The Energy Blog

30 mgy Algal Biodiesel Refinery to be Built in Arizona

PetroSun, Inc. (PINK: PSUD) announced 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. PetroSun BioFuels will process the residual algae biomass into ethanol.

Petrosun claims that Independent studies have demonstrated that algae is capable of producing in excess of 30 times more oil per acre than corn and soybean crops.

In a Feb 2, 2007 announcement PetroSun, Inc.'s field testing of the cultivation of algae for biodiesel production has progressed to the final stage prior to the construction of a commercial cultivation facility. This final stage will consist of producing adequate algae paste to test the output and economics of several biodiesel refinery manufacturers now under consideration by Algae Biofuels, a wholly owned subsidiary of PetroSun, which will own and operate the production and refinery facilities.

Noted in Passing: Shell to Build Algae Test Facility

The International Hearld Tribune reported that Shell will build a facility in Hawaii to grow and test algae for its potential as a biofuel.

"This is a 2.5 hectare (6 acre) demonstration project, and it will take up to two years to complete," Shell spokeswoman Olga Gorodilina said of the project. Whether it proceeds further "will depend on the results," she said.  . . .

Shell will form a majority-owned joint venture to build the project with Delaware-based HR Biopetroleum Inc., which has expertise in growing algae.  . . .

"Algae have great potential as a sustainable feedstock for production of diesel-type fuels with a very small CO2 footprint," said Graeme Sweeney, a Shell executive overseeing the project, in a statement. "This demonstration will be an important test of the technology and, critically, of commercial viability".

Neste Oil to Build Largest Plant Producing Renewable Diesel

Neste Oil (Helsinki: NES1V.HE ) has announced plans to build a €550 million (US$810 million) NExBTL plant, the largest renewable diesel plant in the world, with a capacity of 800,000 t/a (12,150 bpd¹), located in Singapore, and using palm oil as feedstock. NExBTL technology, is the first commercial second generation biodiesel production process (Neste prefers to call it renewable diesel rather than biodiesel, because of its improved properties and the potential ability to be made from energy crops other than oil seeds or animal fat).

The first NExBTL facility, shown above, was commissioned in Finland at Neste Oil's Porvoo refinery in summer 2007, and a second is due to come on stream there in 2009. Both have an annual production capacity of 170,000 tons (2,580 bpd).

NExBTL Renewable Diesel, outperforms conventional fossil diesel fuel and can be used as such in existing vehicles and be distributed in existing logistics systems. It is a pure hydrocarbon with properties and quality similar to fossil diesel. Wider feedstock base can be utilized in the production process.  Due to quality, it is possible to blend tens of percents of NExBTL into diesel. The higher the NExBTL content is, the lower are the emissions.

Improved Strain of Camelina Developed for Biodiesel Feedstock

Targeted Growth, Inc. (TGI), a renewable energy bioscience company, and Green Earth Fuels, a biodiesel energy company, announced the formation of a joint venture called Sustainable Oils, Inc.. The new venture will produce and market up to 100 million gallons of Camelina-based biodiesel by 2010, launching the single largest U.S. contract for the unique biodiesel-specific feedstock. Nearly all of the initial Camelina production is expected to be grown in Montana.

Camelina, a distant relative to Canola, can grow on marginal land, requires minimal water or fertilizer, and can be harvested with traditional equipment. TGI has been perfecting Camelina for the past three years in greenhouse and field trials. Specifically, it has used non-transgenic molecular assisted breeding programs to create a crop that is well suited to Montana’s climate and soil and that produces high quality biodiesel.

“We have created a better feedstock for biodiesel,” said Tom Todaro, CEO of Targeted Growth. “Camelina can be rotated with current Montana crops, it grows in land with lower agricultural value, and it doesn’t significantly increase the use of fertilizer or irrigation water. We think this will be a model for the development and use of other biofuel-specific crops.”

“This deal allows us access to a high quality feedstock at an extraordinarily competitive price,” said Green Earth Fuels CEO Greg Bafalis. “There’s an advantage to being vertically integrated – it closely aligns our interests with those of our feedstock suppliers. And because Camelina exists outside of the traditional commodity market, it should not be as volatile as other feedstocks.”

Targeted Growth has spent years applying its suite of yield and trait technologies to Camelina to create the first Elite Camelina Seed. Green Earth Fuels opened one of the country’s largest biodiesel production facilities this month, in Houston, and is successfully developing additional projects to provide biodiesel that meets exceptional quality and ratability standards to leading energy companies.

This is a welcome addition to the feedstocks available for biodiesel. Until biodiesel from algae becomes a commercial reality, lower cost, higher yielding crops will improve the viability of biodiesel.

First Commercial Algae Facility Announced

In what would be a first, Green Star Products (GSPI) has announced that is building a commercial algae facility, located next to an existing biodiesel plant. Continuously harvesting algae from a pond or bioreactors appears to be the major technological step to be overcome before biodiesel production becomes feasible. It was not stated in the new press release what technology would be used to produce the algae. Presumably it would use its HAPS technology, shown above, which they describe as follows: "The GSPI (licensed) algae system (which) is a Hybrid Algae Production System (HAPS) that incorporates the controlled environment of the closed photobioreactors coupled with inexpensive construction technology to reduce the cost to a level very close to the open pond systems." However in a in a previous project, earlier post, (which has been canceled due to financial problems of the customer) the customer had negotiated with Greenfuels Technologies, previous post, to use their reactors. GSPI uses a low cost continuous flow reactor, earlier post, each rated at 10 million gallons per year, to make biodiesel. GSPI has also developed an algae strain, that it believes is superior to other strains.

Among the advantages of using algae to make biodiesel the three that stand out to me are 1) algae is a non-food feedstock 2) it can be produced on land that is not suitable for agriculture, such as in deserts 3) the amount of land required is much less than that for oilseed crops.

If all the technical problems are resolved the remaining issue is whether biodiesel can be produced economically, without subsidies. Through the use of their reactors and presumably HAPS, GSPI may obtain low enough costs to be competitive. Another problem is that GSPI is a penny stock and its financial future is unclear to me.  Its business plan appears to be to partner with someone with greater resources to build the plants, in return for its patents and knowhow, and then sharing the royalties from the biodiesel production with its partner. 

The following is a slightly edited version of the press release regarding the new algae production facility.

Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC:GSPI) announced that it has signed a contract to build a 100-acre Commercial Algae Facility in the Midwest.

Ethanol from Biodiesel Byproduct

Biotech reports that scientists have found a way to convert glycerin, a byproduct of biodiesel production into ethanol.

Ramon Gonzalez and Syed Shams Yazdani have identified the metabolic processes and conditions that allow a known strain of Escherichia coli to convert glycerin into ethanol through an anaerobic fermentation process.

Gonzalez found that ethanol from glycerol is 39 cents cheaper to produce than ethanol from corn. Feedstock costs per gallon were 53 cents for corn, versus 30 cents for glycerol. Per gallon operating costs were 52 cents for corn and just 36 cents for glycerol. . . . more

I would think this technology would only be applicable to larger biodiesel plants, of which there are not too many in the U.S., but probably more in Germany.

New Benefuel Refinery Targets Key Flaws in Biodiesel Production

Benefuel, Inc., announced on October 10 that it will build the world's first industrial-scale biodiesel refinery using a solid catalyst that converts low-grade fats and vegetable oils into biodiesel. The 10-million gallon a year plant, planned to be located in Seymour, Ind., eliminates the need for water in the refining process and produces a market-ready glycerin by-product.

Benefuel’s key technology innovation – the perfection of a solid catalyst, fixed bed reactor refining process – revolutionizes biodiesel production by eliminating demand for water, expanding the range of oil feedstock options and increasing the value of glycerin byproducts.

Advantages of the process include:

• Processing the broadest range of feedstocks with no pre-processing (up to 100% FFA’s).
• Eliminate the need for water washing or dry washing, as there is no caustic liquid catalyst to remove.
• Create an exceptionally high purity glycerin (98%+) resulting in significant economic benefits.
• Enables a continuous flow fuel-processing model that is not possible in traditional stirred tank reactors.
• Modular, portable and rapidly deployable
• Eliminate the possibility of out of specification fuel with an in-line, continuous automated quality monitoring system connected through Internet technologies, cutting labor costs and eliminating down time.

Growth in Biofuels Production Remains Strong

Growth in the biofuel industry remains strong for both ethanol and biodiesel, according to a presss release for the Soyatech's Biofuels Index, newly updated for Q2 2007. However, the data also shows signs that the corn-based ethanol build out may be leveling off.

