PetroAlgae Gets BIG Indian Oil backer, Coal Mine Uses Biodiesel, Goats, +>33K gal/acre/yr Algae

Ironic but Encouraging Sign

I suppose almost anything about a company whose stock symbol is ARF could be considered ironic even if you could avoid references to the canine species. In this case, Australian Renewable Fuels has recently announced the sale of biodiesel fuels to be used in a coal mine. Specifically Wesfarmers Premier Coal of Picton, Australia. The agreement expands on existing sales to the company, but it does sound ironic to me that a coal mining company is making at least a symbolic gesture to try to be a "greener" company by employing the renewable biodiesel fuel in its operations. I can only hope that it is a harbinger of more good things to come in that direction and from that industry.

Indian Oil Company Invests in Algae

One of India´s largest oil companies IndiaOil Corporation has announced a Memorandum of Understanding deal to cooperate with PetroAlgae to develop algae as a fuel source in India. India is a world leader in renewable oil for fuel from plants, jatropha is under intense development efforts there and already in use by some of the major railway companies to fuel their locomotives, but now, algae could become a significant factor too, and very quickly reports associated with this news release indicate. The agreement calls for the initial construction of a 2 or 3 acre demonstration facility to be funded jointly, but the news release refers to, "future large-scale production of renewable fuels," and, a 60 MGY facility proposed for the "near future", which will also generate "high-value protein that can be used for animal feed production."

The Blend Wall ?

If you have read this column for any length of time you know about biobutanol, an alcohol containing more energy than ethanol, which is considered by many to be a potential "drop-in" replacement for gasoline but a bio-based production process. It is still more difficult to produce than ethanol, but recent developments include an easy retrofit upgrade for ethanol production facilities to either add or switch over to butanol from the ethanol alcohol production process. Now, BP (the former "British Petroleum") company spokesperson Philip New says that the company plans to offer a commercial version of biobutanol in Britain next year, 2010. At the 2009 World Ethanol Conference recently Mr. New said that because biobutanol offers the opportunity to blend anything up to 99.99% with conventional gasoline, compared to the current 10 or 15% for ethanol blend (and a limit somewhere near the E85 formula) "Biobutanol can provide a door through the blend wall which I would argue is the key structural barrier to the growth of this industry over the next five to 10 years." Although vehicles require some minor modifications to burn high percentage ethanol fuels, and use about 10% more volume of fuel due to lower energy content per gallon, such changes are relatively minor in cost implications. In most cases no modifications whatsoever are needed to use high percentages of butanol, and unlike the lower energy content of ethanol, no power loss is experienced with biobutanol.

What is, perhaps, most encouraging about all of this is that at least from Mr. Philip New´s perspective, biobutanol is not a "threat" to the alcohol fuel industry, just a slightly different formulation, and potentially a means of expanding on the possibilities for the future. Indeed, although I am not aware of any specific research in the area, it does appear that it would be possible to blend a mixture of ethanol (perhaps, up to the current 10% level used in many current gasoline formulations), plus gasoline, and biobutanol as well. It would seem to me that engines which sense and adapt to a variety of blends of fuel would be a highly desirable adaptation to the "oil crisis" and climate change challenges we are facing.

Isn´t that one of the arguments in favor of the diesel engine? Don´t diesels burn practically anything you can get to flow into their cylinders? Isn´t that also one of the characteristics of a turbine engine as well. I am sure I recall Popular Mechanics assuring us that the Chrysler Turbine Car prototype of the 1960´s would run on anything from peanut oil to perfume as well. Okay, realistically, certain fuels are going to be more efficient than others, and it is reasonable to expect that fuels conform to certain standards, even diesel engines have to be modified slightly to burn the pure peanut oil that Dr. Diesel originally intended to be their fuel. (Yes, really, just in case you haven´t heard the story, peanut oil was abundant and cheap in America when Dr. Diesel invented his engine. That was to be the fuel he expected would be used, in Europe, too, not just in North American cars.)

Happy News 1

Reports from two continents indicate FAR HIGHER YIELDS from algae cultivation than previously believed possible, indeed scoffed at by many "experts" and academics.

