And unlike soybeans and corn, which require annual plantings on valuable farmland to feed the growing appetite for biofuels, the pink-flowered seashore mallow is both a perennial and a halophyte, or salt-tolerant plant, that can grow in areas where other crops can’t.

“You don’t have to divert land that is presently used for producing food and feed to the process of making biodiesel,” said Gallagher, who runs UD’s Halophyte Biotechnology Center with his wife and fellow researcher, Denise Seliskar.

Coastal intrusion of seawater is important in many parts of the world, with more than 20 countries actively studying saltwater food crops. But the idea to use some of these crops as a fuel source is a more recent development. As it happens, seashore mallow comes from the same plant family as cotton, and has an oil content similar to soybeans and cottonseed.

At least for now, first-generation biofuels (those made from food crops) seem like they’ll be sticking around for awhile, and the door is wide-open for niche biofuel feedstocks that don’t compete with our food supply. But the there’s an underlying concept here that’s even more important: finding solutions to ecological problems that preserve or enhance ecosystem services. Many of these services are taken for granted (coastal buffers being a big one - think about the last tsunami), but they carry out tasks nearly impossible to emulate economically. The existing Canadian Boreal forest, for example, is more valuable for its role in water purification and regional climate impact than the the total profit from cutting down and processing the entire forest. This is an extreme example, but it highlights the importance of things we forget about at the smaller level too. While intact natural systems should be preserved at both macro and micro levels, there is also great potential to repair or enhance them.

While the seashore mallow might be handy for a quick snack, the sturdy plant also has provided Gallagher food for thought in addressing a smorgasbord of environmental problems, ranging from global warming to the disappearance of coastal farmland…

With the threat of sea water encroaching on farmland and coastal aquifers in response to global warming, Gallagher believes the seashore mallow could help preserve the economic value of arable land transitioning to marsh land.

Seashore mallow has other desireable attributes as well:

The meal left over after oil is extracted from mallow seeds has enough protein to be used for animal feed, while the stems, which multiply each year during the life of the plant, have potential for use in cellulosic ethanol, Gallagher said. The roots of the plant, cousin to one used by ancient Romans for a confection that lent its name to the marshmallow, could be used to make industrial gum.

A crop that desalinates land, acts as a coastal buffer, increases biodiversity, and provides a sustainable fuel and animal feed source? Sounds like a winner. While seed yields need to increase before commercialization is realistic, halophytic crops could fill a vast niche:

According to Bushnell, some 250 halophytes are potential food staple crops, while thousands more might be available as fuel biomass. With two-thirds of the earth’s available fresh water used for conventional agriculture and more than 40 percent of its land mass considered desert or wasteland, the advantages of agriculture using marginal soils and abundant seawater are readily apparent, according to Bushnell.

For the full story, click here.

UD researcher sees biofuel potential in salt-tolerant plant

Photo Credit: Delaware Online

What, you might ask, is ’synfuel’? As noted previously, ’synfuel’ is a synthetic fuel most commonly made from coal or natural gas. Ok, master of the obvious I know, but let me provide a little more detail: coal, natural gas, or in some cases, biomass, can be converted into a mixture of gases through a process known as gasification. Gasification is basically burning something (at >400 C) in the presence of a limited amount of oxygen to produce a specific mixture of gases, namely carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and hydrogen (H2).

Ok, stay with me here, and don’t forget about the carbon dioxide that’s produced during gasification - that’s important.

This gaseous mixture of CO, CO2, and H2 is the precursor to making synthetic liquid diesel fuel (synfuel), via another production method known as the ‘Fischer Tropsch‘ process. The reaction uses a catalyst to convert carbon monoxide and hydrogen into hydrocarbon chains, which composes the basic structure of diesel fuel. This is a historically important process: German researchers Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch developed the reaction in 1923, and it provided Nazi Germany with as much as 124,000 barrels of synthetic diesel per day during WWII (1).

To recap:

Coal =(gasification)=> CO + H2 + CO2
CO + H2 =(Fischer Tropsch)=> synthetic diesel + CO2

Now, keep that in mind as we jump back to the Air Force, which plans on testing synthetic diesel in a 50/50 blend with regular jet fuel:

“The acquisition of these 315,000 gallons of synthetic fuel this year is one more step toward meeting the Air Force goal of testing and certifying the entire fleet for use of the fuel by 2010. Additional acquisitions of synthetic fuel will be made for testing and certification over the next three years. The ultimate goal of the Air Force is to acquire 50 percent of its [Continental United States] fuel by 2016 from domestic sources producing a synthetic fuel-blend and using carbon capture and sequestration technology,” said William C. Anderson, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment & Logistics.”

