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

BA says the plant will reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.

British Airways has struck a deal to build the first plant in Europe to produce jet fuel from waste matter.

Some 500,000 tonnes of waste will be used by the UK facility each year to produce 16 million gallons of fuel.

Construction of the plant in east London will start within two years. It is set to produce fuel from 2014, creating up to 1,200 jobs.

BA said the plant would produce twice the amount of fuel needed to power all its flights from London City Airport.

It would only account for about 2% of flights from Heathrow, however.

Greenhouse gas

BA argues the plant will cut the amount of waste that is sent to landfill, reducing the amount of methane that is produced.

Methane is thought to be a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

The plant will be built by a US company Solena Group, with BA committing to buy all of its output.

It will be another four years before it starts producing fuel, and it is unlikely to work at full capacity straight away.

The ideal source material for the plant is waste matter that has a high carbon content.

Biofuel creation

The waste is fed into a high temperature “gasifier” to produce BioSynGas.

A chemical process called Fischer Tropsch is then used to convert the gas into biofuel.

Waste products from the process can be used to power the plant as well as supply 20MW of electricity to the national grid.

A solid waste product can be used as an aggregate in construction.

The fuel produced by the plant is certified for use in other countries, but not currently in the UK.

BA says it is confident of getting the certification by the time the plant starts producing fuel, either for use in a blend with traditional kerosene or on its own.

By Richard Scott

Source: BBC

NEXTFUEL ARGENTINA opens www.biodirectorio.com, a space for agricultural and bioenergy companies to offer their products and services; a thematic search engine of www.biodiesel.com.ar, one of the most visited sites on spanish-language about biodiesel, agriculture and renewable energy and with an excellent position in major Internet search engines as Google and Yahoo.

We invite all companies of bioenergy and agriculture, as well as organizations, associations, conferences, congresses and exhibitions on these subjects, to register on our Bio-directory, suggesting the category with which they wish to be found in searches.

The Bio-directory also has an english version, advanced search, search by alphabetical order and by category.

Be among the first to join your company to Bio-directory!

info@biodirectorio.com

Biodirectorio.com is a venture of Nextfuel Argentina.

www.biodiesel.com.ar

Progress in the use of biofuels for power generation..

On May 20 the government announced the GENREÂ program (Renewable Generation), by which the state company ENARSA will call for tender the purchase of electricity produced through renewable energy.

The ceremony held at Government House in the presence of the President of the Nation-Cristina F. Kirchner, the Secretary of Energy Daniel Cameron, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Oscar Parrilli, the Governors of San Juan, Santiago del Estero, La Rioja, other officials and businessmen linked to the industry.

This program sets the purchase of 1000MW of electric power (which will be tendered) produced on the basis of various renewable energies, from this total: 500MW will be generated from wind power, 120 MW from waste, 100MW from biomass, 30MW from geothermal; 60 MW from small hydro electrics, 20 MW from solar, 20 MW from biogas and 150MW that will be generated based on biofuels (mainly biodiesel).

The president of CARBIO, Ing Fernando Pelaez, said, “The incorporation of renewable energies in the national matrix contribute to its diversification into non-fossil fuel dependence, as well as reduces the emission of greenhouse gas which results in an environmental benefit. ” He concluded that this measure will have a positive impact in the biofuels sector as it involves both a reactivation in the production of biodiesel, and the imminent need to resort to alternative sources of energy generation.

CARBIO is a nonprofit civil association whose main objective is the development and promotion of production and marketing of biofuels and its industry, to contribute actively to a sustainable and economic growth of the country. Is formed by companies of recognized prestige in Argentina that produce over 95% of biofuels in our country.

Courtesy Carbio for Nextfuel Argentina / www.biodiesel.com.ar

Developer. De Souza Meirelles is leading a project for expansion of ethanol.

Interview with brazilian producer Joao Carlos de Souza Meirelles.

His company, Frontera Norte, is working on the development of new agricultural zones, founded three cities and colonized one million hectares, mostly in Mato Grosso. Strong commitment to energy sugar cane.

Frontera Norte Ingeniería de Desarrollo Limitada is a company with over 30 years in the development of large zones of new agricultural frontiers of Brazil. “We did what we call in Portuguese, colonization.” said to “La Voz del Campo” the engineer Joao Carlos de Souza Meirelles, group member and former secretary of agriculture of the state of San Pablo. Coming from a family of Portuguese immigrants but with several generations among Brazilian farmers, De Souza Meirelles is one of the “fathers” of the raise of Brazil as the first world exporter of beef.

