ACE Conference 2026

Lowering RFS Impact on Advanced Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

Cellulosic and advanced biofuels producers are very concerned that the EPA proposal to lower 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) targets will have a chilling effect on investment in the next generation of renewable fuels.

mess-rfs“Frankly, we have decided that we are placing a hold on our evaluations of future investment in bioenergy in the United States until we see what the final rule is and what impact it does have on the market,” said Chris Standlee with Abengoa Bioenergy during a media call today organized by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). Standlee added that the proposal has forced them to reconsider their business plan to license technology to other producers and look for “potential investments in other countries.”

Iogen Corporation president and CEO Brian Foody said RFS is the single most important driver of investment in advanced biofuels. “Cellulosic biofuel has the promise to deliver tens of billions of gallons of ethanol to the United States, but there needs to be a market for that,” he said. Iogen is building a cellulosic plant in Brazil using sugarcane bagasse and they are “actively seeking to develop projects in America” but that will depend on the future of the RFS.

Delayne Johnson, General Manager of the farmer-owned Quad County Corn Processors ethanol plant which broke ground in July on a bolt-on cellulosic ethanol technology, said that changing the RFS at this point is “going to create uncertainty” for other plants looking at adopting that technology. “We’re hopeful the EPA will consider getting back on course,” he said.

Listen to comments from Standlee, Foody, and Johnson, as well as RFA president and CEO Bob Dinneen and Advanced Ethanol Council Executive Director Brooke Coleman. RFS impact on Advanced Biofuels media call Media questions and answers

advanced biofuels, AEC, Audio, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, RFS

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFThe UI GreenMetric World University Ranking has ranked the University of California, Davis in the top 10 for campus sustainability and environment-friendly management. In Universitas Indonesia’s fourth annual GreenMetric rankings, for 2013, UC Davis is ninth overall (up from 17th a year earlier) and fourth in the U.S. The rankings comprise 301 universities. The University of Nottingham, England, claimed the top spot in the new rankings.
  • Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes, has announced its 2013 financial results. Organic sales growth was 7% (5% DKK, 8% LCY), EBIT grew by 6% and net profit by 9%, and the EBIT margin increased by 0.3 percentage point to 24.7% compared with 2012. According to Novozymes, 2014 is expected to show a continuation of trends seen in 2013. As a result, the outlook for 2014 is positive with good underlying sales and EBIT growth.
  • Real Goods Solar, Inc. has changed its brand identity to RGS Energy. Reflecting the brand change, the company’s NASDAQ stock symbol will change from “RSOL” to “RGSE,” effective at the start of trading on Monday, February 24, 2014.
  • Registration is now open for the Ethanol 2014: Emerging Issues Forum taking place in Omaha, Nebraska April 10-11, 2014. The keynote speaker is Doug Durante, executive director of Clean Fuels Development Coalition. Other speakers include Alvaro Cordero, with the U.S. Grains Council and Argus Media will be presenting on ethanol demand trends.
Bioenergy Bytes

Led Zeppelin 2 to Perform at NEC

Joanna Schroeder

led-zep-2 Photo Barry BrechiesenLed Zepplin 2 will be performing at the 19th Annual Ethanol Conference (NEC) on Tuesday, February 18, 2014 in Orlando Florida. The cover band includes Paul Kamp, an active participant in the biofuels industry. The band recently toured in New York and Boston with upcoming performances in Texas and Florida.

“Led Zeppelin was one of the best rock and roll bands of all time,” said Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) who hosts the NEC. “Much like the titles of legendary Led Zeppelin songs, there will always be ‘Good Times, Bad Times’ but no matter what the Renewable Fuels Association will continue to ‘Ramble On’ fighting for consumer choice and access to low-cost, renewable fuel.”

Dinneen continued, “Big Oil’s attempts to thwart our efforts to increase America’s energy independence and send us ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ leaves me ‘Sick Again’ and at times it feels like we are being ‘Trampled Underfoot’ by the petroleum industry. But mark my words Big Oil, ‘Your Time is Gonna Come’ because the value-added benefits of ethanol are paving the ‘Stairway to Heaven.’ ‘The Song Remains the Same’ don’t mess with the RFS!”

Led Zeppelin 2 received wide praise for their first rate performances.

Jim Derogatis of NPR and the Chicago Sun-Times raved, “As good a Zep as Zep ever did back in the day.” While The Dallas Observer praised, “The closest thing to seeing the real Led Zeppelin.”

biofuels, Ethanol, National Ethanol Conference, RFA

Sugar, Bringing in the New Age of Batteries?

