Young Scientists Can Apply for Biodiesel Scholarship

John Davis

next_gen_scientists_logoCollege science students are being invited to apply for scholarships to attend the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo, Jan. 25 – 28 in Tampa, Florida. The National Biodiesel Board, the United Soybean Board and the National Biodiesel Foundation are offering a $500 travel scholarship with the application deadline of Nov. 12.

Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel is an NBB program intended to foster professional relationships between budding and established scientists, share accurate information and increase collaboration with academia and the biodiesel industry.

Student opportunities include a poster session and breakout session to present their research, a preconference biodiesel educational overview and a mentoring lunch with prominent biodiesel scientists.

Last year, more than 30 students attended the event from schools like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Colorado – Boulder, the University of California – Davis and Appalachian State University, among others.

Many of the students, who came from a wide range of disciplines, noted the intellectual impact the event made on them.

“By communicating with people directly involved in the biodiesel industry, I learned more about biodiesel than I ever would from reading an article or watching a video,” said Courtney Swink, an undergraduate marine science major at the University of South Carolina. “I had no idea that the biodiesel industry was so huge and rapidly expanding, from the farmers producing feedstock to the engineers selling pumps to the owners of production plants and the transportation of fuel.”

Biodiesel, NBB

Pittsburgh Expands Optimus Tech’s Biodiesel Solution

John Davis

optimustechThe City of Pittsburgh is expanding its use of Optimus Technologies’ solution that will allow the city to use more biodiesel in the city’s vehicles. This news release from Optimus says its EPA‐approved technology will be put in 20 public works trucks, as well as deploying an Optimus-designed, 5,000-gallon storage/refilling station at the city’s main garage that supports over 100 trucks.

Through Optimus’ solution, which reduces lifecycle emissions over 80% and fuel costs up to 25%, the city will reduce their overall emissions as required in its Pittsburgh Climate Action Plan version 2.0. The plan targets to reduce overall greenhouse gases generated by the city by 20 percent between 2003 and 2023.

The city tested Optimus’ Vector biofuel conversion system for an extensive 18 month evaluation on five of its International trucks. The trucks were used for road maintenance and snow‐removal operations. The vehicles ran more than three-quarters of the time, even on the coldest of days, on pure biodiesel. After a trouble‐free field trial, the city decided to take the next step.

“The city has a significant goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the next eight years,” said GrantErvin, sustainability manager for the city. “Since Optimus’ solution significantly reduces our emissions footprint ‐‐ while also reducing our fuel costs with their new, sustainable biofuel ‐‐ it was an easy decision to increase the number of trucks we wanted to convert.”

Ervin’s team conducted an inventory of the city’s truck fleet and prioritized the vehicles, in part, by the amount of emissions they generate. They found garbage and recycling trucks are the biggest emission contributors due to their fuel consumption and their low gas mileage – both impacted by the trucks’ many stops, idling, and restarts throughout each work day.

“Our garbage and recycling trucks are driven hard every day and any solution has to be very rugged,” said Mike Gable, Director of Public Works for the city. “We are pleased to see a purpose‐built solution for medium‐ and heavy‐duty trucks that, relative to other alternative fuel solutions, is easy to add to our trucks, minimizes changes to our maintenance operations, and minimizes any changes our fueling infrastructure.”

Biodiesel

U.S. Census Fun Fact: Wind

Joanna Schroeder

Did you know that the first practical wind turbine generator dates back 74 years to 1941? It was then that Palmer Putnamof Vermont demonstrated his device. His 1.5 MW wind turbine had blades 66 feet in length, and in 700 hours of operation, produced nearly 300,000 kilowatt hours.

Innovators were working on wind turbines between the World Wars, mostly for rural areas in Canada and America where people had difficulty getting power. However, it was Putnam who realized that to generate more power, more efficiently, location and high wind speeds were vital. When searching for his ideal location, Putnam looked for wind speeds in excess of 30 mph. He also wanted to be able to supply alternating current to the grid without the losses incurred by converting direct current to alternative current.

