FUELING CHANGE
From a backyard refinery in New Orleans to planned plants on the West Bank and in St. Rose, the local biodiesel business is growing
Sunday, May 20, 2007
By Pam Radtke RussellBusiness writer
It's 7:30 Thursday morning, and school bus No. 91 rumbles past FEMA trailers and buildings being demolished at the end Ulloa Street.
There, in a dirt drive, the bus stops to fill up its gas tank with biodiesel.
In many places around the country, biodiesel is available at the gas station, either by itself or blended with regular diesel fuel. But in the New Orleans area, this hidden biodiesel brewery is one of the few places to get the fuel made with vegetable oil.
That is changing.
This small biodiesel refinery on Ulloa is planning to produce 250,000 gallons a year by the end of this year. And two proposed plants, one on the West Bank and another in St. Rose, will have the capacity to collectively produce more than 140 million gallons a year by the end of next year. That should more than meet the needs of local bus and truck fleets as well as individuals who are increasingly looking to use the fuel in their diesel vehicles.
The Regional Transit Authority and SDT Waste and Debris are just two of the local businesses looking to use a blend of biodiesel in order to help reduce emissions, improve the nation's energy security and possibly save money.
"It sends a message that New Orleans and its agencies are doing and exploring things that will help us in the long run," said Cesar Burgos, president of the RTA board, which is considering using biodiesel in its next batch of buses.
What's happening locally is mirroring the national movement to biodiesel. The National Biodiesel Board wants to replace 5 percent of diesel use, or more than 3 billion gallons a year, with biodiesel by 2015. Last year the industry produced 250 million gallons of the fuel, a more than threefold increase from 2005.
While biodiesel's prominence in the mainstream is increasing, the Department of Energy says the fuel isn't likely to contribute greatly to reducing the nation's dependence on fossil fuels because so few vehicles use diesel.
Others say the fuel might be too expensive to produce on a large scale and question its success in reducing greenhouse gases.
For Steve Gleason, a New Orleans Saints safety who uses biodiesel in his truck and supports biodiesel through his foundation, One Sweet World, it doesn't matter that biodiesel can't solve all the problems associated with using oil products. What matters, he said, is that it's a start to solving the problems.
"Let's take steps," he said. "None of them are the magic bullet. But government won't change its policy until consumers change policies."
Mix it up
In what looks like a combination of a kitchen, science lab and garden shed on Ulloa, Topher Mira takes old fry oil collected from restaurants around town such as La Peniche and Cafe Maspero and turns it into a fuel that can run in any diesel engine.
The restaurants normally would have to pay to dispose of the oil, and Mira picks it up for free.
"As many restaurants as there are in this city, there should be plenty of oil," said Austin Travis of the local Whole Foods Markets, which recently agreed to save its old oil for Mira and his New Orleans Biofuel Initiative.
Mira uses lye and methanol to separate the glycerin out of the oil. Depending on the quality of the oil, Mira can often turn it, gallon for gallon, into biodiesel.
It's possible to run a car on 100 percent biodiesel, called B100, but it's more common to use a blend of biodiesel and diesel. Some vehicle manufactures haven't fully endorsed using 100 percent biodiesel. While it lubricates an engine better than regular diesel, it can gel in colder weather, making cars harder to start.
The school bus that pulls up to the New Orleans Biofuel Initiative on Ulloa twice a week has a tank 80 percent full of diesel. Mira then tops off the tank with 12 gallons of biodiesel.
The bus then runs on B20, or a 20 percent biodiesel blend. That's the blend the National Biodiesel Board promotes for year-round use.
"If it's properly produced and handled, biodiesel should be able to run in any climate," said Amber Thurlo Pearson, a spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board. Biodiesel also gets the same mileage as regular diesel, according to the National Biodiesel Board.
Most manufacturers approve the use of up to five percent biodiesel in engines, but more and more companies are approving use of up to 20 percent biodiesel blends, Pearson said. Jeep diesels even leave the factory with a blend including five percent biodiesel.
Laidlaw, which owns the school bus being fueled in part by biodiesel, is waiting until the end of the school year before deciding whether it will use the fuel in more buses, a spokesman for the company said. The company wants to make sure there are no problems and that the buses are getting good mileage.
Micah Walker Parkin, with the Alliance for Affordable Energy, spearheaded the effort to set up the pilot project with the school board, Laidlaw and NOBI.
Just adding 20 percent biodiesel reduces the smog production of diesel by up to 50 percent, and it also reduces the particulate matter that is breathed in by children on the bus, Parkin said.
