Rogue ethanol customers in Minnesota blending above E10 in non-flex fuel cars, says paper
May 30, 2008
In Minnesota, the Star Tribune reports on a growing number of Minnesotans who are blending ethanol above 10 percent in non-flex fuel cars, to save money or support US energy independence. The US EPA reinforced that this is a violation of Clean Air Laws because of harm to the emission systems of older cars, and vehicle manufacturers warned against engine damage and corrossion.
California chips in $1 million towards City of San Francisco waste oil biodiesel project
May 30, 2008
In California. San Francisco Mayor Newsom announced that the city received $1 million from the California Energy Commission to assist with construction expense of the city’s proposed biodiesel refining plant, which would focus on conversion of brown grease (pan scrapings and oil residue from grease traps), versus yellow grease (fryer oil). Mayor Newsom said that the city had 2.5 million gallons of brown grease compared to 1.5 million gallons of yellow grease.
1,700 Brazilian sugarcane workers rescued from slavery or forced labor, Amnesty says; UNICA says these are isolated cases
May 29, 2008
In Brazil, Amnesty International pointed to four cases where more than 1,700 sugar cane workers were rescued from forced labor and slavery conditions. The human rights group said that 288 workers were rescued from six plantations in Sao Paulo state, 409 workers from an ethanol plant in Mato Grosso do Sul state, while over 1,000 people “in conditions analogous to slavery” were released in June from a sugar plantation in Para state. In addition, 831 indigenous cane workers were reported to be working in poor conditions in Mato Grosso do Sul.
UNICA, the Brazilian cane industry association, said that Amnesty had spotlighted isolated cases and strongly defended the industry against accusations of slave labor.
The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) issued a stinging response in January to “Deadly Brew,” a documentary on the Brazilian sugar cane industry and ethanol which aired on Bloomberg Television. UNICA said that the producers did not substantiate their contention that worker conditions were deteriorating, did not report that sugar cane workers are paid more than twice the minimum wage, that cane cutters do not have minimum daily quotas, and used outdated injury and death reports without reporting falling accident rates.
The Bloomberg documentary, titled “Deadly Brew: The Human Toll of Ethanol,” investigated 82,000 injuries and 300 deaths reported in the sugar cane industry in the past 3 years, and profiled a group of migrant workers who were jailed for more than a month after striking for better conditions.
Questions have circulated for months, even years, about the scalability of the Brazilian ethanol “miracle” owing to the low wages, long hours, health problems and squalid conditions associated with sugar cane field workers. Brazil, the world’s leading exporter of ethanol (900 million gallons per year, depends on sugar cane cutters who earn $430 per month at the top end, for cutting 10-12 tons of cane per day.
Today in Biofuels Opinion: “The rush into ethanol has been a serious misstep”
May 29, 2008
Peter Schrum, President of the German Renewable Fuel Association: “In 1980, world prices for grain were on the same level as it is today. Why? Starting in the 1970s, farmers were paid direct payments, minimum prices were guaranteed. Thus, huge amounts of grain surplus produced had to be sold cheaply to the world market, possibly due to export subsidies. Millions of small-scale farmers in developing countries had to bear the brunt. These farmers continued agriculture for their self supply but, because of the very low international grain prices, were unable to realize an adequate sale price for their production surplus. 10 years ago, ministers of the developing world called upon the EU and the USA for a change in agricultural subsidy policy.
About 5 years ago, the EU Commission eventually decided to stop this erroneous development by adjusting agricultural subsidies; minimum prices were abolished and set-aside areas freed for production of energy. At the same time Chinese and Indian economies grew at around 10 % per year, income increased and eating habits changed. It was only a matter of time before grain prices would adjust back to the market equilibrium. Prices of grains and oil seeds jumped up, so that again we have a price level similar to 1980.
Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee: “The rush into ethanol has been a serious misstep. We had better look carefully before we leap again. Countries around the world are in dangerous states of unrest. Over the course of this year, riots have erupted in such places as Haiti, Yemen, Egypt, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mexico and Morocco. Much of this unrest can be directly linked to food shortages. These food shortages can be largely linked, as the United Nations has stated, to the huge increase in the production of food-based biofuels. And by the way, gas prices are not going down as a result. The solution to America’s dependence on foreign oil will not come from swapping one addiction for another.”
USDA opens 24 million acres of Conservation Reserve land to cattle grazing, aims to ease grain prices
May 29, 2008
The US Department of Agriculture announced that it would open 24 million acres of the Conservation Reserve Program to cattle grazing. The announcement is intended to take pressure off the price of grains by reducing feed demand from livestock companies, but analysts said that it was possible that ranchers would respond to the announcement by increasing herd size.
Verenium to commission 1.4 Mgy cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant in Louisiana
May 29, 2008
In Louisiana, Verenium said that it was in the process of commissioning its 1.4 Mgy demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Jennings. The company said that it would commence construction of a 30 Mgy commercial scale plant in 2009.
Sapphire Energy debuts “green crude”; raises $50 million in venture capital for algae-to-gasoline process
May 29, 2008
In California, Sapphire Energy debuted it’s “green crude”, a gasoline equivalent refined from algae. The company did not disclose its production process but said that it is producing 91 octane gasoline, and said that the company has planned capacity of 153 Mgy on desert land sites in the southwestern US.
The company has raised $50 million in venture capital from ARCH Venture Partners, Venrock and the Wellcome Trust of the UK. It’s research partners include Department of Energy’s Joint Genome Project; the University of California at San Diego; Scripps Research Institute; and the University of Tulsa. The company said that it will open a facility by 2011, but did not announce the location or production capacity.
Canada’s House of Commons passes biofuels mandate; E5 in 2010; B2 in 2012; Senate to consider
May 29, 2008
In Canada, the House of Commons passed the C-33 Biofuels Bill, by a vote of 173 to 64, and the bill now moves to the Canadian Senate for consideration. The bill establishes an E5 mandate for gasoline commencing in 2010 and a B2 biodiesel mandate commencing in 2012.
“Natural Resources Canada’s GHGenius lifecycle model finds that the renewable fuel standard as outlined in Bill C-33 will result in a 4.2 megatonne reduction in harmful greenhouse gas emissions - the equivalent of removing over one million cars and their CO2 emissions from Canadian roads, every year” said Don O’Connor, President, S&T squared Consultants.
EPOCA to study increasing ocean acid levels; but how is CO2 increasing when temperatures on the rise?
May 29, 2008
In France, EPOCA, the European Project on Ocean Acidification, will launch in Nice next month. The project takes up the subject of the increase in CO2 levels in the oceans. The group says 25 million tons of CO2 is absorbed by the oceans each day. However, the group reports that CO2 levels are rising, causing a harmful buildup on acid levels in the water. What makes this curious is that the ocean’s ability to absorb CO2 decreases when water temperature rises. The group’s formation raises the intriguing possibility that other forces besides global warming are at work in the oceans.
Dutch government to offer subsidies for ethanol pumps, to stimulate alternative fuel use
May 29, 2008
In the Netherlands, the central government announced a plan to offer subsidies of up to $87,000 for compressed natural gas pumps, and $29,000 for ethanol pumps, in order to stimulate use of alternative fuels and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
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