The Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) is pleased to welcome Quad County Corn Processors (QCCP) and Syngenta as new members. Syngenta and QCCP are engaged in a joint venture to develop, license and deploy Cellerate™ — a “bolt on” cellulosic ethanol process technology easily integrated into existing corn ethanol production processes.- New orders of clean diesel and diesel-electric hybrid buses by transit agencies in major communities like San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, and New York over the past year are a strong indication that clean diesel technology is still the all-around best choice for public transportation according to Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum. “These new clean diesel powered buses offer the most modern and advanced technology to transit fleets in a much more cost-efficient manner than other fuel sources,” Schaeffer said. “It’s because of the safety, reliability and efficiency now coupled with new environmental performance that makes diesel the predominant power source for public transit, as well as school and intercity bus services nationwide.”
- Rémi Gruet has been appointed CEO of Ocean Energy Europe – the trade association for ocean renewable energy. Gruet joined Ocean Energy Europe as Policy & Operations Director last year and succeeds Dr. Sian George, who was appointed to oversee the reinvention of the association as Ocean Energy Europe in 2012. Gruet will be tasked with shaping the policy context that will help Europe’s ocean energy sector reach commercialisation over the coming decade.
- Henry Ford’s 20th-century vision of a bioeconomy rich with fuels developed from vegetable matter is far from a reality. What will it take to shift the fossil-fuel-based energy of the present into a future sustainable, modern bioeconomy? Bioenergy Connection, the magazine produced by the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), confronts that question in its latest issue. The article looks at the state of advanced biofuels and technologies today, as well as offering closer examinations of two biofuels, bio-butanol and biodiesel. Other features address the promise of aviation biofuels, flex fuels in the United States, and the history of sugarcane ethanol in Brazil. In a series of articles, experts also examine the dramatic debut of commercial cellulosic ethanol, the process of separating sugars from biomass, and bioprospecting for potential microbes to aid in biofuels production.
Keystone Amendment Targets Corn Ethanol
An amendment to the Keystone pipeline bill would eliminate corn ethanol from the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a move that ethanol industry groups say would set U.S. energy policy back by decades.
The amendment was offered by Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Pat Toomey (R-PA) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) on the premise that corn ethanol “drives up the cost of everything from gasoline to groceries.”
“The fact of the matter is that corn is less expensive today than when the RFS was passed in 2007,” said Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen. “There is simply no truth to the notion that ethanol has driven up the price of food. In fact, the UN concluded that food prices are driven more by the price of energy than the cost of commodities. To that point, ethanol has been less expensive than gas for the better part of the past four years and has helped reduce consumer pain at the pump.”
“This amendment is an unnecessary solution to an imaginary problem,” Dinneen added. “If approved, it would set our nation’s energy, economic, and climate agenda back decades.”
“This amendment would eviscerate the RFS – the most successful energy policy enacted in the last 40 years,” Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis said. “If this amendment was adopted, it would embrace the status quo of our dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil, concede we no longer are serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and seek to pursue a policy that would result in massive upheaval and job loss in today’s booming rural economy.”
The amendment was introduced in the Senate on Friday.
Boeing, Embraer Open Biofuel Research Center
A new research center will look to establish the aviation biofuels industry in Brazil. Aviation manufacturers Boeing and Embraer opened a joint sustainable aviation biofuel research center in the South American country.
At the Boeing-Embraer Joint Research Center in the São José dos Campos Technology Park, the companies will coordinate and co-fund research with Brazilian universities and other institutions. The research will focus on technologies that address gaps in creating a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil, such as feedstock production, techno-economic analysis, economic viability studies and processing technologies.
“Boeing and Embraer, two of the world’s leading aircraft manufacturers, are partnering in an unprecedented way to make more progress on sustainable aviation biofuel than one company can do alone,” said Donna Hrinak, president, Boeing Brazil and Boeing Latin America. “Brazil, a pioneer in the sustainable fuels industry, will play a leading role in establishing the biofuels industry and helping meet aviation’s environmental goals.”
“Our purpose is to support work on developing and maturing the knowledge and technologies needed to establish a sustainable aviation biofuel industry in Brazil with global reach,” said Mauro Kern, executive vice president, Engineering and Technology, Embraer. “Brazil has shown its potential and is already a benchmark for the clean-energy industry, having created very successful ethanol and biodiesel industries.”
This joint research center is the latest in a series of collaborative efforts by Boeing and Embraer, and Brazilian partners on sustainable aviation biofuel.
