National Biofuels Action Plan Expected

Cindy Zimmerman

Sam BodmanEd SchaferDepartment of Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer and Department of Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman are planning to release the National Biofuels Action Plan tomorrow in Washington DC.

The action plan is an interagency plan detailing the collaborative efforts to accelerate the development of a sustainable biofuels industry. The Cabinet Secretaries will announce additional news related to the biofuels industry, new biofuel technology and ethanol blending.

The announcement will be made at the USDA building on Tuesday at 11:30 eastern.

blends, Ethanol, Government

Transition to a Bioeconomy: Part III

John Davis

In just about a week and a half, government officials, bioenergy experts and leaders in the private industry will gather in St. Louis, Mo., for the third in a series of conferences sponsored by the Farm Foundation addressing the issues facing rural areas as they move to a bioeconomy.

Michael Popp, professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Arkansas, is one of the coordinators for the Transition to a Bioeconomy: Environmental and Rural Development Impacts conference, Oct. 15th-16th at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at Union Station.

“The purpose of the conference is to provide an unbiased presentation of issues that are going to affect us in agriculture and otherwise as we transition to a bioeconomy.”

Popp defines the bioeconomy as the complex supply chain associated with providing the agricultural feedstocks, including biomass, to turn into fuel. He includes solar and wind energy in that definition as well.

Among those attending the conference will be U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, who will address public policy challenges for the bioeconomy and USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas Dorr.

Popp says with the this particular conference will talk about rural development issues and the environmental factors, especially for the second-generation biofuels plants. And he says he expects
a good turnout for this more centrally-located conference.

“[Those] who should attend would be the financial community that might be asked to provide loans to these kinds of biofuels investments, rural development people – be that from municipal, state or federal governments, and finally, academia and industry to get more information on what’s truly out there and going on.”

There’s still time to sign up to attend the conference. Click here for more information, and I’ll see you in St. Louis!

To hear more of Cindy’s interview with Michael Popp, click here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-foundation/farmfoundation-popp2.mp3]

biomass, Energy, Environment, Ethanol, Farm Foundation, News

Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol in the Southeast

Cindy Zimmerman

Southeast Renewable FuelsThe land around Lake Okeechobee has long been one of the largest sugarcane producing regions in the nation. One company now wants to use a tract of land along the lake to produce sweet sorghum for ethanol.

Southeast Renewable Fuels plans to build a 20 million gallon per year ethanol production plant on a 60 acre site in Hendry County and have it operational by 2011, with the intention of building at least two more plants around the Lake Okeechobee area.

Southeast Renewable FuelsCompany CEO Aaron Pepper says they currently has sweet sorghum field trials underway in various types of soils in the counties surrounding Lake Okeechobee. He is shown here inspecting some of those trials. The company is negotiating with area farmers about planting sweet sorghum, which is similar to the sugarcane familiar in the area and grows up to 15 feet tall, but can yield two harvests per year and so could be planted on sugarcane acreage when it is fallow.

The company is looking to raise at least $75 million for the project, the majority of which may come from investors in Brazil and Spain.

Ethanol, News

Making Ethanol at Night

Chuck Zimmerman

Ethanol Plant at NightEthanol plants are cool in a lot of ways. They’re producing a domestic fuel solution to our energy problems and that lessens our dependency on foreign oil for example.

But they can also make a pretty picture too. I was driving south through Missouri last night and passed through Laddonia and the POET plant there.

This was a handheld snapshot from the highway (not much traffic at the time I was passing by).

Ethanol, Facilities, News, Production

Report: Biodiesel, Ethanol & Renewables to Create 4.2 Million US Jobs

John Davis

A new report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors says 4.2 million Americans will have green industry jobs by 2038… a dramatic increase from the current 750,000 green jobs in the country now.

“This report proves that being green is not optional, it is necessary for a healthy and robust economy,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. “Creating green jobs is an investment we must continue to make.”

Under assumed scenarios and with government commitment and investments, the report projects Green Jobs could contribute 10% of new jobs through 2038, representing the fastest growing job segment in the U.S. economy. By 2038, the report forecasts that renewable electricity production will create 1.23 million jobs; alternative transportation fuels 1.5 million jobs; engineering, legal, research and consulting positions will be more than 1.4 million; and commercial and residential retrofits at 81,000 jobs, for a total of 4.2 million.

The report assumes that 40 percent of the country’s electricity will come from alternative sources, such as wind, solar and biomass, 30 percent of gas and diesel for the nations vehicles will come from renewables, and homes and businesses will reduce their energy use by 35 percent by 2038.

The report was released during a Forum on the Environment and Energy held in Miami.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News, Solar, Wind

Debt Repayment Could Help Biodiesel Refiner

John Davis

Investors have stepped in to give troubled Imperium Renewables, which operates a 100-million gallon biodiesel refinery in the Seattle area, a boost to repay some of its debts.

