Forecast Calls for Climate-Smart Business (Part 2): Paul Douglas

April 25th, 2012

What You Can Do | EPI

Forecast Calls for Climate-Smart Business (Part 2): Paul Douglas – Businessweek

When will American business wake up to the scientific reality of climate change? When the common-sense moderate middle wakes up. When pragmatic entrepreneurs and investors realize an intransigent, inflexible and, worst of all, factually incorrect political stance could lose the U.S. global influence and mountains of cash. We risk our technological and engineering — and moral — leadership to other countries if we continue to deny and debate established science. I’m a moderate Republican, a Penn State-trained meteorologist and small-business owner, and I’m disheartened by my party’s refusal to acknowledge the physical evidence of climate change. The denial is disconcerting in and of itself, but it could also have serious and long-term economic consequences. Action in the U.S. is being held back by a potent concoction of political mendacity about science, misleading talking points from anti-science groups, blind party loyalty (on all sides), investment barriers, century-old energy business models and generation gaps.

The 21st century will be won by the nation that solves the energy-and-climate problem — and the United States is tripping over itself at the starting line. Something interesting happens once you acknowledge the world is changing: new opportunities emerge. The beauty of free enterprise is that it empowers individuals to take advantage of change. Any smart company or nation is always in what software developers call “perpetual beta,” a state of continuous reinvention and testing of new products, services and business models. Entrepreneurs new and old thrive on invention and reinvention. They come as young as three-year-old Ever Cat Fuels, in Anoka, Minnesota, which makes fuel from plant oils and animal fats using zircon catalysts. It’s a closed-loop process that uses no water and provides its own power supply. They come as venerable as 120-year-old General Electric, which in May 2005 launched its Ecomagination strategy. The portfolio has generated $85 billion in sales through 2010, in everything from lighting, to solar and wind power, to aviation. You don’t have to be General Electric to see opportunity. As traditional climate patterns become less predictable, weather forecasting services have vast new opportunities to help. The year 2010 was the world’s most severe since 1816, according to Weather Underground’s Jeff Masters. After a record 14 billion-dollar U.S. disasters in 2011, reinsurers, such as Swiss Re and Willis Re, have warned that extreme weather impacts will only increase. The opportunity for innovation and job-creation is staggering.

That’s why last summer my partners and I launched WeatherNation TV, an information hub for cable television and mobile devices. Our mission: 24/7 storm reports and neighborhood-level forecasts, giving Americans the reliable information streams they need to stay safe in this new “weather-on-steroids” environment. I launched Smart Energy in 2010. We run hyper-local wind models, so wind farms can predict power loads for the grid with greater reliability and profitability. Commercial real estate can use the models to better anticipate outside weather. Automatic adjustments can save companies 15 percent to 30 percent on energy consumption. Our weather intelligence software saves farmers money by shutting down irrigation when a storm is imminent. I’m putting my money where my mouth is, launching new services to leverage a warmer, stormier, carbon-light world. Forward-thinking companies are not waiting for congressional approval or poll results. A recent Harvard Business School working paper shows that companies that have sustainability strategies outperform peers that don’t. America’s smartest corporations know a dirty little secret: sustainability is good business. If we don’t jump on these new opportunities we risk conceding leadership to China, Asia and Europe, where there has been no substantial “debate” about climate science for years. They have accepted the facts as facts. And the fact is, if we burn the carbon reserves still in the ground our kids and grandkids will inherit a radically different planet. It’s a moral, as well as technological challenge. Acknowledging climate science doesn’t make you a liberal. It makes you literate.

If you’re in business, it can make you richer. If you’re in the military, it will leave you safer. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, a former Mississippi governor, speaks proudly of the service’s history of taking the U.S. fleet from sail to coal and from coal to oil; of deploying nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and submarines — and now of making biofuels for jets. “Every single time, from the 1850s to today, you’ve got naysayers… And every single time they’ve been wrong,” Mabus said earlier this year. Half of the Navy’s energy consumption, ashore and afloat, will be from alternative energy sources by 2020, he pledged. My youngest son, Brett, is graduating from the Naval Academy next month, then heading to Pensacola. He’ll be flying choppers or jets; F-18s that can already run on biofuels. The Navy is serious about renewables and alternative fuels. Because it’s the best way forward: protecting our troops, securing supply lines, creating economies of scale that will make biofuels more competitive, leaving the Navy less vulnerable to price shocks in the oil markets. Go Navy! Beat Army.

