According to a statement released by Evogene, the impetus behind establishing the subsidiary is due to the need for diversifying feedstock supply to fulfill worldwide demand of biodiesel, which currently relies mainly on edible oils such as soybeans and canola.

Originally launched in 2007, Evogene’s biofuel activity targets the development of second-gen feedstocks to serve as sustainable, viable and cost-effective sources of oil for the burgeoning global biodiesel industry. In addition to its castor bean seed development and commercialization efforts, the company stated that it “intends to broaden its activity to additional potential feedstocks for the biodiesel, biojet and ethanol markets.”

“With the biofuel industry’s continued growth and tremendous demand for cost-competitive feedstock, there is a strong and immediate need for a solution based on designated second-generation seed products,” said Ofer Haviv, president and CEO of Evogene. “The establishment of Evofuel as a separate company strongly positions it to address this substantial unmet need. We are reinforced by the progress and results of our castor seed in Brazil and believe that access to Evogene’s leading plant genomics capabilities will provide Evofuel with commercial advantages and opportunities in relevant markets.”

The formation of Evofuel follows on the heels of Evogene successfully completing field trials for its advanced castor varieties in Brazil in cooperation with SLC Agricola S.A., a leading agribusiness firm in the country, which will be cultivated for biodiesel feedstock. Under the expanded agreement, Evogene and SLC Agricola intend to continue to evaluate Evogene’s castor varieties at its farm locations in Brazil. The goal is to identify the best performing varieties and agronomic practices suitable for commercial-scale production.

In addition to Brazil and Israel, field trials of castor been cultivars are also being conducted in the U.S.; most notably at Texas A&M University. Additional collaborators in the program include NASA and Honeywell’s UOP.

In mid-2010, Evogene announced that biobased jet fuel produced using its castor varieties met international standards for alternative aviation fuels. The testing was completed in collaboration with NASA and Honeywell’s UOP. Also in 2010, the company announced that a life-cycle analysis of biodiesel using its castor varieties demonstrated a 90 percent greenhouse gas reduction when compared to petroleum.BIODIESEL MAGAZINE.

“Having each managed several successful projects,” James said, “we soon realized that we should be adding the kind of value we were delivering every day to our clients within our own business.” So, James said, “we decided to make the bold call of leaving our well-respected and well-paid consulting jobs, and step out on our own.”

Today, the team is running a 25 metric ton (around 7,500 gallons) per week facility, which James said will be scaled up to between 40 and 60 tons per week in the next few months. “We aim to build a second, larger plant within the next year,” he said. The plant design, construction and even commissioning were all done by the three-member team. They rely on used cooking oil and in the process James said after drying and pre-processing of the feedstock, the plant runs its own version of an acid-base process. “In order to be able to obtain the largest capacity for our invested capital,” he explained, “we reengineered an ex-brewing vessel as our main reactor.” The glycerol made during production is sold to an anaerobic digestion plant as a high-yield feedstock, he added.

Purification of the crude biodiesel starts with the use of a vacuum flash designed and built by the team, a method that takes the methanol below 0.2 m/m. The biodiesel then passes through an adsorption media (also designed by the team) before finally going through a commercially available exchange resin. James said after passing through another sub-1 micron filter, the product will exceed EN 14214. “Our purification process is unique,” he noted.

When the team first decided to enter the biodiesel industry, James said they took many trips (undercover as both buyers and producers). The team was also looking at the feedstock options “that would carry reasonable technical difficulty in producing quality fuel, but also substantial feedstock availability.” According to James, most virgin rapeseed methyl ester production plants, such as the Lurgi plants in Germany, were running with very tight margins and were only profitable with the combination of high yields and vertically integrated glycerin refining. The team now purchases its feedstock from other used cooking oil refiners, and then “aim for a high yield in order to obtain decent margins.” The team, he also said, was advised finding feedstock would be a serious potential pitfall, “but we haven’t found any difficulty purchasing it from a variety of sources on the open market.”

For James and his team, there are three main areas they believe Organic Drive must overcome in the next few years, including product quality issues, process yield and the volume of production. Once the team works out its issues with product quality and product yield, James said “it is simply a matter of producing as much as possible.” Although the team is currently producing for a number of smaller clients, James said, Organic Drive is now looking to supply larger obligated parties, meaning fewer companies but larger loads. “I have already outlined rough figures for our production volume plans, and we are currently barely touching the U.K. used cooking oil supply.”BIODIESEL MAGAZINE.

