As a professor of agricultural and biological engineering at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, Dev Shrestha is part of a high-profile team that recently published a new energy life-cycle analysis (LCA) of soy biodiesel. Assessing the energy balance of soy biodiesel is a continuous effort. UI and USDA have been involved with the project for years¡Xand they¡¦ve found that biodiesel¡¦s numbers keep improving. Combining economic and engineering sciences, the study has given the government a tool through which to make informed energy policy decisions, Shrestha says.
 
 The collaborative report between UI and USDA concludes that biodiesel returns 4.5 units of energy for every unit of fossil fuel required in its production. The National Biodiesel Board used the circumstance of the report¡¦s publication to criticize the U.S. EPA¡¦s proposed rule to implement RFS2. "EPA used 2005 baseline numbers for petroleum and biodiesel to project carbon impact 22 years in the future," stated the National Biodiesel Board. "That stacks the deck in favor of petroleum."
 
 New data becomes available as the industry evolves, and agriculture production practices along with energy efficiencies are getting better all of the time. New seed varieties and management practices have reduced the need for pesticides, tilling and fuel, and today¡¦s biodiesel plants are more energy efficient. 
 
 Some of the data necessary to perform this work, such as energy efficiency numbers, are processed as infrequently as every five years, so researchers can only study it as the information becomes available or is published. UI says the study is one more piece of information that helps to quantify the environmental benefits of biodiesel and includes the most up-to-date data possible. 
 
 Of the energy needed to produce biodiesel, conversion was the most intensive, accounting for about 60 percent of the total energy required in the life-cycle inventory. Soybean agriculture accounted for 18 percent of the total energy requirements, followed by soybean crushing, which required almost 15 percent of the total energy. The secondary inputs added were farm machinery, along with building materials for a crushing plant and biodiesel refinery. 

 
 Scientific work regarding renewable fuels is an ongoing endeavor, and members of the team that worked on the 2009 report, including James Duffield and Hussein Shapouri, were involved with NREL¡¦s energy balance study in 1998, a report that¡¦s now considered a landmark in the industry. Shrestha began working with Shapouri and Duffield¡Xon a team that now also includes Michael Haas of USDA Agriculture Research Service and a UI graduate student A. Pradhan¡Xseveral years after the publication of the original NREL study. The subject has been one of considerable tension, even controversy. 
 
 Part of Shrestha¡¦s ongoing LCA research involved fellow UI professor, Jon Van Gerpen, and an exchange between David Pimentel and Tad Patzek, two notorious California scientists who concluded in a similar study that biodiesel was net energy negative. Pimentel and Patzek claimed that their analysis showed biodiesel production to require 27 percent more fossil energy than is present in the biodiesel, while the 1998 NREL study said biodiesel returned 3.2 units of energy for every 1 unit of fossil fuel used as an input. 
 
 ¡§We have shown that Pimentel and Patzek¡¦s claim that biodiesel consumes more energy than is provided in the fuel is incorrect,¡¨ Shrestha says. ¡§Pimentel and Patzek¡¦s study, by subtracting the energy value of the meal directly from the input energy, assumes that the meal is produced with no energy loss (or gain). If losses are present, then they will all be assigned to the biodiesel. This approach can lead to absurd results.¡¨ 
 
 Shrestha is a biodiesel scientist. In addition to his energy balance work, he has studied ways blend levels influence fuel properties such as cloud point and emissions. His research used a "spectrophotometer to scan the blends of U.S. No. 2 diesel and biodiesel from three different feedstocks (rapeseed, soybean and mustard oil) in the visible wavelength range of 380 to 530 [nanometers]," Shrestha stated in a publication for the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Using this method, the study was able to distinguish feedstock and blend levels from the fuel sample using light wavelengths.
 
 In the following question and answer session, Shrestha talks about indirect land use, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, process technology upgrades and the role of soybeans in the future of the biodiesel industry.
 
 
 Q: Regarding the energy balance study you were involved with, Joe Jobe, CEO of the NBB, said: ¡§This gives Americans even more reason to put their faith in the environmental and societal benefits of biodiesel. The EPA should take this into account when considering biodiesel¡¦s greenhouse gas reductions.¡¨ Do you have any response to this? 
 
 
 A: The NBB¡¦s claim is valid in that soybeans are grown more for meal than they are for oil, so one can argue that increased production for biodiesel increases food production as well. When soybeans are crushed, there is 80 percent meal and 20 percent oil. That means if soybean production is to increase, there is going to be more high-quality protein on the market and therefore cheaper meat. So the case for biodiesel and the case for ethanol are a little different. The oil from soybean crushing is more of a by-product of feed production. I think EPA is using the best available information in its LCA, so as new information becomes available, EPA should definitely incorporate it into its analysis.
 

 
 Q: What is your opinion on EPA¡¦s characterization of soy biodiesel as a driver of indirect land use change, or a fuel that has more of a negative greenhouse gas impact than petroleum diesel?
 
 
 A: We have provided new data and I am confident that the EPA will take this into consideration. They are mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to investigate indirect land use change that results from biodiesel production. EPA is doing its best, but it¡¦s not a one-to-one scenario. An additional acre of soybeans in the U.S for biodiesel doesn¡¦t mean an acre goes into production for food elsewhere as a result. To reasonably address the indirect land use change because of biofuel use, I think it has to be broken down into ¡§what-if¡¨ scenarios¡Xhow much forest land will be cleared if the U.S. does, or does not, produce biodiesel. The difference will give the answer of how much biodiesel is responsible for indirect land use change. It¡¦s hard to separate these two and it¡¦s certainly not straightforward, but without this analysis there is no way of knowing how much biodiesel is responsible for all the land use changes that are going around.
 
 
 Q: What real world impact or influence do you expect the recent energy balance study to have (i.e., can or should a scientific study be able to actually influence, change or edify policy decisions)?
 
 
 A: The main objective of energy life-cycle analysis is to see if biodiesel is as renewable as we thought it was 10 years ago. It¡¦s not 100 percent renewable because it takes quite a bit of fossil fuel to produce. So we want to know, ¡§How renewable is it?¡¨ We want to know how much is gained from using petroleum to produce other types of fuel. In our study, we found that for every unit of fossil energy biodiesel requires for production, 4.5 units of energy are returned on the backend. So we are liberating our petroleum use. There¡¦s a tremendous opportunity to apply that result in policy making. 
 
 
 
 Q: What is the best way, in your opinion, for the energy used for crushing soybeans to be allocated between meal and biodiesel production?
 
 A: Soybean crushing yields 80 percent meal and 20 percent oil, so we allocated 80 percent of the energy required by crush operations to the meal and 20 percent to the oil. These are fixed numbers that don¡¦t change. Other methods include replacement method or market values of the coproducts to assign energy values. I¡¦m not saying it¡¦s a wrong method, but for us it¡¦s a moving target because it is always changing. 

 
 
 Q: Soybean meal is a major agricultural feed and was before the build-out of the biodiesel industry. Should biodiesel be considered an added-value product of soy meal production practices? Can this be an argument against those who see biodiesel as a negative influence on food production and prices?
 
 
 A: As we discussed earlier, soybean oil is more of a byproduct of soybean meal market. If biodiesel makes soybean production more profitable, that is a good thing for food markets because more soybean production means more high-quality protein meal production and, down the road, reduced food prices. The U.S.¡¦s surplus oil and fat production for 2005, after accounting for food related consumption, imports and exports, was 6.4 billion pounds. This amount of oil and fat will produce about 850 million gallons of biodiesel. Therefore, until now, I would say biodiesel has not competed with food markets at all.
 
 
 Q: A significant portion of the study refers to agricultural practices and improvements in soya cultivation. Is this an area that has been overlooked by EPA and others when making determinations about biodiesel¡¦s environmental impact?
 
 A: We have used the most up-to-date information and data possible in our analysis of soybean production practices. In addition, we made sure that a single year¡¦s data be used for all agricultural inputs for consistency. The study does not include the fact that soybeans fix nitrogen, which can be used in subsequent crop production in rotations. Life-cycle analysis, as a science, has had a relatively short developmental process so some things are missed. I am not sure if EPA has included this factor in its analysis yet, but I have no doubt that one day everything will be included and everything will be sorted out. 
 
 
 Q: The industry has seen a major increase in the use of waste greases, tallow and other feedstocks for methyl ester manufacturing. What role do you see soybeans playing, as the industry continues to evolve?
 
 
 A: The price of soybean oil has been high lately so the level at which soybeans are used as a feedstock certainly has a lot to do with the market price. Use of other feedstocks has been increasing and we¡¦ve seen the use of soybean oil as a biodiesel feedstock drop by 30 to 40 percent in the past few years. However, to meet the EISA mandate for [biomass-based] diesel, the industry still has to use soybean oil to reach that target. 

 
 
 Q: You mention the incorporation of energy saving techniques utilized by the biodiesel industry over the past few years¡Xbut as production facilities are often strapped for cash, how widespread do you think the retrofitting of facilities with the most up-to-date process technologies really is?
 
 
 A: The industry is strapped for cash so there has been a limitation on improvements. The majority of biodiesel, however, is being produced by a small number of big companies like ADM¡Xso modest improvements can have a big impact. But on the business side, the companies that are incorporating energy-saving technologies will be the ones that survive, and there will be more improvements down the road. ƒ¬
 
 
 For a full version of the study, ¡§Energy Life Cycle Assessment of Soybean Biodiesel,¡¨ visit www.usda.gov/oce/global_change/index.htm. 
 
 
 Nicholas Zeman is an associate editor for Biodiesel Magazine. Reach him at (701) 738-4972 or <a href="mailto:nzeman@bbiinternational.com">nzeman@bbiinternational.com</a>.

Product life-cycle analysis is a relatively new but important science to the renewable fuels industries. In conjunction with the USDA, University of Idaho researchers have produced a new energy balance study for soy biodiesel concluding that methyl ester manufacturing returns more than four times the fossil fuel energy it requires. Biodiesel Magazine talks with UI¡¦s Dev Shrestha about the study¡¦s details.

A Continuing  Effort

Making biodiesel is a rather straightforward chemical reaction, and thus a suitable experiment for budding chemists to perform in a college class. Chemistry professor Abdou Lachgar's interest in biodiesel has continued to grow over the past decade since he started teaching such a class at Wake Forest University, a private liberal arts undergraduate college in Winston-Salem, N.C. "It wasn't about the price of oil then," he recalls. "Oil was $10 a barrel. The environmental impact of fossil fuels was on our mind." As a result, a group of professors got behind the idea of improving the environment by making their own biodiesel from waste vegetable oils and WFU Biofuels was born. A group of WFU staff enlisted the aid of students to collect waste vegetable oil and make biodiesel off-campus in the shop of a willing farmer nearby. 
 
 "Backyard biodiesel" production has it challenges though, as the industry well knows, when the free fatty acids (FFA) found in waste vegetable oils tend to make soap rather than biodiesel in the standard process. The solution is to add a processing step using a strong acid, such as sulfuric acid, to convert the FFA first before running the standard reaction on the remaining triglycerides with a base catalyst in an excess of alcohol. "Sulfuric acid is not easy to handle, it is quite corrosive and dangerous," Lachgar explains. "People have been trying to find a heterogeneous catalyst-a solid catalyst-that can do what sulfuric acid does."

 
 Lachgar ran across a paper by a Japanese team on the development of a biodiesel catalyst for converting FFA. Following the description in the paper, Lachgar tested the method and found it worked, although it did have its issues. "The process they reported is quite involved and takes lots of energy to make. It involves heat and a very specific environment, it's lengthy and costly the way they made it," he says. "We found a basically straightforward way to make the catalyst, using sugar and quickly making a carbon-based catalyst that is acid in nature to convert the FFA to fatty acid methyl ester." He says the catalyst can be made from anything that is sugar-based, in chemical terms, such as corn syrup or cellulose. Instead of sulfuric acid, the esterification reaction is run with 1 to 2 percent of this sugar-based acid catalyst. "Most of our tests have been done with 100 percent FFA and the conversion is 95 to 98 percent within 30 minutes of treatment," he says. "It is a very good yield compared to other systems out there." The reaction occurs at 60 degrees Celsius, he adds, with the acid catalyst remaining solid and easily filtered at the end. Preliminary calculations indicate the cost of the catalyst is 7 cents per gallon of biodiesel produced. On the downside, the recyclability of the first generation catalyst, dubbed WFU BDC-1, is not good. While yield from the first reaction is 98 percent, it drops to 70 percent in the second use, to 54 percent in the third use and 28 percent if recycled a fourth time. Lachgar adds that the spent catalyst should be quite safe to dispose of. 
 
 Work continues in the chemistry labs at WFU, with undergraduate student help, to improve the longevity and develop a regeneration process as well as research the second generation of the catalyst. "We're trying to find a hybrid material, a composite made up of this catalyst and other things to make a catalyst that can do acid catalysis and base catalysis at the same time," Lachgar says. "There are a number of polymeric materials we've started to look at and make in the lab to see their effects."
 Given that WFU is a liberal arts college and Lachgar's primary focus is teaching, the next steps in developing the catalyst-taking it to pilot and demonstration tests-are being handled by WFU's Office of Technology Asset Management, which is working with two interested companies, one in New Jersey and one in Hong Kong. A local company in Winston-Salem has been contracted to make samples of the catalyst for testing. 
 
 
 Tackling Trap Grease
 
 Mike Wellet is looking at the WFU catalyst's applicability in waste water treatment facilities. "Anybody can make biodiesel from canola oil or fryer grease, we're trying to do it from trap grease," he explains. He works on chemical and process engineering as a partner in Prime Environmental Inc., a Morris Plains, N.J., firm that also works on environmental engineering, wastewater treatment, remediation and compliance. 
 
 Trap grease has a reputation as being a nasty, smelly disposal problem. Separated from municipal and industrial wastewater streams, it generally cannot be used as animal feed. Some places incinerate it and a few use bioremediation, but usually there's a cost for disposal. There is a lot of it, too. A decade-old study done for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimated 16 pounds of trap grease is generated per person per year in urban areas. It is far more difficult to handle as a biodiesel feedstock than waste vegetable oil, primarily because of its high FFA levels. Brown grease generally has 70 percent FFA while black grease is 90 percent FFA and higher, Wellet says.
 
 Wellet used the WFU catalyst on trap greases supplied by a large East Coast wastewater treatment facility. "We were trying to simulate the real world as closely as possible," he says. "The catalyst performed really well." The reaction time for the different batches varied between two and four hours, he says, "Which is good because it normally takes eight to 10 hours. And you have a lot less glycerin and waste on the back end, which is also good." 
 
 He says some large municipalities have been interested in the work that his team at Prime Environmental is doing to develop a modular unit using the catalyst for biodiesel production from trap grease, which could be scaled up to 6,000 gallons a day. Part of the process will include cleaning the water, grit and other contaminants commonly found in trap grease before the conversion process. "[Wake Forest] really has something there that will impact the market," he adds. "But we're a little ways from actually being able to commercialize. We have to answer how long can you use it and how many pounds of the catalyst is needed to make X pounds of biodiesel. We're working through that now." &#61500;

 
 
 Terrafinity targets student-based, campus biodiesel production
 Students at Wake Forest University have formed a nonprofit group, Terrafinity Inc., with the idea of taking over the waste vegetable oil collection and small-scale biodiesel production begun by university professors. The small group of students has even bigger ideas than simply collecting oils and producing biodiesel: they would like to see the WFU project become a template for other college campuses to use for starting student-based renewable energy projects, and incorporate a Web platform for sharing technical information. "We want to create an open access research network where results of experiments would be shown, and any secrets would be revealed after the intellectual property was protected," says Wesley Johnson, one of the founders of Terrafinity. Renewable energy technologies could be given a big boost by open source platforms, he says, as demonstrated by their use in software development. Johnson is an undergraduate student at WFU majoring in biology with minors in environmental science and entrepreneurship. Business major Afton Vechery and political science major Lacey Robinson are the other two principles in the venture. 
 
 Vechery points out that biodiesel production occurs on many university campuses already. "Why doesn't everybody construct these and make their campuses more green?" Establishing a test model for student biodiesel production at WFU is the first step to spreading the concept to other small liberal arts colleges in the region. Biodiesel production may end up being only one of several green energy initiatives that could be launched by students, marrying education with research and entrepreneurship. "I'm a business major," Vechery says, "and it's been great to work with professors who want to catalyze student learning.
 
 
 Susanne Retka Schill is assistant editor of Biodiesel Magazine. Contact her at (701) 738-4922 or <a href="mailto:sretkaschill@bbiinternational.com">sretkaschill@bbiinternational.com</a>.

WFU chemistry professor Abdu Lachgar teaches a class in biodiesel production and conducts catalyst research with the help of his undergraduate students. PHOTO: KEN BENNETT/WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY

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A chemistry professor at Wake Forest University has been working on a new catalyst for biodiesel production, and catalyzing his students to become biodiesel boosters.

Sweet Catalysis

The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPAct) created the market-pull niche for biodiesel. The act provided the legislative framework to mandate strategies to reduce the emissions of specified pollutants. Biodiesel had already demonstrated the properties of reduced emissions for all of the priority pollutants to meet the mandated levels, except for nitrogen oxides. In addition, biodiesel had demonstrated its effectiveness in overcoming the problems of poor lubricity associated with the ultra-low sulfur diesel fuels required to comply with the Clean Air Act. 
 
 The EPAct also triggered a policy decision for the SoyDiesel Board that continues to have an impact today. In order to comply with EPAct, biodiesel had to be recognized as an alternative fuel. The documentation to support the designation was going to be a million dollar investment. But the question was, at what blend level with diesel fuel? What percent B100 will be added to the petroleum diesel component?
 
 The SoyDiesel Board convened a meeting for representatives of all the board's working committees, including research, marketing, and government policy to develop the strategy for the board to follow in gaining the alternative fuel designation for biodiesel. By this time there were considerable emissions and performance data for blends from B2 to B100. All blends demonstrated emission benefits to justify registration under EPAct. Soybean farmers had been using B50 for some time by choice. Among others, I, a member of the research committee, was arguing that the total fats and oils resource could support only 7 to 10 percent of the total diesel demand, thus recommending a B5 blend. After nearly three days of disagreement, the group compromised on B20.

