ACE Conference 2026

MOR Offers More for Ethanol Producers

Cindy Zimmerman

MOR TechnologyAn Illinois-based technology services company recently unveiled a new set of “2nd Generation” technologies aimed at increasing the sustainability and profitability of corn-based ethanol plants.

According to MOR Technology, the MOR-Frac Plus+ Milling System in combination with their supercritical CO2 corn oil extraction technology can help plants “increase and diversify revenues by producing premium, value-added food-grade products, while also decreasing operating costs and environmental footprint.”

The company says its MOR-Frac™ Plus+ Milling System combines both dry and wet milling technology to offer the product purity and product yields achieved in wet milling, but with the energy efficiency, environmental impact, and capital/operating costs much closer to those of dry milling.

MOR is currently working with a number of customers, design-build firms and financing institutions to install the technology in corn-based ethanol plants around the country.

MOR SupercriticalIn addition, MOR Supercritical – an affiliate of MOR Technology based in Allentown, Pennsylvania – has started construction on a state-of-the-art plant that will showcase the company’s breakthrough supercritical fluid extraction technology for low-cost, high-volume commodity products. The 15 tonne-per-day plant will be located in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania, and officials expect to complete construction in the third quarter of 2009.

MOR Supercritical has developed a corn oil and commodity oilseeds extraction system that uses proprietary breakthroughs in supercritical CO2 technology allowing for operating costs and energy use below that of hexane or mechanical extraction while also producing an all-natural, hexane-free corn oil for human consumption.

corn, Distillers Grains, Ethanol, technology

Ag Secretary Focused on 12-13 Percent Ethanol Blend

Cindy Zimmerman

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack would love to see the ethanol blend rate increased to 15 percent, but right now he would be happy with 12-13 percent.

Vilsack“Our view is that we can get to 12 to 13 percent by just simply understanding that it’s significantly not much different than 10 percent, it’s an insignificant difference, and under the rules and regulations EPA could do that,” Vilsack said Monday. “If you get to 15 percent or higher, there may be more review required, and we appreciate that. But the help is needed now.”

Vilsack made his comments during a press conference Monday to introduce rural stimulus funding. Of the six questions he was asked by reporters, half of them pertained to increasing the allowable blend rate for ethanol in gasoline, and he repeated his emphasis on the 12-13 percent level three times.

“Right now my focus is on 12 to 13 percent because I think it’s doable more quickly, and it sends, I think, the right set of signals to the industry that we are with them,” the secretary said.

Vilsack also noted that USDA will continue to work with ethanol production facilities in financial difficulty to reconfigure their loans under a rural loan guarantee program. “That could be of some benefit, especially if the bankers are willing to work with us in restructuring the terms so that they are a bit more favorable either in interest rates or payments or principal,” said Vilsack. He stressed that the ethanol industry is still an “infant industry and so it’s going to have some growing pains. It’s going to have some ups and downs. And what we need to do is to provide some degree of stability.”

Listen to all of Vilsack’s ethanol related comments here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/usda/vilsack-ethanol.mp3]

Audio, Energy, Ethanol, Government, News, USDA

LACTROL, Leading Antibiotic for Ethanol Industry

Joanna Schroeder

ethanolperformanceYou may not have heard about Phibro Ethanol Performance Group but what they offer is what they believe is the top performing antibiotic in the ethanol industry. According to Tom Slunecka, Phibro’s VP of Marketing, testing has shown that their base product, LACTROL, “outperforms all other products on the market.” Phibro Ethanol Performance Group is a subsidiary of PhibroChem, a third-generation family owned business that has specialized in animal health for more than 60 years and expanded into the ethanol industry a few years ago.

Antibiotics are an important element in the ethanol production process because during any type of  fermentation process an infection can incur. Infections thrive in environments of high moisture and temperatures and ethanol plants create an abundance of both. 

tom-slunecka-phibroAs margins continue to be tight in the ethanol industry, I asked Slunecka to give the industry some advice when it comes to choosing products and services for their plants. “Just like how consumers purchase automobiles, the time is right to be selective in the products they choose and the services they ask for,” answered Slunecka. “It’s vital that all inputs be maximized in order to generate the greatest return on investment.” 

According to Slunecka, you need to ask the question, “were the products chosen for their efficacy or overall performance package or were they chosen back in the boon days when these decisions didn’t hit the bottom line like they are now?” The reason is that the integrity of a company’s services and products is paramount.

Phibro Ethanol Performance Group is dedicated to the industry and is growing their team so that they can continue to provide a quality product and service package to an industry that they are confident will continue to grow. 

Listen to my full interview with Tom here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/ethanol/cc-09-joanna-slunecka.mp3]

Audio, Commodity Classic, Ethanol

Big Stimulus Bill Might Help Small Wind Turbines

John Davis

While large-scale infrastructure projects grab the headlines, the recently passed gargantuan-sized $787 billion economic stimulus bill might end up helping a small, emerging, renewable energy business in the United States.

