Happy Birthday Thomas Newcomen

Thomas Newcomen

Born February 28th, 1663

Inventor of the Newcomen Steam Engine and first application of steam power in industrial process to pump water out of mines.





NOTE: No picture available

A Discussion on New Feedstocks for Biodiesel

The NBB has has some podcasts up from the National Biodiesel Conference earlier this month.
The best session worth looking at is the one on new feedstock development. Its definitely worth a listen.

There is a great deal of positive agricultural technology making its way down the pipe. Soybeans that produce more oil, algae that is ready for commercial demonstration, higher oil yielding corns, and the list goes on and on.

In the past, process food products was the goal. Now it is a value added chain that starts with biofuel, moves on to food, and ends with a host of other products.

It looks to me like any industry that really focuses on R and D and diverse product development can follow the petroleum production example. A diverse feedstock set of inputs moving through a consistent refining process. Ending with a host and diverse number of value added products and underlieing commodities.


The Podcast panelist include:


Alan Weber, economic consultant to National Biodiesel Board,

Dr. Jack Brown from the University of Idaho (who is Scottish so he brings a European perspective to the biodiesel feedstock business),

Keith Bruinsma, Vice President of Corporate Development for ethanol producer VersaSun (which is not far from biodiesel as you’ll hear in the clip),

John Sheehan, Vice President of Strategy and Sustainability for Live Fuels (which is developing algae-based biodiesel),

John Soper, Senior Research Director for Soybean Product Development for Pioneer International (bringing the seed developer’s perspective to the conversation).

If you are interested in feedstock development this is the Podcast for you.

Fastcompany Presentation: Can Big Oil Become Big Green?

I saw this slide show at Fastcompany this weekend.

Above is the first slide in the slide show. Its interesting though nothing really profound or new. If your looking for a source for every 'riff' and bumper-sticker sound bite on sustainable energy this is the place. Start's with "Cradle to Cradle" and ends with you can make a difference. I would call this a great way to attract Petroleum advertising dollars.

Ford Festiva 1.4L Diesel

Ford is bringing back the Festiva. More pictures and an better description over at Wired's Autotopia.

But will it make the US? If you read Ford's own press release I get the impression that it won't.

Oregon Alfalfa Growers, Cellulosic Ethanol, and OSU in the News

From the Capital Press
Oregon: Alfalfa Growers Consider Biofuel Options
Feb 18, 2008 - By Patricia R. McCoy, Capital Press (I saw this first at the Biobased News)

RENO, Nev. - Biofuels have a place in filling U.S. energy needs, but they can't solve the entire problem.Cellulosic ethanol can be part of it, but the necessary technology development probably won't come as fast as is hoped, some 160 members of the Northwest Alfalfa Seed Growers Association heard here Jan. 21.There are currently no U.S. ethanol plants using cellulose as their seed stock, said Don Wysocki, Oregon State University extension soil scientist stationed at Pendleton, Ore. The first one is likely five to 10 years away from construction.

Just to mention it. Cellulosic ethanol is here now. The issue is that it's not considered cost competive unless corn and petroleum prices stay at their now record levels. So it all hinges not on the technology but the commodity prices of petroleum and corn.

There are several real players pursuing cellulosic ethanol right now in Oregon. The most prominent being Pacific Ethanol which will be running a demonstration of cellulosic ethanol at it's Port of Morrow, Oregon plant this summer. Also worth mentioning is Trillium Fiber Fuels out of Corvallis, Oregon which promises the ability to build a commercial scale plant given the right market conditions (they've demonstrated now that they need the right conditions to own their technology while going commericial scale).

Also worth mentioning is the fact that the paper industry and cellulosic ethanol have many of the same technologies in common. The technology to strip the lignen from the cellulosic fiber is used currently by the paper industry. In fact they manufacture methanol in biodigesters and burn it as a cheap energy product called black liquor. Cellulosic ethanol just requires more efficient yields than current paper pulping which isn't making ethanol but instead the cellulosic fiber itself.

We have industrial infrastructure to handle the technical process, experienced engineers, the distributors of enzymes and bugs, not to mention a world class amount of woody material and agricultural producers to contribute to this industry. Oh yeah - did I mention the highest retail gasoline prices in the US combined with a 10% ethanol mandate year round. Oregon is prime for cellulose sooner rather than later. I would say 10 years only if oil drops back below $60 a barrel.

25% By 2025

25% of our energy needs from rural America by 2025. That's an effort I can wrap my mind around.

At the Harvesting Clean Energy Conference and then a week later at the Sustainable Biodiesel Summit I ran into a few people involved in the 25x'25 Coalition. The first question out of my mouth was "what do you have going on in Oregon?" to which they answered "what do you want to do?" That's my kind of organization as well.

I've been reading up on them and I'm liking what I see. It's exciting to see policy goals phrased in the terms 25x'25 uses. Terms I fully understand and can get movitated by. Definitely allot more fun than doing CO2 math on the back of an envelope or talking about the need to change behaviors due to conflicting computer models. Their goals also side step quite a few of the divisive debates around biofuels or climate change as well.

