Biofuels thread

[GRA]

No idea. It's not an issue at Bay Area A/P like SFO, where below freezing temps might occur once a year. [Edit] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deicing_fluid at the bottom under "Environmental impacts", where one corn-based fluid is described.

[Oilpan4]

Using it has almost 0 environmental impact, bacteria love to eat ethylene and propylene glycol once it gets into the environment.
It's the drilling, fracking, petrochemicaling that makes it.
Then corn. Corn is completely dependent upon the petrochemical industry. Ammonia fertilizer, pesticides, diesel fuel to power the machinery that plants, electricity it waters it, more diesel powered machines spray it, harvests it, transports it.

[GRA]

Using it has almost 0 environmental impact, bacteria love to eat ethylene and propylene glycol once it gets into the environment.
It's the drilling, fracking, petrochemicaling that makes it.
Then corn. Corn is completely dependent upon the petrochemical industry. Ammonia fertilizer, pesticides, diesel fuel to power the machinery that plants, electricity it waters it, more diesel powered machines spray it, harvests it, transports it.

Which is of course why sustainable agricultural practices are necessary for any bio-fuel to be sustainable. It's true that replacing fossil fuels for fertilizer and pesticide production (along with cement and iron) will be difficult and very expensive, so we need to put a lot more effort into it than we are currently, but diesel fuel is something that can be replaced now.

[GRA]

GCC:

UPS enters into RNG supply agreements with Kinetrex and TruStar; up to 80M gallon equivalents

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/0 ... 5-ups.html

UPS has entered into multi-year renewable natural gas (RNG) agreements with Kinetrex Energy and TruStar Energy. Together, these two contracts will supply UPS with up to 80 million gallon equivalents (GEs) of RNG over the terms of the agreements.

• The use of RNG is a very important part of UPS’ strategy to increase alternative fuel consumption to be 40% of total ground fuel purchases by 2025. We are using both liquid natural gas (LNG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) as bridging fuels to increase our use of RNG. This will have a measurable impact as RNG yields up to a 90% reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional diesel. Using RNG is what will ultimately help UPS meet its 2025 sustainability goals.
  
  —Mike Whitlatch, vice president of global energy and procurement, UPS

The Kinetrex Energy contract will supply UPS with up to 52.5 million GEs of RNG over the life of the contract to be used in its tractor-trailer vehicles throughout the Midwest. The RNG will be used to fuel UPS’s LNG-powered trucks in Chicago, Columbus, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Toledo.

Kinetrex will obtain the RNG from its Indy High BTU plant, a landfill facility on the south side of Indianapolis developed with EDL Energy and the South Side Landfill. The plant is currently under construction. When completed in March 2020, it will convert landfill methane to pipeline-quality natural gas.

The agreement also allows Kinetrex to supply UPS an additional 50 million gallons over the same period as Kinetrex develops additional RNG plants.

The TruStar Energy contract will supply UPS with up to 27.5 million GEs of RNG over the life of the contract to be used in California. The RNG will be used to fuel UPS’ CNG-powered trucks in both Visalia and Moreno Valley, Calif.

These two new agreements build on a prior RNG contract in which UPS agreed to purchase 170 million gallons of RNG, its biggest commitment to date. Over the next seven years, UPS has agreed to purchase 250 million gallon equivalents of RNG total, making the company the largest consumer of RNG in the transportation industry.

Additionally, UPS recently announced plans to purchase more than 6,000 natural gas-powered trucks through 2022. . . .

[GRA]

Both GCC:

Gevo secures funding from Queensland Waste to Biofutures (W2B) Fund

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/0 ... -gevo.html

. . . The W2B fund provides targeted funding for pilot, demonstration or commercially scalable biorefinery projects in Queensland that use conventional waste streams or biomass to produce bioenergy, biofuels and high-value bioproducts. . . .

Gevo supplied the renewable fuel used in Virgin Australia’s trial of sustainable aviation fuel at Brisbane Airport which was completed in June last year.

For this project, Gevo is evaluating the most likely 2G biomass to carbohydrate conversion process to use in conjunction with its proven carbohydrate to low carbon biofuel process.

Presently, at Gevo’s facility in Luverne, Minnesota, Gevo fractionates grain from sustainably produced crops to produce protein and animal feed while using the residual carbohydrate portion of the grain for fermentation to produce the intermediate chemical isobutanol.

The isobutanol is then chemically transformed using a hydrocarbon processing facility into renewable gasoline, diesel and SAF meeting ASTM D7566 (Standard Specification for Aviation Turbine Fuel Containing Synthesized Hydrocarbons). The SAF made by this process has very low sulfur, low particulates, and slightly higher energy density than petroleum-based jet fuel.

For every gallon of renewable hydrocarbons produced, like SAF, Gevo also produces approximately 10 pounds of protein that goes into the food supply chain and can sequester up to 2 pounds of carbon dioxide as carbon into the soil making it one of the only renewable jet fuels to produce both food and fuel while sequestering carbon dioxide and lowering the GHG emissions as compared to traditional fossil-based jet fuel.

US SecAg directs USDA fleet to increase biofuels usage; $100M for biofuels infrastructure program

https://www.greencarcongress.com/2020/0 ... -usda.html

US Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has directed the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to acquire alternative fueled vehicles (AFV) when replacing conventionally fueled vehicles. USDA owns and operates one of the largest civilian fleets in the Federal Government and this move to a fleet that can use E85 or biodiesel will increase efficiencies and performance.

Additionally, as part of the President’s October agreement to seek opportunities to facilitate the availability of higher biofuel blends across the country, USDA will make $100 million in grants available this year for the newly created Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program (HBIIP).

Through this program, transportation fueling and biodiesel distribution facilities will be able to apply for grants to help install, retrofit, and/or upgrade fuel storage, dispenser pumps, related equipment and infrastructure to be able to sell ethanol and biodiesel. The Department plans to publish application deadlines and other program information in the Federal Register this spring. . . .

USDA currently has 37,000 vehicles and replaces approximately 3,000 every year. Secretary Perdue directed USDA to:

• Acquire E85 or biodiesel-capable vehicles that meet USDA mission requirements;
  
  Use station locator websites and applications to fuel with E15, E85, and biodiesel where available;
  
  Prioritize the purchase of E15 for gasoline vehicles without E85 capability and the purchase of renewable diesel blends for diesel vehicles without B20 capability; and
  
  For USDA locations that have in-house refueling pumps, coordinate with fuel vendors to acquire and provide biofuel blends, including E15, E85, B20 and higher biodiesel blends, and renewable diesel blends.

These actions have the potential to increase USDA’s annual consumption of E15 by up to 9 million gallons, E85 by 10 million gallons, and biodiesel and renewable diesel blends by up to 3 million gallons.

As availability of E15, E85, and biodiesel expands through the nation, USDA has the opportunity to reach these goals and have a significant impact. Where biofuels are available, the USDA fleet is directed to use biofuels. . . .

[Nubo]

Is there a bio substitute for air craft and runway deicing.
A typical air port sprays thousands of gallons of petroleum chemical industry derived propylene glycol every winter.

According to Wikipedia, "Propylene glycol can also be obtained from glycerol, a byproduct from the production of biodiesel." Killing 2 birds with 1 stone?

[Oilpan4]

The byproducts left over from bio diesel are reused for "industrial cleaners" last time I checked.