ALTERNATE FUELS

WinGD and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Agree Ammonia Fuel Supply System Design

WinGD is developing a range of ammonia-fueled engines and reports it has finalzied a fuel system supply design with Mitsubishi (WinGD file phot)

PUBLISHED FEB 22, 2024 7:47 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Engine manufacturer WinGD and Mitsubishi Shipbuilding report they have reached a key milestone in the development of ammonia-fueled propulsion. The two companies have finalized the basic design for an ammonia fuel supply system for an ammonia-fueled large, low-speed two-stroke marine engine.

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and WinGD concluded a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2023 to undertake technical studies on an ammonia fuel supply system. Under the partnership, WinGD is working to develop X?DF?A engines at appropriate sizes for a range of vessel designs, providing the shipbuilder with the specifications for installing the engines and the requirements for all auxiliary fuel systems. Mitsubishi is designing the vessels, setting performance parameters for the engines, and further developing its existing ammonia fuel supply system (AFSS) for use with WinGD’s ammonia engines.

The AFSS design is the first result of the wide-ranging partnership focusing on developing solutions for ammonia engines and fuel systems that can be applied across a range of vessel designs. Because ammonia emits no CO2 when combusted it is viewed as a leading alternative marine fuel as well as for heavy industry, but it also presents challenges to achieve and maintain steady combustion as well as the highly toxic and corrosive nature of ammonia.

As well as the fuel supply system - including a fuel valve unit, fuel conditioning, and all related piping – the companies report their concept includes several features to enable the safe use of ammonia as a marine fuel. These include an ammonia catching system as well as purging and venting arrangements.

“At present, our primary focus is on advancing the technology of our clean-fuel solutions including our ammonia-powered X?DF?A engines, with the first delivery expected in Q2 2025,” said Sebastian Hensel, Director R&D at WinGD. “This collaboration will make sure that the auxiliary systems and integration capability are in place to apply our engine designs, and developing the fuel supply system concept is a crucial step in bringing ammonia fuel capability to the marine market.”

The project will now proceed to the detailed design phase, ensuring that ammonia capability is available to ocean going vessel operators ahead of regulatory requirements to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In September 2023, WinGD reported that it had received approval in principle for the first of its ammonia two-stroke engines from Lloyd’s Register, the first ever awarded for two-stroke engines fueled with ammonia. They reported the engines will operate according to the Diesel principle in both diesel and ammonia modes, and Win has already recorded the first future delivery orders for ammonia-ready vessels. 

Vitol Introduces Dedicated Biofuel Bunker Barge in Singapore to Meet Demand

Marine Future is the first bunker barge able to deliver 100 percent bio-component fuels (Vitol)

PUBLISHED FEB 22, 2024 7:17 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Asia’s market for biofuels is expanding rapidly and to take advantage of the emerging opportunities, Vitol, one of Singapore’s leading fuel suppliers has taken delivery of its first specialized bunker vessel. The company looks to take advantage of the emerging opportunity and last fall reported the first vessel would be the first of several specialized bunker barges placed into service.

“Though at a nascent stage, demand for biofuel is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, as the shipping industry looks at ways to decarbonize and curb emissions,” says Vitol. They point to the International Maritime Organization’s interim regulations released last October as another factor likely in the near term to spur growth in biofuels.

“Biofuels are a key pathway for the hard-to-abate shipping sector to mitigate emissions,” the company notes.

As a result, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore which controls the bunker market, reported that last year sales of biofuel increased by nearly four times. They reported biofuel sales in Singapore reached 520,000 tons in 2023 up from just 140,000 tons in 20222.

Vitol recently introduced the Marine Future, a nearly 335-foot (102-meter) bunker vessel in Singapore. The vessel was specifically designed for the biofuel sector and built in China. It has the capacity to carry about 7,000 MT of biofuels and in the future can also be re-configured to supply methanol.

It is the first bunker tanker in Singapore to have the appropriate design and designation to deliver 100 percent bio-component fuels. The previous vessels in the market are all oil tankers, and Vitol points out that regulations restrict them to a maximum of 25 percent biofuel component in biofuel blends.
 
Through its V-Bunkers operation, the company already operates more than 20 bunker barges based in Singapore. They anticipate the new vessel will contribute to the continuing rapid growth in biofuel sales. Starting with the Marine Future, Vitol can offer a range of biofuel blends.
 

 

Singapore Selects 11 Designs in Effort to Promote Electric Harbor Crafts

One of the 11 designs selected in Singapore's program to promote electric harbor crafts (MPA)

PUBLISHED FEB 23, 2024 3:02 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

 

Singapore’s Maritime and Port Authority has selected 11 design proposals as part of its ongoing competition to develop advanced electric harbor crafts. The authority reports it received strong interest in the effort designed to promote the adoption of fully electric harbor craft demonstrating the strong interest and confidence of the industry in the development of this new generation of vessels.

