ACE Conference 2026

Senators Urge EPA to Approve Higher Ethanol Blends

Cindy Zimmerman

US SenateA bipartisan group of nearly 20 senators have sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging approval of up to 15 percent ethanol blends in regular gasoline.

The letter to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson was signed by Senators John Thune (R-SD), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sam Brownback (R-KS), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Mike Johanns (R-NE), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Roland Burris (D-IL), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Al Franken (D-MN), Richard Lugar (R-IN), Kit Bond (R-MO), George Voinovich (R-OH), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Dick Durbin (D-IL).

The letter from the senators also advocated the approval of an interim blend between E10 and E15 “to meet the new RFS and keep our renewable fuels industry growing. Particularly as second generation biofuels are being developed and commercialized, it is important that we also support the steady expansion of markets for ethanol by moving to a higher percentage of ethanol blended gasoline in the near future.”

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

OriginOil Announces ‘Milking’ Live Algae Oil Extraction

Joanna Schroeder

OriginOil has seen many successes the past few months and today they have achieved another. The company has succeeded in extracting algae oil on a continuous basis without cell sacrifice. This process, which OrginOil has coined ‘milking,’ joins the company’s Cascading Production technique to create a combined cycle which creates additional process efficiencies. Aside from any production gains, combining the two processes is desirable because algae cultures must be refreshed regularly to remove waste toxins. Cascading Production supports Live Extraction by removing a percentage of the culture every day, refreshing the environment and giving the algae culture space to grow.

Milking, or Live Extraction, is efficient because it achieves continuous production of algae oil without destroying the algae cell. Consequently, a single algae cell can produce more oil during its lifetime using lower amounts of energy. This process is also different from others in that OriginOil’s process does not use expensive consumables such as reverse osmosis membranes nor is it limited to oil-bearing algae strains.

Live_Extraction_Diagram_highres2

Usually, algae protect their oil behind a tough cell wall. The challenge of live extraction is to harvest the oil without causing permanent damage to the cell. This goal has been achieved in the laboratory at bench scale and is now being scaled up to OriginOil’s intermediate 200-gallon tank size.

“We are pleased with the results we are getting from conventional harvesting,” said Vikram Pattarkine, PhD, OriginOil’s CTO. “We expect the new Live Extraction process to coexist with our daily ‘destructive’ process to create an even more efficient combined cycle.” The company recently filed for patent protection of the new Live Extraction process.

algae, Company Announcement

Nebraska Students Win Award for Ethanol Report

Cindy Zimmerman

Eight journalism students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are receiving a national award for an in-depth report on ethanol.

The report titled “Ethanol: Salvation or Damnation?” has taken first place in a student reporting category in the Society of Environmental Journalism’s 2009 awards.

According to SEJ, “the students took a vital issue in their community and shone a light on a wide variety of angles. That they went far enough to find people in their community affected by ethanol’s varied impacts — from farmers to families shopping for tortillas — made this a clear-cut winner.”

The full-color magazine – with this clever graphic depicting the seal of the United States with a fuel gauge, gas nozzle and corn plant – will be available in August.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

Brazil Ethanol Group Supports E15

Cindy Zimmerman

The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) provided comments to the Environmental Protection Agency in support of the request for increasing the amount of ethanol allowed to be blended into regular gasoline in the United States up to 15 percent.

UNICAIn the final days of the comment period for the waiver request, UNICA submitted a 15 page document to EPA outlining Brazil’s experience with higher blends of ethanol in gasoline. Brazil blends up to 25 percent in gasoline with “very few incidents where the existing fleet had to undergo engine retuning or recalibration or where there were noticeable negative effects on emission control systems over the useful life of the engine.”

UNICA notes that there is no “pure” gasoline currently for sale in Brazil and that “state-of-the-art technologies have been adopted” by automakers to attain the country’s strict emissions requirements.

