The Case for Bioenergy

I am frequently asked why we should pursue the production of biofuels and biopower when we could substitute other seemingly simpler and "cleaner" alternatives - like wind and solar - that don't require such complicated biomass logistics. A recent article I found on the European-based Biopact Blog supplies a partial answer.

Americans should heed the experience of the Europeans because they have been coping with expensive petrochemicals for decades, have fewer natural resources, have a more sophisticated infrastructure for producing and distributing energy, have higher demand for heat in the winter, and, sad to say, have been more open than Americans to alternatives - including nuclear power. NIMBYism is not an option. Many of the continental energy solutions involve centralized heat and power (CHP) whereby the heat of energy production is converted into steam and distributed to the local community.

European microcosms are like labs for alternatives - France for nuclear power, the Netherlands for wind, Germany for solar, and Scandanavia for biopower. On the biofuels side, they produce and use biodiesel to supplement the dominant fuel of the continent.While there are no precedents for many of the technologies being deployed here, I have been impressed by the practice of utilities and policymakers to fly overseas to see firsthand how new technologies are being fostered by policymaking and how they perform once deployed.

Below is the introduction to the article...


RAB: biomass now the key renewable energy source, as backlash against wind and solar grows

Biomass energy is increasingly touted as the key renewable in the push to green Europe's electricity supplies, says David Williams, chairman of the UK government's Renewables Advisory Board's (RAB) biomass sub-group. This is so because biomass shows the best economic and CO2-abatement performance of all the renewables, because it can be transported and traded globally, and because it is far more reliable than intermittent sources.

In recent months, the UK has changed its position on renewables, says Williams, with a backlash against many more established alternative energy sources like wind and solar power and liquid biofuels. In the transport sector, first-generation biofuels have been attacked for their potential effect on food prices and actual carbon reductions. Wind and solar are being heavily criticised for their inability to produce a consistent stream of electricity and for their cost. Wind power can be two to three times more expensive than biomass; solar PV up to twenty times, and solar CSP up to five times. There are no efficient energy storage options for these renewables, making them incapable of providing baseloads.

That is why many industry experts are now suggesting that biomass has to play the primary role in helping the EU to meet its challenging target of generating 20% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, says the RAB's biomass chairman.
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technorati BIOblog, BIOconversion, bioenergy, biofuels, ethanol, hydrolysis, syngas, cellulosic, legislation, gasification, decentralization, security

BlueFire Ethanol to build in California

BlueFire Ethanol Fuels Inc. received a conditional use permit from the County of Los Angeles, Department of Regional Planning, for the operation of a new biorefinery it will build on a 10 acre lot near a Lancaster, CA landfill. For anyone aware of the slow rate of permitting new facilities for waste conversion in the region, that is a major achievement.

This is NOT the commercial-scale project for which BlueFire received a U.S. Department of Energy EPAct 932 matching grant of $40 million. That plant is being for deployment in Mecca, CA and will require roughly 900 tons per day of biomass when fully operational. The DOE considers 700 tpd to be the benchmark for a commercial scale biorefinery.

For Arnold Klann, President of BlueFire, it was a long time coming but worth the wait. With key drivers being the need for alternative fuels, oil prices, landfill diversion, and global climate change things have been happening fast the last few years for this publicly traded company.

On hand to support the action were Coby Skye of the Los Angeles Department of Public Works and Mike Mohajer, a leader of Solid Waste management in Los Angeles for decades. Necy Sumait, Senior Vice President, and William Davis, VP of Project Management, who made the final presentation to the Commission were there as well.

The county Department of Public Works has launched a pilot project to build other trash-conversion facilities near other landfills in the region.

"Instead of shipping the trash long distances for disposal, we want to develop these new conversion technologies and manage the trash right there on site," said Coby J. Skye, associate civil engineer in the Environmental Programs Division for public works. "What that does is it eliminates truck trips, converts otherwise useless material into usable products and energy and offsets fossil-fuel emissions."

In the past month, two of Los Angeles County’s largest cities have passed resolutions endorsing the County’s conversion technology program. The city councils of Long Beach and Lancaster, which together account for nearly 650,000 residents, each asked the County to keep their city in mind for future conversion technology projects. These join existing resolutions adopted by the cities of Glendale and Calabasas.

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BlueFire Ethanol Awarded Final Permits to Construct the Nation's First Commercial Cellulosic Ethanol Production Plant

BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc. (OTC: BFRE.OB), a leader in cellulosic ethanol production technology, was granted a conditional-use permit ("CUP") from the County of Los Angeles, Department of Regional Planning, to permit the construction of the nation's first commercial facility to convert biowaste into ethanol.

The Los Angeles County Planning Commission approved the use permit for operation of the plant on 10 undeveloped acres near Lancaster, California, in the Antelope Valley. BlueFire plans to initiate commercial operation of the plant in late 2009.

"We are thrilled to receive this permit," said Arnold Klann, president and CEO of BlueFire Ethanol, "and we see this construction of our first cellulosic ethanol the United States plant as a catalyst for the advancement of cellulosic fuel production throughout our nation."

The new facility will use BlueFire's commercially-ready, patented and proven Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Technology Process. This will allow the profitable conversion of cellulosic waste ("Green Waste") into as much as 3.2 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year. Derived from non-foodstock urban, forestry and agricultural residues, this form of ethanol is a completely renewable and highly-economical alternative to gasoline and other types of ethanol.

BlueFire Ethanol selected the Lancaster location because an estimated 170 tons of biowaste material, including woodchips, grass cuttings and other organic waste, already passes by the property every day. The plant is also designed to use reclaimed water and lignin, a byproduct of the production process, in order to produce its own electricity and steam.

"By locating biorefineries directly in the markets with the highest demand for ethanol, our technology can also help surrounding cities manage landfill waste, solving two problems for the price of one," added Klann.

As part of a strategy to control costs and accelerate production at the Lancaster facility, BlueFire Ethanol has already implemented production of pre-assembled modules which will comprise the Lancaster biorefinery.

"Prefabrication and modular construction has proven itself to be the best method for maintaining quality, controlling costs and creating the fastest to-market time for the deployment of complex facilities," said Klann. "Plus, the size of our Lancaster facility is consistent with the feedstock-gathering capabilities in developing countries where aggregation of large quantities of useable feedstock is not as practical. As such, this approach also allows us to set a standard with a manufactured product and export our facilities as a turn-key product around the world."

BlueFire Ethanol is also one of six ethanol companies awarded $40 million funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for its construction a larger ethanol production facility using cellulosic wastes diverted from landfills in Southern California. The facility will produce approximately 17 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year from green waste, wood waste and other cellulosic urban wastes.

