Although biofuels currently supply just one percent of all energy to the domestic market, according to St. James, legislation will require them to provide eight percent by 2016. In addition, the government recently upped the blend of biodiesel with regular diesel from five percent to seven, an important move in a world increasingly reluctant to be fossil fuel-dependent.

The fifth-largest biofuel provider in the world after Germany, the US, France and Brazil, Argentina has two main sources: biodiesel and bioethanol. Sugarcane, grown in the north of Argentina, is the feedstock for the nine companies which produce ethanol in Argentina, while soy oil is the basis for the country’s 19 biodiesel-producing firms, excluding one which converts used cooking oil into the finished product.

Indeed, one enterprising pig farm in Buenos Aires province lucratively converts pig manure into biogas in order to self-power.

Overfeeding. “At the moment, Argentina has more feedstock than it knows what to do with,” St. James told the Herald. “The Chinese aren’t buying our soy oil any more, and so we suddenly have a glut which isn’t finding its overseas market, plus (Planning Minister) De Vido is finding a good application for that extra soy oil. That also means we no longer have to import diesel fuel from Venezuela which is particularly toxic and high in sulphur — so we’re producing our own biodiesel fuel which is cleaner, biodegradable and keeps the money in the country. There’s a lot of upside and very little downside.”

Biodiesel has progressed more than ethanol in terms of quantity produced and margins made, converting 2.6 million tons a year into US$2.1 billion — although 65 percent is exported, mostly to Europe, which has a surplus of biofuel plants but not enough feedstock.

Up to seven. Following a resolution to Law 26,093 in March this year, oil companies now mix diesel fuel with five percent of biodiesel (B5), which obviously led to an increase in demand to the domestic market.

But on June 30, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner instructed her Energy Secretary Daniel Cameron to hike that blend up to seven percent (B7) next month, with the intention of eventually reaching 10 percent (B10).

“Biodiesel really is Argentina’s shining star,” added St.James. “The aim is to reach B10 levels by year-end.

That really is a big deal and would make Argentina the country with the highest biodiesel mandate in the world by a long shot, if it isn’t already with the B7 resolution.”

Although Planning Minister Julio De Vido last week said: “The State’s objective is to up this to 10 percent by the end of 2010,” Claudio A. Molina, executive director of the Argentine Association of Biofuels and Hydrogen, didn’t think this is likely to happen. He told the Herald: “B7 will come into play this August but I’m not sure if B10 will commence by year-end. After all, the B5 mix was supposed to start in January but it didn’t begin until March.”

And following last week’s green light with regards to the construction of three renewable energy plants to bring the total to 22, which will provide a total of 895 megawatts (MW), 110.4MW will eventually come from biofuels — no mean feat for an industry which only came into existence in May 2006 thanks to the Argentine Biofuels Law 26,093.

However, 500MW will come from wind farms, which is set to become the country’s second-largest renewable energy source, said St. James. “One of the unexpected winners from that deal was thermal energy — good old-fashioned generators that will work on biofuel which have fewer greenhouse emissions instead of diesel fuel.”

Back in 2008, this fledgling market saw US$12 billion of investments in Latin America, according to the AREC, although US$10 billion — went to Brazil’s ethanol plants.

“The other four countries that rank above Argentina all have access to financing, venture capital and legislation,” said St. James. “Here in Argentina we have none of that, but we still rank fifth in the world in terms of production. Just imagine what we could do if we did have access to financing and banks!”

Bean plant. Argentina’s biofuels industry received a further boost last week when local biodiesel producer Renova confirmed it is to invest US$350 million in a new plant located in Timbúes, Santa Fe province, which will process soya beans.

To add icing on the cake, EADS, Airbus’ owner and Europe’s main plane builder, undertook a test flight using a 100 percent microalgae-based biofuel made by Argentina’s Biocombustibles del Chubut.

A first for biofuels, a Diamond DA42 took off from the Berlin ILA air show last month, and was a flight two years in the planning, according to Marcelo Machín, president of the Chubut-based producer.

