Thomko Petro Chemical Blog

SAN FRANCISCO - A few years ago, drums of used French fry grease were of interest only to a small network of underground biofuel brewers, who would use the slimy oil to power their souped-up antique Mercedes.

Now, restaurants from Berkeley, California., to Sedgwick, Kansas., are reporting thefts of old cooking oil worth thousands of dollars to rustlers who refine it into barrels of biofuel in backyard stills.

Some say it's like a war going on right now over used grease. More people are stealing grease because they have converted their cars to run on grease collected from local area restaurants.

Grease is transformed into fuel through a chemical process called transesterification, which removes glycerine and adds methanol to the oil, leaving a thinner product that can power a diesel engine.

Biodiesel can also be blended with petroleum diesel, and blends of the alternative fuel are now sold at 1,400 gas stations across the country.

As the price of diesel soars ($4.79 currently in Northwest Indiana), so, too does the value of grease.

In three years, the price of soybean oil, the main feedstock for biodiesel made in the United States, has tripled. Last week, a gallon of crude soybean oil fetched 66 cents on the open market, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

Those numbers have encouraged biofuel enthusiasts to plunder restaurants' greasy waste, and have even spurred San Francisco to get into the grease-trap cleaning business.

Drivers for Blue Sky Bio-Fuels, which manufactures bio-diesel for San Francisco's municipal program, often find their 300-gallon Dumpster outside the Oakland Coliseum nearly dry, despite the dozens of concession stands that dump there. Losses there alone have cost $3,700 in lost oil revenues in the last year.

In Kansas, Healy Biodiesel reports thousands of dollars in losses from used cooking oil heists from restaurants near Sedgwick, about 20 miles north of Wichita.

Standard Biodiesel in Seattle started working with police to try to catch fly-by-night home-brewers pilfering up to 30,000 gallons of the oil they collect from restaurants every month.

To manufacture the renewable fuel legally, biodiesel producers must register with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Also, biodiesel consumers must pay the government taxes to help with road upkeep.
 

Source: Newsday

Addressing ongoing food riots around the world — in places as disparate as Haiti, Egypt, Indonesia, and Pakistan — has shot to the top of the World Bank's crisis agenda.

International leaders met last weekend to discuss spiking commodity prices — up 40% in 2008 — and to ring the alarm for international aid. Heeding the call, President Bush released $200 million in food aid on Tuesday.

The grave situation, felt most acutely in the developing world, has been fueled by several factors. The world population continues to grow while arable land mass decreases; more land is being cultivated for biofuels, not crops; and a changing climate has disrupted traditional growing patterns. (CN)

Read Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/business/worldbusiness/15food.html?ref=world

Continental Airlines, Boeing and GE Aviation have announced plans to conduct a biofuels demonstration flight in the first half of 2009 in an effort to identify sustainable fuel solutions for the aviation industry.

Continental is the first major U.S. carrier to announce plans to highlight technological advancements in sustainable biofuels that can help to further reduce carbon emissions.

The biofuel flight will use a Boeing Next-Generation 737 equipped with CFM International CFM56-7B engines. CFM is a 50/50 joint company of General Electric Company and Snecma (SAFRAN Group).

In the months leading up to the flight, Continental, Boeing and GE will work together and with an undisclosed fuel provider to identify sustainable fuel sources that don't impact food crops, water resources or contribute to deforestation, and which can be produced in sufficient quantities to support a pre-flight test schedule that includes laboratory and ground-based jet engine performance testing to ensure compliance with stringent aviation fuel performance and safety requirements.

As part of a broader industry effort, Boeing and other industry thought leaders, including airlines and engine manufacturers, are helping to guide the aviation sector toward sustainable biofuels produced through advanced biomass conversion technologies and processes that have the potential to reduce greenhouse gases throughout their lifecycle.

For more information, visit www.continental.com, www.boeing.com or www.ge.com

Interest in hybrid (gas/electric) vehicles is down this year according to a US national survey by J.D. Powers.

The survey is quoted in a CNN.com article that reports the decline in interest among new car buyers amounts to 7% from last year to 2007, still 50% of buyers are considering hybrid vehicles.

Unused land on Hawaii's Waianae Coast and other areas of the state could one day be green with plants grown for fuel to reduce Hawaii's dependence on imported oil.

That's the hope of researchers who are trying to determine if biofuel crops have the potential to re-engergize Hawaii's agriculture industry.

The University of Hawaii and the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center are growing test plots of jatropha, a plant that is already being used to make biodiesel in India.

But what's yet to be determined is whether the crops will be profitable for farmers.

