New BIO-Yeast Could Improve Biofuels Production

Joanna Schroeder

Quinn Dickinson, research specialist at the University of Madison’s Wisconsin Energy Institute who also works with the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), has helped to design a new strain of yeast that he believes holds great promise in improving the efficiency of making biofuel from biomass such as switchgrass.

Dickinson’s goal is to solve a problem in the biomass to biofuels conversion process, namely that in some cases, solvents are so good at breaking down biomass that they often hinder the next critical step of the process, fermentation.

GLBRC assistant research specialist Quinn Dickinson picks a colony of a new yeast strain that could reduce the cost of biofuels produced with ionic liquids.

GLBRC assistant research specialist Quinn Dickinson picks a colony of a new yeast strain that could reduce the cost of biofuels produced with ionic liquids.

The precursor to this finding was research Dickinson was conducting with fellow GLBRC colleague, Jeff Piotrowski, who is now a principal scientist at Yumanity Therapeutics in Massachusetts. The two were working on ionic liquids, solvents that can deconstruct different kinds of biomass into relatively pure streams of the plant’s sugar but which are also toxic to the kind of microorganisms that ferment those sugars into fuel.

“Ionic liquids are a particularly promising technology for deconstructing biomass, but their toxicity to fermentative microbes has posed a challenge,” said Piotrowski. “To really harness the power of this solvent — and to enable a bio-based economy — we need microbes specifically tailored to tolerate the specific toxicity of ionic liquids.”Read More

advanced biofuels, biochemicals, biomass, bioproducts, Research

DOE Announces Biomass to Biofuels Funding

Joanna Schroeder

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced up to $11.3 million in funding to develop flexible biomass to hydrocarbon biofuels conversion pathways. The goal is for these roads, per se, to be able to be easily modified to produce advanced biofuels and/or bioproducts, depending on market demand. Using a DOE example, one pathway could consist of a route to a platform chemical that could be converted to products or renewable fuels. Another idea is a pathway that co-produces both biochemicals and advanced biofuels rather than one or the other at any given time.

Photo credit: Joanna Schroeder

Photo credit: Joanna Schroeder

The grants are being funded specifically through the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) who has a goal of meeting the 2022 cost target of $3/gallon of gasoline equivalent (gge) for the production of renewable hydrocarbon fuels from lignocellulosic biomass.

One approach BETO has taken previously to achieve this goal is to focus on conversion pathways that produce biofuels, with little or no emphasis on coproducing bioproducts. However, with the knowledge that adding the production of co-products or value-added chemicals and products can help incentivize the de-risking of “front-end” processes required to convert the biomass to biofuels, BETO is also looking to expand to pathway to product process.

Therefore, the intent of the funding is to identify research and development (R&D) projects that propose a conversion pathway that may flexibly produce bioproducts and biofuels. According to BETO, the proposed pathway must illustrate a realistic approach to producing cost-competitive renewable hydrocarbon biofuels. These pathways could consist of a route to a platform chemical that could be converted to products or fuels, or a route that coproduces chemicals and fuels. Successful applications will include a clear justification for producing the target molecule(s) from biomass, a compelling narrative explaining how the target product(s) will enable biofuels, and supporting techno-economic analysis and life-cycle analysis.

Interested parties can learn more about this opportunity and application requirements here. Applications are due February 26, 2016. An informational webinar for potential applicants will take place at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Feb. 16, 2016. A recording of the webinar will be posted on the EERE Exchange website.

advanced biofuels, biomass, biomaterials, bioproducts

Preview of National Ethanol Conference

Chuck Zimmerman

Bob DinneenThe Reverend of Renewable Energy, Mr. Bob Dinneen, Renewable Fuels Association, in traditional fashion, provides us with a preview of the 21st National Ethanol Conference. The Conference kicked off this morning at English Turn Golf & Country Club with the annual NEC tournament. The weather threatened but held off for a beautiful day.

Bob says the agenda includes some great speakers including John Hofmeister, former president of Shell Oil Company and Founder/CEO, Citizens for Affordable Energy and our U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. It’s a very political year which he says is going to keep things interesting. In fact, we will also hear from Mike Murphy, Political Analyst, NBC News and Paul Begala, Political Analyst, CNN. That might even be entertaining.

Bob says that after the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia the whole tone in Washington, DC changed. Between that tragedy and a shortened Congressional season due to the political conventions it will make it very hard for much action to be taken.

Here at the conference Bob says he wants to encourage members to look ahead, find and build new markets, feel proud of their industry. We’re also going to have a session on how to communicate with the consumers of today.

