BP invests in Cellulosic Ethanol

The Wall Street Journal reports that BP has invested in a cellulosic ethanol plant. According to the article, BP is extending an existing partnership with Verenium Corp.

With the move announced Wednesday, BP has invested $112.5 million in Verenium and received a 50% stake in licensing the smaller company's technology. The larger money lies ahead. It is estimated that the Florida facility will cost between $250 million and $300 million. The partners said they plan to build another full-scale facility in the Gulf Coast soon.

It Looks like BP is using their deep pockets at a time when small players can't get access to capital because of the double threat of low fuel prices and the credit crisis.

Many sources for Biofuels

Reuters has an article from a German Biofuels Conference held last week.

Non-food plants and crops mentioned at the conference as possibilities for use in future biofuels range from corn husks, grasses and algae to jatropha oilseeds, tree bark and twigs.

First generation green fuels aimed at reducing global warming are largely produced from foods such as corn, sugar and vegetable oils and face hot but unresolved controversy about whether biofuel production raises food prices.

The second generation of biofuels will be produced from non-food crops and the conference of global biofuels executives heard that the choices for new generation feedstocks were still wide open.

Weird Bio-diesel source

Like the plot of a strange green Sci-Fi movie there is a story in Forbes about a doctor that made bio-diesel from human fat. We know many Americans have a weight problem, and that can effect fuel consumption.
But while this disturrbing concept is poetic in some respects, the idea of fueling your vehicle's with human fat may bring a disorder to eating and weight control that would make gorging and purging look almost reasonable.

Java Diesel

New research shows that waste coffee grounds can be used to make bio-diesel. The press release from the American Chemical Society states that spent coffee grounds have about as much oil as traditional virgin bio-diesel feed stocks.

The resulting coffee-based fuel — which actually smells like java — had a major advantage in being more stable than traditional biodiesel due to coffee's high antioxidant content, the researchers say. Solids left over from the conversion can be converted to ethanol or used as compost, the report notes.

Fungus produces Diesel

Patagonian Fungus produces near diesel, read WIRED article.

"Traditionally that's been an energy-intensive process that also involves lots of chemicals," said Andrew Groover, a plant geneticist studying cell wall formation at the U.S. Forest Service's Pacific Southwest Research Station. "So, one approach is to look for situations in nature where there are organisms that can break down wood as part of their natural lifestyle: wood rot, fungi, termites."

What's exciting about the Gliocladium roseum fungus, however, is that it can both break down cellulose and synthesize the liquid fuel.

Biofuels vs. Food

Biofuels are getting slammed for raising world food prices. I would personally like to know what the effect would be if you take corn based ethanol out of the mix. Corn based ethanol is known to have very poor return on energy to produce the fuel.

Biodiesel is generally consider much more efficient than corn based ethanol as a biofuel approach. This USDA report on biodiesel use in Europe contains quiet a bit of good information of efficiency of production.

XR3 Diesel Hybrid Kit

XR3 Diesel Hybrid Kit designed by Robert Q. Riley Enterprises, LLC. From the website:

The XR-3 Hybrid is a super-fuel-efficient two-passenger plug-in hybrid that achieves 125 mpg on diesel power alone, 225 mpg on combined diesel and electric power, and performance like a conventional automobile. . . . At just 1300 pounds, this high-performance design combines lightening-fast acceleration, a maximum speed of 85 mph, and fuel economy of 125- to over 200-mpg.