Saturday, July 22, 2006

Nebraska cowpies power ethanol production

Daily Nebraskan:
by Mark Karpf -- June 19, 2006
"Dan Kenney, project and policy development manager of E3 BioFuels, said they hope their first ethanol plant - currently under construction near Mead - comes online in October of this year."

Cow manure to power ethanol plant | IndyStar.com

Cow manure to power ethanol plant | IndyStar.com:
Associated Press
"Under the plant's design, waste from every 1,000 dairy cows would be able to provide enough energy to produce 1 million gallons of ethanol.
The process would create ethanol at only three-quarters of the normal cost, while eliminating 20 percent of operating costs, said David Mager, Bion's vice president of public policy."

Fuels from biomass may feed energy cravings

Fuels from biomass may feed energy cravings:
by Hembree Brandon -- Farm Press -- July 19, 2006
"Three systems utilizing anerobic digesters are being constructed in the state to use dairy, poultry, and swine manure for energy. �We call it �poop to power,�� he laughs.
�We have the first system in the country that uses poultry waste to produce methane gas. It�s a highly computerized system, and is very efficient.� It will cost about $60,000, he said."

Farm based methane generators expected to pay off in seven years

Journal Gazette | 07/16/2006 | Don�t pooh-pooh dairy�s electricity business:
by David Gram, AP -- July 16, 2006
"In addition, the utility charges customers willing to pay it a 4-cents-per-kilowatt-hour premium for renewable energy and then turns the money over to the Audets. So far, more than 3,000 CVPS customers have signed up to pay the premium to support the renewable energy effort.
The bottom line is more than $120,000 a year from electricity sales. When they add in other energy savings enabled by the project, the Audets expect their $1.2 million investment in project equipment to pay for itself in about seven years."

Utility Plans on Using Cows' "Other" Product for Power

Utility Plans on Using Cows' "Other" Product for Power:
by C. Johnson, News10
"The logic is, there are about two million cows in the state and if the electricity and natural gas supplier taps into just a fraction of what the cows produce, it figures it can supply between 5 and 10 percent of its customers natural gas needs in the next 12 to 15 years."

Idaho ramping up energy from waste

Business - The Idaho Statesman - Always Idaho:
by Melissa McGrath -- July 19, 2006
"The Ada County landfill's new gas-to-energy system is the first of its kind in Idaho, but it might not be the only one for long."

Vermont program helps farmers make electricity from cow manure methane

Times Argus: Vermont News & Information:
by Louis Porter
"The state's nearly half-million dollars will help pay for the cost of extending high-power three-phase lines to the farms so they can sell their power into the grid.

The farms are part of the so-called 'Cow Power' project run by Central Vermont Public Service, in which customers can buy farm-produced power through the utility to help encourage the development of renewable methane electricity generation."

Friday, July 21, 2006

Biobutanol and Ethanol Could Work Well Together

The Dupont Web site has some promising things to say about biobutanol. It could be made from the same feedstock as ethanol and it can be mixed with ethanol and gasoline. Most importantly, a 10% ethanol blend generally needs additives to lower vapor pressure in some seasons. Apparently, mixing in biobutanol might be a way to do this while adding to the renewable biofuel component of the fuel. Biobutanol, they say, can also be shipped in gasoline pipelines, decreasing transportation costs. It also has a higher energy density than ethanol, so the cut in fuel economy should be less. Looks promising.-- Jeffrey Goettemoeller
BP DuPont BioFuels: Biobutanol Fact Sheet:
"Biobutanol is produced from the same agricultural feedstocks as ethanol (i.e. corn, wheat, sugar beet, sorghum, cassava and sugarcane).
Existing ethanol capacity can be cost-effectively retrofitted to biobutanol production (minor changes in fermentation and distillation).
There is a vapor pressure co-blend synergy with biobutanol and gasoline containing ethanol, which facilitates ethanol blending."

