Renewable Fuels Association

August 12, 2016

America’s farmers are poised to harvest a record corn crop this fall and achieve the highest yield per acre in U.S. history, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates released today. Meanwhile, the U.S. ethanol industry is on pace to produce a record amount of clean-burning renewable fuel, according to Department of Energy (DOE) projections released Tuesday. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) said the government reports highlight the importance of getting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) back on its statutory track in 2017.

Today’s USDA report projects the 2016 corn crop at 15.15 billion bushels, with a record average yield of 175.1 bushels per acre.

“U.S. farmers have again risen to the challenge to meet all demands for feed, food and fuel,” said Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the RFA. “They should be congratulated for producing what is primed to be the third record-breaking crop in just the last four years. The innovation, technology adoption, and productivity we’ve seen in the corn sector over the past decade has been nothing short of astounding.”

Corn ending stocks for the 2016/17 marketing year are projected at 2.4 billion bushels — the highest in 29 years. Meanwhile, prices are expected to average just $3.15 per bushel, the lowest in 10 years. Global grain supply is also set to establish a new record and grain stocks are likely to hit historic highs. U.S. ethanol is expected to consume just 2.9 percent of world grain supply on a net basis. Dinneen said today’s USDA estimates “snuff out the last flickering embers of the outrageous food vs. fuel debate.”

As harvest ramps up in fields across the country, corn demand from the ethanol sector is ramping up as well. DOE projects 2016 ethanol production will average 980,000 barrels per day — or 15.1 billion gallons. The agency also is projecting record ethanol consumption of 14.3 billion gallons. “This is shaping up to be an historic year,” Dinneen said. “Just a decade ago, visionary leaders in the corn and ethanol industries established a goal to produce 15 billion bushels of corn and 15 billion gallons of ethanol by 2015. Ten years later, our nation’s farmers and ethanol producers have made that bold vision into a reality.”

However, Dinneen warned, the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) disappointing proposal for 2017 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) volumes is exacerbating the predicted drop in corn prices and farm income this year. EPA’s proposal to needlessly reduce the 2017 RFS requirement for “renewable fuel” from 15.0 billion gallons to 14.8 billion gallons reduces demand for corn at a time when corn stocks are rising and prices are slumping to levels below the cost of production.

“This is not the time to undermine demand for corn and tie the hands of the American farmer. Farmers and ethanol producers made investments and business decisions based on the 2007 law that expanded the RFS, and they expected EPA to follow Congress’ intent in implementing the program,” Dinneen said. “EPA’s proposal is limiting market opportunities for U.S. farmers at a time when the agricultural economy needs a boost. We again urge EPA and the Administration to finalize a rule that truly gets the RFS back on track and supports rural America.”

Read the original story: Record Crop, Record Ethanol Production Underscore Importance of Getting RFS Back on Track

Motortrend

Aug 8, 2016

By Kelly Pleskot

Photo credit : Nissan Motor

Just in time for the Olympic Games, Nissan is testing a special type of fuel-cell vehicle on the streets of Brazil. The model, based off the NV200 van, runs completely off bio-ethanol and offers a driving range of more than 372 miles. 

It doesn't work like other fuel cells which have a built-in tank for storing hydrogen. Instead, the Nissan e-Bio Fuel Cell uses bio-ethanol pumped into the vehicle to generate electricity through a solid-oxide fuel cell. 

The model generates electricity by transforming bio-ethanol into hydrogen through an electrochemical reaction from a reformer and atmospheric oxygen. The electricity generated in this process powers the vehicle. Reforming ethanol into hydrogen produces some carbon dioxide, although the same is true for the way other fuel cells works. But Nissan says the process of growing plants used to produce the bio-ethanol cancels out the effects of the emissions. Bio-ethanol, mainly sourced from sugarcane and corn, is widely available in North and South America, which Nissan says is another major benefit to this fuel source. 

