Ethanol, Cellulosic Ethanol & Alternative Fuels

American Energy Enterprises written up in Ethanol Producer Magazine Sept 2009 issue

2009-08-22T18:41:00Z

American Energy Enterprises, Inc. gets written up in ethanol magazine...

Ethanol Producer Magazine article, "Connecticut company plans to produce low-cost cellulosic ethanol" by Kris Bevill

http://www.ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=5922

The Connecticut-based cellulosic ethanol producer is planning on producing cellulosic ethanol in a plant to be built in New Milford, CT. The plant will produce ethanol from wood waste (per Chris Brown, company chairman & president) at the newplant they hope to build starting soon after final negotiations for land and permits are finalized. Mr. Brown is hopeful that the go-ahead will happen withing the next couple of months (4th Qtr of 2009). The company is awaiting approval of their request to the DOE for $50m funding to help fund the construction of the plant. However, the company does not require the funding to begin construction.

American Energy Enterprises ranked 87th in Inc.com Top 100 Inc. 500|5000 Companies

2009-08-22T18:32:00Z

Brookfield, CT based American Energy Enterprises, Inc. ranked 87th in Inc.com Top 100 500/5000 Companies by Industry - Energy

http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2009/lists/top-industry-energy.html?sort=listrank&order=&o=50

http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2009/company-profile.html?id=200935770

Biofuels & Ethanol receive postive press

2009-04-16T17:42:00Z

It is always great to read positive news articles when it comes to biofuels and in particular ethanol.

Here's a timely article that should be of interest, regardless of your position on biofuels and ethanol - "Anna Autrey: Biofuels are the answer" - published on The Gainsville Sun's Gainsville.com Website http://www.gainesville.com/article/20090414/NEWS/904149911/-1/MAGAZINE?Title=Anna-Autrey-Biofuels-are-the-answer

As she mentioned in her article, Anna Autrey noted the amount of energy produced by ethanol versus that which is required to produce it; in particular her comments on cellulosic ethanol should peak some interest in those who have doubts about the benefits of cellulosic ethanol and it's place in helping to replaces our use of fossil fuels.

New England has a cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant operational

2009-04-16T17:25:00Z

The New England states now have a cellulosic ethanol plant near by in New York state. It was recently announced that Mascoma Corporation's Rome New York demonstration plant for cellulosic ethanol production was put online.

The plant was designed to enable Mascoma to utilize a variety of feedstock, incorporating their Consolidated Bio-Processing technology. To learn more about Mascoma Corporation and their cellulosic ethanol production technology, visit their site at: Mascoma.com

It was announced on April 14, 2009 that Mascoma will be relocated its corporate headquarters (September 2009) into a new research laboratory and office building located in Lebanon, New Hampshire. The corporate office is presently in Boston, Mass.

GrowthEnergy.org - needs your help with their grassroots effort

2009-04-08T00:15:00Z

GrowthEnergy.org America's Ethanol Producers - a new organization that is focused on greener energy alternatives for America and the world. A major focus for the organization is promoting ethanol with the understanding that America needs a new ethanol approach. And, with their proactive grassroots campaign, they are promoting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and "expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home..." as noted on their website.

Here's a link to an informative video posted on their site: http://www.growthenergy.org/2009/about/video.asp

As it is noted on GrowthEnergy.org's Website and for those of us who have been following ethanol and its production know that there are breakthroughs already happening that will ensure that we have an even cleaner and greener ethanol biofuel, cellulosic ethanol, for a the long-term use of ethanol to help reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

If you are interested in participating as an "eTeam member of the organization, be sure to visit this page on their site to sign up:
http://www.growthenergy.org/2009/get_involved/eteam.asp

News release on February 5th, 2009 "General Wesley Clark Announced as Growth Energy Co-Chairman"
http://www.growthenergy.org/2009/news/showItem.asp?id=17

GrowthEnergy.org on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Omaha-NE-Washington-DC/Growth-Energy/122421550289?ref=mf

GrowthEnergy.org on YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/growthenergy

For members of the press and others interest, this page has severl .pdf files that may be of interest
http://www.growthenergy.org/2009/press/index.asp

DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol joint venture to build an ethanol plant using biomass

2009-04-07T09:36:00Z

More companies are looking to produce ethanol from biomass, i.e. cellulosic ethanol. Venture funding is pouring into companies that are leading the effort to produce cellulosic ethanol.

One venture headed up by DuPoint and Danisco, and Danisco's Genencor is working on producing cellulosic ethanol from biomass consisting of corn cobs and switchgrass. The biorefinery is under construction in Knoxsville, Tennessee with an anticipated opening in 2010.