Soyatech's Biofuels Index, which tracks planned and actual build-out of biofuels production capacity, reports dramatic growth in planned capacity for ethanol plants over the past year, from 6.761 billion gallons per year (BGY) as of July 1, 2006, to 13.03 BGY as of July 1, 2007 - an increase of 93%. During this same period, growth in ethanol capacity under construction increased 199%, from 2.417 BGY to 7.226 BGY.

During Q2 2007, total online capacity for ethanol increased by 564 million gallons per year (MGY), or 10.7%, from 5.289 BGY to 5.853 BGY. Capacity in planning rose by approximately 6% during the quarter.

However, the Index also points to a slight leveling off in construction of ethanol plants during Q2 2007 - the first time since the Index began tracking these numbers. According to the Index, capacity under construction decreased slightly by 1.7%.

"While the percent change is too small and the time frame too short to identify this as a definitive trend, we understand from industry sources that it is more difficult to secure debt financing for new refineries due largely to increased equity requirements on the part of banks providing this funding. We suspect that an additional cause may be constraints on the amount of corn available as a feedstock to produce ethanol," said Jacob Golbitz, director of research for Soyatech and its parent company, HighQuest Partners.

D1 Oils, BP Form Joint Venture to Grow Jatropha for Biodiesel

D1 Oils plc, a UK-based producer of biodiesel, plans to establish a Joint Venture with BP to create a business in Jatropha curcas: D1-BP Fuel Crops Limited.

Jatropha is a drought resistant, inedible oilseed bearing tree which does not compete with food crops for good agricultural land or adversely impact the rainforest. It grows in tropical and sub-tropical regions and produces high yields of inedible vegetable oil that can be used to produce high-quality biodiesel. Jatropha can grow on a wide range of land types, including non-arable, marginal and waste land.

Under the terms of the agreement, BP and D1 Oils intend to invest around US$160 million (£80) million over the next five years. D1 Oils will contribute their 172,000 hectares of existing plantations in India, Southern Africa and South East Asia to the joint venture and the joint venture will have exclusive access to the elite jatropha seedlings produced through D1 Oils’ plant science program.

Highlights of the Agreement

Establishment of a 50:50 Joint Venture to undertake global planting of jatropha:

• Target to plant one million hectares over four years
• D1 contributes plantings to date and planting business
• BP contributes working capital of US$65 million (£32 million) through equity in the Joint Venture
• Total Joint Venture funding requirement of approximately US$160 million (£80 million) over five years
• Plant science remains 100% owned by D1
• D1 to grant BP an option to subscribe for new shares representing 16% of its enlarged share capital at an average price of 251 pence

Major global business to plant jatropha as sustainable biodiesel feedstock:

• Endorsement by BP of D1's sustainable feedstock strategy
• Potential to produce low-cost, volume supplies of inedible oil for biodiesel - Use of marginal and waste land and land unsuitable for arable crops
• No competition with high biodiversity value rainforest
• Significant job creation and value to local communities

GreenFuels Stumbles, CEO Replaced

The Boston Globe reported last week that, Robert Metcaff, a principal at Polaris Ventures, has replaced GreenFuels, (previous post) CEO Carry Bulluck as interim CEO. Polaris has invested $6.8 million in the algae to oil company.

Isaac Berzin, founder of Greenfuels, a chemical engineering researcher at MIT, developed a system that captures carbon dioxide from conventional electric power plants into a "bioreactor" that contains water and algae. The CO2 causes the algae to grow, and when harvested can be converted into biofuels. After successful testing in the laboratory, a pilot plant was built in Arizona. The pilot plant has been shut down because an unexpectedly high density limited light and nutrient supply, which caused the algae to start dying and was more costly than expected. Greenfuels has a test facility, shown above, at the APS’ Redhawk Power Plant, located about 50 miles west of Phoenix.

Metcalfe plans to institute an improved technology that costs less and allows for easier harvesting.

To conserve capital Metcaff has cut employment from 43 to 28.

Thanks to Rob Day for the tip

Catlin Receives Funding for Nanotech Biodiesel Pilot Plant

Catlin Inc. raised $3 million in Series A funding to develop Dr Victor Lin's nanotechnology biodiesel process. The funds will be used to build out a pilot production facility, continue groundbreaking research, and build the Catilin team. Catilin has developed a process for biofuels production that promises to greatly reduce the cost of biodiesel, and to make biodiesel cost competitive with diesel without government subsidies. The financing was led by MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures, an early-stage Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm.

Dr. Victor S.-Y. Lin, Chief Technologist & Founder, Professor of Chemistry-Iowa State University is the inventor of the process.

The catalyst is claimed to be more economical, be recyclable, reacts at mild temperatures and ambient pressures, allow processing of both low FFA (free fatty acid) and high FFA feedstock, produces cleaner biodiesel and cleaner glycerol, greatly reduces water consumption, reduces environmental contaminants and can be easily used in existing facilities.

The ionosphere-based catalyst  reacts vegetable oils and animal fats with methanol to produce biodiesel. The technology allows efficient conversion of FFA's into fuel by loading the ionospheres with acidic catalysts to react with the free fatty acids and basic catalysts to react with the oils.

The technology replaces sodium Methodist methoxide -- a toxic, corrosive and flammable catalyst -- in biodiesel production. And that eliminates several production steps including acid neutralization, water washes and separations. All those steps dissolve the toxic catalyst so it can't be used again.

University of Wisconsin Engineers Develop Higher-Energy Liquid-Transportation Fuel from Sugar

A University of Wisconsin press release, announced that university chemical and biological engineering Professor James Dumesic and his research team have developed a two-stage process for turning biomass-derived sugar, fructose, into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), a liquid transportation fuel with 40 percent greater energy density than ethanol, similar to that of gasoline.

By engineering sugar through a series of steps involving hydrochoric acid and copper catalysts, salt and using butanol as a solvent, UW-Madison researchers created a path for a sustainable, carbon-neutral fuel to reduce global reliance on fossil fuels.

Not only does dimethylfuran have higher energy content than ethanol, it also addresses other ethanol shortcomings. DMF is not soluble in water and therefore cannot become contaminated by absorbing water from the atmosphere. DMF is stable in storage and, in the evaporation stage of its production, consumes one-third of the energy required to evaporate a solution of ethanol produced by fermentation for biofuel applications.

Dumesic and graduate students Yuriy Roman-Leshkov, Christopher J. Barrett and Zhen Y. Liu developed their new catalytic process, reported in the June 21 issue of the journal Nature, for creating DMF by expanding upon earlier work, previous post.

ConocoPhillips-Tyson Foods to Produce Next Generation Renewable Diesel

Condensed from press release:

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) and Tyson Foods, Inc. (NYSE:TSN) announced a strategic alliance to produce and market the next generation of renewable diesel fuel. The alliance plans to use beef, pork and poultry by-product fat to create a transportation fuel which will contribute to America’s energy security and help to address climate change concerns.

Using a proprietary thermal depolymerization production technology, the animal fats will be processed with hydrocarbon feedstocks to produce a high-quality diesel fuel that meets all federal standards for ultra-low-sulfur diesel. The addition of animal fat also improves the fuel’s ignition properties, while the processing step improves its storage stability and handling characteristics.

Tyson will make capital improvements this summer in order to begin pre-processing animal fat from some of its North American rendering facilities later in the year. ConocoPhillips also will begin the necessary capital expenditures to enable it to produce the fuel in several of its refineries. The finished product will be renewable diesel fuel mixtures that meet all federal standards for ultra-low-sulfur diesel. Production is expected to ramp up over time to as much as 175 million gallons per year of renewable diesel.

First 100% Biodiesel Power Plant

Biofuels Power Corp. announced today that it has begun producing and selling electricity into the ERCOT Power Grid from its biodiesel powered generating plant in Oak Ridge North, Texas. The Oak Ridge North facility is the first power plant in the country to run entirely on biodiesel, a renewable carbon neutral fuel produced from vegetable oil and animal fat. Biofuels Power plans to build a series of biodiesel powered electric generating plants to serve residential and industrial customers in the Houston Metropolitan area.

The Oak Ridge North facility has a capacity of up to 5 Megawatts and uses three diesel powered Caterpillar generators that run exclusively on biodiesel fuel produced by the Safe Renewables refinery located within two miles of the power plant.