An important development in an environment increasingly hostile towards fossil fuels, algae can be produced in sufficiently large quantities without competing with food production for fertile land or potable water. St. James said: “A global race is on to find the right strain of microalgae which produce a lot of oil. Biofuels need a vegetable oil to be produced and if you squish seaweed, plenty of algae oil comes out.

“But the challenge is how to grow it quickly. Seaweed needs carbon dioxide and sun so it would grow perfectly next to an old, contaminating cement plant. These little gunky critters double in size in 24 hours, which is why it has caused so much excitement — you have an instant and tremendous feedstock.”

And Dr. Jean Botti, chief technical officer at EADS, added: “This opens up the feasibility of carbon-neutral flights. Third-generation biofuels are more than just a replacement for fossil petroleum — they push the possibilities of future propulsion.”

The Puerto Madryn-based factory is set to receive a sister plant in Sao Paulo which would produce and refine microalgae oil and EADS is hoping to attract 20 million euros worth of investment for it.

While former vice-chancellor Fernando Petrella says Argentina is ripe for investing in terms of biofuels, he is uncertain as to why Sao Paulo is the location for the new plant.

“Given that we are one of the world’s largest suppliers of green energies, this could be an integration point for Argentina to regain its position in the world and the G20. But it’s surprising to me why Biocombustibles del Chubut has chosen Sao Paulo over Argentina. People want to know more about this,” he said to the Herald.

Despite his uncertainty, the former vice-chancellor pointed to the investment opportunities in Argentina.

“In spite of the problems this marvellous country has had — and there are three in my opinion, World War II, the Malvinas conflict and the 2001 crash  — it is still able to do biofuel business which was to the tune of US$2.1 billion last year.”

St. James added: “This really is a moving industry. Last year Argentina produced and exported 1.2 million tons of biodiesel at a cost of a little under US$1,000 per ton. That makes it a billion-dollar industry.

Argentina is always on the brink of an energy crisis. But now that the government is finally understanding the opportunities the biofuels industry is offering, those days may be over.”

SOURCE: BUENOS AIRES HERALD

Earlier this year, EPA announced the final rule for the new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2), but the canola pathway was not yet looked at as biofuel feedstock able to meet required greenhouse gas reduction standards. Now, Biodiesel Magazine reports that the EPA says canola oil biodiesel could reduce GHGs by 50 percent compared to petroleum-based diesel:

“These results, if finalized, would justify authorizing the generation of biomass-based diesel RINs for fuel produced by the canola oil biodiesel pathway modeled, assuming that the fuel meets the other definitional criteria for renewable fuel (e.g., produced from renewable biomass, and used to reduce or replace transportation fuel) specified in EISA,” EPA said in the NODA memo.

EPA analyzed canola oil as a feedstock “assuming the same biodiesel production facility designs and conversion efficiencies as modeled for biodiesel produced from soybean oil.” To assess the impact of producing biodiesel from canola oil, the EPA also created a control case projection estimating 200 million gallons of canola-based biodiesel per year by 2022. “While we recognize that some canola oil has historically been used to make biodiesel for domestic use,” EPA said, “this range of production (zero to 200 million gallons) covers the range of production likely by 2022.” To create the projection, the EPA used a number of factors including historical volumes, potential feedstock availability and competitive uses, potential increases in crop acreage and potential increases in crop and conversion yields.

“As with other EPA analyses of fuel pathways with a significant land use impact, the proposed analysis for canola oil biodiesel includes a best estimate as well as a range of possible lifecycle greenhouse gas emission results based on formal uncertainty analysis conducted by the agency,” EPA also noted.

The EPA believes canola crop yields will increase in the long term.

John Davis

Source: domestic fuel

The fuel-mix requirement will be raised from 5 percent now to 7 percent initially and to 10 percent by year’s end, Planning Minister Julio De Vido said.

Argentina is the main global exporter of soyoil and some analysts say that greater local demand for biodiesel could eventually reduce shipments abroad.

