Phoenix Airport Taxis Could Run on E85, Propane

John Davis

phoenixskyharborCatching a cab at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport could soon be a greener proposition.

The Arizona Republic reports that the city council has voted in a new rule that will require taxis at the airport to use one of several alternative fuels:

Under the new rules taxicabs would have the choice of using compressed natural gas; liquid propane gas, or LPG; or E85 ethanol fuel…

Gasoline-powered cars – even hybrids like the Toyota Prius – won’t be allowed. Although hybrids use less gasoline than regular cars, they don’t meet the city’s new standard for greenhouse gas emissions and oil use.

Under the old airport policy, taxis with airport permits had to be powered by compressed natural gas. Clean Energy is the only firm with CNG fuel pumps for taxis at the airport.

In practice, however, a loophole allowed the airport to make exceptions to the CNG rule. Because of this, many of the airport’s 170 airport taxis are powered by gasoline.

The change could be implemented by early next year.

E85, Ethanol, News, Propane

WI’s First Commercial Biodiesel Plant Idled

John Davis

sanimaxBiodiesel is still having a tough go of it… just like many other businesses in today’s economy. The latest victim of the economic downturn is Sanimax Energy, which has had to temporarily close its DeForest, Wisconsin plant… the first biodiesel plant to open in the Badger State two years ago.

This story in the Wisconsin Ag Connection says the refinery, which turned used restaurant grease into the green fuel, has had to layoff 20 of its 30 workers who work in the biodiesel wing of the facility:

A spokesperson for the Canadian-based Sanimax, which has 24 locations across the continent and three other facilities in Wisconsin, says the closing is attributed to the economy. The firm did not release a possible re-opening date.

Sanimax began construction of its 15,000 square-foot plant in early 2006. In May 2007, the company sold its first large-scale load of fuel to Progressive Farmers Cooperative in Northeast Wisconsin. Sanimax was using a patented multi-feedstock technology developed by Nova Biosource Fuels to transform recycled cooking grease, rendered animal fats and vegetable oils into high-quality, clean burning biodiesel fuel.

The good news is, though, Sanimax’s partnership with BEST Energies in Cashton, Wi. will still produce biodiesel from the corn oil leftover from making corn into ethanol.

Biodiesel

Harkin: Indirect Land Use Rule Not Good Science

John Davis

harkinThe chair of the U.S. Senate’s Ag Committee says the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed Indirect Land Use Rule, which would make biodiesel ineligible for mandates and federal subsidies, is not good science… and he believes there are enough votes in Congress to keep it from going into effect.

Agriculture Online reports that the EPA’s proposal would use the concept of increasing acreage for ethanol and biodiesel crops in the U.S. leads to deforestation and grassland destruction in other nations. Corn-based ethanol would receive a waiver, but biodiesel would not. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) said more than 100 scientists are questioning the EPA’s theory:

“I think EPA is way off the mark on this,” he said.

Harkin said he doubts that the final rule will have the same concept because he doesn’t think it’s supported by science and he wants to see scientific proof.

“Quite frankly, I can tell you, we’ll never see it,” he said, because, with so many factors influencing land use in other nations, it’s impossible to show that biofuel crops are responsible.

If the concept remains in EPA’s final rule, “I’m relatively confident we have the votes here [in the Senate] to say no and overturn that.”

Two Republican Senators have already introduced bills that would require EPA to not use indirect land use when it calculates the carbon footprint of biofuels. That requirement currently is part of the 2007 energy bill that ramps up federal mandates for biofuel use in the nation’s fuel supply.

grassleyHarkin has been joined in his criticism of the EPA by fellow Iowan Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who went to the floor of the Senate earlier this week to blast the EPA assumptions:

“The EPA’s models conclude that international land use contributes more in greenhouse gases than the entire direct emissions of ethanol production and use — from the growing the crop, the production of ethanol at the refinery, to the tailpipe emissions when it’s burned,” Grassley said. “The ripple effects are greater than the direct effects. This conclusion is ludicrous.”

Bipartisan bashing of the EPA… now that’s what I call government at its best!

