SUSTAINABILITY & LOW CARBON FUELS
Another important element of the project is the promotion of sustainability of biofuels through the development of key elements in both the project and products to allow them to meet even the tightest sustainability standards and through the promotion of the carbon benefits of biofuels alone and in combination with fuel additives. The basic concept tohighlight the social, economic and environmental benefits of the Sustainable BioBrazil is taking to production of , conversion y of 1stand 2ndgeneration biofuels produced of both biofuels and food co-production. Another objective is to define the value of a strategy that involves blending of biofuels with fuel efficiency additives that will provide carbon reductions from both improved burning efficiency of the fuels and the lower carbon emissions from the biofuel content.
A key purpose of the promotional effortis to provide information to the public and the media about how Brazil is tackling the challenge of providing and feedstock for biothat does not require a trade-off between food and fuel as typically portrayed by the press. implementation of the pilot project in Maranhaowill provide data on how oil seed trees are being planted in conjunction with the production of food crops the trees, how small producers are involved in the project and family farms, and how new techniques are being used to minimize nitrogen and fertilizer requirements (nitrogen fixing crops, new nitrogen production technology). BioBrazil has also acquired data onthe life cycle carbon benefits of producing various biofuel feedstocks shows that Brazilian oil and sugar production is particularly favorable from a life cycle carbon perspective in production of biodiesel and ethanol. The improved sustainability and carbon benefits of technologies planting crops in combination with new systems forproduction biofuels that use all of the biomass carbon benefits from biofuel production.
Equally important is the effort to promote the use of biofuels in conjunction with introduction of fuel additives that achieve both efficiency improvements and much greater carbon reduction goals. Also important is to define new markets for biofuels that will allow for using the dual strategy of better life cycle carbon reductions from Brazilian biofuels and the combination with fuel additives to achieve larger overall carbon benefits from transportation. Elements of this plan include the following:
1) California Low Carbon Fuel Standard:
California has passed a law that requires that California Air Resources Board (ARB) develop regulations to lower carbon emissions from fuel. The law requires a 10% carbon reduction in fuel by 2020. ARB is developing regulations that will be in place by the end of 2009 and is expected to require low carbon fuel by 2010. Similar requirements are in the 13 states in NESCAM, in and . Europe is also evaluating similar requirements in the EU. This is expected to lead to a increasing demand for low carbon fuels starting in 2010 and with strong demand expected at other states and countries follow the California lead by 2012-3. The ability to produce a variety of biofuels from all biomass produced in a region and elimination of carbon losses from changes in land use policy (no burn policies on agricultural residues, land use change residues used for fuel production or soil enhancement, etc.) will provide added sustainability benefits from biofuel production. Added to this is the potential to sequester CO2 at the refinery level through algae ponds or other technology. implementation of these measures will all markedly increase the total CO2 emissions reduced from biofuels.
Sustainable BioBrazil is an active participant in the effort to comment on the California Low Carbon Fuel standard in an effort to position Brazilian biofuels in the best possible position to capture future fuel market share in California and the USA. This is based on both improving the carbon footprint of Brazilian biofuels through introduction of new technology and noting errors in the assumptions about calculation of baseline emissions or allocation of emissions for petroleum. It is also about defining how to calculate the emissions of carbon from fuel so the rule is flexible enough to allow for use of fuel additives and accounts for the burn efficiency of fuel. This can all help increase the total carbon benefits of the new fuel introduction and allow Brazilian biofuel manufacturers to look at innovative new technologies that provide fuel savings and improve the performance of biofuel as a blend component in fuel. The net result will be a highly competitive biofuel for sale in markets oriented towards carbon reduction.
2) US Cap & Trade System and Impact on Fuel Market in USA:
The various carbon emission cap and trade now being considered in the US Congress fuels. This will substantially impact the value of low carbon fuels in the US market as limits on carbon emissions affect commodity prices for fuels, chemicals and other products. The ability to produce a lower carbon set of petroleum fuels (through sequestration of Co2 emissions) and blend in biofuels with excellent carbon life cycle performance will result in a high value set of fuels in a market where cap & trade system limits fuel carbon emissions. improvements from blending in fuel additives will also optimize both carbon & efficiency benefits.
