Today in Biofuels: Florida awards $25 million to next-gen biofuels projects; EU to issue palm oil biodiesel ban, tariff on US; algae car demo’d at Sundance Festival; exposé on Brazilian sugarcane industry to air on Bloomberg
Top Story:
The Florida state government awarded grants totaling $25 million to 12 next-gen biofuel projects as the state moves forward with its Farm-to-Fuel goal of producing 25 percent of Florida’s energy needs by 2025 using Florida agricultural resources. Among the projects, US EnviroFuels received a $7 million grant towards its 20 Mgy sweet sorghum ethanol plant in Venus. $7 million also was awarded to Gulf Coast Energy of Walton for its $62 million ethanol and biodiesel project in Mossy Head. Biofuels Digest Indexâ„¢ component stock Xethanol was one of the beneficiaries when its Southland Biofuels subsidiary received $500,000 towards its $6.4 million pilot plant in Auburndale that will produce ethanol from citrus waste. The Florida Institute of Technology received $415,000 for microalgae project in conjunction with California’s Aurora BioFuels, while Neptune Industries received $158,000 for an algae biodiesel research project. Other grants totaling $4.5 million went to Liberty Industries, Agri-Source Fuels and Sigarca for waste-based biodiesel and ethanol projects.
Producer News:
In New Mexico, ConAgra announced that it was canceling its proposed 100 Mgy corn ethanol project in Clovis due to depressed economic conditions and rising building costs. The $200 million project also ran into resident opposition because the plant site bordered the town.
In New York, Xethanol Corporation announced that it would invest $500,000 in Consus Ethanol for its cogeneration project that would provide power for its ethanol production process from waste coal, that would have a $0.48 per gallon cost advantage over comparable ethanol plants in the Midwest powered by natural gas. The Pittsburgh-based facility will distribute fuel to East Coast markets, which have higher prices for ethanol.
The Louisiana Economic Development Corporation has awarded $400,000 towards the construction of a rail spur that would serve the $126 million Dynamic Fuels biodiesel project in Ascension Parish. The Parish had already pledged $600,000 in sales tax rebates to assist in rail spur construction. The Dynamic Fuels plant is a joint venture between Syntroleum and Tyson Foods, and will convert animal fats and other agricultural waste into biofuels.
International News:
A documentary on the Brazilian sugar cane ethanol industry has been completed and will air on Bloomberg Television on January 24th. The documentary, titled “Deadly Brew: The Human Toll of Ethanol,” will investigate the 82,000 injuries and 300 deaths reported in the sugar cane industry in the past 3 years, and profile a group of migrant workers who were jailed for more than a month after striking for better conditions.
In Canada, Climate Change Central, an Alberta not-for-profit organization, will test 60 trucks in a $2.6 million cold weather biodiesel research project. The Canadian and Alberta governments, Shell Canada, the Canola Council of Canada, the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute, Canadian Bioenergy, Neste Oil and Milligan BioTech are the project sponsors.
In England, D1 Oils is among several Teeside biofuels companies up in arms over a UK parliamentary committee report calling for a ban on biofuels over food cost and environmental concerns. D1 spokesmen said that the ban would serve to undermine companies in the ULK that are investing in sustainable, alternative crops such as jatropha that would cure the problems identified in the parliamentary report. Renewable energy accounts for 2 percent of total energy use in the UK, and the EU has proposed mandating a 15 percent level by 2020 with 10 percent to come from biofuels. An 5 percent Road Transport Fuel Obligation takes effect in the UK in April which would mandate that 5 percent of all fuel consumed in the UK be made from biomass.
In Malaysia, the state of Sabah is seeking $304 million over 18 years from the Federal Government to assist in the development of its Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) in Lahad Datu. The POIC is expected to generate 8,000 jobs and attract $2.7 billion in investment by 2025, with investors having injected more than $500 million since 2006. SPC Biodiesel and Global Biodiesel have come online with more than 300,000 tonnes in biodiesel capacity to date. South Korea’s Eco Frontier plans to invest more than $100 million in a combined heat-and-power (CHP) facility which will provide power for the POIC complex.
Research News:
In Nevada, a chemical and engineering team has developed a process to convert used coffee grounds to biodiesel. The researchers says that up to 3 million gallons of biodiesel could be produced annually just from the 100,000 tons of coffee ground produced by Starbucks each year. The team said that it concludes that the coffee-ground oil feedstock would cost between $0.45 to $1.84 less than feedstocks such as corn or soy, is more stable than comparable feedstock oils, and the grounds can be further processed into fuel for pellet stoves.
Policy and Policymakers:
The European Union will introduce measures today to establish punitive tariffs on US biofuel imports and require a 35 percent carbon emission reduction from any feedstock allowed to be used in biofuel production. Canola oil, which is Europe’s feedstock of choice, has a 37 percent emission savings. It is expected that the EU will ban palm oil made on plantations established after 2003.
Consumer and Fleet News:
The CEO of General Motors said that the US could cut its gasoline consumption by 30 billion gallons by 2020 if every flex-fuel car made or planned by the Big Three automakers ran on E85, while the number would jump to 75 billion gallons if all new cars made by all manufacturers used E85. However, the International Auto Show this past week also featured a significant number of new hybrids that could reduce fuel consumption by up to 25 percent. Among the innovations, a new Two-Mode hybrid system that would allow cars to operate simultaneously on both electricity and gasoline.
In Utah, the Sundance Film festival, which screened Josh Tickell’s documentary on renewable fuels, Fields of Fuel, was also host to a demonstration of algael-based biodiesel from Solazyme. The company had a demonstration car powered by its trademarked brand Soladiesel. The company is producing small batches of algae-based biodiesel and announced an feedstock testing and development agreement with Chevron Technology Ventures.
Financial News:
The Biofuels Digest Indexâ„¢ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, fell 1.62 percent yesterday to end at 114.19 as US equities went through a historic rollercoaster after opening more than 500 points down on recession fears only to recover nearly 400 points of the losses on the news that the Federal Reserve was cutting interest rates by 75 basis points. For the day, sector giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) was down 2.36 percent to $40.19, while diversified agribusiness The Andersons (ANDE) fell 3.18 percent to close at $42.94. Among mid cap ethanol stocks, Pacific Ethanol (PEIX) fell 9.42 percent to $5.00, but Aventine Renewable Energy (AVR) gained 1.17 percent to finish at $9.53. Among small caps, ethanol stocks were battered, with Bluefire Ethanol (BFRE.OB) trading downwards 12.66 percent to close at $3.45 while Xethanol (XNL) tumbled 8.11 percent to $0.68 on news of an investment in Consus Ethanol and a grant from the state of Florida. Overall, declines led advances 3 to 2.
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