Vermont heating oil to contain biodiesel

Vermont continues the momentum for clean air policies in the North East by passing a requirement for renewable, cleaner-burning biodiesel to be used in home heating oil throughout the state.

Governor Peter Shumlin signed the Vermont Energy Act of 2011, which furthers the state's efforts to promote a green economy and energy independence. The broad-based energy legislation establishes low sulfur and biodiesel requirements for all heating oil sold in Vermont, timed to match implementation of similar legislation in surrounding states.

"This bill speaks to the North East region's continued commitment to using renewable, cleaner-burning fuels to heat their homes and businesses," said Shelby Neal, State Governmental Affairs Director for the National Biodiesel Board. "The Vermont policy builds on the strong partnership created between the home heating oil industry and the biodiesel industry to provide a more sustainable, cleaner energy solution through Bioheat^TM."

Biodiesel blends in home heating oil, a product called Bioheat, reduce particulate emissions, unburned hydrocarbons, and soot, which combine to greatly improve air quality in and around the home.

"The Legislature and Governor Shumlin backed this legislation all the way," said Netaka White, Secretary of Renewable Energy Vermont, and Bioenergy Program Director at the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. "We got it done in Vermont; now it's up to the Congress to make sure every gallon of heating oil in the country contains ultra-low sulfur and clean, renewable biodiesel."

The legislation requires all heating oil sold in the state to contain a three percent biodiesel blend (B3) beginning July 2012, increasing to seven percent (B7) by 2016. Vermont becomes the ninth state in the nation to pass a statewide biodiesel requirement.

Biodiesel is an advanced biofuel made from readily available, renewable resources. It is a domestic, sustainable, cleaner-burning diesel replacement fuel that meets strict quality specifications.

UPS Begins Using Biodiesel Blend at Major U.S. Hub

What can Brown do for you?  For a start, it's making your world greener by using cleaner burning biodiesel.  The United Parcel Service began using biodiesel blends at its most vital hub in Louisville, Kentucky this month.

"There is a finite amount of petroleum-based fuel available from our planet so it is important that UPS and other companies invest in ways to use alternative fuels and technologies, including biodiesel," said Scott Wicker, UPS Chief Sustainability officer. "This project helps us reduce our dependence on fossil fuels with the added benefit that it will also reduce air pollution and carbon emissions."

UPS recently installed a biodiesel fuel tank and fueling station at its Worldport facility. It will allow fueling operators to blend specified percentages of biodiesel "on the fly," starting with 5 percent biodiesel (B5), and working up to 20 percent biodiesel (B20).

The single most important point in all of UPS's global operation, Worldport:

• Processes 416 thousand packages an hour  
• Is the size of 80 football fields
• Turns 100 aircraft a day

The 30,000 gallon biodiesel tank and station at Worldport fuels nearly 200 vehicles and diesel equipment, most of which help load packages on and off the planes.  

The National Biodiesel Board called UPS's switch to biodiesel monumental.  

"For a giant like UPS to use biodiesel is not only an outstanding vote of confidence for biodiesel, but an example of how America's first advanced biofuel will fuel the drive towards genuine corporate sustainability," said Joe Jobe, CEO of the National Biodiesel Board.  

Biodiesel blends of up to 20 percent can be used in any diesel engine without modifications, making it one of the most cost-effective ways to clean up heavy duty equipment.  

"Biodiesel supports green jobs and domestic energy security here and nationally, and we commend UPS for making biodiesel a part of its commitment to sustainability," said Melissa Howell, executive director of the Kentucky Clean Fuels Coalition.  

Biodiesel is an advanced biofuel made from readily available, renewable resources. It is drop-in diesel fuel replacement that reduces greenhouse gas by 80 percent, without negatively impacting land use or the food supply.

Iowa State Researchers Scale Up Process That Could Improve Economics Of Ethanol Production

Iowa State University's Hans van Leeuwen has moved his research team's award-winning idea for improving ethanol production from a laboratory to a pilot plant.

