ACE Conference 2026

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

Oil Company Bids to Buy Ethanol Plants

Cindy Zimmerman

VerasunBankrupt ethanol producer VeraSun has announced an agreement to sell a significant portion of its assets to Valero Energy Corporation for $280 million.

ValeroThe deal would involve VeraSun production facilities in Aurora, South Dakota; Charles City, Fort Dodge, and Hartley, Iowa; and Welcome, Minnesota; and a development site in Reynolds, Indiana. Having entered into the Valero agreement, the Company is now required to hold an auction to determine if other bidders will offer more favorable terms than Valero’s bid, referred to as a “stalking horse” bid.

“Given current difficult industry conditions and continued constrained credit markets, we believe that commencing a sale process is in the best interest of Company stakeholders,” said Don Endres, VeraSun’s Chief Executive Officer.

This would be Valero’s first foray into the ethanol business. The day before VeraSun announced the deal, Valero CEO Bill Klesse said in a conference call that they were “very interested” in making acquisitions in distillates, which include diesel fuel, jet fuel and heating oil, at the same time they are trying to sell a gasoline refinery in Aruba.

Ethanol, News

No Deliveries From Oil Supplier in Ethanol Partnership

Cindy Zimmerman

An oil distributor that is part of a recently-announced joint venture with POET and ICM to deliver new generation fuels caused some panic this week when it failed to deliver old generation fuel to gas stations across the Midwest.

Crescent OilOfficials with Crescent Oil Company, a fuel supplier for seven Midwest states, had no comment Friday about claims that this week’s fuel deliveries never arrived. Several retail operators in Kansas and Missouri say that regular deliveries from Crescent did not arrive as scheduled on Wednesday, prompting rumors of fuel shortages, driving up gas prices and ultimately forcing them to find other suppliers. Crescent Oil is a wholesale supplier for several major oil companies and distributes fuel to more than 340 locations in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois and Louisiana.

NewGen FuelJust last week, Crescent took part in the grand opening of a NewGen “Renewable Fuel” retail station in Topeka, Kansas, together with partners POET and ICM.

According to a press release on the opening, “NewGen Fuel™ will provide owners of flex fuel vehicles (FFVs) the freedom to choose domestically produced midrange ethanol blends, through Crescent Oil Company’s efficient fuel distributorship and POET’s robust supply of ethanol.”

“We’re extremely excited to celebrate the grand opening of the first “Renewable Fuel” retail station in our state capital,” said NewGen Fuel president Alan Goodnight. “And we’re equally grateful for the extraordinary collaboration to form a joint venture with industry leaders, Crescent Oil Company and POET.”

Local news reports indicate that Crescent Oil is experiencing financial difficulties but had not filed bankruptcy.

blends, Energy, Ethanol, News, POET

Indiana Opens First City-Run Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

kfuelThe City of Kokomo, Indiana has opened a city-run biodiesel plant… the state’s first municipally-run biodiesel refinery.

This press release from the city says the sustainable program will use waste cooking oil to make what they are calling K-Fuel:

“I knew that if we could find a way of making our own fuel, the City would save money and reduce our use of foreign oil,” Mayor [Greg] Goodnight explained at today’s press conference. “What we created was a bio-fuel program that will immediately begin to reduce our energy and maintenance costs, and shrink the City’s carbon footprint.”

“If we only produced 55 gallons of K-FUEL a day the City would save, at today’s fuel prices, $25,000 during the first 12 months of operation. That, is good for the city’s budget and the city’s taxpayers,” Goodnight said.

“This program will eliminate about half a million pounds of carbon dioxide and several hundred pounds of diesel ash from our atmosphere every year,” stated the Mayor. “This reduces our impact on our environment, and improves the air quality of our community.”

“We call the initiative Kokomo’s Renewable Energy Partnership, and is about sustainable development,” stated Goodnight. “We are taking our first steps towards a local economy that is more diverse, competitive, and rooted in sustainable practices. We want to be a hub of the renewable energy industry.”

Paul Munoz, Kokomo’s Bio-Fuels Manager, detailed how waste cooking oil is processed into bio-diesel. “The City will collect used cooking oil from participating restaurants, businesses, and a residential collection program. At this time, we are collecting about 1500 gallons of used cooking oil from 12 participating businesses each month; and anticipate the collection of about 300 gallons from our residents in the first couple of months of operation. These amounts will increase over time, as businesses partner with the City, and as our production and collection methods improve.”

City officials say the program will also help keep sewer-clogging grease out of Kokomo’s waste water system.

Biodiesel

Frisco to Host Algae Biofuels Summit

John Davis

algaebiofuelsummitOn the heels of hosting the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo, San Francisco will be home to Algae Biofuels World Summit, March 23-25, 2009 at the Marines’ Memorial Club & Hotel.

