EU Hits Argentine, Indonesian Biodiesel with Duties

John Davis

eu-flagAfter several weeks of threatening, the European Union has pulled the trigger and hit biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia with anti-dumping duties on biodiesel from the two countries. NASDAQ reports the new taxes on the imported biodiesel come after the European Biodiesel Board filed a complaint nearly a year ago:

EU biodiesel makers have long complained that subsidies and incentives for biodiesel makers in Argentina and Indonesia give them an unfair advantage.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry denounced the duties as an attempt to shield EU companies from more competitive Argentine producers.

“This is a protectionist decision that lacks technical justification,” the ministry said in a statement Tuesday.

Argentina is the world’s top biodiesel exporter, but production and exports have dropped off sharply since September, when the government modified the industry’s export tax incentives. Biodiesel exports fell 11% on the year to $1.85 billion, according to Argentine data.

Argentine officials say they want to have consultations with the EU over the dispute.

Biodiesel, International

New DoD Contract Looks to Crack $4/gal Biofuels

John Davis

dodshieldThe Pentagon has handed out a series of contracts for aviation biofuels totaling $16 million. Bloomberg reports the three refineries in Illinois, Nebraska and California that won the Department of Defense awards hope to make the green fuels for less than $4 per gallon:

The contracts will be matched by more than $17 million in investments by the contractors, Sharon Burke, assistant secretary of defense for operational energy, said today in a telephone interview. The companies will develop plans for refineries capable of supplying at least 150 million gallons of biofuel for less than $4 a gallon, she said.

“We see a national security benefit in global diversification of liquid fuels,” Burke said. The department hopes the effort will “catalyze greater production of these fuels across our economy,” she said.

The contractors are Emerald Biofuels LLC, based in Golf, Illinois; Natures BioReserve LLC in South Sioux City, Nebraska; and Fulcrum Brighton Biofuels LLC in Pleasanton, California.

The article goes on to say the biofuels will be made from animal fats, food-processing waste and oil-seed crops.

Meanwhile, Fulcrum Brighton Biofuels says it has perfected a process to turn municipal solid waste (“MSW”) – household garbage – into jet and diesel fuels, which could open up an 80 billion gallon per year fuel market:

“Fuel diversity adds an integral component to our innovative business plan, creating a platform to offer customers the product they want, in the market they want. Our process is now capable of producing jet fuel, diesel and ethanol from residential garbage that would otherwise be landfilled,” said E. James Macias, Fulcrum’s President and Chief Executive Officer.

biofuels, Government, Waste-to-Energy

Key Hydrogen Report on OpenEnergyInfo

Joanna Schroeder

As part of the Open Government initiative launched by the Obama Administration, Sandia National Laboratories’ Technical Reference on Hydrogen Compatibility of Materials has made its debut on the Energy Dataset of OpenEnergyInfo, or OpenEI. The work has been available on Sandia’s website for several years but the lab says this new site makes the work more widely available.

“The Technical Reference is a valuable tool for the hydrogen delivery and storage industries,” said Sunita Satyapal, director of the Fuel Cell Technologies Office, the Department of Energy (DOE) office that has sponsored Sandia’s work on the Technical Reference. “It can help eliminate R&D redundancies by providing extensive OpenEI wiki gateway hydrogencompatibility data to the broader industry. By sharing these crucial findings on OpenEI, the Technical Reference can increase the rate of progress towards overcoming the barriers of hydrogen delivery and storage and allow us to reach full commercialization of FCEVs sooner.”

The Technical Reference focuses on compatibility issues between hydrogen and other materials. Due to their small size, hydrogen molecules can seep into materials at room temperature. This high rate of diffusion can promote embrittlement in some of those materials and some materials can be downselected depending on the application and conditions.

To help overcome this challenge, the Technical Reference provides detailed information of the effects of hydrogen on the materials that might be used in equipment for storing hydrogen and delivering it to fuel cell electric vehicles. Developed and updated by researchers at Sandia, the Technical Reference consolidates results of extensive review of reports and journal publications, as well as new research conducted by Sandia, on a range of compatibility issues that must be addressed to increase the cost-effectiveness and ease-of-use of hydrogen vehicles and their infrastructure.

