Ohio Farm Family Opens Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

I’m a sucker for the grassroots biodiesel projects out there, especially when they include a family of farmers.

This story from the Springfield, Ohio News-Sun caught my eye as it is a story of the Purdy family opening its own biodiesel plant on the family farm:

pkbiodiesel.jpgJack Purdy, who has farmed in Woodstock for more than 30 years, now also is the owner of P.K. Biodiesel — a plant on his farm that makes fuel from soybean oil.

P.K. Biodiesel celebrated its grand opening Friday, with family, friends and local leaders.

Representatives from the offices of senators Sherrod Brown and George Voinovich and Congressman Jim Jordan presented commendations to the business for the progressive development in agriculture.

There’s not a lot of information on the company’s web site PKBiodiesel.com yet, but it might be worth a look, especially as the plant gets closer to the 5-6 million gallons of biodiesel it is capable of producing.

Biodiesel

Algae Association Opens New HQ

John Davis

The National Algae Association has moved into a new headquarters at the group’s Texas location.

In a press release e-mailed to Domestic Fuel, the group says the new headquarters in The Woodlands, Texas will serve all areas of the algae industry… touted as the next great feedstock for biofuels:

Algae researchers and producers can come together to exchange ideas concerning the latest developments in Algae production and the products made from Algae. The Association provides an open exchange forum for the publishing of technical papers and the announcement of the results of research into the latest Algae related technologies. The Association also supports discussion and development of new markets that take advantage of the tremendous potential of Algae, not only as a source of renewable energy, but also in the exploration and development of other markets for algae products, such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and fertilizers.

biodieselconference.gifNow I can tell you that algae as an additional feedstock for biodiesel was a hot topic of discussion at the recent National Biodiesel Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida. In fact, the last general session of the conference included a discussion of the various feedstocks, including talk about how algae could produce a thousand gallons of oil for every acre grown.

You can click on this conference blog entry to hear some of that discussion.

Biodiesel, Biodiesel Conference

25x’25 Refutes Science Article

Cindy Zimmerman

The National 25x’25 Steering Committee has responded to widespread media coverage of studies published by Science Magazine last week, saying they failed to report that there are ways to insure that future biofuels give us both a new renewable energy source and greatly reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

The journal Science reported last week that studies indicate clearing land for the production of biofuels would produce twice as much greenhouse gas as the use of biofuels would reduce.

25x'25The statement from the 25x’25 Alliance says, “environmentally sensitive lands should not be exploited in pursuit of renewable fuels. In fact, we have long held that the growing increase in demand for energy, along with food, feed and fiber, can be met with a boost in production facilitated by advances in technology.”

The group also says that development of cellulosic ethanol will not only minimize land use changes but help the environment. They note a recent study of the use of switchgrass for ethanol by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln showed that it produced 540% more energy than it took to grow it. Switchgrass offers many environmental benefits such as preventing runoff, putting organic material back into the ground improving soil and requires no pesticides or fertilizer.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

Financing Closed For PA Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

BioEnergyBioEnergy International announced it has closed financing for Bionol Clearfield, enabling the 100 million gallon a year ethanol plant to begin construction in Clearfield, Pennsylvania.

“With the launch of the Clearfield Project, we have created a model of sustainability with partners Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc. and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Stephen J. Gatto, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BioEnergy. “Near the birthplace of the modern petroleum refinery industry, this destination ethanol plant and our cellulosic pilot, will help usher in the next industrial revolution of biorefineries, that will provide Pennsylvanians with home grown fuels first from corn, then renewable cellulosic feedstocks such as wood chips and biomass.”

BioEnergy International, LLC is a science and technology leader developing biorefineries using proprietary biocatalysts to produce high value renewable fuels and biobased specialty chemicals.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Facilities, News

The Andersons Marathon Ethanol Plant Starts Production

Cindy Zimmerman

MarathonThe Andersons, Inc. and Marathon Oil Corporation today jointly announced ethanol production has begun at their 110-million gallon ethanol plant located in Greenville, Ohio.

AndersonsThis is the third ethanol plant investment for The Andersons, according to CEO Mike Anderson. “Locating in Darke County, the largest corn-producing county in the state, is ideal and the community’s reception has been exceptional. In addition to providing a viable alternative fuel source for our country, we look forward to serving the local farming community through corn sourcing and high-quality distillers dried grains.”

Gary R. Heminger, executive vice president of Marathon Oil Corporation says the Greenville facility is the largest ethanol plant in Ohio. “Marathon is one of the first U.S. oil companies to initiate its own ethanol production operations,” said Heminger. “Marathon has been blending ethanol fuels for more than 15 years and is among the largest blenders of ethanol in the United States.”

