Daily Biofuels Summary for October 29: US Energy Bill derailed, Farm Bill goes to Senate Floor; UK bus passengers to receive bus discounts for recycling cooking oil for biodiesel

Top Story:

In Washington, Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson put a procedural hold on the 2007 Senate Energy Bill, arguing that the bill was bad for Texas.

Producer News:

In Minnesota, Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op in Little Falls experienced a fire and explosion which blew the roof off the wood fuel silo. No injuries were reported.

In Pennsylvania, the Wayne/Pike Farm Bureau has taken an option on 90 acres in Texas Township, and announced plants to construct a $161 million ethanol plant. Following feasibility testing, Indian Orchard Energy would own 70-80 percent of the operation, with the remainder owned by the Wayne County Farmers’ Foundation. The plant is expected to create 45 jobs and add $140 million per year to the local economy.

In California, Global Fuels AltE announced a 55 Mgy grain ethanol plant that would ultimately be expanded to a multi-feedstock 220 Mgy. The plant would be constructed near Mojave in Kern County. The project, which will be developed with assistance from Cargill and Delta T, would create 200 direct jobs, and expect to commence production in late 2009.

In Arizona, an EPA-funded project will use recycled kitchen oil to run fire engines and other public-safety vehicles in Rio Rico and Nogales, Sonora.

International News:

In the UK, eight buses will be converted to biodiesel, and 15,500 passengers who use the route will be given containers to collect used cooking oil which can be exchanged for discounted bus travel. Argent Energy, Stagecoach, the UK transport company, and East Ayrshire Council are managing the pilot program which will be employed on the transport companies Service 1 route from Stewarton to Darvel via Kilmarnock.

In Australia, a study by Accenture projected that Australia could export up to 793 million gallons of sugarcane ethanol per year, if all sugarcane exports were converted to biofuels- more than Thailand, Guatemala, South Africa, Colombia or Argentina.

In Malaysia, HSBC Bank Malaysia has agreed to provide financing for a $59 million Mission Biofuels biodiesel project that will include two plants in Malaysia. The company said $9.55 million would be used to complete the first plant, and $27 million would be used to build the second plant. The company did not offer details on the usage of the remaining $23 million.

In the Philippines, a $30 million cassava ethanol plant has been announced. The plant, financed jointly by the Filipino oil company Eastern Petroleum and Guanxi Estates of China, will commence construction in Mindanao in late 2008, and will use cassava from a 4200 hectare plantation in Saranggani province.

Research News:

The Des Moines Register surveyed Caribbean biofuel prospects, including the geopolitical advantages of weaning Caribbean nations off dependence on Venezuelan oil. The report surveys efforts to stimulate sweet sorghum and jatropha production in the Dominican Republic, as well as efforts to build an additional ethanol plant in the region. Most Caribbean plants process ethanol (i.e. extract water from Brazilian ethanol) but do not manufacture it. US import rules – which place a 54-cent tariff on Brazilian ethanol – allow for up to 7% of US consumption to be imported tax-free from the Caribbean as long as it is processed in through a free-trade partner of the US such as Jamaica.

In North Carolina, Central Carolina Community College will offer a two-year, biofuels associate degree program. The Alternative Energy Technology: Biofuels program and related certificates will commence in fall 2008. Courses will include biofuels analytics, biofuels waste management, renewable energy technology, chemistry, electrical control systems, welding, bioprocessing practices, and small business development. The College worked with the North Carolina Biofuels Center to develop the courses. workforce-training needs, according to Andrew McMahan, CCCC biofuels coordinator. The college has offered biofuels classes since 2002. and has received more than $300,000 in grants to expand the biofuels curriculum. The College will house the program in a new 18,000-square-foot Sustainable Technologies Classroom and Lab Building scheduled for completion by fall 2009. completion by fall 2009.

Policy and Policymakers:

In Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist will lead a 200-person trade delegation to Brazil this week, with meetings with government leaders and business executives commencing in Sao Paulo. Brazil is Florida’s largest foreign trading partner, with the state exporting more than $8 billion to Brazil last year.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said it was a “crime against humanity” to convert food crops to fuel.

In Washington, the Senate Agriculture Committee on Thursday approved its version of the five-year, $280 billion farm bill.

Consumer and Fleet News:

NASCAR is in talks with General Motors about introducing ethanol into the stock-car racing league’s fuel mix. The concept was broached by GM and reportedly a sticking point is NASCAR’s marketing partnership with Sunoco, which does not offer biofuels among its fuel brands.

Financial News:

The Biofuels Digest Indexâ„¢, a basket of public biofuel stocks, closed 1.38 percent higher at 103.59 on Friday, after a strong performance across the board. Winners led losers 5 to 2, with both diversified large-caps such as Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) and The Andersons (ANDE) as well as pureplay ethanol stocks such as Pacific Ethanol (PEIX), VeraSun Energy (VSE) and Aventine Renewable Energy (AVR) up on the day. ADM was up 1.01 percent to close at $35.06, while Aventine closed at $10.17, up 2.01 percent, to lead their sectors. Among smaller-caps, Xethanol was up 6.67 percent to $0.64, while Better Biodiesel (BBDS.OB) was down 11.76 percent to end the week at $1.50.

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