The initiative launched in July 2023 as part of the efforts to advance decarbonization in one of the busiest ports in the world and at the same time promote the adoption of electrification as a means of addressing the challenges. The MPA reports it received a total of 55 proposals from 32 international and local companies and consortia.

Participants submitted technically strong designs according to the MPA, including the use of optimized aluminum hull form, high energy density batteries with active liquid cooling, and battery thermal detection and protection system, among others. 

One of the key concerns that they also sought to address is the total cost of ownership for electric vessels with the goal of making them comparable to a conventional harbor craft. Participants in the program demonstrated that while electric harbor crafts currently have higher upfront capital costs due primarily to the higher cost of the batteries and associated systems, the MPA says these costs can be mitigated by energy cost savings from operating the more energy-efficient e-harbor crafts, reduced maintenance cost, and operational downtime.  

Several of the participants also proposed business models to optimize the harbor craft resource at the sector level while lowering the overall total cost of ownership to individual companies. According to the MPA, these proposals aim to encourage more companies, especially those with smaller fleet sizes, to make the transition, by presenting viable business cases based on aggregation, while enabling an efficient and responsive sector-level capability to meet the needs of ships calling into Singapore.

 

 

The panel completed the evaluation of all the proposals and the MPA has shortlisted a total of 11 passenger launch and cargo lighter vessel designs submitted by seven companies and consortia. Of the 11 designs selected, six have received class society approvals. Together with various research institutes and academia, the MPA looks to support more research to enhance vessel designs, safety, and cybersecurity, and reduce the energy requirements. 

Six designs were submitted by the Coastal Sustainability Alliance, marinEV, and Pyxis Maritime, which demonstrate a strong understanding of Singapore’s requirements in areas including battery specifications, digital and cyber systems, training requirements, and development of local capability. These participants will be working directly with MPA and its researchers over the next two to six months to optimize and validate their designs.

The five additional proposals selected were submitted by CAEV+ Consortium, China Everbright Environment Group, Cyan Renewables Consortium, and Gennal Engineering. MPA reports it will also work with these participants, together with the various researchers and universities, to further develop the designs. The scope of enhancements will include optimization of the vessel hull and electrical systems design, the design of a fire-resilient battery room, and a cyber health monitoring system, to strengthen the vessels’ energy efficiency and safety. 

Vitol Introduces Dedicated Biofuel Bunker Barge in Singapore to Meet Demand

Marine Future is the first bunker barge able to deliver 100 percent bio-component fuels (Vitol)

PUBLISHED FEB 22, 2024 7:17 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

Asia’s market for biofuels is expanding rapidly and to take advantage of the emerging opportunities, Vitol, one of Singapore’s leading fuel suppliers has taken delivery of its first specialized bunker vessel. The company looks to take advantage of the emerging opportunity and last fall reported the first vessel would be the first of several specialized bunker barges placed into service.

“Though at a nascent stage, demand for biofuel is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, as the shipping industry looks at ways to decarbonize and curb emissions,” says Vitol. They point to the International Maritime Organization’s interim regulations released last October as another factor likely in the near term to spur growth in biofuels.

“Biofuels are a key pathway for the hard-to-abate shipping sector to mitigate emissions,” the company notes.

As a result, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore which controls the bunker market, reported that last year sales of biofuel increased by nearly four times. They reported biofuel sales in Singapore reached 520,000 tons in 2023 up from just 140,000 tons in 20222.

Vitol recently introduced the Marine Future, a nearly 335-foot (102-meter) bunker vessel in Singapore. The vessel was specifically designed for the biofuel sector and built in China. It has the capacity to carry about 7,000 MT of biofuels and in the future can also be re-configured to supply methanol.

It is the first bunker tanker in Singapore to have the appropriate design and designation to deliver 100 percent bio-component fuels. The previous vessels in the market are all oil tankers, and Vitol points out that regulations restrict them to a maximum of 25 percent biofuel component in biofuel blends.
 
Through its V-Bunkers operation, the company already operates more than 20 bunker barges based in Singapore. They anticipate the new vessel will contribute to the continuing rapid growth in biofuel sales. Starting with the Marine Future, Vitol can offer a range of biofuel blends.
 

Coronavirus spurs new clash between Big Oil and Big Corn over U.S. biofuels
Stephanie Kelly

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A fuel demand meltdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the United States has started up a new fight between the oil and agriculture industries over the nation’s biofuel policy, this time over whether the policy should be suspended or expanded as a result of the crisis.

