The Big Biofuels Blog

Pacific Ethanol

2009-05-15T10:49:31Z

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.

Greenpeace protests against Neste's palm biofuel plans

2009-05-14T14:20:20Z

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.

25x25 warns on restricting cellulosic biomass

2009-05-11T09:55:31Z

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.

California looks at emissions from crop to tail pipe and legislates

2009-05-01T11:16:28Z

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.

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

2009-04-30T15:20:30Z

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.

Thi

Interactive US map of advanced fuels

2009-04-30T11:31:28Z

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

2009-04-30T09:30:43Z

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)

Comment on US proposals for E15

2009-04-28T11:09:24Z

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

1200 gals water make 1 gal ethanol

2009-04-27T15:02:26Z

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

2009-04-27T10:56:41Z

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

Novozymes in China biofuel project.

2009-04-27T10:34:39Z

Novozymes and China National Cereals, China Oil & Foodstuff Corp (COFCO) and Asian refiner China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec) in February to develop an industry chain to collect agricultural waste, process it into bioethanol and distribute the clean fuel through petrol stations, according to a report on Reuters.

It is likely to need around $13bn to support the whole Chinese biofuel industry, says Reuters.

Times twigs that biofuel policies have environmental impacts too

2009-04-20T08:16:05Z

This article in the Sunday edition of the Times understands that there are environmental costs to biofuel policies.

Holiday time again

2009-04-09T23:01:00Z

It's Easter and time for a break. I've been unable to devote as much time to the blog as I would like over the past couple of weeks as the other parts of my job have been clamouring for my time. I'm in the early phases of a really big project that will change the way that we work online and that's going to take a good chunk of my time in the next weeks and months. I will be posting, just less than before. I'll be back in the blogging harness from about 23 April.
best wishes
Simon

NPRA, lobbyists are against higher volumes of ethanol in fuel

2009-04-07T14:18:50Z

An alliance of environmentalists, health groups and the US National Petrochemical Refiners Association is opposed to higher levels of ethanol in automotive fuel on the basis that it might endanger the environment, through changing land use, and people's health, according to a report on ICIS news.

(Disclosure: I work for ICIS. About ICIS)

Representatives of the NPRA were talking to the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety the other week.

It is an interesting point, that adding an oxygenate to fuel might make the exhaust gas contain higher levels of pollutants than gasoline alone.

Scoping out biofuels

2009-04-07T11:10:38Z

The Scientifc Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) has produced a report looking at the enviromental impacts of biofuels,. The group makes a number of recomendations for second generation feedstocks, and favours woody or grassy plants.

As with the first generation biofuels, the environmental consequences of the next generation depend significantly on the type of feedstock and how and where the feedstock is produced. The net greenhouse gas emissions from using either cellulosic ethanol or BtL are substantially less than for ethanol produced from corn, particularly if the feedstock comes from wood or from perennial grasses grown on non-agricultural lands.

That sounds quite fair, I'm not sure that one of the other suggestions, that the methane from farm animals could be collected and used as fuel is particularly realistic. Even if you cram a cows together in a shed, the volume of methane has to be pretty low, or wouldn't the cattle choke to death?
Apart from that quibble, the report looks balanced and could offer a sensible way forward in this area.