Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
| Manufacturer and marketer of biobased lubricants BioBlend Renewable Resources in a news release announced a second-round venture capital funding from Archer Daniels Midland Co., which in exchange for its support, will gain a minority position in BioBlend.
Indiana Offers Nearly $1M to Install E85 Pumps |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
With crude oil prices gushing past $123 a barrel, you’d think the influx of ethanol in 2008 would be welcome news for consumers. But energy economists are divided on whether ethanol actually has reduced prices at the pump. UBS to Provide VeraSun $125M Revolving Credit Facility Conn. Calls for RFS Waiver, End to Ethanol Import Tariff Florida Ethanol Blending Standard Takes Effect May 6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
VeraSun Energy Corp. said in a news release Monday that it has entered into a revolving credit facility commitment letter with UBS Investment Bank of up to $125 million. Conn. Calls for RFS Waiver, End to Ethanol Import Tariff Florida Ethanol Blending Standard Takes Effect May 6 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
| Higher prices at the pump and on the grocery store shelf continue to give doses of shocking reality, according to DTN’s Man on the Floor of the CBOT and CME Gary Wilhelmi.
CARD: Ethanol Keeps Gas Prices in Check Pacific Ethanol Completes Startup of Idaho Ethanol Plant Gateway Ethanol Terminal Set for Startup in Mid-May |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
Ethanol is becoming a bigger part of the U.S. fuel supply at a time when gasoline demand is waning as a result of higher prices.
Pacific Ethanol Completes Startup of Idaho Ethanol Plant
Gateway Ethanol Terminal Set for Startup in Mid-May
NC Fuel Standards for Ethanol Blending Set for June 1
Submitted by BIOconversion Blog
Coskata announced today that they are building a demonstration-sized (40,000 gallon per year) cellulosic ethanol plant. This is significant because it could represent the first scale-up of a syngas-fermentation (SF) pilot technology in the world.
The other possible scale-up of this advanced technology is the BRI process that is a party to the ALICO project - a DOE EPAact grant winner of last year. That project is still awaiting licensing resolution among the parties that submitted the original proposal.
BACKGROUND
Ethanol is almost always seen as a process involving the fermentation of sugars into alcohol. Most of the debates about ethanol has to do with what feedstocks are going to be used and what process to break down the feedstock structure to isolate the sugars. The yield comes only from the sugar in the feedstock. Food vs. fuel, Energy Return on Investment (EROI), water usage, biofuel yield - these are all very real issues that will impact what, where, and how facilities will be located and financed.
Syngas-fermentation offers an alternative. Instead of biologically breaking down the feedstock using enzymes, the feedstock is gasified into component molecules of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. These become the building blocks for reformulation as higher alcohols. Some technologies, like Range Fuels’, use inorganic catalysts to effect the reformulation. SF, on the other hand, relies on microorganisms in controlled bioreactors to eat up the syngas and produce ethanol and water.
It is a very attractive alternative because it is omnivorous (any blended biomass will do including unrecyclable urban waste and fossil derivatives like tires, auto fluff, petcoke, and plastics). The yield is high because the non-sugar content of the feedstock can be utilized for its molecules. The higher the content of carbon in the feedstock, the higher the yield of ethanol gallons per ton. It requires very little water (roughly 1 gallon per gallon of biofuel) and most of the energy for gasification comes from the feedstock itself.
Below is the complete press release that was posted today.
—————————
Coskata Inc. Chooses Madison, Pa. for Commercial Demonstration Facility to Produce Next-Generation Ethanol
Alter Nrg, Westinghouse Plasma to support 40,000 gallon cellulosic ethanol plant
Madison, Pa. – April 25, 2008 – Coskata Inc., a leading developer of next-generation biofuels, said today it will produce 40,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year at a commercial demonstration plant near Pittsburgh.
The $25 million project will be located at the Westinghouse Plasma Center, the current site of a pilot-plant gasifier owned and operated by Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Alter Nrg Corp.
