Survey Says Iowa Bullish on Biodiesel

Joanna Schroeder

Biodiesel in Galva IowaAccording to new public opinion research commissioned by the Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB), consumers have a strong awareness of – and favorability towards – biodiesel. The research, conducted in early September, shows 87 percent of Iowans surveyed are familiar with biodiesel. Of those familiar, 74 percent have a positive impression of biodiesel, with just 2 percent saying they have a negative impression.

Randy Olson, IBB executive director, said the numbers reflect support for biodiesel at a critical time. Congress is hearing opposition from the petroleum lobby to the federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The policy ensures America’s fuel supply includes renewable fuel.

“Iowa’s Congressional delegation is among the greatest champions of the RFS as sound energy policy, and this polling of their constituents shows their support is well-placed,” Olson said. “We hope the rest of Congress recognizes that poll after poll shows Americans favor renewable, cleaner burning biodiesel.”

Survey respondents identified the top benefits of using biodiesel as:

  • Biodiesel is a homegrown fuel and every gallon of biodiesel we use reduces our reliance on foreign oil.
  • Biodiesel is made from diverse, renewable resources produced in Iowa.
  • Increasing biodiesel use will help create jobs and improve the economy.

“This research reinforces that we are headed in the right direction by diversifying our energy supply, using agricultural innovation and domestic resources to fuel our nation’s vehicles and economy,” said Mark Cobb, IBB chair. Cobb is vice president of Iowa Renewable Energy, based in Washington, Iowa; and president of Cobb Oil, a petroleum distributor based in Brighton, Iowa.

The survey, conducted by Moore Information, consisted of 500 online interviews among a representative sample of registered voters statewide in Iowa.

Biodiesel, biofuels, Education

Incbio to Equip North African Biodiesel Plant

John Davis

incbiologoPortugal’s biggest supplier of biodiesel equipment will soon be outfitting a new biodiesel refinery in North Africa. Incbio signed a deal with Biokast Energy S.A, to supply a soon-to-be-built 8,000MT per year biodiesel plant in Tunis, Tunisia.

incbioreactor1[The new facility will use] Incbio’s ultrasonic reactors to produce EN14214 Biodiesel from Used Cooking Oil (UCO), collected from restaurants in Tunis. This will be one of the most advanced and efficient transesterification plants in the world, employing [the] three most important design parameters which form the base for Incbio’s technology: small footprint, low cost and high efficiency, which is both innovative and widely proven in Biodiesel production plants globally.

José Marques, Incbio’s CEO, said: “After a long time spent in the project planning stage to ensure the client gets the business model right, we have signed the agreement and construction has commenced, which will see Biokast becoming one of the few biodiesel producers in Tunisia. Securing a regular supply of Used Cooking Oil and ensuring the plant is able to process it into high quality biodiesel is the key for Biokast’s success, and now that this has been secured we are very happy to have been selected as the technology providers. By using our ultrasonic based multi-feedstock technology, industrial units are able to convert a wide range of raw materials into high quality Biodiesel, exceeding the strict standards of EN14214 and ASTM D6751.”

Mohamed Ali Karoui, Biokast Energy S.A’s CEO, said: “We are delighted to have partnered with Incbio, having scoured the market for available options their proposition made the most sense both financially and technically. We really liked the quality of their plants and their extensive knowledge of this industry. Our experience in the biodiesel market is not very extensive, as such Incbio’s support when we reach the operational stage is going to be very important to ensure our success.”

Incbio and Biokast Energy S.A expect to finish the plant in early 2014.

Biodiesel, International

Biodiesel Might Be Fleets’ Best Clean Diesel Option

John Davis

Truck running on biodieselA recent article on TruckingInfo.com looked at several options truckers have when considering alternative fuels. While there are advantages and disadvantages for natural gas, hybrid, electric and even hydrogen fuel cells-powered medium and heavy duty trucks, the article indicates clean diesel (and what’s a cleaner diesel than biodiesel) might be the best choice for fleets:

Alternative fuels are not for everyone. In fact, the best “green” option for some fleets may be today’s “clean diesel” technology.

Ken Gillies, manager of truck ordering and engineering for GE Capital Fleet Services, says he’s seen fleets ready to jump into alternative fuels with both feet without doing their homework or giving thought to their overall “green” strategy as a whole.

