Wind Best Option to Meet EPA Pollution Rule

John Davis

awealogoA new report shows that wind energy is probably the best way to meet a proposed new federal government rule regarding carbon pollution for existing power plants. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has just published a new white paper that shows wind is one of the biggest, fastest, cheapest ways states can meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule on limiting carbon dioxide pollution expected to be published June 2.

Among the key findings in the new report are:

The 167.7 million megawatt-hours (MWh) of wind energy produced in the U.S. in 2013 reduced CO2 emissions by 126.8 million tons, the equivalent of reducing power sector emissions by more than 5 percent, or taking 20 million cars off the road.

The top 10 states by volume of carbon reductions from wind energy are: Texas, Illinois, California, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Wyoming.

States achieving a reduction in carbon emissions of 10 percent or more (compared to a 2011 baseline) from wind energy alone include California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington State, with Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Wyoming coming in just under 10%.

Wind energy also currently reduces sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions by nearly 347 million pounds per year and nitrous oxide (NOx) emissions by 214 million pounds per year. These pollutants acidify lakes and streams, contribute to smog, and negatively impact public health.

AWEA officials say the best part of this news is that many states and their utilities are already familiar with the affordable, reliable product that wind energy provides.

EPA, Wind

How to Counter “Evils-of-Corn-Ethanol” Argument

John Davis

corn-harvestWith the unofficial start of summer, there’s no doubt you’ll be at picnics, reunions, get-togethers, etc., and there’s a pretty good chance that if you’re involved in ethanol, there’ll be somebody wanting to debate its merits… or more specifically, its evils. This article from Ethanol Producer Magazine relates a conversation the managing editor had on how corn ethanol is not the villain it is portrayed to be.

One of my main points to her was that advanced biofuels wouldn’t be an option if it wasn’t for the first generation industry. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, many of the same companies that now produce corn ethanol are also working to produce cellulosic ethanol. One example is a small plant in Galva, Ill., that is working to start up a bolt on technology that will produce ethanol from the cellulosic material in a corn kernel. Other current corn ethanol producing companies are targeting corn stover for cellulosic ethanol production. My friend was surprised to hear how close some of these companies are to completing construction and producing commercial-scale volumes of advanced biofuels.

I then addressed the “corn-ethanol is bad” impression she had, with analogy I’ve used before. We’re both mothers of young daughters so it’s one that makes sense to both of us. Children don’t come out of the womb walking. They must first master some basic skills like sitting up and rolling over. And then, once they do walk, it’s not like they abandon sitting up and rolling over because they are “bad” skills or things only babies do. The U.S. corn ethanol industry has already done a lot of good for this country, by reducing oil imports and providing jobs, for example, and it will continue to contribute positively in the future.

She was able to continue her case by pointing out how the corn ethanol industry has improved its efficiency, knocking holes in arguments that it costs more energy to produce it than it produces.

You might not convince everyone on the facts you know are true about ethanol and its relationship to corn, but at least you should be well-armed in the fight.

corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Forum Offers Info on RFS2, RINs and Biodiesel

John Davis

OPISA forum this fall will offer information on the policy and economic drivers of biofuels supply and demand, and there’s just a few days to register for the early bird rate. OPIS is offering its 6th annual RFS2, RINs and Biodiesel Forum, Oct. 16-17, 2014 in Chicago, in order to help you know more about a range of topics, from compliance to pricing strategies to financing.

If you’re an obligated party such as a refiner or fuels distributor, a biofuels company, or a service provider to the industry, you simply cannot put yourself at risk of potential federal fines of $37,500 per day per violation for non-compliance.

Here are some of the questions that our experts will answer (and don’t forget to come with your own questions for the Q&As that are part of every session!):

What do the final 2014 biofuels blending mandates mean for biofuels
production and prices?
How can obligated parties utilize a Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) to
reduce their compliance burden and risk?
Where are RINs prices headed in the next few months—and next few years?
Can the biodiesel industry thrive without the blenders’ tax credit?
What is the proper course of action to successfully secure financing
for building a biofuels plant?
Has the cellulosic industry finally turned the corner to commercial viability?

In addition, we will provide updates on the major changes taking place in California, under both the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the state’s Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade program that will sweep in for fuels distributors, starting on January 1, 2015.

The forum also takes a look at Canada’s growing biofuels industry and how it affects and is affected by U.S. biofuels markets and the RFS2 program.

Registration and more information is available here.

