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Study Shows Cellulosic Ethanol Goals Attainable

Cindy Zimmerman

A new study finds that large scale production of cellulosic ethanol beyond the level of the Renewable Fuel Standard is achievable and sustainable by 2030, with accelerated development of biofuel and agricultural technology.

BIOThe Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today announced the release of “The 90-Billion Gallon Biofuel Deployment Study,” a new report by Sandia National Laboratories and General Motors Corp. The report investigates the challenges and feasibility of increasing biofuel production targets to 90 billion gallons, which would displace nearly a third of projected transportation fuel use in 2030.

Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s Industrial and Environmental Section, says “This new study shows clearly that building U.S. production of cellulosic biofuels is a sound way to significantly reduce U.S. reliance on petroleum in the transportation sector. The study uses relatively conservative assumptions about the development of cellulosic biorefineries as well as the availability and possible yields of biomass to show that large-scale production of cellulosic biofuels can be done. Moreover, cellulosic biofuels can compete with high prices for oil while requiring investment equal to or less than that needed to find and develop new sources of domestic oil.”

Sandia National Laboratories’ Biofuels Deployment Model was used to complete the 90 billion gallon study, which found that cellulosic biofuels could compete without incentives with oil priced between $70 and $90 per barrel in 2030, with accelerated development of
technology and feedstocks.

BIO, Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

RFA Analyzes Recent Ethanol Impact Studies

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol Report PodcastThis edition of “The Ethanol Report” podcast features comments from Renewable Fuels Association Vice President of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper about recently released studies from the University of Nebraska and the University of Minnesota regarding life cycle analysis and greenhouse gas emissions of ethanol compared to gasoline. Cooper compares the two reports and discusses RFA’s major concerns with the Minnesota study.

You can listen to “The Ethanol Report” on-line here:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/rfa/ethanol-report-26.mp3]

Or you can subscribe to this podcast by following this link.

Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol Report, RFA

Biodiesel Jet Truck Makes Its Debut

John Davis

prairielandtruckSaskatchewan-based Prairieland Motorsports has unveiled the world’s first jet-powered biodiesel truck.

This picture from the Prairieland Web site is the truck in progress. This story from CanadianDriver.com has details:

The truck, named Prairie Gold, was shown at the Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon, and at the Farm Tech Show in Edmonton in January. The body resembles a 2009 Ford F-150 pickup truck, but uses a J60 Pratt and Whitney jet engine, normally found in the U.S. Navy’s T-2 Buckeye intermediate training aircraft.

The truck is expected to reach speeds of 402 km/h in about 6.5 seconds on a drag racing track. It will be attending car shows, trade shows and drag races throughout Canada in 2009, including the World of Wheels Show in Calgary from February 19 to 21.

The truck runs on canola-based B100 biodiesel from local biodiesel supplier Milligan Bio-Tech Inc. of Foam Lake, Saskatchewan.

Biodiesel

Sirona Fuels Joins Biodiesel Business

John Davis

sironaSan Francisco-based Sirona Fuels has joined the biodiesel business. During an announcement, fittingly enough, at the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo last week in the Golden Gate city, company officials said they bought Blue Sky Biofuels, giving them a 15 million gallon a year refinery using recycled cooking oil:

Sirona has implemented plans for the rapid expansion of its used cooking oil collection business, and by the end of 2009 expects to produce the majority of its biodiesel from jatropha, an oil-yielding plant that grows on non-arable land and is not part of the food chain. The company has identified commercial sources for jatropha in several countries and is developing businesses that will promote the establishment of jatropha farms in Haiti, India and other developing countries.

By working with sustainable and affordable feedstocks like used cooking oil and jatropha, Sirona’s business model is designed to stabilize fuel prices for its customers, provide sustainable revenue to its suppliers and make significant volumes of high-quality biodiesel available to the market. Paul Lacrouciere, CEO of Sirona Fuels, has a 20 year history in the energy industry. Over the last ten years as an attorney he has structured and negotiated transactions with the some of the largest energy companies in the world.

