Ultrasonic Horns Could Help Produce More Biodiesel & Ethanol

John Davis

sonomechanics.jpgA Canadian company says it has technology that will help shake loose more sugars from corn to make more ethanol and more oil from feedstocks, in particular algae, to make more biodiesel.

An e-mail to Domestic Fuel from Industrial Sonomechanics says the company has made ultrasonic technology on an industrial scale that would be perfect for biofuel production. Now while lots of companies claim all sorts of benefits for biofuels, Industrial Sonomechanics offers this article from research at Iowa State on how this technology would work:

There are considerable amounts of residual starch in the whole stillage, which are not easily accessible by enzymes during liquefaction. However, generation of additional ethanol necessitates some form of pretreatment or use of an improved enzyme. One strategy to improve ethanol production is to integrate a high-power ultrasound into existing dry milling ethanol plants. We hypothesize that retrofitting a high-powered ultrasonic unit in existing ethanol plants will yield more ethanol.

Background: We have investigated such a possible improvement, the use of ultrasound in dry corn milling, that would have a significant impact on the long-term sustainability of bioenergy industries. Ultrasound pretreatment generates cavitation in the aqueous phase resulting in strong hydrodynamic shear forces. The shear forces facilitate the disintegration of corn slurry into fine particles, thereby exposing a much larger surface area to enzymes during liquefaction / saccharification. As a result, the enzymatic activity will be greatly enhanced.

The company also offers a chance to see how these ultrasonic vibrations can help get more oil from algae. I don’t have any indpendent confirmation how well this process really works, but it is worth reading at the Industrial Sonomechanics web site.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Hybrid Cars Take Off Dramatically

John Davis

rlpolk.gifA new report from R.L. Polk & Co. says sales of hybrid vehicles rose 38 percent in 2007, compared to the previous year. The report also points out that better technologies and infrastructure are needed for ethanol- and biodiesel-powered vehicles to live up to their sales potential.

This press release from the automotive marketing and research company says the economical Toyota Prius, which runs on gas and charges batteries as it drives, still leads the pack with just more than 50 percent of all hybrid sales:

“Auto buyers are benefiting from new hybrid launches, and fleecing of old models that didn’t work. There is a lot of excitement being generated within the industry as manufacturers adjust plans to adapt to consumer demand,” said Lonnie Miller, director of Industry Analysis at Polk. “While the Toyota Prius has a stronghold on the midsize car hybrid segment, the Toyota Highlander and Ford Escape share leadership positions in the SUV hybrid segment. As hybrid buyers migrate within a brand, manufacturers have to be prepared to meet their expectations for offerings if they want consumers to remain loyal.”

While most of the market continues to see hybrid models enabled by various forms of gas-electric powertrains, the entire hybrid segment will evolve as other technologies are developed and tested. With the end-goal of providing more fuel-efficient vehicles, future offerings will expand beyond the current generation of hybrid models.

“Hybrids are a great foray into the world of fuel-efficiency for many buyers,” said Miller. “Unfortunately, we still have an uphill battle for diesel and ethanol adoption given the need for more consumer education and improvements with filling station infrastructure. It will be interesting to see how more advanced technologies progress this whole category, but they can’t come soon enough.”

Ironically, oil-rich Oklahoma had the largest increase in hybrid sales… up 148 percent! In addition, high gas prices seem to be pushing the hybrid markets in places such as Los Angeles and San Francisco where drivers are putting up with some of the highest prices in the country. Those markets combined make up nearly 20 percent of all hybrid sales.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Rock Port, MO First to be 100% Wind Powered

John Davis

loesshillswindfarm.jpgElectric meters are running backwards as Rock Port, Missouri became the first town in the country to run on 100 percent wind power.

This article in the Maryville (MO) Daily Forum says the meters started moving in the other direction after this weekend when the four wind turbines (pictured on the right) on a hill just above the town started producing more electricity than residents were using:

windcapitalgroup.gif“Rock Port officially declared its energy independence today,” said Tom Carnahan, president of the St. Louis-based Wind Capital Group that brought the Loess Hills Wind Farm to fruition.