"The e-Bio Fuel-Cell offers eco-friendly transportation and creates opportunities for regional energy production...all the while supporting the existing infrastructure," Nissan president and CEO Carlos Ghosn said in a statement.

The Nissan e-Bio Fuel-Cell offers a 30-liter tank for ethanol and a 24-kilowatt-hour battery. Given the fact that it's just a prototype for now, its specifications are subject to change should Nissan bring it to market. Nissan says the e-Bio Fuel-Cell is the first vehicle in the world to use a solid-oxide fuel cell. Solid-oxide fuel cells use a solid, ceramic electrolyte rather than a liquid electrolyte, and Nissan says it's highly efficient. 

Read the original story here : Nissan Debuts Fuel-Cell Prototype Powered By Bio-Ethanol

Left Lane News

August 4, 2016

By Justin King

As promised, Nissan's solid-oxide fuel-cell (SOFC) technology has progressed from the laboratory to a prototype vehicle.

The company has modified a e-NV200 van to run on bio-ethanol electric power, demonstrating a unique fuel-cell system that conveniently avoids the need to store or refuel high-pressure hydrogen.

The SOFC powertrain still requires hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, but the vehicle integrates a miniaturized chemical processing system to extract hydrogen locally while underway. A 30-liter tank holds ethanol or an ethanol-water blend.

"Due to the easy availability of ethanol and low combustibility of ethanol-blended water, the system is not heavily dependent or restricted by the existing charging infrastructure, making it easy to introduce to the market," the company said in a statement. "In the future, people may only need to stop by small retail stores to buy fuel off the shelf."

The prototype van is said to achieve an estimated driving range of around 373 miles before requiring an ethanol fill-up. The hydrogen extraction system and fuel-cell stack can produce up to 5kW of power, diverted to a 24-kWh battery.

Nissan suggests the technology could be commercialized by the end of the decade.

Read the original story: Nissan Pushes Forward With Ethanol-Based Fuel Cell Development

Biofuels Digest

July 29, 2016

By Nathan Vander Griend

The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) mission is to protect human health and the environment. They are charged with delivering on that mission by using the best scientific information available. We can all agree that is an important mission, but have they written off ethanol as helping them achieve that mission?

To understand this issues it is first important to understand what is in your vehicle’s gas tank. When you pull up to most retail fuel pumps you commonly see unleaded, super-unleaded or premium, which almost always contain at least 10% ethanol blended into each gallon even though it isn’t always labeled as “contains up to 10% ethanol.” Depending on where you are at you may even see an option of E85 or 85% ethanol. No matter what your selection however all you know is it is gasoline and can contain a percentage of a non-petroleum fuel molecule called ethanol. But if 10% up to 85% of the gallons you are purchasing is a single ethanol molecule, what makes up the balance of the gallon? Remember, gasoline is not a molecule. Gasoline contains hundreds of molecules derived from petroleum. Some are ok, but some are highly toxic carcinogens that can lead to real health issues and negative environmental impacts.

Although it is scary to think that there are toxic carcinogens in your gas tank that are subsequently released out of your tailpipe and into the air we breathe, you should be able to breathe easy as there are standards in place for minimizing Mobile Source-Related Air Toxics (MSATs) and they can be found in Section 202(L)(2) of the Clean Air Act. In fact, in the Clean Air Act it states the Administrator shall, from time to time revise regulations using reasonable requirements to control hazardous air pollutants from motor vehicles and motor vehicle fuels to reflect the greatest degree of emission reduction achievable.

With the EPA’s mission being so clearly stated and a law in place that requires the reduction of MSATs, why has the EPA not enforced this law that would lead to the growth of ethanol, a cleaner burning, more sustainable and more economical fuel? Perhaps even worse than their inaction is their action in creating new, unnecessary roadblocks to further hinder the growth of ethanol in the fuel supply.