Cumberland, Wis.-based SunPower Biodiesel has officially restarted operations. The facility, which was first commissioned in 2008, held a grand opening ceremony May 26. The event featured a ribbon cutting ceremony with local politicians, facility tours and an educational seminar.

According to SunPower Coordinator Herb Blaser, approximately 250 people attended the festivities, including several area students. The educational workshop was open to the public, said Jamie Helgeson, a SunPower spokeswoman. This included students enrolled in natural resources and agricultural classes. Those who attended the workshop not only viewed a PowerPoint presentation, Helgeson continued, they were also able to see a small batch of biodiesel being produced.

Work on the 3 MMgy SunPower Biodiesel plant originally began in 2006, and the plant was legally commissioned in 2008, said Blaser. After being idled for a period of time, the facility is once again operating at full capacity. According to Blaser, plans are underway to increase the nameplate capacity of the plant to 5 MMgy by the close of 2011. “The four-year plan is to get to 15 million,” he continued.

The continuous flow plant takes in canola oil as its primary feedstock, which Blaser said results in a fuel with superior cold flow properties. One of the greatest difficulties the company faces is in convincing local farmers to grow canola feedstock for the plant. To help mitigate that problem and prove to farmers canola cultivation is a good investment, the owners of SunPower have established a sister company—DRM Farms—that currently cultivates approximately 6,000 acres of canola. “We found that we have to prove to farmers that it’s a working product,” Blaser said. “It has about half the inputs of soybeans and the cash value of it is comparable to soybeans when all is said and done.”  Blaser notes that DRM Farms is moving forward with expansion plans, with a goal of having 10,000 acres of canola planted next year.

SunPower has also vertically integrated its operations in other ways. The company owns and operates its own seed crushing facility and has even established onsite retail operations. “We put in our own fueling station outside of our plant here,” Blaser said. “We opened that three months ago, and our sales have doubled [in each of those] three months.” The station currently sells B11, B20 and B99 blends of biodiesel. “B99 is the most popular because we are 25 cents under the pump price for B99,” Blaser added.BIODIESEL MAGAZINE.

The new company, Sabine Biofuels, will put to use a process created in part by Endicott and Davy Technologies that may seem almost too good to be true. “We have true second-generation technology that spans the entire spectrum of fats, oils and greases in any proportion and in any quantity,” Christopher Frantz, principal for Endicott, told Biodiesel Magazine, which, he added, can dynamically change on the fly in a continuous process.

The plant is being erected at KMTEX Ltd.’s site in Port Arthur where KMTEX already produces chemicals. According to Frantz, “this is an advantaged location because of KMTEX’s facility. There is tremendous capital efficiency there. The site is also rich in transportation modalities—rail, truck and barge.” The projected date for the facility’s completion is 2012.

Frantz also said the construction is going well, and they are extremely excited to have partnered with Holly on the project. And although he declined to speculate on the reason why Holly has committed to the 50/50 partnership, he did point out that with RFS2 comes “an obligation that has to be met.”

But there should be no doubt as to why Holly has entered into the agreement, according to a statement by George Damiris, senior vice president for supply and marketing at Holly. “This joint venture will assist Holly in meeting its biofuel obligations under the federal Renewable Fuel Standard,” adding that Holly is looking forward to the partnership with Endicott, “and possibly others in the future.”

Frantz said the two companies will work together “on the marketing plan to address the off-take” of the biodiesel produced at the facility, adding that along with the excitement of the new partnership, “it is the first step in building a multiplant enterprise,” which he said is Endicott’s overall business strategy. Holly currently operates petroleum refineries in Artesia, N.M.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Woods Cross, Utah. The company is also currently considering a merger with Frontier Oil Corp.

SOURCE: BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

By Bryan Sims | April 05, 2011/ ADM plans to acquire Prairie Pride’s soy crush and biodiesel facilities in Deerfield, Mo.

Photo: Prairie Pride Inc.

Decatur, Ill.-based agribusiness firm Archer Daniels Midland Co. has agreed to acquire a soybean crushing facility and 30 MMgy biodiesel production plant from Prairie Pride Inc. in Deerfield, Mo. ADM will also form a partnership with PPI for the biodiesel portion of the business.

PPI responded to ADM’s acquisition of its soy crushing and biodiesel production assets, stating,

“Earlier this year, in conjunction with a division of General Electric, we worked to find partners and potential purchasers of the crush and biodiesel facilities. After a bidding process conducted by GE, ADM has agreed to purchase the debt held by GE and will become our primary creditor. Not only has ADM offered to infuse more capital into the crush and biodiesel facilities, they also have requested that Prairie Pride participate alongside ADM in the future of the biodiesel facility.”