 
 The American Soybean Association was providing the largest share of funding for the development of the EPAct emissions data and marketing for biodiesel. However, commercial biodiesel companies were growing and supporting the development of the fuel. The Southwest Research Institute, a major, for-profit national level research institute in San Antonio, Texas, performed the bulk of the work on engine performance, emissions measurements and engine testing that was needed to comply with the EPAct requirements. 
 
 A number of the companies were using rendered raw materials such as lard, tallow and yellow grease to make biodiesel meeting quality standards. The military procurement definition then was limited explicitly to soy biodiesel. Also, several states were tying biodiesel mandates to soy biodiesel. The issue was reduced to a decision of adopting a "source neutral" definition for biodiesel, or having definitions of biodiesel that are source specific. The resolution of the issue was to maintain a source neutral definition based upon the legal definition and data proving that the properties of the esters depend on their composition, not on their fat or oil source.
 
 The increasing role of biodiesel producers in the organization and the need for continuing development of quality assurance and product specification standards were factors in the board changing its name to the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), with a shift in emphasis to more of a trade organization, in 1994. 
 
 
 Documenting the Fuel
 
 Engine warranties were proving to be a barrier to expanding the impact of biodiesel. Part of the issue was quality assurance of the fuel itself, and compatibility of the fuel with components of the fuel-engine-exhaust system in some models. The National Center for Aerospace & Transportation Technologies presented the first conference on engine warranties in 1994. This symposium was followed by a meeting on fuel quality in 1997. The industrial members of NBB instituted the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission in 1994 to develop a quality monitoring system for the biodiesel industry. The BQ-9000 Quality Management System is patterned after the ISO-9000 methodology for quality assurance. BQ-9000 has become the basis for many of the engine warranties now in existence. 
 
 The 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act lead NBB to underwrite the costs to qualify biodiesel for Tier 1 and Tier 2 Health Effects Testing in the mid-1990s. Biodiesel is the only fuel to have completed this testing, which it passed with flying colors.
 The specifications for biodiesel, ASTM D6751, were approved in 2001. There has been a sequence of amendments since. Part of the changes to D6751 has been the result of attempts to harmonize the ASTM and European standards. Recent issues with filter plugging attributed to sterol-derived materials have prompted additions to D6751 as well.
 

 
 The Changing Face of Biodiesel Personnel
 
 In 2002, the U.S. DOE biodiesel program manager solicited proposals for a "group of experts" to develop and present a series of biodiesel training workshops. The stated goal was to "teach the truth about biodiesel production, quality control and the biodiesel business." The group resulting from this was Jon van Gerpen (Iowa State University, later University of Idaho), Gerhard Knothe, USDA-NCAUR, Peoria, IL), L. Davis Clements (Biomass Renewable Technologies Inc, Portland, Ore., formerly with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln), Brent Shanks (ISU) and Rudy Pruszko (ISU). 
 
 We presented our first classes in 2002 and since have offered five-day short courses two or three times a year. More than 700 participants from all over the U.S., Canada, Mexico and more than 20 other countries, have attended. The backgrounds and goals of participants have changed over time, reflecting the changes in the industry.
 
 Attendance in the past couple of years showed a drop in those interested in building their own small units, which can be attributed to the increased availability of quality how-to books, use of small package systems, and the increasingly effective mentoring by local home brewers, or instruction in schools and short courses. Also, a decrease in entrepreneurs or business people attending is attributed to the economy in general, and the uncertain outlook for biofuels. But there has been an increase in industry personnel attendance, which can perhaps be attributed to increasing complexity of plants and pressures to do their own process improvements. 
 
 
 Emerging Issues
 
 The U.S. biodiesel industry is presently at a tilting point. A substantial number of plants are idle or operating below capacity. The uncertainty of the rulings from EPA has not yet been resolved. Yet, the public is increasingly familiar with biodiesel and its advantages. Below is a brief analysis of the industry's current state. 
 
 Strengths The public is aware of biodiesel and generally supports its production and use. Mandates and renewable fuel standards are supportive to the industry. BQ-9000 producers are increasing in number. Health-driven applications, such as fueling school buses, are increasing. There is a strong, high-quality home brewer network. Modules are available to treat high FFA feedstocks.

 
 Weaknesses Feedstocks continue to be very expensive. Many plants are still not equipped to use poor quality feedstocks. Process safety and reliability continue to be a problem. Glycerol management and utilization are still problems.
 Opportunities New, high productivity feedstocks may have significant potential (e.g. algae, jatropha). Reopening idle plants using key retrofits can be an opportunity to create profitable businesses. Upgrading poor quality feeds for use is a potential business opportunity. Using current capacity to supply other markets with esters is also a business opportunity. The current positive political atmosphere for renewable energy sources is creating opportunities.
 
 Threats "Bio-derived" diesel is on the verge of competing for feedstock supply. Adverse rulings on feedstock availability from EPA can further restrict feedstock availability. There is high-value competition for access to fats and oils in the world market.
 I see a continuing demand for biodiesel but primarily for low-level blends to provide lubricity for diesel fuel. Also, biodiesel's ability to reduce EPA-listed pollutants is a desirable quality. But breakthrough in feedstock production is needed for any significant market growth. This may come from algae, but nothing is assured. Despite all of the challenges, I see a secure future for biodiesel as a niche U.S. industry. 
 
 
 L. Davis Clements is CEO of Biomass Renewable Technologies Inc. Reach him at <a href="mailto:dave@biomassrenewabletechnologies.com">dave@biomassrenewabletechnologies.com</a>.

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Milestones in the Changing U.S. Biodiesel Industry: Part Two

This past year, the biodiesel industry has been consumed by the implementation of RFS2-and in recent months the extension of the $1 per gallon federal tax credit-and little has been said about what happens after 2012 regarding biomass-based diesel. If one looks at the schedule of volume requirements under RFS2, there is absolutely nothing slated beyond 2012. The 2009 volume (which obviously hasn't been enforced yet because of the lack of a final EPA rule) is set at 500 million gallons. For 2010, 650 million gallons of biomass-based diesel is supposed to be blended into the nation's fuel supply. Then, in 2011, 800 million gallons is the volume requirement. Finally, the carve-out tops off in 2012 at 1 billion gallons. But there is no further specific mandate for biomass-based diesel beyond 2012. 
 
 Perhaps for those who aren't so familiar with how RFS2 is structured, a little explanation is in order. There are two broad categories of biofuels under the standard: conventional and advanced. Conventional biofuel is essentially corn ethanol. Advanced biofuel is either cellulosic biofuel, or ethanol made from biomass; biomass-based diesel; or a third category, called undifferentiated advanced biofuel. Biomass-based diesel can be methyl esters, hydroprocessed renewable diesel, Fischer Tropsch diesel from gasified biomass, and more. Undifferentiated advanced biofuel can be either cellulosic biofuel, biomass-based diesel or some other type of advanced biofuel that meets the greenhouse gas (GHG) criteria. 

 
 Let's take a closer look at 2012 and 2013 in the schedule of volume requirements. For 2012, the total volume of all fuels is 15.2 billion gallons, 13.2 billion of which is to come from conventional biofuel, or corn ethanol. The remaining 2 billion gallons is to come from advanced biofuel; specifically, 1 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel, 500 million gallons of cellulosic biofuel, and 500 million gallons of undifferentiated advanced biofuel. In 2013, however, the total standard is 16.55 billion gallons, 13.8 billion of which is to be from corn ethanol. The remaining 2.75 billion is to come from advanced biofuel; specifically, 1 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol and 1.75 billion gallons of undifferentiated advanced biofuel. Basically, as the standard exists today, the clock stops on the specified category of biomass-based diesel after 2012. It's hard to say what kind of technological advances cellulosic ethanol producers will come across between now and then, but depending on the economics, obligated parties should find it more economical to blend traditional methyl ester to satisfy their advanced biofuel quota than cellulosic ethanol. I also believe biodiesel producers can capitalize on that undifferentiated category (again depending on how the GHG emissions numbers play out in EPA's final rule) as early as when the final rule is released because predictions are that cellulosic ethanol production will not be able to meet its targets. Looking ahead to 2022, the advanced biofuel mandate is 21 billion gallons, 16 billion of which is specifically cellulosic ethanol. Thus there's a potential market for 5 billion gallons of traditional biodiesel and other forms of biomass-based diesel. 
 
 I understand that feedstock limitations have much to do with biomass-based diesel's relatively low volume in the mandate, but feedstock research and development is advancing and it is very possible that a higher mandate would drive feedstock development even further. 
 
 While much of the biodiesel lobbying effort is currently consumed by RFS2 implementation and extending the federal tax credit, I believe the industry needs to push for a greater biomass-based diesel mandate. Even better, we should push for a biodiesel-specific nationwide blend requirement of B2, increasing to B5 and beyond as feedstock availability allows.

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What Happens Beyond 2012?

Misinformation campaigns by both corporations and environmentalists threaten to undermine efforts to conserve tropical biodiversity, argued a paper published in the journal Biotropica, titled "Wash and Spin Cycle Threats to Tropical Biodiversity." Using the debate over the environmental impact of palm oil, the paper pointed to marketing groups in Malaysia and Indonesia that have been characterized as greenwashing the environmental impact of their efforts. At the same time, the authors charged environmental groups of blackwashing, distorting information to enhance fundraising. "The same degree of accountability and transparency demanded from the oil palm industry should also be expected from environmental groups, who are self-declared monitors of the industry." Dubious information advanced as truth could provide ammunition to dismiss environmental claims and undermine the trust in the certification process for sustainable palm oil.

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Paper calls out palm oil blackwashing, greenwashing

Evolution Fuels was set to host country music singers Willie Nelson and Family at the Willie's Place at Carl's Corner Truck Stop in Carl's Corner, Texas, on Dec. 16., to help promote a plan to develop a chain of renewable fuel stations that extend from Texas to Mississippi. Willie's Place at Carl's Corner, which opened December 2008, is partially owned by Evolution Fuels' subsidiary Legend's Travel Centers LLC and has "steadily increased sales of biodiesel blended fuels since that time," the company said.

Willie set to perform at Carl's Corner

The Massachusetts biodiesel mandate, which has been criticized for allowing only waste-derived biodiesel to qualify, is moving forward despite what the Massachusetts Oilheat Council called in its Nov. 13 newsletter a "spell of relative silence" surrounding the mandate. 
 
 On Sept. 30, MOC president Michael Ferrante sent an email to Dwayne Bregger, director of renewable and alternative energy development in the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, asking specifics regarding the mandate, to which Bregger replied, "Do know that we are moving forward with the Early Action Year beginning July 2010. [Once U.S. EPA's final RFS2 rule is out], DOER will be able to qualify all biofuels (regardless of feedstock) that can demonstrate the 50 percent GHG reduction." Early Action Credits will be given beginning in July 2010 for all gallons of qualified biodiesel sold into the Massachusetts market, which may then be applied to the 2011 mandate obligations.

Massachusetts mandate  stays the course

Eagle BioDiesel Inc. held a ribbon cutting ceremony Nov. 19 for its new 5 MMgy plant in Kane, Pa. The plant began shipping biodiesel in September. "We think we are in the best location in the state," Bob Howard, vice president, said. The plant is situated midway between two Pennsylvania refineries and near a major fuel distributor, strategically placed for when the state's B2 mandate takes effect in May. Pennsylvania also has adopted a 75 cent-per-gallon incentive for biodiesel. The company is using Schroeder Biofuels' Cold Clear filtration process to improve the cold flow properties of its biodiesel made from yellow grease and soy oil, and has become a distributor.

Eagle BioDiesel comes online

Soybean farmers have a new tool available to evaluate how various practices on their farm might impact the environment, plus the opportunity to help shape future versions of the tool. The United Soybean Board, in cooperation with Field to Market: The Keystone Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture, recently launched the Fieldprint calculator on its Web site at www.unitedsoybean.org. The Fieldprint Calculator takes information from farmers and evaluates five resource categories: land use, soil loss, irrigation water use, energy use and climate impact. The new tool doesn't intend to provide precise environmental evaluations, but rather serve as an educational resource to get growers thinking about their operations and how their practices relate to natural resource management and sustainability.

USB offers sustainability tool

As 2009 came to a close, several government programs that impact the biodiesel industry-both in the U.S. and internationally-remained uncertain. The final determinations on these programs will play a significant role in how the U.S. biodiesel industry produces and markets its product. 
 
 The renewable fuels standard (RFS2) was modified in 2007 to require that advanced biofuels reduce life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50 percent relative to gasoline sold or distributed in transportation. In May 2009, the U.S. EPA proposed rules that took into account indirect land use changes when calculating GHG emissions. Based on the EPA's preliminary findings, soy-based biodiesel was found to reduce GHG emissions by only 22 percent, which would disqualify it from counting towards RFS2. Biodiesel from animal fat was found to reduce GHG emissions by approximately 80 percent. The EPA's draft results did not measure biodiesel produced from corn oil. The EPA has announced that it intends to publish final rules prior to the end of 2009; however, as of the date this article went to print, such final rules have not been released. The EPA has suggested that the final rules will take into account estimates for the uncertainty of the inclusion of indirect land use changes in its calculations of GHG emissions. Depending upon the outcome of the final rules, biodiesel producers should be prepared to respond accordingly-as the rules will likely impact demand for any feedstocks favored or disfavored by the rules. 
 
 Another significant government incentive for the biodiesel industry is the biodiesel blender tax credit, originally created in 2004. The credit provides a $1 tax credit per gallon of pure biodiesel to the company that first blends the biodiesel with petroleum-based diesel. The credit was originally set to expire on Dec. 31, 2008, but was extended until Dec. 31, 2009 as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. A bill known as the Biodiesel Tax Incentive Reform and Extension Act of 2009 (Senate Bill 1589) has been introduced; however, as of the date this article went to print, the bill had not moved past the Finance Committee. If the credit is not extended again, or if the extension includes overly restrictive limitations, it will have a negative impact on the biodiesel industry's ability to compete with petroleum-based diesel, and the biodiesel industry will need to develop strategies to counteract this disadvantage. 
 

 On March 12, 2009, the European Commission applied temporary duties on imports of biodiesel from the U.S., while it continued to investigate the evidence of unfair subsidies and dumping of U.S. biodiesel imports into the European Union. Beginning on July 13, 2009, the EU decided to impose tariffs on biodiesel imported from the U.S. for a period of five years. The U.S. government has stated its opposition to these tariffs and is in the process of reviewing this decision, but it is unclear what, if anything, can be done in response. Until a modification to the tariffs can be implemented, or the five year time period expires, biodiesel producers will need to focus their marketing efforts on targeting non-European markets and increasing demand in the U.S.
 
 During this volatile time in the biodiesel industry, producers should stay apprised of developments in government programs, in order to best position their business to respond to the changing climate.
 
 Kristi Harshbarger is an attorney with BrownWinick, a Des Moines, Iowa-based law firm serving the renewable fuels industry. Reach her at (515) 248-6627 or <a href="mailto:klh@brownwinick.com">klh@brownwinick.com</a>.

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Government Programs and the Biodiesel Industry: A 2010 Outlook

Biodiesel is environmentally friendly, reduces overall emissions compared to diesel, is compatible with existing diesel engines without modifications, and is significantly in demand. But if biodiesel is the best renewable fuel available, why aren't we all using it?
 
 The answer is technology. Most biodiesel plants operate using conventional caustic-based conversion technology, meaning acid esterification (if necessary) followed by base transesterification. Many plants were designed to process refined vegetable oils, and the price of these oils has remained high, in part as a result of demand from India and China. The glycerin produced by caustic transesterification is contaminated with catalyst and sells at the crude glycerin discount price. The combination of expensive feedstock and low-value coproduct has challenged the profitability of many biodiesel plants. 
 
 Why upgrade to next generation noncaustic biodiesel technology? To process higher free fatty acid (FFA) feedstocks, which are 30 percent cheaper than refined vegetable oil; and to produce refined glycerin that sells for 40 cents a pound compared to crude glycerin at 3 cents a pound; and to lower other operating costs. To become more profitable, producers should consider upgrades. 
 
 Who should look at upgrading to next generation technology? Biodiesel producers with conventional technology, petroleum refiners, edible oil and palm oil refiners, ethanol producers and pulp and paper companies, all of which are looking to convert their low-value byproducts into biodiesel and higher value coproducts. Below are things to consider when looking at technology upgrades. 
 
 Feedstock flexibility The new technology must be robust enough to efficiently and consistently process feedstocks that have between zero and 100 percent FFA, moisture and impurities (e.g., salts of sodium, potassium, calcium). This will allow the producer to choose from a wide universe of raw material based on need, availability and cost. Normally, feedstocks with high FFA, moisture and impurities are sold at discounts of 30 percent or more to their refined counterparts. 
 

 Of particular interest today, the palm oil industry produces palm fatty acid distillate with 85 percent FFA at a steep discount to refined palm oil. The pulp and paper industry produces byproducts such as tall oil fatty acids with 100 percent FFA, which may have a home in biodiesel, and crude tall oil, which can be upgraded to biofuel. Animal fat, with up to 20 percent FFA, is available worldwide at a discount to vegetable oil. 
 
 As we look into the not-so-distant future to next generation feedstocks such as jatropha and algae oil, we see that these feedstocks can also have high FFA content (up to 20 percent). A next-generation technology must have the ability to deal effectively with wide ranges of FFA, moisture, and impurities. 
 
 Low capital costs An upgrade should leverage existing infrastructure so that implementation costs are manageable. Plants with capacity of at least 10 MMgy with ample storage, good logistics, utilities and methanol recovery are ideal upgrade candidates. Some plants can be upgraded at a fraction of the cost and in less that half of the time that it would take to build a new plant. A feasibility analysis is required to determine the cost of upgrade. 
 
