ACE Conference 2026

Project Aims to Convert Natural Gas to Butanol

Joanna Schroeder

From microbe to fuel_large

Using enzyme engineering and other capabilities, Sandia National Laboratories will work to engineer pathways from methanotroph organisms into another microbial host that can generate butanol. Butanol has long been considered one of the best biofuel options for transportation energy. (Photo by Dino Vournas)

A new project spearheaded by researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are using their expertise in protein expression, enzyme engineering and high-throughput assays to develop biocatalyst technologies that can convert natural gas to liquid fuel or methane to butanol for transportation. The $34 million project by the Advanced Research Project Agency Energy (ARPA-E) is one of a set of 15 Reducing Emissions using Methanotrophic Organisms for Transportation Energy or REMOTE, projects. Sandia is a part of a two-year award led by MOgene Green Chemicals, a wholly owned subsidiary of St. Louis-based MOgene, LC.

The broad goal of REMOTE is to have another source of energy in the U.S. that doesn’t have to be imported and could lead to lower carbon monoxide emissions than conventional fossil fuels.

Methanotrophs are microbes that can metabolize methane. Sandia’s Blake Simmons, manager of the labs’ biofuels and biomaterial science and technology group, calls this microbe the “poster child” of organisms that are capable of metabolizing and converting methane. The goal of the project is to engineer pathways from these organisms into another microbial host that can generate butanol. Butanol can be used as a fuel in an internal combustion engine and, along with ethanol, has long been considered one of the best biofuel options for transportation energy.

“The need for hydrocarbons that are nonpetroleum in origin is still growing, including applications such as aviation and diesel engines,” said Simmons. “But in its natural state, you’re not going to readily burn natural gas in those types of engines, and the same goes for some combustion engines.” Natural gas, he explained, requires a special modification to be used effectively as a liquid fuel in vehicles, much like biomass needs to be converted before it can be used as a drop-in fuel.

“With biomass, we are essentially taking something that exists in nature and converting it into a low-cost, low-carbon, domestically-sourced fuel. With this project, we’re using natural gas as the input rather than biomass,” Simmons continued. Natural gas extracted from the ground is not renewable, he pointed out, but it is playing an increasingly important role for the Department of Energy and the nation’s energy supply.

Simmons said MOgene brings a great deal of organism expertise to the table, while Sandia offers enzyme engineering and other capabilities.

Using organisms to convert natural gas into liquid transportation fuels isn’t a new objective for the research community, Simmons said. “There have been plenty of investigations into this in the past, since there are plenty of organisms in nature that thrive and survive and multiply off of natural gas metabolism. The problem, though, is that they exist in unique, tailored environments and are typically very slow at what they do.”Read More

Alternative energy, biobutanol, Natural Gas, Research

EPA Proposal Pulls the Rug on Advanced Biofuels

Joanna Schroeder

Advanced-Biofuels-Association-LogoAccording to the Michael McAdams, president of the Advanced Biofuels Association, if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sticks with the 2.2 billion gallons in the final rule, the agency will pull the rug out from underneath the growing advanced biofuel industry.

This was in response to the EPA’s proposed 2014 fuel for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) that proposed the target for advanced biofuels at 2.2 billion gallons with a range from as low as 2 billion gallons and as high as 2.51 billion gallons. The 2.2 billion gallon target represents a 20 percent cut from the 2013 level and a disheartening 1.55 billion gallon reduction from the volume as outlined by statue.

“Innovative companies have responded to the challenge of producing cleaner, low-carbon fuels by investing a collective $14 billion in the development of advanced and cellulosic biofuels. However, today’s proposal reveals that EPA might still deliver a devastating blow to this nascent sector and a victory for the oil industry by cutting the volume requirements for advanced biofuels. Such a move will chill future investments necessary to produce large-scale quantities of renewable fuels that cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent compared to gasoline,” said McAdams.

