Biofuels Update: Report on U.S. Department of Energy Biofuels

Volume Five • Issue One Winter 1997

Report on U.S. Department of Energy Biofuels Technology

Ford Evaluates E-85 Minivans for Fleet Use

Ford Motor Company, in a test program with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS), the Illinois Corn Growers Association (ICGA), Assn./PIX 04605

and the states of Illinois and s Wisconsin, modified 15 Ford Windstar minivans to run on either gasoline or E-85 (85% ethanol and 15% gasoline blends), or a combination of both, begin- ning in early March. “The actual conversions are being performed by Livernois Engineering in Dearborn,

Michigan, under Ford supervi- Photo Courtesy of Illinois Corn Grower’ sion,” said Norm Marek, program manager for the Alternative Fuels E-85 Ford Windstar Minivan Program for the State of Illinois, “and all the vehicles are under full in Chicago and one at the USPS its E-85 vehicles, but will delay factory warranty by Ford for E-85 Research and Development Center purchasing large numbers of the fuel.” ICGA worked closely with in Merrifield, Virginia. flexible fuel vehicles because too Ford to initiate this program, and “The E-85 Tauruses in our few refueling sites are available. will help collect data on the fleet are used to test fuel economy The State of Wisconsin Windstars’ performance. and emissions,” said Han Dinh, a received four E-85 Windstar “We will operate only USPS engineer. “We plan to use the minivans and placed two each in one Windstar, to be used in Windstars for express mail deliver- Milwaukee and Madison. Research promotional activities,” said Jim ies.” According to Dinh, USPS is Tarmann, ICGA field services pleased with the performance of See ”Minivan” on page 2 director. “Our use will center around promoting this vehicle and ethanol as an alternative fuel.” Chrysler Corporation will step forward in the alternative According to Tarmann, ICGA fuels race when it unveils its ethanol-powered minivan worked closely with the USPS for in model year 1998. The Dodge Grand Caravan and the more than 5 years to find a vehicle Chrysler Grand Voyager are flexible-fuel vehicles, powered it can use in day-to-day opera- by either gasoline or E-85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% tions. The USPS will operate gasoline. They are available in all- or front-wheel drive. three E-85 Windstars in DeKalb, Illinois, two in Des Moines, Iowa, Both vehicles, priced at $17,235, will be void of any incre- and one in Washington, D.C. mental costs, and will be sold only to General Services Also, it already has five E-85 Administration fleet customers. Tauruses in operation, with four

Printed with a renewable-source ink on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste Biofuels UPDATE 2

rice straw-to-ethanol production with the group responsible for col- DOE Ethanol facility. Project goals include: lecting data: Project Updates • Demonstrate biomass conver- • Feedstock supply and delivery sion technology on rice straw systems (QLG) • Integrate the ethanol process • Site selection (QLG and Plumas Gridley’s Rice Straw to with other technologies to allow Corporation) Ethanol Project the biomass to be converted • Design and cost estimates into ethanol and to operate with Because of environmental (NREL) no detriment (and with possible regulations and community pres- • Financial evaluation and sensi- benefits) to the environment sure to reduce air pollution in tivity analysis (NREL) California, DOE’s National • Acquire additional cost-share • Environmental issues Renewable Energy Laboratory funding to complete Phase II, (California Energy Commission (NREL) is working with SWAN if Phase I demonstrates sound [CEC]) economics Biomass to evaluate the potential • Market issues (California for turning rice straw, a major • Acquire financial commitments Department of Food and source of air pollutants when to design, construct, and operate Agriculture and CEC) a full-scale commercial facility. burned in the fields, into ethanol. • Socioeconomic impacts (QLG) “Our goal is to work with our Phase II is geared toward “An important part of both industrial partners to build a bio- obtaining data to develop a busi- studies is the feedstock supply mass waste-to-ethanol facility ness plan, including pilot-scale issue,” said Yancey. “We are trying before the turn of the century,” said testing and refining costs for any to determine the costs associated John Ferrell, director of the Office private corporation that would with transporting the biomass of Fuels Development at DOE. continue the project. materials from the original loca- “So far, the Gridley project “If there were a planned tions to the processing facilities.” is a two-step plan,” said Mark Phase III, companies identified in Yancey, a senior project coordina- Phase II would have to continue tor at NREL. “Phase I was com- the project and conduct day-to- Minivan (continued from page 1) pleted in February and we have day operations,” said Yancey. decided to continue into Phase II.” includes vehicle user convenience, cost analysis on vehicle operations, Phase I consisted of what Quincy Library Group tailpipe emissions, and a cold-start Yancey called a “pre-feasibility Proposal study,” in which laboratory experi- analysis. The Illinois fleet will run ments are run to determine con- The Quincy Library Group similar tests, but will also use con- version yields and rates of the rice (QLG), together with DOE, NREL, ventional motor oil in two of its straw and combustion properties and other project partners, has four Windstars. In the past, all of residuals from fermentation. initiated a study to determine the ethanol-powered vehicles used SWAN Biomass, a business part- economic, environmental, and reg- motor oil designed specifically nership formed by Amoco ulatory feasibility of four facilities for use with the alternative fuel. Corporation and Stone & Webster designed to process forestry “Using conventional motor oil Engineering, formulated a model wastes into ethanol. This concept is much more economical,” said to estimate project economics, has become increasingly important Marek. “The oil normally used in which will help determine during recent years, as excess dry ethanol-powered vehicles costs whether the Gridley project and decaying wood has con- three times as much. We have peri- is likely to turn a profit. tributed significantly to several odically sent oil samples to Ford The objective of the study is to major forest fires. The four pro- for chemical analysis.” identify and evaluate two sites in posed sites, located in the Sierras Ford has no plan to produce California, one near Biggs and the of California are Westwood, the E-85 Windstar for government second in Orreville, and to deter- Chester, Greenville, and Loyalton. fleets, but Illinois State officials mine their potential for long-term The Quincy Project’s seven are pleased with the vehicle per- operation of a financially sound major tasks are listed below, along formance and hope to see it mass produced by the year 2000.

