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.

U.S. biodiesel production reached a new monthly high in June of 81 million gallons, marking a third consecutive month of record volumes. Biodiesel production in the first half of 2011 has already eclipsed production for all of 2010.

The new EPA statistics come after Congress reinstated the biodiesel tax incentive this year.

Despite the weak economy, the biodiesel industry is on track to produce at least 800 million gallons this year, more than double biodiesel production of 315 million gallons last year, when Congress allowed the biodiesel tax incentive to temporarily lapse, according to the National Biodiesel Board.

“We’ve dramatically increased production and doubled our number of employees at a time when many industries are shrinking or treading water,” said Ben Wootton, owner of Keystone Biofuels in Camp Hill, Pa. “It’s like night and day from 2010. I think that’s a testament to biodiesel’s staying power as an advanced biofuel and also to strong federal policy. We’re a young industry, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without the tax incentive – and a lot more people would be standing in the unemployment line.”

Since the introduction of the $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax credit in 2005, U.S. biodiesel production climbed steadily until 2010, when Congress allowed it to lapse temporarily as the health care debate overshadowed other issues. Production immediately plummeted from a record of about 700 million gallons in 2008 to about 315 million gallons in 2010.

Congress reinstated the tax incentive in December 2010 and the EPA included biodiesel as an Advanced Biofuel in its new Renewable Fuels Program (RFS2), requiring minimum volumes of biodiesel use in U.S. fuels. In the first six months of this year, U.S. biodiesel production already has exceeded 375 million gallons.

The tax credit is again slated to expire in December of this year. Sens. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, have introduced S. 1277 to extend the tax incentive for three years. Reps. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., and Collin Peterson, D-Minn. have introduced a similar bill, H.R. 2238, in the House.TRUCKING INFO.

Brazil, the world’s No. 2 soyoil exporter, may sell only 1.50 million tonnes of soyoil overseas in the 2011 calendar year, down from 1.56 million tonnes in 2010, Oil World forecasts.

This is despite an estimated rise in Brazil’s 2011 soyoil production to 7.13 million tonnes from 6.93 million tonnes in 2010 as the country is on course for a record soybean crop, Oil World said.

Brazil’s 2011 biodiesel output is also expected to rise to 2.40 million tonnes from 2.11 million tonnes in 2010 and only 1.41 million tonnes in 2009, Oil World forecast. Soyoil is heavily used as a biodiesel feedstock in Brazil.

The picture is similar in Argentina, the No. 1 global soyoil exporter, where 2011 biodiesel output is also forecast by Oil World to rise to 2.3 million tonnes from 1.81 million tonnes last year.

But Argentina’s 2011 soyoil exports are still forecast to rise to 5.20 million tonnes from 4.94 million tonnes last year, it added.(Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by Anthony Barker).REUTERS.

The U.S. agribusinesses have joined Brazilian companies that are expanding facilities in a bet the government will double to 10 percent the amount of biofuel that must be blended into petroleum-based diesel, driving up demand overnight.

With oil above $100 a barrel, President Dilma Rousseff is looking for alternative fuels to fill trucks’ tanks and keep a lid on inflation. Expanding production would also boost the economy of Brazil’s impoverished center-west region, where most of the industry is based. The risk is the country will be awash in unneeded biofuel, said Roberto Rodriguez Labastida, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

“There’s far more biodiesel refineries online than are necessary,” Rodriguez Labastida said from the research group’s office in London. “I wouldn’t say it’s smart to invest” in any more facilities to process soybeans into fuel.

Brazil demands that diesel sold at the pump contain 5 percent biofuel. It’s the third-largest market by capacity after the U.S. and Germany. Executives at four refiners said they expect the government to double that to 10 percent within three years, giving Brazil the world’s highest biodiesel blending rate.

Edison Lobao, Brazil’s Minister of Mines and Energy, is considering a higher blend rate as long as there’s enough vegetable-oil that can be processed into fuel, according to a statement posted on the ministry’s website May 4. He did not say how much it may be increased.

A Cargill spokesman declined to discuss the company’s biodiesel plans. ADM and Bunge Ltd. (BG), another U.S. agribusiness approved to build in Brazil, did not respond to inquiries.

Europe, U.S. Overcapacity

Overcapacity is also an issue in Europe, where plants are operating at about 40 percent of potential, and in the U.S., which according to some measurements is running at about 24 percent, according to Claus Keller, senior analyst of Ratzeburg, Germany-based biofuel consulting company F.O. Licht.