"Biodiesel reduces pollution that causes smog and global warming, improves children's health by reducing particulate matter and carcinogens, lessens our dependence on foreign oil, creates local jobs, and could help green our city's image," she said.
Homebrewing
After Hurricane Katrina, Mira came to New Orleans from Alaska to volunteer cutting trees. He wound up making biodiesel to help out the recovery effort.
After several months, he was unable to get funding to keep the project going and was packing to leave when he met Eileen Beall, another transplant to the city who was looking for a business opportunity.
Together, they have incorporated the New Orleans Biofuel Initiative and plan to turn it into a member-owned cooperative operating in a planned eco-business district off Earhardt Boulevard, Beall said.
At this point, Mira considers what he's doing "backyard brewing."
The popularity of such backyard brewing appears to be growing nationwide, though the National Biodiesel Board doesn't track how much biodiesel individuals are producing.
"As fuel prices continue to rise, we see more of a demand for alternative fuel," said George Wilson, who last year opened Biodiesel Resource in Belle Chasse, selling kits to individuals to make their own biodiesel.
Wilson said using waste oil, people can make diesel for 64 cents a gallon.
"That's a great price for diesel fuel," he said.
Big future
If Mira and homebrewers are at one end of the spectrum of biodiesel production, two refineries planned for the metro area are at the other.
Green Earth Fuels is planning an 83 million-gallon biodiesel refinery in Harvey on River Road. The company is close to starting construction on the plant, which will be one of the largest in the nation, said Jeff Trucksess, executive vice president of Green Fuels.
Trucksess said southeast Louisiana is a good location for a biodiesel plant.
"One of the assets of New Orleans is that it's obviously a major distribution hub for the oil and gas industry," he said. "There are tremendous logistical advantages."
Green Earth will sell its product to major distributors, which then can blend the biodiesel with regular diesel.
Reneweable Energy Group, which is hoping to build a 60 million-gallon-per-year refinery at the International Matex Tank Terminal in St. Rose, cites similar advantages to locating a plant along the river. The Renewable Energy Group is waiting for some incentives and grants to come through before finalizing its plans, said Alicia Clancy, a spokeswoman for the group.
On Thursday, the state bond commission approved $130 million in bonds for construction of the plant.
A refinery at the IMTT site is also advantageous because of its proximity to food company Bunge, which will partner with Renewable Energy Group on the plant, said Clancy.
A cheap source of vegetable oil is critical for these plants.
Bill Webster, of Biodiesel Fuels of Mississippi, in Meridian, had to stop producing biodiesel from soybean oil because it got too expensive.
Webster said his company used to produce 3,000 gallons a day, and now produces about 3,000 a month, using only waste oil from about 40 restaurants in the area.
The price of soybean oil has doubled in recent years, as has the price of methanol, he said.
"You end up making a product that you maybe will make five cents a gallon on and spend a lot of time making," he said.
While it may be relatively cheap to make biodiesel, a gallon of the fuel purchased at the pump is about the same as a gallon of regular diesel. According to industry reports, pure biodiesel costs between $3 and $3.35 a gallon on May 9, higher than diesel by about a dime.
Using soybean oil has other problems.
While using waste oil reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 78 percent, Parkin said, planting soybeans to make oil for biodiesel may increase greenhouse gases.
According to David Pimental, a professor of ecology and agriculture at Cornell, planting soybeans for biodiesel production requires 27 percent more fossil energy than the fuel produces.
The industry is looking at cheaper and more sustainable alternatives, such as oil produced from algae, which can yield several thousand gallons of oil per acre. But at this point, that can't be done economically.
"We need to find better plants," Trucksess said. "Algae is the most expensive, but is the most viable alternative right now.
Biodiesel mandate
Louisiana is one of just a few states that plan to require biodiesel use. Last year the state legislature passed a law that mandates two percent biodiesel be used when the state's biodiesel production reaches 10 million gallons a year.
Mandates such as Louisiana's, as well as President Bush's push to replace 20 percent of gasoline with alternative fuels by 2017, likely will continue to encourage production and use of the biofuel.
But Marie LaRiviere, a biofuels analyst at the Energy Information Administration, says that biodiesel can't replace gasoline.
"Even if biodiesel grows, it's never going to surpass 5 percent of the diesel market," she said. "It's not the main thing if someone wanted to put their money into alternative fuels. Ethanol is the oxygenate of choice."
