Sustainable Biodiesel Looks for Public Input

John Davis

A non-profit group dedicated to making sure that the production of biodiesel is a sustainable proposition is looking for your input how to keep biodiesel refining, well, sustainable.

The Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance (SBA) has released a first draft of its “Principles and Baseline Practices for Sustainability” for a 45-day public comment and review period. This post on the gas2.0 web site has more details:

The opening paragraph of the report succinctly sums up what their vision of sustainable biodiesel production is:

“Sustainable biodiesel is biodiesel that is produced in a manner that, on a lifecycle basis, minimizes the generation of pollution, including greenhouse gases; reduces competition for, and use of, natural resources and energy; reduces waste generation; preserves habitat and ecosystems; maintains or improves soils; avoids use of genetically modified organisms; and provides community economic benefit that results in jobs and fair labor conditions.”

Much of the document reads like a list of practices and standards that farmers and industry should be adopting regardless of what they grow or produce — whether it’s for biodiesel or not — but there are many included items that are specific to the biodiesel industry. Some examples:

* Use waste oils and rendered oils as a biodiesel feedstock before using crops
* Make sure that the energy put in to making biodiesel is less than the energy produced
* Use local feedstocks whenever possible

Once again, you can read the draft document for yourself by clicking here. Don’t forget to give the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance your two cents worth as well.

Biodiesel

USDA Study Reveals Sweet Potatoes Yield More Carbs for Ethanol Than Corn

According to Biofuels Business, sweet potatoes yielded two to three times the carbohydrates for ethanol production as field corn, research by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) found. ARS released a report on the findings today. Scientists received similar results with tropical cassava.

The research found that sweet potato carbohydrate yields were similar to the lower limits of those produced by sugarcane, the highest-yielding ethanol crop. Another advantage for sweet potatoes and cassava is that they require much less fertilizer and pesticide than corn, the ARS said.

Lew Ziska, a plant physiologist at the ARS Crop Systems and Global Change Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, U.S., performed the study with colleagues from Beltsville and at the ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory in Auburn, Alabama, U.S.

The disadvantages to cassava and sweet potato were higher start-up costs, particularly because of increased labor at planting and harvesting times. Further studies are needed to get data on inputs of fertilizer, water, pesticides and estimates of energy efficiency. Overall, the data indicate it would be worthwhile to start pilot programs to study growing cassava and sweet potato for ethanol, especially on marginal lands.

corn, Ethanol, News

New Law Means New Labels for Biodiesel Pumps

John Davis

This December, the Federal Trade Commission’s new rules on labeling of biodiesel pumps kicks in. Basically, pumps that dispense greater-than-5-percent biodiesel blends will have to have a label indicating that pump’s blend.

The National Biodiesel Board hosts a web site, AllThingsBiodiesel.com, that sells the new labels… among the many other objects sold there:

“Our goal is two-fold. We want to help petroleum retailers comply with the labeling law as painlessly as possible, while at the same time expand their marketing efforts,” said Doug Whitehead, Director of Operations for the National Biodiesel Board. “We have eye-catching pump topper kits available for sale, for those whose goal is to not only comply with the regulations, but actually market biodiesel to consumers and boost demand.”

The FTC published the final ruling on biodiesel pump labeling on June 23. One of the approved labels is for blends between 5 and 20 percent and the second is for B100 (100 percent biodiesel). If a retailer has a blend between 21 and 99 percent, an order can be placed on AllThingsBiodiesel.com. Hosted by NBB, All Things Biodiesel is the premier online biodiesel marketplace. It houses a directory, an information exchange, classified ads and a store for biodiesel merchandise and marketing materials.

Blends of 5 percent biodiesel and less do not need the label since they meet all the same standard for petroleum diesel, D975.

Biodiesel

MO DNR Holds Fleet Managers Workshop

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) held their annual fleet manager workshop yesterday in Jefferson City, Missouri. Approximately 45 were in attendance and five speakers presented, including State Fleet Manager Cindy Dixon (pictured).