Doubling the concentration would rocket demand for the fuel and would cut imports of petroleum-based diesel, easing Brazil’s balance of trade.

“Brazil is bound to increase the biodiesel blend to 7 percent in the next 5 months,” said Paulo Jose Fuga, a manager at Fuga Couros SA. The Marau, Brazil-based leather maker and meat processor is spending 22 million reais ($13.6 million) on a biodiesel plant that will process as much as 108 million liters (29 million gallons) a year beginning in February. He forecast the requirement reaching 10 percent by 2014.

21 Projects

The Fuga project is one of 21 in Brazil, either new plants or expansions of existing ones, that received permits in the last year to begin construction from fuel regulator Agencia Nacional do Petroleo, Gas Natural e Biocombustiveis.

Developers include Decatur, Illinois-based Archer-Daniels- Midland’s local unit, ADM do Brazil Ltda.; Minneapolis-based Cargill; and Bunge, based in White Plains, New York. Together they are set to add slightly more than 2.2 billion liters of annual capacity, increasing the production base by about 38 percent, according to the regulator.

New biodiesel units in Brazil cost about $0.25 a liter to build, according to data compiled by London-based New Energy Finance. Rodriguez Labastida estimates that refiners are investing more than $560 million to boost their capacity, based on construction permits they have received.

Refiners, which make the fuel by treating vegetable oils or animal fats with alcohol in a chemical reaction, say they need more capacity to keep pace with rising demand for the standard diesel with which it’s mixed.

Rising Consumption

Even without the blending increase, national consumption of the fuel is expected to rise by 6 percent a year over the next decade, according to a Ministry of Mines and Energy projection.

The producers are overly optimistic about their sales outlook because national output capacity is growing faster than demand, according to F.O. Licht’s Keller.

There’s “already strong competition for volumes,” in the government’s quarterly auctions for the fuel, he said. “That’s only going to increase as more plants start operations.”

Only biodiesel projects with access to cheap raw materials, like soybean and animal fats, or “at minimum, ownership over a seed crushing plant,” make economic sense, Keller said. “I’d only build a project if I had access to the feedstock for the next 10 years.”

More Refineries

There are about 60 biodiesel refineries selling fuel in Brazil with production capacity of 5.9 billion liters a year, according to fuel regulator ANP. That’s up from 47 at the start of 2010.

The average price of biodiesel in a government-organized auction in February was 2.05 reais a liter, down 11 percent from the previous auction in November, according to ANP. Soybean oil was selling for 2.14 reais a liter on April 28 in Sao Paulo, according to information compiled by Bloomberg.

Brazil imported 9 billion liters of diesel last year, according to the Secretary of External Commerce. Increasing the percentage of biodiesel in the fuel sold at retail would decrease the amount of standard diesel in drivers’ tanks and would have saved the country about $2.2 billion in the first half of 2010 on imports, according to Brazil’s biodiesel trade group Uniao Brasileira do Biodiesel.

Vegetable Oil Supplies

Keller questioned the impact of a higher blend rate on Brazil’s farmers. A 10 percent requirement may require an additional 2.4 billion liters of vegetable oil to produce, double the current level, he said.

That new blend obligation may consume as much as 69 percent of the 7.4 billion liters of soyoil that the Brazilian vegetable oil trade group Associacao Brasileira das Industrias de Oleos Vegetais predicts will be produced in the 2011 to 2012 harvest season. About 84 percent of Brazilian biodiesel was derived from soy in February, according to ANP.

That would drive up prices for soy, raising production costs for refineries, Keller said. “Some producers may not be able to deliver” their product “under those conditions.”BLOOMBERG.

Out-of-state investors already own a majority of projected ethanol and biodiesel production in Iowa and they’re likely to acquire more.

Though farmers triggered much of the state’s ethanol boom, plants primarily controlled by out-of-state or foreign investors account for at least 57 percent of Iowa’s renewable fuels, an analysis by The Des Moines Sunday Register shows.

“Big money wants to own ethanol because it’s liquid fuel,” said Barry Ellsworth, the Las Vegas investor who founded Green Plains Renewable Energy. The company is building ethanol plants in Shenandoah and Superior. “I looked at it and said, ‘Where can I make the most money?’ Iowa was the best state to work with and they had the cheapest corn.”