“The reviewed and tested data in the Technical Reference can help industry target and develop components and systems with fewer hydrogen compatibility issues,” said Sandia researcher Brian Somerday, who, along with Sandia colleague Chris San Marchi was a principal developer of the report. “This could potentially accelerate the timetable for the hydrogen-fueled transportation system.”

Alternative energy, Electric Vehicles, Hydrogen

BioEnergy Bytes

Joanna Schroeder

  • BioEnergyBytesDFYingli Solar along with Solar Roof Systems, Kingspan and Atama Solar Energy, have raised a total of 24,000 Euro for SolarAid, the London based charity using solar power to help education in Africa. The fundraising will support SolarAid’s ‘Lighter Learning’ programme to improve the education of children in Africa by providing lighting for classrooms in 12 schools across Zambia.
  • The MILENA technology to produce green gas, electricity or fluid fuels from waste and biomass, developed by Dutch energy institute ECN, is going going. The company has signed a license agreement with Royal Dahlman to implement the technology worldwide.
  • Pacific Green Technologies has entered into an agreement to acquire Pacific Green Energy Parks Limited, the sole shareholder of Energy Park Sutton Bridge Limited (EPSB). EPSB has obtained planning permission to develop a 49 MWe biomass power plant on land located at Sutton Bridge, Lincolnshire, UK.
  • ConEdison Solutions has launched a Government Energy Forum on its website. The forum allows public-sector professionals to post comments and exchange ideas with their public-sector peers about emerging energy issues and news affecting energy supply for government.
  • The Board of Directors of the American Solar Energy Society has named Seth Masia, currently director of communications at ASES, to step into the role of interim executive director. He assumes the duties of Susan Greene, who will leave her job as president of ASES on May 31.
Bioenergy Bytes

Georgia Fights for More Solar Power

Joanna Schroeder

Residents of Georgia are asking Georgia Power Company to increase the amount of solar energy in its 20 year plan. Last week, Georgia Public Service Commission and its staff heard testimony from Robert E. Green, CEO of Georgia Solar Utilities, asking the Commissioners to deploy solar energy farms to rural counties that are scheduled to lose their coal and oil-fired power plants.

In its written testimony to the PSC, Georgia Solar Utilities requested 500 megawatts — enough to power 200,000 homes — to be deployed to areas that are being economically-impacted by coal-plant closures.

Georgia Power Company recently presented their 20-year energy plan to the PSC. In the plan, the company provided no new solar resources for Georgia ratepayers.  Tom Fanning, CEO of the Southern Company (Georgia Power’s parent company), said at a recent Atlanta Press Club appearance that “renewables are going to remain a niche for some time.” However Tim Echols with the Georgia Public Service Commission said, “We’ve got to change our thinking on renewables.”

Rocky Creek Solar Farm“We’re losing Plant Harllee Branch in the months to come and a significant portion of Putnam’s tax revenues may be lost — several million dollars annual to be exact. This is a concern that I share with all of the communities facing the same dilemma,” said Representative Rusty Kidd, who along with many others have testified during the public phase.

During his testimony, Robert E. Green noted, “We have a unique window of opportunity to use historically-low interest rates in the bond market to install solar energy farms that will provide long-term stability in energy rates. Zero future fuel costs means additional savings to future generations. Through our plan, hundreds of millions of dollars in investments will be provided to local communities and hundreds of new jobs will be created.”

The Georgia Public Service Commission will hear final testimony from Georgia Power lawyers in June on the merits of changes to the Integrated Resource Plan, with a final vote to take place in July.

Alternative energy, Electricity, Energy, Solar

PacificAg Created Through Merger

Joanna Schroeder

PACAG-001 Final Logo CMYKSister companies Pacific Ag Solutions and Pacific PowerStock have merged to become PacificAg. According to the company, the merger creates the largest agricultural residue and hay harvesting business in the U.S. with operations in seven states and the largest fleet of biomass harvesting equipment in the country.

