Burning Bio News

Study shows that increases in crop production technology from 1961 to 2005 have lowered GHG emissions. While emissions from factors such as fertilizer production and application have increased, the net effect of higher yields has avoided emissions of up to 161 gigatons of carbon (GtC) (590 GtCO2e) since 1961. Each dollar invested in agricultural yields is estimated to have resulted in 68 fewer kgC (249 kgCO2e) emissions relative to 1961 technology ($14.74/tC, or ∼$4/tCO2e), avoiding 3.6 GtC (13.1 GtCO2e) per year. This analysis indicates that investment in yield improvements compares favorably with other commonly proposed mitigation strategies.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack released a report outlining both the current state of renewable transportation fuels efforts in America and a plan to develop regional strategies to increase the production, marketing and distribution of biofuels to 36 billion gallons of biofuel per year by 2022. USDA’s report identifies numerous biomass feedstocks to be utilized in developing biofuels and calls for the funding of further investments in research and development of: feedstock; sustainable production and management systems; efficient conversion technologies and high-value bioproducts, and decision support and policy analysis tools.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced that three projects have been selected to receive up to $612 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – matched by $368 million in private funding – to demonstrate large-scale carbon capture and storage from industrial sources. The projects – located in Texas, Illinois, and Louisiana – were initially selected in October 2009 for phase one research and development grants. The selections announced today are expected to capture and store 6.5 million tons of CO2 per year- the equivalent of removing nearly one million cars off the road- and increase domestic production of oil by more than 10 million barrels per year by the end of the demonstration period in September 2015.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $11 million in funding over three years for research and development in the area of thermochemical conversion of biomass into advanced biofuels that are compatible with existing fueling infrastructure. The objective of this funding is to improve the conversion of non-food biomass to liquid transportation hydrocarbon fuels via pyrolysis, a process that decomposes biomass using heat in the absence of oxygen to produce a bio-oil that can be upgraded to renewable diesel, gasoline, or jet fuel. Applications for this funding opportunity are due July 9, 2010.

The worries about antibiotic resistance and the rise of superbugs have reached into the ethanol industry. Ethanol producers have long used antibiotics to control bacteria that can contaminate the fermentation process. But now, the Food and Drug Administration is developing a policy to regulate the use of the drugs and is conducting tests in Iowa and nationwide to determine the extent to which the antibiotics are getting into livestock feed produced by the plants.

Commercial flower growers want to tap into the growing market of consumers looking for sustainable products, but those growers aren’t willing to go through a difficult and costly certification to do it at this time. Purdue University faculty Roberto Lopez, Jennifer Dennis, and Maria Marshall, found that nearly two-thirds of U.S. growers aren’t interested in spending the time and money to become certified as sustainable. One-third hadn’t even heard of certification organizations such as Veriflora and MPS, which can charge thousands of dollars for certifications.

Environmental groups and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached a settlement requiring the agency to propose a rule on greater information gathering on confined livestock farms. The rule, to be proposed within 12 months, would require the 20,000 or so domestic factory farms to report information like how they dispose of manure and other waste. – mj: The process of revising the federal manure rules began over ten years ago. It has cost millions of dollars, and the ’solution’ will not ‘fix’ the problem. I’d say the public process has failed the public. Unfortunately, the regulation of manure is only a minor example of this crisis.

According to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau indicate U.S. ethanol exports increased significantly in 2010. In March, the U.S. exported more than 45 million gallons of ethanol. For the first quarter of 2010, U.S. exports exceeded 83 million gallons. By country, Canada and the Netherlands were the top importers of U.S. ethanol. U.S. ethanol is also finding its way into Brazil and OPEC nations in the Middle East.

Despite environmental and economic challenges, Canada’s oilsands could account for more than one-third of U.S. oil supply within two decades, says a new report from U.S.-based Cambridge Energy Research Associates. “The fact that oilsands by themselves — were they a country — are set to become the largest single source of U.S. crude oil imports this year, emphasizes the importance they have attained as a supply source for the United States,” Cambridge chairman Daniel Yergin said in a news release.

