Posted Dec. 22, 2010
 
 Barrington, Ill.-based EcoloCap Solutions Inc. has selected Triad Constructors Inc. out of Fenton, Mo., as the installation and commissioning partner for its new biodiesel technology. According to EcoloCap, Triad Constructors will be utilized for the sales, distribution, installation and commissioning of new Nano Processing Waste biodiesel processing units sold in North America. 
 
 Although Biodiesel Magazine was unable to reach EcoloCap for further comment on the contract and its NPW technology, the company's website states that the units can convert a broad range of feedstock into biodiesel without preprocessing. "Through our nanotechnology and use of additive we reduce chemical consumption and production costs significantly," EcoloCap states on its website. "We also offer a glycerin refining process that will refine glycerin to medical grade 99-plus percent."
 
 According to EcoloCap, the system is guaranteed to produce ASTM-quality biodiesel and is designed to be run in a hybrid batch/flow process. The system also includes an automated quality monitoring system and features increased alcohol recovery capabilities. The company further states that the system features a remote system control that can be accessed via the internet, can produce 900 to 18,000 gallons of biodiesel a day, and can be outfitted with an optional glycerin refining processor. 
 
 An annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange commission in May 2010 also offers a brief explanation of the process. "Our new processing technology will allow customers to utilize cheaper feedstock, reduce production cost per gallon, and produce biodiesel exceeding all ASTM specs," states the report. "Our NPW Series processing technology will convert a multitude of fats, oils and greases, virgin and waste, into 100 percent high-quality ASTM specification biodiesel. Most equipment providers must first approve feedstock to ensure biodiesel quality. We do not … and there is no limit on the degree of waste oil that can be processed." The annual report also notes that EcoloCap acquired 55 percent of nanotechnology provider Mirco Bubble Technologies in 2009, which developed the NPW machine. 
 

 Regarding the contract with Triad Constructors, EcoloCap noted in an announcement that the company was selected due to the significant experience its management team has in the biodiesel industry. "Triad Constructors' President Mark Johnston has been active in industrial construction for more than 30 years, with the last 11 years committed to the renewable fuels industry," stated EcoloCap. "Since 2006, Johnston has designed/built four plants in Missouri and completed the equipment and mechanical installation on three other plants."
 
 According to EcoloCap, Triad Constructors will be commissioning the NPW system that has been purchased by Kansas-based R3 Energy. "Although it has been a long process to bring this technology to market, we have now accomplished a major step in forming this alliance with Triad Constructors," said EcoloCap President and CEO Michael Siegel, in a statement. "We all at EcoloCap are very excited about the potential this brings, and the value it will add to our operations."

EcoloCap selects Triad Constructors as partner

Posted Jan. 5, 2011 A newly-formed coalition, American Biofuels Now, has been formed in Florida with the mission to educate policymakers, media and consumers about the economic and environmental benefits of biofuels. The group has the backing of various biofuel advocates, members of the military and academia, energy activists, end users and advanced biofuel developers and producers such as LS9 Inc., Enerkem Inc., U.S. EnviroFuels, Biodiesel Industries Inc. and BlueFire Renewables Inc. ABN founder Honey Rand told Biodiesel Magazine what distinguishes the new group from the other major trade organizations such as the Renewable Fuels Association or the National Biodiesel Board is that it will focus efforts on educating local media outlets and regional policymakers about the benefits of various biofuels, and how biofuels positively impact local and regional communities. "Our mission is to put a local 'face' on biofuels within communities in Florida," she said. "What we decided that we're going to do is start in Florida and start with local media-The St. Petersburg Times, The Tampa Tribune, The Citrus County Chronicle, The Charlotte Sun Herald-and go to those editorial boards and reporters to talk about the impacts on a local level both economically and environmentally," she said, adding that ABN intends to eventually broaden its strategy out into local communities in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. Rand, a member of the Florida Biofuels Board, said the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that occurred in April was what prompted her to spearhead the group's formation. "We have to do something to promote biofuels and to get people to understand that these are American biofuels, that they're American, made by American hands with American technology," Rand said. "This creates economic opportunity now and in the future. It creates a level of security that we don't presently have, and we haven't for many decades." There are no financial or membership obligations to participate in the ABN coalition, Rand said, adding that it also doesn't hold biases toward specific biofuels or technology platforms from any of its current or would-be supporting members. "We're not going to pick winners and losers," she said. "That's for the marketplace to decide and forces well beyond us." The ABN created a petition, a Facebook page and a place where people can sign on and tell their biofuels story from anywhere in the country. "We invite people to tell their story so that we can promote them," Rand said. "We're promoting those people that are participating and helping them to free us from foreign oil and to create green jobs." To learn more about the ABN, click <a rel="external" href="http://www.americanbiofuelsnow.com/index.php" target="_blank">here</a>.

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A newly-formed coalition, American Biofuels Now, has been formed in Florida with the mission to educate policymakers, media and consumers about the economic and environmental benefits of biofuels.

Another biofuel coalition forms

According to the "Biodiesel Overview" report released by the U.S. DOE's Energy Information Administration, production in August sat at 23 million gallons, down from 28 million gallons in July. Similarly, consumption fell to 18 million gallons in August, down from 27 million gallons in July.	
 
 Certainly, macroeconomic factors such as the lapsed tax credit, price disparity between biodiesel and diesel and unfavorable blend economics are impacting decreased production and consumption levels. But, there may be an additional factor, according to Lisa Mortenson, CEO and founder of California-based biodiesel producer Community Fuels. 
 
 "Customers that used to pull product on a steady basis and maintain their own high volumes are now looking at pushing down their on-hand volumes," she says, noting that the company's 10 MMgy multifeedstock facility in Stockton, Calif., has successfully produced and sold biodiesel. "It's not that they're not still buying product, but we're seeing our customers take a 'just-in-time' approach, in other words, pulling product from our plant literally as they need it."
 
 Additionally, EIA reported that biodiesel production peaked at 34 million gallons in March while consumption stood at a high of 29 million gallons in February.

How additional factors are driving decreased biodiesel production, consumption

Pump up the Volume

Posted Dec. 28, 2010
 
 Confined Animal Feeding Operations and algal biomass may have a unique link that could help move algae-to-energy developments closer to commercialization. Why? According to Thomas Byrne, president and CEO of Byrne & Company LLP, a renewable energy project developer, CAFOs offer a rich source of nutrients that can be used as a feedstock to grow algae. Most operations located in the northern climates are equipped with anaerobic digesters that use microbes to break down the organic forms of nitrogen and phosphorous into inorganic forms, Byrne said, all of which can be assimilated by various algal species. 
 
 "The methane produced by the anaerobic microbes is burned in a generator to produce an export of electricity and also waste heat that can be utilized to raise algae year-round," Byrne says. "Bioreactors to grow algal species are well suited to take both the inorganic forms of nitrogen and phosphorous from the digester, as well as the waste heat and carbon dioxide (CO2) from the generator, to produce ideal inputs for algal growth." 
 
 While the idea of co-locating an algal biomass growing facility with an established CAFO is a very real possibility, Byrne notes that the amount of algae grown for commercialization on a CAFO is limited by the availability of the CO2, nitrogen and phosphorus. "The limitations are both from what the CAFO produces, and what is needed from other operations of the CAFO." Some bioreactor technology, like that of Algaedyne's, which uses a process that controls photosynthesis by injecting only Photosynthetic Active Radiation into the depth of algae vessels, would make the process more feasible. 
 

 During the 2011 Pacific West Biomass Conference & Trade Show, Jan. 10-12 in Seattle, Byrne will discuss the feasibility of a CAFO and algal biomass operation, and he'll do it with a real-life facility as a model. Based on a large dairy operation in Wisconsin, Byrne will highlight the drying technology, CO2 capture, heat exchange and actual conversion percentages to biomass achieved at the facility. 
 
 A University of Wisconsin alumnus, Margaret McCormick, will join Byrne during an algae-based panel, titled, Algal Research, Development and Commercialization in the Pacific Northwest. McCormick, now chief operating officer of a crop biotechnology company called Targeted Growth Inc. based out of Seattle, will discuss algae strain development for advanced biofuels. 
 
 To add to the algae discussion, Shulin Chen from Washington State University will present strategies and other technical approaches for algae development suited for the Northwest, and James Oyler will describe a new gasifier technology that creates renewable natural gas from wet biomass. 
 
 Click <a target="_blank" href="http://pacificwest.biomassconference.com" rel="external">here</a> to register for the 2011 Pacific West Biomass Conference & Trade Show and learn more about the CAFO and algal biomass facility model, along with the latest developments in algae strain research.

Feed ops could help commercialize algae

North Carolina's Fort Bragg is big, roughly 165,000 acres, but while the military installation's main theater of training happens several thousand feet in the air, the Fort needs to expand. But while it cannot expand in acreage, the dilemma might present an opportunity for biodiesel. The institution (the size of an entire county), acts as a major economic driver, according to Jon Parsons, executive director for Sustainable Sandhills, a nonprofit organization founded by Fort Bragg to work with the surrounding communities. Because of the impact, Parson says, "It is a very attractive place to live." That apparently is a problem, especially to the home of the 82nd Airborne Division. 
 
 "At Fort Bragg we had a drop zone that was right on our boundary," says Julia Love, sustainable land use planner for the Fort, "and real estate developers in the 1990s built right up to the property line." And, as Love says, you can't have a drop zone on the boundaries with housing only a few hundred yards away. Why? Imagine taking a sip of your morning coffee on a crisp North Carolina morning, watching a soldier or a piece of equipment fall from the sky into your backyard. Love says, "When we were doing drops with soldiers and cargo equipment, we had drops landing in the back yards of houses, and that basically took that drop zone out of use." 
 
 Today, with commercial and residential encroachment towards the outside fence, they employ a program developed to deal with this specific problem. The Army Compatible Use Buffers program acts to establish a buffer zone around a military installation to reduce land restrictions and increase the amount of land available for a wide range of military training sessions, including air drops like those performed at Fort Bragg. The program at its best, says Love, acts as a public/private partnership, bringing together local farmers or nature conservatories to utilize and maintain sections on and off the base through agricultural practices that benefit both parties. 
 
 Fort Bragg is currently working with a farmer to maintain a 100-acre Coastal Bermuda hay field. As a result, the farmer will get paid and the base can use the hay. "We do not have any program currently where any of that land is in production for biodiesel," Love says, "but it would certainly be a good fit for that program in the future." Typically the crops that grow well in the area are tobacco and soybeans. 
 
 We know the U.S. continues the push for fossil fuel independence, but could we actually grow an energy crop and produce a biofuel at our military installations? If it seems improbable, ask a few homeowners living outside Fort Bragg about the probability of a paratrooper showing up in the backyard.

FROM THE SKY: Excluding holidays, Fort Bragg runs training missions everyday, and several of them utilize drop zones close to the installation's boundaries. PHOTO: FORT BRAGG

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At Fort Bragg, the idea of dual-purposing crop land is catching on

The Military's Next Buffer Zone

Thanksgiving came and went, bringing with it nearly a foot of snow, subzero temperatures and the short, dark, very windy days of winter in the upper Midwest. The onset of winter tends to offset people's moods, you can see it in their faces as they adjust to the harsh reality of living in a deep freezer for the next five months. The weather is really the only extreme thing the region has to offer-and it's offered in abundance. Forty degrees below zero is not uncommon, and it doesn't matter if I mean Fahrenheit or Celsius because it's so cold that those scales meet there.
 
 It's almost exciting, waking up hours before sunrise after days of pounding wind have built mountain-like snow drifts before your very eyes, to blow these megalithic drifts away and restore order in the country-at least in the driveway. An hour later, maybe two or three, when you can't feel your legs or fingers anymore, when mustache and eyebrows have turned into blocks of ice, it's very comforting to go into the house, especially knowing it's warmed by biodiesel-blended heating oil. 
 
 I heat my house with an oilheat furnace and a wood stove. Wood takes a lot more work, and time, which I don't always have. But burning a biodiesel blend in my oil furnace takes no work at all, and I don't have to worry about its performance either since it gained my trust long ago. I've never been given a reason to doubt it. And I feel good because I know I'm supporting a great and fascinating industry every time the furnace kicks on, and that's often. 

 
 Wood is nice, it offers an adventure behind it, and it will keep you warm too. Wood heats you three times more than other forms of energy because it heats you when you cut it, then again when you split it, and finally when you burn it. But wood is just not convenient and seamless to the user like biodiesel-blended heating oil is. 
 
 This is our annual Bioheat issue, in which you will find a feature article, an editorial column and a story in the National Biodiesel Board's section that cover the latest developments and opportunities in the sector.

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Embrace Bioheat

The rise in social media sites has provided employers with the opportunity to learn more about job applicantsthan ever before. It is an enticing notion to be able to take a sneak peak into an applicant's personal life. But employers must be wary. Using social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or MySpace to screen candidates may be as difficult as navigating through a minefield. While online research offers potential benefits such as easy, convenient and free information regarding a candidate, employers must also be aware of the concurrent risks associated with such research. 
 
 Social networking profiles often reveal information about a candidate's protected class-a candidate's age, race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, religious beliefs, military status. This protected information may appear in several different forms within a candidate's profile. Consider the following scenario: Your company decides to perform a Web search on each of the finalists for a new position. The company's human resources professional performs the search and finds a picture of one finalist in full costume leading a local gay rights parade. What does the human resources professional do with that particular information? If a candidate who is not hired for the position finds out that the company conducted the search and reviewed the candidate's personal online profile, the company may find itself having to show that it did not rely on improper information when deciding not to hire that particular candidate. When utilizing online resources to research a candidate, employers should review candidates based on their qualifications and not necessarily the information in an online profile. 
 
 Practically speaking, many times information found online is more fiction than fact. Moreover, even factual information can be misinterpreted when taken out of context. As a result, using online information creates the following dilemmas: Is the information accurate or relevant to the job opening or does it have any bearing on the candidate's ability to succeed in a given occupation?
 
 In addition, employers should be aware that in certain circumstances, reviewing online profiles could lead to an invasion of privacy claim by the candidate. A fine line exists between a candidate's right to informational privacy and an employer knowing as much as it can about the candidate. Many social media profiles are private and only accessible by "friends" of the candidate. Employers must be careful of the tactics they use to gain access to information on social networks. For example, employers should avoid using someone else's login information or falsifying information to gain access to a candidate's profile. 
 
 Employers must first decide whether it is worth the risk to use social media to screen candidates. Employers may want to consider the reasoning/purpose behind using social media in the hiring process. Employers who conduct online research as a part of the hiring process should work with legal counsel to develop and document an internal policy to govern the use of social networks to screen candidates. Such a policy should define the type or specific positions for which online research will be used to assess candidates. In addition, the written policy should create a standardized process for utilizing the online research including defining the point at which human resources may look to online resources. Also, employers may want to specify in the policy what information the employer is looking for through the online research. A written policy that is consistently followed may help mitigate the risks associated with such screening. 
 