Boeing’s prediction seems right on the money: The short-term fuel replacement, at least for the Air Force, will be synthetic diesel. Whether or not that’s a good idea is hazier. Synfuel actually burns a bit cleaner than regular fuel, because it doesn’t contain the sulfur and aromatics contained in diesel. But there’s one major problem, if you remember the chemical equation above. The standard conversion of coal to synthetic fuel nearly doubles life-cycle emissions of the fuel it replaces. If synthetic diesel from coal was widely implemented for air travel, it would double the greenhouse gas emissions for that form of travel.

Fortunately, according the the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), this problem could be mitigated or even overcome by the use of biomass as a feedstock, instead of coal. NREL states in one report that synfuel from biomass can be ‘largely carbon neutral’. (3)

While a transition to synthetic aviation fuel seems inevitable, it must once again be highlighted that the sustainability of alternative fuels depends entirely on their source materials and production methods. Nevertheless, welcome to the future of aviation…

Southwest Nebraska News: Synfuel Contract Awarded by Defense Department (June 11, 2007)
(1) U.S. DOE: The Early Days of Coal Research
(2) U.S. DOE Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Catalytic Conversion
(3) NREL: Improving the technical, environmental and social performance of wind energy systems using biomass-based energy storage
(4) Clean Diesel from Coal A novel catalytic method could let you fill up your tank with coal-derived diesel, cutting U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

62-year-old Kenneth Watkins is an electrical engineer in Orlando, Florida. Ken said he’d wanted to build an electric-powered vehicle for years, but raising a family came first and now that everyone’s grown, he has the time and resources to make his dream come true.

He bought the truck off a used car lot for what he said was a good price, since the engine was in pretty bad shape and the truck was anything but a “prize”. Nonetheless, it was “just what I wanted,” so he drove it home and began stripping the engine compartment.

He pulled the engine and sold it on Ebay, and then removed the radiator with all the accompanying hoses and belts. The clutch was removed but he kept the five-speed transmission. The exhaust system is gone, too: there’s no muffler or tail pipe. He did keep the oil pressure gauge, which now monitors the motor controller, and he uses the old engine temperature gauge to monitor the electric motor.

Ken replaced the engine with a 20hp electric motor and controller. He added 24 6-volt golf cart batteries, which he placed in the bed of the truck and hooked them up in series, creating a 144-volt system. Ken said he used golf cart batteries “because they have a greater amp hour rating than 12 volt batteries. Batteries in series only have as much amp hour rating as one battery. These batteries have a 220 amp hour rating compared to 100 amp hours for a 12 volt battery.”

How much did the conversion cost? Ken said the batteries cost $1900, and there’s about $15000 invested in the vehicle itself, plus other equipment outlined above, body work, paint job, air shocks for the rear suspension and other items needed to make the truck safe and reliable.

Is it worth it? Ken said it costs about $2 to drive the truck 50 miles at a top speed of 70 mph. It’s 24 miles round trip to his job at Northrop Grumman, so he has plenty of power left to run errands. The batteries recharge in 6 to 8 hours from a battery charger in his garage. The five-speed manual transmission comes in handy, too. He starts the truck in 2nd gear, and when the speed reaches 40mph he takes his foot off the accelerator pedal and seamlessly shifts into 3rd, for a cruising speed of up to 70 mph.

Amortizing the batteries out over a three year period, although they are guaranteed for five years, Ken said it costs about $2 a day for the batteries and $1.50 to charge them. His round-trip to work costs about $3.50 a day. In a regular, gasoline-powered engine that averaged 20mpg, the gas alone would cost at least $6 a day. It really doesn’t matter, though: Ken said if he broke even, it’s still the right thing to do.

And there’s no problem driving at night with the lights and radio on: Ken says the lights take very little electricity to operate, as do the radio and A/C fan. Yes, he lives in Florida, and he’s putting together an air-conditioning system using the existing compressor and powers it with a small DC motor. Heating the truck isn’t a problem, either: an element from a commercial, plug in the wall heater replaces the heater core.

