A growing demand for energy, coupled with an increase in prices, has led to consistent growth in Canada's oil and gas sector during the past 10 years, according to a new study.

The study, published in the online edition of Perspectives on Labour and Income, analyzes economic activity in three components of the sector—upstream, midstream and downstream—as well as trends in employment between 1997 and 2006.

In 2006, the contribution of the oil and gas sector to Canada's gross domestic product exceeded $40 billion (in 1997 dollars). In addition, during the past decade, employment in the industry increased at a somewhat faster pace than the national average.

Total employment in all oil and gas industries amounted to roughly 298,000 in 2006, a 22% increase from 1997, a slightly faster gain than the average of 20% for the economy as a whole.

In the upstream component, which covers oil and gas exploration, extraction and production, employment increased at three times that pace, about 65%, from 107, 000 to roughly 177,000. The majority (75%) of the jobs were in Alberta, with its vast oil and gas reserves.

The impact on wages was pronounced. In 1997, employees in oil and gas extraction earned 58% more per hour than the average worker. By 2006, this gap had widened to 80%.

For example, workers in oil and gas extraction earned on average about $30.36 an hour in 2006, compared with $16.73 for the labour market as a whole.

In terms of volume, crude oil production rose 21% between 1997 and 2005. In 1997, total crude production amounted to just under 112.7 million cubic metres, with a value of $15.9 billion. By 2005, the volume had increased to 136.2 million cubic metres, and the value had nearly tripled to $45.2 billion.

Natural gas production increased by about 8% in terms of volume, but because of higher prices, the value rose by more than 312%.

The midstream component of the industry includes pipelines, rail, truck and tanker transportation, and storage. The downstream component consists of refining and marketing, and includes refineries, gas distribution utilities, oil product wholesalers, service stations and petrochemical companies.

Combined, these two components contributed about $10.8 billion to Canada's gross domestic product in 2006, and employed around 121,000 people.

Canada is currently the world's eighth-largest producer of crude oil, pumping out about 2.5 million barrels a day. Current world demand is about 84 million barrels, while production stands at about 86 million barrels.

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government would underwrite up to $2 billion in construction of biorefineries and bioproduct plants under a House Agriculture Committee plan being considered this week.

The bioenergy package would authorize a total of $4.5 billion for biomass research and loan guarantees to biofacilities through fiscal 2012. An Agriculture subcommittee was scheduled to discuss the package on Tuesday.

At least 14 plants could be built under the loan guarantee program. It would allow $1 billion for projects costing up to $100 million each and $1 billion for projects costing $100 million to $250 million each.

Guarantees could cover up to 90 percent of the principal and interest on a loan for development and construction of biofacilities, said a draft prepared for the subcommittee. It says Congress would authorize the guarantees if lawmakers are unable to tap a reserve fund that requires offsets for all spending.

Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, Minnesota Democrat, said the House vote early this year to repeal some tax breaks for oil companies should save enough money to pay for the committee's biomass initiatives.

Major proposals in the package, along with the loan guarantee program, are:

- $1.5 billion for fiscal 2008-12 for bioenergy research into crops and cellulosic biomass, mill residues and agricultural and forest residue including used vegetable oils and animal waste;

- $500 million during fiscal 2008-12 for biomass research, mostly on less costly and more efficient ways to use cellulose in biofuels and bioproducts;

- $500 million in grants for development and use of renewable energy in rural areas during fiscal 2008-12.

Like the loan guarantees, the three research and development programs would be financed by the reserve fund if possible. If not, Congress would be asked to appropriate the money.

Besides the funding proposed by Agriculture Committee leaders, the 2005 energy law calls for $200 million a year in research and development on biomass.

© Reuters 2007

Everything from an energy-efficient, two-wheeled, all-terrain vehicle to a hydrogen-powered office will be on display this week at the UK's largest renewable energy exhibition and conference.

More than 300 companies are travelling from the United States, New Zealand, Thailand and all over Europe to attend All-Energy '07 at the Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre for the seventh staging of the event.

More than 3000 visitors are expected to attend the two-day event, most to listen to some of the 180 speakers who include Lord Truscott, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Energy, and US Ambassador Robert H Tuttle.

The conference will focus on a range of renewable energies from wave and tidal to onshore and offshore wind and bioenergy and will look at specific issues such as carbon capture and storage and how farmers can enter the energy crops market.

At the parallel exhibition, the Ecorider off-road all-terrain vehicle will be on show. Built in Nairn, it has numerous applications ranging from farming, forestry and gamekeeping to golf, leisure and equestrian use. It achieves 120 miles per gallon of diesel and has the ability to tow up to 250kg.

Another exhibitor is the Hydrogen Office. It will feature information on the world-leading demonstration project under construction at Methil in Fife.

The building will be powered by a novel renewable and hydrogen energy system, using renewable energy directly when available, but storing surplus energy as hydrogen for a proportion of the building's needs during periods when renewables are unable to meet demand.

Judith Patten, project director for All-Energy 07, said organisers had been extremely encouraged by the diversity of sectors represented by those who had registered.

