View Issue Contents

Renewable Energy Directive Although the Renewable Energy Directive is now in place work does not stop there. The European institutions are working hard to fill the remaining gaps in the legislation and to implement the complex framework. Indirect land use change (ILUC) One of the most controversial issues within the RED (Directive 2009/28/EC) is the assumed effect biofuel production has on land... use changes occurring in an indirect way and the greenhouse gas effect this would cause. The European Commission has been given the task to report on this impact of ILUC on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The report is due by the end of 2010 but the Commission indicated that it wants to have the report out by March next year. The Commission can propose a change to the legislation by suggesting a methodology to calculate these emissions based on the best available science. But whether one can model and explain satisfactorily the relationship between biofuel production, ILUC and GHG emissions are highly controversial within the scientific community. [read more]

On 6 August two US Senators, one Democrat the other Republican, introduced legislation that would convert the $1 gallon (€0.61) credit for blending biodiesel into diesel fuel into a production credit with the shift in the tax subsidy an effort to encourage investment in biodiesel production. ‘This common sense proposal is consistent with an energy policy that values the use of domestically... produced, low carbon renewable fuels to meet the nation’s energy needs,’ says Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board. US Senator Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, and US Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, introduced The Biodiesel Tax Incentive Reform and Extension Act, which, if enacted, would end the blenders excise tax credit, which went into effect in 2004 and is set to expire on 31 December. [read more]

Canada’s fi rst canolabased biodiesel Milligan Bio-Tech producer opened its 10 million litre-a-year fl agship optimisation facility in July in Saskatchewan province, as a fi rst step to ensuring the technology works well enough to upscale to a future 150-million litre a year plant. Although like everyone else, the plant has suffered delays as a result of the economy, and dropping fuel prices,... western Canada has not been affected as badly as eastern Canada. ‘Everything is going as expected and we intend to have the optimisation plant operating at full capacity by 2010,’ explains Zenneth Faye, executive manager, and also one of the start-up’s founders. Milligan Bio-Tech’s biodiesel is currently 1.7 times the cost of petro diesel as volumes are still low. [read more]

In December 2006 the Canadian government announced that by 2010 it would require 5% average renewable content in petroleum by 2010 and signalled its intention to develop a similar requirement of 2% renewable content for diesel and heating oil by 2012. This was passed into law by the Canadian parliament in 2008 and final details should be published this October. Individual Canadian provinces... already have a variety of biofuels mandates, so meeting mandated average levels across the country should not be too difficult. Saskatchewan, for example, mandates 7.5% ethanol in petroleum and Manitoba and Ontario both demand 5%. British Columbia and Alberta were already scheduled to bring in 5% renewable fuel mandates in their petroleum pools by 2010 and these five together account for approximately 70% of Canadian petroleum use. The only other major consumer Quebec, with 23% of petroleum sales, was contemplating a 5% renewable fuel content in its petroleum pool for 2012. The remaining provinces and territories have tiny populations and consume relatively little petroleum. As Canada’s biofuel industry is fairly young and still growing, these mandates present a good opportunity for investors. Although raising capital at the moment is a challenge, Gordon Quaiattini, president of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association (CRFA), is confident that companies seeking finance to build renewable fuel plants in Canada will get it. [read more]

GIiven the vast open spaces allocated to corn and wheat farming in Canada, it may appear surprising that the Canadian biofuels industry is not larger. Ethanol production capacity in Canada currently stands at approximately 1.4 billion litres, compared to 38.6 billion litres in the US, while the equivalent fi gures for biodiesel are 216 million litres compared 10.2 billion litres. However, when we... consider the rates of change of production capacities in the two countries, the Canadian biofuels scene looks considerably healthier. Canadian ethanol capacity has risen (albeit by a mere 1.8%) since 2008, while bankruptcies in the US have driven capacity down by 19%. The fi gures for biodiesel in the same period are more striking: Canadian capacity has risen by 71%, while US capacity has fallen by 2.9%, and much of this stands idle. The US biofuels industry experienced a boom in demand as a result of the high cost of fossil oil in late 2007/2008. When oil returned to more normal levels, many were unable to sell their fuels and faced bankruptcy. Conversely, the Canadian biofuels industry has focused on generating demand and then growing to meet it, rather than anticipating it, and, as a result, few Canadian producers are seeking bankruptcy protection and most plants are operating at or near capacity. Currently there are six bioenergy plants announced or in construction, with 32 presently producing. The industry has been helped by the willingness of provincial and federal government to pass legislation to help the biofuels industry [read more]

