GSPI Completes Algae to Biodiesel Winter Demo Testing

Green Star Products, Inc. today announced that it has successfully completed Phase III for winter environmental testing of its hybrid algae production facility in Montana.

The GSPI hybrid algae production system is designed to provide a controlled algae growing environment at an affordable capital and maintenance cost, which has eluded engineers for more than three decades.

Press Release

There also is another press release regarding GSPI that came out today.

Today, Green Star Products, Inc. announced that it has acquired a license to utilize a breakthrough processing technology to convert algae biomass to feedstock oil and cellulose sugars for the production of biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol respectively.

The new process uses an efficient low-cost method to extract the oil and cellulose sugars from oil-bearing microalgae that eliminates the need to mechanically dry and press-extract the algae oil using traditional methods. The sugars from carbohydrate-rich cellulose and hemicellulose can be used to make a variety of products including ethanol and other high demand chemical products. The oil can be made into biodiesel and other products.

Press Release

Sounds like they are moving forward towards their goal of building a commercial sized algae production facility.

Ethanol Sales Reach 74% of Gas Market in Iowa Last Year

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association announced that Iowans chose E10 (10-percent ethanol, 90-percent gasoline) nearly 74 percent of the time in 2007.

Full Article

Iowa sure must be doing something right because on top of this and the ealier post I did on how E85 increased through the first three quarters on 2007, the number of flex fuel vehicles increased by 23% last year as well.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) today announced that Iowa’s fleet of flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) increased by 23 percent in 2007. According to figures from Reg Track, Inc., Iowans added 14,175 new FFVs vehicle registrations during the year. IRFA estimates that over 75,000 FFVs are currently registered in Iowa.

Press Release

Will Next Years Corn Crop Meet Demand?

An article appeared in the news earlier this month in which an expert from Purdue University expressed his doubts as to whether the 2008 corn crop would enough to meet all demands.

Full Article

While I understand his logic and agree with most of the points that he makes, this prediction is not a given. Let me explain why.

As with many predictions made on agricultural topics it is based at least somewhat on certain things remaining static. In this case he predicts corn acreage will go down from last years amount. And he predicts this based on acreage being shifted back to other crops, such as soybeans and wheat.

From what I have read some of 2007's corn acres will be shifted from corn to other crops in 2008. Many farmers broke out of normal rotations in 2007 to plant more corn acres and will need to get back to a more traditional pattern in 2008.

Add this to the fact that ethanol production is expected to require more corn in 2008 and you can see why he is concerned about the situation.

"This will require about 4.5 billion bushels of corn if these plants are to run at full capacity," Hurt said.

So if you add up the fact that some acreage will be shifted away from corn in 2008 while at the same time demand is going up, it suggests a shortfall. But the one thing that isn't considered is the amount of land that wasn't in production in 2007. Just look at the amount of land planted in principal crops for the last few years.

2007 - 319,990,000 acres
2006 - 315,960,000 acres
2005 - 317,754,000 acres
2004 - 322,380,000 acres
2003 - 325,692,000 acres
2002 - 327,283,000 acres
2001 - 324,928,000 acres
2000 - 328,325,000 acres
1999 - 329,556,000 acres
1998 - 329,323,000 acres
1997 - 332,072,000 acres
1996 - 333,682,000 acres
1995 - 318,289,000 acres
1994 - 323,699,000 acres
1993 - 319,518,000 acres
1992 - 326,453,000 acres
1991 - 325,362,000 acres
1990 - 326,337,000 acres
1989 - 331,152,000 acres

As you can see the acreage planted bounces around quite a bit. But it shows that acreage planted in 2007 was well below that of recent years. Just to get idea how much this difference could make, let's look at the acreage planted in 1996 compared to 2007.

333,682,000 acres - 319,990,000 acres = 13,692,000 acres

Let's see what would happen if all those acres were planted in corn and produced the same yield of 151.1 bushels per acres as in 2007.

13,692,000 acres X 151.1 = 2,068,861,200 bushels

So if just the acreage that hasn't been in production over the last few years was brought back into corn production it would supply about 46% of the estimated corn needed for ethanol production in 2008.

So while he makes some good points in his analysis, he is relying on the amount of land planted to remain static and as we see that doesn't always happen. And also that that land could have a large impact on the overall production.

Source : USDA

November 2007 Ethanol Production

Ethanol production in November continued to rise, reaching 602,592,000 gallons up from 588,756,000 gallons the month before. Demand slipped slightly to 625,944,000 gallons from the 629,711,000 gallons for October.

Source : Renewable Fuels Association

Say It Ain't So!

Today there is an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that caught my eye titled 'Controversial ethanol being forced on us' by Tex Pitfield.

This article goes through all the common misconceptions, dances around in all the usual gray areas and at times flat out states falsehoods.

The point here is not to try and address all the issues I have with this post but to warn people to be careful about their information sources. I had to read over this posting twice before I realized that it was posted in the opinion section. It took even longer to realize that Tex Pitfield is the president and CEO of Saraguay Petroleum in Atlanta since that information was in smaller print under his picture.

So for anyone just dropping in and reading this article it appears to be written by a reporter, someone who is supposed to be impartial.

The point is to be careful, as I pointed out in an earlier post also, not all information sources are as impartial as they seem to be.

2007 Oil Imports Drop 1.9%

U.S. fuel production reached a record high in 2007 as refinery capacity expanded for the 11th straight year, API data show. U.S. crude oil production also rose in 2007, the first annual increase since 1991, according to API’s year-end Monthly Statistical Report.

The API statistics also showed that U.S. oil demand was flat in 2007, the third straight year of stagnant or lower oil demand in the world’s largest oil-consuming nation.

Given the higher domestic production and flat demand, total oil imports fell 1.9 percent from year-ago levels, though imports still cover about 65 percent of U.S. oil demand.

Total U.S. petroleum deliveries, a proxy for demand, averaged 20.7 million barrels per day, the same level seen in 2006, following a decline of 0.6 percent in that year. In the fourth quarter alone, deliveries slumped 0.4 percent.

Despite a one percent year-on-year increase in the first quarter, gasoline demand was lagging about half a percent below 2006 levels by the fourth quarter. On the other hand, distillate fuel oil demand rose 1.5 percent in the year amid rising diesel demand and higher home heating demand.

The demand data includes an increase in the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline, which averaged more than 400,000 barrels per day. Excluding ethanol, which accounted for nearly five percent of all gasoline sales during the year, total domestic oil deliveries in 2007 actually fell half a percent. An estimated 6.7 billon gallons of fuel ethanol were used by refiners in 2007, some two billion gallons more than the 4.7 billion gallons required by law but more than two billion gallons less than the recently-passed requirement for 2008.

Press Release

All this is good news, but I am not sure what to make of the last paragraph. The picture should get a little clearer when the EIA releases the November and December petroleum and ethanol numbers. Once the 2007 number are completed I will do a writeup to compare the numbers and see what effect biofuels had on consumption as I did in this earlier post on the 2006 numbers.

Update: I found another article that goes along with this report and has some interesting quotes in it.

The 11-month rise of 50,000 barrels a day in U.S. gasoline demand (more than half the size of a 98,000 barrels a day rise a year ago) appears to be made up entirely of higher ethanol - rather than petroleum - content in the fuel.

Ron Planting, manager of information and analysis at the American Petroleum Institute, the Washington, D.C.-based trade group, said the volume of ethanol blended into gasoline supplied to the market was up, while the volume of petroleum in the fuel was down in 2007.

"Weak growth in gasoline demand, combined with the substantial increase in ethanol blending in 2007 resulted in the year's increase in gasoline supply coming entirely from ethanol," Planting said.

"Looking at either January-November or the full year, the increase in blended ethanol was larger than the rise in overall gasoline deliveries," he said. "My estimate is that ethanol blending increased about 90,000 barrels per day in 2007 over 2006.

Total domestic gasoline deliveries for the full year rose only about 35,000 barrels per day." Planting said API estimates that ethanol accounted for about 5% of the 9.287 million barrels a day of gasoline delivered in 2007, up from a 4% share of the 9.253 million barrels a day in 2006.

CattleNetwork

Verenium says first commercial-scale, enzyme-based celluosic ethanol plant will open by March 31st

Executives at Verenium said that the first enzyme-based, commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in the US operating by March 31st. The Jennings site has been home to a pilot plant since 2006, which was expanded to a 1.4 Mgy demonstration plant last year. The 30 Mgy commercial-scale plant will use sugar cane residue, called bagasse, that is usually burned at electric power plants.

The Cajun Sugar Cooperative sugar mill in New Iberia donated the first 10 tons of bagasse, and Verenium will become a customer of local sugar mills for future shipments. Among cellulosic ethanol plants that received Department of Energy grants last year for commercial-scale plant construction, only the gasification-based plant in Georgia constructed by Range Fuels is said to be closer to an opening date.

