This proposal includes various new renewable fuel pathways that will enhance the ability of the biofuels industry to supply advanced biofuels, including cellulosic biofuels, to the market.

EPA is proposing to allow renewable diesel, renewable naphtha, and renewable electricity (used in electric vehicles) produced from landfill biogas to generate cellulosic or advanced biofuel RINs. Renewable compressed natural gas (CNG)/liquid natural gas (LNG) produced from landfill biogas are also proposed to generate cellulosic RINs. EPA is also proposing to allow butanol that meets the 50% GHG emission reduction threshold to qualify as advanced biofuel. The rulemaking also proposes a clarification regarding the definition of crop residue to include corn kernel fiber and proposes an approach to determining the volume of cellulosic renewable identification numbers (RINs) produced from various cellulosic feedstocks.

Further, this proposal discusses and seeks comment on the potential to allow for commingling of compliant products at the retail facility level as long as the environmental perfor­mance of the commingled fuels would not be detrimental. The action also addresses “nameplate capacity” issues for certain production facilities that do not claim ex­emption from the 20% GHG reduction threshold. Several other amendments to the RFS program are included.  READ MORE

…Sen. (Debbie) Stabenow (D-MI) also introduced the Qualifying Renewable Chemical Production Tax Credit Act in 2012, which would provide renewable chemical and biobased products access to tax credits that are available to other industries. Companion legislation was introduced in the House by the bipartisan team of Reps. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.) and Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.). BIO is backing efforts by both Stabenow and Pascrell to reintroduce the legislation very soon this year.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) this year introduced a bill that would open up Master Limited Partnership tax structures to renewable technologies, including renewable chemicals. And the Farm Bill legislation passed by the Senate Agriculture Committee and currently being considered by the full Senate also provides eligibility for renewable chemicals companies to participate in the agriculture energy programs.

…

The U.S. must meet the challenge of competing for a share in the $2.4 trillion worldwide clean energy market and $3.5 trillion global chemicals market. Capturing a percentage of this market will create hundreds of thousands of employment opportunities and shift the balance of trade in the chemical sector.

Now that the renewable chemical industry is beginning to achieve recognition and parity with other renewable technologies, the industry should look to speak with a clear, unified voice. The disunity and proliferation of advanced biofuel groups that occurred in the wake of Congress’ adoption of the Renewable Fuel Standard is a cautionary tale.

Speak with one voice

Individual companies and trade organizations seeking temporary advantage under the rules eroded Congressional support and allowed opponents of the policy to launch a divide-and-conquer strategy. The biofuels industry is now fighting a pitched battle to preserve the RFS.  READ MORE

This week in California, a research team from Shota Atsumi’s lab at the University of California, Davis have reported that they engineered Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942, a strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria, to grow without the need for light.

…In meat production, you use the animal directly and slaughter it in the process. In milking, you use the animal’s byproduct, and the animal lives. Is it more efficient to make biomass, then kill it, then transform it into something useful, or simply to make it into something useful from the start?

…

One limitation? The problem of light. Imposing some limitations on the production of targeted products to the daylight hours — more importantly, restricting the locations to places that had good solar insolation. Which don’t always line-up perfectly well with the availability of water, or CO2, or low-cost-land. Plus, you had the problem of photosynthetic efficiency itself — which never gets above 10 percent (a fraction of the efficiency of solar PV).

That was one of the reasons why our March report on “Biofuels from a raging fireball? No fossil energy, no light, no biomass, no sugars. No kidding” drew so much attention.

…

“Where the hydrogen coming from?” asked a number of astute readers at the time. And for sure, it was coming not from water, but from hydrogen gas. Which is generally made from fossil fuels (though it can be made renewably).

So, how is this latest news from UCD an advance of the storyline? In two ways — one, we haven’t seen the requirement for hydrogen gas: water seems to be able to provide the hydrogen. Secondly, we note that the targeted products that Bossie can make include, to date, isobutyraldehyde and isobutanol.