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technorati bioenergy, biofuels, ethanol, hydrolysis, cellulosic

INEOS Bio to license syngas fermentation technology

INEOS Group Holdings PLC, one of the three largest chemical conglomerates in the world, has announced the July 1, 2008 formation of a new company, INEOS Bio, whose initial focus will be the commercialization of what they call "the World’s leading second generation bioethanol technology process" to serve the global renewable transport fuels market.

The technology has been in development by Bioengineering Resources Inc. of Fayetteville, Arkansas for over two decades. While the process can certainly use cellulosic material as feedstocks (switchgrass, corn stover, wood wastes, rice straw, etc.) it does not produce "cellulosic ethanol" in the purest sense of the term. Through gasification, it reduces all components of the feedstock, not just the cellulose, into a syngas that is then fermented into ethanol with the water filtered out. Pound for pound, the process is anticipated to produce the highest amount of ethanol (roughly 105 gallons / ton of feedstock - depending on the carbon content and btu energy of the feedstock blend) of any thermochemical biorefinery process. As a result, Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) can be used as a feedstock and tires and fossil residues (like petcoke) can be blended in to increase the volume yield.

As illustrated in their website animation, the heat generated by gasification will be captured for co-generation of electricity - a byproduct that will help reduce the energy cost of the system and provide an important second profit stream.

The company plans on licensing new commercial-scale facilities that will be producing millions of gallons of ethanol by 2011.

Below is the press release as published on the new INEOS Bio website.

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Cars to run on fuel from household waste within two years
July 19th 2008, Fayetteville, AR
(Click here for video announcement)

INEOS now has technology to produce commercial quantities of bio ethanol fuel from landfill waste. Second generation bio ethanol reduces greenhouse gases from car use by 90% and doesn’t use food crops in the production process.

Cars to run on fuel from household waste within two years

“This is a breakthrough technology” says INEOS Bio CEO.

INEOS, one of the world’s top three chemical companies, announced today that it is aiming to produce commercial quantities of bioethanol fuel from biodegradable municipal waste within two years.

INEOS new technology will produce bioethanol in huge quantities from municipal solid waste, green waste, animal waste and agricultural residues amongst other things.

According to Peter Williams, INEOS Bio CEO, “Consistent with changing policy, in regions such as North America and Europe we see around 10% of the gasoline or petrol being replaced with second generation bioethanol. We believe our technology will make a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gases and the world’s need for fossil fuels."

INEOS Bio Ethanol releases up to 90% less net greenhouse gases than petrol. One tonne of dry waste can be converted into about 400 litres of ethanol, which can be blended with or replace traditional fuels to substantially reduce vehicle emissions.

The technology – already proven at pilot plant scale – uses a simple three-stage process. The waste is first superheated to produce gases. Then, through a patented process, the gases are fed to naturally occurring bacteria, which efficiently produce ethanol. Finally, the ethanol is purified to make the fuel ready to be blended for use in cars.

Car companies have already developed engines that can run efficiently on both bioethanol and conventional fuels. Up to now, the challenge has been that bioethanol has been manufactured primarily from food crops and this has raised concerns on price and availability.

Peter Williams says, “The fact that we have been able to decouple second generation biofuel from food is a major breakthrough, and we expect our technology to provide a low-cost route to renewable fuels”.

Dr Geriant Evans is the Technology Transfer Manager for the UK’s National Non Food Crops Centre. He says: “This technology really ticks all the boxes. It turns waste into biofuel; it reduces greenhouse gases and doesn’t rely on food crops. We need this produced on a global scale as soon as possible. It’s a revolutionary technology”.

Governments, NGO’s and Municipal Authorities are already welcoming second generation Bio Fuels such as INEOS Bio Ethanol, which will contribute to both reducing greenhouse gases and the ever-growing waste disposal problem.

The process was developed in Fayetteville, Arkansas where Dan Coody is Mayor. He recognises the enormous potential.

“We’re proud that this technology has been developed here and it is definitely a technology that we’d like to employ in the City of Fayetteville. It will help us reduce our landfill, reduce our CO2 emissions and our reliance on foreign fuels all at the same time”

With the technology proven at pilot scale, the next challenge is to bring second-generation bioethanol into commercial production. INEOS aims to do this within two years.

Peter Williams, INEOS Bio CEO says: “We expect to announce the location of the first commercial pilot plant fairly shortly and we will quickly roll out this technology around the world. We aim to be producing commercial amounts of bioethanol fuel, for cars, from waste within about two years. "

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technorati bioenergy, biofuels, ethanol, syngas, cellulosic, gasification

The "Bridge Builder" of biomass conversion

Last night it was my privilege to attend a tribute to a decorated Marine who is an officer, a gentleman, and a war hero. He is also a towering luminary of the Biomass Conversion industry - who just happens to have reached the tender age of eighty.

Bill Holmberg is the Chairman of the Biomass Coordinating Council (BCC) of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE). ACORE, co-host with the U.S. State Department for last March’s Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC), is the foremost American association promoting all forms of renewable energy. Their success is in large part because of Bill’s inspired leadership of the BCC.

I call Bill the “Bridge Builder” of biomass conversion because that is his principal contribution to a movement that has such large chasms to cross and requires the coordinated efforts of so many specialists. The key drivers for renewable energy touch defense, energy, economic, environmental, educational, and manpower issues that will occupy Washington policymakers for decades to come.

The threat of inertia within the industry is real because of the many narrow interests involved. But true leader that Bill has been all his life, he retains a sense of perspective, purpose, drive, and appreciation of the good intent of all the stakeholders that are committed to the paradigm shift. The nation’s capital, which excels at developing coalition builders, has none better than Bill Holmberg.

In attendance at his "Toast and Roast" were many groundbreakers who represent specific components of the movement. They, too, exemplify the kind of dedication and leadership necessary to gradually move the global village away from fossil fuels toward bio-based power, fuels, and products.

On hand were Jim Woolsey (former Director of the CIA), Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson, Mike Eckhart (President of ACORE), Bob Dinneen (President of the Renewable Fuels Association), Brent Erickson of BIO’s Industrial Biotechnology division, Kevin Kephart (professor and a regional director for the Sun Grant Initiative), Carol Werner (Executive Director of the Energy and Environment Study Institute), Doug Durante (Executive Director of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition), Phil Madson (President of Katzen Inc.), Barbara Bramble of the National Wildlife Federation and Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, Max Shauck (Director and Professor of the Baylor Institute for Air Science), Mike Bowman of 25x’25, and environmental activist Suzanne Hunt.

Many, I am sure, first came into contact with Bill Holmberg in the same “burning bush” way that I did. I was driving to an appointment when I got a cellphone call from a perfect stranger. It was Bill and he had an invitation and a request. He wanted me to attend a one day meeting of his BCC in Las Vegas. My role was to represent “blogging” because he felt his group needed an expert that could contribute a communications perspective to leverage new media to the cause of moving bioenergy forward.