 Finally, employers may want to consider asking candidates for written consent to use social networking sites as a part of the screening process or at least provide notice to candidates that a background check will be conducted that may include a review of any publicly available social media sites. Employers, however, should avoid snooping into an account that is blocked from public viewing. 
 
 Author: Danielle D. Smid 
 Attorney, BrownWinick

 (515) 242-2476
 <a href="mailto:smid@brownwinick.com">smid@brownwinick.com</a>

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Social Media Pose Risks as Hiring Tool

In suburban Connecticut and many other Northeastern suburban communities, the latest buzzwords to describe the current local economy is the "new normal." Thousands of independent, small and medium-sized businesses are facing extraordinarily sized contractions to their sales and revenues. Financial services firms, real estate and construction companies, retail main street businesses and service companies are financially suffering to the tune of 30 to 50 percent declines in revenues over the past 5 years. The reality of high unemployment and reductions in consumer spending are beginning to settle into the current economy. We all hope this economic correction will end soon, but there are few, if any, optimistic signs in the new normal. 
 
 In 2010, the U.S. biodiesel industry also experienced a drop in domestic gallons produced and distributed, largely due to the failure of Congress to reinstate the $1 per gallon biodiesel blenders excise tax credit, and key market segments such as Bioheat are feeling its effects. The independent retail oilheat marketer is not insulated from the new normal. With the family budget under siege, conservation at home is having a significant impact on overall gallons sold. Other constant economic challenges for the oilheat marketer are sudden commodity changes in the price of oil, poorly hedged contract positions, natural gas competition and even Mother Nature, as temperatures fluctuate. Now more than ever, the oilheat industry must recreate its brand image. Integrating biodiesel into the existing petroleum infrastructure provides the oilheat marketer a new, improved liquid fuel for the existing oilheat consumer. In this fast-changing world, Bioheat represents a sustainable growth opportunity, presenting the independent oilheat marketer opportunity to grow and green their business in the new normal. 
 
 For marketers and distributors searching market certainty in uncertain times, Bioheat has become a significant beneficiary of the RFS2 rulemaking process. U.S. EPA now recognizes biodiesel as an advanced biofuel. Heating oil integration is allowable under RFS2 and provides an opportunity and a likely source for many mandated biodiesel gallons in coming years. The term Bioheat is a registered industry trademark whose definition is ASTM D396 heating oil blended with ASTM D6751 biodiesel.
 
 RFS2 and renewable identification number (RIN) markets provide certainty for the long-term usage of biodiesel-Bioheat marketers can feel secure about marketing this renewable energy source. Another benefit of the new RFS2 rules is that all of the new regulatory reporting, RIN tracking calculations and other compliance regulations are all handled upstream between the biodiesel producer or importer and the oilheat and diesel fuel terminal suppliers. The oilheat marketer will continue to purchase Bioheat through its current petroleum suppliers, with regulatory reporting and RINs calculations in most cases already figured into the wholesale pricing, eliminating pricing confusion. 
 
 This past spring and summer, I spoke with numerous oilheat dealers at petroleum industry conferences, state association meetings and in several private discussions. I clearly sensed some concern from them about the future of biodiesel, because of the absence of the tax credit and the availability of ratable biodiesel supply. The truth is, with RFS2, a Bioheat marketer now has the ability to market an advanced biofuel to the consumer. Biodiesel is a liquid drop-in fuel of the highest quality; a renewable energy that possesses a minimum 50 percent reduction in carbon emission compared to distillate fuel. This reduction calculation takes into account indirect land use criteria as well as the life-cycle analysis of biodiesel. 
 
 Biodiesel is one of the few renewable energy technologies that has made its way out of the lab as a theoretical application, to become a viable renewable energy. Bioheat is ready for primetime distribution and consumer use today in existing heating equipment-without any modifications.
 
 
 Author: Michael Devine

 CEO, Earth Energy Alliance; Petroleum Liaison, NBB
 (203) 221-3044
 <a href="mailto:mike@earthenergyalliance.com">mike@earthenergyalliance.com</a>

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Bioheat 2011 in the 'New Normal' Economy

What do Apple's iPad, improved 3-D glasses and Amtrak's Heartland Flyer locomotive have in common? They all made Time magazine's list of "The 50 Best Inventions of 2010." The Heartland Flyer, which makes daily runs between Oklahoma City and Fort Worth, Texas, was the only one of Time's 10 transportation innovations available to the public on the "50 Best" list.
 
 Amtrak received a $274,000 grant from the Federal Railroad Administration to study the feasibility and effectiveness of using B20 in its Heartland Flyer locomotive. Amtrak conducted the 12-month long trial experiment in partnership with the Oklahoma and Texas Departments of Transportation.
 
 "Amtrak travel is already more energy efficient than most other forms of inter-city transportation," says Roy Deitchman, vice president of environmental health and safety for Amtrak. "If the test shows this use of a renewable fuel in our locomotive is successful, it's a home run for our passengers, for our partners and for the planet."
 
 Powered by a 3,200-horsepower General Electric P32-8 locomotive with a 12-cylinder diesel engine, Amtrak announced that the Heartland Flyer would be running on B20 on Earth Day in February 2010. The locomotive subsequently received a decal in April indicating that it used nothing but B20 on its regular stops through Norman, Okla., Purcell, Okla., Pauls Valley, Okla., Ardmore, Okla., and Gainesville, Texas. The Heartland Flyer is fueled in Fort Worth by Amtrak's existing fuel vender, Euless, Texas-based Direct Fuels, which provides beef tallow-derived biodiesel.
 
 "The cost difference between a biodiesel blend and straight ultra-low sulfur diesel is about a nickel per gallon to what it was a few years ago," says Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari, adding that the train does a daily 400-mile round trip between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City, burning about 100,000 gallons of fuel a year in the process.
 
 As part of maintenance and inspections during the trial run test, according to Magliari, Amtrak will perform analysis of the engine oil every 10 days for degradation and/or dilution, including wear and tear on gaskets and valves. At the end of the trial test in April 2011, Amtrak will collect locomotive exhaust emissions data in accordance with U.S. EPA locomotive exhaust emissions federal test protocol in the final report. The trial has received support on fuel and engine component evaluation from Chevron Oronite. 
 
 Previously conducted stationary locomotive engine testing of B20 has shown to reduce hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide each by 10 percent, particulates by 15 percent and sulfates by 20 percent, according to Amtrak. 

 
 In an effort to control quality, all the batches of biodiesel are tested in conforming to parameters set by the BQ-9000 program. "We also test for water content, viscosity and carbon residue on every batch," Magliari says. Additionally, at least one batch is tested for metals content and sulfated ash on a monthly basis, along with semiannual testing of cetane and distillation parameters. 
 
 According to Amtrak, ridership in the 12 months ending Sept. 30 stood at 81,749, up 11 percent from the previous year, while ridership in October increased by more than 17 percent compared to the same period in 2009.

FULL SPEED AHEAD: Amtrak's Heartland Flyer at Fort Worth, Texas, the southern terminus of the daily 206-mile route to and from Oklahoma City. PHOTO: William Shaffer

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Amtrak's Heartland Flyer uses B20 in trial experiment, makes best inventions list

Biodiesel Gets On Track

At a minimum, 8 percent of U.S. fuel needs in 2011 will be met by renewable fuel, if the U.S. EPA's 2011 RFS2 volume requirements are met. Of that 8 percent, 800 million gallons will come from biomass-based diesel. Although that number pales in comparison to what a fully operational U.S. biodiesel producing market could produce, the number still appears to be a good thing. The NBB thinks so, as do several other producers, but is 800 million gallons attainable? According to the EPA in a statement from its final rule, the answer is yes. "The total biodiesel production capacity at facilities that are still operating is 2.4 billion gallons. Ramping up production will require some time and potentially some reinvestment, but based on feedback from industry we nevertheless believe that it can occur in time to meet a production goal of 800 million gallons." 	
 
 For Ed Burke, a newly elected member of the RINAlliance board of directors, meeting the requirement shouldn't be a problem, and actually, "the number is on the low side," and it's low, he says, partially because "it's wrapped up into the ongoing saga of the tax credit." The EPA might agree, stating "biodiesel production appears to have been significantly affected by both the EU tariff on biodiesel from the U.S. and the expiration of the biodiesel tax credit." But, don't take 2008 or 2009 as an indicator of success to come, according to the EPA. "A regulatory mandate for biomass-based diesel did not exist in 2009, and the mandate for biomass-diesel in 2010 was a unique circumstance that allowed a significant number of 2008 and 2009 biodiesel RINs to be used for compliance in 2010."
 
 Instead, the EPA points to current production rates and the new preset demand. As an example, the EPA looked at the first five months of 2010, when biodiesel production was higher than the same time period in 2009, which is attributed to the biomass-based diesel standard. 
 
 Finally, it appears there is an undeniable demand for biodiesel, and it can be met. But as Burke points out, there is still one problem. "What is scary to me with the EPA," he says, "you don't know if they are going to do an abrupt change."

CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC: Ed Burke, chairman of the board for fuel distributor Dennis K. Burke Inc. and newly elected board member of RINAlliance, says while the biodiesel industry is on track to meet RFS2 goals, one never knows what changes EPA might m

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The 2011 RFS2 standards are set, but what will 800 million gallons really mean for the industry?

The EPA's Scary Requirement

Alberta Environment has brought charges against High River, Alberta-based Western Biodiesel Inc. and its former operations manager, Jason Freeman, for alleged incidents that occurred more than two years ago. According to Alberta Environment, the charges relate to alleged release of methanol, improper disposal of wastewater biodiesel, the failure to report the releases and for providing false or misleading information. A statement provided to Biodiesel Magazine by Western Biodiesel President and CEO Dean Cockshutt notes that while accidental spills and releases are not uncommon in the processing industry, it is important to respond to them appropriately. 
 
 "In our case the company did have a release on its property over two years ago during initial commissioning, and the company did not respond correctly," the statement notes. "The plant design engineers that commissioned the equipment advised our operations manager that a waste water tank contained only distilled water and it was safe to release to our yard to evaporate. He did so, but it turned out that the water contained some methanol…and he did not report it to Alberta Environment. He attempted to obscure the truth. That was wrong."
 
 The statement further explains that WBI has since taken a variety of proactive measures to ensure the problems are not repeated. "Since the incident WBI has the right people and systems to prevent a recurrence," the company says. "It's important to have the right people and the right systems to prevent incidents. In 2008 we had poor advice from the engineering company that designed and commissioned the plant compounded with our own people failure. We didn't have the systems in place to prevent the release from occurring. We know better now, and our experience can serve as a learning experience for our entire industry." The initial court appearance was scheduled to be held Nov. 29 at Okotoks Provincial Court.

Alberta Environment brings charges for 2008 incidents

Pending Litigation, Proactive Prevention

Congress isn't the only operation boasting the promise and renewed vigor of a few new faces. The National Biodiesel Board recently elected new leadership, including Renewable Energy Group Inc.'s very own Gary Haer, as chairman. Haer spoke with Biodiesel Magazine on the first day of his new appointment. We (as in biodiesel) are part of the energy solution, and everyone in Washington needs to know that, he says. As the new chairman, Haer explains that NBB's perspective for the near-term future also involves communicating to the petroleum industry that biodiesel is the solution for biomass-based diesel and for advanced biofuels required by RFS2. 
 
 "The future looks very good for us," he says. "The RFS represents a base of demand that we've never had before as an industry. That is going to be very beneficial to the biodiesel producers in the U.S." Haer cites several existing champions of the industry in Washington, but unfortunately, some of them will be ushered out when the new Congress takes hold. Advocates Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., and Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., both praised by Haer for their efforts in promoting and pushing for biodiesel, were defeated in the November elections. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., also labeled by Haer as champions, are back however, and will certainly be at the forefront again of the biodiesel tax incentive struggle. 
 As for the lapse in the credit and the misfortune seen by the U.S. industry in the past few months, Haer says it was just the focus of Congress at the time. "They are searching for ways to move legislation forward," he said, "and do it in a way that meets their requirements under Paygo. If there is an expenditure to the treasury, they have to find that money somewhere so that it is budget-neutral."

 
 But what about the focus of a new Congress? It might be almost impossible to argue that the "pay as you go" method that Haer infers halted the tax credit in 2010 will cease to exist in 2011, and Haer isn't focused on that unlikely event. Instead, he provides a fresh point to consider when looking at the promise of the industry, and oddly enough, it has nothing to do with saving jobs. "I think that the reason the biodiesel tax credit should receive serious consideration going forward is because it represents jobs," but not the kind (lost jobs that could be restored) we are used to hearing about. While he does highlight the job-saving ability of a renewed incentive, for Haer, the incentive would provide room for something that once fueled the industry. "The tax incentive also represents a new industry, and it represents more opportunity for investment," he says.

FIRST PRODUCER CHAIR: REG's Gary Haer is the NBB's first chairman to also be a biodiesel producer, and says the future for biodiesel is bright. 

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The NBB elected a new chairman, a fresh face to revitalize the industry

Chairing the Solution

Posted Dec. 23, 2010

 
 Alberta, Canada may soon be home to a pennycress-to-biodiesel plant. A project initiated by All Peace Industries and its owner, farmer Stan Peacock, is seeking to relocate an existing 17.5 MMgy biodiesel plant from Warren, Mich., to a location in the High Prairie region of northwestern Alberta. 
 
 The idle facility is currently owned by The Power Alternative Inc. According to TPA President Jim Padilla Jr., the pennycress project began when Peacock began investigating the use of the plant as a biodiesel feedstock. 
 
 A biodiesel research project recently undertaken by Alberta Environment and a local university inadvertently included some pennycress oil in a batch of biodiesel. According to Padilla, pennycress grows as a weed in Alberta. Some of the plant's seeds were picked up during the canola harvest and were included in oil used as biodiesel feedstock in the research. The resulting fuel showed superior cold flow capabilities, and spurred local interest in cultivation of the crop as a biodiesel feedstock. 
 
 The High Prairie region has also been experiencing a drought in recent years, which has reduced the yields of locally planted canola crops. Since pennycress can be grown on marginal croplands, it may offer local farmers an alternative to canola cultivation. 
 
 While the Alberta project is still pursuing financing opportunities, Padilla estimates the plant could be up and running within six to nine months. That timeframe is based on TPA's initial experience installing the plant in Michigan. "We started installing in January of 2008, were making spec fuel in April 2008, got our permitting completed in June 2008, and started selling in July," he said. Using that timeline as a basis, Padilla projects the Alberta plant could be complete during the third or fourth quarter of 2011.
 