 When considering feed pretreatment, a producer should target a robust technology with upgradeability to a complete train-integrated solution because of the economic advantages afforded by the complete solution. 
 
 Low operating costs Look for an upgrade technology that minimizes consumables. Analyze the hidden costs of consumables: resin, cosolvent and dry-wash, which incur more than just the cost of the chemical, adding to labor, downtime for change-outs, maintenance, disposal costs and operational complexity. Other consumables, such as methoxide, also represent ongoing costs.
 
 High yields Upon upgrade, seek conversion yields of nearly 100 percent. For example, hydrogenation processes (renewable diesel) experience a yield loss of 15 percent, which represents a direct revenue loss of 15 percent. At a biodiesel price of $3.50 a gallon, hydrogenation (renewable diesel) has a yield loss penalty of 50 cents a gallon. 
 
 High-value coproduct An upgrade must produce refined glycerin. While crude glycerin generated by conventional caustic-based technology sells for 3 cents a pound, refined glycerin, currently at the bottom of the market, commands 40 cents. Refined glycerin could also be used as a biofuel for energy generation/cogeneration and could potentially qualify for tax credits. 
 
 Low water usage and disposal An upgrade with next generation technology should not require a water wash or dry wash. Water wash incurs the cost of water and disposal, and the risk of future changes in environmental law. Dry wash incurs chemical and disposal costs. 
 
 As with many other emerging industries, innovation, resilience and persistence will help the biodiesel industry overcome the current challenges and growing pains. The confluence of new technologies, unconventional and next-generation feedstocks, and additional revenue streams from higher value coproducts will springboard the biodiesel industry toward growth. Non-caustic conversion technology is available, proven, and ready for commercialization today. As always, due diligence is required to determine the viability of any upgrade.

 
 
 Roman Wolff is CEO of Enhanced Biofuels LLC. Reach him at (713) 301-8660 or <a href="mailto:rwolff@enhancedbiofuels.com">rwolff@enhancedbiofuels.com</a>.

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Upgrading to Next-Generation Technology

Aiming to develop emission reduction upgrades necessary to meet U.S. EPA's regulations over the next five years, GreenMan Technologies Inc. and its subsidiary, American Power Group Inc., have entered into a technical consulting agreement with Robert Natkin, "a world-renowned expert in alternative engine technology."
 
 "We are elated to have someone with Bob's industry experience endorse our APG dual-fuel technology and provide his expertise as we expand our dual-fuel capabilities with compressed natural gas (CNG), biomethane and other applicable dual-fuel combinations," said Lyle Jensen, GreenMan's president and CEO. "His vast knowledge of engine designs and emissions criteria will accelerate our in-house development of emission reduction upgrades necessary to meet the new EPA requirements being implemented over the next five years." 
 
 The U.S. EPA recently reported that there are 13 million diesel-powered vehicles and 7 million stationary diesel generators in operation in the U.S. All of these diesel engines are candidates for APG's alternative dual-fuel aftermarket upgrade system, which provides the flexibility for an engine to operate on a combination of diesel and CNG or 100 percent diesel.

GreenMan Technologies  partners with engine design expert

Biofuels mandates are "around the corner" in New Jersey, said Norman Woolley Jr., of the state's Woolley Fuels Co., which recently increased its biodiesel blending capabilities from 5 percent to 30 percent. Biodiesel blends from B2 to B5 are currently priced at a discount to conventiaonal diesel at about 10 cents per gallon, while higher level blends in the B20 to B30 range are about 12 cents per gallon more than conventional diesel, Woolley said.

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New Jersey's Woolley  Fuels increases blend

The three-day food summit held in mid-November at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization headquarters in Rome had a decidedly different tone than the last one two years ago when controversy surrounded the food-versus-fuel debate. This year, the discussions revolved around the inadequacy of agricultural aid on the part of richer nations to help developing nations improve food security. Industrialized nations balked at adopting concrete targets while leaders of developing nations such as Brazil and Libya lashed out at unfair agricultural policies of more developed nations. In the end, the declaration confirmed the previous U.N. goal of halving hunger by 2015. FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf said the summit marked an important step, but "to my regret, the official declaration contains neither measurable targets nor specific deadlines, which would have made it easier to monitor implementation."
 
 Reports from the previous meeting focused on the debate regarding to what extent biofuels production was the cause of rising food prices. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for international guidelines for biofuel production, as the question of the proper response to increasing biofuel production was mentioned by multiple speakers.

FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf addressed a group at the FAO World Summit on Food Security in Rome. PHOTO: FAO/GIULIO NAPOLITANO

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Food Summit focuses on funding, ag policies to solve world hunger

Fraud and artificial trade activities created the circumstances for "a number of important events" that were topics of discussion at the European Biodiesel Board's General Assembly meeting held Nov. 24 in Brussels. At the top of the list was the successful outcome of EBB legal action against unfair U.S. biodiesel imports (B99) threatening EU producers in the marketplace.
 
 "These duties, however, are not preventing fraud and artificial trade of other biodiesel blends," Raffaello Garofalo, secretary general of EBB, told Biodiesel Magazine. "Some people are importing a 19 percent blend because it is not held to any technical promotion and is kind of outside the substantial legal perspective of the duty."

 
 In addition, EBB said that circumvention patterns, or "triangular trade," started materializing soon after the imposition of the EU duties. There are strong and consistent indications that U.S. subsidized and dumped biodiesel continues to enter the EU market, either via triangular trade with third countries based on fraudulent declarations of origins or through blends (at B19 or lower level) specifically designed to circumvent the EU anti-dumping and countervailing duties in force. 
 
 "We think that U.S. biodiesel is going to Canada and other locations and then being redirected to the EU," Garofalo said. "I am not accusing these countries of fraud, but we have evidence that makes it hard not to suspect that it's going on. We will be presenting this information to the anti-fraud police authorities in the EU."
 
 Officially, EBB has lodged an anti-circumvention complaint to EU trade authorities. "This timely decision comes as the necessary reaction to trade practices undermining the remedial effect of the EU anti-dumping and countervailing duties," EBB stated. "Market players need to be aware that EBB will oppose circumvention and fraud by all means. If and when established, these practices will lead to heavy and retroactive financial penalties." 
 
 Argentina's Chamber for Renewable Energy has accused EBB of being protectionist in its stance against foreign biodiesel and that its statements along these lines are overblown. Several biodiesel companies in Canada told Biodiesel Magazine last summer that they would not participate in such practices. 
 
 Biodiesel sustainability was also a prime topic of conversation at the general assembly, especially in light of the standards adopted in the EU's Renewable Energy Directive. Producers there are waiting for official guidelines to be released.
 "It is equally essential that the practical implementation of biofuels sustainability rules takes into account the reality of industry practices and the day-to-day function of the biofuels supply chain," EBB said. "At the same time, only a harmonized implementation of the sustainability requirements at a national level will ensure that sustainable biofuels production is effectively rewarded."
 
 EBB also elected its officers for 2010. The general assembly renewed the appointment of Bernard Nicol of Diester Industries as the president. EBB vice presidents and board members were also confirmed with the addition of Claudio Roccieta from Italian producer, Oxem, and Tomas Hagstrom of Sweden's Perstorp.

The city of Brussels hosted the EBB's general assembly meeting Nov. 24, where the topic of biodiesel trade took center stage. 

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Trade issues steal the show at EBB's general assembly

Infrared analyzers developed by Connecticut-based Wilks Enterprise Inc. were used to verify biodiesel blends transported through a distribution pipeline to ensure the biodiesel met blend specifications as it entered and left the pipeline. The instruments used for the testing were an InfraSpec VFA-IR Spectrometer and an InfraCal Biodiesel Blend Analyzer.
 
 The InfraCal is a dedicated analyzer that reads out a blend percentage in less than a minute. A small fuel sample of about one milliliter is placed directly on the crystal in the sample window, and after 10 seconds the percent biodiesel is displayed. The sample window is then cleaned using a solvent and a wipe. The analyzer is rugged, can be battery operated and has no moving parts, facilitating on-site use by nontechnical personnel to test blend accuracies. The analyzer can also be calibrated to measure ethanol blends. 
 
 The biodiesel blend analyzer can be used to evaluate splash blending. "Obtaining measurement data on the blend ratio from a splash blender is not easy," commented Sandy Rintoul, president of Wilks Enterprise. The splash blending method is susceptible to inaccuracies as it relies upon mixing occurring as the load travels down the road. In one test, five minutes after filling the truck to meet a B20 blend, a sample taken from the top showed an 11.9 percent blend was achieved and the sample taken from the bottom was 24.1 percent. While the company initially thought small blenders would find the small, portable instrument useful, it was adopted first by major oil company blenders. "The large blenders are concerned about the blend being what they say it is," she said. "And the cost, in a range of $6,000 to $7,000, may be more than small blenders feel they can pay."

 
 Wilks has been in the spectrometer business for more than 15 years, and first introduced the biodiesel application about three years ago. "Most of the usage so far has been among terminal or regulatory personnel," Rintoul said. "Because of its accuracy and portability, it can be used at the site-testing at the truck or at the gas pump. The weights and measurement people are using it to test biodiesel blends." 
 
 The company makes a similar analyzer that can do multiple spectrums, one of which is biodiesel in diesel like the dedicated analyzer. The InfraSpec VFA-IR Spectrometer can also analyze transesterification of biodiesel, measuring such things as total glycerides, free fatty acid content, water in incoming feedstock or water in methanol. The InfraSpec is designed for use in the field environment by nontechnically trained personnel. Its use in manufacturing facilities has not caught on as widely as it has in the blend market, she added. "Our system is faster than a gas chromatograph, but if they have the equipment already for testing the finished product, they want to use it for everything." She added that the method is before the ASTM committee for consideration as an approved testing method. "We're hoping it could happen within the next year."

A portable, durable dedicated infrared spectrometer analyzer is being used by blenders and regulators to check biodiesel blends. The InfraSpec unit pictured here can analyze multiple spectrums, including biodiesel in diesel, total glycerides, FFA con

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IR analyzers being adopted by blenders

A considerable amount of material has been released by companies lately regarding equipment upgrades and process optimization technologies targeted at the biodiesel industry. Cost and yield rewards have to be weighed against the burdens of additional capital costs when plant managers contemplate upgrades. Additional testing and lab equipment, automated controls, oil and grease pretreatment systems, glycerin recovery and distillation columns comprise a short list of the products and services that plants could incorporate into their production schemes. 
 
 While there are opportunities for improvement, getting the design of a plant right the first time-or at the beginning-is still essential. "Most of the upgrades that we do involve additional equipment for oil cleanup before transesterification," said Derek Masterson of process technology provider Crown Iron Works, headquartered in Minneapolis. 
 
 It's much easier to upgrade the parts of the plant that are self-contained, that don't have fluids traveling back and forth between them. That's why improvements are made at the front and back ends-feedstock purification, fuel polishing and glycerin recovery, to name a few. "Often a lot of plants that need upgrades just aren't designed very well to begin with," Masterson said. "We consider energy efficiency and yield in the initial plant design, so as a technology service provider we don't do a lot of upgrades in these areas. So much of a biodiesel plant is integrated that it would basically take redoing the entire plant rather than doing improvements on certain components." 
 
 Canada's TWD Technologies Ltd. recently received a Consulting Engineers of Ontario award for its work upgrading Sanimax's 20 MMgy biodiesel production facility in DeForest, Wis. "We were working with a start-up plant that had major reliability and operational issues," said TWD Technologies partner Scott Wilson. "We needed to come up with a plan to help the plant achieve operating targets and efficiently use capital dollars." The upgrades implemented by the plant increased biodiesel production yield by 17 percent. 
 
 For the Sanimax project, TWD Technologies-with offices in Burlington and Sarnia, Ontario, and Edmonton, Alberta-focused on improvements to the plant's vacuum system. Power is utilized by several process components in the production of biodiesel, such as the methanol stripping and methyl ester dehydration steps. In some processes, small amounts of excess water are removed from the feedstock oil or the washed biodiesel through vacuum evaporation. Vacuum and vapor loads are dictated by the facility's initial design; and a reliable vacuum system meeting these requirements is critical to profitability. 
 
 Maintaining controlled vacuum pressure is vital to the operation of many pieces of equipment. "A plant's vacuum system is very important to polishing of the fuel on the back end," said Jennifer Cooper with TWD Technologies. "By improving the vacuum system we were able to increase the yield-providing more sellable biodiesel."
 
 TWD Technologies developed a complex computer simulation of the refinery to optimize its process operating parameters. Cooper and Wilson explained that biodiesel is still a very new industry and commercial "off-the-shelf" simulations are not readily available, therefore the company made extensive customization to existing software using inputs from plant operations. "Process simulation validates flows, temperatures and pressure of the operating conditions, which is key to equipment design," Cooper said. "It helps draw out different streams in the composition." 
 

 There are small changes that one can do with controls sometimes, Masterson said. "Sometimes a plant can get a 1 percent yield increase just by changing the temperature."
 
 A lot of attention has been paid to filtration equipment regarding more stringent ASTM regulations and the release of products from Schroeder Biofuels, Dover Chemical and others, so biodiesel facilities can ensure and sell a high-quality product. Again, filtration is usually a part of original plant design, and even ADM offers its patent with no royalty fee, so this technology is nothing new, Masterson said. 
 
 "Inquiries about glycerin recovery come and go, when the price of refined glycerin is high everybody wants glycerin purification and when the market's bad you don't hear anything," Masterson told Biodiesel Magazine. "We have offered distillation. It's very expensive but certainly one solution. If there is a quality problem then full distillation may be required at some point."
 
 Something as simple as the addition of a mass flow meter to monitor throughput conditions on certain pieces of equipment might help save time and money regarding preventative maintenance. Often, however, additional automation and process controls are hard to incorporate into a plant after the initial design. "We put in a highly automated system to begin with," Masterson said. "Putting in a lot of extra controls and software could be as expensive as the original equipment, and that is not usually an investment people are willing to make. As a technology service provider, we've sold some brand new biodiesel plants outside of the U.S. That's a much larger base of inquiry."

Incoming oil is preheated prior to transesterification at an Iowa biodiesel plant that uses Crown Iron Works process technology. PHOTO: CROWN IRON WORKS CO.

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Process upgrades: from slight changes to system revamps

Palm oil production techniques will likely become more sophisticated now that a comprehensive genome sequencing project has been completed. The Malaysian Palm Oil Board and St. Louis-based Orion Genomics led a consortium that has sequenced three oil palm genomes from two oil palm species, E. oleifera and E. guineensis, including the pisifera and dura palms. In commercial seed production, the pisifera is frequently used as the paternal source while dura serves as the maternal line. 
 
 Oil palm plantations produce about 10 times more oil-3.9 annual tons per hectare-than its competitors in the oil bearing crop sector. Used in cooking oil, margarine, baked goods and other foods, palm oil is the most consumed edible oil in the world, as well as a common ingredient in soaps and cosmetics, and an important biodiesel feedstock globally. 
 
 The oil palm family has two species, the E. guineensis which originates from Africa and the E. oleifera, which is native to South America. Because of its high productivity, the E. guineensis is the commercial variety planted in Malaysia. E. oleifera, however, has many interesting traits such as a low height increment that would increase the life-span of harvestable plantings, increased resistance to disease and production of higher quantities of unsaturated fats-traits that will add value if incorporated into commercial E. guineensis lines. 
 
 "Knowledge of the genomic sequence of these oil palm varieties enables researchers to understand genetic differences between trees that are, for example, higher yielding or more resistant to disease than usual," said Mohd Basri Wahid, director-general of MPOB. "Our goal in completing the oil palm genome sequence is to dramatically improve oil yields for the production of food, feed and fuel." 
 
 The consortium included Orion Genomics, MOgene LC and The Genome Center at Washington University, South Korea-based Macrogen Inc., and Adelaide, Australia-based GeneWorks Pty Ltd. In addition to sequencing and assembling the genomes of the three oil palm varieties, the consortium sequenced the expressed genes (or transcriptome) from multiple tissue types for all three varieties of oil palm. Transcriptome sequence will aid oil palm researchers as they seek to understand the genes responsible for yield, disease resistance and tolerance of environmental stress. The initiative generated the most comprehensive genetic and transcriptional maps of this important crop to date. 
 
 MPOB and Orion, along with MOgene LC, unveiled plans to study the epigenetic makeup of oil palm in 2010 to improve yields. "Epigenetics is the study of the pattern of chemical groups that influence whether specific genes are turned on or off," said Nathan Lakey, president and CEO of Orion Genomics. "We theorize that by studying oil palm epigenetics, we may be able to help speed the development of varieties of oil palm that produce more oil, rapidly increasing the per-acre efficiency of this crop, which already is the single largest producer of edible oils worldwide."

Sequencing the genome of three oil palm lines promises to speed up the breeding of improved oil palm lines that would be more insect resistant, allow extended harvestability and improve yields. PHOTO: MPOC

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Oil palm genomes sequenced

U.S. Foodservice's Atlanta division received its first 7,500 gallon delivery of B5 in early November, making Atlanta the company's third division to switch to biodiesel blends. The Atlanta division is using B5 in its 185 tractors that distribute food and related products to restaurants, healthcare facilities, lodging establishments, cafeterias, schools and colleges in Georgia and neighboring states. It is the first company to use biodiesel fleet-wide in Georgia. In addition to using biodiesel blends in the tractors, the fuel will power the company's four-cylinder Thermo King engines in 210 refrigerated trailers. S.A. White Oil Co. of Marietta, Ga., is supplying the biodiesel blend to the food distributor.

 
 Atlanta joins the U.S. Foodservice division in Plymouth, Minn., which uses B5, and the Streator, Ill., division which uses B11. The Minnesota facility has used biodiesel blends for years, the company stated, starting with B3 and switching to the state-mandated B5. "The division has had no performance or engine longevity issues," a company spokesman said. U.S. Foodservice-Minnesota is exploring a switch to B10 ahead of the Minnesota state-mandate increase that takes effect in 2012, studying the best way to use it effectively year-round. The Illinois division currently uses B11 only in non-winter months.
 
