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Start-up to produce cheaper ethanol with microbe
August 14, 2007 -
Cellulosic ethanol: A fuel for the future?
August 14, 2007 -
Cellulosic ethanol plant to open next year
July 2, 2007 -
Making ethanol out of biodiesel byproducts
June 26, 2007 -
Fuels industry seeks its 'ethanol 2.0'
January 25, 2007 -
Bush pushes energy regulations, ethanol
January 23, 2007 -
Toyota branches out into ethanol
October 10, 2006 -
Ethanol maker pops in public offering
June 14, 2006 -
Ethanol car wins fuel efficiency challenge
May 22, 2006 - Related Blogs
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Mascoma: Why all the different ethanol plants?
September 24, 2007 -
The cellulosic ethanol road map from Mascoma's CEO
September 25, 2007 -
Microsoft alum shows his ethanol race car
September 12, 2007 -
An ethanol injection for diesel engines
August 1, 2007 -
Ethanol maker Mascoma heads for the forests
November 29, 2006 -
Financiers question corn's day in sun for ethanol
June 20, 2007 -
A new source for ethanol: Coal
August 13, 2007 -
Will ethanol increase health problems in the U.S.?
April 18, 2007
One of the biggest lessons comes from the ethanol experience. Smart venture capitalists saw the promise and potential of this corn-based fuel early, and they invested shrewdly and successfully.
But success in ethanol has become a two-edged sword. Strong valuations and the prospect of robust returns--yes, for sure; but also big demand for corn and a commodity price run-up that has made it economically difficult for more players to enter the ethanol market and more deals to get done--especially with guaranteed back-end output contracts on the horizon.
There's an important takeaway here for investors; the moral of the sustainable-energy story, if you will. Simply put, before we do clean-technology deals, it's essential that we gain reasonable access to supply inputs and lock-in prices.
Another insight from the ethanol experience is that we need to start broadening our thinking when it comes to alternative-energy inputs.
Feed stocks like corn have multiple outputs and are, therefore, price-sensitive--as we've learned. But garbage or sewage, for example, are plentiful, must be disposed of and have limited economic outputs. The bottom line is that they may prove to be less risky investments than corn-based ethanol. Algae, which can be grown quickly and more cost-effectively than corn, palm or canola, might also offer less risk.
There are several companies that already understand this.
GreenFuel Technologies, for example, is a pioneer in the development of algae bioreactor technology that converts the carbon dioxide in smokestack gases into clean, renewable biofuels.
GreenShift uses proprietary technologies--including innovative desiccation, process intensification, gasification, catalytic and carbon capture--to enable the refining of many forms of biomass into clean fuels.
A third company worth considering is XL Renewables, which is developing a $260 million biorefinery on 2,700 acres about 100 miles west of Phoenix. The biorefinery will efficiently and cost-effectively produce high-grade ethanol, biodiesel, milk and dairy products, as well as animal feed. XL Renewables has also developed proprietary technology to produce large quantities of algae biomass for use as a feedstock for ethanol and biodiesel production.
I'm convinced that when the history of the clean-technology revolution is ultimately written, the investing heroes--the players who made money and a difference--will be the ones who controlled the raw materials on a sustained basis. Let me say it another way: in real estate, the linchpin for financial success is location, location, location; in sustainable energy, it's inputs, inputs, inputs.
Biography
Michael Butler is the chief executive of
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Something I have always hoped for.
most is the shade of green that we associate with dollar signs.
"CGX says oil potential goes deeper"
"- Plans to start drilling early next year, basin now ranked No.1"
Resource estimate
- 15.3B barrels oil
- 42 tcf gas
- 117 Oil Fields
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.guyanachronicle.com/" target="_newWindow">http://www.guyanachronicle.com/</a>
"CGX boss Mr. Kerry Sully yesterday said his firm plans to re-start work early next year to prepare for an oil exploration well in the basin off the Corentyne coast, which has now been ranked No.1 for undiscovered resource potential.
?We?re starting a new race and it?s time to go forward,? Sully told an energy conference in Canada.
He said CGX holds the interest of six oil majors who are interested in entering into a joint partnership, and whoever the partner is ??will be offsetting drilling to our area in early next year.?
In a telephone interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Sully said the seven years CGX has had to lie low has allowed it time to reevaluate its data and will be contracting for a 3D Programme, which would allow it to capture data more accurately to confirm new targets for exploration.
Mr. Warren Workman, Vice President, Exploration for CGX, had stated that in addition to the Eagle and Wishbone West Paleocene targets at 13,000 feet, it has identified Eagle Deep, a significant structural opportunity in the Cretaceous at 15,000 to 20,000 feet.
He said too that there may also be a number of shelf-edge targets in between.
?Our plan is to shoot 3D seismic to clarify these targets to prepare for an exploration well that has the possibility of penetrating several targets with a single wellbore,? he stated.
Sully said GGX will announce within a week or two its agent who will carry out the auction for a joint venture. He said he is sure that the auction will attract interest from majors across the world - Asian, Indian, the Europeans, North and South America.
