Shell station starts selling E10 in Ottawa using wheat straw ethanol
A Shell station near Ottawa, Canada is leading the way in offering cellulosic ethanol at the pump. While many companies, including some in Canada, are working on making the biofuel, not many have gotten it to the refueling station. Blended at 10 percent with unleaded (E10), the ethanol is made by Iogen, which has a process that uses enzymes to chemically break down wheat straw until the cellulose molecules become ethanol. The most interesting part of this ethanol is that it isn't obtained from feedstock, but from agricultural waste. Both Shell and Iogen stated that the factory could produce up to 40,000 liters (10,500 gal) of cellulosic ethanol a month from their demonstration plant in Ottawa. Thanks to Chris for the tip!
UPDATE: It's not the first time.
[Source: Ottawa Sun]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 12:01PM (6/11/2009)
"The most interesting part of this ethanol is that it isn't obtained from feedstock, but from agricultural waste."
Gentlemen, there is no such thing as agricultural waste as that material is spread upon the field to fertilize next year's crop. IT’S NOT WASTE!
Since most commercial fertilizer is made from petroleum, what are they going to use to replace the plant nutrients in the fields? OIL!
This is about only ONE thing... using stupid greens to lobby corrupt politicians so that giant corporations can harvest taxpayer money!
Big Gov’t + Giant Corporations = Socialist FASCISM!
Adolph Hitler was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers' Party which was the 1920's Social-Progressive leader in Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_German_Workers_Party
Are we going down that path again?
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JML 12:15PM (6/11/2009)
Tim, there is plenty of agricultural waste. Straw compost does not have the same nutrient mix that the fields need, so there is only so much it can take. Farmers have a glut of straw that they sell cheaply, or let go to waste. A similar case can be made for other agricultural wastes, such as manure. It is senseless to not take advantage of these resources, and just let it rot.
Referring to Hitler in mundane arguments is quite childish and deserves no comment.
ebow 12:19PM (6/11/2009)
I don't know about your political rant, but I second your point that agricultural "waste" is truly waste. I would be very surprised if a significant percentage of wheat straw is actually being discarded, as in taken to the county dump. What will take the place of the straw in all its current applications?
Also, regarding this statement: "it isn't obtained from feedstock, but from agricultural waste." I'm pretty sure whatever you feed in to your process as input *is* your feedstock, whether it's ears of corn, wheat stalks, crude oil, or Crystal Pepsi.
ebow 12:21PM (6/11/2009)
I meant to write that I was seconding Tim's point that ag waste is *not* really waste. But JML might know better than me (very likely, as I'm neither a farmer nor a fuel specialist, nor do I know any). So is nothing productive really being done with most wheat straw?
Chris M 7:35PM (6/11/2009)
Tim, are you a farmer?
I didn't think so. The only reason farmers spread wheat straw on their fields is that is the simplest way to dispose of it. The problem with putting wheat straw on the fields is that straw doesn't contain much nitrates, but the soil bacteria and fungi that break it down need nitrates and take it from the soil. The result is MORE nitrogen containing fertilizer is needed when the straw is left on the fields! So, paradoxically, taking that straw off the fields actually reduces the amount of fertilizer needed.
Some dairy operations use the straw for animal bedding, but many wheat farmers don't have cattle to care for. Some is used to build straw bale houses, but that is obviously a limited demand. Straw had sometimes been burned in the field, but that leads to air pollution, and a potential wildfire risk.
So, the best option for many farmers may well be to make clean burning ethanol out of it, and reduce oil consumption.
As for that political rant, both Shell and Iogen are in it to turn farm waste into profit, not to "harvest taxpayer money".
Alan Alda 12:27PM (6/11/2009)
I disagree Tim.
This is about converting the energy of the sun into a liquid fuel which is completely renewable, clean, and does not "compete" with food. (compete is aa misleading term to begin with)
If your theory of "permanent removal" were valid you would not drive a quarter mile on gas because that ts "permanent removal" even more so. If you drive 1 mile on gasoline after that rant that would make you a hypocrite.
Contrary to what you state, biomass plant material to fuel is very environmentally sound.
You are grasping at straws now that you cannot get behind the falsities of the food vs. fuel debate, now you claim that non food biomass should not be used.
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gorr 3:10PM (6/11/2009)
Ottawa is sold from long time ago to the same high financial political circles that try to hack every once of energy from anyone till death. They even bouth quebec province to 4x the taxes on driving permits and car and motorcycles registration fees 2 years ago for security reason like usually. Anyone that is not in this subsidies circle is a terrorist as said by them. They don't feel part of the human race, that's why barack started the human laboratory genome research. They want to know what's inside the brain of jewish peoples. So if you start your own business without subsidies from that gang, then you end up been on the terrorist list, even if you do 10 000$/year.