It’s difficult to understand politicians’ rejection of scientific facts. Maybe they think acknowledging such an all-encompassing environmental issue makes them look weak. But there’s something else that makes them — and by default, America — look weak: Losing the race of the century. Paul Douglas is a Twin Cities meteorologist and the founder of five companies, including WeatherNation TV, a new 24-hour weather channel. Read Part 1 here.

Visit www.bloomberg.com/sustainability for the latest from Bloomberg News about energy, natural resources and global business.


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Indian Man Single-Handedly Plants a 1,360 Acre Forest

April 20th, 2012

Indian Man Single-Handedly Plants a 1,360 Acre Forest


PhBasumata/CC BY 3.0

A little over 30 years ago, a teenager named Jadav “Molai” Payeng began burying seeds along a barren sandbar near his birthplace in northern India’sAssam region to grow a refuge for wildlife. Not long after, he decided to dedicate his life to this endeavor, so he moved to the site where he could work full-time creating a lush new forest ecosystem. Incredibly, the spot today hosts a sprawling 1,360 acre of jungle that Payeng planted single-handedly.

The Times of India recently caught up with Payeng in his remote forest lodge to learn more about how he came to leave such an indelible mark on the landscape:

It all started way back in 1979 when floods washed a large number of snakes ashore on the sandbar. One day, after the waters had receded, Payeng , only 16 then, found the place dotted with the dead reptiles. That was the turning point of his life.

“The snakes died in the heat, without any tree cover. I sat down and wept over their lifeless forms. It was carnage . I alerted the forest department and asked them if they could grow trees there. They said nothing would grow there. Instead, they asked me to try growing bamboo. It was painful, but I did it. There was nobody to help me. Nobody was interested,” says Payeng, now 47.

While it’s taken years for Payeng’s remarkable dedication to planting to receive some well-deserved recognition internationally, it didn’t take long for wildlife in the region to benefit from the manufactured forest. Demonstrating a keen understanding of ecological balance, Payeng even transplanted ants to his burgeoning ecosystem to bolster its natural harmony. Soon the shadeless sandbar was transformed into a self-functioning environment where a menagerie of creatures could dwell. The forest, called the Molai woods, now serves as a safe haven for numerous birds, deers, rhinos, tigers, and elephants — species increasingly at risk from habitat loss elsewhere.

Despite the conspicuousness of Payeng’s project, Forestry officials in the region first learned of this new forest in 2008 — and since then they’ve come to recognize his efforts as truly remarkable, but perhaps not enough.

“We’re amazed at Payeng,” says Assistant Conservator of Forests, Gunin Saikia. “He has been at it for 30 years. Had he been in any other country, he would have been made a hero.”

See also: Best of Green 2012: Science

Tags: Endangered Species | Forestry | India


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7 Good Reasons to Quit Drinking Bottled Water Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/7-good-reasons-to-quit-drinking-bottled-water.html#ixzz1oq6K0oNb

March 11th, 2012

7 Good Reasons to Quit Drinking Bottled Water | Care2 Healthy Living

Listen, laugh & learn with the Green Divas (and Green Dude Scott) anytime - Podcast here! We had an extra Green Diva Meg in the house today! Our special guest Green Diva Meghan Van Dyk, the editor of the Daily Record’s Grassroots section was in the studio to help kick off our new weekly segment called, Gettin Local with the Green Divas: Wherever You Are!

This segment is sponsored by the Daily Record’s Grassroots section and will focus on highlighting interesting stories and events within our community that help to illustrate and celebrate our community’s sustainability progress and share ideas with other communities around the country . . . or the world for that matter! Why We Should Care Please join us in being part of the solution! Visit our Why Should We Care Campaign page and please donate (and get some awesome goodies when you do)! Sleeping Naked is Green segment: 

No More Water Bottles 7 Good Reasons to Quit Drinking Bottled Water The U.S. is the largest consumer market for bottled water in the world, followed by Mexico, China, and Brazil.  In 2008, U.S. bottled water sales topped 8.6 billion gallons, which represented 28.9% of the U.S. liquid beverage market. The average American drinks 21 gallons of bottled water per year. According to MSNBC, the use of water bottles increased dramatically from 3.3 billion sold in 1997 to 15 billion in 2002 National Geographic estimates that 17 million gallons of crude oil is used on an annual basis to produce plastic bottles. If you fill a water bottle ¼ of the way with oil, this is about how much oil is used to manufacture that one bottle!

