The Cellulosic Race is On

Cindy Zimmerman

SunOpta As an alert reader pointed out to me (see previous post) SunOpta is “working with Celunol on the first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in the United States,” as announced in a press release August 3.

As this article in Red Herring points out, the race to build the first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in the US is definitely on.

Xethanol announced in July it is building a plant that will produce 50 million gallons per year in Augusta, Georgia. That plant is expected to start production by mid-2007.

In Canada, Iogen has a demonstration plant running and in May raised $30 million in Canadian dollars (about $27.1 million) from Goldman Sachs to build the first commercial plant. Iogen is also hoping to be the first in the U.S. as it is working on a deal to build a plant in Idaho (see previous post).

SunOpta is also Canadian-based and Celunol is located in Massachusettes and has the backing of ethanol venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. As Murray Burke, vice president and general manager of SunOpta, says in the Red Herring article, “The starting pistol has gone off,” for cellulosic ethanol in United States.

We’ll see who crosses the finish line first. But, no matter what, the ethanol industry and the country will be winners once this new technology that can use all kinds of materials to make fuel is made commercially viable.

Cellulosic, Ethanol

Shifting Power

Cindy Zimmerman

Power Shift Power Shift 2HTH PowerSHIFT Group Holdings, Inc. is the new name of HTH Wind Energy, a privately held company previously dedicated solely to the production and operation of small and large-scale wind projects.

The company changed its name and created a new logo and website to more accurately reflect its involvement in a variety of renewable energy businesses. HTH PowerSHIFT is a provider of alternative energy solutions in wind power, biofuel development and production, and renewable power generation.

Energy

Retailers Pumped About Biodiesel

Cindy Zimmerman

Spinx A South Carolina petroleum retailer now makes a 20 percent biodiesel blend (B20) available at 35 public pumps statewide, signifying a trend of increasing availability to consumers nationally, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

The Spinx Company has opened the locations throughout upper South Carolina. Thirteen of the B20 pumps are in Greenville, SC, giving the city’s consumers a new level of convenience for choosing B20. Of The Spinx Company’s 35 locations, 11 are truck accessible.

“We are very proud to be able to work with our state and local governments to bring environmentally friendly fuels such as biodiesel to the Upstate,” said Stewart Spinks, Founder and CEO of the Spinx Company. “We are fortunate to have the immediate support of our customers to make the introduction of biodiesel such a success.”

Biodiesel

I Want To Go Fast

Cindy Zimmerman

ACE Indy Car I know, I know – the “Ballad of Ricky Bobby” is about NASCAR and this is an Indy car …. whatever. It still works. Believe it or not, there are lots of people out there in the real world who actually, shockingly – don’t really know the difference. I admit it … I never knew the difference until last year.

But, one major difference is that next year Indy will be running on 100 percent ethanol – NASCAR won’t. As one of the few remaining major racing series worldwide that uses gasoline for its competition fuel, NASCAR just made the switch to unleaded gasoline, something most of us have been using for over 20 years. Discussions about a future switch to either E85 or just plain ethanol are only in preliminary stages.

Meanwhile, the Team Ethanol Indy show car is always a hit when it makes a pit stop, like at the ACE meeting last week. This week, the car is on display at the Missouri Corn Merchandising Council/Missouri Corn Growers Association booth at the Missouri State Fair.

EPIC, Ethanol, Indy Racing

Souped-up Supra

Cindy Zimmerman

ACE Brad At the American Coalition for Ethanol meeting last week, Brad Mayo of Nashville had his souped-up 1997 Toyota Supra on display, which he has fine-tuned to run on up to 95 percent ethanol.

And not just run … run FAST! (Only in a street car race, of course – otherwise he drives the posted speed limit!)

Brad was working on this car when Chuck interviewed him prior to the Indy 500 this year (see previous post). It is a street car, so he drives it around all the time, which allows him to “e”vangelize about the performance aspects of ethanol since his sweet cherry red machine with the ethanol logo on it really catches peoples’ attention.

Here’s an interview I did with Brad at the ACE meeting: Listen To MP3 Brad Mayo (2:45 min MP3)

Audio, EPIC, Ethanol

Seeds For Growth

Cindy Zimmerman

Monsanto Sandia Sandia National Laboratories and Monsanto Company are joining forces to increase ethanol production through new varieties.

According to a press release, the arrangement is aimed at aligning Sandia’s capabilities in bioanalytical imaging and analysis with Monsanto’s research in developing new seed-based products for farmers, including corn products that may be able to produce more ethanol per bushel.

Ethanol, Research

Company Plans to Build First Cellulosic Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Alternative Energy Sources, Inc. (see previous post) has announced plans to build the first cellulosic ethanol facility in the U.S. with the acquisiting of Flex Fuels USA Inc. of Huntsville, Alabama.

According to a news release, Flex Fuels USA has developed proprietary ethanol production technology methods of producing cellulosic ethanol made from biomass and other types of waste.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Alternative Energy Sources has signed a letter of intent to acquire all the company’s outstanding capital stock and expects to sign a merger agreement by Sept. 15.

Cellulosic, Ethanol

USDA and DOE Fund Biofuels Research Projects

Cindy Zimmerman

USDA DOE The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy are jointly funding some $5.7 million dollars in research projects aimed at the development of alternative fuel resources.

According to a USDA release, USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service and DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research awarded the grants “to facilitate the use of woody plant tissue, specifically lignocellulosic materials, for bioenergy or biofuels. The research projects will focus on poplar, alfalfa, sorghum, wheat and other grasses.”

The grants include:

Purdue University, Ind., $1.4 million.
The Noble Foundation, Okla., $800,000.
Texas A&M University, Texas, $800,000.
USDA-Agricultural Research Service, University of Wisconsin, $333,000.
Carnegie Institute of Washington, $359,100.
Brookhaven National Laboratory, NY, $300,000.
North Carolina State University, $700,000.
Kansas State University, $700,000.
University of Georgia, $445,000.

Here is some more information on the K-State and Oklahoma projects, which are being done in conjunction with each other, to do genetic research on making different types of vegetation, such as native switchgrass, more conducive to being turned into ethanol.

Government, Research

Congress May Cut RFS Funding

Cindy Zimmerman

According to an AP article, House and Senate spending bills would drastically reduce Environmental Protection Agency dollars for a law designed to boost ethanol use.

The article reports that of the $11.4 million requested by President Bush to implement the Renewable Fuels Standard in last year’s energy bill, the House has approved only $2.4 million and the Senate only $1.4 million.

“It’s as if they haven’t read their own press releases about the need to promote alternatives to gasoline,” said Frank O’Donnell, president of the Washington advocacy group Clean Air Watch.

House lawmakers did not respond to requests for comment, but a spokesman for Sen. Conrad Burns, the Montana Republican who chairs the Senate subcommittee, said Burns expects the funding to increase in final House-Senate negotiations on the bill.

Government

Big Plant Planned For Indiana

Cindy Zimmerman

Daniels Aventine Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels joined officials from Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, Inc., Consolidated Grain and Barge Co., and the Ports of Indiana Friday to announce plans for a 220 million gallon ethanol facility.

The plant, which will be the largest in the state, will be built on 116 acres at the Port of Indiana in Mount Vernon, according to a release from the governor’s office.

“A critical success factor for our economic comeback plan is the production of more energy right here in Indiana. Clean coal, corn, soybeans and wind power can all be sources of jobs directly and indirectly by giving us an energy edge over other states,” said Daniels.

Ethanol