3) Airline and Maritime Shipping Industry:
The airline industry has made a commitment to reduce carbon emissions through an agreement signed on 4/22/08 at the Third Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. A cornerstone of the program involves "pushing forward the development and implementation of new technologies, including cleaner fuels". "Cleaner fuels" refers to use of synthetic fuels from either a biomass, gas or coal to liquid process or renewable diesel technologies. Significant testing has been completed on jet engines using synthetic fuels including a flight that was completed by Airbus and GE using gas to liquid fuel this winter. The US Air Force has conducted various tests using coal to liquid, gas to liquid and hydrotreated renewable jet fuel. Atlantic also completed a demonstration flight in Europe in using biodiesel in one engine and has announced its intention to develop using algae and other feedstock. has been followed up by a series of flights using Hydrotreated Renewable Jet (HRJ) fuel in late 2008 and early 2009 using a process developed by UOP, the refinery equipment supply company. This included flights jointly with Boeing by New Zealand Airlines, Japan Air Lines, Continental, KLM and Air France.
The Sustainable BioBrazil project is very important to the airlines since it provides a sustainable source of feedstock for HRJ fuel production. Sustainable BioBrazil was invited to make a presentation at an International Conference of Aviation and Biofuels in February, 2009 on the role that North and North Central Brazil could play to provide vegetable oil feedstock for the introduction of sustainable biofuels for use in jet engines. The presentation was very well received due to the difficulty the aviation industry faces in sourcing sufficient "sustainable" oil for meeting a requirement to use 5% biofuels in jets in 2012 in the European airspace. This creates a large "new" demand for biofuels (80 billion gallons of jet fuel used globally) and the media is already saying it will create all sorts of environmental and social problems (food vs. fuel land conflicts, indirect land use impacts, etc.). The ideas presented at the aviation conference such as the "Food & Fuel" program would provide this vegetable oil or bagasse for jet fuel while also providing food for local and international demand and alleviate any sustainability concerns. A specific proposal is now being advanced to the aviation sector to initiate a tree planting program on State of Maranhao land that would provide feedstock for all of the aviation demand for biofuel at a 5% blend rate. This would be done through a voluntary customer investment program to achieve "carbon neutral" flights in the short term through carbon reserves in the Amazon and sequestration of carbon in oil seed tree trunks on State of Maranhao that will also produce oil for renewable jet fuel production over the next few years. Airlines represent an important new market for biofuels and Sustainable BioBrazil is helping to define a role that Brazil can play in providing the feedstock and refining capacity for this renewable jet fuel.
Another important element of the project is the promotion of sustainability of biofuels through the development of key elements in both the project and products to allow them to meet even the tightest sustainability standards and through the promotion of the carbon benefits of biofuels alone and in combination with fuel additives. The basic concept tohighlight the social, economic and environmental benefits of the Sustainable BioBrazil is taking to production of , conversion y of 1stand 2ndgeneration biofuels produced of both biofuels and food co-production. Another objective is to define the value of a strategy that involves blending of biofuels with fuel efficiency additives that will provide carbon reductions from both improved burning efficiency of the fuels and the lower carbon emissions from the biofuel content.
A key purpose of the promotional effortis to provide information to the public and the media about how Brazil is tackling the challenge of providing and feedstock for biothat does not require a trade-off between food and fuel as typically portrayed by the press. implementation of the pilot project in Maranhaowill provide data on how oil seed trees are being planted in conjunction with the production of food crops the trees, how small producers are involved in the project and family farms, and how new techniques are being used to minimize nitrogen and fertilizer requirements (nitrogen fixing crops, new nitrogen production technology). BioBrazil has also acquired data onthe life cycle carbon benefits of producing various biofuel feedstocks shows that Brazilian oil and sugar production is particularly favorable from a life cycle carbon perspective in production of biodiesel and ethanol. The improved sustainability and carbon benefits of technologies planting crops in combination with new systems forproduction biofuels that use all of the biomass carbon benefits from biofuel production.
Equally important is the effort to promote the use of biofuels in conjunction with introduction of fuel additives that achieve both efficiency improvements and much greater carbon reduction goals. Also important is to define new markets for biofuels that will allow for using the dual strategy of better life cycle carbon reductions from Brazilian biofuels and the combination with fuel additives to achieve larger overall carbon benefits from transportation. Elements of this plan include the following:
1) California Low Carbon Fuel Standard:
California has passed a law that requires that California Air Resources Board (ARB) develop regulations to lower carbon emissions from fuel. The law requires a 10% carbon reduction in fuel by 2020. ARB is developing regulations that will be in place by the end of 2009 and is expected to require low carbon fuel by 2010. Similar requirements are in the 13 states in NESCAM, in and . Europe is also evaluating similar requirements in the EU. This is expected to lead to a increasing demand for low carbon fuels starting in 2010 and with strong demand expected at other states and countries follow the California lead by 2012-3. The ability to produce a variety of biofuels from all biomass produced in a region and elimination of carbon losses from changes in land use policy (no burn policies on agricultural residues, land use change residues used for fuel production or soil enhancement, etc.) will provide added sustainability benefits from biofuel production. Added to this is the potential to sequester CO2 at the refinery level through algae ponds or other technology. implementation of these measures will all markedly increase the total CO2 emissions reduced from biofuels.
