Memphis Biofuels

I heard an interesting report on Memphis Biofuels on WKNO yesterday. The website had a transcription, but if you prefer to listen, to click here.

Memphis Biofuels Tour
Candice Ludlow

MEMPHIS, TN (2008-09-18) As fuel prices continue to fluctuate and remain high, scientists search for renewable fuel sources to free America from foreign oil. Candice Ludlow reports on how one organization in Memphis is using animal fat.

Memphis Biofuels is located in an old, converted Proctor and Gamble cotton seed storage and fats processing facility, just off of Airways in Orange Mound. On most days, tanker trucks pull up to the dock to fill up with biodiesel. It doesn't look like much. A small building attached to the dock, a weigh station and a gravel parking lot. Just beyond the dusty parking lot is the refinery.

At Memphis Biofuels, they use rendered animal fats, which arrive by rail and truck.

Ken Arnold is the President and CEO of the biodiesel refinery. He said as they were gearing up for production in 2006 that the price for soybeans skyrocketed, so they had to come up with an alternative feedstock, rendered animal fats.

Our first stop is the control room. Ken Arnold shows us how everything in the refinery is controlled by a series of computers that are manned by two engineers to ensure that they make quality biodiesel.

Now, we're heading into the refinery itself - We walk in between several large, gray tanks. A couple of them look like corrugated cardboard, but their metal. Pipes run throughout the plant. The ground is wet, and railroad tracks run through.

Then methanol and glycerin are separated from the crude biodiesel. They re-use the methanol and sell the glycerin as a by-product.

Then they cool the methanol to use again.

Currently, biodiesel is cheaper than diesel, says Ken Arnold. That's because the government subsidizes its production.

They have no problem selling the biodiesel. They don't even have to ship it because the city and Pilot picks it up as fast as they make it.

As we leave the refinery, we cross the gravel parking lot and see a Pilot tanker filling up with biodiesel that will then be blended with diesel at area Pilot stations. They supply area Pilot stations with a biodiesel blend. Ken Arnold says, Pilot will take as much as they can make. Pilot and city tanker trucks pull into the filling station at Memphis Biofuels almost daily. Locally, a biodiesel blend is available at area Pilot stations, gas stations and some farmer co-ops.

Cow Dung Batteries

Cell phone chargers can be major energy vampires, but apparently not in parts of India. This is a clip from the Times of India.

Now, charge your cell with dung!
23 Jan 2007, 2329 hrs IST, Radha Sharma,TNN

AHMEDABAD: What do you do if you are left without electricity for long stretches of time? You make your own electricity. Simple. Niruttam Kumar Singh and Harvansh Yadav, a student-teacher duo from Gangagarh village in Bulandshaher, Uttar Pradesh, have made a cow dung battery that lights up electric bulbs, charges mobile phones and brings alive radios!

"In Gangagarh,we barely get five hours of electricity daily, making it difficult for students to study at night," says Yadav,who is in Ahmedabad to showcase his innovation at a workshop on 'Green Grassroots Innovation, Incubation and Enterprises' organised by the Society for Research and initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions (SRISTI) at IIM-Ahmedabad.

Three years ago, Yadav and Niruttam, a class 7, student came together to resolve the issue. "We knew cow dung produced biogas and decided to experiment with it to produce electricity.

We collected cow dung in a plastic container and put two discharged batteries in it. As we charged cow dung with a salt water solution, the positive and negative charges produced were collected in the batteries and interconnected in series to produce a current," Niruttan said.

The duo charged mobile phones with their innovation. "Each unit produces 1.5 volts of current," says Niruttam, adding, "The cow dung needs to be replaced once in 45 days. If one wants more efficiency, one can put sulphuric acid."

The two proudly say that their innovation has changed life in Bulandshaher. "Around 250 households in Gangagarh and neighbouring Kamonah, Jinamai, Risoolgarh and other villages use our battery to light bulbs and listen to radio. We teach them how to make such batteries free."

Niruttam is now planning to improve the design. "We want to use something that doesn't give a foul smell — cow urine perhaps." Meanwhile, this innovation is all set to charge mobile phones at Gujarat University. "We are planning to put a mobile phone charging unit in the campus for students," says professor Anil Gupta of SRISTI.

Greasecars

Move over John Travolta, grease is taking on a whole new meaning.

While browsing the CA's website this morning, I also saw a video of Michael Strieder at German Auto Tech in West Memphis demonstrating how he uses vegetable oil for gas in his deisel engine.

Yes, vegetable oil. When Rudolf Diesel introduced his signature engine at the 1900 Paris Exposition, he said he'd designed his engine so farmers could grow their own fuel. Most diesel engines were indeed run on vegetable oil until the 1920s, when the petroleum industry promoted a gasoline byproduct as diesel fuel.

When I attended Andrew Couch's demonstration of alternative fuels a couple of weeks ago, he told me about Deep Fried Rides, the company he started before getting involved in the West Tennessee Clean Cities Coalition.

Deep Fried Rides uses the Greasecar Vegetable Oil Conversion System, which is an auxiliary fuel modification system that allows diesel vehicles to run on straight vegetable oil (SVO) in any climate. These conversions are ideally suited for people who do a lot of driving. (The vehicle must start and stop on diesel because the engine needs to be warmed up in order to heat the vegetable oil.)

The conversion costs $1850-$3600 at Deep Fried Rides. (Or you can install the kit yourself for $850-$2000.)

It requires a fair bit of time to power a vehicle with waste oil. Many people collect used oil from restaurants, which is free, but they have to filter it themselves, like Michael Strieder at German Auto Tech in West Memphis above.