I am more than grateful that I went. There were fifty experts in the room who were focused on soil, forestry, farming, aviation, the paper industry, social justice, biomass logistics, military technology, Indian affairs, academia, genetics, the penal system, tree farming, environmental sustainability, biofuels, and bioproduct development. I was a kid in a candy store.

Everyone was involved in the conversation and, while none would go away feeling that their own perspective had been fully explored, all would come to realize the awesome scope of the enterprise, the role they had to play in it, and the genuine humanity of its aims - and of BCC's leader. That is Bill’s gift. There were many relationships that spawned that day, bridging some of the technological, communication, and interdisciplinary gaps of the attendees.

Anyone in a position to play a serious role in the coming bioenergy paradigm shift should seek out ACORE and its BCC chairman, Bill Holmberg. ACORE is hosting the RETECH 2009 show in Las Vegas February 25-27. Do yourself a favor - join ACORE's BCC and reserve a room in Vegas now.

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technorati bioenergy, biofuels, gasification, decentralization, security

Roadmap for bioenergy & biobased products in the U.S.

At last year's Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioenergy I met Dr. Larry Walker for the first time. I had heard of him because one of his responsibilities is managing the prestigious Sun Grant Initiative budget for the Northeast Region at Cornell University.

It wasn't until I had seen him at a couple of other events that I realized that he was also Co-editor in chief of the quarterly Industrial Biotechnology Journal of the biobased industries. Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. the Journal is a terrific source of peer reviewed information about this emerging industry. It also provides a segmented recap of new stories from the preceding quarter and a lengthy calendar of upcoming events.

In the latest issue is a special Industry Report that documents research strategies that will help achieve the goals established by the Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee's Vision for Bioenergy and Biobased Products in the United States. As stated in the Roadmap's executive summary:

The updated Roadmap for bioenergy & biobased products in the U.S. will continue to be used as a reference document for industry, academia, and policy makers to implement the steps necessary to achieving the Vision goals. The Roadmap identifies a concrete strategy of research and policy measures for decision makers. It identifies measures needed to advance biomass technologies and enable an economically viable, sustainable and economically desirable biobased industry.

Biomass conversion technologies have the potential not only to decentralize energy security while revitalizing local economies, to mitigate climate impacts of fossil carbon accumulation in the atmosphere, to shift from fossil-based products to biobased ones, but also to reduce waste and pollution accumulations throughout the world. This roadmap should be required reading for federal, state, and local policymakers who hope to help their constituencies move to a cleaner, more environmentally sustainable future in an economically sustainable way.

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technorati bioenergy, biofuels, ethanol,syngas, cellulosic, policy, gasification, decentralization, security

Comments on the California Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has just released its Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan in accord with its responsibilities for implementing AB32 - the Global Warming Solutions Act. Its objective is to lay the foundation for an enforceable approach to reduce California's anticipated greenhouse gas emissions for the year 2020 by 30% (estimated to be equivalent to California's GHG levels of 1990). Like AB32, the scope of the plan is broad with anticipated environmental and economic impacts that are breathtaking. Sustainability is the key.

In my opinion this draft of the scoping plan leaves out some significant sources of GHG for which there are promising mitigation technologies available. These involve low-value biomass (like fuelwood thinnings and municipal solid wastes) that can be used as feedstocks for conversion to bioenergy.

I have written three blog articles to address my main concerns and ideas regarding:
1- Challenging the Status Quo in the Scoping Plan
2- The Sustainable Forests emissions reduction measures outlined in the plan.
3- The Recycling and Waste Management section of the plan.

CARB is now soliciting draft comments from all stakeholders over the next 45 days. I encourage all Californians to submit your comments concerning this important Scoping Plan. The electronic form is accessed from the CARB website.

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technorati bioenergy, biofuels, legislation

CA Draft Scoping Plan comment: Challenge the Status Quo

This is one of a series of comments submitted to the California Air Resources Board for their draft version of the California Climate Change Draft Scoping Plan. Other BIOenergy BlogRing comments are linked here:
• Challenge the Status Quo
• Recycling and Waste
• Sustainable Forests
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Achieving the goals of this Climate Change Scoping Plan (an ambitious 30% reduction of greenhouse gases projected for 2020) will require major changes in the status quo fossil fuel paradigm - not only how electricity and biofuels are produced, but also the manufacture of a generation of new bioproducts based on biobased chemicals to replace fossil-based ones.

We live in the most dynamic state in the U.S. with research, manufacturing, investment capital, manpower, infrastructure, and natural resources that are the envy of the world. This combination has led to the achievement of many paradigm shifts in the past - aerospace, atomic energy, computers, software, telecommunications, biotechnology, and the internet. We are poised to develop the next paradigm in energy coupled with environmental sustainability.

However, to achieve our goals will require flexibility in our permitting standards. Currently, the choke point on energy and environmental technological deployments are held by state agencies - particularly CARB - housed in Sacramento. Our standards have become so idealistically high - i.e., Zero waste, Zero emissions - that promising technologies cannot be permitted for deployment within California. Specific examples include conversion technologies using thermochemical means that can convert municipal and environmental waste into carbon-neutral fuels and power.

The thresholds for permitting must enable promising innovations to be deployed. Without deployment most technologies will never be refined at commercial scale to approach delivering the highest standards expected by the idealists.

I recommend a graduated permitting scheme be developed by CARB for technologies of promise. Instead of comparing performance to an idealistically high standard, let's first compare it to the status quo. If, after deployment, the technologies cannot meet the graduated standards specified, the businesses can lose their permit to operate. But let's encourage deployment of first generation technologies in California.

Without deployment of promising technologies, the aims of this Scoping Plan will fail and the status quo will remain.

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technorati bioenergy, biofuels, legislation, decentralization

Converting Smoke into Energy using Algae

Solena Group - an innovative international company whose mission is "committed to combating climate change by promoting renewable bio-energy to replace fossil fuel" - has projects deployed or under development for using plasma arc technology to cleanly gasify feedstock into syngas. Teamed with Rentech Technologies, they can convert the syngas into bio jet fuel. Otherwise they can use the syngas to produce clean, green electricity.

But what about emissions? Turns out they have an answer for that as well citing their development of air filtering technology at their Alicante, Spain research facility that take manufacturing fumes and, using algae to absorb the greenhouse gases, create new biomass that can be converted into bioenergy.

Here are some excerpts from a NY Times article that cited the company's carbon sequestering technology...

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March 26, 2008
For Carbon Emissions, a Goal of Less Than Zero
By MATTHEW L. WALD

Algae, which have a high energy value per pound and consume carbon dioxide, are being cultivated at a biofuel demonstration facility run by the Solena Group in Alicante, Spain.

