Burning Bio News

Switchgrass is being evaluated by the University of Tennessee and others as a possible feedstock for cellulosic ethanol production. Burt English, agricultural economist at the University of Tennessee, studied the harvest, storage and degridation of switchgrass bales.

Miscanthus research has begun in Iowa. Emily Heaton, the miscanthus queen, is now an agronomist at Iowa State University. Heaton joined the faculty at ISU earlier this year and appears to enjoy the challenge of converting Iowa’s definition of an energy crop from switchgrass to miscanthus. Go Emily!

The New York-based owner of the idled ethanol plant in Blairstown has agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle a shareholder class-action lawsuit. A settlement with Xethanol Corp. has received preliminary approval from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to the New Orleans law firm that led the case for shareholders, Kahn Gauthier Sevick LLC.

Vancouver-based Lignol Corporation announced that it is planning to build its planned cellulosic ethanol plant in Grand Junction, CO (rather than the originally announced Commerce City, CO). It plans to begin building the 2.6 million gallon ethanol plant in 2010 to be completed by 2012 and will use the trees killed by beetles as a feedstock for the fuel.

Destiny, a proposed Osceola County, FL, community that intends to become an eco city, this week announced its plans to grow crops such as sweet sorghum, jatropha and algae to produce biofuels from nonfood materials and showcase sustainable farming practices.

The American Farmland Trust has published a report on the possibility of supplying food for San Francisco, CA from within a 100 mile radius. San Francisco is surrounded by very productive land, so if it can be done, it should work there. The report raises some issues about the competition for land between urban areas and agriculture. Some of biomass energy policies don’t allow opening up farmland. So, once it is claimed by concrete, there is currently no recourse. — mj

EPA is making available for public review and comment a draft document titled, Risk and Exposure Assessment to Support the Review of the NO2 Primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard: Second Draft. This draft document has two purposes: To convey the approaches taken to characterize exposures and risks associated with ambient NO2, and to present the results of these analyses. Comments on the above reports must be received on or before September 26, 2008.

Springville farmer Wayne Keith and David Bransby, a professor in Auburn’s College of Agriculture, will race Keith’s 1991 Dodge Dakota from Berkeley, CA, to Las Vegas, NV, Oct. 10 through Oct. 13. The vehicle, which uses a device called a gasifier to turn wood or grass into a flammable gas, will be racing against cars powered by the sun, steam, vegetable oil and an assortment of garbage.

Archer Daniels Midland Company, Deere & Company, and Monsanto Company have agreed to collaborate on research to explore technologies and processes to turn crop residues into feed and bioenergy products. The companies will work together to identify environmentally and economically sustainable methods for the harvest, storage and transport of corn stover — the stalks, leaves and cobs of corn plants. Corn stover can be used in feed for animals, as biomass to generate steam and electricity or as a cellulosic feedstock for biofuel production.

The Michigan Public Service Commission issued an order approving $12,499,757 in Michigan energy efficiency grants for all customer classes to 16 organizations for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

The MA Department of Public Utilities rejected plant-builder, Russell Biomass’s request to bypass local zoning laws and start construction. It said the proposed plant would have clear benefits, including the use of renewable fuel to produce electricity. But it said that didn’t outweigh problems, including increased truck traffic that would have “disruptive and lasting” impacts on the town.

Virtual Information Bridge to Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energy (VIBE) - gathers and displays data to help vehicle owners and managers of fleets switch to alternative fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. Also, The ReFUEL, or Renewable Fuels and Lubricants, laboratory tests fleet vehicles to find ways to dramatically improve their fuel mileage.

A new composting unit has begun operation that will allow Ohio University to divert up to a quarter of its solid waste from the landfill. Capable of processing up to two tons of compostable materials per day, the unit is among the largest in-vessel composting systems at a U.S. university.

Georgia Power has asked the Georgia Public Service Commission for approval to convert its 155 megawatt coal-fired unit at its Mitchell Generating Plant near Albany, GA, to use wood, instead. The converted unit would produce 96 megawatts of electricity.

Karl Rehberg was sentenced in U.S. District Court to five years in federal prison and three years of supervised release for conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States. His wife, Helen, was sentenced to two years in federal prison and three years of supervised release for obstruction of justice. Federal prosecutors said Karl and Helen Rehberg bilked about 2,800 investors in the 1990s out of $20 million by selling unregistered securities in the form of stock in a company called NOPEC in Lakeland, FL, which they said could convert used restaurant cooking grease into biodiesel fuel.

University of GA is becoming a contender in alternative fuels research. Currently about 90 UGA are working on bioenergy projects. Recently, one research team was awarded $1.2 million to study the genetics of sunflowers, a potential source of raw material for biofuels. Another research team got $1.3 million to study foxtail millet, a plant related to switchgrass, used to produce ethanol. Both funded by USDA. UGA is also home to the DOE funded, Complex Carbohydrate Research Center.

A biofuel complex is planned for Jerome, AR. The first of two biodiesel facilities has begun site preparation. The biodiesel plant will use algae grown on former catfish ponds for oil. In addition to the 2 biodiesel plants, each with 10 million gallon capacities, a 110 million gallon ethanol plant is also planned.

The county, Rochester Institute of Technology and General Motors representatives officially announced the opening of the Green Fuel Station in Rochester, NY. It looks like there is one other hydrogen fueling station in White Plains, NY.

Organic Recovery of Pompano Beach is converting Publix Super Markets Inc. food waste into a liquid plant food for farmland, crops and golf courses. The oils and greases will be converted to biodiesel fuel. The company expects to divert about 17,000 tons of food scraps a year from local landfills.

Sustainable Fuels LLC, based in New Iberia, LA, has received a $4 million loan guarantee through the USDA Business and Industry Loan Program. Sustainable Fuels will build a $6 million yellow grease-to-biodiesel facility in New Iberia that will have a 5 million gallon per year capacity.