GAO report poses tough questions for ethanol

StarTribune.com (Minneapolis - St. Paul)
By MATT McKINNEY, Star Tribune
Last update: October 2, 2009 - 7:59 PM

Study questions need for tax incentives and urges broader look at environmental impact.

In a report that raises significant questions for the corn ethanol industry, the U.S. Government Accountability Office on Friday questioned the need for tax credits supporting the industry while urging Congress to consider broad effects on air, water and wildlife before expanding biofuel production.

The report, prepared at the request of Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, examined what will happen in coming years as biofuel production expands. Congress has already mandated a steep increase in biofuels, requiring oil companies to blend some 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels into fuel supplies by 2022, up from about 10 billion gallons in 2008. By contrast, consumers in the United States burned some 138 billion gallons of gasoline last year.

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Report projects reduced VC funding for cellulosic ethanol

Ethanol Producer Magazine October 2009
By Erin Voegele
Report posted Oct. 2, 2009, at 11:50 a.m. CST

A report recently competed by Lux Research concluded that venture capitalists’ (VCs) interest in funding cellulosic ethanol has passed its peak. The report, titled “Funding Exits for Biofuels and Biomaterials Investors,” found that venture funding for agricultural and industrial biotechnology gained considerable momentum during the last decade, soaring from $47 million in 1998 to $1.2 billion last year. However, only nine of the 170 CV backed companies researched in the study have seen successful exits to date. According to Samhitha Udupa, the report’s lead author, a successful exit occurs when a VC-backed company is acquired or completes an initial public offering (IPO).

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WSU bioproducts lab adds 3 faculty

TriCityHerald.com
Friday, Oct. 02, 2009
By the Herald staff

RICHLAND -- Three new faculty members and researchers have joined the Center for Bioproducts and Bioenergy at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

Hanwu Lei, Bin Yang and Xiao Zhang were selected from among about 140 applicants worldwide, said Birgitte Ahring, director of the center.

Each was selected because of a particular specialty, Ahring said.

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Biofuels Producers Warn They Are Going to Fall Far Short of Federal Mandates

The New York Times
By JESSICA LEBER of ClimateWire
Published: October 5, 2009

The emerging cellulosic biofuel industry, stung by frozen credit markets, ineffective federal loan programs and lagging federal policies, will fall far short of mandated production volumes over the next few years.

U.S. EPA is now pushing to implement a new renewable fuels standard (RFS) that will ramp up to 21 billion gallons of mandated cellulosic and advanced biofuels use by 2022, provided that fuels meet specified greenhouse gas reduction thresholds -- and that enough gallons can reach the market.

"The current economic climate almost makes the RFS a moot point for the time being," said Matt Carr, policy director for the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

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EPA, NREL develop Web-based biopower mapping application

Biomass Magazine October 2009
By Anna Austin
Posted October 1, 2009, at 9:16 a.m. CST

With funding from the U.S. EPA’s Blue Skyways Collaborative, the U.S. DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., has developed a Web-based, interactive geospatial application that allows users to view biomass resources, infrastructure and other relevant information, as well as query specific data and conduct initial screening analyses.

Users can select a location on the map, quantify the biomass resources available within a user-defined radius, and then estimate the total thermal energy or power that could be generated by recovering a specific portion of that biomass. While the tool is useful in refining the prospecting process of site identification, it should not replace the need for an on-site biomass evaluation, according to Anelia Milbrandt, NREL senior energy resources analyst.

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NREL, EPA produce valuable State Energy Primer: free download

Biofuels Digest
October 02, 2009 Jim Lane

In Colorado, NREL has partnered with EPA to produce a “State Bioenergy Primer: Information and Resources for States on Issues, Opportunities, and Options for Advancing Bioenergy”. The primer is designed to bring together information on multiple feedstocks for multiple uses – bioheat, biopower, biofuels, and bioproducts – into a booklet that is neither too technical nor over simplified.

The target user is a state-level policy maker, but there is much value to be gained by readers of all stripes from this excellent, free, publication, downloadable here.

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New projections point to massive biofuel supply/demand imbalances by 2015-2030; polyculture a way forward for sustainable production?

Biofuels Digest
October 02, 2009 Jim Lane

Three different visions of the future of global and US biofuels production were presented by researchers at Hart Energy, a team including Michigan Technological University and The Nature Conservancy, and the National Corn Growers Association.

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Reconciling Clean Energy and Conservation

The New York Times Energy & Environment
October 1, 2009, 12:37 pm
By John Lorinc
The Associated Press
Post updated 1:42 p.m.

With renewable energy poised for explosive growth, some conservation groups are racing to advance policy proposals and guidelines meant to prevent wind and bioenergy producers from despoiling sensitive habitats, especially in the prairie grasslands of the Midwest.

The Nature Conservancy, which this year sounded a warning about “energy sprawl,” is working with state energy officials and wind firms to build a database of maps that indicate wetlands and habitats within gusty regions. “We can tell the industry, these are places to avoid,” said the organization’s head of energy, Jimmie Powell.

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EPA Administrator Jackson: Greenhouse Gas Rulemaking Requires Best Technologies to Help Reduce Emissions

GrainNet.com
Date Posted: September 30, 2009

Small Businesses and Farms to Be Exempt

Los Angeles—U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will announce Sept. 30 in a keynote address at the California Governor’s Global Climate Summit that the Agency has taken a significant step to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the Clean Air Act.

The Administrator will announce a proposal requiring large industrial facilities that emit at least 25,000 tons of GHGs a year to obtain construction and operating permits covering these emissions.

These permits must demonstrate the use of best available control technologies and energy efficiency measures to minimize GHG emissions when facilities are constructed or significantly modified.

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Biofuels face research, image challenges

Ag Week
Mikkel Pates,Agweek
Published: 09/28/2009

FARGO, N.D. — They’re still asking, “What Makes Sense?” when it comes to biomass fuel and byproduct manufacture, and it may take big investments in research to know whether megabuck manufacturing will work.

And that was the theme of the third annual conference under this title sponsored by the North Dakota State University’s Bio Energy and Product Innovation Center. It drew about 100 officials to offer industry updates.

Part of the conference involves bio-fuels proponents shoring up ethanol’s image as a viable economic and environmental player in the fuel market.

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