Opening the official ceremonies celebrating the launch of the five-megawatt alternative energy system, Eric Chamberlain, project manager for Wind Capital’s Rock Port project, told the gathered crowd of several hundred residents, students and interested parties that the city’s wind turbines were not only generating the energy “Rock Port is using at this time, there is enough for another community this size.”

After remarks by Chamberlain, Rock Port Mayor Helen Jo Stevens, Carnahan, Missouri 6th District U.S. Rep. Sam Graves and Martin Wilkinson of John Deere Credit USA, the ceremony’s organizers brought out an oversized light switch — complete with a green toggle — and symbolically made Rock Port the nation’s first community to draw100 per cent of its electric energy requirements from a renewable source.

“We are now the No. 1 community for our percentage of renewable energy,” according to Chamberlain.

“Government, industry and private citizens all worked together to make Loess Hills,” Chamberlain said. He cited the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for its help in rebuilding an electrical substation at Rock Port and also the benefits derived from federal tax credits for alternative energy sources.

“But John Deere turned the possibility into reality,” Chamberlain said. The company signed on with Wind Capital Group to develop the 50.4-megawatt Cow Branch Wind Farm between Rock Port and Tarkio but had nixed early ideas for a smaller project to serve Rock Port only. When a new request for power bids that included language allowing consideration of alternative energy sources was distributed by the Rock Port City Council, that thinking changed.

This is the second of four wind projects Wind Capital Group has completed in Northwest Missouri. Carnahan says his company will need two important components to finish the other two: long-term renewal of the federal wind-energy tax credit and voter approval of a ballot measure this November in Missouri that will require the state to get a certain percentage of its energy from renewable sources.

Wind

Ethanol Getting Greener

Cindy Zimmerman

Argonne A new analysis of America’s ethanol industry shows dramatic efficiency gains in ethanol production have been made in the last five years.

According to an analysis conducted by the Argonne National Laboratory, American ethanol facilities are using less energy and water than just five years ago while producing more ethanol. Water consumption is down 26.6 percent, grid electricity use down almost 16 percent and total energy use almost 22 percent lower.

The Argonne analysis compares ethanol industry data from 2001 to 2006. In 2001, U.S. ethanol production was 1.77 billion gallons. In 2006, U.S. ethanol production was 4.9 billion gallons, an increase of 276%.

RFA“This is not your father’s ethanol industry anymore,” said Renewable Fuels Association president Bob Dinneen. “As the industry has grown over the past several years, we have adopted new technologies, we are looking at new feedstocks, we are becoming more efficient every day. The ethanol industry takes its responsibility as stewards of the environment very seriously.”

The Argonne analysis also found key trends that are making ethanol more efficient and environmentally friendly. Nearly 25% of ethanol producers today are capturing their carbon dioxide emissions for use in dry ice production and carbonated beverage bottling. In addition, 37% of distillers grains – the high protein livestock feed co-product of ethanol production – are now sold in the wet form, reducing the energy needed to dry and transport the product.

Read the full report from Argonne in pdf form here.

Environment, Ethanol, Facilities, News, RFA

Kentucky Ethanol Plant Grant

Cindy Zimmerman

The Bluegrass State will soon be using switchgrass to produce ethanol at a new cellulosic facility to be built by Alltech of Lexington.

Governor Steve BeshearKentucky Governor Steve Beshear visited the headquarters of Alltech this weekend for the ribbon cutting of the company’s new Nutrigenomics Center. Alltech is an international company involved in a variety of enterprises from animal nutrition and biotechnology to horse racing and malt whiskey. The governor says everyone is very excited about Alltech’s new venture into biofuels.