IF the world is going to sharply reduce the amount of carbon dioxide pumped into the atmosphere by midcentury, then many businesses will have to go carbon neutral, bringing their net emissions of the greenhouse gas to zero.

But some could go even further by removing more CO2 than they produce. Instead of carbon neutral, how about carbon negative?

In academic and industrial labs worldwide, researchers are working on technologies to reach that goal. Success could create the ultimate green business — for example, one that produces fuel whose emissions are more than offset by carbon dioxide stored during production. The businesses would be successful if, as anticipated, Congress puts a tax on emissions or starts a trading plan that makes carbon credits valuable.

For some experts, it’s not a question of whether businesses will go carbon negative but when.

Carbon-negative technologies of some sort will be essential, said Daniel M. Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. The world is facing the certainty of massive emissions for decades to come from plants already running, he said, adding that atmospheric concentrations must be stabilized. “We’ve got such a carbon overshoot looming in the future that this is going to have to happen,” he said.

The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said that an 80 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions was necessary to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. But capturing the gas from coal plant smokestacks or switching to fuels that produce less of it when burned goes only so far.

“The great problem is actually removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” said Geir Vollsaeter, an environment expert and former general manager of carbon dioxide at Shell International, a subsidiary of the oil giant.

While much engineering work would have to be done to make a business carbon negative, the outlines are clear.

Take the concept of building a coal plant that captures and stores carbon dioxide. Such a plant could have zero emissions, because the coal would be turned into gas and processed to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The hydrogen, a pollution-free fuel, would be burned, and the CO2 pumped underground for permanent storage.

But Robert Williams, a research scientist at Princeton University, said that not only coal could be gasified; you could also make the same fuel by starting with plant matter or other biomass.

And then, he said, “if you put any CO2 underground that is derived from biomass, that’s negative CO2 emissions.” That is because plants or trees — the raw material for the fuel —pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they grow, and the gasification and storage takes that carbon out of circulation.

Mr. Williams said the more likely route would be to gasify a mixture of coal and biomass to keep the process carbon neutral. But the balance depends on the cost of separation and storage versus what kind of tax or other fee Congress might put on emissions.
...

A Washington company, the Solena Group, also has a carbon-negative plan, which emerged from the decision by regulators in Kansas last year to turn down a permit for two new coal-burning power plants because of the millions of tons of carbon dioxide they would produce. The regulators insisted that the builder of the plants, an electric co-op called Sunflower, had to permanently remove the carbon from circulation. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and the Kansas State Legislature are still arguing over whether the plants should be built.

Solena says it can use the carbon. The company employs a high-temperature process to break up anything organic into a flammable gas. The organic material could be algae, which have an extremely high energy value per pound. And algae eat carbon dioxide.

Solena is in discussion with Sunflower to build a 40-megawatt power plant that would run on gasified algae; the algae would be grown in thousands of clear plastic cylinders, 3 feet wide by 10 feet tall, sitting in the Kansas sun and fertilized with sodium bicarbonate, made with carbon captured from Sunflower’s coal plant. For each 1.8 tons of carbon dioxide, the columns would yield a ton of algae.

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technorati BIOconversion, bioenergy, biofuels, syngas, cellulosic, algae, gasification

New Planet Energy to assume Florida Ethanol Project

A number of announcements have been made in the within the last month involving two of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) EPAct 932 grant winners.

First, on May 8th, Iogen announced that it was not going to build its first commercial scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Idaho after all - foregoing the US$80 million grant offered by the U.S. Department of Energy. Their press release is titled Canadian company nixes Idaho for ethanol plant, picks Saskatchewan. The Canadian government is putting a package together of $500 million to help fund next-generation biofuels plants and the American D.O.E. was unwilling to raise its grant amount.

Regardless of where the first plant is located, proving the commercial-scale base technology will provide comparative evidence of value and yield for future developments.

That means that there are now officially five EPAct 932 grant projects under development.

On June 2, 2008, Alico announced that it was backing out of its grant-winning cellulosic ethanol project. Its situation is different than the other developers because it is a land management company that was reliant on Bioengineering Resources, Inc. (BRI) for its syngas fermentation conversion technology. The license for the BRI technology for this project is now being handled by New Planet Energy, LLC which plans to take over development of the southern Florida plant at a location separate from Alico property.

New Planet Energy management includes many of the executives involved previously in marketing BRI technology. Gary Smith, NPE's Chief Executive Officer, served as CEO of High Plains Corporation from 1998-2001. He was Chairman of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) from 2001-2002. The company is also retaining the consulting services of Craig Evans who managed governmental compliance for the EPAct grant for Alico.

Below are two press releases - first by Alico and secondly by New Planet Energy.

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Alico to Discontinue Ethanol Efforts

LABELLE, Fla., June 2, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Alico, Inc. (Nasdaq:ALCO), a land management company, announced today that it will no longer explore the development of an ethanol facility. As previously announced, the Company had been selected by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and by the State of Florida to potentially receive grants and loan assistance to partially offset the costs of such a project. However, Alico will no longer pursue these grants.

During the past year, Alico has been working with New Planet Energy LLC on this project and NPE is continuing its pursuit of cellulosic ethanol. As a result of Alico's decision, Alico will have no further financial commitment or liability to New Planet Energy, the DOE or the State of Florida for this project. In reaching its decision to discontinue the ethanol project, Alico's management and Board of Directors determined that the risks associated therewith outweighed any reasonably anticipated benefits for Alico.

Alico Chairman and CEO John R. Alexander stated, "In reaching this decision, Alico will continue to focus on our core operations of real estate management, including agriculture and development opportunities, to provide returns for our shareholders."

About Alico, Inc.
Alico, Inc., a land management company operating in Central and Southwest Florida, owns approximately 135,500 acres of land located in Collier, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Polk counties. Alico is involved in various agricultural operations and real estate activities. Alico's mission is to grow its asset values through its agricultural and real estate activities to produce superior long-term returns for its shareholders.

CONTACT: Alico, Inc.
John R. Alexander
(863) 675-2966
La Belle, Florida

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New Planet Energy to Assume Florida Ethanol Project

Alico, Inc., today announced that it was withdrawing from its role in developing an advanced biofuels plant using the gasification/fermentation technology of Bioengineering Resources, Inc. (“BRI”) in the State of Florida. Alico has been working with New Planet Energy, LLC (“NPE”) on this project for the past year.

“Despite Alico's decision not to go forward, New Planet Energy has assumed this project, has selected and is in the process of acquiring a site for the project in the State of Florida, and intends to pursue the venture to its successful conclusion,” it was confirmed by Gary R. Smith, Chief Executive Officer of New Planet Energy, LLC.