Verenium is a research and development company working on cellulosic ethanol technologies, formed last year by a merger of Celunol and Diversa. The company recorded $49 million in revenues in 2006.

In September, NASDAQ added Verenium to the Nasdaq Clean Edge U.S. Index (CLEN) and the NASDAQ Clean Edge U.S. Liquid Series Index (CELS).

Verenium filed a $150 million shelf offer with the SEC in support of a new capital raise. The company says that it plans to sell 3 million shares at $50 to raise $150 million in new equity, although it did not announce a date.

In Missouri last month, Bunge announced that it will become the process implementation partner in the launch of Verenium’s new Purifine enzyme for seed oil refining. Bunge has been expanding its biodiuesel operations in Brazil and Argentina.

Myth Versus Misinformation

There is an article that has appeared in the news the last couple of day about myths regarding oil addiction. In it there is something I would like to address.

So biofuels alone cannot wean the United States off oil. Let's say the country converted all the soybeans grown by American farmers into biodiesel; that would provide only about 1.5 percent of total annual U.S. oil needs. If the entire U.S. corn crop was devoted to producing ethanol, it would supply only about 6 percent of U.S. oil needs.

Full Article

I could probably go through and pick this story apart piece by piece but instead let me just use the above quote as an example. Now I am not going to try and argue that biofuels alone could indeed wean us off of oil but instead would like to point how misleading this statement is.

Notice how the author compares the amount of both biodiesel and ethanol that could be produced to the amount of oil we use. The reason this is misleading is because neither ethanol nor biodiesel is ever going to replace motor oil or road tars. Neither will replace petroleum in the making of plastic. Of the oil we use only about half of it becomes transportation fuels. The rest becomes one of the many thousands of other products made from petroleum. So comparing biodiesel and ethanol against the total oil used is just a misleading way of making the numbers look worse than they are.

And this is a good place to point out that it has been said that the oil industry is using tactics similar to those employed by the tobacco industry in the past. And that is to fund think tanks to promote their causes and attack their opponents.

With that in mind, you will notice that the author of this piece is a fellow at the Institute for Energy Research, which has received funding from Exxon.

Fact Sheet

Researchers make bio-diesel from peanuts

Researchers at the National Peanut Lab in Dawson, USA will use peanuts for bio diesel. The USDA scientists set up a peanut distillery at their lab, and began making the bio-diesel this month.

Biodiesel from peanuts

Seems kind of funny to hear this since Rudolph Diesel used peanut oil in his first diesel many years ago.

How Far Off Is Cellulosic Ethanol?

The promise of cellulosic ethanol it seems has been just around the corner for quite a while now. We have been hearing about plants in the planning stages for forever it seems. Well how much longer are we going to have to wait?

The most precise answer would be... it depends. As I mentioned cellulosic plants have been in the planning stages for some time and all during that time the ethanol detractors were saying that cellulosic ethanol wasn't possible. And this is somewhat curious because making cellulosic ethanol isn't a new technology. The problem wasn't that we didn't know how to make it was that we couldn't make at a cost where it could compete with gasoline. To get an idea how long this technology has been around check out this article from 1983 explaining how to make ethanol from sawdust in your garage.

Then a couple of years ago, the first pilot scale cellulosic ethanol plants began construction. Pilot scale plants are low volume production plants used to demonstrate the technology that that particular company employs and also to further refine the process before moving to a larger scale plant.

In February 2007, Celunol (now Verenium) completed it's pilot scale plant rated at 50,000 gallons per year in Jennings, LA. At the same time it broke ground on it's demonstration scale plant rated at 1.4 million gallons of ethanol per year. The demonstration plant is expected to be completed before April of this year.

Press Release

In March 2007, KL Process Design Group began operation of it's demonstration scale facility rated at 1.5 million gallons per year in Upton WY.

Website

In October 2007, Abengoa completed it's pilot scale plant in York, NE.

Press Release

With two pilot and one demonstration scale facilities running the ethanol detractors could no long claim that cellulosic ethanol wasn't possible so the conversation changed to cellulosic ethanol hadn't been proven commercially feasible because there were no commercial scale facilities operating.

In November 2007, Range Fuels broke ground on what will be the nations first commercial scale plant near Soperton, GA. The plant is scheduled to be completed this year and will initially produce 20 million gallons of ethanol per year.

Press Release

There are also several projects in various stages of planning but I don't believe at the moment that there are any more in the construction phase.

According to Ethanol Producer Magazine there are currently six operating cellulosic ethanol plants worldwide. To some that would mean that cellulosic ethanol has already arrived. To others it won't be until commercial sized plants are operating that it has arrived. So for those people it should be here later this year when Range Fuels begins production. But as you can see from the article there are varying definitions of what constitutes commercial scale so even that may not mean that it has arrived. Like I said, it all depends.

South Dakota State University and Ceres Inc Team Up to Improve Switchgrass Yield

Switchgrass will now be the focus of the five-year research and development collaboration between South Dakota State University and Ceres--an attempt to maintain and build on the plant's positive attributes while working to boost its yield.

Full Article

Verenium's Jennings Plant Nears Completion

This article is an update on the construction of Verenium's cellulosic plant in Jennings, Louisiana.

The first ethanol plant in the U.S. using enzymes to make ethanol from plant scraps should be built here by March 31, company officials said Friday during a site tour.

Verenium, a Massachusetts-based company, built a small plant in Jennings in 2006 to test new ways to make cellulosic ethanol from plant matter and farm scraps like sugarcane bagasse (pulpy fiber) and wood chips. It's one of a few pilot plants in the U.S. acting like chemistry labs in search of the cellulosic breakthrough.

They hope to have construction finished before April and are already considering their next step, a commercial scale plant.

In February 2007, Verenium broke ground on a 1.4 million gallon-per-year demonstration plant right next to its Jennings pilot site. The company hopes to finish this second plant before April, where Verenium will fine-tune its enzymes, ethanol production and feedstocks (primarily local cane bagasse) before it goes full-scale with a third plant.

That commercial-scale third plant could make 25 million to 30 million gallons of ethanol per year from biomass as far away as New Iberia, if it were built in Jennings. Sites in Florida and Texas are also being considered for the third plant.

Full Article

Algae association forms to advance biodiesel production

The National Algae Association, which recently opened its headquarters in Houston, is providing a new forum for researchers, producers and investors to advance the discussion and production of algae as a renewable energy source.

The association, which is in the formation stages, was founded by Barry Cohen of Biofuel Capital Partners, a private equity fund for biodiesel and other biofuels-related technology and production companies. Cohen said biodiesel producers, who are facing problems as a result of high soybean and vegetable oil feedstock costs, are looking to alternative feedstocks, such as algae. "We’ve got biodiesel producers that are contacting us every single day because they know they’ve got a problem, so by putting this together, we’re bringing the researchers together. We’re bringing the algae production companies together so that we can share information and exchange ideas. From that, we are pushing the commercialization of algae.”

I think this is a great idea and should help to advance the industry.

Full Article

National Algae Association Website

Tennessee Biodiesel Plant Powered By Renewable Energy

As Hollywood popularizes the Prius and celebrates Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," the battle against global warming has gained cause celeb status. But the bulk of change has and will continue to come from outside the bright lights of Hollywood, from a handful of companies like Northington Energy, who are committed to curbing America's addiction to oil.

In its continuing effort to promote a green environment, Northington
Energy announced today that its new facility in Wartburg, Tenn., will be the first biodiesel manufacturing plant in the United States powered entirely by renewable energy. While it produces environmentally friendly biodiesel from soybeans and algae oil, the 15,000-square foot Tennessee facility - approximately 35 miles north west of Knoxville - will run on a solar power generation system and backup biodiesel generators. Both systems will have the ability to produce 100 kilowatts of highly-concentrated power.

"Our new facility in Tennessee embodies our philosophy of advancing
renewable fuels and providing low-cost energy," said Lisa Horn, Director of New Business Developments for Northington Energy. "From a company standpoint, when it's possible to produce our products with alternative energy, then we're going to go in that direction." This new plant will take a bite out of our dependence on traditional fuels by producing more than three million gallons of biodiesel each year."

Source : BioBased News

This is pretty interesting by itself, but notice the mention of algae oil in this press release. Well, if you go to the website you see that Northington Energy acquired Zenalgae, a company researching algae development back in December. They also state that they plan to install an algae bioreactor at the Wartburg facility.

Nothington Energy

Does the media not check information anymore?

Today in the news there is an article about the troubles Michigan horse owners are having finding hay to feed their animals.

A nationwide shortage of hay has set the horse world on its ear: You can buy a horse at auction in Michigan for what it costs -- $40 -- to buy two bales of Michigan-grown hay in Florida.