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Toyota plans to offer a plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid

The 100 mpg car is coming - MSN Money:
by Christopher Solomon
"Toyota said Tuesday said it would offer a gasoline-electric hybrid with bigger batteries that could be recharged at any outlet, further stretching the gasoline the car uses. Though production is years away, experimental models built by independent mechanics have already demonstrated 100 mpg results."

MN study finds positive energy balance for biofuels

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Biodiesel Edges Out Ethanol:
July 18, 2006
"And alternative crops such as switchgrass or mixed prairie grasses, which can grow on marginal land with minimal input of fossil fuel derived fertilizers and pesticides, offer the best hope for the future, according to the researchers."

Monday, July 17, 2006

SAAB Flex-Fuel Hybrid Electric Concept

GM - GMability Advanced Technology: Saab Hybrid:
"Stockholm (Mar. 30, 2006) The innovative Saab BioPower Hybrid Concept, making its world premiere at the Stockholm Motor Show (March 30 - April 9, 2006), delivers zero fossil CO2 emissions, enhanced performance and a range of energy-saving features by combining the use of pure bioethanol fuel and electric power generation for the first time."

Friday, July 14, 2006

DOE Publishes Research on Cellulosic Ethanol's Potential

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | DOE Publishes Research on Cellulosic Ethanol's Potential:
July 12, 2006
"The 200-page scientific roadmap cites recent advances in biotechnology that have made cost-effective production of ethanol from cellulose, or inedible plant fiber, an attainable goal."

Ethanol from Jerusalem Artichokes?

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Ethanol from Corn, Sure. But from Artichokes?:
July 12, 2006
"In the November 2004 paper, ' A Shortcut to the Production of High Ethanol Concentration from Jerusalem Artichoke Tubers' by Xiang-Yang Ge and Wei-Guo Zhang, of the The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, China, states the Jerusalem artichoke contains nearly 20 % of carbohydrates, and after fermentation yields can be up to 21 percent ethanol."

Thursday, July 13, 2006

An Early Retirement For The Hydrogen Fuel Cell | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse

An Early Retirement For The Hydrogen Fuel Cell | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse:
by Ulf Bossel -- July 13, 2006
"At last weekends Lucerne Fuel Cell Conference, which is a highly respected technical conference, Ulf Bossel, the organizer, made a pretty signinficant announcement: the European PEMFC Forum series will not be continued because hydrogen fuel will never contribute to a sustainable world. Instead they will focus on phosphoric acid fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells and solid oxide fuel cells "

Pentagon and Peak Oil: A Military Literature Review

Pentagon and Peak Oil: A Military Literature Review | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse:
by Sohbet Karbuz -- July 13, 2006
"Until the recent oil price hikes and world wide discussions on the future of oil, Peak Oil was nearly absent in military publications. Now, things have changed. This article attempts at providing a US military literature review on Peak Oil and related issues. "

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Grid-Connected Cars and Renewables: Understanding the Potential

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Grid-Connected Cars and Renewables: Understanding the Potential:
by Steve Letendre -- July 9, 2006
"It is generally understood that PHEVs would charge during the evening and early morning hours when electricity demand is low and there is significant excess capacity available on the network. In some areas, wind resources are strongest at night, thus allowing wind power to serve as an energy source for vehicles."

Monday, July 10, 2006

DOE Publishes Roadmap for Developing Cleaner Fuels

Department of Energy - DOE Publishes Roadmap for Developing Cleaner Fuels:
DOE press release -- July 7, 2006
"Research Aimed at Making Cellulosic Ethanol a Practical Alternative to Gasoline "