Joanna Schroeder

Cutting back on your sugar intake? Than consider using it to create a battery. Not really but doesn’t it sound cool? A Virgina Tech research team did just this and has developed a battery that runs on sugar. The research team believes it has an energy density unmatched by any on the market and could lead to the replacement of conventional batteries with ones that are cheaper, refillable and biodegradable.

The findings from Y.H. Percival Zhang, an associate professor of biological systems engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Engineering, were published yesterday in the journal Nature Communications.

sugar batteryWhile other sugar batteries have been developed, Zhang said his has an energy density an order of magnitude higher than others, allowing it to run longer before needing to be refueled. In as soon as three years, his new battery could be running a myriad of electronic gadgets.

“Sugar is a perfect energy storage compound in nature,” Zhang said. “So it’s only logical that we try to harness this natural power in an environmentally friendly way to produce a battery.”

This is one of Zhang’s recent successes that utilize a series of enzymes mixed together in combinations not found in nature. He has published articles on creating edible starch from non-food plants and developed a new way to extract hydrogen in an economical and environmentally friendly way that can be used to power vehicles.

In this newest development, Zhang and his colleagues constructed a non-natural synthetic enzymatic pathway that strip all charge potentials from the sugar to generate electricity in an enzymatic fuel cell. Then, low-cost biocatalyst enzymes are used as catalyst instead of costly platinum, which is typically used in conventional batteries.

Like all fuel cells, the sugar battery combines fuel — in this case, maltodextrin, a polysaccharide made from partial hydrolysis of starch — with air to generate electricity and water as the main byproducts.

Zang explained, “We are releasing all electron charges stored in the sugar solution slowly step-by-step by using an enzyme cascade.”

Different from hydrogen fuel cells and direct methanol fuel cells, the fuel sugar solution is neither explosive nor flammable and has a higher energy storage density. The enzymes and fuels used to build the device are also biodegradable.

Alternative energy, Clean Energy, enzymes, Research

Feds Continue Crackdown on Biodiesel RIN Fraud

John Davis

scalesofjustice1The federal government continues to go after the few bad actors who are trying to defraud the incentive system for biodiesel production. The Department of Justice announced the indictment of James Jariv, 63, of Las Vegas, and Nathan Stoliar, 64, of Australia that they netted more than $37 million in part from Renewable Identifcation Number (RIN) credits.

The indictment alleges that beginning around June of 2009, the two defendants, James Jariv and Nathan Stoliar, operated and controlled a company — City Farm Biofuel in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada — that held itself out as a producer of biodiesel from “feedstocks” such as animal fat and vegetable oils. Jariv also operated and controlled a company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, called Global E Marketing. The government alleges that these defendants claimed to produce biodiesel at the City Farm facility, claimed to import and sell biodiesel to Global E Marketing, and then generated and sold RINs based upon this claimed production, sale and importation. In reality, little to no biodiesel produced at City Farm was ever imported and sold to Global E Marketing as claimed. The indictment alleges that the defendants’ scheme allowed them to generate approximately $7 million in RINs that were fraudulent, which were then sold to companies that needed to obtain them.Read More

Biodiesel, Government

Boeing Looks to Get Green Diesel Approval

John Davis

boeing1Aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing wants the government to approve its plan of using renewable or “green” diesel. This story from TriplePundit.com says the company is appealing to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other stakeholders to get permission to fly its planes on biodiesel’s close (but chemically different) cousin.

“Boeing wants to establish new pathways for sustainable jet fuel, and this green diesel initiative is a groundbreaking step in that long journey,” said Julie Felgar, managing director of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Environmental Strategy and Integration, in a statement. “To support our customers, industry and communities, Boeing will continue to look for opportunities to reduce aviation’s environmental footprint.”

“Green diesel approval would be a major breakthrough in the availability of competitively priced, sustainable aviation fuel,” said Dr. James Kinder, a Technical Fellow in Boeing Commercial Airplanes Propulsion Systems Division. “We are collaborating with our industry partners and the aviation community to move this innovative solution forward and reduce the industry’s reliance on fossil fuel.”

Estimates are that there’s about 600 million gallons of green diesel produced in the U.S., Europe, and Singapore, about 1 percent of jet fuel demand.

Boeing is part of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG), which looks to develop sustainable jet fuels. Back in 2011, Lufthansa became the first airline to test biofuels in regular flight operations.

aviation biofuels, Biodiesel, green diesel

Innovation Award to Chevy Cruze

Chuck Zimmerman

Innovation AwardThe first of this year’s Eye on Biodiesel Awards was presented this morning for Innovation. It was presented to General Motors and the B20-Approved Chevrolet Cruze.