Biofuels Power is now constructing a larger turbine-based biodiesel power plant at the Safe Renewables’ refinery site. The second facility is expected to deliver over 10 Megawatts into the Entergy power grid

Ethanol, Biodiesel Directory of Retail Stations

New Alternative Fuel Directory Features Over 2200 E85 and Biodiesel Retail Locations Nationwide

Feb. 21 - USA Energy Independence Publications announces the first ever directory covering both E85 Ethanol Fuel and Biodiesel Fuel retail stations nationwide. Designed to help the Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV)-vehicle and diesel-powered vehicle owners find local retail outlets for these fuels, the directory also features a buyers guide for 2007 and earlier model Flex Fuel vehicles. Updated quarterly, the 70 plus page directory is available as a single copy sale for $19.95 or as a subscription with discounts for yearly subscribers. The directory may be ordered from USA Energy Independence Publications, 1776 S Naperville Rd. Ste 201A, Wheaton, IL 60187 Or by calling 630-221-1778. Most credit cards accepted.

GS AgriFuels Completes Investment in Biorefinery Operator

GS AgriFuels Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GSGF - News) announced that it recently acquired a 14.3% stake in Missoula, MT-based Sustainable Systems, Inc., ("Sustainable") an agricultural company focused on high-value culinary oil, biobased fuels, and bioproducts obtained by crushing oilseeds.

In addition, GS AgriFuels received a purchase order from Sustainable for a ten million gallon per year biodiesel system through its wholly-owned subsidiary, NextGen Fuel Inc. Fabrication of the biodiesel system is expected to begin later this year for co-location at Sustainable's Culbertson, Montana oilseed crush plant. The system, which is being manufactured by Warnecke Design in Van Wert, Ohio, is expected to operate using various vegetable oilseed crops that grow in the region of the existing crush plant.

The biodiesel system being purchased by Sustainable Systems, Inc. represents NextGen's fifth customer order for equipment in the past 90 days - in total representing 40 million gallons of annual production capacity.

APS, Greenfuel win Award for Emissions Energy Project of the Year

Arizona Public Service Company and its partner GreenFuel Technologies were recognized with the Emissions Energy Project of the Year award at the 8^th Annual Platts Global Energy Awards held Thursday night in New York. GreenFuel’s Emissions-to-Biofuels™ technology uses an algae bioreactor system connected to the smokestack of APS' Redhawk 1,040 megawatt power to recycle carbon dioxide emissions, thereby reducing the amount of CO2 dispersed into the air, and then converts the algae into renewable biofuels.

The emissions to biofuels project addresses two important issues in the U.S. today — reducing greenhouse gas emissions at power plants and producing more domestic sources of alternative fuels for automobiles and power plants. Theoretically, this is the first step in creating a self-sustaining renewable energy system for producing electricity.

At Redhawk, the CO2 emissions are trapped and transferred to specialized containers, shown above, holding algae. In the presence of sunlight, the algae consume the CO2 and multiply. Once enough algae is grown, it is harvested, and its starches are turned into ethanol; its lipids into biodiesel; and its protein into high-grade food for livestock or returned to the algae farm as nutrients. It is estimated that for every acre of algae grown on the plant site, up to 150 tons of CO2 can be absorbed — the greatest ever achieved outside of a laboratory.

Greenstar Products: 90 Biodiesel Reactors, Algae Feedstock

Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC: GSPI)  announced that it has signed an agreement with De Beers Fuel Limited of South Africa to build 90 biodiesel reactors.

Each of the biodiesel reactors, first one shown here, will be capable of producing 10 million gallons of biodiesel each year for a total production capacity of 900,000,000 gallons per year when operating at full capacity, which is 4 times greater than the entire U.S. output in 2006.

The first plant is currently using sunflower seed oil as feedstock, however, it is planned to switch to using algae produced with the Greenfuel Technologies Corporation system and has purchased and removed their bioreactor from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and transported it to South Africa.

VeraSun, GS Agrifuels to Produce Biodiesel from Distillers Grains

VeraSun Energy Corporation (NYSE: VSE), the nation's second-largest ethanol producer, last week announced plans to produce biodiesel from oil extracted from dried distillers grains (DDG), a co-product of the ethanol production process. Similar announcements have been made by GSGF.PK).

Removing the oil from DDG both increases the value of the oil for fuel use, and enhances the resulting distillers grains as a livestock feed by concentrating protein and reducing fat content.

Biodiesel production grew to 150 million gallons in 2006 from 75 million gallons in 2005. The Energy Information Administration projects biodiesel demand will increase to more than one billion gallons by 2010 and double to two billion gallons by 2020.

GS AgriFuels to Merge with GS Energy

GS AgriFuels Corporation (OTC: GSGF.PK) today announced an agreement to merge with GS Energy Corporation. GreenShift Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GSHF.OB), which currently owns about 90% of GS AgriFuels and about 80% of GS Energy in the form of preferred stock, will exchange its GS Energy stock for GS AgriFuels stock such that GreenShift will own about 85% of GS AgriFuels after completion of the merger.

The merger will bring GS Energy’s specialty equipment manufacturing company, Warnecke Design Service, Inc. (“Warnecke”) to GS AgriFuels, where it will focus on the manufacturing of GS AgriFuels’ fuel production infrastructure. Importantly, Warnecke has been manufacturing biodiesel processing equipment for NextGen Fuel, Inc. (“NextGen”) since earlier this year.

RE: The False Hope of Biofuels

The Sunday, July 2, edition of the Washington Post had a column titled "The False Hope of Biofuels" which had the basic premise that biofuels could only supply half of our transportation fuel needs by 2025 and that food supplies would be compromised if it did so.  I don't think that any responsible person has argued that we could supply more than 30% of our current transportation fuel requirements, rather a diversity of fuels and conservation methods, featuring plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, will be required to provide relief from our increasingly expensive oil supplies.

In the most authoritative report on this subject "Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply", an ORNL study determined that enough fuel could be produced from biomass to meet more than one-third of our current demand for transportation fuels in the U.S. by 2030. As far as the arguments about land usage, the land necessary for producing the biofuels includes currently unused marginal land on which switchgrass or similar crops could be grown, land that is currently idle, and cellulose products produced from forestry wastes and the like, that do not require any additional land usage, as well as a fraction of the land currently devoted to the production of food, which is currently used to produce food for export or to produce food that is bought by the government to subsidise farmers. This study did not include the very significant amount of fuel that could be made from municiple solid waste, or methane from landfills and animal wastes (manure).

The answer to our increasingly expensive fuels is a diversified utilization of several technologies, not just biofuels.  The combination of biofuels; vehicles that use less fuels, such as energy efficient hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs): those made by Toyota, the Honda Insight and Civic and the Ford Escape Escalade; more importantly plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs); all electric vehicles (EVs); fuels made by coal liquefaction; vehicles running on CNG; our remaining domestic supplies of oil; and gains in efficiency made possible by more widespread use of mass transportation are more than sufficient to supply our transportation needs for the foreseeable future, even after allowing for population growth and land needed for growing food crops.

Biodiesel from Fructose

A University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineering Professor, James Dumesic, has published a report in the journal Science showing a better way to make a chemical intermediate called HMF (hydroxymethylfurfural) from fructose – fruit sugar. HMF can be converted into plastics, diesel-fuel additive, or even diesel fuel itself, but it has been seldom used because it is costly to make.

The new, patent-pending method for making HMF is a balancing act of chemistry, pressure, temperature and reactor design. After a catalyst converts fructose into HMF, the HMF moves to a solvent that carries it to a separate location, where the HMF is extracted. Although other researchers had previously converted fructose into HMF, Dumesic’s research group made a series of improvements that raised the HMF output, and also made the HMF easier to extract.

Once made, HMF is fairly easy to convert into plastics or diesel fuel. Although the biodiesel that has made headlines lately is made from a fat (even used cooking oil), not a sugar, both processes have similar environmental and economic benefits, Dumesic says. Instead of buying petroleum from abroad, the raw material would come from domestic agriculture. Expanding the source of raw material should also depress the price of petroleum.

Finding a Better Way to Make Biodiesel

Iowa State scientists, led by Victor Lin, have developed nanospheres, only 250 billionth of a meter in diameter, containing a catalyst that could revolutionize the production of biodiesel.  The nanospheres replace the sodium hydroxide, usually used as the catalyst, eliminating the acid neutralization, water wash and separation steps associated with recovering the biodiesel from the chemical mixture.

