Raising
Awareness about Biodiesel: Grassroots vs. Grasstops
Sitting Down with Project Biobus
Fall 2004
By Alexandra Morel
Since the invention of the diesel engine in
1895 by Rudolf Diesel, biodiesel has existed as a viable fuel
option. Biodiesel is a
refined form of vegetable oil, either from virgin or wastes like
used fryer oil, which can work in a diesel engine without
modification. In fact,
his prototype machine was running on peanut oil at the World
Exhibition in 1900.1 So why the need, over 100 years
later, to launch a nationwide public education campaign for the aged
compatriot of petroleum diesel, biodiesel?
Perhaps simply because the
U.S.
public is not aware of this rapidly growing industry and how easily
it can be incorporated into existing transportation infrastructure.
With 7.2 billion barrels of petroleum being consumed a year,
21 percent of which is diesel, biodiesel’s current annual
production level of 25 million gallons makes it seem quite an
insignificant alternative fuel.
Not so!
Enter Project Biobus, 13 students from
Middlebury College, a 1991-model school bus, 90 days, 20 states, 60
schools, 35 public events, and over 11,000 miles traveled with B100
(100 percent biodiesel), on a mission to spread the environmental,
public health, and economic benefits of biodiesel.
Surely there is a great deal the federal as well as state
governments can do to promote biodiesel, but there is nothing like
taking the cause to the people.
I had the great pleasure of catching up with this intrepid
crew at their final event in
Washington
,
DC
and was fascinated by the stories they had to tell.
What follows is a mere caption of all the amazing work this
group set out to complete along with some wisdom they were willing
to impart.
On the one hand, committing three months to
undergo a grueling public relations campaign on behalf of the still
infant biodiesel industry may not seem like a typical college
semester; these 13 Middlebury students were all for it.
In fact, eight of them had done a similar cross country tour
the year before with an even older school bus, converted to run on
used vegetable oil from fast food restaurants.
According to Jon Overman of Project Biobus, Middlebury
College was not convinced this original road trip/rock climbing
expedition cum biofuel education campaign was worthy of school
funding but soon came around after seeing the headlines roll in from
the likes of USA Today. The
second time the burgeoning “biobus team” came before the newly
appointed College President, Prof. Ronald Liebowitz, they had no
problem garnering a considerable sponsorship from their alma mater.
One sponsor, whose zealousness and subsequent excitement
about biodiesel surprised even the biobus team, is Whole Foods.
In fact, the team made a point to visit a number of their
store locations as the company would often do significant outreach
before the group arrived. Overman
mentioned being struck by Whole Food’s decision to fly two biobus
members from
Wyoming
to their annual conference in
Connecticut
to present information on biodiesel.
Overall though, the group seemed to focus
outreach efforts on the younger generation, primarily through
presentations at schools. Asked
why, Overman elucidated what must have been a difficult decision for
13 energized, ready-to-save-the-world college students.
“We initially had lofty goals to partner our educational
outreach efforts with pushing state and local legislation in support
of biodiesel. Though
after realizing we were only going to be in a place for such a short
time, we decided it would be too much.”
Besides, as Overman went on to explain, by focusing their
efforts on school-age and university students, the team felt they
would have a bigger impact. As
one student interviewed from
Chadwick
High School
in
Southern California
said, “[Biobus Team members] are students, and they thought of
this themselves. They’re
our age and we can relate to them.”2 Also, Overman
pointed out that school districts are in a unique position where
they can significantly reduce their air pollution, thereby improving
the health of their own students, by replacing conventional diesel
with biodiesel. As
they tell the students they are presenting to, their schools can run
school buses, maintenance equipment, furnaces, generators, as well
as diesel cars and trucks on the cleaner alternative.
By giving the groups they spoke to easy,
straightforward goals to accomplish, the Biobus team was excited by
the overall positive response they got. “Making that contact on a
personal level, talking to students, and getting them inspired about
biodiesel made this whole trip worthwhile.”
So how did these grassroots soldiers for
biofuels take to a more ‘top-down’ view on renewable energy
advocacy a la the American Council on Renewable Energy and
Environmental and Energy Study Institute’s policy forum ‘A Call
for Phase II” (www.acore.org)?
“It was an
incredible way to end the trip,” said Overman.
He feels that engagement needs to take place on many levels,
both from the bottom-up and top-down.