“Coskata has been eager to reach this milestone, because it will be a significant demonstration before building our first commercial plant that we can produce ethanol from non-food based sources for less than $1 a gallon,” said Bill Roe, president and CEO of Coskata. “This facility is being built with some of the leading gasification technology, supplied by Alter NRG, and in one of the most progressive states for next generation ethanol.”
The plant, located about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, is expected to begin delivering ethanol in early 2009 utilizing a variety of input materials, including woody biomass as well as agricultural and industrial wastes. General Motors, a strategic partner and investor in Coskata, will use the next generation ethanol for testing in flex-fuel vehicles at its Milford, Mich., Proving Grounds.
“We are delighted Coskata has chosen the State of Pennsylvania as the first location for production of their next generation ethanol,” said Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. “Coskata’s cutting edge facility will strengthen Pennsylvania’s already first class reputation as a leader in producing and delivering alternative fuels and will bring us one step closer to further reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”
Coskata announced in February that it will commission a full-scale, 50 million – 100 million gallon-per-year commercial plant by the year 2011. This facility is being planned in parallel with the construction of the Madison demonstration facility and is expected to break ground this year.
“The Coskata syngas to ethanol plant, using Westinghouse Plasma Corporation’s gasifier will make for a world-class demonstration,” said Mark Montemurro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alter Nrg. “We view Coskata’s highly efficient process as a perfect complement to our environmentally responsible gasification technology.”
Coskata leverages proprietary microorganisms and efficient bioreactor designs in a unique three-step conversion process that can turn virtually any carbon-based feedstock into ethanol, from anywhere in the world.
Coskata’s process for next-generation ethanol is environmentally superior, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 84% compared to conventional gasoline; and has the ability to generate up to 7.7 times as much energy as is required to produce the ethanol, as verified by Argonne National Labs in a well-to-wheel analysis. Additionally, Coskata’s process uses less than a gallon of process water to make a gallon of ethanol, compared with three gallons or more required by other processes.
About Coskata
Coskata is a biology-based renewable energy company that is commercializing technology to produce biofuels from a wide variety of feedstocks. Using proprietary microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, the company will produce ethanol for under $1 per gallon almost anywhere in the world, from a wide variety of feedstocks. Coskata has compiled a strong IP portfolio of patents, trade secrets and know-how and assembled a first-class team for the development and commercialization of its compelling syngas-to-ethanol process technology. For more information, please visit www.coskata.com.
About Alter Nrg
Alter Nrg is pursuing alternative energy solutions to meet the growing demand for environmentally responsible energy in world markets. The company’s vision is to become a North American leader in the development of innovative gasification projects for the commercial production of energy. The Company’s objective for the next decade is to utilize our commercially proven plasma gasification technology to become a senior energy producer of hydrogen, syngas, and transportation fuels (diesel, naphtha, ethanol, etc.), steam and electricity, all of which are fundamental products for the world’s growing energy needs. For more information, visit www.alternrg.ca.
About Westinghouse Plasma Corporation, a division of Alter Nrg
Relying on more than 30 years of experience in the application of plasma technology, Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC) is focused on applying innovative applications using plasma for environmentally responsible energy production, waste processing and metallurgical and chemical processing solutions. Our experience, including over 24 patents relating to the plasma torch, plasma torch systems and process design, allows us to meet the needs of both research and development for industrial applications in various markets. Westinghouse Plasma Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alter Nrg, a publicly traded company on the TSX Venture Exchange. For more information, please visit www.westinghouse-plasma.com.
—————-
technorati BIOconversion, bioenergy, biofuels, ethanol, syngas, cellulosic, gasification
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
Congress plans to extend a tariff on imported ethanol as the biofuel’s defenders face more critics. President Bush, however, said Tuesday he remains steadfast in his support of ethanol production. Coskata Selects Pa. for Demonstration Ethanol Plant |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
| Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s office says it fears that use of corn-based ethanol is driving up food prices, and therefore, the governor is considering seeking an exemption to a national standard that requires renewable fuels use.