"Not only are we seeing people from every element of the renewable energy industry itself registering, but people from the oil and gas industry interested in diversification and in our carbon capture and storage conference session; teachers eager to take part in the skills opportunities and challenges conference stream; farmers coming to take part in the stream designed especially with them in mind; prospective links in the supply chain for the wind and wave and tidal sectors; community representatives eager to consider schemes; and architects, builders and the allied trades who want to be able to satisfy client microgeneration aims.

"A representative from Wal-Mart will be participating in the US inward mission to All-Energy, she added.

"Wal-Mart will be scouting innovative renewable/clean energy and energy-efficiency technologies."

Copyright © 2007 Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited.

PARIS - At the International Energy Agency (IEA) Ministerial meeting, the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources, committed to continued partnerships to achieve a clean, secure, global energy supply.

"It is a mark of our Government's leadership that the priorities identified at the IEA meeting are the priorities we are already pursuing," said Minister Lunn.

For example, building on the ongoing work of Canada's Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force, Canada will host an IEA workshop in the fall to share best practices and technological advances with the international community.

Minister Lunn noted that Canada's status as an emerging energy superpower brings with it considerable responsibility.

"As a result of our tremendous amount of conventional energy resources, we have expertise to share with the international community when it comes to energy and the environment," said Minister Lunn.

During the Ministerial IEA session, Minister Lunn promoted Canada's ecoACTION initiatives, including the new Regulatory Framework for Air Emissions. He emphasized the need to boost clean energy, energy efficiency, and clean energy technologies, while recognizing that mandatory regulations and a technology fund will provide industrial sectors with the tools required to reduce greenhouse gases and air pollution.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) was founded in 1974 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to coordinate emergency measures in times of oil supply crises. Its mandate has evolved over time to incorporate three aspects of energy policy-making: energy security, economic development and environmental protection. The IEA comprises 26 countries and has become the premiere international forum for addressing energy issues.

VANCOUVER - Plans to burn pine-beetle-killed wood to generate electricity are gaining momentum in British Columbia, where a pine beetle plague affects some 9.2 million hectares, an area roughly three times the size of Vancouver Island.

The infestation has resulted in a scramble to cut affected wood before it loses economic value and to find alternative uses for pine-beetle- killed timber.

One of the most promising alternatives is using the damaged wood as fuel.

Two privately held companies are expected to announce an ambitious proposal to build a network of 15 to 20 small, community-based power plants in Interior B.C. that would turn wood waste, including pine-beetle-infested wood, into electricity.

The proposal, by Vancouver-based Nexterra Energy Corp. and Calgary's Pristine Power Inc., would see Pristine Power finance and build plants based on Nexterra's gasification technology.

The estimated cost of the network is $500-million.

Nexterra's technology converts wood residue from sawmills, or pine-beetle-affected wood, into "syngas" that can be used to generate electricity through steam turbine equipment.

Such systems can help mills reduce their energy bills and their greenhouse gas emissions.

A system installed last year at a plywood mill near Kamloops will save the mill more than $1.5-million in fuel costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12,000 tonnes a year, Nexterra says.

The joint proposal from Nexterra and Pristine Power follows a provincial plan in February that flagged the energy potential of beetle-killed wood and committed the province to becoming energy sufficient by 2016.

The plan also calls for 90 per cent of the province's electricity to come from renewable resources.

B.C. Hydro issued a request for expressions of interest in bioenergy proposals in March and has to date received more than 80 proposals.

© Copyright 2007 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc.

Since the popularity of Al Gore's documentary An Inconvenient Truth - one of the top-grossing documentaries in the United States - it has become clear that concern for global warming is widespread in America.

In his film, Gore predicts a series of catastrophes that would result from the continued progress of global warming, including the melting of massive glaciers in the Himalayas. Carbon emissions, produced by motor vehicles, are the leading cause of global warming, and the quest for alternative fuels is now a hot topic worldwide.

Israeli researcher Dr. Amir Sharon of Tel Aviv University is on the trail. Sharon has discovered a transgenic fungus strong enough to convert even the most resilient plant parts into bioethanol, a chemical used for biofuel. Strengthened with an anti-death gene, this fungus is resistant to harsh conditions such as heat and toxic substances - both of which are released while converting plant biomass into ethanol. As a result, the production of ethanol using this transgenic fungus could be much more efficient than with conventional fungi.

Biofuel - fuel derived from plant biomass - has emerged as one of the most viable alternatives to oil. The US bioethanol industry is booming. In 2006, 13% of the US corn crop was used for the production of ethanol.

But there are drawbacks to biofuel's production - it is expensive and wasteful. Most bioethanol produced in the US is derived from the edible parts of corn crops. The stalks and leaves, comprised of cellulose and known to scientists as cellulosic biomass, are much harder to convert into ethanol. The cellulose is bound with a chemical called lignin, which causes the plant material to be rigid and difficult to break down. Consequently the production of bioethanol from cellulosic biomass is not carried out on an industrial scale in the US.