Mentioned in Biofuels Digest onlineas well as confirmation from the Professors from Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, and involving the University of Adelaide in South Australia, saying "We have achieved production rates of 50 tonnes per hectare per year, over half of which is converted to oil." Read more at http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-11/uoa-cab110409.php

But don't miss the SunEco story from the Imperial Valley of California either. These folks are reporting remarkable results as well. They are claiming 33,000 gal/acre-foot/yr in existing pilot facilities and have begun construction of a "demonstration" size plant. Notice that was per "acre-foot" and not, as traditionally reported in a "per acre" of water surface. Their existing raceways are about 3 feet deep, so each "acre" of water represents harvestable algae at 3 acre-feet per square foot of surface. The calculation then really is 33,000 x 3 = 99,000 gal/acre/yr at present yields. I don´t know how productive it will be but they are planning that new raceways will be about 6 to 8 feet in depth. If they make it, that could be 6 or even 8 x 33,000 gal per acre per year. Read more at http://www.ai-online.com/Adv/Previous/show_issue.php?id=2904

Some people thought that the clogging of Qingdao Harbor (the Beijing Olympics venue for some aquatic events [sailing] was a highly

Happy News 2

The HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES passed a version of the Healthcare Reform package on Saturday, November 7th, 2009. As one of the late night comedians said on television, it was so emotional that Nancy Pelosi was rumored to have blinked … twice! The House vote had a final count of 220 to 215 which was slightly more than the 217 needed which was a lot better than what they were expecting a week ago. When asked if she had the votes to pass it, Speaker Pelosi said, "We will." That was a strong indication that at that time they did not yet have the required 217. It appears that some additional placation too place in the form of allowing an amendment that placed additional anti-abortion language into the bill that was essentially meaningless since other provisions of federal law already prohibit the use of federal funds to going to subsidize pro-choice medical options, but despite the merely symbolic cover it gave, it was archetypical politics.

There will doubtless be more wrangling in the Senate during their debates, and almost certainly an attempt to filibuster. Whether they have the votes to prevent the filibuster is the remaining question in the Senate. The answer is probably that they do not, especially when Senator Joe Lieberman (I.-MA), the "Independent," says he may even join in a filibuster if the bill contains a public option, but I doubt that even he will stand in the way of the historic legislation if it does come down to a vote. As we keep hearing, they could simply wait out the filibuster (eventually it will be the Politicians [Republicans] who will look bad for blocking the Senate, indefinitely).

The Men Who Stare at Box Office Numbers

I suspect that the Men Who Stare at Goats will soon be happy. They might have been happier if it wasn´t less than tops at the box office this opening weekend, but the movie is fairly full of good laughs. And the cast is stuffed with big name draws starting with George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey. McGregor is the straight man among these wacko´s, and the combination is delightful if mostly mild comedy.

Happy Thoughts

Think about it for a moment. Medical marijuana could replace Prozac as the anti-depression and anti-anxiety drug of choice if it were to be legalized nationwide. One of the panelists on Washington Week on PBS, I don´t recall which one, referred to a move towards the legalization of medical in the sleepy little state of Maine. (The original topic was how legalization of same-sex marriage had been repealed by voters in Maine this week. Unfortunately, preserving the "holiness" of the WORD "marriage" is more important than the Human Right of gays and lesbians to receive equal treatment under the law to most "Christians".) They also hinted that it would likely not be long before the weed could become legal nationwide.

Now, lest ye think I am thinking solely of myself here, let me also state that in addition to being a cheap medication, it is already something like 60% of the economy of Mendocino County in Northern California, but as an illegal and underground crop it is circumventing that great old American institution, excise taxes. Theoretically growers could still be legally paying taxes on their profits but since the "Chinese Wall" between the IRS and law enforcement branches of government has been dismantled over the last few decades, admitting to income from illegal activities can put you in jail, resulting in lost revenue to the nation and the additional costs to tax payers for keeping you in jail, exactly the opposite result from the reason the "Chinese wall" provision of IRS regulations was created.

According to these statistics on drug offenses about 20% of inmates in State prisons are there for drug offenses, and nearly 50% of Federal prisoners are incarcerated for drug offenses. Those statistics, in themselves, are not "happy thoughts" to me or nearly anyone else who has given the matter any serious thought, but what they are is a recognition that the "war on drugs" not only has failed, but that it has really been a war on our own citizens, not the drug lords of Afghanistan or Colombia. I didn´t mean to turn this into a long rant, but it is also true that there are 5 times as many blacks in jail for drug offenses, not because there are 5 times as many black people than white in America, nor that 5 times as many black people are using drugs (statistically that would mean blacks are 40 times more likely to be involved in drug arrests than whites!) so it is clearly a discriminatory set of practices that result in so many African-Americans in prison on drug offenses.

Now, let´s get to the REALLY HAPPY thoughts behind this segment today. If medical marijuana were to be legalized across the nation, and taxed like cigarettes (which you could certainly do initially since despite being "medicine" it will retain a taint of "sin tax" category like alcohol and tobacco), it would more than pay for healthcare, it could pay down the national debt in remarkably rapid amounts of time. So put that in your tax pipeline and smoke it for a while folks.

Love and warm wishes,

Sincerely,

Stafford "Doc" Williamson

http://daochienergy.com