Ethanol Plants Cut Water, Energy Use |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
I live in Missouri, and I’ve noticed gasoline prices around here are always considerably less than the national
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
| Crude oil seems to have no trouble moving higher and higer. That may mean $4.00 per gallon gasoline isn’t far behind, according to DTN’s Man on the Floor of the CBOT and CME Gary Wilhelmi.
Center Ethanol’s Illinois Plant Begins Start-up Pacific Ethanol Idaho Plant Begins Operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
| Center Ethanol LLC’s 54-million-gallon-per-year ethanol production plant in Sauget, Ill., began operations Tuesday, a company spokesman said Wednesday.
Pacific Ethanol Idaho Plant Begins Operations Experts Differ on Food Inflation |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
| DTN’s Man on the Floor of the CBOT and CME Gary Wilhelmi is noting some confluence problems in the factors that form value in the crude oil market.
Experts Differ on Food Inflation Green Plains Closes Merger with Great Lakes Cooperative POET to Use Methane as Energy Source at S.D. Ethanol Plant |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
Submitted by Biofuels Digest Blog
Top Story:In Iowa, Green Plains Renewable Energy received a $2.19 million grant from the Iowa Power Fund for algae-related development. Details over licensing and royalties remain to be worked out in coming weeks. The grant will fund 75 percent of a $2.8 million, 195-day algae production trial that will produce 1.6 tons of algae biomass. A second phase costing $4.2 million would produce a half-ton per week of algae biomass, and a third phase costing $80 million for a commercial scale plant would produce 1700 pounds per hectare per day of biomass.
World Opinion:The New York Times writes in an editorial that “Rising food prices provide an urgent argument to nix ethanol’s supports,” noting that “At best, corn ethanol delivers only a small reduction in greenhouse gases compared with gasoline. And it could make things far worse if it leads to more farming in forests and grasslands.”
US News and World Report notes that panic among national leaders is scuttling trade that holds down food prices, “Countries in Asia and South America are clamping down on exports or banning them, often at the behest of panic-stricken leaders worried about inflation….In a sense, the unfolding scene is a sort of “prisoner’s dilemma” known in game theory: Individuals (and individual countries) are moving to protect their own interests—”defecting” rather than cooperating—as supplies become more precious.”
The Chief Innovation Officer of Dupont, Thomas Connelley, interviewed in The Hindu, said “We recognised that the future of bio-based space will be constrained by the limitation of carbon from food crops….I should say we anticipated the direction but not the speed at which we would reach there.”
AFP reports on a letter from UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown to Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda: “There is growing consensus that we need urgently to examine the impact on food prices of different kinds and production methods of biofuels.” Brown called for a “a WTO trade deal that provides greater poor country access to developed country markets.”
Producer News:
In California, Tellurian Biodiesel entered into a JV with Golden State Foods to obtain used cooking oil for biodiesel production. The New Encore venture will produce the biodiesel at a 5 Mgy production plant that will market the biodiesel to trucking companies, municip[al fleets and to Golden State Foods.
In Delaware, O2Diesel Corporation announced the acquisition of acquire of YellTec, a German biofuels distributor specializing in small to medium sized truck fleets with sales of $50 million. Terms were not disclosed.
The Iowa Power Fund Board delayed its decision on a $20 million request for the POET Project Liberty cellulosic ethanol project at Emmetsburg, saying the Fund did not have enough cash. The Fund received $25 million for 2008 from the Iowa State Legislature.
International News:
In Australia, the Manildra plant in Nowra and a plant in Shoalhaven will double production as New South Wales develops a network to support its 2011 target of 10 percent renewable fuel mandate.