 TPA will serve as a partner for the project. "We're already in partnership with All Peace as far as developing the pennycress feed and the potential for it," Padilla said. 
 
 TPA is also actively pursuing a pennycress-to-biodiesel project in Michigan. "We've been working with a nonprofit called StartDetroit.org to develop pennycress as a potential urban farm crop," Padilla continued. 
 
 According to Padilla, research conducted by both Michigan State University and the University of Detroit Mercy has studied the viability of roadside cropping and urban farming of pennycress. One interesting finding so far has been that pennycress shows potential as a remediating crop to help remove heavy metals from contaminated soil, Padilla said. 
 

 "We already have crops planted, but it's on the scale of only a few acres," Padilla continued. "We are planning to put more acreage in this spring…and gradually over the next few years grow that up to substantial levels." If the project goes as planned, TPA will bring 1 MMgy to 2 MMgy gallons of biodiesel capacity online to produce fuel. Padilla estimates that urban pennycress farming could supply 30 to 50 percent of the facility's feedstock needs, maybe more if research shows it is possible to complete multiple harvests each year.

Pennycress biodiesel projects move forward

Posted Dec. 22, 2010
 
 Australia-based biodiesel refiner and jatropha plantation company Mission NewEnergy Ltd. completed its second commercial sale and shipment of crude jatropha oil to one of Europe's largest utilities for power generation. Mission NewEnergy would not disclose the name of the power company. 
 
 The shipment, comprised of 60 metric tons of unrefined crude jatropha oil, was three times the size of its first shipment in October when the company shipped 20 metric tons. At approximately $119 per barrel, the second sale price to Europe represented a 34 percent premium to prevailing crude oil prices. Mission NewEnergy's first shipment sold at about $130 per barrel. 
 
 "Over the next 30 years, the acreage cultivated by Mission's farmers is expected to produce an estimated 20 million barrels of sustainable nonfood oil supply," said Nathan Mahalingam. "If sold at the same price, the market value of our jatropha oil supply is over $2.4 billion."
 
 The company said it expects to make further sales of crude jatropha oil or jatropha oil-based biodiesel after the 2010-'11 harvest season. 
 
 Mission operates a 100,000 metric ton (30 MMgy) biodiesel facility in Kuantan Port, Malaysia. The company is in the process of commissioning a 250,000 metric ton (75 MMgy) facility adjacent to the Kuantan Port facility. Though it uses traditional pressing methods to crush its jatropha seeds into oil to be used as feedstock, the company plans to introduce solvent extraction methods to increase oil yields. The company stated that oil from its jatropha farms will eventually replace crude palm oil as feedstock for its biodiesel manufacturing plants.
 
 Meanwhile, Mission NewEnergy and JOil Pte Ltd. entered into a strategic partnership to pursue the growing of jatropha plants and threes from elite jatropha seedlings. JOil is a joint venture company that consists of Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory of Singapore, TATA Chemicals and Toyota Tsusho Group.
 
 Under terms of the collaborative agreement, JOil will provide elite jatropha plant seedlings and plant materials for Mission's next planting seasons in India beginning in 2011. JOil and Mission will also jointly explore new jatropha plantation projects in Malaysia and Indonesia where JOil will provide elite jatropha planting materials and funding for the proposed plantations. 

 
 JOil has been conducting a comprehensive breeding program to generate hybrid plants based on biodiversity present in natural germplasms. Other desirable traits from genetically compatible species are also being introduced into jatropha through introgression breeding. According to Mission, JOil's trial results have demonstrated a material increase in yield per acre and significant shortening of gestation time.
 
 "Mission has a demonstrated ability to successfully plant, nurture and bring to harvest jatropha," said Peter Chia, chief operating officer of TLL and a director on the JOil board. "We are pleased to be able to deploy our high yielding varieties with such a large and well-organized commercialization partner."

Mission triples jatropha oil sales to power co.

A statement released by rock music legend Neil Young makes it clear that the fire was not caused by any component of the car itself. It was human error. "The car was plugged in to charge and left unattended," he says. "The wall changing system was not completely tested and had never been left unattended. A mistake was made. It was not the fault of the car."
 

 Within days preparations were already being made by the LincVolt team to rebuild the zero-emission 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible. The vehicle is a diesel-electric hybrid that uses a biodiesel-powered microturbine engine to recharge batteries that power an electric motor, and can travel a range of more than 400 miles, getting 80 miles a gallon. 
 
 "The reason we started this project has not changed," Young says. "As a nation, we are still excessively burning fossil fuels, doing damage to our plant that will hurt our children's lives and future generations as well. We're still in a race against time. On a project like this, setbacks happen for a reason and we can see that very well from here. 'Barn's burnt down. Now I can see the moon.'"
 
 The Capstone Micro-Turbine survived the fire, and the UQM prime mover. "The underbody of the car appears to be essentially unchanged," Young says. "The engines are both made in the U.S. These are encouraging signs. Lincvolt is ready for the next chapter and the next ride. The mission's unchanged."

Driving Progress: LincVolt is being rebuilt with parts from two other Lincoln Continentals; another 1959 model, and a 1958 model nicknamed 'Miss Pegi' in honor of Neil Young's wife, who gave him the parts vehicle as a 65th birthday gift following the

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Neil Young's hybrid electric convertible, LincVolt, damaged in fire

Firing up for a New Start

Although production volumes of biodiesel may be lagging in the U.S., both domestic and international production of renewable diesel may help fill some of the void. 
 
 Finland-based Neste Oil Corp. successfully started up its 800,000 ton-per-year (240 MMgy) NExBTL renewable diesel production facility in the Tuas industrial zone in Singapore, crowning it the largest of its kind in the world. Integrated into the area's existing industrial infrastructure, the plant will utilize the company's proprietary NExBTL technology to process palm oil and animal fat feedstock. Primary markets for the company's renewable diesel, according to Matti Lievonen, president and CEO of Neste Oil, are Europe and North America.
 
 "Our main market areas are the most challenging areas, which put special requirements for product quality," Lievonen says. "NExBTL renewable diesel is an excellent choice in cold areas because it has excellent cold flow properties compared to traditional biodiesel."
 
 The company operates two renewable diesel plants in Porvoo, Finland, with a combined annual capacity of 380,000 tons per year. Neste Oil has a similar-sized facility under construction in Rotterdam, Netherlands, which is expected to be commissioned in the first half of 2011.
 
 On the domestic front, Dynamic Fuels LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between Syntroleum Corp. and Tyson Foods Inc., started up its 75 MMgy renewable diesel production facility in Geismar, La. The plant, which broke ground in 2008, uses Syntroleum's proprietary Bio-Synfining Technology to produce renewable diesel from nonfood-grade animal fats produced or procured by Tyson Foods, such as beef tallow, pork lard, chicken fat and greases. 
 
 Since its start-up in October, the plant has produced renewable diesel with a cloud point as low as minus 26 degrees Fahrenheit with a cetane value as high as 88, more than twice that of the ASTM petroleum diesel specifications. Although the Geismar plant is producing at half its maximum nameplate production capacity, according to Ron Stinebaugh, senior vice president of finance for Syntroleum, the facility will gradually increase production levels to meet customer demand.
 
 "It doesn't do us any good to not run it," Stinebaugh says, adding that Dynamic Fuels has secured off-take arrangements for its renewable diesel, but declined to name the customer.

 
 In addition to renewable diesel, according to Stinebaugh, the plant is capable of producing high-value specialty distillate chemicals that can be used in a wide variety of applications such as base oils, solvents and ink toner. Having this capability, according to Stinebaugh, allows the company to be profitable without relying solely on a tax credit. 
 
 "We think we have a business model that is a good one in spite of the environment we're in," Stinebaugh says. "We also think we have the ability to push into higher-margin markets where we won't necessarily have to depend on subsidies."

PRODUCT LAUNCH: Reactor tanks are installed at Dynamic Fuels' 75 MMgy renewable diesel plant in Louisiana. photo: DYNAMIC FUELS LLC

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How renewable diesel is finding its way into the global marketplace

A Renewed Startup

Predicting the future of the biodiesel tax incentive might be about as easy as understanding the main blockade holding up the incentive's renewal: politics. After multiple attempts during the past year to reinstate the tax incentive came close but fell short, one would think support for the industry was withering. But, both Democrats and Republicans voted for an amendment that included the renewal of the tax credit in a version of the recently passed Small Business Bill, which, when passed, did not contain any biodiesel provisions. In October, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack specifically called for the renewal of the biodiesel tax incentive during a speech to the National Press Club in Washington. In November, Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, again called for the renewal of the tax incentive. Now, even amidst a lame duck Congress, there is a chance the biodiesel tax incentive will be once again reviewed and reinstated. But, as Vilsack indicated during his October speech, the best chance for renewal is coincidentally related to politics of the past, and on top of that, he points out it will most likely have to find a way to pass during the debate of the Bush-era tax cuts.

UP FOR DEBATE: During the lame duck, Congress will try to find common ground on Bush-era tax cuts, and an agreement on the biodiesel tax incentive along the way.

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Debate on Bush-era tax cuts could be just what the biodiesel industry needs

Politics of the Past

It's no secret that the ethanol industry has employed creative ways to diversify existing product lines while maintaining and growing new ones. Corn oil extracted from distillers dried grains with solubles, in the back-end of the ethanol production process, is providing a widening business opportunity for several ethanol companies to market as feedstock to existing biodiesel producers. 
 
 Since early 2010, South Dakota-based ethanol producer Poet LLC has been producing about 2 million pounds of corn oil, dubbed Voila, from its research center in Scotland, S.D., using its patent-pending BPX process. Prior to producing corn oil at its Scotland facility, Poet conducted a six-month precommercialization trial run for its BPX process at its 56 MMgy production plant in Hudson, S.D., in 2009. 
 
 A characteristic that makes Voila favorable over other crude corn oil on the market, according to Scott Weishaar, vice president of commercial development, is its lower free fatty acid content, adding that it's also priced competitively with yellow grease, yet below soybean oil spot market prices.
 
 "Our launch strategy with our corn oil has been targeting biodiesel producers," Weishaar says, adding that Poet intends to increase production volumes to meet customer demand by installing extraction technology in existing ethanol production assets. "The bigger issue that we're closely watching is not only the market price of corn oil but the viability of the biodiesel market," Weishaar says. "In other words, as we invest in [ethanol] assets we have to make sure we have a home for our corn oil."
 
 Voila would be a boon for existing biodiesel producers who primarily use corn oil as feedstock, such as Walsh Biofuels LLC, which operates a 1 MMgy facility in Mauston, Wis. According to general manager David Walsh, corn oil gained from the backend of ethanol plants can be one of the toughest feedstocks for producers to use due to its inherently high FFA content. "You have to change a lot of things around to make standard corn oil work," he says.
 
 With corn ethanol companies like Poet capable of producing increased volumes of oil to supply existing biodiesel producers with feedstock, Weishaar says marketing opportunities are expected to expand in 2011.
 
 "What better example of going into the renewable fuels space with a coproduct of an ethanol plant being the inbound feedstock of another plant to produce yet another renewable fuel?" he says. "That's a pretty good synergy."

Why more corn oil could be making its way into the biodiesel industry

The Corn that Binds Us

According to a report published by Global Industry Analysts Inc., vegetable oil and edible oilseed prices appreciated by about 15 percent in 2009, which is attributed primarily to increased demand for palm oil and other factors such as increasing investments in biodiesel plants and growing demand for palm-oil derived biodiesel. 
 

 Aside from the economic downturn in 2008 onward, GIA found that there has been a significant rise in terms of value and volume in the world market for vegetable oils in the past decade, with Asia currently dominating the market from both production and consumption standpoints. 
 
 While North America and the European Union dominated the world in production of vegetable oils in the early 1990s, the report shows that lead has been dwindling since 2004 due to production in China, Brazil, Argentina, Malaysia and Indonesia. In fact, the report shows that the North American and the European Union share of world vegetable oil production dropped from 35 percent to 20 percent over this time period. 
 
 Malaysia and Indonesia are currently the world's largest producers of palm oil, while the U.S., Brazil, Argentina and China are currently the world's primary producers of soy oil. The report also shows that palm oil now represents both the largest and the fastest growing segment of the world vegetable oil market. Growing demand from emerging countries, such as China, India and Indonesia is expected to sustain a strong, robust market for vegetable oils.

Source: Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade, Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA.

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Report shows global vegetable oil demand strong

Bouncing Back

At the November National Biodiesel Board meeting in St. Louis, biodiesel industry stakeholders came together to establish its governance structure for 2011. This included the development of policy resolutions and the election of the governing board and board officers. Ed Hegland, soybean grower from Minnesota, served as the NBB chairman for the past 3 years. During that time, Hegland relied heavily on the leadership of his vice chair, Gary Haer from the Renewable Energy Group. In the recent elections, Haer became the first biodiesel producer to be elected chairman of the board of directors. In this candid dialogue, NBB's immediate past chair interviews NBB's new chair about the significance of the election of a producer chairman, the future of the industry and more.
 
 Hegland: First of all congratulations on your unanimous election as NBB chairman. While you are the first producer to be elected chair, it really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. You have served as a significant part of the NBB leadership for the last decade, and especially so during the past three years as vice chair. What do you see as the significance of this election, and your new leadership role?
 
 Haer: I have been honored to serve on NBB's executive committee for the past nine years, and I'm humbled by my election as the new chair. I will have big shoes to fill with NBB's long and proud tradition of farmer leaders, whose policy support and checkoff investment made the U.S. biodiesel industry possible, and continues to help fuel it today. I've especially been honored to serve and work closely with you over the last three years. There are two things that I have come to admire most about your leadership, which I intend to carry forward. First, you have always been willing to step up and face difficult issues and address them head on. Second, you have always demonstrated a willingness to listen to our members, be in touch with their concerns and needs, and to lead in a way that was truly in the best interests of the industry as a whole. Those are principles that I am committed to as well. We have some enormous economic and policy challenges that we continue to face, and it is imperative that we continue to face them as a unified industry.
 
 Hegland: What is your vision of how we get from the economic situation that we are in now to where we need to be?
 
 Haer: If we are going to have a healthy, sustainable, growing industry, it has to be profitable for domestic biodiesel producers to operate. A healthy, growing U.S. biodiesel industry is good for all NBB members, including producers, marketers, distributors and feedstock producers. While we had the policy framework in place to make that happen, Congress' inability to pass timely tax legislation left the industry stranded in 2010 with a lapsed tax credit and a delayed RFS2. The positive news is that 2011 is poised to be perhaps the biggest year ever, with approximately 800 million gallons of biomass-based diesel required by law. However, it may take a few months for all of the remaining uncertainties to be resolved and for the program to really begin to generate demand. There are many NBB producer members who simply will not be able to wait any longer. This is especially frustrating considering that Congress could put this industry back to work immediately with the stroke of a pen. 
 
