Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
U.S. imports of ethanol fell by more than half in May from April as the ethanol market sagged, according to fresh data from the Energy Information Administration. The EIA data show imports fell to 634,000 bbl in May from 1.4 million bbl in April.
Ethanol Production, Demand Climbs in May
MT Considers New Biodiesel Feedstock
Submitted by BIOconversion Blog
I am frequently asked why we should pursue the production of biofuels and biopower when we could substitute other seemingly simpler and “cleaner” alternatives - like wind and solar - that don’t require such complicated biomass logistics. A recent article I found on the European-based Biopact Blog supplies a partial answer.
Americans should heed the experience of the Europeans because they have been coping with expensive petrochemicals for decades, have fewer natural resources, have a more sophisticated infrastructure for producing and distributing energy, have higher demand for heat in the winter, and, sad to say, have been more open than Americans to alternatives - including nuclear power. NIMBYism is not an option. Many of the continental energy solutions involve centralized heat and power (CHP) whereby the heat of energy production is converted into steam and distributed to the local community.
European microcosms are like labs for alternatives - France for nuclear power, the Netherlands for wind, Germany for solar, and Scandanavia for biopower. On the biofuels side, they produce and use biodiesel to supplement the dominant fuel of the continent.While there are no precedents for many of the technologies being deployed here, I have been impressed by the practice of utilities and policymakers to fly overseas to see firsthand how new technologies are being fostered by policymaking and how they perform once deployed.
Below is the introduction to the article…
RAB: biomass now the key renewable energy source, as backlash against wind and solar grows
Biomass energy is increasingly touted as the key renewable in the push to green Europe’s electricity supplies, says David Williams, chairman of the UK government’s Renewables Advisory Board’s (RAB) biomass sub-group. This is so because biomass shows the best economic and CO2-abatement performance of all the renewables, because it can be transported and traded globally, and because it is far more reliable than intermittent sources.
In recent months, the UK has changed its position on renewables, says Williams, with a backlash against many more established alternative energy sources like wind and solar power and liquid biofuels. In the transport sector, first-generation biofuels have been attacked for their potential effect on food prices and actual carbon reductions. Wind and solar are being heavily criticised for their inability to produce a consistent stream of electricity and for their cost. Wind power can be two to three times more expensive than biomass; solar PV up to twenty times, and solar CSP up to five times. There are no efficient energy storage options for these renewables, making them incapable of providing baseloads.
That is why many industry experts are now suggesting that biomass has to play the primary role in helping the EU to meet its challenging target of generating 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, says the RAB’s biomass chairman.
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
Ethanol producers ramped up production in May, with delayed data released by the Energy Information Administration detailing a 1.675-million-bbl increase in ethanol output from the prior month to 18.543 million bbl.
Focus on Fuels 7-28-08
High fuel prices are hitting consumers from all sides, with winter still ahead, according to DTN’s Man on the Floor of the CBOT and CME Gary Wilhelmi.
Senators Back RFS
A group of senators meet with the EPA administrator to explain why he should not grant a waiver on the renewable fuel standard and get assurances that the EPA will weigh all sides before making a decision.
MT Considers New Biodiesel Feedstock
BlueFire Ethanol Awarded Permit for L.A.-Area Biorefinery
Kinder Morgan Delays Ethanol Test Run on Florida Pipeline
Oil, Dollar Behind Food Price Rally
Enterprise to Offer Flex-Fuel Vehicles at Florida Location
Keystone State Gov. Signs Ethanol, Biodiesel Mandates
Gateway Ethanol Terminal to Begin Operations
Fulcrum BioEnergy Plans $120M Gallon Ethanol Plant in NV
VeraSun Brings ND Ethanol Production Plant Online
EPA Delays Decision on Texas RFS Petition
Submitted by BIOconversion Blog
BlueFire Ethanol Fuels Inc. received a conditional use permit from the County of Los Angeles, Department of Regional Planning, for the operation of a new biorefinery it will build on a 10 acre lot near a Lancaster, CA landfill. For anyone aware of the slow rate of permitting new facilities for waste conversion in the region, that is a major achievement.
This is NOT the commercial-scale project for which BlueFire received a U.S. Department of Energy EPAct 932 matching grant of $40 million. That plant is being for deployment in Mecca, CA and will require roughly 900 tons per day of biomass when fully operational. The DOE considers 700 tpd to be the benchmark for a commercial scale biorefinery.
For Arnold Klann, President of BlueFire, it was a long time coming but worth the wait. With key drivers being the need for alternative fuels, oil prices, landfill diversion, and global climate change things have been happening fast the last few years for this publicly traded company.
On hand to support the action were Coby Skye of the Los Angeles Department of Public Works and Mike Mohajer, a leader of Solid Waste management in Los Angeles for decades. Necy Sumait, Senior Vice President, and William Davis, VP of Project Management, who made the final presentation to the Commission were there as well.
