Burning Bio News

BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. pioneer in the production of ethanol from non-food cellulosic wastes, announced that Solazyme, Inc., a pioneer in renewable oil production from algae, are working together. Solazyme is testing sugars, produced through BlueFire’s patented process, for compatibility with its renewable oil process to produce the oil cost effectively and at scale. –mj: innovation at the speed of change! Both companies are working at the pilot scale for their respective technologies and are already moving toward another level of innovation.

USDA, Agricultural Research Service has conducted comprehensive research that shows when no-till methods are used to plant corn into grasses, no soil carbon is lost. Ron Follett, a senior supervisory scientist at the ARS Soil Plant Nutrient Research Unit in Fort Collins, Colo., spent six years monitoring levels of soil organic carbon in a Nebraska field where bromegrass was grown for 13 years and the field then was converted to no-till corn. –mj: This is great news! Science that shows crop production can expand without adding to CO2 emissions.

In a recent on-line survey (McClatchy Ethanol Poll) 66 percent of Americans chose lower gas prices over lowering emissions that cause climate change as more important. The survey also asked about food vs. fuel, the value of ag subsidies, and energy independence. – mj: The responses were all over the place supporting cheap food in one question and biofuels in another. This is a pretty fair reflection of the public clarity of these issues. It is our challenge (including those who read this) to only add-to the pool of useful information. That is easier to say than do.

Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have come up with a process for transforming cellulose directly into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a chemical that can be converted into biofuels. “By combining the cellulose-breakdown and sugar-conversion steps, we are very close to a single-step method of converting raw biomass into a new platform chemical – a chemical you can readily turn into a transportation fuel or for synthesis of plastics and other useful materials,” said Jim Amonette of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Terrenew, LLC expands distribution of their biobased, spill cleanup products. Terrenew products are based on the fact that lingo-cellulosic plant materials are excellent absorbent materials for contaminants such as oil, gasoline (hydro-carbon based materials), hydrogen sulfide and heavy metals.

Catchlight Energy, a joint venture between Weyerhaeuser Co. and Chevron Corporation, has ambitious plans to convert trees and plants to hydrocarbons. Weyerhaeuser intends to grow a native American prairie grass call switchgrass between the trees planted on its southern U.S. lands. The grass grows fast and can be harvested every year, roughly doubling the biomass grown per hectare.

The House Committee on Agriculture held a hearing May 21 regarding proposals for a low carbon fuel standard. Representatives of the American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association and Verenium Corp. testified at the hearing and shared their concerns regarding the inclusion of international indirect land use change effects in state and federal regulations. – mj: while I am glad to see the ethanol industry weighing in on some really bad policy, I didn’t see much in this article that made it clear how bad it is. At a waste-to-fuels conference earlier this week in San Diego, I heard reference to the total land clearing mess associated with the tar-sands oil project in Canada. Talk about release of surface soil carbon in addition to release of fossil carbon… Putting crude oil on the same plane as biofuels is more constructive than cries of ‘fairness’ — or a lack there of…

John Bonner, general manager of Eagle Creek Wholesale LLC, a greenhouse operation in rural Portage County near Mantua, OH, has a goal of becoming 100 percent energy, self-sufficient. Bonner heats 3.5 acres of greenhouse space with manure, sawdust and wood chips. He plans to add 2 acres under glass that will be heated the same way. He also has begun lighting the operation with electricity generated by wind. Eagle Creek recently installed a sleek, 50-kilowatt wind turbine manufactured by a Colorado company. A second one is on the way. The two, along with a new high-efficiency lighting system, are expected to cut the company’s utility power needs by up to 80 percent per year, slashing monthly bills.

The U.S. Forest Service has launched a pilot project that would generate electricity from piles of woody debris left behind by forest thinning projects. The debris from the Tonasket Ranger District would normally be burned. But the experimental project will instead pay ABCO Wood Recycling of Post Falls, Idaho, to grind branches and small logs, and then ship the chips about 70 miles to Avista Corp.’s biomass facility in Kettle Falls. — mj: As currently defined in the Renewable Fuels Standards (2) regulations that EPA has proposed, wood from federal lands is not considered ‘renewable.’ Another mis-step/undersight in the proposed rules…

Irshad Ahmed, president and CEO of Pure Energy Inc. plans to build a biorefinery complex in Saline County (Marshall, MO). The complex will us 1,800 ‘green’ tons (50% moisture) to producing 10 million gallons of ethanol annually, with the potential of producing 40 million gallons once the project’s second phase is completed. The second phase will be powered by locally-grown energy crops.

Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. announced that switchgrass can produce substantially more biomass than previously reported and that average yields often used by academics and policymakers to forecast bioenergy economics and environmental benefits may, in fact, be far too conservative. The company reported that yield results from its nation-wide network of field trials showed that average biomass yields among switchgrass seed varieties tested last season were as much as 50% more than the government’s projected yields for 2022.

The City of Sanford, Florida begins operation of its MaxWest gasifier. The unique MaxWest system will gasify Sanford’s treated wastewater sludge to provide renewable “green” thermal energy to replace energy from natural gas for the City’s sludge dryer. The energy in sludge is converted to heat safely and economically. – mj: I have worked with the technology developers for MaxWest. It is a no-nonsense biomass conversion technology.

Sen. Charles Grassley said today that he didn’t think the land-use issue “was a big deal” when Congress approved an energy bill requiring the EPA to measure the greenhouse gas emissions of biofuels. –mj: This admission really turns my stomach. I spent 10 years providing technical ’solutions’ to political agriculture. It was a great job, but the hard reality is that DC (and other political bodies) make policies on the deals. Laws with million- and billion-dollar impacts are relegated to a game similar to ‘Go Fish’ that we used to play when I was a kid. “Got any 3’s?” “Go fish!” “I’ll trade you an ‘emissions pass for agriculture’ if you give me land-use impact credit for foreign lands.” “Go fish!, … No, on second thought… Ok.” This concerns me significantly more than the long-run damage to our planet from releasing too much carbon.

Salem businessmen, Diesel Brewing, plan to turn wood and dairy manure into butanol in Salem, OR. Diesel Brewing’s technology involves using a gasifier to convert the biomass into syngas. After separating the gases, a catalyst creates a chemical reaction with carbon monoxide and hydrogen to create butanol. The current pilot plant proposal would convert about 1 ton per day to fuel. Once it is successful the plan would expand to a 100 ton commercial plant.

Logic suggests that boutique lip balms, hand creams and shampoos that cost double competitors’ brands would be among the first luxuries jettisoned by strapped shoppers these days. But low-tech Burt’s Bees is making money and advertising for more workers here among the North Carolina pines, even in a state with the nation’s fifth-highest jobless rate. Burt’s Bees, which says it uses only natural ingredients, has averaged 25 percent compounded growth each year since its founding 25 years ago, according to Chief Executive John Replogle. He says sales have doubled in the past three years. With 400 employees, the company has hired 30 people this year and intends to hire 30 more by December… …Waste oils are converted to biodiesel, and plant residue is converted to compost at the company’s 100,000-square-foot processing plant in Durham, said manufacturing manager Keith Kochersperger. The plant has energy-efficient lights and waterless urinals. – mj: a nice economic success story that is due in part to reuse.

Bio-Blend Fuels, Manitowoc, WI, uses bacon fat to produce biodiesel. They also distribute it through their own blending station. According to the article, the Kaderabeks’ blend of 20 percent biodiesel-80 percent regular diesel sold for $2.17 Monday while “B99″ (almost all fuel from the pig fat) was $1.99.

A joint venture by ConocoPhillips and Tyson that would have the fuel giant turning the meat giant’s animal fat waste into biodiesel has folded because of the halving of a key federal tax credit. Tyson Foods said the bailout bill approved by Congress and signed by President Bush in late 2008 reduced the tax credit for renewable diesel “co-processing” from $1 per gallon to $0.50 per gallon. The refinery would have had a production capacity of 175 million gallons of biodiesel a year.

Dynamic Fuels LLC (a partnership between Tyson Foods and Syntroleum Corp) are on schedule to complete their 75 million gallon biodiesel refinery in Geismar, Louisiana next year. The facility will turn chicken fat, beef tallow, pork lard and other greases, into high-quality biodiesel and jet fuel by next year. — mj: This is like a tale of two chicken fat-to-fuel projects. The large scale oil refinery project can’t make it work, and the smaller one can? Maybe the LA plant fits into a different tax credit category? It might have something to do with a commitment to make it work? It is hard to believe that even with low oil prices the opportunity cost of using chicken fat to displace crude oil can be too high? Regardless of the details, it cost too much for ConocoPhillips and Tyson to make work in Texas.

Earlier this month, California regulators approved new rules that ban storing certain types of biodiesel in underground fuel tanks. Biodiesel advocates said the rule will reduce sales of biodiesel across California. Under the new rules, blends that pure can only be stored in above-ground tanks. For urban dealers, that requirement may not feasible.

A team of researchers from the University of Minnesota partnered with the Metropolitan Council for the project to identify and grow algae that thrives in wastewater. The subsequent pilot project for growing algae in a wastewater treatment plant in St. Paul, MN, will serve two functions: removing nitrogen and phosphorus from the water and producing algal biomass for use in the manufacture of biofuels.