Read full article:

http://starbulletin.com/2007/07/22/news/story03.html

"Going green does not have to mean going slow"

220.7 MPH is the new world record for a street car in the standing mile, achieved by the E85 Viper owned by Karl Jacob.

The record proves power and performance do not have to be sacrificed for environmental responsibility. The 1200 horsepower E85 Viper rocketed from a standstill to 220.7 MPH in one mile, taking 27.41 seconds at the Oscoda- Wurtsmith Airport in Oscoda, Mich.

Read full article at automotoportal blog

John Gallagher pinches a pod from the long-stemmed plant in the greenhouse next to his office, cracks it open and pops the BB-sized seeds into his mouth.

"They're not going to compete with peanuts, but they're good," said Gallagher, a University of Delaware researcher studying the plant, which is native to salt marshes stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the mid-Atlantic coast.

While the seashore mallow might be handy for a quick snack, the sturdy plant has provided Gallagher food for thought in addressing a smorgasbord of environmental problems, from global warming to the disappearance of coastal farmland.

Read full article

Smugglers trying to sneak alcohol into Sweden are helping fuel the country's public transport system and reducing its greenhouse emissions.

Almost all of the 185,000 gallons of smuggled alcohol seized by the customs service last year was turned into alternative fuel and used to power buses, trucks and a biogas train. 

The beer, wine and liquor is taken to a plant in Stockholm, where it is heated and converted into biogas.

Biogas is used in Sweden to power some 1,000 trucks and buses and one train. A quart of pure alcohol is enough to make about a tenth of a gallon of biogas. And it is good business, because the material to make it is free.

The Swedish customs service was happy to get rid of the smuggled alcohol, which was taking up lots of space before the biogas program was started. .

In 2003, one quarter of the energy consumed in the small Nordic country came from renewable sources, and in Stockholm, one quarter of city buses run on ethanol or biogas.

A push from Congress and the White House for huge increases in biofuels, such as ethanol, is prompting the oil industry to scale back its plans for refinery expansions.

That could keep gasoline prices high, possibly for years to come.

With Bush calling for a 20% drop in gasoline use, and the Senate now debating legislation for huge increases in ethanol production, oil companies see growing uncertainty about future gasoline demand and little need to expand refineries or build new ones.

Read full article
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12974

The presidents of Venezuela and Brazil have clashed over the issue of ethanol at the start of an energy summit hosted by Venezuela on the Caribbean island of Margarita off the coast of Venezuela.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had hopes the energy summit will help foster anti U.S. unity, but Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva (shown here) is open to Bush's proposal to promote ethanol production in developing countries.

Chavez opposes the Bush plan stating that the increase of ethanol production for U.S. consumption will lead to higher food prices, and he has asked all Latin American countries to pass on ethanol and rely on the OPEC nations oil reserves.

However Brazil's president says there is a huge territory, not only in Brazil, but all South American countries, along with Africa which can produce oil seeds for biodiesel, sugar cane for ethanol and food at the same time.

Chavez is promoting the projected Union of the South American Nations or UNASUR, a working relationship for economic and political integration in South America.

"Gradually the U.S. empire will end up a paper tiger and we the peoples of Latin America will become true tigers of steel," Chavez said on the eve of the summit. 

At least 10.5 million Americans made a change last year . . .

Natonal Alternative Fuel Autos Week was kicked off with the anouncement that in 2006 10.5 million alternative fuel cars were sold. The number of alternative fuel car and truck sales was 50% more than anticipated by automakers - along with accounting for 9% of total sales. 

There are currently 60 alternative fuel models for sale on the market today, and that figure includes hybrid electric, ethanol E85, along with clean diesel.

As more models become available the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers feels that American consumers will opt to choose these vehicles, but still have the safety, comfort and performance they have become accustom to having. Automobile companies have provided a wide range of high fuel efficient technologies such as four cylinder engines, fuel injectors, variable transmissions, valve timing and cylinder deactivation.

With the introduction of alternative fuel cars, 200 fueling stations have cropped up across the country in 13 states.

R.L. Polk and Company provided the sales data from 2006.

Larry Hagman played the famous oil baron, J.R. Ewing on Dallas, but in real life the actor is a renewable energy proponent.

Hagman was on hand to kick off the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo in Texas, and was excited to drive the latest vehicles from Volkswagen, Daimler Chrysler and GM which all run on biodiesel brands.

In an online survey of 1,099 adults conducted in January by Moore Information Inc., 61% of consumers would consider purchasing a diesel vehicle, because of the benefits of biodiesel. These benefits, identified by survey respondents, include reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, protecting human health, and environmental and economic benefits.

