Fill ‘er Up with Biodiesel & Ethanol on I-65

John Davis

You can now travel from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, entirely on biodiesel and ethanol.

This story from WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tenn. says officials from Alabama, Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee, along with representatives from the federal Department of Energy, joined together to dedicate Interstate 65 as America’s first biofuels corridor:

“Tennessee has already been working to make these clean, renewable biofuels available to more motorists traveling in our state,” said Gov. Phil Bredesen. “I’m pleased to see us join forces with other states to make Interstate 65 the first corridor in the country to make biofuels widely available.”

“In this environment, it is imperative that the state look at other energy options, such as biofuels. Today, through the governor’s BioTenn Initiative and grants like these from the U.S. Department of Energy, we are well on our way toward making biofuels a real option for Tennesseans,” said [Tennessee Department of Transportation Commissioner Gerald] Nicely.

Officials say you can drive the entire 886 miles of I-65 and never be more than a quarter tank of gas from the nearest E85 station. In addition, along the way there’s 29 public refueling stations: 19 E85 in Indiana, 1 E85 in Kentucky, 3 E85 in Tennessee and 7 B20 and 6 E85 in Alabama.

You can read more about I-65: America’s Biofuels Corridor by clicking here.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Animal Fat Biodiesel Plant Breaks Ground

John Davis

A biodiesel plant that will make biodiesel from animal fats has broken ground in Louisiana.

This story from the Arkansas Democrat Gazette says that Tyson Foods, Inc. of Springdale, Arkansas and Syntroleum Corp. of Tulsa, Ok. have formed a joint venture called Dynamic Fuels with the biodiesel plant expected to open late next year in Geismar, La., just outside Baton Rouge:

The plant will use a patent-pending technology developed by Syntroleum to make high-grade biodiesel and jet fuels from Tyson-produced nonfood grade animal fats such as beef tallow, pork lard, chicken fat and greases, a news release from Tyson stated.

Jeff Webster, senior vice president and general manager of Tyson Foods’ renewable products group, said the demand for biofuels should remain steady despite recent reductions in the price of crude oil and refined gasoline.

Jeffrey Bigger, director of the Dynamic Fuels LLC management committee, said the plant is the first such fuel production facility in the United States.

The plant is expected to produce 75 million gallons of biodiesel a year., the news release states.

Biodiesel

Ethanol a Big Topic at Recent PEI/NACS Show

The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) attended the recent National Association of Convenience Store (NACS)/Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) Conference recently held in Chicago, IL where ethanol was a big topic of discussion. The event brought more than 30,000 attendees and exibitors together to learn about petroleum and alternative fuel equipment among much more.

Many convenience store owners visited the NEVC booth inquiring about E85 and how to obtain additional information on installing E85 infrastructure. CleanFUEL USA, Gilbarco Veeder Root and Dresser Wayne were a few of the exhibitors at the show that promoted their E85 dispensing units and also answered retailers’ questions.

Next years NACS/PEI show will be held October 20-23, 2009 at the Las Vegas Convention Center
in Las Vegas, Nevada.

E85, Ethanol, News

Solving Global Warming Gets Debaters Going

John Davis

Just when I thought we would not get much on renewable energy in tonight’s presidential debate from Belmont University in Nashville, a question from the crowd has started the conversation in earnest. A lady asked if the candidates would take the same quick call-to-action approach to solve the looming global warming crisis as we saw in the recent financial crisis.

Republican Sen. John McCain says he supports the development of cleaner-burning vehicles, such as hydrogen-powered cars as part of the solution to solve the climate crisis.

Democrat Sen. Barack Obama says this country has the potential to create five million green jobs in the near future, if we development the alternative energy sources available. He compares what renewable energy could do for the economy with what the computer did for it. Obama reiterates his commitment to solar, wind, geothermal and nuclear power as well.

Obama has taken a direct shot at McCain’s renewable energy record by pointing out that McCain has voted against alternative fuels 23 times. McCain countered that some of those included votes against big tax breaks for Big Oil.

Both men have touched on the issue of a resurgent Russia, fueled by petro dollars… which comes back to the issue of how they are going to make that a non-issue by freeing us from foreign oil.

That’s it for the night. We’ll get together again in about a week when the third and final presidential debate comes on.

Government, Miscellaneous, Solar, Wind

McCain, Obama Call for More Renewable Energy

John Davis

Presidential candidates Republican Sen. John McCain and Democrat Sen. Barack Obama are back at this evening, debating from the campus of Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn… and I’m here on my couch watching and listening carefully to what they say, paying special attention to what they say about renewable energy.

Both have just touched on the renewable energy issue, mostly from the standpoint of weaning America from foreign sources of non-renewable petroleum. McCain says we need to take an “all of the above” approach that includes biofuels, wind and solar energy, as well as nuclear and domestic petroleum. Obama counters that we need to have an energy plan that frees us from foreign oil in 10 years time, once again, through renewable energy.

Obama says we each need to think about how we use energy and how we gather more petroleum and alternative energy sources. He says incentives and tax breaks for people who buy American-made, fuel-efficient vehicles are very important, as are home conservation efforts.

Pretty light on any specifics on either side on renewable energy… or any other issue for that matter.

