Enterprise Taps Sayre to Head Biofuel Efforts

John Davis

St. Louis-based Enterprise Rent-A-Car has named Dr. Richard Sayre, a leading biofuels researcher, to head its Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis.

This press release says the company created the Institute in 2007 with a $25 million gift from the company’s founding family, the Taylors… who own Enterprise, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car and operate the world’s largest automotive fleet, with more than 1.1 million vehicles:

“Just as we are committed to using our fleet to grow the market for commercially viable new fuels and engine technologies, we believe it is important to play a role in the search for sustainable, renewable fuels that can curb greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependency on finite fossil fuels,” said Andy Taylor, chairman and chief executive officer of Enterprise. “Dr. Sayre and his team bring tremendous leadership to this effort.”

Dr. Roger N. Beachy, president of the Danforth Center, said Sayre’s deep experience in plant science will advance the mission of the Danforth Center and the Institute for Renewable Fuels. “Attracting a researcher of Dr. Sayre’s caliber speaks volumes about the work we have done over the last decade – and the pioneering work we will do in the future,” Beachy said.Read More

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Two Biodiesel Companies Among Fastest Growing

John Davis

The rising popularity of biodiesel is helping many companies grow rapidly. Two privately-held biodiesel-related companies are being recognized as among the nation’s 500 fastest growing of any type of company.

This article from Biodiesel Magazine says Inc. Magazine has rated Greenline Industries and Blue Sun Biodiesel among the fastest growing:

Larkspur, Calif.-based Greenline Industries, a manufacturer of biodiesel production equipment, as listed seventh on Inc.’s overall list and was the No. 1 energy company for 2008. The company was also at the top of the 100 businesses in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif., list. According to Inc. Magazine, Greenline has experienced a 10,000 percent growth rate since it was founded in 2002. In 2004, the company had $318,000 in revenue; in 2007, Greenline reported $35.1 million in revenue.

The only biodiesel producer to make the list was Golden, Co.-based Blue Sun Biodiesel. Of the 23 energy companies to make the top 500, Blue Sun ranked tenth. Overall, the company was ranked 242 on the top 500 list.

Blue Sun marketing director Steve Bond said the ranking proves that despite a tough year experienced by the biodiesel industry, companies can continue to grow. Blue Sun has enjoyed a 1,000 percent growth rate in the past three years and reported $14.1 million in revenue last year. Bond attributes the company’s prosperous nature to its trademarked premium B20 biodiesel blend – Fusion. “We’re doing the right thing by having premium biodiesel fuel that people can trust for their vehicles,” he said. “This shows this is the right path. People are responding to that.” Bond told Biodiesel Magazine that Blue Sun plans to expand its business in 2009 to include locations in Nebraska, Colorado and other states in the western United States.

Companies on the list must be privately-funded, U.S.-based, and not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies since December 2007; have been generating revenue since the first week of 2004; revenues in 2004 must have been no less than $200,000; and revenue in 2007 must have been at least $2 million.

Biodiesel

USDA Announces Renewable Energy Grants

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development, Tom DorrUSDA announced Wednesday that 639 individuals and businesses in 43 states and the Virgin Islands have been selected to receive $35 million in grants and loan guarantees for renewable energy systems or to improve energy efficiency in farm and business operations. USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Tom Dorr announced the funding at the 2008 Farm Progress Show in Iowa on Wednesday.

The program provides financial assistance to agricultural producers and rural small businesses to support renewable energy projects across a wide range of technologies encompassing biomass (including anaerobic digesters), geothermal, hydrogen, solar and wind energy. It also provides support for energy efficiency improvements, helping recipients reduce energy consumption and improve operations. Of the $35 million announced, $27.5 million are grants and $7.4 million are guaranteed loans.

You can listen to Sec. Dorr’s press conference here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/farm-progress/fp-08-dorr.mp3]

Audio, Energy, Government

E85 Gets a Push at the Republican National Convention

As the Republican National Convention approaches the week of September 1, the state of Minnesota prepares for the crowd. Minnesota boasts the largest number of E85 fueling locations throughout the country, 354 to be exact, and they will flaunt it.

The American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest confirmed that when walking through the skyways in Saint Paul during next week and throughout the month of September, visitors are likely to see the ‘Addicted to Oil?’ E85 skyway signs in the US Bank Building and Town Square. Others driving to Saint Paul from Minneapolis and the western suburbs will also see a similar billboard beside I-94. In addition, E85/FFV :30 ads will be playing during coverage of the Republican National Convention on the local NBC affiliate.

Finally, a special E85 promotion will be available for flexible fuel vehicle owners in Eagan, Minnesota on Wednesday, Sept. 3. Holiday Station Stores and the MN Clean Air Choice Team will offer E85 for an extra $1.00 off the current posted price between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. at 2660 Eagan Woods Drive.

E85, Ethanol, Facilities, News

Agribusinesses Join Forces for Cellulosic Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

Three global agribusiness giants have teamed up to explore technologies and processes to turn crop residues into feed and bioenergy products.

MonsantoADMJohn DeereArcher Daniels Midland Company, Deere & Company and Monsanto Company will work together to identify environmentally and economically sustainable methods for the harvest, storage and transport of corn stover that can be used as feed for animals, as biomass to generate steam and electricity or as a cellulosic feedstock for biofuel production.

The companies intend to address some of the challenges involved in utilizing corn stover for these multiple needs. For example, stover collection rates need to be adjusted on a field-by-field basis to ensure that sufficient stover is left on the soil to reduce erosion and maintain or improve soil quality for the next season’s crop. Also, the amount of moisture in the stover at harvest can present challenges in transportation and storage.

