Algae to Biodiesel Webinar Offered

John Davis

Knowledge is power, and the folks at Garbrook Knowledge Resources are offering a powerful resource in an upcoming Webinar on how to turn algae into biodiesel.
garbrook-algaeforbiofuels
The Advanced Biofuels Resource… what Garbrook bills as the industry’s most comprehensive information source on biofuels… will be offering the “Algae for Biofuels: Current Potential for Commercial Development” Webinar this coming Wednesday, March 11th from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EST to tackle some of the challenges surrounding algae as a biodiesel feedstock:

Topics Covered:

* Industry update including major players and partnerships
* Outline of commercialization efforts and approaches
* Progress in commercial algae cultivation, harvesting, and process technologies
* Opportunities for biofuels and co-products derived from algae
* Ongoing algae research and development
* Scientific and technical hurdles that must be overcome for algae biofuel production

It’s not free, but the $149 you’ll pay could return some big dividends in this growing field of a growing green fuel. Check it out by clicking here.

Biodiesel

Ethanol Debuts on the Fashion Runway

Joanna Schroeder

ethanol-jeans-23Ethanol debuted on the fashion runway last year…as a pair of jeans. Yes, jeans. Fashion meets environment with these stylish jeans that are made from cotton grown with less pesticides and sold in recycled packaging.

The jeans are branded “ethanol” to the hilt with the buttons sporting a “e,” and an ethanol patch on the back. But possibly the best feature is the bag of corn that comes with each pair.ethanol-button1

I’m  not sure where to find these jeans and I couldn’t find a website for the manufacturer, but this pair was purchased at a Sam’s Club. I did however find a youtube video with Jordan Sparks and Jessica Lucas promoting the brand.

The label promotes www.allianceforclimateprotection.com which says that, “A portion of proceeds from the sale of the jeans goes to campaigns to help support environmental programs.” When I went to the site there is no information ethanol-patch2about the clothing line nor the programs that are supported through the purchase of the jeans. I tried contacting the organization but as of press time, haven’t heard anything back.

I guess ethanol is not just for cars anymore.

Ethanol, Miscellaneous

Oil Company Enters their E85 Model in Sexiest Tractor Competition

e85-tractorBlodgett Oil Company recently entered a competition to see if their painted “E85 Tractor” entry could win as the “sexiest tractor” at a local Red Cross Tractor Races Fundraiser.

As a Red Cross Tractor sponsor, Blodgett Oil paid $100 and received a cut-out of a plain plywood tractor to decorate in any way they wished. “We chose to promote our E85 product. Our maintenance guy Carl, did a wonderful job!” said Nancy Beckwith, vice president of Blodgett Oil Company. The company owns numerous E85 stations in Michigan.

e85-tractor2About twenty tractors were entered in the competition. During the race, the tractors were moved along a board game like space in a large banquet room, with the attendee’s betting on who will win the race. Whoever had the most bets, won the race. Attendees also betted on the “Sexiest Tractor”.

Unfortunately, Blodgett Oil’s tractor did not win this year’s “Sexiest Tractor” award, but Beckwith said that her company had a blast with our E85 Ethanol tractor appearance which at one time was announced as “the Corn Mobile”.

The “Top Money Winner” tractor was: Primerica Financial Services, owned by Art and Nancy McClintic of Alma, Michigan and voted “Sexiest Tractor” for the second year in a row was: Alma Pontiac Buick GMC, Alma, Michigan.

All money raised was donated to the local Red Cross.

E85

AWEA Sets Its Sights on 2009 and Beyond

Joanna Schroeder

Wind energy celebrated its biggest year in 2008 with 8,000 megawatts being installed–that’s a lot of wind. I wanted to learn more about the industry so I caught up with Susan Williams Sloan, the Outreach Manager for the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) last week during Commodity Classic. . 

susan-williams-sloan-awea“2008 really was a banner year for the industry,” said Sloan. She anticipates that 2009 won’t be as big of a year due to the economic situation but does see a bright future going forward citing the provisions in the stimulus package.  

Last year, the industry was growing so rapidly that it could take months to have wind turbines delivered, but this year is different. There is a large inventory of wind turbines available. “The Good News is that there are turbines available for those with projects that are ready to move forward,” said Sloan. 

