Iowa State Biodiesel Work Wins “Oscar of Invention”

John Davis

And the Oscar goes to… researchers at Iowa State University for their work on biodiesel.

This ISU press release posted on IowaPolitics.com says the team won a 2009 R&D 100 Award, dubbed the “Oscars of Invention” by the Chicago Tribune and handed out by the editors of R&D Magazine that salute the 100 most technologically significant products introduced into the marketplace over the past year:

leeuwenA team of 10 ISU researchers led by Hans van Leeuwen, an Iowa State professor of civil, construction and environmental engineering and president and founder of MycoInnovations, for their work to use a microscopic fungus to produce biodiesel from plant processing wastes…

The special biodiesel they developed, now being commercialized as Mycofuel(tm), is made from lignocellulosic biomass. The process involves treating switchgrass, corn stover or forestry wastes with ammonia and naturally occurring white-rot fungi to degrade the cellulose. The resulting sugars are used to grow a different, fat filamentous fungi – mold that’s about 60 percent oil. The oil is released using an ultrasonic treatment, which causes the fungal cells to explode. The oil is then recovered by extraction with an improved organic solvent system.

A catalyst – along with some added ethanol or methanol – aids in rapid transformation of the oil into a biodiesel fuel. A byproduct of the leftover fungal biomass can be used as a high-protein animal feed. The water can be reused in the fermentation process.

“Biodiesel production from traditional oil-rich crops is limited by land availability, climate, and environmental and social issues regarding the use of feed and food crops for fuel,” Van Leeuwen said. “This method of producing biodiesel is green, sustainable and doesn’t compete with food crops.”

Last year, Van Leeuwen picked up a 2008 R&D 100 Award for his work improving the efficiency of the corn-to-ethanol conversion process using a different fungal process.

Biodiesel, Research

Homebrewing Biodieselers to Meet in DC

John Davis

While the big National Biodiesel Conference is geared toward the big producers, there is a gathering for those folks who like to brew up a batch of the green fuel in their garages.

joshtickellAfter spending the last three years in Colorado, the Collective Biodiesel Conference is being held at American University in Washington, DC. This year’s meeting features Josh Tickell, author and director of the biodiesel film “Fuel,” which used to be known as “Fields of Fuel,” winner of a Sundance Film Festival award in 2008. Tickell will give his presentation, “The Trillion Dollar Energy Breakthrough.”

Josh will discuss ground-breaking technologies enabling the creation of biofuels from non-food sources. These technologies include: algae, biomass generated by sustainable means, and the use of innovative farming techniques which not only generate non-food sources for biofuels, but also provide food and support the environment. Josh will settle the debt of the mythological public view of biofuels, and will be map out solution pathways to fuel and energy independence for the United States.

In addition, conference attendees will get a free ticket to the screening of “Fuel.”

For more information and registration, click here.

Biodiesel

Growth Energy Submits Comments to EPA

growth_energyOn the last day of the Green Jobs Waiver public comment period, Growth Energy joined with tens of thousands of Americans in submitting formal comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in favor of increasing the amount of ethanol that can be blended with gasoline to 15 percent. Growth Energy submitted its 37-page analysis which outlines the overwhelming scientific evidence that increasing the blend to 15 percent has no adverse impact on a car’s performance, maintenance or emissions.

“Tens of thousands of Americans spoke loud and clear in favor of increasing the amount of ethanol in our fuel supply to 15 percent. I commend them for standing up for a domestic fuel that helps create jobs and makes our nation more energy independent,” said Tom Buis, Growth Energy CEO. “While many will continue to say more testing is necessary, our waiver request contains the testing and data to support EPA granting the E15 waiver. More testing is just another politically-motivated barrier to prevent this nation from reducing its addiction to foreign oil.”

epa2Already the ethanol industry has helped create and support half a million jobs across the country. Increasing the blend to 15 percent will create and support more than 136,000 new green-collar jobs.

Growth Energy submitted the waiver request on March 6, 2009, on behalf of its members and an additional 54 ethanol producers. Over the course of the 90 day public comment period, groups and individuals submitted more than 20,000 comments in support of the waiver. EPA has until December 2009 to rule on the waiver.

