Before you get too excited, please note that the unit is probably too expensive for your next block party, unless you’ve got an extra $9,995 lying around somewhere. Fortunately, state and Federal tax credits can halve this, but that still keeps it out of the price range of the average American.

How could making ethanol be so expensive? As Thomas Quinn quipped, this is “third-grade science. You just mix together water, sugar and yeast, and in a few hours, you start getting ethanol.” That’s not the hard part; what’s difficult is purifying ethanol to the degree that it can be mixed successfully with gasoline.

Ethanol has been made from yeast-fermentation of grain, fruits, and vegetables for thousands of years. Distillation, which gets around the 15% alcohol concentration limit that kills yeast, followed shortly thereafter. Adding ethanol to motor fuel takes things one step further. To mix properly with gasoline, ethanol must be anhydrous (containing no water) at 100% pure, or 200-proof. Homemade ethanol stills can easily produce 95% pure, or 190-proof, ethanol. But getting that last 5% of water out of the ethanol can require just as much energy as it did to get out the first 95%.

It could be the ingenuity of putting several thousand years of knowledge into one box makes the MicroFueler so costly. It can fill its own 35-gallon tank with E100 (100% ethanol) in about a week by fermenting the sugar, water and yeast internally, then separating out the water through a membrane filter.

Compared to homebrewing biodiesel, which can be done with less than $100 worth of equipment, making ethanol for motor fuel seems complicated and expensive. While sugar appears to be a cheap, ubiquitous resource, according to one expert it takes 10 to 14 pounds of sugar to make a gallon of ethanol. Right now, raw sugar sells in the United States for about 20 cents a pound.

Although the cost of each gallon of ethanol produced in the MicroFueler depends on the price of sugar, electricity, and water, Thomas Quinn maintains that it can be made for somewhere around $1 per gallon. The company is trying to make inedible sugar available from Mexico, which can be bought for as little as 2.5 cents per pound.

I like the idea, but this probably isn’t something that will go mainstream unless the price comes down. If you want more information about homebrewing ethanol, or plans to make your own still (which would be substantially cheaper), see these resources:

• RunningOnAlcohol Library
• JourneyToForever Ethanol Resources

Posts Related to Ethanol and Biodiesel:

• Study: Your Car Can Run On 20% Ethanol
• 6 Ways To Find And Use Biodiesel Anywhere
• Biodiesel Mythbuster 2.0: Twenty-Two Biodiesel Myths Dispelled
• Cellulosic Ethanol Sugar Diverted to Algae Biodiesel Production

Via: NYT
Photo Credit: Popular Mechanics

This 100% biodiesel-powered, 78 ft wave-piercing trimaran aims to set an around-the-world speed record while maintaining a net zero carbon footprint. The Earthrace left Sagunto, Spain, on April 27, and has already made excellent time across the Atlantic, landing in Panama just 8 days later.

Inspired by the desire to “connect with people about the need to get renewable fuels into our energy mix and to inspire them to do something,” the Earthrace has already generated a whirlwind of publicity. Much of this is due to the boat’s eco-technological appeal. It’s been described as “a rally car but for oceans”, with the ability to submerge up to 23 feet underwater while powering through the ocean. The “eco-” part doesn’t just include circling the globe on 100% biodiesel. Parts of the boat are made from a hemp-based composite, bedding foams are made from canola oil, and the operation’s total carbon footprint has been balanced by purchasing carbon credits.

The Earthrace also seems to have pretty good fuel economy for a powerboat. At 6 knots, it can go 24,000 km on one tank of biodiesel, which is over halfway around the world. 6 knots is pretty slow; at a more reasonable cruising speed of 25 knots (29 mph) the powerboat can go 3700 km (2300 miles) on a single tank.

Race rules state that the voyage passes through both the Suez and Panama canals, which makes the fastest route run close to the equator. The crew will make 12 refueling stops along the way in places where biodiesel is available, hoping to beat the previous circumnavigation record of 74 days, 23 hours and 53 minutes set by UK boat ‘Cable & Wireless Adventurer’ in 1998.

This will be Earthrace’s second attempt at breaking the speed record. The team left Barbados in March of last year, but ran into significant mechanical problems that prematurely ended their trip. Let’s hope they have better luck this time.

Check out the Earthrace blog where you can follow along with the voyage. Also check out the sponsorship video (sorry about the gratuitous corporate advertising pitch, just watch the first few minutes to see what the boat looks like):

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/5VK6nSJCw58" width="425" height="355" wmode="transparent" /]

Post Related to Biodiesel or Boating:

• Biodiesel Mythbuster 2.0: Twenty-Two Biodiesel Myths Dispelled
• Japanese Man to “Hang 10″ in Pacific Journey with Wave-Powered Boat
• First Heavy-Duty Diesel Powered By Algae Biodiesel, Solazyme’s “Soladiesel”

Photo Credit: Earthrace

Putting the comment back into context, however, there are a few problems with the logic of this suggestion, and not just that he, Bush, was the creator of the “eat local” concept.

