Ethanol Conference Anticipates Record Crowd

Cindy Zimmerman

RFA Conference The 12th Annual National Ethanol Conference next week is expecting a record 2,000 industry leaders and experts to discuss and shape the future of the U.S. ethanol industry.

“Building New Horizons” is the theme for the conference being held Feburary 19-21 in Tucson, Arizona. Much is on the agenda for the policy and marketing conference, from “Understanding the RFS Program” to “How Long, How Much and How So for Cellulosic Fuel Ethanol?” Highlighted speakers include EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, Bobby Rahal of Rahal Letterman Racing, and Congressmen Collin Peterson (D-MN) and Kenny Hulshof (R-MO).

RFA Registration for the conference has already reached capacity and is officially closed, although there is a waiting list. But Domestic Fuel reporter Chuck Zimmerman will be on hand to cover the event live and post all of the happenings on to the official Ethanol Conference Blog and highlights here on Domestic Fuel, sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association.

Ethanol, News

Chevy Shoots for Sequel Debut in 2010

John Davis

A heads up from our friends at Engadget.com… GM wants to debut a production version of the Sequel… the latest generation fuel cell vehicle using lithium-ion batteries to produce kinetic energy from simply braking and a third-generation General Motors fuel cell. This from Engadget.com:

SequelThe Sequel shares traits aplenty with GM’s Chevy Volt, specifically the shared electric motor for the front wheels, with in-hub motors for both rear wheels.

And AutoblogGreen says:

Most likely GM will follow a model similar to the one Honda will be using starting in 2008 for the production version of the FCX. The FCX will be built initially in low volumes with availability limited to locations that have some hydrogen filling stations such as California and Florida.

There are two prototypes of the Sequel already under testing. A large-scale field trial of the technology begins this year with 100 outfitted Chevy Equinoxes hitting the road.

Flex Fuel Vehicles

Companies Merge for Cellulosic Technology

Cindy Zimmerman

Bioenergy Solutions Diversa Corporation and Celunol Corp. have merged to “create a new leader in the emerging cellulosic ethanol industry.”

According to a press release, the combined company will be the first within the cellulosic ethanol industry to possess integrated end-to-end capabilities in pre-treatment, novel enzyme development, fermentation, engineering, and project development. It will seek to build a global enterprise as a leading producer of cellulosic ethanol and as a strategic partner in bio-refineries around the world. At the same time, the company will continue to pursue broad market opportunities for specialty industrial enzymes within the areas of alternative fuels, specialty industrial processes, and health and nutrition, with a primary focus on enzymes for the production of biofuels. The combined company will be headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts and have research and operations facilities in San Diego, California; Jennings, Louisiana; and Gainesville, Florida.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, News

Natural Gas Solution

Cindy Zimmerman

Bioenergy Solutions A California-based company will begin providing natural gas created from animal waste to the state’s largest electricity provider by this summer.

BioEnergy Solutions, a Central Valley waste-to-energy company, announced an agreement with Pacific Gas & Electric Company to deliver renewable electricity to customers in central and northern California. BioEnergy Solutions is expected to break ground on the project in the spring and begin delivering renewable natural gas to PG&E in the summer.

BioEnergy Solutions’ first project will be Albers’ Vintage Dairy, located in Fresno County, California. Manure from the farm’s 3,000 dairy cows will be flushed into covered lagoons that will trap the methane gas produced as the manure decomposes. The methane will be “scrubbed” to remove carbon dioxide and corrosive materials to meet PG&E standards for power plants, then delivered to PG&E through the utility’s pipeline and used to produce renewable energy for California consumers.

BioEnergy Solutions is a subsidiary of American Dairy Parks, LLC which develops sustainable, vertically integrated farming operations that include crop farming, milk production, milk processing and waste-to-energy facilities.

Energy

Marketing Ethanol By-Products

Cindy Zimmerman

Prairie Gold The Illinois Corn Growers Association and Illinois Corn Marketing Board have created a new “for profit” corporation to commercialize high value co-products related to ethanol production.

According to a press release, the company known as Prairie Gold, Inc., “has licensed technology from the University of Illinois in order to develop and commercialize ethanol co-product processes and production. The research, funded in part by Illinois corn farmers through the corn checkoff program, uses low-energy technology that is cutting-edge to purify the oil, zein and xanthophyll products.”

Included in Prairie Gold’s mission is development and marketing of new biodegradable products in the food, nutraceutical, and plastic’s marketplace. The technology involves extracting a solvent soluble protein (zein) from corn prior to fermentation in a dry grind ethanol plant. This protein has been the subject in more than 3400 patents since 1976 and has the potential to become many things such as: biodegradable plastic, food and paper coatings, chewing gum base, biodegradable textile fiber, pharmaceutical encapsulation for time release medicines and much more.

