The Daily Biofuels Summary for August 15
Top Story:
In Iowa, VeraSun Energy announced that its 110 Mgy corn ethanol plant in Hartley had commenced production. The facility, at which construction began in late 2006, is based on a 350-acre site that will produce 350,000 tons of distillers grains. No announcement of a corn oil processing unit has been made. The opening of the Hartley plant is the fourth for VeraSun. The others were opened in Hankinson, ND, Bloominburg, OH and Marion, SD. VeraSun’s capacity has increased to 1.3 billion gallons with the opening, and Iowa’s capacity has increased to 2.5 billion gallons.
Producer News:
In New York, Changing World Technologies filed this week for a $100 million IPO. The company operates a 9 Mgy turkey fat and offal-fat based biodiesel plant in Carthage, MO. The company said in its filing that it would expand capacity to as much as 54 MGy with the proceeds from the IPO. The company uses a fat pyrolysis-like process that combines heat and pressure to gasify and then reform waste into renewable diesel, fertilizers and specialty chemicals. The company’s promotional material says that the 6 billion tons of US agricultural waste could yield up to 48 billion gallons of fuel using the TCP process. The company is developing a new facility near Philadelphia to convert used auto tires and municipal waste into fuel.
In California, Amyris Biotechnologies has raised an additional $21 million in second round capital from unnamed investors, with a total of $91 million in proceeds from the second round taking 19.3 percent of the company’s equity, valuing the early-stage enzyme and microbe manufacturer at $470 million. The company has raised a total of $111 million from investors, including $91 million in the still-open second round. Amyris is developing a large-scale fermentation process to produce biofuels that it says have more energy than ethanol, and are fully compatible with today’s cars and the existing petroleum infrastructure, a description consistent with the properties of biobutanol. The company is also developing a diesel alternative that has more stability under cold temperatures and during storage than conventional biodiesel.
In Washington state, Imperium Renewables has lost an 18 Mgy contract for biodiesel with Royal Caribbean. The contract, “the single largest long-term biodiesel sales contract to an end user in the U.S.” according to papers filed with the SEC by Imperium, was originally slated to run through 2011. Royal Caribbean said in a statement that the relationship between the cruise company and Imperium ended in July, and RCCL also sold a 7 percent equity stake it held in the company. No other explanation was given for the loss of the contract, including any information on alternative fuel contracting by RCCL, although the company has been actively purchasing in Argentina, according to Digest sources.
World Opinion:
Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman: “For 25 years and maybe more, the federal government has talked about reducing our reliance on foreign oil - and they haven’t done a doggone thing about it. It’s time we did something. America needs leadership when it comes to energy, and ethanol is particularly part of that future.”
State Rep. Chuck Burley of Oregon: “Everyone recognizes the potential of biofuels as a renewable energy source, but the mandated use of corn-based ethanol is causing more problems than it is solving. Our proposal offers Oregonians relief from this mandate. It also allows the Legislature to seek and promote more efficient sources of energy to power our state.”
International News:
In Canada, Shell announced that it will increase its holdings in cellulosic ethanol producer Iogen to 50 percent, from a current 26 percent stake, and will extend a commercial partnership to develop Iogen’s cellulosic ethanol potential. Dr. Graeme Sweeney, Shell Executive Vice President Future Fuels and C02 said “This is a strong statement that Shell is committed to accelerating the development of cellulosic ethanol in collaboration with Iogen. We have come a long way together already on this particular technology pathway for sustainable biofuel and we will be working ever closer to meet the technical and commercial challenges facing larger scale production.” Shell indicated that it is considering an investment in Iogen’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. Iogen, which debuted it first demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Ottawa in 2004, uses wheat straw and other agricultural residue as feedstock.
In Germany, Archer Daniels Midland announced that it has acquired the assets of Campa Sued, in Bavaria. Campa Sued operates a canola-crushing plant to produce oils and meal for the biofuels and agricultural markets. The facility becomes ADM’s first processing operation in Central Europe, and the company said in a statement that the plant’s location on the Danube gave it access to the Czech, Hungarian and Slovakian markets.
In Canada, Sustainable Development Technology Canada issued a call for applications for the $500 million NextGen BiofuelsFund which SDTC is managing on behalf of the Canadian government. The Fund can support of the 40 percent of the cost of advanced biofuels projects including cellulosic ethanol and next-generation biodiesel; contributions from the fund must be repaid within 10 years of project completion. SDTC said that eligible projects must be located in Canada, use biomass that is available in Canada, be a demonstration-scale facility, and have previously demonstrated the viability of its technology.
Research News:
A new poll by the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, and the Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund found that 83% of Americans support investment in wind, solar, and next generation biofuel technology to achieve energy independence, compared to 63 percent support for increased offshore drilling. Only 48 percent of those surveyed said that they favored the “gas tax holiday”, 81 percent supported an increase in the availability of hybrids, and 79 percent supported higher efficiency appliances.
Policy and Policymakers:
In Oregon, state house Republicans said that they intend to try and repeal the state’s ethanol mandate, originally passed by the state legislature last year. Republicans led by Rep. George Gilman said that the E10 mandate had increased costs at the pump by reducing fuel economy.
Consumer and Fleet News:
An engineering team at General Motors reported that they have been able to extend the “electric-only” range of the new Chevrolet Volt to 46 miles, up from 40, through improvement of the car’s aerodynamics. The company said that it will initially manufacture 10,000 units per year but increase production to 60,000 “within a few years”, and is rumored to be extended to the Australian market shortly after debut in the US in 2010. The plug-in hybrid Volt operates on a combination of its electric motor drivetrain and an internal combustion engine. The Volt is expected to have an E100 engine for the Brazil market.
Financial News:
The Biofuels Digest Index™ (BDI), a basket of public biofuels stocks, fell 0.81 percent yesterday to close at 76.02 as ethanol volatility ruled the day. For the day, British Petroleum (BP) fell 1.24 percent to close at $58.83, while BioFuel Energy continued to recover from a trip to stock hell, gaining 38.46 percent to close at $1.80. Among small caps, Bluefire Ethanol (BFRE) rose 5.50 percent to close at $3.45. Overall, advances led declines 3 to 2 for the day.
