…The Biofuels Company Accelerator is part of an effort by the Biofuels Center to fulfill the plan of developing North Carolina’s Biofuels Campus in Oxford, N.C. The Accelerator will help to:

• Build a new economic sector
• Increase entrepreneurism
• Create new businesses
• Enhance job creation
• Increase the tax revenue base
• Build a positive perception of the state

By helping to create a critical mass of people and companies in the biofuels industry, North Carolina is emerging as a place recognized and respected for its leadership in the biofuels field. Such a concentration of excellence attracts and facilitates grant and other capital funding. The Accelerator, which is one small component of the statewide effort by the Biofuels Center, provides space for research and development, and connects biofuels companies with additional service providers. In this capacity, the Accelerator will actively contribute to the statewide goal to build a new, large, sustainable industry across North Carolina and the state’s goal to replace 10 percent of the petroleum it uses with locally grown and produced biofuels.

The Accelerator has 6,500 square feet that includes eight laboratories and 10 offices for lease by biofuels-related small companies.  READ MORE

While this trend is bound to continue, markets and trade developments are still strongly linked to support and trade policies. Furthermore, the biodiesel industry is strongly linked to other sectors (agriculture and mineral oil industry in particular) and faces significant market disturbances some of which have led to various inefficiencies in the past. Due to the pace of this market development, a methodological assessment and understanding of the numerous influencing factors was needed to reduce uncertainties and risks for those involved.  READ MORE  Download Study (German Union for the Promotion of Oils and Protein Plant and Ecofys Consultancy)

The “Path to Alternative Jet Fuel Readiness” briefing document was developed by the CAAFI R&D Team to outline the process of fuel development, qualification and certification and the role of CAAFI in facilitating the process. It is intended for use by individuals and organizations interested in producing alternative fuels.

The “Path to Fuel Readiness” document provides information on how to become involved with the aviation community, the testing and environmental evaluations required to show the fuel’s suitability for aviation use, and how to best facilitate ASTM International certification for a new fuel.

The “Path to Fuel Readiness” document also refers to several CAAFI communication tools designed to aid in the communication of both the necessary steps to be taken and the progress of alternative jet fuel projects:

1. the Fuel Readiness Level (or FRL) provides guidance on fuel technical development and certification testing;
2. the FRL Exit Criteria, a checklist detailing what is performed at each FRL level;
3. the Feedstock Readiness Level (FSRL) Tool, developed in collaboration with the US Department of Agriculture. tracks development and availability of the raw materials (or feedstocks) required to make alternative jet fuels;
4. the Environmental Progression provides guidance on performance of necessary environmental analyses.

These documents are outlined and available HERE.  READ MORE 

“Improving and modernizing access to USDA energy data and resources is essential in today’s highly competitive rural business environment,” said Vilsack. “Farmers, ranchers and small businesses across the country will benefit from easier navigation and retrieval of energy and renewable energy investments data and funding opportunities.”

USDA’s energy website provides access to all USDA energy resources, including: agricultural, forestry, economic, and social data. This is done in part through a set of new complementary web-based tools: the USDA Renewable Energy Investment Map, the Renewable Energy Tool and Energy Matrix. These tools focus on USDA’s energy, energy efficiency and renewable energy investments and projects; provide information and data to a broad spectrum of stakeholders; and empower the user with the ability to easily navigate USDA’s energy web resources. In addition, the site provides a link to all USDA state and local offices and energy resource coordinators.

Vilsack said this newly designed tool is a great step in a more coordinated and efficient effort to increase public awareness of USDA’s energy research, commercialization of new technologies, program delivery, outreach, and education activities. It also provides a form or technical assistance to people thinking about adopting an energy project. The new site replaces a previous site which was established several years ago. To access the site, go to: www.usda.gov/energy .

Secretary Vilsack said last week, “As we continue to invest in rural communities across the country, USDA has heard from producers about the need for reducing red tape and the need to modernize its services. We are answering this challenge by making the best use of taxpayer resources, and providing the best possible service to the American people.”

Since taking office, President Obama’s Administration has taken historic steps to improve the lives of rural Americans, put people back to work and build thriving economies in rural communities. From proposing the American Jobs Act to establishing the first-ever White House Rural Council – chaired by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack – the President wants the federal government to be the best possible partner for rural businesses, entrepreneurs and people who want to live, work and raise their families in rural communities.  READ MORE

• USDA Biorefinery Assistance: loan guarantees for development, construction and retrofitting of biorefinery facilities (other than corn ethanol).

