Monthly Archives: September 2010

Environmental Groups Sue EU for Lack of Biofuels Transparency

September 21, 2010   Karl
Tom Cruise Biofuel

Environmental Groups Sue European Union, enlist Tom Cruise (not)

Four environmental groups are suing the regulator of the 27-nation European Union for lack of transparency on its biofuels policy.

The lawsuit was filed today in the European Union’s General Court in Luxembourg by ClientEarth, Transport and Environment, the European Environmental Bureau and BirdLife International, the groups said in an e-mailed statement.

The suit “challenges the commission’s failure to release documents containing previously undisclosed information on the negative climate impacts of widespread biofuels use in the European Union,” according to the statement.

The EU requires at least 10 percent of energy for road and rail transport in 2020 to come from renewable sources in every member country. Biofuels offer the prospect of reducing the use of fossil fuels blamed for climate change. They also help the EU to diversify its energy mix and lessen dependency on oil- and natural-gas-producing countries.

Marlene Holzer, a spokeswoman for EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, wasn’t immediately available to comment.

Today’s lawsuit is the second by the four groups, which started legal action against the EU’s Brussels-based regulator on March 8 over its refusal to release documents revealing the negative consequences of biofuels production, including the conversion of forests and other natural areas into cropland. The first suit is ongoing.

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Can biofuels beat drugs crops and save lives in Afghanistan?

September 20, 2010   Karl

Will Biofuel crops ever compete with the Poppy?

Among environmentalists, biofuels are almost as divisive an issue as NATO military operations in Afghanistan are in wider public discussions.

Yet two American businessmen believe that home-grown biofuel in Afghanistan could be a “green” solution to some of the larger problems the country is experiencing including military casualties, energy security and the opium trade.

Wayne Arden, who has a background in technology and finance, and John Fox whose career has been in the renewable energy field, published a White Paper on producing and using biodiesel in Afghanistan earlier this summer.

While the authors discovered many benefits to a biofuel industry in Afghanistan the reason for their work came in December 2009 with news of more U.S. troops being sent to the country.

“The main customer here is the U.S. military so we want to make the logistics as easy as possible for them to use the biodiesel,” Arden told CNN.

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UK firm lands $500m biofuel contract to convert rubish into bioethanol

September 20, 2010   Karl

they use a genetically modified compost-heap bug to produce biofuel

A British company that uses a genetically modified compost-heap bug to produce biofuel from rubbish has signed a $500m (£319m) contract with a US firm.

TMO Renewables developed a strain of “turbo-charged” bacteria that can turn tea bags, cardboard, wood and other household waste into fuel for cars and trucks. The Guildford-based company signed a 20-year, $25m-a-year deal with US firm Fiberight.

The technology is part of a wave of “second generation” biofuels that are not made from crop plants. The use of rubbish is aimed at addressing concerns that growing plants for fuel will raise food prices.

“With TMO’s bacteria on board, which speeds up the breakdown of cellulose in the waste, the efficiency with which we convert rubbish into bioethanol will rise by around 35%,” said Craig Stuart-Paul, chief executive of Iowa-based Fiberight. “[TMO Renewables] is three to five years ahead of most of its competition in the US.”

In 2008, TMO Renewables built the UK’s first bioethanol plant that runs on grasses, cardboard and other waste. Key to its success was the incorporation of genetically engineered bacteria that can break down cellulose into simpler sugars, which can then be fermented to produce bioethanol. The TMO process relies on a strain of bacteria known as TM242 which grows at high temperatures of around 60C. “It has an unusually broad appetite, such that Fiberight’s process will be able to turn waste into bioethanol is just 24 hours,” said Hamish Curran, CEO of TMO Renewables. The Fiberight deal is TMO’s first commercial contract.

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Researchers in France Discover New Biofuel Cell that may help implants

September 20, 2010   Karl
Biofuel Cell

Biofuel cell may help future medical implants

Researchers in France discovered a new glucose biofuel cell which is believed could form a crucial component of the next generation of medical implants.

Biofuel cell enables producing energy by making use of the glucose and oxygen availability in bodily fluids. Together with the enzymes reacting to generate a current which flows out of the fuel cell through wires encased in tubes, glucose and oxygen enters a dialysis bag.

The study shows that a larger version of the biofuel cell could easily operate a pacemaker, while also being much smaller than the batteries currently used in them.

“In the future we are expecting to develop, for instance, implantable biosensors able to monitor the level of glucose to control the insulin pump. This system could be used to treat conditions such as diabetes,” explained Serge Cosnier, a study co-author from the University of Joseph Fourier in Grenoble.

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South Africa biofuel output to exceed 300 million litres of bioethanol

September 16, 2010   Karl
South Africa Flag

South Africa Biofuel output is set to exceed 3M Litres

Pre-feasibility studies for three South African biofuel projects, each producing 100 million litres a year, show it will cost at least 5.1 billion rand to develop them, a minister said on Wednesday.