In his view, “Any kind of networking conference is a very
effective way of making necessary contacts that create the social
capital to accomplish change.”
Bill Holmberg, of the New Uses Council, encapsulated the
group’s work well by saying, “They successfully
demonstrated, taught a lot and learned a lot…They found that there
was no difference in attitude, no weakening of support for
biodiesel, and no loss of commitment to reduce
America
's dependence on oil throughout their trip. A job well done.”
As for next steps, after the crew recovers at
their respective homes over the holidays, they will begin the
process of closing the book on this chapter of Project Biobus.
Through their impressive fundraising efforts, they do have a
small sum of money leftover they are planning to redistribute to
fellow biodiesel advocates. For
the most part, it seems the team will move on and complete their
various degrees leaving behind a legacy of young and thankfully,
more informed minds on the benefits of biodiesel around the country
as well as the wonderfully fitting motto, “Veggies Give Us Gas.”
For more information on Project Biobus, please visit the website: www.projectbiobus.com
1Biobus Promotes
Benefits of Biodiesel. Citizens’ Environmental Coalition News
Update, July 9, 2004 [www.cechouston.org/news/2004/nu-07-04.html]
2Magic
Bus Comes to Chadwick School, Palos Verdes
Peninsula
News, November 11, 2004 [pvnews.nminews.com/articles/2004/11/11/local_news2.txt]
FEATURE
ARTICLES
What to do
with the Woody Debris from
Florida
’s Hurricanes?
After an unprecedented hurricane season for
Florida
, during which four hurricanes and a tropical storm made landfall,
most post-mortem statistics look rather grim. According
to Insurance Journal, as of October 1, insurance claim payments for
hurricane victims will exceed $22 billion.
That number is second only to the losses incurred from the
9/11 attacks, roughly $32 billion.
In fact, the four hurricanes individually are ranked as among
the ten costliest hurricanes in
U.S.
history.1 Hurricane Charley, category 4; Frances,
category 2; Ivan, category 3; and Jeanne, category 3; ravaged the
Gulf
Coast
, the East Coast, and the Panhandle respectively.
Approximately 110 people were killed either directly or
indirectly within the
United States
and scores more in the Caribbean.2 Florida’s citrus
crop has been reduced significantly, with orange production down 27
percent and grapefruit production down a record 63 percent.
Certainly their respective prices will be rising as
Florida
constitutes 75 percent of the nation’s citrus products.3
But, at the county and community level,
removing and processing storm debris is of primary concern.
According to Francine Joyal, specialist for the Dept. of
Environmental Protection (DEP),
Florida
has 137 yard-waste processing facilities that were speedily brought
online to meet the unprecedented demand, and officials are still
trying to evaluate how much debris will need to be managed.
There has been a concerted effort to educate citizens on the
importance of separating clean vegetative waste from C&D
(construction and debris) waste, in hope of minimizing the amount of
waste relegated to the landfills.
Some percentage of the debris is being incinerated openly,
particularly in one of the hardest hit areas,
Escambia
County
. Nevertheless operators
have quickly realized that incinerators are not effective for the
disasters’ debris levels. Where
an incinerator may be able to handle 500,000 cubic yards, counties
are facing levels of approximately 6 million.4
While many families and businesses are
beginning the arduous process of recouping their losses, some
industries are attempting to reap what profits they can from these
overly abundant biomass resources.
For instance, Peterson Organics of
Fort Myers
has been collecting the clean debris for their mulching enterprise.
They have seen record collection rates and cubic yards of
debris. John Peterson, president of Peterson Organics, stated,
“Florida processes something like three to four million tons of
yard waste a year…According to [the Florida Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA)], there were 18 million cubic yards [roughly 1.5
million tons] of debris from Hurricane Charley, alone.”
The mulch that will be produced generally stays within state
lines, with the demand for mulch having grown steadily over the past
15 years.4
There is also the potential of producing energy
from the chipped woody debris. Joseph
Murray, CEO and President of Green Energy Resources based in
Huntington
,
New York
, has been outspoken against land-filling of the waste biomass.
In his words, “Chipping, rather than dumping, turns the
storm-damaged wood into a marketplace commodity.”5
Considering
Florida
does have relatively little renewable energy resources (it has
predominantly solar and a little wind) the state has already turned
to ‘waste-to-energy’ technologies as an alternative to imported
fossil fuels. Currently
half of the state’s population is serviced by 13 facilities
producing energy from solid waste.
