GM Exec Promotes Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

LutzThe vice chairman of General Motors says converting automobiles to ethanol is “entirely realistic.”

Forbes reports that GM’s Bob Lutz spoke at an automotive conference in Louisville on Monday and said that instead of being satisfied with incremental change, the country should make it a priority to replace fossil fuel with renewable energy in “huge chunks.”

Lutz said that ethanol could become a major energy component within a few years if energy policy becomes the top national priority – similar to the “Manhattan Project” in which scientists designed and assembled the first atomic weapons.

“I think a timeframe like five years looks entirely realistic,” Lutz said.

Car Makers, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

Supercomputer Cellulosic Work

Cindy Zimmerman

CelluloseScientists have used an SDSC supercomputer to help improve cellulose conversion to ethanol.

Their “virtual molecules” show how the enzyme complex may change shape to straddle a broken cellulose chain, gaining a crucial foothold to digest cellulose into sugar molecules, which can then be fermented into ethanol.

A team of scientists has conducted molecular simulations at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), based at UC San Diego. By using “virtual molecules,” they have discovered key steps in the intricate dance in which the enzyme acts as a molecular machine — attaching to bundles of cellulose, pulling up a single strand of sugar, and putting it onto a molecular conveyor belt where it is chopped into smaller sugar pieces.

Image courtesy of Ross Walker and Amit Chourasia, SDSC and Michael Crowley and Mark Nimlos, NREL.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

Bioenergy and Rural Development

Cindy Zimmerman

FAO Top international experts meeting in Rome last week agreed that bioenergy could be a positive force for rural development

According to a news release from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) it was the first time that experts in bioenergy, food security and the environment came together to discuss the environmental and food security impact of the rapidly-expanding bioenergy industry.

Alexander Müller, head of FAO’s Natural Resources Management and Environment Department, said, ‘While there is legitimate concern among some groups that bioenergy could compromise food security and cause environmental damage, it can also be an important tool for improving the well-being of rural people if governments take into account environmental and food security concerns.”

During the meeting, Luiz Augusto Horta Nogueira is Professor at the ‘Universidade Federal de Itajubá’, Brazil said some crops are more productive than others when it comes to making ethanol and biodiesel.

“The conflict between food and fuel should be evaluated under this point of view,” he said. “If you are considering the good options you have in wet, tropical countries this conflict is not so serious.” He says that sugarcane for ethanol and palm oil for biodiesel are more efficient than corn and soybeans.

Listen to interview here: Listen To MP3 FAO Energy 1 (2 min MP3)

Seth Shames, Policy Program Manager of the Washington-based Ecoagriculture Partners says bioenergy could have great benefits for small farmers in countries such as Africa and Central America.

“We’re excited about potentials for growing biofuel crops, trees or even perennial grasses in the future, which could be used by small farmers for their own energy needs to integrate in the food landscape also so they don’t have to make this trade-off and also increases livelihood options for them,” he said.

Listen to interview here: Listen To MP3 FAO Energy (2 min MP3)

Audio, Biodiesel, conferences, Energy, Ethanol, International

Earth Day on Baffin Island

John Davis

Global Warming 101 logoThe latest update from explorer/environmentalist Will Steger comes from Earth Day (this past Sunday) on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. As you might remember from our previous posts, Steger is leading a team of three other explorers and educators and four native Inuits on a four-month-long, dog-sled expedition across the island.

Listen to Steger’s Earth Day audio update:

Will Steger“This is basically Ground Zero for global warming. It’s being played out to a large degree in the sea ice. As the ocean warms from the carbon dioxide blanket effect heating the globe, heat goes into the ocean. Because of this, we’re getting later freeze-ups.”

Steger says the local culture is really starting to feel the effects because the Inuits rely so much on the ice as a means of transportation and as their hunting platform.

But Steger points out there is hope. He says even the little decisions we make everyday can make a change… energy efficient light bulbs, using less power, etc. He says, however, the time to act is now, because there might be less than 10 years before the effects are felt worldwide.

“Some of the native people up here say ‘Global warming is affecting us here, but what people in the South don’t realize, it will soon affect (them)’ ”

The expedition and its educational efforts are being supported by the ethanol industry through the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council and Fagen Inc.

See Steger’s Earth Day video here.

EPIC, Ethanol, global warming, News

Indy Ethanol Event

Cindy Zimmerman

Indy Car SeriesEKansas City consumers can follow in the footsteps of the IndyCar® Series and make a choice at the pump for energy independence and cleaner air. E10, a blend of 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol, will be available for $2.14, the average qualifying speed for the Indy 300 at Kansas Speedway, on Thursday at two locations in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area and #17 Team Ethanol Driver Jeff Simmons will be signing autographs.