Lin has developed a nanotechnology that accurately controls the production of tiny, uniformly shaped silica particles. Running all the way through the particles are honeycombs of relatively large channels that can be filled with a catalyst that reacts with soybean oil to create biodiesel. The particles can also be loaded with chemical gatekeepers that encourage the soybean oil to enter the channels where chemical reactions take place. The results include faster conversion to biodiesel, a catalyst that can be recycled and elimination of the neutralization and water wash steps in the production process. The particles themselves are environmentally safe because they are made of calcium and sand.

PetroSun Enters Algae to Biodiesel R&D

Producing biodiesel from algae has been touted by many as the solution for our liquid fuels problem.  The advantage being that the land requirement for growing the biodiesel is small and our requirements could be easily met by using only a small part of our deserts.  A new company has announced that they were going to pursue this technology.

PetroSun Drilling Inc. (PSUD.PK), formed a wholly owned subsidiary, Algae BioFuels Inc., which will be engaged in the research and development of algae cultivation as an energy source in the production of biodiesel.  The R&D and production facilities for Algae BioFuels will be based in Arizona and Australia.

Independent studies have demonstrated that algae is capable of producing 30 times more oil per acre than the current crops now utilized for the production of biofuels. Algae biofuel contains no sulfur, is non-toxic and highly biodegradable. Some species of algae are ideally suited to biodiesel production due to their high oil content, in excess of 50%, and extremely rapid growth rates.

Green Star Biodiesel Process

Green Star Products, Inc. (OTC:GSPI - News) announced that they have developed and successfully commercially tested their 10 million gallon per year advanced biodiesel reactor. GSPI reactors require only two minutes to complete the biodiesel conversion reaction compared to over one hour that is typical for a conventional biodiesel plant.

GSPI Biodiesel Plants have the following competitive advantages:

• All plant design is modularized so additional capacity can be added at minimal cost.
• Speed of construction - plant can be placed in service in 14-16 weeks versus industry standard average of 14 to 18 months.
• Small footprint of plant because of its modularized "continuous flow waterless design" versus industry batch plant design, which also results in lower production and maintenance costs.
• Minimum plant management and operations staff required because plant is automated.
• Proven technology - Industrial size plant operated and produced biodiesel for over three years in Bakersfield, California.
• Minimal permits required from regulatory agencies. Plant requires no wastewater permit, which could take up to one year to obtain and minimum air quality permits.
• The plant design is very energy efficient and reduces energy requirements by over 30% of industry average.
• Lower capital costs by at least 40% compared to biodiesel industry standards. (between $.80 cents per gallon to a high of $1.25 per installed gallon for conventional biodiesel plants)
• Plants require 30 to 40% less energy (increased efficiency) to run motors and pumps.
• Faster achievement of positive cash flow is due to a much shorter time frame to complete construction and permitting.

Greenfuel Update

After not revealing much about its activities for some time, Greenfuel (previous posts here and here) released the following press release announcing to a new field study.

NRG Energy, Inc. (NYSE:NRG) has formed a joint initiative with GreenFuel Technologies Corporation (GreenFuel) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to study carbon dioxide (CO2) recycling. The technology takes the flue gas of a power plant and utilizes GreenFuel's innovative, algae-bioreactor technology to effectively recycle CO2 into commercially viable byproducts. NRG's Dunkirk facility, a coal-fueled power plant located in western New York State, will serve as the host site for the study. ....

In field tests to be conducted at Dunkirk, GreenFuel will utilize a mini-bioreactor system to assess the technical and economic feasibility of its Emissions-to-Biofuel(TM) process that harnesses the photosynthetic processes of algae to consume waste gases and heat from a power plant's air emissions stream, ultimately producing a high energy biomass. This means that in the presence of light, the single-celled algae take up CO2 to produce the energy that fuels plant life--with a general rule of thumb being that two tons of algae remove one ton of CO2. Once the algae are harvested, they can be converted to generate commercially viable byproducts such as ethanol or biodiesel.

... Once commercialized, GreenFuel's bioreactors can be retrofitted to existing sources with minimal impact on existing generation operations. The NYSERDA-funded study will run until year end.

In April Greenfuel Technologies Corp. received an additional $7 million in Series B funding from Polaris Venture Partners. The company received $11 million in a B round last August from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Access Private Equity LLC.

There are several unanswered questions about this technology, the two main ones being whether the technology is really economically scalable to serve a full sized power plant and whether the method of harvesting the algae is reliable enough for a commercial facility. I don't know whether these questions have been answered in previous tests or will be answered in this test, given the limited time frame of the test. A white paper which I recently noticed on their website gives a good explanation of their process and philosophy.  My original post on their technology gives more details about their technology than they currently have on their website, although I can't be sure they are still using this exact configuration. The company has always defended their position that plenty of land is available for their plants.  Tyler of Clean Break had a fairly recent article in the Toronto Star giving some details about this argument.

Microreactor Produces Biodiesel

Professor Jovanovic, at Oregon State University, is developing a tiny reactor the size of a credit card that can convert vegetable oil into biodiesel.  The reactor has tiny parallel channels, each smaller than a human hair, through which vegetable oil and alcohol are pumped simultaneously. Such microreactors can produce biodiesel between 10 and 100 times faster than traditional methods.

"If we're successful with this, nobody will ever make biodiesel any other way," Jovanovic said.

Essentially, the reactors, which can range in size from less than a square inch to several square inches, use tiny, parallel channels no larger in diameter than a human hair, to bring the alcohol and vegetable oil into contact with each other in the presence of a sodium hydroxide catalyst, producing biodiesel and glycerin.

One of the hurdles that must be overcome before the reactors could be successfully implemented would be developing an economical microfiltration system that could yield oil pure enough to be pumped through the tiny channels in the reactor.

Biomass R & D Initiative

I came across a website Biomass Research & Development Initiative that covers the multi-agency effort, especially DOE and USDA, to coordinate and accelerate all Federal biobased products and bioenergy research and development.

Their feature article for April, is based on the article "The Path Forward for Biofuels and Biomaterials", which appeared in Science  "outlines how advances in genetics, biotechnology, process chemistry and engineering are leading to a new manufacturing concept for converting renewable biomass to transportation fuels and other useful products. In the article researchers at Georgia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Imperial College, London outline how the integration of agroenergy crops and new biorefinery technologies will converge in new manufacturing units called biorefineries. " It is an interesting read for anyone with an interest in how biofuels could be developed and the need to accelerate the program.

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Biofuels in Central America

A Reuters article Central America Eyes Sweet Alternative to Oil described the efforts that Central America is starting to make to produce ethanol and biodiesel.  I have often thought that Central America and the Caribbean countries would benefit both themselves and the rest of the world by producing biofuels.  Their climate is ideal for growing sugar and palm oil which are ideal feedstocks for these fuels. Thier economies could get a big boost from biofuels and make them less dependent on imported oil.

Another article discused the growing production of biodiesel in Indonesia.

They are only taking baby steps at the present, but the future is there for the taking.  If only the US would drop its tariff on biofuels.  I don't believe it would hurt US farmers.  I believe our demand for these products will be nearly insatiable and any supply we can get should be encouraged.

Technorati tags: biofuels, ethanol, biodiesel, energy, technology

Seattle Biodiesel Receives Financing, Going National with Innovative Technology

Seattle Biofuels announced that it has received venture capital financing to be used for national expansion, claiming that they have innovative technology, with the goal of producing biodiesel cheaper than petroleum diesel. The following is from their press release.

Seattle BioFuels, Inc., a leader in next generation Biodiesel process technology, today announced it closed a $7.5 million Preferred Series A investment from leading venture investors including Nth Power, Technology Partners and Vulcan Capital. The financing will be used for national expansion, with plans to accelerate commercialization of innovative process technology, open a new biodiesel refinery and oil seed-crushing oil facility in the second half of 2006. ....

Seattle BioFuels has developed a proprietary Pulse Reactor(R), Active Methanol Recovery System(R), and an Adsorbent Enhanced Polishing Process(R) along with other improvements to the Biodiesel production process.  The company built its first commercial scale refinery operating as Seattle Biodiesel providing 5 million gallons per year capacity to the Northwest market. ....

The mission of Seattle BioFuels is to develop and deploy technology innovations that enable a gallon of biodiesel to be produced cheaper than a gallon of petroleum diesel.  Seattle BioFuels operates the Seattle refinery as a wholly owned subsidiary under the name Seattle Biodiesel, LLC.