This story from CNN says the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009… with its 30 percent investment tax credit for those who buy wind turbines for homes or small businesses… could give a real kick to the small wind turbine industry:

smallwindEven amid a recession, this tax credit “is going to blow the top off the market,” said Ron Stimmel, a “small-wind” advocate with the American Wind Energy Association.

The association predicts the federal subsidy could help the small-turbine market grow by 40 to 50 percent annually, a boost that would parallel the growth of the U.S. solar photovoltaic industry after a similar 2005 initiative.

Unlike the towering windmills sprouting en masse from the Western Plains, small wind turbines have a capacity of 100 kilowatts or less and are designed to operate on the consumer side of the power grid, often in combination with solar panels.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, the United States is already the world’s leading manufacturer of small-wind technologies, holding roughly two-thirds of the world’s market share. Last year, American companies made 98 percent of the small wind turbines sold in the United States.

To conservation-minded home or business owners, the turbines are an investment in clean energy and one way to ease America’s dependence on foreign oil. In the right location, a 10-kilowatt turbine could supply the entire electricity needs of an average American household. The newly subsidized larger models can help power small businesses, farms and schools.

Of course, there are some limitations to where these wind turbines can go up. Most of them need to have at least an acre of open ground around them, without trees or buildings to dampen the wind. But new technologies are being developed to have more rooftop wind turbines with either corkscrew or paddle-wheel designs put up on buildings in some of those urban areas. The potential sure seems to be there.

Wind

Finding a Gel-Free Biodiesel at the Arctic Circle

John Davis

Biodiesel is a great, clean-burning fuel for most of the country for most of the year, but there are some issues regarding gelling in extremely low temperatures. Just like petroleum diesel, biodiesel will gel when the temperatures drop. But a group from Indiana thinks it has the answer and is testing it in one of the harshest cold climates this time of year: the Arctic Circle.

Logo roughThis story from the Fairbanks (AK) News-Miner says the Indiana Soybean Alliance went north to Alaska to test a type of biodiesel that won’t gel… even in the extreme cold of the tundra:

What the Indiana Soybean Alliance is selling, starting next winter, they hope, is a refining process that alters the chemical composition of biodiesel to prevent it from gelling in temperatures down to 60 below…

The soybean alliance arranged for a barge to transport some of the fuel from Seattle to Anchorage, and last week a group of scientists drove a pickup truck and a small bus borrowed from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, up the Parks Highway from Palmer using Permaflo Biodiesel.

On Saturday, the scientists drove to the Arctic Circle using Permaflo and ran a generator on the fuel.

arctic_circle_signAnd according to the alliance’s blog, the test was a success:

The wind has picked up quite a bit. The generator is still chugging along like it doesn’t care that it’s -23 degrees F. The Permaflo Biodiesel is 100 percent. Crystal free and flowing like a champ.

What these folks might have found is a way to make sure that 100 percent biodiesel can be used in any climate, and places such as Alaska can enjoy the benefits of biodiesel without some of the previous drawbacks.

Biodiesel

Oregon Looks to Build Biofuels Research and Processing Plant

John Davis

The folks in Salem, Oregon are hoping to get some of federal money to build a new biofuels research and processing plant… the first of its kind in the state.

This story from the Salem Statesman Journal says a group of biofuel advocates, a local college and businessmen are hoping to get $10 million from Washington, DC to build the acility next to the state’s only commercial biodiesel production facility and biofuels analytical laboratory:

The project’s partners — Chemeketa Community College, Wildwood Inc. and Pacific Biodiesel Technologies Inc. — submitted the proposal to Oregon’s Congressional delegation, the first step in acquiring a federal “earmark” for 2010.

John Miller of Wildwood, owner and developer of Mill Creek Junction, wants to see Salem lead the alternative fuel sector: “This bread basket (the Willamette Valley) can also be a fuel basket.”

The proposed facility — between 20,000- and 30,000-square-feet — could produce as much as 432,000 gallons of liquid biofuels per year. The biofuels could be made from algae, woody waste and agricultural waste.

Chemeketa Community College hopes to train about 60 students a year at the facility.

“What we do well and want to do more of is train workers for employable jobs with skills that employers in our district need,” said Greg Harris, Chemeketa’s public information officer. “Chemeketa is not a research institution … we are more about practical skills. I think we wouldn’t be training future scientists as much as we would be training future technicians.”

Once the college finished training the students, they would go to study at private industries in the area.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Ag Secretary Endorses Ethanol Blend Increase

Cindy Zimmerman

In remarks to farmers meeting in Arlington, Virginia on Monday, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack endorsed a request to the Environmental Protection Agency for an increase in the ethanol blend rate up to 15 percent.

Vilsack“We can move fairly quickly to move that rate up from 10 percent to maybe 12 or 13 percent in the interim and then take an even further jump to 15 percent or even 20 percent over the course of the next couple of years,” Vilsack said to the National Farmers Union (NFU) convention. The ethanol industry formally petitioned the EPA to increase the blend level to 15 percent on Friday. Growth Energy, one of the groups requesting the increase, recently hired NFU president Tom Buis as CEO, effective next week.