In the Dominican Republic, Globasol announced a $30 million investment in a 18 Mgy jatropha biodiesel plant in Azua province to supply fuel for the group’s hotel chain Globalia.
In Laos, Mitr Phol Group announced a $125 million investment in an ethanol plant, 48,000 acre sugarcane plantation and sugar mill. Location and capacity of the plant were not disclosed.
Research News:
NPR’s Science Friday will air an update on biofuels research tomorrow, with calls acceptted from 2-4 EDT. In this week’s segment, George Huber, of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, reports on green gasoline, highlighted earlier this week in Biofuels Digest. Also, Miriam Sticklen of Michigan State University will highlight work on enzymes from cattle used for cellulosic ethanol and Percival Zhang of Virginia Tech will relate developments in producing hydrogen gas from biomass.
Policy and Policymakers:
The European Environment Agency Scientific Committee has called on the EU to suspend the 10 percent biofuels target for 2020 and instead conduct a comprehensive scientific study on the environmental risks and benefits of biofuels.
Consumer and Fleet News:
In Florida, Kinder Morgan’s Central Florida Pipeline will commence delivering ethanol by pipeline between the Port of Tampa and Orlando Airport. The first test batch will be delivered in the third quarter after replacement of pumps, seals, and gaskets, to a 23 million gallon storage facility established in Orlando.
Financial News:
In New York, trading of New York Harbor ethanol futures commenced on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the first physical ethanol futures contract. The Chicago and New York futures launched last year did not have a physically delivered contract.
The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, gained 0.59 percent to close at 120.32 as ethanol drops offset gains by small caps diversified agribusiness. For the day, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) rose 0.90 percent to close at $43.62, while among ethanol stocks, Aventine Renewable Energy (AVR) fell 10.18 percent to $4.50 as corn reached $6 per bushel. Among small caps, Green Shift (GERS.OB) gained 5.38 percent to close at $0.137 and Green Energy Resources (GRGR.PK) rose 8.33 percent to $0.13. Overall, advances and declines were even for the day.
Submitted by Biofuels Digest Blog
Top Story:
The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has called for a review of land-use conversion by biofuel producers, in response to the global increase in food prices. Ban, who placed climate change at the top of the UN agenda, is responding to internal pressure from UN food agencies facing a crisis over rising prices. The Guardian reports that some senion UN officials are attacking the Secretary-General for being “out of touch” and not knowing “what is really going on in our agencies”. Ban said “This steeply rising food price is a new phenomenon,” he said. “We have only seven years left to meet the target of 2015,” referring to the Millenium Development Goal of halving global hunger by 2015, adding “This is very serious.”
World Opinion:
The Financial Post reports that “prices of staples have jumped 80% since 2005…..Factors behind the surge in prices are varied, including bad weather in some regions, soaring demand from growing populations, and US$100-a-barrel oil…..But no factor gets more consistent credit for food price turmoil than the international biofuels stampede….Warnings that ethanol programs, brought on by absurd national energy policies and myths about reducing the risk of climate change, could severely disturb food production and prices, have been issued for years. Now that the consequences have materialized, a new policy stampede is in the making.”
Opednews.com ran a post suggesting “The problem with programs like carbon sequestering and bio-fuel production is that they are treatments for symptoms, not treatments for the disease that caused the symptoms.”
Canadafreepress.com writes from the anti-climate change consensus point of view, “There is absolutely no need for biofuels and especially ethanol to stop global warming or climate change. Environmentalism exploited for political purposes is the short answer. Sadly, biofuels are just the beginning. Other madness includes the carbon credit shell game that does nothing to reduce CO2; the myth that fossil fuel resources are running out; the myth of the viability of other alternative energies; the myth that pollution problems are getting worse in most of the world; the erroneous belief that CO2 is a pollutant.”
The Times of India interviewed the chief of the UN Energy and UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), Kandeh K Yumkella, who said “There is a close link between energy poverty and income poverty. Modern bio-energy could make energy more widely and cheaply available in remote areas, supporting productivity growth in agriculture and other sectors with positive implications for food availability and access.
