Recently in Ethanol Category

A new study announced today on ethanol land use impact found that a modern ethanol plant does not meaningfully change farmland use, neither the amount of land farmed nor the mix of crops planted (e.g., corn, soybeans). Commissioned by the Illinois Corn Growers (ICGA), the study's findings contest an unproven theory that increased production of corn ethanol results in the conversion of unused farmland into corn production and an increase in the percentage of corn acres planted by farmers. "This is the most thorough and far-reaching study on land use impact done to date," stated Rod Weinzierl, executive director of the ICGA. "It demonstrates that the often cited link between new ethanol plants and the conversion of non agricultural land to corn is highly questionable. Corn ethanol is not a central driver in the conversion of non corn farmland to corn production."

The study was conducted by Dr. Steffen Mueller from the Energy Resources Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago utilizing a modern ethanol plant in Rochelle, Illinois, (approximately 75 miles northwest of Chicago) as its test subject. The study looked at relevant farming data - including satellite imagery and farmer surveys - one year prior to the plant opening through to two years after.

"Our objective was to take a bottom-up approach to data collection and analysis, and thereby arrive at a fully considered assessment on the potential impact of ethanol production on farmland use," commented Dr. Mueller. "We examined each acre of farmland within a 40 mile radius of the test site - prior to and after the launch of an ethanol plant - and found that neither intensification nor extensification occurred. Farmers had land available to convert (extensification) for corn production and did not. And, ethanol plant grain demand was quickly met by incremental production improvements and so increased percentages of corn acres (intensification) cannot be explained by the new ethanol plant. The results of this study on one modern ethanol plant are sufficiently dramatic to indicate that the science of ethanol and land use is far from being set."

The study's findings are in conflict with the current federal and state governmental draft standards that utilize older and less thorough science. "With California a recognized national leader in renewable fuel policy, the risk that state's draft renewable fuel standards being prematurely approved is that ethanol will be branded a brown fuel nationally," stated Rod Weinzierl. "This threatens to marginalize the use of ethanol in the U.S. fuel mix and would have far reaching, non beneficial environmental and financial impact. California will be worsening, not improving, our nation's carbon footprint at a time when we have the green fuel supply to do otherwise."

The study found that a new ethanol plant requiring 20.45 million bushels of corn annually for fuel production utilizes the yield from 104,284 acres, which is less than 7% of the acres from the "draw area." However, during the study period, more than 260,000 acres were converted from mostly soybeans to corn indicating that other factors contributed to corn intensification (an increase in percentage of corn acres grown).

"During the early phase of plant startup it's possible that corn acres are intensified as a result of perceived plant market demand," Dave Loos, Technical Director of ICGA, noted. "This quickly levels off and other factors such as export demand and grain economics drive on farm planting decisions. Once an ethanol plant has been in operation for two years, its supply requirements are a marginal factor in local farmers' planting strategy. Annual production increases quickly exceeded the total new demand from the plant."

The study found that while land such as grass and pasture was available for farmers within the ethanol plant draw area to convert to and increase planted corn acres by as much as 21%, less than three tenths of a percent increase actually took place, which is not a meaningful amount.

"As we continue to improve the agricultural productivity and processing efficiencies of corn-based ethanol, it is important that the body of scientific work developing around corn's role as a part of our national renewable fuels strategy keep pace with these advancements," added Dr. Martha Schlicher, vice president of Illinois River Energy. "This study is an accurate reflection of the ability of the advancements in corn productivity to absorb incremental ethanol capacity when plants are appropriately added in the right locations at the right time. While it is very important to clearly understand all of the direct and indirect environmental costs and benefits of renewable fuel use, it is equally critical that we accurately account for current and future technological advancements that reaffirm the environmental benefits of corn ethanol. It is unfortunate that we continue to increase gasoline imports while idling existing available corn based ethanol supply that measures in the billions of gallons."