I’ll keep my eye on them and update again if something comes up. Stay tuned…

Miscellaneous

USDA Studies Ethanol From Farm Waste

Cindy Zimmerman

Leftovers from fields, orchards, and vineyards could be combined with other household garbage to make ethanol and other kinds of bioenergy.

USDA ARS Biomass Research USDA Agricultural Research Service scientists are investigating the possibilities at the agency’s Western Regional Research Center in Albany, Calif.

Agricultural wastes like rice straw, almond hulls, and the oversize outer leaves of iceberg lettuce – as well as municipal solid waste – would have to be pretreated before being used as a bioenergy resource. The pretreated agricultural waste could then be transferred to a biofermenter where yeasts and enzymes would be added to make ethanol.

Engineering technician David Bozzi and microbiologist Diana Franqui, (both pictured) along with research chemist Kevin Holtman are working on determining the best ways to use just water and heat to pretreat the farm wastes to keep the biorefining process as environmentally friendly as possible.

Read more from USDA ARS.

Ethanol, Research

Extreme Makeover: Ethanol Edition

Cindy Zimmerman

The Dirk Devries family of Albert Lea, Minnesota are not only the recipients of a new home, courtesy of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. They are also the proud owners of a new F150 crew cab flexible-fuel vehicle, courtesy of the ethanol industry.

Extreme MakeoverFive Minnesota-based POET Biorefining facilities, in conjunction with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) and Dave Syverson Ford, joined together to give the Devries family the new FFV valued at nearly $36,000 during filming of the show on Tuesday.

In addition, the biorefining facilities along with EPIC presented the family with a year’s worth of E85, valued at $6,000. The family will be able to use their E85 fuel card at the local Freeborn County Coop Oil Company.

“The community has really rallied around this event,” said Rick Mummert, general manager of POET Biorefining – Glenville. “Citizens and businesses have contributed to make this a great experience for all those involved. It’s an example of the true American spirit.”

No word yet on an air date for the show.

EPIC, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Promotion

Government Releases Biofuels Action Plan

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy today released the National Biofuels Action Plan (NBAP), an interagency plan detailing the collaborative efforts of Federal agencies to accelerate the development of a sustainable biofuels industry. The departments jointly chair the Biomass Research and Development Board.

USDA-DOEThe plan was developed in response to President Bush’s call to change the way America fuels its transportation fleets in the 2007 State of the Union Address. The President’s “Twenty In Ten” goal calls for cutting U.S. gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next 10 years by investing in renewable and alternative fuel sources, increasing vehicle efficiency and developing alternative fuel vehicles.

The NBAP outlines interagency actions and accelerated federally supported research efforts in seven areas including – Sustainability, Feedstock Production, Feedstock Logistics, Conversion Science and Technology, Distribution Infrastructure, Blending, and Environment, Health and Safety.

Among the highlights of the plan is under the area of blending, under which the board advocates the “blending ethanol with gasoline in amounts greater than 10 percent (E10) and will review results of an interagency testing program to evaluate the impact of intermediate blends on vehicle emissions and material compatibility by fall 2008.”

Under Feedstock Production, the plan outlines a feedstock availability and cost study that was conducted and the development of a long-term integrated feedstock research and development plan to be completed by December 2008.

Government, News

Mascoma Announces Funding for Cellulosic Ethanol Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Mascoma Corporation will receive a total of $26.0 million in funding from the Department of Energy and an overall contribution of $23.5 million from the State of Michigan for the development of a cellulosic fuel production facility that uses non-food biomass to convert woodchips into fuel.

MascomaMascoma executives made the announcement Tuesday with officials from the DOE, Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, members of the Michigan Congressional delegation and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

“Michigan is proud to partner with Mascoma as a part of our commitment to lead the nation in alternative energy production,” said Governor Granholm. “This company, and their partners, will create jobs in Michigan as they develop the next generation of cellulosic ethanol that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and make fuel more affordable for our families.”

The facility will be located in Chippewa County in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in the town of Kinross. The funding provided by DOE and the State of Michigan will accelerate Mascoma’s construction of the facility and the scale-up of its technology process while also paving the pathway to commercial low-carbon and sustainable fuel production in Michigan.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Government, News

DOE Finalizes Funding for Cellulosic Ethanol Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Energy will award more than $76 million to POET for the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol production technology.

POETIn February 2007, POET was selected by the DOE for a total award of up to $80 million in federal funding for the construction of a commercial cellulosic ethanol production facility. The first phase of the agreement was signed in October 2007 and provided POET with an initial $3.7 million for preliminary design, engineering and feedstock collection. The agreement announced today provides the remaining $76.3 million for final design, construction, start-up and continuous operation of Project LIBERTY.

Project LIBERTY, the transformation of a 50 MGPY grain-to-ethanol plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa into an integrated corn-to-ethanol and cellulose-to-ethanol biorefinery, is jointly funded by POET and the DOE. Once complete, the facility will produce 125 MGPY, of which 25 million gallons will be from corn fiber and corn cobs. By adding cellulosic production to an existing grain ethanol plant, POET will be able to produce 11 percent more ethanol from a bushel of corn and 27 percent more from an acre of corn while reducing fossil fuel consumption and water use. Construction is projected to begin in 2009 and production of cellulosic ethanol could come as early as 2011.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News