 U.S. Foodservices reported the biodiesel blended fuel costs on average about a penny more per gallon. Biodiesel use is expected to reduce the U.S. Foodservice-Atlanta fleet's carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 788,000 pounds-or about 4 percent-annually. That's roughly the equivalent of taking 65 cars off the road or planting more than 3,150 trees every year. The company estimates its total biodiesel usage in 2009 will be about 1.85 million gallons, about 4 percent of the company's total fuel use, which includes Minnesota, Illinois and estimates for Atlanta's two-month usage. Biodiesel fuel is being testing in other locations as well.
 
 "Utilizing biodiesel is a continuation of our ongoing environmental strategy," said John Leake, president of U.S. Foodservice-Atlanta. "Improving our overall impact on the environment, while helping our customers find effective ways to do the same, not only makes good business sense, it's the right thing to do."
 
 U.S. Foodservice-Atlanta is active with and has a leadership role in several local, regional and state efforts to promote and protect the environment, including the Georgia DNR Project, Partnership for a Sustainable Georgia and the Atlanta Zero Waste Zone. The division, which serves the entire state of Georgia and parts of the five bordering states of Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina, has reduced electrical consumption by 18 percent using fluorescent lamps, decreased waste by 55 percent through recovery and recycling programs, and saved fuel by decreasing truck idle time below 2 percent.
 
 U.S. Foodservice, based in Rosemont, Ill., is the second largest broadline foodservice distributor in the U.S., operating more than 60 distribution centers across the country. It operates and maintains one of the largest private refrigerated transport fleets in the U.S., with more than 6,000 tractor trailers that travel more than 250 million miles every year.

U.S. Foodservice-Atlanta expects to reduce its GHG emissions by 4 percent by switching to B5 in the 185 tractors and 210 refrigerator trailers it uses to serve its customers in Georgia and neighboring states. PHOTO: US Foodservice

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US Foodservice-Atlanta switches to B5

Camelina cleared another hurdle for its future success and adoption as a new biodiesel feedstock. The North American Camelina Trade Association announced Nov. 10 that it received approval from the Center for Veterinary Medicine, a department of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for the use of camelina meal in the diets of feedlot beef cattle up to 10 percent of the weight of the total ration. It had been approved a couple of years ago for inclusion in beef rations up to 2 percent. With 94.5 million head of beef cattle in the U.S. and Canada fed an average of 18 pounds daily, a 10 percent inclusion rate promises substantial new market potential. 
 
 "Opening up the feedlot beef market for camelina meal feeding opportunities is a tremendous step in building a strong, long-term market for camelina production," said Scott Johnson, president of NACTA. "Increasing the number of markets for the most significant coproduct of camelina oil production ensures growers the ability to drive additional revenue from the crop beyond just oil." 
 
 Camelina meal has already received approval from the FDA for broiler chicken feed, up to 10 percent of the weight of the total ration. The broiler feeding study was the first funded by NACTA, through a grant from the Montana Department of Agriculture. NACTA will continue working to obtain certification from the FDA for additional market segments such as laying hens, swine and dairy. "Camelina meal is an excellent source of protein and, with the growing demand for biofuels made from camelina oil, it is extremely important that our producers have multiple coproduct outlets," Johnson said. The study on camelina use in laying hen rations is nearing completion and soon to be submitted to the FDA. "We expect this to occur [soon] and then go through a review process that takes about six to eight weeks," he said. Once the laying hen study is submitted, the next target is a feeding study for swine. NACTA and member companies are working on Canadian approval as well.
 
 Great Plains-the Camelina Co. has been selling all of its camelina meal for poultry rations. "It has done quite well," Sam Huttenbauer Jr., chief development officer, reported. The company is looking forward to the completion of the FDA egg layer studies. "Our intent is to demonstrate camelina meal will be a good source to produce Omega 3 eggs," he said. Camelina meal is very close to the value of soybean meal in all uses, he added. While camelina meal has around 82 or 83 percent of the protein value of soy meal, its value goes up when the energy content is factored in. The mechanical expellers used to extract camelina oil leave oil in the meal, he explained, which reduces the percentage of protein content. The presence of the oil, however, increases the energy content and is the source of Omega 3 and vitamin E. "We've applied for use of the meal in turkeys and ducks, and I'm sure dairy will soon be applied for as well," Huttenbauer said. "We're getting a lot of requests." 
 FDA-approved testing protocols will have to be followed to insure no harmful substances are carried through the cows into the milk, and to establish whether the Omega 3 content of the milk is enhanced. "The potential of Omega 3 is of great interest in dairy," Huttenbauer said. Previous studies have indicated that meat from chickens fed Omega 3-enriched meals contain Omega 3 fatty acids, resulting in healthier meat for human consumption. If further research confirms the health benefits camelina meal provides, Great Plains believes that cattle fed camelina meal could be marketed as a premium branded product. "We're at the beginning of learning the amazing uses for this plant," Huttenbauer said. 

 
 Other hurdles have been cleared for the new crop as well, including catastrophic crop insurance. "We really need to work toward a comprehensive crop insurance program similar to what is available for other commodities," Johnson added. One grass control herbicide is available for use in camelina, and work continues on other weed control measures as well as continuing research on agronomic practices. "In addition, it's critical for the crop to have access to efficient logistics and crushing to fill the demand that we are creating for the crop," Johnson said. Plantings of camelina are expected to approach 100,000 acres this year, which is considered a major milestone towards full commercialization of the new crop. 
 
 NACTA was formed in February 2009 by 13 camelina seed companies, processors and researchers. Johnson, president of Sustainable Oils Inc., serves as president of the trade association; Craig Parker, CEO, Willamette Biomass Processors Inc., is treasurer; and David King, Great Plains, is secretary. The association works to promote research, production and the development of new markets for camelina.
 
 Camelina sativa is a member of the mustard family and a distant relative of canola. It is a fast-growing, short-seasoned crop that produces good yields on modest rainfall, and is a low-input crop that fits well into crop rotations without displacing the primary food crops. In Montana, where camelina development got its start more than a decade ago, it promises to become a needed rotational crop in wheat/fallow systems. It is harvested early enough in the summer to allow soil moisture recharge, replacing fallow in dry-land rotations. The brassica crop also provides a rotational benefit, boosting yields of the following wheat crop. Its high oil content and other properties make it a great fit for biofuel production. Its high sustainability profile made it a candidate for the high-profile biofuel blend tests in the aviation industry this past year.

With new feed markets for the meal opening up, crop insurance and a herbicide in place, camelina acres are poised to explode. PHOTO: SUSTAINABLE OILS

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Camelina meal approved for feedlot cattle

Ideas can change the world. But as Thomas Edison said, "The value of an idea lies in the using of it." In 1996, the NBB brought our company, Advanced Fuel Solutions, on board to help discover new markets for biodiesel. We were in the idea business, brought on to identify and capture a new way to sell and market biodiesel. Heating oil is a big part of our lives in the Northeast, and the more we thought about it, the more it made sense. It was more than a decade ago now when we really got serious about the idea of introducing biodiesel to the oilheat market. The partnership was a textbook fit for both of the industries, creating a new market for biodiesel and allowing heating oil to stay competitive with new heating alternatives. No organizations or industries need each other more.
 
 At first, Bioheat wasn't even a word, and now it is a registered trademark. It began with discussions among industry stakeholders and leaders. We were pitching a game plan, a canvas that was not yet painted. We talked with established petroleum and heating oil dealers to discuss what we saw as real potential for success, but it was just an idea, a concept. We started casually referring to that concept as "bio-heat" as a way not to confuse it with biodiesel. 
 
 Fortunately, NBB members and South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Maryland, the United Soybean Board and USDA shared our vision for the market's potential. With their support, the past 10 years have harvested the idea into a registered and ASTM-approved fuel for the home heating oil market. 
 
 For years, we lobbied home heating dealers-individually and through the National Oilheat Research Alliance, and other associations. The past 24 months have shown the results of those long term efforts. 
 
 In fall 2006, NBB secured the trademark for Bioheat and then sublicensed it to NORA, which proceeded to launch the official marketing campaign throughout the 24 NORA states. Bioheat fuel began a new era for oilheat and opened the door to a potential 450 million gallon a year market for biodiesel. 
 
 In 2008, NBB launched Bioheatonline.com. The Web site offers an easy-to-use public forum to educate home heating oil customers and dealers on the benefits of Bioheat fuel. 
 

 During 2009, the number of registered fuel oil dealers using Bioheat increased from 185 dealers to 365. The current market is estimated to account for about 22 million gallons in sales. 
 
 While Bioheat has gained ground on a company-by-company basis, as an overall market it has not yet truly kicked off. We will begin to see a real impact in July 2010 with the required biofuel mandate in Massachusetts for all heating oil and diesel fuel. In addition, the 24 NORA states recently charted a new course for the future of oilheat. They established a ratified set of goals, which included moving from conventional high-sulfur heating oil to using ultra-low sulfur diesel and a B2 biodiesel blend by 2011. This will increase to ULSD blended with B15 by 2015. More importantly, NORA's goals formalized what we identified as an ideal collaboration opportunity. 
 
 Establishing a Bioheat technical committee is next. The group will consider how best to include higher biodiesel blends into ASTM standards, thus laying the foundation for even greater biodiesel sales potential. 
 
 I expect that in the next 24 months we will be selling more biodiesel into heating oil than any other market. The strength of this market is driven by legislative pressures to reduce carbon intensity, NORA's comprehensive support for Bioheat, and the simple fact that blending oilheat with 12 percent or higher blends of biodiesel can make the fuel compete with natural gas for emission reductions. 
 
 A decade ago, oilheat paired with biodiesel was just an idea, and today it really has changed the heating oil business for the better.

Paul Nazarro, president, Advanced Fuel Solutions and NBB liaison

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Bioheat: NBB Facilitates Textbook Partnership

Several more biodiesel companies have achieved the highest level of industry-recognized quality assurance, a sign that quality remains a top commitment among the nation's biodiesel producers. The National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission most recently recognized REG-Houston LLC, Nittany Biodiesel, High Plains BioEnergy and Biox Canada as BQ-9000 biodiesel producers. In addition, Global Companies LLC earned BQ-9000 Marketer status. 
 
 "BQ-9000 Producer status is one of the ways REG (Renewable Energy Group Inc.) biodiesel production facilities are working to satisfy quality demands of the RFS2's obligated parties, pipeline operators, original equipment manufacturers and diesel-powered equipment across the country," said Gary Haer, REG's vice president of sales and marketing.
 
 BQ-9000 is a voluntary fuel quality assurance program overseen by the NABC and adopted by the NBB and the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. BQ-9000 couples the foundations of universally accepted quality management systems with the product specification, ASTM D6751. 
 
 There are currently 37 biodiesel production facilities certified as producers under the program and 18 certified as marketers.

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BQ-9000 quality program welcomes new participants

Posted December 29, 2009
 
 The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued an Investor Alert today warning investors to be wary of green energy investments that promise large gains from investing in companies purportedly involved in developing or producing alternative, renewable or waste energy products.
 
 The new Investor Alert, Save Your Greenbacks-Don't Fall for Green Energy Scams, explains how these green energy scams typically work. In some schemes, con artists are using everything from tweets and text messages to webinars and faxes to lure investors with very aggressive, optimistic and potentially false and misleading statements that create unwarranted demand for shares of a small, thinly traded company. This is a classic "pump and dump" fraud where con artists behind the scheme then sell off their shares, leaving investors with worthless stock. Fraudsters are also using green investing as a hook for Ponzi schemes, where a scammer uses incoming funds from new investors to pay purported returns to earlier stage investors.
 
 "Right now there are a lot of legitimate stories in the news about green energy initiatives, and con artists want to leverage people's interest in green energy to make a quick buck at investors' expense," said John Gannon, FINRA Senior Vice President for Investor Education. "There is a lot of interest in companies that claim to provide green energy, but we issued this Alert to remind investors to be vigilant about avoiding investment scams, no matter how they are packaged."

 
 The Alert warns investors to ignore unsolicited investment recommendations and to question the source of investment information. Investors should also be wary of investments that claim to be the next big thing and promise exponential returns. For example, in one recent pump and dump scheme, a solar stock was touted as "set for a 200 percent gain," and in another instance, a fraudster suggested that stock in a company involved in green patents could rise 1,000 percent or more.
 
 Another red flag for a green scheme is a hard sell that pushes investors to go "all in" on a new investment initiative. In a recently alleged Ponzi scheme, investors were encouraged to liquidate their traditional investments, such as retirement plans stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and to borrow against their home or business, so that they could invest in one company's "green" initiatives. However, according to a complaint filed in federal court, the company did not generate any income from which the promised returns-ranging from 17 percent to "hundreds of percents" annually-could be made.
 
 In addition to giving investors detailed advice on how to spot potential scams and distinguish frauds from legitimate opportunities, the Alert also offers tips on how to make sound decisions and where to go to learn more about a company or stock before investing in it.
 
 FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through comprehensive regulation. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business – from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms; writing and enforcing rules and the federal securities laws; informing and educating the investing public; providing trade reporting and other industry utilities; and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and firms.
 
 For more information, please visit www.finra.org.

FINRA warns investors of green energy scams

NBB members selected their trade association leadership at the November membership meeting in Washington, electing seven returning members and one new member to serve on its governing board. 
 Ron Marr with Minnesota Soybean Processors was newly elected to the governing board as an at-large candidate. 
 Returning members elected include:

 
 -Ed Ulch, Iowa Soybean Association (at large) 
 -Kris Kappenman, ADM (producer) 
 -Bob Metz, South Dakota Soybean Research and Promotion
 Council (at large) 
 -Ed Hegland, Minnesota Soybean Promotion and Research
 Council (farmer) 
 -Gary Haer, Renewable Energy Group Inc. (producer) 
 -Jim Conway, treasurer, Griffin Industries (renderer/producer)
 -Darryl Brinkmann, American Soybean Association (at large) 
 
 NBB's governing board elected officers for the coming year. Ed Hegland will serve as chairman; Gary Haer as vice chair; Ed Ulch as secretary; and Jim Conway as treasurer.
 Greg Anderson, Denny Mauser, David Womack, Robert Stobaugh, Greg Hopkins, Doug Smith and Dave Lyons also serve on the Governing Board.

NBB members elect governing board

New York City is known as one of the cultural and fashion capitals of the world. You could also say it is the garbage capital of the world. No other city has a larger municipal refuse fleet, and when it comes to fueling its 4,000 diesel vehicles, the City of New York's Sanitation Department trusts biodiesel. 
 
 "We were already a leader in using other renewable fuels when biodiesel started gaining popularity in 2006," said Spiro Kattan, supervisor of mechanics. "We wanted to gain experience with biodiesel, so we launched a 5 percent blend at one location in about 40 vehicles. It performed extremely well, so we decided to go citywide with B5 in 2007." That mammoth fleet includes diesel garbage trucks, dump trucks and salt spreaders. 

 
 "We can't afford for our garbage trucks not to run," Kattan said. "Our trucks don't only pick up garbage. They are also equipped with snowplow hitches. We're a part of the city's snow emergency plans and our mayor would not be too happy if our vehicles went down during a snow storm."
 
 Reliability is one reason the department decided to build a BQ-9000 requirement into its fuel procurement process. The biodiesel industry's fuel quality assurance program requires that the producer or marketer meet stringent practices. Sprague Energy, which supplies the department's fuel, became the first petroleum marketer to earn BQ-9000 certification several years ago. 
 
 "Those trucks have to run, and BQ-9000 gives us a higher comfort level that our provider is meeting a high standard," Kattan said. "When it comes to any fuel-not just biodiesel-it's all about quality, quality, quality. The BQ-9000 program is a real plus for us." 
 
 The department is running a 20 percent blend (B20) in one location and is considering moving everything to B20 in the future.

The New York City Sanitation Department runs 4,000 of its diesel vehicles on B5, and anticipates moving to B20 eventually. 

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BQ-9000 cleans up the streets of New York

Biodiesel has many documented, scientifically proven benefits. Yet detractors of biodiesel have "made it the target of junk science, pseudo science, non-science and plain old nonsense," says Michael Shermer, the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine, who is also an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University and a monthly columnist for Scientific American.
 
 You won't want to miss Shermer's keynote address at the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo, Feb. 7-10, in Grapevine, Texas. With a Ph.D. in the history of science, he has built a reputation as the nation's "debunker" of bad science, appearing on PBS, Discovery, the History Channel, the Science Channel and more.
 
 Shedding light on the good science supporting biodiesel's benefits is a common theme of the conference, which features sessions on topics including biodiesel's energy, water and land use. Attendees will also hear from a petroleum supply chain panel on how biodiesel fits into their future business strategies. Another general session will examine potential breakthroughs in feedstock development. 
 
 To facilitate networking and to provide a free flow of discussion around a topic of interest, NBB has added several "conversessions." Each session will include ample time for questions and answers among and between attendees and panelists. Conversession topics include algae feedstock development, indirect land use change and successful state legislative approaches. 
 

 Those who attended the conference in 2008 will remember Don Reynolds, who predicted that unemployment would top 10 percent, and that housing market would decline by 25 percent. This past favorite economic forecaster will be back to help answer this question: When it comes to the business environment, what is the "new normal?"

Weird Science: Michael Shermer will give his take on the pseudo-science of biodiesel opponents. 

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A healthy skepticism: debunker of bad science  to address National Biodiesel Conference & Expo

Biodiesel users remain a solid fan club. For the third year in a row, 99 percent of respondents to a national survey say they would recommend biodiesel to others. Energy security and environmental/health benefits continue to reign as the top reasons for biodiesel support in the annual survey of biodiesel users across the United States. 
 
 The Biodiesel Alliance project supported by the United Soybean Board has conducted the online survey for the past three years. More than 500 biodiesel users responded to the 2009 survey. 
 
 Respondents own, operate or manage a total of 4,025 diesel vehicles. They identified themselves as 46 percent motorists, 8 percent farmers, 7 percent fleet managers, 4 percent petroleum distributors, 4 percent truck drivers, and 28 percent other. The average respondent had used biodiesel for four years, and 89 percent reported little to no engine and/or fuel quality problems using biodiesel. 
 
