Brown Going Green

John Davis

UPSShipping giant UPS has announced that 366 of its ground support vehicles at its worldwide air hub in Louisville, Kentucky will be running on biodiesel.

This story in the Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal says the shipper is getting a federal grant to get this project off the ground:

A $515,000 federal grant is offsetting some of the cost of building the infrastructure for biodiesel at the airport, UPS said. The shipping company plans to start using the biodiesel early next year.

A visit to the UPS Sustainability web site (www.sustainability.ups.com) shows this is not a new trend for the company as it has been using some alternative fuels since the 1930s.

So the next time you hear somebody say “What can Brown do for you?” you’ll know they’re going green to help all of us.

Biodiesel

Greening Mayfield’s Brownfield

Cindy Zimmerman

NE EthanolA proposed ethanol plant in Mayfield, Pennsylvania is planning to be a green new breed.

Northeast Ethanol would not only be the first ethanol plant in Pennsylvania, it plans to have “the world’s smallest environmental footprint. No odor. No noise. No wastewater from the process.”

According to the company’s website, the design of the plant calls for the world’s latest biotechnology. “It’s so clean and efficient that we’ll use far less water and less energy than run-of-the-mill ethanol plants. 50% less water. 25% less fossil fuel.”

Delta TThe new generation plant is being designed by Delta-T Corporation. In a Times-Tribune article, Delta-T spokesman Thomas Corle said the $150 million facility would capture its own steam to eliminate any industrial plume, reducing atmospheric emissions by more than 90 percent. “Basically, it’s going to eliminate the smell completely,” Mr. Corle said.

The proposed site for the plant is a 100-acre brownfield which would require a substantial initial cleanup and local officials must still be convinced that the plant is a good idea for the community. A group of officials will be visiting Iowa this weekend to tour an ethanol facility and find out more about it.

Ethanol, Facilities, News

Announcing WIREC 2008

Cindy Zimmerman

The United States will host the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference March 4-6, 2008.

WIRECThe conference, which has been held previously in Bonn and Beijing, is an opportunity for government, private sector, and non-governmental leaders to jointly address the goal of advancing renewable energy.

Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky hosted stakeholders in the renewable energy industry last week to announce the conference and discuss their goals.

“This conference will play a key role in addressing energy security and climate change,” she said. “WIREC will also provide a platform to promote strategies for the development and rapid adoption of renewable energy systems worldwide,” Dobriansky says.

USDA Undersecretary for Rural Development Tom Dorr also attended the WIREC kickoff to talk about USDA’s involvement in the conference. “It is important in this discussion to remember that renewable energy is in large part rural energy—ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel and biomass technology all rely primarily on farm and forest resources, and wind because of its siting requirements is also largely a rural resource,” said Dorr.

Agribusiness, Biodiesel, Cellulosic, conferences, Ethanol, global warming, Government, News, Wind

Pacific NW Ethanol Plant Opens

Cindy Zimmerman

Pacific EthanolOregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski cut the ribbon on the Pacific Northwest’s first commercial ethanol plant Friday in Boardman.

The plant, built by California-based Pacific Ethanol, will produce 40 million gallons of ethanol yearly to help meet the current City of Portland’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) and will help supply fuel for the implementation of Oregon’s upcoming RFS slated to begin January 1, 2008.

In addition to supplying the Northwest fuel markets, the plant produces 350,000 tons of wet distillers grains, an important feed ingredient to Northwest dairy and beef producers.

Ethanol, Facilities, News

Cows Are Like Ethanol Plants

Cindy Zimmerman

Nick BakerHere is a riddle for you – “How is a cow like an ethanol production plant?”

That question was posed at a booth manned by Nick Baker of the U. S. Dairy Forage Research Center at last week’s World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wisconsin. Baker explained to expo visitors that basically the cow’s rumen uses microbes to break down forage and feed into the energy it needs much like an ethanol plant which then converts the sugars produced into alcohol.

Baker says he is working on a project to utilize switchgrass in the production of ethanol and says the technology is already available to make that happen.

Chuck Zimmerman interviewed Baker for World Dairy Diary’s “Milking Parlor” podcast, which you can listen to here: Listen To MP3 Interview with Nick Baker (MP3)

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Research

Biodiesel Measures Clear Senate Committee

John Davis

The Senate Finance Committee has approved the Heartland, Habitat, Harvest and Horticulture (4-H) Act of 2007… a measure containing energy tax provisions considered very important to continue the integration of the biodiesel industry into the domestic energy supply. Those measures include an extension of the federal biodiesel tax incentive, that is set to expire at the end of 2008, through December 31, 2010. It also includes an extension of the Biodiesel Small Producer Tax Credit through 2012.