Iowa leads the nation in renewable fuels production with a capacity soon to reach 3.2 billion gallons of ethanol and biodiesel combined.

Outside investment is likely to grow even if the industry consolidates — and many believe that is a good thing.

Iowa can remain the leader in renewable fuels, “but it’ll take a lot of cash to do that,” said Dave Nelson, an Iowa farmer who is chairman of the Midwest Grain Processors cooperative. Last year, the cooperative sold 60 percent of its Lakota ethanol plant to Global Ethanol, an Australian company backed by a bank founded in South Africa, for $100 million.

Does it matter who owns Iowa’s biofuels?

Studies show local ownership assures more dollars churn through Iowa communities. A plant with 75 percent local ownership pumps three times more money into area household incomes as a plant with 25 percent local ownership, according to a 2006 study by Iowa State University economists.

“Instead of the one guy who works at the ethanol plant going to the hardware store or the lumber store, you’ll have a bunch of people who have money to spend at the hardware store, and the car dealership, and for putting up a new house,” said Chris Petersen, president of the Iowa Farmers Union.

In addition, experts and advocates say local investors who resist the temptation to sell might fare better in the long term. More young people may be drawn into farming and reap the benefits of their families’ investments over time.

All plants, regardless of ownership, will put money into the community through payroll, supplies, taxes and buying farmers’ grain. Profits vary, as do payments to investors.

At Lincolnway Energy in Nevada, annual payroll is $2 million, and last year’s investor returns totaled about $6.4 million. Lincolnway is owned primarily by Iowans.

The argument for outside ownership?

An Iowa-owned plant may put more dollars into local pockets, but the state will have more plants overall if it draws investors from other states and nations.

The change in ownership of many Iowa biofuels plants is a switch from a few years ago. Cargill and Archer Daniels Midland built the first ethanol plants in the 1980s, then farmers were largely responsible for growth in the late 1990s and early 2000s. That’s when farmer cooperatives, such as Quad County Corn Processors in Galva and Little Sioux Corn Processors in Marcus, built plants, in part to secure a market for Iowa grain.

Then investments reached beyond farmers to local business owners, retirees and wealthy individuals, but remained mostly Iowan.

The ownership base shifted again when Wall Street stepped in with interest from private equity groups, venture capitalists, hedge funds and other public companies. Foreign firms with ties to Australia, India and Israel also are buying into Iowa.

Recent drops in ethanol profits – far from last summer’s highs – slowed investment and made some speculators more selective. But industry experts say the money is still coming in.

Main Street to Wall Street

Of the 52 Iowa biofuels plants in operation or under construction at the beginning of 2007, 26 were under the control of primarily local owners. Most leaders of those plants say they’d like to keep Iowans at the helm, but they can’t offer a guarantee.

One way ownership transfers from Main Street to Wall Street is when an outside company makes shareholders an offer, and they to vote whether to sell. That’s how Global Ethanol took over the Midwest Grain Processors plant.

“They dangled those dollars,” said Dennis Barnes, a fourth-generation farmer in Britt. “They all jumped at it.”

An original investor with 6,600 shares in Midwest Grain Processors worth $10,000 would have made $32,000 after the sale. Shareholders kept their same number of shares, and more shares were issued to give Global Ethanol its 60 percent ownership.

The value of the original shares have increased from $1.50 to almost $4, Nelson said. But Barnes, who was among the 33 percent of voters who didn’t want to sell to Global Ethanol, believes investors could have reached bigger profits had they done it themselves.

Jeff Altena, chief financial officer for Siouxland Energy & Livestock Cooperative, which owns an ethanol plant in Sioux Center, also believes that if investors are patient, they likely will realize a larger return on their investment than if they sell now.

“Our theory has been … to remain a producer-owned cooperative, to make that money, and have that money stay on the farm instead of getting sent to New York,” Altena said.

The Siouxland plant’s debt is paid off and investors have received a nearly 200 percent return on their initial $3,350 per share investment, Altena said. Those returns add up to millions of dollars in the local economy.

Barnes bought grain bins with the money he earned from the stock sale and dividends, he said.

Dale Swanson, a Nevada farmer who invested in Lincolnway with his two sons, said their returns have gone back into the community. They buy groceries in Nevada and they patronize the local John Deere dealership.