“There’s so much talk about alternative fuels, it has turned almost into the total focal point – and there’s so many other things that should be done that can help without adding that kind of cost and infrastructure,” he says.

Of course, the best part about biodiesel is, you don’t have to change out engine parts or delivery infrastructure to make it work… right now! Plus, there seems to be more flexibility in the amount you can blend and run the same as its petroleum counterpart.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel Board Celebrates Milestones

John Davis

The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and the fifth anniversary of its eco-friendly, green headquarters building in Jefferson City, Mo.

NBB building1NBB CEO Joe Jobe says when they started in 1993, some of the first research was done in central Missouri at the University of Missouri, funded by the Missouri Soybean Council. They expected to get NBB up and running and off to Washington, D.C., but after 15 years and making biodiesel a commercial success, they decided to stay in Jefferson City and renovated three old buildings in 2008 for their new headquarters.

“We used as many environmentally friendly materials and systems that we could,” said Jobe, including non-toxic paints, low-volatile materials, recycled carpet backings, and even solar-powered parking lot lights. “After all, we represent a green, renewable industry, and we want to live that way.”

In the last 20 years, Jobe says they’ve learned that all renewable energy producers, whether conventional or advanced like biodiesel, must stick together against Big Oil’s constant attacks, a message he drove home when talking to his colleagues at this week’s Advanced Biofuels Conference in Omaha, Neb.

“The petroleum industry has made it very clear that their number one priority is to repeal the RFS (Renewable Fuels Standard),” which Jobe says is working, despite just being fully implemented in 2011. “Two years is not enough to claim, as the petroleum industry has, that the program is broken,” he said. “The program is working as Congress intended it to work.”

Jobe also points to how biodiesel is meeting benchmarks NBB set back in 2005 to have five percent of all on-road diesel be biomass-based by 2015. They met that 10-year vision just this past July, and they want to double that in the next 10 years. “It’s an aggressive goal, but it’s one that we have a lot of confidence that this industry has a very, very bright future.”

NBB now represents both biodiesel and renewable diesel – two green fuels that come from biomass-based products but are made using different processes. Biodiesel feedstocks, fats or oils, react with methanol to make biodiesel and glycerin, where renewable diesel uses that same feedstock but a distillation process similar to petroleum. Each has its own advantages, but both are much greener, domestic and renewable, than petroleum.Interview with NBB CEO Joe Jobe

advanced biofuels, Audio, Biodiesel, Government, NBB, RFS

USDA Announces Support for Advanced Biofuel Producers

Cindy Zimmerman

usda-logoUSDA announced Thursday that the agency is making nearly $15.5 million in payments to support the production of advanced biofuel.

At the National Advanced Biofuels Conference in Omaha, USDA Rural Development Acting Under Secretary Doug O’Brien said 188 producers will received payments through the Advanced Biofuel Payment Program.

“Producing advanced biofuels is a major component of the drive to take control of America’s energy future by developing domestic, renewable energy sources,” O’Brien said. “These payments represent the Obama Administration’s commitment to support an ‘all-of-the-above’ energy strategy.”

The funding is being provided through USDA’s Advanced Biofuel Payment Program, which was established in the 2008 Farm Bill. Under this program, payments are made to eligible producers based on the amount of advanced biofuels produced from renewable biomass, other than corn kernel starch. Examples of eligible feedstocks include but are not limited to: crop residue; animal, food and yard waste; vegetable oil; and animal fat.

Read more from USDA.

advanced biofuels, Biodiesel, Cellulosic, Government, USDA

USDA Increases Corn Crop Forecast

Cindy Zimmerman

Despite a slowly maturing corn crop impacted by late summer heat, USDA upped its production forecast for the crop this year by a little bit instead of lowering it.

corn-harvestCorn production is forecast at 13.8 billion bushels, up less than 1 percent from the August forecast and up 28 percent from 2012. If realized, this will be a new record production for the United States. Based on conditions as of September 1, yields are expected to average 155.3 bushels per acre, up 0.9 bushels from the August forecast and 31.9 bushels above the 2012 average. If realized, this will be the highest average yield since 2009.

“The ear count numbers are a lot higher than what we were looking at just a month ago,” said USDA Economist Joe Glauber. “We’re expecting prices to fall, for ending stocks to recover a lot from where they were.” USDA is now predicting an average price for 2013 of $4.80 per bushel, about $2 less than year.