Discussed were issues relating to annual reporting, alternative fuel purchasing requirements, E85, and biodiesel among more.

“It’s exciting to see the drastic increase in E85 fueling stations throughout Missouri this past year,” said Missouri DNR Energy Specialist and Alternative Fuels Coordinator Cindy Carroll who moderated the workshop. Missouri added 68 E85 sites from Aug. 2007 to Aug. 2008 bringing the total to 97 facilities. Missouri ties Iowa for 5th in the largest number of E85 fueling locations.

Carroll noted that the state requirement for alternative fuel vehicle purchase has increased from 50 percent to 70 percent over the past year. Also, E85 fuel usage among state fleet vehicles has increased by 53 percent.

Biodiesel, E85, Energy, News

Ethanol Conversion Kit Market Grows

Cindy Zimmerman

The business for flex-fuel conversion kits is booming, according to a company selling low-cost units worldwide.

curtis lacy FFIFuel Flex International (FFI) provides technology to allow any fuel-injected vehicle to run on ethanol or gasoline “without pushing a button or flipping a switch,” says FFI president for marketing and distribution Curtis Lacy, who was talking up his product with everyone at the recent Ethanol Conference and Trade Show in Omaha.

“Our system is very simple for the average user. It’s a simple plug and play device which you attach to your fuel injector connectors and ground to your battery and start using ethanol – anywhere from E100 to regular gasoline.” Lacy says the technology was developed in Brazil and is now being marketed in 34 countries, including most recently Thailand and the Philippines. “We currently manufacture our own unit now, so it’s an all-American made product,” he said. The units retail for between $289 and $459.

Fuel Flex InternationalOne of the most common questions from potential customers in the United States is whether installing the kit will affect their vehicle warranties, but Lacy claims they have had no problems with that. There is also the issue of EPA certification, which currently has only been granted to another company, Flex Fuel US. Lacy says they are working on getting that approval.

Lacy believes the demand for flex-fuel conversion kits will grow as higher ethanol blends become more available nationwide because even if car makers start selling only flex-fuel vehicles in the US there will continue to be a large segment of used vehicles for sale that are not flex-fuel capable.

Listen to an interview with Lacy from the ACE conference here:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/ace/ace-fuel-flex.mp3]

ACE, Audio, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles

Analyst Calls Food Versus Fuel a “Sound Bite”

Cindy Zimmerman

Analysts with a major agricultural financial institution say alternative fuels are just one of the many factors causing higher food prices.

RabobankKarol Aure-Flynn, executive director of the Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory department, says “food versus fuel” is basically a misleading sound bite. “The fallacy of the headline is that there is a direct competition between the two; that it’s either or. The reality is that strong global economic growth has changed the demand equation for U.S. commodities,” he said in a recent Rabobank podcast. “The depreciation of the U.S. dollar, soaring energy costs and changing trade policies are also contributing to the cost of commodities, which in turn is raising the cost of food — it’s not just fuel, it’s a combination of all of these factors.”

Aure-Flynn also notes that while prices at the farm level have increased this year, they have been outpaced by production costs for farmers.

“Farmers’ profitability doesn’t change retail prices. And farmers’ profitability isn’t guaranteed by high grain prices. The same factors that are lifting grain prices are lifting production costs,” said Aure-Flynn. “So, yes, the farm price index is at 162 percent of what it was 1990-1992, but at the same time the price index measuring what farmers pay — for services, farm wages — is 189 percent of base.”

Rabobank is a global financial services leader providing institutional and retail banking and agricultural finance solutions in key markets around the world.

Agribusiness, Ethanol, Food prices, News

Florida Farm to Fuel Summit On-Line

Cindy Zimmerman

The third annual Florida Farm-to-Fuel Summit was a huge success with more than 460 participants, exceeding last year’s attendance according to organizers.