As a result, some grain crops that could be used for food production are being used for fuel production instead. The prevailing criticism is that there is not enough farmland to produce crops for biofuel and still maintain an adequate supply of food. Additionally, Americans consume about 400 million gallons of gasoline per day, and that figure is growing. Bioethanol only provides 70% of the energy contained in a tank of gasoline.

However, Sharon's new fungus, with its capability to convert inedible plant cellulose into ethanol, could have a significant impact on ethanol production. According to Sharon, fungus is normally very difficult to culture.

"It is spoiled. Fungus needs very specific conditions in which to thrive. These transfungi are much more resistant to stress conditions, even oxidant chemicals like hydrogen peroxide or UV radiation, which usually harms the DNA and causes mutations, has little effect on the new transfungi," he told ISRAEL21c.

How does this apply to the production of ethanol? Since fungi require specific conditions for survival, the stress conditions produced during the conversion process eventually kill the fungi.

"When you apply the fungus to the plant material, degradation will release heat and toxic material, which usually kills it. But this transgenic fungus is more tolerant so it can withstand heat and toxins, making the plant degradation process more efficient," said Sharon.

Sharon discovered the unique properties of this fungus by accident. "We were exploring ways to modify the germination of the fungus using anti-death genes... about a year later when we went to clean out the cold room, we were astonished to discover a bright fungal colony that should have died months before."

The unusual hardiness of the fungus may also be important for the food and drug industries, which rely on the process of fermentation. More than 20 drugs, including penicillin, require fungi in the manufacturing process. Sharon says, "Our fungus can grow for much longer in the fermenter - twice as long or more. This can allow for the production of many more fermentation units." Doubling the efficiency of food and drug manufacture could mean significant cost savings for these industries.

According to David Zaks, an American expert on environmental issues who contributed to the popular website Worldchanging, Sharon's research bodes well for future cellulose conversions.

"This research is definitely an important step in providing the technology needed to do [the conversion of cellulose] on a more industrial scale. In the future we'll be able to do it with things like switchgrass," Zaks told ISRAEL21c.

A graduate student of the University of Wisconsin, Madison at the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment, Zaks predicts that cellulosic ethanol is going to be 'the next big thing'. "There are many different small-scale production companies that are going to be working on it," he explained. "There's a lot of money being put into this field right now to make it an important part of our energy future."

Sharon also sees biofuel as an important alternative to fossil fuels, both to prevent global warming and to supplement the world's supply of fuels. "When we use plants [for biofuel] we're not damaging the environment because we're recycling carbon dioxide - releasing the same molecule that plants have already absorbed," he said. "We also need alternatives because in 30 or 40 years we'll have used up our supply of petrol."

Irit Ben Chlouch, director of business development at Ramot, Tel Aviv University's technology transfer company, realized the financial implications of Sharon's findings. "Not even mentioning biofuels, the fungal biotechnology market which includes drugs, enzymes and the food market, is estimated at over $100 billion a year," she said.

Ben Chlouch added that Ramot is in negotiations with several companies to develop and commercialize Sharon's breakthrough technology. "We are not at liberty to disclose the names [of the companies] until a final agreement has been reached," she said.

© 2001-2005 ISRAEL21c.org.

TOKYO - In a significant step in the government-led campaign for promoting biofuel, major Japanese oil distributors have begun to sell bio-gasoline at a limited number of filling stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area on a trial basis.

Still, the nation's biofuel drive, ignited by growing environmental and energy concerns, faces a bumpy road ahead. It remains to be seen whether the world's second-largest economy will be able to reach the government-set goal of saving 500,000 kiloliters of crude oil per annum through the use of biofuel by 2010.

Two weeks have passed since bio-gasoline hit some pumps with much fanfare. But sales to Japanese motorists are still stuck at noticeably low levels, although it is too early to draw a conclusion about the future level of bio-gasoline consumption.

Nippon Oil Corp and nine other Japanese wholesalers began to sell ETBE-blended gasoline at 50 filling stations in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama and Chiba prefectures on April 27. The other wholesalers are Idemitsu Kosan Co, Taiyo Oil Co, Fuji Oil Co, Cosmo Oil Co, Kyushu Oil Co, Showa Shell Sekiyu KK, Japan Energy Corp, TonenGeneral Sekiyu KK and Kyokuto Petroleum Industries Ltd as well as Nippon Oil.

ETBE (ethyl tertiary butyl ether) is a gasoline additive made by combining bioethanol - grain alcohol derived from such plants as sugarcane and corn (maize) - with isobutylene, a petroleum product. ETBE-blended gasoline can be used in automobiles in the same way as regular gasoline.

The bio-gasoline now on sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area is 7% ETBE-blended and 3% bioethanol-blended. It is the first time that bio-gasoline has been sold in Japan on a commercial basis. Prices for the bio-gasoline are about the same as for regular gasoline.