“There is no better way for a company to go green or get ahead of rising oil prices and upcoming low-carbon fuel standards than with a fixed-price, high-quality biodiesel like Sirona offers,” said Lacourciere. “Sirona’s biodiesel exceeds ASTM standards and has among the highest quality of any biofuel in America. We plan to grow the company exponentially by acquiring more refineries and aggressively expanding our local and international feedstock supplies.

Sirona also is doing some pretty impressive philanthropic things as well, including helping underdeveloped countries develop their potential and establishing a relief fund for more than 1,100 orphans in Haiti. Check ’em out!

Biodiesel

New Website Offers Green Jobs Listing

John Davis

sustainlaneNeed a job to make some green? Well, then, think GREEN!

SustainLane.com, which bills itself as the leading Web guide for green living, is now offering a green collar job board: www.sustainlane.com/green-jobs.

A company press release says the board has hundreds of job listings from across the U.S., including alternative energy jobs:

“Green collar jobs are on the rise, thanks to a growing national consciousness on environmental issues, the rapid growth of the alternative energy industries and President Obama’s pledge to generate new green jobs during his term,” says James Elsen, SustainLane Media CEO. “For those currently in green jobs—or looking to enter the industry—the time has never been better. Through SustainLane.com’s green collar job board, we hope to simplify the job search and provide the ultimate green job resource.”

Employers and job seekers can use the SustainLane.com green collar job board for free. Just go to www.sustainlane.com/green-jobs or call (415) 392-LANE for more information.

Miscellaneous

Oil Company in Ethanol Partnership Files Bankruptcy

Cindy Zimmerman

Crescent OilKansas-based Crescent Oil Company has filed for bankruptcy after failing to make deliveries last week to many retailers the company serves in the Midwest. The sudden move comes just two weeks after Crescent took part in a grand opening for NewGen Fuels, a joint venture with ethanol plant owner/designers ICM and POET.

NewGen FuelOfficials with NewGen say their goal to offer “new generation” ethanol-blended fuels at hundreds of retail outlets remains the same, but the timing could be affected.

NewGen President Alan Goodnight was quoted in the Wichita Business Journal. “We’re still focused on the mission of NewGen,” Goodnight says. “We don’t see these unfortunate events in any way changing the mission or changing our objective. Crescent Oil was also a partner in NewGen LLC and still is.”

blends, Ethanol, News, POET

Wisconsin Corn Growers Present Award to Lung Association

ala-wiAccording to an article in the Dunn County News, the American Lung Association (ALA) in Wisconsin recently received the “Friends of Wisconsin Corn Growers” award during the Wisconsin Corn Growers Association (WCGA) annual meeting in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.

“Representatives of the American Lung Association in Wisconsin have worked tirelessly to promote E85 fuel as a ‘Clean Air Choice’ fuel for many years at dozens of gas station promotions, trade shows, fairs and other gatherings,” says Randy Woodruff, president, Wisconsin Corn Growers Association. “We are fortunate to have this committed group of professionals working diligently to communicate the benefits of ethanol fuel to all the residents of our state and we look forward to partnering with them on some new programs.”

The ALA of Wisconsin promotes E85 through a variety of outlets such as listing E85 stations throughout the state on highway signage. “The blue highway signs are a great tool to remind motorists who have flex fuel vehicles that they have a cleaner alternative to gasoline,” says Jackie Blackburn, Clean Fuels coordinator for the American Lung Association of Wisconsin. “And often, E85 is priced significantly less than regular unleaded fuel.”

Wisconsin now boasts more than 120 E85 fueling outlets.

corn, E85

Ethanol Groups Criticize Negative Study

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol industry organizations say a University of Minnesota study critical of corn ethanol is flawed.

RFAThe study, which claims corn ethanol is worse for health and the environment than gasoline, was analyzed in detail by the Renewable Fuels Association. RFA warns “because there is no consensus within the academic community on the best methods for analyzing highly uncertain potential land use changes, the results of this study must be viewed with extreme caution.”

According to RFA, the conclusion that corn ethanol “can be as harmful to the environment as gasoline, and that the combined costs to climate-change and health exceed that of gas” is predicated on “the baseless assumption that additional corn demand for increased ethanol production will cause conversion of large amounts of grassland enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).”