This week we’ll publish a resolution to bring it (the fuel-mix requirement) up to 7 percent and the same resolution will include the strategic objective of reaching 10 percent by the end of 2010,” De Vido told state television.

“This gives us a chance to reduce dependence on soyoil exports and permits us to use this oil to expand Argentine fuel reserves,” he added.

Argentina’s soyoil shipments have been clouded by a two-month-old trade dispute with top buyer China, which blocked Argentine imports in retaliation for the South American country’s restrictions on Chinese manufactured goods.

Argentina is the fourth-biggest global biodiesel producer, with a production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes per year.

The current 5 percent biodiesel fuel-mix requirement, mandated by a law that came into force earlier this year, represents production of around 800,000 tonnes, according to the Carbio biofuels chamber, which groups larger producers.

The group has estimated this year’s biodiesel exports could exceed the 1.15 million tonnes shipped last year. (Reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Writing by Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by David Gregorio)

SOURCE: REUTERS

Tim Haig, president of BIOX.Great strides being made in the development of biodiesel fuel.

To get to the Green Highway, auto makers are making the most amazing and fuel-efficient petroleum-burning engines ever. What doesn’t get nearly as much attention are the huge opportunities to achieve a cleaner world by burning something other than petroleum. A couple of weeks ago, I tried to dispel many of the “ethanol is a scam” myths. This week it’s biodiesel’s turn.

What I knew about biodiesel until recently was that Willie Nelson was probably making homebrew biodiesel in his kitchen somewhere to fuel a rainbow-coloured school bus. It’s true that the back-to-the-land crowd had long ago figured out that a fairly easy way to save the world and beat the taxman was to collect all the French fry grease they could and perform some simple chemistry. Biodiesel is that easy to make and it’s a wonderful fuel.

Biodiesel is a non-toxic and biodegradable fuel that is made from vegetable oils, waste cooking oil, animal fats or basically anything with a lot of fat in it. More on that later. Biodiesel combusts better than petroleum-based diesel, has a higher cetane (like octane) rating and produces fewer life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions. Ethanol is for gasoline-powered engines and there are a lot more of them on the roads than diesels and, as a result, the ethanol industry is much more established. But diesel engines are more efficient than gasoline engines and biodiesel fuel has come a long way from Willie’s kitchen.

BIOX, a Canadian company with some interesting patented technology first developed in the 1990s at the University of Toronto, has built a 67-million-litre annual capacity biodiesel production facility in Hamilton, Ont. This plant is one of the largest continuous flow biodiesel production facilities in the world. Animal fats and recycled vegetable oils are trucked in and 45 minutes later high-quality biodiesel is ready to be trucked out. “The technology is going great,” says BIOX CEO Tim Haig.

BIOX is processing inedible waste material simply because it’s cheaper than buying edible oil like canola. The biodiesel industry generally is on the ropes because the price of feed stocks have been rising while the price of petroleum-based diesel has been coming down. There is no legal requirement or “mandate” forcing petroleum companies to blend biodiesel into fuel the way there is for ethanol. But it’s coming.

“New federal mandates going into effect in 2012 require all diesel fuel in Canada to contain a 2 per cent biodiesel blend,” said Haig. “Getting a 2 per cent blend across the country would be a monumental feat – that’s 600 million litres in the next few years, but I think we can do it. Canada is producing about 120 million litres a year now and BIOX is producing about half of that.”

Haig says that BIOX is “feedstock agnostic” – which means it can process edible oils or non-edible fatty waste at the same time. But he believes new feedstocks are coming that will lower the price and expand the supply of biodiesel significantly. After BP blows through that first $20-billion for the Gulf disaster you might expect it to become a little more interested in bio-based energy than in more deep-sea drilling. The two most promising new feedstocks are algae and jatropha.

Craig Venter, the man who mapped the human gene, is all over algae. Exxon Mobil entered into a partnership with Venter’s Synthetic Genomics (SGI) in mid-2009 to apply SGI expertise in genetic engineering to create algae that can produce biofuels on a large, economical scale. Exxon Mobil had committed to invest more than $600-million in this effort – which is peanuts for the world’s largest oil company but a lot of money for a scientist.

