Sequestration: A Blueprint for Success

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With a stratigraphic well already completed, and ongoing modeling to determine volumes of carbon dioxide to be injected, Blue Flint in Underwood, North Dakota, is on its way to producing a zero-carbon fuel. The goal is prompted in large part by the 45Q tax credit, says Jeff Zueger, CEO of Midwest AgEnergy, Blue Flint’s parent company.

“45Q is a big driver,” Zueger says. “It unlocked the potential for these types of projects. The changes in 45Q have been a significant enabler to advancing these projects to make sure there’s enough economic opportunity there to support the risk that goes along with it.”

45Q provides a tax credit incentive for qualifying carbon emitters to capture and store carbon dioxide. Changes in 2018 extended the credit for two years and lowered the qualifying threshold for emitters from 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide to 100,000, opening the opportunity to more of the ethanol industry.

Westport Hydrogen-Fueled Engine Shows Promise in Initial Trials

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Westport Fuel Systems Inc., a supplier of advanced fuel delivery components and systems for clean, low-carbon fuels, says it had a successful startup and initial trials of a heavy-duty internal combustion engine running on hydrogen (H2) fuel, using its patented High-Pressure Direct Injection (HPDI) 2.0 system.

“We believe H2-HPDI could be extremely compelling, with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions and much lower cost than fuel cell vehicles or battery-electric vehicles, particularly for heavy-duty trucking and other high-load applications like mining, marine and rail that have come to rely on the efficiency, power, durability and reliability of diesel engines,” says David Johnson, CEO of Westport Fuel Systems.

Trucking Industry Making Strides Toward Electrification

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Original equipment manufacturers, shippers and environmental activist groups are aligning behind the promised benefits of zero-emission trucks, and are encouraging the trucking industry to accelerate adoption of vehicles powered by alternatives to diesel.

A March 5 report from the Environmental Defense Fund noted that while passenger cars are generating most of the sales for electric vehicles, electric trucks and buses are gaining momentum and are vital to achieving clean air goals. “Eliminating tailpipe pollution from these vehicles is also essential to help meet our nation’s climate goals,” the report said. “Our nation must adopt air pollution standards that ensure that all new sales of medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses are zero-emission vehicles by 2040 at the latest,” the report said.

Toyota creates hydrogen fuel-cell module to power buses, trains, ships

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In addition to selling hydrogen fuel-cell cars, Toyota hopes to become a supplier of fuel-cell tech to other companies. To that end, the automaker has developed a modular fuel-cell system for use in other types of vehicles, including buses, trains, and ships, as well as stationary generators.

The goal is to grow the use of fuel cells by making a plug-and-play solution available to companies for the widest-possible array of applications, a Toyota press release said.

 

Amp Americas Brings Fourth RNG Production Facility Online

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Amp Americas, a company that specializes in renewable transportation fuel, says its fourth biogas facility producing renewable natural gas (RNG) from dairy waste is now operational and has begun delivering RNG into the Alliance natural gas pipeline to be used as transportation fuel.

Located in Morris, Minn., near the state’s western border, the new plant is Amp Americas’ largest dairy RNG project to date and the state’s first on-farm biogas-to-vehicle fuel facility. With this project, Amp Americas has now developed dairy RNG production on 12 dairies with over 66,000 cows.

NBB: Biodiesel drives fleet operations to be better, cleaner

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In a multitude of ways, the past year has drawn into sharp focus the important interrelationships between public health, the environment, and the economy.  Yet through all the challenges presented by a global pandemic, extreme weather events, and an economic recession, America’s trucking fleets – the vast majority of which are powered by diesel engines – persevered to continue delivering the essential goods and supplies that our nation relies on to keep moving forward.  The past year also demonstrated the need for businesses to adapt quickly to changing conditions, to work smarter with limited resources, to do more to protect the environment and human health, and to not become overly reliant on just one power source. These challenges have become especially pertinent for America’s fleet managers on the front lines of this evolution, and a growing number of those fleets are finding solutions with biodiesel – a renewable, sustainable, low-carbon alternative to diesel fuel – to help them operate better, cleaner, now.

Micro Bird Brings CARB-Certified Propane Bus to Market

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Micro Bird says it is the first company to bring a Type A propane autogas school bus with low nitrogen oxides to market.

The company’s G5 Type A bus equipped with ROUSH CleanTech’s Gen 5 propane fuel system is certified to California Air Resources Board’s optional low nitrogen oxide emissions standard of 0.05 grams per brake horsepower-hour (g/bhp-hr), making it 75% cleaner than federal U.S. emission standards. Type A buses, made of a bus body constructed on a cutaway front-section vehicle, usually carry nine to 36 students.

Calumet to bring on equity investor for renewable diesel project

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Representatives of Calumet Specialty Products Partners L.P. discussed the company’s plan to produce renewable diesel at its existing petroleum refinery in Great Falls, Montana, during a fourth quarter earnings call on March 3.

Calumet initially announced the planned conversion project in February, noting the company expects that its oversized hydrocracker built in 2016 can be reconfigured to process 10,000 to 10,000 barrels per day of renewable feedstock.

EIA: Ethanol production up 29%, stocks down 2%

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U.S. ethanol production rebounded significantly the week ending Feb. 26, reaching 849,000 barrels per day following a substantial downturn the previous week related to disruptions caused by February’s polar vortex. Ethanol stocks fell by nearly 2 percent the week ending Feb. 26, according to data released by the U.S. Energy Information Administration on March 3.

Ethanol production for the week ending Feb. 26 was up approximately 29 percent, or 191,000 barrels per day, when compared to the 658,000 barrels per day of production reported for the previous week. When compared to the same week of last year, production was down 230,000 barrels per day.

Livonia Public Schools adds 22 Blue Bird propane buses

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Livonia Public Schools added 22 Blue Bird propane autogas-fueled buses to its fleet with funding received from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).

The district was granted more than $844,000 through EGLE’s Fuel Transformation Program to purchase clean, cost-effective propane school buses that began operation when Michigan schools opened for the 2020-21 school year.

“With our new Blue Bird propane buses, the school district saves money, our students get a safe, quieter bus and our community gets a cleaner environment,” says Rick Martin, fleet garage supervisor for Livonia Public Schools. “We think our Livonia Public Schools parents will be impressed by this big step, and they’ll be interested to know that these propane fuel systems are manufactured right here in Livonia by Roush CleanTech.”