According to his patent, he found his “advantageously exposed” location in that of Grandpa’s Knob, a 1976 foot high forested summit with a rocky base. During the winter of 1940-1941, workers built the 120 foot (36 meter) tower and turbine. The wind turbine featured just two steel blades, each weighing 7.5 tons each and were 66 feet (20 meters) long —bigger than the wings of all but a handful of bombers flying at the time. The turbine was designed to operate in wind velocities between 30 and 60 miles per hour and to withstand gusts stronger than 140 mph.

Today, there are more than 2,700 electric power generating facilities (i.e. wind farms) producing 4.1 million megawatt hours. Wind power now provides 4.5 percent of the U.S. electricity production. Siemens is building the world’s longest blade that is 74 meters long, nearly 243 feet, the length of an A-380 Airbus airplane,

Clean Energy, Electricity, Renewable Energy, Video, Wind

RE-VOLT Helps Haitians with Energy Needs

Joanna Schroeder

A new start-up company, RE-VOLT, is helping to bring reliable and affordable electricity to families in rural Haiti and has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help fund a service expansion. The system is a combination of a solar panel, control/power storage unit, lights and a phone charger. Founded by Digicel Haiti chairman, Maarten Boute, the RE-VOLT campaign hopes to raise the working capital necessary to grow its customer base on La Gonave to 2,000 households or 10,000 people by January 2016.

Photo Credit: RE-VOLT

Photo Credit: RE-VOLT

Customers are charged a low monthly fee of 250 Haitian Gourdes (about USD $5) and pay for the service through Digicel’s Mon Cash mobile banking platform. The units themselves contain a cellular antenna allowing RE-VOLT to manage payments and maintenance remotely. An on-ground team handles basic maintenance and troubleshooting on installed systems.

“To their tremendous credit, Digicel Group chairman Denis O’Brien and the Digicel board decided to commit even more capital to Haiti after the earthquake,” said Boute. “Others might have walked away at that point, but they decided to double down instead.”

The idea for RE-VOLT’s business model came to Boute over five years ago in the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake. At the time, he was two months into his tenure as CEO of Digicel Haiti, having previously served as the company’s chief operating officer.

According to Boute, “At the start of that period of expansion, Digicel already had a strong subscriber base in cities like Port-au-Prince. The biggest opportunity to grow the business was in rural areas, and, as we expanded our network there, we began to realize how much of a problem energy-poverty was. It became very clear to us that there was a huge business opportunity to provide affordable, reliable energy to these people – as well as it being a morally compelling thing to do as well.”

Clean Energy, Electricity, International, Solar

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDF1Ormat Technologies and Toshiba Corporation have announced that the two companies have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to develop strategic opportunities for collaboration in the areas of geothermal power generation systems and related equipment. Under the terms of the agreement, the parties will explore and develop strategic opportunities that will enable them to offer potential customers a more competitive solution for comprehensive supplies and services related to geothermal developments, from resource assessment, field development, power plant engineering, procurement and construction to power plant operation.
  • A new U.S. Department of Energy report, “Climate Change and the U.S. Energy Sector: Regional Vulnerabilities and Resilience Solutions,” examines the expected regional energy sector vulnerabilities to climate change. Some key findings include: Hydropower is vulnerable to reduced snowpack, earlier melting, and changes to precipitation and runoff patterns, mainly in western regions; Bioenergy crops in the Midwest and Northern Great Plains may be harmed by higher temperatures and more frequent droughts and floods; and Thermoelectric power generation is vulnerable to increasing temperatures and reduced water availability in most regions, particularly in the Midwest, Great Plains, and southern regions.
  • The geothermal heating and cooling system at the Missouri University of Science and Technology is reaching the end of its first year of operation. The system has reduced energy use by 57% and lowered the carbon footprint by 25,000 tons per year, exceeding expectations. “The results confirm that the system works as designed and will pay for itself over time from budgeted savings,” says James Packard, director of facilities operations.
  • Solar combined with energy storage systems (solar+storage) can help protect vulnerable populations during power outages in multifamily affordable housing and provide an economic return to building owners, according to a new report by Clean Energy Group, a national nonprofit organization working to increase the deployment of clean energy technologies. The analysis of how solar+storage could benefit low-income communities, “Resilience for Free: How Solar+Storage Could Protect Multifamily Affordable Housing from Power Outages at Little or No Net Cost,” stresses the need to make vulnerable populations – including seniors, disabled people, and low-income families – more power resilient in the face of natural disasters.
Bioenergy Bytes

