May 15, 2009

Pacific Ethanol

Video from WSJ Marketline about Pacific Ethanol's Plant in Stockton, California. Production at the Stockton was suspended in February.  It is now mothballed. Too much capacity, margins too thin, seem to be the story.



This isn't the first time that I've written about Pacific Ethanol. Bill Gates cut his holding in Pacific Ethanol back in June 2008. In 2007 I linked to a video on the Full Disclosure Network with  chairman of the board Bill Jones, who outlined his plans. You can see Pacific Ethanol's latest 10K filing here.


May 14, 2009

Greenpeace protests against Neste's palm biofuel plans

Greenpeace is objecting to Neste's plans to become the world's largest consumer of plam oil as it ramps up biofuels production, according to a report on ICIS news.
Disclosure (I work for ICIS. About ICIS)


Neste disputes the pressure group's claims that it will have an impact on  the level of deforestation in South East Asial. 

May 11, 2009

25x25 warns on restricting cellulosic biomass

25x25 a pressure group in the US is warning that some proposed legislation in the US could severely restrict the amount of cellulose available for biofuels in what is effectively a call for managed woodlands. I can see why the Waxman-Markley proposal wants to ensure that the forests are not completely denuded of trees or cover for wildlife. But I am at a loss to see why so much  Federally owned woodland should be excluded.

I whole heartedly agree with this sentiment from 25x25:

It is incredibly short-sighted to not include as a renewable energy resource the millions of acres of dead and dying trees that, with one spark, could go up in wildfires, releasing billions of tons of greenhouse gases.

Much better to convert at least some of it into automotive fuel before converting it to carbon dioxide.

May 1, 2009

California looks at emissions from crop to tail pipe and legislates

California's newly adopted low-carbon fuel standard may mark the beginning of the end of ethanol, according to a report on Planet Ark. The new legislation examines the carbon impact from seed to tailpipe, which seems sensible. 

April 30, 2009

The relationship between corn, ethanol and autofuel replacement US-style

There is a direct relationship between the volume of corn converted to ethanol with the % of gasoline replaced in the US. Its shown more clearly if you click the line which contains the mysterious word Thi  at the bottom of this poor thumbnail.

I've created the graph using data from the US Coalition for Ethanol and two of my favourite US Federal sites The Bureau of Transportation Statistics and the EIA Annual Energy Review, Table 10.3 and I did some simple sums. There trouble with corn ethanol is that the relationship is linear, for every 10% more of the corn crop that is used to make ethanol another 1% of demand for gasoline is replaced. I have worked out how we could replace 10% of the total US motor fuel demand... have you? The latest figures show that in 2007 the US consumed just under 7bn gal ethanol and 176bn gal motor fuels.


ethanol corn relationship.pngThi

Interactive US map of advanced fuels

I saw this map from the Natural Resources Defense Council  on Robert Rapier's i-r-squared blog and couldn't resist it.

I guess it is incomplete, but it looks pretty good.

NW Biodiesel Network Forum in May

I've just come across the NW Biodiesel Network. It will be holding a forum in Seattle on May 20. The East Side Chapter has meetings at the North Bend Railroad Depot every second Wednesday. (Which looks a lot better than it sounds)

April 28, 2009

Comment on US proposals for E15

The US Environmental Protection Agency wants comments on proposals to increase the volume of ethanol blended into gasoline to 15%

April 27, 2009

1200 gals water make 1 gal ethanol

Corrected

headline reads 1200 gal water

Wholly irrigated corn can take up to 1200 gal of water to produce 1gal ethanol, according to a report on the MinPost today.

That's a lot of water and touches again on my obsession with aquifers

Minnesota's auditor suggests ending state ethanol subsidy

A few days ago the auditor in Minnesota suggested that the state's use of subsidies to the ethanol industry may have outlived its purpose, since ethanol firms have been profitable. Also it is likely to cost $44m over the next three years.
There are of course lots of votes in Minnesota's ethanol plants, so it is unlikely that the idea will get very far this year. But, if the recession starts to bite, and if there is pressure to cut state taxes in future years it could become a lot tougher for ethanol plants. The Minnesota Public Radio site has a link to a map of the state's plants. Here it is

View Ethanol Plants in Minnesota in a larger map

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