The issue once again places Republican President Donald Trump in a tough spot between two important constituencies, both of which have been pushed to the brink of collapse by the pandemic because of flagging consumption, disrupted supply chains and reduced workforces.

The oil refining industry and its backers have asked the Trump administration to help the industry weather the pandemic by suspending a regulatory requirement that they blend billions of gallons of corn-based ethanol into their gasoline each year, arguing it is a cost many facilities can not currently afford.

The corn lobby, meanwhile, has been pushing for the blending requirements, mandated under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, to be expanded to help farmers who have seen demand for their crop drop swiftly as biofuel plants across the country go idle.

While the refining and corn industries have clashed for years over the biofuel blending requirements, the issue is now being framed as a matter of survival.

“We’re talking about a multi-billion dollar compliance cost that is going to impact whether some can continue operating the same way,” said Geoff Moody, senior director of government relations for the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers trade group, which represents refiners.

On Wednesday, the governors of Texas, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming asked the Trump administration for a nationwide waiver exempting the oil-refining industry from the blending laws to help it survive, adding heft to a similar request made by Louisiana the week before.

Biofuel and farm groups slammed the idea.

“We remind the Administration that oil refiners are not the only ones suffering from the economic fallout of the current situation,” said Brian Jennings, the head of the American Coalition for Ethanol, which had asked the administration earlier this month to expand ethanol blending requirements.

“Ethanol producers, and the farmers supplying them corn, are suffering a proportional economic disaster,” he said.


A spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in charge of overseeing the RFS, said the agency is watching the situation closely and “will make the appropriate determination at the appropriate time.”

DEMAND MELTDOWN

U.S. demand for gasoline has fallen by about a third due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has roiled daily life and prompted residents to shelter at home, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

As a result, refiners have slashed output and seen gasoline profit margins fall to the lowest since 2008. [EIA/S]

While many refiners were in strong cash positions at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, others that have spent much of their cash acquiring new plants, such as PBF Energy Inc (PBF.N), are significantly more distressed.

Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N), one of the biggest refining companies in the United States, meanwhile, warned of an up to $2.1 billion first quarter loss due to the coronavirus pandemic, and plans to defer tax payments and certain planned expenses in its refining and ethanol businesses.

Top refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp , meanwhile, has idled a plant in New Mexico due to falling demand.


But the ethanol industry is being crushed too.

Nearly half of U.S. ethanol production capacity has been idled as a result of the falling fuel demand, according to Geoff Cooper, the head of the Renewable Fuels Association. Further, output cuts disrupt local demand for corn as producers buy less of the feedstock.

“A general waiver at this point would only serve to close more ethanol plants and kill more jobs across rural America,” Cooper said.

The refining and corn industries have long disagreed about U.S. biofuel policy, most recently clashing over the Trump administration’s use of exemptions for small refining facilities in financial distress.

A federal court in January ruled that Trump’s EPA had granted such exemptions inappropriately, a decision that is likely to dramatically reduce the number of such waivers issued in the future.

USC study shows promising potential for marine biofuel

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Research News

 

IMAGE: DIVER ATTACHES KELP TO AN EARLY PROTOTYPE OF THE KELP ELEVATOR. view more 

CREDIT: MAURICE ROPER

For several years now, the biofuels that power cars, jet airplanes, ships and big trucks have come primarily from corn and other mass-produced farm crops. Researchers at USC, though, have looked to the ocean for what could be an even better biofuel crop: seaweed.

Scientists at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies on Santa Catalina Island, working with private industry, report that a new aquaculture technique on the California coast dramatically increases kelp growth, yielding four times more biomass than natural processes. The technique employs a contraption called the "kelp elevator" that optimizes growth for the bronze-colored floating algae by raising and lowering it to different depths.

The team's newly published findings suggest it may be possible to use the open ocean to grow kelp crops for low-carbon biofuel similar to how land is used to harvest fuel feedstocks such as corn and sugarcane -- and with potentially fewer adverse environmental impacts.

The National Research Council has indicated that generating biofuels from feedstocks like corn and soybeans can increase water pollution. Farmers use pesticides and fertilizers on the crops that can end up polluting streams, rivers and lakes. Despite those well-evidenced drawbacks, 7% of the nation's transportation fuel still comes from major food crops. And nearly all of it is corn-based ethanol.

"Forging new pathways to make biofuel requires proving that new methods and feedstocks work. This experiment on the Southern California coast is an important step because it demonstrates kelp can be managed to maximize growth," said Diane Young Kim, corresponding author of the study, associate director of special projects at the USC Wrigley Institute and a professor of environmental studies at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

The study was published on Feb. 19 in the journal Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. The authors include researchers from USC Dornsife, which is home to the Wrigley Institute, and the La Cañada, California-based company Marine BioEnergy, Inc., which designed and built the experimental system for the study and is currently designing the technology for open-ocean kelp farms.