RFA Shuns New Anti-RFS Campaign

Joanna Schroeder

The publicly anti-ethanol organization Smarter Fuel Future has launched a campaign calling on Congress and the administration to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The coalition is backed by Big Oil along with various food, environmental and anti-hunger organizations.

rfalogo1In response to the campaign, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen said: “The oil industry thinks it’s being slick by engaging in a consistent and relentless misinformation campaign that is based on false assumptions, straw dogs, and half-truths. There is nothing that Big Oil is spouting with this latest wave of scare tactics that we haven’t seen before. Once again the petroleum industry is making patently false assumptions about the relationship between food and fuel. In 2014, a record corn crop sent prices to four-year lows, and more grain was available globally for food and feed use than ever before. In fact, less than 3 percent of the global grain supply that year was used for ethanol.

“The Big Oil misinformation campaign also makes spurious claims about ethanol’s impact on the environment. Lifecycle analyses by the Department of Energy and others, including the University of Illinois, the International Energy Agency, and Life Cycle Associates have shown that, since the final RFS rule was implemented, grain ethanol produced today reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent compared to fossil fuels — even when hypothetical land use emissions are taken into account. Ethanol production from last year reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 40 million metric tons — the equivalent of removing 8.4 million cars from the road. These facts show that investment in biofuels in general and ethanol in particular is critical if we are serious as a nation about creating a future where our energy is cleaner, more secure, and more affordable.”

Dinneen, on behalf of ethanol supporters is calling on Congress and the administration to ignore the latest “smoke and mirrors” campaign from Big Oil. “Instead of repealing the RFA, Dinneen stressed, “the administration, through the Environmental Protection Agency, needs to break down the supposed ‘blend wall’ and implement the RFS the way Congress intended.”

Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News, food and fuel, Indirect Land Use, RFA, RFS

Biomass Powers Military Base to Self Reliance

John Davis

FtdrumA military installation in Upstate New York is now being powered by its own biomass power plant. This article from the Watertown Daily Times says Fort Drum is now officially connected to its on-post ReEnergy biomass plant.

“We’re the only post in the Army that’s self-reliant for energy right now,” Maj. Gen. Jeffrey L. Bannister, the 10th Mountain Division’s commander, said during a media round-table on post Thursday.

He noted the plant was one area in which the post relied on the community to be more cost-efficient.

The direct connection work, ensuring that all power systems interacted correctly, was estimated to cost about $12 million. ReEnergy CEO Larry D. Richardson said the project was a complex effort that required coordination among the Army, the post, National Grid and its own engineers.

“This is not a typical project that’s done every day,” Mr. Richardson said.

He said the direct connection from the plant to the post’s substation was a milestone for the company.

A year ago, the military inked a 20-year, nearly $300 million contract with ReEnergy, the largest such deal in Army history. The biomass plant replaced a coal-fired plant on the post.

biomass

Scania Offers Biodiesel-Hybrid Truck

John Davis

scaniaSwedish truck maker Scania is adding to its lineup of biodiesel-friendly options in its trucks. After giving the OK for a line of trucks to run on renewable diesel and having an Australian company declare it would brew its own biodiesel to use in its fleet of Scania trucks, the company has now announced a Scania-developed hybrid truck for urban distribution combining electric and biodiesel operation, enhancing the company’s position as the manufacturer with the widest range of alternative fuels.