Ethanol, Government, Growth Energy

Volvos to be Fueled with E85 at Conference in Denmark

strawVolvo’s vehicles will be fueled by second generation bioethanol at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Denmark in December. IAssisted by Partnership for Biofuels, Inbicon, a DONG Energy subsidiary, Novozymes and Danisco will help supply the straw based E85.

“As host nation, Denmark makes an effort to secure a green and climate friendly Conference in December. It also wants to showcase to the conference delegates some of the new technologies that could contribute to solving the climate challenge. Second generation bioethanol, ethanol made from waste and residues, is one example on such a new technology,” said Svend Olling, Head of Department in the Foreign Secretary.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is therefore happy that it in co-operation with the Partnership for Biofuels it has succeeded in reserving some of the first liters of second generation bioethanol produced in Denmark for the transportation of important guests within Copenhagen during the conference.”

Inbicon has been developing its technology at pilot plants in Denmark since 2003, and is constructing a demonstration model of its Inbicon Biomass Refinery in Kalundborg. The plant will convert wheat straw into ethanol and other green products. The facility will open in December 2009 in time for the Copenhagen climate summit.

Inbicon is also working with existing grain-based ethanol plants in the U.S. to add a 20 million gallon per year biomass stream from corn stover or wheat straw that can offset fossil fuel use 100 percent in the entire operation.

biofuels, E85, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Synthetic Biology for Next-Generation Biofuels

Joanna Schroeder

BIOlogo.2The 2009 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, is in full swing in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and I had the opportunity to listen in to a webinar sponsored by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO). The session focused on the technical and commercial advances in the use of synthetic biology for next-generation biofuels.

Four companies participated in the panel and each company is working on different technologies using different feedstocks. LS9 is creating “renewable petroleum” to produce a green diesel coined LS9 logoRenewable Petroleum. “I think diesel is where we need to be,” said CEO Bill Haywood. Their feedstocks include low-carbon, natural sources of sugar such as sugar cane and cellulosic biomass. Patent-pending UltraClean™ fuels are custom engineered to have higher energetic content than ethanol or butanol; to have fuel properties that are essentially indistinguishable from those of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel; and to be distributed in existing pipeline infrastructure and run in any vehicle. In addition, their product is price competitive at $50 a barrel.

Amyris logoAmyris is also a company focused on converting sugar to biodiesel.  The company recently opened a full-scale demonstration plant in Brazil and is currently testing its product. At a 20 percent blend level (B20) the company’s biodiesel reduces NOX, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. “Our tests show that there is a 94 percent reduction in lifecycle greenhouse emissions when producing diesel from sugarcane,” said Neil Renninger, co-founder and CTO. The company is looking to purchase existing ethanol plants and mills and then retrofitting the plants with their technology.Read More

BIO, Biodiesel, biofuels, conferences, Ethanol

Charles Holliday Wins George Washington Carver Award

Joanna Schroeder

“Think boldly. Act Responsibly. And don’t give up too easily.” Wise words from Charles (Chad) O. Holliday, Jr., DuPont Chairman of the Board, as he received the George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology given today by the Biotechnology Industry Organization during the 2009 World Congress. The award was given at a plenary lunch of the sixth annual 2009 World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Chad Holliday with the GWCarver award and Mark Wright of Iowa State, the recipient of the Carver scholarship.

Chad Holliday with the GWCarver award and Mark Wright of Iowa State, the recipient of the Carver scholarship.

George Washington Carver is considered one of the founding fathers of modern industrial biotechnology and the award is given to companies who focus on continuing to develop products through sustainable agriculture. Carver’s work inspired leaders of the chemurgy movement, whose proponents looked for ways to replace petrochemicals with farm-derived products. Leaders of the chemurgy movement such as Charles Kettering and William Jay Hale proposed that anything made from a hydrocarbon could be made from a carbohydrate. Today, companies are using industrial biotechnology to manufacture plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and even food ingredients from renewable agricultural resources.

Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial & Environmental Section, said of Holliday’s accomplishments, “During Holliday’s tenure as CEO, DuPont invested in biology-based businesses and infused them with its chemistry know-how. For instance, DuPont partnered with sugar processor Tate & Lyle to manufacture 1,3 propanediol, a polyester ingredient made by fermenting sugar. That venture led the company to think about applying its fermentation expertise to making renewable fuels and chemicals in a biorefinery. Under the aegis of the Department of Energy, the firm has worked with several research partners to further the concept and make it commercially viable.”

“Market-driven science discovery and new product innovation are at the very core of DuPont’s business, and industrial biotechnology is a key component of that, ” said Holliday. “Innovation is essential to business growth that provides safer and more secure lives for people everywhere while addressing global energy and environmental challenges. On behalf of all DuPont employees around the world, I am deeply honored to receive an award that recognizes and promotes work toward this goal, especially as it is given by a group of peers who share this vision.”

Accompanying the award is a George Washington Carver scholarship given in the name of Charles O. Holliday, Jr., to Iowa State University graduate student Mark Wright, currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Biorenewable Resources and Technology. The award is sponsored by DSM, the Iowa Biotechnology Association and the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

Agribusiness, BIO, Biotech

RFA: Adopt E15 with E12 Interim Step

Joanna Schroeder

rfa-logo2The end of the E15 comment period has provided a whirlwind of activity among the ethanol industry. Yesterday, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) along with many other ethanol and agricultural organizations, filed comments with the EPA. In their comments, the RFA introduced previously non-submitted data supporting a move to E15. However, although they support the adoption of E15, they also called on the EPA to take the immediate interim step of moving to E12.

Bob Dinneen, President of RFA said, “Reducing America’s dependence of foreign oil requires a shift in how we fuel our vehicles. Already agreed upon science and ongoing research make clear the move to up to E15 blends is warranted. In addition, existing statutes allow EPA to take an interim step by approving the use of up to 12% ethanol blends. In order to achieve the energy, economic and environmental goals of this country, increasing the use of domestically-produced renewable fuels like ethanol is essential. EPA has the authority, and now the science, to approve such a step.”

As mentioned by other waiver supporters, the science is there to support the increase to E15. The RFA noted six recently completed research projects from the Coordinated Research Council (CRC), the University of Minnesota, Minnesota State University, and the American Petroleum Institute (API) that confirm the safe and effective use of higher ethanol blends. A complete summary of these studies can be found in Section I, Subsection B of RFA’s written comments.

In addition, the RFA notes that EPA already has the authority to immediately move to E12 blends while considering the entire E15 waiver. Specifically, EPA has authority to define E12 blends are ‘substantially similar’ to fuels used in certified motor vehicles, such as E10. The basis for this conclusion is that the weight percentage of oxygen that EPA allows in oxygenated gasoline actually equates to an oxygen percentage that would be present in E12 blends. Since the voiced concerns regarding higher ethanol blends are largely based on the potential for increased oxygen content to cause issues with the engine, if oxygen content that would equate to 12% ethanol in gasoline is already allowed, EPA has the legal authority to make a substantially similar finding for such blends under Section 211(f)(1).

“The time for dragging our feet in achieving real energy self-reliance is over,” said Dinneen. “By increasing the use of ethanol, EPA can not only ensure the success of our energy and environmental public policy goals, but provide economic and job opportunities to tens of thousands of Americans. The science and the statute clearly give EPA the justification and authority to approve ethanol blends of E12 and up to E15. Administrator Jackson should follow the lead of President Obama and allow for increased ethanol use from all sources.”

Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA

ACE & 7,000 Supporters File Comments With EPA

Joanna Schroeder

The comment period for the Green Jobs Waiver ended yesterday and the EPA has until December 1, 2009 to rule on the waiver request. Yesterday, The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), filed official comments with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson. In addition, nearly 7,000 people signed ACE’s petition in support of the approval to blend up to E15 in gasoline. Signatures on the petition came from all 50 states, proof that ethanol is supported throughout the country – not just in the Midwest.