Though not without obstacles, kelp shows serious promise as biofuel crop

Government and industry see promise in a new generation of climate-friendly biofuels to reduce net carbon dioxide emissions and dependence on foreign oil. New biofuels could either supplement or replace gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and natural gas.

If it lives up to its potential, kelp is a more attractive option than the usual biofuel crops -- corn, canola, soybeans and switchgrass -- for two very important reasons. For one, ocean crops do not compete for fresh water, agricultural land or artificial fertilizers. And secondly, ocean farming does not threaten important habitats when marginal land is brought into cultivation.

The scientists focused on giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera, the seaweed that forms majestic underwater forests along the California coast and elsewhere and washes onto beaches in dense mats. Kelp is one of nature's fastest-growing plants and its life cycle is well understood, making it amenable to cultivation.

But farming kelp requires overcoming a few obstacles. To thrive, kelp has to be anchored to a substrate and only grows in sun-soaked waters to about 60 feet deep. But in open oceans, the sunlit surface layer lacks nutrients available in deeper water.

To maximize growth in this ecosystem, the scientists had to figure out how to give kelp a foothold to hang onto, lots of sunlight and access to abundant nutrients. And they had to see if kelp could survive deeper below the surface. So, Marine BioEnergy invented the concept of depth-cycling the kelp, and USC Wrigley scientists conducted the biological and oceanographic trial.

The kelp elevator consists of fiberglass tubes and stainless-steel cables that support the kelp in the open ocean. Juvenile kelp is affixed to a horizontal beam, and the entire structure is raised and lowered in the water column using an automated winch.

Beginning in 2019, research divers collected kelp from the wild, affixed it to the kelp elevator and then deployed it off the northwest shore of Catalina Island, near Wrigley's marine field station. Every day for about 100 days, the elevator would raise the kelp to near the surface during the day so it could soak up sunlight, then lower it to about 260 feet at night so it could absorb nitrate and phosphate in the deeper water. Meantime, the researchers continually checked water conditions and temperature while comparing their kelp to control groups raised in natural conditions.

"We found that depth-cycled kelp grew much faster than the control group of kelp, producing four times the biomass production," Kim said.

CAPTION

A USC Wrigley Institute study finds that raising and lowering kelp boosts its growth four-fold. It's the next step toward growing it in the open ocean on giant "kelp elevators" to produce biofuel at commercial scale.

CREDIT

Letty Avila

The push to develop a new generation of biofuels

Prior to the experiment, it was unclear whether kelp could effectively absorb the nutrients in the deep, cold and dark environment. Nitrate is a big limiting factor for plants and algae, but the study suggests that the kelp found all it needed to thrive when lowered into deep water at night. Equally important, the kelp was able to withstand the greater underwater pressure.

Brian Wilcox, co-founder and chief engineer of Marine BioEnergy, said: "The good news is the farm system can be assembled from off-the-shelf products without new technology. Once implemented, depth-cycling farms could lead to a new way to produce affordable, carbon-neutral fuel year-round."

Cindy Wilcox, co-founder and president of Marine BioEnergy, estimates that it would take a Utah-sized patch of ocean to make enough kelp biofuel to replace 10% of the liquid petroleum consumed annually in the United States. One Utah would take up only 0.13% of the total Pacific Ocean.

Developing a new generation of biofuels has been a priority for California and the federal government. The U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy invested $22 million in efforts to increase marine feedstocks for biofuel production, including $2 million to conduct the kelp elevator study. The Department of Energy has a study to locate a billion tons of feedstock per year for biofuels; Cindy Wilcox of Marine BioEnergy said the ocean between California, Hawaii and Alaska could contribute to that goal, helping make the U.S. a leader in this new energy technology.

###

The study authors include Ignacio A. Navarrete, Diane Kim, David W. Ginsburg, Jessica M. Dutton, John Heidelberg and Yubin Raut of the USC Wrigley Institute; Cindy Wilcox and Brian Howard Wilcox of Marine BioEnergy; and Daniel C. Reed at the Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara.

The research was supported by ARPA-E, U.S. Department of Energy Award Number DE-AR0000689 and by Marine BioEnergy, Inc., which has a commercial interest in the research and contributed part of its $2.6 million federal grant to cover the cost of the USC Wrigley Institute study.

