Today in Biofuels: Virgin chooses algae for test flight, report says; US, Brazilian ethanol pipelines advance; UK launches $10 million research effort into pyrolysis
Top Story:
In the UK, it has been reported by Flight International that Boeing and Virgin Atlantic have selected algae-based biodiesel as the feedstock for the B20 flight trial of a Virgin Atlantic 747 between London and Amsterdam later this month. Boeing has denied the reports, although they acknowledged that algae is one of four finalists along with three unnamed plant-based feedstocks. Boeing’s director of environmental performance, Bill Glover, said that commercial production would not begin until at least 2013.
Producer News:
In New York, Magellan Midstream Partners and Buckeye Partners said that their proposed 1700-mile, $3 billion ethanol pipeline from the Midwest would connect Iowa with New York City, passing through terminals in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The companies said they would complete their feasibility assessments this year, and said that proceeding ahead with the pipeline would be based also on obtaining Congressional support.
In Iowa, POET has established a research collaboration with Iowa State University, with funds aimed at improving POET’s BPX hydrolysis process that eliminates the use of heat in starch-to-sugar conversion and ethanol fermentation. BPX is used at 20 of POET’s 22 plants. POET is contributing $284,000 to a research effort led by Jay-lin Jane, a carbohydrate chemist and professor. The study will identify which lines of corn starches are more easily hydrolyzed.
O2Diesel Corporation said that it had obtained a three-yerar renewal of its agreement with StarTran Transit of Lincoln to operate its bus fleet on O2 diesel. O2Diesel contains 7.7% renewable ethanol, up to 1% of the company’s proprietary fuel technology and approximately 92% diesel fuel. O2’s proprietary additive allows ethanol and diesel to blend in a stable manner.
International News:
In Brazil, Petrobras has formed a joint venture with Mitsui and Camargo Correa to construct an ethanol pipeline connecting Senador Canedo in Goias state, to the Atlantic harbor of Sao Sebastiao, in Sao Paulo state. The pipeline, which will have an annual capacity of 3.17 billion gallons of ethanol per year, will also link the Petrobras refinery in Paulina, Sao Paulo, the Tiete-Parana channel, and an existing pipeline from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro. The Sao Paul-Rio pipeline will be converted to ethanol-only usage, and connects Sao Paulo to Petrobras export port in Rio harbor. Private companies will be able to use the Petrobras pipeline.
In the Netherlands, Dutch use of renewable energy to generate electricity fell to 6 percent in 2007, from 6.5 percent in 2006, as power plants halved their use of biofuels following cuts in government support. Utilities also cited concerns about potential environmental effects of using palm oil or sugar-based biofuels, as well as the effect on food prices of their biofuels program. The Dutch government set a target of 9 percent of electric consumption to come from renewable resources by 2020, but are increasingly focusing on wind turbines.
In England, The Carbon Trust has pledged $10 million to fund pyrolysis research projects. Pyrolysis is the chemical decomposition of organic materials by heating in the absence of oxygen or other reagents, and has been used in the United States by companies such as Sustainable Power and US Sustainable Energy to produce a synthetic crude oil. Robert Trezona, head of research and development at the Carbon Trust, said that “We’d like to see the oil majors get involved in the research project. We’ve had informal talks with some oil companies who said they would bite the hand off of the company that can offer them a viable means of generating commercial pyrolysis oil.”
Research News:
Wells Fargo Senior Agricultural Economist Michael Swanson projected that US farmers would plant 88 million acres of corn in 2008, and that demand in Nebraska from ethanol producers would exceed 1 billion bushels. In 2007, farmers achieved a nationwide yield of 155.3 bushels per acre, and with yields improving 1 percent per year on the historical average, this equates to a 13.8 billion bushel corn harvest. With oil prices expected to stay above $90 per barrel, and closing at more than $100 per barrel this past week, Swanson said that the price of corn has increased to more than $5 per bushel on futures boards, making the potential value of the US corn crop more than $69 billion, up from less than $30 billion in 2004.
Policy and Policymakers:
In Washington, US lawmakers are expected to take up a new renewable energy bill next week, which will extend renewable energy tax credits through 2011. Tax credits for solar, fuel cells, cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, hybrid vehicle and energy-efficiency installations in homes and businesses are also expected in the bill. Similar provisions failed to pass in the Senate last year because of opposition to the elimination of $13.5 billion in tax deductions for oil companies related to domestic production incentives. The rollbacks were used to provide revenue offsets fro the renewable tax credits.
Consumer and Fleet News:
The International Air Transport Association announced that it would support Solar Impulse, the round-the-world flight by a solar-powered aircraft. Under the agreement, IATA will provide assistance in obtaining air traffic control clearances for the solar-powered aircraft. Test flights will take commence in 2009, with a round-the-world flight in 2011. Giovanni Bisignani CEO of IATA, said “We can already see the potential building blocks for a carbon-free future: along with solar power, other exciting initiatives include progress in fuel cell technology, and fuel made from biomass.”
In Florida, SeaWorld Orlando announced that it would deploy two new hydrogen-powered shuttle buses this week, joining a program that provides transport between the Orlando Airport and the Orange County Convention Center. The new buses will be used to transport employees. The hydrogen-fuel bus program was created by a partnership including, Ford, Chevron Technology Ventures, Progress Energy, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The state’s hydrogen refueling station near the Orlando airport will service the buses, part of a 30-vehicle test fleet provided by Ford.
Financial News:
The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, fell 0.20 percent Wednesday to close at 127.00, as both ethanol stocks and diversified agribusiness dropped off slightly. For the day, diversified agribusiness The Andersons (ANDE) fell 1.07 percent to close at $44.28. Among ethanol stocks, US BioEnergy (USBE) fell 2.66 percent to close at $7.69 which erased much of a strong jump earlier in the week. Among small caps, Intrepid Technology & Resources (IESV.OB) jumped 25 percent to close at $0.012, while Xethanol (XNL) fell 5.88 percent to close at $0.48. For the day, declines led advances 2 to 1.
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