This amount of oil is enough to fuel approximately a million cars for one year.It is estimated by the Container Recycling Institute and ReusableBags.com that 22 billion water bottles end up in landfills every year. According to Environmental Working Group’s scientific study on bottled water vs. tap water, bottled water contains distinfection byproducts, fertilizer residue and pain medication . . . ahhhhh! Seriously – read this article. The bottling companies have created a FALSE sense of NEED in the U.S. for bottled water by convincing us that our tap water is tainted and bottled water is the solution . . . NOT if you watch this awesome video by the Story of Stuff about the bottled water industry.

Good Reasons to Recycle Those Plastic Bottles Although many plastic bottles are being recycled for good re-use as a variety of materials, National Geographic Kids states that only 1 in 6 plastic bottles makes it to the recycling bin! Recycling plastic bottles saves energy. According to recycling only one plastic bottle saves the same amount of energy as powering a 60-watt light bulb for six hours. Good Ideas! Cool stuff made from RPET – RPET stands for recycled PET (Poly Ethylene Terephthalate), which is a member of the polyester family.

GreenSmart.Biz – my awesome computer bag. Get a stainless steel or glass re-usable water bottle – and use it! Last month, the Grand Canyon National Park Service approved a plan that eliminates the sale of bottled water! There are water stations in the park to refill water bottles, which a visitor can bring in to the park


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International Women’s Day: Celebrating the Power of Women to Nourish the Planet

March 9th, 2012

Mar
08

International Women’s Day: Celebrating the Power of Women to Nourish the Planet

Nourishing the Planet 2012-03-08

Women have proven to be a powerful force in the fight against global hunger and poverty, especially in agriculture. Worldwide roughly 1.6 billion women rely on farming for their livelihoods, and female farmers produce more than half of the world’s food. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, women account for 75 percent of all the agricultural producers. Today we observe International Women’s Day, a global celebration and recognition of women’s achievements.

Female farmers produce more than half of the world’s food. (Photos credit: Bernard Pollack)

Women farmers face a variety of obstacles, including a lack of access to information technology, agricultural training, financial services, and support networks like co-operatives or trade unions. Without these services, women cannot develop resilience to political, economic, social, or environmental upheaval, and they remain dependent on their male family members.

The good news is that women worldwide are developing and utilizing agricultural innovations to sustainably nourish their families and communities. Today we celebrate 12 innovations that are helping women get access to credit, improve their incomes, feed their families, introduce sustainable crops to markets, and reduce rural poverty:

