Message Board

Anyone inivestigating Miscanthurs?

Russ — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:27:04 GMT

This was just posted by Jack Schultz:

Miscanthurs--What?

They dont grow much corn in western ND. It doesnt rain enough, irrigation water is not readily available and the soils are not prime. However, there are some new technologies and crops which could open up areas of the Great Plains for biofuel production and hopefully positively impacting rural towns in ND and other states.

An article in ScienceDaily last month cited one of these crops, In the largest field trial of its kind in the United States, researchers have determined that the giant perennial grass Miscanthus x gignateus outperforms current biofuel sourcesby a lot.

Full Story: http://boomtownusa.blogspot.com/2008/10/miscanthurs-what.html

Forum: Agriculture

Response to data-on oilseeds

schahczenski — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:13:23 GMT

Attached is a recent table I completed for a project related to understanding Montana's oilseed and potential biodiesel production capabilities. Please comment

Forum: Camelina

Increased Fuel Economy with Ethanol?

August — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:54:15 GMT

Groundbreaking Study Finds that Certain Ethanol Blends can Provide Better Fuel Economy than Gasoline...

This study by ACE showed that vehicles can actually show an increase in fuel economy vs. 100% gasoline at different ethanol blend levels (E20 or E30 in this study, depending on the automobile model.)

Here's a link to the press release at ACE.

http://www.ethanol.org/news/index.php?newsid=25

Once there, you can also donwload the entire study in .pdf form.

I wonder how this is possible?

Forum: Bio fuels myth busting

Biodiesel Workshop Billings 1/9-1/10

LGwin — Thur, 27 Dec 2007 20:49:12 GMT

NCAT is putting on a biodiesel workshop at MSU-Billings College of Technology (3803 Central Ave, Billings, just east of Shiloh Rd) on January 9th and 10th, from 7:30AM to 4:00PM. The workshop features expert speakers with information on growing oilseeds, producing oil and quality biodiesel, economics, business models, and regulations, as well as portable biodiesel processor and oilseed cruser demonstrations. To register, or for more information, contact Tammy Hinman at NCAT at 1 800 275-6228, or e-mail her at tammyh@ncat.org

Forum: Fuels

MSU-B COT Introduction

LGwin — Thur, 27 Dec 2007 20:44:23 GMT

I am the new Training Coordinator for MSU-Billings College of Technology, working on the WIRED grant in conjunction with Dawson Community College in Glendive. I am also working on training programs through a CBJT "Energy for Tomorrow" grant from DOL/ETA. I am interested in all sorts of networking opportunities, suggestions, and feedback on our programs. Here is my contact information:

Lee Gwin
Training Coordinator
MSU-Billings College of Technology
3803 Central Ave
Billings, MT 59102
406 247-3054
lgwin@msubillings.edu

Thanks!

Forum: Workforce

100 MGPY of Camelina based biodiesel

August — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:03:40 GMT

100 million gallons by 2010.

http://www.susoils.com/Sustainable_Oils_Launches.pdf

Forum: Camelina

Lowering Peak Grid Usage?

August — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:45:41 GMT

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19700/

Forum: Efficiency

Biodiesel vs. petroleum diesel from Des Moines Register

August — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:41:34 GMT

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070921/OPINION01/709210366/1035/OPINION

Forum: Bio fuels myth busting

"Can Magnets Boost Ethanol Production?" from technologyreview.com

August — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 20:25:43 GMT

http://www.technologyreview.com/Energy/19412/

Forum: Innovation

Poplar as an ethanol feedstock

August — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:38:38 GMT

http://www.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/2006/060823.Chapple.poplar.html

Forum: Agriculture

Glycerin as supply of caloric energy in feed

August — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:04:45 GMT

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2007/070920.htm

Forum: Co-products / waste stream utilization

UK report shows biodiesel reduces carbon emissions by 94%

August — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 21:11:56 GMT

Link to article at biofuelreview.com:

http://www.biofuelreview.com/content/view/992/

Forum: Pollution prevention / environment

U.S. Ethanol Supply Spike To Keep Lid On Strong Gas Prices

August — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 19:46:47 GMT

Article below reprinted from Governors' Ethanol Coalition:
U.S. Ethanol Supply Spike To Keep Lid On Strong Gas Prices

The expected surge in U.S. ethanol supply over the next six months is expected to have a bearish impact on gasoline prices as the ethanol supply growth outpaces the blending need in the gasoline market, some traders and analysts said on Thursday.
More than 30 new ethanol plants were scheduled to come onstream in the U.S. by the end of this year, raising the total capacity by about 2.7 billion gallons to about 9 billion gallons, according to the Global Biofuels Center.
The falling price of ethanol and the switch to winter-gasoline specifications in September will make it very attractive for blenders to use more ethanol in place of the more expensive gasoline.
The reformulated gasoline (RFG) markets are mandated by the states to blend gasoline up to 10% with ethanol, whereas conventional markets have no such requirements.
"The bottom line is that the new ethanol supply is outpacing the ability of the system to get it into the gasoline pool," said Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates. Lipow Oil is an energy consulting firm based in Houston.
"Ethanol prices will remain under pressure while increased supplies of ethanol into the gasoline pool will help the tight gasoline situation."
The U.S. ethanol capacity was expected to continue to grow, rising to 11.5 billion gallons by the end of the first quarter of 2008 and close to 15 billion gallons at end-2008.
Under heavy pressure from the supply spike, ethanol spot price in the New York Harbor barge market tumbled from about $2.50-$2.70/gallon in January to about $1.75/gallon on Wednesday.
Ethanol price for calendar 2008 on the Chicago Board of Trade was at about $1.59/gallon, compared with $2/gallon for average NYMEX RBOB price for 2008.
Fresh demand for ethanol in the near term will have to come from the conventional gasoline markets, analysts said.
The conventional markets, which are likely to use more ethanol for gasoline blending, are Florida, Alabama, Montana, Idaho, Washington, the North and South Carolinas, Kentucky and other states in the Southeast. Missouri mandated a 10% ethanol-blended gasoline from January 1, 2008, he said.
California requires gasoline to be blended with 5.75% of ethanol, with the expected increase to 10% in 2009.
Florida would be first on the long list to use more ethanol for blending, Lipow said. The Southeast state could face some ethanol transportation and logistics issues due to a lack of storage and facilities, said Terrence Higgins, director of refining and special projects at Hart Energy Consulting.
However, the bearish impact from the ethanol supply surge could be partially neutralized by an overall gasoline demand growth, said Antoine Halff, the head of energy research at Fimat U.S.A. Fimat is the brokerage arm of Societe Generale bank. The gasoline volume displaced by the higher use of ethanol blend stock would be marginal, he said. Halff pointed out that the overall domestic gasoline demand growth was expected to eat up the higher ethanol supply. In addition, the demand in the RFG markets such as New York, Chicago and Philadelphia was shrinking due to a decline in population, he said. The sharp spike in ethanol production capacity would also be a disincentive for refiners to expand their refining capacities, Halff said.

Forum: Markets

Hydraulic hybrids

August — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:01:38 GMT

http://www.monroenews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070909/NEWS01/109090028/-1/NEWS

Forum: Transportation

Bootstrap Montana

August — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 17:47:02 GMT

Link to the Bootstrap Montana program which aims to help rural Montana business:
http://www.bootstrapmontana.org/

Forum: Financing