Meanwhile, the agriculture directors of 10 Midwestern states sent a letter to President Obama Monday also endorsing the acceptance of 15 or 20 percent ethanol blends.

The letter reads, in part, “American ethanol production has nearly reached 10 percent saturation. We must move to a base blend of 15 or 20 percent in 2009 in order to continue growing this vital industry. By working together to promote domestic production and improve market access, we can continue to deliver a clean, renewable fuel that has a positive impact on our domestic economy.”

Letter signers include the heads of state agriculture departments in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Kansas, Minnesota, Michigan, Montana and Ohio.

blends, Ethanol, Government, USDA

Solar Power Fueling Atlantic City

John Davis

You wouldn’t think of the bright lights of the casinos of Atlantic City, New Jersey as the place for energy conservation, but the East Coast’s gambling center is the home of a pioneering solar energy project.

This story from CNN says government officials were on hand to show off solar panels on top of the city’s convention center, the largest single-roof solar-panel array in the U.S.:

The 13,321 photovoltaic panels will produce an average of 26 percent of the convention center’s energy, according to consultants. The panels cover most of the roof’s usable space, leaving room for walkways and other equipment.

“We estimate that we are going to save $4.4 million over the 20 years of the contract [with the solar provider],” said Jeff Vasser, president of the Atlantic City Convention & Visitors Authority.

In greener terms, authorities estimate the solar panels will avoid the release of 2,349 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — equivalent to removing 390 passenger vehicles from the road or reducing oil consumption by 4,956 barrels per year.

The solar panels are already paying off. Even in the short, darker days of January, they put out 15 percent of the convention center’s power.

Solar

Company Turning Biodiesel By-Product into Two Fuels

John Davis

Gotta give props right up front to the readers of Domestic Fuel who passed along this story to us. What was a big waste product for the biodiesel industry could soon be fueling turbines and industrial boilers and offsetting coal use at power plants.

xcelplusThey found this story in Biodiesel Magazine about how Virginia-based Xcelplus Global Holdings Inc. is beginning commercial production of two fuels made from glycerin: GlyClene, for standard turbine engines and industrial boilers… and GlyCoal, to replace coal at power plants. Both are liquid fuels:

Crude glycerin directly out of the biodiesel process is the primary component of both GlyClene and GlyCoal. “We take 100 percent waste glycerin from a biodiesel plant, and we crack it, so the components are really all glycerin,” said Bill Smith, Xcelplus Global Holding’s chairman. The glycerin is treated with a chemical and thermal heat process to create the fuels. The chemical facilitating compound accounts for less than one percent of the formula, Smith continued. Patents are pending on the proprietary technology.

Xcelplus Global Holdings recently tested GlyClene as a boiler fuel source in Sony International’s Dothan, Ala.-based plant, Smith said. That test showed the fuel produced 119,000 British thermal units per gallon. Additional testing is pending at a variety of other facilities, including a chicken plant, a carpet company and an asphalt company. In addition, GlyCoal was recently tested at an 80 megawatt power plant in West Virginia. The fuel was injected directly into the boiler system, said Smith, and resulted in a 10 percent offset of the plant’s coal consumption.

And this story from EnergyCurrent.com says there is definitely a market for the fuel. Construction contractor Oldcastle Materials has entered into a contract to buy Glycoal and GlyClene, while poultry giant Perdue Farms will be buying GlyClene.

Biodiesel

Farm Foundation Announces Competition to Solve Food, Fiber & Fuel Challenges

John Davis

farmfoundationlogo2009The world faces some serious challenges… as pointed out in a Farm Foundation report released last December (see my post from December on AgWired.com). That report identifies six major areas of challenges with a role in agriculture’s ability to provide food, feed, fiber and fuel to a growing world: global financial markets and recession; global food security; global energy security; climate change; competition for natural resources; and global economic development.

To help find solutions to these problems, Farm Foundation has announced a competition to award $20,000 in prizes for the most innovative and public policy options coming from the public:

“Agriculture globally faces the challenge of how to provide food to a world that is expected to have 9 billion people by 2040,” says Farm Foundation President Neil Conklin. “This challenge exists at the same time that we are already seeing pressures on global resources, as well as increased demand for agriculture to provide not only food, but feed, fiber and fuel.

“It is not clear that today’s public policies-designed to deal with issues of the last century-provide appropriate tools and incentives to address the challenges of the next 30 years,” Conklin continues. “Farm Foundation is offering this competition as a catalyst for innovative ideas and approaches.”

If you have an idea, get it into the Farm Foundation through this Web site (more information is also available there) by June 1, 2009.

The project is directed and led by Farm Foundation with financial assistance from the Alliance for Abundant Food and Energy, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Pork Producers Council, and the United Egg Producers.

Farm Foundation