You can listen to my interview with Bob here: Interview with Bob Dinneen, RFA

Audio, biofuels, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

NREL Discovers New Biorefinery Process

Joanna Schroeder

Researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a new biorefinery process that more efficiently converts algae to ethanol. The process, Combined Algal Processing (CAP), was featured in the journal Algal Research.

Algal ResearchThe research builds on a project previously completed by NREL In that work, the research looked at two promising algal strains Chlorella and Scenedesmus, to determine their applicability as biofuel and bioproduct producers. They concluded Scenedesmus performed better in this process with impressive demonstrated total fuel yields of 97 gallons gasoline equivalents (GGE) per ton of biomass.

The next step is to reduce the costs of conversion. The research team has looked at increasing the amount of lipids in algae but found the it won’t significantly reduce the costs. However, the NREL team has determined further progress could be made by more completely using all algal cellular components instead of just relying on the lipids. By applying certain processing techniques, microalgal biomass can produce carbohydrates and proteins in addition to lipids, and all of these can be converted into co-products.

According to NREL, the team has determined that through the use of a solid-liquid separation process, the carbohydrates can be converted to fermentable sugars, which can then be used to produce ethanol. However, as much as 37 percent of the sugars were lost during that process. Those trapped sugars “cannot be used for fermentation without a costly washing step, resulting in a loss of overall fuel yield,” according to the Algal Research report.Read More

advanced biofuels, algae, biomass, Ethanol, Research

Iowa Corn Remains as Sponsor of Iowa Corn 300

Joanna Schroeder

Iowa Corn Growers Association along with Iowa Speedway have announced a multi-year sponsorship renewal of the IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 through 2018. This is the 10th year of partnership and the extension makes Iowa Corn the second longest entitlement sponsor in INDYCAR racing.

IowaCorn300“The Iowa Corn 300 reaches a global audience with an expanding viewership,” said Mark Heckman, Iowa Corn Promotion Board President and a farmer from West Liberty, Iowa. “What’s really cool is its ethanol powering those E85 Indy cars. The program exposes a broad audience to the state of Iowa, agriculture and corn farming while demonstrating the many benefits of ethanol including its power and performance. We had another phenomenal year in 2015, and we look forward to many more to come.”

According to Iowa Corn, Iowa Speedway serves as a platform to support the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and promote the benefits of renewable fuels grown in America. The organization says INDYCAR weekend at Iowa Speedway is a culmination of the nearly 40 years of hard work and dedication necessary to build the corn-based ethanol market and raises awareness about Iowa farmers’ ability to produce corn for their key trades – livestock, ethanol production and exports.

“This has become a lauded Iowan tradition enjoyed by millions across the globe. We are incredibly proud to authentically demonstrate the performance of ethanol in the world’s fastest race cars here at the Fastest Short Track on the Planet,” said Iowa Speedway President Jimmy Small.

The 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series Iowa Corn 300 will be take place Sunday, July 10 and tickets are now on sale.

corn, E85, Ethanol, Indy Racing

NFU Calls on Court to Review #RFS

Joanna Schroeder

The National Farmers Union (NFU) has filed a petition seeking the courts to require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to follow congressional direction as mandated by the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, NFU is asking for a review of 2014, 2015 and 2016 volume targets.

nfu_logo2“Undermining the RFS is not only damaging for agriculture, it is a decision that harms the environment, weakens rural economies and stalls progress towards energy independence,” stated NFU President Roger Johnson. “We believe the EPA’s final rule and interpretation of their general waiver authority is wrong and requires legal review.”

“When the EPA makes a decision at the expense of the administration’s own climate change goals, I question if the agency considered the market supply and surplus RIN credits when drawing its conclusion,” added Johnson.

NFU joins a coalition of biofuels advocates that expressed similar concerns in a joint-petition filed earlier this year.

“As an association rooted in the interests of farmers, ranchers and rural America, NFU has been critical of the EPA’s final RFS ruling.” Johnson concluded, “We look forward to standing alongside our industry partners in support of a challenge to the EPA’s erroneous interpretation of the renewable fuels supply. We are hopeful our actions will bring clarity to this concerning issue.”

biofuels, Ethanol, NFU, RFS

EPA Chief Defends #RFS Decisions

Cindy Zimmerman

house-mccarthyDuring a hearing on Wednesday, House Agriculture Committee members questioned EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, on many agency actions, including decisions made regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS).

In her opening statement, McCarthy defended the volume obligation requirements under that RFS that EPA set last year, “The final requirements boost renewable fuel production and provide for robust, achievable growth of the biofuels industry,” McCarthy said. “The EPA took steps to improve the administration of the RFS program and continues to approve new agricultural feedstocks, increasing the number of pathways that biofuel producers may use to qualify their biofuel under the program.”