In fact,
Florida
produces more energy from solid waste than any other state.
Collectively these facilities generate 500 MW of power from
20,000 tons of municipal solid waste a day.6
With this existing capacity for power
production from waste paired with the burgeoning supply of woody
debris, and the promise of high heating prices this winter, one
would hope that Florida’s county commissioners would have the
foresight to take advantage of this overwhelmingly available
resource. In the words
of Joseph Murray, “Hurricanes create real choices with real
options- higher tax bills, open-air burning and overburdening
landfills, or an opportunity to recover tax dollars, create jobs,
expand state exports and benefit the environment.
I, for one, believe the choice is crystal clear.”7
Unfortunately, the decision was not as clear
for
Lee
County
. As of November 30 on
the
island
of
Boca Grande
, a fire burning the debris from Hurricane Charley has been burning
for 9-12 hours, five days a week since August 30.
Supervisors of the burning were unable to say how much woody
debris had been burned but the scale was in the acres, according to
Bob Green, senior supervisor for the Parks and Recreation
Department. The
truckloads of woody debris were brought to the 10-acre burning site
with nearly 5 acres of debris being burned at one time. The decision
to burn hurricane debris was easy for Boca Grande as hauling the
waste off the island was not deemed feasible.
Luckily, the wind only changed direction once during the
three months of burning, carrying the offensive smoke and ash out to
sea.8
1Insured
Losses from Four
Florida
Hurricanes, Insurance
Journal,
October 1, 2004 [www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2004/10/01/46438.htm]
2Storm2004,
PalmBeachPost.com,
[www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/weather/special/storm/2004/atlantic/]
3Hurricanes Ravage
Florida
Citrus, CBS News, October 12, 2004 [www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/12/printable648856.shtml]
4Processing Woody Debris
Post Hurricanes, Biocycle, November 2004 [www.biocycle.net/biocycle.htm]
5Green Energy Resources,
Inc Encourages Recycling of Wood Wastes Following Hurricane Charley
to Off-set Damage Costs, SolarQuest® iNet News
Service, Aug. 18, 2004 [http://www.solarquest.com/news/article.asp?id=7099&ssectionid=0]
6McKay
Bay
Refuse-to-Energy Facility Retrofit
Project [www.tampagov.net/dept_solid_waste/mckay_bay/index.asp]
7Joseph
Murray
, Press Journal Letters to the Editor, September 3, 2004
8Gavin Off, Sun-Herald, November 30, 2004
[www.sun-herald.com/NewsArchive2/113004/tp6ew6.htm?date=113004&story-tp6]
LEGISLATIVE
UPDATES
Pennsylvania
Passes More Ambitious RPS: Targets Include Coal Inputs
On December 7, Gov. Rendell signed
Pennsylvania
’s Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) that will go into effect in
90 days. The Alternative
Portfolio Standards Act, Senate Bill 1030, mandates that 18 percent
of the state’s energy will be derived from alternative sources by
2019. Sponsored by Sen.
Edwin Erickson (R-Delaware), SB1030 passed with a 32-15 vote in the
Senate and a 161-35 majority in the House.
The applicable technologies are divided into two tiers with
differing target percentages. By
2019, eight percent of electricity will be produced from Tier one
sources, including solar, wind, low impact hydropower, geothermal,
and biomass energy as well as biologically derived methane gas, fuel
cells, and coal mine methane. Ten
percent of the state’s electricity will be derived from Tier two
technologies, including waste coal, distributed generation systems,
demand-side management, large-scale hydropower, municipal solid
waste (MSW), co-products of wood manufacturing, and integrated
combination gasification technology.
This bill, unlike existing standards in other states, does
include significant inclusion of fossil energy sources.
Perhaps to counter the large-scale implementation of those
conventional sources, SB1030 stipulates solar energy requirements
anticipated to yield 400 MW of new photovoltaic capacity.
Sources: Renewable Energy Access, Energy Online Daily News, E&E
News
Ontario
Adopts Average Renewable Fuel Standard
Effective Jan. 1, 2005,
Ontario
’s Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) will require the total of all
gasoline to contain five percent ethanol by Jan. 1, 2007.