 Hegland: One thing discussed at the November board meeting was the need to re-launch and redefine biodiesel as an advanced biofuel, rather than being labeled by our opponents as a "conventional biofuel." If the biodiesel industry is going to compete in the new advanced biofuel market that will be created by the RFS2, people need to know that biodiesel is currently the only commercial-scale, domestic fuel that meets the EPA's definition of advanced biofuel.
 
 Haer: This is truly a defining moment for our industry, and we must seize the opportunity to define ourselves rather than be defined by others. NBB staff, led by the CEO, are working on new ways to emphasize biodiesel's role as an advanced biofuel, its carbon, energy balance, diversity benefits, and the fact that biodiesel has net benefits to the food supply. These efforts clearly illustrate how unity and resource leveraging are critical. While NBB producer members' volume dues will remain primarily focused on supporting our federal and state regulatory affairs program, NBB's soybean farmer members continue to support these efforts with additional funds above and beyond their current level of technical and communications support. 

 Recognizing the tremendous challenges that we have before us, I would like to appeal to all biodiesel stakeholders for their help and support in getting this industry to better times. I am committed to working with this outstanding governing board to serve the industry and the organization to the best of my ability. I'm committed to inclusiveness, transparency, and open communications among membership and leadership. I eagerly invite your input and ideas, as we will need all of the good minds the industry has to offer. This industry has struggled before, but we have always come through it stronger. I am confident that together, we can get through this challenge as well.

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Changing of the Guard at NBB

National Biodiesel Board members selected their trade association leadership in November, including the first producer to take the chairman role. Four returning governing board members and three new members were elected to serve on the leadership committee. 
 
 Officers elected to lead the board are: 
 
 &bull; Gary Haer, chairman, Renewable Energy Group Inc. (producer) 
 &bull; Ed Ulch, vice chair, Iowa Soybean Board (farmer) 
 &bull; Ron Marr, secretary, Minnesota Soybean Processors (producer) 
 &bull; Jim Conway, treasurer, Griffin Industries (producer) 
 Biodiesel board members also voted to fill seven board member spots. Elected were: 
 &bull; Greg Anderson, Nebraska Soybean Board (farmer)
 &bull; Ramon Benavides, GEN-X Energy Group (producer)
 &bull; Steven Levy, Sprague Energy (producer) 
 &bull; Dave Lyons, Louis Dreyfus (producer)
 &bull; Doug Smith, Baker Commodities (producer)
 &bull; David Womack, Tennessee Soybean Promotion Board (farmer)
 &bull; John Wright, Owensboro Grain Co. (producer)
 

 Ed Hegland, Kris Kappenman, Bob Metz, and Darryl Brinkmann also serve on the governing board. 
 
 Based in Jefferson City, Mo., NBB is dedicated to supporting the commercial biodiesel industry. Its membership is comprised of biodiesel producers; state, national, and international feedstock and processor organizations; fuel marketers and distributors; and technology providers.

National Biodiesel Board members elect governing board

Winter is a time associated with selling and using Bioheat, but this winter has also been a hot time for the promotion of the alternative home heating oil. The National Biodiesel Board works to develop markets for biodiesel, and one of the most rapidly expanding new markets is Bioheat home heating oil. 
 
 
 The airwaves
 
 In November the National Association of Farm Broadcasters conference hosted a unique trade show where Greg Anderson, a soybean farmer from Nebraska, Don Allen, a Bioheat dealer from Virginia, and NBB staff members told the story of Bioheat to more than 30 farm broadcast representatives. The majority of the interviews were recorded on the spot for radio shows to be played all across the U.S. 
 
 "This event was unlike any other I have ever attended," said Allen. "It gave us an opportunity to tell the public about the benefits of biodiesel, and the exciting market it has in home heating oil." Allen added that the Bioheat message was heard by many at the trade show, but the event was unique because the interviews then reached thousands more once they hit the radio waves. 
 
 
 The Big Apple
 
 The National Biodiesel Board helped organize a group of soybean farmer leaders for a New York City Bioheat tour in December. The tour brought state soybean board members to New York to see first-hand the Bioheat and biodiesel markets in the state including biodiesel production facilities, distribution and the New York Mercantile Exchange where billions of dollars of energy products are sold every day.

 
 Starting in October 2012, all heating oil sold within New York City will contain at least 2 percent biodiesel. 
 
 "New York City consumes 1 billion gallons of heating oil annually, more than any other city in the United States," said City Councilman James F. Gennaro, who sponsored the legislation. "This will annually replace 20 million gallons of petroleum with an equal volume of renewable, sustainable, domestically produced biodiesel."
 
 In addition to Bioheat, New York City is the largest municipal user of biodiesel in the country. NYC's Parks Department uses B50 blends in maintenance vehicles at landmarks such as Central Park, Yankee Stadium, and Coney Island. NYC's sanitation department uses B20 in all 4,000 sanitation trucks.
 
 
 Success stories published
 
 
 The NBB recently published a piece titled "Success Stories: the Sustainability of America's Future Through Biodiesel." The publication features profiles of biodiesel and Bioheat companies from diverse sectors of the petroleum market. The companies have made the strategic decision to differentiate themselves from their competitors by introducing biodiesel blends into their product lines. 
 
 The publication also features the Boston Bioheat tour, an event that the NBB, the National Oilheat Research Alliance and the Massachusetts Oil Heat Council put on to bring the oilheat and biodiesel industries together to discuss the potential of Bioheat as the future of the home heating oil industry.
 
 To receive a copy of the publication, please contact the NBB at info@biodiesel.org.

Don Allen and Greg Anderson tape a radio interview at the National Association of Farm Broadcasters meeting.

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New York City is a leader in Biodiesel and Bioheat use.

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Winter a hot time for Bioheat promotions

To make it in today's marketplace, the truth is that a renewable fuel must be more than a great product. It must have strong state and federal policies in place to support its growth and development. With the advent of carbon reduction measures and the growing popularity of Bioheat mandates, state policies are more influential than ever. The federal renewable fuel standard has created a market driver, but 2010 showed the dramatic consequences of an industry having the "policy rug" pulled out from under it, with the loss of the federal biodiesel tax incentive. What course is charted from here? 

 
 At the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo you'll hear from the industry's top state and federal policy strategists on what we have done well, where we are going, and how our industry can advance to the next level of effectiveness in the capitol halls of America. 
 
 Along with the federal and state policy discussions, attendees will gain insight on the biodiesel tax incentive, RFS2 implementation, and how biodiesel producers and marketers can put themselves in a winning position. In an effort to gain some perspective on the events of the past year, we're bringing back our 2010 general session of petroleum industry experts. Last year companies within the entire petroleum supply chain from the refinery to the pump explored how biodiesel fit into their businesses. Come back this year to see if their predictions were accurate, and what they see as the future of biodiesel as RFS2 goes into full effect in 2011.
 
 In addition to the general sessions, come see what industry experts have to say in the three breakout session areas: Technical, Markets, and Regulatory. See in-depth topics such as innovations in biodiesel production, biodiesel commodity and risk management, addressing food and fuel arguments, ASTM future developments, RFS2 basic training and much more. 
 
 Visit www.biodieselconference.org/2011 for a full list and descriptions of all the general and breakout sessions, and to register for the 2011 National Biodiesel Conference & Expo. Online registration will remain open until Jan. 21. After that, you must register in person onsite, and the cost of registration will increase.

The petroleum industry experts panel from the 2010 conference is back for the 2011 general session.

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Online registration remains open until Jan. 21, then registration must be done onsite. 

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The Technical, Markets, and Regulatory track sessions are sure to draw large crowds again in 2011 as industry experts dive deep into issues facing the industry. 

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The demographics of our conference attendees indicate most are high-level decision-makers in their respective areas.

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Countdown to 2011 National Biodiesel Conference & Expo

In a move intended to avoid delisting by the New York Stock Exchange, GreenHunter Energy Inc. relinquished ownership of its 105 MMgy multifeedstock biodiesel production plant on the Houston Ship Channel in Texas, formerly operated under its subsidiary GreenHunter Biofuels LLC. According to Jonathan Hoopes, GreenHunter Energy president and chief operating officer, the company transferred all of its ownership shares to a trust for holders of its 10 percent debentures due in 2012. The company was notified by the NYSE about a year ago that it wasn't in compliance with listing requirements when GreenHunter's shareholder equity fell below the exchange's minimum $6 million threshold to remain listed. As a result, the stock exchange threatened to delist the diversified energy company from its NYSE Amex Equities listing if the company didn't improve its net liquidity. Rather than issue more shares, Hoopes says, the company decided it was best to restructure its balance sheet through a maneuver of divesting its subsidiary, which raised shareholder equity above $8 million. 
 
 
 Enzyme company Verenium Corp. has partnered with global oils, fats and biodiesel technology firm Desmet Ballestra to expand the use and geographic reach of its vegetable-oil-specific enzyme, Purifine PLC. Nearly a month after announcing a partnership with Alfa Laval to jointly market the enzyme, Verenium has signed with Desmet Ballestra to market the Purifine enzymatic degumming process, while packaging the enzyme with Desmet Ballestra's processing equipment and engineering services. 
 
 
 Little Rock, Ark.-based biodiesel consulting group Lee Enterprises added four new consultants in the past couple of months. The most recent is Jess Hewitt, chairman of Gulf Hydrocarbon Inc., who has more than 30 years of experience in the energy sector. He led the Biodiesel Coalition of Texas during 2009 and 2010 and served on the advisory board for the New York Mercantile Exchange propane and natural gas contracts. Formerly a member of the National Biodiesel Board, Hewitt is also a member of the ASTM committee governing petroleum products and biodiesel. Lee Enterprises also added John Hardy, corporate counsel; Angela Young, Native American Affairs; and Kent Bullard, a BQ-9000 consultant.

 
 
 Milwaukie, Ore.-based Biomass Renewable Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with Whole Energy Fuels Corp. of Bellingham, Wash., to manage the marketing, sales, production and deployment of its proprietary biodiesel production processes and equipment. BRT, a chemical process development company, holds patents for several renewable energy technology processes, including those for biodiesel, gasification and anaerobic digestion. Regarding biodiesel technologies, BRT offers both biodiesel production systems and add-on specialty modules, the latter being a significant area of focus recently. One such module is designed to aid plants that are using high free fatty acid feedstock. Other modules offered can solve problems associated with methanol recovery, sterol removal, feedstock degumming and product purification. Under the agreement, Whole Energy will provide marketing, project management and customer service for the deployment of BRT's technologies and processes. 
 
 
 Darling International Inc. announced its board of directors has unanimously approved a merger agreement to acquire Griffin Industries Inc., a provider of value-added rendering and cooking oil recycling services. Under the merger agreement, Darling will acquire Griffin Industries for approximately $840 million in cash and stock. Griffin Industries' holdings currently include 12 rendering plants and one biodiesel production facility. Darling announced a green diesel project with Valero in September 2009. At that time, the company said it was seeking to form a joint venture with a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corp. to develop a 135 MMgy renewable diesel facility adjacent to an existing Valero refinery. As announced in 2009, the facility would convert waste grease supplied by Darling into renewable diesel. 
 
 
 Municipal transit service provider City-Link unveiled a fully wrapped 1999 model bus to promote the use of B20 blends in its diesel-fueled fleets during a media event on Nov. 12 in Peoria, Ill. The service company has been using biodiesel in its fleets since 2005, beginning with B2 and then B11. The company moved to B20 in August last year. According to Rick Tieken, assistant general manager of CityLink, the wrapped bus serves as a reminder of CityLink's commitment to the public and other municipal fleet organizations the benefits of using B20 in fleets. 
 
 
 Temecula, Calif.-based Promethean Biofuels Cooperative Corp. has been recognized by the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) for its waste reduction efforts. As a winner of the 2010 CalRecycle Waste Reduction Award Program, Promethean will receive authorization to use the WRAP winner logo with its products, advertising and business websites to publicize its waste reduction achievements. Promethean's 2 MMgy biodiesel plant has been operating since January, and is currently producing between 5,000 and 25,000 gallons of biodiesel per week, depending on how much feedstock is available, says Todd Hill, Promethean's founder. 
 
 
 The National Alliance for Biofuels and Bioproducts has successfully produced ASTM-quality biodiesel from oil extracted from algae. The NAABB, made up of scientists and engineers from universities, private industry and national laboratories, received $44 million from the U.S. DOE to develop a commercial process for algal biofuel. In its first year, it has produced a small sample of the algal fuel. The oil was supplied by Eldorado Biofuels and was converted using the T300 solid catalyst system developed by Catilin Inc. The consortium will now disperse samples of the algae-based fuel to all 13 of its members for further analysis. 
 
 

 A new fuel station in the New York metro area is now offering B5 to customers. The location, a Sunoco station located in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx, caters primarily to fleet drivers. Biodiesel sold at the station is being supplied by Bronx-based Tri-State Biodiesel LLC, a local waste cooking oil collector, renderer and biodiesel marketer. TSB partners with Rochester-based Northern Biodiesel Inc. for biodiesel production. According to TSB CEO Brent Baker, his company supplies feedstock to Northern Biodiesel, and then markets the resulting biodiesel in the New York metro area. TSB is currently working to contact fleets to fuel with B5 at the Sunoco station. While he cannot provide an estimate of how much biodiesel might be sold at the station over the next year, Baker notes that two of the fleets his company is working to get onboard with the fuel would utilize up to 100,000 gallons of fuel per month. "We're hoping it will be more than that," Baker says.
 
 
 In December, Renewable Energy Group Inc. began offering its branded REG-9000 biodiesel for splash blending at a Kinder Morgan terminal site near Chicago, in Agro, Ill. According to Jon Scharingson, REG's director of marketing, the new terminal will expand REG's downstream capabilities that will allow petroleum marketers to continue to supply biodiesel to a healthy B11 market. The Kinder Morgan terminal is equipped to handle large volumes of various fuel and chemical commodities that feature a total storage capacity of nearly 2.5 million barrels from 218 tanks, with each tank having a storage capacity range between 50,000 and 80,000 barrels. Located along the shore of Lake Michigan, the terminal has access to multiple forms of land and water transport. REG expects biodiesel from its two production facilities in Seneca and Danville to be the primary suppliers for the new terminal location.
 