Craig Evans, who has served as an independent consultant to Alico, Inc. since the inception of its relationship with BRI, and who has been handling day-to-day operations for the project and for all grant and loan guarantee issues on behalf of Alico, has been hired by NPE Florida to assure that there will be complete continuity as part of the phased transition, Smith noted.

The New Planet Energy plant in Florida will produce ethanol from cellulosic feedstocks, initially from yard, wood and vegetative wastes, taking ethanol production beyond reliance on food resources in the production of biofuels.

Contacts:

Jim Stewart
Vice President, Marketing & Public Affairs, New Planet Energy, LLC
323-650-5095

Craig Evans
Project Consultant to NPE Florida, LLC
561-302-5782

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Finally, a news story in the online Palm Beach Post reveals more information about New Planet Energy's plans in Florida from an interview with Project Consultant Craig Evans. Some excerpts from the story...

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Start-up takes over abandoned ethanol project

Evans said New Planet Energy, also known as NPE Florida, has been working on the project with Alico for the past year. NPE will use the same technology that Alico was planning to use, a gasification/fermentation technology developed by Fayetteville, Ark.-based Bioengineering Resources Inc.

The goal is to produce 7 million gallons of ethanol a year in the first phase, then ramp up to 21 million gallons by late 2010 or early 2011.

By 2012 or 2015, plans call for the plant to produce 105 million gallons of ethanol a year, Evans said.

"That will be the first of 20 plants planned in Florida in the next five to seven years by this company," he said.

Jim Stewart, marketing and public affairs vice president for Los Angeles-based NPE, said the privately held company was formed in 2007 to assist in the commercialization of Bioengineering Resources' technology.

Alico's recent write-down and the tight credit markets made its board averse to risk, and recent news about ethanol's role in the energy crisis played a decisive factor, Evans said.

"The negative publicity about ethanol had a huge impact. That was the death knell," Evans said. "The whole food-to-fuel debate has been exaggerated."

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technorati BIOconversion, bioenergy, biofuels, ethanol, syngas, cellulosic, gasification

May 2008 Digest

Sustainability: The New Frontier of Renewable Energy

To shift the energy paradigm from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy will require changes that will impact every tier of society and every acre of the environment. It is clear that skeptics from a broad array of stakeholders will earnestly try to evaluate each new development for its environmental sustainability with Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs).

Concurrently, venture capitalists and Wall Street investors will be assessing their economic sustainability and risk factors. As Barbara Bramble of the National Wildlife Federation and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels concedes "We recognize that we can't achieve environmental sustainability without economic sustainability." It is simply not realistic to expect governments to fund the changes. To be truly economically sustainable, private enterprise will have to be incentivized to do the heavy lifting.

Some of these assessments will result in time consuming and expensive court challenges leading to decision making inertia. In the meantime, urgent problems like forest health and its impact on climate change will spiral out of control while court challenges will negatively impact stakeholder confidence in these projects.

For example, looking at the past 50 years of wildfire acreage in the U.S. shows the growing cost of forest management inertia and delay aggravated, to a great degree, by incessant environmental lawsuits.

According to the Society of American Foresters there were 729 cases brought against the Forest Service during the thirteen years between 1989 and 2002! Out of 20 million acres identified and funded for thinning (through the bipartisan 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act) only 77,000 acres have been treated. One could say that the will of the people is being subverted systematically.

The real challenge is not technological - it is building communication links that will enable solutions to be developed, funded, and deployed. Without open dialog the status quo will persist because litigation will create delays and increase the economic cost of implementation.

During the early stages of change the threshold standards for determining sustainability need to be the most flexible. We can't really arrive at ideal solutions without deployments of promising technologies to measure, evaluate, and modify. As each threshold is met, it can be succeeded by more challenging ones.

We need to foster an awareness by all sectors that a balance between environmental and economic sustainability will be required for each phase of implementation.

The following stories highlight the risks of the status quo, demonstrate the need for communications bridge-building, and document examples of stakeholder engagement.

BIOstock Blog--------------
· Woody Biomass: Fuel for Wildfires
· Senators: "Wildfires are a climate change issue, too."
· Ending Obstructive Environmental Lawsuits
· Hurricane Katrina's greenhouse gas legacy
· Forest Service and Sierra Club mark trees together
· Logging trees to save forests from development
· No incentives for national forest waste-to-biofuels
· Senator Wyden: Thinning Forests to Save Them
· Woodchip prices now and in the future
· Links between California Wildfires and GHG emissions
· Up in Smoke: Reforesting California after wildfires
· Engaging Forest Stakeholders through Stewardship Contracting
· Sustainable Forestry for Bioenergy and Bio-based Products

BIOconversion Blog--------------
· Woody Biomass: Feedstock for BioEnergy
· Bioenergy's "Top Five" List
· Coskata and GM partner on syngas to ethanol technology
· WIREC Side Events: Communicating the Truth about BioEnergy
· Responses to Time's unbalanced biofuels bashing
· Coskata to build demonstration plant near Pittsburgh

BIOoutput Blog--------------
· Surprising MPG results for low blends of ethanol

BIOwaste Blog--------------
· Capturing energy from unrecycleable waste

Please forward a link to this digest to anyone you know who would be interested in keeping track of change that will affect us all. They can add their name to the mailing list on the BioConversion Blog.

technorati digest, biofuels, forests, bioenergy, sustainability

Coskata to build demonstration plant near Pittsburgh

Coskata announced today that they are building a demonstration-sized (40,000 gallon per year) cellulosic ethanol plant. This is significant because it could represent the first scale-up of a syngas-fermentation (SF) pilot technology in the world.

The other possible scale-up of this advanced technology is the BRI process that is a party to the ALICO project - a DOE EPAact grant winner of last year. That project is still awaiting licensing resolution among the parties that submitted the original proposal.

BACKGROUND
Ethanol is almost always seen as a process involving the fermentation of sugars into alcohol. Most of the debates about ethanol has to do with what feedstocks are going to be used and what process to break down the feedstock structure to isolate the sugars. The yield comes only from the sugar in the feedstock. Food vs. fuel, Energy Return on Investment (EROI), water usage, biofuel yield - these are all very real issues that will impact what, where, and how facilities will be located and financed.

Syngas-fermentation offers an alternative. Instead of biologically breaking down the feedstock using enzymes, the feedstock is gasified into component molecules of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. These become the building blocks for reformulation as higher alcohols. Some technologies, like Range Fuels', use inorganic catalysts to effect the reformulation. SF, on the other hand, relies on microorganisms in controlled bioreactors to eat up the syngas and produce ethanol and water.