This mandate will not require all gas stations to provide
blended gasoline, but instead sets a goal for the province’s
gasoline on average. The
standard provides a credit-trading system whereby companies that
produce a blend higher than 5 percent ethanol would receive credits
to sell to companies unwilling to sell blended gasoline.
In statements made by Premier McGuinty, he admitted that
forcing all gas companies to use ethanol would be too costly and
complicated. McGuinty
announced this RFS would effectively reduce emissions from 200,000
vehicles from
Canada
’s largest province of 12 million.
Currently the province has only one ethanol production
facility, Commercial Alcohols, Inc., that is producing 130 million
liters of ethanol annually for Sunoco, Pioneer, and UPI.
Ontario
imports 95 million liters a year from the
United States
. To meet their
projected goals, the province would need to build at least three or
four more ethanol plants in order to produce 750 million liters a
year. This would result
in up to 3,000 new jobs for
Ontario
and potentially an attractive launching point for the Canadian-based
cellulosic ethanol production company, Iogen.
Sources: CNews, Premier of
Ontario
Press Release
Colorado
RPS Ballot Initiative Successful
Since Nov. 2,
Colorado
has been lauded repeatedly for passing the first Renewable Portfolio
Standard (RPS) by ballot initiative.
Colorado
is the 17th state to pass a state-wide RPS and currently
produces 2 percent of energy consumed from renewable sources.
The RPS would impact
Colorado
utilities with 40,000 customers or more.
The standard would take effect in Jan. 2007, when 3 percent
of energy consumed will be from renewable sources.
The state’s utilities will be required to produce 6 percent
of their energy from renewable sources between 2011 and 2014 and 10
percent by 2015 and afterwards.
The RPS stipulates that at least 4 percent of renewable
energy will be produced from solar technologies and customers’
monthly residential electricity rate increases will be capped at 50
cents. Applicable
renewable technologies include energy derived from wind, solar,
geothermal heat, biomass, land-fill methane, animal waste, hydrogen
fuel cells, and small-scale hydroelectric.
The measure also establishes a renewable energy credit
trading system for utilities unable to meet the standard’s
requirements and awards rebates to customers purchasing photovoltaic
systems.
Sources:
Pew
Center
on Climate Change, Renewable Energy Policy Project
New Hampshire
Representative Offers Investment Credit for RETs
On Dec. 8, U.S. Rep. Charles Bass (R-NH)
introduced the Renewable Energy Security Act of 2004 (H.R. 5302),
which was referred to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air
Quality. To date, the
bill has four co-sponsors, including Rep. Jeb Bradley (R-NH), Rep.
John McHugh (R-NY), Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), and Rep. Fred Upton
(R-MI). The legislation
is modeled after the Energy Tax Act of 1978 that established a 10
percent investment credit for photovoltaic systems.
The investment credit would cover 20 percent of expenditures
for a qualified renewable energy system, which includes labor costs,
assembly, or original installation as well as drilling for an
on-site geothermal deposit. The
credit would be available for renewable energy technologies (RETs)
that heat, cool, provide hot water, and/or generate electricity for
residential and small business taxpayers whose primary residence is
located in the
United States
. This measure defines
renewable technologies as energy that is produced from solar,
geothermal, biomass, and wind (though only for residential purposes)
sources. Applicable
forms of biomass include any organic matter that is ‘available on
a renewable or recurring basis,’ such as: “agricultural crops
and trees, wood and wood wastes, plants, grasses, residues, fibers,
animal wastes, municipal wastes, and other waste materials.”
The maximum credit awarded for residential purposes would be
$3,000 and $10,000 for energy projects serving small businesses.
The value of this credit would be decreased by the amount of
any previously awarded production tax credit.
Also this fall, Rep. Scott McInnis (R-CO)
introduced H.R. 5266 on October 7, an amendment to the tax code that
would encourage investments in technology utilizing woody biomass to
produce electricity.
This investment tax credit would equal 20 percent of
expenditures for a woody biomass electricity facility.
Applicable woody biomass includes: trees and woody plants, as
well as bark, limbs, tops, needles, leaves, stumps, roots, and other
woody parts that are by-products of restoration and hazardous fuel
reduction treatments, disease and insect infestation management
activities, or other management activities related to removal,
manipulation, or silvicultural treatments.