 
 Dec. 1 marked a major milestone for the nation's transition to ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel as all highway diesel fuel in the U.S. complies with the landmark 15 parts per million (ppm) sulfur standard-a 97 percent reduction in sulfur content from diesel's 2006 levels. The deadline was mandated by the U.S. EPA. However, according to EPA's pump survey, the highway transition to ULSD was actually completed a few weeks prior to the deadline. "It is quite a remarkable feat that refiners have been able to reduce the sulfur content in diesel fuel by 97 percent," said Allen Schaeffer, the executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum. "The United States now officially has the cleanest on-road diesel fuel in the world."

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ENERGY WISE: Jess Hewitt brings more than 30 years of experience to biodiesel consulting group Lee Enterprises. 

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QUALITY ASSURANCE: Kent Bullard was the longest serving auditor in the National Biodiesel Accreditation Commission. 

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REDUCING WASTE: Todd Hill, founder of Promethean, says 99 percent of his company's products are made from used cooking oil or kitchen grease. 

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FUELING FLEETS: Biodiesel is now offered in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx, thanks to Tri-State Biodiesel and others. PHOTO: TRI-STATE BIODIESEL 

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Business Briefs

Chad Joshi wanted to eliminate the presence of oxygen within the biodiesel mix. To do it, he looked for people who had knowledge of biofuel chemistry. The CEO of Altranex, a startup company determined to produce a fuel that works in cold weather (as in minus 30 degrees Celsius), Joshi says he wanted people who "understood what needed to be done." The people he eventually found, Jason Sello and Aaron Socha at Brown University, were chosen more on their ability and "understanding" of biofuel chemistry than by any proven cold flow work. But, if the research team's track record predicts success, then Altranex may be producing a biodiesel mix of the future-what Joshi calls "Green Kero"-that performs in cold climates and, very likely, does it without the presence of oxygen. 
 
 Rachel Burton, the research and analytical director of Piedmont Biofuels, doesn't have much work interest in oxygen, but she, like the team from Altranex, is part of an innovative research and process design effort that may someday change the face of the biodiesel industry-and she will do it with enzymes. After meeting a member of Novozymes at a 2008 speaking engagement, Burton formed a relationship that would eventually combine her skills with the sustainable biodiesel team of the Denmark enzyme giant. Now, whether its oxygen elimination or wastewater reduction via enzymatic processing, there is no shortage of novel process method research efforts, all of which are tackling the challenges of chemistry. The methods may not be commercially here today, and they may not be quite here tomorrow either, but work such as Burton's and Joshi's show that new approaches are bubbling towards the surface. 
 
 
 The History of Green Kero
 
 To say the creation of the Altranex team and its quest for a cold-climate, biodiesel-like fuel started with the easiest of revelations-that in northern regions the air is anything but warm much of the year and certain biodiesel blends begin to gel in these conditions-would only be half the story. Joshi, who says his oxygen-devoid "Green Kero" could act as either a fuel additive to help lower the cloud point of biodiesel, or eventually even as a fuel itself, points out that work by Sello and Socha on waste vegetable oil process techniques also piqued his interest, helping bring the team together. 
 
 The work, which is based on converting triacylglcerols and fatty acids found in waste vegetable oils, implements a single catalyst vessel combined with a microwave reactor. Using Lewis acidic metal catalysts scandium triflate and bismuth triflate in a single reaction to create methyl esters, the two found a way to reduce the reactions needed from two to one. With the help of the microwave reactor to induce temperatures reaching 150 degrees Celsius, the team from Brown was able to produce a reaction in roughly 20 minutes. The metal catalysts could be reused up to five times at 97 percent efficiency, and although the energy required to run the microwave reactor was greater than typical energy requirements, Socha says, the overall energy usage is less given the shorter amount of time needed for the reactions. 

 
 Although the WVO process method was only performed at bench scale, and Sello and Socha haven't tested any low-grade grease at this point, small-scale chemistry achievements can sometimes induce big plans (e.g., Altranex). "The stuff they (Sello and Socha) are doing over at Brown really dovetails with some of the processing we want to do to produce the Green Kero," Joshi says. The same catalyst process used in the WVO project would help in one of the steps of the Altranex process. One of the advantages of the solid catalyst system developed by the Brown team, according to Joshi, is that unlike conventional potassium hydroxide-based catalysts that must be removed, the Brown version will cut down on the removal expense due to the recyclability of the catalyst. And it doesn't hurt that the team from Brown knows a thing or two about chemistry. 
 
 "We've been thinking about these issues for quite a while," Sello says about his team's work with biodiesel conversion and the chemistry approaches that could make it more efficient. Now, Sello, Socha and others will begin tackling the problem posed by Joshi, making a fuel unphased by cold temps. "The problem with biodiesel," Joshi says, "is that is has some oxygen in it. And the oxygen in some sense is responsible for the high cloud point." Oxygen is at one end of the molecule, Joshi explains, and the methyl esters are at the other end of the molecule. The oxygen present on the molecules tends to attract hydrogen from adjacent molecules due to something known as the Van der Waals force, a weak force that pulls hydrogen towards other molecules. "That attraction is what causes the high gel point," Joshi says. If you get rid of oxygen, that attraction isn't there anymore and the cloud point will drop, and the result will be a fuel similar to Green Kero developed by Sello and Socha.
 
 "We expect that we will be able to make small quantities of Green Kero by this time next year," Joshi says. "Instead of doing a B2 or B5 blend, we could enable B20 to B50 blends that could be run in the winter." The process will utilize multiple feedstocks, including one familiar to the Brown team, waste vegetable oil. Although Joshi is hesitant to discuss the process method further due to patent applications still pending, he says there is already interest in his product. "We've talked with people at Irving Oil, Global Partners and Mansfield Oil," he says, "and they all see the value of what is we are doing. According to Joshi, Global Partners, which has a facility in Albany, N.Y., has shown interest in trying the product as a winter blending agent. "They have a demand for about 25 MMgy of kerosene that we could substitute for," he says.
 
 Sello says he working on multiple biofuels projects at the moment, including the continuation of the microwave reactor metal catalyst method along with the new work for Altranex. "There is a movement at Brown to create a greater presence in the energy area," Sello says, "and there has been a lot of discussion about energy." 
 
 
 Sustainable Energy via Enzymes
 
 Part of the Altranex approach is based on the ability of a fuel additive product to be sustainable, and Rachel Burton is no stranger to that concept. "Piedmont Biofuels approach has always looked to be leading in biodiesel sustainability," she explains. Add the help of Novozymes, and the concept of sustainability that Piedmont Biofuels strives for has bred a new free fatty acid pretreatment method that Burton says has already been proven (at a small scale).
 
 Burton says as a biodiesel producer operating under current market conditions, being able to process lower-quality feedstock high in free fatty acids is what several producers gravitate towards, but doing it without creating a significant amount of waste is the approach Piedmont is taking. "A number of technologies do exist to process the high free fatty acid, low-quality fats and oils but they do create either more waste water or more acidic methanol streams, or they use excessive amounts of methanol," she says.
 

 The enzymatic approach provides a significant reduction in the amount of wastewater, Burton says. "When you use enzymes as opposed to sodium or potassium hydroxide for basic reactions," she says, "you are not going to create soap. By just having the soap in the process, you are creating a significant amount of wastewater because you have to use water to wash out the soap." Along with a soap-free reaction, the coproduct is higher quality. "The coproduct doesn't have any of the soaps or impurities," Burton says. This, in turn, creates a higher value coproduct. 
 
 And if you don't believe Burton's assertions that reducing the amount of wastewater used in the biodiesel production process is important, look at part of the funding awarded to Piedmont. Not surprisingly, the team received a U.S. DOE grant for waste water reduction, and it is in the second phase of the grant, worth $1 million over two years.
 
 The team is mainly focusing on Novozymes' 435 enzyme, the most commonly used lipase in biocatalysis. It can be used in both batch and column reaction operations and is also used in industrial processes as a catalyst in the synthesis of simple esters (including polyesters), according to Novozymes. "We've been working on this for at least a year and a half," Burton says, "so we are fairly new to the enzyme biodiesel research body. We approach it as, can we make this process meet the commercial specifications? We've shown some success in being able to have a process that meets the ASTM specification." 
 
 The Piedmont process won't be commercially available tomorrow, but in two years, Burton says they hope to have a scaled-up version. Between now and then, however, the work will continue, and it is safe to say that even if the reason for innovation may differ from one research team to the next, as Altranex and Piedmont show, the challenge of chemistry will never be enough to stop novel process method ideas from boiling over into mainstream use.
 
 
 Author: Luke Geiver 
 Associate Editor, Biodiesel Magazine
 (701) 738-4944
 <a href="mailto:lgeiver@bbiinternational.com ">lgeiver@bbiinternational.com </a>

THE DREAM TEAM: Research groups like those assembled at Brown University are turning dreams of some biodiesel process methods into a reality. PHOTO: MIKE COHEA/BROWN UNIVERSITY

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S FOR SURETY: Socha and Sello were chosen by Altranex based on their understanding of organic chemistry. photo: MIKE COHEA, BROWN UNIVERSITY

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The Heart of the Research: Brown University will house the majority of the Altranex research, while Novozymes' enzymatic work is ongoing at Piedmont Biofuels' plant in Pittsboro, N.C. PHOTO: MIKE COHEA, BROWN UNIVERSITY

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HOW COLD': If Sello and his team are successful, their work will create a fuel product functional at minus 40 degrees.

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BIG LITTLE DROPS: A small amount of the Altranex product will go a long way, especially when used as an additive. PHOTO: MIKE COHEA, BROWN UNIVERSITY

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Oxygen and wastewater can present problems for biodiesel, but researchers are finding solutions

Coming Soon: New Processes

The small farming community of Ridgetown, Ontario, Canada, within the municipality of Chatham-Kent, is known as a breeding ground for a budding biofuels and bioenergy industry. A driving force that helped accelerate this movement can be traced back to the town's premier agricultural and environmental institution, the University of Guelph's Ridgetown Campus. With a deeply-rooted connection to its farm-based community, the campus holds firm its mission to promote a big message to local farmers: that a sustainable bioeconomy is achievable. 
 

 Recognizing biodiesel production as an emerging opportunity, in 2008 the campus received nearly $1 million in funding from the Canadian government to build a pilot biodiesel production plant and an oilseed crushing facility on campus. The plant has operated since 2009 with a nameplate production capacity of about 1 MMly (256,000 gallons a year) using primarily waste vegetable oil as feedstock, sourced by the truckload from Southwestern Ontario. Designed and built by Owens Borrow-based Lougheed Biodiesel Reactors, the plant typically receives about 20,000 liters of waste vegetable oil per shipment. In addition to the production plant, the federal money helped support the building of an oilseed crushing facility, which is under construction now. 
 
 According to technician Mark Uher, the plant runs a batch process with output typically ranging from 1,000 to 8,000 liters per batch per week. The purpose of the biodiesel project, Uher says, is to help determine the optimum model and scale of an economically viable on-farm biodiesel facility. 
 
 "Ultimately, the scope of the project is to show farmers and farm-based businesses how this equipment works, and what's cost-effective and applicable for their operations," Uher tells Biodiesel Magazine. "To have that equipment showcased is key to the research."
 
 With a keen interest in renewable energy, Uher graduated with a diploma in agriculture from Ridgetown Campus in 2008. Combined with his passion for agriculture and knowledge of renewable energy, the biodiesel project drew the Blenheim, Ontario, native back to campus to work full time as a biodiesel technician. 
 
 "I like the idea of combining some of these different renewable energies with their applications on the farm, and how to make farming a more sustainable enterprise," he says.
 
 Once construction of the oilseed crushing facility is complete, which should be by this spring, Uher says it will allow the production plant to handle multiple oil feedstocks in addition to waste vegetable oil. "We want to not only look at various types of oilseed feedstock, but also examine how the equipment performs," Uher says. "We're not sure it's going to be crushing huge quantities to begin with."
 
 In addition to producing biodiesel, various campus farm and equipment fleets use blends of biodiesel in their diesel engines, Uher says. For example, some of the campus lawn mowers and vehicles run on B100 in the summer, while the farm machinery might use B5 or B10 all year long. 
 
 Uher says an important component of this project represents how intimate the connection is between the university and its rural farming community. Through communications, outreach, teaching, on-site demonstrations and on-farm consultations, the project has been well-received by the surrounding communities it serves since the project launch, Uher adds. "We want to show farmers how to do it themselves," he says.
 
 The biodiesel production plant, along with the oilseed crushing facility under construction, was a major driver behind shaping the launch of the university's Center for Agricultural Renewable Energy and Sustainability. Officially formed in early 2009 with a five-year commitment, CARES marked a significant turning point for the community's agricultural sector. The primary focus of the center is to demonstrate renewable, sustainable practices, particularly to help increase value at the farm level and promote community development through research and knowledge transfer. Additionally, CARES aims to help rural producers make informed investment decisions when considering the adoption of renewable energy technologies, while providing benchmark data to support economic and technical viability. 

 
 Along with the University of Guelph, Ridgetown Campus and the main branch in Guelph, Ontario, the concept was developed in collaboration with the Southwestern Ontario Bioproducts Innovation Network, Community Futures Development Cooperation of Chatham-Kent, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Municipality of Chatham-Kent, Agricultural Adaptation Council and the Ontario Seed Corn Growers. 
 
 The biodiesel production plant and oilseed crushing facility are successfully proving out the positive economic and environmental impacts they'd have on a farm-based level. But that's just a start to the goals set by CARES, which include showcasing how synergies of biodiesel and other renewable energy projects can create a truly closed-loop renewable energy system. 
 
 
 Valuing Everything
 
 For projects facilitated by CARES, the notion that nothing goes to waste is an understatement. With that in mind, researchers at the Ridgetown Campus are hard at work attempting to unlock potential uses from waste streams derived from the biodiesel production process, such as glycerin, for use in making value-added chemicals. 
 
 Rob Nicols, an instructor and researcher on the project, says he and his team are using a microbial fermentation technique on crude glycerin to see what types of chemicals could be released when isolated with various types of fungi. Nicols says his team has screened about 50 different types of fungi and found three able to use glycerol as the main nutrient. The next step, according to Nicols, is to pinpoint what types of chemicals are produced. 
 
 
 "We feel we can still get new opportunities out of this approach," Nicols says, adding that he's identified a few hurdles yet to overcome. "The challenge is that crude glycerin has a high pH and trace amounts of methanol still in it," he says. "We're in the process of using applied research to pull everything through."
 
 In addition to exploring glycerin's ability to produce chemicals, Nicols says that the campus is considering recapturing the wastewater from the biodiesel process to use as a composting agent with poultry litter. "With our first trial we noticed it composted litter quickly, and reduced odor issues," Nicols says. "We're looking to conduct additional experiments to see where it goes from there."