New biodiesel brand cars at the Expo included the 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD, 2007 Dodge Ram 2500, 2007 Chevy Silverado Heavy Duty, and 2007 Chevy Express Cargo Van.

At the conference GM announced that it is offering a Special Equipment Option on the 6.6L Duramax for B20 capability. The Special Equipment Option is available to fleets on the GMC Savanna, Chevy Express Commercial Cutaway Van, Chevy Silverado Heavy Duty, and GM Sierra Heavy Duty One Ton.

Production on the Special Equipment Option is limited to 200 vehicles in 2007, and GM is working to expand B20 capability in 2008.

All of the manufacturer-supplied vehicles in the conference ride-and-drive were fueled with B5 – a blend of 5% biodiesel and 95% petroleum diesel – except the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram, which were fueled by B20.

DaimlerChrysler uses B5 as the factory fill for the Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD and Dodge Ram 2500 and 3500. Both vehicles are approved for B5. The 2007 Dodge Ram is also approved for B20 for commercial, government and military fleets which use military specification biodiesel fuel.

Volkswagen approves the use of B5 and is testing B20 in several fleet vehicles. Volkswagen was a major sponsor of the National Biodiesel Conference.

Cleantechblog.com which states it is the premier cleantech site for commentary on technologies, news, and issues relating to next generation energy and the environment.

I found the 2006 year in review worth reading, and thought I would share

http://www.cleantechblog.com/2007/01/2006-in-review.html

Corn prices, which nearly doubled in the last year as use of ethanol increased, fell yesterday on word from President Bush that other sources will be used to produce the alternative fuel.

Bush, in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, said the U.S. should use everything from wood chips to grasses to agricultural wastes to make ethanol.

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer said most of the countries that export oil to the United States do not share American values, but U.S. officials have nevertheless declined to embrace alternative fuel technology because foreign oil was cheap.

He noted during Friday's speech most of the oil imported to the United States comes from Canada, according to The (Orangeburg) Times and Democrat.

"From that good neighbor, it goes to hell in a handbasket: Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, Angola and a bunch of countries that end with -stan," the Democrat said at South Carolina State University.

His speech was the inaugural address for the Environmental Policy Institute Lecture Series sponsored by S.C. State's James E. Clyburn University Transportation Center.

Schweitzer complained that the Bush administration was only offering rhetoric on an issue where action is needed.

Schweitzer said there are numerous affordable options to wean the United States off its dependence on foreign oil.

For example, he said coal could be converted into gasoline and diesel fuel for about $1 a gallon.

He also suggested the nation could reduce oil imports by a third if all crop acreage committed for exports were redirected to produce canola, safflower, camelina and other crops for bio-fuel or ethanol.

Schweitzer encouraged the approximately 100 students from Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School to strive to be "the next Tommy Edison or the next Benny Franklin."

Schweitzer is Montana's first Democratic governor since 1988.
Information from: The Times & Democrat, http://www.timesanddemocrat.com

Oil Heat Dealers Consider Offering Bioheat to the Customers

Until recently, most of the attention on this cleaner, renewable fuel has been focused on biodiesel as a transportation fuel. This is due to the fact that, as a nation, we consume more distillate fuel for transportation than any other use.

However, in the Northeast, this relationship is inverted. Maine, for example, uses three times more distillate for heating than for transportation. As a result, some fuel dealers have begun to recognize that there is a huge market that exists beyond biodiesel, and marketing "bioheat" blends can offer many advantages.

Using biodiesel as a heating fuel is not a new, untested idea. Extensive studies have been conducted in the lab, as well as in the field.

However, market research indicated that there exists a significant percentage of oilheat consumers who identify with the "red-white-and-blue" attributes of bioheat, namely that it is an American-made product, therefore it offsets foreign oil imports and supports American farmers.

This enables bioheat to be marketed to a much larger percentage of consumers than originally thought. In addition, a Federal Biodiesel Blender's Credit, which became available in January 2005, enables blended bioheat products to be sold at essentially the same retail price as conventional heating oil, often at higher margins.

Tests of bioheat showing positive results began in this country in 1993. Since then, extensive tests have been carried out by Brookhaven National Laboratory, the National Renewable Energy Lab and the National Biodiesel Board, among others.

These tests have all proven that using Biodiesel in a blend with No. 2 fuel results in lower emissions and fewer service calls, in addition to requiring no equipment modifications.