This bill has been referred to the Committee on Ways and
Means.
RECENT
STUDIES
CAST Issue
Paper:
A Place
for Bioenergy in the Future
On November 8, the Council for Agricultural
Science and Technology (CAST) released their latest Issue Paper
titled, “Bioenergy: Pointing to the Future.”
The Issue Paper consists of five parts exploring a number of
pertinent topics surrounding producing energy from biomass,
including an introduction to the issue followed by discussions of
bioenergy technology, economic impact, environmental effects, and
commercial availability. The CAST Task Force was comprised of seven
authors and three reviewers.
This report gives a concise breakdown of the
concerns and controversies surrounding bioenergy, while keeping the
discussion in the context of energy alternatives.
Roger Conway, Co-Chair of the Task Force and Director of the
USDA Office of Energy, provided a useful introduction to current
levels of energy consumption and fossil fuel use.
Conway
points out that 86 percent of energy consumed is produced from
fossil fuel sources, and 60 percent of gasoline and diesel used are
derived from imported oil. Paul
Gallagher, of
Iowa
State
University
in
Ames
, revealed that in the last 20 years both energy consumption and
energy import dependency for the
United States
has doubled.
While some have decried the federal expenditure
of 52 cents per gallon of ethanol in 2003 as a reason this fuel is
not economically viable, they ignore the significant amount of funds
invested in the fossil fuel sector.
A 1990 U.S. General Accounting Office study calculated a
hidden cost for imported gasoline of $3 per gallon above consumer
price, which like today was during a war in the
Middle East
. As
Conway
also points out, biobased fuels will appear more expensive
superficially because the environmental benefits are considered
“externalities” and not included in the cost calculation.
As for the benefits to rural economies of a
biobased energy economy, the potential is huge.
In Gallagher’s section on the Economics of Bioenergy, he
combines estimates from one of his studies in 2003 with those of
Dr.
Marie Walsh of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2003, to conclude
bioenergy from agriculture could displace 25-30 percent of petroleum
imports. He suggests
using a combination of underutilized crop residues and 8.1 million
of the 13.8 million hectares currently in the Conservation Reserve
Program. He also
discusses the number of reasons why the relatively unstable market
for biofuels requires a certain level of market.
For instance, the environmental benefit is an externality and
therefore not included in the profit calculations; there is a
significant national security benefit; investments in bioenergy are
predominantly in rural areas; investors shy from building a biofuel
plant that may become obsolete with rapidly changing technology; and
bioenergy profits are tied tightly to shifting government
regulations.
To maintain the environmental benefits of
bioenergy, beyond the reduced carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and
carbon monoxide emissions, improved land practices will need to be
developed. Peter Smith,
with the National Resources Conservation Services, gives a very
useful outline of the potential for energy crop production on
Conservation Reserve land while urging the adoption of strictly
sustainable harvesting practices on these sensitive lands.
Also capture of methane emissions from livestock operations
could add a further environmental benefit.
Often farmers are already faced with a daunting animal waste
problem, and anaerobic digestion offers both an economic and
environmental solution.
As each section of this Issue Paper was written
separately, there are no overarching conclusions offered the reader
explicitly. A reader can
clearly see a bioenergy movement gaining momentum and significant
research being performed to help bring the technologies to market.
There are certainly still hurdles to overcome, namely
governmental support of less sustainable energy options and
increased research and development that is needed to improve
existing technologies. As
Roger Conway says, “Biomass has lower energy density than fossil
feedstocks and is distributed over large land areas.
For liquid fuels, energy-efficient, low-cost technology must
be developed to gather and convert biobased feedstocks into liquid
fuels.”
For more information on this effort and copies of the Issue Paper
please visit the CAST web-site at:
http://www.cast-science.org/cast/src/cast_top.htm
NEWS
BRIEFS
Colorado
Biodiesel from Rapeseed
With the help of a $450,000 USDA Value-Added
Producer Grant and a $500,000 USDA Sec. 9006 Renewable Energy
Systems Grant, Blue Sun Biodiesel LLC has begun preparations for a
$4 million biodiesel plant that will rely on rapeseed, the preferred
feedstock in
Europe
. Rapeseed has the
advantage over more conventional feedstocks, such as soy or recycled
cooking grease, because 45 percent of its weight is oil (versus 20
percent for soybeans) and it can be harvested with the same
equipment as other small grains.
