DOE Awards Cellulosic Grants

Cindy Zimmerman

Dept of EnergyThe U.S. Department of Energy has awarded grants of up to $40 million over five years for two small-scale cellulosic biorefinery projects, one in Wisconsin and one in Louisiana.

Flambeau River BioFuels received approval to construct and operate a biorefinery at an existing pulp and paper mill in Park Falls, Wisconsin. When completed, the facility will produce at least 1 trillion BTUs of renewable energy for the host mill and 6 million gallons of transportation (sulfur-free diesel) fuels per year, which the company says will make it the first integrated pulp and paper mill in North America to be fossil fuel free. The biorefinery is expected to be operational in 2010.

VereniumVerenium received the second grant which will be used to support ongoing activities at its 1.4 million gallon per year demonstration-scale facility in Jennings, LA.

Verenium president and CED Carlos A. Riva said, “Government support such as this is a great help in advancing the development of commercially viable biofuels, and supports the rapidly emerging cellulosic ethanol industry in addressing America’s urgent need for alternative fuels.”

These two biorefinery projects are the final round of selections for DOE’s competitive small-scale biorefinery solicitation. Earlier this year, DOE selected seven other projects, comparable in size and scope, to receive up to a total of $200 million.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Government, News

Poll Finds Bipartisan Support for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

By a margin of 2 to 1, American voters believe increasing the use of renewable fuels like ethanol should continue, according to a new poll conducted by the Democratic firm of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and the Republican firm Public Opinion Strategies.

POS GQRRThe survey of 1,200 registered voters conducted June 23 – July 1 also revealed that nearly half of Americans believe that skyrocketing gasoline and fuel prices are the factors most responsible for rising food prices.

According to the survey, asked if they favor or oppose continuing to increase use of ethanol, 59 percent come out in favor, while just 30 percent opposed. Support is even higher (63 percent) among environmentalists. “Men and women, older voters and younger voters, high school educated and college graduates, and voters from all regions in the country support this alternative fuel,” said the survey analysis. Most impressive, however, is that both Democrats and Republicans polled agree on the increased use of ethanol.

RFAThe survey was commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association. “Overwhelming broad, bipartisan support for increasing the use of ethanol clearly shows that coordinated efforts designed to demonize American farmers and ethanol producers are not having the desired affect,” said RFA president Bob Dinneen. “Americans see through the smoke and mirrors, weigh the merits of both sides, and conclude that ethanol is an important component of our nation’s energy future.”

Ethanol, News, Research, RFA

NEVC Concludes 2008 Summer Board Meeting

NEVCThe National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) concluded their 2008 Summer Board of Directors Meeting in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, July 15. The meeting was held in conjunction with the National Corn Grower Association’s Corn Congress.

The board meeting was well attended by board members ranging from automobile manufacturer representatives, ethanol producers, state corn growers and more. Items on the agenda covered budget items, membership, and issues that are hindering the advancement of E85 infrastructure such as the lack of Underwriters Laboratory certification on E85 dispensers.

KlobucharThe NEVC along with cosponsors hosted a reception for the attendees of the Corn Congress on Monday, July 14. Also, a reception at the nation’s Capitol was held on July 15. Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar addressed the crowd at the reception. She thanked the Minnesota Corn Growers Association for their leadership on pushing this year’s Farm Bill to its success.

Sponsors for the meeting included: the Missouri Corn Growers Associaiton, VeraSun Energy, ICM, Dresser Wayne, Ohio Corn Growers Association, Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Kansas Corn Growers Association, Siouxland Energy and Livestock Cooperative, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, Kentucky Corn Growers Association, Mid-Missouri Energy, Gilbarco Veeder-Root, White Energy, Clean Fuels Development Coalition, and Chrysler Corporation.

Photo above features Minnesota’s Amy Klouchar with members of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.

E85, Ethanol, National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, News

Blue Hawaii Using Green Algae for Biodiesel

John Davis

While the waters along those world-famous Hawaiian beaches will still be picture-perfect blue, some folks in the Aloha State are banking on some murky-green H2O for power.

This story from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin says three companies will team up to develop the world’s first commercial microalgae facility on Maui that will produce oil for biodiesel and and animal feed.

Alexander & Baldwin Inc., HR BioPetroleum Inc. and Hawaiian Electric Industries subsidiaries Hawaiian Electric Co. and Maui Electric Co. said yesterday they have signed a tentative agreement to build an algae plant on up to 1,000 acres of agricultural land owned by A&B next to HECO’s Maalaea power plant starting in 2011.