He also participated in Cordoba as a speaker in the first Argentine-Brazilian Corporate Bioenergy Summit.

He explained that the ventures of Frontera Norte opened opportunities for farmers in southern Brazil with large families who sought new lands for themselves and their children. “To give an example, we have developed rural activities in the state of Mato Grosso in more than one million hectares. These were virgin lands, we did projects, soil´s studies, nature conservation and build cities. I have built three cities on this new frontier, ” De Souza boastful.

- What economic units are we talking about?

Near the cities are small plots for vegetables, fruit farmers who supply urban areas, ranging from one to five hectares. Then, properties that can range from 120 to 250 acres, and ranging from 250 to 2500 or 5000 acres. And more distant from these towns, properties can have 25 thousand acres.

- And in the field of bioenergy, which projects has the company?

In the past two years we have developed a very important project for forming a cluster of bioenergy, it is not a factory or an industry, but a set of three large projects. Each one will plant 60 thousand hectares of sugar cane, a total of 180 thousand hectares. The are about 80 kilometers from one another so the total production reaches one billion liters of ethanol per year, and also electricity will be produced. The industrial part is final study, the construction will be contracted in 2010 and the first unit will start producing in 2012, the second in 2014 and third in 2016.

There is a concern about relative prices, with oil at $ 57 a barrel and soybeans to more than $ 400 a tonne in Chicago. How does this affect the business of biofuels?

-First, the relative prices of oil impacting the entire side of farming inputs (fertilizers and defense derivates). Secondly, for us to produce ethanol and electricity in Brazil, if oil is above the $ 40 we are absolutely competitive with ethanol. And all the experts in the world are convinced that the level of oil prices will stabilize in the coming years around the $ 60. And we are looking increasingly competitive, in five to 10 years we can be competitive with oil $35 or $ 37 a barrel.

In Argentina, and in Córdoba there is great expertise in producing agricultural commodities.

 What do you recommended to guide investment in agro-bio?

-It would be much pretension to make recommendations, but I would allow myself a reflection: what are the problems that farmers, were they from Argentina, Brazil or anywhere, have experienced in the past. 50 years ago we were not the most important thing in our economy because our countries lived of our productions of wheat, corn, meat, coffee. What happened? The generations that came imagined that only the industry was the national salvation and peasants, were considered the second in importance. The great revolution is changing the notion that we are not producers of raw materials but a very important part of the production chain. And if we do not organize the production chain, we are always going to be the absorbers of international prices. The other always win, and we, the producers, are compressed in terms of prices. But if we participate in the organization of the productive chain, of the concepts of price formation and increased productivity, we will be the most important in the chain.

Carlos Petroli

Source: La Voz/ Córdoba / Argentina

Following the publication of the EPA’s draft Regulatory Impact Analysis this week which includes proposed changes to the Renewable Fuels Standards Program, the Argentine Renewable Energies Chamber expressed both concerns and optimism regarding the possible effects this will have on the export-driven Argentine biodiesel industry.

Buenos Aires, May 8, 2009 – A recent study published by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United Status (EPA) is promoting biofuels that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by no less than 50% when compared to their fossil fuel counterparts. This same report classifies different categories of biofuels and concludes that soy-based biodiesel reduces GHG emissions by only 22%. If approved, the EPA’s proposal could cause grave harm to Argentine biodiesel producers, since more than 95% of Argentina’s biodiesel is made from soy oil. Additionally, the industry is export-driven and the United States is Argentina’s second largest export market after the European Union.

“The EPA’s analysis has the potential to drastically reduce Argentine biodiesel exports to the United States. It makes decisions regarding land use change for countries other than the U.S., yet doesn’t appear to take into consideration the positive effects of Argentina’s No-Till farming methods which plays a role in ensuring that Argentine soy biodiesel meets and exceeds the newly proposed stringent U.S. standards,” said Carlos St. James, president of the Chamber.

“While we fully understand and appreciate each nation’s right to establish standards and goals
for products consumed in their country, facts need to correct. We know that Argentine soybased
biodiesel is among the cleanest and environmentally-friendly options. This has been evidenced in scientific studies developed in the U.S. itself some years ago and more recently by our country’s National Institute of Agronomy Technology (INTA, by its initials in Spanish), both of which show reductions in GHG emissions that exceed 70%.”

The EPA has proposed a 60-day window in which the various industry actors can better understand the assumptions in the study and to offer counterproposals and corrections to this data. “Argentina has sound scientific elements to defend its position. We need to work internally with all industry interests along with relevant government agencies to present a common voice to ensure we are heard properly,” affirmed Lucas Trotz, the Chamber’s Manager. The Chamber is requesting a 40-day extension to the initial window, and various Chamber members will travel to Washington to participate in the July 9-11 workshop being organized by the EPA to discuss the draft.

