Ethanol's Discount To Gasoline Could Pressure Refiners

EasyBourse.com
By Naureen S. Malik Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Corn-ethanol futures are trading at their biggest discount to gasoline futures since the summer of 2008, which could encourage more biofuel blending and pressure the margins of oil refiners.

Over the past several weeks, gasoline prices have surged during the usual seasonal rally ahead of the peak summer driving season. Meanwhile, ethanol prices have been dragged lower by rising output of the biofuel and a drop in corn prices amid ample supplies and a drop in demand for animal feed.

Attractive ethanol prices could push fuel retailers, the middlemen who deliver fuel and even some refiners to blend more of the biofuel, which would damp the recovery in gasoline demand that is crawling back from depressed levels. Refiners are required to blend a certain amount of ethanol into their gasoline or buy credits to meet the mandate.

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New Fuel Economy Standards May Benefit Ethanol

DomesticFuel.com
Posted by Joanna Schroeder – April 1st, 2010

Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) signed a joint final rule that establishes greenhouse gas emission standards and corporate fuel economy standards for light duty vehicles for model years 2012-2016. This National Fuel Efficiency Policy requires passenger cars and light trucks to get an overall average of 35.5 miles per gallon (mpg) by 2016 while cars are expected to average 39 mpg and trucks will be required to get 30 mpg. According to the current administration, this measure is expected to save 1.8 billion barrels of oil over the life of the program.

However, we could actually reduce oil imports and emissions even more under this program by using ethanol.

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Verenium extends ethanol project with BP

Bloomberg Business Week
The Associated Press
April 1, 2010, 4:29PM ET
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.

Ethanol developer and maker Verenium Corp. said on Thursday that it extended a joint development project with energy company BP for an additional four months.

The two companies will continue collaborating on technologies related to making ethanol from nonfood sources such as grasses. That type is called cellulosic ethanol.

As part of the deal, Verenium will receive $2.5 million per month from BP to continue to fund the program.

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BIPARTISAN BIOMASS HEATING BILL INTRODUCED

AmericanChronicle.com
Congressional Desk
April 01, 2010

Crapo co-sponsors measure aiding forest products industry

Washington, D.C. – Idaho Senator Mike Crapo has joined three of his Senate colleagues to introduce the American Renewable Biomass Heating Act, bipartisan legislation that could aid Idaho´s forest products industry while promoting renewable heating fuels. The legislation puts the use of woody renewable biomass on par with other renewable energy sources by offering substantial tax credits for the use of biomass from forests and private lands. It provides an investment tax credit (ITC) of 30 percent of the cost of installing high-efficiency biomass systems for heating in commercial and industrial buildings.

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DECC launches biomass grandfathering consultation

NewEnergyFocus.com
Thursday 01 April 2010

DECC's consultation considers grandfathering the captial costs of biomass plants

A consultation on the grandfathering policy of support for dedicated biomass, anaerobic digestion and energy from waste projects under the Renewables Obligation (RO) has been launched today by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

Currently, biomass projects are not grandfathered under the RO, which means that once accredited, a generator would not receive a set level of support over its period of eligibility. Other technologies which are grandfathered are guaranteed to receive the same level of support throughout their lifetime, regardless of changes to the support levels after banding reviews.

DECC's consultation document, published late yesterday (March 31), explains how the biomass industry has brought to its attention that up to 5GW of dedicated biomass, energy from waste, gasification and anaerobic digestion projects have been stalled due to uncertainty over RO support.

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Lab to build advanced biofuels user facility

ArticleAnt.com
31/03/2010 16:00:00
University of California

BERKELEY — The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been awarded nearly $18 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to build an advanced biofuels process development facility. Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), this new facility will help expedite the commercialization of next-generation biofuels by providing industry-scale test beds for innovative technologies. Called the Advanced Biofuels Process Development Unit (PDU), it will be the only facility of its kind available for public use.

"The Advanced Biofuels Process Development Unit will serve the efforts of major biofuels research across the nation, including the Bioenergy Research Centers in the DOE Office of Science," said Berkeley Lab director Paul Alivisatos. "The establishment by EERE of this facility at Berkeley Lab, a DOE Office of Science national laboratory, reflects a renewed spirit of cooperation between the DOE technology and science programs. Berkeley Lab is proud to play its part."

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Higher long-term prices seen for wood biomass

purchasing.com
Tom Stundza -- Purchasing, 3/31/2010 2:14:48 PM

Forest Economic Advisors sees strong demand ahead
Production and prices of wood-based energy products will be on an upward trajectory from 2010 through 2024, forecasts Forest Economic Advisors of Westford, Mass. "A developed and diversified wood-based energy sector will have a profound impact on the economics of the entire forest products industry," says the research firms' senior economist, Erik Kankainen.

He says long-term demand will be strong for bioenergy from wood pellets, biomass-based electricity and other biofuels. Interestingly, he sees increased use ahead for logging residues in the years to come so that all biomass grades will experience price increases after 2012. His forecast predicts that a post-recession surge in housing starts in an improving economy over the next several years will boost residue production, returning almost 90% of the supply that was lost from 2005 to 2009 by the end of 2012.

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Forget Switchgrass – Microbes Could Be New Biofuel Source

ScientificBlogging.com
By News Staff March 30th 2010 12:00 AM

Arizona State University researchers have reengineered the genetics of cyanobacteria, producing mutant strains that continuously secrete fatty acids through their cell walls. The reprogramming has essentially turned the microbes into tiny biofuel production facilities.

By Introducing an enzyme called thioesterase into cyanobacteria researchers were able to coax them into overproducing fatty acids. Accumulation within the cells eventually caused these fatty acids to leak out through the cell membrane, through the process of diffusion.

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Boswell to introduce ethanol pipeline

Journal Express (Knoxville, Iowa)
March 29, 2010

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Leonard Boswell (D-IA) and Congressman Lee Terry (R-NE) held a news conference to highlight a bipartisan effort to boost our country’s homegrown energy industry by improving infrastructure for moving ethanol from the Midwest to the rest of the country. The Renewable Fuel Pipeline Act of 2010, H.R. 4674 will also create jobs and strengthen the agriculture industries in Iowa and Nebraska.

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Study Finds Benefits of 20 Percent Ethanol Blends

DomesticFuel.com
Posted by Cindy Zimmerman – March 30th, 2010

A new study from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) finds benefits to the gasoline blended with 20 percent ethanol (E20).

The study by RIT’s Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies indicates that E20 reduces emissions of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide compared with traditional gasoline or E10 blends. In addition, the research team found no measurable impact to vehicle drivability or maintenance in conventional internal combustion engines.

Using a 10-vehicle fleet owned and operated by Monroe County, N.Y., researchers fueled the vehicles – all with older gasoline engines not specifically designed to burn ethanol blends – over the accumulation of at least 100,000 miles per vehicle. Researchers found that the fleet showed an average reduction of 23 percent for carbon monoxide and a 13 percent reduction for hydrocarbon emissions, with no measurable stress on vehicle operation or mechanics.

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