This story from the Seattle Times says Imperium has also hired a third-party debt restructuring firm to help it negotiate down debt with other creditors:

“With this recapitalization and cooperation of our creditors, we hope to resume operations as soon as possible,” said Chief Executive John Plaza in a statement.

Neither the sum contributed by investors nor the total outstanding debt were disclosed.

Closely held Imperium raised significant amounts of cash and obtained a $41 million loan and a $60 million credit facility from Societe Generale as it built one of the nation’s largest biodiesel plants, the first in a planned global network.

But plans for further expansion and a public stock offering were scrapped as the company struggled with the high cost of raw materials and financial markets unreceptive to biodiesel ventures.

Officials believe that this will be significant step in turning the company’s fortunes around but admit it still has an uphill battle ahead.

Biodiesel

Wall Street Bailout Bails Out Stalled Biodiesel, Solar & Wind Credits

John Davis

The U.S. House of Representatives has reversed direction from just a week ago and approved 263-171 the Senate’s version of the $700 billion bill to fix the nation’s financial crisis.

And this story from Reuters says incentives for biodiesel, wind and solar are also the big benefactors from the vote:

Legislation to extend the renewable energy tax credits, which were set to expire at the end of the year, had been stalled by a dispute between the House and the Senate over how to pay for the tax breaks.

However, attaching the energy tax credits to the economic rescue package gave them new life.

The legislation extends for one year the production tax credit for wind energy, with an eight-year extension for investment tax credits for businesses and homeowners to install solar energy equipment.

Buyers of plug-in electric cars would receive tax credits ranging from $2,500 to $7,500.

The bill also extends a $1 per gallon production tax credit for biodiesel through 2009. This measure closes a “splash and dash” loophole where companies mixed foreign biofuels with U.S. biodiesel to receive the U.S. subsidy, but then sold the fuel at a discount to European markets.

Biodiesel, Government, Legislation, News, Solar, Wind

Webinar Previewing 2009 Fleet Alt. Fuel Vehicles

The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Institute (AFVI) will be sponsoring a live webinar, Fleet Solutions:
Light-Duty OEM Product Preview 2009, that will introduce 2009 alternative fuel fleet vehicles on Tuesday, October 21 at 10:30 a.m. Pacific Time. This webinar will include 2009 vehicle information on fuel economy, emissions benefits, and available incentives.

AFVI is the education provider and information link between the alternative fuels and vehicles industry and public/private fleets and other proponents of alternative fuels. AFVI is fuel and technology neutral. Their primary focus is to help improve our country’s transportation energy supply by facilitating market integration of new transportation fuels and technologies while minimizing environmental impacts.

To register for the webinar, click here. The webinar is free but space is limited.

Environment, News

Geographic Information Helps Plan Ethanol Pipelines

Cindy Zimmerman

Colonial PipelineMajor U.S. pipeline company Colonial Pipeline is using geographic information system (GIS) technology to study the feasibility of shipping ethanol by pipeline.

According to a press release from ESRI, a mapping and software company, Colonial is using GIS to find the best ways to get ethanol from the production areas of the Midwest to pipelines and terminals and retail gas stations on the coasts.

Working with GIS technology, Colonial has been able to build business models for shipping ethanol via pipelines. Within the business model, Colonial can weigh the costs associated with various railroads, the production capacity for each ethanol plant, and the various transit times from producer to pipeline. Colonial engineers map and model possible scenarios of transporting ethanol from producer to train, barge, or truck and pipelines and terminals, then back to trucks. Concurrently, the company can analyze population data within the GIS to determine where the greatest demand for ethanol exists.

Ethanol, News

Miami Biodiesel Plant Seen as Alternative to ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’

John Davis

As some folks call for more offshore drilling of non-renewable petroleum, a place known for its beautiful beaches is looking to biodiesel as an alternative to drilling platforms breaking up that breath-taking views.

This story from Miami Today says Biomix Energy Corp. wants to build a biodiesel plant on the Miami River:

The first phase of the project, expected to be operating by the end of next summer, could yield 15 million gallons of production a year, said Steven Karpel, chief operating officer of Biomix Energy Corp.

The completed facility, an estimated $40 million to $50 million investment, is expected to produce 30 million gallons annually beginning in 2011, he said.

The company is in the process of securing a three-acre site on the river and an official OK from Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management, as well as planning and zoning officials.

The article goes on to say that the Biomix Energy plant might need a zoning change to become a reality, however, commissioners lacked a quorum at the latest meeting and could not vote on it.

Just last month, Dade County commissioners debated about what more drilling would do to the area’s vital tourist industry, and the article reports Commissioner José “Pepe” Diaz as saying that the more we drill, the less we’ll consider alternative fuels.

Biodiesel