Cellulosic, corn, Ethanol, News

Wind Energy Needs Superhighway

John Davis

Right now, the U.S. gets just one percent of its energy needs from wind power, but experts say that could be increased 20-fold in a short time.

This story from the New York Times says the current electrical grid was thought up 100 years ago… designed to be kind of a system of “streets, avenues and country roads:”

“We need an interstate transmission superhighway system,” said Suedeen G. Kelly, a member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

While the United States today gets barely 1 percent of its electricity from wind turbines, many experts are starting to think that figure could hit 20 percent.

Achieving that would require moving large amounts of power over long distances, from the windy, lightly populated plains in the middle of the country to the coasts where many people live. Builders are also contemplating immense solar-power stations in the nation’s deserts that would pose the same transmission problems.

The article goes on to say that politicians in the nation’s capital have known about the grid’s limitations but don’t want to trample on states’ rights over the grid… although a 2005 energy law does allow the federal Energy Department to step in if states don’t act. But when the feds tried to do that, 14 U.S. senators signed a letter saying the department was being too aggressive.

I guess it’s back in Congress’ court as to whether this country moves forward with a clean energy source… and the infrastructure to support it.

Wind

Dem Convention Runs on Biodiesel, Solar & Wind

John Davis

If you’ve been watching any of the Democratic Convention you’ve been seeing plenty of windy people talking up a storm (hey, they’re politicians… Republicans will spew plenty of hot air next week!). But wind energy (the kind that turns turbines), along with solar and biodiesel, is helping behind the scenes.

National Geographic’s Green Guide blog has details:

This week’s Democratic Convention is boasting that it will be the greenest political convention ever. Hybrid, alternative fuel and biodiesel buses are transporting the delegates; the stage will be painted with low-VOC paints and solar power, wind energy and biodiesel generators will all be incorporated in running the event.

The post says it is the same thinking that has prompted many big-time concerts to adopt similar measures to reduce their carbon footprints.

Biodiesel, Solar, Wind

US and China to Study Sorghum for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

As athletes were racing for the gold in Beijing last week, representatives from the United States and China were in Texas teaming up in the race to develop new feedstocks for ethanol.

Sorghum ProducersThe U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China signed an agreement to collaborate on biofuels research during the International Conference on Sorghum for Biofuel in Houston.

The agreement establishes the intent to “cooperate in establishing processes and infrastructure for conversion of sweet sorghum and other feedstocks to ethanol.” It also encourages collaboration among scientists worldwide to contribute to alternative energy research through the development of alternative feedstocks. It was signed by USDA Undersecretary Dr. Gale Buchanan and Dr. Liu Yanhua, vice minister of science and technology for the Peoples’ Republic of China.

Sorghum“I think that if we are going to achieve sustainable energy security in this country we have to consider all opportunities and sorghum is one of those that I think can make a contribution.” Buchanan said. He added that sorghum has potential because of its drought tolerance and ability to produce high yields on marginal lands.

National Sorghum Producers CEO Tim Lust said the conference was a major step for the sorghum industry. “The world is taking notice of this crop in a big way and this conference is a meeting of the minds, so to speak, of some of the finest scientists and entrepreneurs in the world. We will all need to work together to solve the energy crisis and this meeting moves us in the right direction.”

See more photos from the event on the NSP blog here.

Ethanol, Government, International, News

Biodiesel By-product Good for Your Heart

John Davis

Researchers at Virginia Tech have found a way to grow a compound important to human heart health using a plentiful by-product of biodiesel production.

This press release from the school says Zhiyou Wen, assistant professor of biological systems engineering in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, has found a way to grow omega-3 fatty acids, known for benefits but lacking in most Americans’ diets, using glycerol:

“High energy prices have led to an increase in biodiesel production, which in turn has led to an increase in the amount of crude glycerol in the market,” said Wen, who explained that biodiesel plants leave behind approximately 10 percent crude glycerol during the production process.

This has led the price of glycerol, a chemical compound widely used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries, to drop in recent years. The rise in biodiesel production over the last decade means that the market can no longer absorb all the extra glycerol. Biodiesel producers must find alternative means for disposing of crude glycerol, which is prohibitively expensive to purify for industry use. Wen and his colleagues have developed a novel fermentation process using microalgae to produce omega-3 fatty acids from crude glycerol

“We have shown that it is possible to use the crude glycerol byproduct from the biodiesel industry as a carbon source for microalgae that produce omega-3 fatty acids,” said Wen, who added that the impurities in crude glycerol may actually be beneficial to algal growth. “After thorough chemical analysis, we have also shown that the algae biomass composition has the same quality as the commercial algae product.”

The release goes on to say that the algae grown in the crude glycerol can be used as an animal feed, including fish and, possibly one day, poultry feed, giving the same omega-3 fatty acids to chicken that fish eaters enjoy.

Wen presented his findings at the recent at the 236th national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Biodiesel

Louisiana Ethanol Plant Wants Sugar Cane

Cindy Zimmerman

Louisiana Green FuelsA Louisiana group wants to buy sugar cane from farmers for an ethanol plant they are constructing from an old sugar mill.

Louisiana Green Fuels Group, which purchased a mill that was closed two years ago, met last week with St. James area growers about plans to construct a facility capable of producing 25 million gallons of ethanol annually from sugar cane. According to the group, farmers who committed to deliver all or a portion of their crop to the plant received bonus checks.

South Louisiana Sugars Co-op president Wilbert Waguespack said, “Having another high-capacity mill in operation will shorten the grinding season for other mills, lengthen our growing season, and increase the value of our crop.”

Roddy Hulett, chief operations officer for LGFG, said bringing the St. James mill back into operation will serve to support and enhance the market for Louisiana sugar cane farmers.

Ethanol, News