You Tube video of diver inspecting open-ocean kelp (via Marine BioEnergy co.): https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=idHh7P9D2ws&feature=emb_logo

Exclusive: Biden mulls giving refiners relief from U.S. biofuel laws - sources
By Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly 1 hour ago

© Reuters/Jim Young FILE PHOTO: A gas pump selling E15, a gasoline with 15 percent of ethanol, is seen in Mason City

NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Joe Biden's administration, under pressure from labor unions and U.S. senators including from his home state of Delaware, is considering ways to provide relief to U.S. oil refiners from biofuel blending mandates, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The issue pits two of the administration's important political constituencies against each other: blue-collar refinery workers and farmers who depend on biofuel mandates to prop up a massive market for corn.

It could prompt an about-face for the administration, which had been rolling back former President Donald Trump's dramatic expansion of waivers for U.S. refiners from the Renewable Fuel Standard.

The law requires them to blend billions of gallons of ethanol and other biofuels into their fuel each year or buy credits from those that do.

The credits, known as RINs, are currently at their highest price in the program's 13-year history, and refiners have said the policy threatens to bankrupt fuel makers already slammed by sinking demand during the pandemic.

Biofuel advocates counter that fuel makers should have invested in biofuel blending facilities years ago and can pass through added costs for buying credits to consumers at the pumps.

Democratic senators Chris Coons and Tom Carper of Delaware have held at least two discussions in recent weeks with Michael Regan, head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to discuss providing relief for refiners, according to the three sources.

Coons and Carper were seeking to help the state's lone refinery, a plant in Delaware City with a capacity of about 180,000 barrel-per-day. Their requests added to a chorus of pleas from other states hosting refineries, including Pennsylvania, Texas and Louisiana.

In the meetings, Regan and the senators discussed options like a nationwide general waiver exempting the refining industry from some obligations, lowering the amount of renewable fuel refiners must blend in the future, creating a price cap on compliance credits, and issuing an emergency declaration, two of the sources said.

Nick Conger, an EPA spokesperson, confirmed Regan had met with the senators but did not comment further on the discussions or confirm whether the agency was looking at ways to provide relief to refiners.

Coons did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for Carper said the senator has spoken to Regan a number of times about the high costs for RINs.

Seth Harris, deputy assistant to the president on labor and economic issues, has also met with union representatives to hear their grievances about biofuel mandates, the two sources said.

Harris did not respond to a request for comment.

Merchant refiners like PBF Energy, which operates the Delaware City plant, say biofuel laws could shut down plants and kill thousands of union jobs.

The company recently shut most of its refinery in New Jersey, the latest in a series of shutdowns along the U.S. East Coast. The region, which faces higher refining costs because of its distance from U.S. oil fields, has seen fuel production capacity drop about 40% since 2000.

Federal data shows that only eight refineries remain out of the 17 that were operating on the U.S. East Coast in 2000.

At least one company has already bet the administration will end up helping refiners: Reuters previously reported that Delta Air Lines Inc has stopped buying RINs, leaving its refinery in Pennsylvania with a $346 million liability at the end of the first quarter.

(Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly; Editing by David Gregorio)

SEE  LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for ETHANOL 

 

Maersk Tankers and bp Test Marine Biofuel Blend in Product Tankers

(bp tanker file photo)

PUBLISHED DEC 17, 2021 3:06 PM BY THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE

 

In one of the highest-profile tests of biofuels, bp and Maersk Tankers, with support from the Danish Maritime Authority, successfully completed trials using biofuel-blended marine fuel in product tankers. They reported that it demonstrates that sustainable biofuels can be used as a marine ‘drop-in fuel’ to help reduce carbon emissions in shipping.

The trials were completed using two product tankers on time-charter to bp from Maersk Tankers. The ships were the four-year-old Maersk Cirrus, a 39,999 dwt tanker, and the five-year-old Maersk Navigator, a 45,999 dwt tanker. Each vessel was supplied with bp Marine B30 biofuel, consisting of 30 percent fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) blended with very low sulfur fuel oil (VLSFO). According to bp, FAME is a renewable alternative biofuel largely produced from recycled cooking oils and renewable oil sources. It has physical properties similar to conventional diesel and is also non-toxic and biodegradable. The origination and production of the feedstocks used to produce FAME is certified for its sustainability to internationally recognized standards.  

The trials saw the vessels sail from Rotterdam to West Africa. Throughout the trials, tests were carried out to assess the reliability and performance of the B30 biofuel blend in each ship’s main engine, auxiliary engine, and boiler, and any impact on fuel tanks to determine the level of interchangeability with other fuel types. 