The Chamber will also seek this extension as member of the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance, a global association whose members represent 65% of world biofuels production. Bliss Baker, Executive Director of GRFA from its headquarters in Toronto added, “Argentina, as one of the world’s largest biodiesel producers and exporters, will undoubtedly play a key role in ensuring that the industry continues to grow sustainably and we will work with them to present our organization’s point of view regarding the EPA study.”

St. James concludes, “We are confident that at the end of the day common sense, a frank and open dialogue, and the facts will carry the day. If not, the ideals of fair and open trade as espoused by the U.S. will take a step backward in the ongoing task of creating global markets.”

This is the first time that happens. Until november last year U.S. was the main customer. The export prices of biofuel are still low around USD 730 per tonne.

Last april Argentine declared biodiesel exports for 108,573 tonnes by a weighted average price of USD733/t, a value similar to that recorded in march (USD738/t).

Photo: Emilio López King-Archivo Nextfuel Argentina/Biodiesel.com.ar

Altough prices are still the same since last december with almost all Argentine biodiesel plants operating losses, the amount declared in april increased by 27% compared to march 2009 (84.900 tonnes) and is the highest since october 2008, when sales were recorded for 118,901 tons.

The news, last april the European Union (EU-27) became the sole buyer of Argentine biodiesel.

Until november 2008, U.S. was the main declared destination of biofuel exports. But from december the EU-27 began to take the lead to become the only client.

80.7% of sales reported in february went to the Netherlands (Holland), while the remaining 15.5% was declared to be sent to Spain and 3.9% to Italy.

The main companies operating in the sector are Renova, located in San Lorenzo and owned by Glencore and Vicentin; Ecofuel, located in Puerto San Martin and controlled by General Deheza and Bunge Argentina, Louis Dreyfus Commodities in Gral Lagos, Patagonia Bioenergía, located in San Lorenzo and controlled by Energía & Soluciones and Cazenave & Associates, and Explore, located in San Martin and controlled by the chilean investment group Meck (one of whose shareholders is the Argentine Wenceslao Casares, founder of the bankrupted Patagon.com).

Source:Â Infocampo

Kyung Wook Hur, Vice Minister, Ministry of Strategy and Finance of Korea; and Luis Alberto Moreno, President, IDB, signed a memorandum of understanding to promote programs and projects that foster cooperation between them and, in particular, activities related to green growth, sustainable energy and climate change.

Photo: Árlette Pedraglio

The Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will sign a an agreement to co-finance public and private sector projects worth as much as $2 billion in the next three years in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Kexim, as the Korean official export credit agency is known, and the IDB will work together to share information and identify and finance projects in infrastructure, information technology, trade finance and other areas. The accord will be signed in Medellín, Colombia, during the 50th Annual Meeting of the IDB’s Board of Governors.

Also during the annual meeting, the IDB and the Korean government, one of the Bank’s 48 member-countries, will also sign a cooperation agreement on Green Growth to develop and promote the use of renewable energy, efficient energy technologies and practices and carbon finance activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“We are honored by the presence in Medellín of Vice Minister Kyung Wook Hur and Kexim’s President Dong-soo Kim, whom on behalf of the Korean Government are making a special contribution to more sustainable economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean by providing cutting-edge green technologies,”said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. “Kexim’s remarkable support with this large credit facility will allow the IDB to enhance its infrastructure financing during these difficult economic times”.

The accord also involves the creation of Green Growth Operations Steering Committee, formed by IDB officials, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance of Korea and members of Kexim. The committee will help in the formulation of policies that promote economic growth with environmental sustainability inn the region.

The IDB, the world’s largest regional development institution, and the Korean government are also strengthening its relations and partnering to provide advisory services in the areas of environmental protection, energy efficiency and sustainable finance.

Korea joined the IDB in 2005 as the Bank´s 47th member. The Asian nation has financed several IDB initiatives since then, including poverty alleviation programs and the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The IDB, through its Office of Outreach and Partnerships (ORP) has facilitated the accomplishment of these partnerships that will provide additional financial and non-financial resources to its member countries and is now effectively becoming the platform for doing business in the region.