 Biodiesel support by an original equipment manufacturer was an important consideration in decisions for 87 percent of respondents when making a purchase of that company's products. This is up from 82 percent the previous year. By far, the leading reason for not using biodiesel was availability at 80 percent, down slightly from the previous year's 89 percent. At 15 percent, price was the next biggest obstacle cited for not using biodiesel. 
 
 Go to http://www.biodiesel.org/aboutnbb/alliance/ to join the Biodiesel Alliance for organizations and companies, or the Biodiesel Backers program for individuals.

While it is becoming less a factor, availability continues to be the number one reason biodiesel users may not always use biodiesel.

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Biodiesel survey shows 99 percent would recommend biodiesel to others

Progressive Fuels Ltd., an independent interdealer broker specializing in the wholesale physical and financial over-the-counter biofuel markets, has joined the NBB as a Webinar partner with AllThingsBiodiesel.com. PFL offers a biofuels electronic trading platform, "Progressive Fuels Exchange," or PFX. PFX provides producers, traders, marketers, plant managers and other biofuel market professionals with secure, direct, real-time online access to the North American biofuel markets.
 
 "The Webinar series has been a success for both our partner companies and our members, and we are excited to have PFL on board," said Doug Whitehead, director of operations for NBB. Webinar partners receive advertising space on AllThingsBiodiesel.com, up to four webinar sessions per year with members and inclusion in additional advertising and promotional activities of AllThingsBiodiesel.com. Other webinar partners include Biodiesel Financial Services, Cognis Corp. and Huntleigh McGhee.

Progressive Fuels Ltd. joined NBB as Webinar partner on AllThingsBiodiesel.com. 

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AllThingsBiodiesel.com adds Webinar partner

-Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. announced that Imperium Renewables, one of the largest U.S. producers of biodiesel, has chosen the powerful iCAP 6000 Series ICP emission spectrometer to analyze biodiesel. The Thermo Scientific iCAP 6000 Series helps accurately measure the trace element content of biodiesel to ensure it complies with the strict worldwide regulations governing the biodiesel industry. 
 
 -Syntroleum Corp.'s poultry-fat-based jet fuel passed tests conducted by the Air Force Research Laboratory and the Southwest Research Institute. Syntroleum provided 600 gallons of fuel produced using its Bio-Synfining process to undergo physical property and T63 engine testing. The fuel's performance was indistinguishable from Syntroleum's Fischer-Tropsch synthetic (parrafinic-kerosene-based) jet fuel that passed B-52 flight tests in 2006. Additional combustor and fuel pump tests are underway and the first stages have begun for the fuel's MIL-HDBK-510 alternative fuel certification. A 75 MMgy plant using the Bio-Synfining process is expected to be completed in 2010 at Geismer, La., by Dynamic Fuels LLC, the joint venture between Syntroleum and Tyson Foods Inc. 
 
 -Gen-X Energy Group Inc. is rebuilding in Richland, Wash., 15 miles away from the location of its two-year-old plant in Burbank, Wash., that was destroyed in a July fire. CEO Scott Johnson said the fire started in a portable outhouse outside the building. Plans are to double production to a 10 MMgy multi-feedstock biodiesel plant. Rail lines at the 15 acre site are being installed now and engineering work has begun on the site and tank farm. "We have the reactor part engineered already," Johnson said. "We were getting ready to put our second generation reactor in the plant when it burned down." The new system will be less energy and water intensive than the original plant. 
 

 -Petrobras Biofuels has acquired a 50 percent stake in the 120 MMly (30 MMgy) BSBIOS SA biodiesel plant nearing completion in Marialva, Parana. The Parana plant will give the Brazilian state-run Petrobras Biofuels a presence in the country's southern region. Petrobras currently has a capacity of 324 MMly with plants in Montes Claro, Dandeia and Quixada. BSBIOS is one of the largest biodiesel producers in southern Brazil with a 160 MMly plant in Passo Fundo using soybean, canola and sunflower oil. Brazil is advancing the implementation of a B5 mandate from 2013 to 2010, which will increase Brazil's biodiesel production to 2.4 billion liters, making Brazil the second largest producer of biofuels in the world.
 
 -Zenergy International Inc. announced a feedstock agreement in November that will allow the company to restart operations at the 5 MMgy Littlefield, Texas, biodiesel plant acquired this fall from Greenlight Biofuels Ltd. Earlier this year, Zenergy completed a reverse merger with Paradigm Tactical Products Inc., with Zenergy founder Robert Luiten named CEO of the merged company, which maintained the Zenergy name. 
 
 -Wika Instrument Corp. is offering its WIKA 43X.50 diaphragm pressure gauges for the process industry. Suitable for corrosive environments of gaseous, liquid or highly viscous media, the 433.50 has a glycerin-filled case for applications with high dynamic pressure pulsations or vibration. The 432.50 has a dry case. The stainless steel gauge comes in 4-inch and 6-inch sizes. Wika produces more than 40 million gauges, diaphragm seals, transmitters and thermometers distributed worldwide annually from its facility at Lawrenceville, Ga. 
 
 -Blackmer, a division of Dover Corp.'s pump solutions group, has announced the marketing of its HXL sliding vane pumps for terminal storage switchover applications, having the "unique capabilities to quickly and efficiently evacuate product from large liquid storage terminals," the company said. "In today's economic environment, efficient liquid terminal operations depend on the ability to react quickly to market opportunities and handle a wide variety of products." 
 
 
 -Flow Line Options Corp. (Flo-Corp) announced in November it had supplied Smart Fuels LLC, a biodiesel plant finalizing construction in Fruitland, Fla., with process measurement and control solutions. Some of the equipment installed at the facility includes MEMFlo volumetric flow meters and MFT two-wire flow transmitters to monitor the flow rate through the heaters and to calculate the amount of oil going to the reactor. Other installed equipment includes Flo-Corp's EchoSafe ultrasonic-level transmitters to gauge fluid levels in the tanks, and CalFlo SwitchGuard flow and temperature switches for additional protection. 
 
 -BioCat Fuels, founded in 2008 to partner with McNeff Research Consultants to commercialize the Mcgyan biodiesel process technology, is looking to raise $7 million through a private placement memorandum to launch a new biodiesel project using Mcgyan reactors. Ric Larson, BioCat CEO, said the company plans to build a new plant in Illinois or retrofit a closed biodiesel plant. The BioCat Fuels private placement memorandum offers shares at $1 with a minimum purchase of 20,000 shares. 
 
 -Houston-based engineers and biodiesel blenders the Hammonds Companies has several new products making their debut this month in its Biobor line of fuel additives. Specifically, Biobor MD promises to enhance fuel performance and economy, aid in lubricity, which is extremely critical with the use of low sulfur diesel, clean up the engine by reducing sludge build-up, and prevent gelling of the fuel. Biobor has focused on eliminating the microorganisms as the "industry standard for 30 years" but the new products-Bibor MD, Biobor EB and the Hum-Bug detector kit-are designed in particular for marine applications. 
 
 -Installation-ready technology for piping systems allows crews to assemble joints with the use of couplings and standard hand tools, said Easton, Pa.'s Victaulic Co. "This line of technology-with no loose parts and no requirement to disassemble before installation-helps plant owners and contractors meet fast-tracked construction schedules while reducing total installed costs," the company said about the addition of the Style 177 flexible coupling to its product line, which launched in November. 
 

 -Renewable jet fuel developed by the Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota and the U.S. Department of Defense's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has won the Best of What's New Award from Popular Science in the aviation and space category. The awards were announced in the December issue of Popular Science. Best of What's New recognizes outstanding innovation, vision and execution of revolutionary products and technologies from companies, universities, laboratories and government agencies.

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Business Briefs

Imagine a heating oil standard of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) and 20 percent biodiesel. This is heating oil's future if the oilheat industry's initiative to move toward ULSD in tandem with a mandatory, incrementally increasing biodiesel component, comes to fruition. In September, oilheat leaders and representatives convened in Baltimore to discuss the future of their industry. John Huber, president of National Oilheat Research Alliance, says the meeting was akin to a corporate strategy meeting, pulling leaders together to address challenges and to define or redefine itself in this new era of environmental policy and change. &ldquo;The oilheat industry views itself in a timeframe in which it needs to reinvent itself, what with legislation on climate change, global warming and carbon caps,&rdquo; Huber says. The executive director of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, Matt Cota, says the idea behind the September congress was to come up with a framework to push the oilheat industry into the next generation. We care about handing our companies off to our sons and daughters, and how to survive the next 25 years in this political environment, Cota says, referring to the push in Washington to reduce the carbon footprint of our society. The result of the Baltimore meeting was an industry commitment to reach 2 percent biodiesel saturation in the nation's heating oil supply by July, stipulating to steadily increase it in the years to come, and significantly lowering the amount of sulfur in heating oil.&nbsp; Today, the sulfur content in heating oil can be greater than 3,000 parts per million and, even though some distributors are selling Bioheat, very little biodiesel overall is blended into the nation's heating oil supply. While U.S. EPA regulations for 2007 and 2010 brought about ULSD requirements for on- and off-road diesel fuel, respectively, sulfur content in heating oil is virtually unregulated and varies from location to location.&nbsp; Increasing Bio Content&nbsp; When asked if the decision to incorporate 2 percent biodiesel beginning in July was tailored around the Massachusetts biodiesel mandate, which has the same start date, Jim Townsend of Danvers, Mass.-based Townsend Oil and Propane, says the timing was coincidence.&nbsp; &ldquo;At the summit, no dots were connected between the Massachusetts mandate and this resolution,&rdquo; Townsend says. In April 2009, Townsend Oil and Propane introduced Biopure, heating oil with 2 percent biodiesel blended by its supplier, which is BQ-9000-certified, he says, adding that Biopure is delivered to between 12,000 and 13,000 accounts in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. &ldquo;In our company alone we've replaced 250,000 to 300,000 gallons of heating oil on an annualized basis by going to 2 percent biodiesel heating oil,&rdquo; Townsend says. As a Massachusetts fuel dealer, Townsend Oil and Propane would have eventually moved to 2 percent biodiesel to comply with the state regulations.&nbsp; Michael Devine, formerly with Devine Bioheat and now CEO of the Earth Energy Alliance, spoke at the meeting on behalf of the National Biodiesel Board. He says the B2 figure came about because it's a conservative jumping off point. &ldquo;It gives people the ability to look at the infrastructure, how to integrate it, make sure there's sufficient distribution, and allows entrepreneurship to develop further,&rdquo; he says, adding that the goal is to begin with B2 but to move to B5 &ldquo;as soon as possible.&rdquo; The heating oil spec, ASTM D396, already allows for up to 5 percent biodiesel without notice.&nbsp; &ldquo;I ran an oilheat company for a number of years, and it's no small thing to get a chapter to come together on an issue,&rdquo; Devine tells Biodiesel Magazine. &ldquo;So to get 24 states to come together on a resolution to improve its fuel, to improve its image, is an impressive accomplishment.&rdquo;&nbsp; Despite how impressive this resolution is, almost everyone agrees that such a private industry commitment cannot be fulfilled without mandates either many individual state mandates or one overarching federal standard. Some say the federal route would be the simplest way to achieve a uniform, across-the-board bioheat mandate, but the federal red tape rigmarole of congressional approval plus the mire of EPA implementation as evidenced most recently for RFS2 leads stakeholders to believe that state mandates are really the only practical way to go.&nbsp; After the Baltimore meeting in which the resolution to incorporate increasing amounts of biodiesel in heating oil was drafted, those in attendance were expected to go back to their respective states to build coalitions and lay the groundwork for expediting a bio mandate. Cota says the goal is for each state to draft its own bill, but many states appear to be working with others to draft the language. &ldquo;We all made a commitment to go back to our states and make this happen,&rdquo; he says.&nbsp; Ed Burke with the Chelsea, Mass.-based Burke Oil says he's heard that many states will hop on the mandate wagon as soon as three other states implement one. In an area such as the Northeast, which is geographically compact yet densely populated, this is an important concept. Townsend says Massachusetts oil dealers can pick up fuel in New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut or New York, so if any one of those supply points does not have the available mandated fuel (e.g., B2 heating oil), this could mean trouble logistically. &ldquo;We would need the [Massachusetts] mandated fuel available outside of Massachusetts,&rdquo; Townsend says. Cota elaborates on this by saying, &ldquo;We all have our own issues local and state but we cannot be an island, especially in Vermont, because then we can't go out to Massachusetts or New York to receive fuel. We all have to have similar standards. In Vermont, we have 140,000 oilheat customers who use 100 MMgy of heating oil. If we created specs or standards that are different than others, it would be foolish.&rdquo; He says that the likelihood of any mandates in the Northeast being passed by July 2010 is slim to none, except for Massachusetts, which already has one in place a contentious one, at that.&nbsp; After EPA released its proposed rule for RFS2 implementation, in which soy biodiesel was raked over the coals with respect to its lifecycle GHG emissions, Massachusetts made the move to only allow waste-based biodiesel to qualify under its mandate. Burke says, &ldquo;It was nuclear war here when the state announced only waste-based biodiesel would qualify.&rdquo; He adds that biodiesel from waste material is cheaper for him and for his customers though. The state is moving forward with July implementation of its biodiesel mandate, using &ldquo;early action credits,&rdquo; and once EPA does release its final RFS2 rule, state leaders may revise its &ldquo;waste-only&rdquo; policy. If the state doesn't change, however, then it may be tricky to get other Northeast states on the same page if their legislators don't feel the same way. &ldquo;It will make for some interesting supply situations for a while until everyone is onboard,&rdquo; says Bob Hedden, executive director for the oilheat manufacturers association, educational director for NORA and independent industry consultant. &ldquo;Distribution systems are not set up to respect state lines at all. A lot of Vermont dealers pick up fuel in Albany, N.Y., so if New York State passes a bill but Vermont doesn't, it can create some problems.&rdquo;&nbsp; Lowering Sulfur&nbsp; Incrementally raising the biodiesel component in heating oil is one important part of the oilheat industry's new charge, but the other aspect is the drive to lower sulfur content. On fuel cleanliness and systems efficiency, the effect of reducing sulfur content in heating oil is nothing short of tremendous. &ldquo;At 3,000 ppm, we're putting a lot of SO2 in the air,&rdquo; Burke says. Also, nearly all of the carcinogenic particulate matter (2.5 micron) strewn into the air from oilheat chimneys populating the Northeast and elsewhere is a result of sulfur content. Another issue is sulfuric acid production. &ldquo;Sulfuric acid condenses at 200 degrees,&rdquo; Hedden says. &ldquo;One of the problems is that we have to keep the exhaust temperature so high at the top of the chimney [to prevent sulfuric acid from condensing], and there's a cost to that,&rdquo; meaning heat loss via the flue and the monetary and energy loss associated with it. &ldquo;If we can get rid of sulfur, we can do some pretty creative things to lower the exhaust temperature of the exhaust gas.&rdquo;&nbsp; When the burner of an oil furnace starts, there is sulfur in the heat exchanger, which results in scaling. &ldquo;Scale decreases efficiencies,&rdquo; Hedden says. &ldquo;ULSD won't have that degradation of efficiencies, which is about 2 percent per year, and that would save money on maintenance and there'll be a gain in efficiency.&rdquo; The 15 ppm sulfur will not contribute to system degradation and therefore less fuel will be needed to do the same amount of heating.&nbsp; Huber points out that sulfur is a real obstacle for equipment design. &ldquo;With ULSD you can use lower-grade steel for components, for example,&rdquo; he says. New oil systems such as wall-hung on-demand boilers, which are used in Europe and are so small they can be cleaned in a dishwasher, are not compatible with high sulfur fuel oil.&nbsp; Another aspect to consider is that virtually all on- and off-road diesel fuel will soon be ULSD, so transporting high sulfur heating oil via pipeline will be restricted because of sulfur trail-back. So, while ULSD is slightly more expensive to produce, it may be cheaper to move to a uniform ULSD fuel for all middle distillate applications due to the complications associated with transporting what was once the norm but now is a rather &ldquo;boutique&rdquo; fuel high sulfur diesel.&nbsp; Burke says the counter argument to pushing for ULSD heating oil is that if it gets really cold in the Northeast, it may be impossible to import enough 15 ppm fuel in quantities large enough to satisfy demand while staying in regulatory compliance. However, he notes that in extreme circumstances a state governor could waive the spec temporarily. &ldquo;Right now, there's a ton more ULSD stocks than ever before,&rdquo; Burke says, due to the recession and drop in diesel demand.&nbsp; It's important to note that a B5 heating oil mandate nationwide would create the demand for 450 MMgy of B100. But the oilheat industry is looking beyond B5. A standard of 15 percent biodiesel content and ULSD would give heating oil a better carbon footprint than natural gas, Devine says. &ldquo;Heating oil associations, they're very excited about biodiesel,&rdquo; he adds. &ldquo;It's the first innovation to come into their industry in 30 years. They see biodiesel as the piece that makes them contemporary.&rdquo;&nbsp; The natural gas industry is trending toward using more liquid natural gas (LNG), which Hedden says has a greater carbon footprint than regular natural gas. &ldquo;If they rely more on LNG and we rely more on biodiesel, then we're trending in the right direction and they're trending in the wrong direction.&rdquo;&nbsp; Ron Kotrba is editor of Biodiesel Magazine. Reach him at (701) 738-4942 or&nbsp;<a href="mailto:rkotrba@bbiinternational.com">rkotrba@bbiinternational.com</a>.
&nbsp;

Michael Devine CEO, Earth Energy Alliance

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Oilheat leaders convened in September and resolved to clean their industry's image by greening its fuel. Ultra-low sulfur fuel oil and biodiesel blends are the tools prescribed to get the job done.

