ALTERNATIVE FUELS * USA - R & D: Cultivating Bacteria's Taste for Toxic Waste

Scientists use bacteria to create fuel from sunlight and CO2

Saint Paul,MINN,USA -The Journal of Biological Chemistry/Gizmag, by Ben Coxworth -March 24, 2011: -- Researchers from the University of Minnesota have announced a breakthrough in the quest to create a viable fuel alternative using greenhouse gases. The process uses two types of bacteria to create hydrocarbons from sunlight and carbon dioxide. Those hydrocarbons can in turn be made into fuel, which the scientists are calling "renewable petroleum" ... The process starts with Synechococcus, a photosynthetic bacterium that fixes carbon dioxide in sunlight, then converts that CO2 to sugars. Those sugars are then passed on to another bacterium, Shewanella, which consumes them and produces fatty acids. University of Minnesota biochemistry graduate student, Janice Frias, discovered how to use a protein to transform those acids into ketones, a type of organic compound. Her colleagues in the university's College of Science and Engineering have developed catalytic technology that allows them to convert those ketones into diesel fuel... The university is in the process of filing patents on the process... (Image: Shewanella bacteria, which produces ketones that are processed into fuel)

ALTERNATIVE FUELS * Brazil - Turning old oil into new mileage

The "catadores" have a less-expensive and environmentally friendly fuel option: recycled cooking oil

(Video from YouTube, by MITNewsOffice -17 Feb 2011: Students from MIT's Biodiesel team organizes the project, called Green Grease, and they traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil last summer to begin the implementation. Led by Libby McDonald, a fellow at the Community Innovators Lab in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, the team converted two large trucks to run directly on filtered vegetable oil, rather than converting the oil itself into biodiesel fuel)

Sao Paulo,SP,Brazil -MIT News Office (USA), by David L. Chandler -February 24, 2011:  --  The estimated half-million garbage pickers in Brazil, known as catadores, turn trash into gold: they sort out recyclable items in the country’s dumps, then sell their findings to recycling companies. But the process of getting the recyclables to their final destination involves fleets of fuel-consuming vehicles...  Now—with help from some MIT students—the catadores have a less-expensive and environmentally friendly fuel option: recycled cooking oil...  In summer 2010, members of MIT’s biodiesel team, along with a Media Lab student and one Brazilian MIT student, traveled to Sao Paulo, Brazil, to begin work on the project, called Green Grease. They worked with Rede CataSampa, one of the many catadores cooperatives, to convert two of its large trucks to run directly on filtered vegetable oil...  The team, opted to convert the vehicles to use filtered oil—rather than converting the waste oil to biodiesel, as the team does at MIT—because the biodiesel conversion process requires relatively complex machinery and expensive, toxic chemicals...  By contrast, the oil-filtration process and vehicle conversions are simple and can make use of many recycled parts that the were able to find or improvise, explains junior Angela Hojnacki, president of the Biodiesel@MIT team and a member of the Green Grease team bringing the technology to Brazil...  Now that the truck drivers in one cooperative have been trained in how to carry out the vehicle conversions and set up filtration systems, the hope is that “they can convert it into a small business, converting other vehicles and providing the oil,” Hojnacki says, and thus helping to disseminate the technology. On a follow-up visit this year, the team plans to expand the project to five other Brazilian cities, with the help of the catadores they trained in Sao Paulo...

BIODIESEL * Canada - Now a Reality in Canada

Ontario,Canada -Driving Today, by Jack Nerad -February 25, 2011: -- As you may guess, the new Canadian regulations that mandate the nationwide use of 2-percent biodiesel fuels were applauded by industry groups like the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), which called the decision “good news for consumers, farmers and energy diversity in Canada” ...  But the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is not nearly as positive about the new regs. In fact, it challenged government claims that its members stand to reduce their carbon footprint in any significant manner through the biodiesel mandate"...   According to CTA, there is strong evidence -- including a 2009 study done by EcoRessources Consultants (ERC) for Environment Canada -- that shows the environmental impact of a biodiesel mandate in terms of greenhouse gas reduction is negligible, and the benefits of that reduction are outweighed by the costs. According to ERC, the total incremental cost to society of the proposed biodiesel regulation for on-road use would be $4.5 billion between 2011 and 2035, whereas the benefits -- in the form of reduced greenhouse gas emissions -- are valued at only a tad over $860 million...