“We have always served two important markets: demand for forage crops for livestock to feed a growing global middle class and dynamic growth in the uses and demand for agricultural biomass to replace petroleum and other fossil sources in the creation of bioenergy, cellulosic biofuels, bio-based chemicals and other bio-based products. Originally we felt two sister companies were necessary to meet the demands of these distinct marketplaces,” said Bill Levy, founder and CEO of PacificAg.

“Years of experience developing and operating feedstock supply chains for both domestic and export forage and for bioenergy markets have demonstrated that in practice, serving these distinct customer groups involves leveraging the same equipment fleets, complementary operational and logistics skills and processes,” Levy continued. “The synergies now apparent far outweigh any benefits of operating the former companies separately. Operating as one company will enable us to be more responsive and more competitive to meet the growing demand for agricultural biomass at commercial scale.”

According to Levy, PacificAg is now the largest player in supply chain logistics. The company’s dedicated supply chain model, which depends on multi-year supply agreements and close, formalized cooperation from one end of the chain to the other, provides the most effective way to reduce the risks posed by cost, quality and supply volatility. Levy added that its proprietary PowerStock Pro supply chain management system provides a turnkey tool for managing every aspect of the complex feedstock supply chain from grower contracts to GIS enabled field mapping to equipment deployment, harvest results and inventory management.

advanced biofuels, Agribusiness, biomass, feedstocks

Turning Used Cooking Oil into Biodiesel Feedstock

John Davis

darton_logo1We’ve talked a lot here about turning used cooking oil into biodiesel. But the process is a bit more involved than using virgin oils, such as soybean oil. This story from the Roanoke, Virginia Times tells how two brothers, Tony and Daryl Hubbard who have set up shop filtering and processing the used cooking oil into something that can be readily made into biodiesel:

[T]he stuff is greasy gold for Hubbard and his brother, Daryl, whose Bedford company, Darton Environmental, refines icky, sticky cooking oils from restaurants into a product that can be turned into cleaner-burning biodiesel fuel.

Since starting in September 2010 in a small garage just south of the Bedford city limits, Darton Environmental has cleaned up in the grease market. The Hubbards buy used cooking oil from nearly 150 restaurants in a region that runs from Charlottesville to Harrisonburg and down through Lynchburg, Roanoke and the New River Valley. They expect to eclipse 200 restaurants before the end of the year.

They’re still gaining their foothold in the market, but in less than three years the Bedford biodiesel brothers have built a larger facility near the old Rubatex plant that holds nine 2,600-gallon tanks and have added a second tanker truck for collections.

They currently process and sell as much as 36,000 gallons of oil per month, which serves as “feedstock” for biodiesel companies that make the fuel.

“That was oil that was being thrown away into landfills,” Tony said. “This way, it gets recycled.”

The refining process is relatively simple. The dirty grease is pumped from the truck into the holding tanks, where it is heated so that the water, food pieces and other contaminants can be filtered out. The final product is sold to be converted into fuel, which has lower emissions than regular diesel fuel.

“Every drop we sell goes to the biodiesel industry,” Daryl said.

Of course, the restaurants have caught on that their waste is now a hot commodity and charge for it. But that’s better than just being waste.

Biodiesel

New Algae-to-Biofuels Photobioreactor Designed

John Davis

Alicante1Researchers at a university in Spain believe they have a new photobioreactor that will make it easier to turn algae into biofuels. The University of Alicante announced a patent on the new device:

The Research Group in Polymer Processing and Pyrolysis at the University of Alicante is the team that has designed and developed this device, consisting of a photobioreactor, easily scalable to larger production, which has attracted the interest of both Spanish and foreign firms in the sector of biotechnology.

The director of the research group, Antonio Marcilla Gomis, explained that the novelty of this photobioreactor compared to those existing is that it allows mass production, less cleaning and maintenance operations, better use of CO2 and better light transfer to cultivation…

The design of this novel technology aims to overcome any difficulties or problems that have been presented over the years with the use of other similar cropping systems.