The Andersons Launches Campaign on Diveristy
Grain, ethanol, and plant nutrient company The Andersons is emphasizing the diversity it brings to agribusiness. This news release from the Ohio-based company says its new brand campaign “And Beyond” includes a refresh to the corporate website www.andersonsinc.com and associated promotional materials.
“The ‘And Beyond’ campaign builds on the equity of the previous ‘And’ theme that we’ve had in place for about six years,” says Tom Waggoner, Vice President, Marketing and Operations Services. “This campaign provides a fresh perspective that keeps our brand moving forward. The theme highlights that The Andersons goes beyond the ordinary with our market expertise and beyond expectations in the strong relationships we form.”
With various business groups operating in 21 states across the country, the “And Beyond” campaign reflects The Andersons as a diversified, yet united, company. Although serving diversified industries, the business groups share a strong commitment to grow enduring relationships through extraordinary service, a deep knowledge of the market and a knack for finding new ways to add value as the company has done for nearly 70 years.
In addition to the ag sector businesses, The Andersons is also involved in railcar leasing, turf and cob products, and consumer retailing.
Groups Petition Hawai’ian Utility for Solar Support
A coalition of community groups have petitioned the Hawai’i Public Utilities Commission in support of renewable energy such as solar. The group is calling for a completion of the state’s renewable energy goals before it considers approving the purchase of Hawaiian Electric Industries by Florida-based NextEra Energy. The coalition includes Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, Blue Planet Foundation, Hawai‘i PV Coalition, Hawai‘i Solar Energy Association and The Alliance for Solar Choice.
Solar panels dot the rooftops of homes in Salt Lake on Oahu, Hawaiʻi. Photo Credit: MATT MALLAMS / EARTHJUSTICE
“Our purpose is to make sure the horse is in front of the cart,” said Jeff Mikulina, executive director of Blue Planet Foundation. “As clean energy stakeholders, we share the joint interest in making sure we complete planning for Hawai‘i’s energy future now. We don’t want to put the discussions on the back-burner and then have to start over after the merger proceeding is finished.”
“Hawai‘i customers deserve an energy roadmap to ensure we’re acting in the best interest of the public, like having access to cheaper and cleaner power, before engaging in a long and complicated merger process,” said Leslie Cole-Brooks, executive director of the Hawai‘i Solar Association.
Over the past several years, the Commission has demanded that Hawaiian Electric focus on establishing a roadmap for a sustainable, customer-focused electric grid that serves the best interests of the state and people of Hawai‘i.
The petition states that the Commission’s numerous orders, together with enactments by the state legislature, have identified specific issues and mandated specific next steps necessary to articulate “the vision, business strategies, and regulatory policy changes required to align the [Hawaiian Electric]’s business model with customers’ interests and the state’s public policy goals.”Read More
BioEnergy Bytes
- IKEA has announced solar energy plans for its St. Louis, Missouri store opening Fall 2015. Panel installation will begin this spring, with completion before the store’s opening, making the project the largest rooftop solar array in the State of Missouri. The store is under construction on 21 acres along Interstate-64 at Vandeventer Avenue, The store’s 259,000-square-foot solar array will consist of a 1.28-MW system, built with 4,085 panels, and will produce approximately 1,780,000 kWh of electricity annually for the store.
- Canadian Solar Inc. has contributed $400,000 to the University of Toronto’s TalentEdge program to support scientific development, cutting-edge research, and hands-on learning. Dr. Shawn Qu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canadian Solar, graduated from the University of Toronto with a PhD in Material Sciences in 1995.
- High school students are invited to apply for a $1,000 scholarship from the CHS Foundation, the major giving entity of CHS Inc. The CHS Foundation will award more than 300 scholarships, 100 of which will be given to high school students pursuing agricultural-related degrees at colleges and universities across the country. Students pursuing a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) field of study with an interest in agriculture will also be considered. The high school scholarship application deadline is April 1, 2015. For eligibility information and application forms, visit www.chsinc.com/stewardship.
- Yingli Green Energy has announced that it completed grid connection for a 10 MW solar power plant in China’s Hebei Province in late December 2014. The solar power plant is located in Fuping, a mountainous region in western Hebei Province. It will produce more than 12,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity per year.
Geothermal Data System Steams Into New Entity
The National Geothermal Data System (NDGS) has been spun off into a new non-profit company: USGIN Foundation, Inc. The company will commercialize the technology and infrastructure at the national and international level. The project was launched through funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with the grant period ending December 31, 2014. The project was developed by Arizona State Geologist (AZGS) on behalf of the Association of American State Geologists.
According to AZGS, the NDGS system is intended to increase geothermal exploration and development across the country by providing free, open source access to any digital data that can help, not just limited to traditional geothermal data.