The 10 Japanese wholesalers jointly imported 7,500kl of ETBE from France for the first time ahead of the start of the test sales. Bio-gasoline is already popular in Europe. The volume of ETBE imports may double in fiscal 2008 - which starts next April - when 100 filling stations will be selling bio-gasoline.

The oil distributors plan to spread the sale of bio-gasoline, selling the fuel at 1,000 outlets across the country in fiscal 2009 ahead of the planned full-scale nationwide introduction in fiscal 2010.

Biofuel products are made from corn, palm oil, sugarcane and other agricultural products, and they have been seen by many as a cleaner and cheaper way to meet the world's soaring energy needs than greenhouse-gas-emitting fossil-fuel products.

The European Union and the United States are also promoting biofuels. The 27-nation EU has recently set a target of increasing the share of biofuel products, such as bioethanol and bio-diesel, to 10% by 2020, while the US Congress is working on a proposal that would boost biofuel production sevenfold by 2022.

A United Nations report released on Tuesday agreed that biofuel products can bring real benefits, but at the same time it warned that the benefits may be offset by serious environmental problems and increased food prices for the hungry.

The report, prepared by UN-Energy, a consortium of 20 UN agencies and programs, and titled "Sustainable Energy: A Framework for Decision Makers", said there can be serious consequences if forests are razed for plantations and if food prices rise as a result of the diversion of food crops, as shown by the recent steep rise in corn and sugar prices. The report also concludes that biofuel is more effective when used for heating and power rather than in transportation.

Environment, energy concerns

In Japan, the Environment Ministry and the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry are pressing forward with the introduction of bioethanol, saying that it helps prevent global warming.

Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, Japan is required to slash its emissions of carbon dioxide and several other greenhouse gases by 6% between 2008 and 2012 - the protocol's first commitment period - from the 1990 levels. But the nation's emissions have actually risen by about 8% from the 1990 levels. Japanese officials acknowledge that it is now almost impossible to achieve the 6% reduction target.

Under the protocol, which took effect in February 2005, carbon dioxide generated from the combustion of bioethanol is not subject to reduction obligations, since it is produced from crops that absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. As part of measures to achieve the target, the Japanese government decided in April 2005 to introduce biofuels worth 500,000kl of crude oil by fiscal 2010.

Fumiaki Watari, president of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ), said the start of bio-gasoline sales "is a revolutionary project because people can foster awareness of environmental measures by using it".

The government-orchestrated drive to promote bio-gasoline is also part of efforts to ensure the resource-poor nation's energy security in the medium and long terms, amid stubbornly high prices and increasingly tough global competition for oil.

The New National Energy Strategy, which was compiled last year by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), set a goal of reducing the nation's reliance on oil for transport to 80% from the current 100% by 2030. Japan imports almost all of its oil, nearly 90% of which comes from the volatile Middle East.

Starting in 2010, the Environment Ministry will require all new cars to be able to run on a blend of 10% bioethanol and 90% regular gasoline. Japan currently allows ethanol mixtures of up to 3% at the nation's pumps, but in practice only a handful of cars had actually been running on bioethanol blends in the country until bio-gasoline sales began on April 27.

Meanwhile, the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry is embarking on projects, either on its own or in cooperation with the other government ministries, to encourage the use of domestically produced bioethanol to help farmers. In response to the ministry's proposal, the government has recently set a new, longer-term goal of boosting domestic annual production of bioethanol to 6 million kiloliters by 2030. This amount is equivalent to about 10% of annual gasoline consumption at present.

Roadblocks to the goal

The bio-gasoline-promotion project is not free of problems, including a currently negligible volume of domestic bioethanol production and almost complete reliance on imports, slightly higher production costs of bio-gasoline than those of ordinary gasoline, and the dispute between the petroleum industry and the Environment Ministry over how bioethanol should be mixed with gasoline.

Global demand for bioethanol has been snowballing, resulting in a sharp rise in the price of corn and other crops. Last year, US auto makers unveiled plans to double production of vehicles using so-called flexible-fuel technology by 2010. Also, no country other than Brazil, the world's largest producer, has any significant biofuel-export potential, and fears are rising around the globe over stable supplies. The United States and Brazil agreed in early March to promote the production and use of ethanol, when President George W Bush visited the South American country and held talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Japan is looking to Brazil as its major source of the alternative fuel. Last year, the governments of Japan and Brazil set up a study group on trading in the fuel. Japan could lock up a sizable chunk of future ethanol supplies from Brazil.

Major Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co and Brazilian state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras as it is better known, are said to be in advanced negotiations about how to supply Japan with as much as 3 million kiloliters of ethanol annually within four years. At the end of February, Mitsui signed a memorandum of understanding with Petrobras and Brazilian Construcoes e Comcio Camargo Correa SA to undertake technical and economic viability studies for the deployment of a pipeline infrastructure to transport ethanol produced in the midwestern and southeastern parts of Brazil.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Environment Ministry will ramp up production of ethanol fuel on the southern island of Miyako, where a plentiful supply of sugarcane will be converted into fuel for the island's estimated 20,000 cars. The ultimate goal is to have all cars on the nation's roads capable of running on bio-gasoline by 2030.