RFA points out that if the authors’ assumed land use change emissions are removed from the analysis, the paper suggests average corn ethanol reduces greenhouse gases by 30% compared to gasoline and advanced corn ethanol reduces GHGs by 46%. The paper states, “Whether corn ethanol has lower life-cycle GHG emissions than gasoline depends on biorefinery heat source, assumptions about technology, and land-use change.”

Growth EnergyGrowth Energy released a statement on the report that said in part, “Despite initial negative interpretations by the press and some flawed assumptions by its authors, Growth Energy sees some positive potential from the University of Minnesota’s latest study on ethanol’s potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We were glad to see the authors agree that ethanol is part of the solution to the global climate crisis, recognizing that ‘corn-ethanol emissions will continue to improve’ with technological and agricultural advancements ‘including increased yields on the farm and improved conversion.'”

“Despite the positive aspects, the study does fail to take into account that corn farmers have dramatically increased per-acre yields, and ethanol producers continue to utilize new technologies to reduce the industry’s environmental impact. That trend is certain to continue in the years ahead.”

SchlicherAnother industry reaction to the report came from Dr. Martha Schlicher, vice president of Illinois River Energy and former head of the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center, who wrote that the study “over promises on the potential of cellulosics and under promises on what is yet possible with corn. Technology used to produce corn based ethanol today will not be the technology of tomorrow and, if given the opportunity, will be dramatically advanced from the modest advancements the Minnesota study cites.”

Schlicher notes several areas in which the study specifically falls short, such as assuming no increase over current corn-based ethanol production yields despite all of the well documented enzyme and corn composition advancements while simultaneously claiming a 10% increase in cellulosic ethanol yield over what today has been demonstrated only in the laboratory.

Environment, Ethanol, Growth Energy, News, RFA

Optimizing Engines for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

A Michigan-based engineering firm has reportedly developed technology to optimize engines for ethanol.

ricardoAccording to a press release from Ricardo, Inc., the technology “optimizes ethanol-fueled engines to a level of performance that exceeds gasoline engine efficiency and approaches levels previously reached only by diesel engines.”

The technology, called Ethanol Boosted Direct Injection or EBDI, takes full advantage of ethanol’s best properties – higher octane and higher heat of vaporization – to create a truly renewable fuel scenario that is independent of the cost of oil.

“Developing renewable energy applications that can lead to energy independence is a top priority at Ricardo,” said Ricardo President Dean Harlow. “We’ve moved past theoretical discussion and are busy applying renewable energy technology to the real world. The EBDI engine project is a great example because it turns the gasoline-ethanol equation upside down. It has the performance of diesel, at the cost of ethanol, and runs on ethanol, gasoline, or a blend of both.”

EBDI solves many of the challenges faced by flex-fuel engines because it is optimized for both alternative fuels and gasoline. Current flex-fuel engines pay a fuel economy penalty of about 30 percent compared to gasoline when operated on ethanol blends such as E85. The EBDI engine substantially improves ethanol’s efficiency, and performs at a level comparable to a diesel engine.

E85, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

Catalyst Could Jump Start Ethanol Fuel Cells

Cindy Zimmerman

Researchers have developed a new catalyst that could make ethanol-powered fuel cells feasible.

The research was done by a team of scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory, in collaboration with researchers from the University of Delaware and Yeshiva University, and was published online in the January 25 edition of Nature Materials.

ethanol catalystAccording to the researchers, the highly efficient catalyst performs two crucial, and previously unreachable steps needed to oxidize ethanol and produce clean energy in fuel cell reactions. Made of platinum and rhodium atoms on carbon-supported tin dioxide nanoparticles, the research team’s electrocatalyst is capable of breaking carbon bonds at room temperature and efficiently oxidizing ethanol into carbon dioxide as the main reaction product.

“Ethanol is one of the most ideal reactants for fuel cells,” said Brookhaven chemist Radoslav Adzic. “It’s easy to produce, renewable, nontoxic, relatively easy to transport, and it has a high energy density. In addition, with some alterations, we could reuse the infrastructure that’s currently in place to store and distribute gasoline.”

“The ability to split the carbon-carbon bond and generate CO2 at room temperature is a completely new feature of catalysis,” Adzic said. “There are no other catalysts that can achieve this at practical potentials.”

Energy, Ethanol, Research