CGX holds an interest in four Production Sharing Licences from the Government of Guyana, covering 8.7 million acres (6.7 million net) offshore and 800,000 acres (680,000 net) onshore.
The U.S. Geological Survey has upgraded the Basin to No.1 from No.2 for undiscovered resource potential. Greenland was downgraded because of the marginal economics of producing under ice.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the basin holds some 15 billion barrels of oil.
Sully spiced up his presentation at the conference with an image of a champagne bottle bursting open, signaling that he is, ?very, very excited? about the September 20 UN Tribunal ruling, saying he was participating in a ?victory lap? of sorts.
He said CGX funded US$9.5M of Guyana?s legal expense to get the matter resolved.
Guyana moved to the UN Tribunal on the Law of the Sea after Surinamese gunboats evicted CGX from its concession in June, 2000.
The ruling saw CGX retaining 93 per cent of its Corentyne Licence and all of its Georgetown Licence.
?Although that was a big win for us, it was also a win for Guyana and for Suriname?There is going to be a tremendous amount of infrastructure required if there is a discovery offshore,? Sully said.
He said there would be ?an evolution? of services in Georgetown, as well as across the border at Nickerie and downtown Parimaribo."
How does that sound and does it make a lot of sense to you.!
they tried their hand at making Ethanol the next fuel source.
But when oil became cheap again ethanol died. Now I am pretty
sure oil prices are going to stay high, but so is corn if we
continue on this path. We already use a lot of corn for consumer
products.
Diverting some of it to produce ethanol is fine. But what
happens the years we do not have bumper yields? Are we going
to pay $8 for a box of cereal so we can drive our SUV's? Let's not
forget that corn is traded much like oil. So if demand keeps
going up. So will the corn market. Is this really a good solution?
"Resource estimate
- 15.3B barrels oil
- 42 tcf gas
- 117 Oil Fields"
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.guyanachronicle.com/" target="_newWindow">http://www.guyanachronicle.com/</a>
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.guyanachronicle.com/topstory.html#Anchor-CGX-51436" target="_newWindow">http://www.guyanachronicle.com/topstory.html#Anchor-CGX-51436</a>
Do not despair!
More Land To The Tiller, Some In The World Are Not Going To Be Hungry - At Least Not Any Time Soon; And, Things Night Just Get Better.
Live Long And Prosper!
Eventually corn will no longer be used for ethanol production because better alternatives will be in place...Until then corn is number one.
For years farmers sweated out low corn prices and very low profit margins...In fact...until the recent run up on corn prices...the price of corn had changed little in the past 25 years!
American farmers are the most productive in the world and they have made it possible for us to buy food as a much lower portion of household budgets than most of the world...American farmers were waiting for a break...And they finally got it...All you hear from Wall Street is the gloom and doom over higher food prices...The fact is there is less than 25 cents worth of corn in a box of corn flakes...There are other factors driving food prices up harder than the price of corn...Transportation costs are skyrocketing...mostly because the high price of fuel...which for the most part comes from that $80 barrel of oil...
Other fuels and sources of energy will gradually join in the mix to help offset our energy deficit...But they will take time to come on line...Ethanol is the fuel that has the most impact in the here and now...And that's why it's getting so much bad press which is generated by agents of the oil industry.
Ethanol is not the last word as far as solving our energy problems...But it is in the vanguard of a mix of energy sources that just might save the american economy from the unstable and unpredictable movements in the oil market.
Instead, Washington finally came up with a way to subsidize agriculture that didn't land them in hot water with the WTO.
Huge waste of time and money.
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.cgxenergy.ca/offshore.html" target="_newWindow">http://www.cgxenergy.ca/offshore.html</a>
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.cgxenergy.ca/basinPotential.html" target="_newWindow">http://www.cgxenergy.ca/basinPotential.html</a>
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.cgxenergy.ca/News_Sep27_2007.html" target="_newWindow">http://www.cgxenergy.ca/News_Sep27_2007.html</a>
The "magic-word" then, when the dark clouds appeared must certainly have been "ETHANOL" - At least for the BRAZILIANS. Think the "housing market crises" cannot be beaten - think again!
and they get the press attention. I was once married to an IRS
Revenue Agent who spent her career in a small-town farming
area, and she told me (without violating IRS privacy rules) about
two-thirds of the farmers she audited were doing quite well. The
third that weren't had been doing well but borrowed too much to
try to expand their businesses and were taken down by
subsequent bad market conditions. This was corroborated by
one former supervisor of mine, who made the transition from
working as an engineer with a Department of Energy contractor
to full-time farmer, which new career he has happily pursued for
about 20 years now. He did it by using old equipment and
constantly watching for opportunities to acquire new land and
equipment advantageously. He didn't get much sleep for a
number of years, there, but he ultimately made it. So I don't feel
sorry for farmers, they're a smarter and more successful breed
than most of the rest of us.
"July, 2007"
"The United States has become critically dependent on oil as a transportation fuel. This situation is exacerbated by our use of 21 million barrels per day and our consumption of almost 25% of the world?s annual oil production.