General Motors continues to be a leading biodiesel supporter among OEM’s. This year the company took another step forward introducing the 2014 Chevrolet Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel – the first B20-approved light-duty passenger sedan. This new technology diesel engine powered by ultra-low sulfur biodiesel blends provides tailpipe emissions as clean as or cleaner than natural gas and gasoline, while providing superior fuel economy, horsepower and durability. The Chevy Cruze is the cleanest diesel passenger car model ever produced by General Motors and with the use of clean, renewable B20, it’s also now the greenest.

Accepting the award was Shailesh Lopes, Sr. Fuels Engineer, GM Powertrain, Fuels Group. Making comments was Chris Farmer, Manager of Aftersales, Chevrolet Southern California.

You can listen to comments from Chris here: Chris Farmer Remarks

2014 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Audio, Biodiesel, National Biodiesel Conference

Winning Teamwork Needed by Biodiesel Industry

Chuck Zimmerman

Jim CraigThe current situation with the RFS has pitted the big petroleum industry against an industry that has made great strides in developing renewable and clean energy. Attendees at the National Biodiesel Conference today got some motivation and inspiration from Jim Craig, 1980 U.S. Hockey Team goalie on when they won gold at the Winter Olympics in what has been called the greatest sports moment in the 20th Century.

Jim encouraged all elements of the biodiesel industry to come together as a team. When comparing the industry to the petroleum industry in this fight he said to “Become the winning underdog.” I visited with him right after his speech.

You can listen to my interview with Jim here: Jim Craig Interview

You can listen to a brief excerpt of Jim’s remarks here: Jim Craig Remarks

2014 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

Audio, National Biodiesel Conference, NBB

Joe Jobe Exposes Renewable Energy Reality

Chuck Zimmerman

Joe Jobe NBBThis morning Joe Jobe, CEO, National Biodiesel Board, rallied his troops at the National Biodiesel Conference in San Diego. He told attendees that the petroleum industry is misleading Americans about fuel policy and called on President Barack Obama to stand firm behind his previous commitments to supporting alternative energy industries.

In his annual address at the Biodiesel Conference & Expo, Jobe shed light on current industry challenges and exposed cracks in how we think about energy.

He pointed out that biodiesel’s story is not unique, “Biodiesel’s story is an example of how effective government policy can be to jump start a fledgling industry. That is the same story of nearly every new industry that involves technological development. Strong government policy support along with a unique spirit of innovation, entrepreneurship, and risk-taking are the primary reasons that so many major modern industries had their start in America.”

You can listen to Joe’s speech here: Joe Jobe Speech

2014 National Biodiesel Conference Photo Album

advanced biofuels, Audio, Biodiesel, Biodiesel Conference, biofuels, National Biodiesel Conference, NBB

MIT Finds New Way to Get More Out of Solar

John Davis

MITsolar1Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a new way to get more out of harvesting solar energy. This article from the school says they’re using the sun to heat a high-temperature material whose infrared radiation would then be collected by a conventional photovoltaic cell.

In this case, adding the extra step improves performance, because it makes it possible to take advantage of wavelengths of light that ordinarily go to waste. The process is described in a paper published this week in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, written by graduate student Andrej Lenert, associate professor of mechanical engineering Evelyn Wang, physics professor Marin Soljačić, principal research scientist Ivan Celanović, and three others.

A conventional silicon-based solar cell “doesn’t take advantage of all the photons,” Wang explains. That’s because converting the energy of a photon into electricity requires that the photon’s energy level match that of a characteristic of the photovoltaic (PV) material called a bandgap. Silicon’s bandgap responds to many wavelengths of light, but misses many others.

To address that limitation, the team inserted a two-layer absorber-emitter device — made of novel materials including carbon nanotubes and photonic crystals — between the sunlight and the PV cell. This intermediate material collects energy from a broad spectrum of sunlight, heating up in the process. When it heats up, as with a piece of iron that glows red hot, it emits light of a particular wavelength, which in this case is tuned to match the bandgap of the PV cell mounted nearby…

The design of the two-layer absorber-emitter material is key to this improvement. Its outer layer, facing the sunlight, is an array of multiwalled carbon nanotubes, which very efficiently absorbs the light’s energy and turns it to heat. This layer is bonded tightly to a layer of a photonic crystal, which is precisely engineered so that when it is heated by the attached layer of nanotubes, it “glows” with light whose peak intensity is mostly above the bandgap of the adjacent PV, ensuring that most of the energy collected by the absorber is then turned into electricity.

The researchers go on to say this technique will make it easier to store solar energy.

Research, Solar, University