According to the 25x'25 if the United States trasfered 25% of its energy usage over to American ag, forestry, and technology sources this capture of our energy usage at home would do several things. In a nutshell their goals:

$700 Billion in New Economic Activity

$180 Billion in new farm income with $37 Billion in 2025 alone.

4 to 5 Million new Jobs Created (many of these jobs in the poorest communities in the US)

-2.5 Million Barrels of Petroleum Consumed per Day

(by the way that's 105,000,000 gallons a day reduction in US petroleum needs)

1 Billion Ton reduction in CO2 emmissions

65 to 85 Billion Gallons of Biofuel a year

800 Billion Kwt's a year of Electricity (400 Billion of which would be biomass)

All the above from policy efforts refocusing on domestic energy production. With little efforts and slight tweeks to how we look at our energy portfolio in this country we could have a profound economic effect. Especially on those communities most in need and least interested in direct government programs.

I'm sorry this is off topic. But its too cool to let slide by without comment. If your going to get into hot-air balooning what better way then to embrace the dark-side while doing so.

More Talk of a Zero Emmision Car

This time at Plentymag.com. More on Tata motors, the air car, and more importantly a better picture. No way that car will be allowed on North American roads rated above 35 mph.

Pyrolysis as the New Fischer-Tropsch

At the National Biodiesel Conference there was a few mentions of "bio-crude" and fast-pyrolysis. Last year the big talk was Fischer-Tropsch. Its funny how technology talk happens in trends. Like waves striking upon a beach you don't hear about a technology and then when people start fund raising for it - BOOM - its never just one company.

Also a funny story. I'm standing in the LPP Combustion booth and this guy stops by and asks if their technology can run bio-crudes. I ask what he's doing and he announces that they will produce a bio-crude from pyrolysis which they are going to specify to meet an "ASTM Boiler fuel" spec.

I then ask him what a boiler fuel spec looks like. The guy got really flustered and started yelling at me (seriously screaming). It was quite bizarre. In particular the fact that he was building a business plant for an experimental technology that would make money running in the least finnicky and dirtiest of systems in the US (we have boilers in the Pacific Northwest permitted for used tires and toxic waste).

Anyways the real purpose of this post. I also came across a nifty article about a "bio-crude" pyrolisis company that is recently splashing in the news. Thought I would post it along with my interesting pyrolisis story.

The Price of Gas Around the World

Country and Price per US gallon
Norway $ 8.67
Netherlands $ 8.52
Belgium $ 8.36
Germany $ 8.06
United Kingdom $ 7.91
Italy $ 7.68
France $ 7.46
Spain $ 7.34
Poland $ 6.55
Japan $ 5.19
Brazil** $ 4.14
United States $ 3.10
Russia $ 3.03
Kazakhstan $ 2.73
Mexico* $ 2.46
China $ 2.27
Nigeria $ 2.23
Saudi Arabia $ 0.45
Iran $ 0.42
Venezuela* $ 0.11

* All prices from November 2007, except Mexico and Venezuela in August 2007
** Brazil is 25% ethanol, so price adjusted downward to be comparable Source: Reuters, November 2007
Source: Fastcompany "Prices at the Pump - Around the World"

Venezula Cutting Off Exxon - Good for US

Hugo Chavez cuts off Exxon Mobil. This in response to Exxon suing Venezula for the seizing its assets inside the country. This being a legal challenge to Chavez government's nationalization of one of four heavy oil projects in the Orinoco River basin, one of the world's richest oil deposits.

Bloomberg.com reports the real news as this:

Irving, Texas-based Exxon Mobil, the world's biggest oil company, obtained court orders in the U.S., the U.K., the Netherlands and the Caribbean during the past seven weeks freezing more than $12 billion in Petroleos de Venezuela assets worldwide.

Exxon Mobil, which pumps more oil than every member of OPEC except Saudi Arabia and Iran, sought the orders to prevent Venezuela from shifting assets to countries out of reach of an international arbitration panel considering Exxon Mobil's demand for $12 billion in compensation.

Or as the Washington Post said:

"So far, however, Chavez has done little. The reason: As much as the world needs oil, Venezuela needs customers and investors."

The big move by Chavez beyond baring Exxon from doing business inside Venezula is running print and television ads claiming: "Exxon turns oil into blood!"

Which makes me ask the simple follow up question. So what is Chavez doing by selling to Exxon everywhere but Venezula? And then again - how is it any different now that Exxon is openly criticising Chavez than before? Third world posturing is such a joke.

Two of my favorite things. Socialist dictators proving that they can't manage much of anything especially large state guided enterprise and America's energy needs moving farther away from tyrants (even if it is just a superficial move).

A few articles cover the subject (and I'm sure that a parade of comment will come forward later this week). CNN is my first source, the Washington Post is better, and the best is Bloomber.com's analysis complete with the production numbers of what Chavez's management has accomplished.

