The Standing Committee on Rural Development, in its report on the demands for grants of the land resources department, noted that the bio-fuels programme was started in 2003 and “in-principle” approval had been given for “demonstration phase” involving plantation over 300,000 hectares of bio-diesel producing non-edible oilseeds (jatropha and pongamia) on degraded forest and waste land.

…It noted that funds have not been allocated for bio-fuels programme in the current fiscal (2012-13) as the decision on its future “has been pending for long.”

…A senior official of the department told the panel that a study by TERI had found the programme to be financially unviable.  READ MORE and MORE (Biofuels Digest Asia)

Let’s go back 10 years ago, before the first Renewable Fuel Standard was passed, when there was 1.1 billion bushels of corn used for ethanol. Then, we’ll look at 2007-08, five years atom, when RFS had been implemented and RFS2 was on the way. And, we’ll look at the WASDE forecasts now available for the 2012/13 season.

The RFA’s Geoff Cooper reports, “USDA released its first estimate of the 2012/2013 corn crop size and it is a big one.  According to this estimate, USDA is projecting record US corn production of 14.79 billion bushels – up 1.7 billion bushels from the previous record of 13.09 billion bushels in 2009. USDA is also projecting corn for ethanol use to be 5 billion bushels for the marketing year running from September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013. ”

…Based on USDA’s forecast, the corn available for other uses, such as export and the feed markets (which is how field corn plays into the food market, as field corn is not used for human consumption) will have increased 31 percent during the corn ethanol era.

Let’s put this in terms of corn available for other uses, per US resident. In 2002 the population stood at 287 million, and there was 30.4 bushels of corn – that’s 1706 pounds – available per US resident for all other purposes besides corn ethanol.

Where is that today, after a decade of negative press on food vs fuel? The 2012 population stands at 313, and there are expected to be 36.6 bushels of corn – that 2050 pounds, available per US resident for all other purposes besides corn ethanol.  READ MORE

“We think the model will help policy makers and forest managers make informed decisions to maintain forest productivity while minimizing the environmental impact of managed forest plantations,” says Dr. Shiying Tian, a Postdoctoral Researcher at NC State, and lead author of a paper on the model, just released in the Journal Of Environmental Quality. “It also will help us understand how these forest systems will respond if we see changes in temperature or precipitation related to climate change,” says Dr. Mohamed Youssef, Assistant Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at NC State, and co-author.

…The new model is timely, due to a number of emerging uses for forest land. One example, the national interest in identifying new means of growing biofuels crops, like switchgrass, by planting it in the space between trees in commercial forests. DRAINMOD-FOREST will help determine whether such an “inter-crop” method is viable and sustainable. Would it hinder tree growth? What would the environmental consequences be? “We could also use the model to determine the viability and environmental impact of introducing new commercial tree species,” Tian says.  READ MORE  Abstract

The agreement provides for the construction and operation of a micro-crop scientific research program in Hainan Province, China. After the success of the research program, build-out of ten commercial-scale units of approximately 5,000 hectares will be implemented step by step at locations to be determined around the world.

…Parabel’s product platform will enhance global food and energy security, and directly address deficiencies in critical feed, food and fuel industries. The company’s protein product could qualify as the first major new plant protein source for humans since soy entered the human diet in the 1950s, while third-party tests have confirmed the value of Parabel’s animal feed applications as a local feedstock for renewable “drop-in” fuels.

“This is an exciting and unique opportunity,” said Anthony Tiarks, CEO of Parabel. “Not only does this agreement simultaneously accelerate our commercialization process and deepen our relationship with CECEP, but it also envisions the construction of commercial-scale production units outside of mainland China. We look forward to working closely with CECEP to serve critical market needs in China and beyond.”  READ MORE

…Traverse City will be home to a biodiesel fuel plant when Koucky’s Northwest Michigan Biodiesel LLC swings into full production within weeks.

…Koucky’s three-part plan begins with the Cass Road production facility, which will process locally grown canola. Koucky then plans to sell the resulting oil to local restaurants and buy back the used product. The recovered product will be processed, resulting in biodiesel fuel Koucky hopes to sell to local consumers.