The study - The Land Use Impact Of A New Ethanol Plant, February 2009 - was prepared for the Illinois Corn Marketing Board and can be accessed in full at: (http://www.ilcorn.org)

SOURCE Illinois Corn Growers Association

VeraSun Energy Corp., one of America’s largest producers of ethanol has cancelled its plans to start a 110 million gallon per year, ethanol biorefinery in Janesville, Minnesota for the moment, stating that their startup was indefinitely delayed. It will continue its operations in the 14 other facilities it owns across an eight state region.
The corporation filed for bankruptcy last month, petitioning for relief under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy code in the US Bankruptcy Court to enhance liquidity while it tried to reorganize its operations.
The development of the Janesville plant halted as the secured lender of the plant did not provide the necessary financing to continue construction. At present, efforts to secure financing for the project are underway.
Construction at the plant which began in January 2007, is nearly complete and the plant was scheduled to start at the end of this year. Ownership of the plant came into the hands of VeraSun in 2008 following its merger with US BioEnergy.

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is best known as the type of alcohol   found in alcoholic beverages and in thermometers. Commonly referred to simply as alcohol, its chemical formula is (C₂H₅) .The ethanol fuel used as a bio-fuel option to gasoline used in cars. This because it can be easily made from crops such as corn and sugarcane. The main advantages of producing and using ethanol is that of value addition to the agricultural industry and products, and increasing the financial strength. Besides, it also reduces the harmful emissions and decreases the thirst for transportation fuel required by the world, making it a very cost-effective option.

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Sir Richard Branson has joined hands with venture capitalists Vinod Khosla and Ron Burkle and invested more than $60 million in Cilion, a company that will make bio-ethanol from corn in an effort to satisfy California's need for environmentally friendly fuels. California already uses bioethanol to fuel cars, but most of it is imported from the American Midwest.

Gov. Schwarznegger issued a directive, earlier this year, calling for the state to make 20 percent of the fuel itself by 2010.

Cilion, a joint venture between Western Milling and Khosla Ventures, plans to build enough refining capacity to meet the target itself.
Cilion plans to start work on the first of seven bioethanol plants within a few weeks. It will bring corn from the Midwest and process it with technology that makes it competitive with petrol at oil prices as low as $40 a barrel.

Branson's Virgin empire plans to move into environmental businesses of which this project is a starting move.
Virgin Fuels, a subsidiary will alone invest $400 million in several biofuel schemes. The company is also working with the government on a plan to make it economical for train companies to use biodiesel.
Besides this Branson is said to be considering big investments in other technologies including wind power, hydro-electric and even nuclear stations. The company is open to investing in any kind of alternative-energy.

Branson who attended the recent environmental summit in California said that he feels that global warming is the biggest crisis facing mankind and that every company chairman should be thinking about devoting a percentage of his earnings to it.

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Shell Oil Co. President, John Hofmeister, touted the importance of a "culture of conservation" and investment in alternative fuels.

He said that with fuel prices at the current highs can be used by policy makers to force market changes. World oil prices as low as $10 a barrel in 1998 made investment in alternative fuels not ecenomical but under present circumstances, solar, wind and other alternative energy projects are doable.

Hofmeister said that conventional oil and gas resources are no longer enough for the country's energy security. Fuel derived from oil shales, gasified coal; ethanol and other biofuels; hydrogen fuel and wind and solar energy will play a major role in energy futures.

The US represents 8 percent of the world's population consuming 25 percent of the energy supply. "It's not a sustainable formula," he said, noting that the rest of the world wants its "fair share," too.

Conservation in the US needs to be stepped up. Different designs of homes, factories and vehicles are needed above and beyond adjusting thermostats and driving slower.

In June, Shell announced plans to build a wind farm worth $200 million on the island of Maui to help meet Hawaii's renewable energy goals and do away with the need for a coal-generating plant.
Shell and GM operate 5 hydrogen fuel cell passenger vans in Washington and Shell provides a refueling station near the Capitol.
The company is also investing in producing ethanol with various partners.

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US Senator Richard Lugar challenged America's automakers and citizens to decrease dependency on foreign oil at a Summit on Energy Security.

The day long summit held at the West Lafayette campus focused on foreign oil dependence and alternative fuels. Besides Lugar, Gov. Mitch Daniels and Purdue President Martin Jischke also spoke to a 1000 strong audience. Panel discussions included representative from BP Inc and Ford Motors.