So this able senior has his future retirement planned: he wants to sell the truck and convert more vehicles to electric. The next one, he says, will probably be a passenger car, and maybe with newer battery types to increase efficiency and reduce cost. In any event, Ken is willing to share his knowledge with anyone who is interested, and convert someone’s vehicle if they wish. His email is kw1806@bellsouth.net, and he's on MySpace. Go Ken!

I couldn't write about it all though, so I thought a summary of other big stories was in order:

1. A study from Colorado State found big greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) reductions for biodiesel and ethanol (April 3).
Colorado State University and the USDA's Agricultural Research Center found that, when compared to regular gasoline or diesel, ethanol and biodiesel from corn or soybean rotations reduced emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) by almost 40%. Cellulosic canarygrass was found to reduce GHG emissions by 85%, while switchgrass and hybrid poplars reduced GHG emissions by 115%. Differences in crop inputs and production practices were shown to account for the variation. Here we have yet another study showing significant greenhouse gas emission reductions for different biofuel feedstocks, although corn-grain ethanol was given much higher (and potentially controversial) numbers.

2. The EPA finalized the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) (April 10).
This is the first ever comprehensive Renewable Fuel Standard program in the United States, and "requires major American refiners, blenders, and importers to use a minimum volume of renewable fuel each year between 2007 and 2012". The program required 4.7 billion gallons of renewable fuel blended into motor fuel this year, a target exceeded by ethanol production (5.38 billion gallons). By 2012, 7.5 billion gallons of renewable fuel blended into motor fuel will be required, and this may be expanded to 35 billion gallons by 2017. This RFS is an offshoot of the Twenty in Ten plan (a 20% gasoline reduction in 10 years). As already noted, a large proportion of the RFS is being met by corn-grain ethanol, not a great prospect for hungry people or the environment.

3. ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods Inc. announced plans to collaborate on biodiesel production from animal fat (April 16).
Yes, it may be unappetizing, but biodiesel can be made from animal fat as well as plant oils. ConocoPhillips has offered to use some of its refining capacity (not even a blip on their radar screen) to process the 300 million gallons of beef, pork, and chicken fat that Tyson produces each year. ConocoPhillips will refine about 58% of that - or 175 million gallons of biodiesel - and blend it in with it's regular diesel fuel. Tyson officials noted that each barrel of biodiesel they produce will require two steers,16 hogs, or 1,300 chickens. Honestly, pretty disgusting, but these companies do get serious points for recycling waste streams. I wonder what the exhaust will smell like.

4. One of the technology institutes in Switzerland announced the formation of a global alliance to draft standards for biofuel sustainability (April 17). The founding members of the 'Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels' include the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF), BP, Toyota, UC Berkeley, and other international groups. This could be the all-important steering committee that international biofuel trade needs (see my post on the subject). Major considerations for the standards include safeguarding local habitat, water resources, and "encouraging biofuels’ contribution to economic development in rural areas." For more information, see: The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels and Biofuels Sustainability Standards - Further Reading (EPFL).

5. Fleetwide use of E85 could worsen public health, according to Stanford professor Mark Jacobson (April 18).
This study claims that increased smog-formation (an issue I've touched on) produced by higher ethanol blends (like E85) has the potential to increase respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations by 4% nation-wide. As would be expected, this generated considerable criticism. The American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest pointed out that E85 was never meant as a gasoline replacement and will never have the type of penetration the Jacobson estimated, and the National Resources Defense Council urged clarification of the study results and claimed the author overstated the potential impacts. Jacobson was firm in his reply, however, maintaining that his results were an upper-bound for the potential consequences of ethanol use that could be used to estimate smaller-scale impacts.

6. Clif Bar announced it would expand the use of biodiesel in its field marketing vehicles (April 26), which would offset an estimated 40% of the team's emissions, or 60,000 lbs of CO2. The company has already been using B100 in the transport trucks used between their bakery and distribution center. Last year, Clif Bar started a Cool Commute program that pays cash to employees buying high-mileage hybrid or biodiesel-burning vehicles (or not driving them at all). Last winter the marketing team also conducted a Save Our Snow (SOS) Winter Roadtrip that ran entirely on straight vegetable oil. The new marketing fleet is composed of 8 new Dodge Ram 2500s - why they chose these fuel-guzzling behemoths is anybody's guess, but hey, it still makes me want to grab a Clif-Bar.