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Orng Crush 5:58PM (6/11/2009)
The truth is finally out there. Thank you Gorr.
oldraven 10:37AM (6/12/2009)
So the Federal Government is now dictating Provincial registration taxes? That's news to me. Quebec's registration fees are set by Quebec, not Ottawa. Ottawa has no power to tell Provincial Governments to quadruple their non-Federal taxes. The Quebec Government raises taxes because they either hate themselves, or they're trying to make up for the cost of keeping Canada's craziest drivers alive and driving.
Way to prove once again that Americans think they understand a fraction of our daily life up here in Canada. The rest of us know the truth about that, though. You're severely ignorant to the world outside your borders. But if it makes a rant, it must be true, right? Wrong.
Carney 3:30PM (6/11/2009)
It's fine to use inedible biomass to make alcohol fuel (especially methanol), but doing so to make ethanol because of misguided food vs. fuel fears related to normal ethanol (or caving to political pressure from the ignorant and loud) is sad and unnecessary. Furthermore, waiting for years for until enough research and capital for biomass ethanol has come by to adopt ethanol on a widespread basis is a huge mistake, with years of additional pollution and economic vulnerability and giving OPEC years of additional monopoly revenue to spend on waging war against us.
In my view, the attention and funds cellulosic ethanol have received are far out of proportion to what is appropriate.
Today, with no further research necessary, any and all biomass can be already be turned into alcohol fuel: methanol with an M. That includes crop residues, woody substances, weeds such as kudzu and water hyacinths, offal, rice bran, and sewage. Not to mention urban trash (even styrofoam), the "black liquor" from paper mills, and more.
Fully flex-fueled vehicles can run on gasoline or any alcohol fuel (such as methanol, ethanol, propanol, butanol, etc.) and not at just 10% of the fuel like E10 but 100% like E100 or M100 (although in reality it will likely be sold as E85 and M85. The cost to add this capability is about $130 per car for automakers, and the Big 3 domestics are ahead of the competition for once on this technology. We should make this capability a required standard feature in all new cars like seatbelts.
Email your Member of Congress urging support of HR 1476, the Open Fuel Standards Act.
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Snowdog 4:05PM (6/11/2009)
So now even cellulosic ethanol is bad. Seemingly because it distracts from corn welfare juice.
Priceless Ethanol BS from "I am not a Lobbyist" Carny, who closes his post asking us to lobby congress for him. Hilarious stuff. Keep it up.
Carney 5:26PM (10/26/2009)
Snowdog, I've been making skeptical or critical comments about cellulosic ethanol for a long time.
And again if I were a lobbyist for the corn ethanol industry I wouldn't be talking about methanol so much, or calling on us to drop our tariff on cheap foreign sugarcane ethanol. Both things are like crosses to a vampire to the corn ethanol lobby.
What am is a private citizen who supports the work of groups like the Set America Free Coalition http://www.setamericafree.org/ because I read the book "Energy Victory" by Dr. Robert Zubrin http://www.energyvictory.net/. And I only came across THAT book because I was already a fan of his space exploration advocacy efforts.
Naturally if I want a mandate that all new cars be fully flex fueled I'm going to ask everyone who agrees to do the one thing that would most help make that happen.
3PeaceSweet 3:53PM (6/11/2009)
Or you can use the straw to make biomethane in a digester (much better energy return than ethanol, no need for the distillation) and then return the digestate to the soil afterwards. Then as transport demand switches towards electric you can use the biomethane to generate electricity.
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Carney 4:00PM (6/11/2009)
The problem with methane is that it is a gas, making it an inconvenient vehicle fuel. It must be cryogenically liquefied or put under high pressure to be useful, and either drastically increases the costs, risks, and/or weight of storage and transport.
By dramatic contrast, methanol and ethanol are liquids and can be used in a flex fuel vehicle that has only minor modifications compared to a gasoline-only vehicle.
A "bi-fueled" methane-gasoline compatible vehicle needs separate fuel tanks (and two fuel guages), must shut down and throw a switch to switch fuels, and must use heavy, high pressure bulky cylindrical fuel tanks for the methane. This is expensive, awkward, and user unfriendly.
Snowdog 4:49PM (6/11/2009)
Making electricity bio methane is likely the most efficient way to go.
BMW is doing similar here:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/06/11/bmw-expands-landfill-methane-electrical-generation-at-spartanbur/
Really in the end. The ultimate flex fuel vehicle is an EV, as you can convert any energy into electricity.
3PeaceSweet 5:02PM (6/11/2009)
Methane can be stored in an adsorbed state under lower pressure in tanks of any shape, and the fuel can switched on the go.
A far better use of the methane would be to dual fuel with diesel in large vehicles where small amounts of diesel is used as a liquid spark plug to ignite the methane in the cylinders.
Bill 8:26PM (6/11/2009)
The biggest question remains: at what price?
Cellulose is a difficult substance to break down into fermentable sugars compared to corn.
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