Better Sites for Algae Helps Biofuels Production

John Davis

ABOA new process for identifying and evaluating algae production facilities could help with biofuels production. The article, “Siting Algae Cultivation Facilities for Biofuel Production in the United States: Trade-Offs between Growth Rate, Site Constructability, Water Availability, and Infrastructure,” in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, talks about the new method developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Sapphire Energy and was welcomed by the Algae Biomass Organization (ABO), the trade association for the algae industry.

“Effectively siting algae cultivation facilities for commercial biofuel production is critical to the success of every commercial algae project,” said Margaret McCormick, chair of the Algae Biomass Organization and CEO of algae company Matrix Genetics. “The biology is so complex, existing ‘off-the-shelf’ measurement tools fall short. Because this analysis considers numerous variables along with real-world algae cultivation data, it offers project developers a much more complete and rigorous evaluation of sites.”

Site selection for large construction projects is a complex task, but a particularly challenging one in the case of algae cultivation in open ponds, where facilities could be thousands of acres in size. The factors that drive success include: a warm and sunny climate, available water, economically available land with soils good for construction, and proximity to transportation and utility infrastructure. In addition, special consideration must be given to local issues that are difficult for national-scale models to address, such as regulatory constraints, tax incentives, receptivity of local populations and ecological constraints.

The study found that there is good potential for cultivating green algae along the Gulf of Mexico, especially on the Florida peninsula. It also says that the type of algae to be grown is a big factor when choosing a site.

algae, Biodiesel, biofuels, Research

Hawaiian Biodiesel Pioneer to Give Energy Lecture

John Davis

bobkellyking1A pioneer in the biodiesel industry in Hawaii will talk about energy at a lecture in Kona next week. This article from BigIslandNow.com says Kelly King, vice president and co-founder of Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, will speak next Wednesday, March 19 at the NELHA Gateway Visitor Center in Keahole.

King, the company’s director of marketing and communications, has helped develop 13 biodiesel plants in the US and Japan, including one on Oahu and another which opened in 2012 in Keaau.

Company officials say the Keaau plant uses the most up-to-date technology to generate up to 5.5 million gallons of biodiesel annually.

Since its founding, Pacific Biodiesel has been involved in all aspects of the biodiesel business, from fuel-crop research and waste oil collection to fuel processing, quality management, and distribution. The company designs, owns, builds and operates scalable, multiple-feedstock biodiesel plants utilizing used cooking oil, yellow grease, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, canola oil, tallow and other feedstocks.

Several years ago, Kelly partnered with actress Daryl Hannah and Willie and Annie Nelson to found the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, a national nonprofit organization developing a certification process for sustainable biodiesel practices.

This lecture is part of the Hawaii Energy Resource Center’s five-part Exceptional Energy Lecture Series.

Biodiesel

Ethanol Exports Start 2014 Higher

Cindy Zimmerman

Exports of U.S. ethanol started 2014 at the highest level seen in over two years.

rfa-annAccording to U.S. Census Bureau data, ethanol exports in January totaled 86 million gallons, which is the highest monthly volume since December 2011. “Exports were up a third from December 2013, while imports remained sparse, meaning the United States was a net ethanol exporter by the widest margin in over two years,” according to Renewable Fuels Association research analyst Ann Lewis, writing on the E-xchange blog.

Brazil was the top customer for U.S. ethanol, beating out Canada for the number one spot, importing nearly 23.9 million gallons, the largest monthly volume to Brazil in two years. Exports to Canada dropped 36% from December to 18.8 million gallons (mg). Rounding out the top destinations were the United Arab Emirates (12.4 mg), India (10.7 mg), the Philippines (5.5 mg), and Mexico (3.3 mg).

Meanwhile, exports of the ethanol co-product distillers dried grains (DDGs) were lower in January, down 9% to 903,827 metric tons (mt). Lewis notes that China was again the leading destination with 344,147 mt. “However, China’s market share scaled back to 38%, in contrast with its majority stake (56%) of U.S. DDGs exports averaged over the second half of 2013,” writes Lewis. Mexico (140,664 mt), South Korea (77,977 mt), Vietnam (48,514 mt), and Japan (44,505 mt) rounded out the top five DDGS markets in January.

Distillers Grains, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, RFA

POET-DSM Joins Advanced Ethanol Council

Cindy Zimmerman

aeclogoPOET-DSM Advanced Biofuels is the newest member to join the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC).