“It is a huge improvement over last year when we produced less than 11 billion bushels,” said Geoff Cooper with the Renewable Fuels Association who said lower prices will help increase ethanol production next year. “As this new crop comes in and corn prices come down, it’s very likely we could see close to 14 billion gallons in production next year,” compared to just over 13 billion expected this year.

Brian Jennings of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) noted that a record corn crop on the heels of the worst drought in 50 years “is further proof the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is working and Congress should not repeal or reduce it.”

The corn harvest is just beginning in some areas this week but should be getting into full swing in the next few weeks as the crop hits maturity.

ACE, Ethanol, Ethanol News, RFA, USDA

RFA’s Cooper on Corn Crop and E15

Cindy Zimmerman

fps13-rfa-cooperThis edition of “The Ethanol Report” features an interview from Farm Progress Show with Renewable Fuels Association Vice President of Research and Development Geoff Cooper on several timely topics, including corn and ethanol production this year, cellulosic ethanol, the importance of the RFS, and sales of E15 ramping up again as summer volatility requirements end.

ethanol-report-adCooper talks about how despite a slow maturing crop and adverse weather conditions, USDA is still calling for a record corn crop of 13.8 billion bushels. He also discusses how retail sales of E15 will be going up again next week after the summer volatility requirements end on September 15.Ethanol Report with RFA's Geoff Cooper

Subscribe to “The Ethanol Report” with this link.

Audio, corn, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Ethanol Report, RFA

Tune in Live for Great RFS Debate

Cindy Zimmerman

rfa-ncba-debateRenewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen is live right now on AgriTalk in a debate with National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) Executive Director of Legislative Affairs Kristina Butts over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Great RFS Debate is being co-hosted by Agri-Pulse.

Dinneen is pictured here, left, as the debate begins. Next to Dinneen is AgriTalk host Mike Adams, Agri-Pulse editor Sara Wyant, and Kristina Butts on the right.

Archived program available here.

Ethanol, Ethanol News, livestock, RFA, RFS

Biodiesel Maker Bently Biofuels Gets Got Grease

John Davis

bentlyA Nevada-based biodiesel maker has acquired its biggest supplier of feedstock the the San Francisco area. Bently Biofuels announced it bought Got Grease, a Bay Area waste oil and grease trap pumping company.

Got Grease collected used cooking oil throughout the San Francisco, peninsula, East Bay, and Marin areas up to Sacramento. This used cooking oil was then sold to biofuels producers. As one of Got Grease’s largest customers, it was a natural fit for Bently Biofuels Company to expand their used cooking oil collection services by purchasing the business assets. This expansion means an addition of approximately 12 jobs in the Bay Area.

Bently Biofuels has been producing biodiesel from recycled used cooking oil since 2005.

Biodiesel

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFLaw firm White & Case has announced the availability of the 2013 Global Renewable Energy Guide, a comprehensive publication that provides an overview of legislation and incentives available to renewable energy companies worldwide. It enables investors, lenders and government agencies to easily understand and compare renewable energy laws and incentives across 32 jurisdictions. The guide is edited and published by the White & Case Ankara Office.
  • The Nebraska Ethanol Board has applauded Frontier Co-op’s decision to offer E15 at four of its retail fuel locations in east central Nebraska. E15 is a higher-octane blend consisting of 15% ethanol and 85% gasoline. Beginning September 20th, it will be available at the Co-op’s stations in Brainard, Ceresco, Dwight and Weston.
  • The merger between DNV and GL has been approved and the new company, DNV GL, will be operational beginning September 12, 2013. According the the company, DNV GL will be the world’s largest ship and offshore classification society to the maritime industry and a leading expert in wind and power transmission and distribution. DNV GL also takes the position as one of the top three management system certification bodies in the world. The competition authorities in South Korea, USA, EU and China have cleared the merger. The new company will comprise 17,000 employees across 300 sites in more than 100 countries, and have revenues of EUR 2,500 million per year.
  • Admirals Bank has hired Ed Steins as the Bank’s Vice President and Director of National Sales for Renewable Energy Lending. Earlier this year Admirals Bank launched a new division titled, Admirals Alternatives, that is dedicated to financing residential solar and renewable energy systems across the United States.
Bioenergy Bytes