In the Oregonian, a team from Cascadia Capital writes “Alternative fuels can deliver robust returns if investors focus on the right capital and technology efficiencies, and second, we must find a way to unlock alternative fuels’ potential given soaring oil prices and an uncertain economy…Waste or waste byproducts are the most sensible alternative fuel inputs…Despite several misguided stumbles, we are still believers and look forward to the revenue and profits that Biofuel 2.0 is certainly capable of generating.”
Laverne Chadderdon writes in Highlands Today that as “retail bakers of America complain that ethanol makers burn up our food supply and jack up the price of bread…which form of ethanol production is the U.S. government and its taxpayers subsidizing? Corn, of course. On which form of ethanol production does the United States levy a 53 cents a gallon import? Sugar cane, naturally.”
Producer News:In North Dakota, farmers are taking lands back from the Conservation Reserve Program to put them back into production. “Last fall,” according to the New York Times, “they took back as many acres as are in Rhode Island and Delaware combined.” Farmers say that government payment for grasslands in the program “aren’t even comparable anymore” to the revenue potential from returning the land to production to provide livestock feed.
In Louisiana, Verenium will move from development to startup phase at its demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Jennings. The company’s plan is to move into construction of its first generation of plants following cost model validation at the demonstration-scale plant, with completion of its commercial-scale facility in 2010.
The Securities and Exchange Commission suspended trading in the stock of Alternative Energy Technology Center to complete an investigation of statements made in press releases and email regarding the company’s ownership of cellulosic ethanol technology attributed to Meridian Biorefining. The company’s shares are scheduled to resume trading on April 15.
In Idaho, Pacific Ethanol is nearing launch of its 60 Mgy corn ethanol plant in Burley. The company hopes to supply the entire ethanol demand for Idaho from the plant, as well as up to 500,000 tons of distillers grains for livestock feed.
International News:In Australia, the state premier has requested State Departments to use more ethanol after it was revealed that only his own department met the government’s 2 percent biofuel target in February. “I can’t expect industry to the right thing if Government doesn’t lead the way,” New South Wales Premier Morris Iemma said.
In Malaysia, Dubai Group invested $49.5 million for a 30% stake in GBD Investment. GBD has started production at a 200,000 metric ton biodiesel plant at Lahad Datu in the Malaysian state of Sabah.
In England, D1 Oils completed a $32 million capital raise, primarily from existing shareholders, and said it would exit the UK biodiesel refining business and concentrate on its plantation and science businesses, including its JV with BP. “We believe that UK (biodiesel) demand will largely be met by subsidized US imports. We do not see the UK as offering a viable location for refining and trading to meet domestic demand for the foreseeable future,” the company said in a statement. The company will close or sell its two UK plants, affecting 80 staff.
Research News:In Illinois, researchers announced the discovery that new enzymes, able to be grown in corn, will break down plant cellulose for ethanol production. Typical enzymes are grown in energy-intensive bioreactors, and are a significant cost factor in cellulosic ethanol.
Policy and Policymakers:The National Center for Policy Analysis released a study concluding that US policymakers should study Brazil’s oil production efforts, rather than ethanol production, in order to reduce US dependence on foreign oil. “The facts about Brazil’s energy policy are often misrepresented,” said NCPA Graduate Student Fellow D. Sean Shurtleff, the paper’s author.
Consumer and Fleet News:The Energy Information Administration said that US gasoline demand is dropping, and will decline up to 3.5 million gallons per day this summer, compared to 2007 according to EIA Administrator Guy Caruso. “Personal disposable income in the period rose by an estimated 0.3%, while gasoline prices rose 31.8% from a year earlier, to average $3.11 a gallon,” said the EIA report.