This oil dependence presents strategic challenges that affect our energy security and our national security, and extends far beyond consumer frustration over skyrocketing prices at the gas pump.
We spend billions of dollars importing 65% of our total oil consumption1 from some of the most politically unstable regions of the world, making us vulnerable to events beyond our control. Any disruption to the oil supply, such as an attack on a major pipeline, could cause a swift upward spike in the price of crude and create economic turmoil on a global scale.
Our transportation sector is almost completely reliant on gasoline. America?s cars, trucks and buses spew toxic greenhouse gas emissions, soot and smog into the air we breathe and account for 27% of U.S. global warming pollution.2
What?s a global superpower to do? This issue of Perspective looks at the forces transforming our oil-dependent economy into one based on cleaner-burning, more environmentally-friendly renewable fuels, and identifies how U.S. companies can prepare and capitalize".
<a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.chase.com/ccp/index.jsp?pg_name=ccpmapp/commercial/resource_center/page/perspective_alternativefuels" target="_newWindow">http://www.chase.com/ccp/index.jsp?pg_name=ccpmapp/commercial/resource_center/page/perspective_alternativefuels</a>
If this statement is coming from a bank such as Chase logo then they have to know because they are in the "trenches" of the alternative energy battlefields!
Alternative Fuels", found on the web page you gave.
Production and demand for ethanol in the U.S. soared in 2006 as
production reached 4.9 billion gallons ? an increase of almost
25% over 2005 ? and demand reached 5.4 billion gallons, a huge
bump of 33% when compared to 2005.
With 112 biorefineries operating in the U.S. and an additional 77
plants under construction or expanding, total ethanol
production should increase to nearly 12 billion gallons per year.
as long as supply keeps pace with demand, the ?food vs. fuel?
debate will be tempered
Most of the 5 billion gallons of ethanol produced annually in the
U.S. comes from corn, but there?s not enough corn ? or acreage
to grow it ? to make corn-based ethanol a viable, long-term
replacement fuel.
Industry experts consider the production of ethanol from
cellulosic biomass to be the future of our energy independence,
but see perfecting the technology to achieve this goal still about
5-10 years away.
The report mentions an administration goal of replacing about
35 billion gallons of gasoline per year with renewables. That's
about 7 times the current corn ethanol production, and that
would still only replace 15 percent of gasoline consumption, or
about 10 percent of our oil consumption if my information is
correct.
It's easy to see why corn ethanol won't cut it- 7 times the
current corn usage for ethanol represents something like twice
the total current corn production, and that still gets you to only
about 55 percent of our oil being imported, down from 65
percent. To replace all oil imports would take a further factor of
about 7 on top of that first 7, or about a factor of roughly 50
times current ethanol production. Or about 14 times current
corn production. Of course, that doesn't account for the energy
cost of producing the ethanol. Currently, ethanol multiplies the
oil energy input into the production process by some factor like
1.2, 1.4, whatever. With no oil energy input, you take away the
1, which means you multiply the numbers I gave above by 1/.2,
1/.4, or whatever. So you get 70 or 35 times current corn
production, whatever it turns out to be. It's easy to see that
increasing ethanol production to significant levels to where it
really helps reduce our oil consumption problem would have to
displace food production. Unless there's a math or data error
somewhere in there.
It would be a very good thing sometimes to go back to the basics and as most will know - energy exists in three states: solid, liquid and gas; and , the fact that in your post you said; "This is a silent war between the liquid fuels industry and the coal and nuclear industries, and right now the 2nd set of guys are losing badly. They can't even get rights to speak at advocacy meetings because its all run by oil executives and their purchased senators and congressmen" it will appear that you have taken the "gaseous" form of energy completely out the equation. Also, left of among others as I have been given to observe previously is that of hydro-electricity (how will the batteries that power the "electrically powered" vehicles used for transportation be re-charged...).
From the foregoing therefore, it will appear that there are other considerations (scientific, social, economic....) which have informed the minds of decision-makers involved in the creation and adoption of "Alternative Fuels" usage; and, principally among these would be the impact of global warming on the future world civilisation.
Fossil fuels are a non-renewable resource. More than sounding scary this means that traditional structures of supply and demand do not really APPLY. Supply cannot compete with demand indefinitely, as we are beginning to see. A similar problem is the one that agriculture faces: there is only so much earth, and the population grows exponentially. Very soon, we are going to run up against the wall in that while demand will rise indefinitely, the supply is ultimately definite.
Moreover, calling any combustible "clean" or "green" is both misleading and irresponsible. These fuels still emit greenhouse gases. Simply emitting less is a halfway solution we no longer have the luxury of resorting to.
Finally, it is again irresponsible to advance the belief that any concern other than a sharp decrease in emissions, if not an outright cessation, is foremost, or even moderately important when discussing fuel economy. All other concerns are advanced to protect the comfort or greed of what ultimately constitutes a minority. Stopgap, ultimately useless short-term solutions such as ethanol or biodiesel are merely wasting time that all reputable science says we ran out of years ago