The former, a precursor for the synthesis of other chemicals, and the latter is the well-known gasoline substitute that companies such as Gevo, Butamax and Green Biologics are chasing. Isobutanol can be directly blended as a gasoline feedstock, today.  READ MORE

In an exclusive interview with Oilprice.com, Thoma discusses:

•    What we can expect from gas prices this summer and beyond
•    Why clean energy won’t see an dramatic investment rival, for now
•    How political feasibility, not economic feasibility, drives the ethanol mandate
•    Why the ethanol mandate might eventually be nixed
•    How we weigh the free market against government intervention
•    Why there is little momentum for a US-wide carbon market
•    What we learned from the global financial crisis
•    Why our best hope for strong economic growth is in exports

Interview by James Stafford of Oilprice.com

…

Mark Thoma: With all of the budget pressures we have seen in recent years, I have a hard time imagining increased support for new investment from the government, so any increase will have to come from the private sector. The incentive for the private sector to undertake these investments depends upon the price of energy – as the price of energy rises alternatives become more attractive – but as noted in the answer to the previous question I see the price of energy continuing to rise, but do not expect the dramatic, permanent spikes in prices needed to spur a substantial increase in investment.

…

Mark Thoma: I think the ethanol mandate is economically feasible in the sense that it could persist, but I don’t think it’s the best way to address our reliance on imported energy or the environmental issues associated with energy use. It’s the political feasibility that seems to be most at issue, and the power struggle between states with grain interests and states with interests in traditional fossil fuels will determine the outcome. I expect the ethanol mandate will eventually be overcome, particularly since the discovery of new domestic energy supplies undermines one of the strongest arguments for it, energy independence.

James Stafford: On a broader level, is US energy policy missing the mark by interfering too much to boost renewable energy against fossil fuels? Should the free market reign?

Mark Thoma: When significant market failures are present, the free market does not produce the best possible allocation of resources and government intervention can help. Thus, the question for me is whether significant market failures exist in renewable energy research. I believe that they do, and that, if anything, we are not doing enough to promote new energy technology. This is not unique to renewable energy, such market failures are common and underlie government issued patents, research grants, and so on. However, let me be clear that I am not in favor of government “picking winners” by, say, favoring particular companies or products, but I am in favor of generous support for basic research in this area.   READ MORE

This Special Issue aims to provide evidence-based information for biomass demand and supply dynamics in the EU27 states and give up-to-date answers to a number of concerns about the sustainable options for the European ‘biomass futures’.  READ MORE

Key papers:

Cascading use: a systematic approach to biomass beyond the energy sector

Future GHG emissions more efficiently controlled by land-use policies than by bioenergy sustainability criteria

Analyzing the bio-energy supply system in the context of the 20-20-20 targets and the 2050 decarbonization targets in the EU

In Australia, the focus has been on more prosaic biofuel feedstock, such as sugarcane, or experimental crops such as the oilseed-bearing pongamia tree and emerging sources such as microalgae.

Airlines, such as Qantas and Virgin Australia, aim to source 5 per cent of their aviation fuel from sustainable biofuels by 2020.

…

The release on Wednesday of the results of a three-year study led by the University of Queensland reveal the nascent biofuels sector has the potential to become competitive with jet fuel sourced from oil – but only if targeted investments are made.

…

The research, published in the journal Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, found that using current proven technologies, the oil price would have to almost triple to be competitive with sugarcane, at $301 per barrel.

Focusing research on developing higher fermentation yields in the sucrose processing, however, could lower the viability benchmark for sugarcane to $168 a barrel. While more expensive than current oil prices of about $100-110 a barrel, the cost is no longer as stratospheric, especially if the potential for future global carbon prices are added to the equation.

…

Pongamia seeds, which can have a content of 40 per cent oil, would need a crude oil price of $374 per barrel to be competitive. This sources has the potential to drop to $255 if seed-oil content can increased, the study found.