The statement was made in response to a question on the relationship between ethanol and food price increases: (quote from press conference after the jump).

“Actually, I have a little different take: I thought it was 85 percent of the world’s food prices are caused by weather, increased demand and energy prices — just the cost of growing product — and that 15 percent has been caused by ethanol, the arrival of ethanol.

By the way, the high price of gasoline is going to spur more investment in ethanol as an alternative to gasoline. And the truth of the matter is it’s in our national interests that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us.

In terms of the international situation, we are deeply concerned about food prices here at home and we’re deeply concerned about people who don’t have food abroad. In other words, scarcity is of concern to us. Last year we were very generous in our food donations, and this year we’ll be generous as well. As a matter of fact, we just released about $200 million out of the Emerson Trust as part of a ongoing effort to address scarcity.

One thing I think that would be — I know would be very creative policy is if we — is if we would buy food from local farmers as a way to help deal with scarcity, but also as a way to put in place an infrastructure so that nations can be self-sustaining and self-supporting. It’s a proposal I put forth that Congress hasn’t responded to yet, and I sincerely hope they do.”

Let’s look at the logic here. If more and more farmland gets diverted to commodity crops for ethanol production, how are we going to provide food for the world AND have land left for local farms? If just fifteen percent of the food price issues were caused by using farmland for ethanol, how is using more farmland for ethanol going to be part of the solution? Not to mention the massive input of fossil-fuel based fertilizers that are used to grow that commodity crop conventionally. Or, the fact that current demand for local food may become greater than what can be supplied with only four percent of our nation’s farms growing fruits and vegetables.

On the chance that this “new” buying local concept of our president’s may sour you on the idea of buying local, please don’t quit. Buying local is your movement. Your choice. Your actions. And they make a huge difference for positive changes in this country.

Asia

Two “Extinct” Species Discovered

First there was Swinshoe’s softshell turtle, and then the Javan Elephant. Is this more commonplace than we might believe?

Frankly, no. Despite the occasional hubbub over an animal science has lost track of– say, the Coelacanth– we’ve witnessed something extraordinary. Swinshoe’s turtle was previously believed to be extinct in the wild, with only three remaining in captivity, and therefore every one of these 300-pound turtles is a critical find.

Continue reading: Environmental Graffiti. Hot in media: Stumble Upon.

Building Ban for Beijing Olympics

All building sites in Beijing will be shut three weeks before the start of the Olympic Games, as the city tries to clear its skies of pollution.

Digging, pouring of concrete and outdoor spray-painting will also be banned under plans announced by the Environmental Protection Bureau.

The move follows mounting concern that athletes may suffer from Beijing’s noxious atmosphere.

Continue reading: BBC. Hot in media: Care2 News Network.

China ‘Now Top Carbon Polluter’

China has already overtaken the US as the world’s “biggest polluter”, a report to be published next month says.

The research suggests the country’s greenhouse gas emissions have been underestimated, and probably passed those of the US in 2006-2007.

The University of California team will report their work in the Journal of Environment Economics and Management.

Continue reading: BBC. Hot in media: Digg.

South America

Amazon Tribe Enlists Google in Battle with Illegal Loggers

You may know it as Google, but in bamboo-and-thatch roundhouses deep in the Amazon rainforest the iconic brand goes by another name. The Surui people, one of the most remote on Earth, call it ragogmakan – “messenger” – and they’re banking on the search engine to save them and their ancestral lands from extinction.

The tribe – whose first contact with the modern world was less than 40 years ago – are replacing their bows and arrows with hi-tech gadgets in their battle for survival. They have already begun using satnav on their traditional trails through the trees. And Google Earth has just agreed to provide high-resolution satellite images of their forest home.

Continue Reading: The Independent. Hot in media: Digg.

GOING, GOING, GONE? New Satellite Images Reveal a Shrinking Amazon Rainforest

Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon may be on the rise, according to high-resolution images released by an agency of the Brazilian government. The images suggest an end to a widely hailed three-year decline in the rate of deforestation and have spurred a public controversy among high-level Brazilian officials, writes Tim Hirsch, author of “The Incredible Shrinking Amazon Rainforest” in the May/June 2008 issue of World Watch magazine.

Deforestation accounts for approximately one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions and is responsible for significant species loss worldwide. Recent anti-deforestation measures under the administration of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva have led to a marked drop in the rate of forest loss over the past three years.

Continue reading: ENN. Take action: Petition to save the Amazon.

Africa

Dockers Refuse to Unload China Arms Shipment for Zimbabwe

South African dockers are refusing to unload a Chinese cargo ship carrying 77 tonnes of small arms destined for Zimbabwe.