McAdams explained that RFS compliance is tracked by assigning renewable identification numbers (or RINs) to each ethanol-equivalent gallon of biofuel. “ABFA conservatively estimates that our industry will generate at least 3.5 billion RINs in 2013 that qualify as advanced biofuels, exceeding this year’s target of 2.75 billion advanced RINs by at least 750 million gallons. To continue to support new advanced biofuel production, EPA should set the 2014 advanced biofuel target at 3.75 billion gallons as contemplated by statute. This target can be met and exceeded by current production plus carry-over RINs.”

Anything less than requiring 3.75 billion gallons from advanced biofuels in 2014, he noted, would be a step backwards from the Obama administration’s commitment to address climate change. He also stressed that ensuring the success of the advanced biofuels industry is his top concern and as such will actively engage in the comment period.

As McAdams pointed out, companies still in the development and construction phases will also be significantly affected. James Moe, Chairman of the Board for POET-DSM POET DSM logoAdvanced Biofuels, whose cellulosic ethanol plant is under construction and set to begin full operations by mid-year 2014 noted that next year, for the first time in history, the U.S. will produce meaningful volumes of cellulosic ethanol.

“With a number of new plants coming online including POET-DSM’s Project LIBERTY, we can finally say that commercial cellulosic ethanol production has arrived,” he said.Read More

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

New Jersey Advances Biodiesel Heating Oil Bill

John Davis

amodeoA bill to make biodiesel part of all heating oil used in New Jersey advanced in the New Jersey legislature. NJPoliticker.com reports the “Bio-based Heating Oil Act,” sponsored by Assembly Deputy Republican Leader John Amodeo, moved out of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee.

“By transitioning to bio-based heating oil, we will be producing an efficient, environmentally safe energy source from waste products including inedible animal fats and recycled restaurant grease, and using it to economically heat our homes and businesses,” said Amodeo, R-Atlantic.

A-3161 sets a graduated compliance schedule, requiring all heating oil sold in the state to include 3 percent biodiesel, eventually increasing to 5 percent from July 1, 2014 and thereafter. Biodiesel is biodegradable and produces less air pollutants than petroleum-based diesel.

“By adding a percentage of domestically produced and renewable biodiesel to our heating oil, we will substantially reduce greenhouse gases, and slash household emissions of carbon dioxide by 1.5 million tons per year, according to some experts. More importantly, we can achieve this without expensive investment in infrastructure or increased fuel costs,” Amodeo stated.

Research has actually shown that 20 percent biodiesel blends increase the performance of heating systems.

Miscellaneous

DOE Grant Funds Mechanics’ Biodiesel Training

John Davis

iowabiodieselboardDiesel mechanics in the Midwest are getting some valuable training on how to work on engines using biodiesel. The Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB) points out the training was held at the group’s headquarters thanks to a U.S. Department of Energy grant for the Biodiesel for Diesel Technicians program, a long-term investment in ensuring consumer confidence in domestically produced biodiesel.

“Educating diesel technicians on biodiesel is mission-critical to biodiesel becoming fully entrenched in our domestic fuel supply,” said Randy Olson, executive director of IBB. “We’ve learned from other industries that having the mechanic on board makes a huge difference in consumer acceptance of a newer fuel.”

The National Biodiesel Board, in partnership with IBB, developed the diesel technician program to prepare diesel technicians to better advise customers and other technicians about impacts of using biodiesel and blends in different equipment.

Topics covered in the trainings include:

Biodiesel’s benefits
Fuel quality
Vehicle maintenance
Engine and fleet performance
Exhaust after-treatment with biodiesel

“These instructors will take new knowledge of biodiesel back to their schools, where they then have the opportunity to educate hundreds of mechanics over time,” said Stephanie Weisenbach, Iowa’s Clean Cities Coordinator. “We’re proud to be a part of this effort, which is a great fit with the Clean Cities mission of reducing petroleum consumption in transportation.”

The Biodiesel for Diesel Technicians program has been around since 2009, and this particular session trained mechanics from Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska. The program is Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) accredited.