But Pearson of the Biodiesel Board says biodiesel's future is wide open.
"Rome wasn't built in a day," she said. "We're quite a new industry."
Trucksess said biodiesel has many inherent advantages.
Because it can be made so easily by anyone, "There's really an opportunity for all sorts of different size and style players and you can use different feedstocks. There's lots of different sized facilities, but they all contribute to the overall economic development."
. . . . . . .
Pam Radtke Russell can be reached at prussell@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3351.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Green Groups Push Bills, May 8, 2007 - The Advocate
Tax credits urged for hybrid cars, solar energy
By AMY WOLD Advocate staff writer Published: May 9, 2007 - Page: 4a
Tax credits for homeowners who improve the energy efficiency of their houses is just one of the bills environmentalist hope will pass the Legislature this session.
Representatives from various environmental groups went to the Legislature on Tuesday to raise awareness about this, and many other, environmental-tinged bills coming up.
“For the first time in memory, there’s a good 15 bills floating around that we like,” said Darrell Hunt with the Sierra Club.
Representatives from Delta Chapter of the Sierra Club, Alliance for Affordable Energy, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Louisiana Environmental Action Network and others attended the 2007 Environmental Lobbying Day at the State Capitol.
The goal wasn’t to push any one bill, but to promote a number of bills geared toward protecting the environment.
“There’s a whole lot that’s positive this session and that’s nice for a change,” said Kathy Wascom with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network.
Bills being proposed so far include providing sales and use tax exemptions when someone buys a hybrid car and tax credits for homeowners who install solar or wind energy.
In addition, one bill proposes giving people tax credits for putting their land into conservation easements, which would protect them from development, Hunt said.
The bill could help protect areas, such as the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, that are undergoing pressures for development, he said.
There are also several bills that the environmental groups would like to see defeated.
One bill would allow drivers transporting less than 300 gallons of liquefied petroleum gas to be exempt from having to pass a test or get a card from the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission.
Another bill opposed by the environmental groups proposes to redefine “restaurant” in the Louisiana Smoke Free Act. Currently, bars within a restaurant have to be smoke-free.
The bill would change that “no smoking” requirement if the bar section is in an enclosed, separate area with its own ventilation system.
By AMY WOLD Advocate staff writer Published: May 9, 2007 - Page: 4a
Tax credits for homeowners who improve the energy efficiency of their houses is just one of the bills environmentalist hope will pass the Legislature this session.
Representatives from various environmental groups went to the Legislature on Tuesday to raise awareness about this, and many other, environmental-tinged bills coming up.
“For the first time in memory, there’s a good 15 bills floating around that we like,” said Darrell Hunt with the Sierra Club.
Representatives from Delta Chapter of the Sierra Club, Alliance for Affordable Energy, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Louisiana Environmental Action Network and others attended the 2007 Environmental Lobbying Day at the State Capitol.
The goal wasn’t to push any one bill, but to promote a number of bills geared toward protecting the environment.
“There’s a whole lot that’s positive this session and that’s nice for a change,” said Kathy Wascom with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network.
Bills being proposed so far include providing sales and use tax exemptions when someone buys a hybrid car and tax credits for homeowners who install solar or wind energy.
In addition, one bill proposes giving people tax credits for putting their land into conservation easements, which would protect them from development, Hunt said.
The bill could help protect areas, such as the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, that are undergoing pressures for development, he said.
There are also several bills that the environmental groups would like to see defeated.
One bill would allow drivers transporting less than 300 gallons of liquefied petroleum gas to be exempt from having to pass a test or get a card from the Liquefied Petroleum Gas Commission.
Another bill opposed by the environmental groups proposes to redefine “restaurant” in the Louisiana Smoke Free Act. Currently, bars within a restaurant have to be smoke-free.
The bill would change that “no smoking” requirement if the bar section is in an enclosed, separate area with its own ventilation system.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Enviro Voter Lobby Day
Tuesday May 8
Show your legislators that you want their support on:
- Acting on Global Warming
- Protecting cypress
- Restoring our coast
- Stopping illegal dumping
Speaker's apartment (A-11), Pentagon Barracks, 959 3rd Street Baton Rouge
Meet for coffee at 9 a.m., we'll get briefings then head to a committee meeting. After lunch (provided) we'll head back to the Capitol to chat with our legislators. At 4 p.m. we'll wind down with some beverages.
RSVP to Leslie March ASAP : lesliemarch@hotmail.com or 985-871-6695
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)