ACE Sets Dates for DC Fly-in

Cindy Zimmerman

ACElogoAs the 114th Congress is sworn-in today, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) is confirming plans to visit for the 7th annual grassroots fly-in on March 24-25, 2015.

“With more than seventy new members in Congress and concerns over EPA’s implementation of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), there is no better time for people who have a stake in the success of the ethanol industry to join fellow grassroots advocates for ACE’s fly-in,” said ACE Executive Vice President Brian Jennings.

At the 2014 “Biofuels Beltway March,” eighty people from all walks of life, including farmers, fuel retailers, students, and bankers, joined ethanol producers to meet with representatives from the White House, EPA, and USDA. The group also met with 160 congressional offices.

“In addition to a large crop of incoming freshmen, just a small fraction of current lawmakers were in office when the original RFS was enacted in 2005 and modified in 2007 by Congress. Our fly-in is an important opportunity to highlight how America is benefiting from the RFS, the successful development of cellulosic ethanol, and the reliability and progress of E15 and higher ethanol fuel blends,” said Jennings.

Click here for more information.

ACE, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government

Corn Growers Consider Growth Options for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

ncga-logo-newThe Ethanol Committee of the National Corn Growers Association met in St. Louis recently to discuss options to continue increasing demand for corn-based fuel.

“Ethanol has been a huge success story for agriculture and rural America because of the economic stimulus it has created through increased corn demand and new jobs. For the general public it provides reduced greenhouse gas emissions, better performance and fuel choice,” said Committee Chair Jeff Sandborn, a farmer from Michigan. “Despite all of our success educationally and legislatively, what we have created is a great start not final destination. We have 10% ethanol in virtually every gallon of fuel sold today but it will take a multidimensional approach to continue to grow the market for ethanol.”

The Ethanol Committee is investigating options to grow the ethanol market on many fronts including integrating higher ethanol blend compatibility into plans to update the nation’s aging fuel infrastructure; continuing to expand public acceptance and support for ethanol outside the corn belt; and evaluating the benefits of a national ethanol brand to aid in consumer identification at the pump.

“Fuel access is a high priority issue for the ethanol industry and corn farmers,” Sandborn said. “If we are going to continue to grow ethanol markets and realize the economic benefits of our ability to produce corn we will need to redouble our efforts to bring higher ethanol blends like E15 and E85 to the marketplace.”

Input from the committee will be relayed to the NCGA Corn Board for their consideration and for broader organizational discussion and policy development at Corn Congress in March.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, NCGA

EPA Seeks Comments on Sorghum-to-Biofuels GHGs

John Davis

epa-150The federal government is seeking public comment on its preliminary analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to the production of biomass sorghum feedstock to make biofuels. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) invited the comments after a recent study by the agency that showed biomass sorghum is suitable for the same conversion processes as approved cellulosic feedstocks such as switchgrass and corn stover and would qualify for cellulosic biofuel (D-code 3) renewable identification numbers (RINs) or cellulosic diesel (D-code 7) RINs.

This notice explains EPA’s analysis of the growth and transport components of the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions from biomass sorghum, and describes how EPA may apply this analysis in the future to determine whether biofuels produced from such biomass sorghum meet the necessary GHG reductions required for qualification under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) program. Based on this analysis, we anticipate that biofuels produced from biomass sorghum could qualify for cellulosic biofuel renewable identification numbers (RINs) if certain fuel production process technology conditions are met.

More information on the comment process and period is available here.

biofuels, EPA, Government, sorghum

California Governor Outlines Energy Goals

Cindy Zimmerman

cal-gov-brown-2015Sworn in for his second, second term as Governor of the state of California on Monday, Edmund Gerald “Jerry” Brown, Jr. outlined three energy-related goals he would like to see the state accomplish within the next 15 years.

“First, increase from one-third to 50 percent our electricity derived from renewable sources,” said Gov. Brown in his inaugural address. “Two – and even more difficult – reduce today’s petroleum use in cars and trucks by up to 50 percent; three, double the efficiency of existing buildings and make heating fuels cleaner.”

He continued: We must also reduce the relentless release of methane, black carbon and other potent pollutants across industries. And we must manage farm and rangelands, forests and wetlands so they can store carbon. All of this is a very tall order. It means that we continue to transform our electrical grid, our transportation system and even our communities.

I envision a wide range of initiatives: more distributed power, expanded rooftop solar, micro-grids, an energy imbalance market, battery storage, the full integration of information technology and electrical distribution and millions of electric and low-carbon vehicles.

Brown was sworn in for an unprecedented fourth term as California governor this week, with his second and third terms separated by over 30 years.

Energy, Government, Solar

Iowa State Students to Ride Smarter on Biodiesel Bus

John Davis

cyride1Students at Iowa State University will get to class a little smarter… and not just because of good study habits. The school and the university’s hometown of Ames, Iowa have inked a deal with Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group (REG) that will see CyRide, the transit agency serving the City of Ames and Iowa State University, to supply biodiesel blended fuel in 2015.

REG Energy Services, LLC began providing 350,000 gallons of fuel with biodiesel blends of up to 20 percent for CyRide’s 78 buses January 1. The agreement is REG’s first with a municipality.

“We want to thank CyRide for choosing REG Energy Services as its 2015 fuel partner,” said Don Nelson, REG Director, Regional Sales. “As REG Energy Services expands, we look forward to the opportunity to work with municipalities to provide a high-quality product that provides for energy and food security, job creation and environmental stewardship.”

Ames will increase its use of biodiesel from previous years under the agreement, which provides buses with higher blends of the advanced biofuel during the summer months. The CyRide fleet serves an average of 40,000 riders daily and operates approximately 1.2 million miles a year. The city will see carbon dioxide emission reductions of as much as 658 metric tons in 2015 with the increased biodiesel blends.