It would be one of the first commercial plants of its kind in the world, according to Ed Shonsey, HR BioPetroleum chief executive officer, and adds to several major isle biodiesel projects announced in the past two years.

“It’s a very new area in the field of biofuels and alternative energy,” Shonsey said. “There are approximately 20 companies in the world that are investigating this approach and of those 20 there are only approximately two that actually have pilot facilities and have demonstrated the ability to do it outside the lab and scale it up, and we are one of those.”

The plant is expected to be profitable in its first year of operation.

Biodiesel

GM and National Governors Assn. Partner for Additional E85 Stations

GMMinnesota’s Governor Tim Pawlenty recently announced a partnership between General Motors Corp. (GM) and the National Governors Association which will assist in increasing the number of E85 fueling stations across the country. No specific numbers have been announced but the goal is to boost the slow pace at which new pumps capable of dispensing 85% ethanol fule have been added in recent years.

GM agreed to find the appropriate locations to add the E85 through the numbers in their customer database of registered vehicles. They will aslo assist in finding state grants for the sites. The automaker recently announced their 18 vehicle flexible fuel lineup for model year 2009. Ford, GM and Chrysler have all agreed to offer have their vehicle line as E85 compatible by 2012.

GM has assisted in installing about 300 E85 pumps in 15 states over the last three years. GM cars and trucks account for 3 million of the 7 million flex-fuel vehicles on U.S. roadways and the company produced more than 1 million flex-fuel models in North America and Brazil last year.

Car Makers, E85, Ethanol, Facilities, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

Ethanol Key Issue in MO Governor’s Race

John Davis

Ethanol has become the key issue in the race for the governor’s mansion in Missouri, as the two main Republican contenders square off over the state’s new ethanol mandate.

Sarah Steelman, who is also the State Treasurer, has now switched her position to opposing Missouri’s mandate that requires that practically every gallon of gasoline sold in the state must contain at least 10 percent ethanol. Just earlier this year, she had backed the mandate, but now has sided with Big Oil’s contention that it is raising food and fuel prices… a contention her opponent in Missouri’s August 5th Republican Primary, Congressman Kenny Hulshof refutes with plenty of facts from ag and non-agricultural sources in this article from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

– A recent analysis from Merrill Lynch concluded that oil prices would be about 15% higher, if it weren’t for biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. (Multiple press accounts)

“- A U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy analysis found that without ethanol, gas would be higher by 35 cents per gallon. (USDA & DoE letter to Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman, June 11, 2008)

“- An Iowa State University study found that ethanol has lowered gas prices by 30 to 40 cents per gallon. (Omaha World-Herald, editorial, May 11, 2008)

“- A Missouri-based A.G. Edwards analyst asserted: “Ethanol blending could help ease U.S. refining bottlenecks and that could be ultimately reflected in lower prices at the pump.” (Reuters, February 14, 2008)

“- The International Energy Agency (IEA) states that biofuels make up about 50 percent of the extra fuel coming to the market from sources outside the OPEC oil cartel. William Ramsey, deputy executive director of the IEA, said: “If we didn’t have those barrels, I am not sure where we would be getting those half a million barrels.” (The Financial Times, April 26, 2008)

Hulshof’s campaign has compared Steelman to Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez, who, as an oil dictator, also has no interest in the development of ethanol in the U.S.

Ethanol, Government, News

Iowa College Offering Wind Turbine Technician Program

John Davis

As the need for wind energy grows… expected to grow at double-digit rates in capacity over the next 20 years… the need for workers who can construct, repair and maintain those green energy systems grows as well. To help meet that need, a college in Northwest Iowa… an area known for its wind power generators… is offering a program to train those workers.

This story from KTIV-TV in Sioux City says Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville (in full disclosure, my alma mater) is helping meet the growing need:

Even with all of that growth there is one place where the wind industry is falling short. “Man power, there is a shortage of man power to man the wind turbines that are being operated across the country and that is where our program comes in,” Zeits said.

According to Iowa Lakes Community College they were the first in the state to start the two year program that trains technicians to work on wind turbines. Students in the wind energy program learn everything from how to repair the blades to the basic physics of wind energy.

According to the American Wind Energy Association those trained workers can’t come to soon. “We expect that we are going to have a need for a 180,000 workers in the industry within the next 22 years,” said [John] Dunlop.

