good news for producers of green, renewable biodiesel.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the national average price of diesel fuel went up 1.6 cents per gallon from $2.652 per gallon Aug. 17 to $2.668 per gallon Aug. 24:

This marks the fifth week in a row for rising diesel prices, which biodiesel producers and marketers should make note of. The lower the price of diesel fuel, the tougher it is for biodiesel to remain competitively priced.

While it’s good news, the diesel prices are still considerably lower than a year ago when they were pushing $4.15 per gallon… and still down from the July 2008 high of $4.764 per gallon.

Biodiesel

New E85 Station in Colorado Springs Offers Promotion

co-cornThe Colorado Corn Growers Association, the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition, Western Convenience Stores and Southern Colorado Clean Cities in Colorado Springs are partnering to celebrate the opening of a new E85 pump location at 227 West Fillmore Street in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on August 26. This will be the ninth station selling E85 in Colorado Springs.

“Use of ethanol can contribute greatly in our nation’s drive toward energy independence, improved air quality, reduced carbon emissions, and national security. Ethanol in our fuel had the net environmental impact of removing over 2 million cars from America’s roads in 2008 alone,” says Mark Sponsler, CEO of Colorado Corn. “And the product has to be conveniently available in order for consumers to use it regularly. This pump marks another step forward.”

“Many consumers have been duped into thinking that ethanol is not energy efficient and has caused significant food price increases. Credible independent scientists know differently, and so do the Governor’s Biofuels Coalition (GBC) and the many Clean Cities organizations across the country. Western Convenience has been a great partner and one of Colorado’s industry leaders in renewable fuels adoption.”

The number of E85 fueling locations in Colorado has grown significantly over recent years. Currently there are over 100 stations open and selling Biofuels. Western Convenience has invested in 23 of those locations throughout Colorado. The Colorado Corn Growers Association and GBC have provided funding and support to most of the E85 refueling sites across the state.

Consumers who drive FFV’s will have an opportunity to save money by filling up for only .85 cents a gallon on Wednesday, August 26. Western Convenience is making E85 available for .85 cents a gallon from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in a promotional effort to highlight the availability of the fuel at their Store in Colorado Springs.

corn, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News, News

USDA Highlights Missouri Biomass Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Show me energyThe Obama administration’s Rural Tour last week highlighted the Show Me Energy Cooperative in Missouri as an example of how crop residue can be used to create energy.

Tom Vilsack MissouriAgriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the biomass facility is taking wood, corn stalks and other crop residue and converting it into pellets that can be used to produce energy or a substitute for propane on the farm.

“We have seen plants like this one that are using it as a substitute for propane, we have seen plants that are in the process of trying to use corn cobs for producing anhydrous ammonia,” Vilsack said. “It is continually amazing to me how innovative this country is and how innovative rural America is and can be with a little bit of incentive.”

Vilsack says the small plant costs about $8 million to replicate. “It takes crop residue from about a 50-100 mile radius, creates a new market for farmers, an opportunity for them to increase their bottom line, and at the same time, a chance for a local utility to meet its renewable energy portfolio standard requirements.”

Earlier in the week, Vilsack took the Rural Tour to his home state of Iowa where he served as governor for eight years. During an interview with the Des Moines Register, Vilsack discussed a variety of topics, including ethanol. The secretary stressed the need for higher ethanol blends and more FFVs. “This is a supply issue. What we need are more vehicles that have flex-fuel capability (to use up to 85 percent ethanol), more retail stations with blender pumps that allow the motorist to adjust to the blend they want.”

The Administration’s Rural Tour has been traveling around the country since June.

biomass, corn, Energy, USDA

Algae Biodiesel Plant to be Built in Massachusetts

John Davis

PlanktonA one-million-gallon-a-year algae-biodiesel plant could soon become a reality for Massachusetts with some help from the state and federal governments.

Biomass Magazine reports that Plankton Power, the maker of algae-based biodiesel, and the Regional Technology Development Corp. of Cape Cod, Mass. are working together to build a pilot-scale algae-based biodiesel production facility in Bourne, Mass.

