Idled lumber plants may get second life in bioenergy business

Minnesota Public Radio
by Tom Robertson, Minnesota Public Radio
September 3, 2009

Bemidji, Minn. — Canadian-owned Ainsworth Lumber Company permanently shuttered its plants in Bemidji, Grand Rapids and Cook earlier this year, and now those communities are wondering what's next for the huge, idle plants.

Things are tough right now for northern Minnesota's wood products industry. Demand for lumber is near an all-time low. Some entrepreneurs are betting the answers will be found in biofuels and the emerging green economy.

The former Ainsworth plant in Bemidji once churned out a plywood-like product called oriented strand board. Now the factory is eerily quite, except for the high-pitched hum of the overhead lights. But that will soon change.

A Bemidji company called The Idea Circle has purchased the plant and plans to turn it into a bio-energy park for emerging green businesses.

Read the full story

How much water is needed to grow bioenergy crops?

EnvironmentalExpert.com
Source: European Commission, Environment DG
Sep. 3, 2009

A Dutch study has assessed the water requirements of 13 bioenergy crops across the world. The findings could help select the best crops and locations to produce bioenergy.

The EU climate action and renewable energy package has set a target of increasing the share of renewable energy to 20 per cent of energy used by 20201. This includes a minimum 10 per cent share for transport, which could include biofuels. This study used the concept of a water footprint in order to compare the water needs of various crops.

A water footprint is the total annual volume of fresh water used to produce goods and services at the place of production and in this case is measured in m3 of water per Gigajoule of energy produced (m3/GJ). In this study it consists of two components: rainwater used during crop growth and surface and groundwater for irrigation.

Read the full story

EPA officials show interest in refining indirect land use

Agriculture Online
Dan Looker
Agriculture.com Business Editor
9/04/2009, 9:00 AM CDT

At the request of Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) two high-ranking EPA officials came to Iowa Thursday to learn first-hand how their agency’s rules could affect farmers and the biofuels industry.

They got a tour of Iowa State University’s brand new BioCentury Research Farm near Boone, where round bales of last year’s switchgrass are waiting to be turned into cellulosic ethanol. They climbed into a combine and tractor at Rick and Martha Kimberley’s farm near Farrar. And they saw the Renewable Energy Group’s 30-million gallon biodiesel plant at Newton.

“I think we learned a lot,” EPA’s Gina McCarthy told Agriculture Online after stepping outside the spotlessly clean biodiesel plant. “It helps us put a face on the agricultural issues and the challenges we face together.”

Read the full story

Ethanol in Focus at Farm Progress Show

DomesticFuel.com
Posted by Cindy Zimmerman – September 2nd, 2009

Everywhere you go at the 2009 Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois this week, people are talking about ethanol.

Over at the corn grower tent marked by 30+ foot high corn stalks and an E85 blimp hovering overhead, they have information about how the carbon footprint of corn production has declined substantially in recent years and they are encouraging farmers to submit comments to Environmental Protection Agency about the Renewable Fuel Standard.

Read the full story

Biomass Crop Assistance Program Makes First Payments

American Agriculturist
By: Compiled by staff
Published: Sep 1, 2009

FSA is matching funds with Missouri conversion facility.

USDA's Farm Service Agency has made the first matching payments under the Biomass Crop Assistance Program to Show Me Energy Cooperative of Missouri. Producers are being paid by the cooperative for biomass materials and FSA is matching those payments with BCAP collection, harvest, storage and transportation program funds.

"As the Obama Administration continues laying the foundation for a stronger, revitalized economy, biomass has great potential to create new, green jobs for American workers," said Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Biomass also has important environmental benefits to produce cleaner energy and reduce greenhouse gases."

Read the full story

DOE Selects Biofuels Projects to Receive up to $21 Million in Funding

U.S. Department of Energy
August 31, 2009

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that up to $21 million will be made available for the selection of five projects that will develop supply systems to handle and deliver high tonnage biomass feedstocks for cellulosic biofuels production. The awards announced today are part of the department’s ongoing efforts to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, spur the creation of the domestic bio-industry and provide new jobs in many rural areas of the country.

“Biofuels will play an important role in America’s clean energy portfolio,” Secretary Chu said. “These projects will allow us to decrease our dependence on foreign oil, support the growth of the biofuels industry and create jobs here at home.”

Read the full story

Construction to Start on Southern California Ethanol Hub

DomesticFuel.com
Posted by Cindy Zimmerman – August 30th, 2009

A Houston-based company is starting work on a new ethanol transport hub in southern California.

U.S. Development Group (USDG) will begin construction on the West Colton Rail Terminal, a new ethanol hub located in the Inland Empire area of southern California.

Construction of the facility will occur in two phases. The first phase, located in Rialto, Calif., will consist of a manifold transfer system that will begin receiving and offloading ethanol railcars in the fall of 2009. The second phase includes full unit train capability and ethanol storage. It will be located on an adjacent site in Colton, Calif., and is scheduled for completion in mid 2010. The Phase 1 facility will have the capacity to handle the current Colton area demand for ethanol plus that required to meet the 2010 mandated increase to a 10% blend.

Read the full story

Oil refiner says CO2 bill to cost it $7 billion a year

Reuters.com
Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:34pm EDT

By Timothy Gardner and Janet McGurty
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. climate bill would cost Valero, the country's largest oil refiner, more annually than it has ever made in a year, forcing it to warn consumers at filling stations that fuel prices will rise, the company's top government affairs official said.

"How would we be able to operate?" Jim Greenwood, a vice president for governmental affairs at San Antonio based-Valero Energy Corp, said about the legislation the House of Representatives narrowly passed in June. "I don't know."

He said the bill, which would require refiners to hold or purchase permits for the amount of carbon dioxide their plants and fuels produce, would cost Valero some $6 billion to $7 billion per year.

Read the full story

Cellulosic ethanol moving closer to reality

Prairie Business
Published August 31 2009
By: Cole Gustafson, Prairie Business Magazine

The future is now for cellulosic ethanol. Roughly 300 million gallons of planned commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants are in various stages of planning and development across the country.

For years the stock answer to when cellulosic ethanol produced from plant materials or wood will arrive has been the same. When asked, industry officials and insiders have consistently said it will be four to five years before commercial production becomes viable.

Not anymore. The future is now for cellulosic ethanol.

Roughly 300 million gallons of planned commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plants are in various stages of planning and development across the country, according to Nathan Schock, a spokesperson with Sioux Falls-based POET, although financing hurdles may slow or derail some of those projects.

Read the full story

IRS Changes Rule That Will Benefit Ethanol Producers

CattleNetwork.com
08/28/2009 08:31AM

Following over a year of intense work by the Renewable Fuels Association with the Internal Revenue Service, the agency on Aug. 24 issued a Notice of Proposed Revenue Ruling clarifying that it will not seek to impose a change in the cost recovery periods used by most ethanol producers.

Historically, most ethanol producers have used cost recovery (or depreciation) periods of five years. About 18 months ago, IRS advised the industry that the cost recovery period should be seven years instead of five years, and that had to be retroactive, and would apply to all tax returns of ethanol producers that were still open for examination by the IRS. The RFA succeeded in persuading the IRS not to make their decision retroactive.

Read the full story