Ethanol, Facilities, News

Ethanex Inks Deal to Buy Nebraska Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanex Ethanex Energy has finalized an agreement to buy Midwest Renewable Energy in Sutherland, Neb., for $220 million in cash and Ethanex stock. The deal was first announced last November.

According to a company release, the existing plant, which has a production capacity of 26 million gallons per year, is currently undergoing a two-phase expansion, after which its total projected plant capacity will be 111 million gallons a year.

Ethanol, Facilities, News

That’s Trillion – with a “T”

Cindy Zimmerman

A new analysis by Cambridge Energy Research Associates estimates that $7 trillion in new investment is expected to flow into the alternative energy industry before 2030.

That’s TRILLION with a T.

GulfAccording to the report, “increasing public concerns about climate change — and its potential economic and political security consequences — are driving public policy and private investment to bring clean energy technologies from the fringes of the global energy industry to the center of activities as quickly as possible.”

The result of this rising public and private momentum is an increase in worldwide clean energy investment that could surpass US$7 trillion by 2030 in cumulative real 2007 dollars, according to the CERA report Crossing the Divide: The Future of Clean Energy. “We are seeing a major shift in public opinion, reinforced by the expectation that carbon policies could fundamentally change the competitive landscape of the global energy business,” said Daniel Yergin, CERA Chairman and IHS Executive Vice President. “This is providing a vital impetus that is moving clean technology across the great divide of cost, proven results, scale and maturity that has separated it from markets served by mainstream technologies and processes.”

The analysis looks at a variety of alternative energy sources, including biomass, solar and wind.

News, Research

The Makers of “Fields of Fuel”

Cindy Zimmerman

Josh Tickell and Greg ReitmanThe man behind the movie “Fields of Fuel” attended the National Biodiesel Conference this week in Orlando and held a private screening for the biodiesel-based film that won critical acclaim at the recent Sundance Film Festival.

Josh Tickell, who has been a biodiesel backer for more than a decade, is tickled that his labor of love was chosen for the Audience Award for Best Documentary Film at the Sundance.

“Of the thousands films that were submitted, the 16 that got in, ‘Fields of Fuel’ was the number one audience choice,” he said in an interview with Domestic Fuel after the screening. “It felt pretty fantastic to walk up on stage and get the award.”

“Fields of Fuel” producer Greg Reitman says they are now looking ahead to getting the film into other festivals. “From that point on, Josh will basically do a 50 city tour around the country and we will essentially be in theaters by mid-May.” He says there are several major theatrical distributors looking at the film now.

The film, which highlights both biodiesel and ethanol, has been years in the making and a number of industry sponsors aided in the effort including: Nova Biosource Fuels, Solazyme, BBI International, Ethanol Promotion and Information Council, Renewable Energy Group, Earth Biofuels, and John Deere.

You can listen to the full interview with Josh and Greg here: [audio:http://www.zimmcomm.biz/biodiesel/nbb-tickell.mp3]

Audio, Biodiesel, EPIC, Ethanol, News

GM Bets on E-85

Cindy Zimmerman

GM E85General Motors unveiled the 2009 FlexFuel Chevy HHR this week at the Chicago Auto Show, a small SUV that will be the first four-cylinder model in General Motors Corp.’s North American lineup that can run on straight gasoline or blends of up to 85 percent ethanol.

In a speech at the show, GM North America President Troy Clarke stressed the auto maker’s commitment to ethanol.

“We will continue to make more of our lineup FlexFuel-capable because we believe ethanol, and specifically E85, is the best near-term answer to reduce our nation’s dependence on oil as energy demand rises here and around the world,” Clarke said.

“The focus needs to be on making E85 more available by developing cellulosic ethanol sources and dramatically increasing the number of stations that offer E85,” he said.

GM is the auto industry leader in offering FlexFuel models – 11 for 2008 and more than 15 planned for 2009. GM already has 2.5 million ethanol-capable vehicles on the road and hopes to have 20 million in service by 2020.

E85, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

LifeLine to Supply Indy Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

Indy logoLifeLine Foods of St. Joseph, Missouri will join forces with the IndyCar® Series for the 2008 season as the official supplier of the 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol used in all IndyCar Series cars.

lifeline foodsLifeLine Foods is a unique company that uses corn to produce food and fuel. One portion of the kernel is processed and marketed to the food industry while the remainder of the corn kernel is used for, among other things, cattle feed and energy needs. Utilizing a bran energy recovery system, total plant energy needs will be reduced by approximately 50 percent. This method insures that the company is getting the most value out of corn, benefiting the agriculture, food and ethanol industries.

EPIC logoLifeLine was contracted by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) to supply approximately 120,000 gallons of the fuel to the IndyCar Series. With the transition to an ethanol-blend in 2006 and then 100% fuel-grade ethanol in 2007, the IndyCar Series was the first motorsports league to require use of a renewable fuel.

corn, EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News