I would like to know exactly what is involved with their proprietary technology and how much it reduces their cost.  The biodiesel industry really needs a boost to reduce their cost so that they compete without subsidies.  Of course if petroleum diesel prices are high enough that is not a problem.  Reading their website, at least some of their production is or will come from canola which makes better use of land than soybeans.  They plan on building a crushing plant for locally grown canola, rather than importing soybean oil from the midwest. Their is not enough land to produce enough seed oil for a significant portion of our diesel requirements and biodiesel from algae probably will not be significant in the next ten years. The only very high volume means of replacing petroleum diesel is with Fischer-Tropsch diesel from biomass (BTL), which remains more expensive than biodiesel.  Finding a good gasifier seems to be the holdup on this route.  The Shell-Choren venture in Europe, using the Choren gasifier, is the only organization actively pursuing this option and they are still a few years away from a demonstration plant.

Resources:

Northwest's Premier Bio-Fuel Company Secures Resources for National Expansion, Press release, January 17, 2006
Seattle Biodiesel, LLC, Seattle, Washington, USA
Seattle Biofuels Blog
Seattle Diesel set to Expand, Seattlepi.com, January, 16, 2005

Technorati tags: biodiesel, biofuels, energy, technology

More on Biodiesel from Algae

A Cristian Science Monitor article gives an update to the Greenfuels Technologies Corporation CO2 mitigation/algae production system first reported here on June 17, Biodiesel from Algae is Here, which has been one of my most read posts.  Geenfuels process, invented by MIT scientist Issac Berzin, grows algae in clear plastic tubes placed in the exhaust stream of emissions from power plants.  The CO2 in the exhaust plus photosynthesis grow the algae which absorbs the CO2 and nitrous oxide in the exhaust stream.  The algae then can be harvested and used to produce biodiesel and the remaining solids can be further processed to produce ethanol.

The company has received $11,000,000 in venture capital financing since the last report.  A field trial at an undisclosed power plant is underway.  Next year, GreenFuel expects two to seven more such demonstration projects, scaling up to a full production system by 2009.  Technology to produce ethanol from the residue is new. Berzin estimates that just one 1,000 MW power plant could produce 40 million gallons of biodiesel and 50 million gallons of ethanol a year.  Such a facility would require a "farm" of 2,000 acres of algae growing tubes.  There are about 1000 power plants in the U.S. with enough acreage for a "farm." 

One disadvantage of this process is that it requires sunlight to work, which limits it use to daytime operation.  There are many natural gas peaking power plants that also work primarily in the day time, that the process could be used with.  The CO2 could also be stored (sequestered) and processed during the daytime.  Even with processing only the exhauste produced during the daytime, the process could remove over 40% of the CO2 which exceeds regulatory requirements and would provide a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

GreenShift Corporation has licensed a competing CO2 mitigation/algae production system from Ohio University. They claim that their system requires a smaller footprint because their tubes can be taller and have more surface area. GreenShift is also building a series of biodiesel plants which could process their algae and has a process to convert ethanol waste to biodiesel.

Technorati tags: global warming, biofuels, energy, technology

Bioenergy Feedstock Information Network

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) recently redesigned its Bioenergy Feedstock Information Network (BFIN), dramatically increasing ease of access to feedstock related data and analysis. The U.S. Department of Energy's Bioenergy Information Network (BIN), housed at ORNL, had become a central location for information related to biomass and in particular feedstocks. Information available at the site includes:

* Reports  * Fact sheets  * Databases  * Presentations  * Images  * Links
* News  * Events  * Contacts

Biomass feedstock types with information featured on the site includes:

• Agricultural residue
• Forestry residue
• Herbaceous crops
• Municipal/Urban residues
• Oil crops
• Short-rotation woody crops

The new website, renamed Bioenergy Feedstock Information Network (BFIN), is now available publicly at http://bioenergy.ornl.gov

The site's overall design and structure is predicated on primarily two publications: The 2003 Roadmap for Agricultural Biomass Feedstock Supply in the United States and the 2005 Biomass as Feedstock for a Bioenergy and Bioproducts Industry: The Technical Feasibility of a Billion-Ton Annual Supply. The industry segments, outlined in the Roadmap, help to partially structure the site's content into five distinct supply system processes; harvesting, storage, preprocessing, transportation and system integration. The Billion-Ton study provided the structure by which feedstock types were categorized. The study also drives many of the numbers and projections that form the basis for information on the site.

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Algae Used to Mitigate Carbon Dioxide Emissions

Greenshift Industrial Design Corporation (GIDC) has acquired technology that uses a blue-green algae that grows in the environment of hot flue gases found in smokestack.  The algae uses photosynthesis to combine water and the CO2 in the flue gas to grow additional algae and form oxygen and water vapor.  The organisms also absorb nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide, which contribute to acid rain.

GDIC obtained a non-exclusive license from Ohio University for its patented bioreactor technology for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the smokestacks of fossil fueled power plants and exclusive rights to the technology for the air pollution control of exhaust gas streams from all other sources.

The reactor is composed of parabolic mirrors, fiber optic cables and slabs of acrylic plastic called "glow plates". The algae grow on membranes of woven fibers resembling window screens interspersed between the glow plates. Capillary action wicks water to the algae, fiber optic cables channel sunlight into the glow plates, and ducts bring in the hot flue gas. By growing the algae on the membranes a lot of surface area is created.  Thus only a small amount of water is needed.  When the algae grows to maturity it drops to the bottom of the chamber where it can be harvested for use as fuel, fertilizer or a soil stabilizer.

Biofuel Plant to be Model of Diversity

A new biofuel plant in Wisconsin will be the states largest ethanol plant, the country's biggest tilapia fish farm, include a biodiesel plant and produce carbon dioxide and corn gluten as by-products. The plant  will have a cogeneration facility for all its power, a waste treatment facility and is own water supply. The facility to be located on the site of the former Cargill Malt facility in Jefferson, which closed in October.  The project calls for a $200 million investment on the 375 acre site and will employ about 150 people, double that of the malting facility.  The company received a conditional use permit on November 28 from the local zoning and planning committees.

Upon completion Jefferson Grain Processors (JPG) will produce 140 million gallons of ethanol per year, making it nearly three times larger than any other ethanol plant in Wisconsin. The biodiesel plant will produce 20 million gallons per year from soybeans, fish waste and animal fats. The by-products of the ethanol production will include 350,000 tones per year of liquid CO2, to be sold to the food industry, and 425,000 tons per year of high protein corn gluten, much of which will be exported to China. The company is also exploring the production of food grade corn oil as part of the process.

GreenShift's GDIC Announces Technology That Converts Agricultural Waste into Biofuels

GreenShift Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: GSHF - News) today announced its proprietary new waste treatment technology for livestock and poultry processing facilities. Their process takes the sludge from these facilities and puts it through a process developed by Greenshift Industrial Design Corporation (GDIC) that effectively reduces the volume of DAF sludge by 80% while recovering the majority of the animal fats contained in the sludge. This fat can be cost-effectively converted into biodiesel fuel.

GIDC estimates that the benefit for an average sized meat processing facility is about $400,000 per year.  Mean Green BioFuels gets a fixed supply of refined fat for processing in its planned new biodiesel facilities. Additionally, they plan to eventually add Ovation Product's new water purification technology to these systems to help meat processing facilities reuse as much water as possible.  In addition to the revenues generated by GIDC and MGBC another Greenshift portfolio company, INSEQ Corporation gets manufacturing revenues which are estimated at about $500,000 per system.

Promising Future for Biofuels

Science News Online has a great article reviewing the emerging technologies in the biofuels area which inspired me to write a similar post adding some of the technologies from The Energy Blog.  Many of them have been subjects of previous posts in The Energy Blog, but putting them all together puts a fresh perspective on the future of biofuels.  Despite the excesses that make up much of the Energy Act of 2005, advocates of biofuels should be fairly happy with provisions of the act that directly promote their agenda.  With the rising prices of oil products biofuels are about the only answer to augmenting our liquid fuels supplies, not to diminish the importance of the conservation benefits of more fuel efficient vehicles, plug in hybrids, electric vehicles and mass transportation.  Neither conservation efforts or biofuels alone can totally mitigate increasing prices, but without extreme efforts on both fronts supply and demand can do nothing but increase the price of fossil fuels. 

The Energy Act of 2005:

• Requires gasoline to contain 7.5 billion gallons/yr of renewable fuel by 2012, this is almost double the 4 billion gallons produced in 2004.
• Provides incentives for the production of renewable fuels from non-traditional sources;  plants, grasses, agricultural residues and waste products with greater credits for ethanol produced from cellulosic biomass or waste.
• Establishes loan guarantees and grants for the construction of facilities to convert municipal solid waste and cellulosic biomass to fuel ethanol and other commercial byproducts.
• Allows tax credits for alternative fuel vehicles
• A grant program is established for rural and remote communities to use biomass, landfill gas, and livestock methane,
• Provides for grants to those owning/operating a facility using forest biomass as raw material to produce electric energy, transportation fuels, or other petroleum-based substitutes.
• Calls for projects which address the production of hydrogen from biomass and biofuels.

