Biodiesel, Solar Could Gain in Volatile Market

John Davis

The stock market has been on a roller coaster ride lately… down hundreds of points one day, up hundreds the next.

But in this article from Reuters, Jeffrey Sohl, the director of the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire and a professor of entrepreneurship at the university’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics, says some alternative fuels might do well despite all the turmoil:

Q: Which sectors appear to be hot right now?

A: We’re picking up on industrial energy — that’s been kind of going up over the last several years, a nice sweet spot for them. Some new green technologies, new ways and new processes to deal with biodiesel. It could be new ways to keep coal emissions down. And some applications where you see solar and stuff like that – new ways to make those applications a little more cost effective.

Might not be time to drop your entire nest egg into those alternative fuel stocks, but it is good to know they seem to be doing all right.

Biodiesel, Solar

More MN State Fleets Using E85

After Minnesota’s Governor Pawlenty’s call to reduce petroleum fuel consumption, more of the state’s fleets are using the clean, alternative fuel — E85. According to the American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest and a new report from the Minnesota SmartFleet Committee, E85 use in the state fleet during the first three quarters of 2008 is 55percent greater than during the same period in 2007.

Since the beginning of this year, 529,000 gallons of E85 were used to fuel the state’s roughly 1,700 flexible fuel vehicles. Last year at this point, only 295,000 gallonsof the locally-produced, largely renewable fuel had been used. “We have increased our E85 use to approximately 12 percent of our total fuelpurchases,” said Tim Morse, chair of the SmartFleet Committee and director of Fleet and Surplus Services, Minnesota Department of Administration. “That’s very good progress toward our goal, but with E85 available at morethan 360 locations statewide, we can do even better.”

“A flexible fuel vehicle running on E85 instead ofgasoline produces significantly less tailpipe emissions than the samevehicle using gasoline,” said Kelly Marczak, director of the American Lung Association of Minnesota’s clean fuels program. “To-date, the state fleet’s use of E85 in 2008 has prevented more than 2100 tons of lifecycle carbondioxide emissions and other harmful pollutants from entering our air simplyby using E85 instead of gasoline.”

There are currently over 350 E85 fueling stations in the state of Minnesota, the most of any state in the nation.

E85, Ethanol

School Buses Run on Biodiesel for 10 Years

John Davis

The first school district in the country to run its buses on biodiesel is celebrating 10 years of driving on the green fuel.

This feature from the National Biodiesel Board explains that Medford Township School District in New Jersey first started using biodiesel when Director of Operations and Technology for the Medford Township Board of Education Joe Biluck applied for and received a Department of Energy grant for alternative fuel and filled a bus with what was then a little-known fuel called biodiesel:

“I will admit, I was a little scared that first time,” he said. “But when you see an opportunity or a technology that has a lot of potential, and you’ve done your homework on it, you have to be willing to take a calculated risk for the greater good. Someone has to raise their hand, and why not Medford?”

“We transport 3,500 students a day in our buses,” said Biluck, Director of Operations and Technology for the Medford Township Board of Education. “This biodiesel program was started for them. It has been proven that biodiesel improves air quality both outside of the bus and in the interior.”

According to Medford Township Public School System officials, over the past decade the district’s school buses have traveled more than 4 million miles, consumed more than 615,000 gallons of B20, displaced more than 123,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and eliminated 127,000 pounds of hazardous emissions and 428 pounds of particulate matter while reducing the overall cost of fleet operations by $80,000 a year.

The district is being congratulated by the NBB, whose CEO Joe Jobe says that “Medford’s public school district serves as a great example to other schools looking to use biodiesel.”

Jobe goes on to say that the bold move 10 years ago has helped launch a natiowide use of biodiesel in an important and sensitive environment – the air around school children. Approximately 200 school districts nationwide use biodiesel.

Biodiesel

Oklahoma to Host Biofuels Conference

John Davis

The state of Oklahoma is set to host its third annual biofuels conference.