Reinventing Oilheat

Usually drivers don't go out of their way to fill with a particular brand of gasoline-they pull into whatever station is convenient as they start to run low. Subsequently, gasoline and diesel aren't usually marketed from a quality standpoint. There are, however, still lingering consumer concerns about biodiesel so marketers have been designing elaborate branding campaigns, which are relatively unique in the fuel world. 
 
 There are many biodiesel brand names in the market today: Archer Daniels Midland Co. markets Connediesel mostly in Europe; Chicago-based Ultra Green Energy Service sells Ultra Green Diesel; there is SoyPower and REG-9000 from Renewable Energy Group Inc.; Northland Choice from FUMPA Biofuels in Redwood Falls, Minn.; and Southern Gold from North Mississippi Biodiesel, to name a few. 
 

 "While I mostly agree that brands are not as important in the petroleum industry, we have seen more of that lately with BP kind of taking over the retail market and companies putting names on fuel," says John Campbell of AG Processing Inc. in Omaha, Neb. AGP markets SoyGold, a long established name in the industry. SoyGold biodiesel, made from American grown soybeans, is the country's "most popular renewable fuel," AGP says. "Available year round, SoyGold increases fuel lubricity, boosts cetane values and burns cleaner than traditional diesel fuels."
 
 "Biodiesel" has become a brand in and of itself, but there remains feedstock, quality and price differentials that make companies feel a need to distinguish them from others. "There are production variations in the biodiesel industry and we want to exceed what the consumer expects," says Steve Bond, sales and marketing manager for Blue Sun Biodiesel in Denver, Colo. "So branding is central to how we're doing things."
 
 Blue Sun is a unique case. It markets and distributes Blue Sun Fusion, a B20 blend, and while the company is not currently producing fuel, it works only with a handful of producers who it says can deliver superior quality. The company also has its own additive package, DTX, which enhances certain fuel performance properties and is a major component of the Fusion campaign. Its plant in Clovis, N.M., although currently idle, is buying biodiesel from other producers, blending it with petroleum and selling B20 under the Fusion brand. Blue Sun is trying to create demand and, to do that, has pursued the strategy to brand the fuel.
 
 Rick Geis of Griffin Industries in Cold Springs, Ky., says that most of the branded fuel on the market is a post-blended product. "Some of these folks will switch suppliers based on economics, switch feedstocks, and still market the fuel under the same brand name," he says. 
 
 
 Wholesale and History
 
 Indeed, most producers aren't selling their biodiesel at pumps on the corner, so most branding campaigns aren't meant to expand consumer acceptance. "Branding is more for jobbers and petroleum companies to have some indication of the quality of your product and your company's experience," Campbell says. "It's clearly soy, that's our strong suit, that's what we sell." SoyGold has been around a long time and AGP's view when it launched the brand-and still today-is that biodiesel is not completely commoditized, and it's not homogenized. "So we set out to capitalize on our benefits," Campbell says. 
 
 And the brand name has led to some marketing opportunities in end-use markets. "We were putting our fuel on marine docks on the West Coast and selling B100 in a case where we were not going through jobbers," Campbell says. "We were putting SoyGold on fuel tanks and selling the fuel in a niche market, but that's kind of ancient history now, and there are very few of those opportunities today. We did have some efforts in the Midwest where we had pump placards and signatures." 
 
 Branding was more important early on, before ASTM specs were strictly adhered to, and it meant something. But now that BQ-9000 has become the brand of the industry, and since the National Biodiesel Board has cautioned users away from fuel that isn't BQ-9000 certified-or at least from fuel that doesn't meet ASTM specifications-logos and brand advertising isn't as important for wholesale fuel marketers. Nevertheless, brands are important to the consumer market, a sector that has eluded biodiesel. BlueSun's position is unique because it is a biodiesel retailer that also has a production facility-most producers sell their fuel on a wholesale basis. 

 
 In 2008, Griffin Industries made a majority of its biodiesel from tallow and animal fats and in 2009 used waste grease as a primary feedstock. "We've made biodiesel from all three main feedstocks," Geis says. "But we've never branded that component of our fuel. We use a lot of fuel in our own fleet, so we kind of have a captive market. We're certainly a commercial producer but we're not actively promoting BIO-G3000 and we're not spending a lot of money advertising it."
 
 In effect, biodiesel branding has been an evolutionary process that started with companies trying to differentiate their biodiesel products and feedstock choices from others in the business.
 
 
 Service and Reputation 
 
 Most of the biodiesel consumed in the U.S. is a blended product. BIO-G3000 is a co-brand of Griffin Industries, a wholesale brand. "Sometimes there isn't any consistency and that is why branding becomes so important," Geis says. "Branding is much less important today than it was five years ago, in my opinion. Anybody can have a brand-what's important is the reputation behind the brand." 
 
 In addition, the BQ-9000 brand is a result of quality assurance efforts in the industry. "It's become a brand in and of itself, and seems more important than calling your fuel A, B or C," Geis says. "We want to promote the fuel as high quality, consistent and stability-driven as much or more than its feedstock derivation." 
 
 Griffin Industries' identity is essentially its brand, which includes relationships the company has cultivated with buyers. "We often are selling directly to fleets and petroleum jobbers who, in turn, sell their own brand of biodiesel," Geis says. "We're selling B100 or B99.9-to get the excise tax credit-on a wholesale basis. We're not selling B20." 
 
 "We do have a fuel handling manual that we developed, and we did do a lot of handholding in the earlier days," Campbell says. "We had to educate people on hoses and the proper materials, but we've matured and the fuel distribution system has matured. You rarely hear about those sorts of problems anymore because people know how to prepare their system properly."

 
 Much ado has been made of the production numbers two years ago when the industry manufactured almost 750MMgy of methyl esters. Talked about much less is that a majority of that volume was exported and consumed outside U.S. borders. As U.S. EPA contemplates RFS2 implementation and its biomass-based diesel carve-out, a significant number of parties will be required to use biodiesel that never have before. Currently, companies with various positions in the biodiesel supply chain have achieved a kind of comfort level where everybody knows how to use it, but if use quadruples there will be lots of jobbers who have never handled it. "People have gotten comfortable with their suppliers, but there is going to be a learning curve for new users," Campbell says. "These users are going to be looking for brands that have been around and the reputation of the company behind it is what is meaningful." &#61500;	
 
 
 Nicholas Zeman is an associate editor for Biodiesel Magazine. Reach him at (701) 738-4972 or <a href="mailto:nzeman@bbiinternational.com">nzeman@bbiinternational.com</a>.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson fills up a drag car during a Blue Sun Biodiesel promotional event. PHOTO: BLUE SUN BIODIESEL

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As the industry evolves, companies are trying to distinguish themselves with branding campaigns that emphasize service, additive packages and premium quality.

Biodiesel  Brand Names

Posted December 21, 2009
 
 German biodiesel quality organization <a href="http://www.agqm-biodiesel.de">AGQM (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Qualitätsmanagement Biodiesel e.V.)</a> announced the dates and program for its fourth International Conference for Biodiesel Manufacturers to be held April 29 and 30 in Berlin. 
 
 Politics and quality are the two main themes for the conference. Sessions will include market perspectives, implementation of the sustainability ordinance at the operational level and the emerging regulations for EU-level biofuel targets and sustainability. Technical sessions include the use of B100 in heavy duty engines, regulation of fuel injection via measuring the piston pressure curve, burner deposits using B20 heating oil, steryl glucoside/ acylated steryl glucosides and filter blocking, preparing a no-harm list for cold flow additives, ultrasonic waves in transesterification, homogenous catalysts, integrating fluid-fluid separators.
 
 Prior to the main conference, AGQM is hosting two experts programs: a limited enrollment biodiesel analytics workshop focusing on "cold soak" testing and a one day workshop focusing on the sustainability requirements of the EC Renewable Energy Directive and the German Biomass Ordinance.

AGQM plans April biodiesel conference in Berlin

Posted December 22, 2009

 
 There are basically two ways to extract oil from soybeans. One is a mechanical means, crushing or pressing them with extruders or other machines. The other way is to "flatten" the beans, treat them with hexane, an oil absorbing chemical and then extract the oil from solution. Crown Iron Works Co. of Minneapolis has offered oil crushing and extraction technology for years, but now has a different "route to reach the same end" by acquiring a similar system from Hamburg, Germany's Harburg Freudenberger. 
 
 "This gives us a name and a reputation to reach more agricultural interests in Eastern Europe that might be much more familiar with Harburg than they are with Crown," said Derek Masterson of Crown Iron Works. "This [acquisition] doesn't add a specific process to our portfolio of services, but it gives us more exposure to certain parts of the world." 
 
 "The acquisition encompasses all design and technology in the Solvent Extraction division including the carousel extractor and the flash desolventizing system," Crown Iron Works stated. The carousel extractor is a self-cleaning apparatus operating at capacities up to 4,000 tons per day, and is ideal for smaller areas due to its compact cylindrical design.

Acquisition to increase Crown Iron Works' exposure in Europe

Posted December 23, 2009
 
 Two issues-greenhouse gas (GHG) emission thresholds and indirect land use-are still being studied as the Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels begins the new year in anticipation of having its certification system completed by the end of 2010. Version One of the international voluntary standards was released in November and is now being tested in several places by industry participants, according to Matt Rudolf, regional manager for the Americas for the RSB. 
 
 Among the unique features of the RSB to emerge from the November steering committee meeting was a risk-based approach to creating levels of auditing requirements. A low-risk biofuel, such as a waste-based biodiesel produced in a highly efficient, well-monitored system, would face fewer data collection requirements and less frequent recertification protocols than a high risk biofuel. Rudolf said the details of the system are still being worked out, but participating biofuel producers will do an initial self-assessment of their risk that will then be verified by RSB-approved independent certifiers. The risk assessment will encompass multiple factors including the complexity of the operation, the internal processing steps, quality control measure, safety procedures, the geographical spread of the operation, environmental risk factors, social factors, among others. 
 
 Defining GHG thresholds for biofuels is another area still being worked out. ""Especially environmental NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) wanted a threshold," Rudolf said. The compromise was to evaluate a range of GHG reduction thresholds over the next six months as part of the pilot tests of Version One to see how different biofuels would score and how expensive it would be to improve a GHG score in order to qualify for higher thresholds. "One of the more difficult issues was choosing a GHG methodology," he added. With the RSB being an international, participatory process it was not politically expedient to select a European Commission, U.S. EPA or California Air Resources Board methodology. In the end a Swiss Federal Laboratories' methodology for life cycle analysis was chosen to be evaluated in the pilot phase.
 
 Indirect land use change is also undergoing further evaluation, Rudolf said, after a workshop held prior to the November RSB meeting. "There appears to be wide agreement that there is a high risk of indirect land use from biofuels," he said. "There's not agreement on the magnitude and also not wide agreement on the best way to address it." An expert panel continues to evaluate current work on indirect land use change which includes representation from Europeans, EPA, CARB, environmental NGOs, academics and industry. Rudolf added that the InterAmerican Development Bank and United National Environmental Program have scheduled an invitation-only meeting in February to bring together the different roundtable groups, regulators and auditors to discuss the challenges of introducing international sustainability standards.
 

 The RSB is hoping to complete its evaluation of Version One and publish Version Two by the end of 2010, according to Rudolf. It also is in discussion with the European Commission to have the RSB standards approved for use in verifying sustainability standards in the EC Renewable Energy Directive that are currently in development. The goal is to begin certifying sustainable biofuel production by the end of 2010 or early 2011.
 
 Documents, reports and minutes of the various meetings are <a href=" http://cgse.epfl.ch/page65660-en.html ">available on the RSB Web site.</a>

RSB moves ahead on sustainability standards

Posted December 23, 2009
 
 If the U.S. Senate does not pass the biodiesel tax credit extension before it adjourns tomorrow-which probably will be the case-the earliest the industry could see a possible vote is January 19, said Alicia Clancy of Renewable Energy Group Inc., in a conversation with Biodiesel Magazine this morning. REG owns and operates several large biodiesel plants, and the tax credit expiration looms heavy on its short-term future business-as for all producers. "We heard from our senator here in Iowa [Grassley] that this is a priority when the Senate returns from holiday, but obviously we want to have it passed before it expires," Clancy said.
 
 REG indicated that the tax credit will likely be passed in January and will have retroactive benefits for gallons blended between January 1 and the time when the extension takes effect. That's better than nothing, but it is still not an ideal situation, especially when it comes to contracts, sales and other business deals. "REG will only be offering B100 on our pricing sheet as of Jan.1," Clancy said. "This means that our customers will have to blend the fuel, and file the necessary paperwork with the IRS."

Biodiesel tax credit set to expire causing turmoil, complexities

Posted December 23, 2009

 
 Houston's Gulf Hydrocarbon will now be offering biodiesel at the RTW Terminal in Brownsville, Texas, with plans to serve a developing market in Mexico. "There's no federal mandate, but the government has advised individual states that they implement they're own renewable fuels strategy," said Jess Hewitt, president of Gulf Hydrocarbon. In addition to truck access, the terminals feature marine transport and the Brownsville Rio Grande International Rail Road serves as an efficient means of rail transportation. 
 
 Biodiesel demand in Texas is strong. There are more than 40 retail pumps in the state, which puts it in the U.S. top five for retail availability. Biodiesel fuel terminals often serve a very local market. "Think of Wal-Mart's distribution scheme," Hewitt told Biodiesel Magazine. "They bring in products from as far away as China, aggregate them in a trucking center and then distribute the products to stores in the area. It's very much the same in the biodiesel industry-we bring in fuel from a variety of sources, some from long distances away, but most of our customers are within a 150-mile radius of the terminal."

Gulf Hydrocarbon expanding services for Mexican market

Posted December 29, 2009
 
 The seventh annual Sustainable Biodiesel Summit is scheduled for Feb. 6-7 in Grapevine, Texas. Bill Holmberg, longtime champion of biofuels and sustainable new wealth, will be the keynote speaker at the event targeted at community activists, backyard brewers, farmers and others interested in the future of sustainable, community-based biodiesel. The schedule features a series of action-oriented roundtable discussions at a small, local winery, and a trip to Willie's Place at Carl's Corner to visit the truck stop and biodiesel production facility. The summit is scheduled to coincide with the National Biodiesel Board's annual conference and exhibition also being held in Grapevine, Feb. 7-10
 
 From modest beginnings in 2003, the Sustainable Biodiesel Summit has grown to be an annual discussion platform for the movement. At the 2008 summit, the NBB announced the formation of its Sustainability Task Force, with several members recruited from summit participants and organizers.
 
 The 2010 summit is organized through the joint efforts of the Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels and the National Biodiesel Board, along with volunteers from across the biodiesel industry. 
 
 The Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance headquartered in Austin, Texas, focuses on the benefits of community-based, sustainable biodiesel. It published the Baseline Practices for Sustainability, the first guidance document for sustainable biodiesel production in the United States.
 

 The National Biodiesel Board has represented the biodiesel industry since 1992, acting as a trade association and as a coordinating body for research and development. NBB's mission is to create a sustainable biodiesel industry, serve a coordinating entity for technical research, and be a unified voice for its diverse membership base.
 
 The Roundtable for Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) is an international organization based in Switzerland working on a global sustainable labeling platform for biofuels. 
 
 Since 2003, the Abundance Foundation, a nonprofit based in Pittsboro, N.C., has been the fiscal sponsor for the summit. In addition to providing logistical support and arranging for Web services, Abundance coordinates the efforts of volunteers organizing the event. The foundation has a mission of local food, renewable fuels, and community development. 
 
 Registrations before Jan. 22 are $100, a savings of up to $100 compared to on-site tickets. For more information or to register online, visit <a href="http://sustainable-biodiesel.org">http://sustainable-biodiesel.org</a>.

Biodiesel summit to tour Willie's Place

Posted December 30, 2009
 
 Yves Chauvin, Robert Grubbs and Roger Schrock-a Frenchman and two Americans-received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2005 for their development of a process now known as olefin metathesis, which can convert soybean oil, inedible corn oil, animal fats and other raw materials into jet fuel, high value specialty chemicals and biodiesel. 
 
 This "bolt on technology" will receive its first commercial deployment via the assistance of a $3.9 million grant from the Iowa Power Fund. Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc., of Bolingbroke, Ill., owns the patent for olefin metathesis and also has received a federal grant from the U.S. DOE to construct a chemical refining addition to Renewable Energy Group Inc.'s biodiesel plant in Newton, Iowa. 
 

 These monies provide incentive "to secure this shovel-ready demonstration project being built in Newton, where it will create 40 to 50 skilled positions in 2010," said Iowa's Office of Energy Independence in a prepared statement. "The plant will be used to evaluate a variety of renewable feedstocks, produce products for market development and develop data that can be applied in the design of a commercial scale unit."

Nobel biodiesel technology set to deploy

Posted December 30, 2009
 
 Biodiesel risk managers often use the price of heating oil for discovery purposes, because methyl esters have no futures product of their own. Heat drove the price of crude oil up in late December because of cold temperatures throughout much of the U.S. As of Dec. 29, crude had settled at a price between $79 and $80 a barrel. 
 
 Prices have been volatile this month and are up nearly $5 on the past week. Besides the cold, there are few tangibles that are driving this upward pressure, said David Swenson, professor of economics at Iowa State University. "I'm not seeing a lot of household confidence," he said. "We have decent supplies and the dollar is rising, so I'm not convinced that these latest moves are following the fundamentals."
 
 When prices are driven up on the energy side of the biofuels sector, it can boost sales margins. "But if that is being supported by speculation, it creeps in and slaps the biofuels industry in the face on the input side," Swenson said. "All energy is linked, and it does have an indirect correlation with grain prices. Absent federal policy, I don't see biofuels as ever having any market power. They're price takers right now-and they've been grateful price takers over the past few months."

Heat demand, 'speculation' drive oil

Posted December 30, 2009
 
 The new year may bring a new hedging tool for biodiesel producers, when a new trading instrument being proposed by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group receives approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Last year the group received approval for a new group of swaps for corn, wheat and beans and are seeking approval now for another set of swaps for soybean oil and palm.
 