The arms, including three million rounds of ammunition suitable for AK47s and 1,500 rocket-propelled grenades, were ordered by the Zimbabwean military at the time of the March 29 election – which Britain and other Western powers have accused Robert Mugabe of trying to rig.

Continue reading: Times Online. Hot in media: Digg.

Middle East

Bahrain World Trade Center Activates Wind Turbines

You may remember that about a year ago we brought you news of the Bahrain World Trade Center, which was designed to have three giant turbines provide power to the building. Well, this past Tuesday, the project was finally completed, with the final testing and installation of the enormous wind turbines which power the building. This week, Bahrain WTC has, for the first time, activated all three 29m-diameter turbines at the same time!

Continue Reading: Inhabitat. Hot in media: Digg.

North America

Canada Leads Way with Ban on Baby Bottles Containing Bisphenol A

The government announced Friday that Canada will be the first country to ban plastic baby bottles with bisphenol A after concluding the chemical is toxic.

Health Minister Tony Clement unveiled the “precautionary and prudent” move while trying to calm fears with a limited ban of the widely used chemical, also found in hard plastic sports bottles and tin cans of food and infant formula. Most Canadians “need not be concerned” about the health effects of bisphenol A, but Clement said “this is not the case for newborns and infants.”

Continue reading: The Gazette.

Europe

Biofuel Rule Will Do More Harm Than Good, Oxfam Says

U.K. fuels for cars and trucks must contain biofuels starting today, a move that may do more harm than good to the environment and drive food prices higher, charities including Oxfam and Greenpeace said.

Under the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, suppliers must ensure that 2.5 percent of fuel sold at U.K. pumps consists of biofuels, which are made from crops and grasses. The requirement will rise to 5 percent by 2010. The Department for Transport says the plan will cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 2.5 million metric tons a year.

Continue reading: Bloomberg. Hot in media: Digg.

Global

Millions Of Pounds Of Trash Found On Ocean Beaches

Ocean Conservancy released its annual report on trash in the ocean with new data from the 2007 International Coastal Cleanup the most comprehensive snapshot of the harmful impacts of marine debris. The mission of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup is to engage people to remove trash from the world’s beaches and waterways, to identify the sources of debris and to change the behaviors that cause pollution.

This year, more than 378,000 volunteers participated in cleanups around every major body of water around the globe. Volunteers record the trash found on land and underwater allowing Ocean Conservancy a global snapshot of the problem.

Continue reading: Science Daily. Hot in media: Care2 News Network.

Former Director of Central Intelligence and Under-Secretary of the Navy R. James Woolsey tested the fuel himself by driving to the Worldwide Energy Conference & Trade Show in an unmodified 2008 Ford F450 fueled by 100% algal biodiesel.

Solazyme is a synthetic biology company using novel methods to produce algae biodiesel. I reported on the company back in January, when they made head turns with their algal-powered Mercedes at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. While the Mercedes was only powered by B20 (20% biodiesel), Solazyme was already highlighting the cold-weather benefits of their fuel. It looks like Wolfson was also impressed:

“The DoD’s requested testing of the Soladiesel fuel showed superior performance especially in terms of its cold temperature properties,” said Wolfson. “Greater performance in cold temperatures means our biodiesel and other algae-based fuels could help the military in remote northern locations like Alaska and North Dakota, as well as in hot climates, while reducing dependence on petroleum. We look forward to continuing to work with the DoD on Soladiesel and other algal based fuels, and are pleased to be presenting at the DESC conference.”

Solazyme has already been working with Chevron, after their “biodiesel feedstock development and testing agreement” was established in January. What isn’t apparent is when Solazyme’s algal biodiesel will be commercially available, and how it compares to other production methods (like the algae biodiesel facility that went online April 1st in Texas) in terms of energy balance, greenhouse gas emissions, etc.

Solazyme’s novel method grows algae in the absence of light. Since algae need light to make sugar to then make oil—which is how the organisms store energy—Solazyme just feeds them sugar, skipping the entire photosynthetic process.

While this achieves a 1000-fold increase in productivity, it has two obvious problems: no carbon is sequestered in the growing process, and it requires a source of sugar. That source is currently sugarcane, but Solazyme says cellulosic feedstocks could also be used at some future date.

I’m in contact with Solazyme now, and if more information becomes available I’ll be adding it in another post. See Solazyme’s press release here.

For more on Solazyme’s algae biodiesel production, see:

• First Cars Run on Algae Biodiesel; Breakthrough Production Possible
• Chevron Backs Solazyme’s Algae Biodiesel Production Process (+Video)
• Cellulosic Ethanol Sugar Diverted to Algae Biodiesel Production

As if cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing were not enough, the women of Santa Fe also lead a powerful organization, the Santa Fe Women’s Group, which fulfills many vital roles for the community. One of the group’s biggest projects has been producing biogas.