South Africa unveiled blending ratios for biofuels in 2007, but excluded the country’s staple food maize in a bid to ensure food security and rein in high prices.

However, farmers in Africa’s top maize producer have repeatedly called for a change in policy to allow maize in biofuels production so that energy costs could be lowered and profits improved.

“According to the Industrial Development Corp (IDC), the 300 million litres of bioethanol will require 3 plants producing about 100 million litres per annum,” Ebrahim Patel, Minister of Economic Development, said in a written reply to parliamentary questions.

“Each project will cost in the region of 1.7 billion rand in 2010 terms, (for) capex and working capital,” he said.

The projects are a sugar beet and grain sorghum-to-ethanol project in the Eastern Cape province, a sugarcane-to-ethanol project in Limpopo province and a similar scheme in the top sugar growing region of KwaZulu-Natal province.

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US Navy buys 20,000 gallons of algae biofuel

September 16, 2010   Karl
US Navy Ship

50 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020

Algae biofuel producer Solazyme announced Wednesday it’s delivered 20,000 gallons of algae-based shipboard fuel to the U.S. Navy.

Solazyme’s Soladiesel Renewable Naval Distillate fuel will go toward the Navy’s ambitious goal of getting 50 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020.

But algae fuel is not just useful for the Navy’s ships.

This past summer Solazyme also delivered 1,500 gallons of algae-based jet fuel to the U.S. Navy for testing. If testing goes well, Solazyme’s algae-based advance biofuel could be powering some of our nation’s military aircraft.

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Biofuels May Replace Half of EU Gasoline by 2020

September 14, 2010   Karl
Biofuel from plant and food waste

Biofuel from food and plant waste

Biofuels made from plant waste and municipal trash rather than food crops could replace more than half of gasoline used in the European Union by 2020, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.

The 27-nation bloc could produce 90 billion liters (24 billion gallons) of next-generation ethanol in 2020, or about 65 percent of predicted fossil gasoline consumption, the London- based research group said today in a study. At least 100 refineries a year could be built in the region from 2013, according to the report.

The EU currently has no commercial factories that refine biofuels from plant waste. European agriculture “can benefit from a new bioenergy industry as farmers will have an extra revenue source, increasing the euros-per-hectare ratio for every piece of land,” said Roberto Rodriguez Labastida, a co-author of the report.

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Rising wheat prices raise fears over UK commitment to biofuels

September 13, 2010   Karl
Biofuel from wheat

Wheat prices are at a two year high

The soaring price of wheat has raised questions about the UK’s commitment to biofuels as it attempts to wean itself from its dependence on oil.

A network of biorefineries that convert wheat and other crops into bioethanol that can then be blended with petrol are being developed as the UK looks to meet its EU renewable transport fuels obligations.

But the huge amounts of wheat that will be used in the process – up to a fifth of the UK’s current annual production within four years – have prompted questions about where the crop will come from.

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Pilot sets new, unofficial speed record in Thermal while running on Biofuel

September 12, 2010   Karl
Biofuel Plane

Continental O-200 engine using biofuel made by Swift Enterprises Ltd

Pilot Richard “Smokey” Young set a world record Saturday — at least preliminarily.

Attempting to establish a new 100-kilometer — 62 miles — closed-course speed record for a piston-engine aircraft weighing between 660 and 1,320 pounds at the Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport in Thermal, the pilot surpassed the existing record with a top speed for the day of 260 mph, officials said.

In the existing 2004 world record, set by former astronaut Robert “Hoot” Gibson for the fastest flight over a closed course, a plane traveled 233 mph, according to the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in Switzerland, which will have to finalize Saturday’s results and confirm Young has bested the previous record.

“I’ve never had (a record) changed, but it has to go through the process,” said Brian Utley, who will certify the flight as a member of the contest and record board for the National Aeronautic Association.
Related

Final certification of a new record could take up to three months, officials said.

Nevertheless, Young accomplished his goal Saturday despite having to try multiple times.

His first try in the morning was fast, but he missed a required checkpoint along the course, and the flight could not be certified.

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Britian should cut Biofuel targets to protect forests

September 10, 2010   Karl
British Biofuel target cuts

UK told to cut Biofuel targets

Britain should cut its target for biofuels use by 2020 so that tropical forests are not cut down to make way for biofuel crops, government climate advisors said on Friday.

Energy and climate minister Chris Huhne asked the Committee on Climate Change in July to advise on the country’s renewable energy target.

Under wider European Union goals, Britain has agreed a legally binding target to get 15 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, compared with 3 percent now, and has individual goals for heat, transport fuel and electricity.

While supporting the country’s overall target, the committee said a goal to obtain 10 percent of transport fuel from renewable sources, and mostly biofuels, was too high given sustainability concerns.

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