Dallas Greens Up Biodiesel Buses

John Davis

Many of the city buses in Dallas, Texas are already running on biodiesel. Now, the city will put in an additive that will reduce NOx emissions even further. According to a press release, Dallas will be the first fleet in the nation to use the additive, ORYXE LED for Biodiesel, recently received approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ):

“The City of Dallas is constantly striving to be at the forefront of clean technology, and we hope our example will lead to other large diesel fleets using this cleaner fuel blend,” says Ramiro Lopez, who oversees fuel and environmental services for the Department of Equipment and Building Services. “With NOx being such a big issue in the Metroplex, we waited for this technology to become available so we could reintroduce biodiesel into our fleet.”

B20 fuel treated with the ORYXE additive showed equivalent NOx levels to Texas Low Emission Diesel (TxLED) fuel (5.7% lower than standard EPA petroleum diesel). In addition to reducing NOx, the biodiesel blend with ORYXE Energy technology also reduced particulate matter (PM) by 28.8%, total hydrocarbons (THC) by 17.5% and carbon monoxide (CO) by 19% beyond the required TxLED levels.

The release goes on to point out that the additive is available for just pennies, making it not only good for the environment but easy on taxpayers’ pocketbooks as well.

Biodiesel

Wind Power 2007 Registration

John Davis


The folks at the American Wind Energy Association remind you that Monday, April 9th is the deadline to sign up for early registration for the Wind Power 2007 Conference and Exhibition, June 3-6 in Los Angeles, CA.

Organizers promise the latest industry trends and information with more than 50 educational sessions featuring the new Scientific Track:

WINDPOWER 2007 Highlights:

Pre-Conference Seminars:

– Fundamentals of Wind Energy (specifically created for those who are new to the wind industry or want to brush up on some basics)

– Wind Development 201 (what makes a successful wind project – building on the Fundamentals of Wind Energy)

– Personal Wind Systems for Homes, Farms, and Small Businesses (bringing small wind turbine technology to mainstream customers)

Conference Program:

– Several General Sessions including “Growing the Wind Energy Business” and “Utility Leadership in Wind Development” as well as a Welcome and Opening Session featuring political leaders.

– Session Tracks – For the first time this year, WINDPOWER 2007 will feature 5 separate tracks of sessions from Monday to Wednesday. The Business and Technical tracks span all 3 days, but each day will also feature shorter tracks including Policy, Utility, Project Development (NEW), Small Wind, Scientific (NEW), and Global View (NEW).

– Poster Reception – the Poster Session will be held on Sunday, June 3 from 5:30 – 6:30 pm directly before the Opening Reception in the exhibit hall. Over 160 poster presentations will be featured at this reception where attendees can interact directly with the poster authors.

– First Time Attendee Orientation – New! For those of you who have never attended WINDPOWER before, a new orientation session on Sunday afternoon will help you make the most out of your experience plus meet the AWEA Staff and Board of Directors.

More than 350 exhibitors are already confirmed and more are expected by the June conference.

Click here for registration and more information.

conferences, Wind

Sorghum Growers Cellulosic Forum

Cindy Zimmerman

NSP This week, the National Sorghum Producers hosted a forum with representatives from
Abengoa Bioenergy and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, as well as sorghum researchers to discuss how the sweet crop fits in the ethanol industry.

Participants shared research plans and findings in regard to sorghum biomass-to-ethanol and sweet sorghum-to-ethanol production. Researchers from Kansas State, Texas A&M, University of Nebraska and Oklahoma State participated as well as personnel from USDA-ARS. Abengoa Bioenergy just recently received one of six DOE grants to construct a new generation ethanol pilot plant in Kansas, which will require both grain and stubble for production.

The sorghum industry plans to work on completing a compositional analysis to help Abengoa and DOE fully understand how sorghum fits as an ethanol feedstock.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News, Research

Granite Falls Sticks With Aventine

Cindy Zimmerman

Aventine Ethanol company Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings Inc., will continue to market ethanol for Granite Falls Energy LLC, of Minnesota.

According to a press release, Granite Falls has been member of Aventine’s marketing alliance since 2005. In November 2006, Granite Falls notified Aventine that it would not automatically renew its agreement with Aventine in order to evaluate other alternative ethanol marketers. Upon completion of its due diligence in evaluating other potential ethanol marketers, Granite Falls rescinded its cancellation letter previously sent to Aventine.

Ethanol, News

Ethanol and Food Prices

Cindy Zimmerman

Ethanol has been blamed for both higher egg prices and higher milk prices recently due to higher costs for livestock feed.

AFBF Overall, the American Farm Bureau Federation reports that for the first quarter of this year, food prices are about four percent higher than the previous quarter. Farm Bureau’s regular market basket survey shows 12 of 16 basic grocery items are higher priced, including eggs, flour, bacon, pork chops, milk, potatoes, corn oil, mayonnaise, vegetable oil, ground chuck, sirloin tip roast, and toasted oat cereal.

Items lower in price compared to the end of last year were cheddar cheese, bread, chicken and apples.

It’s interesting to note that higher egg prices are blamed on ethanol while chicken prices are lower – and that higher milk prices are blamed on ethanol, but cheese prices are lower. It’s also interesting to note that red meat prices are higher compared to the last quarter of last year, but lower or the same compared to the same quarter last year.

Finally, Farm Bureau notes that the farmer’s share of the food dollar continues to decline. At this point, farmers and ranchers only receive about 22 cents out of every dollar spent on food – which means the rest goes to costs for transportation, manufacturing, retailers, etc. In other words, the middle men. Unlike most other business people, most farmers and ranchers are unable to set their own price for the commodities they produce and sell. They receive prices set by the buyers of the products. Even if their costs go up, they are unable to accordingly pass those costs on to the consumer. Therefore, most of the time, higher food prices go to the middle men, not the farmer.

