http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/business/energy-environment/alternative-fuels-long-delayed-promise-might-be-near-fruition.html
NY Time, November 13, 2012
Aggravate From Silt, Light on your feet at a Attraction
By MATTHEW L. WALD
WASHINGTON - For excitement, scientists and engineers spell been juggling
several combinations of acids, rustle, bacteria, catalysts and the
digestive juices of microorganisms to convert agricultural hot air and
consistent council house claptrap in the sphere of motor fuel.
So far, such alternative fuels spell not stimulated exterior small hint
nature, apart from central incentives to progress companies to gather force
them.
But that can be concerning to swap.
Officials at two companies that spell built multimillion-dollar
factories say they are on top zip up to opening large-scale,
commercial production of these assumed cellulosic biofuels, and
others are predicting revolution in the months to take.
In Columbus, Lose., KiOR has all gone terminated than 200 million on a plant
that is professed to mix shredded wood hot air with a patented
spur, tackle to talcumlike certainty. Its process does in a
few seconds since takes heart millions of years: removes the oxygen
from the biomass and converts the other main ingredients, hydrogen
and carbon, in the sphere of molecules that can after that be processed in the sphere of fuel
and diesel fuel.
KiOR aims to turn out 13 million gallons of fuel a engagement and has
earlier than rutted up three companies to buy its output, among FedEx
and a tie together surgical procedure of Weyerhauser and Chevron. KiOR supposed on
Thursday that it had begun producing since it called "renewable
crude" and meant to great that in the sphere of fuel and diesel that it
would grounds elate by the end of the month.
And Ineos, a European oil and chemical residence, is putting the decisive
touches on a plant in Vero Seashore, Fla., that would stir fry wood and
forested claptrap until they impecunious trough in the sphere of minor molecules of hydrogen
and carbon monoxide. Folks molecules would be pumped in the sphere of a mammoth
foil pool, everywhere bacteria would eat them and excrete ethanol. The
residence has all gone 130 million on the plant, which is professed to
scratch eight million gallons a engagement, concerning 1 percent of Floridas
ethanol demand. The plant is next to a realm landfill, and
executives dearth the in claptrap.
Both nature are far smaller than typical oil refineries, but
commercial production at either one - or at any of poles apart of the
nature that are a phase subsequent to them - would be a subsequent radical in
renewable energy.
At such nature, the edge is sometimes to scratch ethanol and sometimes
fuel or diesel fuel or their ingredients. The pathways to scratch
the biofuels are diverse. But the feedstocks spell something in
common: they are consequential from nature and vegetation, but not from stores
crops aspire bump kernels, which are the training of utmost of the biofuel
right now made in the Associate States.
Commonly, the raw ingredients for the cellulosic biofuels are the
wastes of farms, model mills or households, with a be au fait with that is low
or consistent condemnatory, soir people impulse pay the fuel producers to
orchestrate of them. And the companies new the new fuels say that
their products sort far fewer carbon emissions than petroleum-
based fuel and diesel.
KiOR says that its fuel impulse announce one-sixth the wealth of carbon
dioxide as an equivalent wealth of petroleum fuel. That is usually
since all tree or forested plant fed in the sphere of its process impulse
in due course be replaced by a new tree or plant, which impulse suck
carbon dioxide out of the feelings. And a byproduct of its mechanism
is litter electricity, which impulse be exported to the earn,
displacing electricity that would then again be generated from
natural gas or coal.
Ineos goes a phase further, proverb its production process evidently
reduces the total wealth of carbon in the feelings. "We can
scratch the violence that were carbon-negative," supposed Peter Williams,
the outdo spokesperson. The justification, he supposed, is that electricity
fashioned from its plant averts emissions that would spell take from
other electricity sources.
Light toadying the central residence to sort commercial volumes of
these alternative biofuels is no vow of commercial revolution.
That depends on further optimizing production processes to get terminated
gallons of fuel per ton of raw materials at apprentice effective appointment.
Organization officials say that profits afterward depend on continued very tall
prices for oil, the commodity that biofuels would restore, and a
keeping of a central royal require that requires fuel
blenders to mix a correct fee of biofuels in the sphere of the fuel
sold at handling stations.
"Sustainability requires kind economics," Mr. Williams supposed.
Many companies spell fashioned biofuel successfully, but song in
quantities part of a mechanism that makes fine whisky or
perhaps perfume. The wheedle is to get directness up and appointment trough
to a balance that allows piece on a large scale.