Microalgae remains a long shot, needing a $1343 per barrel oil price to be competitive, although improved harvesting processes could reduce that by more than two-thirds, to $385 per barrel, the study found.  READ MORE   Abstract

The Defense Department’s biofuels program is expected to remain strictly a research-and-development effort. The Pentagon does not plan to buy commercial-scale quantities of biofuels until their prices are comparable to petroleum products. The Defense Logistics Agency last year procured 450,000 gallons of advanced drop-in biofuels. Over the next three years, the Navy agreed to spend $170 million to support advanced biofuels, with matching amounts from both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Energy. Under the Defense Production Act, the government is allowed to invest in an industry that it considers important for national security.

…

Current first-generation corn-based ethanol is a dollar cheaper per gallon than gasoline, he said. Manufacturers are now transitioning to second-generation cellulosic ethanol, which will be made from feedstocks that are not in the food supply, such as corn stover, wood chips and elephant grass. “Within a few years, cellulosic ethanol will be the same price as corn ethanol,” Welsh said.

The military’s advanced biofuels — made predominantly from camelina plants and algae — are expensive, but there will be cheaper alternatives once commercial production of cellulosic biofuel ramps up, (Hugh C.) Welsh (president of DSM North America, a subsidiary of global giant Royal DSM) said.

…“The oil and gas sectors will continue to push their talking points about biofuel being a ‘phantom’ that doesn’t exist in commercial scale.”

…

One of the disagreements among experts is over whether biofuels in the long term will remain mostly first generation — made from corn or sugar — or whether advanced biofuels — cellulosic-ethanol and biosynthetic gas — could eventually dominate markets, the study said. “Cellulosic ethanol plants are still considerably more expensive to build than corn ethanol plants in the United States, by a factor of two to three in higher investment costs,” REN21 reported. “Costs will have to decline significantly, although cellulosic feedstocks are cheaper.”

Some analysts believe commercialization is close at hand, while others believe it may never occur, the report said. Factors include developing cheaper enzymes, feedstock prices, technological learning, and sustainability issues. A variety of advanced biofuels are in research stages that may one day achieve commercial viability, the study said. “Experts pointed to several possibilities, including biomass-gasification-to liquid conversion, sugar-to-biodiesel conversion using yeast fermentation, bacteria for producing biodiesel from cellulosic materials, and algae as a potential biofuel feedstock.” READ MORE

…

To date, more than 280 produces in 445 states have received a total of $192.5 million in payments under the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. According to the USDA, the program has supported the production of more than 3 billion gallons of advanced biofuel and the equivalent of more than 36 billion kilowatt hours of electricity.

Advanced ethanol producers that will receive awards under the latest round of funding include:

- Central Indiana Ethanol LLC, $534,769
- Western Plains Energy LLC, $1.219 million
- Nesika Energy LLC, $72,103
- Arkalon Ethanol LLC, $69,347
- Kansas Ethanol LLC, $66,247
- Prairie Horizon Agri-Energy LLC, $60,217
- Bonanza Bioenergy LLC, $44,492
- Reeve Agri Energy Inc., $13,953
- Chief Ethanol Fuel Inc., $16,314
- Cornhusker Energy Lexington LLC, $2,037
- Nugen Energy LLC, $2,100
- White Energy Inc., $160,072
- MXI Environmental LLC, $1,302   READ MORE and MORE (US Department of Agriculture) and MORE (List of recipients by state)

For the second consecutive year the event brings together invitees of the highest level to discuss about sugar and ethanol global markets, with a specific focus on the role of Brazil – the world’s largest producer and exporter of sugar and ethanol.

More than 150 world business leaders will attend this conference, held in one of the main executive centers in Europe, the elegant premises of the IOD, Institute of Directors, in London.

The conference is an excellent opportunity to engage in debates on key subjects of the sugar and ethanol industry and for networking with leaders of the sugar and ethanol agro industrial complex and financial markets.  READ MORE