McCarthy was questioned heavily by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) about various aspects of the RFS decision making process, including whether EPA has the authority to abolish the blend wall. “These numbers actually push through the blend wall,” McCarthy answered. King then began to question her about approval to sell E15 year round, which McCarthy said it had, but she backed off when King noted the vapor pressure requirements that keep E15 from being sold in many markets during the summer months.

Listen to McCarthy’s testimony and some of the questioning by committee members here: House Ag Hearing with EPA Chief

Audio, EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, RFS

Flint Hills Licenses Edeniq’s Cellulose Technology

Joanna Schroeder

Flint Hills Resources has signed an agreement to license Edeniq‘s Pathway Technology for all of its ethanol plants. The ethanol group has been an investor in the company since April of 2012 and a customer since June 2012.

Edeniq-Logo“This comprehensive Pathway agreement is the seventh license agreement between our companies, including the installation of Edeniq’s Cellunators at three of FHR’s plants,” said Brian Thome, President and CEO of Edeniq. “Our work with Flint Hills demonstrates the value of our technology to increase profitability in the ethanol industry.”

Edeniq’s Pathway Technology integrates its Cellunator technology that includes cellulase enzymes to convert corn kernel fiber into cellulosic ethanol. The technology utilizes existing fermentation and distillation equipment to produce up to 2.5 percent cellulosic ethanol and a percent increase in overall ethanol yield. Edeniq’s technology also includes a technical validation process that allows ethanol plants to quantify the amount of cellulosic ethanol produced within their plants (the resulting ethanol is considered a D3 RIN under the Renewable Fuel Standard #RFS) and comply with federal registration record keeping and reporting.

advanced biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol

Top 100 People in Advanced Bioeconomy Announced

Joanna Schroeder

The Top 100 People in Advanced Bioeconomy for 2016 has been released by Biofuels Digest. The top spot went to Tom Vilsack, USDA Ag Secretary. Other notables on the list included #3 Daniel Oh with REG; #10 Brent Erickson with BIO; #12 Terry Branstad, Iowa Governor; #21 Bob Dinneen with RFA; #22 Brooke Coleman with ABBC; #26 Joe Jobe with NBB; and #37 Ernest Moniz with the EPA.

Screen Shot 2016-02-11 at 8.48.32 PMComing in at #93 was Joanne Ivancic, executive director of Advanced Biofuels USA who recently commented on her inclusion. “Recognition by the readers and editors of Biofuels Digest, “the world’s most-widely read biofuels daily” motivates all of us who volunteer at Advanced Biofuels USA to continue our efforts to transition the world to a sustainable, renewable future,” she said. “It acknowledges the work done by all the volunteers who comprise the organization and without whom nothing would be achieved. My thanks to all who work so hard to make this possible and to those who voted to give the organization this honor.”

Advanced Biofuels USA is a technology neutral and feedstock agnostic nonprofit educational organization that advocates for the adoption of advanced biofuels as an energy security, economic development, military flexibility and climate change mitigation solution.

Read the full list here.

advanced biofuels, Biodiesel, Ethanol

Pacific Ethanol Improves Production Efficiency

Joanna Schroeder

Pacific Ethanol logoPacific Ethanol is reporting they have signed a technology license and purchase agreement with Whitefox Technologies. According to the agreement, Pacific Ethanol will be adopting Whitefox’s clean fuel membrane system that will separate water from ethanol during the plant’s distillation process. The ethanol plant expects commercial operations using the new technology in the third quarter of 2016.

Neil Koehler, Pacific Ethanol’s president and CEO noted, “We are pleased to be a first mover with an innovative technology that integrates well into our existing system. Whitefox’s technology is designed to increase operating efficiencies, lower production costs, and reduce the carbon intensity of ethanol produced at our Madera facility.”

whitefox_logoLast May the two companies announced the delivery of a stand-alone, container-based membrane system to the ethanol plant located in Madera, California. Since delivery, Pacific has been testing the technology. The results found the clean fuel membrane reduced the consumption of water and energy, reduced emissions during the production of ethanol all while increasing ethanol output.

“After an extensive trial period, our Whitefox ICE Solution was shown to remove bottlenecks and improve ethanol production efficiency at the Pacific Ethanol Madera plant,” said Whitefox’s CEO Gillian Harrison. “We are pleased Pacific Ethanol chose our membrane technology to provide them with a key competitive advantage in the industry and we look forward to an ongoing collaborative relationship.”

biofuels, Ethanol, water