Here are a few of the positive aspects of being in the bioheat business:

- Bioheat burns cleaner and is lower in sulfur (B-100 has no sulfur), resulting in less soot, which means fewer service calls and a more efficient heating system.

- Bioheat offers a method for dealers to differentiate their product from the competition. Conventional heating oil is a commodity being sold in a saturated market. The only way to be different is to offer better service (everybody claims this), or a lower price (a slippery slope). Bioheat is a completely different product that competitors don't have.

- Bioheat is a way to demonstrate that your company is "part of the solution," something that, as a rule, is hard to claim in the oil business.

- Bioheat can offer higher margins than conventional heating oil. It's a premium product and many customers are willing to pay a higher price.

- Bioheat reduces the public perception that oil is dirty, sooty and smelly, and disarms suggestions that oil causes higher maintenance costs versus natural gas.

- Bioheat companies get lots of attention from the media, government officials and customers alike. It's a pleasure to have customers say, "Thank you so much for bringing me this product. I appreciate it that you are trying to make a difference." It's a switch to be on the good side of the environmentalists and an ego boost to receive positive media attention.

Indiana may soon become one of the world's leading producers of bio-fuels, and LaPorte will be at the forefront of an environmental movement that officials hope will take advantage of those fuels.

According to the National Bio-Diesel Board, the fuel is biodegradable, non-toxic and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics.

The move will not likely cost the city much, despite the fact the fuel is currently three to four cents more per gallon than regular diesel fuel.

Carl Lisek, an environmental consultant who worked with the city to make the transition, said the vehicles won't have to be retro-fitted to accept the new fuel, greatly reducing cost. He also said gradual rises in production will eventually drive down the cost of the fuel.

With three bio-fuel plants, Indiana will be the world leader (in production)” Lisek said. “We've announced this today; we should start using it by Monday.”

The state also is ratcheting up production of another bio-fuel - corn-based Ethanol - at a plant near South Bend. Plans are in the works for what is said to be the world's largest ethanol production plant, which will be built in Kosciusko County.

Construction of the world's largest biodiesel plant in Claypool, Indiana is great economic development news for Northern Indiana. More important, the new biodiesel plant will mean progress toward Indiana's goal of becoming a major player in the development and production of renewable energy.

In just one year, Indiana has grown from one alternative fuels plant to nine, with more to come. Two other biodiesel and six ethanol plants are currently under construction.

Gov. Mitch Daniels made the announcement of the $135 million plant owned by Louis Dreyfus Corp, while in Washington representing Indiana at a renewable energy summit.

Soybeans are the most common raw material used to manufacture biodiesel, and Indiana is third in the nation in soybean production, and the fifth in the nation in corn. It's interesting that only recently have Indiana's leaders and farmers joined forces to make biofuel production a priority.

After the new proposed facilities are up and running, the state will produce 400 million gallons of ethanol annually, and 95 million gallons of biodiesel. Eventually the state's goal is to produce a combined 1 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel fuel on an annual basis.  

There are now about 60 gas stations in Indiana that sell biodiesel, making it more easily accessible to consumers than in the past.

The state of Indiana has an opportunity to become a leader in the alternative fuel industry. Both the new proposed plant, soybean production, and finally some common-sense legislation can bring the state closer to this goal. 

The Strategic Research Institute will host the Biodiesel Opportunities and Investments Summit, on April 27 & 28, 2006, at InterContinental Houston - Houston, Texas.

This event is designed for companies investing in and buying biodiesel, as well as the technology service suppliers and quality control. 

Since Richard Nixon, US Presidents have been promising to reduce the American dependence on foreign oil but have not succeeded as the United States imports more oil now than in the past.

The growth of the renewable fuels industry, in recent years, demonstrates that the infrastructure is being developed so American Presidents, such as Bush in his last State of the Union address, can act on their promise.

While interest & investment in the renewable fuels industry continues to grow, the Biodiesel industry, in particular, has made the news over the last year.

As Daimler Chrysler approves the use of B20 in 2007 Dodge Ram Pickup Trucks equipped with Cummins Diesel Engines, news of new biodiesel plants such as the Mid-America Biofuels in Missouri is entering the radar of the investment community.

Key issues to be addressed include:

• Who is investing in biodiesel and what are the trends in lending
• Commodity Price Risk Management
• How to Profit from efficient biodiesel related Agri-business & production
• Targeting regional and local investment opportunities
• How biodiesel taxation structures benefit and challenge industry growth
• ROI projections for project development

For more information, or to view the complete agenda, visit

http://www.srinstitute.com/conf_page.cfm?instance_id=25&web_id=790&pid=398