“We put together an incentive package at the state level of about $8 million to assist the company in doing that and now with this up to $30 million that the federal government has stepped up and provided, it’s going to be a great thing for the Commonwealth,” Beshear said in an interview with Domestic Fuel. “We want to be a leader in the development of alternative fuels and the cellulosic approach is where we are heading long term on that. I think it’s going to be a win-win for everybody.”

Alltech Pearse LyonsAlltech president Dr. Pearse Lyons says he was humbled to receive one of the three new DOE grants announced last week and he is confident about the project, which will cost an estimated $70 million. “In 15-18 months, we will be using what we call solid state fermentation to go forward cracking cellulose to ethanol,” said Lyons. “And we will use 30 percent corn stover or switchgrass.”

Lyons says the plant will be built by a new Alltech subsidiary called Ecofin, under the management of his son, Dr. Mark Lyons.

Listen to an interview with Governor Beshear here:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/alltech/kentucky-governor-alltech.mp3]

Listen to Dr. Lyons’ comments about the project here:
[audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/alltech/lyons-alltech-grant.mp3]

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Government, News

Direct Fuels Opens Biodiesel Facility

John Davis

directfuels.gifIndependent regional fuel distributor and specialty refiner Direct Fuels has opened a biodiesel facility at its Euliss refinery in North Texas.

This Direct Fuels press release says it will be only the second biodiesel producer in North Texas and the only one at a fuel terminal where biodiesel can be blended directly into petroleum diesel:

“The opening of our biodiesel facility is very timely, as petroleum-based diesel prices soar to record highs,” said Warren Bonham, president of Direct Fuels. “The plant is centrally located in the DFW Metroplex, and offers diesel retailers and distributors easy and convenient access to both alternative fuels, as well as petroleum fuels. With our fully operational biodiesel and ethanol operations, combined with our existing transmix operations, we expect more than 40 percent of our 2008 revenue to be generated from renewable and recycled fuel.”

Direct Fuels has constructed a dedicated in-house laboratory facility as part of the biodiesel operation. According to Bonham, the company is committed to producing a very high quality product and the in-house laboratory allows real-time testing to ensure that all biodiesel produced will meet the appropriate product specification.

Direct Fuels has also started the process of obtaining BQ-9000 accreditation from the National Biodiesel Accreditation Program, which means they are undergoing a rigorous assessment of their biodiesel facilities to make sure they meet the highest quality production, storage, manufacturing, shipping and distribution practices. The company expects to complete the process by the end of the year.

This facility joins Direct Fuels’ Euliss, Texas 11-acre ethanol facility, making the company a major biofuel producer near the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

Biodiesel

Nova Biosource Cranking Out Animal Fat Biodiesel

John Davis

novalogo.jpgBiofuel maker Nova Biosource Fuels, Inc. has updated the progress on its Seneca, Illinois biodiesel plant.

According to this company press release, Nova Biosource is producing biodiesel from low free fatty acid animal fats and vegetable oils with the plant right now at about 75 percent capacity:

Nova anticipates gradually changing the mix of feedstock to incorporate lower cost, higher free fatty acid content feedstocks through the remaining
commissioning process and then begin commissioning the remaining 20 million gallon per year trains. At the 20 million gallon per year biodiesel refinery built for Scott Petroleum Corporation in Greenville, Mississippi, a mechanical pump failure resulted in damage to the refinery. The refinery had previously been operated at full capacity. For example, during its performance test run in February, the refinery processed variable free fatty acid feedstock (primarily choice white grease with some poultry fat and fish oil with an average free fatty acid level of 4 to 5%) and the output of finished ASTM D 6751 quality biodiesel was measured in excess of 2,400 gallons per hour, or about 100%+ of rated nameplate throughput. The owner has commenced cleanup and repairs and a Nova engineering team is on site to consult with the owner to assess the situation and further develop the repair plan.