ORNL published a report early this year that projected that we could get 30% of our liquid fuels from biomass without displacing any land used for crop production or grazing.  Government funding as provided in the Energy Act will be of great assistance in assuring that some of the technologies outlined below get developed and brought to the commercial market to allow attaining this goal.

Biodiesel From Ethanol Production Waste

The ethanol industry produces a byproduct that contains significant volumes of corn oil that until recently could not be cost effectively recovered.  Mean Green Biofuels Corporation (Mean Green™), a Greenshift related company, has exclusive use of the EORS corn oil extraction technology in the eastern U.S. that can be applied to the dry mill ethanol processing industry.  The corn oil is then processed into biodiesel at an offsite biodiesel production facility.

The Mean Green Biofuels™ process redirects an internal waste stream in dry mill ethanol facilities through its proprietary extraction systems where crude corn oil is extracted and then prepared for shipment offsite for further refining.  Initially they will purchase and sell this on the basis of wholesale and retail prices, thereby stimulating near term cash flows pending the initiation of operations at its planned new biodiesel facility.  They intend to build a 30 MMgpy biodiesel production facility which will process the crude corn oil in a new facility that is expected to be completed in 2007.

Shell Invests in Choren BTL Technology

Carbo-V is the patented biomass gasification process of CHOREN Industries that is used to produce SunDiesel. Shell Deutschland Oil Gmbh recently purchased an equity interest in CHOREN. The combination of Shell’s SMDS (Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis) Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis process with the Carbo-V gasification process may be a winning combination in BTL processes. CHOREN is planning to build a commercial 15,000 tonnes per year (4,620,000 US gallons/yr) plant using these technologies.

The Carbo-V’s three step biomass gasification process produces syngas without the tars and other impurities usually associated with biomass gasification. The Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis (SMDS) technology is the low-temperature, cobalt catalyst based FT process that they use for production of synthetic oil liquids. FT liquids are very clean, sulfur free and aromatic free; that meet the most stringent environmental standards.

Biodiesel Costs Reduced $0.40 per Gallon by Glycol Production

The U of Missouri (MU) has developed a process for converting glycerin, a byproduct of biodiesel production, to popylene glycol, a nontoxic antifreeze.  This technology can reduce the cost of biodiesel production by as much as $0.40 per gallon of biodiesel said Glen Suppes, inventor of the process and chief science officer of the MU-based Renewable Alternatives. 

Currently, ethylene glycol is prominently used in vehicular antifreeze and is both toxic and made from petroleum. Suppes said the new propylene glycol product will meet every performance standard, is made from domestic soybeans and is nontoxic.

Right now, Renewable Alternatives is licensing this technology to three biodiesel plants, with a fourth one in the works.

This could be a good step in decreasing the cost of biodiesel and providing a non-petroleum chemical.  Reducing the cost of biodiesel is a big deal if it is ever to compete, on its own, with petroleum diesel.  The real problem with US biodiesel is that it is primarily made from soybeans.  At least we could make it from canola (rapeseed) which would double the yield per acre and decrease its cost. We do not have enough land to produce enough biodiesel from soybeans to have a real impact on reducing our dependence on oil.  Diesel from algae, the UW process or gasification/Fischer-Tropsch processes need to be developed for biodiesel to have a real impact.

theWatt and Green Trust Sustainability & Renewable Energy have had previous posts on this subject, but I thought I should put in my two cents worth.

Resouce:  "Chemical Engineering Professor Develops New  Biodiesel Process",  Research at MU news release, 8/12/05

Technocrati tags: biodiesel, propolyne glycol, renewable energy

Where Does The Energy Revolution Stand?

The Energy Revolution has met some major milestones In the six months since I have been writing this blog, in that there there have been several key developments relating to energy technology and policy which I would like to review and comment on. 

Transportation Fuels

My focus immediately became on transportation fuels, as I soon found out it was our most immediate concern. The development of technology and “roadmaps” that could lead to independence from foreign oil imports for the US and other countries have made significant progress in the last six months.  Although funding to accelerate usage of biofuels is totally inadequate, further evidence of the availability of potential resources is a major step.

• The refusal of congress to institute new mileage standards for passenger vehicles and light weight trucks is a major disappointment. Causes of this complacency include: 1) Congress is unconvinced of the urgency of the problem 2) Lobbyists that are opposed to these standards are much too influential and 3) Congress would rather let market forces create a demand for biofuels and hybrid vehicles rather than getting involved.
• Release of the Hirsch report which presented three scenarios for mitigating a decline in oil production. This report clearly indicates that if aggressive action to mitigate peak oil is not taken at least 10 years before it occurs we will face grave economic impact.  A must reading for all concerned about peak oil and the mitigation thereof.
• Record quantities of ethanol are being produced in Brazil with 40% of new cars sold capable of burning 100% ethanol and all gasoline sold contains at least 25% ethanol. The country is nearly independent of oil imports and is becoming a major exporter of ethanol. Brazil is a model in the use of renewable fuels for the rest of the world.  Please take note!
• Release of the Oak Ridge report stating that up to 30% of our liquid fuels could be produced from cellulosic materials.
• Announcement by DOE that enzymes have been developed that permit using any cellulosic material as a feedstock to the production of ethanol. This development makes possible meeting goals for producing 30% of our liquid fuels from cellulosic materials. This occurance was anticipated in the previously item and makes biofuels a major, realistic alternative.
• Announcement by CleanFuels that it was in the process of commercializing production of biodiesel from algae using smokestack emissions as fuel. This is significant in that it complementary, not competitive with other biodiesel production routes. At the same time the process also reduces CO2 and NOX emissions from power plants.  Though not nearly as far along in development as ethanol, algae biodiesel would make it possible to be the major biofuel.
• Increasing sales and announcement of hybrid vehicles, which is our main means of conservation of gasoline.
• Announcement by scientists at the University of Wisconsin that they had developed a process for producing Alkane based biodiesel from any carbonaceous material.
• A new Renewable Fuels Standard in the new Energy Bill requiring a doubling in the use of biofuels to 7.5 billion gallons a year by 2012.  Biomass was redefined to include any organic material grown for the purpose of being converted to energy.  This is not nearly a large enough program to allow ethanol and biodiesel to replace our oil imports in a timely manor, but it is a step in the right direction.

The US Energy Bill of 2005

The US energy bill of 2005 has received a mixed bag of reviews depending on your interests.  The folowing are the portions of the energy bill that appear to be most relevant to the topics I discuss:

A two-year extension of a tax credit to companies that produce power from renewable sources — an allocation worth $2.7 billion. The bulk of those funds will promote the construction of new wind farms, a boon to utilities and wind turbine manufacturers, while the remainder will assist biomass, geothermal and hydroelectric companies.

Biofuels : A 7.5 billion gallon Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) which would add billions of gallons of ethanol, biodiesel and other renewables to the nations fuel supply by 2012.  In addition to the RFS, the bill updates the small ethanol producer definition to 60 million gallons, extends the biodiesel tax credit through 2008, and establishes a 30% tax credit up to $30,000 for the cost of installing clean fuel refueling equipment, such as an E85 fuel pump.

Solar : Increases the permanent 10 percent business energy credit for solar to 30% for two years.   Eligible technologies include photovoltaics, solar water heaters, concentrating solar power, and solar hybrid lighting. The credit reverts back to the permanent 10 percent level after two years. The bill establishes a 30 percent residential energy credit for solar for two years.   For residential systems, the tax credit is capped at $2,000.

Geothermal, Wind: The bill continues to include geothermal energy in the Section 45 Production Tax Credit (PTC) for the full 1.9 cent/kwhr credit amount, but expands the credit period from five to the full ten years. As a result, geothermal and wind will now receive equal tax treatment -- the full ten-year, 1.9 cent production tax amount. Other technologies, such as open loop biomass, receive the full ten-year credit but for half the credit amount, or 0.95 cents/kwhr. The biggest clean energy perk in the bill was a two-year extension of a tax credit critical to companies that produce power from renewable sources -- an allocation worth $2.7 billion. The bulk of those funds will promote the construction of new wind farms, a boon to utilities and wind turbine manufacturers, while the remainder will assist biomass, geothermal and hydroelectric companies.