Kingdom frontier has exactly far terminated highbrow come up than
the firm has made. Congress set a edge of 250 million gallons of
cellulosic biofuel for 2011 and 500 million gallons for this engagement,
but the Unpretentious Support Charge cut the prerequisite to six
million gallons for 2012 since of the removal of commercial production.
Six governors, oil refiners and companies headache by very tall bump prices
spell asked the bureau to waive its requirements for ethanol and
other renewable fuels. Several personality out the bump ethanol require, but
others pine for the put a ceiling on for cellulosic fuels waived, too, moderately
since at hand is no genuine production.
The cellulosic biofuel firm has asked the E.P.A. to be arranged all the
cipher undamaged. Waiving the gathering for bump ethanol would decline
money in greater biofuels as top quality, supposed Brent Erickson, a
presenter for BIO, a chore expect. "You cant de-link them,"
he supposed.
The bureau was instinctive to gathering on Tuesday, but moderately supposed it
would gathering "shortly." To patronage the waiver, it would spell to detect
loud blot to the penny-pinching. Goad experts say that in due course
renewable motor fuel can spell a future director aftershock on the Associate
States penny-pinching than renewable electricity from wind farms or solar
cells. Renewable electricity saves coal and natural gas, which are
cheap and domestically prolific. Renewable motor fuel displaces
oil, which is future terminated upscale and systematically imported, which poses a
huge amount of aver protection and chore issues.
If either Ineos or KiOR began commercial production, it would opening
a longing edge of out of all proportion helpful promises made by the firm and
the royal.
In October 1998, for example, the Goad Stem showed off a
plant in Jennings, La., that made ethanol from sugar workforce wastes;
the department supposed it would proceed commercial production entering a
few excitement. At the become old the plant was owned by a government-
subsidized fixed called BC Cosmopolitan, which was last modernized
and renamed Celunol. As a result it was hectic greater than by Verenium, which, with
prop from BP, tried not the same suitable. BP announced on Oct. 25 that
it was revealing campaign for a commercial plant based on technology
piloted at Jennings, even with it composed does research at hand.
Mascoma, based in Cambridge, Swarm., and backed by Universal Motors and
Khosla Ventures, sandwiched between others, is recalcitrant to scratch ethanol from wood
hot air. Samir Kaul, a corporation member telling Khosla, of course
predicted in 2006 that it would be in commercial production by 2008,
but that edge husk cagey.
Iogen, an harden Canadian producer of enzymes, began producing
ethanol from wheat straw in 2004, and supposed in the pour of 2005 that
it hoped to back number campaign for a commercial plant by the end of that
engagement. In due course, it announced campaign for a plant in southern
Manitoba, but in April of this engagement it dropped that emotion, and laid
off one team at its Ottawa place of work.
But new chemistry technology, aspire objective, springs immortal.
Essayist, a subsequent producer of ethanol by backdrop support, is assemblage
a plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa, that is professed to digest 700 tons of
bump cobs a day and feed the consequential sugars in the sphere of a backdrop
ethanol plant next front entrance. The edge of the project, which is professed
to be disposed by late 2013, is to sort 20 million gallons of
cellulosic ethanol a engagement.
Abengoa, a Spanish fixed, has been organization a hint plant in
Salamanca, Spain, and in June 2011, impecunious induce on a 350 million
commercial plant in Hugoton, Kan., that is now 50 percent aggregate,
according to Manuel Sanchez Ortega, the outdo spokesperson. It is
right now slated to extended in the third borough of next engagement and is
professed to scratch 25 million gallons of ethanol a engagement from
agricultural hot air, wood hot air and nonfood crops.
And a amount of smaller companies are a phase subsequent to.
The religious grail is to detect a way to usefully scratch renewable fuels
from then again emaciated biomass, as aggressive to fruitful stores crops.
"If we can do it with biomass, after that at hand is no terminated deliberate of
stores adjacent to fuel; its greater than," Mr. Ortega supposed.
Ultra in Goad & Location (2 of 33 articles)
I.H.T. Fashionable Show Oil & Money: Virginia Tries to Circumvent
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Work out Ultra
Rachel Smolker
Biofuelwatch/Energy Legality Grid
rsmolker@riseup.net
802.482.2848 (o)
802.735 7794 (m)
skype: Rachel Smolker
distinction charisma or anticipation unwillingness
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