 For biodiesel producers, the new intercommodity trading instrument will allow hedging both feedstocks and biodiesel production in a more liquid market with a single swap contract that ties a soybean oil futures contract with a heating oil futures contract. John Stotts, director of agricultural trading for Infinium Capital Management LLC, explained that while a biodiesel swap does exist, "the volume and open interest are next to nothing. It looks like the ethanol market did five or six years ago." Infinium has become more active in the ethanol markets in the last few months, he added, and is closely watching the development of the new tools for biodiesel.
 
 With biodiesel futures nonexistent and the available swaps thinly traded, many producers have turned to hedging their biodiesel production through the heating oil market, which is used globally as a proxy for biodiesel because of the very high correlation in the two markets. While not quite as large as the soybean or corn markets, the heating oil futures market is more liquid than soybean oil futures. "You have a lot of participants in the heating oil market," Stotts explained. "From the crude side, there are distillers and big oil that have a lot of participation-it's definitely more robust in open interest and traded volume."

 
 A swap provides a cleaner hedge, tying a soybean oil futures contract with a heating oil futures contract in one. Swap contracts are listed monthly as compared to eight contracts for soybean oil or seven months listed for soybeans.
 
 "My understanding is that, in the biodiesel community, there is even less active hedging going on than there is in the ethanol community," Stotts said. "Hopefully instruments like this will give brokers and marketers more substance to go to biodiesel producers and say, you should take a look at hedging your production in this fashion. Right now, they don't have an efficient way to do that."

New hedging tool for biodiesel anticipated

Posted January 5, 2010
 
 A recently published <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/01/AR2010010101051.html">Associated Press article</a>, which was picked up by several major news outlets such as the Washington Post, projected 2009 biodiesel production volumes at near 350 MMgy-much lower than Energy Information Administration and National Biodiesel Board data indicate. 
 
 AP cites NBB as the source for the data, but Jessica Robinson, communications director for NBB, told Biodiesel Magazine, "The latest information we have (through the end of October) has put our estimates for the year at around 475 million gallons." 
 

 While the AP story may contain lower estimates, it nevertheless is accurate in reporting that 2009 was the first year that U.S. biodiesel production volume has not grown, Robinson added. 
 
 The debacle surrounding the delayed implementation of RFS2, combined with high raw materials prices and other factors, have contributed to the decline in productivity. 
 
 The transition rules for RFS2 call for 2009 and 2010 volumes to be combined for a total obligation of 1.15 billion renewable identification number (RIN) credits to be acquired by December 2010. According to NBB CEO Joe Jobe, when estimating valid RINs already generated and available in 2009, carry-over allowances, and other variables, this creates a requirement for 2010 somewhere between 700 and 800 million gallons.
 
 Biodiesel production in 2005 was 112 million gallons, according to NBB data, doubling to 224 million gallons in 2006. In 2007, production rose to 500 million gallons, spiking to 691 million gallons in 2008. The NBB estimates 2009's total production volume will top off at a volume between 475 million and 490 million gallons, coming in below 2007's numbers.

Biodiesel production reports flawed

Posted January 11, 2010 
 

 The U.S. railroad industry represents one of the most important methods of transportation for the soy industry, but lately it has presented some challenges to U.S. soybean farmers. Recently, the Soy Transportation Coalition (STC), with funding from the soybean checkoff, published "Railroad Movement of Soybeans and Soy Products," a comprehensive report that sheds light on the crucial role railroads play in the entire journey from farm to dinner plate.
 
 The volume of soybeans, soybean meal and soybean oil moved by the rail industry; the leading destinations for those products; and the revenue and rates associated with those movements were topics investigated by the study. In particular, the analysis focuses on the volume of soybeans and soy products that are transported at potentially excessive rates, those states whose soybean industry is most dependent on rail and those railroads that transport the highest volumes of soybeans and soy products.
 
 "The soy producer pays the freight in and out," says Roy Bardole, vice chair of the United Soybean Board International Marketing and Global Opportunities programs and a soybean farmer from Rippey, Iowa. "We understand that, and that's OK, as long as we aren't being singled out and have to pay more than our fair share. The study looked at who pays, how much do we pay, is what we pay fair and is it what everyone else is paying?"
 
 The study found that 43 percent of rail movements of soybeans, or 9.2 million tons are transported at rates the U.S. Surface Transportation Board would classify as potentially excessive, resulting in a potential overcharge of $120 million in 2007.
 
 "If you take $120 million in excessive charges and refund some of that to farmers you could make a difference to rural communities," says Bardole. "We're concerned about that and talking with Class I rails, trying to reduce what we're paying and make it a little more fair."
 
 The report also shows that revenue among the largest Class I railroads from transporting soybeans and soy products has nearly tripled in 10 years, from $549 million in 1998 to more than $1.5 billion in 2008. BNSF Railway transports the largest volume of soybeans at 8.8 million tons in 2008. Union Pacific Railroad is the largest originator of soybean meal and soybean oil.
 
 "The current and future vitality of agriculture is dependent upon a healthy, profitable rail industry," says Mike Steenhoek, executive director of the STC. "There needs to be a way for railroads and the soybean industry to achieve a better balance so that one is not profiting at the expense of the other."
 
 The STC study can be found at <a href="http://www.soytransportation.org">www.soytransportation.org</a>.

 
 USB is made up of 68 farmer-directors who oversee the investments of the soybean checkoff on behalf of all U.S. soybean farmers. Checkoff funds are invested in the areas of animal utilization, human utilization, industrial utilization, industry relations, market access and supply. As stipulated in the Soybean Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act, USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service has oversight responsibilities for USB and the soybean checkoff.
 
 SOURCE: USB

Study shows some rail rates classified as potentially excessive

Checkoff study examines soy rail rates

Posted January 19, 2010

 
 A Health Department report identifying the Upper East Side as home to some of the City's worst air shocked many New Yorkers, but not Brent Baker, CEO of Tri-State Biodiesel. "The community air survey cited the area's boilers and hot water heaters as principal sources of pollution," Baker said. "And I am not surprised. Start with the neighborhood's density of buildings that burn petroleum-based fuel, then add high-volume car and truck traffic, and you get a pretty toxic mix." 
 
 For Baker, the solution is simple: affordable, blended biodiesel fuel at competitive prices. His company, Tri-State Biodiesel, has been providing this product to New Yorkers for more than three years, with an annual, exponential growth of its customer base. 
 
 TSB's biodiesel couldn't be much greener, given that its main ingredient is recycled cooking oil collected from New York City restaurants-including an ever increasing number located on the Upper East Side. 
 
 Buildings that replace petroleum-based fuels with TSB biodiesel not only reduce airborne toxins by 90 percent (and environmental pollutants by 78 percent), but also dramatically cut the percentage of pollutants deposited in the city's waste-water stream. 
 
 Baker's latest move is a newly-forged partnership with the Upper East Side's local environmental organization, Upper Green Side, sponsor of area electronic recycling, its two Greenmarkets, and determined transportation advocate. Their shared mission: get the word out to UES landlords and co-op boards-including some on Mayor Bloomberg's-that switching to biodiesel will result in a significant improvement in local air quality. 
 
 "That Health Department report should serve as a lightening rod for community action," said Baker. "Tri-State Biodiesel and Upper Green Side are determined to make a real impact on an area of obvious need. And we owe it to our kids who are currently breathing polluted air." 
 
 The campaign will formally launch in February with a Tri-State Biodiesel/Upper Green Side press conference in which Upper East Side Community residents and local officials will be active and valued participants. 
 
 For more information on this event contact Tri-State Biodiesel Communications Coordinator Yiyi Zhang at 718-860-6600 or <a href="yiyi@tristatebiodiesel.com">yiyi@tristatebiodiesel.com</a>. 

 
 About Tri-State Biodiesel (TSB): 
 TSB is a national company focused on the development and implementation of urban-based biodiesel fuel from sustainable sources such as used restaurant oil. TSB believes that the use of sustainably produced biodiesel - in combination with demand reduction measures such as mass-transit and transportation alternatives and in concert with technological advances such as diesel hybrids and light rail systems - can create an America that is both energy independent and sustainable. In 2009, TSB was honored with the Social Venture Network's (SVN) Innovation Award for CEO Brent Baker's work in maintaining "triple bottom line" principals at the company. 
 
 For more information on the company please visit <a href="http://www.tristatebiodiesel.com">www.tristatebiodiesel.com</a>. 
 
 About Upper Green Side: 
 Founded in 2006, Upper Green Side is a 501 (c)(3) all volunteer, non-profit organization promoting awareness and grassroots action on local environmental issues on the Upper East & West Sides of Manhattan such as local food, progressive transportation, energy efficiency, and waste reduction. Its mission: Build a healthy, sustainable community and environment not only for our own well-being, but for generations to come. For more information on Upper Green Side's efforts to make New York a greener place, please visit <a href="http://www.uppergreenside.org">www.uppergreenside.org</a>.
 
 SOURCE: TRI-STATE BIODIESEL

Tri-State Biodiesel fights NYC pollution

Posted January 5, 2010
 
 As Switzerland's Biopetrol AG closes in on completion of its 400,000 ton per year biodiesel facility at the Port of Rotterdam, one of the world's largest commodities traders, Glencore AG, has purchased a controlling interest in Biopetrol through a 50 percent plus one share stock transaction. 
 
 Headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, Glencore sources raw materials for the oil and gas, mineral and metal, and agricultural processing industries. 

 
 "Glencore, as the new majority shareholder, is the ideal partner with its leading world-wide commodity business," Biopetrol stated in an official release. "The combination of a financially strong trading platform and modern and logistically advantaged production plants creates the basis for the mid-term utilization of the full production capacities of Biopetrol."
 
 Biopetrol has two production plants already on-line in Schwarzheide and Rostock, Switzerland, with a combined production capacity of 350,000 tons. Glencore-which employs more than 50,000 people in 40 countries-investing in Biopetrol signals that confidence is growing in the European biodiesel market, but the company told Biodiesel Magazine that its policy was to refrain from comment on its transactions or general business outlook.

Major commodities trader invests in biodiesel

Posted January 6, 2010
 
 The target of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from biofuels by at least 35 percent currently, and by 50 percent by 2017 cannot, in most cases, be met by the standard levels defined in the Renewable Energies Directive (2009/28/EC) alone, according to the German oilseed promotion organization UFOP. What is needed, it says, is the individual optimization of GHG emissions of each raw material and during processing along the whole conversion chain. 
 
 Crop farming is also affected if a maximum of 41.9 gCO2eq/MJ are not to be exceeded in 2017, and the limit for new plants beginning in 2018 is 33.5 gCO2eq/MJ. At a standard 52 g CO2eq/MJ, the emissions from rapeseed-based biodiesel is just below the limit of 54.5 g CO2eq/MJ for the present reduction target of 35 percent from the fossil fuel baseline. 
 
 To reach the reduction target of 50 percent in 2017 and 60 percent for new plants in 2018, UFOP said additional efforts to reduce GHG emissions-by both biodiesel and oilseed producers-are an absolute necessity.

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UFOP: oilseed GHGs must fall

Posted January 6, 2010

 
 Hawaiian Electric Co. signed a contract with a subsidiary of Renewable Energy Group Inc. to supply 3 million to 7 million gallons of biodiesel per year for two years, which will fuel Hawaiian Electric's new 110-megawatt combustion turbine generator unit at Campbell Industrial Park Generating Station. 
 
 REG won an earlier bid to supply biodiesel for emissions testing in the unit, and subsequently emerged as winning bidder out of eight companies. REG will supply biodiesel made from yellow grease and animal fats. Delivery could begin within about four months, after approval from the Hawaii Public utilities Commission with input from the state consumer advocacy group-standard operating procedure for such contract approvals. 
 
 This biodiesel supply arrangement, and others like it, can help offset some of the 600 million gallons of foreign petroleum burned in the U.S. for power generation each year, according to the Energy Information Administration. 
 
 While the company is pleased with this new supply agreement with Hawaii Electric, it noted the obvious right now-the biodiesel industry is faced with serious challenges due to the lapse of the federal blenders tax credit. New supply agreements are unlikely in the short-term, REG said, due to the marketplace disruption caused by the tax credit lapse.
 
 REG manages a national network of biodiesel production with more than 300 MMgy of production capacity.

REG lands second, larger Hawaiian bid

Posted January 6, 2010
 
 Drivers are starting to understand that diesel technology rivals hybrid platforms for fuel efficiency and offers greater performance and torque-and the numbers are starting to show. Volkswagen of America Inc. announced in December that its line of clean diesel TDI models sold 41, 278 models-approximately 20 percent of the company's overall sales volume for the year. December sales totaled 4,378 units. 
 
 "There's never going to be a Prius motor sport cup," said Sean Maynard, spokesman for Volkswagen of America. "The TDI is fun to drive-its torquey, and people are becoming more aware that they don't have to sacrifice performance for the sake of fuel economy."
 

 Several government tax credits helped sales, Volkswagen of America told Biodiesel Magazine. The TDI clean diesel line qualifies for the environmental tax credit, and combined with the sales tax exemption for new vehicles, purchasers are able to knock off more than $1500 from the price tag.
 
 "December's performance was encouraging, as was the six consecutive months of sales growth that we have experienced," said Mark Barnes, CEO of Volkswagen of America. "During those six months, Volkswagen sales increased 8.2 percent over the same period of last year. 2009 proved to be another extremely challenging year for the automotive industry. We are encouraged by the fact that we were able to continue to grow our market share throughout 2009 despite the extremely challenging market conditions."

TDI diesel sales strong for Volkswagen

Posted January 8, 2010
 
 More than 400 people will gather in California's capital city next week for Biomass Magazine's Pacific West BIOMASS Conference & Expo. The event will take place January 11-13, at the Hyatt Regency Sacramento. 
 
 Following an evening reception on Monday, the conference will get underway Tuesday with a welcome address from Sacramento city councilmember Steve Cohn and lead off presentations from James Boyd, vice chair and commissioner of the California Energy Commission, and Val Dolcini, state executive director of the USDA-Farm Service Agency of California. Boyd chairs the state's Bioenergy Interagency Working Group, which is implementing the Governor's Bioenergy Action Plan. Dolcini's agency oversees the progressive Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) aimed at advancing the adoption of biomass as an energy feedstock in California.
 

 Boyd and Dolcini headline an event featuring more than 80 world-class presenters, 400-plus attendees representing 300 companies and organizations from the mainland Pacific West: California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Nevada. The program will include four tracks and 18 panels featuring technical presentations on topics ranging from anaerobic digestion and gasification to combined heat and power and advanced biofuels--all forms of sustainable bioenergy that are contributing to the region's long-term environmental goals. 
 
 "We will connect current and future producers of biomass-derived electricity, industrial heat and power, and advanced biofuels, with waste generators, aggregators, growers, municipal leaders, utilities, technology providers, equipment manufacturers, investors and policy makers," says Tom Bryan, vice president of BBI International, event organizer and publisher of Biomass Magazine. "The Pacific West has huge amounts of biomass waste resources and the region is home to dozens of biomass power plants, advanced biofuels startups, research hubs and progressive public utilities like the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) which now derives more than 40 percent of its renewable energy from biomass."
 
 SMUD is one of 19 organizations and sponsors backing the event, which will also feature an expo with more than 40 exhibitors and a tour that includes stops at Woodland Biomass Power, the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, and Technikon Advanced Technologies. 
 
 Visit <a href="http://www.pacificwest.biomassconference.com">www.pacificwest.biomassconference.com</a> for complete details on the event, including the final agenda, expo hours, the tour itinerary, registration rates, and media access. 
 
 About BBI International 
 BBI International produces globally recognized bioenergy events and trade magazines. In addition to the International BIOMASS Conference & Expo and its allied regional events, BBI owns and operates the largest, longest-running ethanol conference in the world-the International Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo (FEW). The company publishes Biomass Magazine, Ethanol Producer Magazine, and Biodiesel Magazine, as well as a number of ancillary products including maps, directories, e-newsletters and other Web-based industry resources.

 
 SOURCE BBI International

Sacramento to host biomass conference

Posted January 11, 2010
 
 Cenergy Power Systems Technologies, based in Orange Park, Fla., and founded by a former Caterpillar executive, started to focus on bio-power applications in 2009. Within two months of its incorporation, Germany-based 2G Bio-Energy Technology Corp.-with more than 1,000 power plants installed internationally-acquired 25 percent of Cenergy's stock. Now, Cenergy has an exclusive agreement to market 2G's combined heat and power (CHP) and biodiesel refining systems in the Americas. 
 
 "The joint venture with Cenergy will launch the entire 2G product line including biogas, landfill gas, sewage gas, and natural gas cogeneration modules," Cenergy said. "The option to establish a U.S. manufacturing plant is currently under evaluation for future expansion."
 
 2G's biodiesel CHP cogeneration plants, with the registered name PLA-TEC, are specifically designed and made for straight vegetable and plant oil use; therefore, the units take in the same feedstock to make the biodiesel as it does to generate power for the process. Standard diesel engines made in the United States require extensive modifications and manufacturers don't provide warranties for straight vegetable oil use. "The 2G CHP engine can utilize a much lower quality feedstock to generate power for the biodiesel process," said Michael Turwitt, CEO of Cenergy. "This provides a significant cost advantage." 
 
 As biodiesel production trends more toward smaller scale units and variable feedstock supplies, the idea of using modular production units placed very close to the feedstock sources becomes more attractive all over the world, Cenergy said. "Larger plants have had a lot of difficulties but smaller ones are a great success," Turwitt told Biodiesel Magazine. "You can place these modules right next to a food processing plant, or an agricultural operation that has residuals available and process up to a 1 MMgy with this system."

2G Bio-Energy's biodiesel and plant oil cogen module SOURCE: 2G BIO-ENERGY TECHNOLOGY CORP.

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2G seals American distribution agreement

Posted January 13, 2010
 
 The explosion last month at Imperium Renewables Inc.'s 100 MMgy biodiesel plant, Imperium Grays Harbor in Washington, was caused by an oversupply of sulfuric acid into the glycerin neutralization tank, which led to an unexpected exothermic reaction that ruptured the equipment, the company stated. "Typically, sulfuric acid is mixed with glycerin to neutralize the pH level. When mixed at the recommended ratio, the chemical reaction does not pose a safety threat."
 