Direct users of geothermal energy may use a simpler procedure for leasing, or establishing a fee schedule instead of royalties payments. State and local governments are allowed to use geothermal resources for public purposes at a nominal charge.

Hybrid, fuel efficient vehicles: Close to $875 million in tax credits could be given to those who buy hybrid gas-electric vehicles before 2010.  The bill favors companies that are just getting into the hybrid business. Each manufacturer can apply the tax credit to just 60,000 vehicles.  Toyota sells roughly 150,000 hybrids per year and Honda 50,000 which means that a only a portion of their vehicles will be eligible for credits. The bill fails to include any provision for new fuel efficiency standards.

A new category of tax credits known as clean renewable energy bonds, or CREBs, that have an estimated value of $400 million. These tax-exempt bonds can be issued by local governments or electricity cooperatives to help pay for wind, solar, biomass and other specified projects.  An additional $194 million will go toward the two-year extension of excise- and income-tax credits for manufacturers of biodiesel, a soybean derivative that is blended with regular diesel.

Bush's Comments on Energy

The following are excerpts from President Bush's June 15th remarks to the 16th Annual Energy Efficiency Forum

The primary cause of rising gasoline prices is that the global demand for oil is growing faster than global supply....The first step toward making America less dependent on foreign oil is to improve conservation and efficiency....Hybrid vehicles are one of the most promising technologies immediately available to consumers....I propose that every American who purchases a hybrid vehicle receive a tax credit of up to $4,000....We are also encouraging automakers to produce a new generation of modern, clean-diesel cars and trucks.... Congress should extend the tax incentives for the purchase of hybrid vehicles to clean diesel cars and trucks....the Environmental Protection Agency is working to simplify rules and regulations for refinery expansion....my administration launched an ambitious program called the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative. The energy bill will authorize additional funds for this vital initiative. With bold investments now, we can begin to replace a hydrocarbon economy with a hydrogen economy....We've got to be aggressive about finding alternative sources of fuel. And one such source is ethanol....I like the idea of spending money on research to make ethanol more feasible....we can get the same type of alternative fuel from soybeans. It's called biodiesel....To encourage greater use of ethanol and biodiesel, my administration supports a flexible, cost-effective renewable fuel standard.... This proposal would require fuel producers to include a certain percentage of ethanol and biodiesel in their fuel. I proposed $84 million in the 2006 budget for ongoing research into advanced technologies that can produce ethanol from farms, forests, or even municipal waste dumps.... the Department of Energy is funding research and development of super-conducting power lines. It's important research because it will enable us to more efficiently move electricity....One day, technologies like solar panels and high-efficiency appliances and advanced insulation could even allow us to build "zero-energy homes" that produce as much energy as they consume....My budget for 2006 brings clean coal funding to $1.6 billion over five years....Congress needs to pass the Clear Skies Initiative....passing it, not only will we clean the environment, but it will result in tens of billions of dollars in clean coal investments by private companies....to further increase our natural gas supply, Congress needs to make clear federal authority to choose sites for new receiving terminals for liquefied natural gas....We need to expand our nation's use of nuclear power....So I've directed the Department of Energy to work with Congress to help pass legislation that will reduce uncertainty in the nuclear plant licensing process....such as federal insurance to protect the builders of the first four new plants against lawsuits, bureaucratic obstacles, and other delays beyond their control.

In general I support these ideas.  However (my cynical side), I don't think these remarks have much to do with what actually gets enacted into law.  It is good too see that the president acknowledges that demand rather than supply is driving our pending energy shortage.  His emphasis on hybrid cars is encouraging.  $84 million for research on alternative fuels seems like such a pittance compared to the billions on the hydrogen initiative and the clean coal program. I know that his remarks on coal and nuclear energy will be controversial, but I believe that we have no choice but to go ahead with these programs.  The clean coal program, which includes sequestration, is the one sure thing we have to fall back on.  The environmental issues associated with coal mining are probably not addressed and could and should be.  Building four nuclear power plants (I thought it was to be three) is essential to demonstrate that safer nuclear plants can be built.  I personally think that a fuel recycling program should be initiated to take care of our mounting nuclear wastes, rather than using the Yucca Mountain storage scheme.  If the hydrogen economy ever becomes a reality (I hope not) our coal reserves will deplete rapidly and nuclear may be our only option.  Development of a massive renewable fuels program would be a much wiser use of our tax dollars.

Technocrati tags: energy policy, renewable energy

Biodiesel from Algae is Here!

This possibility of attaining self sufficiency in liquid fuels, as envisioned by Michael Briggs of the University of New Hampshire Biodiesel Group, has been brought a giant step foreword by the developments of GreenFuels Technology Corporation of Cambridge, MA.

GreenFuel's algae bioreactor system produces high-quality clean air biofuels™ from algae grown using smokestack emissions. The company claims that the fuels prices are competitive with conventional fossil fuel products.  Biofuels are produced at the same time that emissions are being decreased.  Using smokestack emissions as its feedstock, a site-configurable GreenFuel installation grows a year-round 'cash crop' of commercial grade algae.  At the same time the process reduces the NOx by up to 86% and the CO2 by 40% of the smokestack emissions (2)

The system’s basic unit comprises a series of 8 foot (2.5 meter) tall bioreactors, in a unique triangle shape. The triangle legs are clear polycarbonate tubes 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) in diameter, through which water and algae are continuously circulated. The hypotenuse is oriented facing the sun to aid in photosynthesis, and the horizontal and vertical legs are often in the hypotenuse’s shadow.  Fluid circulation (flowing through the lit hypotenuse, then the darker legs, and back to the hypotenuse) is balanced to provide optimum light exposure to the growing algae. Flue gases are pumped into the base of each triangle, and the algae removes the NOx and CO2 as the gas makes a single pass up through the triangle. The gases are not recirculated or cycled through more than one triangle.(3)

Since August 2004, the GreenFuel team has been growing algae on the flue gases from an MIT cogeneration plant, and harvesting algae ‘crops’ daily. Algae reduce NOx day and night, regardless of weather or lighting conditions. The process is essentially an effect of the surface configuration of the algae cell walls. Even dead algae can provide significant NOx reduction, up to 70 percent. The harvested algae can be used to generate renewable biofuel products, meaning an algae-based emissions reduction system could theoretically enable a power plant to meet emerging state regulations for both CO2 reduction and renewable power generation.(4)

Using Biomass for Biodiesel

Biodiesel could be made from any biomass.  That is what Green Car Congress reported on (6/3/05).   Researchers at the University of Wisconsin (my alma mater) are working on a process to produce diesel fuel directly from the cellulose and hemicellulose (carbohydrates) that make up 70-75% of a plants dry weight, rather than from just the seeds.  They have developed a reforming process, Aqueous Phase Dehydratiocn/Hydrogenation (APD/H), to convert the cellulosic materials to the long-chain hydrocarbons that constitute diesel fuel.  So far the researchers have been able to produce hexane (C₆H₁₄) and now need to develop methods to produce the heavier C₈-C₁₅ alkanes that constitute diesel fuel.

The University site further explains the process, shown at left, claiming that the net energy value (NEV) is 2.2, compared with a NEV of 1.1 for ethanol.  A large part of the energy savings results from the spontaneous separation of the Alkane's from the water compared to the requirement to distill the ethanol from water.

The MIT Technical Review further describes the process as follows: "The new method is divided into four parts. First, a stream of processed biomass consisting of water and sugars is fed over a nickel-tin catalyst to strip off some of its hydrogen atoms. Then the stream is treated with acids that take out most of the water. The resulting "goo" is then transported over a solid base catalyst, which forms it into long carbon chains, called alkanes. Finally, those alkanes are run through a platinum-silica-alumina catalyst at high temperatures, while the hydrogen from the first step is fed into the reactor. The resulting liquid has almost the exact same chemical structure as traditionally refined biodiesel and burns the same way in diesel engines. And the only byproducts are water and heat."

Further details of the process are available from a paid subscription to the journal Science.  A presentation: Catalysis in Biomass Conversion: Hydrogen and Alkane's from Biomass-derived Molecules is available for those who can decipher it.