Biodiesel, Government

Solar Thermal Capacity Set to Double

Joanna Schroeder

According to a recent Today in Energy published by the U.S Energy Information Administration (EIA) with the expectations that several large, new solar thermal power plants will come online by the end of 2013, solar thermal generating capacity in the U.S. will more than double. The projects feature different solar thermal technologies and storage options. For example, Abengoa’s Solana plant, which came on line in October 2013, is a 250-megawatt (MW) parabolic trough plant in Gila Bend, Arizona with integrated thermal storage. BrightSource’s Ivanpah, expected Ivanpah Photo US DOEto enter service by the end of 2013, is a 391-MW power tower plant in California’s Mojave Desert and does not include storage.

Solana and Ivanpah are much larger than solar thermal plants that have previously entered service in the U.S. Previously, a few smaller-scale and demonstration solar thermal projects have entered service with the only other dedicated solar thermal plants larger than 10 MW in the U.S. being the series of Solar Energy Generating System (SEGS) plants built in California in the 1980s and early 1990s and the Nevada Solar One parabolic trough project completed in 2007.

EIA projections for total solar thermal capacity additions in 2013 and 2014 include six projects for a total of 1,257 MW, with more expected in 2015 and 2016. However, while these solar thermal capacity additions are significant for the technology, they represent only 4% of total expected capacity additions for 2013 and 2014. Solar thermal capacity additions also continue to be outpaced by solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity additions, even though solar PV has only meaningfully entered the utility-scale market in the past few years.

All five of the major solar thermal projects, including Solana and Ivanpah, that are scheduled to come on line in 2013 and 2014 were awarded loans through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee Program. Solana received a federal loan guarantee for $1.45 billion of the approximately $2 billion cost of the project, according to the parent company, Abengoa. BrightSource Energy reports a $1.6 billion federal loan guarantee on the approximately $2.2 billion Ivanpah project.

Electricity, Renewable Energy, Solar

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFAmyris, Inc. has announced that Paulo Diniz, currently President of Amyris Brasil, will become Amyris’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) on an interim basis following the decision of its current CFO, Steve Mills, to step down for personal reasons. Diniz will assume the new responsibilities by December 15, 2013, at which time Mills will transition to an advisory role with the Company. Amyris has begun an executive search to evaluate potential internal and external candidates to permanently fill the position.
  • LDK Solar Co., Ltd. has announced the appointment of Dr. Shi Chen to its board of directors. Dr. Chen will serve as a non-executive director.
  • A new plastic to oil company, Poly2Petro, has begun operations according to CEO Steven Mills. The newly established corporation plans to build and expand plastic to oil conversion facilities containing a unique system that can process co-mingled or contaminated plastic waste that no other technology can currently accomplish.
  • SunEdison has launched the SunEdison Solar Water Pump, a high performance solar PV-based water pump specially designed for agriculture. The Solar Water Pump will address a significant market, and help increase crop yield by delivering reliable irrigation without dependence on expensive diesel fuel or intermittent electrical power supply.
Bioenergy Bytes

Cellic Ctec Enzyme Featured in Cellulosic Plant

Joanna Schroeder

It was only a few weeks ago that one of the largest, if not the largest commercial scale advanced biofuel facility in the world using enzymatic technology marked the official opening in Crescentino, Italy. The project partners included global companies Beta Renewables and Novozymes.

Crescentino Fast FactsThe biorefinery features Novozymes Cellic® CTec enzymes, a technology developed and refined specifically for the cellulosic ethanol industry. The multi-feedstock facility uses wheat straw, rice straw and arundo donax to produce ethanol.

To learn more about Cellic and how the enzyme technology was refined for this project, I spoke with Jason Blake, Director, Biomass Conversion with Novozymes who explained that the genesis for the project began several years back. The relationship with Beta Renewables was one of collaboration that began in the lab and in the pilot facility in looking at making a commercially viable project for Beta Renewables.