Financial News:The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, gained 0.01 percent to close at 119.62 as ethanol weakness balanced gains by diversified agribusiness. For the day, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) gained 0.19 percent to close at $43.23, while The Andersons (ANDE) rose 1.84 percent to close at $44.34. Among ethanol stocks, VeraSun Energy (VSE) fell 7.09 percent to close at $7.99. Among small caps, Green Shift (GERS.OB) gained 8.33 percent to close at $0.13. Overall, advances and declines were even for the day.
Submitted by Biofuels Digest Blog
Top Story:
In Massachusetts, a group of researchers at the University of Massachusetts announced, in the latest edition of Chemistry & Sustainability, Energy & Materials, a new “green gasoline” process that directly converts plant cellulose into the chemical components of gasoline, while a companion article by researchers at the University of Wisconsin reported on a “green gasoline” process that yielded the chemical components of jet fuel in an integrated process. In Texas, Sustainable Power Corporation, a pioneer in the catalyst-based production of bio-crude, said that the president of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen) had joined the company’s board and would be on hand Wednesday to announce a major expansion of the company’s biocrude production capacity in Guatemala.
World Opinion:
New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Paul Krugman in “Grains Gone Wild” writes that “The subsidized conversion of crops into fuel was supposed to promote energy independence and help limit global warming. But this promise was, as Time magazine bluntly put it, a “scam.” You might put it this way: people are starving in Africa so that American politicians can court votes in farm states.” Krugman is less sure about alternatives, offering a suggestion that there be more aid to the U.N.’s World Food Program, an undefined “pushback against biofuels”, and the bromide that “cheap food, like cheap oil, may be a thing of the past.”
The Star reports that the price of rice has reached $760 per tonne, and that “For 3 billion people around the world that was the most important news report of today and will almost certainly be the most important story for years to come….Just a few weeks ago, its price was one-third lower at $580 a tonne. The higher the price of rice, the less gets eaten by those now spending 50 to 70 per cent of their meagre incomes on food.” The post is of importance, despite the fact that except in small test projects in Japan, rice is not converted into biofuels. Is this a knock-on effect from the increasing presence of speculators in food commodities? As carry-through from shortages in other staple foods such as wheat, that have caused consumers to turn to rice? A knock-on effect of biofuel production?
A most interesting argument on the “paradox of production” appears in the Archdruid Report, pointing out that “every other energy source currently used in modern societies gets a substantial “energy subsidy” from oil…..the energy used in uranium mining and reactor construction, for example, comes from diesel rather than nuclear power, just as sunlight doesn’t make solar panels.
Liberty Maven wrote that ethanol has “nine strikes” and “retired the side”, saying that ethanol consumes more energy than it produces, quoting the 2005 Pimentel/Patzek study as its first strike, and adding that wood waste and switchgrass are worse.
Earthtimes reports remarks by Dr. Thomas Elam, president of FarmEcon that “the policy favoring ethanol and other biofuels over food uses of grains and other crops acts as a regressive tax on the poor….The biofuels policy that is driving higher prices of corn, other grains, and soybeans will cost the U.S. economy more than $100 billion from 2006 to 2009….It is inevitable that these costs will be passed along to consumers.”
Cleantech reports on an email circulating the internet, revealing that “Last year, your government spent more than $8 billion of your tax dollars to achieve the following results: Dramatically increase the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, Accelerate the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, Raise the price of milk, bread, beef and other grain-dependent products by more than 20%, Increase world hunger. How did they do this? Two words: ethanol subsidies.”
Cleantech is currently running a poll, offering respondents an choice of statements that include: “Biofuels Kill”, “Industrial Agrofuels — Feeding the Planet to Our Cars”, “Biofuels — Destroying the Biosphere One Car at a Time”, and “None of these. You are a shill for big oil and a bad person!”. Option two currently has more than half the votes, and “biofuels kill: currently leads “you are a shill for Big Oil”.