The REG biodiesel will come from the company’s Magellan terminal, just down the rode in Des Moines. City officials say with the environmental benefits of the sustainable biodiesel, everyone wins with this deal.

Biodiesel, REG

Enel Green Power Starts Geothermal Plant

Joanna Schroeder

The Bagnore 4 geothermal power plant located in the municipalities of Santa Fiora and Arcidosso, near Grosseto, in the Italian region of Tuscany is online and grid connected. The project was completed by Enel Green Power and has an installed capacity of 40 MW and will generate up to 310 million kWh per year. Bagnore 4 joins the 20 MW Bagnore 3 plant and is composed of two 20 MW turbines.

Enel Green Power logoThe construction of the new plant involved a total investment of around 120 million euros, partly financed with funds from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The project is in line with the growth targets set out in Enel Green Power’s 2014-2018 business plan, which calls for around 600 million euros of investment in geothermal power in Tuscany.

The company says its new plant was designed to meet the highest international standards and to employ the most environmentally friendly technology available. Bagnore 4 also features a sophisticated monitoring and remote diagnostics system to ensure high reliability and efficiency.

Electricity, Geothermal, International

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • http://energy.agwired.com/category/bioenergy-bytes/Hanwha SolarOne has announced they have signed a deal with a leading photovoltaic (PV) developer for the supply of 80 megawatts (MW) of solar PV modules to a project in the Antofagasta Region. The solar installations will be powered by Hanwha SolarOne’s new polycrystalline module generation, the HSL S Series.
  • China Sunergy has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, CEEG (Nanjing) Renewable Energy Co., Ltd., has won a 30 MW contract from Enrich Energy Pvt. Ltd, an integrated solar energy solutions provider and a pioneer in India focused on developing large scale private solar parks across India.
  • Aquatherm Industries, Inc. congratulates Mr. Reed Wilson in having been elected President of the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association (FlaSEIA). Wilson is owner of Aquatherm’s long-time Florida Distribution Center Aquatherm Solar Supply as well as Fort Myers-based HVAC and solar contracting firm FL Green Team.
  • The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced the extension of the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Rebate program, which will continue to provide $2,000 rebates for large-battery system plug-in hybrid electric and battery-electric vehicles until June 30, 2015, or until the 500 vehicle benchmark is reached. To date, DEP has more than 150 rebates remaining at this amount. DEP has invested $4.35 million toward the deployment of electric vehicles in Pennsylvania since 2011.
Bioenergy Bytes

Carolina Biodiesel Producer to Expand Operations

John Davis

blueridge1Western North Carolina-based Blue Ridge Biofuels will expand its operations to turn oilseeds and used cooking oil into biodiesel. The company says this year’s expansion will take their capability from about 360,000 gallons of the green fuel a year to a million gallons this year and up to 3 million gallons in the coming years.

Early in 2015, we’re setting up shop at the Catawba County EcoComplex in Newton, NC where we can make a lot more biodiesel. Plus, we can expand into new markets, since we are the first biodiesel producer in the Charlotte area to make fuel from used cooking oil. And we’re still going to be here 100% for our fuel customers and restaurant clients in Western North Carolina. One thing we love about making biodiesel is the way it connects us to the community: from farmers who grow oil crops, to restaurants that recycle their used cooking oil, to our partners in the green economy, to our awesome customers who use biodiesel to heat their homes, run their vehicles, and power their businesses. We’re going to keep our biodiesel distribution hub and a used cooking oil collection hub here in Asheville — so we can keep our local economy and community growing.

Blue Ridge Biofuels has also launched a partnership to sell Bioheat – a biodiesel heating oil mix – and is able to claim its first full year under the BQ-9000 quality standard.

Biodiesel

Genetics to Help in Biomass-to-Biofuel Conversion

John Davis

Researchers might have found a more efficient way to turn biomass into biofuel using plant genetics. This article from Phys.org says plant geneticists Sam Hazen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Siobhan Brady at the University of California, Davis, have sorted out the gene regulatory networks that would have the biggest impacts on the green fuel production.

The authors say that the most rigid of the polymers, lignin, represents “a major impediment” to extracting sugars from plant biomass that can be used to make biofuels. Their genetic advance is expected to “serve as a foundation for understanding the regulation of a complex, integral plant component” and as a map for how future researchers might manipulate the polymer-forming processes to improve the efficiency of biofuel production.

The three key components, found in plant tissues known as xylem, provide plants with mechanical strength and waterproof cells that transport water. Working in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, Hazen, Brady and colleagues explored how a large number of interconnected transcription factors regulate xylem and cell wall thickening. Results appeared in an early online edition Dec. 24 in Nature.

An invited commentary in the journal on the significance of this discovery points out that “understanding how the relative proportions of these biopolymers are controlled in plant tissue would open up opportunities to redesign plants for biofuel use.” Hazen, Brady and colleagues’ study identified hundreds of new regulators and offers “considerable insight,” the authors say, “into the developmental regulation of xylem cell differentiation.”

The authors of the study were able to find that most of the proteins including regulators of cell cycle and differentiation bind directly to cellulose genes and to other transcription regulators, giving plants a huge number of possible combinations for responding and adapting to environmental stressors.

biofuels, biomass, Research

Ethanol Report Looks at Year Ahead

Cindy Zimmerman

ethanol-report-adUnfinished business and much of the same old attacks on the RFS are likely to dominate 2015 for the ethanol industry.

In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen takes a look at what he expects to be some of the big issues for ethanol in the year ahead.

Ethanol Report on Industry Outlook for 2015
Audio, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, RFA, RFS