The Project

The Santa Fe Biogas project, in its initial stages, was simply a concern communicated in Women’s Group meetings: “How can we avoid buying expensive tanks of gas and inhaling smoke in the kitchen?”

Several women in the group had heard of farmers who use biogas as a remedy for both problems. Biogas made from biodigesters, tanks that process manure to make biogas (largely methane), converts manure from a hazardous environmental waste into a valuable, energy-rich fertilizer.

Then, the Women’s Group learned about the UN Women’s Group Grant, which would cover most of the expenses of a project to supply a biodigester. The women quickly organized themselves to start learning about biodigester construction and maintenance with the help of the local Agriculture Ministry.

When they won the grant, the women swelled with pride because another group of women from the United Nations thought their project worthy of funding. This motivated them to carry out the project to the best of their ability. They organized the purchase and delivery of all the materials necessary to build the biodigesters. Each of the families that received materials built their own biodigesters with the expertise gained from the sessions with the Agriculture Ministry that the Women’s Group organized. At the project’s completion, all 16 biodigesters were built, offering energy independence to the rural families.

The Results

Aside from the obvious results of economizing in the household and dealing with environmental problems like stagnant manure, deforestation, and smoke inhalation, the project was perhaps most impactful because of the confidence it instilled in the Santa Fe Women’s Group. The Women’s Group has since started wetlands conservation and rainforest conservation projects as well as a tree nursery, which provides native tree species for local farmers to help restore and protect their natural environment.

It will be interesting to see where Santa Fe goes from here. One thing is for certain—development in the community depends on the productive contributions of both its men and its women.

About the Author: Thomas Carmona was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Santa Fe de Guatuso from 2005-2007. He is a current Entrepreneurship MBA student at the University of Wisconsin.

Photo: Flickr

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst have made a potentially ground-breaking discovery in the production of biofuels from sustainable, non-food sources.

By heating cellulosic plant material to between 750 and 1,100 degrees Fahrenheit in the presence of a catalyst, then quickly cooling it, the team of graduate students led by associate professor George W. Huber was able to produce a mixture of hydrocarbons identical to gasoline in less than two minutes. The conversion is a relatively simple, one-step process that could create biogasoline for as little as $1 per gallon.

“We’ve proven this method on a small scale in the lab,” Huber said. “But we need to make further improvements and prove it on a large scale before it’s going to be economically viable.”

This process could provide a less-energy intensive alternative to standard ethanol production—the fuel which, like it or not, the US is currently banking on to carry it into the foreseeable future (don’t believe this? see my last post).

Of course, that depends on whether or not the process makes it out of the lab. Huber says that could take up to 10 years, but the research has already generated $400,000 in funds from the National Science Foundation, and $30,000 from the UMass Office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property. If the breakthrough lives up to its hype, it could be on the receiving end of a lot more.

John Regalbuto, director of the Catalysis and Biocatalysis Program at the National Science Foundation, said:

“In theory, (the UMass biofuel) requires much less energy to make than ethanol, giving it a smaller carbon footprint and making it cheaper to produce,” Regalbuto said.

“In fact, from the extra heat that will be released, you can generate electricity in addition to the biofuel. There will not be just a small carbon footprint for the process. By recovering heat and generating electricity, there won’t be any footprint.”

I won’t be holding my breath for this one, but it could offer another fuel to the growing list of sustainable, petroleum-free alternatives we may depend on in the next few decades.

It may also legitimate the name of this blog.

Posts Related to Green Gasoline:

• Coskata’s $1/gallon Cellulosic Ethanol, Made From Trash
• Scania’s Ethanol Diesel-Engine, Runs On Biodiesel Too
• Biodiesel Mythbuster 2.0: Twenty-Two Biodiesel Myths Dispelled
• Shell, Virent to Develop Second-Generation BioGasoline
• Farmers Invest In Diesel-Producing Trees
• 2015: 30% of US Corn Harvest Will Be Gasoline
• GMO Corn-Stover Eats Itself, Makes Ethanol Processing A Breeze

Source: The Republican (Apr. 09, 08): $1 per gallon biofuel touted

Photo Credit: University of Wisconsin-Madison

Researchers at Michigan State are trying to get corn-stover to digest itself after harvest. Doing so would mitigate the costly pretreatment steps needed for the production of cellulosic ethanol from the non-edible parts of the corn plant.

MSU’s scientists are adding genetic material to the corn’s genome, genes that would normally be responsible for the digestive enzymes produced by fungi and the microbes in cow rumens. The newly transgenic plants store these enzymes in vacuoles in the leaves and stalk in a way that doesn’t affect the plant while it’s alive.

Theoretically, once the corn harvest is over, these plants would already be primed for the first step in their conversion to cellulosic ethanol (I’m making an assumption here): break open the enzyme-containing vacuoles and let “nature” take it’s course.