• USDA Repowering Assistance: grants for retrofitting fossil fuel facilities to process biomass.

• USDA Advanced Biofuels Production: grants and guaranteed loans to expand advanced biofuelproduction facilities.

• USDA Rural Energy for America Program: grants and loan guarantees for agricultural producers and rural small businesses to improve energy efficiency, produce renewable energy and conduct energy audits.

• USDA Biomass Research and Development Grants: grants for research and development focused on cellulosic biofuels, including demonstration facilities.

• USDA Biomass Crop Assistance Program: matching payments to producers who sell crops to biomass facilities, and startup funding for purchasing perennial crops. Feedstock crops are not eligible.

• USDA Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program: low-interest loans for rural businesses that create jobs and reduce reliance on nonrenewable energy sources.  READ MORE
• DOE Improved Energy Technology Guaranteed Loans: low-interest loans for projects that reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution, including biofuels. Up to 100 percent of loan can be guaranteed.

OriginOil, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to extract oil from algae and an emerging leader in the global algae oil services industry, today announced it has co-founded a new joint venture (JV), to develop biorefineries serving U.S. and NATO military requirements for alternative fuels.

The JV, Future Energy Solutions Unlimited, Inc. (FES), with its wholly owned Australian subsidiary, Alternate Energy Systems Pty Ltd (AES), plans to carry out bankable feasibility studies supporting project development and project delivery for diversified biofuel refining centers in strategic locations around the world.

OriginOil intends to contribute its proprietary systems and process knowledge to help develop multi-feedstock blending standards that will be needed for the new biorefineries. OriginOil recentlyannounced a research agreement with the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, in part to tackle these standards.

The Energime Group of Companies has given preliminary commitments to provide $1.5 million in matching funds to AES and $3 million to FES, for a total of $4.5 million. The investments, to be finalized in early 2012, are intended to fund the planned bankable feasibility studies, leading to a key role for Energime in designing, building, operating and owning these refineries.

“We are excited to be involved in this dramatic development in biofuels production,” said Bill Sosinsky, CEO of Energime. “We look forward to co-developing projects with Larry Sirmans throughout the world in this fast growing space. We believe other key players in private industry will soon be joining OriginOil in this venture, which responds to a mission-critical need of the U.S. and NATO for strategic fuels independence.”

“Through its massive commitment to alternative fuels, the U.S. military has provided the market both opportunity and challenge, which we intend to meet,” said Larry Sirmans, CEO of FES. “Our project delivery team has a unique blend of industry-specific knowledge and experience as well as very relevant military experience.  We know and understand what both the military and the industry face to make this a reality. We are focusing on projects initially in the U.S. and Australia.  Longer term, we see tremendous opportunity for Asia, Europe and Africa.”

A veteran of large-scale biofuels project development, Sirmans was Projects Director for Agri Energy and project developer for Australian Biofuels-Swan Hill Ethanol. He is the outgoing Technical Director of Australia’s MBD Energy Ltd, a leading player in Australia’s fast-growing algae biofuels sector.

“Our venture with Larry Sirmans is a game-changer for algae because these biorefineries will rely on algae to provide high energy values and a molecular structure that is virtually identical to petroleum,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “It all starts with these feasibility studies and the setting of multi-feedstock standards. We’re excited to be helping out.”

In August, the departments of Agriculture, Energy and Navy announced their intent to invest up to $510 million during the next three years in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced drop-in biofuels to power military and commercial transportation.  READ MORE

But analysts say the risk is rising that taxpayers in many cases will not see a return on their money soon, if ever. Instead, they warn that some federally subsidized companies could be forced to shut down in coming months.

…The administration has channeled an estimated $80 billion of the stimulus recovery effort into grants and loans to clean energy and energy efficiency programs, companies and research.

Obama predicted in 2008 that green cars would create thousands of new U.S. jobs as demand soared. But in recent months, production lines and sales expectations have been dramatically scaled back.

…

“Certainly, with electric-vehicle sales, we’re not on track to meet the president’s goal,” said Brendan Bell, clean-vehicle expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “But . . . these investments are good ones toward that goal.”

Alex Molinaroli, a Johnson Controls vice president, said the funds give U.S. factories the capacity to deliver when demand arrives and position them as industry players.

“Is it worth the premium?” Molinaroli said. “We’ll have to wait a long time to see if this was a good investment or not.”

…In February, an agency report said U.S. car production “should be sufficient to achieve the goal of one million EVs by 2015,” with enough capacity to produce 44,000 of the top seven electric vehicles in 2011.