With hay so costly, horse owners here are dumping their stock either because they can't afford to feed the animals or they fear they won't have enough hay to last through the winter.

It's a bad situation and I especially hate to hear that a state that is having economic troubles on so many levels is facing this situation. But the part of the story that irritates me is this.

It began last spring when farmers eyeing the ethanol market planted more acres of corn and less hay.

Full Article

Sounds perfectly reasonable and logical. The only problem it isn't true and the sad part is that the information is so easy to find that there really is no excuse as to why reporters don't check this information out.

Let's look at the harvested acreage for hay for the last two years.

2007 - 61,789,000 acres
2006 - 60,807,000 acres

Source : USDA

So it is obvious that last spring acres weren't diverted from hay production into corn. Not to say that there isn't a hay shortage, last year drought in parts of the country including my own limited hay production. Things like that can't be controlled, but fair reporting can be.

Use of distillers grains to lower cost of feeding livestock.

When you compare the cost of protein supplements in livestock feeds distillers grains win hands down. DDGS have similar protein to soy meal protein and cost less than half. Wet distiller grains are even a better deal at about 1/4 the price of soy meal.

Distillers grains lowering the cost of livestock feeds

US opens up market for distiller's grains in Algeria

The US Grains Council (USGC) successfully shipped 44 metric tons of distiller's dried grains (DDGS) with solubles to Algeria last week, as part of the council's quality sample program.

The DDGS are the first ever imported from the US by Algeria and will be used in feeding trials scheduled to begin in February or March.

Full Article

On one hand this is good news. It means that we are opening up new markets for distiller grains which should help with economics. But on the other hand it highlights the fact that domestic livestock producers aren't fully exploiting this resource to help lower their costs.

Out of 9,400 surveyed livestock operations in the Upper Midwest and Corn Belt, early in 2007, 36 percent of the cattle-on-feed operators fed ethanol co-products.

Another 34 percent did not feed ethanol co-products, while 30 percent of operations with cattle on feed had not fed co-products and had not considered feeding ethanol co-products.

Full Article

It points to the fact that more research is needed into how much distillers grains can be included in the rations for different animals. It also points out the need for better efforts to educate farmers on the advantages of feeding distiller grains.

Schumer: Lift ethanol tariff to cut milk prices Part II

This a follow up to an earlier post.

First off, I would like to send a thanks out to Dave over at Ethanol: Fact, Fiction, Reality for the plug in his analysis of this matter.

The part of this debate that I want to cover here is the notion that farmers set prices for their goods and that input costs are reflected in those prices. Farmers don't set their own prices, the market sets the price and that is controlled by supply and demand.

The only way that input costs can effect pricing is if they effect supply. If farming becomes unprofitable and farmers quit producing, then supply drops and prices rise.

With that in mind let's look at diary cow numbers and milk production over the last few years to see if high input costs have effected those numbers.

2007 - 9,153,000 head : 185,599 million pounds production
2006 - 9,112,000 head : 181,798 million pounds production
2005 - 9,043,000 head : 176,929 million pounds production
2004 - 9,012,000 head : 170,934 million pounds production

As you can see the number of dairy cattle and the production has steadily increased. So there has not been any herd reductions due to high feed costs.

As is always said it all boils down to supply and demand and as you can see supply is not the issue. The price of milk is being driven by demand not input costs.

Source : USDA

Florida Awards $25 Million In Grants To 12 Companies To Spur Renewable Energy Industry

Twelve Florida companies received $25 million in renewal-energy grants for projects that develop renewable energy.

The grants are part of Florida's Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson's "Farm to Fuel" initiative, a program designed to get Florida's agriculture industry to produce 25 percent of the state's energy needs by the year 2025. It also includes an effort to reduce Florida's dependency on foreign oil and to keep land in agriculture.

Projects receiving grants:

- Gulf Coast Energy of Walton, LLC, of Walton County, received $7 million in grant money that it will apply towards a $62 million project to build and operate a tandem biodiesel and ethanol production facility.

- United States Envirofuels, LLC, of Venus, Fla., also received $7 million in grant money for a ethanol production plant using sugar products.

- Liberty Industries, of Hosford, Fla., was awarded a $4 million grant for a project that will initially produce 7 million gallons of ethanol and 5.4 Megawatts of electricity using predominantly forest waste products.

- Agri-Source Fuels, LLC, of Pensacola, Fla., was also awarded $4 million for its project to build a biodiesel production plant with an annual output of 20 million gallons.

- University of Florida was awarded $500,000, in a research and development grant, to develop a catalytic chemical reactor system to convert woody biomass to biodiesel.

- Southeast Biofuels LLC was awarded $500,000, in a demonstration grant to build a nearly $6 million pilot plant in Auburndale to produce ethanol from citrus peels.

- Sigarca Inc., was awarded $499,500, in a research and demonstration project involving the construction of a 3,000-square-foot bioenergy plant on the grounds of the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion in Ocala to process horse waste into renewable energy.

- University of Central Florida was awarded $498,000, in a research and development grant, to demonstrate the viability and cost effectiveness of technology developed at the university to convert farm and animal waste into renewable energy.

- Florida Institute of Technology was awarded $415,520, in a research and development grant, to cultivate and research various strains of Microalgae capable of producing biodiesel.

- Applied Research Associates Inc. was awarded $203,130, in a research and development grant, involving converting cellulosic materials such as sugarcane byproducts to fermentable sugars for a more cost-effective way of producing ethanol.

- Applied Research Associates Inc., was awarded $182,832, in a research and development grant, to demonstrate a new technology in converting crop oils into biodiesel.

- Neptune Industries Inc. was awarded $158,270, in a research and development project, that would create a pilot-scale floating algae production system in quarry lakes in South Florida to produce algae capable of being converted into biodiesel.

Full Article

K-State: Too soon to tell about E. coli, DDGs

More research is needed before reaching any conclusions about the impact of distillers dried grains (DDGs) on E. coli O157 in cattle, according to researchers at Kansas State University.

Research by T.G. Nagaraja, a professor of microbiology, and Jim Drouillard, professor of animal science, found that feeding beef cattle a diet that included 25 percent DDGs increased the prevalence of the pathogenic strain of E. coli in the animals’ manure. The announcement caused a storm of publicity over the increased use of DDGs produced by the growing ethanol industry. However, Nagaraja said it was too soon to rush to conclusions about the food safety implications of DDGs. “We’ll need to look at the entire body of evidence before we can make any recommendations,” Drouillard said, noting that many other universities are working on similar studies.


It is likely that nothing will become of the intial study at K-State. Different research facilities have not noted any increase of E.Coli in cattle that use ddgs.

Complete story

Tiger Draws Ethanol From Chinese Sugar Beet

Tiger Ethanol International is placing its bets on sugar beet as the next-generation biofuel feedstock, after having penned a deal to cultivate the crop in southern China. Tiger's 90-percent-owned subsidiary Xinjiang Yajia Distillate Co. Ltd. recently signed a letter of intent to secure land in Hami, Xiamen, to grow sugar beet in the area. Tiger plans to use the sugar beet juice gathered from the crops to produce ethanol and refined sugar, and the remaining biomass to produce fertilizer. The ethanol producer said the move will generate "substantial income" from refined sugar, in addition to the ethanol outputs.

Source : Energy Current

Another choice of feedstocks that could well apply here in the U.S..

Company Gives $150,000 for Algae-to-Biofuels Research

Xcel Energy has given a $150,000 gift to the University of Minnesota that builds on their commitment to renewable energy in Minnesota. Of particular interest is a groundbreaking algae-to-biofuels project led by the University of Minnesota and the Metropolitan Council.

“This gift will not simply fill a gap, but will give us an opportunity to expand our research and development capacity and help to launch larger efforts in this area,” said Robert Elde, Dean of the University of Minnesota’s College of Biological Sciences and a leader in this project.

Researchers at the Metropolitan Council and the University of Minnesota’s Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE) have teamed up to investigate the potential for algae-to-fuel technology. Since 2006, the Council and IREE have provided funding to research and implement this emerging technology.

The $150,000 gift, issued from the Xcel Energy Chairman’s Fund, comes on the heels of a recent announcement that five University of Minnesota research projects have been selected to receive more than $4.5 million from the Xcel Energy Renewable Development Fund.

“Environmental stewardship is a top priority for us,” said Dick Kelly, Xcel Energy chairman, president & CEO. “The innovative and new renewable technologies under development by researchers at the University will help us use the earth’s resources wisely, reduce our impact on the environment and deploy cleaner energy technologies for tomorrow.”

The algae-to-biofuels research team is studying specific types of algae consisting of up to 40 percent oil. The oils extracted from the algae can be used to produce biodiesel, while the remaining wet biomass can be processed to produce bio-oils and other bio-based products.