ALTERNATIVE FUELS * USA - Feds Back Biofuel with Waste-to-Ethanol Plant

 BioEnergy Center able to produce 8M gallons of ethanol a year as well as 6 megawatts of power

Washington,DC,USA -Green Car Advisor -Jan. 7, 2011:   --   $75M loan guarantee by U.S. Ag Dept to petrochemical INEOS, advanced biofuels developer New Planet Energy, for construction of FL plant to convert waste into ethanol. Companies said BioEnergy Center able to produce 8M gallons of ethanol a year as well as 6 megawatts of power...   By processing yard, wood, vegetative, and solid waste through an anaerobic fermentation process...   Illustrates Fed's willingness to invest in biofuels to cut dependence of foreign oil while spurring domestic economy...  President Obama signed $858B tax package that extended federal ethanol tax credit. Retroactively extended biodiesel tax incentive and renewable diesel incentive...  Ethanol/biodiesel advocates said bill may save hundreds of thousands of jobs while lessening foreign oil dependence...   About 112K jobs lost if tax credit for ethanol producers not extended, Renewable Fuels Association estimated...   Some particularly vocal in opposition to biofuel tax-credit extension. Said government subsidy uses valuable food production acreage for transportation fuel, causing food price increase... (Image: The Indian River County Facility is slated to be complete in 2011)

ALTERNATIVE FUELS * Europe - LNG Blue Corridors the Right Solution for

Importance of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals

Brussels,Belgium,Europe -NGVA Europe -January 10, 2011: -- The recent revision of the European Commission’s Trans-European Energy Network (TEN-E) policy highlights the importance of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals to cover Europe’s future increasing demand for natural gas...  The Commission report identifies various projects of re-gasification terminals across the EU, some are already under implementation, others are planned...  

(Photo from poyam: Gate LNG)
The report says that the energy networks currently in place are dated and are not designed to cope with the energy challenges faced today. The analysis finds that additional capacity will be required to meet demand. It assessed that planned pipelines will be sufficient to provide this capacity for demands in 2020, but that beyond 2020 new LNG terminals and developments in storage and reverse flow infrastructure will also be required...

ALTERNATIVE FUELS * USA - Biomass industry growing infrastructure

Boulder,CO,USA -Pike Research - 30 Dec 2010: -- The biomass industry, in its infancy just a few short years ago, is projected to maintain a steady and constant growth rate until 2016, according to new research from Pike Research... Pike predicts the industry, which had worldwide capital investment in infrastructure of $28.2 billion in 2010, will grow that investment to $33.7 billion by 2016... Biomass is the leading source of renewable energy worldwide, according to Pike, and is used in a variety of products including fuels, plastics and chemicals... Pike’s analysis indicates that the biofuels sector will continue to lag behind bioenergy and bioproducts until second- and third-generation cellulosic technologies are available on a commercial scale, which is estimated to be two to three years away. The biochemical and bioenergy sectors will progress much faster than biofuels during the firm’s five-year forecast period... (Photo from pikeresearch: Biomass, wood pellets)

* Tax Bill Supports NGVs

Washington,DC,USA -Clean Energy -6 Jan 2010: -- The new tax bill passed by Congress provides solid support for the critical movement to deploy large numbers of natural gas vehicles in the US, according to Clean Energy Fuels Corp. The Bill extends the 50 cents per gallon excise tax credit retroactively for calendar year 2010 and through December 31, 2011. It also extends tax credit incentives for developing natural gas fueling infrastructure...  NGVs, particularly heavy-duty vehicles for waste hauling, transit and trucking, are seen increasingly as a means to reduce dependence on foreign oil, as well as to help clean the environment. Transportation accounts for over 60% of petroleum use in the US, the company said...   (Photo from cleanenergyfuels)

* USA - EPA Supports Truck Fuel Efficiency Through SmartWay Program

Arlington,VA,USA -Light & Medium Truck/Automotive Digest -December 17, 2010: -- SmartWay Transport Partnership between EPA and trucking industry does not benefit medium-duty trucks. Only 20% of participating fleets are medium duty... Medium-duty trucks designed for specific uses and cannot be easily modified for on-the-road efficiency. Driving cycle and design function of medium duty prevent finding operational changes... Medium-duty trucks make money while parked, not driven, reducing the need for fuel-efficiency efforts... SmartWay helps long-haul truckers identify and track operations which reduce emissions and improve fuel economy. SmartWay has 1,700 motor carriers and 2,600 total members participating in its emissions and efficiency effort... Long-haul carriers have benefited from SmartWay's research. Specification and maintenance efforts reduce fuel consumption... Including low resistance tires, advanced lubricants and lighter chassis design...

* 2010 Year in Review of Biofuels

Washington,DC,USA -GigaOm, by Katie Fehrenbacher -Dec. 29, 2010: -- Biofuels took a step away from the limelight in 2010, replaced by the buzz surrounding electric vehicles. But there were still a variety of policy decisions, and economic milestones that made the sector interesting in 2010...  It’s no secret that the corn ethanol industry is an unsustainable business — economically and environmentally — but yet the industry’s tax credits and import tariffs were once again extended. At the same time cellulosic ethanol, yet again, didn’t meet the EPA’s projections for the biofuel mandate. At the same time, next-gen biofuel firm Amyris debuted on the public markets, and didn’t fare too shabbily...