Now he knows the idea, which produces a new animal feed and cleans water that can be recycled back into ethanol production, works more efficiently in batches of up to 350 gallons than on a lab bench.

"We're learning we can reliably produce good quality and good quantities," said van Leeuwen, Iowa State's Vlasta Klima Balloun Professor of Engineering in the department of civil, construction and environmental engineering.

What van Leeuwen and a team of Iowa State researchers are producing is a fungus, Rhizopus oligosporus, that makes a high-quality, high-protein animal feed from the leftovers of ethanol production. The process of growing the fungus also cleans water from ethanol production so that it can be recycled back into fuel production. And the process, called MycoMeal, could one day produce a low-cost nutritional supplement for people.

The project has two patents pending and has won several major awards, including a 2008 R&D 100 Award presented by R&D Magazine, the 2008 Grand Prize for University Research presented by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and a 2011 Honor Award in University Research from the academy. The project also contributed to R&D Magazine naming van Leeuwen its 2009 Innovator of the Year.

The research team working on the project is led by van Leeuwen and includes Nick Gabler and Mike Persia, assistant professors of animal science; Mary Rasmussen, a post-doctoral research associate in food science and human nutrition; Daniel Erickson, Christopher Koza and Debjani Mitra, graduate students; and Brandon Caldwell, a graduate of Iowa State. The project is supported by a three-year, $450,000 grant from the Iowa Energy Center and a Smithfield grant from the Office of the Iowa Attorney General. Lincolnway Energy of Nevada, Cellencor Corp. of Ames and Iowa State's Center for Crops Utilization Research and BioCentury Research Farm are also supporting the project.

Here's how their process works to improve dry-grind ethanol production:

For every gallon of ethanol produced, there are about five gallons of leftovers known as stillage. The stillage contains solids and other organic material. Most of the solids are removed by centrifugation and dried into distillers dried grains that are sold as livestock feed, primarily for cattle.

The remaining liquid, known as thin stillage, still contains some solids, a variety of organic compounds and enzymes. Because the compounds and solids can interfere with ethanol production, only about 50 percent of thin stillage can be recycled back into ethanol production. The rest is evaporated and blended with distillers dried grains to produce distillers dried grains with solubles.

The researchers add fungus to the thin stillage and it feeds and grows into a thick mass in less than a day – van Leeuwen calls it "lightning-speed farming." The fungus removes about 60 percent of the organic material and most of the solids, allowing the water and enzymes in the thin stillage to be recycled back into production.

The fungus is then harvested and dried as animal feed that's rich in protein, certain essential amino acids and other nutrients. It can also be blended with distillers dried grains to boost its value as a livestock feed and make it more suitable for feeding hogs and chickens.

Van Leeuwen said the production technology can save United States ethanol producers up to $800 million a year in energy costs. He also said the technology can produce ethanol co-products worth another $800 million or more per year, depending on how it is used and marketed.

Now that the project has moved from a campus lab to the Iowa Energy Center's BECON facility in Nevada, van Leeuwen said researchers are working to improve the process at larger scales.

"We're adding and subtracting, doing things differently and redesigning our process all the time," he said.

Even so, the process has developed enough that researchers can use simple screens to harvest pellets of the fungus from the project's 20-foot high reactor. They're feeding some of the fungus to chickens and will soon start feeding tests with hogs. A next step could be testing the fungus for human consumption. (University leaders have tried the fungi and researchers regularly eat it, van Leeuwen said.)

As the project has successfully scaled up, so has van Leeuwen's optimism that the process could help the biofuels industry.

"Implementation of this process addresses criticism of biofuels by substantially lowering energy inputs and by increasing the production of nutritious animal feed," van Leeuwen said. "The MycoMeal process could truly revolutionize the biofuels industry."

Thunderbirds Become First Department of Defense Aerial Team to Fly on Alternative Fuel

Sustainable Oils announced today that hydrotreated renewable jet fuel (HRJ) made from its camelina will power two Air Force F-16 aircraft as part of a Thunderbirds demonstration flight today at the Joint Services Open House. It is the first time renewable fuels have ever been used as part of a Department of Defense Aerial Team show. The camelina was grown and harvested in Montana, and refined into renewable jet fuel using technology from UOP, a Honeywell company.