“Lincolnway’s a good deal. It’s a very good deal for the community and it’s a very good deal for the farmers, and … it’s a very good deal for the people who invested in it,” he said.

Swanson said he believes Iowans should own their ethanol plants. “I would not want to see somebody else get control of them and lose those benefits.”

Share the risk, share the profits

Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, doesn’t worry about local ownership as long as the plants remain profitable.

“Every ethanol plant chews up Iowa corn and that helps the entire economy,” Shaw said.

“Is there any sign out there that locally owned plants can’t make it? There’s absolutely no sign of that. Given that, am I going to be upset if ADM adds capacity? It’s a great investment for Iowa.”

Nelson, chairman of Midwest Grain Processors, which sold to Global Ethanol, said Iowans lack the money needed to fulfill the state’s ethanol potential. As the industry tests new methods of producing renewable fuels, taking that financial gamble alone would be unwise, he said.

In addition, lenders have been less willing to support plants with unproven technology.

“To share the risk, we’re going to have to share the profits,” Nelson said.

Larger investors bring with them leverage that translates into savings, Nelson said. For example, joining Global Ethanol let the plant buy corn well into 2008 at prices far below $4 a bushel.

“Our senators, governors and legislators have been crying for decades that we need to get outside investment,” he said. “Now … we’re getting criticized for it, and that’s not fair.”

Private equity investing in Iowa went from $185 million in 2002 to $1.1 billion in 2006, much of that a result of renewable fuels. But Iowa still ranks near the bottom for overall venture capital funds.

Erik Straser, a venture capitalist with Mohr Davidow Ventures in Menlo Park, Calif., has been made several trips to the Midwest recently.

“This is the chance for the agrarian heart of the country to recapture a lost significance,” he said. “If your No. 1 goal is to impact 100 square miles, that’s something that could be accomplished on a regional basis.

“If your mission is to have one in every five pumps in America be E85, the partners that will help you do that will be national-scale partners.”

Currently, fewer than 1 percent of gas stations in America offer E85.

Volatile industry yields short-term pains

Companies that want to be ethanol partners have pulled back some since last summer’s gold rush, when profits were sky high by the Fourth of July.

It’s been volatile in the industry since then. Ethanol profits peaked at $2.50 a gallon on June 20. In February, they had dropped as low at 1.3 cents per gallon. As of mid-April, they rose to 45 cents, said Rick Kment, an analyst at DTN, a market research firm in Omaha. Corn, the main ingredient in ethanol, rose from $2.29 a bushel June 20 to $3.60 on April 11, and was nearly $4 earlier this year.

Two companies — Hawkeye Renewables and Global Ethanol — tried to go public last year, but pulled their offerings after a rise in corn prices and a drop in fuel prices made ethanol less attractive. Stocks in existing public companies, such as VeraSun Energy, Xethanol, and Green Plains Renewable Energy are priced significantly lower than what they were last summer.

Some analysts have downgraded the outlook for renewable fuels because of concerns about oversupply.

“Over time, it will wash out as do a lot of oversupply situations,” said Brian Allingham, an associate with Norwest Equity Partners of Minneapolis, which invested $31 million in two Iowa plants built and operated by Broin Companies, now known as Poet. “We’re still positive on the long-term aspect. There will be some short-term pain as that oversupply issue comes online and the demands are not there.”

At the same time, as investors seek new projects, some existing plants are exploring ways to make themselves more attractive to buyers, either by expanding, taking over a smaller plant, adding new technologies, or offering different types of byproducts, such as using corn oil extracted from ethanol to make biodiesel.

Stephanie Moline, executive vice president of corporate banking at First National Bank of Omaha, said some smaller plants are selling shares and talking about pooling ethanol so they can obtain better prices from buyers. They’re also considering selling land that’s ready for construction.

Cash in now or hold for the long term?

Moline is among the many industry experts who predict the industry will consolidate in the next year or two, possibly through a mix of publicly traded companies and private equity investors.

A few larger existing ethanol companies are already “lining up the war chest on the acquisition trail,” she said.

Bruce Rastetter, CEO of Hawkeye Renewables, said consolidation and transition to a publicly traded company gives shareholders a great opportunity to turn their investment into cash that “they won’t have today in a single plant.”

