by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …We have spoken to farmers, local business owners, environmentalists, community development officials, engine developers, scientists, policy makers, producers, investors, lenders, blenders, wholesalers, retailers, and end users. We have visited development projects on four continents. We have given it our all.

What works?  Our question to you has been: what works? Our quest: to assemble your collective view into a path from start-up to success.  READ MORE

Part 1:  The Challenges of Advanced Biofuels  

• Some principles of development
• • 1. First do no harm.
  • 2. Less is more.
  • 3. Add ingredients slowly and mix thoroughly.
• Step one – the first generation biofuel plant
• The first problem of demonstrations: deciding what needs to be demonstrated
• Ethanol is the means to a sustainable end
• Your bug may be magic, but how are your grower relations?
• Biomass aggregation is not as easy as falling off a log
• The biomass opportunity in a sustainable community
• Corn not your local crop? Barley, sugarcane welcome too
• Why first generation biofuels are a component of advanced biofuels projects

Part II – Collecting Cellulosic Biomass

• Talking to growers about biomass
• Commit to the community, and they will commit back
• Creating a positive farmer-to-farmer vibe for cellulosic  biomass
• Replacing natural gas or other fossil fuels in our process
• Focus for R&D – take all the biomass off the field, not just cobs
• Impacting the tangibles creates ambassadors for the intangibles
• Whoa- we’re far from done – where we want value streams, we have emission streams

Part III:  Adding Renewable Chemicals Production

• Making renewable chemicals – the why and who and how
• Building our community of upstream growers and downstream partners
• The renewable chemicals partner as strategic investor
• The practicalities of raising affordable capital for commercial-scale deployments
• Feedstock choices
• Acquiring must-have skills in risk management
• Adding direct and indirect value to the communities we serve

Part IV:  Adding Advanced Biofuels

• How much capacity?
• What production technology, and what feedstocks, will we use?

Part V:  Add Algal Fuels 

• The CO2 wellspring
• How much algae?
• The land footprint?
• Can algae grow economically in the ethanol belt?
• The economics
• The market for our algal fuels
• The value proposition for our community of growers

Part VI:  Add BioAmmonia

• The why and the how
• How much cost and carbon are avoided?
• Impacting our community of growers in 4 ways
• Adding bioammonia can add to profitability as well as sustainability

Part VII:  Adding Cellulosic Diesel

• Why clean diesel?
• Building our sustainable community
• Magic bugs or bioforming: two paths for bioprocessing
• The economics and impact
• Where does money flow from fossil fuel purchasing?
• Opportunities in the Low Carbon Fuel Standards

Part VIII:  Adding Lowest Cost Feedstocks

• Trap grease and other hard-to-handle feedstocks
• Fats, oils and greases from wastewater
• Municipal solid waste
• Industrial waste streams
• Adding coal as a low-cost feedstock and CO2 source

Part IX:  Adding Solar, Wind, Other Renewables

• Opportunities in solar
• Opportunities in wind energy
• Opportunities in geothermal energy
• Opportunities in blue energy – tidal, wave or riverflow
• Energy, and the community it serves

Part X:  Bringing it all Together: How do I get it done, make it happen?

• T’aint What You Do – It’s the Way That You Do it
• Fuels of the community, by the community, for the community
• Howdy, pardner
• A catalyst for good things far beyond fuel

 

Editor’s Note:  This series is one of the most valuable quick reads you will ever find for any price–and it’s free.  Valuable for potential investors, financiers, growers, political leaders, community advocates, teachers and students of sciences and social sciences, and for those with a general interest in biofuels and advanced biofuels. 

The strategic path, philosophy of development and insights about the biofuels and renewable fuels industry are well-organized, succinct and applicable to any place on the globe.  This is a must-read for beginners and industry professionals alike.   —Joanne Ivancic

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