A big challenge for AWEA is building a transmission grid that can help move move wind power from the windy areas to the load centers where people need more electricity. “We must figure out the political issues surrounding moving wind,” said Sloan, and assured me that  AWEA will work diligently to ensure an effective transmission grid is developed.

Listen to my interview with Susan here get the full update on the wind industry’s efforts. [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/domesticfuel/cc-09-joanna-wind-energy.mp3]

Commodity Classic, Wind

K-State Students Take Flex-Fuel Challenge

Cindy Zimmerman

RFA Flex Fuel ChallengeManhattan, KS looked more like Manhattan, NY yesterday as cars were lined up to get E85 for just 85 cents a gallon and E10 for only a dollar, plus a free lunch at the Manhattan Farmers Cooperative Association.

Hundreds of hot dogs and thousands of gallons of ethanol-blended fuel were given away to Kansas State college students at the “Wildcat Free-For-All,” sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association and the Kansas Corn Commission to launch the Flex-Fuel Challenge, an online national contest to promote E85.

RFA Flex Fuel Challenge“We were very happy with the event. Many students learned of the opportunity via Facebook and email, and this is exactly what this contest is about, educating students where they spend there time – online,” reported Robert White, Director of Market Development for the RFA.

The challenge encourages them to produce a short video, take a photo, or even write a song about creative ideas on renewable energy that will impact future generations. The overall winner will receive a MacBook Air laptop and each week there will be drawings for portable Passport™ hard drives.

Find out more at e85challenge.com.

E85, Ethanol, RFA

Biden: Green Jobs Could Pay $50/Hour

John Davis

biden3Vice President Joe Biden might be known a bit for saying some crazy things, but his latest pronouncement… that some green jobs could pay as much as $50 an hour (see this CNN story)… is some good news to the ears of a nation that is trying to shake the unemployment blues while moving to a renewable energy economy.

CBS News reports that Biden recently held a “Middle Class Task Force” meeting in Philadelphia:

Biden’s let’s-help-out-the-middle-class suggestion is to create more green jobs. A 33-page report his task force released on Friday says “green jobs have the potential to be quality, family-sustaining jobs that also help to improve our environment” that pay more, are more likely to be unionized, and can’t be easily off-shored.

Suggested occupations include: electricians who install solar panels; plumbers who install solar water heaters; farmers engaged in organic agriculture and some bio-fuel production; and construction workers who build energy-efficient green buildings, wind power farms, solar farms and wave energy farms.

If what Biden said does come true, it would certainly be a boost for the economy and the green sector.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Government, News, Solar, Wind

Farm Foundation Hosts Bioeconomy Conference

John Davis

ff-transitiontobioAs you might remember from our multiple posts back in October and December , Farm Foundation has been hosting a series of meetings that add some important talk about the issues surrounding biofuels (just search “Farm Foundation” on this Web site to get an idea of some of the discussion). At the end of this month, the organization will be hosting another conference in that same vein.

The latest “Transition to a Bioeconomy” conference will be March 30-31 at the Westin Washington D.C. City Center Hotel:

“The continued development of the biofuels and renewable energy industries is creating energy, investment and trade policy challenges for nations worldwide,” says Farm Foundation President Neil Conklin. “Most bioenergy-related policies have a domestic, rather than a global orientation. Yet the impacts of those policies are often global.

“This conference, as with the others in the series, is structured to provide public and private leaders with objective information and analysis they can use to make more informed decisions as they address these issues,” Conklin adds.

Organized by Farm Foundation, USDA Office of Energy Policy and New Uses and USDA Economic Research Service, this conference will examine:
Global Energy Markets
Global Impacts of Biofuels Policies
Industry Perspectives on the Future of Energy and Public Policy
Trade in Energy Technologies

I’ve been able to attend a couple of these Farm Foundation events, and I can tell you that it is well worth the price of admission for the thought-provoking conversation that brings all sides to the table. You can even save some money if you sign-up by March 10th. If you can, I strongly suggest you make the trip to DC to take in this one. Click here for registration information.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, Farm Foundation, News

Former Biodiesel Board Chair Honored at Commodity Classic

John Davis

As Cindy mentioned in the previous post, biofuels were a big part of the conversation at the recent Commodity Classic in Grapevine, Texas. And during that important meeting of the nation’s grain producers, it only makes sense that one of the country’s biggest commodities recognized the contribution biodiesel has made to the agricultural industry in the U.S.