“The subject on the cultivation of microalgae is having a major boom in terms of research in the last fifteen years as an alternative energy to oil”, he said.

Marcilla Gomis did admit that turning algae into fuel is still not on par with the profitable process that petroleum uses. But they’ll keep working on making it comparable, including finding multiple uses for the algae, such as food, pharmaceuticals or cosmetics.

algae, biofuels, International

Filling Up? Ethanol Will Save You Money

Joanna Schroeder

This Memorial Day, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) is reminding drivers that ethanol can help save money at the pump. As national gas prices continue to rise, the national average today is $3.66 according to GasBuddy.com. For drivers living on the coasts, it’s not uncommon to see high gas prices. Yet the oddity this year is that the highest prices in the nation last week were in Minnesota. According to various media reports, the statewide average is $4.26 per gallon.

“It is getting painful yet again to stand at the pump and watch the dollars fly by,” said Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of RFA. Thankfully, ethanol exists to help Gas Buddy Map May 27 2013lower prices, stretch the gasoline supply, and provide both engine and environmental benefits. On a larger scale, the ethanol industry is a high octane economic engine that is supporting more than 365,000 jobs across America, revitalizing challenged rural communities, and reducing the American dollars sent overseas to buy petroleum from often hostile dictators in oil-rich countries.”

According to 2012 updated research conducted by economics professors at the University of Wisconsin and Iowa State University for the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), domestically-produced ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by an average of $1.09 per gallon in 2011. That is an additional 20-cent savings over the $0.89 these same economists recorded in 2010.

It is expected that drivers in Iowa may also soon be hit with increased costs. Once again, ethanol, this time in the form of E85 (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) that is widely available in the Corn Belt, is delivering significant savings to owners of flex-fuel vehicles.

Dinneen added, “I suspect owners of flex-fuel vehicles will enjoy their summer driving vacations a bit more than other drivers. The savings that flex-fuel drivers will enjoy is significant.”

biofuels, E85, Ethanol, RFA

Needed: Summer Gas Loan

Joanna Schroeder

It’s that time of year when families hop in the car and begin summer vacations. It’s also the time of year when gas prices jump up and the cash in wallets jumps out. When I filled up my tank yesterday, I thought I might have to go the bank and take out a “summer gas loan” to help pay for high gas prices. I’m can’t be the only one in this boat as the high gas prices are dominating local TV news casts these days.

Gas Bill May 23 2013Growth Energy’s CEO Tom Buis notes that Big Oil’s predictability is absurd. Every year the same thing happens, as more people hit the road, prices climb. It is just as certain that the sun will set in the evening, as oil companies will use any excuse to gouge consumers and blame some outside factor,” said Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy. “After roughly 40 days of price increases in February, switching seasonal blends were blamed. Now, it is refinery planned maintenance and tight regional supplies. Their unending excuses are as long as the list of government subsidies they have received over the last century.”

Buis says this is just another example of many, of why renewable biofuels are necessary. They provide consumer savings and a choice at the pump. They reduce dangerous dependence on foreign oil. “While Big Oil touts all the new wells, the fracking and the so-called abundant supply right here at home, prices have not gone down. Why do prices remain so high with a so-called increase in supply? Oil companies will continue to rake in record profits on the backs of their customers as they continue their monopoly on the liquid fuels market by blocking competition and doling out the same baseless excuses time and again,” Buis continues.

“Enough is enough,” says Buis. He calls for an end to the absurd addiction to foreign oil and encourages drivers to use homegrown American ethanol. He also stresses the need to stop paying nearly a billion dollars a day for fossil fuels and foreign oil and spend the money at home.

“The latest reports that motorists will pay record prices this Memorial Day weekend at the pump is no surprise, but just one of many reasons it is time we break the addiction to oil and start using higher blends of ethanol.”

biofuels, Ethanol, Growth Energy