  • Co-ops. Co-operatives, or co-ops, are a type of business characterized by democratic ownership and governance. In the war-torn country of Côte d’Ivoire, Marium Gnire partnered with Slow Foods International to organize a women’s farming cooperative that would provide quality local food for school meals in her village of N’Ganon, increasing both the women’s income and the health of the community.
  • Creating Links Between Women Producers and Markets. In Africa’s Western Sahel, the production of shea butter is boosting women’s entry into global markets. Women-run cooperatives across the region are tapping into the global demand for fair trade and organic beauty products by selling the skin-care cream they produce from the shea nut crop to cosmetics firms such as Origins and L’Oréal. These companies in turn pay a fair price for the products and invest in the women’s communities.
  • Educating Girls on Family Planning. The United Nations Foundation sponsors Girl Up, an organization that encourages a world where young girls can avoid the pitfalls of too-early marriage and childbearing and can instead go to school, enjoy health and safety, and grow into the next generation of leaders. In the Amhara region of Ethiopia, where half of adolescent girls are married, Girl Up is helping to promote education for young girls. The project offers basic literacy classes, family-planning information, and agricultural training. In delaying motherhood, even for a few years, girls can gain critical years of education, where they often gain knowledge about successful agricultural practices.
  • Empowering Young Girls Through Agriculture. When young girls learn valuable agricultural skills, they gain the power to avoid dependence on men for food and financial security. In Rwanda, the Farmers of the Future Initiative helps to empower young girls and other students by integrating school gardens and agricultural training into primary school curriculums. Over 60 percent of students in Rwanda will return to rural areas to farm for a living after graduating instead of going on to secondary school or university. As young girls learn these skills, they become self-sufficient and empowered.
  • Extension Services. Extension services are an important way of disseminating agricultural knowledge to farmers, but unfortunately, women have been excluded from many extension programs, whether as service providers or recipients. When women are included in extension programs, they receive an education, raise their agricultural yields, increase their incomes, raise the nutritional status of their household, and contribute to the improvement of their communities. To improve female inclusion in extension programs, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture’s Sustainable Tree Crops Program created videos that women could watch in their homes or in groups, without disrupting their childcare or fuel-gathering obligations. Since 2006, nearly 1,600 farmers in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana have received cocoa-production training directly through Video Viewing Clubs.
  • Female Trade Unions. In developing countries, women are commonly disenfranchised and not offered the same opportunities and rights as men, such as access to credit and land ownership. The Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a female trade union in India that began in 1992, works with poor, self-employed women by helping them achieve full employment and self reliance. SEWA is a network of cooperatives, self-help groups, and programs that empower women. Small-scale women farmers in India have particularly benefited from this network that links farmers to inputs and markets.
  • Increasing Access to Water. In sub-Saharan Africa, improved access to water means the difference between barely scraping by and eating balanced meals, affording education, and owning a home. In Zambia, Veronica Sianchenga, a farmer living in Kabuyu Village, saw improvements in her family’s quality of life when she began irrigating her farm with the “Mosi-o-Tunya” (Pump that Thunders), a pressure pump that she purchased from International Development Enterprises. In many parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the task of gathering water can take up to eight hours of labor per day and usually falls to women. Because of the pump, her children are eating healthier and she is enjoying increased independence.
  • Microfinance Credit. Globally, women fall well short of receiving the same financial benefits and opportunities as men. Only 10 percent of the credit services available in sub-Saharan Africa, including small “microfinance” loans, are extended to women. The New York-based nonprofit Women’s World Banking is the only microfinance network focused explicitly on women, providing loans of as little as US$100 to help women start businesses. Microfinance institutions from 27 countries provide the loans to women who in many cases have no other way to access credit.
  • Vertical Farming. Over 800 million people globally depend on food grown in cities for their main food source. Considering that women in Africa own only 1 percent of the land, a practice called vertical farming gives these women the opportunity to raise vegetables without having to own land. Female farmers in Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum, have been practicing vertical farming using seeds provided by the French NGOSolidarites. This innovative technique involves growing crops in dirt sacks, allowing women farmers to grow vegetables in otherwise unproductive urban spaces. More than 1,000 women are growing food in this way, effectively allowing them to be self-sufficient in food production and to increase their household income. Following the launch of this initiative, each household has increased its weekly income by 380 shillings (equivalent to US$4.33).
  • Urban Farming. In Kenya, about 20 urban farmers grow fruits and vegetables on a small strip of land in Kibera, an urban slum in Nairobi with nearly 1 million people. These farmers do not formally own this land and farm through an informal arrangement. More than once, they have been forced to stop farming, and they often see their water supply cut. However, the farmers are continuing to come up with innovative ways of raising food-and incomes-on the farm. With the help of the farmers’ advocacy group Urban Harvest, the farmers are not only growing food to eat and sell, but, perhaps surprisingly, becoming a source of seed for rural farmers.
  • Women’s Collectives. In many countries, women’s subordinate position in society makes them easy targets for domestic and sexual violence when working in the agricultural sector, which greatly inhibits their ability to work to their full potential. In India, the Tamil Nadu Women’s Collective focuses on advocating for women’s rights and improving food and water security. The collective reaches over 1,500 villages spread across 18 districts in India’s Tamil Nadu state and has helped many women see an increase in crop yields. The collective provides counseling and support for female victims of domestic violence, promotes women’s participation in local government, and helps women strengthen local food systems, through education on natural farming techniques.
  • Women-Run Community Seed Banks. Studies have shown that women farmers typically have lower crop yields than their male counterparts. Rural women farmers’ lower productivity compared to male farmers may be due to women lacking access to high-quality seeds and agricultural inputs. The GREEN Foundation has partnered with NGOs including Seed Savers Network and The Development Fund to create community seed banks in India’s Karnataka state. Women run these seed banks, gaining leadership skills and acquiring quality organic seeds that yield profitable crops and their food security and incomes.

Although these innovations inevitably help men as well as women, it is important that policymakers, scientists, farmers’ groups, and the funding and donor communities focus on ensuring that these women harness the power of these innovations so we can create a more equitable and nourished planet.