Sustainable BioBrazil is an active participant in the effort to comment on the California Low Carbon Fuel standard in an effort to position Brazilian biofuels in the best possible position to capture future fuel market share in California and the USA. This is based on both improving the carbon footprint of Brazilian biofuels through introduction of new technology and noting errors in the assumptions about calculation of baseline emissions or allocation of emissions for petroleum. It is also about defining how to calculate the emissions of carbon from fuel so the rule is flexible enough to allow for use of fuel additives and accounts for the burn efficiency of fuel. This can all help increase the total carbon benefits of the new fuel introduction and allow Brazilian biofuel manufacturers to look at innovative new technologies that provide fuel savings and improve the performance of biofuel as a blend component in fuel. The net result will be a highly competitive biofuel for sale in markets oriented towards carbon reduction.
2) US Cap & Trade System and Impact on Fuel Market in USA:
The various carbon emission cap and trade now being considered in the US Congress fuels. This will substantially impact the value of low carbon fuels in the US market as limits on carbon emissions affect commodity prices for fuels, chemicals and other products. The ability to produce a lower carbon set of petroleum fuels (through sequestration of Co2 emissions) and blend in biofuels with excellent carbon life cycle performance will result in a high value set of fuels in a market where cap & trade system limits fuel carbon emissions. improvements from blending in fuel additives will also optimize both carbon & efficiency benefits.
3) Airline and Maritime Shipping Industry:
The airline industry has made a commitment to reduce carbon emissions through an agreement signed on 4/22/08 at the Third Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. A cornerstone of the program involves "pushing forward the development and implementation of new technologies, including cleaner fuels". "Cleaner fuels" refers to use of synthetic fuels from either a biomass, gas or coal to liquid process or renewable diesel technologies. Significant testing has been completed on jet engines using synthetic fuels including a flight that was completed by Airbus and GE using gas to liquid fuel this winter. The US Air Force has conducted various tests using coal to liquid, gas to liquid and hydrotreated renewable jet fuel. Atlantic also completed a demonstration flight in Europe in using biodiesel in one engine and has announced its intention to develop using algae and other feedstock. has been followed up by a series of flights using Hydrotreated Renewable Jet (HRJ) fuel in late 2008 and early 2009 using a process developed by UOP, the refinery equipment supply company. This included flights jointly with Boeing by New Zealand Airlines, Japan Air Lines, Continental, KLM and Air France.
The Sustainable BioBrazil project is very important to the airlines since it provides a sustainable source of feedstock for HRJ fuel production. Sustainable BioBrazil was invited to make a presentation at an International Conference of Aviation and Biofuels in February, 2009 on the role that North and North Central Brazil could play to provide vegetable oil feedstock for the introduction of sustainable biofuels for use in jet engines. The presentation was very well received due to the difficulty the aviation industry faces in sourcing sufficient "sustainable" oil for meeting a requirement to use 5% biofuels in jets in 2012 in the European airspace. This creates a large "new" demand for biofuels (80 billion gallons of jet fuel used globally) and the media is already saying it will create all sorts of environmental and social problems (food vs. fuel land conflicts, indirect land use impacts, etc.). The ideas presented at the aviation conference such as the "Food & Fuel" program would provide this vegetable oil or bagasse for jet fuel while also providing food for local and international demand and alleviate any sustainability concerns. A specific proposal is now being advanced to the aviation sector to initiate a tree planting program on State of Maranhao land that would provide feedstock for all of the aviation demand for biofuel at a 5% blend rate. This would be done through a voluntary customer investment program to achieve "carbon neutral" flights in the short term through carbon reserves in the Amazon and sequestration of carbon in oil seed tree trunks on State of Maranhao that will also produce oil for renewable jet fuel production over the next few years. Airlines represent an important new market for biofuels and Sustainable BioBrazil is helping to define a role that Brazil can play in providing the feedstock and refining capacity for this renewable jet fuel.