“The Brazilian experience shows that preparation, storage, transportation and fuel dispensing requirements of E15 blends do not differ from those of E10,” the comments conclude. “Material compatibility requirements and operational procedures are basically the same and should not present any particular source of concern under normal conditions for E15 in the United States.”

Ethanol, Ethanol News

North Carolina Port Running on Biodiesel

John Davis

WilmingtonPort2One of the biggest ports on the East Coast of the United States is now handling freight with a cleaner option: biodiesel.

The StarNewsOnline says the Port of Wilmington, North Carolina is switching to B20 biodiesel:

Wilmington container handlerThe new fuel system systems in Wilmington and the Port of Morehead City will replace existing diesel storage tanks and systems that are approaching the end of their useful life, ports spokeswoman Karen Fox said.

The Ports Authority said two biodiesel tanks – holding 20,000 and 10,000 gallons of fuel – will be installed at the Port of Wilmington by Jones and Frank Corp. of Raleigh. One 10,000-gallon tank will be installed at Morehead City.

The Ports Authority received a $104,000 NC Clean Air grant to cover about half the costs of the transition.

Biodiesel

Massachusetts to Get First Biodiesel Distribution Center

John Davis

BaystateBiofuelsMassachusetts is about to get its first commercial biodiesel distribuiton facility.

This story from the North Andover (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune says Baystate Biofuels is using an old Lucent property for the center and will come as the state’s biodiesel mandate kicks in next summer:

“In about 10 days, we’ll have biofuel for sale off our rail cars,” Baystate Biofuels chief executive officer Jesse Reich promised the crowd.

Reich noted that parts for the pumping station had arrived. Once it is assembled, oil companies will be able to buy biodiesel shipped in from Chicago and New Jersey to blend with petroleum diesel for use in automobiles and home heating to meet the requirements of the state’s Clean Energy Biofuels Act of 2008 which goes into effect in July of next year.

Under the first year of the law, diesel and home-heating oil sold in Massachusetts must contain 2 percent biodiesel. The mix increases by 1 percent per year until it reaches 5 percent in 2013.

Reich told the gathering Tuesday night that North Andover’s master plan had called for two 175,000 storage tanks already on the Lucent property at Osgood Landing to be torn down within a few years.

Instead, Baystate Biofuels cleaned them up and converted them so they can hold biodiesel, a clean-burning fuel produced from oil bearing plants, animal fats, algae and recycled products like oils and greases.

In the next year and a half, Baystate Biofuels plans to have its own 10-millon-gallon-a-year facility at the location, with plans to eventually expand that to 57 million gallons.

Biodiesel

Brazil to Get Hydrogen Buses

John Davis

Brazilian government officials say the country will buy, operate and maintain up to five hydrogen-cell-fueled buses, as well as putting in a station to produce hydrogen to supply the buses.

The project is part of country’s Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) partnership with the Urban Transportation Metropolitan Enterprise in Sao Paulo to develop cleaner urban public transportation in Brazil. Money for the program comes from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the Studies and Projects Funding Body (FINEP), with support of the United Nations Program for Development (UNPD).

EdisonLobao2For MME Minister Edison Lobão, the project is a further step for the government to consolidate the country’s expertise in the use of renewable sources. “This project results from a huge effort of the Ministry of Mines and Energy with its partners. With the hydrogen-fueled bus we are further developing the Brazilian economy,” he said.

The first vehicle will serve the ABD Metropolitan Corridor (Sao Mateus / Jabaquara), located in the Greater Sao Paulo area.

MME’s Secretary for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Renewable Fuels, José Lima, said this is a pioneering project in Latin America aimed at disseminating the technology. “The Brazilian success with ethanol and biodiesel allows us to use hydrogen from renewable energy sources. From now on, our challenge will be to structure the hydrogen economy in Brazil,” he said.

The technology being used is a combination of hydrogen cells and batteries, that allows for increased fuel saving and rational energy use by storing the energy generated by the cell during the periods when the vehicle is idle, such as passenger boarding or stops at traffic lights.

Hydrogen, International

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