The project was officially launched by DOE Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz at the White House Datapalooza earlier this year. To date the database has more than 65 sources located in the 50 US states serving more than 10 million data records including information on 3 million oil and gas wells, over 700,000 well logs, up to a million water wells, and tens of thousands of maps, documents, and reports. In Arizona specifically, every oil, gas, geothermal, and CO2 well is online in the NGDS, along with numerous other datasets.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) will be streaming NGDS data into their online Global Renewable Energy Atlas with contributions from AZDS’ content models and interchange formats to the National Data Repositories coalition that has created a new online Business Rules Library for data management in the global upstream petroleum industry. Anyone can set up their own node in the network using free, open source software at the NGDS website as well as stream data to their own portal.
Is China’s Ban on Imports of U.S. Poultry Justified?
Our latest ZimmPoll asked the question, “What do you think about new US Ag Coalition for Cuba?”
There is no doubt the ag community is behind the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba and it’s goals of re-establishing trade. As time goes by it will be interesting to see how it will open up the market in U.S. food and ag exports.
Here are the poll results:
- Will benefit all aspects of agriculture – 84%
- Bad idea – 0%
- Undecided – 5%
- Haven’t heard about it – 11%
Our new ZimmPoll is now live and asks the question, Is China’s recent ban on imports of U.S. poultry & eggs justified?
Effective January 8, the Chinese government imposed a nationwide restriction on U.S. imported poultry and eggs following the detection of avian flu in wild birds in the Pacific Northwest. Do you think that China is right on track and it’s better to be safe than sorry or is it completely overkill with no justification for the drastic action.
Policy Uncertainty Shrinks US Biodiesel Market
The U.S. biodiesel market was a bit smaller in 2014, and policy uncertainty in Washington is being blamed for the decrease. The National Biodiesel Board says the destabilization of the industry, including the Obama Administration’s failure to finalize biodiesel volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and Congress allowing the biodiesel tax incentive to lapse at the beginning of 2014, caused many biodiesel plants to shut down or reduce production, dropping total U.S. biodiesel consumption to 1.75 billion gallons for the year, down slightly from nearly 1.8 billion gallons in 2013.
“These numbers reflect the consequences of policy inaction,” said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), the industry trade association. “The drop in production represents lost jobs and economic activity. It represents a lost opportunity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants. And it represents another year in which we fail to tackle our dangerous dependence on oil in the fuels sector.”
“The numbers would have been even lower had the EPA not signaled throughout the year that it will strengthen the RFS proposal and finalize it promptly,” Jobe said. “But companies can operate on faith for only so long. We have already seen many producers close their doors, and many others are struggling to stay open as we enter a New Year with continued uncertainty.”
Jobe went on to say that it’s frustrating because it is completely unnecessary and urged the Obama administration and Congress to put smart policies back in place.
Regulators Urged to Rethink Corn Ethanol’s Carbon Value
Regulators are being urged to re-think corn ethanol’s carbon value. In a news release from the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), the group’s President of its board of directors, Ron Alverson, reveals in a white paper how corn ethanol’s carbon footprint is decreasing, thanks to technology innovations by farmers and ethanol facilities to improve the accuracy of carbon intensity modeling for biofuels.
“ANL scientists have documented significant reductions in corn ethanol’s CI since 2008. Through updates to the Greenhouse gases Regulated Emissions and Energy use in Transportation (GREET version 2.0, 2013) model, ANL recently determined that average ethanol manufacturing energy use has decreased 25%, corn farming energy use decreased 24%, corn fertilizer and chemical use decreased by 3%, and that ethanol facilities are extracting 3% more ethanol from each bushel of corn. ANL has also updated their Land Use Change (LUC) calculations with recent data and now estimate LUC of just 7.6 grams of CI, a 75% reduction from the widely used and outdated estimate of 30 grams CI. A significant portion of this reduction resulted from soil carbon modeling which predicts soil carbon sequestration from corn,” Alverson notes in the White Paper.
“Unfortunately, low carbon fuel market regulators, such as the U.S. EPA and the California Air Resources Board, have yet to acknowledge these improvements and update their models with this new science,” continues Alverson. “Because fossil fuel CI is getting worse and corn ethanol CI is improving, failure to account for these trends unfairly penalizes biofuels in low carbon markets.”
Alverson, a farmer and founding board member of an ethanol facility in South Dakota cited new research and improved modeling by the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. He argues that “corn farmers have responded to market signals and rapidly adopted precision application technology to reduced fertilizer application rates,” new realities those regulators need to now consider.