They reported observing no adverse effects on equipment or machinery during or after the trials. No modifications to the engine or infrastructure were required, they said demonstrating the suitability of sustainable biofuels for use as a ‘drop-in fuel’.

bp is working with companies in key industrial sectors that have significant carbon emissions to manage, supporting their work to decarbonize. Based on the outcome of the recent trials, bp aims to regularly supply biofuel blends for their operated and time-charter vessels when they refuel in the Netherlands, subject to owners and flag-state approval. This is part of its ongoing efforts to help decarbonize the shipping industry.

Maersk Tankers says for its part it is developing and deploying solutions that help shipowners boost the economic and environmental performance of their vessels. Through its pools and industry-wide collaboration, the company is working in partnerships to contribute to a more sustainable future for the industry.

Trump Plans to Fight Ruling Risking Refinery Biofuel Waivers

Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Mario Parker and Jennifer Jacobs Bloomberg March 5, 2020


(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump has decided to defend in court the U.S. government’s power to broadly waive biofuel requirements for many oil refineries.

The decision to appeal a federal court ruling imperiling those exemptions follows an intervention by Attorney General Bill Barr and an intense pressure campaign by oil-state senators, including Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican. The plan was described by five people familiar with the matter who asked for anonymity before a formal announcement.

At issue is a January decision by a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver invalidating waivers exempting three refineries from requirements to blend biofuel into gasoline and diesel. Federal law authorizes those waivers for small refineries facing an economic hardship.

Yet the judges said the law also limits that relief to refineries getting “extensions” of previous waivers and pointed out that none of the three refineries at issue had “consistently received an exemption” in previous years.

The appeal plan would mark a reversal for the White House, where top officials as recently as a week and a half ago had planned to accept the ruling and apply it nationwide. That approach would have meant just a handful of U.S. refineries -- no more than seven -- would be eligible for the exemptions.

Previous Trump administration decisions on biofuel policy have been upended amid fierce lobbying.

But this move would be a victory for oil companies and their allies on Capitol Hill, who argued the waivers are essential to preserve the economic health of refineries and blue-collar jobs at the facilities. They have raised the specter of layoffs and plant closures in Wyoming, Texas and the political battleground state of Pennsylvania -- warning the White House in recent days that if the administration didn’t fight the ruling, there could be repercussions for the president on Election Day in November.

Oil industry advocates argued to administration officials that the court’s interpretation defies federal law that says refineries may seek relief “at any time,” conflicts with longstanding EPA practice and is at odds with a separate ruling by the 4th Circuit.

The Trump administration has until the end of Monday to appeal the ruling en banc -- asking the full 10th Circuit to consider the case. Even without the administration joining in, refiners involved in the case are expected to seek a rehearing.

An appeal would be a blow to producers of corn-based ethanol and soybean-based biodiesel, who have complained the Trump administration too freely handed out the waivers and undermined a 15-year-old federal law mandating the use of those plant-based alternatives. Biofuel allies have also warned Trump of political fallout -- in farm states, such as Iowa.

Nine biofuel and agriculture advocacy groups, including the Renewable Fuels Association and National Biodiesel Board, warned an appeal “would be viewed as a stunning betrayal of America’s rural workers and farmers.”

“We cannot stress enough how important this decision is to the future of the rural economy and to President Trump’s relationship with leaders and voters across the heartland,” the organizations said in a joint statement Thursday night.

---30---

SEE

 https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=BIOFUELS

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/search?q=BIOFUEL

U.S. fuel industry frazzled as Trump EPA misses 2021 biofuel volumes deadline

Stephanie Kelly
Mon, November 30, 2020

NEW YORK, Nov 30 (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was set to miss a deadline on Monday to announce how much renewable fuel the nation's refiners must blend into their fuel mix next year, raising uncertainty in the fuel market and prompting one biofuel association to threaten to take the agency to court.

Under federal law, the EPA must finalize its decision on the annual biofuel blending volume requirements it imposes on the refining industry for the next year by Nov. 30. The agency did not respond to requests for comment.

"At this point, it likely makes more sense to let the new administration handle the 2021 RVO (Renewable Volume Obligations) rulemaking process entirely," said Geoff Cooper, the president of the Renewable Fuels Association, one of the nation's biggest biofuel industry groups.

Growth Energy, another U.S. biofuel industry association, said it intends to file a lawsuit to force the Trump administration's EPA to act "immediately."

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, a top refinery industry association, said it hoped the EPA will "soon provide certainty" to its members.

Under the U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, refiners must blend billions of gallons of ethanol and other biofuels into their fuel pool, or buy credits from those that do - a policy that has created a huge market for corn-based ethanol but which the oil industry loathes.

While the Trump administration has mainly hit its deadlines for setting specific biofuel volumes mandates under the RFS, the process this year has been complicated by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Slumping fuel consumption has led refiners to argue for lower volume mandates to match demand, and biofuels producers to argue that doing so would only hurt them more.