It is a very attractive alternative because it is omnivorous (any blended biomass will do including unrecyclable urban waste and fossil derivatives like tires, auto fluff, petcoke, and plastics). The yield is high because the non-sugar content of the feedstock can be utilized for its molecules. The higher the content of carbon in the feedstock, the higher the yield of ethanol gallons per ton. It requires very little water (roughly 1 gallon per gallon of biofuel) and most of the energy for gasification comes from the feedstock itself.

Below is the complete press release that was posted today.

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Coskata Inc. Chooses Madison, Pa. for Commercial Demonstration Facility to Produce Next-Generation Ethanol
Alter Nrg, Westinghouse Plasma to support 40,000 gallon cellulosic ethanol plant

Madison, Pa. – April 25, 2008 – Coskata Inc., a leading developer of next-generation biofuels, said today it will produce 40,000 gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year at a commercial demonstration plant near Pittsburgh.

The $25 million project will be located at the Westinghouse Plasma Center, the current site of a pilot-plant gasifier owned and operated by Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC), a wholly owned subsidiary of Alter Nrg Corp.

“Coskata has been eager to reach this milestone, because it will be a significant demonstration before building our first commercial plant that we can produce ethanol from non-food based sources for less than $1 a gallon,” said Bill Roe, president and CEO of Coskata. “This facility is being built with some of the leading gasification technology, supplied by Alter NRG, and in one of the most progressive states for next generation ethanol."

The plant, located about 30 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, is expected to begin delivering ethanol in early 2009 utilizing a variety of input materials, including woody biomass as well as agricultural and industrial wastes. General Motors, a strategic partner and investor in Coskata, will use the next generation ethanol for testing in flex-fuel vehicles at its Milford, Mich., Proving Grounds.

“We are delighted Coskata has chosen the State of Pennsylvania as the first location for production of their next generation ethanol,” said Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. “Coskata’s cutting edge facility will strengthen Pennsylvania’s already first class reputation as a leader in producing and delivering alternative fuels and will bring us one step closer to further reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”

Coskata announced in February that it will commission a full-scale, 50 million – 100 million gallon-per-year commercial plant by the year 2011. This facility is being planned in parallel with the construction of the Madison demonstration facility and is expected to break ground this year.

“The Coskata syngas to ethanol plant, using Westinghouse Plasma Corporation’s gasifier will make for a world-class demonstration,” said Mark Montemurro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alter Nrg. “We view Coskata’s highly efficient process as a perfect complement to our environmentally responsible gasification technology.”

Coskata leverages proprietary microorganisms and efficient bioreactor designs in a unique three-step conversion process that can turn virtually any carbon-based feedstock into ethanol, from anywhere in the world.

Coskata’s process for next-generation ethanol is environmentally superior, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 84% compared to conventional gasoline; and has the ability to generate up to 7.7 times as much energy as is required to produce the ethanol, as verified by Argonne National Labs in a well-to-wheel analysis. Additionally, Coskata’s process uses less than a gallon of process water to make a gallon of ethanol, compared with three gallons or more required by other processes.

About Coskata
Coskata is a biology-based renewable energy company that is commercializing technology to produce biofuels from a wide variety of feedstocks. Using proprietary microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, the company will produce ethanol for under $1 per gallon almost anywhere in the world, from a wide variety of feedstocks. Coskata has compiled a strong IP portfolio of patents, trade secrets and know-how and assembled a first-class team for the development and commercialization of its compelling syngas-to-ethanol process technology. For more information, please visit www.coskata.com.

About Alter Nrg
Alter Nrg is pursuing alternative energy solutions to meet the growing demand for environmentally responsible energy in world markets. The company’s vision is to become a North American leader in the development of innovative gasification projects for the commercial production of energy. The Company’s objective for the next decade is to utilize our commercially proven plasma gasification technology to become a senior energy producer of hydrogen, syngas, and transportation fuels (diesel, naphtha, ethanol, etc.), steam and electricity, all of which are fundamental products for the world’s growing energy needs. For more information, visit www.alternrg.ca.

About Westinghouse Plasma Corporation, a division of Alter Nrg
Relying on more than 30 years of experience in the application of plasma technology, Westinghouse Plasma Corporation (WPC) is focused on applying innovative applications using plasma for environmentally responsible energy production, waste processing and metallurgical and chemical processing solutions. Our experience, including over 24 patents relating to the plasma torch, plasma torch systems and process design, allows us to meet the needs of both research and development for industrial applications in various markets. Westinghouse Plasma Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alter Nrg, a publicly traded company on the TSX Venture Exchange. For more information, please visit www.westinghouse-plasma.com.

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technorati BIOconversion, bioenergy, biofuels, ethanol, syngas, cellulosic, gasification

Responses to Time's unbalanced biofuels bashing

The April 7th issue of Time Magazine features a cover story that attacks the biofuels industry in general and corn ethanol in particular.

I have written about irresponsible media attacks before (i.e., Rolling Stone Magazine's The Ethanol Scam) and when the Science magazine "Land Use Change" research article started being trumpeted in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal I even organized two Bioenergy and Communications side events at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference. The plague of headline seeking writers to play gotcha journalism with incredibly important technological developments knows no bounds. What is surprising is the desperation with which "responsible" media grab and attempt to parlay slanted research into public lynchings.

My personal response to Time's "Inbox" was a brief rewriting of their cover headline (vainly hoping they would actually print it without butchering it too badly):

There are plenty of Clean Energy Myths but I think Time magazine has been duped. The cover story subhead should have read: "Mainstream Media and Big Oil are bashing biofuels like corn-based ethanol as alternatives to oil. In addition to driving up food prices and making global warming worse they are paving the way for future energy resource wars like Iraq - and you're paying for it."

The paradigm shift from fossil to renewable liquid fuels is imperative. We need alternatives at the pump and ethanol is already contributing as a clean oxygenate alternative to toxic MTBE's. Meanwhile biofuel feedstocks are shifting from cultivated food crops to greenhouse gas producing environmental disaster debris like landfills; knocked-down, bug-infested, and fire-ravaged forests; toxic waste dumps; and disease-infested marshlands. Leaders in government, environmental groups, private industry, and academia are working together to create ecologically and economically sustainable solutions. Why don't your writers do something constructive, rather than sensational, and report on those efforts?

Other, more reasoned responses have been issued by 25x'25 and the Ethanol Promotion Information Council (EPIC)...