Jeff Probst, previously an executive for Duracell Batteries,
decided to develop an environmentally friendly energy source upon
arriving in
Colorado
. He liked the idea of
purchasing a feedstock for biodiesel outside of the commodity market
where government price supports often cause wide price fluctuations.
And, as he says, “Feedstock is 85 percent of the cost of
100 percent biodiesel.” Establishing
the Blue Sun Producers Cooperative, currently with 40
member-producers in
Colorado
, was no easy task for Probst. He
had difficulty convincing farmers to invest the minimum $5,000
equity stake, until “the Value-Added Producer Grant was announced
in the fall of 2003, it really helped our credibility in the farm
sector.” Also
Probst’s firm is gaining notoriety in the business sector with
Blue Sun’s commitment to biodiesel quality control.
According to Scott Bentz, VP for Operations and Marketing
with
Cummins
Rocky
Mountain
, “[Blue Sun] has developed their own infrastructure for blending
and distribution, so they can eliminate most of the opportunities
for problems. And they
make a superior product.”
Source: Rural Cooperatives, USDA/Rural Development,
November/December 2004 http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/rbs/pub/nov04/nov04.pdf
Renewable Energy in
America
: The Call for Phase II
December 6 and 7 saw over 500 concerned government officials and staff with
leaders
of renewable energy companies, associations, professional service firms,
financial
institutions, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and universities
gathered on Capitol Hill to discuss next steps for the renewable
energy industry. The
event was co-organized by the American Council on Renewable Energy
and the Environmental and Energy Study Institute in conjunction with
the House and Senate Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
Caucuses. The policy
forum called for ‘Phase II’ of the renewable energy industry,
whereby renewable energy technologies will be commercially available
on a widespread basis. There
were a series of panels and speakers presented to discuss such
topics as national energy needs, technology and policy readiness, as
well as
U.S.
energy security. Remarks
were made by Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO), James Woolsey, Steve
Zwolinski (President of GE), and Amory Lovins (author of Winning
the Oil Endgame), among others. “The
United States
is blessed with an abundance of widely varying renewable resources
across every region of the country.
The technologies to tap these resources are available.
Hopefully this conference will serve to energize policymakers
as they begin the 109th Congress and once again have
major energy policy issues before them,” said Carol Werner,
Executive Director, EESI.
For more information visit the web-site at www.acore.org.
USDA
Forecasts Record Corn Crop for 2004
USDA
predicts corn harvests to be up 15 percent at roughly 11.6 billion
bushels. Speculation as to the reason for this year’s bumper crop
are focused on farmers’ successfully planting early and
uncharacteristically warm temperatures in September as being among
key factors. In the
short term, this crop could be a real boon for the emerging ethanol
industry, which currently utilizes 10 percent of corn produced in
the
United States
. The primary
application for corn is livestock, with USDA estimating six billion
bushels to be consumed this year.
Corn usage for ethanol is predicted to be 1.4 billion
bushels, up roughly 170 million bushels from last year.
This year’s crop is expected to be an anomaly, with
questions of how the ethanol industry’s growing appetite will be
met in the coming years. With
corn exports expected to soften, an increased domestic demand should
continue to drive increased productivity.
As Jeff Broins, CEO of Broin Companies, a firm based in
South Dakota
, points out, “The challenge we face long-term is the fact that if
we continue to use a significant additional amount of corn each
year, it’s going to take an increasing amount of acreage and
steadily increasing yields to sustain ethanol industry growth.”
Source: Bonanza Corn Crop Expected for 2004, Ethanol Today,
November 2004
Ethanol
Production Updates
According
to recently released information from the Renewable Fuels
Association, there are currently 82 ethanol facilities producing 3.5
billion gallons of ethanol. Sixteen
ethanol plants are under construction with an annual capacity of 755
million gallons. August
2004 saw another all-time monthly record for ethanol production at
225,000 barrels per day. August
2003 saw a production rate of 180,000 barrels per day.
Georgia
, Got Biodiesel on the Mind?