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Singapore second only to US in energy comsumption

January 5th, 2012

singapore-fan.blogspot.com

Singapore second only to US in energy comsumption This article is on Tuesday, 10 Jan 2006, Straits Times. In a report from World Bank in 2003, it showed Singapore is second to United States in the amount of energy used per person. A group in Singapore, focusing in environmental issues, feel that the main culprit is the air conditioning.

Personal Views 1) I guessed with this kind of weather ( i am not saying right now caused it has been raining daily for the past few days, i am saying the weather in general ) , it is only natural that Singaporeans would like to have at least an air conditioning system in their homes. 2) Try to recall the hot weather during the mid-year. The surroundding was so warm that without an air con, it is very diffcult to sleep comfortably. 3) But air con is ultimately still a luxury item. Look at our parents and the older generation, air con in the past was something far beyond the reach of most people. Just say 5 years back, a non inverter system 3 can cost $2500. Like my parents, they could only afford a small 9000btu window unit when they bought their first home. But if you look around, you will have noticed that air con has become very common. 4) Generally air con prices have been dropping. This is mainly due to manufactuers shifting their operations into areas where there will be less overhead. 5) So it is not great that prices have dropped!!!??? If only the electrical tariffs will to drop together, then it will be perfect. We have seen how the electrical tariffs have risen over the past 5 years. from 2000 of $0.1549 per kwh to 2006 $0.2102 per kwh.

Though the Singapore Power has been great by looking at the situation and adjusting the electrical tariffs every 3 months. 6) I think it is really down to us to make sure our electrical bills are not high. What u should do 1) Do buy energy saving products. This includes all appliances. Currently for air conditioning and fridge, you can refer to the Energy Label ticks given by Singapore Energy Labelling Scheme. For US products, you can go online and check if that model is having Energy Stars. 2) If possible, try to change all your lights to Energy Saving bulbs. U may have to spend some money changing some componets as not all are suitable for use of Energy Saving bulbs. But an energy saving bulb from a reputable manufactuer can save you between 50% to 80% of electricity. That is actually quite a lot. 3) U can consider getting an inverter air con and fridge if your usage and budget allow. These are more energy efficient products. 4) Reduce the use of electrical heating appliance like instant water heater, electrical oven and electrical heat pot..etc. These are very high energy consuming products. U can see the technical specifications at the product and u will understand. I am not saying these products are no good..just that try reduce it. For example, if u want to warm up your food, you might want to consider using the gas cooking instead. 5) Use a fan. This especially help to save you energy when use together will air con. Firstly, if u are using an air con, a fan will first assist in circulating the air in the room thus bringing even cooling faster. Secondly, when the fan on, u will feel both the cold and the wind. The fan will actually make us feel colder due to the wind effect. Thus u can set a higher temp. An single room air con use on average 800 watts per hour while a fan use on average of 70 watts per hour. 6) Off your appliance when you are not around. But if u are just leaving for a while or so, it is better to leave it on or standby mode. There is a power surge everytime we on a appliance. 7) LASTLY, i urge Singaporeans to support the Singapore Energy Labelling Scheme by buying only products with energy label ticks.

This pressure can caused the manufactueres to push themselves to produce more energy efficient products in order to meet the requirements. 8) I also hoped SEC / NEA can bring in more products into the Singapore Energy Labelling Scheme.


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THE 50 HOTTEST COMPANIES IN BIOENERGY 2010-2011

November 7th, 2011

THE 50 HOTTEST COMPANIES IN BIOENERGY
2010-2011



1. Amyris
2. Solazyme
3. POET
4. LS9
5. Gevo
6. DuPont Danisco
7. Novozymes
8. Coskata
9. Codexis
10. Sapphire Energy

11. Virent
12. Mascoma
13. Ceres
14. Cobalt Technologies
15. Honeywell’s UOP
16. Enerkem
17. BP Biofuels
18. Genencor
19. Petrobras
20. Abengoa Bioenergy

21. Qteros
22. Joule Unlimited
23. Shell
24. BlueFire Renewables
25. Rentech
26. Algenol
27. ZeaChem
28. PetroAlgae
29. Neste Oil

30. Synthetic Genomics

31. LanzaTech
32. Iogen
33. OriginOil
34. Range Fuels
35. ExxonMobil
36. Cargill
37. SG Biofuels
38. Butamax
39. Terrabon
40. Cosan

41. Verenium
42. Waste Management
43. IneosBio
44. Dynamic Fuels
45. Fulcrum Bioenergy
46. KL Energy
47. KiOR
48. Chevron
45. Monsanto
50. Inbicon


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Mandated ethanol use and the supply-side problem

November 7th, 2011

Mandated ethanol use and the supply-side problem

Posted on November 2, 2011

Allegedly it’s a “myth” that mandated ethanol use contributes to food shortage and rising prices. After all, we just need to eliminate discriminatory barriers against Brazil’s cane ethanol, right? Nope.

