ACE Conference 2026

BP and Verenium Form Cellulosic Ethanol Venture

Cindy Zimmerman

VereniumBPBP and Verenium Corporation have taken another step in a partnership announced last year by forming a joint venture to develop and commercialize cellulosic ethanol from non-food feedstocks. Both companies have agreed to commit $45 million in funding and assets to the company.

The collaboration will be focused on the development of a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Highlands County, Florida and expects to break ground on that site in 2010. The estimated construction cost for this 36 million gallon-per-year facility is between $250 and $300 million. Production from this plant is expected to begin in 2012. With plans to add additional capacity, the joint venture company also intends to develop a second site in the Gulf Coast region.

The joint venture company will initially be based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, will be comprised of a team from both BP and Verenium and will be governed by a board with equal representation from both parent companies.

Cellulosic, Ethanol

Record Distillers Grains Exports

Cindy Zimmerman

Exports of the primary by-product of ethanol production are continuing to skyrocket.

According to USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service, exports of distillers grains from the United States nearly doubled last year, up more than 90% from 2007 to total 4.51 million metric tons. Distillers grains are an ethanol co-product used as livestock feed.

About one-third of every bushel of corn used to produce ethanol becomes distillers grains, which Renewable Fuels Association Vice President of Research and Analysis Geoff Cooper says have become a very valuable co-product for ethanol producers. “This increasing production and use of distillers grains is providing livestock feeders across the globe with a high protein source of feed that can partially displace the need for whole corn and soybean meal in feed rations,” said Cooper. “As a result, distillers grains are an important and often overlooked component of both the fictitious debate about food versus fuel and the ongoing discourse surrounding the science of land use change.”

The largest markets for exports of distillers grains from the United States in 2008 were Mexico, Canada and Turkey.

Distillers Grains, Ethanol, RFA, USDA

REG Opens Houston Biodiesel Truck Loading Facility

John Davis

regbiodiesel2Less than six months after opening a biodiesel plant in petroleum country, Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group has opened its Houston biodiesel facility for 24-hour a day pickup for trucks… the first of its kind in the Houston area.

This story from the Houston Business Journal has details:

“The current market conditions in Texas make biodiesel a tremendous choice for truck stops and petroleum distributors throughout the Gulf Coast,” REG Vice President of sales and marketing Gary Haer said.

The Seabrook production facility is capable of producing 35 million gallons a year of B99 or B100 biodiesel, and proximity to diesel terminals allows in-truck splash blending.

Purchasers will receive Renewable Identification Numbers currently worth 20 cents a gallon, and will be exempt from Texas’ 20-cents-per-gallon state excise tax.

Biodiesel

Oklahoma Moves Forward on Alt Fuel Bills

John Davis

A pair of bills that will give Oklahomans who choose alternative energy to heat and cool their homes and run their vehicles a break on their taxes continue their way through the state’s legislature.

chris_bengeThis story from The Daily Oklahoman says House Speaker Chris Benge’s bills are designed to lessen the dependence on foreign oil and could be applied nationally:

House Bill 1948 would provide a 5 percent tax credit for residents and businesses who would buy a geothermal heat pump system. House Bill 1949 is intended to double the number of publicly available compressed natural gas fueling stations and give Oklahomans tax credits to help them make a transition to alternative fuel vehicles.

Benge, R-Tulsa, said other energy-related measures to be taken up this session deal with solar, nuclear and wind power.

It’s estimated HB 1948 would cost the state about $850,000 a year while no estimate has determined yet how much HB 1949 would cost, Benge said.

Benge authored HB 1949 last summer when gasoline prices were about $4 a gallon in the state. Gasoline prices have dropped more than half since then, but Benge said it’s still important for Oklahoma to push an energy plan.

“Once the economy picks back up, we’re expecting the gasoline prices to go up again because that demand’s going to be there,” he said.

Government, Legislation, Miscellaneous

American Lung Assn. of WI Sponsors E85 Snowmobile Challenge Team

uw_snowmobile_teamThe American Lung Association of Wisconsin will be sponsoring the UW-Platteville Society of Automotive Engineering (SAE) Clean Snowmobile Challenge team in a project designed to inspire students and showcase innovative, cleaner energy technologies. As part of SAE’s Clean Snowmobile Challenge, the group modified a stock snowmobile to operate on E85.

Since its inception 10 years ago, the “challenge” of each competition has been for students to modify a stock snowmobile to meet a series of requirements, including air pollution levels. Last year, snowmobiles were required to run on ethanol. This year, snowmobiles must run not just on pure ethanol, but on any blend up to 85 percent, making these true flex-fuel vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has managed snowmobile air quality regulations since 2006, according to lead event organizer Jay Meldrum. According to Meldrum, the EPA has established regulations that significantly reduce acceptable levels of hydrocarbons, carbon and oxides of nitrogen in snowmobile exhaust. “Our teams are proving at each competition that we can beat the emissions and noise standards with practical solutions,” says Meldrum.

The team has been on the move, promoting their unique machine across the state. The UW-Platteville snowmobile served as the pace sled of the AMSOil World Championship Snowmobile Derby in Eagle River in January, and was displayed at the 2009 Corn/Soy Expo in Wisconsin Dells. This year’s competition will be held March 16-21 at Michigan Tech University.