Simmons and the Team Ethanol car finished in 8th place at the Twin Ring Motegi this past weekend in Japan, his best finish so far this season. Tony Kaanan won that race. The next race is the Kansas Lottery 300 this Sunday at the Kansas Speedway.

EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing, News

Ethanol Conference Celebrates 20 Years

Cindy Zimmerman

AceThe American Coalition for Ethanolhas announced the agenda for its upcoming Ethanol Conference & Trade Show to be held this summer in Minnesota.

The 2007 Ethanol Conference, the organization’s 20th annual, will take place August 7-9 at the River Centre in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The conference, which is hosted in a different Midwestern city each year, is expected to be ACE’s largest event. Nearly 1600 people attended last year’s conference in Kansas City, up from 1000 the previous year, and an even larger record crowd is anticipated this year due to the larger venue and the continually increasing interest in ethanol. A sold-out trade show will provide attendees the opportunity to network with 191 companies filling more than 230 exhibit spaces, ACE’s largest show to date.

Early sign-up is strongly encouraged due to the tremendous interest expected in the conference. Conference registration and other information is available on-line.

conferences, Ethanol, News

Ethanol and the EPA

Cindy Zimmerman

e-podcast EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson calls the nation’s first comprehensive Renewable Fuels Standard, or RFS, “a hat trick – it protects the environment, strengthens our energy security, and supports America’s farmers.”

Ethanol Promotion and Information Council Executive Director Tom Slunecka comments on the new RFS and EPA ruling that provides equal treatment for ethanol plants when it comes to emissions – and how both can work together to help us fill up and feel good about helping the environment.

The “Fill up, Feel Good” podcast is available to download by subscription (see our sidebar link) or you can listen to it by clicking here. (5:00 MP3 File)

The Fill Up, Feel Good theme music is “Tribute to Joe Satriani” by Alan Renkl, thanks to the Podsafe Music Network.

“Fill up, Feel Good” is sponsored by the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council.

Audio, EPIC, Ethanol, Fill Up Feel Good, Flex Fuel Vehicles, Government, News

New Biodiesel Plant in Cleveland

John Davis

A new biodiesel refinery will open in downtown Cleveland in two weeks, and according to this article in the CantonRep.com, they’ll use soybean oil to make the biodiesel:

Center Alternative Energy, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Center Oil Co., will produce the biodiesel fuel in a storage terminal along the Cuyahoga River near downtown, refining soybean oil and blending it with traditional petroleum-based diesel, [John Samsel, president of Center Alternative Energy Co] said.

And it looks like the refinery is coming none too soon:

The city of Cleveland will use a 5 percent biodiesel blend in 10 to 15 percent of its diesel fleet starting May 1, said Andrew Watterson, Cleveland’s sustainability manager. A six-month monitoring program will test emissions and engine performance in 15 of those vehicles.

Officials say Cleveland was picked because of its access to rail lines, ports on Lake Erie, and the large customer base in that part of Ohio.

Biodiesel

Crow Wraps Up Stop Global Warming Tour

John Davis

Crow and bus
Singer Sheryl Crow and environmentalist Laurie David (in the center of the picture above) wrapped up their nationwide tour in a biodiesel bus at a stop in Washington, DC today, Earth Day. The Washington Post featured some posts from Crow’s and David’s blogs along the way on the Stop Global Warming College Tour:

David (4/10, Dallas): I am jogging outside in 40 degree freezing cold . . . 70 degrees in January and 40 degrees in April. That is exactly why Sheryl Crow and I are in a biodiesel bus going thru the Southeast visiting college campuses to talk about the urgency of this issue and how everyone . . . everyone . . . has to start doing something. I would write more, but I have to go run warm water over my hands and thaw out from my run.

The actual blog posts are a little tough to find but this web site StopGlobalWarming.org is a good start.

Biodiesel

First 100% Biodiesel Tractors in UK

John Davis

New Holland tractorsFour New Holland tractors are the first tractors that run on 100% biodiesel to arrive in the United Kingdom to work at Cornwall’s Eden Project, “an environmentally-focused attraction all about man’s relationship with plants and the environment.”

According to this story in the Farmers Guardian, not only will the tractors be good for the environment, they’ll be good for the local economy:

The four New Holland machines will emit 70 per cent less carbon dioxide than the ones they replace. They will also cut carbon monoxide emissions by half, particulates by 70 per cent and hydrocarbons by 40 per cent.

The hope is the 20 litres of fuel each tractor requires daily will be supplied by local oilseed rape growers.

Eden’s Gus Grand said: “The environmental benefits of the tractors are not solely due to the fuel. The engines are more efficient than our old ones. With these new tractors we are trying to drive people’s interest in green motoring forward. If we can do it, so can others.”

The article goes on to say if this test is successful, expansion of the idea could be part of what helps the UK achieve its 5% Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation by 2010.

Biodiesel, International