Brazil Lacks Cane to Boost Fuel Exports, Senator Says — Brazilian sugar cane companies, which are preparing to boost ethanol exports to the U.S., don’t produce enough of the renewable fuel to do so, a lawmaker said.

Brazil won’t make enough ethanol to meet increasing foreign demand unless cane producers invest in new mills and plantations, Senator Katia Abreu said in an interview at Bloomberg’s headquarters in New York.

U.S. oil companies, which must comply with government mandates to blend environmentally friendly biofuels, are expected to expand their use of sugar-cane ethanol next year, and more than 100 Brazilian mills are preparing to deliver it. (Bloomberg)

Note also that Brazil needs new plantations to supply increased raw material. Goodbye rainforest?


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San Carlos Bioenergy relaunches Philippine ethanol as sugar prices tumble

November 6th, 2011

San Carlos Bioenergy relaunches Philippine ethanol as sugar prices tumble

Meghan Sapp | November 2, 2011

In the Philippines, San Carlos Bioenergy has brought its 38 million liter per year ethanol back online after more than a year offline due to high molasses prices. Sugar prices have fallen by more than a third in the country, meaning the byproduct’s value has fallen as well due to significantly more supply.

As such, the company thinks that profit margins are favorable for the industry at the moment. Expansion plans to scale up to 40 million liters per year however are on hold to see how the market pans out.

 

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Brazil’s sugar, ethanol production down

November 5th, 2011

Brazil’s sugar, ethanol production down

5:14 PM, Nov 2, 2011 | by Dan Piller

Reports indicate that the sugar can crop in Brazil will be lower again this year, causing another drop in Brazil’s ethanol production that will have to be supplanted by imports, most of which come from the U.S.

Most of Brazil’s ethanol is made from sugar cane. The U.S. is the only other major international supplier.

Unica said Brazil’s ethanol production is now projected to reach 5.5 billion gallons, down 2.93 percent compared to the August projection and 19.68 percent less than the 6.6 billion gallon output in the previous harvest.

From early April to late September, Brazil imported 147.6 million gallons of ethanol and by the end of the harvest, the volume should reach about  312 million gallons.

The U.S. annually produces around 15 billion gallons of ethanol. U.S. exports of ethanol are expected to reach 900 million gallons this year.

The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) and the Center for Sugarcane Technology (CTC) and other producer associations has revised the total projected sugarcane crush for the 2011/2012 harvest down 4.26 percent from a previous revised forecast issued in August of this year (510.24 million tons) and down 12.29 percent from the 2010/2011 harvest.

Unica said September yields were down 18.2 percent in September, from the same period in 2010. The new projection for the 2011/2012 harvest in the South-Central region calls for a 20 percent reduction compared to the historical average of 85 tons per hectare.

Unica attributed the lower yields to the advanced age of the cane field and unfavorable weather conditions for plant development, including prolonged droughts during the winter months that affected the last two harvests and the occurrence of frost and flowering at the beginning of the current harvest.

In São Paulo, the country’s top producing region, agricultural productivity is the lowest in 20 years and the decline in crushing is expected to exceed 50 million tons, with emphasis on the regions of Ribeirão Preto, São José do Rio Preto and Araçatuba.

According to UNICA’s Technical Director, Antonio de Padua Rodrigues, “the variables mentioned, along with the expectation of only four new crushing mills launching next year, should result in a very slight increase in crop production for the 2012/2013 harvest.” Investment in the renewal of sugarcane fields are the best alternative to accelerate the growth of ethanol and sugar production as of the 2013/2014 harvest, as there is significant overcapacity in the industry and a lack of raw material, he warns.

UNICA estimates that 51.81 percent of all harvested sugarcane will directed to ethanol production in the 2011/2012 harvest. Total sugar production is expected to reach 30.80 million tons, down 8 percent from  the 33.50 million tons produced in the 2010/2011 season.