MSU’s professor of crop and soil science, Mariam Sticklen, commented: “The fact that we can take a gene that makes an enzyme in the stomach of a cow and put it into a plant cell means that we can convert what was junk before into biofuel.”

It’s true that corn stover makes up about half of a corn harvest, and that turning corn stover into into cellulosic ethanol could be a good thing. But it seems like we might have already figured out less complicated (and definitely less controversial) ways of doing this. See the related links for more.

What do you think?

Related Posts:
World’s First Commercially Viable Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Online 2009
Switchgrass Could Displace 30% of US Petroleum Usage With 94% GHG Reduction
First Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Goes Online, Makes Fuel From Wood Waste

Source: Green Car Congress (Apr. 8, 2008): Researchers Modifying Corn With Genes to Produce Enzymes to Enable Simpler Production of Cellulosic Ethanol

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons

While the first algae-to-biofuels facility went online today, scientists at Argonne National Labs are manipulating the photosynthetic super-organism for another use: creating hydrogen.

Algae grows prolifically in adverse conditions, and can store large amounts of oils or starches useful for making biodiesel or ethanol. But some strains also use an enzyme called hydrogenase to produce small amounts of hydrogen gas. Scientists think this is the organism’s way of getting rid of excess energy under high-light conditions.

But the hydrogen isn’t really linked to photosynthesis in a way that’s useful to the plant (or us). So researchers are now trying to combine the activity of the hydrogenase enzyme with photosynthesis, to produce a sun-powered hydrogen-generation pathway.

The only problem: efficiency. Biological pathways will only convert about 5-10% of the sun’s energy into hydrogen. The scientists at Argonne hope to create a synthetic pathway that steps up the conversion, by extracting the hydrogenase enzyme and placing it in a synthetic protein framework.

Admittedly, this research is in the early stages, but it could someday offer major advances in renewable-fuel production. Is there anything algae can’t do?

I guess if this doesn’t work out, we can always fall back on algae biodiesel being used in biodiesel fuel cells…

Author’s note: this isn’t an April Fool’s joke. The April Fool’s joke can be found here: Ford’s Coal-to-Liquids Concept Vehicle: Release in 2010

Related Posts:
First Algae Biodiesel Plant Goes Online: April 1, 2008
How Solar Panels Could Power 90% of US Transportation
How Biodiesel Fuel-Cells Could Power The Future (And Your Car)

Source: Science Daily (Apr. 1, 2008): Algae Could One Day Be Major Hydrogen Fuel Source

After one year of collaborative research, Shell and Virent Energy Systems announced they will be trying to produce a biogasoline directly from plant sugars—as opposed to producing ethanol—with the intention of offering a fuel that can be used at high ratios in standard gasoline engines.

Instead of processing sugars into ethanol via fermentation, Virent’s trademarked “BioForming” technology uses catalysts to convert the sugars into a biogasoline. Virent claims their fuel has the same hydrocarbon content as gasoline, and has a higher energy content than both ethanol and biobutanol, which gives it a greater fuel efficiency. Virent says they can also use non-food feedstocks, such as corn stover and switchgrass, to produce the fuel.

According to Virent’s website, the only feedstocks they’ve actually tested in the lab are glycerol, sorbitol, glucose, corn syrup, and sucrose.

Virent is also interested in producing sugar-based biodiesel, hydrogen, and propylene glycol from biodiesel waste-glycerol. Apparently, Virent already signed a deal with Shell in May 2007 to produce distributed hydrogen-generation systems for filling stations (sounds like InnovaTek’s announcement).

This has already been covered very well in the media. For more details, take a look here.

Source: Virent PR (Mar. 26, 08): Shell and Virent Announce Collaboration to Develop BioGasoline

Related Posts:
First Algae Biodiesel Plant Goes Online: April 1, 2008
How Biodiesel Fuel-Cells Could Power The Future (And Your Car)
Switchgrass Could Displace 30% of US Petroleum Usage With 94% GHG Reduction

Photo Credit: Virent Energy Systems

The facility, located in Rio Hondo Texas, will produce an estimated 4.4 million gallons of algal oil and 110 million lbs. of biomass per year off a series of saltwater ponds spanning 1,100 acres. Twenty of those acres will be reserved for the experimental production of a renewable JP8 jet-fuel.

Gordon LeBlanc, Jr., CEO of PetroSun, had this to say:

“Our business model has been focused on proving the commercial feasibility of the firms’ algae-to-biofuels technology during the past eighteen months. Whether we have arrived at this point in time by a superior technological approach, sheer luck or a redneck can-do attitude, the fact remains that microalgae can outperform the current feedstocks utilized for conversion to biodiesel and ethanol, yet do not impact the consumable food markets or fresh water resources.”

Microalgae have garnered considerable attention, since acre-by-acre microalgae can produce 30-100 times the oil yield of soybeans on marginal land and in brackish water. The biomass left-over from oil-pressing can either be fed to cattle as a protein supplement, or fermented into ethanol.