BioCycle Magazine compares the feasibility of two, commercial food waste anaerobic digesters. The article outlines some major considerations such as feedstock quality and sourcing, financing considerations, and markets.

Anheuser-Busch InBev has reduced water use by 8.5 percent, energy use by 7 percent and CO2 emissions by 8.5 percent in 2009, all per hectoliter of production, according to the company’s 2009 Global Citizenship Report. In 2009, AB InBev emitted 4.55 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent, of which 65.1 percent were direct emissions and 34.9 percent were indirect. AB InBev has reduced its water use by nearly 32 percent since the end of 2004.

Funding is available from four USDA Rural Development renewable energy programs authorized by the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Farm Bill). USDA is accepting applications for grants and loan guarantees in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) until June 30, 2010. In fiscal year 2009, this program helped fund 1,485 REAP projects in 50 states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Western Pacific Islands.

In 2009, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the United States saw their largest absolute and percentage decline (405 million metric tons or 7.0 percent) since the Energy Information Administration began keeping records in 1949. The slow economy played a large role, but there were also shift from high carbon fuels (coal) to lower carbon fuels (natural gas, biomass, and nuclear). The US shifted away from dirtier, primary manufacturing to cleaner, high tech industries. This latter kind of indicates that the US is just farming out the more carbon-intensive industries. Still, it looks like all the lost jobs and closures of the last two years have at least taken our US emissions levels back to about 1995 levels.

Archer Daniels Midland Co. reported that ADM’s corn processing operating profits increased by $55 million during the third quarter during the company’s quarterly earnings call. Thanks to improved ethanol margins, profit in bioproducts was up significantly from the previous year’s loss, the company reported. Stronger lysine sales volumes and margins were also reflected in the results. On the other hand, profit in sweeteners and starches dropped $101 million from the previous year, due to lower prices only partially offset by lower corn costs.

Revisions to a Purdue University economic analysis have cut about 10 percent of the total emissions expected from an increase in corn ethanol production. The findings, released in a report to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, show that ethanol could be a somewhat better option than previously thought for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Wally Tyner, a Purdue agricultural economist and the report’s lead author, said revisions to the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model better reflect market conditions and land productivity than a 2009 report that showed corn ethanol wouldn’t significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions over gasoline.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a new interagency agreement promoting renewable energy generation and slashing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock operations. The agreement expands the work of the AgStar program, a joint EPA-USDA effort that helps livestock producers reduce methane emissions from their operations.

USDA will begin conducting the first national On-Farm Energy Production Survey this week. The most recent agriculture census counted more than 20,000 farms and ranches that were producing renewable energy via solar panels, wind turbines and methane digesters. USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) is mailing the survey forms to farm and ranch operators nationwide who indicated on the 2007 Census of Agriculture that they were generating renewable energy.

The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced the award of $11.3 million to help develop and commercialize 25 innovative renewable energy and energy storage projects. The money will be allocated as $4.7 million for demonstration projects (5), $4.1 million for new product development (7), and $2.6 million for feasibility studies (13). These resources will leverage $11 million of private sector investment to bring total funding for these projects to $22 million.

Confluence Energy, Kremmling, CO, tries to rebound after tough winter for biomass industry. The company has about 2,000 tons of wood pellets are bagged and stacked at their plant. Last fall, the regional pellet markets became saturated, heating oil prices dipped — causing consumers to look less for alternative fuel sources — the economic recession struck and a mild winter dropped demand for pellets even further, creating what Confluence Energy plant owner Mark Mathis called “the worst year (the pellet industry) has ever had.”

Dominion Virginia Power today asked the State Corporation Commission for permission to reduce customer rates, effective July 1, as a result of a fuel rate adjustment. The company uses a diversified mix of fuel to run its power stations to generate the electricity used by its customers. According to rate provided by Dominion the residential rate has declined from an average of 10.9 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in March 2009, to 9.9 cents per kWh with this new rate request. – mj: not too common to hear about rate decreases these days.