energy.agwired.com

Concerns about the impact that soy-based biodiesel might be having on the environment (and, I know, that’s another story and debate of its own), Seattle officials have stopped buying biodiesel for the city’s fleet.

But the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that they could start buying biodiesel made from local waste grease:

“Not all biodiesels are the same,” [Brenda Bauer, director of Seattle’s Fleets and Facilities Department] said.

“Fuels are really complex,” Bauer said. “We are trying to stay ahead of the curve in terms of finding fuels that are responsible fuels that will help us reduce our petroleum consumption. We’re looking for a fuel source that has a good greenhouse-gas profile — ultimately it’s not going to be petroleum.”

Seattle uses about 73,000 gallons of biodiesel a month in its fire engines, pickup trucks and diesel vehicles. Officials say the waste grease option will also help keep that out of the city’s landfills and sewer system.

Jatropha is one of the promising non-food feedstocks for biodiesel. However, the tropical plant is not well-suited for the cooler climes of some parts of the U.S. But Biomass Magazine reports that an American company is working on a variety of jatropha that could grow in colder areas:

California-based SG Biofuels has identified several strains of cold-tolerant jatropha and has initiated a breeding program to develop them as an oil-producing crop in colder U.S. climates. The company has been working to develop several traits of the plant for the last three years, including increasing oil content, seed size and decreasing input requirements, among others. “Anything that will increase the quality of biomass,” said Kirk Haney, president and CEO. The firm has collected a range of jatropha curcas from various climates and geographies around the globe and has the largest and most diverse collection in its recently launched Genetic Resource Center, Haney said, adding that the center has garnered a lot of attention.

The cold-tolerant strains were collected from various sites in Central America at elevations ranging from 1,600 meters (5,200 feet) to over 1,800 meters (about 6,000 feet). The average daily low temperature there between December and February is around 45 degrees Fahrenheit and temperatures at night fall below freezing, according to SG Biofuels. Jatropha is typically seen in climates where the average minimum temperature is 60 degrees or more.

With oil yields of 200 to 300 gallons per acre and the ability to grow in poor soils, the non-food biodiesel feedstock could soon be coming to an area a little north of the border.

About three weeks ago, Boeing officials proclaimed that biodiesel is just fine to use in aircraft. Now, they’ve backed up that claim with a study that proves biodiesel’s effectiveness in flight.

Forbes reports that the Boeing study was released during the Paris Air Show and found that a series of tests by Japan Airlines, Air New Zealand and Continental Airlines has shown that the green fuel performed “as well or better” than traditional petroleum-based jet fuel:

The green fuels met benchmarks for standards such as freezing point, viscosity and fuel density, Boeing said. The tests also found the blends had greater energy content by mass than regular jet fuel, meaning they could help airlines use less fuel per mile. In the three test flights, the fuel blend was half regular fuel, half biofuel.

Still, “this is technology we’re interested in pursuing,” Plaza said in an interview with Forbes. Imperium’s main plant in Washington state is not producing any biodiesel now but hopes to start up again if demand picks up and the credit market thaws.

Boeing officials say they want to subject the biodiesel to international testing standards so that it can be used in commercial airline operations in the next few years.

While it might have been something that farmers have tried to keep out of their fields, stinkweed could prove to be a successful product for those growing feedstocks for biodiesel.

This article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution says stinkweed… also known as field pennycress… might just be the ticket for those trying to find a non-food stock for the green fuel:

Past promises of cheap fuel grown on American soil have sometimes become, um, stuck in the weeds as prices for commodities such as corn and soybean oil rose. But a number of researchers believe that this winter weed with oily little seeds has an advantage in that it is not a food crop.

“The rise in commodity prices has really driven us to focus on other alternatives,” said John Fox, Innovation’s chief executive officer. Innovation relies primarily on animal fat to make biodiesel at its Newark, N.J. refinery.

The article goes on to point out that in addition to the non-food sources, researchers are also looking at increasing the yields of a more traditional feedstocks, such as soybeans.