Governor Brad Henry will host GROW: The Oklahoma Biofuels Conference, November 12-13 in Oklahoma City at the Skirvin Hotel conference center. The conference is touted as a chance to appeal to a broad range of attendees including: biofuel producers, marketers and retailers; end users, including public and private fleet managers; research institutions; farmers, ranchers and agribusiness executives; private equity firms, venture capitalists, lenders and financial institutions; government regulators and representatives; entrepreneurs and anyone with an interest in this new and rapidly expanding Oklahoma energy industry:

The 2008 Oklahoma Biofuels Conference will cover topics that include:
• New and proposed initiatives and funding for bioenergy research including
the 2008 Farm Bill
• 2nd generation feedstocks for Oklahoma
• Discussion on food v. fuel debate
• Biorefinery construction – new players, plans and progress
• Biofuel impacts for end users
• Carbon control policies that may offer income potential for producers
• Energy sustainability
• Advances in feedstock conversion technology

For registration and more information, check out the conference web site, www.growok.com, or you can call 1-800-203-5494.

Biodiesel, conferences, Ethanol, News

Ethanol Growth Increases Livestock Feed

Cindy Zimmerman

Export opportunities for the livestock feed co-product of ethanol production are increasing as the industry continues to grow. That was the main message to more than 500 who attended the second the U.S. Grains Council’s International Distillers Grains Conference this week in Indianapolis.

USGC“The reason we’re holding this conference is that we are confident the U.S. ethanol industry will continue to grow due to efforts undertaken by the National Corn Growers Association and state producer organizations over the last several years,” said USGC president and CEO Ken Hobbie. “Due to the efforts of U.S. growers to establish the ethanol industry, we made DDGS our top priority in 2006 and since then have seen DDGS exports exceed 2 million metric tons annually.”

Senior Vice President of Informa Economics Scott Richman told the conference that as a result of the growth in the U.S. ethanol industry this year, 22.8 million tons of DDGS were available for global use in 2007/2008 marketing year, nearly a 50 percent increase from the 2006/2007 marketing year. He said the 2008/2009 marketing year, which just began on Oct. 1, will likely experience an additional 50 percent increase in the availability of DDGS, reaching 31.3 million tons.

“There will be a substantial amount of DDGS available for global livestock industries,” said Richman. “The U.S. Grains Council’s efforts promoting U.S. DDGS and opening several new markets across the globe is helping the U.S. ethanol industry in a big way.”

According to Informa, ethanol production this year is expected to total 9.3 billion gallons and projected to reach 11.9 billion gallons in 2009.

conferences, Distillers Grains, Ethanol

Clemson Gets Ethanol Research Grant

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $1.2 million grant to Clemson University in South Carolina to assess the potential of switchgrass and sweet sorghum as feedstocks to produce ethanol in the southeast. The grant also will fund development of a small-scale biofuel processing plant at Clemson University’s Restoration Institute in North Charleston.

clemsonThe South Carolina Bioenergy Research Collaborative has been formed to demonstrate the economic feasibility of using plants, such as switchgrass, trees and sorghum, to make ethanol. The collaborative includes scientists at Clemson, the Savannah River National Laboratory, South Carolina State University and industry incubator SC Bio, as well as industrial partners who are committed to building a pilot plant in the state.

At the same time, a group of Clemson and USDA-Agriculture Research Service scientists is investigating switchgrass production systems in South Carolina, including soil and crop management, new variety development and measuring environmental impacts.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Research

GM Studies Cellulosic Ethanol in China

Cindy Zimmerman

General MotorsGeneral Motors and partner Coskata are working together to develop and commercialize second generation ethanol in China.

David S. Chen, vice president of GM China Group, said, “According to the China Automotive Energy Research Center, GM has already begun successfully validating the automotive energy resource potential for sustainable biofuels in China.” Chen said China can produce cellulosic ethanol on marginal lands from wood waste, energy crops such as switchgrass and even garbage, and China is in a good position to benefit from the development of such sustainable biofuels.

Currently, China is the world’s third-largest ethanol producer, behind the U.S. and Brazil, with annual production of around 1 billion gallons. GM is leading the R&D and commercialization of sustainable biofuels worldwide, having produced more than 5 million flex-fuel cars and trucks that run on combinations of ethanol and gasoline. In the United States, GM is committed to making half its annual vehicle production flex-fuel capable by 2012.