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Government, Indirect Land Use, News

DF Cast: Global Debate on Biofuels

John Davis

df-logoBiodiesel and ethanol have borne the brunt of criticism in the food versus fuel debate… being blamed, unfairly as it turns out, for the spike in food prices last year. The issue was one that came up at the recent World Ag Forum in St. Louis (see our coverage of the event over at our sister Web site, AgWired.com) that saw delegates from around the world gather with some varying opinions… especially when it comes to biofuels. It was important enough that the organizers of the forum dedicated an entire session on the second day to the subject.

waf-09-biofuelsIn this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we listen in on some of the conversation that included American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman; Henk Joos, the Plant Science and Agronomy director for British-based biofuels maker D1 Oils; former Secretary of Agriculture for India Radha Singh; Lee Broughton with car rental company Enterprise; Bill Horan, an Iowa corn and soybean farmer and a member of 25x’25 (an initiative to get the US to produce 25 percent of its fuel from renewable sources by the year 2025); and professor Nuhu Hatibu, CEO of Kilimo Trust, East Africa.

Pretty interesting conversation, and you can hear it here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/domesticfuel/DFCast-6-05-09.mp3]

You can also subscribe to the DomesticFuel Cast here.

Audio, Biodiesel, Domestic Fuel Cast, Ethanol, News

85 Cents off E85 in Alexandria, MN

ptp_stopThe first Minnesota E85 Promotion of the season will be next Friday, June 12th in Alexandria. The alternative fuel facility will sell E85 for 85 cents off per gallon from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Kelly Marzak of Clean Fuel & Vehicle Technologies, American Lung Association in Minnesota, and American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest noted that the Pipeline Travel Plaza is a new truck stop that opened and began selling E85 in November. The E85 promotion will coincide with their grand opening celebration. Invitations have been sent to more than 1200 flex fuel vehicle owners in the Alexandria area.

ala-mnThe Pipeline Travel Plaza is located at Highway 27 W & Cty Rd 45 (3181 Evergreen Ln) in Alexandria, Minnesota. “If you or someone you know drives an FFV, stop by for a great price on E85,” said Marzak.

Supporters of the event include Douglas County Corn & Soybean Growers, Minnesota Corn Growers Association and members of the MN Clean Air Choice Team.

E85, News

“Funky Fresh Flex Fuel” Wins Online Ethanol Contest

Joanna Schroeder

Thousands of people across the country defined “What is renewable to you?” when they selected the video, “Funky Fresh Flex Fuel” created by Chip McAfee from Arizona as the winner of the E85 Flex-Fuel Challenge. The contest was launched by the Renewable Fuels Association in early March to get a new generation of Americans, mainly college students, engaged in the promotion and support of ethanol. Promotion of the contest was done primarily through social media networks such as Facebook.

Submissions for the contest ended on April 3 and then peer voting took place between April 4-May 29, 2009. From there, a panel of judges selected the final winner, based on creativity, quality and relevance. McAfee won a Macbook Air computer for his winning entry.

173449690374156_mediumA people’s choice award was also given to the entry that received the highest number of total votes through the duration of the contest. The photo submission, “University of Wisconsin-Platteville,” won this award and the photographer received a Passport hard drive.

The Fuel-Flex Challenge was sponsored by the Kansas Corn Commission, the Kentucky Corn Growers Association, the United Sorghum Checkoff Program and the Renewable Fuels Association. The fun will continue this summer with the launch of a new photo contest. Stay tuned for more details.

E85, Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Miscellaneous, RFA, Video

Hydrogen Road Tour Finishes in Vancouver

John Davis

chevyequinoxhydrogenA dozen cars have just finished a West Coast road trip that saw the caravan of hydrogen-powered vehicles make the nine-day, 28-stop trip from Southern California to Vancouver in Canada.

The Examiner.com reports that the Hydrogen Road Tour featured a variety of vehicles, including the Chevy Equinox FCV, the Honda FCX Clarity and two different Volkswagens… among others:

So there was a configuration for everyone, from SUV’s to vans to the Daimler F-Cell that resembles the Smart fortwo, a compact urban vehicle. Fuel hydrogen is measured differently than gasoline so miles-per-gallon comparisons are a bit dodgy, but the Road Tour team estimates the cars on the tour are getting 60 to 70 mpg equivalent on the road…

Sandy Thomas, president of H2Gen Innovations believes that a hydrogen infrastructure could be put into place with public/private investments of about $15 billion over 14 years, much less than the Iraq War or the federal ethanol subsidy.