In
November, a conference on biodiesel was held at the Georgia Farm
Bureau. There are
currently no state incentives specific to Georgia for the production
of biodiesel but the state legislature was urged to change that by
the state Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin.1 This
event comes roughly a year after Georgia legislators, biodiesel
industry leaders, and a former U.S. president met at a Georgia
Biodiesel Summit held at the University of Georgia in October of
2003. At that event,
both Jimmy Carter and Speaker of the Georgia House, Terry Coleman
(D-Eastman), spoke of the need to act sooner rather than later on
developing this alternative fuel industry.2
Rome
,
Georgia
is currently home to U.S. Biodiesel, a company that produces
biodiesel from chicken fat. Also,
construction is expected to begin soon for a larger plant producing
biodiesel from soybean oil in
Brunswick
. The main impetus for
promotion of biodiesel discussed at the event was reducing
U.S.
dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
As conference organizer, Mark Detwierler, President of the
Georgia/Florida Soybean Association said, biodiesel “is not just
about soybeans”, other major motivators are, “the need to reduce
American independence on foreign oil, add jobs, and reduce air
pollution.” Conference
sponsors included National Biodiesel Board (NBB), Georgia Farm
Bureau, and the United Soybean Board. More information on the
conference can be found at http://www.mga-cleancities.com/bioconference.asp.
1Biodiesel Offers
Potential Environmental, Economic Benefits, Heather Duncan,
Macon
Telegraph, November 10, 2004
2Carter Pushes for
biodiesel in Georgia, Southeast Farm Press, October 15, 2003
In
North Carolina
, Biodiesel Production is on the Way
The
North Carolina Grain Growers Cooperative announced Dec. 17 it will
build a $20 million biodiesel manufacturing plant in
Mount
Olive
, with an annual capacity of 15-20 million gallons. The site was
chosen due to its proximity to 8.5 million acres of soybeans,
according to Charles Davenport, a member of the cooperative.
Davenport
also projected, “the plant will employ 20 people directly and will
provide a number of related jobs in transportation and fuel
distribution.”1 Earlier this month, the Golden LEAF
Foundation, a foundation administering half of
North Carolina
’s tobacco settlement, announced their investment of $5 million in
the project. Though it has not been finalized yet, the plant will be
owned by the Atlantic Bio-Energy LLC and will begin operation in
2006. This plant is
predicted to be the largest of its kind in the Southeast, with an
annual capacity expected to meet the blending requirements for the
state’s annual use of 1.1 billion gallons of petroleum diesel.
After the initial refining plant is built, the growers hope
to bring a $25 million crushing plant on line at the same site.2
The
Grain Growers Cooperative was organized in 2001 to develop possible
value-added products for
North Carolina
farmers. According to
Britt Cobb, the State Agriculture Commissioner, “Farming is not
what it used to be. No
longer can we just grow crops and raise animals.
We’ve got to be able to take it to the next level-we’ve
got to add value.”
For more information on the Grain Growers Cooperative visit: www.graingrowersinc.com
1 New Grain Cooperative
plans area biodiesel plant, Ginger Livingston, The Daily
Reflector, December 18, 2004 [www.reflector.com/news/content/stories/2004/12/18/20041218GDRbiodiesel]
2 Farmers to turn
soybeans into fuel, David Rice, Journal Raleigh Bureau,
December 18, 2004 [www.journalnow.com]
Grim
Agriculture Sector Predictions for 2005
The
USDA predicts that next year’s farm product imports will equal
exports. The department
forecasts exports to total $56 billion next year, falling from this
year’s record $62.3 billion. This
precipitous decline in total exports has been blamed on record crop
production causing drops in prices for grains, oilseeds, and cotton,
added to the increased competition from foreign producers.
Added to the fall in exports is the projected rise in imports
to $56 billion from $52.7 billion last year.
Previously, the
U.S.
government had relied on the sizable agriculture trade surplus to
off-set the growing manufacturing trade deficit.
According to the USDA, the majority of increased imports will
be coming from the EU,
Mexico
,
Canada
,
China
,
Indonesia
,
Brazil
, and
Australia
.
Source:
U.S.