Through the efforts the team has been looking at technologies and developments to optimize the process technology and optimize the enzyme technology to help them become a commercially viable player in the market. In addition, with co-marketing plans in place, the two companies plan on bringing the technologies to market to help the advanced biofuels industry grow.

So why are enzymes so important in the ethanol production process? “Enzymes are unique in the process. They play a part not just in the hydrolysis piece they can unlock opportunities along the process technology value chain, explained Blake.”

Enzymes, he explained have been able to reduce the cost of capital at the front end. “Through the development of the enzymes and increasing the performance, we’re able to reduce the enzyme dosage and reduce the hydrolysis time and increase the sugar conversions which thereby open up opportunities to invest money in other areas,” he said.

Blake also explained that the enzyme technology is optimized for each plant’s technology and feedstock allowing the company’s research and development to extend well into the future of the industry.

For more information about the collaboration between Novozymes and Beta Renewables and to learn more about the philosophy and research and development efforts of Novozymes, listen to my in-depth interview with Jason Blake. Novozymes Cellic Ctec Enzyme Featured in Cellulosic Plant

advanced biofuels, Audio, Cellulosic, enzymes, Ethanol, Novozymes

Proposed 2014 RFS Capitulation to Big Oil

Joanna Schroeder

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) is urging the Obama Administration to conduct a thorough soul-searching after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its proposal to “radically” reduce Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) levels for 2014.

“Today’s RFS announcement represents the biggest policy reversal of the entire Obama Administration,” said IRFA Executive Director Monte Shaw during a press teleconference. “The EPA proposal turns the RFS on its head, runs counter to the law and is a complete capitulation to Big Oil. The Obama Administration needs to conduct a thorough soul-searching IowaRFAlogoand decide whether they are serious about cleaner fuels, consumer choice, and cutting petroleum dependence, or whether they truly want to adopt the Big Oil status quo.  There is still time to restore Congressional intent and common sense before the rule is finalized.”

Shaw explained that In the proposed rule, the Administration adopts the position that a lack of retail distribution equipment this year equates to a renewable fuel “supply shortage” next year.  This “infrastructure” waiver, he said, was specifically rejected by Congress during the adoption of the RFS and, if allowed to stand, would effectively repeal the RFS as a factor in U.S. energy policy.  The circular logic of this proposal, continued Shaw, creates a downward death spiral for the RFS as the RFS could not be increased unless Big Oil had already begun to offer higher ethanol blends. With no pressure to move forward, Big Oil would be expected to continue hiding behind its Century of Subsidies and Federal Petroleum Mandate to prevent consumer choice for higher blends.

“It’s not just the absurdity of lowering the 2014 numbers below the 2013 level, with the new waiver framework, in essence, the Administration would be ceding power to the petroleum industry to dictate the level of each year’s RVO based on the amount of infrastructure the petroleum industry was willing to install,” Shaw opined. “That is the exact opposite of how the RFS was intended to work. The RFS is supposed to be a tool for market access, not market restriction.”

In addition to creating an extra-legal waiver mechanism, the proposal lowers the “corn ethanol” level from 13.8 billion gallons in 2013 to only 13 billion gallons in 2014. The proposal also freezes the biodiesel level at 1.28 billion gallons despite the fact the biodiesel industry is currently operating at an annualized rate of 2 billion gallons.

“The 2014 numbers represent the real crossroads,” concluded Shaw. “We either move toward more competition and more consumer choice or we lock in the current petroleum monopoly. When faced with that choice, the Obama Administration has blinked. I think we’ve just seen how politically powerful Big Oil really is. They just got what they wanted from the EPA when they had no chance of gutting the RFS through Congress.  With no Farm Bill and the RFS in danger of being rendered useless, I hope we don’t look back at November 15, 2013 as the beginning of the next farm crisis.”