 
 Also, an anaerobic digester on campus will be operational this spring. The digester will serve as an additional platform for showcasing new methods and technologies that can be adopted throughout Ontario to add additional revenue streams to family farms. In April, Ridgetown Campus received an investment of more than $2.6 million through the Federal Development Agency of Southern Ontario to build the digester. Built and designed by PlanET Biogas Solutions, the digester will feature one dry feeder system, one pasteurization unit and a biogas engine to convert the biogas into renewable electricity. "The electricity will be sold to the grid as part of Canada's feed-in-tariff (FIT) program," Uher says. "It's exclusive to Ontario where the campus would get an elevated rate on its electricity." Construction on the plant began in late September and is expected to be producing biogas by February. 
 
 The plant will produce biogas from several organic waste streams such as manure sourced from various dairy, swine, and beef lots located on campus. Corn silage, glycerin and other off-farm wastes that might otherwise find their way to landfills are being explored as additional inputs for the digester, Uher says.
 
 Adding the anaerobic digester would open up synergistic avenues leading to new energy streams. For example, waste heat could be fed back to campus boilers for heating buildings, or be directed to a greenhouse adjacent to the digester. Uher says the digestate could become a potential feedstock stream for the biodiesel production facility. 
 
 "The possibilities are endless," he says.
 
 Author: Bryan Sims
 Associate Editor, Biodiesel Magazine
 (701) 738-4974
 <a href="mailto:bsims@bbiinternational.com">bsims@bbiinternational.com</a>

BIODIESEL CHEERS: Mark Uher is a lab technician for CARES' biodiesel facility at University of Guelph's Ridgetown Campus in Ontario, Canada. The plant can produce 1 MMly, or 256,000 gallons, of biodiesel per year. photo: Liz Meidlinger, UNIVERSITY OF

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SHOWCASE SHOWDOWN: The Ridgetown campus' biodiesel plant acts in part as a showcase to display to farmers how the biodiesel production process works. PHOTO: Liz Meidlinger, UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH'S RIDGETOWN CAMPUS

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How biodiesel is behind one Canadian university's mission to promote rural development

Bring Biodiesel Back to the Farm

The past year has proven to be both challenging and successful for the Bioheat sector. While economic conditions and the expiration of the biodiesel tax credit have worked against growth in the industry, new mandates, increased public perception and new marketing initiatives have continued to edge the industry forward. As we move into the New Year, those involved in the industry are regrouping, planning new initiatives and projects expected to enable further growth in the utilization of Bioheat. 
 The National Biodiesel Board and National Oilheat Research Alliance have teamed up with the goal of establishing a new ASTM standard for higher blends of Bioheat. The initiative includes two extensive studies designed to prove the safety and effectiveness of heating oil blends containing up to 20 percent biodiesel. 

 
 The NBB was the catalyst for the studies, says NBB Petroleum Liaison Paul Nazzaro. "Steve Howell, the technical director of NBB, and I brought NORA leadership and their technical people together to determine what additional investigations would be required for us to get a higher blend of biodiesel approved for use in home heating oil," Nazzaro says. "Right now, under ASTM 396-which is the heating oil spec-we have approval to use up to 5 percent. The purpose of this new testing is to determine if we can move into a 10, 15 or 20 percent blend, and what harm-if any-would be done to legacy systems. The whole purpose of this round of testing is to get approval for higher blends, up to 20 percent, in 396 heating oil."
 
 NBB has taken on a leadership role in the project, which includes making sure the entire team is on track and getting the necessary funding into place. Work on the project began in early 2010. To date, this has included preliminary discussions, the formation of a task force, known as the Bioheat Technical Steering Committee, and a peer review of project plans. 
 
 One of the studies will focus on the field experiences of dealers who have been supplying higher Bioheat blends to customers, says NORA President John Huber, noting that work on that project should be complete by next summer. The other will focus on studying the effects of biodiesel-blended ultra-low sulfur fuel oil on equipment. "This study is a more rigorous scientific study," Huber says. "We're looking at pumps, which are the main movable part in the oil heating system. We're running those in an effort to mimic a five-year cycle." The second study, which is being completed at Pennsylvania State University, is expected to be complete in late 2011 or early 2012. 
 
 It is important to note that these tests have no impact on the current ability to sell Bioheat today, Nazzaro says. "Bioheat is fit for use up to 5 percent under ASTM 396. This is just behind-the-scenes work with NORA to get a higher blend for long-term utilization."
 
 
 Rebranding an Industry
 
 According to Nazzaro, a lot of the push for higher blends of Bioheat is coming directly from the oilheat sector, which is unique when compared to the transportation fuel industry. "They know for their industry to continue to move on, they have to change their whole operating system to Bioheat because they face fierce competition from natural gas," he continues. 
 
 It has been proven that when ultra-low sulfur heating oil is blended with approximately 12 percent biodiesel, the fuel competes on an environmental basis with natural gas. "That's huge-and part and parcel the driving reason why we are pursuing higher blends," Nazzaro says.
 

 "We as a petroleum product get beat up by politicians, get beat up by the environmentalists, just regularly get beat up," Huber says. "The Bioheat product allows us to make a lot of those problems disappear," and sometimes even lean in our direction, he adds. 
 
 From the standpoint of heating oil dealers, the two primary attributes of Bioheat are that it's a renewable fuel that has a reduced carbon footprint, and it's a domestic fuel. "When we put those two things together, the industry feels that this will allow us to become a strongly marketed fuel again, and move us away from the traditional oil product into a new renewable, green fuel," Huber says.
 
 Matt Cota, executive director of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, agrees that competition with natural gas is a primary driver of interest in Bioheat. "If the agreement is that we want a renewable fuel, we'll win that argument against natural gas. If we want to reduce carbon, we're a better fuel than natural gas when we are blended with biodiesel. From a regulatory standpoint, from an environmental standpoint, biodiesel-blended heating oil is better on many levels than natural gas."
 "Natural gas is not renewable," says Michael Cooper, vice president and director of sales and trading at Ultra Green Energy Services LLC. "That's the bottom line." When the Bioheat blend approaches 11 or 12 percent, you have an edge over natural gas when it comes to emissions, he says, and when you move to B20, you are beating them by a significant margin. 
 
 For these reasons, the oilheat industry is moving in the direction of rebranding itself as the Bioheat industry. "Bioheat is eventually just going to be our heating oil product," Cooper says. "That's a great thing. It's huge, but it doesn't maximize the opportunity" if only B5 is being sold. The real opportunity, Cooper says, is selling higher blends that compete with natural gas. 
 
 While the heating oil industry is moving towards Bioheat, Cooper also notes that it is necessary for those on the biodiesel side of the equation to understand that oilheat suppliers have very intimate relationships with their customers, and need to be absolutely certain that the fuel works as promised before they are willing to supply it. "Heating oil is an old-fashioned business," he continues. "We have to fit into their paradigm, their speak, and their emotional connection to their customers." Cooper says oilheat is the only industry he knows where dealers have keys to their customers' homes, which speaks to the intimate relationship an oilheat dealer has with its customers. Huber notes that sometimes these relationships are multigenerational, so they need to be certain their customers won't be adversely affected by a new, or unfamiliar, product. But as the use of Bioheat builds a stronger, more extensive history, dealers, and their customers, will steadily gain more faith in the product. 
 "It's definitely an evolution here," says Michael Ferrante, president of the Massachusetts Oilheat Council. "That's how I would describe this whole process of transforming the oilheat industry into a Bioheat industry." The industry is really working together to make that happen. "Many of us believe we should change the name of our fuel," he says.
 
 
 Education and Marketing
 
 To help expedite the acceptance and use of Bioheat, Nazzaro says that the NBB will be stepping up marketing and education initiatives this year. Those efforts will be much more targeted than they were in the past, however. "Funding that is coming in right now is being used to invest in Bioheat and people who are really selling Bioheat, not just dreaming of selling it," Nazzaro says. "We have to do that because resources are precious" and they ought not to be wasted. 

 
 "All consumer outreach moving forward will be developed and invested in areas where biodiesel is actually at the terminal and can be delivered," Nazzaro continues. "I will not allow any of the funding to be deployed in areas where there is no Bioheat distribution. We are going out with a rifle and a scope versus going out with a cannon. I cannot reemphasize this enough-we are interested in helping fuel dealers that are already doing their best to get the product mainstreamed."
 
 In addition to creating new direct marketing materials for potential Bioheat customers, the NBB will also be conducting two focus groups of current oilheat users. The purpose of the focus groups will be to really drill down what their expectations and understandings of Bioheat are. "We really want to, at this stage, take a snapshot of what they are thinking now," Nazzaro says. "Once I get that material collated, it will be the premise for continuing to utilize the materials that we have, or modify them for the future."
 
 The NBB is also reaching out to energy executives in the Northeast for train-the-trainer educational initiatives. The organization has also been approached by several states seeking to market Bioheat to their citizens. According to Ferrante, the Bioheat educational initiatives he is pursuing in his state took a real hit when the Massachusetts biodiesel mandate was suspended last year. "That really took some of the wind out of our educational initiatives, but we're continuing to do as much as we can in the area of education," he said. 
 
 
 Making Economics Work
 
 "Biodiesel really had a steam going at the end of 2009, and some of that has dropped off with the loss of the tax credit," says Cota, noting that approximately 10 percent of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association's members are currently supplying a Bioheat product. "There were some dealers that were selling it exclusively, but as the tax credit has [expired], they've offered conventional heating oil as well. They believe in the product, but at the end of day they've got to make sure they stay in business."
 
 While Ferrante notes there is a slight price premium for Bioheat in the current market, he adds that it shouldn't be an impediment to its use. "No matter what the price is, we have to do it," he says. "That's my view, and I think a lot of us feel that there is a price to pay for reducing petroleum use and making heating oil a cleaner, renewable fuel." 
 
 The biodiesel tax credit is important, Cooper says-but market stability is even more important in the eyes of wholesalers. Whenever the biodiesel tax credit moved towards reinstatement this past year, many producers put their sales and operations on hold in hopes the credit would come through. However, that metric doesn't work for wholesalers. Dealers need to know the fuel will be available for purchase when they need it, Cooper says. 
 

 The expiration of the tax credit has had an impact, but Nazzaro points out that the requirements of the RFS2 and higher renewable identification number prices are offsetting at least a portion of that impact. We need to keep the wheels of progress turning, he says, and if the tax credit isn't reinstated, we still have to trudge forward without it. 
 
 Although those already selling Bioheat are sticking with it, Nazzaro notes that those who haven't adopted it are in a holding pattern. "It's not just because of the tax incentive, by the way," he says. "NORA has not been reauthorized [by Congress]. So, the oilheat industry is concerned that its own leadership group has a short shelf life. If they don't get reauthorization, there'll be no funding to come into NORA to help promote the best interests of oilheat. We are in a very, very unsettled time on both the biodiesel and heating oil sides of the fence."
 
 "We know that we have the infrastructure to deliver Bioheat; we know that we can easily create the infrastructure to produce biodiesel; we know that we have the consumers that can burn Bioheat; we've just got to tie it all together in a cost-effective way," Cota says. "At the end of the day, consumers want to find the least-cost way to heat their homes. If that way is renewable and green, then we've got a win-win. We know it can happen, we're just working on ways to make it price competitive."
 	
 
 Author: Erin Voegele
 Associate Editor, Biodiesel Magazine
 (701) 850-2551
 <a href="mailto:evoegele@bbiinternational.com">evoegele@bbiinternational.com</a>

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Wholesale Expert: Michael Cooper, vice president and director of sales and trading at Ultra Green Energy Services LLC, is working to make Bioheat easier and more economical for retailers to supply through risk management and hedging activities.

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Bioheat supporter: Matt Cota, executive director of the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, is working to develop a Bioheat market in his state.

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Oilheat Advocate: National Oilheat Research Alliance President John Huber is working to make home heating oil more competitive with natural gas and electricity through the use of Bioheat. 

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Educational, research and marketing initiatives in the Bioheat world plow ahead with a real sense of urgency

Transforming an Industry

Posted Dec. 21, 2010
 
 In a unanimous opinion by Judge Rogers from the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the petition by National Petrochemical Refiners Association and the American Petroleum Institute challenging the renewable fuel standard (RFS2) was denied in full. Joining in the decision were Circuit Judges Ginsburg and Garland. 

 
 "The NBB is obviously pleased with the Court's unanimous decision," stated Manning Feraci, the National Biodiesel Board's vice president of federal affairs. "This wholly validates the U.S. biodiesel industry's legal position and sends a clear, unambiguous signal to the marketplace that the common-sense renewable goals established in the RFS2 program will be met." 
 
 Petitioners contended three issues: 
 
 - The RFS2 final regulation violated the statutory requirements setting separate biomass-based diesel volume requirements for 2009 and 2010. 
 
 - The RFS2 final regulation was impermissibly retroactive. 
 
 - The RFS2 violated appropriate statutory lead time and compliance provisions. 
 
 In a 40-page decision all issues raised by petitioners were denied in full. 
 
 "The NBB has every confidence that our membership is ready, willing and able to meet the nation's advanced biofuel goals in 2011," concluded Feraci. 
 
 SOURCE: NATIONAL BIODIESEL BOARD

RFS2 lawsuits denied in full

Posted Dec. 21, 2010

 
 Members of the public will have the opportunity to learn more about biodiesel at three free workshops planned as part of an educational campaign led by the North Carolina Solar Center and North Carolina State University, in conjunction with Wake Technical Community College. The initiative, supported by the U.S. DOE's Clean Cities Program, is offering 36 workshops over a two-year timeframe. 
 
 A total of five biodiesel workshops were offered in 2010 as a part of the program. The 2010 biodiesel events were held in Columbia, S.C.; Fresno, Calif.; Baton Rouge, La.; Kingston, R.I.; and Bozeman, Mont. The initiative is now entering its second year, with biodiesel workshops planned in Ohio, New York and Wisconsin. 
 
 According to Anne Tazewell, Transportation Program Manager with the NC Solar Center and NCSU, each of the three workshops will feature a presentation by WTCC's Rich Cregar, an automotive technologies expert with more than 25 year of experience with alternative fuels. Each workshop will also feature a selection of local speakers, such as fleet operators, who will share their experiences regarding biodiesel. Each event is free and will include information on biodiesel, its various fuel blends, chemical properties, production, distribution and best practices. Attendees of the initiative's 2010 workshops included fleet operators, educators, students, government representatives and fuel marketers. 
 
 The three biodiesel workshops scheduled for 2009 include:
 
 - Jan. 20, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.; Reynoldsburg, Ohio
 
 - May 18, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.; Flushing, N.Y.
 
 - Sept. 14, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.; Milwaukee, Wis.
 
 In addition to biodiesel workshops, the program also offers education opportunities for ethanol, natural gas and propane, and fuel economy and idle reduction. A full schedule of workshops along with registration information can be found on the project's website, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.AltFuelEd.org" rel="external">www.AltFuelEd.org</a>.