Companies like Genencor are considered to be second generation because of the focus on producing biofuels from biomass, and in particular producing ethanol from biomass versus the first-generation approach that involves the use of corn to produce ethanol.

We suspect that 2009 will see even more venture capital funds move to help finance companies that are focused on producing biofuels from biomass and that companies focused on producing cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, and biobutonol will find new sources of funding knocking at their door. Here's a site that recently release a digest of U.S. venture capital focused on biofuels: http://www.oilgae.com/blog/2009/01/biofuels-digest-released-summary-of-us.html

And, here's an article written by David Baker, San Francisco Chronicle, is posted on their website:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/04/MN4916RJ4C.DTL

Alternative use of land for growing sustainable feedstock (biomass) for cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels

2009-04-06T11:52:00Z

Alternative uses of land for biofuel feedstock...

Article "Fostering a state of innovation" by Peter Doherty on theage.com.au

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/fostering-a-state-of-innovation-20090405-9t5o.html

Along with Peter's thoughts on not being able to drought-proof Austrial's agricultural sector, in particular in the state of Victoria (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_(Australia)), he offers thoughts on what else could be done. And of particular interest is Peter including these comments regarding ethanol in his article, "There's also the possibility that mechanisms for producing ethanol from biomass rather than food grains or sugar cane will have advanced to the point where some of our land might be used to grow specialised grasses for this purpose..." http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/fostering-a-state-of-innovation-20090405-9t5o.html

At all corners of the world we find folks looking at better or alternative uses of their land with many of those uses focused on growing sustainable feedstock for use in the production of cellulosic ethanol and other biofuels. It will be interesting to following efforts such as those mentioned in Mr. Doherty's article and other postings on numerous blogs and news sites across the globe.

Sustainable Ethanol and where the industry is headed

2009-04-06T11:19:00Z

There is an interesting post on IndustryWeek.com, "Sustainable Ethanol Industry Rapidly Forming in U.S."

Some of the points raised concerning the direction that we can expect the United States to head in regards to alternative fuels and in particular cellulosic ethanol are very interesting. In particular is the note on President Obama's nomination of Steven Koonin, chief scientist at BP, to the Undersecretary of Science position.

BP is a company that I've followed since my attending the ethanol conference in Washington D.C. a couple years ago. I was impressed with what BP was already doing in regards to alternative fuel and in particular their research into ethanol production.

"Sustainable Ethanol Industry Rapidly Forming in U.S."
http://www.industryweek.com/articles/sustainable_ethanol_industry_rapidly_forming_in_u-s-_18847.aspx?SectionID=4

With the anticipated acceptance of Steven Koonin to the Undersecretary of Science position, it will be very interesting to follow his success in helping move forward the cellulosic ethanol portion of the alternative fuels and energy initiatives that will be greatly expanded with the new government funding and focus.

For those following alternative energy, here are links to a number of excellent short videos that may be of interest - part of Fortune Magazine's "Business of Green Sustainability, the environment and success" series:

An environmental odd couple
http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/03/25/fortune.bg.kkr-edf.fortune/

Electric car closer to market
http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2009/03/17/fortune-bg-aptera.fortune/

Garbage power Windex plant
http://money.cnn.com/video/technology/2009/03/11/fortune-bg-scjohnson.fortune/

Changing winds in turbine biz
http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2009/02/24/fortune.bg.vestas.fortune/

The future of hybrid cars
http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/01/14/fortune.bg.hybrids2.fortune/

E-car uses 19th Century technology
http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2008/12/24/fortune.bg.thinkcar.fortune/

Electricity from hydrogen
http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2008/10/29/fortune.fuel.cells.fortune/

Ethanol to be produced from municipal solid waste in Mississippi

2009-03-23T01:20:00Z

We've been reading about companies that will be producing cellulosic ethanol using municipal solid waste as feedstock...

Here's an article on a company that is planning to do just that, producing 20 million gallons of ethanol per year from municipal solid waste (MSW) from a landfill (the Three Rivers Landfill) in Ponotoc, Mississippi. The Montreal Canada based company, Enerkem, announced the construction of the $250 million plant and their plans of producing cellulosic ethanol.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10200929-54.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Enerkem already has built several demonstration plants using municipal solid waste and other feedstock to produce cellulosic ethanol.

Leading buyer of ethanol buys ethanol refineries

2009-03-19T13:39:00Z

Expanding the reach into directly controlling the sources of ethanol for the business that involves mixing ethanol with gasoline, Valero Energy Corporation has won the bid to purchase 7 ethanol plants from VeraSun as part of a bankruptcy auction. A total of $477 million is to be paid for the purchases.

This is Valero Energy's first venture in directly producing ethanol for their business needs. The total capacity of these plants is estimated to be 780 million gallons per year according to the information in the company's press release.