“No matter what driving conditions are like or what local circumstances are, there is probably always an alternative solution available from Scania, right here and now,” claims Magnus Höglund, responsible for alternative fuels and powertrains at Scania Trucks. “This launch lets us demonstrate to all types of transport players that they can reduce their CO2 foot­print very simply, without giving up anything or incurring significantly higher costs.”

The newest and most spectacular item in Scania’s offer is the hybrid truck now premiering and being test-driven by European trucking and environmental journa­lists. The hybrid solution, developed by Scania itself, allows an 18-tonne distribution truck to operate solely on electric power for up to two kilometres.

Electric operation is primarily intended for situations where other solutions don’t measure up, for example, city distribution at night in noise sensitive areas or driving through warehouses and car parks where one doesn’t want any exhaust fumes at all. Electric power is combined with Scania’s 9-litre Euro 6 engine with 320 hp, which can be operated on 100 percent biodiesel, such as FAME or HVO. With this latter fuel, CO2 can be reduced by as much as 92 percent.

“It’s a very special experience to drive a heavy truck when the only sound comes from the hissing of tires against asphalt and a mild breeze,” explains Höglund. “What we’re seeing here is the beginning of a revolution that will make a big difference. Soundless and partly exhaust-free trucks can do a better job in cities at night with goods distribution, cleaning, waste collection and other city maintenance tasks. Hybridisation can also lead to a higher utilisation of every single vehicle when the range of uses expands.”

Biodiesel, Electric Vehicles

How Do You Pass the Time Flying?

Jamie Johansen

New Holland ZimmPollOur latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “Is TPP good for US agriculture?”

Most agree that the Trans-Pacific Partnership is full of winners for agriculture, but few believe all of it is good for the industry. Whichever you currently believe, you can’t argue that the future of U.S. agriculture must include trade.

Here are the poll results:

  • Yes, all of it – 18%
  • Some winners – 73%
  • Most losers – 0%
  • Bad deal for all – 9%

Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, How do you pass the time flying?

The ZimmComm Team really racks up some miles in the skies each year. Chuck and Cindy are currently in New Zealand and are experts when it comes to passing time in the air. So, we want to know how you pass the time when flying. Do you read, work or play?

ZimmPoll

RFA: EPA Probe Will Go Nowhere

Joanna Schroeder

rfalogo1The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published an announcement that they would begin preliminary research into the lifecycle impacts of EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The work will be conducted within the Office of Air and Radiation and the Office of Research and Development. The OIG’s objectives of the study are to determine whether the EPA:

  1. complied with the reporting requirements of laws authorizing the RFS; and
  2. updated the lifecycle analysis supporting the RFS with findings from the mandated National Academy of Sciences 2011 study on Biofuels, the EPA’s 2011 Report to Congress on the Environmental Impacts of Biofuels as well as any more recent and relevant research on lifecycle impacts of biofuels.

In response to the announcement, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) CEO Bob Dinneen said, “For years RFA has been asking the EPA to update their analysis of the RFS’s impacts on greenhouse gas emissions so we welcome this review, as it will give the public a clearer picture of the climate benefits that ethanol is producing today. ”

“Lifecycle analyses conducted by the Department of Energy and others since the final RFS rule was implemented have shown that grain ethanol produced today reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent compared to fossil fuels — even when hypothetical land use emissions are taken into account. And, added Dinneen, the EPA has recently approved nearly 50 petitions from grain ethanol producers for its efficient producer program, with each petition requiring careful lifecycle analysis based on actual production data. These results show that the RFS is doing what it was intended to do, and is a potent weapon in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

No date has been set for the release of the report.

biofuels, Climate Change, Environment, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, RFS