The big problem has been figuring out how to collect and press the algae, and in the case of open ponds, to prevent contamination by invasive species. PetroSun seems to have figured it out, and this may be the first algae biofuel plant to get off the ground.

PetroSun won’t be making fuel immediately, but plans on either building or acquiring ethanol and biodiesel production plants. They’ve conveniently located themselves in an area accessible by barge, which should make fuel distribution a snap.

An aerial view (Google maps) of the algae farms can be seen here.

This is NOT an April Fool’s joke! See the press release here.

[via]

Posts Related to Algae Biofuel:

• Could We Grow 100,000 Gallons of Oil per Acre? Yes, Says Vertigro Algae Biofuel [Video]
• First Heavy-Duty Diesel Powered By Algae Biodiesel, Solazyme’s “Soladiesel”
• Biodiesel Mythbuster 2.0: Twenty-Two Biodiesel Myths Dispelled
• World’s First Commercially Viable Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Online 2009
• Algae Could Be Major Hydrogen Fuel Source
• Top 15 Unexpected Uses For Biodiesel
• How Solar Panels Could Power 90% of US Transportation
• How Biodiesel Fuel-Cells Could Power The Future (And Your Car)

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Continental Airlines, Boeing, and GE Aviation have scheduled a biofuel test flight for early 2009, citing the desire to identify sustainable fuel alternatives for the aviation industry. Continental may be the first US carrier to do so and, in the words of president and CEO of GE aviation, is “taking an important step in advancing the use of sustainable biofuels in aviation.”

The three companies are working together to identify a non-food based, second-generation biofuel that won’t significantly impact forests or water resources. No details on the fuel are available, but it will have to be production ready in quantities sufficient to power the test-flight and mix seamlessly with kerosene aviation fuel (Jet-A).

General Electric is playing a supporting role via its 50/50 share in CFM, the company that will provide the biofuel-ready, CFM56-7B engines. Boeing will provide the aircraft, a Next-Generation 737.

Continental is hoping the announcement will underscore their “commitment to environmental responsibility” (their words). In the last 10 years, the company has reduced greenhouse-gas emissions and fuel consumption by 35% by streamlining operations and investing $12 billion in new fuel-efficient aircraft.

Continental won’t be the first to test out alternative fuels, however. Virgin Atlantic has already tested a 20% biofuel blend in their aircraft. For more stories about biofuel uses for aviation, click here.

Related Posts:
Coconut and Babassu Oil Blend Used in First Virgin Atlantic Biofuel Flight
How Biodiesel Fuel-Cells Could Power The Future (And Your Car)
Switchgrass Could Displace 30% of US Petroleum Usage With 94% GHG Reduction

Source: Continental Airlines (Mar. 13, 08): Continental Airlines, Boeing and GE Aviation Announce Plans for Sustainable Biofuels Flight Demonstration

Photo Credit: Boeing

The event held in Berkeley (where else?) gave Tad Patzek, Professor of Geoengineering at UC Berkeley, Miguel Altieri, Professor of Agroecology at UC Berkeley, Eric Holt-Giménez, Executive Director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy, and Judith Mayer, Project Coordinator of the Borneo Project a chance to educate or frighten the audience into what’s happening with agrofuels, whether it’s ethanol, B20, or something else that makes our cars go.

Although the four speakers came at the topic from various angles ranging from food for fuel which causes food prices to rise to the big corp. ethanol monopoly, the program offered an educating, yet frightening look at where the alt fuels will take us. The speakers showed off power points and sometimes confusing slides to get us to realize how serious the situation is in places like the Amazon or Borneo where vast hectares of soybeans or oil palms continue to replace rainforest. Patzek pointed out how the supposed fuel du jour crop (swatch grass) actually needs to be fertilized like conventionally grown corn.

A lot of government and media rhetoric surrounds the notion that we need to become less reliant on foreign sources of fuel. It appears that the southern hemisphere supplies about half our corn used for ethanol. And that number continues to rise. Oh, and so does the price of corn for eating. Last time I checked a map, the southern hemisphere didn’t include the USA.

Gimenez pointed out the win-win for ethanol. Yes, win-win if your name happens to be Monsanto or BP. With ethanol subsidies standing at $1.38 per gallon (one-half the wholesale market price, which doesn’t exactly scream fair market value) Monsanto, ADM and Cargill, and others are creating what he calls a “Green Desert” of poverty in Brazil, Argentina and other South American countries, while they clean up with big profits. But let’s not just blame the chemical, petroleum, and pharmaceutical companies. I loved Miguel Altieri’s “Green Fuel Mafia” slide which displayed many of the usual suspects (Monsanto, BP, etc) but also WWF and Conservation International who have been paid lots of money to promote biofuel and a green fuel.

