Daily Biofuels News Digest for November 21: ASEAN countries prep for Bali, Lung Association rallies support for ethanol, EU ag subsidies to shrink
Top Story:
In Singapore, ASEAN members signed a declaration at the ASEAN climate change conference in which the 10 member nations pledged to support the UN climate change in Bali In December. The declaration also pledged the members to work cooperatively to promote the use of renewable and alternative sources of energy including solar, wind, hydro and biofuels.
Producer News:
In Minnesota, SunOpta announced plans to build a 10 Mgy cellulosic ethanol plant in Little Falls. The company said it will joint venture with Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op and will be built next to the co-op’s existing 21.5 Mgy facility. The plant will use wood chips as feedstock, and will be expanded ultimately to 50 Mgy in capacity.
In Virginia, supporters and opponents of a 237 Mgy ethanol plant proposed for the Chesapeake Bay area are scrambling for last minute support, as local council members prepare for the final vote on the plan. International Bio Energy Virginia has made dozens of presentations in support of their project, while a former mayor is lobbying council members to build support for the project.
In Montana, Targeted Growth and Green Earth Fuel have formed a joint venture to develop a 100 Mgy biodiesel plant using camelina as a feedstock. The venture, which will be called Sustainable Fuels, plans to sign up to fifty Montana farmers to grow the feedstock. Gov. Brian Schweitzer, and Senators Max Baucus and Jon Tester were on hand for the announcement. Camelina, also popularly known as gold-of-pleasure, is a feedstock that has low input requirements and can be produced more cheaply than other feedstocks such as soy.
International News:
The European Commission announced a plan to reform EU agricultural subsidies. The plan would reduce subsidies for large-scale farms and direct the savings to increased support of smaller-scale farming. At the present time, 20 percent of farmers receive 80 percent of subsidies under current rules. The plan also calls for increasing quota levels of certain items such as milk, to keep pace with increased demand, and elimination of milk quotas altogether by 2015. The plan also calls for the release of fallow lands for biofuel production. The Commission is preparing the new rules as the EU prepares for the effect of expansion of its membership to 27 nations.
Research News:
The Invest in France Agency is touting a study that concluded that France is the fourth most attractive market for biofuel investment. The Ernst & Young’s Biofuels Country Attractiveness Indices for 2007 ranked France second for biodiesel and fourth for ethanol. top ranks for competitiveness in individual markets, placing the country 2nd for biodiesel and 4th for ethanol.  Initiatives such as the Grenelle de l’environment scheme, which sets a CO2 reduction goals, are credited with helping to create an attractive investment environment. Recently, INEOS, SICLAÉ and C.Thywissen invested more than $100 million to increase output at the Baycourt biodiesel facility, while Cargill has announced a $70 million investment in a biodiesel facility in Montoir.
In North Dakota, the Agricultural Products Utilization Commission granted $50,000 to Lakota Biofuels towards its feasibility analysis for a proposed 55 Mgy ethanol plant in Nelson County near Lakota. The Commission made grants of $309,000 to nine groups in all, out of eleven applicants.
Policy and Policymakers:
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned, in a paper presented at the FAO Conference, against the excessive use of wood energy as an alternative fuel strategy. The report said that fuelwood and charcoal supply as much as 70 percent of the energy needs of developing nations, and supply two billion people with energy for cooking and heating. The report warned against the dangers of deforestation.
Sen. Joe Biden announced his updated energy and climate change policy. Among his proposals: mandating that all new vehicles in the US be flex-fuel; requiring large gas station chains to add alternative fuel pumps to 50 percent of their stations by 2017;Â a $50 billion investment program in alternative energy, and committing to a global climate change treaty that would cut US emissions by 20 percent from 1990 levels by 2050.
Consumer and Fleet News:
In Minnesota, enthusiastic supporters of ethanol slammed the KARE-11 website when the Minneapolis television station ran a poll on the subject of ethanol. Ethanol supporters ran a “get out the vote” email campaign that resulted in a 4 to 1 victory for ethanol. The American Lung Association and various renewable fuels groups as well as the Department of Energy were mentioned among the groups that sent out hundreds of emails to create awareness of the poll.
In Alabama, the city of Eufaula concluded that it saves 90 cents per gallon on the biodiesel component of its conversion to B50 biodiesel. The city recently scaled back to B20 to avoid the cost of converting some of its machinery to B50 compatibility. The city currently pays $2.31 for diesel. The city has a collection program in place to produce the biodiesel from chicken fat or soybean oil.
In California, the city of San Francisco launched SFGreasecycle, a free pick-up program for used cooking oil from commercial food busineses such as restaurants and hotels. The city will convert the used oil into biodiesel to power city vehicles. The city currently spends up to $3.5 million per year to clean grease out of the city’s sewer pipes after the waste oil is poured down city drains and congeals. San Francisco has a B20 mandate which goes into effect for all 1500 diesel-powered city vehicles at the end of this year. The program follows a successful pilot that involved 55 restaurants, four hotels and a high school. The grease is sold to Blue Sky Bio-fuels of Oakland, which commenced operations in Oakland in September.
Financial News:
The Biofuels Digest Indexâ„¢ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, fell 0.24 percent yesterday to close at 103.95. Among midcaps, Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) rallied 6.55 percent to close at $4.72 following a near-meltdown Tuesday on news that Bill Gates was bailing out of the stock. Aventine Renewables (AVR) was down 7.35 percent to $7.81 in an echo effect from the PEIX news. Among small caps, GreenShift rose 26 percent to $0.038 while Green Energy Resources (GRGR.PK) fell 20 percent to end at $0.12. Rising ethanol prices were offset by rising corn costs, according to industry analysts. Overall, losers and gainers were near even on the day.
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