In the space of a decade biodiesel has turned from a virtually unknown product into a significant fuel on the market. After many years of research, process improvement and quality standardisation, it was considered a well-known commodity, but unexpected filter plugging incidents have uncovered a potential problem for vehicles using B20 or lower blends. Biodiesel specifications The US ASTM D 6751... specification covers biodiesel fuel blend stock, B100, in grades S15 and S500 for use as a blend component with middle distillate fuels. In response to the filter problems encountered in the state of Minnesota during winter 2005/2006 (Zeman, N. Remember December, B.M. 3:52-56 2006), for US B100 a cold incubation (cold soak) test was instituted. Although not part of the official ASTM D 6751 requirements for B100 at that date, this cold soak test has become commonly used as a measure of filterability. ASTM added the cold soak filtration test to the D6751 specification in 2008. [read more]

In July the European Biodiesel Board (EBB) reported that about half of EU biodiesel capacity is idle, and just two months before this the US National Biodiesel Board (NBB) had a similarly discouraging outlook – that production had fallen to 2006 levels. While much of this can be attributed to changes in regulations, volatile feedstock prices and a drop in demand for fuel, it is not all doom and... gloom. Certain aspects of the plant can be optimised to achieve higher yields and greater feedstock flexibility. Increasing capacity The design of a production facility is based on many parameters such as feedstock quality, reaction technology (coping with specific challenges like very high FFA feedstock) and the quality of the main and side-products. To increase the capacity of a biodiesel plant the bottlenecks first need to be identified. These can result from: • Inadequate design of process and/or equipment • Installation of low cost equipment • Changing production parameters or operation modes • Changing feedstock properties • Problems in fulfilling the requested biodiesel standards and/or purchasing requirements. [read more]

Imagine a plant which had all the ideal attributes of a second-generation biodiesel feedstock. Aside from producing huge quantities of oil, it would also be a hardy perennial, since perennial crops are less energy-intensive to cultivate. It would have few natural pests, and so it would need no insecticide or fungicide. Once established in an ecosystem, it would modify that ecosystem to increase... the prospects of its own survival and to remove other plants, eliminating the need for herbicide and fertiliser. It would grow on land unsuitable for food production and be very diffi cult to kill. In short, you are imagining an invasive species. More specifi cally, you may be imagining Chinese tallow – a plant regarded by some as the ultimate energy crop, and by others as a vicious weed.

Oil that never runs out

With the possible exception of oil palm, which grows only in tropical conditions, Chinese tallow is the most productive land-based oil crop known to man. [read more]

Biorefineries are popping up all over the map. Geographically the more publicised facilities and research projects are situated in South and North America, home to the strongest ethanol markets in the world. However, for Scandinavian countries that are full of forests and trees, biorefineries also pose an attractive alternative to the dwindling paper industry. With critically low biofuels output... in certain areas green planners are now asking the question can biorefinery operators give the industry a bio-chemical kick in the right direction?

Conquering corn-land

The land of opportunity is living up to its name. With a wealth of experience, funds and technology behind it, it is no wonder that the US is leading the biorefinery revolution. As recent as August this year Massachusetts-based Myriant Technologies unveiled plans for a pilot-scale cellulosic biorefinery with the University of Florida that will produce cellulosic ethanol and bio-based chemicals. Construction will begin during Q1 2010, and the facility should be operational by the end of the year. It will be fuelled by slash pine, energy cane, sugarcane bagasse, poplar, sweet sorghum, wood waste, and waste-based biomass materials. [read more]

Based on an extensive series of site visits, surveys, and interviews with algae companies published in a new management study titled Algae 2020 from strategy consultancy Emerging Markets Online has determined the markets for algae-based biodiesel, biocrude, and biomass-derived green chemicals and plastics will start to enter early-stage commercial production by the end of 2011. For an increasing... number of private companies, algae is no longer a research project. As of the summer of 2009, more than $1 billion (€703 million) in private and public investment commitments since 2007 have contributed to the acceleration of a surprising diversity of algae-based biofuels technologies, business models, and product strategies.

Algae business models emerge

The Algae 2020 management study finds investments are predominantly going into nextgeneration algae production systems employing low-cost ponds and high-technology production methods. For algae production, one size does not fit all, and there are many different models and approaches. [read more]