E85, Ethanol

Stimulus Includes Billions for Renewables

Cindy Zimmerman

Obama stimulus signRenewable energy and biofuels are among the big winners in the $787 billion economic stimulus package signed by President Barack Obama today.

“Because we know we can’t power America’s future on energy that’s controlled by foreign dictators, we are taking big steps down the road to energy independence, laying the groundwork for new green energy economies that can create countless well-paying jobs,” said President Obama during the signing ceremony. “It’s an investment that will double the amount of renewable energy produced over the next three years. Think about that — double the amount of renewable energy in three years.”

Provisions that will benefit the domestic energy industry include $16.8 billion for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program. That funding specifies $800 million for projects related to biomass and $400 million for geothermal activities and projects, as well as $300 million for the Alternative Fueled Vehicles Pilot Grant Program.

AFBF StallmanThe American Farm Bureau Federation is among many organizations praising the stimulus package.

AFBF president Bob Stallman says the renewable energy provisions in the package will help the agriculture industry and all Americans through the economic recovery period.

“The tax incentives for renewable energy, particularly for new renewable fuels, will help build an industry that will provide farmers and ranchers with income and the rural economy with jobs, while contributing to a cleaner environment and reducing dependence on imported oil,” said Stallman in a statement today.

Energy, Ethanol, Farming, Government, News

Musical Activist to Headline World Biofuels Meeting

Cindy Zimmerman

Activist and musician Bob Geldof has been announced as the keynote speaker at World Biofuels Markets 2009 (WBM09) to be held March 16-19 in Brussels, Belgium.

Geldof, an Irish musician who launched his activist career by organizing Live Aid in 1985, will discuss how he believes biofuels can help developing countries become more energy independent without impacting food production. He and along with other speakers will discuss the sustainable bio future and how this could help eradicate poverty, particularly across the African continent.

In an interview with WBM, Geldof explained how he sees biofuels helping Africa. “Import substitution. More money in the economy. More jobs. Domestic fuel at the local level,” he says. “Africa has always used “bio-fuel” as a primary source – wood, dung, residue etc. They can build responsibly on this tradition.”

The WBM09 website states: Biofuels has come under a concerted media campaign alleging that they are all unsustainable and have adverse impacts. Some biofuels can be harmful to the environment but most biofuels provide a positive energy balance, can play an increasing role in reducing transport emissions, can be developed from feedstocks without impacting food production, can be grown on land without impacting delicate ecosystems or water use, can help alleviate poverty in developing countries.

conferences, Energy, Ethanol, International

California Wind Farm Wins Approval

John Davis

accionaA wind energy project in Southern California soon could be lighting up 50,000 homes. The Acciona Wind Energy USA wind farm will be Santa Barbara County’s first renewable wind-energy project after the county Board of Supervisors gave unanimous approval to the project.

This story from the Lompoc (CA) Record says it will be built southwest of the Pacific Ocean-side town of Lompoc:

A maximum of 65 wind turbine generators, which will reach 397 feet-high and are to be 15 feet in diameter, were approved, along with meteorological towers, operational facilities and a PG&E power line running from the project to Lompoc.

Construction could begin at the end of this year, and clean energy production could start by 2010, according to the developer.

Acciona is based in Spain, and you might remember from my post last August 11, 2008 that the company built a wind farm in the Dakotas that will provide power for 60,000 homes in that area.

Wind

Scholarships for Biodiesel Essays

John Davis

cleanairchoicelogoWriting about a green fuel could earn you some green for school! The American Lung Association’s Minnesota and South Dakota field offices, in conjunction with their respective states’ soybean promotion councils, are offering scholarships to students who write essays on biodiesel.

In each state, the competitions are open to high school seniors with plans to attend postsecondary education.

mnsdsoybeanIn Minnesota, winners will receive $1,000, while second place gets a $500 scholarship. South Dakota winners get $500, and second place receives $250.

For both states all essays and application materials must be submitted by 4:30pm on April 30, 2009.

General information is available on the ALA’s Upper Midwest Web site, www.cleanairchoice.org. Specifics for Minnesota are here… South Dakota here.

Good luck to all!

Biodiesel

Support for Increasing Ethanol Blend Levels

Cindy Zimmerman

Increasing the approved level for ethanol that can be blended into gasoline is the number one priority for the ethanol industry this year, and recently support for that goal has been indicated by two major players in Congress and the administration.

BingamanSenator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a recent New York Times interview that he thought government regulations that limit ethanol content to 10 percent should be reconsidered.

“I believe we could go to E-12, or E-14 or E-16 without causing any great problems with vehicle operation,” he said.

Bingaman said the EPA and the Energy Department are currently conducting tests on higher blends and results could be available within a year or so.

VilsackMeanwhile, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack recently said in an interview with Bloomberg that USDA and EPA are in discussions about raising the ethanol blend level, but they have no specific numbers yet. “I do think it’s important for us to look for strategies to make sure the infrastructure of the ethanol industry is preserved, because it is a key component to this new energy future the president’s laid out,” said Vilsack.

Increasing the blend level is seen as the only way to reach the Renewable Fuels Standard, which requires 11.1 billion gallons of renewable fuels, including ethanol, to be used this year. Vilsack says they should not have to change the RFS. “We’ve laid the markers down there and I think we have to work hard to meet it,” he said.

blends, Ethanol, Government