Hawkeye’s two plants in Fairbank and Iowa Falls annually produce 215 million gallons of ethanol. The company’s output could double when plants in Menlo and Shell Rock are built. The company is interested in acquiring more plants someday, Rastetter said.

Thomas H. Lee Partners, a private equity firm in Boston, owns a majority of the shares in the Iowa-based company.

It’s common for investment groups such as Thomas H. Lee Partners and Goldman Sachs & Co. – which made news last summer when it invested in a Canadian ethanol company – to buy out or invest heavily into companies and then take them public.

That’s also the plan for Iowa venture capitalist and philanthropist John Pappajohn, who is trying to raise $800 million from Wall Street to fund Countryside Renewable Energy. Countryside plans to buy existing ethanol plants in Iowa and other Midwestern states, then take the company public, said David Kolsrud, a Minnesota consultant working with Pappajohn.

Board members of several plants say they routinely get offers from investors, larger companies, hedge funds and others. Shareholders have rejected some offers because they just weren’t lucrative, but good offers got canned as well because the owners didn’t want to sell.

“Over time, the companies that desire to be larger will be larger, either by acquisition or by construction,” said Rick Brehm, general manager of Lincolnway Energy.

“Who are the companies who may be consolidating? Who knows who might come out of the blue and be a consolidator in this industry?”

The industry still has room for the traditional farmer-owned cooperatives producing 50 million gallons, despite the move to larger companies and bigger plants, according to Moline.

Farmers benefit from selling both corn and ethanol because if corn prices fall, ethanol profits might go up. Farmer-owned plants also will stick around because most farmers, unlike hedge funds or other Wall Street dealers, won’t bail if their earnings drop from 40 percent to 7 percent.

Long term to a hedge fund is five years. Long term to a farmer is generations.

SOURCE: DESMOINES REGISTER

National Biodiesel BoardThe North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit has long been known as the event of the year for the latest vehicle technologies and innovations, setting the pace and direction for the world’s economic future. What more fitting venue, then, to also highlight the fuel that will be used increasingly now and in the future to power these vehicles in a cleaner, greener, more sustainable manner: biodiesel—America’s first advanced biofuel.

The National Biodiesel Board, along with key industry partners from Ford Motor Co. and General Motors, are presenting a Biodiesel Symposium entitled “Biodiesel: Powerful Fuel, Promising Future” at the Detroit auto show on Wed., Jan. 12 from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. in Cobo Center’s Michigan Hall as part of the NAIAS “Smarter Living In Michigan” Exposition.

“We are extremely pleased to have this opportunity to feature biodiesel as America’s first advanced biofuel to the global automotive industry,” said NBB CEO Joe Jobe “The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) established realistic goals of supplementing the nation’s fuel supply with advanced biofuels which reduce lifecycle carbon by more than 50 percent. Biodiesel is the first advanced biofuel to reach commercial scale production in North America, and it reduces direct lifecycle carbon by more than 80 percent. Biodiesel is thus very well-positioned to help the nation meet its immediate and long-term advanced biofuel goals.”

Biodiesel is a low cost, domestically produced, renewable advanced biofuel that provides the RFS2 required reductions of greenhouse gases while also reducing oil imports, enhancing energy security, and creating U.S. jobs. The U.S. EPA has issued RFS2 volume requirements for the use of at least 800 million gallons of biomass-based diesel fuel in 2011, for which biodiesel qualifies as an advanced biofuel. That requirement then ramps up to more than 1 billion gallons for 2012 and could reach as high as a 5 billion gallon market for biodiesel by 2022, as it also qualifies under the non-cellulosic advanced biofuel category.

As part of the biodiesel symposium, GM and Ford are presenting information on their new 2011 diesel vehicles, which are all fully approved for use with B20 biodiesel blends. General Motors extends B20 approval to its full diesel line-up, which includes the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pick-ups, as well as the Chevy Express and GMC Savana cargo vans. Ford supports the use of B20 on its full line of 2011 Ford Super Duty diesel trucks.

Jim Michon, truck fleet marketing manager for Ford Motor Co., said, “Many of our fleet customers are very conscious of the environment, and had been asking us for a truck approved for use with B20 biodiesel. In the process of developing our all-new Ford-designed, Ford-built 2011 Super Duty truck, we thoroughly tested B20 in our new engine under the harshest of conditions. B20 proved itself to provide the same fuel economy, power and performance our customers expect of our high performance diesels—there are no trade-offs for using B20”.