Biodiesel, RFS, RINS

Ethanol Blending Margins Positive Despite Price Rise

John Davis

Despite a 60 percent increase in ethanol prices, a new record hit last winter, ethanol blending margins stayed positive for most of the period. This analysis from the University of Illinois credits the surprising outcome to highly positive blending margins at the start of the spike, which provided a healthy margin cushion as ethanol prices rose, as well as a 20 percent increase in wholesale gasoline prices.

ethanol527a
[A]n analysis by the U.S. Department of Energy in November 2012 calculated a “break-even price of ethanol, above which it is more economic for the refiner to reduce ethanol volumes and alternatively produce more octane within the refinery.” That analysis indicates that the breakeven ethanol price is about 10 percent higher than the price of CBOB gasoline. That is, if the price of ethanol is less than 110 percent of the price of CBOB gasoline, there are positive economic returns to blending E10 for octane enhancement rather than producing more octane from other petroleum processes in the refinery… The ratio was much less than 110 percent for most of the period, and during the recent ethanol price spike rose above this breakeven level only during the last two weeks of March 2014. So, despite the huge spike in ethanol prices (about 60 percent) this analysis shows that ethanol blending margins remained positive for all but a brief period. The key to explaining this surprising outcome is two-fold. First, wholesale gasoline prices were substantially above ethanol prices when the spike in ethanol prices began. This reflected crude oil prices that remain at relatively high levels and a drop in corn prices. Second, not only did wholesale gasoline prices start at relatively high levels, they increased substantially at the same time as ethanol prices. At the end of December 2013 the Chicago CBOB price was $2.49 per gallon, but had risen to $2.95 per gallon by mid-May 2014. This is an increase of almost 20 percent.

The analysis concludes that ethanol blending margins becoming negative for such a short period of time with record high ethanol prices shows how firmly entrenched ethanol has become as the cheapest source of octane currently available for E10 gasoline blends.

Ethanol, Ethanol News

Biodiesel Grant Looks to Improve GHG Science

John Davis

NBF1A new grant looks to improve the science and understanding behind greenhouse gas (GHG) modeling to show how biodiesel helps the economy while adding security benefits. This piece from Biodiesel Magazine says the National Biodiesel Foundation (NBF) grant to the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) to study the science behind GHG modeling will help quantifying the environmental benefits biodiesel is able to offer to state and federal energy policies that aren’t even in the realm of possibilities for for fossil fuels.

“The greatest potential for improving the accuracy of biodiesel’s GHG score is to improve the quantification of indirect land use change associated with feedstock production,” said Don Scott, director of sustainability at NBB. Under the NBF grant, NBB expects to improve the accuracy of data used in economic and life-cycle models. The biodiesel industry has set responsible goals based on the availability of feedstocks without increasing prices or acres.

Scott further explains, “The current theory of indirect land use change relies on the assumption that feedstock prices will increase, so the models are predicting outcomes nearly the opposite of what is actually happening.” In 2013, record biodiesel production demonstrated that feedstocks could remain in abundant supply. Biodiesel production increased 35 percent while soybean oil prices dropped 25 percent. “If the scientific community continues to improve the modeling, it is likely that model results will converge with reality and show zero indirect land use change emissions attributable to U.S. biodiesel,” Scott said.

NBF works closely with NBB to address national issues regarding biodiesel and hopes this improved understanding of sustainability will improve data inputs to GHG models.

Biodiesel, NBB

FL Researchers Look to Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol

John Davis

sweet_sorghumA partnership between a university and a private company is researching using sweet sorghum for ethanol. This story from Ethanol Producer Magazine says U.S. EnviroFuels LLC and the University of Florida could use the technology in the company’s 30 MMgy advanced ethanol plant under construction in Florida.

A research team from the University of Florida was awarded a four-year, $5.4 million USDA grant to study the crop’s potential as an energy source earlier in May. Multiple varieties will be developed and assessed, looking at water consumption needs, growth in Florida soil, heat tolerance and the tolerance to disease and pests. Cellulosic ethanol will also be produced using a genetically engineered bacteria developed at the University of Florida.

The research project is good news for the proposed ethanol plant, which is behind schedule for construction and startup, said Bradley Krohn, president and chief technical officer of U.S. EnviroFuels, founder and project manager of Highlands EnviroFuels LLC. “Any R&D program that develops commercial sweet sorghum hybrids and improves the performance of sweet sorghum from a tonnage and sugar production standpoint will help the ethanol plant project going forward,” he said.