He anticipates an annual yield of about 100,000 gallons.  READ MORE

…What is it with Louisiana? It seems like at-scale renewable diesel projects have never found a a better home. There’s the Dynamic Fuels project – 75 million gallons in Geismar; the 137 million gallon Diamond Green Diesel project under construction in Norco, as a JV between Valero and Darling, and now this one, clocking in at 85 million gallons.

If and when all three are completed, that’s 297 million gallons of capacity in the one state.  …All three plants find themselves in the heavy shipping corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.  READ MORE and MORE (Emerald Biofuels) and MORE (Advanced Biofuels USA)

…The biomass components will be separated to produce a number of different products, including lignin. The cellulosic components will also be extracted and converted into ethanol, which can then be used as a biofuel.  READ MORE

Food and beverage wastewaters have high biological oxygen demand (BOD) from dissolved sugars, fiber, and carbohydrates and cannot be discharged into a sanitary sewer without significant surcharges. ThermoEnergy can help eliminate the expense of BOD treatment and disposal by making concentrated sugars suitable for resale in a wide variety of applications, including feedstocks for bio-ethanol production. In addition to concentrating the sugars, the remaining water is purified to levels suitable for normal discharge.

“Instead of incurring profit-draining treatment and disposal costs, companies are studying converting those wastewater streams into revenue streams, and ThermoEnergy is ready to help,” said ThermoEnergy CEO Cary N. Bullock.

“One particularly exciting use for the recovered sugar is for feedstock for bioethanol production,” Bullock noted. “Bioethanol is garnering significant international attention and support. Cleaning up a water discharge stream and converting it to a usable bio-feedstock has a tremendous, positive impact on sustainability.”

ThermoEnergy’s system is compact in size, uses less energy than competing technology, produces higher-quality concentrations, and is very low maintenance.

In 2011, Congress eliminated corn subsidies for ethanol production. The Obama Administration, however, continues to support renewable fuel standards that call for the production of more than 15 billion gallons of renewable fuels in 2012. In addition, the U.S. Department of Defense has a goal of meeting 25% of its energy requirements from renewables by 2025. Waste sugar is expected by ThermoEnergy to become a high-value feedstock replacement for corn in conventional ethanol production.

ThermoEnergy Sugar Recovery Systems integrate best available technologies to achieve the lowest OPEX/CAPEX, and the highest concentration levels of recovered sugar. These include reverse osmosis, ThermoEnergy TurboCAST®, and ThermoEnergy CAST® systems. ThermoEnergy’s Controlled Atmospheric Separation Technology (CAST®) concentrates sugar-bearing wastewater to create up to a 65-brix sugar product for use in a variety of agricultural and renewable fuel market applications. At the same time, the system recovers 100% of the wastewater for reuse in plant operations. ThermoEnergy’s TurboCAST® systems combine controlled atmospheric separation with state-of-the-art blowers to provide maximum efficiency, flow rates in excess of 60,000 GPD, and integration with commercial water technologies for zero liquid discharge applications in the food and beverage industry.

ThermoEnergy offers several financing options for system deployment, including sale of capital equipment, leasing, and “design/build/own operate” with fixed monthly payments. Service and extended warranties are also available.  READ MORE

Genscape’s RIN Integrity program – set to launch by the end of May – offers a subscription service to biodiesel producers and obligated buyers to verify that RINs come from biodiesel plants that actually produce the alternative fuel and blendstock. The move to audit the industry comes after three cases involving at least $71mn of fraudulent RINs were uncovered over the last year. A price tag for the most recent case, made public earlier this week, has not yet been disclosed.

Small biodiesel producers are lining up to pay fees starting at roughly $1,000 to be part of the audit program, according to Genscape, although the firm declined to name any subscribers. Participants have to agree to allow outside auditors access to their operations, but Genscape would not bear liability if invalid RINs were missed, according to Genscape chief operating officer Robert Barton said.

“Their focus is more on fraud prevention, and not getting a notice of violation,” he said.  READ MORE and MORE (SGS)

Volvo and Mack are among the first OEMs to extend B20 approval both to their new 2010 EPA emissions certified engines featuring selective catalytic reduction technology, as well as to their older legacy models.  READ MORE