The researchers are exploring an integrated approach for the efficient treatment and utilization of wastewater-stream based biomass, which would replace the current energy-intensive, drying-and-combustion treatment. Each day, the Metropolitan Council turns more than 250 million gallons of wastewater into clean water that is discharged into area rivers. The project team sees potential for cultivating vast amounts of energy-producing algae via the wastewater.

The Xcel funding will support a pilot system to produce algae for the development and improvement of harvest, extraction and conversion processes, as well as the collection of data necessary for further research and development.

“The traditional process of growing algae using large, open ponds works in warmer climates, but isn’t well-suited to colder locations like Minnesota,” explained IREE Director Dick Hemmingsen. “A closed-loop system utilizing wastewater and the heat produced by treatment plants to grow algae for fuels production is of particular interest for northern regions of the country.”

Another potential benefit of the algae research is reducing greenhouse gas emissions. At present, the wastewater solids incinerators at two of the Council’s treatment plants release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Along with nitrogen and phosphorous, the carbon dioxide could be captured and used to supplement the growth of algae at both facilities.

“In both our transit and wastewater treatment systems, the Met Council is strongly committed to protecting the environment and reducing our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Peter Bell, Council chair. “Through our partnership with the University, we hope to develop new, homegrown sources of clean, renewable energy.”

The Xcel funding will also help the team leverage further investment in the commercialization of algae energy crop technologies. The partnership is seeking additional funding for a bench-scale study and a subsequent pilot-scale process demonstration over the next two years. During the study, Metropolitan Council Environmental Services plans to grow and harvest algae in a wastewater effluent flow of one-half liter per minute (about 180 gallons per day).

“The success of this technology is extremely significant since algae could completely replace our petroleum fuel use and improve our environment simultaneously,” said Roger Ruan, a University of Minnesota professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and a lead project investigator.

Building on a growing expertise in the field, the researchers will determine what kind of algae grows best in the effluent, measure its oil content and assess the potential for producing algae-based biofuels.

Press Release

E85 Sales Continue to Grow in Iowa

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association announced in early January that E85 sales in Iowa continued remarkable growth during 2007. That's based on data for the third quarter of 2007—the latest data available from the Iowa Department of Revenue. Sales of E85 by Iowa retailers reached 941,547 gallons during the third quarter of 2007, which is a 48% increase over the same time period in 2006.

The story also says that the number of E85 pumps in Iowa has gone from 30 two years ago to 79 presently.

Source : Wallace Farmer

SDSU research: Corn stover for ethanol

SDSU scientists are conducting research to determine how much corn stover must remain after harvest and how much can be diverted to make cellulosic ethanol without contributing to loss of soil quality.

As part of the same project, South Dakota State University wants to find out how much biomass crops such as switchgrass and prairie cordgrass will yield in locations where annual crops do not grow well.

SDSU Department of Plant Science professors David Clay, Tom Schumacher, and Gregg Carlson lead the five-year effort. The intent is to develop techniques to increase productivity, and determine profitability, sustainability, and productivity of harvesting corn stover, prairie cordgrass, and switchgrass for cellulosic ethanol production.

Part of the research is to determine the amount of corn stover that can be removed without damaging soil organic content or causing erosion.

“The question that must be resolved is how much corn stover can be sustainably harvested,” Clay said. “The non-harvested crop residues returned to the soil are important to maintain long-term productivity and reduce erosion. Farmers at the focus group clearly stated that they want to participate in this opportunity; however, they do not want to risk their soil.”

Press Release

ODU Using Sewage To Grow Algae For Biodiesel

Scientists at Old Dominion University are experimenting with growing algae in sewage waste for biodiesel. Sounds like a good way to make fuel while also eliminating a problem.

The tanks are up and running and the slime is growing nicely – thick and green, just the way algae should be.

Friday was a good day to be on the roof of the local sewage plant, where scientists from Old Dominion University were all smiles as they inspected their promising experiment for turning algae into biodiesel fuel.

And it could help eliminate water discharges of the nutrients that are harming waterways.

The timing could not be better. Virginia, like its neighboring states, is under pressure to reduce nutrient pollution now choking the Chesapeake Bay, and much of the excessive nitrogen and phosphorus comes from sources that include factories, slaughterhouses and sewage plants.

So, conceivably, the ODU technology could kill several birds with one stone. Nutrient-rich wastewater from agriculture, industry and municipal sewage could be piped to and purged at algae-growing stations. Biofuels could be produced. And less nitrogen and phosphorus would enter the Bay.

Full Article

E. coli license leads to advanced biofuel production

Gevo, Inc. announced it has acquired an exclusive license for use of UCLA’s method for modifying E.coli bacteria for use in biofuel development. This new technology signals a breakthrough in the ability to mass produce advanced biofuels like butanol.

“This advanced modification method will enable us to speed up the commercial introduction of advanced biofuels like butanol by several years,” said Dr. Pat Gruber, CEO of Gevo, Inc. “In addition, these efficient new pathways raise the possibility of retrofitting existing ethanol plants, at a low capital cost, to produce advanced biofuels. This helps to address one of the major issues in bringing an advanced biofuel to market – capital.”

Press Release

Schumer: Lift ethanol tariff to cut milk prices

In a bid to bring down milk prices, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced legislation yesterday that would temporarily repeal a tariff on foreign ethanol, freeing up more supplies of corn for dairy farmers.

Full Article

As I pointed out in an earlier post, this is a bad idea. Not only for the reasons I pointed out earlier but also because the amount of corn available after ethanol production is actually higher now than it was just a couple of years ago.

Amount of corn left out of each years harvest after the amount used for ethanol has been subtracted.

2007 - 13,167,741,000 bushels - 2,592,592,593 bushels = 10,575,148,407 bushels
2006 - 10,534,868,000 bushels - 1,798,148,148 bushels = 8,736,719,852 bushels
2005 - 11,112,072,000 bushels - 1,445,925,926 bushels = 9,666,146,074 bushels

I go into more detail on how I came up with these numbers in this post. But as you can see by the numbers the amount of corn left over after ethanol production is higher than it was in 2005 when the average annual corn price for the year was $2.00 per bushel.

The present corn prices have more to do with increased demand from foreign buyers than to ethanol pulling corn off the market.

Ample supplies, together with a continued lack of competition and firm demand, have boosted U.S. corn export prospects to a record 62.0 million. The previous record of 61.8 million tons was reached in 1979/80.

Full Report (PDF)

And the reason dairy prices are high right now is because the amounts that are being exported are at record levels.

November dairy product export numbers were pretty impressive, the USDA Foreign Ag Service (FAS) says cheese exports for the month were 21.1 million pounds, up 34% from November of 2006, butterfat exports were 12-times the volume of a year ago at 15.2 million pounds. Dry whey exports were up 21% for the month at just over 45 million pounds. Skim milk powder exports were up 79% compared to a year ago at 62.7 million pounds in November. FAS put the total value of dairy exports in November at a record $350.5 million. For the first 11 months of 2007, dairy export value was $2.7 billion, a 56% increase over the same period in 2006.

Full Article

It is the demand from other countries that is pushing up dairy prices not the input (corn) costs.

Lowering the import tariff on ethanol will do nothing to lower demand from foreign markets for either corn or dairy products. As far as I can tell all this action would do is harm ethanol producers and corn growers without actually doing anything to lower prices.

Even With Ethanol Production, Corn Is A Bargain

All the news stories floating around lately have been saying that the average annual corn price for 2007 may set a new high. And while this is completely true that the 2007 price may end up higher than the record high price of $3.24 set in the 1995, the truth is that the current price is a bargain when compared to the inflation adjusted prices of the past.

Below you will see in the first column the year, in the second column the average annual corn price, and in the third column the average annual corn price adjusted for inflation to 2006 dollars.

2006 - 3.04 - 3.04
2005 - 2.00 - 2.07
2004 - 2.06 - 2.20
2003 - 2.42 - 2.63
2002 - 2.32 - 2.59
2001 - 1.97 - 2.23
2000 - 1.85 - 2.17
1999 - 1.82 - 2.19
1998 - 1.94 - 2.37
1997 - 2.43 - 3.02
1996 - 2.71 - 3.47
1995 - 3.24 - 4.25
1994 - 2.26 - 3.04
1993 - 2.50 - 3.47
1992 - 2.07 - 2.96
1991 - 2.37 - 3.53
1990 - 2.28 - 3.58
1989 - 2.36 - 3.88
1988 - 2.54 - 4.35
1987 - 1.94 - 3.44
1986 - 1.50 - 2.71
1985 - 2.23 - 4.17
1984 - 2.63 - 5.13
1983 - 3.21 - 6.46
1982 - 2.55 - 5.45
1981 - 2.50 - 5.90
1980 - 3.11 - 8.33
1979 - 2.52 - 7.52
1978 - 2.25 - 7.23
1977 - 2.02 - 6.91
1976 - 2.15 - 7.78
1975 - 2.54 - 10.03
1974 - 3.02 - 13.24
1973 - 2.55 - 11.87
1972 - 1.57 - 7.55
1971 - 1.08 - 5.42
1970 - 1.33 - 7.06

As you can see when the prices are adjusted for inflation the present price of corn is a bargain compared to what they were in the past.