Gristmill ran a post saying that biofuels are “Worse than coal”, calling “Industrial agrofuels” an “enemy of the entire planet”, adding that “Replace [liquid fossil fuels] with today’s biofuels, and you would have an unmitigated ecological disaster of planet-killing proportions.
Producer News:
In Missouri, Northwest Missouri Biofuels said that it had completed a capacity expansion to 15 Mgy, and was using animal fat feedstock that it said was allowing it to continue to produce at 100 percent capacity while soybean-based plants were reducing capacity or shutting down.
In Illinois, the CEO of Coskata detailed how the company can create fuel for less than $1 per gallon using its combined thermochemical and microbe-based approach to cellulosic ethanol production. William Roe said that the company’s process can use multiple “true waste” feedstocks such as wood chips, weeds, human waste, used tires, or carbon monoxide.
In Ohio, VeraSun Energy said its 110 Mgy facility in Bloomingburg had commenced production. This is the 11th VeraSun facility and the fourth ethanol plant in Ohio, and brings the company’s production capacity to more than 1 Bgy.
International News:
The European Bioethanol Fuel Association said that ethanol production in the EU rose 11 percent in 2007 to 468 million gallons. The increase follows 70 percent growth rates the previous two years. Output in France grew 97 percent to 152 Mgy, Germany was down 9 percent to 104 Mgy, while Sweden production dropped 50 percent to 19 Mgy. Overall consumption for 2007 was reported at 714 Mgy.
In India, Tata Chemicals will establish a sweet sorghum-based ethanol plant in Nanded, Maharahstra with an initial capacity of 3 Mgy.
In Canada, Nova Scotia announced an investment of $20 million in Minas Basin Pulp and Power for a facility that will convert 4,000 tons of plastic waste into biodiesel. The government commitment facilitated an equity investment of $27 million in the project by Minas.
In England, D1 Oils launched a shareholder rights offering with a goal of raising up to $60 million from existing shareholders, who would buy discounted additional stakes in the company. D1 said that talks are “advanced” with a number of key shareholders regarding the planned investments.
Research News:
Raymond James analyst Pavel Molchanov, in a note to clients, has projected ethanol prices to average $2.42 and $2.48 per gallon in 2008 and 2009 respectively, while projecting corn costs at $5.48 and $5.45 per bushel. A “crush spread” of $0.46 per gallon in 2008 and $0.53 per gallon in 2008 is based upon a yield of 2.8 gallons per bushel.
Policy and Policymakers:
In Colorado, the state Senate passed a $26.5 million incentives bill earmarked for support of biofuel technologies based on Colorado bioscience research, in addition to other biotech industries that could be supported by the legislation, that was passed by the House in a materially similar version in February.
Consumer and Fleet News:
Research firm R.L. Polk said that US consumers bought 1.8 alternative fuel vehicles in 2007, up 16 percent over 2007, but said that with E85 available at less than 1 percent of the nation’s gas stations, the vehicle purchases were unlikely to have a marked impact on gasoline purchasing habits.
Financial News:The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, gained 1.35 percent to close at 119.61 led by continuing strength in diversified agribusiness. For the day, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) gained 1.46 percent to close at $43.15, while The Andersons (ANDE) rose 0.23 percent to close at $43.54. Among ethanol stocks, VeraSun Energy (VSE) gained 2.14 percent to close at $8.60. Among small caps, Green Energy Resources (GRGR.PK) fell 11.11 percent to $0.12, and Bluefire Ethanol (BFRE.OB) rose 1.59 percent on appointment of a new CFO. Overall, advances led advances 6 to 5.
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
| World economic news shaping day-to-day volatility in crude, not scientific advances, according to DTN’s Man on the Floor of the CBOT and CME Gary Wilhelmi.
US Q1 Ethanol Output Seen up 37% Center Ethanol’s Ill. Ethanol Facility to Begin Ops Soon Otter Tail Fergus Falls Ethanol Plant Begins Operations |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Click Here for more stories |