The road trip finished at the Hydrogen + Fuel Cells 2009 convention… billed as Canada’s premier international hydrogen and fuel cell event.

Hydrogen

Small Wind Turbine Market in US Nearly Doubled in 2008

John Davis

Small wind turbines in the U.S. are growing at a very rapid rate.

EnvironmentalLeader.com reports that the market for small wind turbines… those that produce 100 kilowatts or less… awea2grew by a whopping 78 percent last year… following a trend discovered in an American Wind Energy Association study that showed there was about 17.3 megawatts of new small wind capacity installed in the U.S. and about 38.7 MW installed worldwide in 2008:

Denise Bode, CEO for AWEA, said in a press release that strong federal policies like the federal investment tax credit for small wind are critical to future growth. Wind energy leaders recently discussed how much the industry will rely on government incentives and standards to maintain its high growth at the Wind Power 2009 Conference in May. AWEA recently reported that more than 2,800 WM of wind energy was installed in the United States over the first quarter of 2009, which is enough to power 816,000 homes.

The 2009 Small Wind Global Market Study finds that U.S. manufacturers sold about half of all small wind turbines installed worldwide last year, with the U.S. market share accounting for $77 million of the $156 million global total. Growth in the small wind sector is attributed to increased private investment that has allowed manufacturing volumes to increase, particularly for the commercial segment of the market (systems 21-100 kW systems), according to the study.

The article goes on to say that a recent poll of small wind manufacturers finds they believe there will be a 30-fold growth in the U.S. small wind market within five years, in spite of the tough economic conditions.

Wind

New Jersey Biodiesel Producer to Open CT Port

John Davis

innovationfuelsIn a move that could set the company up to deliver biodiesel to all of New England, New Jersey-based biodiesel maker Innovation Fuels will open operations at a Connecticut terminal this month.

This story in the New Haven (CT) Register says Innovation will ship the green fuel from its plant in Newark, N.J. by barge, rail and truck to the New Haven Terminal:

“We can easily serve all of New England,” [Paul Niznik, vice president of strategic operations] said Tuesday. He estimated they will move about 1 million gallons a month and bring five jobs to the port.

Niznik said he couldn’t talk about terms of the lease with New Haven Terminal, but indicated the company has “permanent intentions.”

Niznik said the company mainly create biodiesel with vegetable oil, although it is experimenting with domestic non-food sources such as pennycress, camelina and algae.

He said the company also plans to work with small producers of biodiesel, such as Greenleaf Biofuels, run by Gus Kellogg, who has approval for a processing plant in the North Yard of the port off Wheeler Street.

As you might remember from my post on May 14th, Innovation recently started selling biodiesel out of the Port of Milwaukee.

Biodiesel

Book Review – Green, Inc.

Joanna Schroeder

tidal-wave-324x205With the tidal wave rushing in a new green economy, companies are attempting to ride the waves. But many are being pulled under by the tow, including many of the very groups who are supposed to be the top surfers. “Green Inc,” is an expose about how the world of conversation and those who swim in it, are crashing.

Green, Inc. was written by author Christine MacDonald, who left her job as a journalist to join the public relations team with one of the largest environmental groups in the world, Conservation International (CI). It was during this time she discovered that something was “deeply wrong” in the world of conservationism. MacDonald was disturbed so much so that when laid off, she wrote a book about the serious issues embedded in environmental groups.

phpthumb_generated_thumbnailjpgOne of the biggest conundrums she tackles is whether it is morally and ethically wrong for an environmental organization to take money from the groups that it is trying to police. Some environmental groups argue that taking money from companies like Exxon Mobil, Bunge, International Paper, and others, is a way to “influence corporate leaders to change their polluting ways”.

Yet these environmental offenders believe that donating money to groups like CI, World Wildlife Fund, Environmental Defense, Natural Resources Defense Council, and others, will give them “reputation insurance” or a “get out of jail free card” on their environmental rap sheet. Oftentimes, MacDonald cites, these groups actually give these environmental offenders awards for their “sustainability” programs.  Now that’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one.Read More

book reviews