The American Soybean Association honored immediate past chairman of the National Biodiesel Board Darryl Brinkmann for his lifelong work in furthering biodiesel in this country. This NBB press release says Brinkmann received the ASA Lifetime Achievement – Association Focus Award for his work with biodiesel through NBB, among his other service to ASA:

brinkmann“It is a real honor to have your colleagues pay tribute to you in that way,” said Brinkmann, who was surprised with the award at ASA’s banquet Friday night at the Commodity Classic in Grapevine, Texas. “Usually getting a new product to market takes longer than it has for biodiesel. During my time serving ASA on NBB’s board, there have been lots of challenges, lots of successes, and lots of fun.” The Commodity Classic is an annual agricultural trade show and convention.

“I credit a lot of what I helped accomplish to ASA, as well,” Brinkmann added. “It was at the table when NBB was first formed; its members first started using biodiesel; and it has helped us working in the biodiesel industry get the tax incentive again and again.”

Brinkmann, from Carlyle, Ill., serves on the NBB Executive Committee and Governing Board as the ASA representative. He was NBB chairman from 2004 – 2007. Brinkmann has also served on ASA’s executive committee as vice president.

The award thanks the person for working on behalf of ASA throughout the years. NBB officials point out that while Brinkmann was chair, the first federal biodiesel tax incentive was enacted, along with other critical federal developments.

Biodiesel, Commodity Classic

Biofuels Focus at Commodity Conference

Cindy Zimmerman

National commodity organizations representing growers of corn, soybeans, wheat and sorghum gathered together for the first time as one group last week in Grapevine, Texas at the annual Commodity Classic. Corn and soybean growers have been together as one for the past 14 years, wheat joined the group last year, and sorghum made four this year.

Commodity Group PresidentsRenewable fuels were a major topic of discussion throughout the week-long conference and were addressed during the general session on Friday. Emcee Mark Mayfield (left) talked with each of them – National Sorghum Producers chairman Toby Bostwick, National Association of Wheat Growers president David Cleavinger, National Corn Growers Association president Bob Dickey, and American Soybean Association president Johnny Dodson.

“One of the key issues ASA will be working on in the coming year is the extension of our biodiesel tax incentive,” said Dodson. “Biodiesel has been a win-win for the agriculture community and the average consumer.”

Bob Dickey with NCGA said making sure the Renewable Fuels Standard is implemented and maintained is one of their top legislative priorities for this year and said they will be working with the ethanol industry to increase the blend rate for ethanol. “We are supportive of higher blend rates based on sound science, provided the EPA goes along with it,” he said.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, corn, Ethanol, Farming, Indy Racing, NCGA, sorghum

Scientists Question California Climate Plan

Cindy Zimmerman

Over 100 of the nation’s top scientists are questioning the approach taken by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) which singles out biofuels for “indirect effects,” claiming that petroleum products result in lower carbon emissions.

CA ARBScientists affiliated with research labs such as the National Academy of Sciences, UC-Berkeley, Sandia National Labs, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and MIT sent a letter to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger offering their “comments on the critical issue of how to address the issue of indirect, market-mediated effects.”

Under the CARB Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) proposal, all fuels are assigned a “carbon score” to reward the least carbon intensive fuels. But only biofuels are being singled out for so-called “indirect effects,” which thereby gives petroleum products a better carbon score and a competitive advantage.

The scientists make two major compelling points regarding the indirect land use issue:
1. The science is far too limited and uncertain for regulatory enforcement
2. Indirect effects are often misunderstood and should not be enforced selectively

The scientists warn Gov. Schwarzenegger that the state’s proposal “creates an asymmetry or bias in a regulation designed to create a level playing field. It violates the fundamental presumption that all fuels in a performance-based standard should be judged the same way … Enforcing different compliance metrics against different fuels is the equivalent of picking winners and losers, which is in direct conflict with the ambition of the LCFS.”

Read the letter here.

Audio, Energy, Ethanol, Government, Indirect Land Use, News