More DOE Funds for Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

DOEThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide up to $200 million, over five years to support the development of small-scale cellulosic biorefineries in the United States.

According to a DOE announcement, the funding will be for projects to develop biorefineries at ten percent of commercial scale that produce liquid transportation fuels such as ethanol, as well as bio-based chemicals and bioproducts used in industrial applications. This research aims to advance President Bush’s goal of making cellulosic ethanol cost-competitive with gasoline by 2012, and assist in reducing America’s gasoline consumption by 20 percent in ten years by expanding the availability of alternative and renewable transportation fuels.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Government, News

Possible US-Europe Biodiesel Trade War Brewing

John Davis

European biodiesel makers are crying foul over U.S. subsidies to biodiesel exporters.

WTO logoAccording to this story posted on WisconsinAgConnection.com, the folks from across the pond are talking about a World Trade Organization investigation and retaliatory tariffs being put on U.S. biodiesel sent to Europe.

According to European media reports, the subsidy allows U.S. exporters to undercut European rivals by at least a quarter, forcing many to cut production and sell at a loss. The US “B99” subsidy is controversial because it benefits exporters. In most of Europe, tax breaks are available only at the point of sale.

The story goes on to say that the big oil companies cashing in on the credit, which irks the National Biodiesel Board as well (see my posts from April 18th – NBB Blasts Conoco/Tyson Biodiesel Plans, April 20th – Dems Also Irked Over Conoco/Tyson Biodiesel Plans, and April 25th – NBB Fights Tax Incentive Abuse), is only making the situation worse.

Biodiesel, International

Turning Highways into Wind Farms

John Davis

Interesting concept was posted on the web site Engadget.com.

Highway windmill #1Some student designs are proposing that windmills, such as the one shown on the left, would be built above the nation’s highways. As cars whooshed by, the wind would turn the turbines and produce electricity. Proponents say its a way to produce green energy, even when the original source is not so green.

Another idea would be to have median barriers with wind turbines inside them (pictured below).
Highway windmill #2
Some drawbacks to that, however, might be safety concerns as to whether the barriers could hold up to the rigors of traffic and if they could keep someone from smashing into the oncoming lanes of vehicles.

Both are interesting ideas and prompted a lot of comments at the Engadget.com web site.

Wind

Millers Focus on Fuel

Cindy Zimmerman

MillersThe 48th Annual Corn Dry Milling Conference is coming up May 31 – June 1 at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, Illinois. The conference is jointly sponsored by the North American Millers’ Association and the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research Agricultural Research Service, USDA.

Among the ethanol-related topics at the meeting will be the National Corn Growers Association and Biofuels; Cellulose Conversion Technology in a Dry Mill Pathway; and Economic Impacts of Fuel Ethanol for Agriculture.

Program and registration information are available on-line from the North American Millers’ Association.

Cellulosic, conferences, Ethanol, News

FEW Scholarships Available

Cindy Zimmerman

FEW 07BBI International’s 2007 Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW) Scholarship program is looking for a few good people pursuing higher education leading to careers or post-graduate studies related to the ethanol industry.

Three $5000 scholarships will be awarded at the FEW this June in St. Louis, sponsored by American Stainless & Supply, a supplier of industrial PVF materials. In business for over 40 years, American Stainless supplies the ethanol industry’s procurement needs on all items from the pump to the tank.

BBI International will cover travel, lodging and registration for the scholarship winners to attend the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis June 26-29, 2007. BBI International provides valuable expertise to the biofuels industry with three areas of service: Conference and Event Planning, Project Development, and Media. Winners will attend an award ceremony at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis, where they will be congratulated by representatives from American Stainless & Supply and BBI International.

The application is available on-line and the registration deadline is May 18.

conferences, Ethanol, News

Companies Bet on Biodiesel

John Davis

American companies seem to be betting that biodiesel will continue its explosive growth it has seen in recent years.

This story from Reuters says high oil prices along with the Bush Administration’s commitment to promoting the green fuel industry through monetary incentives seems to helping the industry along:

NBB logoThere are 115 biodiesel plants in the United States with a combined production capacity of 865 million gallons a year — about five days of total U.S. distillate consumption, according to industry group, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB).

But the addition of nearly 80 plants currently under construction is set to boost total U.S. output capacity to over 2 billion gallons over the next 18 to 36 months, adds NBB.

“I would say in the past three or four years, it (capacity) has grown three to four times in size,” Paul Nazzaro, who heads outreach programs at Jefferson city, Missouri-based NBB, told Reuters.

Nazzaro said output capacity grew exponentially after biodiesel producers received a $1 per gallon tax credit a few years ago. The provision is due to expire next year but his group is lobbying aggressively to get it extended, he said.