Jatropha is a plant that can grow in marginal soil and doesn’t have to be fertilized or watered, yet yields more biofuel per acre than corn. Poor farmers in India, China, the Philippines and Malaysia are planting millions of acres of it hoping to turn unproductive fields into a biofuel opportunity. BP is investing in jatropha cultivation.

The adoption of biodiesel, like ethanol, has been delayed by the “Food versus Fuel” argument because both compete with the food industry for raw material. Other potential biofuel feed stocks like palm oil plantations have encroached on rain forests. Algae and jatropha squelch such concerns.

“Petroleum is algae that’s been processed by the earth’s crust for hundreds of thousands of years,” says Haig, “although everyone thinks it’s dinosaurs. But there is now the prospect to skip the earth’s crust’s work and go direct from algae. Algae is up to 50 per cent by weight lipids – fats. That’s perfect for biodiesel.”

Producing renewable fuels – gas from alcohol and diesel from animal fat and plant oils – is already a $2.2-billion industry in Canada, according to the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association. The Gulf disaster is pushing public opinion and political will toward the renewables over the drill-ables. This is happening as science and engineering are on the verge of delivering cellulosic ethanol and jatropha and algae-based biodiesel. Finally, we’re getting green.

Michael Vaughan is co-host with Jeremy Cato of Car/Business, which appears Fridays at 8 p.m. on Business News Network and Saturdays at 2 p.m. on CTV.

Michael Vaughan

Globe and Mail

SOURCE: THEGLOBEANDMAIL.COM

MAN Latin America has supplied three customers with the first dual-fuel trucks that can operate on 100% biodiesel (B100).

 The vehicles, from the heavy Constellation range, can run on B100 or conventional diesel. The trucks are equipped with two separate tanks, which means that these systems can be used in areas where minimum requirements for biodiesel according to DIN norm EN 14214 may not be available.

An electronic system continuously monitors the parameters and adjusts the fuel supply with the aid of a dosing unit. MAN Latin America has been participating in the biofuel test programmes of the Brazilian Ministry for Research and Technology and the state of Rio de Janeiro since 2003.

“It is important to develop products that are adapted to the respective market. This is the only way to achieve sustainable solutions internationally,” commented Yvonne Benkert, CSR manager of the MAN Group. “MAN Latin America is leading the use of biodiesels in commercial vehicles in Latin America.”

SOURCE: AUTOMOTIVE WORLD

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s government is negotiating a plan to reduce diesel imports by making energy companies blend more of the fuel with soy-based biodiesel within the next year, industry sources said on Wednesday.

A new law requiring all diesel to be mixed with 5 percent of the plant-based fuel came into force earlier this year in the South American country, the fourth-biggest global biodiesel producer and top supplier of soybean oil.

Government officials are considering a proposal to increase the compulsory mix requirement to 10 percent, in an effort to reduce rising diesel imports.

“The government is convinced of the benefits of producing and using biodiesel, because it’s better for the environment, helps diversify energy sources and reduces diesel imports,” said Claudio Molina, executive director of the Argentine Association of Biofuels and Hydrogen.

“The political decision to increase the biodiesel mix percentage has already been made,” he added.

The government is in talks with the ADEFA association of carmakers, Molina said. He expects auto producers to agree to a 7 percent biodiesel mix, later to be increased to 10 percent.

“(The timetable) hasn’t been set. I’d say that from January 2011, the 7 percent blend will come into effect and it would be compulsory,” he said.

An automobile industry source confirmed that talks were taking place, but declined to give further details. No government officials were available to comment.

Argentina’s biodiesel production capacity stands at 2.5 million tonnes per year. The current 5 percent blend law represents production of 800,000 tonnes, according to the Carbio industry group, which groups larger producers.

Carbio Executive Director Victor Castro said 2010 exports could exceed the 1.15 million tonnes shipped last year.

“They’re going to be similar to 2009 or even a bit bigger,” he said.