The county Department of Public Works has launched a pilot project to build other trash-conversion facilities near other landfills in the region.
“Instead of shipping the trash long distances for disposal, we want to develop these new conversion technologies and manage the trash right there on site,” said Coby J. Skye, associate civil engineer in the Environmental Programs Division for public works. “What that does is it eliminates truck trips, converts otherwise useless material into usable products and energy and offsets fossil-fuel emissions.”
In the past month, two of Los Angeles County’s largest cities have passed resolutions endorsing the County’s conversion technology program. The city councils of Long Beach and Lancaster, which together account for nearly 650,000 residents, each asked the County to keep their city in mind for future conversion technology projects. These join existing resolutions adopted by the cities of Glendale and Calabasas.
BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. (OTC: BFRE.OB), a leader in cellulosic ethanol production technology, was granted a conditional-use permit (”CUP”) from the County of Los Angeles, Department of Regional Planning, to permit the construction of the nation’s first commercial facility to convert biowaste into ethanol.
The Los Angeles County Planning Commission approved the use permit for operation of the plant on 10 undeveloped acres near Lancaster, California, in the Antelope Valley. BlueFire plans to initiate commercial operation of the plant in late 2009.
“We are thrilled to receive this permit,” said Arnold Klann, president and CEO of BlueFire Ethanol, “and we see this construction of our first cellulosic ethanol the United States plant as a catalyst for the advancement of cellulosic fuel production throughout our nation.”
The new facility will use BlueFire’s commercially-ready, patented and proven Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Technology Process. This will allow the profitable conversion of cellulosic waste (”Green Waste”) into as much as 3.2 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. Derived from non-foodstock urban, forestry and agricultural residues, this form of ethanol is a completely renewable and highly-economical alternative to gasoline and other types of ethanol.
BlueFire Ethanol selected the Lancaster location because an estimated 170 tons of biowaste material, including woodchips, grass cuttings and other organic waste, already passes by the property every day. The plant is also designed to use reclaimed water and lignin, a byproduct of the production process, in order to produce its own electricity and steam.
“By locating biorefineries directly in the markets with the highest demand for ethanol, our technology can also help surrounding cities manage landfill waste, solving two problems for the price of one,” added Klann.
As part of a strategy to control costs and accelerate production at the Lancaster facility, BlueFire Ethanol has already implemented production of pre-assembled modules which will comprise the Lancaster biorefinery.
“Prefabrication and modular construction has proven itself to be the best method for maintaining quality, controlling costs and creating the fastest to-market time for the deployment of complex facilities,” said Klann. “Plus, the size of our Lancaster facility is consistent with the feedstock-gathering capabilities in developing countries where aggregation of large quantities of useable feedstock is not as practical. As such, this approach also allows us to set a standard with a manufactured product and export our facilities as a turn-key product around the world.”
BlueFire Ethanol is also one of six ethanol companies awarded $40 million funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for its construction a larger ethanol production facility using cellulosic wastes diverted from landfills in Southern California. The facility will produce approximately 17 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year from green waste, wood waste and other cellulosic urban wastes
Submitted by BIOconversion Blog
INEOS Group Holdings PLC, one of the three largest chemical conglomerates in the world, has announced the July 1, 2008 formation of a new company, INEOS Bio, whose initial focus will be the commercialization of what they call “the World’s leading second generation bioethanol technology process” to serve the global renewable transport fuels market.
The technology has been in development by Bioengineering Resources Inc. of Fayetteville, Arkansas for over two decades. While the process can certainly use cellulosic material as feedstocks (switchgrass, corn stover, wood wastes, rice straw, etc.) it does not produce “cellulosic ethanol” in the purest sense of the term. Through gasification, it reduces all components of the feedstock, not just the cellulose, into a syngas that is then fermented into ethanol with the water filtered out. Pound for pound, the process is anticipated to produce the highest amount of ethanol (roughly 105 gallons / ton of feedstock - depending on the carbon content and btu energy of the feedstock blend) of any thermochemical biorefinery process. As a result, Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) can be used as a feedstock and tires and fossil residues (like petcoke) can be blended in to increase the volume yield.
As illustrated in their website animation, the heat generated by gasification will be captured for co-generation of electricity - a byproduct that will help reduce the energy cost of the system and provide an important second profit stream.
The company plans on licensing new commercial-scale facilities that will be producing millions of gallons of ethanol by 2011.
Below is the press release as published on the new INEOS Bio website.
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Cars to run on fuel from household waste within two years
July 19th 2008, Fayetteville, AR
(Click here for video announcement)
INEOS now has technology to produce commercial quantities of bio ethanol fuel from landfill waste. Second generation bio ethanol reduces greenhouse gases from car use by 90% and doesn’t use food crops in the production process.