The EPA has also left unaddressed a number of other questions that will likely need to be dealt with by the incoming Biden administration, including requests from oil industry advocates for the EPA to ease 2020 compliance because of the impact of the pandemic, and requests from the biofuel industry for the agency to ditch a waiver program it argued has illegally eroded demand for ethanol.

The oil industry says that the waivers hurt ethanol demand. (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly in New York Editing by Matthew Lewis)

MSU discovery advances biofuel crop that could curb dependence on fossil fuel

Peer-Reviewed Publication

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER MAURICIO TEJERA-NIEVES STUDIES SWITCHGRASS NEAR A RAINFALL EXCLUSION SHELTER BUILT BY THE GREAT LAKES BIOENERGY RESEARCHER CENTER AT MICHIGAN STATE’S W.K. KELLOGG BIOLOGICAL STATION LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH SITE. view more 

CREDIT: CREDIT: COURTESY MAURICIO TEJERA-NIEVES

Highlights: 

• A new paper from MSU researchers in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science reveals why switchgrass stops photosynthesis in the middle of its growing season, limiting its potential as a biofuel crop. 

• As a perennial, low-maintenance crop, switchgrass shows promise as a low-cost and sustainable biofuel source. But its drop-off in photosynthesis lowers the ceiling on its ability to add biomass that’s used to make fuel. 

• This photosynthetic stoppage is rooted in a conservative strategy the plant has evolved to store its food to survive winter months. 

• With this discovery, the MSU team has moved the research community one step closer to overcoming this limitation and breeding switchgrass that not only survives winter, but also shows “an insatiable appetite for photosynthesis.” 

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University researchers have solved a puzzle that could help switchgrass realize its full potential as a low-cost, sustainable biofuel crop and curb our dependence on fossil fuels. 

Among switchgrass’s attractive features are that it’s perennial, low maintenance and native to many states in the eastern U.S., including Michigan. But it also has a peculiar behavior working against it that has stymied researchers — at least until now.  

Berkley Walker’s team in MSU’s Department of Plant Biology has revealed why switchgrass stops performing photosynthesis in the middle of the summer — its growing season — limiting how much biofuel it yields.  

This knowledge, published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science, is a key piece to overcoming this quirk and getting the most out of switchgrass.  

“We want bigger plants, period, so being able to crack this and lift this limitation, that is the goal,” said Mauricio Tejera-Nieves, a postdoctoral researcher and the lead author of the team’s study. 

Tejera-Nieves, Walker and their colleagues discovered the explanation for this limitation in switchgrass’s rhizomes. These are little knobby structures that live underground among the plant’s roots. If you’ve ever sliced or shredded ginger, you’ve held a rhizome.  

Rhizomes store food in the form of starch to help plants survive winter, and that starch is made from the sugars produced by photosynthesis. Once switchgrass rhizomes are full of starch, they signal the plant to stop making sugars and adding biomass through photosynthesis.  

Tejera-Nieves compared the rhizomes to a bank, albeit a slightly unusual one. 

“Imagine getting a call from your bank and they tell you, ‘Hey, your account is full. You can take a vacation, go on sabbatical, do whatever you want. Just stop working because we’re not storing any more money,’” Tejera-Nieves said. “It’s a very conservative strategy, but it’s one that works for switchgrass. The longer it’s doing photosynthesis in nature, the more likely it is that an animal will eat it or something else bad will happen.” 

Although this evolutionary strategy has worked to the plant’s advantage in nature, it is a disadvantage for humans who want to ferment switchgrass’s biomass into biofuel. By understanding the root cause of this behavior, though, researchers can start looking for ways around it. 

“Now we can start looking for breeding solutions,” said Walker, an assistant professor in the College of Natural Science who also works in the MSU-Department of Energy Plant Research Laboratory. “We can start looking for plants that have an insatiable appetite for photosynthesis.” 

By Matt Davenport  

Read on MSUToday.  

### 

Michigan State University has been advancing the common good with uncommon will for more than 165 years. One of the world's leading research universities, MSU pushes the boundaries of discovery to make a better, safer, healthier world for all while providing life-changing opportunities to a diverse and inclusive academic community through more than 200 programs of study in 17 degree-granting colleges. 

For MSU news on the Web, go to MSUToday. Follow MSU News on Twitter at twitter.com/MSUnews. 

---

DOI

10.3389/fpls.2022.1023571 

Bales of switchgrass are gathered for transport at a Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center biofuels scale-up site at Michigan State’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research site.

Credit: J. E. Doll/Michigan State University

Switchgrass, a biofuel crop studied at Michigan State University, on a June morning.