FL Farm to FuelPresentations are now available online at the conference website. The wide variety of presentations includes some very interesting information about alternative biofuels feedstocks, such as sweet sorghum, sugarcane, jatropha, perennial grasses and even sweet potatoes.

Organizers of the event say that due to the favorable response from attendees, they expect the conference to be returning to the Rosen Shingle Creek next year.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, conferences, Ethanol

Future of Wind Energy Could be Offshore

John Davis

While Congress debates whether America should drill for more oil along the coasts of the country, a more valuable, greener source of energy could be offshore.

The idea of massive wind farms off the coasts of California, New England, the mid-Atlantic, Washington state, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico could be appealing as winds are strong and more sustainable just a few miles out to sea. And this article from the Bellingham (WA) Herald says those potential wind farms could generate as much power as the country currently produces from all sources:

The winds blowing 15 miles or even farther off the U.S. coasts potentially could produce 900,000 megawatts of electricity, or roughly the same amount as nearly all the nation’s existing power sources combined, according to Department of Energy estimates.

Though the cost of these deepwater offshore wind farms isn’t firm, some estimate the electricity they would produce could be nearly comparable in price to that generated at today’s power plants. Norway, Denmark, Britain and other European nations are already developing such offshore wind projects.

“This is an energy frontier we are just starting to explore,” said Walter Musial, a senior engineer with the Energy Department’s Wind Technology Center in Colorado, adding that far offshore windmill projects in the United States could start appearing between 2012 and 2015.

The article goes on to say that while some windmills near the shore have caused controversy because they could “damage the view, (thanks Ted Kennedy!)” these platforms would be far from shore. And with today’s technology, having deepwater windmills is quite possible.

Wind

Nova CEO: Cheaper Biodiesel Feedstocks Key

John Davis

In a time when many biodiesel makers are having a tough time because of the high costs of their feedstocks, one is looking to expand its operations.

The CEO of Houston, Texas-based Nova Biosource Fuels, which has biodiesel refineries in Iowa, Mississippi and Illinois, Kenneth Hern say the key to his company’s success has been expanding its range of feedstocks to cheaper sources. In this article with the Houston Chronicle, Hern does some Q & A with reporter Brett Clanton, Hern says Nova is even looking to open another biodiesel refinery in the heart of petroleum country… right in Houston:

Q: We’re hearing a lot about how high crop and vegetable oil prices are pinching biofuels producers, even forcing some to close. What’s different about your business model?

A: Nova has a patented, proprietary process that lets us use any material that’s got a triglyceride or a fairly high amount of free fatty acids in it. If you take soy, it has almost no free fatty acid in it. It’s a pure triglyceride. Anyone can make biodiesel from it. It’s a very simple reaction. But when you want to use the feedstocks that are cheaper, almost every time those cheap feedstocks have some amount of free fatty acids.Read More

Biodiesel

Suzuki to Develop FFVs Running on 100% Ethanol

According to the Nikkei Business Daily, Japan’s Suzuki Motor Company will begin selling flexible fuel vehicles running on 100 percent ethanol by the year 2010. The FFVs will be offered for sale in both the U.S. and Brazil.

Suzuki will first begin offering vehicles that can run on 25 percent ethanol in Brazil in March. Currently in the U.S., the highest ethanol blend of fuel which can be sold is 85 percent. Chrysler, Ford, General Motors and Nissan currently sell these vehicles and there are about seven million on America’s roads. Suzuki’s move would mark a huge development in ethanol-powered vehicles, and a huge shift for Suzuki, which hasn’t had any alternative fuel-specific offerings in its lineup to this point.

The Brazilian ethanol industry is experiencing amazing growth right now. The industry is based on the conversion of sugarcane to ethanol and, according to reports, it is a completely self-sustaining industry. The United States main source of ethanol is corn.

Car Makers, corn, E85, Ethanol, News