Sources:

USDA Quick Stats
Inflation Calculator

Is ethanol taking food out of peoples mouths?

Updates March 4, 2008

A quote from a recent article caught my attention.

No kidding: oil’s $100 a barrel, hydrogen’s just a gas emitted by politicians, and ethanol threatens the food supply.

So let's look at what effect ethanol is having on the availability of food.

The average price for a bushel of corn for the 2005 crop year was $2.00. At that price corn farming wasn't very profitable so in 2006 less acres of corn were planted.

As we know now, several states bans of the use MTBE in gasoline went into effect in 2006. This caused ethanol demand to grow and corn prices went up as a result. But at the point that corn prices started to rise in reaction to the increased demand it was too late to change planting patterns. So for that reason all of the changes in planting patterns occurred in 2007.

Since the price of corn in 2005 was at a low point a person can assume that it was at a point where supply was greater than demand. That is why I didn't see a need to go back any further than 2005 with my numbers.

So let's look at how corn production since 2005 compares.

Corn Production

2007 - 13,167,741,000 bushels
2006 - 10,534,868,000 bushels
2005 - 11,112,072,000 bushels

Amount of corn used to make ethanol.

According to the April 2006 edition of Amber Waves the amount of ethanol produced by a bushel of corn is 2.7 gallons. So to get the number of bushels used in ethanol production I took the years total number of gallons of ethanol produced and divided it by 2.7. This is just a close estimate but it lines up fairly well with this graph from the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

2007 - 6,500,000,000 gallons / 2.7 = 2,407,407,407 bushels
2006 - 4,855,000,000 gallons / 2.7 = 1,798,148,148 bushels
2005 - 3,904,000,000 gallons / 2.7 = 1,445,925,926 bushels

Amount of corn left out of each years harvest after the amount used for ethanol has been subtracted.

2007 - 13,167,741,000 bushels - 2,407,407,407 bushels = 10,760,333,593 bushels
2006 - 10,534,868,000 bushels - 1,798,148,148 bushels = 8,736,719,852 bushels
2005 - 11,112,072,000 bushels - 1,445,925,926 bushels = 9,666,146,074 bushels

As you can see the amount of corn left over for other uses has actually gone up since 2005. So at least as far as corn is concerned ethanol isn't limiting the amount of food on the market.

As we now know, the increased acres devoted to corn came at the expense of other crops. The two crops that lost the most acres between 2006 and 2007 to corn were soybeans and cotton. Since cotton isn't a food item we won't look into that.

Soybeans are grown for their protein content. Soybeans are about 80% protein and 20% oil. Most soy protein is used as animal feed. So corn production did take some soy protein out of the overall food supply. But ethanol production only uses the starch portion of the corn kernel. The remaining material is known as distiller grains and is high in protein and is used in place of soy meal in animal rations. So the production of ethanol actually limits the amount of soybeans that needs to be grown.

So let's look at how soybean production and ethanol relate.

Soybean Production

Each bushel of soybeans produces 11 pounds of oil and 48 pounds of soy meal (SM).

2007 - 2,594,275,000 bushels x 48 = 124,525,200,000 lbs SM
2006 - 3,188,247,000 bushels x 48 = 153,035,856,000 lbs SM
2005 - 3,063,237,000 bushels x 48 = 147,035,376,000 lbs SM

Now let's see how much distillers grains contributed. Each bushel of corn made into ethanol produced 17 pounds of distillers grains. First I will multiply the number of bushels of corn that went to ethanol production times 17 to get the number of pounds of distillers grains produced.

2007 - 2,407,407,407 bushels x 17 = 40,925,925,919 lbs
2006 - 1,798,148,148 bushels x 17 = 30,568,518,516 lbs
2005 - 1,445,925,926 bushels x 17 = 24,580,740,912 lbs

But since the nutritional value of one pound distillers grains is considered to be equal to .4 pounds of soy meal, I will next multiply the number of pounds of distillers grains times .4 to get the amount of soy meal equivalent (SME).

2007 - 40,925,925,919 lbs x .4 = 16,370,370,368 lbs SME
2006 - 30,568,518,516 lbs x .4 = 12,227,407,406 lbs SME
2005 - 24,580,740,912 lbs x .4 = 9,832,296,365 lbs SME

Now to add the soy meal with the soy meal equivalent.

2007 - 124,525,200,000 lbs SM + 16,370,370,368 lbs SME = 140,895,570,368 lbs
2006 - 153,035,856,000 lbs SM + 12,227,407,406 lbs SME = 165,263,263,406 lbs
2005 - 147,035,376,000 lbs SM + 9,832,296,365 lbs SME = 156,867,672,365 lbs

As you can see the amount of total soy meal equivalent has gone down since 2005 but only by about 10%.

As I mentioned earlier the big shift in planting in response to the increased demand that ethanol production put on corn occurred with the 2007 planting. If you look through the December 2007 crop report you see that a lot of the feed crops increased from the 2006 season to 2007. Barley, which is used to make beer but also is used as animal feed, increased acres planted by over half a million acres. Wheat which is sometimes used as animal feed but mostly human consumption increased it's acres planted by over 3 million acres. Sorghum which is mostly used as an animal feed increased it's acres by over 1 million acres. Even the acres of hay harvested saw an increase of over 1 million acres in 2007.

So even though the amount of soybeans have gone down some, there is quiet a bit more corn left after ethanol now and the other feed grains, wheat, barley and sorghum have all increased. As far I can tell ethanol production isn't causing a shortage of food. If anything it seems as though there is more food being produced now than just a couple of years ago.


Sources:

Ethanol Production Statistics
December 2007 Crop Report
December 2006 Crop Report
USDA: Crops and Plants
Soybean Facts
Utilizing the Growing Local Supply of Distillers Grains (PDF)

New techniques create butanol

A team of researchers headed by an environmental engineer at Washington University in St. Louis is plying new techniques to produce a biofuel superior to ethanol.

The fuel is butanol; it can be derived from lignocellulosic materials, which are plant biomass parts that range from woody stems and straw to agricultural residues, corn fiber and husks, all containing in large part cellulose and some lignin.

Butanol is one of the next generation biofuels that has shown great promise. The research is being funded by a $425,000 USDA grant.

Full Story

Owner claims ethanol messed up vehicle. Really?

I remember when ethanol first came into Tennessee back in the late 80s, there were all kinds of stories going around about how ethanol had destroyed someone's engine. Of course it was always the cousin of a friend of a guy that worked down at the local supermarket. Never anybody that you actually knew. Well, I noticed a news item where someone had written in to a newspaper claiming ethanol had done damage his car.

A few days ago, my wife’s Mercedes was empty of gasoline so she stopped at a Kum & Go station to fill it with their premium gasoline. When she left, the car wold not idle. The motor would die at the stop signs, and it sputtered and jerked at slow city speeds.

When she arrived home, I checked the car as it only had 28,500 miles on it, and I thought that Kum & Go’s gasoline storage tank might have water in it and they should know. When I spoke to the lady in charge, she informed me that they had recently received a shipment of new gasoline that had ethanol in all grades of gasoline.

I called the service adviser at the Mercedes dealership, and he told me not to drive it to Tulsa but to use a piggyback wrecker and get the car in the shop ASAP to prevent rusting of the fuel system.

They stated on the three-page repair invoice that our Mercedes was not set up to run on an ethanol mixture and to never use it again.

Full Letter

Notice all the things that are implied here. First off in the beginning he suspected it was water in the tank. That implies that he isn't against ethanol since he thought it was something else first.

The second thing that is implied is that it caused great expense. The car had to towed to another town. That must have been expensive.

It is also implied that the car is fairly new since it only has 28,500 miles on it.

And last but not least it is implied that the repairs were quite extensive. So extensive in fact that it took three pages to list all the repairs on the invoice.

All this is implied without much real information in the letter. The year of the car and the model isn't given, the name of the dealership is missing and there is no real information as to what this cost and who had to pay the costs.

Now let me tell you why this is more than likely totally false.

First off let's look at the common sense argument to this letter. At the moment greater than 40% of the nations gasoline contains some level of ethanol. That would mean that if ethanol were such a problem for Mercedes vehicles then 40% of them would be having these problems. Something tells me that we would be hearing more about it than just one letter. It also tells me that any car manufacturer would be crazy to try and sell a car in this country that wasn't able to handle ethanol.