That's the news for April! Stay tuned in May for more biofuel news - same time, same channel.

There are two primary reasons for labelling: first, labels would provide consumers with the information they need to make smart, environmentally sound choices about the fuels they use, and second, it would give energy producers the incentive to improve upon their product, spurring green innovation and competition for green markets.

That's the idea, anyway:

"We think it's feasible to design a workable and effective ratings system for green biofuels today with the types of information that many farmers and many biofuel production facilities already collect," said study co-author Alex Farrell, assistant professor of energy and resources and director of the campus's Transportation Sustainability Research Center. "The American biofuels industry can produce much greener biofuels than they do today, and I think they can do so at reasonable prices and at a profit."

Presently, consumers have no way of knowing the source of their fuel, save for asking the distributor directly (and trusting their answer). A green labelling system could reveal, for instance, that corn-grain ethanol produced via coal energy inputs actually produces the same amount of Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) as using regular gasoline. It could also allow buyers to avoid some of the most destructive biofuel feedstocks, like Malaysian Palm Oil biodiesel.

The report provided several ideas for green biofuel indices, like a quantitative index that calculates a score based on GHG emissions and feedstock production practices. Labeling could take several forms - think Olympics-style bronze, silver, gold designations, a 1-4 star (*) system, or something akin to USDA Organic labels. These indices, according to the report, should be developed through cooperative effort by environmental regulators, agricultural agencies, and stakeholders - as opposed to regulatory mandates.

"Biofuels link markets in fuel, food and land in quite complicated ways, and there are no rules about how to judge the environmental and global warming impacts of producing and processing these fuels. As these technologies get better and cheaper, there will be competition for use of land, whether for food or wilderness. This is inherently a problem of biofuels. A discussion of biofuel labeling could help the domestic debate about how to develop biofuels."

An intelligent and broadly implemented Green Biofuel labelling system would do a lot for consumers trying to learn how their re-fueling choices really affect environmental quality. It would also highlight and reward producers with the most sustainably produced fuel. This sounds like a win-win situation, and with the demand for biofuels increasing exponentially, gas-pump labeling would be a welcome sight.

UC Berkeley News (Apr 17, 2007): Green Biofuels Index would aid consumers, market.
UC Berkeley's Sustainability Transportation Center
Creating Markets for Green Biofuels (PDF): Measuring and improving environmental performance
More on Ethanol (Apr. 16, 2007): US Drunk on Ethanol Hysteria.

Photo Credit: federalsustainability.org

The project has run out of funding several times during the past few years, but somehow they always find a donor and a way to continue on. In fact, one of the coolest ways to donate to Earthrace is to pay to be the fifth crew member on a leg of the race.

When the boat stopped recently in Miami, I had a chance to sit down and chat with the captain Pete, the resident videographer Ryan, and other boat and ground crew members. And yes, I even went for a ride. Below you'll find the video of that experience, with even more details straight from the captain about why this project is important, what types of biodiesel they have used (you'll be surprised!), and more ways that the boat is eco-friendly.

If you're feeling generous, consider helping out Earthrace in one way or another. They still need so many details to come together to make this race happen. To get a taste of last-minute issues, check out the ground crew blog!

However, these venture capitalists are finding that in order for their new alternative energy businesses to grow and thrive they’re going to need a little help from state and federal governments. This means trying to influence politicians - not an easy task considering they’re going up against big oil companies that have been heavily lobbying the government for years. In 2005, oil and gas company lobbyists spent $59 million, whereas venture capitalists spent $2 million.

The president’s State of the Union address called for an increase in domestic fuel production including ethanol and biodiesel, which is promising for those who have invested in the production of these fuels. And states across the US are increasingly making climate change and related issues priority item.

The increase in venture capital funds for alternative energy and clean technologies are also having a positive impact on job growth in silicon valley.

Venture capitalists are often entrepreneurial and typically invest in young companies, or assist in product development and with the intent of getting a high rate of return on their investment within three to seven years. Alternative energy investments include funding for companies in solar and wind technologies, and alternative fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel.

Via The New York Times

Further reading:
National Venture Capital Association

Cleantech Venture Network