Summit officials bill the meeting as the first major algae biofuels industry-building event and a unique forum where leading carbon generators, algae developers, biorefiners, financiers, investors, transportation companies and other key players in the algae biofuels value chain will connect and share…

The Algae Biofuels World Summit will be the first major event where all the communities in the algae biofuels value chain come together to discuss how to build a new algae biofuels industry. Unlike scientific research-oriented events, the goal of the Summit is to provide a forum where the algae community can discuss and learn how to build the links within the value chain that are necessary to make the algae biofuels industry a reality.

No single community will be able to create an algae biofuels industry. Only through intense cooperative efforts will this be possible. This means that all the communities in the value chain will need to obtain a detailed understanding of the capabilities, challenges and needs of the other parts in the value chain in order for the industry to move forward.

Power plant operators, industrial carbon generators, algae technology developers, algae equipment suppliers, algae project developers, biofuels refiners, financiers, carbon market players, oil companies, airlines, aircraft and engine manufacturers will be on hand to share their perspectives on what is needed to build a truly viable algae biofuels industry.

For more information and to register, go to the conference Web site.

algae, Biodiesel

Company Designs Truck-Trailer Sized Biodiesel Refinery

John Davis

amoilA California-based energy company has designed a mobile biodiesel production plant, able to make 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of the green fuel a week while fitting in the back of a 8 foot by 45 foot by 9.5 foot trailer.

This company press release says AM Oil Resources & Technology Inc. says the biodiesel refinery is just in the design stage right now, but it will soon become reality:

According to Anthony K. Miller, CEO, “The mobile biodiesel plant is to be self sufficient, adaptable to different grades of waste vegetable oil (WVO), environmentally friendly, and economical. Our initial goal is to produce fuel that can be used to operate our patent steam generators, oil field equipment and/or our vehicles. Biodiesel is typically blended with diesel for usage and any surplus we produce can be sold for a profit. We can sell the glycerin as a profit center as well.” Miller added, “Management and our consultants have extensive experience in this field, with involvement in one of the first stationary plants built in California. We are extremely excited by the promise this can hold for our Company.”

I couldn’t find a picture of the mobile biodiesel plant, but I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about it soon.

Biodiesel

MO Ethanol Fuel Law Under Fire

mo-capitolAccording to the Springfield News Leader, Missouri’s law of standardizing a ten percent ethanol fuel blend into gasoline recently re-emerged in a Senate agriculture committee hearing.

Sen. Matt Bartle from Lees Summit said, “We’re coming along and saying ‘government knows better,’” Bartle said in a nearly 20-minute monologue that delved deeply into conservative economic philosophy. “We are picking ethanol over other alternative (energy) technologies … that might produce less dependence on foreign oil.”

Missouri’s alternative energy standard went into effect Jan. 1, 2008 and until gasoline prices plummeted, most unleaded gasoline contained E10.
“I didn’t need government to tell me that I had to buy one fuel or another,” Bartle said.

Despite Bartle’s pleas for the committee to renew their faith in capitalism and vote out a repeal of the mandate, he wasn’t getting much sympathy.

Ethanol, Government, News

Ethanol – Right Here, Right Now

Cindy Zimmerman

RFA AdThe Renewable Fuels Association has released a new television ad focusing on the important role ethanol is playing in our nation’s economic, energy and environmental future by creating jobs, developing new technologies, and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

In just 30 seconds, the ad entitled “Right Here, Right Now” stresses that our energy future starts at home with 180 ethanol plants nationwide, fueling the economy with over 300,000 green jobs.

Watch the ad here:

communications, Ethanol, News, Promotion, RFA

Retired General Tackles Ethanol Land Use Issue

Cindy Zimmerman

Growth EnergyRetired General Wesley Clark today embraced his new role as a leader in the growth of renewable energy.

Clark was named co-chairman of Growth Energy during a Thursday morning press conference in Washington DC. “Every gallon of ethanol that we put in our fuel system today is a gallon of imported gasoline that we avoid,” Clark said. “This country is importing 15 billion gallons of gasoline, refined product, a year. We don’t need to do that.”

Clark talked about some of the challenges facing the ethanol industry, such as the indirect land use issue. He said that the land use issue is being based on the GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation) model, which he says is based on outdated assumptions about the ethanol industry and agriculture. “I think if you look at the fundamental issues you can see that our best environmentalists are the American farmers and what they have done is pretty remarkable in terms of strengthening the environment, protecting the land and being able to bring in crops more efficiently.” He thinks that when the model is updated it will show a much more favorable picture relating to land use.

Listen to some of General Clark’s comments from this morning’s press conference here:
Gen. Clark Growth Energy

Audio, Ethanol, Growth Energy, News