“We are pleased with the progress at the Seneca refinery,” said Kenneth T. Hern, Chairman and CEO of Nova. “Our commissioning team is doing a fantastic job of producing biodiesel that exceeds the ASTM standards. We are disappointed with the pump failure at the Scott biodiesel refinery and hope that repairs to the facility will be completed to bring it back to nameplate capacity as quickly as possible.”

When the facility is fully operational, the plant will produce 60 million gallons of biodiesel a year.

Biodiesel

Boating with Biodiesel

John Davis

biodieselboat.gifA commercial launch company in Massachusetts will run some of its boats this summer on biodiesel.

This story in the Salem News (Beverly, Mass.) says that after testing biodiesel on a partner company’s research boat, Mid-Harbor Launch Service will run a few of its boats vessel on the green fuel to test the viability of the product:

biodiesellaunch.jpgMid-Harbor Launch plans to begin using a mixture called B20, and possibly higher mixes, on three or four of its new launches for the upcoming boating season.

The fuel will be delivered in early May to Mid-Harbor’s 500-gallon capacity work boat, Loftus said, and the launches will be fueled from there.

Upon delivery, it will be the first commercial marine use on the North Shore, according to Ed Burke, chairman of the board at Dennis K. Burke Inc., the first major fuel distributor in the Boston area to offer B20 and B5 biodiesel blends.

While the biodiesel will yield obvious environmental benefits, there are some drawbacks that need to be overcome. It can degrade natural rubber in older engines, and sometimes, the cleaning nature of biodiesel can knock loose sediment that has built up in engines, possibly clogging fuel filters. Most truck operators have run into similar problems, and usually, they just keep extra filters on hand.

Biodiesel

DOE Awards New Biorefinery Grants

Cindy Zimmerman

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded grants for three small-scale biorefinery projects this week in Maine, Tennessee and Kentucky.

In announcing the grants, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said, “These projects will help pioneer the next generation of non-food based biofuels that will power our cars and trucks and help meet President Bush’s goal to stop greenhouse gas emissions growth by 2025.”

AlltechAmong the projects is a grant of up to $30 million to help pay for a $70 million cellulosic ethanol plant to be built in Springfield, Kentucky.

The plant will be built by Ecofin LLC, a subsidiary of Alltech, an international company headquartered in Lexington that is primarily focused on animal nutrition. The plant will utilize cellulose, such as switch grass, corn cobs and corn stover, at raw material levels of up to 30 percent to be converted to ethanol and other value-added products. The facility will also have the capability to produce algae for biodiesel production.

Dr. Pearse Lyons, president and founder of Alltech, said in a statement, “With commodity prices reaching an all time high and with ethanol production forecast to account for 30 percent of the U.S. corn harvest by 2010 we must focus our attention on a sustainable path to alternative energies.”

MascomaMascoma Corporation of Massachusetts received a grant of up to $26 million for a proposed plant to be located in Monroe County, Tennessee. The facility is scheduled to come online in 2009 and will utilize Tennessee grown switchgrass as a primary feedstock.

The third funded project is up to $30 million for RSE Pulp & Chemical of Old Town, Maine to produce cellulosic ethanol from wood.

Biodiesel, biomass, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Government, News

Ethanol Helps Prevent Higher Prices

Cindy Zimmerman

RFAEthanol production is actually helping keep food and fuel prices lower than they would be, notes the Renewable Fuels Association, citing recent news reports.

OilWithout the expansion of biofuel production and use in the US, Brazil and elsewhere, world oil demand would increase and so would the price. Merrill Lynch analyst Francisco Blanch told the Wall Street Journal that world oil prices would be 15% higher. At today’s record prices, that would equate to $132 per barrel of oil.

That may be why Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted Saturday as saying crude oil prices at $115 a barrel are too low.

According to the Associated Press, the Web site of Iran’s state-run television quoted Ahmadinejad as saying, “The oil price of $115 a barrel in today’s global markets is a deceiving figure. Oil is a strategic commodity that needs to discover its real value.”

Ethanol, News, RFA