Al Decker, treasurer of PPI’s board of directors, told Biodiesel Magazine that the biodiesel plant ceased production in February last year and has sat idle prior to ADM’s stepping in with the acquisition. Decker said the company had spent over a year working for a solution to resume operations, but the company became financially distressed, citing the lapsed tax credit as the primary culprit behind the decision to halt production. The Deerfield biodiesel plant broke ground for construction in 2006 and began producing biodiesel in 2007.

“We were down to a minimum staff, basically for maintenance and security reasons at the plant,” Decker said, adding that ADM will likely evaluate whether to retain PPI personnel or expand staff with ADM employees, or a combination of both at the site. “We’re tickled to death to have the [plant] up and running again.”

For ADM, the acquisition of PPI’s soy crush and biodiesel production assets was attractive because it further highlights the company’s growth strategy in the U.S. and internationally.

“ADM’s growth strategy involves expanding the volume and diversity of crops that we source and process; expanding the reach of our origination, transportation and processing assets and expanding our value-added product portfolio,” ADM said in an email correspondence. “The Prairie Pride facility will increase our North American crush capacity and it fits well within ADM’s integrated business model.”

As for PPI, the company is confident that ADM will achieve PPI’s goals its investors originally set out to meet when they invested in the project five years ago.

“Prairie Pride has faced many challenges over the past several years,” PPI’s website states. “The board of directors believes, after considering all material facts and circumstances, that a long-term relationship with ADM gives our members the greatest potential to receive returns on their investment without the necessity of infusing more capital into Prairie Pride. We are hopeful that this will be a successful and profitable business relationship, and that the crush and biodiesel facilities will purchase local soybeans and provide local jobs in the future.”

SOURCE: BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

“It is widely regarded that bioenergy could play a significant role in a low-carbon energy future in Australia,” said Roslyn Prinsley, general manger of the RIRDC’s New Rural Industries program. “It could help reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and provide an alternative income source for farmers though the establishment of new rural industries. But to achieve sustainable industry expansion, we need a solid scientific basis to help inform industry and government decision making, and drive potential private sector investment. [This report] will help us understand which potential feedstocks are commercially viable and best suited to Australia’s growing conditions, in particular our unique climate and soils. And, importantly, the studies help to dispel the myth that the production of bioenergy feedstocks has to come at the expense of land destined to grow crops for human consumption.”

The study, which focused on the central Queensland region of Australia, had three primary objectives; to identify native plant species that produce significant quantities of oil and grow well on marginal lands, to test the seeds of these species for oil content, and to examine the oil yield potential of selected species. Plant types evaluated during the course of the study included trees, shrubs, palms, herbaceous species and weedy species.

According to the report, fruits or seeds were obtained for each plant through field collection, seedbanks or commercial seed companies. The seeds were then analyzed for oil content. Of the more than 200 plant species tested, the researchers determined that 20 that featured substantial oil content. Oil from the 20 selected species was then analyzed for fatty acid composition, which was used to calculate biodiesel properties. In addition, oil from each of the 20 selected species was converted into biodiesel, with the resulting fuel evaluated for basic property characteristics. Biodiesel produced from one species, Calophyllum inophyllum, also underwent engine performance testing.

The 20 species identified by the study as potential biodiesel feedstocks include:

1. Calophyllum inophyllum (Beauty leaf tree): The perennial tree flowers twice a year, producing up to 8,000 fruits per plant annually. Each fruit contains a kernel that contains approximately 46 percent nonedible oil. The highly acidic and viscous oil was found to yield inferior quality biodiesel using conventional conversion processes, but modified production processes led to better results. As part of the study, researchers conducted engine tests using B5 and B20 biodiesel produced with Beauty leaf tree oil and found that it performed as well as conventional diesel.

2. Aleurites moluccana (Candle nut tree): The fast growing tree produces up to 7,000 fruits per tree annually. Each fruit contains one or two seeds, which contain approximately 47 percent oil. According to researchers, the oil contains a high quantity of linolenic acid, which might pose problems with its use as a biodiesel feedstock.

3. Syagrus romanzoffiana (Queen palm): The naturalized palm species bears fruits in panicles, each of which produces a kernel that contains 41 to 47 percent oil.

4. Murraya exotica (Mock orange): The naturalized species bears fruit in both autumn and spring. The resulting seeds contain 22 percent oil.