With all the gloom and doom and 1984 biolfuel talk, I’m glad that I could sip on some Petite Syrah from Parducci winery, which represents the first winery in the US to achieve carbon neutrality and won the Governor’s Environmental & Economic Leadership Award from the State of California just to help me enjoy the evening.

Related Posts:
University Funding Pulled For Anti-Biofuel Research
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Gas 2.0 writer, Clayton B. Cornell, meets Mr. Biodiesel himself, Josh Tickell, at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Tickell is author of several books on biodiesel, including From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank and Biodiesel America.

Tickell was at Sundance screening his new film on biodiesel, Fields of Fuel.

Clayton has an Honors B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry from the University of Utah. He most recently left a position at Oregon State University in the Department of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology.

clayton-cornell-final-1.mp3

Link to Gas2

For many Chicagoans, this announcement may alter the perception of a large grocery chain not known for being particularly green. In the Second City, Dominick’s is sort of the Pepsi to to Jewel-Osco’s Coke. These two large mainstream grocery stores are known for having stores in many of the city’s neighborhoods, and for serving very large portions of the populace with conventional packaged food and some organic produce. If you’re not a dedicated organic foodie doing your shopping at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s (or at farmer’s markets or CSAs), chances are you’re a Dominick’s or Jewel regular.

But things are changing in the grocery landscape. In yet another sign that the market is recognizing a desire in the typical American consumer to make more responsible choices, even the mainstream grocers are getting serious about offering their customers greener options. Food items labeled organic and “natural” are claiming more and more shelf space at the big supermarkets. And the shift to biodiesel in the fleet of one of Chicago’s largest chains indicates that retailers are willing to green their operations behind the scenes because of the goodwill it generates when a company can be seen as a leader in environmental stewardship.

At the same time, it’s worth recognizing that Dominick’s shift to biodiesel fuel is more symbolic than revolutionary. The projected reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of more than 1 million pounds sounds good until you remember that these things are usually measured in tons. Changing the type of fuel in all these trucks has the global warming equivalent of taking 143 cars off the road. That’s a step in the right direction, but it’s not going to make a huge dent in the climate change problem.

Granted, there are other benefits to using a domestically produced biofuel instead of petroleum-based diesel–such as reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil, and reducing particulate pollution that has an adverse impact on air quality–but these aren’t the ones that Dominick’s is touting. They seem to be jumping on the global warming panic bandwagon. It’s not corporate greenwashing, but it seems like you could call it “green dumbing” when a company focuses on one narrow and marginal benefit of a new initiative at the expense of others.

And keep in mind that B20 biodiesel is still 80% conventional diesel. Not a whole lot is changing other than where these truck go to fill up their tanks. If a retailer wanted to get serious about efficiency in their fleet, they would follow the example set by Wal-Mart, which worked to upgrade its fleet to eliminate wasted fuel from unnecessary idling.

Dominick’s biofuel commitment is part of parent company Safeway’s national shift to the alternative truck fuel. The company has been innovative for implementing a number of measures in recent years to manage its carbon footprint reduce air pollution. These efforts have included purchasing renewable solar and wind energy, alternative construction practices, and alternative fuels.

According to an NBC news article, Safeway “has installed new energy-efficient refrigeration technology and freezer systems and uses LED lighting in some stores to reduce electricity usage. Safeway also operates an extensive recycling program in which nearly 500,000 tons of materials are recycled each year, including cardboard, plastics and compostable materials.”

To make a real dent in the problem and get the environmental credibility that it seems to be Safeway’s goal, retailers need to put together integrated programs using a variety of best practices. In 2006 Safeway joined the Chicago Climate Exchange, a voluntary, legally binding greenhouse gas emissions reduction, registry and trading program. This may be the biggest sign of a true corporate commitment, because meeting the carbon reductions required by membership in the Chicago Climate Exchange will require lots more innovation that putting a few more soybeans in the gas tank.

I’ll feel better about shopping at Dominick’s after knowing that good changes are afoot at this corporate behemoth. But I’m not going to delude myself into thinking it’s the greenest choice I can make. This retail giant is riding the green revolution, but they’re not out front by that much. I’ll watch what other changes they make, but for now, I’m still going to try to feed myself with local produce that didn’t have to get trucked across the country in the first place.

And if I get a craving for Cool Ranch Doritos, I’m going to skip the Jewel and try to find a Dominick’s instead.

Further reading:

Dominick’s Announces Shift to Biodiesel - Medill Reports

Safeway Converts U.S. Trucking Fleet to Biodiesel - NBC6.net

Photo credit: Safeway

It just looks like a pile of trash to most of us, but a new cellulosic ethanol facility may start making a renewable fuel from cardboard and other wood wastes. See the story here.