Here's a link to Valero Energy Corp's press release on their Web site:
Valero Energy Has Winning Bid to Purchase VeraSun Plants

Cellulosic Ethanol Feedstock 101

2009-02-26T23:13:00Z

Time for a refresher on cellulosic ethanol and the cellulosic biomass, i.e.,feedstock, that can be used to produce it.

Here are just some of the energy-efficient feedstocks that can be used (and are starting to be used) to produce cellulosic ethanol:

Fast-growing trees   - sustainable poplar tree farms are one key source of biomass for cellulosic ethanol; short-rotation hybrid aspen (a cross between quaking aspen and European aspen; and short-rotation coppice (SRC) willow trees.

Corn stover - stalks, leaves, and husks of corn plants
Corn cobs - cobs that were typically left in the soil now can be put to better use (the cobs have minimal benefit to soil nutrient and offer the farmers yet another income source instead of being plowed into the soil)
Grain straw - cereal straws (e.g. wheat, barley, oats, rice)
These agricultural waste products are plowed back into the soil, composted, burned or disposed in landfills. Now they can become another revenue source for the farmers.

Switchgrass - these are crops grown specifically for fuel production (non-food based grasses that can be planted in soil and diverse locations less suitable for other plantings; these are perennial grasses/forage crops. They are crops that have low water & fertilizer requirements.
Miscanthus - this is a tall perennial grass whose stems can be used for cellulosic ethanol production
Sorghum - "milo" - this crop is a short rotation crop, allowing harvesting multiple times throughout the year. It requires little water

Forest product waste  - included are wood chips, lumber mill sawdust, dead trees, and tree branches
Municipal waste - this includes household garbage and paper products
Industrial waste - black liquor which is a by-product of paper manufacturing; paper sludge

A major benefit of cellulosic ethanol is that it produces lower levels of greenhouse emissions.

Here's a pdf file with a tremendous amount of information - Title: Biofuels, bioenergy, and bioproducts from sustainable agricultural and forest crops: proceedings of the short rotation crops international conference  - http://nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr_nrs-p-31.pdf

Here's an excellent website & cellulosic information page to bookmark: http://www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us/re_ethanol_cellulosic.htm

This posting and/or subsequent postings will focus more on each of the feedstocks, highlighting where and how they are being used to produce cellulosic ethanol.

Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles Data Center

2009-02-26T22:19:00Z

An excellent resource to learn more about ethanol and other fuels is the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles Data Center.

As posted on this government site, "This Ethanol subsite represents a joint effort of the U.S. Department of Energy's Biomass and Vehicle Technologies Programs and covers the entire production cycle of ethanol, from the field to the fuel tank. For information on other biofuels, go to the Fuels section." http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/ethanol/index.html

As more focus is turning to cellulosic ethanol as an alternative fuel that does not impact our food supply, here's a section of their web site that discusses cellulosic feedstock: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/ethanol/feedstocks_cellulosic.html

Another important information page covers "Ethanol Energy Balance" - where information is presented that looks at corn-based ethanol and cellulosic ethanol and more recent studies that point to a positive energy balance (not the negative energy balance as reported in earlier studies). Decide for yourself but please look at all the latest information so you have the facts - not the "facts" as reported in some online, TV, and newspaper reports. You decide.
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/ethanol/balance.html

hydrous ethanol & anhydrous ethanol

2009-02-26T19:24:00Z

Hydrous ethanol & anhydrous ethanol - what are they?

Interestingly, there has been a recent EPA approval for a company to test hydrous ethanol in vehicles on public roads.

Hydrous ethanol FAQs - here's a good site to help answer the question: HEBlends.com

Basically, hydrous ethanol is an end result of the ethanol production and the “beer” that is created from the fermentation process. Hydrous ethanol results from the distillation process and the separation of ethanol and water from the resulting stillage. The hydrous ethanol is a mixture of approximately 95% ethanol and 5% water.

A big advantage to being able to use hydrous ethanol versus "anhydrous ethanol" is the avoidance of the energy, time and expense to convert the hydrous ethanol to anhydrous ethanol. Anhydrous ethanol is the result of hydrous ethanol dehydration, removing the water; with the resulting anhydrous ethanol being used in low mixtures with gasoline. It has been note in the article by Green Car Congress that avoiding the hydrous ethanol -to-anhydrous ethanol process reduces energy up to 45% during processing, increases the volume of hydrous ethanol by 4%, and improves gas mileage.

