This month I wrote about making biodiesel from algae, growing biodiesel crops in freeway medians, refinery issues surrounding high gas prices, and the demand for sustainable biofuels.

Here are some stories I missed:

Al Gore was in Argentina, where he spoke before the biofuel industry there (May 1)
Argentina is looking to jump on the biofuel bandwagon by offsetting 5% of its fuel usage with biodiesel or ethanol within the next 3 years. If not implemented carefully, the diversion of food or cropland to biofuels could drive up commodity prices for the 25% of Argentina’s population who live in poverty, not to mention the already strained middle class. “Every potential solution must be handled carefully and the danger with biofuels is that extremely valuable forests will be destroyed unnecessarily,” said Gore, “Another danger is that, if it is not pursued carefully, it will drive food prices up.”

Just Say ‘No’ to Bad Biofuels (May 9)
Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, RSPB and WWF have launched an advertising campaign against ‘the wrong kind of biofuels’. The ‘wrong kind’ being those produced in ecologically destructive or irresponsible ways, like rainforest-eating Malaysian Palm Oil. Campaign posters depict a gas pump handle being held to an orangutan’s head along with the words “Tell the Government to choose the right biofuel or the orang-utan gets it.” The groups are urging the government to avoid misguided biofuel mandates without implementing proper environmental safeguards.

Dairy Builds $400 million algae biodiesel/ethanol refinery (May 13)
Xl Dairy Group Inc. is looking to make a buck off the biofuel boom. Located 100 miles west of Phoenix, their new ‘XL biorefinery’ will produce both fuel and cow feed on-site, first from ethanol and later exclusively from algae. The company developed a proprietary algaculture system in which waste CO2 is bubbled through plastic tubes. By 2009, algae will be grown in the tube array on a 1/3 acre plot next to the dairy farm, all using waste CO2 from a nearby power plant. Algae, which can contain up to 60% oil by weight, will be pressed to extract the oil for biodiesel production. The pressed biomass can then be converted to ethanol or used as animal feed, but before the algae system comes online, the dairy will import 576,000 tons of Midwestern corn each year. Annual biofuel production is expected to be around 20 million gallons of ethanol and 5 million gallons of biodiesel. This is a great example of ‘co-generation,’ where waste from one process becomes fuel for another. I always thought dairy waste-water might be a good place to grow algae.

Cleaning up Emissions: CleanAIR systems announces PERMIT Filter/Silencer (May 15)
Everyone knows diesel engines can be dirty, often spewing black plumes of smoke out the exhaust pipe. But don’t forget about diesel generators, which provide backup power to schools, hospitals, power plants, government offices, and other buildings. Estimated to number 100,000, standby generators are ubiquitous if unnoticeable, and they contribute to local air pollution. Enter CleanAIR Systems and their new particulate filters/silencers designed to plug into existing generators. The filters, which look like giant metal boxes, are intended to substantially reduce particulate matter “by more than 85% and emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons by up to 99%.” CleanAIR Systems also makes particulate filters for older diesel vehicles (like schoolbuses). Good filters are key to the next generation of ‘clean’ diesels, and there’s no reason why existing technology can’t be retrofitted to meet cleaner standards.

Soap Makers/biodiesel producers aren’t happy about Big Oil getting biofuel tax credits (May 21).
In April, a small but very important definitional change was made to the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Under the new definition, ‘renewable diesel’ now means regular diesel with any amount of biomass blended into it, and this so-called renewable diesel qualifies for a $1.00/gallon tax credit. This credit is a windfall to already grossly rich corporations, and will also discourage real development of renewable fuels. As I reported in the April’s biofuel News Roundup, ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods’ have major plans to develop ‘renewable diesel’ from animal fat. It turns out that ConocoPhillips and Tyson weren’t planning on making biodiesel (as I reported), but instead are going to use thermal depolymerization to boil down animal waste into a diesel (an probably biodiesel)-like fuel, and blend it into regular diesel (thereby getting the tax credit). Not only are biodiesel manufacturer’s irate (Joe Jobe of the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) remarked it was “bad energy policy, bad agricultural policy, and bad fiscal policy.”), but the Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) is worried about the future supply of animal tallow, which they say has already been driven up 80% due to biofuel subsidy. They have good reason to be worried if any oil company can now blend a small fraction of animal-fat based fuel into their distribution system and call it “renewable diesel”. A bill back by the NBB, the SDA, and 50 other signatories is now aimed at eliminating the tax credit.

That’s the news for May! Stick around next month for more biofuel news on algae aviation fuel, clean diesel vehicles, and more!