Today in Biofuels: US Budget to “deal with” Brazilian ethanol tariff; $114 million awarded to four US cellulosic ethanol projects; France may reverse biofuels policy
Top Story:
In Washington, U.S. Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, commenting on the future of the ethanol tariff, said that the Bush Administration “will start to deal with that question” in the 2009 US Budget due in Congress on Monday. The 54-cent tariff, which primarily applies to Brazilian ethanol, tariff is due to expire at the end of this year. Critics say that it should not be renewed in order to reduce ethanol prices and bring more supply to East Coast markets. Bodman did not comment on the 51-cent per gallon ethanol subsidy, which will not expire until 2010.
Producer News:
In Washington, the US Energy Department awarded $114 million in grants to cellulosic ethanol projects in Missouri, Oregon, Colorado and Wisconsin. The demonstration projects were proposed by ICM, for a plant in in St. Joseph, Mo.; Lignol Innovations, for a plant in Commerce City, Colo; Pacific Ethanol, for a plant in Boardman, Ore.; and Stora Enso North America for a plant in Wisconsin Rapids. Pacific Ethanol received $24.32 million, while the others received $30 million. Pacific Ethanol’s 2.7 Mgy plant will produce cellulosic ethanol from a process developed by BioGasol, which partnered with Pacific Ethanol and the Joint BioEnergy Institute on the project. JBI will provide enzyme technologies.
In Iowa, two coal-fired electricity plants, in Marshalltown and near Waterloo, have been proposed in order to provide electricity for the growing collection of Iowa ethanol plants. Critics say that ethanol’s need for coal-powered electricity makes the case that it is not a green fuel. Alliant Energy, co-owner of the Marshalltown project, said that the needs of the ethanol plants can only be solved at this point in time by nuclear, natural gas or coal, and that natural gas is not economical while nuclear has been taken off the table due to environmental concerns. The proposed plants would cost $1 billion each.
International News:
In India, the Biodiesel Association of India (BDAI) has called on the central government to place biodiesel in the “declared goods” category so that it will receive a uniform rate of taxation throughout the country. The BDAI also called on the government to encourage the use of B20 blends and exempt biodiesel used in those blends from taxation. Meanwhile, the president of the BDAI,  Sandeep Chaturvedi, said that the industry faces a feedstock shortage and is not utilizing full production capacity.
In Australia, Willmott Forests won a contract from the New South Wales government to expand a $60 million softwood processing plant at Bombala. Plant owners have indicated that they plant to produce ethanol, or supply waste timber biomass for ethanol production, as part of the vision for expansion project. Willmott Forests has a pilot ethanol project in place on the northern New South Wales coast.
In Hungary, the 150,000 tonne Rossi Biofuels biodiesel plant has commenced operations in Komárom. Austrian businessman Rudi Roth owns 75 percent of the $60 million project and joint venture partner MOL owns the remaining 25 percent. MOL will use 80 percent of the plant’s biodiesel at its refineries.
In Malaysia, the Sabah Land Development Board (SLDB) demonstrated jatropha biodiesel in a Toyota Land Cruiser trial conducted at the Sabah Development Corridor Expo. The SLDB has proposed expansion of jatropha capacity in Malaysia as a poverty-reduction program, saying that farmers could earn RM 1500 per month from farming 6-acre plots of jatropha curcus, from seedlings provided by Borneo Alam Ria Biomatrix. The SLDB general manager said that Nihon Biotech, Kelana Stabil and TKM Resources have indicated that they would invest up to RM 300 million in jatropha cultivation and would purchase the fuel for export to the US, Japan and South Korea.
In Sudan, the government expects to adopt an alternative energy bill before August. To brief legislators, a parliamentary committee on industry visited the Kenana sugar facility in Khartoum. Kenan, Giad and the ministry of Energy have proposed a Sudanese energy project with an undisclosed location and capacity.
Research News:
The US Energy Information Administration said that U.S. ethanol supplies increased 14 percent in November to 11,194,000 barrels, as the result of a 45 percent increase in ethanol production capacity over the past 12 months.
Tyson Foods blamed ethanol for a drop in profits of 10 cents a share, or $23 million, in its first fiscal quarter, and the company said that uncertainty over grain prices made it impossible for the company to issue earnings guidance to analysts. Tyson said that its costs rose 3.9 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, while sales increased 3.2 percent. Ethanol was priced at $2.202 yesterday at the Chicago Board of Trade, while corn closed at $5.02 per bushel for the March contract.
Policy and Policymakers:
In France, the central government is considering a reversal of its biofuels policy because of protests from environmental and food-related groups. The government is reported to have asked the French energy agency, ADEME, to review French policy in light of protests and advances in second-generation biofuels. France had previously set a policy that 7 percent of all fuels must come from renewable sources by 2010, and 10 percent by 2015 — ahead of the requirements of new EU laws.
Consumer and Fleet News:
The Corvette Racing team will convert to E85 ethanol for the 2008 American Le Mans season, using cellulosic ethanol produced by KL Process Design Group from wood waste. The fuel will debut at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.
Financial News:
The Biofuels Digest Indexâ„¢ (BDI), a basket of publicly traded biofuel stocks, fell 0.71 percent yesterday to 121.90 in mixed trading. For the day, The Andersons (ANDE) led diversified agribusiness, up 0.61 percent to $46.02, while Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) fell 0.83 percent t $42.94. Most ethanol stocks rose, paced by VeraSun Energy (VSE), which rose 1.76 percent to close at $10.40. Among small caps, Green Energy Resources (GRGR.PK) rose 11.54 percent to $0.145 while Texcom (TEXC.PK) was off 11.11 percent to $0.08. Overall, declines led advances 5 to 4.
Free Subscription to the Daily Biofuels Digest e-newsletter
Subscribe FREE to the world's most-widely read biofuels daily. Enter your email in the box below,
Related Stories
Hot Topics
The Hottest 50 Companies in Bioenergy
Latest algae-to-energy news
Latest jatropha news
Latest Waste-to-energy news
Entry Information
Filed Under: The Daily Biofuel Summary
Post a Comment | Trackback URL
You must be logged in to post a comment.