The article does point that there are still some sticking points with biodiesel such as improving the delivery system and making sure the higher percentage blends don’t gel up in cold weather. But if big oil companies such as ConocoPhillips trying to cash in on the business and tax incentives as well is any indication, this could be just the start of a major change in the domestic fuel business.

Biodiesel

Why Monsanto Supports EPIC

Chuck Zimmerman

Troy Hobbs and Tom SluneckaOne of the people I met at the Kansas Speedway this weekend was Troy Hobbs, Monsanto Corn Biofuels Strategy Lead (left). He’s pictured here with EPIC Executive Director in front of the Rahal-Letterman hospitality tent on race day.

Troy explains why Monsanto has supported EPIC since it started. He believes that it’s very important to educate the public about the benefits of ethanol because of what that means for agriculture and our country. Troy also talks about the Monsanto Processor Preferred program that’s helping corn growers obtain a premium price for their product.

Listen to my interview with Troy: Listen to MP3 Troy Hobbs Interview (4 min MP3)

I think the photo album wound up with about 350 pictures in it.

2007 Kansas Lottery Indy 300 Photo Album

Audio, EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News, Racing

Imperium “Propels” Biodiesel Sales

John Davis

ImperiumSeattle-based Imperium Renewables is making an investment in its own future by loaning money to Propel Biofuels to build its first biodiesel filling stations in Washington state.

According to this story posted on SeattlePI.com, the undisclosed loan amount will help open the first station soon and four more in the coming weeks… and that could be just the start:

Propel BiofuelsRob Elam, president of Propel Biofuels, said that the company is looking to have its biodiesel equipment installed at about 20 fueling stations in Washington, Oregon and California by the end of this year.

As part of the deal, Propel has agreed to distribute some of the Washington grown biodiesel being produced by Imperium.

As you might remember from our earlier posts, Imperium has become a major mover and shaker in the biodiesel business securing a record $214 million in investments and getting ready to open the nation’s largest biodiesel refinery… a 100 million gallon a year plant.

Biodiesel

Bush on Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

During a White House press briefing on Monday with European leaders, President Bush commented on his goals for renewable fuels and the current research in producing ethanol from sources other than corn in response to a foreign journalist’s question about global environmental concerns:

I have said we’ll have a mandatory fuel standard, not a voluntary fuel standard, but a mandatory fuel standard that will reduce our uses of gasoline by 20 percent over a 10-year period of time. We believe that ethanol and biodiesel, the spread of ethanol and biodiesel are — the goal of spreading ethanol and biodiesel is achievable, that’s what we believe. And we’re spending a lot of money to achieve that goal.

Now, the spread of ethanol in the United States is not going to be achievable if we rely only upon corn. There is a limit to the amount of ethanol we can produce with corn as a feedstock. So our research dollars are going to what they call cellulosic ethanol, and that means the ability to make ethanol from switchgrasses or wood chips. And we’re spending a lot of money to that end.

White HouseAnd it is a mandatory approach. And the reason why I laid it out is because, one, I do believe we can be better stewards of the environment; and, two, I know it’s in our national interest to become less dependent on foreign sources of oil. The fundamental question is, will America be able to develop the technology necessary for us to achieve the goal. I think we can. It’s in our interest to share that technology, not only with our partners who are wealthy enough to spend money on research dollars, but also with the developing world.

Now you talk about helping alleviate poverty in the developing world — wouldn’t it be wonderful if the developing world could grow crops that would enable them to power their automobiles, so they wouldn’t have to be dependent on foreign oil, either. And that’s the message I took down to South America, with Lula, and to Central America. For example, sugar cane is the most — you’re learning about ethanol here, but sugar cane is the most efficient way to make ethanol. It turns out in Central America there is a lot of land and opportunity to continue to produce cane, which means that the Central American countries could be eventually net exporters of energy. So we’ve got a lot of common ground and a lot of area to work on.

Biodiesel, Ethanol, global warming, Government, News

Another Cellulosic Breakthrough

Cindy Zimmerman

Cornell CellCornell University researchers have reportedly discovered a class of plant enzymes that potentially could allow plant materials used to make ethanol to be broken down more efficiently than is possible using current technologies.

According to Jocelyn Rose, Cornell assistant professor of plant biology, the breakthrough could make the production of cellulosic ethanol less expensive.

“The bottleneck for conversion of lignocellulose into ethanol is efficient cellulose degradation,” said Rose in a Cornell news release. “The discovery of these enzymes suggests there might be sets of new plant enzymes to improve the efficiency of cellulose degradation.”

The diagram from Cornell Theory Center shows the newly discovered class of plant enzymes with a cellulose-binding module (shown in blue), sticking to a plant cell wall. The binding module of the enzyme helps the catalytic region of the enzyme (shown in more detail in gray in the pullout part of the picture) break down the crystalline cellulose.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News, Research