According to the Diesel Technology Forum, today’s clean diesel technology provides 20 to 40 percent better fuel economy than its gasoline counterpart, and emits 10 to 20 percent less carbon dioxide. Coleman Jones, biofuels implementation manager for GM, said, “With B20, our customers can enjoy all the benefits of today’s quiet, clean diesel engines and help to meet the country’s goals to reduce carbon emissions at the same time. It’s a win-win situation.” Both Ford and GM plan to continue supporting B20 use in their future diesel models as well, along with many other vehicle and equipment manufacturers.

Over the last 20 years the biodiesel industry has made the necessary investment in research, testing, and standards development to produce a high quality fuel meeting the stringent specifications of the American Society for Testing and Materials, now known as ASTM International.

“The last 20 years of research and development—and the intense commitment to development of ASTM standards, high fuel quality, and the biodiesel industry’s BQ-9000 fuel quality program—are what led us to this designation as America’s first advanced biofuel,” said Steve Howell, technical director for the NBB. “We look forward to powering the clean diesel vehicles of today, and tomorrow, with clean, green, sustainable biodiesel, and we are already engaging in the next frontier of research that will continue to optimize the fuel for use for decades to come.”

Based in Jefferson City, Mo., the National Biodiesel Board is the national trade association of the biodiesel industry and is the coordinating body for biodiesel research and development in the U.S. Its membership is comprised of biodiesel producers, state, national, and international feedstock and feedstock processor organizations, fuel marketers and distributors, and technology providers.

SOURCE: BIODIESEL MAGAZINE

Sustainable Agro Biotech, LLC has been developing proprietary technologies to recycle carbon dioxide emission into microalgae varieties with robust growth and oil production capabilities and to achieve commercially feasible harvesting of microalgal products. The Company operates facilities in Gainesville, Florida and a 10 acre facility in Puerto Rico in partnership with University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. AFA will work with the Sustainable Agro Biotech team to further its research and develop a viable algae-to-biofuels capacity.

“This announcement, following last week’s news that we have concluded agreements providing AFA with large tracts of land, demonstrates our commitment to the fulfillment of our business plan. We are extremely excited by this acquisition,” commented AFA CEO Craig Frank. “We have had an interest in algae for quite some time and have been looking for a company that fit well with our comprehensive approach to biofuel. This acquisition opens up new opportunities for AFA, and broadens our operational possibilities, both in terms of geography and the types of feedstock we have at our disposal.”

“The opportunity this agreement provides to Sustainable Agro Biotech is meaningful in a number of ways,” remarked Arup Sen, President of Sustainable Agro Biotech, LLC. “AFA will lend us support, encouragement, vision, and the larger infrastructure under which we can explore various methods of growing algae and extracting oil from algae. We are excited by the possibilities the combination of our talents and resources will allow.”

About Alternative Fuels Americas

Alternative Fuels Americas (AFA) is a “seed to pump” company developing above ground oil fields through the planting of high yield crops. The Company expects to engage in all phases of the biodiesel process – planting, growing, and harvesting Jatropha, crushing and refining Jatropha seeds into biodiesel, and selling the biodiesel or green fuel oil into the local markets. For more information, visit http://www.alternativefuelsamericas.com

About Sustainable Agro Biotech, LLC

Founded in 2007 in Puerto Rico, Sustainable AgroBiotech, LLC develops proprietary technologies related to collection and use of unique microalgae varieties, recycling of carbon dioxide emission into microalgae biomass as a source of fuel oil and environmentally safe, commercially feasible methods to harvest microalgal products.

This press release includes statements that may constitute “forward-looking” statements, usually containing the words “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “expect” or similar expressions. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, acceptance of the Company’s current and future products and services in the marketplace, the ability of the Company to develop effective new products and receive regulatory approvals of such products, competitive factors, dependence upon third-party vendors, and other risks detailed in the Company’s periodic report filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. By making these forward-looking statements, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release.

source: market watch

The National Alliance for Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), which received a $44 million stimulus grant in January (see this BrighterEnergy.org story), produced the biodiesel from algae that meets specifications set by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

Algal oil for the project was provided by New Mexico-based Eldorado Biofuel, one of the 13 industry members of the NAABB consortium. The oil was then converted to biodiesel by another industry partner, Catilin, Inc., of Ames, Iowa, working with Iowa State University’s Center for Catalysis.