Reid Vapor Pressure

The first roadblock is the Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) standard which requires the EPA to limit evaporative emissions of gasoline from June 1 through September 15 due to the increase in evaporation rates in warmer temperatures. The higher the RVP of a fuel, the worse its emission are. The maximum RVP of gasoline ranges from 7 to 9 psi, whereas the RVP of pure ethanol is 2. With the majority of fuel used in the U.S. today being a 10% ethanol blend or E10 the RVP is approximately 10 psi. In 1990 Congress amended the Clean Air Act to allow gasoline with 10% ethanol or E10 a “one pound waiver” of EPA’s evaporative emission limit. In other words, Congress gave the EPA the authority to allow the use of 10% ethanol or E10 during June 1 through September 15. In 2011 the EPA approved the use of 15% ethanol or E15 blends but did not extend the “one pound waiver” even though a 15% ethanol blend or E15 has a lower RVP. This single issue blocks the majority of the market from using ethanol blends beyond 10% or E10 for 4.5 months of the year.

Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator

The next roadblock is the Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator 2014 (MOVES2014) Model which was populated by the EPAct/V2/E-89 Fuel Effects Study. The final product, the MOVES2014 Model, is only as good as the information that goes into it, and the information that it is populated with from the EPAct/V2/E-89 Fuel Effects Study is engineered to create a roadblock for increasing ethanol usage. The model tells us that when you add more ethanol to gasoline, emissions will actually increase. Ethanol is 200 proof alcohol. In fact, some ethanol production facilities actually make a further purified product that ends up as beverage grade alcohol, whereas gasoline is considered toxic and can cause major health issues or death if breathed in or swallowed. The only way that it is possible for ethanol to cause toxic emissions to increase when added to gasoline is to engineer the source data, which is exactly what happened. When ethanol was added in the EPAct/V2/E-89 Fuel Effects Study, the base fuel was changed. In grade school science class, we learned that when you perform an experiment that you need constants and one variable to judge how each change to the experiment affects the outcome. Unfortunately, basic principles such as this were not used with this study. When ethanol was added, various other components in the fuel blend changed as well.

Corporate Average Fuel Economy

The next roadblock is the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations in the United States that first enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1975, in the wake of the Arab Oil Embargo, to improve the average fuel economy of cars and light trucks (trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles) produced for sale in the United States. Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) or vehicles that can run on either regular gasoline or up to an 85% ethanol blend or E85 received a credit under the CAFE regulations for their ability to be powered by a renewable energy source. In 2012 the EPA decided to phase out FFV credits due to higher ethanol blends not being readily available nationwide for use in the FFVs. Currently auto manufacturers are positioned to cease producing FFVs as a result of the phasing out of FFV credits in 2019. Without FFVs on the road, there is no legal market for higher level ethanol blends beyond 15% ethanol or E15 for automotive use.

The R Factor

The next roadblock is R factor the EPA uses for ethanol. First off, R factor is defined as the sensitivity of the fuel economy result to changes in fuel energy content. When R equals 1.0, the fuel economy change exactly tracks the energy density difference between the fuels. If R is less than 1.0, the fuel economy change is smaller than the change in energy density. Auto manufacturers remain unfairly penalized by the EPA by holding ethanol’s R factor at 0.6 or 40% less energy content, even when in their own EPAct/V2/E-89 study the R factor averaged 0.82 to 0.86 and other studies and test programs would show a 0.93 to 0.96 R factor.

The last roadblock is the EPA’s test fuel certification protocols. They fail to use non-biased testing protocols when evaluating ethanol blends by not utilizing fuels for testing purposes that are actually commercially available for purchase. This gives the EPA the ability to discredit ethanol’s ability to reduce toxic carcinogens in the air.

When understanding the mission and understanding the science, it still just doesn’t add up. The inaction in enforcement of the Clean Air Act, and the construction of unnecessary and significant roadblocks to limit the growth of ethanol usage is not only disturbing, but is truly producing negative health and environmental impacts to the country.  The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is set to fully managed by the EPA after 2022, and today it doesn’t seem like they are betting on ethanol.

Read the original story: Does the U.S. EPA Not Want Biofuels?