Ethanol, News

Ethanol Places Third in Chili Bowl

Cindy Zimmerman

Chili Bowl 1 From the Indy to the Chili Bowl, ethanol is making its mark.

Chili Bowl 2 The number 86 Illinois Corn Marketing Board – Ethanol Performs, Auto Xpress, Hoosier Tire Midwest Spike Midget driven by 20-year-old Justin Allgaier placed third out of a record 267 entries in the 21st Annual O’Reilly Chili Bowl Midget Nationals held in Tulsa, Okalahoma last month.

Illinois corn growers have been sponsoring Bergfield Racing’s ethanol powered Midget and Sprint entries in competitions for the last two seasons through their corn checkoff investment.

Ethanol, News, Racing

Tribe’s Waste Cooking Oil Fuels Reservation

John Davis

St Regis Mohawk Tribe logoThe St. Regis Mohawk Tribe straddling the U.S.-Canada border is working with Clarkson University in Upstate New York to turn the tribe’s used cooking oil from its casino into biodiesel. The fuel produced is expected to be more than enough to power the reservation’s solid waste facility generators and maintenance vehicles. According to a release on Clarkson’s website, the tribe will use 100% biodiesel… at least when practical with the weather:

“We plan to use 100% biodiesel (B100) fuel in the warmer months, however, since diesel truck manufacturers recommend using only 20% biodiesel (B20) in cold weather, the waste facility will switch to a 20/80 fuel combination during the winter,” remarked Laura J. Weber, Solid Waste Program Director with the SRMT Environmental Division.

Clarkson Engineers Without BordersMembers of Clarkson’s Engineers Without Borders chapter (some shown on the right) are working with the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe to build the biodiesel production system, test it, and offer the tribe help on how to operate and keep it maintained.

Biodiesel, International

Ethanol at the Races

Cindy Zimmerman

e-podcastYet another racing organization has joined Team Ethanol. The American Le Mans Series will begin running on a street-legal ten percent ethanol blend this season, which begins March 17 with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Meanwhile, all systems are go for the IndyCar Series to start running on 100 percent fuel grade ethanol when the season begins March 24 in Homestead. The fuel got the green light at the first open-wheel test in Daytona last month.

Find out how these two great racing venues will show just how well ethanol performs in this edition of “Fill up, Feel Good.”

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. (5:45 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, Indy Racing, Racing

Ciba Introduces Chemical to Stabilize Biodiesel

John Davis

Ciba logo Switzerland-based chemical company Ciba Specialty Chemicals has come up with a biodiesel additive touted to protect against degradation and oxidation to help extend the storage life of biodiesel. According to a press release on the company’s web site, the chemical will help make fuel quality consistent… no matter what the feedstock and process… and that will help the biodiesel meet certain industry and global standards:

As with other natural substances, if left untreated, biodiesel is susceptible to oxidative degradation. Degradation of biodiesel leads to the formation of lower molecular weight acids, peroxides and gums that can result in unwanted changes in both the properties and performance of biodiesel. These deposits and gums can result in damage to the engine and fuel injection systems.

Ciba says the chemical… known as Ciba IRGASTAB BD 100… can be introduced during production, storage, or even use, and it does not have to be pre-dissolved.

Biodiesel, International

VW Highlighted during “Real World Driving” at Alt Fuel Summit

John Davis

Attendees at the Designing Sustainable Mobility Summit in Southern California drove some of Volkswagen’s vehicles sporting the latest in alternative energy engines including biodiesel and hydrogen. This story on the Italian website, DueMotori.com, says those participating got the chance to try out these alternative fuels in a real-world driving environment… on local public roads:

“It’s important to demonstrate that raising the bar in such important areas as fuel efficiency and emissions reduction isn’t just accomplished with exotic or future-oriented technologies,” says Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of the Green Car Journal, which is hosting the Summit’s ride-and-drive. “Volkswagen’s demonstration of its clean diesel and twin charger engines provides real-world examples of environmentally positive technologies that are operating on highways today.”

VW Toureg TDI VW brought out a Touareg V-10 TDI that runs on B5 biodiesel, a Jetta with a highly efficient TSI engine… popular in Europe and possibly coming to America… and Volkswagen’s Touran HyMotion hydrogen fuel cell vehicle.

This event was similar to what VW did at the National Biodiesel Conference earlier this month (see Chuck’s previous post).

Biodiesel, Hydrogen