The UW process, if research proceeds as planned, would be of as much or more significance than the recently developed enzymes that can convert the cellulosic materials in biomass to sugars, allowing production of ethanol from virtually any plant material.  The ability to use of any biomass to produce either biodiesel or ethanol greatly expands the potential for biofuels by appreciably reducing the land required to produce the biomass.  The proposed process is much less complicated than the gasification/Fischer-Tropsch route, which is the other way of making diesel from any biomass.  I disagree with the UW in the amount of energy created in the ethanol process, the NEV is more like 1.3 to 1.4 in a modern ethanol plant, with even higher values expected using enzymes. NEV includes all the life cycle energy inputs, including the energy used to produce the crop, I suspect that the UW number does not include that energy.  This discrepency does not reduce the significance of this development.

Originally posted 6/3/05, additional material added 6/7/05

Technocrat tags: biodiesel, biomass, renewable energy

Biorefineries Overview

A biorefinery is a plant that converts biomass into useful products such as fuels, chemicals and power.  Three types of refineries are being used and developed:

1. Sugar platform biorefineries, as exemplified by ethanol plants, are in widespread use, are based on the fermentation of sugars.
2. Close coupled systems that primarily produce fuel that can be used to produce power or heat from either syngas or pyrolysis oil.
3. Thermochemical refineries that are more analogous to petroleum refineries which can produce an array of products in addition to fuel and power.

The sugar platform refineries refineries are in common use, producing  3.41 billion gallons of ethanol, in the U.S., in 2004.  These have been developed significantly since they were first used.  In the 1980's they were rather simple facilities that fermented corn to produce ethanol.  The process has developed rapidly and today they are highly integrated facilities that are much larger, use much less energy, less manpower and produce byproducts as well as ethanol; thus reducing the production costs significantly.  However the cost of the feedstock, the largest single cost, has not gone down significantly and the quantity available will be limited by land availability at some time in the future if only corn is used as the feedstock.  New pretreatment techniques are now starting to be used that permit recovering the sugar from the cellulose in the corn residues that were formally wasted, thus increasing the supply of feedstock greatly.  In the next few years it is anticipated that the industry will be able to process any cellulosic material, such as grasses, willows, municipal solid waste and forest residues; increasing the availability of feedstock by orders of magnitude.

Close coupled pyrolysis systems are available commercially and are used to produce fuel for engines or gas turbines or to supply heat for boilers for either heating or generating electricity.  These systems are relatively small, but fill a need for generating energy in relatively remote locations.  These systems are more widely used in Europe where energy prices are higher than in the U.S.  It is expected that they will be more widely used in the U.S. as more conventional energy prices escalate.

Thermochemical refineries, also known as Bio-Gas Fischer-Tropsch refineries (BG-FT), are still in the early developmental stage with only a few small commercial units in operation.  They offer the advantage that almost any fuel or petroleum like product can be produced using this method.  This is the only way that diesel fuel can be produced in large quantities using biomass as the feedstock supply. The supply of biodiesel will eventually be limited by available land unless a more efficient feedstock, such as algae, is able to be used. Their are some technical problems to be solved in the BG-FT process, but suppliers are finding some niche markets where these problems have been overcome. 

About Thermochemical (BTL) Biorefineries

A biorefinery is a plant that converts biomass into useful products such as fuels, chemicals and power.  Three types of refineries are being developed.  1) The sugar biorefinery, which in widespread use, is based on the fermentation of sugars.  2) A close coupled system that primarily produces fuel that is used to produce power or heat from either syngas or pyrolysis oil. 3) This post discusses a thermochemical refinery that is more analogous to a petroleum refinery and can produce an array of products in addition to fuel and power. This process is referred to as the Biomass to Liquid (BTL) process. This process consists of:

1. Feed processing and handling to prepare the biomass for gasification.
2. Gasification of the biomass, producing syngas.
3. Syngas pretreatment prior to liquefaction to remove undesirable components.
4. Gas to liquids (Fischer-Tropsch) technology.
5. Product Refining of the liquids into fuels and byproducts.

Gasification and Fischer-Tropsch technologies have been discussed previously, but some refinements of these technologies are necessary in the context of a BG-FT process.

About Biodiesel

Biodiesel is an alternate, renewable fuel made from seed oils, waste vegetable oils and waste animal fats.  It recently received publicity when Willie Nelson announced that he was becoming involved with the biodiesel industry.  It has a relatively small portion of the diesel fuel market, but could become much larger as demand becomes greater and pricing becomes more competitive with petroleum diesel. It can be used in most diesel powered vehicles without modification.  Currently it is more popular in the farming community, for school and transit buses, and fleets of diesel powered vehicles.  These markets use all the biodiesel that is produced and until more fueling stations are built there it will not have popular appeal.

Biodiesel is an attractive fuel from many points of view:

• Biodiesel emissions are essentially free of sulfur and aromatics and have less hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and particulate matter.
• In its total lifecycle, from planting through making fuel, it produces less CO₂ than petroleum diesel does in its lifecycle. 
• Biodiesel can be used in most diesel engine powered vehicles with no modification.
• A byproduct, glycerol is also produced.
• Biodiesel has a higher cetane number than petroleum diesel. The higher the cetane number the quicker a fuel ignites.  High centane numbers are generally recognized as reducing emissions of engine pollutants, including NOx, and improving fuel economy,
• It has superior lubricity than petroleum diesel, an important factor when sulfur content is reduced from petroleum diesel, lowering its lubricity.
• Biodiesel produced in the US decreases our dependence on oil from countries with political unrest and terrorism.
• Biodiesel reduces our balance of trade deficit to the extent that it offsets imports of crude oil.
• Biodiesel creates a higher demand for seed oil crops thus causeing an increase in prices for oil seed crops which increases the income to the agricultural industry.
• Some land that was landbanked is brought back into productive use, reducing government subsidies for this purpose.

Disadvantages are:

• It produces about 5% less power per gallon
• It jells during cold weather thus limiting the usable concentration in blends during cold weather or some sort of fuel heater, which is not difficult to implement, is required during periods of cold weather. 
• It Increases nitrogen oxide emissions.
• Because feedstock costs are the largest single cost in the production of biodiesel, the cost of biodiesel increases slightly with greater demand, because this higher demand results in a higher feedstock price.
• Biodiesel made from soybean oil, using current technology, is more expensive than petroleum diesel.
• Our exports of oil seed crops are decreased because of its higher value and more of the output is devoted to biodiesel production.
• As long as subsidies are required to make biodiesel competitive, government spending for these subsidies increases proportionately to production.

I am Betting on Biofuels

As my estimate for the occurance of peak oil gets closer, the more I am convinced that putting all our bets on hydrogen based technology is a bad bet.  Fuel cell development is just not progressing fast enough, the total energy demands of the hydrogen economy are too great and the cost and time to build the required infrastructure is too great.  We have available proven technologies that can and should be used.  To me the proven technology that is least appreciatied are the biofuels, ethanol and biodiesel. They offer many advantages that cannot be ignored.

• They can be produced with available, proven technology.
• New technology is being developed that will reduce costs.
• The fuels are very environmentally friendly.
• They could contribute significantly to solving our liquid fuels shortage.
• They could be ramped up to high production rates with very little capital investment compared to other options.

Furthermore I believe the federal government does not recognize the potential of biofuels.  Biofuels combined with fuel efficient vehicles could provide self sufficiency with modest allocation of land that is now devoted to food production and with temendous environmental benefits.  See Lynd.

Proven Technology for the Next 20 Years

With oil probably peaking in less than 20 years, if not five years, the more I think we need an alternative to the emphasis being placed on the hydrogen economy.  Demonstrated and emerging technology as listed below likely to be the dominant technologies in the next thirty years.  None of these technologies alone can get us there but together but in some combination they make sense.

• The hybrid is here and can be ramped up as fast as anything.
• Diesel technology can be used now, and should be, as lower sulfur fuels are brought to market in 2005-2006. They will reduce the environmental impact of diesels significantly.  What we need is more models to choose from as there are very few.
• Electric cars and plug-in hybrids for commuting and shopping will be more attractive, with greater range, as gasoline prices go up and battery technology gets better as it is starting to.
• Unconventional oil is already starting to ramp up and will continue as oil companies cannot meet the demand.
• Ethanol production is already significant with 3.4 billion gallons produced in the US in 2004.
• Production costs for biodiesel can be reduced by using newer technologies.
• The Fischer-Tropsh process can be used to produce both ethanol and diesel in larger quantities, at lower cost, than current biofuel producers.  It can handle a much wider variety of feedstocks, like switchgrass, corn stover, wood chips, willows and poplars which are less costly.
• Coal liquefaction is a proven technology and could supply all of our needs, but not in the required time period.
• We can increase our electrical production from renewables like wind and solar systems.
• More rapid development of unconventional oil in Canada and Venezula.