Today in Biofuels: 100,000 protesters jam Mexico City over corn tariffs; British Columbia aims for zero carbon by 2016; Iowa gets $12.7 billion biofuel windfall

Top Story:

The National Biodiesel Conference and Expo will kickoff this weekend and continue throughout next week in Orlando. Last year’s conference attracted more than 3,800 attendees, and this year more than 300 companies will be exhibiting. Sessions on algae and other exotic feedstocks will complement the traditional NBB focus on soy-based biodiesel. Biofuels Digest will be reporting from NBB throughout next week.

Companies: please contact us to arrange for photos or interviews, or to distribute press releases on your new products or announcements.

Producer News:

In Texas, the Baytown (TX) Sun reported today that President Julio González Gamarra, president of the Central American Parliament (Parlacen), offered to contribute up to $4 billion for the rollout of the “Rivera” process to Latin America. The Rivera process is used at the Baytown Green Energy Facility, a joint venture of US Sustainable Energy and Sustainable Energy Corporation, now operating at 2.4 Mgy capacity.

In Kansas, ICM, one of the recent recipients of a $30 million DOE award for cellulosic ethanol research, said that its proposed St. Joseph, Missouri plant will utilize corn residues, including corn fiber and stover, in addition to switchgrass and sorghum. ICM’s project partners include The National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Novozymes, South Dakota State University, Sun Ethanol, and VeraSun Energy.

In Pennsylvania, the town of Limerick has discontinued its efforts to build a trash-to-ethanol energy plant. Supervisors had been attempting to acquire a local property to convert municipal solid waste to ethanol process since last October. The town will continue to explore biodiesel and electricity production.

International News:

In Mexico, as many as 100,000 farmers took to the streets in Mexico City to protest the end of corn tariffs, saying that the United States would put Mexican corn out of business. On January 1, tariffs on sugar, milk, beans and corn were eliminated under the NAFTA agreement. The US sugar industry and Mexican corn industry are considered to face the greatest risk from this round of tariff eliminations. Last year, food riots erupted in Mexico over the rising price of white corn, which is produced primarily by Mexican producers for the domestic market. Last year’s protests in Mexico sparked the “food vs. fuel” debate over ethanol.

In Jamaica, the government is now expected to announce the date for an E10 mandate as soon as the budget presentations in April. The conversion to E10 follows a successful pilot program that conclude in October 2006. The country will initially use Brazilian feedstocks and phase in local production. E10 will replace MTBE as a fuel additive and is expected to save $2 billion in imported fuel costs.

In Canada, the province of British Columbia unveiled an ambitious plan to achieve energy self-sufficiency and zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2016. The province outlined plans to spend $25 million on a BioEnergy Network to spur biofuels investment, a well as $10 million to stimulate biodiesel production., The province plans to use timber killed by the mountain pine beetle, waste wood, and agricultural residue as feedstocks.

In India, the Ministry of Science & Technology has launched the Centre of Energy Biosciences (CEB) with more than $6 million in funding. The Centre, which expects to raise $4 million in further support, is tasked with developing second-generation biofuels for the Indian market. The Centre will be located at the University Institute of Chemical Technology at the University of Mumbai’s leading scientific institution.

Our European correspondents report that Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) is well advanced on a project to transform glycerine into biogas and other high value products, and on a protest rally in Germany attended by over 100 biodiesel industry members, which included a coffin to simulate the state of the German biodiesel industry. Also, reports have emerged that the Ukraine will pass legislation in 2008 that will support the establishment of a canola oil-based biodiesel industry. Full details are available in the most recent BBK newsletter from Germany.

Research News:

In California, the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Nobel Prize winning physicist Steven Chu, warned of an unprecedented energy crisis. Chu said that ‘Lighting the Way: Toward A Sustainable Energy Future’, published by 13 National Science Academies, outlines a plan to avert the looming crisis. The plan calls for implementation of biofuels and carbon-negative bioenergy, and for the energy needs of the world’s 2 billion poorest people to be considered first.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association reports that E10 usage in Iowa is up to 74 percent in 2007, compared to 69 percent in 2006, while noting that Minnesota and Missouri have reached 100 percent usage of E10. The IRFA also reports that the Iowa renewable fuels industry added $12.7 billion to the state’s gross domestic product in 2007, representing 10 percent of the total state GDP. The report said that 96,000 jobs are directly supported by renewable fuels, which produced nearly $800 million in tax revenue.

Policy and Policymakers:

In Wisconsin, a bill calling for 10 percent of all fuel sold in the state to come from renewable resources, and increasing to 25 percent in 2025, has been sent back to committee following protests from oil companies and legislators opposed to fuel subsidies. The bill has broad bipartisan support, and was supported by the state Governor in his State of the State speech.

Consumer and Fleet News:

In Texas, Austin has signed a $138 million, six-year deal with Sun Coast Systems to procure 3.15 million gallons of E2 ethanol and 3.21 million gallons of biodiesel. Under the agreement, the city will convert several fuel tanks around the city to accommodate renewable fuels. The contract was signed in compliance with Austin’s Climate Protection Plan, which pledges to make city operations carbon-neutral by 2020.

Financial News:

The Biofuels Digest Indexâ„¢ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, jumped 2.15 percent to 124.55, reflecting strong performance in all biofuels sectors. For the day Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) paced gains in the diversified agribusiness sector, up 2.30 percent to $43.98, while US BioEnergy (USBE) rose 4.27 percent to $8.30 to lead the mid cap ethanol stocks. Among small caps, Texcom (TEXC.PK) rose 28.21 percent to $0.10, while Nova Biosource Fuels (NBF), falling 5.58 percent to $2.20, led on the downside. Overall, advances led declines 3 to 2 for the day.

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