Israeli Firm Backs Off Biodiesel Production Venture

from Globes Online:
Merav Ankori 7 Jan 08 16:45

Ormat Industries Ltd. (TASE: ORMT) today announced that it was postponing plans to develop and build a commercial biodiesel facility at this time. The company added that it had invested $1.8 million to date in R&D in the project to date, which would be reported in the company's profit and loss statement.

Ormat announced 18 months ago that it would invest $35-50 million in a biodiesel production facility within two years. The company said at the time that it would invest $13.5 million in R&D in the venture over five years. Ormat is collaborating with an academic institution, whose identity it declines to disclose, and with Evogene Ltd. (TASE:EVGN) on the development of high-yield non-edible plants for biodiesel production. Ormat added that it would focus on the development of these plants.

Ormat is foregoing construction of the biodiesel plant because prices for commodities, including commodities for biofuel production, have soared rendering biodiesel much more expensive to the point of being economically unviable. For example, prices for soy beans, one of the crops used in biofuel production, has risen from $3-4 per bushel over the past year to $12.

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$200 Oil in 2008? Some say "Bet on it!"

from Bloomberg.com:

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The fastest-growing bet in the oil market these days is that the price of crude will double to $200 a barrel by the end of the year.

Options to buy oil for $200 on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose 10-fold in the past two months to 5,533 contracts, a record increase for any similar period. The contracts, the cheapest way to speculate in energy markets, appreciated 36 percent since early December as crude futures reached a record $100.09 on Jan. 3.

While analysts at Merrill Lynch & Co. and UBS AG say the slowing U.S. economy will lead to the biggest drop in prices since 2001, the options show some traders expect oil to rise for a seventh straight year. Demand will increase 2.5 percent in 2008, according to the International Energy Agency. U.S. inventories fell to a three-year low on Dec. 28. Production from Mexico is declining and Saudi Arabia is behind schedule in opening its newest field.

"One hundred dollars a barrel is actually 14.9 cents a cup, so we're still talking about oil being remarkably cheap,'' said Matthew R. Simmons, chairman of Simmons & Co. International, a Houston-based investment bank that focuses on energy. Inventories "are tight as a drum and I don't see how we get out of this box,'' he said in a Bloomberg television interview last week. "Demand clearly isn't starting to slow down.''

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Using Diesel Could Reduce Imports of Oil, Refiner Says

from Dallas Morning News:

By ELIZABETH SOUDER / The Dallas Morning News esouder@dallasnews.com

Jeff Morris' dream car is a Cadillac CTS with a diesel engine.

That car doesn't exist. But the chief executive of Dallas refining company Alon USA thinks that if the folks at Cadillac – and the rest of America – would share his diesel dream, it would solve a lot of the country's energy problems. "I believe it's the fuel of the future," Mr. Morris said. "If we're going to address global warming today, then we need to use technology that we have today."

Diesel vehicles typically use 20 percent less fuel than comparable gasoline vehicles. That means a diesel car emits less pollution and greenhouse gas than a gasoline car. And by using less fuel, diesels could cut U.S. dependence on oil.

Mr. Morris is making a $200 million bet that Americans will wake up to the benefits. He's refurbishing a California refinery to double its diesel production capacity.

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Candidates Stake Positions on Global Warming

from the Hartford Courant:

The contrast could not be more striking: Every Democratic candidate for president has put forward an aggressive package of policies and statements addressing global warming and has made it a cornerstone of their campaign.

Of the Republicans, just one, John McCain, comes close to matching the Democrats' fervor for the issue. The GOP contenders focus instead on policies aimed at achieving energy independence — a goal that dates to the energy crisis of the 1970s.

The contrast in this primary season reflects an ongoing divide in the nation. Twice as many Democrats as Republicans say the environment will be a very important factor in their vote this year, according to a survey conducted in October for the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.

That split also is apparent between liberals and conservatives in both parties.

While environmental issues in general rank lower than the more immediate concerns of most citizens — the war in Iraq, the economy, health care, jobs, terrorism — the subject is gaining attention.

Most Americans — three-quarters or four-fifths, depending on the survey — now say they believe global warming is happening. How much humans have to do about it and how urgently we should do something about it, though, are in dispute.

Click on the link below for summaries of where the candidates stand on environmental issues, primarily on global warming and what to do about it. For more detail, go to the candidates' own websites.

To get an idea of what is on the minds of the electorate, check out http://www.people-press.org/. Two good sites with reports on where the candidates stand are the League of Conservation Voters, http://www.lcv.org/; and Grist, an online environmental magazine, http://www.grist.org/.

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Alaska Oil Exploration to Begin

By Warren Bull BBC News


The US government says it will offer exploration rights for oil and gas in a north-western region of Alaska.


The federal Minerals Management Service said it would take bids next month for concessions in the Chukchi Sea, which separates Alaska from Siberia.

But environmental groups fear the effects on wildlife in the region, including the polar bear population.

There have been no lease sales for over 15 years and the groups fear further exploration could damage marine life.