5. Cordyline manners-suttoniae (Cordyline): The palm-like plant produces berries. The seeds of the berries contain approximately 15 percent oil.

6. Grevillea banksii (Grevillea): The shrub bears a large number of fruits. The resulting seeds contain 15 percent oil.

7. Elaeocarpus grandis (Blue quandong): The tree produces fruits each contain a tiny kernel. The oil content of each kernel is approximately 38 percent. However, the proportion of the kernel to seed is very low.

8. Ochna serrulata (Ochna): The shrub produces seeds that contain 31 percent oil.

9. Brachychiton bidwillii: The deciduous shrub produces fruits, each of which contain 20 to 30 pea-sized seeds. The seeds have an oil content of 15 percent.

10. Koelreuteria formosana (Chinese rain tree): The naturalized tree has been classified as a weed due to its aggressive growth patterns. It produces seeds that contain 22 percent oil.

SOURCE: BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

According to Patrick Dwyer, EIC vice president of communications, the company is shooting for full operation by spring 2011. Locally grown flax seed initially would be the feedstock of choice for the planned facility. Utilizing a hybrid continuous flow/batch system, the company plans to extrude the flax seed into oil for biodiesel production and take the remaining meal for use as animal feed, or have it further milled into flour to be sold in the Ontario food market, according to Dwyer.

“Everyone said you can’t grow flax in Ontario,” Dwyer said, adding that, through a partnership already established with an area farmer, EIC would have access to about 1,200 acres of flax. “We said we don’t think that’s true. Areas not too far from us used to be known as the flax capital of Canada 100 years ago before people started moving out to the prairies and different crops started to replace flax. We’re looking to bring flax back and grow it ourselves or through partnerships.”

In addition to flax, EIC intends to use locally collected coffee grounds as feedstock. “The feedstock has to be viable and it can’t just be a waste feedstock,” Dwyer said. “It has to have value-added market potential.” Potential customers for EIC’s biodiesel are expected to be municipalities, fleet users or waste management companies.

The proposed biodiesel production facility in Toronto will be privately funded and is one of eight similarly-sized projects planned in the next four to five years by EIC, according to Dwyer. He noted that EIC decided to deploy a string of small to mid-sized production facilities rather than building one large production plant because, “we don’t want to run into the economic problems of having a large facility and having to find massive amounts of feedstock to keep it running and profitable,” he said.

According to the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, as of November 4, Canada houses 12 operating biodiesel plants with a combined installed capacity of 200.9 MMly. In 2011, the country’s demand will expand to over 650 MMly to meet projections based on the Canadian government’s new regulation requiring diesel fuel and heating oil to contain at least a 2 percent biodiesel blend.

According to Dwyer, “We’re going to be in a weird deficit relationship between Canada and the U.S. in that we’ll be one of the U.S.’s largest exporters of fuel from the oil sands, but we’ll end up in a situation where we’ll have to import our own renewable fuel like biodiesel. One of the impetuses for creating this company was to sort of balance out this trade deficit.”

SOURCE: BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

“Purifine PLC is a novel enzyme that can be used to increase the yields from the vegetable oil refining process for the production of both biodiesel fuel and edible oils,” according to Kelly Lindenboom, vice president of corporate communications for Verenium. Edible oil and biodiesel production diverge after the removal of phospholipids from the crude oil, Lindenboom said, so the enzyme-degummed oil can be refined for either end product. “In fact, the PLC-treated oil contains fewer impurities that can result from conventional processing so there are benefits in refining the oil for either edible or biodiesel use.”

Like the partnership with Alfa Laval, the newly formed effort with Desmet Ballestra “allows us to extend our geographic reach and can accelerate the growth of our Purifine PLC business without incurring substantial costs,” Lindenboom added. “The second agreement, complementary to the agreement with Alfa Laval, is also in part to address the market pull for choice of engineering firms to implement PLC processing.”

The new partnership also helps Verenium accelerate the timeline in getting the enzyme to market, but Verenium’s work isn’t completed yet. “We will continue to evaluate opportunities to partner with blue chip firms in a variety of different capacities,” she said. “Currently we are exploring options for partnering with companies to either reduce near-term development costs, reduce implementation risks,” or, as the company feels it has done with its most recent partnership, “speed the time to market.”

The Purifine PLC enzyme is a phospholipase C enzyme that acts as the main component in the degumming process for refining soybean oil and other high-phosphorus vegetable oils, according to the company, which also stated that the enzymatic degumming product “may also enhance yields of biodiesel from crude oil.”