Farm Product Imports to Match Exports in 2005, Neil King Jr., Wall
Street Journal, November 23, 2004
Blueprint
for an Agriculture and Energy Initiative
A group of nationally
respected grassroots agricultural leaders has launched a major
initiative designed to examine agriculture’s role in ensuring
U.S.
energy independence. Operating as the “Ag Energy Work Group”,
the leaders are exploring the future role that the farm sector can
play as energy producers. After networking with their peers
throughout the country, the working group has developed a draft
vision statement as a starting point for additional dialogue on the
overarching contribution which the agriculture sector can make as a
producer of energy. Specifically they believe that by 2025
agriculture can provide 25 percent of the total energy consumed in
the
United States
while continuing to provide abundant, safe and affordable food and
fiber. The working group is calling on the potential
productive capacity of the Ag sector to provide an increased supply
of biofuels for transportation, increased energy harnessed from wind
and solar as well as captured through anaerobic digestion,
conversion of agricultural wastes into value-added energy feedstocks,
and effective sequestration of carbon through increased biomass
productivity. This lofty
goal would mean huge investments in rural development, creating
alternative revenue streams for this nation’s farmers, not to
mention the environmental benefits of cleaner energy. According
to project coordinator Ernie Shea, “American agriculture is well
positioned to significantly expand its role in the development and
implementation of new energy solutions and we are actively
recruiting farm and ranch leaders to join with us in further
exploring these opportunities” The project is sponsored by the
Energy Future Coalition. More information about the initiative can
be found at the project web site www.agenergy.info.
Poorly
Mixed Biodiesel, a Danger for Ski Resorts
Snowmass Ski Area had
to quickly avert a potentially dangerous situation.
On-site- rather than plant-mixed biodiesel had been used in
the ski area’s snowcats and ski lift generators.
Once the cold temperatures had settled in the biodiesel in
the snowcats began gelling, causing their engines to break down
temporarily. According
to Doug Mackenzie, Snowmass Ski Area manager, “No damage was done
to the machines; they were just out of commission for a few
hours.” He would not
comment on who the fuel supplier was. Nevertheless, the huge
headache entailed replacing the badly mixed diesel blend in all of
the ski lift generator tanks immediately. As
Auden Schendler, the ski area’s director of environmental affairs,
asserts, the problem has nothing to do with the effectiveness of
properly mixed biodiesel. If
it had been an issue inherent to biodiesel all four mountains would
have been impacted. Now
that the crisis has been averted, Mackenzie is not overly concerned
with maintaining the use of B20 with an additive that will prevent
the fuel from clogging engines during cold snaps.
The ski company is currently spending an additional $50,000
annually on its biodiesel program.
Source: Snowmass avoids fuel catastrophe with lifts, Stephen Benson,
The Aspen Times, December 17, 2004 [www.aspentimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041217/NEWS/41217002&te]
Upcoming
Events
|
Date
|
Event
|
Location
|
Further Information
|
|
Jan. 20-21, 2005
|
Harvesting Clean Energy V
|
Great Falls,
Montana
|
http://www.harvestcleanenergy.org/hce.html
|
|
Jan. 23-26, 2005
|
US
Composting 13th Annual Conference & Trade Show
|
San Antonio,
Texas
|
http://www.compostingcouncil.org/section.cfm?id=30
|
|
Jan. 30-Feb. 2, 2005
|
National Biodiesel Conference and Expo
|
Ft. Lauderdale,
FL
|
http://www.biodiesel.org/expo2005
|
|
February 7-9, 2005
|
10th Annual National
Ethanol Conference “Homegrown for the Homeland”
|
Scottsdale,
AZ
|
http://www.ethanolrfa.org/nec.shtml
|
March 7-9, 2005
|
Biocycle West Coast Conference 2005
|
San Francisco, CA
|
http://www.jgpress.com/conferences1/archives/
biocycle_west_coast_conference_2005/000290.html
|
Notable Quotables
"I've
never had as much job satisfaction as with this, because it is the
right thing to do," he said. "Every time I fill up, I know
I'm not paying somebody who would like to kill me."
Greg Hopkins, president of U.S. Biodiesel
Writer: Alexandra Morel,
Thomas Ashley
Editor:
Carol Werner
Please distribute BCO Newsletter to your colleagues, or send us
their email addresses and we will add them to our distribution
list. Article and
commentary submissions are encouraged, and should be sent via
email.
Environmental
and Energy Study Institute
122 C St., NW, Suite 630
Washington
DC
,
20001
Phone: (202) 662-1885; Fax: (202) 628-1825
amorel@eesi.org
Please
visit us at http://www.eesi.org/
We welcome your suggestions, comments, and questions.
|