Cars to run on fuel from household waste within two years
“This is a breakthrough technology” says INEOS Bio CEO.
INEOS, one of the world’s top three chemical companies, announced today that it is aiming to produce commercial quantities of bioethanol fuel from biodegradable municipal waste within two years.
INEOS new technology will produce bioethanol in huge quantities from municipal solid waste, green waste, animal waste and agricultural residues amongst other things.
According to Peter Williams, INEOS Bio CEO, “Consistent with changing policy, in regions such as North America and Europe we see around 10% of the gasoline or petrol being replaced with second generation bioethanol. We believe our technology will make a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gases and the world’s need for fossil fuels.”
INEOS Bio Ethanol releases up to 90% less net greenhouse gases than petrol. One tonne of dry waste can be converted into about 400 litres of ethanol, which can be blended with or replace traditional fuels to substantially reduce vehicle emissions.
The technology – already proven at pilot plant scale – uses a simple three-stage process. The waste is first superheated to produce gases. Then, through a patented process, the gases are fed to naturally occurring bacteria, which efficiently produce ethanol. Finally, the ethanol is purified to make the fuel ready to be blended for use in cars.
Car companies have already developed engines that can run efficiently on both bioethanol and conventional fuels. Up to now, the challenge has been that bioethanol has been manufactured primarily from food crops and this has raised concerns on price and availability.
Peter Williams says, “The fact that we have been able to decouple second generation biofuel from food is a major breakthrough, and we expect our technology to provide a low-cost route to renewable fuels”.
Dr Geriant Evans is the Technology Transfer Manager for the UK’s National Non Food Crops Centre. He says: “This technology really ticks all the boxes. It turns waste into biofuel; it reduces greenhouse gases and doesn’t rely on food crops. We need this produced on a global scale as soon as possible. It’s a revolutionary technology”.
Governments, NGO’s and Municipal Authorities are already welcoming second generation Bio Fuels such as INEOS Bio Ethanol, which will contribute to both reducing greenhouse gases and the ever-growing waste disposal problem.
The process was developed in Fayetteville, Arkansas where Dan Coody is Mayor. He recognises the enormous potential.
“We’re proud that this technology has been developed here and it is definitely a technology that we’d like to employ in the City of Fayetteville. It will help us reduce our landfill, reduce our CO2 emissions and our reliance on foreign fuels all at the same time”
With the technology proven at pilot scale, the next challenge is to bring second-generation bioethanol into commercial production. INEOS aims to do this within two years.
Peter Williams, INEOS Bio CEO says: “We expect to announce the location of the first commercial pilot plant fairly shortly and we will quickly roll out this technology around the world. We aim to be producing commercial amounts of bioethanol fuel, for cars, from waste within about two years. “
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
Former Vice President Al Gore recently proposed a plan aimed at shifting the U.S. from current energy sources to using wind and solar energy sources instead. But the plan is pricey and needs a vigorous economy to pay the bill.
US Election Freezes Ethanol Tariff Talk
Brazil Ethanol Exports to US to Rise
Rural NE Supports Renewable Energy
Groups: Biofuels Can Offset Oil Demand
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
A variety of factors will contribute to continued volatility in the crude oil market, according to DTN’s Man on the Floor of the CBOT and CME Gary Wilhelmi.
Brazil Ethanol Exports to US to Rise
Rural NE Supports Renewable Energy
Groups: Biofuels Can Offset Oil Demand
New York Ethanol Plant to Start Production Next Week
New E85 Retail Gasoline Pump Opens in Forest City, Iowa
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
Brazil will likely export at least 793 million gallons of ethanol to the U.S. this year as a result of soaring ethanol prices in the U.S. and cheap ethanol prices by comparison in Brazil, according to FC Stone.
Rural NE Supports Renewable Energy
Groups: Biofuels Can Offset Oil Demand
New York Ethanol Plant to Start Production Next Week
New E85 Retail Gasoline Pump Opens in Forest City, Iowa
Glacial Lakes Begins Ops at Mina, S.D., Ethanol Facility
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
| Fifty-seven percent of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the environment should be protected even if that limits energy supplies.
Groups: Biofuels Can Offset Oil Demand New York Ethanol Plant to Start Production Next Week New E85 Retail Gasoline Pump Opens in Forest City, Iowa Glacial Lakes Begins Ops at Mina, S.D., Ethanol Facility Range Fuels Inc. Appoints Winter as VP of Process Engineering |
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Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
Crude oil continues to weigh on the economy, and this will continue for quite some time, according to DTN’s Man on the Floor of the CBOT and CME Gary Wilhelmi.