Molina said the industry will still be able to maintain current export levels even if biodiesel use doubled in the South American country as the sector continues to attract new investment to boost capacity.

Some industry analysts said the 5 percent blend law would reduce exports, but Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World estimated earlier this month that shipments hit a new record in the first four months of the year.

It said exports rose to an estimated 430,000 tonnes between January and April, up from 200,000 tonnes during the same period in 2009.

Argentina is keen to reduce imports to protect its trade surplus, which shrank 77 percent in March.

The country imported 1.8 million tonnes of diesel worth $1.9 billion in 2008, up from less than 500,000 tonnes two years earlier, according to official data.

HELEN POPER

(Editing by David Gregorio)

SOURCE: REUTERS

The agreement includes the construction of a plant within 14 months in the province Azua (south) to use oil from native varieties of brush such as jatrofa and higuereta, which haven’t any use so far since the oil they produce is toxic.

The agreement includes the Surfuturo Foundation, which will promote the establishment of plantations in the country’s poorest region, with the guarantee for farmers who raise the crops to be bought by the future plant.

Globasol executive Jose Vicente Galindo said the plant’s maximum production of 100,000 tons per year would require plantations totaling 60,000 hectares.

Attending the signing ceremony were Spain ambassador Diego Bermejo and Asturias region president Vicente Alvarez Areces, who concludes his first official visit to the country today.

 SOURCE: DOMINICAN TODAY

The world’s first commercial-scale seawater-based biofuels project boosts Egypt’s aquaculture profile. (Photo: Global Seawater).

EGYPT, Tuesday, April 13, 2010, 00:40 (GMT + 9)

Houston-based energy projects development company Energy Allied International and the Seawater Foundation and Global Seawater, Inc, pioneers in the development of Integrated Seawater Agriculture Systems (ISAS), have signed an MOU to develop the world’s first commercial-scale seawater-based biofuels project in Egypt: “New Nile Co.”

It will be one of the largest biofuels investments thus far in the Middle East or Africa.

ISAS is an advanced biofuels production model that uses effluent from seawater aquaculture as a natural fertilizer to grow large plantations of the halophyte (naturally salt resistant plant) salicornia, which can yield hefty volumes of high-grade vegetable oil for use as a biofuel feedstock.

“Energy Allied International’s expertise in developing large scale energy projects in the Middle East and Africa, tied with the Seawater Foundation’s and Global Seawater’s extensive knowledge of developing and operating ISAS models, is a winning combination to ensure the success of the world’s first, commercial scale, seawater-based biofuels project,” stated Dr Carl Hodges, chairman of The Seawater Foundation and co-chairman of Global Seawater.

Unlike first-generation biofuels producers that menace to displace staple foods like corn due to reliance on freshwater and nutrient-rich soil, New Nile will apply the ISAS model, thereby relying exclusively on untreated seawater and currently unproductive arid, desert and degraded lands.

“New Nile Co is poised to launch a great agricultural revolution in Egypt, by making productive use of the country’s abundant agricultural-skilled labour, unlimited access to seawater and vast desert lands,” said Mike Nassar, chairman of Energy Allied.

New Nile plans to produce tens of millions of lts of biofuels from a 50,000 ha-project site. Jointly with leading architecture design firm and the project’s lead planning advisor, Gensler, the developers are presently considering potential site locations along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts.

Already having successfully applied the ISAS model in Eritrea after conducting broad research and development in Mexico, the developers are secure of achieving similarly favourable results in Egypt.

Besides automotive markets necessitating the use of blended biofuels, New Nile will target the European civil aviation market. The latter is put through strict European Union (EU) regulations, and aviation will enter the EU Emissions Trading Scheme in 2012.

New Nile’s developers are currently discussing potential project site locations with the Egyptian Government and intend to complete the bankable feasibility study this year and being construction in early 2011.

By Natalia Real

SOURCE: FIS

The method converts both plant oils and carbohydrates into biodiesel in a single process, and should also improve the performance characteristics of biodiesel, especially in cold weather.
A paper describing the method, which has been patented, is online in the journal Energy & Fuels.