Credit: B. Krasean/W.K. Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research

A photo of the Walker lab team at Michigan State University. In the front row, left to right: postdoctoral scholars Binod Basyal and Xinyu Fu, Assistant Professor Berkley Walker and graduate student Kaila Smith. In the back row, left to right: laboratory technician Heather Roney, graduate student Luke Gregory and postdoctoral scholars Kelem Gashu Alamrie and Mauricio Tejera-Nieves

Credit: Emily Walker 

Exclusive: U.S. oil industry seeks unusual alliance with Farm Belt to fight Biden electric vehicle agenda

By Jarrett Renshaw and Stephanie Kelly  

© Reuters/Jason Reed FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO:

 E85 Ethanol biodiesel fuel is shown being pumped into a vehicle at a gas station in Nevada, Iowa

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. oil industry is seeking to forge an alliance with the nation's corn growers and biofuel producers to lobby against the Biden administration's push for electric vehicles, but is so far meeting a cool reception, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

The effort marks an unusual attempt by the petroleum industry to cozy up to its long-time rivals, reflecting the scale of its concern over President Joe Biden's sweeping measures to combat climate change and tamp down fossil fuels.

While the oil industry and biofuels producers are natural competitors for space in America's gas tanks, they share a desire to ensure a future for internal combustion engines.

The effort also reflects the rapidly shifting political landscape in Washington: the oil industry's once-mighty influence has waned since Biden replaced Donald Trump as president, but the farm belt remains a vital and powerful political constituency.

The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers oil refining trade group confirmed it has been contacting state and national representatives of the corn and biofuel industries in recent weeks to seek support for a policy that would reduce the carbon-intensity of transport fuels and block efforts to provide federal subsidies for electric vehicles.

That proposal would be an alternative to Biden's stated goal of electrifying the nation's vehicle fleet and would ensure a continuing market for liquid fuels like gasoline and corn-based ethanol.

AFPM met in mid-January with some corn and biofuel industry lobbyists and some member refiners are hoping to host another meeting in February to discuss the future of liquid fuels.

"This whole idea was going to have to take a whole lot of time to gel, but we have made some progress," said Derrick Morgan, senior vice president at AFPM.

The industry's push to change the course of electric vehicle policy faces big headwinds: California has announced a ban on internal combustion engines by 2035, other states are considering similar measures, and auto-maker General Motors on Thursday announced it will produce only electric vehicles by then.

Geoff Cooper, head of the Renewable Fuels Association, a leading biofuel industry trade group, confirmed RFA representatives were invited to participate in the February meeting, but said his organization had not yet decided whether to attend.

"We weren't born yesterday and we're not going to let the oil industry play us like a fiddle," he said. "They have a long history of pushing surrogates and proxies to the microphone to do their dirty work and we're not interested in that."

The National Corn Growers Association is also considering whether to send staff the February discussion, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

NCGA CEO Jon Doggett told Reuters no such meeting had been scheduled, and distanced his group from the idea of an oil-corn alliance. "I have nothing to do with any refining groups. We haven't talked," he said.

Asked if any of its state-level member organizations were considering attending, Doggett replied, "We have dozens of groups. I can't know what all of them are planning."

Sources said the biofuel and corn industry is reluctant to join with the oil industry on this issue not just because of its longstanding rivalry with refiners, but also because it does not want to publicly oppose the energy policies of the new president.

WHIPLASH IN WASHINGTON

The refining sector enjoyed a seat at the table under former President Donald Trump, who was keen to bolster the oil and gas industry.

Biden marks a complete reversal. He entered the White House promising measures to restrain the oil industry, from pausing new drilling leases on public lands to contemplating tougher limits on emissions.

Biden this week pledged to buy 645,000 electric cars for the government vehicle fleet as part of a broader plan to advance EVs through vehicle procurement, infrastructure development and subsidies, threatening the multi-billion dollar gasoline market.

AFPM's Morgan said refiners are not scared of electric vehicles but dislike rigid government mandates. "What we have a problem with are heavy-handed mandates that take away consumer choice, either altogether or in large part. We don't think that's the right way forward," Morgan said.

The oil industry believes carbon emissions from fuel can be reduced by requiring increased octane content, which makes gasoline burn cleaner. Ethanol is a popular octane booster.

The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard currently requires refiners to blend biofuels like ethanol into fuels. As a result, most gasoline sold in the United States has about 10 percent ethanol in it. The biofuel industry has been pushing hard to ensure those mandates continue.

"It's no surprise the oil industry all of a sudden wants to give us a bear hug. We produce lower carbon fuels. They don't," said Emily Skor, head of the biofuel group Growth Energy.

(Re