Jose Olivares, executive director of the NAABB consortium, said: “This step represents a major success and illustrates the high level of interaction between members which is a good sign that we are starting to reap the benefits of the consortium concept.”

The consortium, which is led by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri, said its researchers had verified that algal-based biofuel could be produced “more efficiently and economically” through Catilin’s process than conventional conversion methods.

Process

The process uses Catilin’s first commercially-available solid catalyst, T300, rather than the highly caustic sodium hydroxide used in conventional algal oil conversion methods.

Catilin noted that its process also offers a useful by-product in the form of glycerin, which can be sold to the food and pharmaceutical industries.

David Sams, vice president, business development, Catilin Inc., said: “Not only are the conversion costs reduced relative to the conventional process but the quality byproducts produced in the process will open additional markets.”

The next step in the project will see the algae-based biodiesel analyzed and tested by NAABB consortium members, including engine emission tests.

Catilin, which is backed by venture capitalists Mohr Davidow Ventures and Leader Ventures, is currently setting up its 300,000 gallon-per-year pilot plant so it can operate the algal oil extraction process, using nanoparticle technology.

 source: brigtherenergy

Vilsack also announced a range of federal assistance for renewable energy development through the Biomass Crop Assistance Program established in the 2008 farm bill.

“Domestic production of renewable energy, including biofuels, is a national imperative, and that’s why USDA is working to assist in developing a bio-fuels industry in every corner of the nation,” Vilsack said in a speech at the National Press Club. “By producing more biofuels in America, we will create jobs, combat global warming, replace our dependence on foreign oil and build a stronger foundation for the 21st-century economy.”

Vilsack’s statements on the tax credit appeared to reflect recent discussions between the ethanol industry and White House Chief of Staff Pete Rouse about changes to the ethanol tax credit and protective tariff, both of which expire at the end of the year.

Vilsack said the lapse in the biodiesel tax credit has caused a loss of 12,000 jobs. He also called for “a short term extension” of the ethanol tax credit, but declined to answer questions about proposals to lower the credit, saying that a “healthy discussion” about changes is taking place. Vilsack did not list an extension of the tariff in his formal remarks, but said in response to a question, “The tariff is likely to continue, but over time it is likely to be phased out.”

Vilsack said the ethanol tax credit still is needed because it is a relatively new industry that requires more investment.

Joel Velasco, the Washington representative of UNICA, the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, said the U.S. corn-based ethanol industry is mature and does not need the tax credit or the tariff.

A growing market

But Matt Hartwig of the Renewable Fuels Association said the industry still is in the development stage and needs the credit. Hartwig said the tariff only is to cover the value of the credit and should be extended at whatever level the credit is extended.

The final rule for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program will be published in the Federal Register Oct. 22, and Vilsack emphasized Oct. 21 that the programs under it were funded in the 2008 farm bill and do not require further congressional action.

The programs include reimbursements to farmers of up to 75 percent of the cost of establishing a bioenergy perennial crop for up to five years for grassy crops and up to 15 years for woody crops and assistance for the collection, harvest, storage and transportation of biomass to biomass conversion facilities for two years. He also said USDA will help pay for construction of 10,000 blender pumps and storage systems to make renewable fuels more easily available to consumers.

Vilsack noted the opening of regional biomass research centers to accelerate the development of a commercial advanced biofuels industry. The centers will be located in Madison, Wis., Lincoln, Neb., and in Alabama, Georgia, Arizona, Washington state and Oregon.

He said USDA’s rural development division will announce assistance to biorefinery plant projects within 60 days and that USDA is trying to figure out whether it can make changes to its federal loan guarantee programs to make them more attractive to investors.

Vilsack said, however, that changes to the loan guarantees will depend on whether “we have the capacity to do that” and also noted that changes would have budget consequences.

Throughout his speech, Vilsack emphasized the importance of renewable fuels to the long-term vitality and job creation potential in rural America. Noting that rural America has experienced population decline and higher poverty levels than urban areas, Vilsack said “President Obama refuses to accept the notion that America’s rural past predicts its future.”

Tags: agribusiness, crops, biofuels, agriculture, farm

SOURCE: AGWEEK

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

http://biodiesel.com.ar/4203/biodiesel-news-national-renewable-energy-laboratory

http://www.biodiesel.com.ar