Imperium Renewables Withdraws IPO Plans

"Current market conditions" cited as reason for delay in biodiesel project expansion.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Imperium Renewables Inc, the largest biodiesel producer on the U.S. West Coast, filed to withdraw its plan for an initial public offering, citing unfavorable market conditions.

"Given the current market conditions, our board has determined that it is not the right time to pursue a public offering," John Plaza, Imperium's founder, president and interim CEO, said in a release.

Plaza did not elaborate on market conditions. Prices for soy, one of the main sources of biodiesel, have shot to more than 30-year highs recently on growing global demand for food and fuel from alternative sources.

Imperium had filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in May 2007 to raise as much as $345 million from its IPO.

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Researcher Finds New Interest in Turning Algae into Fuel

from Montana State University News Service:
January 02, 2008 -- By Evelyn Boswell, MSU News Service

BOZEMAN -- The same brown algae that cover rocks and cause anglers to slip while fly fishing contain oil that can be turned into diesel fuel, says a Montana State University microbiologist.

Drivers can't pump algal fuel into their gas tanks yet, but Keith Cooksey said the idea holds promise. He felt that way 20 years ago. He feels that way today.

"We would be there now if people then hadn't been so short-sighted," Cooksey said.

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$100 Crude Drives Soy Oil Futures Toward Record Highs

Wednesday CBOT price for March delivery at $0.5080 per pound, off a high of $0.5115. Overnight markets in Malaysia and elsewhere show continued strength in prices for palm and other edible oils.

Read update from Commodity Online here

Oil Tops $100 to Start 2008

“A dramatic change in our nation’s energy policies is clearly overdue.”
- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) January 2, 2008

The $100 market barrier on the price of oil was breached earlier today. How high might it go?
Some market analysts are predicting oil will soon reach $135, with $100 oil replacing $70 crude price as a benchmark. It's also apparent that historical market limitations to oil pricing are diminished as a function of energy spending becoming less a part of our economy. Indeed, MSNBC headlines its analysis of $100 oil by stating “Consumers likely to shake off rising price of oil.”

Obviously, consumers will be paying attention as gas prices surge far beyond $3/gal – a point that isn’t lost on Washington. The Baltimore Sun reports that the issue is already gaining increased attention of the partisans on the Hill. And in this 2008 forecast report, Business Analyst Doug Kass predicts that "the Democratic Party's populist view of a windfall tax on energy companies (will gain) increased acceptance."

President Bush has remained reluctant to pass an excess profits tax on the oil companies to help fund alternative fuels. Instead, comments made today at a briefing by Press Secretary Dana Perino reinforce the Administration's assertion that oil price relief will be best achieved through additional drilling of oil wells in ANWR and our coastal areas. In response, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid referred to the Bush Presidency as “the most oil-friendly administration in history,” claiming that “This economically disastrous milestone is a product of the President and Bush Republicans’ misguided policies that put corporate profits ahead of our nation’s economic, environmental and national security."

Pocketbook issues reign supreme in Washington. The rising price of oil will therefore "fuel the fire" under this nation's quest for energy conservation and an alternative fuels policy. Whether Republican or Democrat, it is becoming increasingly clear that the next Administration will necessarily be far more proactive in this pursuit than the oft-times dismissive Bush Administration.

AFV solution that's ready for market: Diesel power, with biodiesel in the tank.
Diesel power is a competitive replacement technology for gasoline engines that reduces fuel consumption. And biodiesel further leverages the gains to be made by providing an alternative – available today – to the $100+ per barrel petroleum that presently drives these engines. The production and distribution of biodiesel must therefore become a key objective of any policy that would hope to counter rising oil prices, increased global demand and diminishing supplies while reducing our carbon footprint.

All these troubles in the transportation fuels market make it even more sensible to remain bullish on biodiesel. Solutions to these challenges we face are available, beginning with a public commitment to support the biodiesel industry as our means to create “A Home Grown Fuel for a Better Wisconsin.”

- posted by Jeff Pieterick, President, Wisconsin Biodiesel Association

New Energy Bill has Big Three Automakers Pursuing Diesel Market

"With continuing high gas prices, consumers are looking for vehicles with good fuel economy, and that's where diesel can deliver." - Mike Omotoso, J.D. Power & Associates

As this article in The Detroit News points out, the mileage standards included in the new Energy Bill have already had impact in the domestic diesel engine market.

J.D. Power & Associates predicts a doubling of diesel units in the passenger car market by 2012 - inceasing to over 1.2 million units being sold in the U.S. Others in the industry expect diesel to make up 15 percent of the total domestic automotive market within the decade.

Concerns about global warming and a desire to reduce the carbon footprint of our transportation fuels is driving the diesel revolution in the domestic market. These concerns - along with an increasing market preference for diesel fuel over gasoline - will result in an increased demand for renewable alternatives to diesel as a means of leveraging the carbon-reduction gains that are achieved.

All the more reason to remain diligent in our efforts to establish the biodiesel industry on firm footing and to increase the distribution and market availability of biodiesel as our very own Home Grown Fuel for a Better Wisconsin.

(Also read Jonathon Ramsey commentary from AutoBlogGreen here)