Now let's see if we can find some hard facts on this. First off there is a dealer in Tulsa OK.

Dealer Website

Didn't see anything on there about ethanol at all, certainly no warnings, but the website seems to be directed more at sales than information.

Actual proof is a little harder to find since Mercedes doesn't allow internet users to look at owners manuals online without first signing up for an account. But from looking over there website and even using their search feature the only reference to ethanol was the use of E85. And it should be noted that Mercedes has produced E85 compatible vehicles since the 2003 model year.

Hawaii is one of the few states that has an E10 requirement and their website states that up to E10 is compatible with Mercedes vehicles.

Unleaded gasoline containing oxygenates such as Ethanol, IPA IVA, and TBA can be used provided the ratio of any one of these oxygenates to gasoline does not exceed 10%, MBTE not to exceed 15%.

Hawaii Website

It seems to me that the real intent of this letter is to say that Kum & Go gas stations have ethanol and ethanol could damage your vehicle. My guess is that the letter was written by someone who has an ax to grind with Kum & Go or possibly a competing gas station that has 100% gasoline and can't compete in price. Note the last line of the letter.

I feel that car owners should be advised of their policy of mixing ethanol with their gasoline.

As you will see from this article from the Tulsa World it isn't any secret that Kum & Go was planning to introduce ethanol blended gas at their area stations and they are not the only ones in the area to have it either.

Tulsa World

And as you will see in this next article there is soon to be much more ethanol blended gasoline in the Tulsa area.

Magellan blending in ethanol units

Wisconsin: Alternative Fuel Station Reaches Million-Gallon Mark

Flex-fuel vehicle owners in Oshkosh, Wis. have purchased more than one million gallons of E85 at the Renew fuel station located at Highway 76 and 41. Alternative fuel users took 830 days to purchase one million gallons of E85 and are well on their way to purchasing more. This marks the first time a Wisconsin gas station has sold more than a million gallons of E85.Renew, an independent brand of fuel stations based in Oshkosh, has offered E85 since the station opened on Sept. 26, 2005. The company expects Oshkosh station customers helped save approximately 43,500 barrels of oil by choosing E85 over straight gasoline.


Story

Virgin Atlantic To Fly Biofuel-Powered 747 In February

Virgin Atlantic has given itself the green light to go green, a lot earlier than planned. On Monday, the British airline announced it plans to operate the world's first commercial jet flight powered by biofuel next month.

Reuters reports the Boeing 747 will fly a relatively short (230-mile) hop from London Heathrow to Amsterdam, and won't have passengers onboard. If all goes to plan, the flight will come 10 months earlier than Virgin -- or project partners Boeing and GE Aviation -- had planned.

Full Article

New technologies redefine ethanol

The ethanol industry is evolving at a rapid pace. There are many new and interesting processes that are being developed to make the process more efficient and this article describes one of them.

Squeezing more value out of a kernel of corn is the aim of a joint venture between agribusiness giants Monsanto Co. and Cargill Inc.

Called Renessen LLC, the Monsanto-Cargill joint venture aims to boost the number of byproducts coming out of an ethanol plant by removing oil from the corn kernel before the corn starch is turned into fuel.

The Renessen process also boosts the efficiency of making ethanol and improves the quality of the high-protein livestock feed - called distillers dried grains - that remains after the corn starch is turned into ethanol.

The process separates the corn kernel into it's starch and oil components. The oil gets further processed into food grade corn oil for human consumption and the starch gets processed into ethanol. After the distillation process is complete the remaining distillers grains are further refined into separate feeds for cattle and pigs.

Full Article

General Motors Partnering With Coskata Inc. To Make Cellulosic Ethanol From Garbage

Rather than putting your garbage at the curb, you may soon be putting it in your gas tank.

General Motors has purchased an equity stake in Coskata Inc. of Warrenville, Ill., which has come up with a process that uses bacteria to produce E85 ethanol fuel out of garbage, scrap tires, wood chips, and even recycled foam, rubber and plastic in today's junked cars.

The exact terms and extent of GMs involvement weren't released but they did release some information about their future plans.

The first pilot plant will begin producing the fuel in the fourth quarter of this year for use in testing vehicles at GM's Proving Grounds in Michigan, and a plant producing up to 100 million gallons of the fuel for retail sale will be operational in 2011.

Full Article

UNI lubricant center receives DOE and USDA grants

The National Ag-Based Lubricants Center, a program of the University of Northern Iowa’s Business and Community Services division, has received $1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy and $408,000 from U.S. Department of Agriculture to develop alliances with other industry leaders.

The center creates bio-based lubricants that add value to Iowa agricultural products and provide alternatives to conventional lubricants.

They have expanded their research to include automotive lubricants as well.

This year, the development of biobased engine oils will be emphasized, said Wes James, assistant director of the center.

Over the last year or so I have been watching developments like this. Hopefully the day that we can go down to the local store and have a choice of biobased motor oil for the next oil change is coming soon.

Full Article

Taiwan Studying Algae For Ethanol Production

Since most efforts taking place here involve algae for biodiesel production, I thought this was kinda interesting.

The government has decided to fund experiments on turning two macroscopic algae into the raw materials for biofuel production, expanding sources from land plants to marine flora as prices for oil and grain continue to increase, Council of Agriculture (COA) officials said.

The two chosen subjects for the experiments are gracilaria and sargassum, they said, adding that both are rich in polysaccharide that can be transformed to ethanol (alcohol) to produce gasohol.

Full Article

Ethanol Blended Fuel Leading Choice in South Dakota

According to a South Dakota state report ethanol blended gasoline accounted for 37% of all tax revenues for fuel purchased in the state. Straight gasoline accounted for 31%, diesel fuel another 31% and the rest was made up of E85 and liquid petroleum gas sales.

Full Article

Daimler, ADM, Bayer to test Jatropha for biodiesel

German carmaker Daimler AG has teamed up with Archer Daniels Midland and Bayer CropScience to explore tropical plant Jatropha as a biodiesel fuel, Daimler said.

"Biodiesel derived from Jatropha nut kernels has properties similar to those of biofuels obtained from oilseed rapes. It is also characterised by a positive CO2 balance and can thus contribute to protecting the climate," the companies said in a statement.

The partners aim to develop production and quality standards for Jatropha-based biofuel. ADM runs several biodiesel refineries worldwide, while Bayer CropScience plans to develop herbicides, insecticides and fungicides for Jatropha plants.

Daimler has already completed a five-year project which demonstrated that Jatropha can be used to make biodiesel. It will continue to explore the interactions between the fuel and engines.

Full Article

Quad County Corn Processors To Use Ultrasonic Process To Produce Ethanol

This is pretty interesting, Quad County Corn Processors is going to test a new ultrasonic process for ethanol production.

Quad County Corn Processors of Galva, Iowa, will partner with FCStone Carbon, LLC, to test and scale up the company’s patented ultrasonic process technology for ethanol production.

The company says that it allows for more ethanol to be extracted from the same amount of corn.

In this first scale-up effort, sonication will be applied to the cooked corn slurry produced during ethanol production. Research indicates that sonication results in a more efficient breakdown of the corn starch component and as a result, more starch is exposed, creating higher conversions than can be achieved through traditional ethanol production processes.

It will be interesting to watch how this progresses.

Full Press Release

PetroSun To Build Biodiesel Plant Using Algae Oil

SCOTTSDALE, AZ--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 9, 2008 -- PetroSun, Inc. (Other OTC:PSUD.PK - News) announced today that its subsidiary, PetroSun BioFuels Refining, has entered into a joint venture to construct and operate a biodiesel refinery near Coolidge, Arizona. The feedstock for the refinery will be algal oil produced by PetroSun BioFuels at company owned and operated algae farms to be located in Arizona.

The refinery will have an annual production capacity of thirty million gallons and will produce 100% renewable biodiesel that will meet or exceed industry quality specifications for the domestic market. PetroSun BioFuels will process the residual algae biomass into ethanol.

The biorefinery and algae farm complex will generate all of its own electrical and heat requirements, utilize non-potable or saltwater, consume no fossil fuels and will be carbon neutral. The joint venture anticipates that all permits will be approved and construction on the biorefinery should commence during the third quarter of 2008.

Full Press Release

Pork Checkoff and Illinois Corn Growers Collaborate on DDGS Research

The National Pork Checkoff Board and the Illinois Pork Producers Association have announced a collaborative programme with the Illinois Corn Marketing Board aimed at improving pig feed utilisation.

Nice to see two industries which have been somewhat at odds to come together and do research that is in both of their interests.