Initiative to offer 3 biodiesel workshops

Posted Dec. 22, 2010
 
 Regina, Saskatchewan-based Clean Power Concepts Inc. has obtained rights to exclusive patent technology capable of extracting protein to make aquaculture and other value-added feed products out of lipid sources from biodiesel production plants. 
 
 Originally developed as a result of scientific research conducted by the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, CPC President and CEO Michael Shenher said the patented technology is ideal for extracting proteins from canola meal where it then can be converted into livestock, chicken and fish feed products and sold into those respective markets. Deploying the newly-acquired patent technology, according to Shenher, would be ideal for financially distressed biodiesel manufacturing refiners or existing producers running on a reduced capacity basis seeking additional revenue streams. 
 
 "We believe that this is going to be able to change the economics of biodiesel production because it's going to significantly supplement the revenue from the canola crush operations," Shenher said. "There's a lot of interest right now in value-added agriculture and aquaculture feed products."
 
 Shenher noted that the company is open to exploring partnership opportunities with existing biodiesel producers to sublicense the patented technology, both in North America and internationally. He said that the company has targeted potential opportunities in South America. "I would expect that we'll have [the technology] commercialized by the end of 2011 at the very latest," Shenher said.
 
 In addition to potential partnership deals, according to Shenher, the company intends to deploy the newly-acquired patented technology within its existing biodiesel production plant in Regina, a 20 MMly canola-based refinery operated by CPC's subsidiary General Bio Energy Inc. Although the plant has been idle for nearly a year, Shenher said the patents should revitalize its own canola operations significantly. Additionally, he said, plans are in the works to build a large-scale canola crush plant in a decentralized location away from its production plant in Western Saskatchewan to supply canola-based biodiesel producers canola oil feedstock.
 
 "The economics have been very strong in canola processing, and so we've continued to crush canola and have significantly grown our canola crushing enterprise," Shenher said. "We see that the fundamentals seem to be turning around more in favor of biodiesel again."

 
 Shenher added that he expects the recent tax package signed into law by President Barack Obama on Dec. 17 to be a catalyst for driving more growth in the canola oil markets. "I think it's only going to make the strong demand for our canola oil even stronger."

CPC acquires patents for protein, lipid tech

Posted Dec. 29, 2010
 
 The People's Republic of China has taken action to make biodiesel production within the country more economical. In late December China's Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation announced that pure biodiesel made from waste animal fats or vegetable oils is now exempt from consumption taxes. 
 
 The new policy has been enacted retroactively, effective Jan. 1, 2009. According to information released by the People's Republic of China, consumption taxes paid on biodiesel since that time will be refunded. 
 
 The action aims to boost the renewable resources sector, easing demand for petroleum and protecting the ecological environment, said the government in a statement. Biodiesel producers are expected to save approximately 900 yuan ($135) per metric ton due to the action. According to the statement, this should help make biodiesel producers more competitive in the fuel sector while guarding against waste edible oils from being reused for human consumption, which will help ensure food safety. 
 
 Biodiesel producers within the country are already reacting to the news. On Dec. 28 Chinese biodiesel company Gushan Environmental Energy Ltd. announced that it is currently in the process of assessing the effect of the new policy. "Gushan is in the process of assessing the immediate impact of this notice on its business operations and production plans and expects to make an announcement regarding the implications of this notice following further evaluation by its management," said the company in a press release. Biodiesel Magazine was unable to reach a representative of Gushan for further comment on the development.

China: tax exemption for biodiesel

Posted Dec. 29, 2010

 
 A research team at Texas AgriLife Research, a division of the Texas A&M University System, is developing an optical-electronic sensor to aid in commercial-scale algae production. The system is designed to monitor algae growth in real-time, allowing for increased efficiency. 
 
 According to Alex Thomasson, the AgriLife Research engineer leading the project, the sensor system essentially emits a beam of energy that interacts with an algae culture. The response is measured at multiple wavelengths to determine the optical density of the algae. While handheld sensor devises do exist on the market to complete similar evaluations, Thomasson said his team has identified commercial need for an automated, real-time, highly repeatable measurement solution. "The eventual success of the algae industry is going to depend on high-level commercial production," he said. "For that to work, you need to optimize inputs and outputs, and you need real-time methods to measure that process."
 
 Thomasson said his team designed the sensor system to utilize multiple wavelengths of light. This increases reliability, he said. While the actual wavelengths measured by the system have not been released, information released by Texas AgriLife Research states that Thomasson and his team experimented with wavelengths ranging from 250 to 2,500 nanometers. 
 
 In research applications, algae cultures are usually evaluated using labor-intensive methods, Thomasson said. This includes manually collecting samples and transporting them to the lab for evaluation using a spectrophotometer. On a commercial scale, these methods would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming. "It's not economically feasible for industrial production," Thomasson continued, noting that the sensor his team has developed is designed to automate that process. 
 
 In order for an optical sensor system to be suitable for use in open ponds, it needs to be mountable at a fixed location in a production facility. It also has to operate without human intervention and provide accurate measurements that could be used to adjust and tweak production in real-time. The sensor developed by Thomasson has been specifically designed to meet these requirements. 
 
 Initial field testing of the system was completed in mid-2010 at the AgriLife Algae Research and Development Facility near Pecos, Texas. Over the course of several days, a prototype sensor was used to measure the optical density of an algae culture being grown in an open raceway pond. According to Thomasson, data gathered by the sensor was compared to data gathered through sample collection and laboratory testing. The results were overwhelmingly positive. "Compared with the lab data, we found good repeatable agreement," he said. "We could also see that as media was added, there was a large drop in the optical density." The system was also able to detect changes in optical density as the number of algae cells within the culture grew. 
 
 While the initial field testing lasted only a few days, Thomasson said more extensive long-term testing on the optical-electronic sensor is currently underway. The research team is also working on a second sensor project for algae production. According to Thomasson, that research focuses on evaluating the lipid content of algae cells as well as nutrient levels within the algal biomass. Most algae-oil production scenarios consist of two stages, he said. The first stage involves promoting growth to rapidly increase the number of algae cells within a culture. The second stage involves limiting nutrients at exactly the right time in order to help maximize lipid production. Thomasson and his team are working to develop a sensor technology to aid optimization of lipid production.
 

 Additional members of Thomasson's research team include USDA engineer Ruixiu Sui, Texas A&M University assistant research engineer Yufeng Ge, and Texas A&M University graduate research assistant Yao Yao.

New algae sensor system developed

Posted Dec. 29, 2010
 
 Researchers at Montana State University have discovered a natural fungus that's capable of producing eucalyptol, also called cineole, a rare compound previously only known to be found in eucalyptus bark. The discovery, according to Gary Strobel, professor of plant sciences and plant pathology and lead on the project, was first made by his research assistant Angie Tomsheck after studying plant samples Strobel gathered in the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa. 
 
 "[Cineole] smells like a eucalyptus forest," Strobel said. 
 
 Shockingly, Strobel collected the sample from a laurel tree. The eucalyptol had been produced by a fungus, called hypoxelon, which Strobel had also collected in his search for endophytes. Strobel said eucalyptol is monoterpene and is considered a type of myco-diesel, an umbrella term Strobel uses to describe the range of compounds the fungi are able to produce. Although eucalyptol has the potential to be a diesel additive, it's likely a stronger candidate to become a gasoline alternative due to its high octane rating of 95, Strobel said.
 
 "We found a patent that had been granted many years ago to a Japanese scholar that indicated cineole could be added eight-to-one to gasoline with an octane rating of 95," Strobel said. "In other words, someone using the compound could use eight times less gasoline to run their vehicle."

 
 In addition to producing eucalyptol, Strobel and his team found that the fungi is also capable of producing derivatives of benzene, naphthalene and cyclohexane, all of which are valuable constituents of diesel fuel. 
 
 "When I look at the chemistry of these molecules, this stuff will run a small diesel engine, there's no doubt about it," Strobel added. 
 
 To collect the various bioderived compounds released by the fungi, Strobel said the team uses cylindrical metal objects he calls "carbon traps" that can capture various odors emitted by the fungi. The odor can then be analyzed using a gas chromatography mass spectroscopy to determine the compound. 
 
 "We can do about a five-liter fermentation and can get tenths of a milliliter of product," Strobel said, adding that scale-up and economic feasibility issues are inherent in the undertaking. "That's only with an inefficient gas trap. We can get enough stuff to analyze, burn and look at, and that's something we hadn't been able to do until now."
 
 Despite the long-term hurdles associated with scale-up, Strobel's work hasn't gone unnoticed however. The U.S. DOE awarded more than $300,000 to Strobel and his team to continue their work. He said the partnership with the DOE could accelerate the development of modifying the fungi utilizing the DOE's robust gene-sequencing technology. 
 
 "I have a strong feeling that there are organisms out there as we speak doing these interesting little tricks," he said. "Whether we can commercialize it, I don't know. What we do know is that the product is usable and they're desirable products."

Researchers isolate fuel compounds from fungi

Posted Dec. 29, 2010
 
 The East Coast was slammed with severe winter weather in late December. While most are familiar with the resulting travel delays, it is important to note that extreme weather events can also impact industry, including biodiesel producers. 
 

 Nearly two feet of snow fell in New York over the weekend. Such significant amounts of snow can affect not only road and air travel, but also rail transport. According to Daniel Falcone, northeast wholesale manager for Ultra Green Energy Services LLC, most biodiesel entering the New York metro market is currently transported via rail. 
 
 The New York biodiesel market is still maturing, Falcone said, which means there is not a lot of product storage available locally. To keep the supply of biodiesel moving to customers, it is important to ensure that the supply is reliably entering the market. "With snowstorms like this, it affects the rail by freezing switches and burying lines so that you're railcars can't come in," Falcone continued. "We were fortunate," he said, "because we had just received a shipment of biodiesel, which meant that we were able to store more product prior to the storm. We were just lucky enough where the rail made the switch so that we had additional bio stored for at least a week or two worth of sales," Falcone said. 
 
 He said the biodiesel market in New York City will continue to mature as the city works to implement its pending B2 mandate for home heating oil. This means that more biodiesel will be entering the market, and significantly more storage and blending capacity will be brought online. This should translate into a more extensive supply chain that is less susceptible to weather-related incidents. 
 
 While North Carolina received far less snowfall over the weekend-less than one foot-the impact on the biodiesel industry was even greater. According to Piedmont Biofuels President Lyle Estill, the region is simply not equipped to deal with rare winter weather events. In fact, he notes that North Carolina has traditionally only been hit with storms of this magnitude once every five or 10 years. 
 
 "We got walloped pretty bad by the storm," Estill said. Piedmont Biofuels employs trucks to collect waste cooking oil feedstock for the plant. Product is also picked up by customers via truckload. "When the roads are bad or impassible, my grease collection fleet, my short-truck delivery fleet, my customers coming in on 18-wheelers, they are all impacted by road conditions," he continued. While areas in the Midwest and Northeast are prepared to deal with snow removal, municipalities in the South generally do not have the equipment required to clear the roadways. 
 
 Although travel conditions were challenging, Estill notes that Piedmont was able to keep its fleet operating. "We managed to continue bringing in feedstock, and we managed to continue shipping fuel," he said. "We managed to keep it going, but it just ended up being long days, and delays. I had customer that couldn't get their truck in on time and so on."
 
 The weather also impacted the Piedmont's production facility. "It got too cold to run my chiller," Estill said. "[That] brings down my distillation column, stopping my methanol recovery. It brings one portion of the plant grinding to a halt." To solve the problem Piedmont is in the process of retrofitting the chiller so that it can better handle cold weather events. The company is also taking action to better winterize and insulate the plant. As the market for biodiesel increases, Estill said it is important to ensure production can continue year-round without interruption.

Harsh winter storms affect biodiesel industry

Posted Dec. 29, 2010
 
 A new analyzer for biodiesel distillation testing is now available. The Grabner Minidis ADXpert distillation analyzer works for both B100 and unknown samples and requires no prior distillation knowledge before testing. The unit uses fast thermocouple temperature regulation and small sample sizes to avoid erroneous recovery readings caused by mining solvents, condensates or raffinates, according to AMETEK Petrolab, the Oklahoma-based company that produces the new analyzer. The unit also features an automatic cleaning system that removes residuals and eliminates flask cleaning. 

 
 Along with biodiesel, the analyzer can also test various gasoline, jet fuel, biofuels, diesel products, solvents, aromatics, organic liquids and chemical blended samples. The unit can be remotely controlled and, according to AMETEK, it can also be easily integrated into most existing laboratory information management systems.

New distillation analyzer available

Posted Dec. 29, 2010
 
 Hunt Global Resources Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tombstone Technologies Inc., along with its BioSolutions Division, have launched an exclusive research and development project with Vancouver, British Colombia-based tire recycling firm Carbon Green Inc. to jointly produce a diesel substitute for a variety of industrial applications.
 
 Currently, Carbon Green owns and operates a tire recycling facility in Limasol, Cyprus, that's capable of processing 8,000 metric tons (approximately 800,000 tires) of tires annually. The company said it's ready to roll out similar production facilities across North America. That's where Hunt Global Resources comes in, according to Jim Blackman, spokesman for Tombstone Technologies. According to its website, Carbon Green's goal is to bring production capacity up to more than 145,000 metric tons of tires by the end of 2014.
 
 At its commercial-scale plant in Cyprus, Carbon Green can convert the byproducts of tire pyrolysis into recovered steel, a No. 2 diesel equivalent oil that can also be employed to generate clean electricity, a European accredited and accepted substitute for carbon black trademarked Carbon Green, and a clean-burning gas that can be used to provide power to the company's processing plant or sold for carbon credits. 
 
 Hunt Global Resources owns and operates a 44 MMgy industrial biofuels facility located near the Houston Ship Channel. At the facility, Hunt Global Resources produces a similar diesel substitute called LoNOX from nonfood-based cellulosic sources. Its LoNOX product has a range of applications such as boiler fuel, heating oil, marine fuel and other stationary diesel and off-road uses. 
 
 Hunt Global Resources intends to integrate its industrial biofuel process technology into a future Carbon Green tire recycling facility, according to Blackman, where Hunt's biofuel is expected to be blended with Carbon Green's existing tire-derived fuel. The newly-developed fuel formulation, according to Blackman, will meet or exceed new U.S. EPA mandates for industrial and marine diesel emissions, set to launch in 2011. Target markets include the marine industry and heating oil users, according to Blackman. 
 
 "What [Hunt Global] is going to be able to do is double or triple the output of oil at each Carbon Green tire recycling facility," Blackman said. "Right now, Carbon Green produces nominal amounts of oil from the tires, but once Hunt's technology is integrated that output volume would increase."