Together with the Massachusetts National Guard, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Marine Biological Laboratory and Cape Cod Commission, the groups recently submitted a $20 million project proposal to the U.S. DOE that would leverage $4 million in private funding to construct the facility.

Curtis Felix, CEO of Plankton Power, told Biomass Magazine the company will provide its own algae growth technology, which is based on cold saltwater algae species grown in closed ponds, and will have substantial ongoing support from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.

The Cape Cod Algae Biorefinery will be located on five acres on the Massachusetts Military Reservation in Bourne. Felix said the location is ideal for the project, because of its on-site wastewater treatment plant, which will provide an excellent source of nutrients for the algae, and Massachusetts Military Reservation’s close proximity to the Cape Cod Canal, which would provide a convenient source of seawater and a renewable thermal energy source for algal growth and temperature control.

The article goes on to say that the one million gallons a year of biodiesel the plant could make might be enough for all of Cape Cod’s biodiesel needs. Officials hope to start contruction next summer.

algae, Biodiesel

Good News, Bad News: Brazil to Send US, EU Biodiesel

John Davis

This is one of the good news, bad news stories.

brazilflagThe bad news is: According to this story in World Energy Alternatives, Brazil wants to start sending soy-based biodiesel to the U.S. and the European Union. That word comes the Brazilian Agriculture Ministry:

Sustainability studies have been performed to prove the biodiesel was produced sustainably to meet EU norms, but some areas have to be adapted to meet requirements in order to enter the market.

While the news that foreign biodiesel could be headed for America’s shores and into an overseas market that the Americans would like to get back into (Europe) might be bad for most biodiesel producers in this country, at least one is looking to take advantage of the boon in Brazilian biodiesel production by investing in that growth.
Amyris1
This story from the San Francisco Business Times says California-based Amyris Biotechnologies, a company that has already raised more than $24 million for a sugar cane-to-biodiesel plant, wants to raise a total of $62 million:

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Emeryville-based Amyris said it is already nearly halfway there, with $24.75 million in commitments. Amyris had previously raised $120 million in two rounds of venture financing, much of it from top-tier venture capitalists and other investors like Khosla Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and TPG Biotech.

Amyris is gearing up to begin commercial production next year in Brazil. In a joint venture with Brazil’s second-largest sugar cane grower, it aims to produce 200 million gallons a year by 2011.

Biodiesel, International

Danforth Center Gets Grants to Help Biofuels Research

John Davis

Danforth Center jpegA pair of three-year National Science Foundation grants will help the St. Louis-based Donald Danforth Plant Science Center continue its biofuel research.

This press release says one of the awards is a $550,000 grant awarded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act that will support research that explores regulation of plant metabolism, an important part of biofuel research:

Dr. Oliver Yu, associate member, Danforth Plant Science Center will serve as the principal investigator on the project.

Yu’s research aims to increase understanding of the synthesis of lignins and flavonoids which together account for up to 30 per cent of plant biomass. These compounds play essential roles in plant growth and development. Lignins are major components of plant cell walls while flavonoids are precursors of lignins and function during a plant’s response to stresses such as drought and disease.

Yu will investigate how enzyme interactions in a metabolic process direct the flow of plant resources in the metabolic pathway that leads to production of lignins. For example, when plants are under attack by pathogens, specific enzyme interactions may direct simple molecules (in this case, monomers derived from phenol) to polymerize into lignins that re-enforce cell walls to prevent further invasions by the pathogen. However, under strong ultraviolet light irradiation, the plant uses the same pathway to establish new enzyme interactions that would produce flavonoids (a group of UV protectants) from the same phenolic monomers. Yu and his team of researchers hope to identify how enzyme interactions are established under various conditions and how these interactions alter the direction and flow of a particular pathway, leading to production of various compounds from a common starting molecule.

Dr. Dilip Shah, associate research member at the Danforth Center, picked up the other NSF grant worth $500,000 and a two-year $271,000 award from the Consortium of Plant Biotechnology Research, for his research aimed at learning more about fungal pathogens and how to control the diseases that they cause.

The work is seen as important for feedstocks, such as corn and soybeans.

biofuels