“As cellulosic ethanol becomes a growing force in fulfilling biofuel requirements in the U.S., it’s important for POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels to work with other industry leaders to help shape policies that ensure consumer understanding of – and access to – its environmental, economic and energy-security benefits,” said Steve Hartig, General Manager – Licensing for POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels.

The joint venture between ethanol production company POET and Royal DSM, a Netherlands-based bio science company, is nearing completion of a 25 million gallon per year cellulosic ethanol biorefinery called Project LIBERTY, located in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The technology developed for the facility is available for licensing to develop other low-carbon, cellulosic ethanol production plants.

“As a key player in the industry that has the proven know-how to scale up its advanced technology to commercial scale, POET-DSM is a strong, strategic addition to the Council’s ranks as cellulosic ethanol moves from the development stage to full-scale commercial production in 2014,” said Brooke Coleman, Executive Director of the AEC.

advanced biofuels, AEC, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, POET

CARB Considers Small ILUC Change for Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

carb-14-2The California Air Resources Board (CARB) today is proposing potential changes to indirect land use change (iLUC) penalties under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) which some scientists and the ethanol industry say are a start, but don’t go far enough.

Based on a review of materials made available by CARB prior to the workshop, Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President and CEO Bob Dinneen said, “CARB appears to be taking a small step in the right direction, but the science shows a much larger reduction to the iLUC penalty for corn ethanol is warranted.”

RFA-logo-13Dinneen notes that a group of 14 well-known scientists, including five members of CARB’s own expert work group, sent a letter to CARB last week recommending that the penalty should be lowered by 50-80 percent, rather than the 20 percent CARB is proposing. “The larger issue here is that in the five years since the LCFS was adopted, there have been no indications that the policy has caused—or will cause—any kind of land use change,” said Dinneen. “Amazon deforestation has fallen to its lowest rate on record, U.S. cropland area continues to shrink, and U.S. forested area continues to increase. All of this suggests the iLUC hypothesis needs to be critically re-evaluated.”

Dinneen believes that California consumers will be negatively impacted if CARB maintains the iLUC penalty for corn ethanol. “Under CARB’s apparent proposal, grain ethanol—the lowest-cost renewable fuel used in the California market today—will ultimately be replaced with higher-priced imported fuel,” said Dinneen.

The CARB workshop on the proposed Indirect Land Use Change values and how they were determined by staff will be webcast today beginning at 1:00 pm Pacific time. During the webcasts, CARB will also be accepting feedback and questions sent via email to sierrarm@calepa.ca.gov.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Indirect Land Use, RFA

GE Space Frame Revolutionizing Wind Tower Tech

John Davis

A new wind turbine tower is changing the game in tower technology. This article from Clean Technica says GE’s Space Frame Tower is helping along a rapidly growing wind energy sector.

From the outside, the Space Frame Tower looks like a regular tube-shaped turbine tower with a bit of an Eiffel Tower splay to the bottom, and there’s your clue regarding what’s hidden behind that plain white exterior: a new approach to turbine tower design that GE hopes will play into the demand for taller wind turbines.

spaceframe1With taller turbines, wind energy can be harvested more efficiently from a broader range of sites, so in case you’re wondering why we’re making such a fuss over a tower, there’s your answer.

Now let’s cut to the mustard. Those of you who are familiar with the engineering term “space frame” already know what’s afoot under that plain white exterior. A space frame refers to latticework, with the Eiffel Tower being one classic example.

The article goes on to point out that the new tower cuts down the amount of steel required for the frame, and the five-sided lattice inside allows for a much wider base than the usual tube-style turbine towers, allowing the tower to climb higher into the sky where it can work more efficiently.

Wind

Analysis: Export Market a Bright Spot for US Ethanol

John Davis

Ethanol producers might be fretting about the government’s proposal to lower the amount of the green fuel to be mixed into the Nation’s fuel supply. But this analysis from the University of Illinois points out that those Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) numbers don’t matter when it comes to ethanol going over the border and to foreign shores, a bright spot for the American industry.