Greasecar's website offers a lot of good information on collecting and filtering oil. And there are numerous YouTube videos and promotional DVDs that you can purchase.

Veggie powered cars obviously aren't for everyone, but that may not be a bad thing. With an estimated 100 million gallons of waste restaurant oil generated annually, it's only enough to replace about 0.07 percent of the 140 billion gallons of gas Americans use each year.

For straight answers to frequently asked questions, visit Car Talk.

A couple of greasecar enthusiasts/filmmakers, put together a documentary called Greasy Rider. Here's the trailer:

Alternative Energy

Yesterday I attended a presentation on biofuels at Getwell Elementary's CLUE Camp. The week long camp focused on alternative energy sources and culminated in a field trip to Memphis Biofuels and a "cookout" using class-made solar ovens.


Andrew Couch, of the West Tennessee Clean Cities Coalition, did a great job of discussing alternative fuels and energy-efficiency in a way that the kids could relate to. He brought along a bicycle powered generator that stored enough energy to run his laptop and a small lamp. Of course, every camper wanted a turn generating energy! (Imagine what kids in our country would look like if they had to generate their own electricity in order to watch TV or play video games!)


Once the kids saw how the generator worked, Andrew explained how all energy ultimately comes from the sun. For example, the sun helped grow the food that each camper ate for breakfast which in turn gave the campers calories to burn while riding the bike which powered the laptop. "Calories into kilowatts," he mused.


The sun also produced petroleum. Andrew explained, "Millions of years ago, ancient sunlight was stored in plants and animals like dinosaurs. When the dinosaurs died, they decomposed and turned into black, funky stuff, which eventually became petroleum."

Next there was a discussion about how ancient fuel sources are limited and how important it is to conserve and look for renewable sources of energy. Andrew explained how biodiesel is created from soybeans and chicken fat. My favorite part of this lesson was when Andrew asked the kids to name some other animal fats that could be used to create biodiesel.

"Cat fat!" one kid yelled.

"Tiger fat!" said another.

Ethanol, his next example which was made from alcohol, seemed much less exciting in comparison! However we learned that all gas in Memphis has at least some ethanol in it.

Next up, Andrew explained how most of our electricity today is produced by burning coal which in turn gives off emissions. "Everything gives off emissions," Andrew said. "If you took a shower this morning you are giving off a nice smelling soapy emission. If you didn't take a shower, then you are emitting a different smell."

The problem with coal's emissions, of course, is that they pollute the air and contribute to global warming. Andrew wrapped up his presentation by having the kids brainstorm ways to save energy at home. I was very impressed by their level of knowledge.

Here are a few of their suggestions:

1. Unplug the TV when you are not watching it.
2. Turn off the lights in your room when you leave.
3. Turn off the water when you are brushing your teeth.
4. Bring your own bags to the grocery store.
5. Take shorter showers.
6. Don't stand in front of the refrigerator with the door open.
7. Use both sides of your paper.
8. Recycle.
9. Adjust the thermostat when you leave the house or go to sleep.
10. Don't buy things you don't need.

The West Tennessee Clean Cities Coalition is working with the EPA and the local Health Department to create an energy awareness curriculum for grades K-12. They hope to implement it in 2009.

See more of Andrew's presentation on next month's Memphis Energized.

Put Some Algae in Your Tank

Talk about going green!

Algae emerges as new fuel source
By ROSALIE WESTENSKOW

As climate change and rising oil prices intensify the search for alternative energy sources, researchers are on the brink of commercializing algae for fuel, experts say.

These small, plantlike organisms could be used as feedstocks for ethanol or other biofuels, replacing some of the traditional sources of ethanol, such as corn or soybeans.

Algae possess several characteristics that could propel them to the forefront of the renewable fuels industry. Top among these qualities is the ability to grow rapidly and with few inputs, such as fresh water or fertilizer, said Thomas Byrne of Byrne and Co. Ltd., a firm that provides advice on renewable energy projects.

"Algae grow pretty much everywhere in the world … (and) it doesn't draw from drinking water," Byrne said at discussion on algae at the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing in Chicago this week. "One of the arguments against (traditional) ethanol is that grain-based fuels use a fair amount of groundwater."

Read the full article here

Burning Green

MLGW is an original founding partner of the West Tennessee Clean Cities Coalition, which was created in August 2005 to help reduce our nation’s dependence on high carbon fuels and improve air quality by advancing the use of energy efficient technologies and cleaner burning, domestically produced renewable energy.

MLGW's role is to support clean and alternative energy fuels such as biodiesel (B20) and ethanol (E85) by using it in our operations when financially and operationally feasible.

In August of 2007, the Brunswick Service Center received their first shipment of B20 from Memphis Biofuels. Brunswick goes through approximately 10,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel per month. As long as the price of biodiesel is not too expensive compared to ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD), MLGW will continue purchasing B20 instead of ULSD.

MLGW employees have been pretty positive about using B20, which is about the same with regards to gas mileage, performance, etc. to ULSD. The only potential problem with B20 is gelling due to the cold weather. So far, there haven’t been any problems with engines not starting.

Later this year, there are plans to purchase flex fuel vehicles which utilize ethanol-blended fuel. Underground storage tanks will be installed to house the ethanol fuel at one or more of the service centers.

In addition, MLGW also has 10 hybrid vehicles in its fleet—four Priuses and six Ford Escape Hybrids. MLGW will continue to add hybrids to its fleet when they become more affordable and/or when Federal credits are available.