"It’s exciting to have Illinois corn growers, through their checkoff support, collaborate with us on this important program," said Mark Boggess, director of animal sciences for the Pork Checkoff. "In the long run, we our organizations have similar goals and we are both much better off by teaming up".

He said that the consortium has devoted a lot of time and effort to ensuring that research priorities are relevant to the industry and that research project outcomes are applicable and not duplicative of someone else’s efforts. "The bottom line is that corn growers will benefit by understanding how they can make their product and byproducts better for pork producers, and pork producers will benefit by understanding how they can use co-products more efficiently," he added.

Full Article

Switchgrass Study Shows Promise

Switchgrass has been hailed as one of the future ethanol feedstocks with great promise. But up until this point most of the research had been done in the lab and actual performance under real world conditions was unknown. The results of this study suggest that under real world conditions switchgrass will perform even better than expected.

A large-scale trial of switchgrass suggests that the crop may be a more viable plant source of biofuel than previously thought, according to a study released Monday.

A five year trial of the native North American prairie grass on farmland in the Midwestern United States revealed that the crop produces 540 percent more renewable energy than energy consumed in its production.

Previous estimates, based on small scale research plots, suggested the grass would yield a net energy production of about 343 percent. Net energy production is considered an important measure of sustainability.

The report also suggests that further improvements can be made.

"There is a lot of potential to make further improvements," he added. "The plants used in this trial were developed for pasture and conservation. We're now breeding plants specifically to be used as energy crops."

Full Article

Full Study

Ethanol's Bad Press

This is just an observation of mine, but it seems to me that ethanol's bad press started when President Bush talked about ethanol in his State of the Union speech.

I remember watching the State of the Union speech in 2007 and thinking at the time that it is nice to see support among our elected leaders but wondering if the support of President Bush would be a mixed blessing. I am not trying to make a political statement here but it wasn't a secret that his popularity was pretty low. And it is no secret that President Bush has been a polarizing force in America so it stands to reason that some people will oppose anything he suggests simply out of dislike for him.

Since the State of the Union speech in 2007 the general overall tone concerning ethanol has turned more negative. Sure there has always been people that opposed ethanol, but their voices have gotten much louder and their message has been spread much more readily by the news agencies since the speech.

Of course 2007 wasn't the first time that President Bush mentioned ethanol in his State of the Union speech. He also mentioned it in his 2006 speech.

To illustrate what I am saying, check out this chart on Google Trends which shows that news reference volume increased following both speeches. Of course the chart only tells that the amount of ethanol's news coverage went up after each speech but doesn't tell whether it was positive or negative coverage.

But it does show that both speeches spurred quite a change in the coverage of ethanol. And since the personal biases of the journalist can bleed through into their articles, it points out the need for each individual to do their own research and make up their own minds based on the merits.

October 2007: Ethanol Production and Demand Rises

Ethanol production in October 2007 rose to the highest level yet, 588,756 gallons. That is up from 555,324 gallons in September. Demand also rose to 629,711 gallons up from 531,517 gallons in September.

Ethanol Production/Demand

Biofuels Helped Lower 2006 Petroleum Consumption

For some time certain groups have attempted to downplay and in some cases flat out deny that biofuels are playing a role in reducing our dependence on petroleum. But looking at the numbers from the last two years shows that biofuels are indeed playing a role in reducing our dependence on petroleum.

First let's look at domestic oil production. It has been steadily declining over at least the last few years.

2006 - 1,862,259,000 barrels
2005 - 1,890,106,000 barrels
2004 - 1,983,302,000 barrels
2003 - 2,073,453,000 barrels
2002 - 2,097,124,000 barrels

Next let's look at petroleum imports. As domestic production has fallen off more and more oil has had to be imported.

2006 - 5,003,082,000 barrels
2005 - 5,005,541,000 barrels
2004 - 4,811,104,000 barrels
2003 - 4,476,501,000 barrels
2002 - 4,208,538,000 barrels

We also will need to look at exports for each year as well.

2006 - 480,561,000 barrels
2005 - 425,190,000 barrels
2004 - 383,636,000 barrels
2003 - 374,710,000 barrels
2002 - 359,077,000 barrels

Now to get an idea of just how much oil was used in each year, we need to add together domestic production and imports and subtract exports.

2006 - 6,384,780,000 barrels
2005 - 6,470,457,000 barrels
2004 - 6,410,770,000 barrels
2003 - 6,175,244,000 barrels
2002 - 5,945,585,000 barrels

As you can see the overall amount of petroleum used in this country steadily increased until 2006 when it dropped off. Now of course one might assume that gasoline sales went down in 2006 but that is not the case. To see how much gasoline was consumed let's look at the Finished Motor Gasoline supplied.

2006 - 3,377,174,000 barrels
2005 - 3,343,131,000 barrels
2004 - 3,332,579,000 barrels
2003 - 3,261,237,000 barrels
2002 - 3,229,459,000 barrels

The amount of gasoline consumed in 2006 continued to rise even though petroleum consumption declined. Since the Finished Motor Gasoline number includes gasoline blended with ethanol, this to me is indication that ethanol is adding to the fuel supply. To further illustrate this point let's look at the numbers for ethanol production and imports. Just to save a little time and space the next set of number will be for both domestic production and imports of ethanol.

2006 - 5,377,400,000 gallons
2005 - 4,048,900,000 gallons
2004 - 3,530,000,000 gallons
2003 - 2,900,000,000 gallons
2002 - 2,085,000,000 gallons

As you can see between 2005 and 2006 there was a large jump in ethanol consumption. This is partly due to ethanol replacing MTBE in gasoline. This also corresponded to a large jump in biodiesel production.

2006 - 250,000,000 gallons
2005 - 75,000,000 gallons
2004 - 25,000,000 gallons
2003 - 20,000,000 gallons
2002 - 15,000,000 gallons

Just like with most situations, there were more things involved than just the increased production of biofuels. Since prices through 2005 and 2006 were so high people were taking steps to conserve fuel. People switching to more fuel efficient vehicles, lower air travel, and less heating oil use due to mild weather all contributed to lower petroleum consumption as well.

But the contribution of biofuels and especially ethanol was noticeable. Even the American Petroleum Institute noted this in it's 2006 Summary.

The year’s higher volume of gasoline deliveries was, in effect, met entirely by a substantial jump in the blending of ethanol into gasoline. Ethanol use in gasoline rose by more than 1 billion gallons, or nearly 35 percent, to an estimated 5.4 billion gallons in 2006. More than 40 percent of all gasoline consumed in the U.S. now includes ethanol.

Overall the use of biofuels coupled with conservation efforts is starting to reap rewards. It will be interesting to see what the numbers for 2007 look like once they come out.

Sources

Definitions, Sources and Explanatory Notes
Crude Oil Production
U.S. Imports by Country of Origin
Exports
Product Supplied
Renewable Fuels Association: Industry Statistics
US Biodiesel Demand
API 2006 Summary

Verenium Jennings Pilot Facility, America's first Cellulosic Plant

Verenium operates a pilot cellulosic ethanol facility located on a 140-acre company-owned site located in Jennings, Louisiana. Opened in 1999, the facility was capable of CF hemicellulose fermentations. During 2006 the company completed extensive upgrades on the pilot facility, enabling it to conduct combined C5 and C6 fermentations. The Jennings pilot facility is capable of processing approximately two tons of biomass per day into ethanol. It is operated as an R&D facility to improve the company’s process technology and to validate the company’s process on a wide variety of biomass feedstocks.


Verenium Jennings Demonstration Facility
Louisiana, United States

In February 2007, Verenium broke ground on a 1.4 million gallon per year (MGY) demonstration facility located adjacent to its pilot facility in Jennings, Louisiana. The first demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol facility to break ground in the United States, it is designated to operate on diverse regional feedstocks including sugarcane bagasse and specially-bred energy cane. The facility is slated for completion by the end of calendar year 2007, and for first operations in early 2008. Its purpose is to reduce scale-up risk and provide validation of cost models for Verenium’s first generation of commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facilities, which are slated for completion by 2010.

There is a lot going on with Verenium today. They also have a plant that is now open in Japan.

Verenium's Cellulosic plant

Ethanol from Milo, Grain Sorghum

Grain Sorghum-it's also called milo. Kansas producers grow over 40 percent of the nation's grain sorghum every year. Kansas is the nation's leading producer of grain sorghum, producing 145 million bushels of sorghum in 2006--45 percent of the nation's crop. Total US sorghum production was 278 million bushels. Kansas growers value grain sorghum because it is well suited to perform well in many types of soils and weather. Kansas is a diverse state with soils ranging from sandy to clay to loam, and with summertime weather patterns ranging from hot and humid in the east to hot and dry in the west. With these varying weather and soil conditions throughout Kansas, grain sorghum is a crop that Kansas farmers can depend on.