April 2, 2008
25x'25 Responds to Time Magazine Biofuels Article with Letter to the Editor
by Congressman Thomas W. Ewing

Responding to widespread inaccuracies in this week's Time magazine cover story, the 25x'25 National Steering Committee is responding with a letter to the editors of Time expressing disappointment with the questionable characterization of biofuels and their role in the issue of greenhouse gas emissions in "The Clean Energy Scam," by Michael Grunwald. The letter was authored by steering committee member and former Congressman Thomas W. Ewing, who is also the Immediate Past Chairman of the USDA and DOE Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. The entire letter follows:

As a former Member of Congress and a leader in a diverse alliance of agricultural, environmental and conservation organizations working together to advance clean energy solutions, I am greatly disturbed with Time magazine's April 7th feature story on biofuels. In this article, Michael Grunwald criticizes biofuels yet offers no alternative to using petroleum to meet our energy needs - much of which comes from the Middle East.

Members of our alliance share the author's anxiety for the continued health of the Amazon rain forest and other "carbon sinks" that nature has provided around the globe. As champions of many forms of land-based renewable energy (biomass, wind energy, solar power, geothermal energy and hydropower, in addition to biofuels), we agree that environmentally sensitive lands should not be exploited in pursuit of renewable fuels.

Unfortunately, the story's message of concern is undermined by misinformation about biofuels and an over-simplified analysis of complex systems. The implication that biofuel production is responsible for the destruction of the Amazon rain forest ignores the reality that ever increasing worldwide demand for food and fiber is the primary cause of land use change in this and other regions. Simply eliminating biofuels will not stop land use changes from occurring, and in countries like Haiti that have already lost their forests, biofuels could help reestablish forests and offer more affordable and sustainable energy options. Similarly, information in the story about a recent study, which claims land-use changes brought about by increased biofuel production are producing more greenhouse gas emissions (Searchinger et al.), only tells half the story. What is missing is that Searchinger's methodologies have been widely questioned by respected biofuel life-cycle analysis researchers such as Michael Wang, with the Center for Transportation Research at the Argonne National Laboratory, who counter that Searchinger et al. used outdated, if not incorrect, data to reach their conclusions.

The story's reference to a UN food expert's dramatic condemnation of biofuel production fails to mention that the UN Food and Agriculture Organization almost immediately distanced itself from the remarks. The head of the UN Food Program recently noted that higher energy costs, erratic weather and low stocks are big factors contributing to the high cost of food around the globe.

Of particular concern is the ready dismissal of emerging technologies that will allow us to produce next generation biofuels from non-food feedstocks sustainably grown on underutilized and marginal lands not suited for food production. Conservation tillage and other agriculture and forestry residue management practices used to produce biomass energy feedstocks can also provide a constant buildup of soil organic carbon. Researchers at Ohio State have concluded that the total potential of carbon sequestration in U.S. soils, counting croplands, grazing lands and woodlands, is nearly 600 million metric tons of carbon, or the equivalent of more than 2,200 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions - about 33 percent of total U.S. emissions.

We encourage the editors of Time to contribute to a much-needed discussion of the role renewable resources will play in improving national security and the environment while moving us closer to energy independence. We simply ask that they demand a basic level of accuracy and balance from the stories that they run.

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EPIC's Executive Director Toni Nuerenberg response to Time article entitled "The Clean Energy Scam"

technorati BIOconversion, bioenergy, biofuels, ethanol

WIREC Side Events: Communicating the Truth about BioEnergy

The urgent need to clearly communicate with all stakeholders the benefits and challenges of moving forward with bioenergy technology solutions to climate change, fossil fuel dependence, and environmental distress has been clearly evident in the national media in the last few weeks.

Price BIOstock Services in conjunction with the National Wildlife Federation, BIOenergy BlogRing, and the American Council on Renewable Energy is happy to present two exciting panels to discuss BioEnergy and Communications on Thursday, March 6th.

Bioenergy & Communications Session I:
Engaging Stakeholder Involvement

Thursday, March 6, 2008, 12:00 - 1:30 PM, Room: 159 B

The next 15 years will witness exponential growth of new bioenergy technologies, regulatory changes, incentive programs, employment opportunities, industrial development, and environmental impacts of importance to stakeholder communities. Without broad public understanding and support it will be difficult to achieve the necessary shift of the energy paradigm from fossil to renewable energy. What are the best ways to build political will, inform the media, engage stakeholders, and address skepticism about the many changes that are coming? Four experts will lead the discussion about public outreach and new methods that can be used to help investors, developers, utilities, academia, politicians, the public, and the media communicate clearly about sustainable renewable bioenergy.

Moderator: Jim Pierobon, ACORE Communications.
Speakers: Dr. Kevin Kephart - Sun Grant Initiative and BioWeb; Scott Miller - BIOenergy BlogRing and Price BIOstock Services; Greg Krissek - ICM Incorporated and EPIC; Richard Forrest - National Wildlife Federation and BioEnergy Wiki.

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Bioenergy & Communications Session II:
Sustainable Cures to Climate Change

Thursday, March 6, 2008, 5:00 - 6:30 PM, Room: 155

Implementing bioenergy provisions of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act will deeply impact urban, forest, and farming communities throughout the U.S. The repercussions are global. Stakeholders at every level will expect their policymakers, technologists, and developers to work together to provide clean, sustainable, and environmentally just pathways for implementation that will protect the environment while reducing the threat of global warming. To be successful and marketable worldwide, the new developments must be flexible, scalable, and sustainable - both economically and environmentally. A panel of four experts will examine how the environmental status quo can be improved upon using bioenergy technologies.

Moderator: C. Scott Miller - BIOenergy BlogRing and Price BIOstock Services.
Speakers: Dr. Daniel Kammen - UC/Berkeley; Craig Evans - ALICO; Barbara Bramble - National Wildlife Federation; Marcia Patton-Mallory - USDA/Forest Service.

Price BIOstock Services will be happy to answer questions about woody biomass and bioenergy at WIREC Trade Show Booth #443 throughout the conference.

Coskata and GM partner to advance syngas to ethanol technology

Congratulations are due to venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, President Bill Roe of Coskata, and General Motors President Rick Wagoner on their announced partnership to advance the vested interest GM has made in the production of cellulosic ethanol. While focusing much of their attention on building advanced E-Flex technology to reduce the need for liquid fuels, GM certainly recognizes that ethanol is going to be a major form of renewable fuel globally during most of the coming century.

Now the hard part - making all the pieces work. The paradigm shift from fossil to renewable energy will touch the everyday lives of virtually every being on the planet either directly or indirectly. "Getting from zero to five" is a footrace that will be the hard part because the development of base technology is involved. "Getting from 5 to 60" will be much easier because it will be a race of marketing vision and muscle to determine the winners.

Can Costaka refine their process and make it viable at commercially scale? What feedstock sources will they focus their attention on? At what point will they be in a position to compete with other cellulosic processes that have broader recognition and more developed pilot facilities? Will enzymatic or thermochemical processes co-exist in the future or will one nullify the need for the other?

