POET, farmers prepare for first commercial biomass harvest

The first commercial harvest of biomass for Project Liberty, POET’s cellulosic ethanol initiative, will take place this fall in northwest Iowa.

The biomass will consist of corn cobs and light stover being collected by 85 farmers in the area around Emmetsburg, Iowa.  POET will use the biomass to produce cellulosic ethanol at its Emmetsburg plant, starting in early 2012. 

Project Liberty director Jim Sturdevant says after experimenting with several different cob-collection methods, the farmers have settled on corn cob bales rather than loose cobs as the primary feedstock.

“The combine just dumps a windrow behind it as it harvests the grain, and later a tractor pulling a baler will come along and collect that windrow,” says Sturdevant.  “That seems to be an approach that the majority of the farmers have chosen for this fall.”

POET has been working with Iowa State University to determine if there are any issues related to soil nutrient and erosion control when harvesting biomass.  Sturdevant says the research data shows that collecting biomass bales will not negatively impact good land.

“Farmers can be very confident in removing 25 percent of the above-ground stover from their fields without harming, or without impacting, the soil,” he says.

Sturdevant says farmers will be removing about one ton of biomass per acre this fall.  They will receive 40 dollars per bone dry ton for their corn cobs. 

Construction of a new biomass storage facility is now underway at the Emmetsburg site.  It will house 23-thousand tons of biomass bales.  POET expects to receive 56-thousand tons of baled corn cobs and light stover this fall.

AUDIO: Jim Sturdevant (10 min MP3)

Developing better plants for bioenergy

To accelerate the development of new energy technologies, the Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have announced a joint program aimed at accelerating the genetic breeding programs to develop plants better suited for bioenergy production.

“Developing a domestic source of renewable energy will create jobs and wealth in rural America, combat global warming, replace our dependence on foreign oil, and build a stronger foundation for the 21st century economy,” Secretary Vilsack said. “This scientific investment will lay the foundation for a source of fuel made from renewable sources.”

DOE will provide $6.9 million in funding for seven projects, USDA will award $2 million to fund 2 projects.

DOE-funded projects include:

• USDA-ARS Western Regional Research Center, Albany, Calif., $949,348

• University of California, Berkeley, Calif., $793,413

• University of Delaware, Newark, Del., $868,794

• University of Georgia, Athens, Ga., $1,340,000

• University of Illinois, Champaign, Ill., $1,165,900

• University of Missouri, Columbia, Mo, $1,106,656

• Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, Danville, Va., $734,759

USDA-funded projects include:

• University of Illinois, Champaign, Ill, $1,000,000

• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, $1,000,000

Ethanol production and demand soars

Ethanol production and demand continue to soar.

Ethanol production reached an all-time high in June of this year at just over 854-thousand barrels per day, according to data released by the Energy Information Administration.  That’s up eight-thousand barrels per day from May and more than 160-thousand higher than June 2009.  Based on data from the first six months of 2010, U.S. ethanol production is running at 12-point-87 billion gallons on an annualized basis.

Meanwhile, the Renewable Fuels Association says ethanol demand has also reached an all-time high of 857-thousand barrels per day, up from 721-thousand one year ago.

Wisconsin ethanol plant gets stimulus dollars

Ace Ethanol LLC in Stanley is getting $595,000 from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to expand its operations. The money will be used as part of an $850,000 installation of heat exchange equipment to reduce waste and improve efficiency at the plant.

Ace was the first large-scale ethanol plant in Wisconsin; the 40-million gallon facility first came on-line in June or 2002.

Biomass generating plant advances in Wisconsin

A proposed biomass plant in central Wisconsin is one step closer to reality. The Rothschild Village Board of Appeals approved the WE Energies $250 million project which will use wood waste to generate electricity and provide steam to a local paper mill. About 275 people attended the meeting Thursday with some voicing concerns about noise, truck traffic, air emissions and the height of proposed smokestacks while others supported the project citing the jobs it will create.

The project must still be approved by the entire Rothschild Village Board, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

MO Corn to urge President on E-15

Like the Illinois Corn Growers Association, Missouri corn leaders will be writing to President Obama urging him to get the EPA moving on higher ethanol blends. Gary Marshall, CEO of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, says on E-15 and many other issues, the EPA “is not ag friendly.”

“We think the EPA right now is just a hotbed of activism and we’re very concerned about that,”  Marshall told Brownfield at the Missouri State Fair. “So, we want to see the White House intervene and help straighten out those folks over there. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have E15 today and that’s what we’re going to tell the White House.”