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The SuperFriends and their planet-saving microbial biofuel powers

November 4th, 2011

The SuperFriends and their planet-saving microbial biofuel powers

Jim Lane | November 4, 2011

Hey – don’t swat that national energy solution.

Endowed with special planet-saving powers – e.coli, fungi, termites, flies and bacteria are like the SuperFriends of Saturday mornings past.

 

Mom taught you well, I’ll bet.

Swat the flies, pour disinfectant on a slimy mold, and shock a pool or pond that has algae in it. Never touch anything riddled with a fungus, avoid bacteria like the plague.

If you see a termite, call Orkin, and if you see e.coli (well you wouldn’t, unless you have Superman-like vision, but you get the idea), run screaming into the night.

Of course, in biofuels, you don’t avoid any of the above.

In the world at large, they are generally called pests. We call them ‘magic bugs’. They are like the SuperFriends of Saturday morning cartoons – Nature has certainly endowed them with magic powers.

In your own human genome, you have the (considerably useful) ability to break down a pretty good range of biomass into energy. Anything from the sugar rush from a Coca-Cola to the complex sea of carbohydrates and proteins in contemporary pizza. We’ve planted the world over with things that grow fast and we like to eat.

But make a carbohydrate, protein or lipid from thin air, with a little water and maybe a little sunshine? No can do. That’s where the magic bugs come in.

Beyond microalgae

Too often, public curiosity over microbial fuels begins and ends with microalgae. But there are two ways these other critters serve the general search for an energy solution.

1. Fermenting one low-value material into a higher-value one. For instance, converting hops into beer, corn mash into ethanol, or sugar cane syrup into alkane diesel.

2. Fixing atmospheric CO2, and freshwater or sea-water, into lipids, carbs and protein, which we capture and convert to feed, food, fiber and fuel.

Bottom lime, some mighty business models are depending on the unpaid services of some awfully small and occasionally icky organisms. Ranging from one cell to small insect size.

The yeoman service of the Soldier Fly

A company called Organic Nutrition is training soldier fly larvae to eat waste biomass, thereby converting it into insect protein. The hungry little varmints eat as much as twice their own body mass, per day. The aggregated insect protein is captured and crushed as animal feed. Kind of an appalling food source, but a lot of critters like insects just fine, thank you very much.

It appears to be a re-think of an older company called Neptune Industries, which disappeared to the bottom of the financial ocean a few years back.

Termites and their Symbiotic Liberation Army

Over at Purdue, research into the extreme environments in the termite gut, including termite’s own native enzymes, and symbiontic bacteria, is the subject of some breakthroughs out of the Mike Scharf lab. Researchers there, publishing in PLoS One, have discovered a cocktail of enzymes instrumental in the insects’ ability to break down the wood they eat.
The researchers are the first to measure the sugar output from enzymes created by the termites themselves and the output from symbionts, small protozoa that live in termite guts and aid in digestion of woody material.

“For the most part, people have overlooked the host termite as a source of enzymes that could be used in the production of biofuels. For a long time it was thought that the symbionts were solely responsible for digestion,” Scharf said. “Certainly the symbionts do a lot, but what we’ve shown is that the host produces enzymes that work in synergy with the enzymes produced by those symbionts. When you combine the functions of the host enzymes with the symbionts, it’s like one plus one equals four.”

In Florida, researchers at the University of Florida have isolated two enzymes termites use to break up lignin, which may provide a key to more efficient cellulosic ethanol production. The study follows more than two years of work to identify nearly 7,000 genes associated with the termite gut. The researchers are wading through the genes to identify which ones are associated with enzymes that could be useful, and they are hopeful that many more such exciting discoveries are yet to come.

Monster fungus, mighty yeast

In California, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has taken genes from Neospora crassa, a fungus that grows on grass and transplanted them into yeast that is already used to turn sugar into ethanol into what may be a more efficient process for cellulosic ethanol.

With the new technique, cellulose must only be broken down into an intermediate stage known as cellodextrin, rather than into glucose, and the new yeast will get to work. It could be five years before the new technique is ready for commercial use.

In related news, the DOE has granted researchers at the University of California, Berkeley-hosted Energy Biosciences Institute $793,000 for a three-year program to study the genetic diversity of corn to create better strains for biofuels.