The approval won the praise of the National Biodiesel Board:

joe-jobethumbnail.jpg“Extension of the biodiesel tax incentive is vital to our industry,” noted NBB CEO Joe Jobe. “The U.S. biodiesel industry appreciates the Senate Finance Committee’s leadership in recognizing the valuable role biodiesel can play in reducing our dependence on foreign oil in an environmentally friendly way. Extending the biodiesel tax incentive as included in this bill will support the growth of a stable biodiesel industry and allow American biodiesel producers to compete for global demand while ensuring that only quality fuel is sold in the U.S. market.”

Biodiesel

Illinois Pump Labeling

Cindy Zimmerman

Illinois CornThe “e” is coming to Illinois.

The Illinois Corn Marketing Board (ICMB) this week introduced a voluntary statewide brand initiative for ethanol fuel including E10 (10% ethanol-enriched fuel) and E85 (85% ethanol and 15% unleaded gasoline).

According to ICMB, they are working with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC), the American Lung Association of Illinois and the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association to introduce the initiative. A kickoff event was held on Friday at the Village of Northbrook in Illinois.

EPICICMB and EPIC chose the Northbrook location to announce the program because of the Village’s long history of support for E85 and flexible fuel vehicle technology. Northbrook adopted E85 and began converting its vehicle fleet to E85 a decade ago, making them the first municipality in Illinois to make a commitment to renewable fuel.

“Northbrook is a community concerned about the environment in general and local air quality in specific. Many residents also share a growing national concern that America should be energy independent. Our investment in E-85 has been consistent with working toward the achievement of those goals,” said John Novison, Northbrook Village Manager.

Illinois has labeled E10 pumps with plain, black and white stickers for years, however, the new green and blue “e” labels are brighter and will offer a higher profile.

corn, EPIC, Ethanol, News

Georgia Biofuels Company Honored

Cindy Zimmerman

Davis BiofuelsGeorgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin this week recognized Davis Oil Company of Perry as a “Pioneer in Biofuels” for its efforts to develop the industry and to market biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel in Georgia.

Davis UnitedIrvin presented Davis Cosey, Davis Oil Company CEO, with a certificate and proclamation Thursday during a ceremony at one of the company’s fueling stations. Commissioner Irvin praised the company for its biofuels development efforts.

“Davis was the first company in Georgia to offer E-85 to the public,” said Commissioner Irvin. “They have been selling biodiesel and ethanol-blended gas such as E-85 and E-10 and have had no problems meeting Georgia state standards for quality. It is important to recognize leaders like Davis Oil that are innovative and deliver the quality that Georgia motorists expect and deserve.”

Davis is a blender, distributor and retailer of both ethanol and biodiesel.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Biofuels Fueling Industrial Boom

John Davis

Biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, are more than just good for the environment and shedding America’s dependance on foreign oil… they’re also good for our industrial construction base.

This story on the Reliable Plant.com web site says construction of biofuel plants has helped increase North American industrial construction by a whopping 34.5 percent increase over a year ago.

Looking at vertical markets, the Alternative Fuels Industry continues to experience the largest increase in growth, with more than $44 billion in active projects for 2007. Explosive growth is occurring in this industry as hundreds of ethanol and biodiesel plants move forward. An example of one of the many Alternative Fuels Industry projects moving to the construction stage this year is the start of Phase I construction of a $200 million grassroot fuel ethanol plant under construction in Mount Vernon, Ill. Aventine Renewable Energy Incorporated (Pekin, Ill.) began construction in September of a 226 million gallon-per-year plant.

Meanwhile, oil and gas production has dropped by nearly 30 percent during the same period. Hmmm… biofuels on the rise, oil and gas on the decline. Seems like a direct correlation to me.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, News

Thinking Small for Biodiesel

John Davis

While much of the talk regarding biodiesel these days has been about mega-refineries that try to keep up with the growing demand for the green fuel, there was some recent “small” talk about the biofuel… in fact, microscopic talk.

nanotxlogo.bmpThis story in the Fort Worth (TX) Business Press says at the recent conference on nanotechnology, NanoTx 2007, in Dallas, scientists discussed how to apply the control of matter on the molecular level to biodiesel production:

Last year, researchers at UT Arlington’s college of engineering developed a microreactor that could dramatically reduce the time and cost needed to process biodiesel fuel.

“We are actively seeking companies that build biodiesel refineries to be our partners in this nanotechnology development effort,” said Dr. Richard Billo, associate dean of engineering at the school. “The microreactor can take what is now a 90-minute process to convert vegetable oil to biodiesel fuel and reduce it to less than four minutes, even down to as little as six seconds, depending on some beginning variables,” he said.

nanotx1.JPGThe energy segment of the conference (pictured at right) was reported to be very popular as the scientists also talked about how to recapture heat produced from engines.

Biodiesel