DOE Publishes Roadmap for Developing Cleaner Fuels

Department of Energy - DOE Publishes Roadmap for Developing Cleaner Fuels:
DOE Press Release -- July 7, 2006
"WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released an ambitious new research agenda for the development of cellulosic ethanol as an alternative to gasoline. The 200-page scientific roadmap cites recent advances in biotechnology that have made cost-effective production of ethanol from cellulose, or inedible plant fiber, an attainable goal. The report outlines a detailed research plan for developing new technologies to transform cellulosic ethanol�a renewable, cleaner-burning, and carbon-neutral alternative to gasoline�into an economically viable transportation fuel.
�Cellulosic ethanol has the potential to be a major source for transportation fuel for America's energy future, Under Secretary for Science Raymond L. Orbach said. Low production cost and high efficiency require transformational changes in processing cellulose to ethanol. DOE's Genomics: GTL program is poised to help do just that.
The roadmap responds directly to the goal recently announced by Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman of displacing 30 percent of 2004 transportation fuel consumption with biofuels by 2030. This goal was set in response to the President's Advanced Energy Initiative. "

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Algae BioFuels Forms to Develop Algae-Based fuels

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Algae BioFuels Forms to Develop Algae-Based Biodiesel:
June 30, 2006
"Extensive research is currently being conducted to determine the utilization of microalgae as an energy source, with applications being developed for biodiesel, ethanol, methanol, methane and even hydrogen."

Eight Corn-Ethanol Plants to be Identical, Modular and Green

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Eight Corn-Ethanol Plants to be Identical, Modular and Green:
July 5, 2006
"'Our technology and years of experience will allow our plants to have an energy balance advantage that is 2X that of gasoline. In addition we expect a greater than 90% reduction in petroleum use,' said Kevin Kruse, Western Milling president."

Friday, June 30, 2006

BP and DuPont Announce Partnership to Develop Advanced Biofuels

BP Global - Press - BP and DuPont Announce Partnership to Develop Advanced Biofuels:
June 2006
"The first product to market will be biobutanol, which will be introduced in the United Kingdom as a gasoline bio-component. Initial introduction is targeted in the UK in 2007 where BP and DuPont are working with British Sugar, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods plc, to convert the country's first ethanol fermentation facility to produce biobutanol. "

Thursday, June 29, 2006

The Ethanol Investment Craze

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | The Ethanol Investment Craze:
by Russell Hasan -- June 26, 2006
"The investment interest in ethanol is borderline frenzy. This is dangerous, because investors seem to be pouring in money just on the basis of seeing the word 'ethanol,' without any detailed understanding of the corn ethanol industry and factors affecting the ethanol market. "

Southwest Daily Times, News from Liberal and Seward County, Kansas

Liberal Online - Southwest Daily Times, News from Liberal and Seward County, Kansas:
by Tina Bridenstine --
"Members of the community, especially in the Hayne area, have expressed some concern about the possibility of an ethanol plant being constructed locally.
However, Conestoga Energy Partners LLC President Nick Hatcher said the plant won't be the nuisance some people think it will be. On the contrary, Hatcher believes it will have a positive impact."

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Boosting Biomass-to...Butanol?

Green Car Congress: Boosting Biomass-to...Butanol?: "20 July 2005 -- From Ohio to California and back on butanol.
An Ohio inventor has taken to the road to promote butanol as an alternative fuel to ethanol as well as his process for producing it from the anaerobic fermentation of biomass waste. The two-stage, dual-path process, which relies on two different Clostridia strains (earlier post), also yields hydrogen as a product. "

Bio-Butanol Production Process

R-Squared: Bio-Butanol:
May 1, 2006
"Bio-Butanol versus Bio-Ethanol"

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Ethanol war brewing

Business 2.0: Ethanol war brewing - Jun. 23, 2006:
by Chris Taylor
"Grain alcohol is seen as the new gasoline. But which recipe is the one for investors to bet on?"

Ethanol Facility Powered by Renewable Energy from Dairy Waste

RenewableEnergyAccess.com | Ethanol Facility Powered by Renewable Energy from Dairy Waste:
June 26, 2006
"'Based on Bion's ratio forecast between herd concentration and ethanol production, it appears that both heat energy and ethanol co-product can be in balance in an environmentally sustainable manner,' said John Ewen of Ardour Capital, an advisor to Bion."