An important point to note is that ethanol or other biofuels produced in the US and exported for consumption overseas do not count toward the blenders’ RFS obligations. The Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) associated with exported biofuels are retired and no longer eligible for use towards RFS compliance. Thus, exports are not substituted for domestic consumption but rather represent additional demand. Ultimately, exports provide a path around, rather than through, the ethanol blend wall by allowing the domestic industry to produce greater volumes of ethanol than the blend wall limitation implies for domestic use.
ethanolexports
The analysis goes on to look at markets for American ethanol in Brazil, Canada, the European Union, Mexico and other foreign consumers and how it could take up the amount proposed to be lowered in the RFS.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, Exports, International

Biodiesel, Ethanol Educator Wins Ag Teaching Award

John Davis

junco1A high school chemistry teacher is honored, in part, for his work to teach his students about biodiesel. This article from The Grower says Gustavo Junco, an advanced-placement chemistry teacher at West Broward High School in Pembroke Pines in south Florida, taught his class how to power a go-kart with biodiesel made from corn and sunflower seed oil and picked up the 2014 Excellence in Teaching about Agriculture Award.

The award is sponsored by the Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, a Gaineville-based non-profit group that promotes agricultural education to students ranging from kingergarten to high school.

Junco has been teaching agro-eco0logy and advanced-placement chemistry to 10th, 11th and 12th graders at West Broward High for 10 years.

His chemistry students grow sunflowers in the school garden, then extract oil from the seeds that is then converted to biodiesel.

In addition, Junco’s honors chemistry class is turning sugarcane juice into cellulosic ethanol.

He’ll join three other Florida teachers going to the 2014 National Agriculture in the Classroom conference this summer in Hershey, Pa.

Biodiesel, Cellulosic, Ethanol

Iowa AG: EPA Proposal on Ethanol Violates Law

John Davis

tommillerThe proposed lowering of the amount of ethanol to be blended into the country’s fuel supply raises the possibility the U.S. government could face a lawsuit for breaking the law. In this article from Ethanol Producer Magazine, comments from Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller indicates the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) to lower the Renewable Volume Obligations (RVOs) for ethanol violate Congress’ original intent.

Section 211(o)(2)(B) of the Clean Air Act expressly states the RFS mandated volume of renewable fuel to be included in gasoline: The total for 2014 is 18.15 billion gallons. However, section 211(o)(7)(A)(ii) provides a “general waiver” authority under which the EPA may modify these amounts if “there is an inadequate domestic supply.”

Iowa Attorney General Thomas J. Miller submitted comments to the proposal outlining several objections to EPA’s interpretation of the waiver authority, based on the well-known Chevron test used by the courts to assess a federal agency’s interpretation of a statute: 1) If the statute is clear, the court must enforce the law’s unambiguous language; and 2) If the statute is not clear, the agency’s interpretation must be permissible.

Miller argues that the statute unambiguously prohibits EPA from considering the distribution capacity of blended fuel. Under section 211(o)(7)(A)(ii), the term “supply” unambiguously refers to the “quantity of renewable fuel” required under section 211(o)(2). Therefore, in order to reduce the RFS for total renewable fuel, EPA must find that there is an “inadequate domestic supply” of “renewable fuel.”

Miller goes on to say the EPA’s interpretation of what it is allowed to do is not permissible, and he points out that Congress’ intent when passing the RFS was “to move the United States towards greater energy independence and security” and “to increase the production of clean renewable fuels.” The article also points out that Miller is pretty successful when leading multistate litigation.

EPA, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Genscape Brings Integrity to Biodiesel RINs

John Davis

Genscape LogoConfidence in the identification numbers for the government’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is key to the growth in biodiesel. This article from Biodiesel Magazine says the National Biodiesel Board-backed Genscape RIN (Renewable Identification Number) Integrity Network is helping keep up the confidence that those record-breaking biodiesel production numbers are legit.

Genscape provides U.S. EPA preregistered [quality assurance plans] QAP services and a number of other RIN integrity, RFS and low carbon fuel standard services to more than 40 renewable fuel producers, obligated parties, and midmarketers across three continents.

QAP has translated into increased RIN value for Genscape producers. QAP provides additional value not just for producers with smaller balance sheets or for producers who are new to the industry, but also for larger, well-established producers. In one example, a longstanding biodiesel producer looked to Genscape to provide RIN integrity guidance and proof of RIN assurance to two new buyers. This is an indicator that buyers are starting to rely more on third-party RIN integrity, like QAP, even for larger, more well-established producers.

Using Genscape QAP, producers are making sure they’re getting the best prices for RINs, able to secure longer-term deals, grow their buyer base, and meet the increasing demand for QAP RINs in counterparty agreements.

Biodiesel, NBB, RINS