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The first commercial cellulosic ethanol facility to convert waste wood materials into a renewable fuel went online last month near Upton, Wyoming. After 6 years of development, KL Process Design Group, in conjunction with the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, has produced a proprietary enzymatic method to break down wood and waste materials, such as cardboard and paper:

KL’s cellulosic ethanol plant is converting waste wood into a renewable fuel. “It is now possible to economically convert discarded wood into a clean burning, sustainable alternate motor fuel” said Randy Kramer, president of KL Process Design Group, a design firm that has been working in corn ethanol. “We’re proud of what this small company has accomplished, and believe that our design will be a cornerstone from which we can build our country’s renewable fuel infrastructure providing a better source of motor fuel, starting today.”

The press release makes no mention of production volumes or plans for expansion (I’m currently contacting KL about this), but the company could be the first to capitalize on the massive potential of cellulosic ethanol, namely, making fuel from waste products (see earlier post).

KL projects that its cellulosic technology, coupled with new applied design concepts, will allow the plants to build to match the amount and type of feed stock available near large cities, further lessening the fuel’s carbon foot print. KL’s Advanced Biofuels plants will also produce excess electricity and/or steam heat that can provide additional power sources for local municipalities or complimenting biofuel plants and manufacturing facilities.

Government officials are already worried about meeting the 2015 cellulosic-ethanol targets required by the new Renewable Fuels Standard (adding up to 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels). The US Energy Information Administration Chief suggested that quotas would have to be adjusted, unless “breakthroughs in commercialization of cellulosic ethanol come faster, within a year or two…”.

Could this be the first of many?

Related Posts:
GM Announces Biofuel Partnership: Cheap, Green Ethanol?
Study: Your Car Can Run On 20% Ethanol
University Funding Pulled For Anti-Biofuel Research

Sources:
SW Farm Press (Feb. 7, 08): Cellulosic ethanol a reality: First American plant in production
Hoosier Ag (Mar. 4, 08): EIA Projects Cellulosic Ethanol Shortfall

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Over half the gasoline sold in the US is already blended with 10% ethanol (E10), but higher blends were thought to run the risk of causing engine damage. Higher blends of ethanol, up to 85% (E85), will only work properly in engines converted to accept the fuel.

Using 40 pairs of vehicles commonly found on American roads, a year-long research effort found that increasing ethanol blends from 10 percent (E10) to 20 percent (E20) in a gallon of gasoline provided an effective fuel across a range of tests focusing on driveability and materials compatibility.

“Using homegrown renewable fuel is an important part of Americanizing our energy future and unhooking our country from foreign sources of oil,” Governor Tim Pawlenty said. “This study shows that we can safely increase the amount of ethanol blended with gasoline for use in today’s vehicles. We’re proud that Minnesota is helping lead the nation to a cleaner, more secure energy future and we’re hopeful that other states will continue to join with us in this effort.”

As Governor Pawlenty highlights, some groups have been frustrated by the slow growth of Flex-Fuel (E85 compatible) vehicles and infrastructure, not to mention the potential problem when the 15 billion gallon per year ethanol mandate (from the new Renewable Fuels Standard) is met: E10 blending might not be able to handle that much ethanol, and increases in E85 use might not make up the difference (Andrew Karsner of the DOE said it would take 100 years at current growth rates for infrastructure to get anywhere). Other state programs, like Minnesota’s target of replacing 20% of liquid fuel by with renewables by 2013, has also served to spearhead efforts to approve higher ethanol blends.

Since companies like General Motors have heavily invested in the development of Flex-Fuel vehicles, it’s clear they’d rather see a transition to new E85 compatible cars and trucks. This comes from an article in Ethanol Producer Magazine dated last July:

The idea of implementing a new mid-level ethanol fuel doesn’t appeal to everyone, especially the auto manufacturers. “We absolutely guarantee the destruction of the engine and the fuel injection system if we go the E20 route,” General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz told the Detroit Free Press. “It will not work.” Ellen Shapiro, director of automobile fuels for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, says that while her group is entirely supportive of the growth and development of the ethanol industry and increasing the use of ethanol as a transportation fuel, there are many design-related issues that have to be investigated before E20 is widely used. “The issue with mid-level blends is that conventional vehicles are not designed to handle it, and we produce flexible-fuel vehicles that are,” Shapiro says.

While the University of Minnesota study may have come to the opposite conclusion, the emissions testing for E20 is ongoing, and the fuel still has to be recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency and Clean Air Act standards.

Related Posts:
Ethanol Industry: Jobs Are Better Than Food?
Ethanol Industry Pays Off Subsidies, Boosts U.S. Economy (Bigtime)
GM Announces Biofuel Partnership: Cheap, Green Ethanol?
GM’s Grand Plan For Solving America’s Oil Dependence

Sources:
Minn. Dept. Agr. (Mar 5, 08): E20 blend passes compatibility, performance tests
Ethanol Producer Magazine (July 2007): Concentrating on Consumption

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