Car Makers, Cellulosic, Ethanol

Two E85 Groundbreakings in Sacramento

According to news10.net out of Sacramento, California, two E85 fueling locations broke ground in the Sacramento area. The stations are owned by Pearson Fuels who own additional alternative fuel stations across the state.

“I’ve built ethanol pumps in San Diego and in a few other cities in California,” said Mike Lewis of Pearson Fuels. “But as it stands right now, the pump we constructed in Concord is the closest to Sacramento and we need to made them more readily available here.”

Pearson Fuels plans to build two E85 pumps in the Sacramento region. The first is planned for the existing Union 76 station in Carmichael at 5103 Fair Oaks Boulevard. The second will be located at the DB&S Shell station in Sacramento, 5551 Martin Luther King Boulevard. Lewis hopes to have both pumps installed by January 2009. “Remember when gas prices were almost $5 a gallon and people were asking what can I do about it besides drive less?” said Lewis. “Now, here’s your answer: buy a tank of ethanol, so we don’t have to depend so much on oil.”

There are now eleven E85 fueling stations in the state of California.

E85, Ethanol, News

Ethanol Plants Could Get USDA Loans

Cindy Zimmerman

World Food Prize Ed SchaferEthanol plants that have been hurt by dramatic fluctuations in commodity prices this year could be eligible for assistance from the US Department of Agriculture.

Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer told reporters after an address to the World Food Prize breakfast in Des Moines Friday that “some plants are under pressure because they’ve been speculating on corn.”

Schafer said there are USDA programs that could, for example, help the companies refinance and reduce their interest rates on operating expenses such as corn purchases. USDA’s Rural Development Program can lend up to $25 million to refinance or loan guarantees. “We have several ways we can help with dollars in rural areas,” Schafer said.

Some ethanol companies, most notably VeraSun, speculated on corn prices during the summer and locked in prices when corn was at $7 per bushel and now cash prices are about $3.50 per bushel, causing some significant losses. “There is going to have to be some credit applied to companies to buy some lower-priced corn to blend with their higher-priced corn obligations,” Schafer said.

If USDA allows the ethanol plants to participate in the loan programs, Schafer said there would be “no restrictions or litmus tests” on the size or ownership for companies to qualify.

Ethanol, Government

Soybean Board Building Demand for Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

The United Soybean Board has been actively building demand for biodiesel on behalf of soybean farmers since 1990 and the opportunities continue to grow on a global basis.

World Food Prize Bob Dole John BechererUSB was one of the soybean industry sponsors of the World Food Prize luncheon in Des Moines this week which gave CEO John Becherer, pictured here with one of this year’s WFP winners former Senator Bob Dole, to talk about the role soybeans can play in both feeding and fueling the world.

“The reality is we do have an opportunity and we need to be producing more product so that we can feed more fish, more pork and more poultry,” Becherer said. Since soybeans are 20 percent oil and 80 percent protein, that allows producers to grow a crop that can provide both.

USB’s development of the biodiesel market has the potential also to pave the way for other feedstocks to be used to make biodiesel. “Developing biodiesel directly raised the farm gate value for soybeans and led to the commercialization of biodiesel,” Becherer said. “Other feedstocks such as animal fats were grandfathered in on the biodiesel research and commercialization which has led to expanding opportunities for other feedstocks for biodiesel.”

“I don’t see that stopping,” he continued. “I don’t think that soybean oil ever believed that we would be the be all, end all for producing soybean oil to be converted into biodiesel. As we move forward, I think the opportunities for other feedstocks to play a part in this process are great.”

He adds that alternatives like jatropha hold great promise for improving subsistence farmers in poorer countries.

Listen to an interview with Becherer here:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/world-food/wfp-08-becherer-biodiesel.mp3]

You can also download the audio with this link:
John Becherer at World Food Prize (mp3)

See photos of the World Food Prize event here.

Audio, Biodiesel, International