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Date Published:
17 May 2015

Volume 9, Issue 3


Reconsideration requested

Feature
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is calling for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stay its recent decision to streamline Argentinian biodiesel imports to the US under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) pending public review and comment. In a petition filed 30 March with EPA administrator Gina McCarthy, NBB cited the lack of public comment on the EPA decision and little transparency... [read more]

The waiting game

Feature
Domestic production and imports of biomass-based diesel in the US were down 8.3% in the first quarter of this year compared with first quarter 2014, with the slowdown again a direct response to government inaction that has left the US biodiesel industry mired in uncertainty. This has been a reoccurring theme for an industry dependent on a federal mandate to spur demand, with the first quarter... [read more]

Current price index

Feature
Strong buying appetite from both producers and endusers amid the shortfalls in prompt ethanol supplies in Rotterdam saw the ethanol markets recently jump above €600 per m3 – a level not seen since the end of 2013. Although volatility has remained quite high over the last couple of months, with prices swinging between €30 and €50 on certain days, some views persist that the... [read more]

Another drop in the ocean

Feature
It is now nine months since the oil price, after an unusually protracted run north of $100 (€93) per barrel, started its precipitous descent. Last summer the oil price was north of $110 a barrel and producers were pushing the green light on ever more ambitious projects, from drilling in the Arctic to deepwater wildcatting in new frontiers, seemingly oblivious to the possibility that oil... [read more]

The American Dream

Feature
Ethanol producers in the US achieved a record output of 14.3 billion gallons of corn-based biofuel in 2014, enjoying a period of high profitability in the process. They also witnessed the launch of three second generation cellulosicbased production units, setting the industry on the road to the harvesting of significant amounts of additional ethanol without the need to expand its raw material... [read more]

Turn it off and on again

Feature
In the past year, several North American biofuel plants came back online – a sure indicator that market conditions are improving, and in fact the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) confirmed that 2014 was a great year for ethanol. And not just a great one, but one that broke every record the industry has for production, sales and profit. Although today things are looking good for the ethanol... [read more]

Tipping point

Feature
In September 2014, Poet- DSM – a joint venture between Royal DSM and Poet – opened Project Liberty, the first commercialscale cellulosic ethanol plant in the US. Located in Emmetsburg, Iowa, the $275 million (€245.3 million) facility converts baled corn cobs, leaves, husk and stalk into renewable fuel. At full capacity, it will convert 770 tonnes of biomass per day to produce... [read more]

Molecular sieve dryers for ethanol production

Feature
Until 2006, fermentation of starch and sugar was the common route to bioethanol. At this time, some second generation biomass processing plants started to deliver bioethanol (mainly on semi-pilot/production scale). In order to increase the bioethanol share in the petrol consumption up to 20% by 2030, such second generation cellulose processing ethanol plants have to be built on a commercially... [read more]

Operation optimisation

Feature
Molecular sieves have played a prominent role in the final purification of ethanol for fuel use. Distillation produces an azeotropic ethanol product with approximately 95% ethanol concentration, 5% water concentration. The use of vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) technology with molecular sieve removes that remaining water to meet final specification, in an efficient and repeatable manner,... [read more]

Maximising molecular sieves

Feature
Molecular sieve dehydration of ethanol uses a specialised molecular sieve to remove the water from the distillation/ rectification of ethanol and water. Distillation can only remove water to approximately 5% of the total composition. A molecular sieve consists of tiny zeolite crystals made of sodium aluminum silicate blended in a clay binder and formed into spherical ceramic beads. The crystals... [read more]

Membranes: turbocharging ethanol plants

Feature
On 6 May it was announced that California-based Pacific Ethanol had signed an agreement with clean fuel membrane specialist Whitefox for the delivery of an industrial-scale membrane system at its Madera plant. Here, Whitefox chief technical officer Dr. Stephan Blum speaks to Biofuels International about this latest project, and the company’s efforts to roll out membrane dehydration... [read more]

Load and clear

Feature
In Pekin, Illinois, ethanol producer Aventine Renewable Energy operates a 110 million gallon per year wet mill and a 57 million gallon per year dry mill. The wet mill facility, which was originally built in 1899 as a sugar processing plant, began producing ethanol in 1981 and since then it has undergone numerous upgrades. The latest upgrade to the Pekin facility, which was completed in May just... [read more]

Made to measure

Feature
The biggest myth in control systems is one size fits all. In its work with ethanol producers however, Trident Automation – a specialist in control systems innovation for a range of industries including the ethanol sector, is witnessing trends toward increased customisation for advanced regulatory control. To maximise production efficiency, ethanol producers are looking for greater... [read more]

Sweet science

Feature
When scaling up sugarcane-driven biorefineries, the utilisation of bagasse as cellulosic feedstock creates significant challenges as far as determining and optimising the quantity of bagasse that can be made available for the bio-process. Indeed, this by-product of sugar extraction is coming along with approximately 50% of water and is usually utilised in a cogeneration unit so as to generate... [read more]

Help is at hand

Feature
OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration): friend or foe? When someone mentions OSHA, do you think of it as a safety solution, resource, even a partner, or as the gorilla in the closet wielding a very big stick and eager to punish? Contrary to popular belief, OSHA wants to work with employers to maintain a safe workplace. What OSHA asks for from each employer is quite simple –... [read more]

Packing a punch

Feature
Global issues such as climate change and energy security have driven rapid growth in renewable energy production, including biofuels, wind, solar, geothermal, hydro, etc. However, logically, each of these methods should deliver a net benefit in terms of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, so researchers in the US have employed portable FTIR (Fourier Transform InfraRed) analysers to study the GHG... [read more]

Trust but verify

Feature
Do you trust your lab to give you reliable results? Hopefully, whether it is an in-house lab at your facility or any of the third party labs you may use, the answer is yes – but could they verify the results are accurate if asked to do so? The latter question is typically more elusive for labs to answer with confidence – but it does not have to be that way. Generating defensible data... [read more]

Certification challenges

Feature
Implementation of the RED (EU-RL 2009/29/EC) has prompted the creation of multiple certification schemes, each one intended to prove compliance with the RED’s requirements for the sustainable production of biofuels in the European Union (EU. Sustainability schemes approved under the RED to date differ significantly in terms of their applicability to and acceptance by the biofuel industry.... [read more]

A tall order

Feature
Baltic Tank is specialised in logistic services for various bulk liquids, such as chemicals, oil products, biofuels and food-grade liquids. The company is currently operating seven terminals in Finland (Hamina, Kaskinen, Kemi, Kokkola, Oulu, Rauma, Turku) and one in Estonia (Kunda). Each terminal, which can vary in size from 21,000m3 to 73,000m3, is strategically placed close to a particular... [read more]

Top choice

Feature
Consumers worldwide are witness to the recent fluctuations in fuel prices, and the Middle East is no exception. But why do fuel prices rise and fall so frequently in a region which has huge oil reserves? In the long term, the greatest single factor influencing fuel prices is the cost of crude oil. However, marketplace forces of supply, demand and competition can have a significant impact on the... [read more]