Another interesting article is one from Voice of America about the robust gasoline smuggling across Venezula's boarder into Columbia. Turns out its a real business to continually drive cheap below market Venezualian gasoline into Columbia, drain the vehicles tank for cash, drive back across the border and do it all over again. Interesting story.

Happy Birthday Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison
Born February 11th, 1847.

Inventor of the stock ticker, light bulb, telephone, and over a thousand more. Thomas Edison was the man who lead the charge towards electricfication and represents the genius of the emerging American drive to inovate. He also was a bit of a jerk but on your birthday you gloss over that.

Canola's big value as a crop in the Pacific NW is for feed meal. Canola meal it turns out increases milk production in cows.

Energy Return for Soy Biodiesel. From planting, transport, production and finished available product........ 3.5
source Dr. Joh

Biodiesel Coldflow Technology..... My Mind is Blown and my Heart is Hopeful

I have seen it with my own eyes.

Biodiesel flowing bright, clear, and clean at -15F. B99 created by a technology during the refining process. The research and development has been done by the Indiana Soy Bean Board.

Www.IndianaSoybean.com

You have got to Google

Type in the phrase "Jeep Renegade Concept"

And check out the sweetest diesel electric hybrid I have ever seen. Actually its the only diesel electric I have ever seen.

In Europe Chrysler has a grip-load of diesel vehicles. The Chrysler 300, Grand Voyager, PT Cruiser, Sebring, and Sebring convertable all in diesel power train.

Why are they not available in the US?

Not market to pull them.......

VW just stated that their vehicles can tolerate a 45 percent fuel in the crank case. Wow! !
I'll still change my oil under 5,00

A VW engineer just showed a slide graphing the evaporation properties a various liquid fuels. Coconut oil derived biodiesel loo

Biofuels Power Corp.
BPC is the nation's first fuel company to generate electricity from biodiesel for sale through a utility.

First Session

Im attending 'It's Electric..... and Construction! New Markets

Don Reynolds cites a sliding dollar not rising ag goods. He suggests hedging currencies instead of soy beans.

Don Reynolds just made the clearest Peak Oil argument I have ever heard. Guised under the phrase "Peak Demand of production" w

Gary Haer just described "sustainability" as a "huge challenge" and then compared it to the Minnesota B2 debacle with product q

BBI Day 1 (officially)

So the SBS Conference finished up very positively. In fact on the final day Joe Jobbe from the National Biodiesel Board stopped by and announced a bomb shell to the room.

The NBB will be forming a "Sustainability Taskforce" and wants direct involvement with the SBS organizers. As you can imagine the emotions were mixed in the room. Regardless those who have been pushing this boulder up hill since long before biodiesel was thought as of a mainstream fuel considered it a huge victory.

Exciting stuff.


Also worth noting. I swung through the exhibition hall and prior to its official opening (I love seeing stuff without sales people there to skew my initial reaction). There was far more algae than last year. I counted at least three closed system algae reactors on display in the trade show alone.

Cool stuff to look at. Its an exciting time to be in this industry.

Bioenergy Wiki
www.Bioenergywiki.net

So I'm looking at an advertisement in the Biofuels Journal.

It has a tagline: "The new addition to the Ethanol Industry....." What is it???

"Coal" (imagine a big lump of coal in the middle of the page).

My first immediate though. 'Yep, that aint gonna help much on the policy side....'

Joe Jobe just mentioned that in 2010 carbon will be the over arching energy policy concern.

Sustainable Biodiesel Summit 2008

DAY 2

I will be posting by text message from throughout the day.

This should be a pretty good event today. In particular Ann Hill from the City of Portland will be talking about the city's success in fielding its B5 RFS mandate. This in depth description should be fun to watch and even better to see the responses from the audience.

The new sustainable buzz word...
"Additionality" - The requirement of additional /better practices attached to a carbon off set

2008 National Biodiesel Conference

DAY 1

I Just flew in to Orlando and made it to the hotel. Looking forward to the first day of the conference at the official Sustainable Biodiesel Conference and unofficial first day of the National Biodiesel Conference. The NBB is sponsoring the Sustainable Biodiesel conference but refers to it as a "Preconference Activity" along with golf. I guess this is progress for us B100 lovers.

Last year the Sustainable Biodiesel Conference offered the most depth on hands on quality assurance I had ever seen. The input and experience of these B99 and homebrew die hards contributed greatly to our expanded market in Portland. This is where the really dedicated biodiesel proponents, users, and pioneers will be.

Beyond the type of attendee sitting next to Daryl Hannah didn't hurt either. This portion of the conference should be the top point of the conference for me as it sets the relationships and tone for the rest of the conference. Its also where the best gossip comes from.

From my i-Google Dashboard:

In mathematics you don't understand things.

You just get used to them.

- Johann von Neumann

My experience not only agrees with the above but I think it applies to every profession and every workplace.