Illinois corn and ethanol groups, along with fuel retailers have sent a letter to the White House urging President Obama to approve the immediate use of 12 percent ethanol in the nation’s fuel supply since EPA continues to delay its decision E-15.

AUDIO: Gary Marshall (4 min. MP3)

Some IL fuel retailers sign E12 letter to Obama

House Ag Committee chair touts biofuels

Some straight talk on biofuels from House Agriculture Committee chair Collin Peterson.  He says it’s time to end what he calls “the political correctness and environmental extremism” that’s holding back the biofuels industry.

“You know, this country can’t afford all this pie-in-the-sky stuff—we need to get back to the basics of what is the problem,” Peterson says. “The problem is we’re spending a huge amount of money in the Middle East and we’re putting ourselves in jeopardy.  We could produce 30-35 percent of the motor fuel here and replace all of the oil in the Middle East.”

Peterson says doing so would create jobs and make the country stronger. “I mean, it just makes so much sense,” he says. “But because some people think that—now they’ve decided that ethanol is causing the rainforests to be cut down, and all this other foolishness.  We’ve gotten off track and we need to get back to basics.”

Peterson made his comments in an interview at an ag leadership conference in Minnesota this week.

Vilsack: Consider ‘modification’ of VEETC

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he will encourage Congress to continue the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit, also known as VEETC.  But Vilsack hints Congress should also consider a “modification” of the ethanol tax credit in order to put more funding into ethanol infrastructure.

In comments to reporters at the Iowa State Fair this week, Vilsack said the tax credit is still important to the growth of the ethanol industry.

“While it may be mature in the Midwest, it’s relatively in the process of being developed in other parts of the country,” Vilsack says, “and we want this to be an industry that has nationwide implications—we want it to be in all parts of the country if we’re to reach the 36-billion gallon threshold that Congress has set.  When we do, it’s going to create tremendous opportunity in rural America.”

But Vilsack also hinted some support for Growth Energy’s recent proposal to trade current government incentives for more assistance in developing the nation’s renewable fuels infrastructure.

“I think we have the capacity—with sort of a modification to the credit—to consider ways in which we could direct resources as incentives to help build the tanks and the distribution dispenser systems,” he says.

Vilsack says that could include government incentives to install more blender pumps and manufacture more flex fuel vehicles.

AUDIO: Tom Vilsack (2:30 MP3)

Oil company buys two Iowa ethanol plants

Another oil company has entered the ethanol business.

Flint Hills Resources, a subsidiary of Wichita, Kansas-based Koch Industries, was recently the top bidder for ethanol plants in Menlo and Shell Rock, Iowa.  The company outbid the plants’ builder and original owners, Hawkeye Energy, which lost control of them during bankruptcy.  Hawkeye emerged from bankruptcy last month.

Flint Hills is an oil refiner, with refineries in Texas, Minnesota and Alaska.  Its parent company, Koch Industries, has a crude oil pipeline in Iowa and also a finished fuel products terminal in Bettendorf, Iowa.

The two plants have annual production capacities of 100 million gallons each.  A Flint Hills spokesman said the company will take over operations of the plants in September and run them under the Flint Hills name.

In announcing the purchase, Flint Hills’ officials said they are very optimistic about the future for ethanol.  They also reiterated their opposition to ethanol mandates and subsidies, saying ethanol can be competitive without them.

Biodiesel product offered to clean up the Gulf

With funding from the USDA and United Soybean Board, a biochemist developed a green product from biodiesel that has been put to the test in removing oil spills – which he hopes to use in the Gulf of Mexico.

Randall von Wedel is the founder of CytoCulture International, which pioneered the method of using a bio-based solvent from methyl esters, the chemical yielded in biodiesel production, to remove harmful oil. He tells Brownfield it is sprayed on oil-covered beaches, vegetation, marshes and rocky shorelines.

“And then, followed with a spray of water, actually release the mixture so that the oil and our product would be recovered simultaneously by very simple, conventional technology that you see all the time in television,” says von Wedel.

Unlike other methods of just dispersing the oil – he says – this method removes it.

Von Wedel says they’re ready to get to work, “Although it’s been rather frustrating, we and many other companies have been on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity. We’ve only recently had inquiries from contractors that suggest we may be working with the Gulf.”

Von Wedel says they’ll likely participate in an upcoming pilot test using the Cytosol to remove oil from stockpiled sand in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

 National Biodiesel Board

AUDIO: Randall von Wedel (7 min. MP3)

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