 Because an investigation revealed that Imperium personnel were responsible for the error, the company has replaced the tank with new equipment that includes "stringent safeguards" to prevent a similar situation from recurring, along with instituting "new employee training and safety programs onsite."
 
 While repairs to the facility are being made, the downtime comes during a period when vigorous production is not warranted. Demand for methyl esters is low at present and the lapse of the $1-per-gallon federal excise tax credit have combined to make the situation to start making fuel again less than urgent. Imperium said that it will restart manufacturing as soon as market conditions are viable. 
 
 "We are working hard to install and test the new equipment as fast as we can, but not at the expense of safety," said John Plaza, president of Imperium Renewables. "We won't start the facility until we are confident that it runs as designed. In the meantime, we are focused on helping Congress understand the importance of extending the biodiesel tax credits as well as enforcing the renewable fuel standards. Without action on both issues, we likely won't see enough demand to restart the facility."

Imperium reveals explosion cause

Posted January 13, 2010
 

 Citing a "fallout" problem that is only happening in No. 1 diesel fuel, which contains biodiesel percentages by law in the state, Minnesota has lifted its renewable fuel requirement for the winter months. "They say it's only happening in No. 1," Kelly Strebig told Biodiesel Magazine. Strebig mans the "biodiesel helpline" at the University of Minnesota's Center for Diesel Research in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. 
 
 No. 1 fuel has a much lower cloud point than No. 2, which is the reason it is used straight or in blends with No. 2 during the winter months in cold climates. Hoon Ge, a fuel consultant with MEG Corp, said No. 1 with 5 percent biodiesel should perform down to minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit, but he saw issues with samples of No. 1 B5 at minus 10 degrees. Even the red dye No. 2 B5 with cold flow additives was performing at that temperature. "If you would have told me a month ago that No. 1 and 5 percent biodiesel would be having issues at minus 10 degrees, I would not have believed it," Ge said, adding that there will be a meeting at the end of the month to further resolve the issue. 
 
 "I don't really understand this," Strebig said. "I was involved in tests of B50 and No.1 at the university at temperatures lower than what we are experiencing now, and we didn't have any problems-so I don't know if it has something to do with ultra low sulfur diesel, or what."
 
 The temporary waiver of the biodiesel requirement could have more of an impact on renewable fuels sales in northern Minnesota that is often much colder than the Twin Cities. "All of the school buses have gone to using No.2 year round, so I think that it will have less of an effect there," Strebig says.
 
 The waiver, which will become effective Friday, January 15 through March 31, was issued in response to concerns from the Minnesota Biodiesel Council and the Minnesota Petroleum Marketers Association that the mix of 5 percent biodiesel with No.1 diesel fuel could lead to clogged filters in extreme cold weather, said the Minnesota Department of Commerce, which wields the power to perform such a move. "The effective date allows petroleum wholesalers to make any necessary operational adjustments to ensure consistent supply. The B5 mandate still applies to No. 2 diesel fuel." 
 
 James Pearson, deputy commissioner at the Minnesota Department of Commerce, said, "Minnesota's fuel quality policies ensure a strong renewable fuel industry. Our action today is in response to concerns raised by some consumers. The waiver will relieve some of the pressure felt by suppliers and consumers while we get to the bottom of any issues."

Minnesota lifts biodiesel mandate for No.1

Posted January 13, 2010

 
 ISO will develop an International Standard to address sustainability issues linked to bioenergy. The standard will be produced by a new ISO project committee, ISO/PC 248, Sustainability criteria for bioenergy. 
 
 ISO/PC 248 will bring together international expertise and state-of-the-art best practice to discuss the social, economic and environmental aspects of the production, supply chain, and use of bioenergy, and identify criteria that could prevent it from being environmentally destructive or socially aggressive. 
 The decision to develop the standard responds to the growing international interest in bioenergy, and the current lack of globally harmonized sustainability criteria. 
 
 Already some 29 countries are involved as participants or observers, including large markets such as China and the USA. Brazil (ISO member ABNT) and Germany (ISO member DIN) will provide the secretariat and leadership of the committee under a twinned arrangement. 
 
 The future International Standard is expected to be a key tool in helping governments meet their alternative fuel targets.
 
 Already a number of international initiatives require their signatories to find ways to substitute fossil fuels, and bioenergy has been identified as an alternative fuel with great potential. 
 
 German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the 9th Conference of the Parties, "We clearly need biomass as a source of renewable energy. We cannot do without the contribution to climate protection made by sustainable and ecologically produced biomass. But we have to make sure there is no conflict of aims."
 
 The future standard (ISO 13065) should make an important contribution to this global goal by for example, helping avoid technical barriers to trade on bioenergy. ISO 13065 will disseminate technical know-how and stimulate the ongoing pursuit for quality through the incentive to research. 
 In addition to tackling social and environmental issues, the standard will make bioenergy more competitive to the benefit of both national and international markets. ISO 13065 will be particularly valuable in helping developing countries producers to compete.
 ISO/PC 248 will hold its first meeting in April 2010.

 
 SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR STANDARDIZATION

ISO standard to make bioenergy sustainable

Posted January 13, 2010
 
 USDA continued to raise its projections for soybean exports in the most recent World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimate report released Jan. 12. It also continued to ratchet up its U.S. harvest numbers, with the 2009 soybean crop now estimated at a record 3.36 billion bushels, up 42 million bushels from the previous month. Soybean yield was estimated to reach a record 44 bushels per acre.
 
 Soybean export projections were raised 35 million bushels to a record 1.38 billion led by strong sales and shipments to China and several other markets including Taiwan, Thailand, Egypt, and Canada. U.S. export sales have benefitted from tight competitor supplies resulting from last year's drought-reduced South American crop. That is likely to change, however, with a record world crop led by the big U.S. and Brazilian crops boosting supplies.
 
 The projected U.S. soybean crush was raised 15 million bushels from the previous month's report to 1.71 billion reflecting increased soybean meal exports. Soybean ending stocks were projected at 245 million bushels, down 10 million from last month. Despite increased crush, soybean oil production was reduced due to a lower extraction rate. With projected use unchanged, soybean oil stocks were projected at 2.15 billion pounds, down 155 million from last month. The estimate for methyl ester use was unchanged at 2.2 billion pounds for the current 2009/10 marketing year. That compares with 1.9 billion pounds in 2008/09 and 3.24 billion pounds the previous year. 
 
 The U.S. season-average soybean price range for 2009/10 was projected at $8.90 to $10.40 per bushel, up 15 cents on both ends of the range. Soybean oil prices were forecast at 36 cents to 39 cents per pound, up 5 cents on both ends of the range. Soybean meal prices were projected at $265 to $315 per short ton, up $5 on both ends of the range.
 
 Global projections
 Global oilseed production for 2009/10 was projected at 431.6 million tons, up 3 million from last month. Increased soybean, peanut, and cottonseed production were only partly offset by reduced sunflowerseed and rapeseed production. 
 
 Global soybean production was projected at a record 253.4 million tons, up 3.1 million. Adding to increased U.S. soybean production, Brazil's soybean crop was projected at a record 65 million tons, up 2 million. The increase is mainly due to higher area reflecting favorable planting conditions and recent survey data from the Brazilian government. 

 
 Global oilseed trade for 2009/10 was raised 1 million tons this month primarily due to higher imports for China. Global oilseed ending stocks for 2009/10 were increased 2.2 million tons to 71.1 million with soybean stocks for Brazil and China accounting for most of the change.

WASDE: U.S., world see record soybean crops

Posted January 14, 2010
 
 The Obama administration coming out with billions of dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to increase "clean energy manufacturing" could seem almost like a taunt to biodiesel producers.
 
 President Barack Obama announced "awardees" of the $2.3 billion clean energy manufacturing tax credits as existing biodiesel producers languish over the lapse of their specific federal blender tax credit. "Projects are assessed based on the following criteria: commercial viability, domestic job creation, technological innovation, speed to project completion, and potential for reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions," the White House stated on Jan. 8.
 
 There's a word that describes the 2009 renewable fuels year-idle. Huge plants sat quiet for months as vegetable oils were high and diesel prices were not. Imperium Renewables Inc., which suffered an explosion at its Grays Harbor plant in Washington, said it was in no big hurry to make repairs while the tax credit is nonexistent. And just as the blender tax credit birthed the term "B99," its expiration also killed it. Producers, such as Renewable Energy Group Inc., are offering the more expensive B100 in its place. 
 
 "I don't think this Obama administration is any different than any other-Republican or Democrat-in that often the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing," said Joe Gershen of Los Angeles' Tellurian Biodiesel. "So it does hurt, but I will say that I don't think they're doing it on purpose."
 
 The renewable energy sector can have legitimate economic impact for farm areas, usually far away from population centers where builders and other entrepreneurs often look for labor resources. Wind, ethanol and biodiesel have fewer formal labor requirements so their expansion can help rural development, said Ernie Goss, professor of economics at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb. "The incentives are fairly generous," Goss said. "The cost per job in the renewable energy sector is high, but it's easier to support in underdeveloped areas." 
 
 The ARRA has already made history and headlines with various programs like "Cash for Clunkers," where new car buyers were able to trade in their used vehicles for a generous rebate. But there have been several bureaucratic bottlenecks in the way the funds are distributed, there are concerns about massive frauds and the ill, uninformed spending of funds, Goss told Biodiesel Magazine. 

 
 Tellurian Biodiesel added that federal money often goes to "shiny" energy products that are several years away from commercialization. "They're not looking at what works right now-and that's biodiesel," Gershen said.

Tax credits announced as biodiesel still suffers

Posted January 15, 2010 
 
 Biodiesel catalyst technology company Catilin Inc. announced a new three-year, $5.3 million project as part of the $44 million U.S. DOE Investment for Advanced Biofuels Research and Fueling Infrastructure award made to Catilin's consortium, National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts. Catilin and its partner, Iowa State University-Center for Catalysis, will provide key extraction, sequestration and conversion technologies. The NAABB consortium is made up of 26 groups from both the private and public sector and is led by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. 
 
 Catilin and ISU-CCAT will build on their pioneering algal oil extraction technology using mesoporous nanoparticles to selectively extract and sequester targeted fuel-relevant and high-value compounds within the algal lipid mixture. The balance of the algal oil, which contains free fatty acids (FFA) and triglycerides, will be converted to biodiesel using Catilin's commercially available T300 catalyst. The pilot-scale work will be completed at Catilin's currently operating 300,000 gallon per year pilot plant.
 
 "This award solidifies Catilin's position as a leading provider of extraction and catalyst technology for biomass conversion," said Catilin CEO Larry Lenhart. "We are enthusiastic participants in the NAABB consortium and believe that this unique consortium will bring cross discipline knowledge working together to advance the reality of biofuel from algae. As the largest private sector participant, we will make a direct impact on the ability to demonstrate the scalable and economic conversion of algal oil to biofuels while capturing and monetizing valuable co-products."
 
 Catilin has been closely aligned with ISU-CCAT since 2007 when Professor Victor Lin of Iowa State University founded Catilin with financial support from Mohr Davidow Ventures of Menlo Park, Calif. "Our technology is instrumental in several key steps of the algae to biofuels supply chain as the efficient oil-extraction and solid catalyst provides a cost effective conversion route," said Prof. Lin, who is also the director of ISU-CCAT and the director of the Chemical and Biological Sciences Program at DOE Ames Laboratory. 
 
 SOURCE: CATILIN INC.

Catilin announces new algae project

Posted January 19, 2010
 

 Some companies have lost billions of dollars betting the wrong way on agricultural and energy contracts. In the biofuels industries alone, there's VeraSun Energy Corp.'s corn bidding tragedy, which put it in the position for Valero Energy Corp. to swoop in. And certainly, biodiesel plants have been shuttered or sit idle because of "volatility in the marketplace." 
 
 But the Obama Administration has reinvigorated offices at the Commodities Futures and Trading Commission, which wants tighter restraints imposed on the big banks that often buy oil futures as a hedge against the weakening dollar. On Jan. 14, the CFTC held a public meeting in Washington where it proposed imposing position limits on the energy futures market. 
 
 CFTC's relatively new chairman, Gary Gensler, has been particularly outspoken against excessive speculation. Gensler was nominated by U.S. President Barack Obama and sworn in last May. Since then, he has also asked Congress for authority to regulate over-the-counter markets, where traders can sidestep restrictions. 
 
 If approved by the CFTC, the so-called position limits would apply to physically settled and cash-settled futures in light, sweet crude oil, Henry Hub natural gas, New York Harbor gasoline and No. 2 heating oil, a product that is often used as a price discovery mechanism in biodiesel trading. 
 
 Campaigns against excessive speculation are actually directed, however, at 10 of the biggest banks in the country, including JPMorgan Chase & Co., which retained its top spot among U.S. commercial banks, with $79 trillion in derivatives as of Sept. 30, as reported by the U.S Department of the Treasury. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. were the energy markets' next four biggest users. The five firms accounted for 97 percent of the notional amount of derivatives held as of September. 
 
 Realistically, there are only a handful of firms with bankrolls large enough and the potential to encroach on position limits. "Position limits are really meant to keep one player from wielding too much power in the marketplace," said Will Babler, a principal of First Capital Ag headquartered in Galena, Ill. 
 
 Biofuels production has contributed significantly to increasing links between agriculture and energy markets in recent years. Agricultural markets actually follow energy. When oil went up to $140 per barrel in the summer of 2008, corn, wheat and soybeans went right along with it to record historic figures between $8 per bushel and $15 per bushel. This was the culmination of the food-versus-fuel debate, which dogged the biofuels industry during that time. 
 
 "While we currently set and enforce position limits on certain agriculture products, we do not for energy markets," Gensler said at the close of the public meeting. "Though there are some differences between energy markets and agricultural markets, those distinctions do not suggest to me that the federal government should set position limits on one and not the other."

 
 Speculators were blamed for the record busting prices and various shots have been taken at the group of traders who some believe drive up prices-standing long with an interest in seeing price spikes-while others say they perform an essential risk-absorption function in commodities trading. 
 
 "You have to be very careful about who you demonize in the marketplace," Babler said. "Risk transfer is the reason that the market exists."
 
 In the biodiesel industry, its excessive capacity-not excessive speculation-that puts upward pressure on input prices. "The market is constantly rationing out feedstock demand," Babler said. First Capitol, a U.S. top 50 hedge broker and futures commission merchant, has been closely following this issue and the deliberations CFTC publicized last week. "There are too many biodiesel plants and there's not enough oil, so only the lowest cost producers can operate," he said.
 
 Another Biodiesel Magazine source said he was "very uncomfortable" with the government deciding who was a speculator and who wasn't. Speculators in the futures market will no longer be lumped in with commodity-linked businesses, such as airlines and oil companies, which are allowed to exceed limits on the number of energy futures one trader can hold, according to the proposal. 
 
 "Nearly all economists that have carefully studied these markets have concluded that supply and demand fundamentals and other macroeconomic factors were the cause of these price movements," the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Group said in a 2009 report.
 
 If enacted, new CFTC limits would apply to individual exchanges, spot-month contracts, all-months contracts, and would include a cumulative cap that would apply across the U.S. exchanges. "The basic formula for the level of the all-months-combined limit is the same-10 percent of the first 25,000 contracts of open interest plus 2.5 percent of open interest over 25,000 contracts," Gensler said. "The approach to setting the level of the spot-month limit in the physical delivery contracts is the same-25 percent of the estimated deliverable supply."

CFTC to shackle energy speculators

Posted January 19, 2010
 

 Flambeau River Biofuels (FRB) has executed a letter of intent to engineer, procure and construct (EPC) the largest second generation "green diesel" plant in the United States at an existing pulp and paper mill in Park Falls, Wis. The $250 million project, funded in part with a grant from the U.S. DOE, is expected to be fully operational by 2013.
 
 Flambeau selected the team of AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, and Miron Construction Co. Inc., a premier Wisconsin-based construction firm, as its EPC contractor.
 
 "The Flambeau River biorefinery will create permanent, high-skilled operating jobs in the region, long-term logging jobs, and short-term engineering and construction jobs, contributing to the economic stimulus of Park Falls, Wisconsin," said Butch Johnson, majority owner of Flambeau River Papers and Flambeau River Biofuels.
 
 "The AMEC-Miron team was selected for its experience and innovation in developing green energy and biofuel facilities," Johnson said. "When completed, Flambeau will have the first integrated pulp and paper mill in North America to run on fossil-free energy."
 
 Tim Gelbar, president of AMEC's Power and Process Americas business, said: "The Flambeau program has been a long-term strategic focus of AMEC's and it will play a key role in our continued development of new bioprocesses and the expansion of clean renewable energy."
 
 "We have been working with Flambeau for two years developing this project" said David G. Voss Jr.,
 president, Miron Construction. "The Flambeau BioFuels project is key to developing 'green fuel' renewable energy alternatives and will have a significant positive economic impact in Wisconsin." 
 
 The plant will use patented process technology from ThermoChem Recovery International (TRI) to convert 1,000 dry tons per day of woody biomass from bark, sawdust, wood, and forest residue into green electrical power, steam and heat to the adjacent Flambeau River Papers operation, and green diesel fuel and wax to the domestic market.
 
 SOURCE: FLAMBEAU RIVER BIOFUELS

January 2010

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

What Happens Beyond 2012?

Upgrading to Next-Generation Technology

Featured

A Continuing Effort

Sweet Catalysis

Reinventing Oilheat

Biodiesel Brand Names

January 2010.css-7jxktu{position:absolute;bottom:0px;left:0px;right:0px;height:3px;border-radius:3px;background-color:var(--chakra-colors-brandBlack);}

Business Briefs

Business Briefs

Columns

What Happens Beyond 2012?

Upgrading to Next-Generation Technology

Featured

A Continuing Effort

Sweet Catalysis

Reinventing Oilheat

Biodiesel Brand Names

January 2010