Listen to Monte Shaw’s full comments here: Proposed 2014 RFS Capitulation to Big Oil

Audio, biofuels, Ethanol, Iowa RFA, RFS

Ethanol, Corn Industry Outraged at EPA RFS Proposal

Joanna Schroeder

The ethanol and corn industry is outraged over the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed 2014 renewable fuels volumes as part of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The renewable fuel category, of which the majority is comprised of corn-based ethanol, is proposed at 15.21 billion gallons.

ncga-logo-new“This recommendation is ill-advised and should be condemned by all consumers because it is damaging to our tenuous economy and short-sighted regarding the nation’s energy future,” said NCGA President Martin Barbre, who said the proposed number would reduce volumes for corn-based ethanol. “Agriculture has been a bright spot in a failing U.S. economy, but current corn prices are below the cost of production. EPA’s ruling would be devastating for family farmers and the entire rural economy.”

The proposed rule caps corn-based (or conventional) ethanol at 13 billion gallons. These proposed volume obligations are a drastic reduction from the mandated RVOs in statute, according to Barbre. This proposed rule cuts 1.4 billion gallons from the conventional ethanol cap that was set at 14.4 billion gallons.

He also noted the EPA proposal will make investments in new biofuels plants very risky, stagnate investment in infrastructure by petroleum marketers and send the wrong signals to automakers who want more direction on where they should be spending millions of targeted investments on research and development.

Brian Jennings, executive vice president for the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) said of the proposed rule, “There is nothing positive that can be said about EPA’s proposal to unnecessarily restrict sales of ethanol-blended ace logofuel in 2014. This proposed rule will increase pump prices, drain billions of dollars from consumer pocketbooks, and transfer billions more to oil company profit statements. EPA’s proposal fundamentally betrays this Administration’s commitment to clean renewable fuels and caves to Big Oil demands to put a ceiling on ethanol use.”

“We are deeply disappointed in EPA and will try to help them come to their senses before the final rule is published, by helping the Administration better grasp the role E15 and E85 can play in meeting the 2014 RFS” continued Jennings. “This proposal likely violates the law, would shut down biofuel facilities, put Americans out of work, and chase investment in advanced biofuel overseas to our competitors.”

Jennings also noted that the proposed rule sets a dangerous precedent by taking the teeth out of the most consequential policy Congress has ever enacted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of transportation fuel, a sentiment that others in the ethanol industry agree with.

Barbre indicates that the proposal as it stands would also hurt American farmers. Read More

ACE, biofuels, corn, Ethanol, NCGA, RFS

Biodiesel Cavitation Process Gets Patent Approval

John Davis

cti-logo-smallA new process for producing biodiesel gets approval from the U.S. Patent and Trade Office (USPTO). Cavitation Technologies, Inc.’s (CTi) process, titled ‘Process for Producing Biodiesel through Lower Molecular Weight Alcohol-Targeted Cavitation,’ received the green light from USPTO.

“This newly patented hydrodynamic cavitation technology and process has demonstrated that it can reduce costs and significantly lessen the environmental impact associated with biodiesel production,” stated CTi’s Chief Technology Officer, Mr. Roman Gordon. “Working in cooperation with our strategic business partners, Desmet Ballestra and GEA Westfalia, the Company will initially target North and South American biodiesel producers for new and retrofit installations.”

Mr. Gordon continued, “There are numerous biodiesel plants located throughout North and South America and many of these plants are currently seeking improved and innovative production methods. We certainly believe our technology can fill the current needs of those biodiesel producers.”

“Compared to conventional methods of biodiesel production, CTi’s process can offer superior quality biodiesel while minimizing the amount of harsh chemicals used and lowering operational costs for producers. Furthermore, our process has demonstrated that this can all be accomplished in an environmentally sound manner,” concluded Mr. Gordon.

Last month, CTi announced the development of its Nano Neutralization(R) Reactor System in Brazil, which processes approximately 500 tons of soybean oil daily and should be ready to use in June 2014.

Biodiesel