In fiscal 2010, bio-gasoline is projected to constitute 20% of all gasoline sold in Japan, while there are plans to produce ETBE domestically from fiscal 2009, according to the PAJ. Meanwhile, the Environment Ministry is scheduled to launch a series of demonstration tests in August on a new type of biofuel produced by directly mixing gasoline and bioethanol. The Osaka prefectural government will conduct the tests on commission.

Petroleum-industry people say customers generally welcomed bio-gasoline put on sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area. "Customers are in favor of the new fuel. People's awareness of the need to protect the environment appears to be rapidly rising," said an official at PAJ.

But some analysts caution that the industry is too optimistic about sales. Production costs are said to be 1 to 2 yen (up to 1.6 US cents) higher per liter than those of ordinary gasoline. To fill the gap and thereby encourage the spread of the new fuel, the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to provide subsidies to the petroleum industry.

Meanwhile, the petroleum industry and the Environment Ministry are at odds over how bioethanol should be mixed with gasoline. The petroleum industry favors ETBE, while the ministry prefers the direct bioethanol-gasoline mixture. This disagreement could hamper the spread of bioethanol.

Environment Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi said: "Many Japanese-made cars are used in such countries as Brazil, the United States and Canada, where the direct-mixing formula is employed. This means there's no major technical problems in adopting the direct-mixing method."

The ministry also argues that the ETBE formula makes it technically difficult to raise the concentration of bioethanol in bio-gasoline. The ministry plans to raise the legal limit on the percentage of bioethanol in the mix from the current 3% to 10%.

As reasons for opposing the direct-mixing formula, the petroleum industry cites higher costs, among other things. "The ETBE formula can be done through existing petroleum-refining facilities," PAJ president Watari said. The direct-mixture formula, by contrast, requires additional capital expenditures and cooperation from many companies to produce bio-gasoline, Watari said.

The petroleum industry plans to blend 360,000kl of ETBE with gasoline in fiscal 2010 to save consumption of 210,000kl of crude oil. But the figure will still be far less than the government's target of saving 500,000kl of crude oil through the use of biofuel.

"The petroleum industry's project can never be considered sufficient to realize the government-set goal," said Yoshio Tamura, administrative vice minister of the Environment Ministry.

Hisane Masaki is a Tokyo-based journalist, commentator and scholar on international politics and economy. Masaki's e-mail address is yiu45535@nifty.com.

Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd.

Europe's car manufacturers, led by Saab and closely followed by Ford, are endangering their credibility with buyers as they exaggerate the environmental benefits of ethanol and hide its disadvantages in a desperate scramble to catch up with the need to appear green.

After soft-pedaling the problem for years, Europe's automotive manufacturers have been caught out by a sudden sea change in public opinion, which now wants more attention paid to the need to conserve fuel and protect the environment. Tire-squealing, macho advertising campaigns underlining speed and performance are on the way out; green, tree hugging is in.

Saab, General Motors' Swedish up-market subsidiary, is running a TV ad campaign which claims its new ethanol Flex Fuel engines, powered by renewable fuel which sucks in CO2 as it grows, can cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to an amazing 70 percent. Ford Europe claims a Flex-fuel powered little Focus sedan also cuts carbon dioxide emissions by 70 percent compared with a gasoline-engine car. At the same time, in theory at least, a significant amount of imported gasoline would be replaced by homegrown fuel.

But these claims are coming under attack from experts, who say the real savings from using biofuels like ethanol are closer to neutral. Others say if you examine the whole life cycle and implications of growing fuels like ethanol, more energy is consumed than produced. If ethanol really boomed using a huge amount of new agricultural land, we could see the ludicrous result of planet-saving rainforests being decimated in the name of saving the planet.

And buried in the small print of Saab's claims for its Flex-fuel engines, is the admission that ethanol or E85 is much less efficient than gasoline, penalizing fuel consumption by about 30 percent.

These ethanol-enabled engines are engineered to run on normal gasoline or E85, which is just as well in Europe because very few gas stations actually sell the stuff. Here, close to a large town on the south coast of England, the nearest ethanol gas station is 40 miles away. According to Saab's own ethanol locater Web site, there are only 13 gas stations in all of Britain which sell it.

You don't have to believe that humans are destroying the climate to acknowledge that fossil fuels will run out sooner rather than later, and any new technology which seeks to address that problem must be a good thing.

Hype about CO2 emissions

Saab claims that its flex-fuel engines burning corn or sugar derivatives can slash CO2 emissions by more than half. But some experts say if you examine the data carefully, this is not the case, and that the role of these renewable fuels has been hyped way past their capabilities.

Saab now offers what it calls a BioPower flex-fuel technology option (cost:$1,200) right across its model range and says this means these vehicles effectively emit 50 to 70 percent less carbon dioxide than conventional engines when you fill up with biofuel like ethanol.

Saab flex-fuel engines using E85, a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, emit roughly the same amount of CO2 as other cars while being used on the road. But the crop-growing process effectively slashes emissions overall.