Actual sales of those models this year stand at 16,800 — roughly two-tenths of 1 percent of 2011 domestic auto sales. The vast majority were Chevrolet Volts or Nissan Leafs, which were in development long before Obama took office.   READ MORE and MORE (Washington Post Graphic:  $36 billion in loans to renewable energy technologies) and MORE (Automotive News)

Excerpt from Automotive News:  California’s air quality regulator on Wednesday proposed sweeping new rules to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, including putting 1.4 million electric, plug-in and hydrogen cars on the state’s roads by 2025.

…Still, the new rules include a provision to allow automakers that over comply with their fuel efficiency requirements across their fleet to offset their ZEV requirement, an apparent acknowledgment of the slow pace of getting such vehicles into the mass market.  READ MORE

Camelina has a number of advantages over its competitors, including using far less water, thus allowing it to be grown on marginal land, thereby not taking food acreage out of production. Furthermore camelina has a relatively short growing season of 80 to 100 days, requires no special equipment to harvest, and the silage remaining after processing can be fed to livestock and poultry, with the added side benefit of increasing their omega-3 production.

Now the U.S. Department of Agriculture has given camelina production a major shot in the arm by selecting 40 counties in Montana for a pilot program of federally backed camelina crop insurance.

…Montana Democrat Senator Jon Tester got camelina insurance included in the 2007 farm bill with his Biofuel Crop Insurance Pilot Program initiative, which he inserted into the most recent Farm Bill, because he knew the crop wouldn’t blossom in Montana unless it had the federal safety net of crop insurance. According the USDA’s announcement the insurance will be available for the 2012 crop year. Following the USDA statement Tester said, “There’s got to be a safety net. You don’t go into new crops unless you’re independently wealthy or you have a safety net. Most farmers aren’t independently wealthy.

This initiative will provide jobs and opportunities for Montana farmers–while bringing our entire nation closer to energy independence through home-grown, renewable resources. I’m pleased the USDA is finally putting some muscle behind my camelina law and providing Montana farmers the chance to expand this promising resource and create jobs in the process. If I had a bit more time, I’d be growing oilseeds on my farm and investing in biofuels myself.   READ MORE and MORE (USDA)

Launched and maintained by Carbon War Room and powered by Elsevier Biofuel TechSelect(TM), RenewableJetFuels.org will provide in-depth scrutiny of renewable jet fuel supply chain companies. In beta format, the team is collecting and reviewing over 70 key data points for jet fuel supply chain companies. The database is designed to contain the top 2000 bioenergy-related companies. Investors, engineers, operators and fuel buyers can use this data to compare suppliers on technical performance, economic viability carbon footprint, and overall sustainability.

…

Initial results show that of the companies claiming to have the potential to deliver large-scale amounts of low carbon renewable jet fuel — about 1/3 of them are credible from an economic, scalable and sustainability perspective; in their current state. In the next five years, some renewable jet fuel companies could be producing enough renewable fuel to replace 10-20% of the fuel of a typical mid-sized airline.

“One important way to reduce carbon output from airlines all over the world is to have viable renewable alternatives to jet fuel. The Carbon War Room saw that there was a gap in information regarding the available options and an opportunity to mobilize airlines to come together to support the most promising solutions through investment,” Said Sir Richard Branson. “This unique approach provided by the Carbon War Room and Elsevier is providing a wonderful platform for airlines and renewable jet fuel suppliers to come together to accelerate the delivery of cleaner approaches to air travel.”

The launch marks the start of Carbon War Room’s aviation operations, which aims to address market barriers that are currently preventing renewable jet fuels from moving from test flight stage to commercial production.  READ MORE

…Given the state of the capital markets, the USDA loan guarantee program was a critical element in our ability to secure financing to commercially demonstrate large-scale algae cultivation for crude oil replacement processes.

…Department of Agriculture loan program is very different from the Department of Energy loan program. The USDA loan program has been around since 1936 and is rooted in the Rural Electrification Act that funded thousands of municipal governments and farmers to bring electricity to rural communities. Another form of energy I might add. This investment catalyzed a series of changes in rural America that raised farm income, increased education, and made possible the construction of a process to produce, store, transport, and export food and products throughout the world. Today, American agriculture is one of the largest U.S. exporters. It’s hard to imagine its enormous success without the government stepping in and saying that “electrification in rural communities is good for all of America, and therefore we are going to help these communities build it.” The USDA is trying to do the same thing today with crude oil replacements…   READ MORE