Winter 1997 3 Biofuels UPDATE

Pacific Rim, and can store 20,000 a daily production capacity of gallons of raw oil and 15,000 gal- 70,000 gallons. NOPEC focuses lons of biodiesel. It can also on the marine market, and has Biodiesel Plants process 150,000 gallons of an agreement with Boats U.S., a Biodiesel biodiesel annually. The biodiesel top marine marketing company. Sprout Up across is derived from waste cooking oil NOPEC also services 11 distribu- the United States and collected throughout Maui tion centers around the country County. The County is also a cus- for its biodiesel products. The Biodiesel, a renewable diesel tomer of the plant, and uses the company markets its biodiesel in replacement, is growing in applica- fuel in dump trucks and refuse 20% blends for use in U.S. Postal tion and demand, and gains atten- collection trucks. Service vehicles and school buses statewide, and in low-level blends tion as it moves through American Twin Rivers Society of Testing and Materials as diesel additive enhancers (ASTM) procedures. According to Technologies L.P (Lubricyl or BioBooster). Jeff Horvath, chief executive officer In November 1996, the U.S. Ag Environmental Products of the National Biodiesel Board, Environmental Protection Agency the fuel recently received a provi- (EPA) certified Twin Rivers Ag Environmental Products sional ASTM standard, a leap Technologies’ (TRT) Envirodiesel, (AEP), a division of Ag Processing toward industry acceptance. a trademark brand of biodiesel, as Inc., began producing biodiesel More work must be done the nation’s first alternative fuel last November for transportation before the fuel can be fully inte- for use in meeting Clean Air Act uses. AEP’s new facility in grated nationwide, but some (CAA) compliance under the Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, can produce entrepreneurs have already agency’s Urban Bus Retrofit/ 6.85 million gallons of the soy- opened biodiesel plants to meet Rebuild Program. The EPA based fuel a year. Currently, AEP- expected demands. Recent plant certification allows the use of produced 20% biodiesel blends openings and market develop- Envirodiesel, blended with its are used in snow removal vehicles ments are highlighted below. petroleum-based counterpart, in Ohio State fleets. AEP will evaluate biodiesel’s potential as a Pacific Biodiesel, Inc. in conjunction with a catalytic converter, to reduce urban bus air lubricity component for conven- Pacific Biodiesel, Inc., opened pollution and achieve CAA com- tional diesel. AEP hopes the pro- its doors in December 1996 and is pliance. TRT’s Envirodiesel is the gram will cover refueling sites in the newest of the five U.S.-based industry’s only CAA-approved 19 soybean-producing states. biodiesel plants in operation. It is fuel. TRT has actively produced Columbus Foods the first biodiesel plant in the biodiesel since 1994, and has an annual produc- Columbus Foods, a Chicago- tion capacity of based food-grade oil distributor more than 30 for more than 60 years, opened million gallons a biodiesel plant last fall that per year. can produce 200,000 gallons of biodiesel annually from a variety NOPEC of feedstocks, including waste oil, Jill Hamilton/PIX 04619 Corporation animal fats, virgin soybean oil, NOPEC and sludge from the city’s sanita- Corporation, tion district. The Chicago Transit in Lakeland, Authority and the American Florida, has an Sightseeing Bus Company each annual produc- run one bus on Columbus Foods tion capacity biodiesel in 20% blends. Both have of 22 million agreed to log at least 100,000 miles Larry Zolezzi and Carl Nagata at Pacific Biodiesel plant gallons, with on each bus during the test period. in Maui

Winter 1997 Biofuels UPDATE 4

DOE-Funded Hybrid Hits the Road

In an effort to teach univer- University of Maryland engineer- Not only is the car’s engine sity students about cutting-edge ing students Fred Householder, a hybrid mixture of electric and automotive technologies, DOE George Martin, Ian Evans, and internal combustion technologies, and the Society of Automotive Mayette San Jaun. but the entire automobile is a con- Engineers (SAE) jointly sponsored The students used a 1991 glomerate of vehicle technologies. the development of an ethanol- Saturn SL2 HEV sedan to win The internal combustion engine fueled hybrid electric vehicle the 1994 DOE/SAE Future Car is a Geo Metro (Suzuki) three- (HEV) as part of the Future Car Challenge. DOE provides limited cylinder 1.0-liter engine dedicated Challenge. SAE president David funding for individual teams and to E-85 fuel and equipped with an Holloway joined in the effort helps test vehicles. alcohol-specific, three-way catalyst to drive the vehicle from “We’ve put hundreds of engineered to reduce particulate Washington, D.C., to Detroit, thousands of dollars into the emission levels. A Cadillac electric Michigan. Challenge, but the students raise vacuum pump is used with the Holloway arrived in Detroit most of the money themselves by hybrid power brake system. on February 21, in time to attend finding their own sponsors,” said “This hybrid is one the kinds the SAE International Congress Phil Patterson, an industry econo- of vehicles we’ll be driving in the and Exposition and be officially mist at DOE. “The only things 21st century,” said Holloway. acknowledged as president of the DOE gave the Maryland students 71,000-member organization. were the car and about $10,000.” Accompanying him were four

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