"Bioethanol fuel is produced commercially from agricultural crops like wheat, corn, grain, sugar beet and sugar cane. Unlike petrol, its consumption does not significantly raise atmospheric levels of CO2, which some scientific research suggests is a major contributor to global warming. This is because emissions released during driving are balanced by the amount of CO2 that is removed from the atmosphere when crops for conversion (into ethanol) are grown," Saab said.

However, this advantage is disputed by some experts like Jerry Taylor, senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, DC, who said the resources used to expand ethanol production - extra fertilizer, water, transportation, energy needed to convert it to industrial alcohol, not to mention the need to expand agricultural land and cut down CO2 friendly forests - will actually lead to higher greenhouse gas emissions than traditional fuels like petrol and diesel.

Next-generation ethanol

Tiffany Groode of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology recently published research casting doubt on the benefits of ethanol, saying converting corn into ethanol may use more fossil energy than the fuel provides. Groode's research, for MIT's Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, did hold out hope for so-called "cellulosic" ethanol, capable of much higher energy content, but it won't be available for years. Cellulosic biofuels use parts of crops which would usually go to waste, so do not affect food prices. But this development will be very expensive

President George W Bush has said Americans must use 20 percent less gasoline over the next decade. Hybrids, which use electric power to enhance the economy of gasoline engines, will contribute to this, but Bush expects ethanol to be a major provider. The European Union has said biofuels should account for 10 percent of the energy used for transport by 2020.

But Al Bedwell, analyst at J.D. Power's European headquarters, doesn't expect ethanol market penetration in Europe to reach much beyond 5 percent of car sales.

"This is not (yet at least) the panacea that some manufacturers would have us believe. Maybe with second-generation (cellulosic) biofuels we will see greater penetration. As far as ethanol is concerned I don't see a tremendous mid-term market for it above the 5 percent or so that is targeted," Bedwell said.

Consultants Frost & Sullivan expects a European market penetration of 4 percent for flex-fuel vehicles by 2015.

Garel Rhys, Emeritus Professor at Cardiff University Business School, said ethanol is a palliative, not a solution to the CO2 issue, and can make a minor contribution, with hybrids and other ideas, while the drive to hydrogen takes place in a minimum of 20, perhaps 50 years.

'Muddle through'

"In the interim we will muddle through with various technologies where none are really obviously better than others. Ethanol does use more fuel but some will say ethanol is better for them - the Swedes with their huge wood crop for instance, Brazilians with sugar cane, while Americans are perhaps more interested in hybrids, others in (bio) diesels," Rhys said.

For ethanol to become a mass-market fuel, according to Bedwell, four conditions must be met: Governments must cut taxes on ethanol (currently it is only pennies cheaper), availability must be improved, sales incentives are needed for flex-fuel vehicles, and exemptions invoked from road pricing schemes.

Despite these sobering disadvantages, led by the fact that fuel economy is a major negative, more European manufacturers plan to add ethanol vehicles including Ford's Volvo, and Renault and Peugeot of France, Bedwell said.

Skepticism on biofuels is coming from some unlikely sources, including global warming activists like the Brussels-based European Federation for Transport and the Environment.

"We have a series of concerns about biofuels, and there are signs that policy makers are now realizing that they are not a straightforward solution," said Dudley Curtis, communications officer for Transport & Environment.

He points out that a jump in the cost of some staple food in Mexico recently caused riots because U.S. demand for corn to make ethanol squeezed out crops for food.

A difficult case to make

"There are good biofuels and bad biofuels. The bad ones result in more CO2 overall than using crude oil. We need sustainability criteria to ensure that biofuels sold in Europe don't come from cleared rainforests, for example," he said.

Other experts say a massive increase in ethanol use will cause health problems, worse than those caused from gasoline, including ozone and particulates.

Despite the efforts of Europe's carmakers to push ethanol, J.D.Power's Bedwell doesn't think the sums add up.

"At present it is difficult to make a case for flex-fuel cars in most European markets as a result of their poor performance in a cost-benefit analysis versus both gasoline and diesel alternatives," Bedwell said.

The only European country where E85 has taken off is Sweden, where the government offers substantial financial incentives to motorists.

Meanwhile, the long-term solution will be hydrogen, according to Rhys.

"It could be fuel cells; it could be liquid hydrogen in internal combustion engines, which would be a good way to go using existing engines. But it's going to take a huge amount of research and huge expenditure to be commercially attractive. Also there has to be a clean way of making hydrogen, because using fossil fuels will end up making things (greenhouse gasses) worse. Nuclear, or wave power or solar power; you simply can't use existing CO2 based methodology to provide hydrogen," Rhys said.

© Copyright 2007 The Detroit News.