Source: BID

The jatropha (known as Barbados nut) and the biodiesel attract the interest of the markets of Asia and North America, through the promotion that two investigators carry out in United States on the plant and its yield.  Â

In October of 2008, a group of investigators visited the country interested in promoting the scientific investigation in the alternative energy field. Ryan Joon Hyeong Im and Ryan Choi wants to bring the scientific investigation on the jatropha and the biodiesel production to the country, at the same time of promoting Paraguay in the Asian and North American markets, explained Jerónimo Finestra, representative of the Association for scientific development of the Mercosur. Â

“It is to transform the country into a country of biodiesel production and another type of renewable energy. Through this association, they are promoting Paraguay among investors and in the universities of United States, to bring investigating teams”, Finestra commented.Â

In July of this year, Im will arrive to the country to continue with his scientific investigation on the jatropha. The novelty will be that he will carry out laboratory studies and will investigate on how to improve the yield per hectare of the plant.Â

Mr. Ryan Choi lived in Paraguay some time ago and today works, together with Im, in an investment fund in United States. This is how they began to investigate on the plant and discovered that in Paraguay the land is capable for the production.Â

The investigators want Paraguay to be, for the first time, energy salesperson, besides the electric one. For that, bonds are being settled with local authorities and foreign investigators, according to the representative of the association in the country.Â

“Mr. Im is the scientific brain of the project, while Mr. Ryan Choi is the economic boss of it”, Finestra specified.Â

Im and Choi are working in the investments acquisition for plantations of the Barbados nut, as well as for the installation of a factory to process it. For the factory and the plantations that can supply it is said that at first they will require of about 5 million dollars. For the investigation it could start with 100 thousand to 200 thousand dollars.Â

“The project is jatropha and its production in the Paraguay” it is the name of this enterprise. Another of the projects is, once consolidated in Paraguay, to launch the project to the Mercosur, but having the country as operation headquarters.Â

They chose the country because they consider that it has ideal lazy lands for this cultivation, there is enough manpower, and the lands are economically accessible, among other reasons.Â

Source: Ultima Hora

It would begin with the super and common types due to the lack of the capacity to process alcohol.Â

The 5% bioethanol mix in the naphtha won’t reach to all the varieties in January of 2010 as it was foreseen, but rather it will begin with the super and ultra types due to the lack of dehydrating plants to transform the alcohol. As confirmed to La Nacion by sugar companies involved in the business and the Argentinean Sugar Center that pointed out that May 15 will conquer the term to present the projects for the bioethanol quota before the Secretary of Energy. Fernando Nebbia, president of the Argentinean Sugar Center, said: “For January there will be an important quantity of dehydrated alcohol to begin the operative with two types of naphtha: common and ultra. Â

Starting from the second semester, when other plants enter in regime, the super naphtha will be included.”Â

“We are speaking of this and negotiating with the Secretary of Energy and the oil companies. Everything is clear and spoken”, he affirmed. From an important sugar industry, they also pointed out the segmentation by naphtha type as the most immediate alternative. LA NACION consulted the Energy portfolio, but had no answer at all.Â

The plant that will cause a pothole in the production and won’t be operative the first days of 2010, will be the one projected by Atanor, Refinor and other sugar factories of Tucumán that will have a annual production capacity superior to 130.000 cubic meters. Jorge Domínguez, industrial director of Atanor, explained: “The construction of this type of projects demands a year and half and didn’t still begin because there are some numbers yet to be defined. It will be ready to start towards the end of 2010, not at the beginning of January.”Â

“The sugar industry is the natural bioethanol supplier and Tucuman is the biggest producer. Then, I don’t believe that the 270.000 m3 or 270 million liters that are considered to achieve the 5% mix will be met. The Secretary of Energy can defer the implementation of the law, it can define imports or, even, delimit the application”, he said.. In the same line, sources of Ledesma highlighted: “An interesting volume will be achieved with the foreseen plants, but without that of Atanor the 5 percent that was foreseen won’t be met.”Â

Projects and capacitiesÂ

The dehydrating plants of the big players that will be ready to satisfy to the oil companies will be those of Ledesma, Tabacal and The Florida, as they pointed out both of the first ones.Â
From Tabacal, they specified that the company would make off with 10 percent of the quota. In that line, they detailed that “the company began before with the investment and the construction. The plant will have capacity to process 45 million liters per year, and our quota would be of 27 millions”. on the other hand, in Ledesma, that is “working strongly to reach January with the plant”, they explained that it will produce in 2010 around 55 million liters of alcohol to destine to the internal hydrating market and to the new market of fuel alcohol. “The dehydrator will have the same capacity and the idea is to buy alcohols to other sugar factories”, they added.Â

Mercedes García BarteltÂ

Source: La Nación