Co.'s link up to produce industrial biofuel

Posted Jan. 5, 2011 The German Biomass Research Center has conducted a study on optimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rapeseed-based biodiesel. The goal of the study was to analyze the current default values for GHGs from rapeseed-based biodiesel, and to outline areas that would improve current GHG levels. Authored by Stefan Majer and Katja Oehmicen from the center, the study was conducted partially in response to the German Biofuel Sustainability Ordinance that calls for biofuels used by 2017 to reach a GHG reduction target of 50 percent when compared to fossil fuels, and 60 percent by 2018. According to the study, most biofuels at their current default levels for GHG reductions will not be sufficient in meeting the goals set for 2017. "However," the study points out, "this raises the question of the data basis on which the default values were calculated and what reduction in GHG emissions could theoretically be achieved with a process chain optimized in terms of its GHG account." The study found that in the cultivation process, "the production and use (field emissions) of industrial nitrate fertilizers proved to be the main influencing parameters for the overall results." By varying the industrial nitrate fertilizers and using biodiesel as opposed to diesel in the agricultural production processes, the study concluded that it is possible to make considerable improvements for reducing the overall emissions caused during rapeseed cultivation from 29 kg CO2 Eq./GJ biodiesel to roughly 21. If biodiesel were used instead of fossil fuel, emissions related to fuel use during cultivation would be reduced from 5.87 to 3.44. At the biomass conversion stage, the study showed that heat, electricity and methanol were the main factors influencing emission numbers. By running a sensitivity calculation that inserted a biogenic source of energy into the conversion process, the analysis indicated that "the emissions from the rapeseed oil production process could be reduced from approximately 3 to approximately 1.5 kg CO2 Eq./GJ biodiesel," and, from the biodiesel production process approximately 11 to roughly 6.4 kg CO2 Eq./GJ biodiesel. While the GHG emission levels of rapeseed-based biodiesel are roughly 28 kg CO2 Eq./GJ biodiesel, the study noted, "the maximum theoretical optimization potential which was identified by the sensitivity analysis represent an improvement of approximately 46 percent on the default value." Combined with conversion methods, the study said that the research clearly shows the influence of the use of industrial fertilizers, and as a result, "this study could provide an initial basis for the modification of fertilizer use strategies with the aim of developing GHG optimized rapeseed cultivation."

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The German Biomass Research Center has conducted a study on optimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rapeseed-based biodiesel. The goal of the study was to analyze the current default values for GHGs from rapeseed-based biodiesel. 

German study shows rapeseed GHG potential

Posted Jan. 5, 2011 China Integrated Energy Inc. has announced the signing of a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire the complete assets of Hainan Lin Gao Chemical Co. Ltd. According to China Integrated Energy, the company intends to build a 300,000 ton-per-year (90 MMgy) biomass-to-liquid plant at Hainan Lin Gao Chemical's site in the Hainan Province. Due diligence activities are currently underway, and the acquisition is expected to close during the first quarter of 2011. The project is scheduled to be developed in stages. The first stage, which includes construction of a 100,000 ton-per-year production line, is expected to be complete approximately one year after the acquisition closes. The acquisition will include the land-use rights to approximately 15 acres of land and built-in infrastructure, including power, water, and waste treatment. Additional assets to be included in the transaction include an oil storage facility with 15,000 cubic meters of capacity. According to China Integrated Energy, sugarcane bagasse will serve as the primary feedstock for the planned facility. A statement released by the company states that management believes the new facility will generate a profit margin superior to that of its current biodiesel production due to the abundant supply of low cost bagasse feedstock. "We are excited to announce this LOI to acquire the assets of Hainan Lin Gao Chemical, where we plan to build a new second-generation biodiesel plant," said China Integrated Energy CEO Gao Xincheng in the statement. "With our track record of expanding our biodiesel business profitability, we believe that this purchase will help us solidify our position as a leader in the renewable energy sector." According to China Integrated Energy's website, the company has recently begun operations at a similar 50,000 ton-per-year second-generation facility. In addition its ability to process traditional biodiesel feedstocks like waste cooking oils, the plant can also process straw materials, agricultural waste, and organic wastes. In addition, the technology developed by China Integrated Energy is able to recycle unused feedstocks and water from the production process. A flow chart demonstrating the second-generation technology shows that biomass feedstocks are first crushed and put through a decontamination process. The next step involves gasification. The resulting syngas is then put through a cooling and purification process before being introduced into a Fischer-Tropsch reactor. The system is designed to utilize residual gas as a source of power. One day following the announcement of the planned acquisition of Hainan Lin Gao Chemical, China Integrated Energy announced it has entered into definitive agreements with several institutional investors for a registered direct placement of approximately $24.17 million of common stock at a price of $7 per share. The company will issue more than 3.45 million shares to institutional investors. China Integrated Energy will also issue investors warrants to purchase more than 1.72 million shares of common stock, which could provide an additional $12.95 million in gross proceeds. According to the company, the capital raised in this registered direct placement will be used, in part, to expand production capacity.

A second-generation plant built adjacent to China Integrated Energyâ€™s biodiesel plant in Tongchuan City, China produces biobased diesel fuel from agricultural waste materials. 

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China Integrated Energy Inc. has announced the signing of a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire the complete assets of Hainan Lin Gao Chemical Co. Ltd. 

China IE to build second-gen plant

Posted Jan. 5, 2011 This week Audi announced all-time record U.S. sales of 101,629 vehicles sold in 2010, surpassing the prior record of 93,506 vehicles sold in 2007. Due to strong and continued consumer demand for Audi premium vehicles, 2010 marked the best year Audi has ever enjoyed in the U.S. market. The new Audi record resulted from record performances in all three U.S. regions. In December 2010, Audi reported sales of 10,546 vehicles, a 16.8 percent increase over the 9,030 vehicles sold in December 2009. For the full year of 2010, Audi new sales rose nearly 23 percent versus its prior full-year total of 82,716 vehicles sold in 2009. Last year marked the expansion of the Audi lineup to more than 10 models and nearly 20 variants. It was also distinguished by the strong sales debut of the redesigned 2011 Audi A8 flagship model, the most technologically advanced vehicle Audi has ever produced. Audi A8 sales (since the vehicle's release in November) totaled 812 units in 2010, comprising over 53 percent of CY 2010 A8 sales. One of Audi's hottest selling models included the Audi Q5 crossover, with sales jumping 44 percent in December 2010 when compared to December 2009, and 70.5 percent for the full year of 2010 when compared to 2009. Additionally, clean diesel sales continued to reflect the surging demand for fuel-efficient models as the Audi A3 TDI accounted for nearly 53 percent of vehicles sold in the Audi A3 line. "For Audi, 2010 was a groundbreaking year," said Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen. "Audi is one of the best performing franchises in the business today. Consumers respond favorably to superior engineering, efficient performance, and differentiated styling, and that's what they see in Audi." The setting of an all-time U.S. sales record in 2010 clearly signals that Audi's powerful brand momentum will build throughout 2011. The strength of the Audi portfolio will continue to be on display with its fourth consecutive commercial appearance in next month's Super Bowl XLV game. Over the next few years, Audi will sustain its long-term investment strategy. AUDI AG plans to invest more than $15 billion by 2015 in fixed assets for sustained and profitable growth. With the recent launch of the new Audi A8 in November and the expected unveiling of the all-new Audi A7 this spring, Audi is poised to have the newest, most technologically advanced offerings at the top of the luxury car market. SOURCE: AUDI OF AMERICA

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Clean diesel sales continued to reflect surging demand for fuel-efficient models as the Audi A3 TDI accounted for nearly 53 percent of vehicles sold in the Audi A3 line. 

Audi shatters all-time US sales record in 2010

Brazilian energy company Companhia Paranaense de Energia, or Copel, recently announced it is developing a small-scale biodiesel plant in S&atilde;o Jorge d'Oeste, Brazil. The project, which includes a research component, will include the installation of a biodiesel processing unit that will serve local family farms. An agreement establishing the project was signed at Copel&rsquo;s headquarters in late December. The agreement establishes the role of 10 partners that are participating in the project. The plant will have a production capacity of 5,000 liters (1,320 gallons) per day. If operated seven days a week, this equates to a production capacity of approximately 480,000 gallons per year. A separate facility planned to be located adjacent to the biodiesel plant will process waste materials into animal feed and other products. Copel is the lead organization developing the project, and will be in charge of purchasing and installing the biodiesel plant. According to Francisco J. A. de Oliveira, Copel&rsquo;s Renewable Energies Official, Copel has two primary goals in leading the project. First, the company is seeking to learn more about the biodiesel industry and create new opportunities to diversify its business and energy sources. Second, the company aims to create a profitable business enterprise that benefits local farming communities. Although the project is relatively small in scale, Oliveira said it is a complex one. This is partly due to the participation of small-scale family farmers, who have few financial resources and are not able to take significant investment risks. &ldquo;There are a number of challenges&mdash;all of them completely new activities&mdash;for these [farm] cooperatives and their associates, which are the production, quality control, distribution and biodiesel self-consumption of biodiesel production, distribution and consumption of animal ration, trade relations with the market, creation and operation of internal control systems,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;Nevertheless, there are other important activities for Copel related to the full knowledge of this technology so the company may choose in its future entry into the main biodiesel Brazilian market.&rdquo;
The primary feedstock for the planned facility will be soybeans. However, the plant will also be capable of processing other locally-grown oilseed crops. According to Oliveira, research is already underway to determine the feasibility of processing sunflower, canola, jatropha, crambe and forage radish in the facility. The municipality of S&atilde;o Jorge d'Oeste will develop the adjacent waste processing facility, which will produce animal feed and other coproducts the biodiesel process. The project has been developed specifically to benefit the local farming community. Copel estimates that approximately 2,500 local farm families, or about 10,000 people, will benefit due to the project. According to Copel President Raul Munhoz Neto, the project will help provide local farmers will additional income. It will also give them access to biodiesel for use in farm equipment while providing feed for animals, he continued. Nearly 80 percent of the farms in the S&atilde;o Jorge d'Oeste region are estimated to be small family operations. According to Copel, many are dedicated to the production of poultry, swine and dairy products. Several cooperatives serving the family farming sector are also partnering on the project. They will provide the feedstock for the plant and have access to the resulting biodiesel and meal, cake, lecithin and solvent byproducts. Orlando Pessuti, governor of Paran&aacute; State, noted that the hope is this business model can be replicated in other regions of Brazil. The country&rsquo;s Secretary of Agriculture and Supply Chandoha Erikson also said the project designed to challenge researchers to develop methods to more fully exploit the biodiesel feedstock and byproduct materials. While the project has experienced some initial delays, Oliveira said the plant is currently expected to be operational before the end of 2011. Organizations that are currently part of the project include Copel, the Department of Agriculture and Supply, the Department of Science, Technology and Higher Education, the City of St. George d&rsquo; West, Dairy Cooperative System of Family Agriculture, the Cooperative System of Family Farming and Integrated Marketing, and Coasul Copperativa Agroindustrial.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Copel is developing a small-scale biodiesel project in Brazil designed specifically to benefit local family famers.  

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Brazilian energy company Companhia Paranaense de Energia, or Copel, recently announced it is developing a small-scale biodiesel plant in SÃ£o Jorge d'Oeste, Brazil. 

Brazil biodiesel project to serve family farms

New Jersey-based Renewable BioSystems LLC sold its initial industrial-scale oil extraction machine into the North American market. The customer who purchased RBL&rsquo;s system supplies oil feedstock to the biodiesel industry. The machine, which is scheduled to be installed during the first quarter of 2011, will extract oil from food manufacturing waste that is currently being discarded. The system will create a new source of feedstock for biodiesel producers. According to RBL, the system will initially be able to generate approximately 500,000 gallons of yellow grease equivalent annually. However, the technology can be scaled-up in the future to produce more than 5 million tons of oil per year, per machine. The oil extraction technology supplied by RBL was originally developed in England. &ldquo;Our company [formed] at the end of 2008,&rdquo; said RBL CEO Peter Behrle. &ldquo;My partner and I came from the biodiesel business, where we were continually frustrated by the high cost of feedstocks&hellip;We had gone in search of technologies that might provide less expensive feedstocks. We bumped into this technology in England and we licensed it for exclusive sale and manufacture in North America.&rdquo; The process is specifically designed to extract oils from organic waste streams, such as food factory waste, livestock offal, fish residuals and various sludges. While Behrle noted that some of these materials are already being deoiled through rendering processes, he said RBL&rsquo;s process is able to extract oils more efficiently, more completely, and less expensively. The process essentially reduces the size of incoming organic waste streams and heats the material through a proprietary process. The material is then put through a proprietary centrifuge process, which separates it into three streams: oils, solids and water.
According to Behrle, the quality of oil that comes out of the process depends on the organic material that is introduced into the machine. &ldquo;We don&rsquo;t change the quality of the oil,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We just extract the oil.&rdquo; For example, an RBL machine that takes in fresh offal would produce a high-quality oil with extremely low free fatty acid (FFA) content. However, if the machine is processing an organic waste material that has been allowed to degrade over a long period of time, the resulting oil will be higher in FFAs. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ll always have very low water and very low impurities,&rdquo; Behrle continued. &ldquo;The oil will be good in that respect, but the FFAs will all depend on how quickly the material can be processed.&rdquo; RBL is seeing significant interest in the technology from both the livestock industry and biodiesel producers. While he cannot release specific company names, Behrle noted that poultry processors in particular are showing a great deal of interest in adding the process to their operations. &ldquo;We have also been in good dialogue with swine and cattle processors,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve been in dialog with some of the largest waste haulers in the United States, who are interested in diverting food waste and de-oiling it before it is landfilled or composted&hellip;We are also working very closely with a number of biodiesel and renewable diesel producers, who are interested in working with us to fund our machines to provide inexpensive sources of feedstock for their processes.&rdquo; With the 800 million gallon biomass-based diesel requirement set by RFS2 for 2011, scaling up to at least 1 billion gallons in 2012, Behrle said there is a need to develop more plentiful, less expensive biodiesel feedstocks in the U.S. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re in need of new feedstocks, and that is the concept behind what we do,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;We search out waste streams that have oil that is not currently being extracted. We believe that by finding those waste streams and installing our technology, we&rsquo;ll be able to help meet the RFS2 requirements for years to come.&rdquo;

Renewable BioSystemsï¿½ oil extraction machines can process livestock and poultry offal and DAF sludge into biodiesel feedstock. 

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New Jersey-based Renewable BioSystems LLC sold its initial industrial-scale oil extraction machine into the North American market. The customer who purchased RBL's system supplies oil feedstock to the biodiesel industry. 

January 2011

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