Ethanol, News

BioWillie Distributor Woes

John Davis


In what could be seen as a cautionary tale that you’ve got to have more than good intentions to make it in the biodiesel business, the company that had rights to Willie Nelson’s brand of biodiesel… BioWillie… will delay the filing of its 2006 financial results because of “circumstances surrounding the auditor review of our financial information.”

In this story in the Kansas City Star, Earth Biofuels, Inc. had to notify the Security and Exchange Commission of the delay:

Robert Anderson of Kansas City joined the company in October to help with its expansion into the Midwest. Initially enthusiastic about the company, he soon became disenchanted with its inability to follow through on its plans. Now working for another biodiesel company, Anderson worries that Earth Biofuels’ mounting difficulties could unfairly taint the biodiesel industry.

“This is a company and not an industry problem,” Anderson said.

… by late 2006 others were raising questions about the company and its financial health. The Motley Fool investment service warned investors about Earth Biofuels. Earlier this year, Forbes magazine published a critical article, alleging the company was running short on cash.

Forbes also raised questions about Dennis McLaughlin, the company’s chief executive officer, and his previous dealings, including his role at another company, Aurora Natural Gas, which filed for bankruptcy shortly after he left.

Some employees, including those selling BioWillie, have been laid off.

Biodiesel

Thune Hosts Ethanol Hearing

Cindy Zimmerman

Thune and Indy CarSenator John Thune this week hosted a hearing in his state on the growing need for ethanol research and availability.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s energy subcommittee field hearing on “The Next Frontier of Biofuels Production: Cellulosic Ethanol and the 2007 Farm Bill” included testimony from representatives of VeraSun Energy, Poet (the company formally known as Broin), South Dakota Corn Growers, South Dakota State University, Pheasants Forever, and Ceres, Inc.

According to a press release, the senator also visited the Sioux Valley Coop in Watertown to fill up on E-20 and discuss methods for providing greater access to ethanol blends like E-20 and E-85 across the country. Senator Thune highlighted his legislation that would provide incentives to gas station owners across the country who install alternative fuel pumps that give consumers cleaner, more diverse, cost-effective options for fueling their vehicles.

E85, Ethanol, Government, Legislation, News, Research

E85 Viper Tries for Speed Record

Cindy Zimmerman

E85 ViperA Dodge Viper fueled with 85 percent ethanol will attempt to break a world speed record this week.

According to a media advisory, car enthusiast and entrepreneur Karl Jacob will attempt to break the world speed record for the standing mile in his street-legal, biofuel powered 1100hp E85 Dodge Viper. The attempt will be made on April 11 at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, Calif.

During the process of converting the Dodge Viper SRT-10, Jacob discovered that ethanol was not only a viable source for a high performance vehicle but could provide optimal performance. Inspired by the benefits of E85 – it’s renewable, 85% alcohol, burns clean and has a minimal impact on the environment – Jacob’s goal is to make more people aware of the benefits of renewable fuels and to encourage them to consider ethanol in their own modifications.

“While one vehicle alone may not change the environment, it can help people understand the benefits of alternative and renewable fuel sources and influence them to think about what they can do to benefit the environment,” says Jacob. “Though some may not be ready to give up their passion for performance vehicles, the E85 Viper proves that they can continue pursuing their passion without having to rely on conventional fuel.”

Additional information on Jacob and the E85 Viper can be found at www.e85viper.com.

E85, Ethanol, Flex Fuel Vehicles, News

JAMA Warns Biodiesel Homebrewers to be Careful

John Davis

A brief report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) points out that biodiesel is a substance that needs to handled carefully.

The article points out an incident in Colorado where a biodiesel homebrewer accidently left the heating element on while he left for the weekend. The resulting fire released biodiesel, recycled restaurant cooking oil, smaller amounts of glycerin and sodium hydroxide, and 1-gallon containers of sulfuric and phosphoric acid that seeped into the ground. There were no injuries or evacuations, but JAMA says that biodiesel should come from commercial sources:

Biodiesel usually is produced commercially; however, some persons in the United States and elsewhere produce biodiesel in their homes for personal use. Those who produce homemade biodiesel should be aware of the substantial risk for injury. Substances used in biodiesel production can be highly explosive (i.e., methanol) or corrosive (i.e., sodium hydroxide). If improperly handled, these substances can cause severe eye, skin, and upper respiratory irritation; chemical burns; and other serious injuries. During the preceding 10 years, almost all fires and injuries caused by home production of biodiesel of which the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is aware were caused by improper handling of methanol during production.

Sounds like the old advice from Hill Street Blues… “Let’s be careful out there.”

Biodiesel

Eleven States Considering Biodiesel Requirement

John Davis

We’ve been trying to document all the different pieces of state legislation out there that have impacts on the biodiesel industry. This blog entry posted by John Gartner on Autopia – Wired News, I think, kind of sums up what the effects might be if the 11 states… Florida, Connecticut, Missouri, California, Oregon, Mississippi, Arkansas, Nebraska, Montana, Tennessee and New Mexico… raise their biodiesel requirements from two to five percent, and other states look at reducing taxes on biodiesel:

You can view this as interventionist government messing with the free market for both food and fuel. Or, you can say it is the states creating a minimum market that ensures interest from growers and refiners to establish demand that is necessary to battle oil dependency (for national security reasons) or for environmental purposes.

Another option would be that states (or the federal government) could use their purchasing power to create the market. If all government vehicles used only biofuels, it would provide the certainty that producers need while reducing the effect on the free market. This is done all of the time with emerging technologies, so it shouldn’t be a surprise if it happens here.

Well said.

Biodiesel, Legislation, Opinion