ACE_new_logoBrian Jennings, Executive Vice President of ACE, commented, “Americans want to use more ethanol, and the number of people who have signed this petition in support of E15 demonstrates widespread grassroots support for ethanol. It is significant that the people listed here come from all 50 states, which shows that ethanol is not just a Midwestern issue. People all across the country recognize that Big Oil’s monopoly at the pump must be broken and that more ethanol represents meaningful consumer choice.”

Dissenters of the Green Jobs Waiver cite performance and drivability issues and call for more research to be completed before ruling on the waiver. However, Jennings noted that, “The science behind using more than E10 in standard vehicles in overwhelmingly positive, and the issue has been studied by many independent sources. This waiver request has been politicized by ethanol’s opponents, but the facts remain – there is nothing to show that using E15 would increase auto emissions or harm the vehicle’s emissions control system, the factors EPA is obligated to consider. The science is sound, and EPA must give its approval for this modest increase in the ethanol blend.”

To read the science behind the waiver request, ACE has created an E15 Action Center.

It is also clear that an allowance to go beyond E10 is necessary for the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) biofuels use targets to be met. The RFS calls for 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels to be used annually by 2022, which represents much more than 10 percent of our nation’s total annual transportation fuel consumption. The existing E10 and E85 markets are not large enough to accommodate the amounts of biofuels prescribed by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, so an increase in the E10 blend will be necessary for the law to be fulfilled.

ACE, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

Researchers: Biofuels Can Be Beneficial

John Davis

princeton_university.gifA group of researchers, many from Princeton University, say that biofuels can solve many of the problems related to non-renewable fossil fuels… without creating more problems of their own.

This article from Princeton says the key is making the green fuels from sustainable sources:

“The world needs to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy, but recent research findings have thrown the emerging biofuels industry into a quandary,” said David Tilman of the University of Minnesota, a noted ecologist and lead author of the paper. “We met to seek solutions. We found that the next generation of biofuels can be highly beneficial if produced properly.”

The paper coincides with climate change policy debates in the U.S. Congress and tackles land use issues that have generated much controversy in recent years. Specifically, it addresses concerns that clearing land to grow biofuel crops or to grow food crops displaced by biofuel crops can release more greenhouse gases than petroleum use. Titled “Beneficial Biofuels — The Food, Energy and Environment Trilemma,” the paper will appear in the July 17 issue of the journal Science.

Robert Socolow, a Princeton professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, said that through careful scientific reasoning the authors of the paper discovered accounting rules to determine which strategies for generating biofuels were promising and which were not.

“It is essential that legislation take the best science into account, even when that requires acknowledging and undoing earlier mistakes,” Socolow said. “Future carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere will tell us when we’re kidding ourselves about what actually works. For carbon management, the atmosphere is the ultimate accountant.”

The article goes on to say that to balance biofuel production and food issues, biodiesel and ethanol makers need to focus on five major sources of renewable biomass, including perennial plants grown on degraded lands abandoned from agricultural use, crop residues, sustainably harvested wood and forest residues, double crops and mixed cropping systems, and municipal and industrial wastes. These sources could meet a significant amount of the U.S. demand for transportation fuels.

biofuels, food and fuel, Research

New Biodiesel Plant Starts in Canada

John Davis

MilliganBiotechA new, 2.6 million-gallon-per-year seed-crushing and biodiesel plant has come on line in Canada.

Biodiesel Magazine reports that the Milligan Bio-Tech Inc. plant in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan is now fully operational:

According to a spokesperson for the company, the new plant is being referred to as Milligan Bio-Tech’s “optimization” plant. Its production capacity is10 MMly (approximately 2.6 MMgy) and uses a process developed by Milligan Bio-Tech in conjunction with Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada and the University of Saskatchewan.

The spokesperson said previously the company was crushing off-spec, or non-food grade, canola at the site in Foam Lake and producing test batches of biodiesel off-site. Meanwhile, Milligan Bio-Tech had been optimizing its crush technology to be suited for the off-spec canola—a feedstock the company continues to use in its commercial biodiesel production.

Company officials are having an official grand opening this Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 11:30 am with a lunch, tours and even a demonstration of the world’s first biodiesel jet truck – Prairie Gold.

Biodiesel