- raw material and energy costs increasing pressure on global business
- businesses to lose competitiveness if no action is taken to combat environmental issues

TORONTO - Energy and raw material costs are an increasing worry for global businesses according to the latest findings from the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR). The biggest worry for businesses are raw material costs with 44% of global businesses identifying these as having a major impact on cost pressures in the next twelve months, followed by 41% who were concerned about staff costs, 37% about energy costs and 34% about transport costs. Property costs (15%) are expected to have a lesser impact over the coming year.

Raw material and energy cost pressures

Energy costs appear to be affecting Europe more than the rest of the world with five of the region's top ten countries citing energy as having a major impact on cost pressures: Germany (58%), Ireland (47%) and France, Luxembourg and Italy (all 44%). Globally, companies in the Philippines (68%) are due to be most impacted by energy cost pressures, followed by Botswana (65%). Companies in Australia (18%) are least likely to be impacted by the cost of energy.

In comparison, raw material costs are due to have a greater impact on global businesses with companies from every continent appearing at the top of the table. Businesses in Spain (61%) are due to be most impacted by the cost of raw materials, followed by Botswana and Singapore (both 60%), and Thailand and France (both 56%). Raw material costs are due to affect businesses least in the Netherlands (29%), followed by the US, UK and Sweden (all at 31%).

The International Business Report covered the opinions of 7,200 privately held businesses in 32 countries, representing 81% of global GDP.

Managing future energy cost pressures

Companies in the emerging markets have done most to date to manage future energy cost pressures(*) according to the Grant Thornton International Business Report. Out of a maximum score of 600, companies in the Philippines (410) lead the way, followed by: Brazil (360), mainland China (341), Malaysia (307), Germany (306) and Turkey (303). <<

Main action taken by companies to reduce energy cost pressures:

- 58% of businesses globally have undertaken an energy review to understand how they may be wasting energy, led by companies in the Philippines (83%)

- 59% of businesses have reduced their energy consumption, again led by the Philippines (85%)

- 60% of businesses have put in place measures to ensure all computers and electrical equipment is turned off, top were Malaysian companies on 85%. The least action taken was by businesses in Thailand (16%) and Sweden (39%)

- 44% of businesses have spent most on energy saving equipment with Brazilian businesses (66%) the most likely to invest

- 20% of businesses have invested in alternative fuel/energy supplies. European businesses are more likely to have invested in these (24%)

- 22% of businesses have considered relocating to reduce transportation costs with companies in mainland China (46%) most likely to have contemplated this. >>

Alex MacBeath, global leader of privately held business services for Grant Thornton International, said:

"There is a simple clear message from our findings. Unless environmental factors such as energy and raw material costs become issues that significantly affect a company's profitability there is no incentive for it to take action, and reduce its impact on the environment. There must be motivation to take action on raw material and energy costs or companies will continue to focus on other cost pressures such as salaries and wages.

"We are now at a tipping point in looking at climate change and environmental management. It is time businesses recognised the fact that unless they take action to reduce their impact on the environment, it will harm their long-term competitiveness.

"There is also a role for national Governments to look at the long-term competitiveness of their economies and factor energy and raw material costs into that equation. Unless they take action to actively encourage businesses to invest for the future and reduce their impact on the environment, they will ultimately damage their economies." <<

(*) Respondents were measured by whether they had undertaken six energy and environmental initiatives:
- if they had undertaken an energy review
- reduced energy consumption
- put measures in place to turn off electrical equipment
- invested in energy saving equipment
- investigated alternative fuel/energy supplies
- considered relocating to reduce transportation costs. >>

Each country in IBR was given a score based on the percentage of businesses who had carried out each of the criteria. For each of the six criteria, the highest score a country could receive was 100, with a total maximum score for the management of energy and environmental issues league table of 600.

Unfortunately, the way we are going about implementing this "good" idea could mean we are headed from the frying pan to the fire.

There are two kinds of biofuel: ethanol, processed from sugarcane or corn, and biodiesel, made from biomass. Climate-savvy Europe gave the first push to biofuel, mandating they should contribute 6 per cent of fuels used in vehicles by 2010 and 10 per cent by 2020. The bulk of biodiesel comes from domestically grown rapeseed. But to meet its growing needs, it is looking at importing soyabean-based fuel from Brazil and Argentina, and palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.

US President George Bush has this year called on his country to produce 132 billion litres of biofuel by 2017, to cut dependence on foreign fuel. The US' favourite biofuel is ethanol, which it produces from corn starch. Brazil, the world's largest ethanol producer, mostly uses sugarcane. It is estimated that ethanol plants will burn up to half of the US' domestic corn supplies in the coming few years. In addition, its biofuel industry is looking to make fuel out of soya and other crops to feed the automobile industry's growing hunger.

Already, the repercussions of this switch are beginning to show. Late last year, Mexico saw its tortilla wars, as people found the price of their staple-corn-had doubled. The hike was a result of the crop's new market as a source of vehicle fuel and the control over the crop and its uses by corporate USA. In this case, one company, Archer Daniels Midlands, has dominant interests in the corn and wheat market and is the largest ethanol processor in the region. In addition, it has a financial stake in a Mexican company that makes tortillas and refines wheat. In other words, the company benefits when corn price increases and consumers switch to wheat. Or when the switch takes place from food to fuel, they benefit.