Compared to the national political races going on, we are likely to feel the impact of this global industrial competition for much longer. Pull up a chair and pass the popcorn - assuming that corn is not all used to make ethanol!

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GM, Coskata Partner in Breakthrough Ethanol Technology
Process Makes Ethanol from Renewables Including Trash and Old Tires

DETROIT, Jan. 13 – General Motors announced a partnership Sunday with Coskata Inc. to use the company’s breakthrough technology which affordably and efficiently makes ethanol from practically any renewable source, including garbage, old tires and plant waste.

Coskata, which was formally introduced as part of GM’s opening press conference at the North American International Auto Show, uses a proprietary process that leverages patented microorganisms and bioreactor designs to produce ethanol for less than $1 a gallon, about half of today’s cost of producing gasoline.

“We are very excited about what this breakthrough will mean to the viability of biofuels and, more importantly, to our ability to reduce dependence on petroleum,” GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said.

Coskata’s process addresses the issues most often raised about grain-based ethanol production.

According to Argonne National Laboratory, which analyzed Coskata’s process, for every unit of energy used, it generates up to 7.7 times that amount of energy, and it reduces CO2 emissions by up to 84 percent compared with a well-to-wheel analysis of gasoline.

Coskata’s process uses less than a gallon of water to make a gallon of ethanol compared with three gallons or more for other processes.

Coskata, based in Warrenville, IL, can use its technology practically anywhere in the world that a carbon-based feedstock is available.

For GM, this could lead to joint efforts in markets such as China, where growing energy demand and a new energy research center could jumpstart a significant effort into ethanol made from biomass, Wagoner said.

More immediately, GM will receive the first ethanol from Coskata’s pilot plant in the fourth quarter of 2008. The fuel will be used in testing vehicles at GM’s Milford Proving Grounds.

GM is the auto industry leader in offering consumers a choice of flex-fuel cars and trucks that run on either ordinary gasoline or E85 – a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent, or any combination of the two. GM produces more than 1 million flex-fuel vehicles a year and has 3.5 million on the road globally.

In the U.S., GM has more than 2.5 million flex-fuel models on the road and is committed to making half its production flex-fuel capable by 2012. GM sells 11 E85-capable models this year and will increase that to more than 15 models for the 2009 model year.

The next logical step was making the fuel more readily available. GM has worked in partnerships with businesses, universities and non-governmental organizations over the last two years to grow the U.S. infrastructure for E85, helping to open 300 fueling stations in 15 states.

The timing of the GM-Coskata partnership coincides with President Bush’s signing of the Energy Independence and Security Act last month, which calls for a dramatic increase in biofuels – from 7.5 billion gallons in 2012 to 36 billion gallons in 2022. Corn- and other grain-based ethanol are expected to account for up to 15 billion gallons of that new standard with 21 billion gallons coming from cellulosic and biomass sources.

One of the criticisms of cellulosic ethanol is that its development is several years away. Coskata CEO and President Bill Roe says the next generation ethanol is here today.

“We will have our first commercial-scale plant making 50 to 100 million gallons of ethanol running in 2011, and that includes the two years it will take to build the plant,” Roe said. “Success in delivering on our business plan means that we could account for a significant portion of the biomass ethanol mandated in the new Renewable Fuels Standard within 10 years.”

The partnership includes an undisclosed equity stake for GM, joint research and development into emissions technology and investigation into making ethanol from GM facilities’ waste and non-recyclable vehicle parts.

The Coskata partnership builds on a quarter century of GM research into biofuels and is part of GM’s five-fold approach to providing energy alternatives for automobiles. These include continued efforts in making fuel-efficient engines; E85 ethanol; hybrids; electrically driven vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells.

“There is no question in my mind that making ethanol more widely available is absolutely the most effective and environmentally sound solution,” Wagoner said. “And it’s one that can be acted on immediately.”

About GM
General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM), the world’s largest automaker, has been the annual global industry sales leader for 76 years. Founded in 1908, GM today employs about 280,000 people around the world. With global headquarters in Detroit, GM manufactures its cars and trucks in 33 countries. In 2006, nearly 9.1 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, HUMMER, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn and Vauxhall. GM’s OnStar subsidiary is the industry leader in vehicle safety, security and information services. More information on GM can be found at www.gm.com.

About Coskata
Coskata is a biology-based renewable energy company for economies dependent on oil. Using proprietary microorganisms and transformative bioreactor designs, the company will produce ethanol for under US$1.00 per gallon almost anywhere in the world, from a wide variety of input material. Founded in 2006 by leading renewable energy investors and entrepreneurs, including Khosla Ventures, Advanced Technology Ventures, and GreatPoint Ventures, Coskata has compiled a strong IP portfolio of patents, trade secrets, know-how and assembled a first-class team for the development and commercialization of its compelling syngas-to-ethanol process technology. For more information, please visit www.coskata.com.

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technorati bioenergy, biofuels, ethanol, hydrolysis, syngas, cellulosic

Bioenergy's "Top Five" List.

From a speech delivered at the Capitol Hill Club in Washington DC on November 28, 2007.

Besides writing blogs, I am a Communications Director* of the Biomass Coordinating Council (BCC) of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE). ACORE is a Washington-based advocacy association that promotes all renewable energy forms. The BCC, led by the intrepid Bill Holmberg, focuses attention on bioenergy technology, as well as environmental and economic sustainability issues.

America is still the “Can do” leader of the world. It is heartening to travel to recent national and international conferences, expos, and workshops to sense the excitement and see the vision that researchers, government agencies, technologists, and investors are proposing as we face the daunting challenges of the new millennium.

It is time to assess bioenergy’s attributes to see how they fit into the renewable energy paradigm shift sweeping the nation.

We need to help American business, community, educational, state, and federal leaders to understand the opportunities these attributes represent. Doing so will not only raise awareness of bioenergy, but also help persuade policy makers to ACT NOW to support our critically important research, development, and deployment with new policies, loan guarantees, and incentives.

The five key messages are:
1. Bioenergy can convert solar energy into liquid fuel.
2. Bioenergy can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
3. Bioenergy can remediate ecological disasters.
4. Bioenergy can revive depressed economies.
5. Bioenergy can expand energy freedom of choice.

Each message above is linked to article that briefly outlines how bioenergy is able to accomplish these socially beneficial actions. They are at the heart of what motivates leaders from all walks of life to get involved in the most significant paradigm shift of our time.

*In the interest of full disclosure, I am also a Marketing Consultant for Price BIOstock Services - the logistics support company responsible for procuring, delivering, and preparing woody biomass to paper and pulp mills and biorefineries – like Range Fuels’ landmark cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in Georgia.

technorati BIOconversion, bioenergy, biofuels, legislation