Lugar proposed a series of measures to contain problems including mandates for more flexible-fuel vehicles, boosted ethanol production and usage, and the implementation of stricter vehicle mileage standards and convincing the federal government to enhance alternative fuel production through a progressive loan program.

He said that failure on the part of the nation to bring about a change in the energy policy despite repeated warnings would be more unconscionable given that success would not only contribute towards a better geopolitical climate but also provide restorative economic benefits to farmers, automakers and others.

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Alternative Energy Sources Inc. has signed a letter of intent to acquire all of Flex Fuels USA Inc.'s outstanding capital stock and expects to sign a merger agreement by Sept. 15 that will given Alternative Energy access to Flex Fuel's proprietary ethanol production technology.

Flex Fuels has developed methods of producing cellulosic ethanol made from biomass waste streams rather than corn or sugar, making it less vulnerable to supply and price fluctuations and giving it the lowest cost position in the industry.
By merging with Alternative Energy Sources, Flex Fuels hopes to commercialize this technology.

Alternative Energy Sources, which develops, builds and operates ethanol production plants, plans to build the first cellulosic ethanol facility in the US.

Mark Beemer, Alternative Energy's CEO, said that by adding cellulosic ethanol to their portfolio in addition to the greenfield plants and carbohydrate based ethanol evaluation of sites, will provide great diversification to the company's future ethanol production base.

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New York Governor, George Pataki, who has been upping his own presidential aspirations for 2008, offered a 10-year energy plan on the same day as the Prudhoe Bay Field pipeline problems.

He called for tax credits to give incentives to auto makers to produce fuel-efficient cars and development of alternative fuels like ethanol from corn through a combination of tax incentives, loan guaantees and legislative changes.

He said oil's perpetual ties to terror, instability and environmental deterioration makes the reduction of petroleum consumption a matter for immediate and priority action.

His speech was briefly interrupted by the Transit Workers Union shouting out that he was to blame for the strike that paralyzed New York's subway and bus system last year.

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Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell PLC have come together to launch an integrated Pearl Gas-to-Liquids project in Qatar.
The project will involve construction of the world's largest integrated GTL complex and include development of Qatar's North Field's natural gas resources and their transport and processing for extraction of natural gas liquids and ethane, and the conversion of remaining gas into clean liquid hydrocarbon products.
1.6 billion cubic feet per day of gas is expected to produce about 120,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day of ethane and condensate, liquefied petroleum gas.

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In the present state of the oil economy with consumers bearing the brunt of the high prices, the race for an aternative fuel is back on.

The successful contender will need to be cheaper than gasoline, be available in large quantities and have smaller greenhouse-gas emissions than gasoline.

With so many considertaions, it could be a while yet before any alternative fuel will ever cross the line ahead of gasoline.

The leader of the competing pack right now is ethanol made from corn. Economically sound, it is believed that even if price of gasoline drops below the current levels and that of corn rises, it will still be cheaper to buy a gallon of ethanol than gasoline.

The price buffer is essential as history has not favored alternative fuels. In the 1980s gasoline prices were at a record high and alternative fuel programs were encouraged. But when the oil prices plummeted, most of the other fuels became non-competitive resulting in heavy losses.

The one problem with ethanol made fromcorn in the short supply of corn in the U.S.  Other materials are being tested for the production of ethanol. Some estimate that switchgrass could quadruple the output of ethanol from a single acre. Also if the U.S lowered import barriers for sugarcane, used heavily in Brazil, the future of ethanol fuel would really look up.

Turning cellulose-based materials into ethanol is a promising alternative but needs to be tested at a full-scale production level.

Another burgeoning option is methanol from coal. So far, methanol has been made from natural gas, but the US has vast coal reserves and the production cost for methanol would be as low as 40 to 50 cents a gallon. Indy cars have been using Methanol directly as a fuel and it can also be used as a rich source of hydrogen for fuel-cell vehicles. Methanol can also be used for the production of biodiesel.
The one drawback is the large amount of greenhouse gases released while producing methanol from coal.

While other fuels like compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas are in use, the race seems to be between three types of fuel - ethanol from cellulose and sugarcane, methanol from coal and electricity from the wall outlet.
Using electricity is efficient, cheap and would cause far less pollution than gasoline.

Finally, trends in the automotive industry may decide the winning formula.

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