Oil Industry Veteran Assumes Chairman Position at VeraSun
Output at Nova’s Ill. Biodiesel Refinery Near 5M Gallons
W2 Energy Inc. to Form Biodiesel Subsidiary
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
VeraSun Energy Corp. said in a news release today that Gordon Ommen has resigned as chairman of the board of directors for the Brookings, S.D.-based company, and will be succeeded by Duane Gilliam.
Output at Nova’s Ill. Biodiesel Refinery Near 5M Gallons
W2 Energy Inc. to Form Biodiesel Subsidiary
VeraSun Energy Delays Startup of ND Ethanol Plant
Submitted by DTN Ethanol Blog
Targets formerly thought to be high in the crude oil market don’t seem so high anymore, according to DTN’s Man on the Floor of the CBOT and CME Gary Wilhelmi. VeraSun Energy Delays Startup of ND Ethanol Plant EPA Warns of Civil Penalties for Violating RIN Protocol |
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Submitted by BIOconversion Blog
Solena Group - an innovative international company whose mission is “committed to combating climate change by promoting renewable bio-energy to replace fossil fuel” - has projects deployed or under development for using plasma arc technology to cleanly gasify feedstock into syngas. Teamed with Rentech Technologies, they can convert the syngas into bio jet fuel. Otherwise they can use the syngas to produce clean, green electricity.
But what about emissions? Turns out they have an answer for that as well citing their development of air filtering technology at their Alicante, Spain research facility that take manufacturing fumes and, using algae to absorb the greenhouse gases, create new biomass that can be converted into bioenergy.
Here are some excerpts from a NY Times article that cited the company’s carbon sequestering technology…
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March 26, 2008
For Carbon Emissions, a Goal of Less Than Zero
By MATTHEW L. WALD
Algae, which have a high energy value per pound and consume carbon dioxide, are being cultivated at a biofuel demonstration facility run by the Solena Group in Alicante, Spain.
IF the world is going to sharply reduce the amount of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by midcentury, then many businesses will have to go carbon neutral, bringing their net emissions of the greenhouse gas to zero.
But some could go even further by removing more CO2 than they produce. Instead of carbon neutral, how about carbon negative?
In academic and industrial labs worldwide, researchers are working on technologies to reach that goal. Success could create the ultimate green business — for example, one that produces fuel whose emissions are more than offset by carbon dioxide stored during production. The businesses would be successful if, as anticipated, Congress puts a tax on emissions or starts a trading plan that makes carbon credits valuable.
For some experts, it’s not a question of whether businesses will go carbon negative but when.
Carbon-negative technologies of some sort will be essential, said Daniel M. Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. The world is facing the certainty of massive emissions for decades to come from plants already running, he said, adding that atmospheric concentrations must be stabilized. “We’ve got such a carbon overshoot looming in the future that this is going to have to happen,” he said.
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that an 80 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions was necessary to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. But capturing the gas from coal plant smokestacks or switching to fuels that produce less of it when burned goes only so far.
“The great problem is actually removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” said Geir Vollsaeter, an environment expert and former general manager of carbon dioxide at Shell International, a subsidiary of the oil giant.
While much engineering work would have to be done to make a business carbon negative, the outlines are clear.
Take the concept of building a coal plant that captures and stores carbon dioxide. Such a plant could have zero emissions, because the coal would be turned into gas and processed to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen, a pollution-free fuel, would be burned, and the CO2 pumped underground for permanent storage.
But Robert Williams, a research scientist at Princeton University, said that not only coal could be gasified; you could also make the same fuel by starting with plant matter or other biomass.
And then, he said, “if you put any CO2 underground that is derived from biomass, that’s negative CO2 emissions.” That is because plants or trees — the raw material for the fuel —pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, and the gasification and storage takes that carbon out of circulation.
Mr. Williams said the more likely route would be to gasify a mixture of coal and biomass to keep the process carbon neutral. But the balance depends on the cost of separation and storage versus what kind of tax or other fee Congress might put on emissions.
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A Washington company, the Solena Group, also has a carbon-negative plan, which emerged from the decision by regulators in Kansas last year to turn down a permit for two new coal-burning power plants because of the millions of tons of carbon dioxide they would produce. The regulators insisted that the builder of the plants, an electric co-op called Sunflower, had to permanently remove the carbon from circulation. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and the Kansas State Legislature are still arguing over whether the plants should be built.
Solena says it can use the carbon. The company employs a high-temperature process to break up anything organic into a flammable gas. The organic material could be algae, which have an extremely high energy value per pound. And algae eat carbon dioxide.
Solena is in discussion with Sunflower to build a 40-megawatt power plant that would run on gasified algae; the algae would be grown in thousands of clear plastic cylinders, 3 feet wide by 10 feet tall, sitting in the Kansas sun and fertilized with sodium bicarbonate, made with carbon captured from Sunflower’s coal plant. For each 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide, the columns would yield a ton of algae.