"Today's flights mark yet another successful milestone in the commercialization of camelina-based aviation fuel," said Tom Todaro, CEO of Sustainable Oils. "In test after test, camelina-based biofuel continues to perform the same as, or better than, its petroleum counterparts. We, and our growing partners across the country, will continue to support the military's efforts to develop new, sustainable and domestic sources of jet fuel."

According to the Air Force, it has tested and certified biofuel as a 50-percent blend with regular jet fuel in the A-10 Thunderbolt II, the F-15 Eagle, the C-17 Globemaster III, and the F-22 Raptor to date. Air Force officials have stated that fleetwide certification is on track for completion in 2013. Sustainable Oils has provided nearly 500,000 gallons of camelina-based HRJ to multiple branches of the US military for its certification programs, making it the most heavily tested alternative fuel feedstock.

Camelina is the most readily available renewable fuel feedstock that meets the Air Force's criteria given that it does not compete with food crops, has been proven to reduce carbon emissions by more than 70 percent, has naturally high oil content, and requires less fertilizer and herbicides. It is an excellent rotation crop with wheat, and it can also grow on marginal land.

Landfill Gas Powers GM Orion Assembly Plant

When production of the fuel-efficient 2012 Chevrolet Sonic and Buick Verano begin this fall, 40 percent of the energy to power the General Motors Orion Assembly Plant where they are built will come from burning landfill gas created nearby.  

The use of the landfill gas, which saves GM $1.1 million a year in energy costs, also cuts the amount of greenhouse gases, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides released in the air. During most of the year, the system runs exclusively on landfill gas primarily to generate steam for heating and compressed air.

"Orion is a great example of the latest technologies employed by GM manufacturing around the globe," said Eric Stevens, GM vice president of Global Manufacturing Engineering. "As we converted the facility to support the small car program, we took every opportunity to engineer in flexibility and lean manufacturing concepts."

Use of landfill gas is just one of the sustainable methods that lessen the plant's environmental impact. Others include:

• Lighting system upgrades that saved more than 5,944 megawatts of electricity per year and $430,000 while also cutting CO2 by 3,676 metric tons. Plant workers track energy use on an hourly basis with sophisticated software, enabling them to see real-time usage by department to improve their equipment shut-down activities.

• Plant workers reduced total waste by 26 percent from 2005 to 2009.

• An upgraded paint shop is heated by natural and landfill gas, and uses half of the energy per vehicle of the one it replaced. Both the Sonic and Verano use a new eco paint that eliminates the need for a primer oven and increases quality and appearance due to waterborne base coats.

"Environmentally friendly choices often translate to higher efficiency and quality," said Maureen Midgley, GM executive director of Global Manufacturing Engineering. "Take our new paint shop – it was designed for optimal efficiency and delivers premium paint appearance for our vehicles.

"With these improvements, we'll reduce greenhouse gas production by about 80,000 metric tons at a full three-shift capacity," Midgley said. "This is equivalent to the emissions from 14,000 vehicles per year, and the electricity reduction equals at the output from 3,500 homes."

Some of the diverted material is directed to the cars being made. Recycled cardboard packaging from Orion and other GM plants and used denim are part of the Verano's sound insulation.

Orion also has embraced flexible manufacturing, allowing it to quickly respond to changes in customer preferences. Production lines were reworked, creating more space to house material onsite that once took up space in other buildings. This approach reduces the overall environmental impact of the plant's material systems, but it also provides significant cost savings to the overall small car program.

The 2012 turbocharged Chevrolet Sonic is a small car available in five-door and sedan models.

The 2012 Buick Verano compact sedan includes 10 standard air bags, an available heated steering wheel and a next-generation radio system with OnStar-powered connectivity.  

Production of both vehicles will begin at Orion later this fall. They will be on sale by the end of the year.