Conventional biodiesel production extracts plant oils and then converts them into fatty acid esters that can be used to power engines, said Mark Mascal, professor of chemistry at UC Davis and co-author of the paper with postdoctoral researcher Edward Nikitin. That leaves behind the carbohydrate portion of the plant — the sugars, starches, and cellulose that make up stems, leaves, seed husks and other structures.

The new process converts those carbohydrates into chemicals called levulinic acid esters — at the same time and in the same vessel that the oils are converted to fatty acid esters — resulting in a fuel cocktail that performs better at low temperatures than conventional biodiesel.

The fuel cocktail has a similar boiling range to conventional biodiesel, but is thinner; it becomes waxy at a lower temperature. Performance at low temperatures is a significant problem with B100 (conventional biodiesel), Mascal said.

“Our hope is that this blend of levulinate esters and biodiesel would perform better over a wider range of temperatures than biodiesel,” Mascal said.

Levulinate esters are nontoxic and are used as food additives, Mascal said.

Costs of the new process may be somewhat higher than for conventional biodiesel production, but should be offset by improved fuel yields and performance, he said.

The researchers are partnering with Bently Biofuels of Minden, Nev., to test the performance of levulinate/B100 blends.

Source:  Scitech News

Accelergy, USAF to evaluate Camelina, liquid coal jet fuel mix
Accelergy has begun production of biojet fuel using a mix of Camelina oil and liquefied coal for evaluation by the US Air Force (USAF). Separately, Accelergy signed a Camelina oil supply agreement with an Ohio company.

US Navy to test F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jet with biofuels
In 2009, Accelergy entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with USAF for testing fully synthetic fuels that meet or exceed USAF JP-8 military jet fuel standards.

USAF currently uses JP-8 fuel in all of its aircraft and has been looking for a commercially viable 100% synthetic alternative to petroleum based fuels. To date, synthetic fuels have required blending with petroleum feedstocks on a 50% basis to be suitable in aviation applications.

As reported by Recharge, USAF has issued internal requirements that 50% of its fuel needs comes from domestic and cleaner sources by 2016.

Accelergy will use its coal-biomass-to-liquids technology at a pilot facility under construction at the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) University of North Dakota.

Fuel deliveries to the Air Force Research Labs will begin in late 2010. The pilot facility will provide a valuable tool for evaluating new coal and biomass feeedstocks as the technology moves toward commercial deployment.

“Accelergy is the first to provide 100% synthetic jet fuel for the USAF with high thermal stability, increased energy density, lower environmental impact and competitive costs,” says tim Vail, company chief executive.

“The facility at EERC allows us to produce meaningful quantities of fuel, confirm our performance estimates and further refine our fuel product,” he adds. “With the test results in hand, the Air Force and defense contractors can then explore the full range of options for employment and advanced synthetic fuels in next-generation aircraft designs.”

Accelergy says its process technology maintains high overall thermal efficiency while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with comparable refining methods. It can also produce Jet-A fuel along with military JP5 and JP9 military jet fuels.

Camelina is a plant native to Northern Europe and Central Asia that has been traditionally cultivated as an oilseed to produce vegetable oil and animal feed. It does not compete with food crops as it requires little water or nitrogen to thrive, and can be grown on marginal farm land.

Among US states, Montana has been the most supportive of proposals to use Camelina as a raw material for biofuels and is also backing use of its abundant coal reserves for the same purpose..

Accelergy’s supply deal is with Great Plains Oil & Exploration – The Camelina Company , which is based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Financial and other details were not released.

A Great Plains official tells Recharge that the company is already growing Camelina in Montana and will extract its oil there after it obtains a crushing plant.

“This will be a great plus for Montana, and is another step on our way to energy independence,” says Governor Brian Schweitzer, who sees creation of jobs as Camelina use becomes more widespread.

Accelergy is based in Houston.

Richard A. Kessler

Source: Recharge news