The article goes on to point out that portion of Iowa, Southern Minnesota and South Dakota is right in the middle of a booming wind power generation area… right around that little college that has a wind-powered sailboat as its symbol. Kind of befitting, huh?

Wind

Consumer-Scale Wind Generators Gain Popularity

John Davis

With utility rates rising… and expected to get even higher… it’s no wonder people are looking at generating their own electricity.

This story from the Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch says backyard wind power generators are growing in popularity, despite their sometimes hefty price tag:

“They are definitely growing [in popularity],” says Ron Stimmel of the AWEA, the national trade association for the wind energy industry. Sales of turbines that generate 2 kilowatts to 10 kilowatts of electricity, the smallest category of turbine and the ones most likely to be in residential use, have been rising nearly 25% annually, he said.

The rising cost of electricity has been driving wind-turbine sales. Homeowners in an area of high winds with a properly sited turbine can shave up to 80% off their monthly electricity bills, industry experts say.

Some wind turbines can cost anywhere from $12,000 – $50,000, which, even if they save homeowners 80 percent of their electricity costs (as some do), it can take some time to recoup their costs. Some state governments are helping people get back some of that money to encourage the growth of the home-scale wind farms. The article points out, for example, in New York, homeowners can get back as much as 40 percent of the start-up costs… two-thirds of the money upfront to help buy the system and the rest when it is connected to the power grid.

Wind

Wisconsin Paper Mill Turning Into Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

A 100-year-old paper mill in Northern Wisconsin is being converted to make biodiesel.

This press release posted on the Milwaukee Business Journal web site says Flambeau River BioFuels has received a $30 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to build and to operate a first-in-class refinery that will turn biomass from forestry and agricultural operations into biodiesel at an existing pulp and paper mill in Park Falls:

When in full operation, the biorefinery will produce at least 6 million gallons of liquid fuels per year in the form of renewable sulfur-free diesel. The biorefinery will not be dependent on any food-based feedstock materials, but rather on by-products or residuals from forest and agricultural sources. The biorefinery will also generate at least 1 trillion BTUs per year of process heat that will be sold to Flambeau River Papers, which will make it the first integrated pulp and paper mill in North America to be fossil fuel free.

“This grant supports Flambeau River BioFuels’ goal to be a major contributor in achieving the Federal government’s goal of increasing renewable fuels production and reducing our nation’s dependence on Mideast oil,” said Bob Byrne, President, Flambeau River BioFuels. “With this funding, we will be able to accelerate the retrofitting of this mill from a pure pulp and paper plant to a broader production facility that will produce biofuels within the same facility, thus sharing key infrastructure elements and costs.”

The plant is expected to help in two different areas of the area’s economy on two different levels: in the short term, it will produce engineering and construction jobs to convert the paper mill into a biodiesel plant; and in the long term, it will create highly skilled jobs at the plant and in the area’s logging industry. The plant is expected to open in 2010.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, Government

Maryland Biodiesel Plant Resumes Re-Opening Plans

John Davis

Officials with a Maryland biodiesel plant, where a man was killed while working on bringing the idled refinery back on line in May, say they will continue to work to get the facility back in to production.

This story from the Delmarva Daily Times says Greenlight Biofuels held a town meeting in the Princess Anne community to reassure residents that the explosion had nothing to do with the production of biodiesel, and the plant’s design probably prevented any further casualties in the refinery and community:

“We are working on a plan to continue production,” Carol Walston, general manager at Greenlight, said in a marketing-style presentation at the monthly town meeting that touted a company-sponsored student scholarship program and an 11-member work force including several employees from the area. “We want to be a part of the Princess Anne community and we continue to talk about ways.”

Walston assured residents that Greenlight invested $8 million in engineering, design and other precautions to make the plant safe and underscored that the explosion that killed a contract worker and shook homes around the Hampden Avenue “was not related to the production process.”

“The building itself is incorporated with engineering and safety aspects,” Walston said, and distributed small vials of a near-transparent liquid — a manufactured biodiesel fuel product she said smelled of cooking oil. “(The building) did keep the community safe during the accident.”

The presentation was enough to prompt a majority of Town Commissioners to give Greenlight Biofuels a vote of confidence. The company will also create a community outreach project to educate residents and to ease tensions. No date has been set for the opening of the plant.

Biodiesel