There have already been tests in Europe and now a U.S. company Renergie Inc., Gainesville, Fl, will begin testing the use of hydrous ethanol in a fleet of 60 vehicles for a 15-month period. The test will include the blends of E10, E20, E30 & E85. Here's a link to an article on Ethanol Producer magazine's Web site, ethanolproducer.com, that will give you more background on the company and some of its efforts and direction in the hydrous ethanol blending with gasoline: http://www.ethanolproducer.com/article.jsp?article_id=4635

The National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) includes a write up in one of their recent postings: http://www.e85fuel.com/news/022009fyi.htm

Denatured ethanol used in a "smokefree" fireplace

2009-02-06T23:24:00Z

As reported in the February 2009 REALTOR® magazine as part of Wendy Cole's article on "10 Ways to Make Your House Greener," there is a smokefree fireplace that uses denatured ethanol for its fuel source.
http://www.realtor.org/rmohome_and_design/articles/2009/0902_househome_greener

Smokefree Fireplace

These EcoSmart™ Fire fireplaces are self-contained units that use denatured ethanol as their fuel source.

The company is The Fire Company Pty Ltd.; the product is EcoSmart™ Fire
http://www.ecosmartfire.com/USA/EN/About-The-Fireplaces/28/What-is-The-Fuel

Ethanol Timeline as posted on Energy Kid's Page by the EIA

2009-02-06T22:40:00Z

Here's yet another excellent learning resource for ethanol, a colorful timeline showing the historical phases of ethanol production in the United States, dating back to the first recorded ethanol production in 1826.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/history/timelines/ethanol.html

And, here is a link to the Energy Kid's page with links to other educational sites and pages covering biomass, electricity, energy consumption & use, geothermal, hydropower/water, natural gas, nuclear & uranium, solar energy and more:
http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/onlineresources.html

Energy Kid's Page by the Energy Information Administration (EIA)

2009-02-06T22:15:00Z

Produced by the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration (EIA), here is an excellent, brief tutorial on ethanol for children (and adults): http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/ethanol.html ...definitely a site to add to your browser Favorities.

On this home page for the Energy Kid's Page - you find these topics:

Ethanol Made from Crops
History of Ethanol
Ethanol as a Transportation Fuel
Ethanol and the Environment
Links to Biomass Materials
Renewable Slide Show

And, to help your children and yourself learn more on the terminology used in the alternative energy industry, they have a glossary of terms (along with a search tool on the page): http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/glossary/index.html And, on this same page is a link to an Energy Conversion Calculator

For more on the Energy Information Administration (EIA) - visit our sister blogger site Alternative Energy Blogger where we have several posts related to the statistical reports published weekly by the EIA.

We also have other blogger sites that may be of interest, one being Biofuel Blogger - we hope you'll visit all of our blogger sites! FYI we also have BiomassBlogger.com , Biodiesel-blogger.com and BiobutanolBlogger.com which are presently is pointed to our Biofuelblogger.com blog. As we expand the time aloted to our blogging effort we will create specific blog sites for each of these topics that warrant more targeted postings. Thank you for visiting our blog sites.

A 101 on biofuels, biodiesel, bioethanol, biomass and more!

2009-01-25T14:26:00Z

Copied from a recent post we did on our sister blog, BiofuelBlogger.com:

This U.S. Department of Energy website may just be the bookmarked location you'll refer back to repeatedly, and one that you may want to pass on to anyone interested in biofuels, biodiesel, bioethanol and much more. It is an excellent 101 course on the subjections. Copied below are the links that are posted on the USDE's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy section of their website http://www1.eere.energy.gov/biomass/abcs_biofuels.html:

Biofuels for Transportation

Bioethanol Feedstocks

Bioethanol Production

Biodiesel Feedstocks

Biodiesel Production

Biofuels and the Environment

Links

Biomass and Biofuels Science Fair Project Ideas

EthanolBlogger.com news feed

2009-01-20T03:11:00Z

Here's a new feed that we've created, it will pull info from our postings and information from around the globe related to ethanol, alternative fuel and more...

↑ Grab this Headline Animator

Ethanol plants - completed and under construction

2009-01-20T01:53:00Z

Below are two links to .pdf files courtesy of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ethanol.org) as posted on their Web site at:
http://www.ethanol.org/index.php?id=37&parentid=8#FarmerOwnedPlants

This is a December 2008 list of completed ethanol plants Completed ethanol plants (pdf)

As of December 2008, here's a list ethanol plants under construction Ethanol plants under construction (pdf)

Alternative Energy Blogger site launched!

2009-01-20T01:29:00Z

FYI... we will begin blogger efforts on alternative energy via our latest blogger Web site:
AlternativeEnergyBlogger.com

Please join us at our sister site to follow and comment on alternative energy, green energy, and of major importance, President Obama's alternative energy plans for the United States.

AlternativeEnergyBlogger.com