BY LUKE GEIVER

SOURCE: BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

RFS2 will help generate significant demand for biodiesel. But what is its true impact, and how can biodiesel producers and marketers put themselves in a winning position? For a second year, this will be a primary focus of the conference. Educational sessions, the exhibit hall, and networking opportunities will empower you to use the RFS2 to your greatest advantage.

We’ll also confront another key issue that almost wiped biodiesel out of the RFS2: pseudoscience. Keynote Michael Shermer, founder of Skeptic Magazine, columnist for Scientific American, and world-renowned “debunker,” will explore the fuzzy land between science and pseudoscience, an area likely to shape public opinion on biodiesel for years to come. You won’t want to miss this dynamic presentation addressing one of the biggest challenges facing our industry: junk science presented as fact.

The demographics of our conference attendees indicate most are high-level decision-makers in their respective areas. This conference truly has developed into an annual meeting of the minds, and anyone who wants to advance with our industry will be there.

The 2011 conference, to be held at the Phoenix Convention Center Feb. 6-9, will include an array of networking and social events in this exciting city, along with our always popular and exciting Expo. To register, visit www.biodieselconference.org/2011.

Source: biodiesel magazine

Two Brown chemists have developed a more efficient way to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oil. 

Using two catalysts common in organic chemistry, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jason Sello and Postdoctoral Fellow Aaron Socha were able to synthesize biodiesel in a single reaction vessel, according to a University press release. Their findings were published in the Oct. 7 issue of the journal Organic and Biomolecular Chemistry. 

Traditional methods of synthesizing biodiesel from waste oil require two reaction vessels. The method developed by Sello and Socha is six times faster than current methods, consumes less energy overall and is more environmentally friendly, according to the release. 

“We wanted to do research that had implications for alternative energy, and biodiesel is certainly an attractive area,” Sello said.

Sello said he and Socha began their research in the middle of 2009. Their research was accepted by the journal on July 19 and was published online “almost immediately,” he said.

The biodiesel conversion requires one reaction to convert free fatty acids to biodiesel and another to convert triacylglycerols to biodiesel. The former is traditionally catalyzed by sulfuric acid, and the latter by potassium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide. The reactions must be performed separately or else the acid and base yield soaps.

In developing the new procedure, the chemists considered catalysts that could complete the reaction in a single vessel and that were readily available, low in cost, low in toxicity and stable in the presence of water and air that might be in the waste oil after cooking. They opted to use bismuth triflate and scandium triflate, in part because bismuth was relatively cheap and his lab had experience with scandium, Sello said.

When the catalysts did not yield biodiesel under standard conditions, Socha suggested using a microwave reactor. Socha said there were “not many but (still) a few” papers that set some precedent for using a microwave reactor. 

The combination of the two catalysts and the microwave reactor successfully yielded biodiesel at 150 degrees Celsius. After demonstrating a successful yield, the researchers sought to minimize the temperature, the amount of catalyst and the time needed for the reactions. Sello said they also tested “every possible component of waste vegetable oil” to verify that the reaction would still be successful.

The catalysts in the free fatty acid reaction can be recycled up to five times while still obtaining a 97 percent yield, according to the press release.

Two external grants supported the research. The National Science Foundation provided Sello with a grant for $170,000. Socha’s fellowship, awarded by the American Competitiveness in Chemistry, is also funded by the NSF, with $200,000 split over two years. Sello said the University’s $15,000 R.B. Salomon award also funded several projects, including this research.

“We often think about organic chemistry in terms of making drugs, but this is a very nice demonstration that organic chemistry has applications even in alternative energy,” Sello said. “It really does highlight the power of organic chemistry.”

Few scientists are researching biodiesel synthesis in an academic setting, Sello and Socha said, which is why they think nobody else had tried this approach before. Additionally, chemical engineers who look at biodiesel do not necessarily know all the current catalysts being used in organic chemistry, Sello added.

“In principle, anyone could have done this, but I think we were just in a unique position just given our perspective here,” Sello said.

Sello said that the report in the journal was simply on “an academic scale” and that he and Socha have not yet started testing the chemistry on an industrial scale. Socha said that until the price of biodiesel becomes competitive with the price of oil, biodiesel cannot become “the next fuel.”

Socha said that he is “not really jumping at the opportunity to commercialize this” yet because of the other advances needed before biodiesel becomes usable on a large scale. But he said he does plan to file a patent disclosure.

By Sahil Luthra

 SOURCE: BROWN DAILY HERALD

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