In this story from last year, “Turn and Face the Strange,” we looked at WWII canvas rotting fungi as a biomass conversion technology, a fungus that produces diesel, a fungus that synthesizes ethanol, one that produces cellulase, and a symbiotic garden of fungi managed by leafcutter ants to assist in their leaf-converting activities.

But the topper was the news that up to 90 percent of Missouri’s  Conservation Reserve Program land, where fescue is running rampant, may be infected with ergot (a fungus from which LSD is synthesized).

“A heft amount of carbon is sequestered by endophyte-infected fescue, so it has some carbon benefit. But that is courtesy of its ability to powerfully eradicate microbial life in its growing path and, by creating a nanoscopic, underground Chernobyl, storing carbon that otherwise would be munched and released by those pesky organisms known as life forms.”

In Illinois, researchers from the University of Illinois, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of California and BP have discovered a newly engineered yeast strain that can simultaneously consume both glucose and xylose from plants to produce ethanol. The new strain, made by combining, optimizing and adding to earlier advances, reduces or eliminates several major inefficiencies associated with current biofuel production methods.

In Maryland, Johns Hopkins researchers have engineered from scratch a computer-designed yeast chromosome and incorporated into their creation a new system that lets scientists intentionally rearrange the yeast’s genetic material.  Jef D. Boeke, Ph.D., Sc.D., professor, explains, “We developed SCRaMbLE to enable us to pull a mutation trigger — essentially causing the synthetic chromosome to rearrange itself and introducing changes similar to what might happen during evolution, but without the long wait.”
“By shuffling the DNA according to our specifications, Boeke added, “we hope to be able to custom design organisms that perhaps will grow better in adverse environments, or maybe make one percent more ethanol than native yeast.”

In Germany, researchers at the Ruhr-Universität and a group from the Tokyo Institute of Technology have found a genetic switch in cyanobacteria, which when removed allows use of excess energy for biotechnological purposes, such as hydrogen production.
Professor Roegner of Ruhr-Universität estimated, “This should make it possible to use at least 50% of the energy gained from light-driven water splitting for other processes in the future, e.g. for solar-powered biological hydrogen production through cyanobacterial mass cultures in photobioreactors.”

Pass the salt, I need sugar

In New Jersey, Proterro has developed technology to produce sugar by using engineered cyanobacteria, photosynthetic organisms that can produce sucrose through a normally-occurring defense system. Their engineered cyanobacteria produces sucrose when the water they’re growing in is too salty. They claim that the water required to grow the cyanobacteria is much less than what is required to grow sugar traditionally, such as with corn and cane.

Your friend, E.coli bacteria

In the article “Microbial Biosynthesis of Alkanes” published in Science magazine last year, a team of LS9 scientists announced the discovery of novel genes that, when expressed in E.coli, produce alkanes, the primary hydrocarbon components of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. This discovery is the first description of the genes responsible for alkane biosynthesis and the first example of a single step conversion of sugar to fuel?grade alkanes by an engineered microorganism.

For over 20 years scientists have tried to identify the genes that enable particular natural organisms to directly convert biomass into alkanes. However, previous scientific research has failed to identify these genes. To solve this mystery, the LS9 team looked into the genomes of bacteria that produce alkanes in nature known as cyanobacteria. “We evaluated many cyanobacteria that made alkanes and identified one that was not capable of producing them. By comparing the genome sequences of the producing and non?producing organisms, we were able to identify the responsible genes,” said Andreas Schirmer, Associate Director of Metabolic Engineering at LS9.

The mysterious Archaea

In Arkansas, researchers at the University of Arkansas created the first methane-producing microorganism that can metabolize complex carbon structures, which could lead to microbial recycling of waste products and their transformation into methane.  Daniel J. Lessner, assistant professor of biological sciences, and his colleagues Lexhan Lhu, Christopher S. Wahal and James G. Ferry of Pennsylvania State University worked with methanogens, methane-producing anaerobic microorganisms from the domain archaea.

The researchers introduced a gene into a methanogen that would allow it to break down more complex molecules for its own consumption by introducing a gene that would cause the organism to express an enzyme that breaks down esters.  Esters can be found in nature and also solvents used in paints and paint thinners.  Future research will look at developing a platform to engineer organisms, including a methanogen that can break down glycerol, a waste product from biodiesel fuel, and have it produce methane, allowing for possible production of useful chemicals or even as an energy source for a biodiesel plant.


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