Sugarcane is the usual feedstock for the plant, but the company wants to use the sweet sorghum during sugarcane’s off season.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Research, sorghum

Patriot Hires Leifmark for Cellulosic Ethanol Plant

John Davis

patriot1Patriot Renewable Fuels has hired Leifmark to plan the first stage of its cellulosic ethanol plant in Illinois. This news release from Patriot says the Inbicon Biomass Refinery technology will be the centerpiece of the platform on the site of Patriot’s 130 million gallon per year grain ethanol plant.

“Leifmark’s analysis will give us a clear picture of the overall technical and economic factors,” says [Gene Griffith, Co-Founder & President of Patriot]. “Their study will provide a sound basis for deciding whether Patriot should go ahead with the engineering phase of the project.”

Paul Kamp, Leifmark co-founding partner in Chicago, says, “Patriot has a history of innovation since its Annawan plant opened in 2008. Adding cellulosic ethanol production is a natural next step.”

At the centerpiece of the technology platform is the Inbicon biomass conversion technology, which Denmark’s DONG Energy began developing in the late 1990s and has demonstrated for over 15,000 hours at its Inbicon Biomass Refinery in Kalundborg, where it typically processes 4.4 tons an hour of wheat straw.

About 1320 tons per day of corn stover will be turned into cellulosic ethanol using the Inbicon’s technology.

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Patriot Renewable Fuels

Floating Turbine Looks to Change Wind Energy

John Davis

altaeros1A new type of wind turbine that floats a couple of thousand feet above the ground could change the wind energy game. This article from EcoSeed says the Buoyant Air Turbine, or B.A.T., which uses a helium-filled shell and was designed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology alums Ben Glass and Adam Rein in wind energy start-up Altaeros, could bring energy to off-grid areas.

Their B.A.T. uses a helium-filled shell – made of the same fabric used in blimps and sails – to hover around 1,000 to 2,000 feet above ground to capture the stronger, steadier winds available at that altitude.

The B.A.T. can produce double the energy of similarly sized tower-mounted turbines. This is because, at the altitude that the B.A.T. hovers, the winds blow five to eight times stronger than winds at tower level (roughly 100 to 300 feet).

According to Mr. Rein, the B.A.T. is not designed to replace conventional tower-mounted turbines but, it will be able to bring wind power to areas where tower-mounted turbines are not practical or economically feasible.

“It’s really about expanding wind energy to all those places in the fringes where it doesn’t really work today, and expanding the amount of wind power that’s able to be deployed globally,” said Mr. Rein.

The article also points out that the autonomous working system will eliminate the need for metal towers and concrete bases, which should please environmentalists working on the clean part of the energy angle.

Wind

U of Washington’s Biodiesel/Electric Hybrid Car

John Davis

washecocar1Talk about the best of both worlds – University of Washington students have designed and re-engineered a car to run on electricity AND biodiesel. This article from the Seattle Times says the team recently showed off the vehicle to a group of local elementary school students, who had lots of questions and seemed thoroughly impressed.

How much could you sell it for? How long did it take to make it? What’s that red button? What if it doesn’t work?

How did you get that big sticker on the car? Why is there a fire extinguisher inside?

What are those wires for?

Could it charge your phone?

“It’s fantastic,” said sixth-grader Asli Edey. “I think it’s going to be my dream car.”

The Malibu hybrid conversion is part of a collegiate competition, EcoCAR 2, sponsored by General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy. The UW is one of just 15 universities in the U.S. and Canada selected to participate.

The Malibu has two separate engines: the biodiesel engine in the front of the car, which drives the front wheels; and the 250-horsepower electric motor in the rear of the car, powered by an 800-pound battery pack.

The electric motor runs for about 40 to 50 miles, and the biodiesel-powered motor can carry it for longer or pump up the power when needed as it goes 0 mph to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds — about a second faster than a Malibu with a standard gasoline engine.

The car is being shipped to Michigan to be tested even more, and eventually GM will pick a winner in its EcoCAR 2 competition.

Biodiesel, Electric Vehicles, Research

Biodiesel Powers New Season of Cog Railway

John Davis

cograilway1A summer tradition in New England is getting a new, clean power source. This story from New Hampshire Public Radio says Mount Washington’s Cog Railway has a new biodiesel engine to power the unique railway up the highest peak in the Northeast.

The popular tourist attraction is also rolling out a new biodiesel engine during the holiday weekend. The new engine is named Metallak, in honor of the last surviving member of the local Abenaki tribe.

Each 3-hour round trip on the Cog includes an hour spent at the summit, where passengers get free admission to the new summit weather presentation created by the Mount Washington Observatory — titled Extreme Mount Washington.

This is the 145th year for the railway.

Biodiesel