Most of the grain sorghum produced in Kansas is used as livestock feed. However, the market is expanding with new uses including the production of ethanol, a clean burning fuel for automobiles and starch based biodegradable products like packaging materials. In Kansas, grain sorghum used at the seven Kansas ethanol plants located in Campus, Atchison, Garden City, Colwich, Leoti, Garnett and Russell. The byproduct of ethanol production is distillers' grain, which is valued as a high-nutrient livestock feed. Interest is also growing among consumers who are interested in reaping the benefits of adding nutritious food grade grain sorghum to their diets.

Grain sorghum ethanol also produces distillers grains. Grain sorghum will also be expanded in use at some of the new Texas ethanol plants that will come online the first quarter of this year.

Kansas Ethanol

Ethanol From Sweet Sorghum

The Economics of Ethanol from Sweet Sorghum Using the MixAlco Process

A great study by Texas A&M on use of sweet sorghum as an alternative feedstock for ethanol.

The yield is high with some hybrids showing nearly 1000 gallons per acre. Sweet Sorghum has many advantages over other feed stocks. It is not near as water intensive as corn. It can also be grown in 3-4 months whereas sugar cane takes 12-14 months. In southern tier states it can also be harvested up to three times from one crop.

Gulf Ethanol and other companies in Texas, Florida, and Louisiana already have plants in the planning stages that will use sweet sorghum as the feedstock.

Sweet Sorghum for Ethanol

Corn Stover for bioethanol, a new cash crop.

Suppose someone told you that you could increase the profit from your cornfield by $20 per acre without planting anything else or changing or hurting your existing crop. And that by doing this, you would be doing greatthings for the environment and helping to fuel America as well as to feed it. Would it sound like snake oil or a late-night TV ad? (What if this was to develop a new business and jobs in your community, supported government programs, and followed clear guidelines on maintaining soil quality?) Biomass ethanol technology is still developing and important questions need to be answered about corn stover removal, but prospects are excellent for you to someday be able to harvest and sell a substantial portion of your stover for
fuel production—without hurting your soil or main corn grain operation.

This is basically what is going to happen in the new Poet Ethanol plant that is now under development in Iowa.

Many new ethanol plants are currently watching this closely as they are already setup to convert to cellulosic ethanol once the final technology has been tweaked.



Corn Stover to Bioethanol

Turning Corn Stover to Ethanol

A great PDF file from the NREL that analyzes the removal of some corn stover vs. soil health and also CO2 reductions vs. oil and gasoline.


Corn stover feedstock

Nice site for alternative fuels prices

I ran across a new website today that allows users to post prices for E85, biodiesel, hydrogen, CNG, LPG, LNG and electric. The site lists locations for each fuel across the country and is well laid out and easy to use. The only problem is that it is so new that there aren't many prices in the database. I think this site is going to be a great success and a great resource and encourage everyone to pitch in and contribute pricing for your area.

Alt Fuel Prices.com

Kingdom has potential to develop alternative fuel

This is an interesting story about the push to develop biofuels in Jordan.

Jordan has the potential to grow alternative biodiesel fuels that would ease its energy crunch, environmental experts say.

The Kingdom's terrain constitutes perfect soil to plant Jatropha and Pongamia Pinnata seeds, which contain up to 40 per cent oil, National Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS) officials told the Jordan News Agency,Petra.

But the interesting part to me is what it says about the cultivation of Jatropha in Saudi Arabia.

Harvesting Jatropha curcas is catching on in the region, according the NEWS president. By 2010, several countries will be producing Jatropha biodiesel, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has already planted 50,000 dunums of Jatropha en route to its targeted one million dunums, he pointed out.

Just for reference according to wikipedia, a dunum is 10 acres.

Of course I don't want to read too much into this but when I see a country with as much oil reserves as Saudi Arabia has getting into biofuels production I have to wonder if there is something more going on than meets the eye.

Full Article

ISU researchers ‘pave road’ for novel lignin applications

Researchers at the Iowa State University Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering are looking at ways to extend the longevity of Iowa’s road infrastructure by experimenting with lignin, a coproduct of lignocellulosic ethanol production, to see if it could be used as a viable soil stabilizing agent.

Full Article

Nice to see that researchers are looking to nature for solutions to our modern problems.

Strong Demand Supports Higher Prices

Dan Basse, president of AgResource Company made some interesting comments at a recent feedlot meeting cosponsored by Certified Angus Beef LLC (CAB), Feedlot magazine, Pfizer Animal Health and Purina Mills.

“High grain price does not translate to lower livestock prices. Higher grain prices, at this point, do not translate to lower cattle prices,” Basse said. “That’s because we’re in agricultural demand-led markets.”

Demand is the number one cause for higher grain prices, he said.

The demand he says is coming from developing countries and that demand caused by biofuels production is only a small part.

Basse said grain diverted from feed to ethanol production is a very small part of the equation.

“The reason we have grain prices as high as they are is not so much because of biofuels; it’s really globalization taking hold,” he said. “That’s why I believe corn prices won’t fall below $3.50/bu. any day soon.”

Countries like China and India have a rapidly growing middle class. Across the world, 44 countries have expanded their economies at a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rate of 4% or more.

“That has never before happened in the history of the world,” Basse said.

More people, with more money to spend, translates to a strain on supplies of all ag products.

Full Article

National E85 Price fell to $2.38 in December

December saw the price of E85 fall to $2.38 a gallon and $2.90 for basic unleaded compared to Novembers average E85 Price of $2.45 and $3.03 a gallon for unleaded .The National average price spread was 17.9 % for the month December.
Seventeen States reported average price spreads of at least 15% less for E85 than unleaded .


http://e85prices.com/

U.S. corn subsidies promote Amazon deforestation

Today I ran across an article claiming that corn production is causing forest to be lost in the Amazon.

Amazon deforestation and fires are being aggravated by US farm subsidies, claims STRI’s staff scientist William Laurance.

According to Laurance, whose findings are reported this week in Science (December 14), a recent spike in Amazonian fires is being promoted by massive US subsidies that promote American corn production for ethanol. The ethanol is being blended with gasoline as an automobile fuel.

How is it doing that?

The US is the world's leading producer of soy, but many American soy farmers are shifting to corn to qualify for the government subsidies. Since 2006, US corn production rose 19% while soy farming fell by 15%.

And he says that Brazil is being effected particularly badly.

The drop-off in US soy has helped to drive a major increase in global soy prices, which have nearly doubled in the last 14 months. In Brazil, the world's second-largest soy producer, high soy prices are having a serious impact on the Amazon rainforest and tropical savannas.

"Amazon fires and forest destruction have spiked over the last several months, especially in the main soy-producing states in Brazil," said Laurance. "Just about everyone there attributes this to rising soy and beef prices."

FullArticle

So when I saw this I started looking around for proof of whether it is true or not. One of the first items I ran across was an article on how deforestation in Brazil in the 2006-2007 period was down 31%. In fact the rate is the lowest since the Brazilian government started tracking it in 1988.

Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell 31 percent for the 2006-2007 year, compared with the prior period, according to preliminary estimates from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE). The loss of 3,707 square miles (9,600 square kilometers) of rainforest was the lowest since the Brazilian government started tracking deforestation on a yearly basis in 1988.

Deforestation rates in Brazil have fallen by more than sixty percent since 2004 when a near record, 10,590 sq mi (27,429 sq km) were destroyed.

The article also has a graph showing the role soy farming is having in deforestation of the Amazon in comparison to the overall deforestation. And the caption on the graph states that soy production is but a small part of the problem. Here is a portion of that caption.

Overall soybean cultivation makes up only a small portion of deforestation, though its role is accelerating.

Full Article

So I don't know exactly how to take this. Soy production plays a small role in the overall rate of Amazonian deforestation. And the overall rate of deforestation in Brazil is down and has been going down since 2004. Unless I missed something this appears to just be another case of using ethanol as an excuse, I would guess in this case to bring attention to the cause of fighting forest loss.

Big Oil v. Ethanol

In July 2007, the Consumer Federation of America released a report by Mark Cooper that went into great detail on the struggle occurring between ethanol and big oil. This isn't anything new but is well worth the read if you haven't already done so.

BIG OIL v. ETHANOL: THE CONSUMER STAKE IN EXPANDING THE PRODUCTION OF LIQUID FUELS (PDF)

Also in July 2007, Mark Cooper did an interview with OnPoint in which he further explained the above report. Again this isn't anything new either, but it is something that I just ran across today and has interesting additional information.

Consumer Federation's Mark Cooper discusses struggles between Big Oil, ethanol industry

In May 2007, Mark Cooper spoke before Congress about the concentration of the refining industry and the effect on consumers.

STATEMENT OF DR. MARK N. COOPER DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH CONSUMER FEDERATION OF AMERICA (PDF)