Similarly, Cargill, the agribusiness multinational, is now the big name in the biofuel market. In this scenario, prices of other food commodities- wheat, soya, palm oil-are rising as well, in turn, impacting the poorest consumers globally. The projections are that food prices will increase between 20-40 per cent in the next 10 years or so because of this switchover.

The problem is compounded by the fact that this "switch" will do little to avert climate change. It is clear that all the biofuel in the world will be a blip on the total consumption of fossil fuel. In the US, for instance, it is agreed that if the entire corn crop is used for ethanol, it can only replace 12 per cent of current gasoline-petrol-used in the country. A recent paper in the US journal Foreign Affairs estimates that filling a 95-litre fuel tank with pure ethanol will require about 200 kg of corn, which has enough calories to feed a person for a year.

If we factor in the fuel inputs that go into converting biomass to energy-from diesel to run tractors, natural gas to make fertilisers, fuel to run refineries- biofuel is not an energy-efficient option. It is estimated that roughly 20 per cent of corn-made ethanol is 'new' energy. This does not account for the water it will take to grow this new crop. There is also evidence that rainforests will be cut to expand the cultivation of soya, sugarcane and palm oil, which in turn will exacerbate climate change.

Don't get me wrong: I am in favour of biofuel. But the question we need to ask is how to use it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, though we are only interested in maximising corporate profits, we believe rather naively that social objectives are being met.

Firstly, let us be clear that biofuels cannot substitute fossil fuels; but they can make a difference if we begin to limit the consumption of the latter.

If this is the case, governments should not provide subsidies to grow crops for biofuel, as is being done in the US and Europe, but spend to limit their fuel consumption by reducing the sheer numbers of vehicles on their roads. If this is done, biofuels, which are renewable and emit less greenhouse gases, will make a difference. Otherwise, we are only fooling ourselves.

Secondly, the question is where will the biofuels be used? Let us be clear that the opportunity for a massive biofuel revolution is not in the rich world's cities, to run vehicles-but in the grid-unconnected world of Indian or African villages. It is here that there is a scarcity of energy-electricity to power homes, fuel to cook, to run generator sets to pump water and to run vehicles. It is also here that the use of fossil fuels will grow because there is no alternative.

Instead of bringing fossil fuel long distances to feed this market, this part of the world can leapfrog to a new energy future- from no fuel to the most advanced fuel. The biofuel can come from non-edible tree crops- jatropha in India, for example- grown on wasteland, which will also employ people.

This fuel market will demand a different business model. It cannot be conducted on the basis of the so-called free market model, which is based on economies of scale and, therefore, demands consolidation and leads to uncompetitive practices. In today's model, a company will grow the crops, extract the oil, transport it first to refineries and then back to consumers.

The new generation biofuel business needs a model of distributed growth in which we have millions of growers and millions of distributors and millions of users. Remember, climate change is not a technological fix but a political challenge. Biofuel is part of a new future.

© Central Chronicle 2007

A: I wish I could say biodiesel, a renewable alternative to diesel fuel, is produced in such a way that it could safeguard our food supply from the effects of declining oil reserves and permanently higher fuel prices. Unfortunately, biodiesel is not a silver bullet, able to eliminate American agriculture's dependence on fossil fuels. But biodiesel, produced sustainably and reducing our petroleum demand, can make the transition to a new energy economy less painful.

In 2005, America's farms spent $27.4 billion on energy-related expenses. That breaks down to $3.4 billion on electricity and $12.8 billion on fertilizers that along with pesticides create a significant, indirect source of fossil fuel-dependent energy consumption for agriculture. The fuels and oils required to operate equipment and machinery cost farmers $11.2 billion, and included the cost of about 3.5 billion gallons of diesel fuel used to plant, tend, and harvest our crops and raise our livestock (1).

It sounds like a lot but the total energy use by the agriculture sector peaked in 1978, and has decreased since then despite increased agricultural output (2). Farm equipment and practices have become more efficient as farmers stay competitive in the market by keeping their energy costs down.

In America, a common way to produce biodiesel is from virgin soybean oil. The oil is harvested from the plant and sold on the commodities market. A biodiesel producer purchases the oil and ships it to a biodiesel refinery, where the process of making biodiesel, a transesterification reaction, takes place. The large triglyceride molecules of vegetable oil are broken into the smaller and less viscous, long chain mono alkyl esters of biodiesel. The reaction requires a short chain alcohol (usually methanol) and a catalyst (usually sodium or potassium hydroxide) (3). Glycerin, a sugar, is also produced in the reaction and is often sold to industry for use in soap, cosmetics, and many other applications.

The American biodiesel industry is experiencing tremendous growth, from its humble beginning of less than 10 biodiesel plants in 2000 to 65 plants operating and 58 more under construction or expanding in 2006. Biodiesel production capacity is projected to reach 1.7 billion gallons by 2008 (4).

1.7 billion gallons of biodiesel would cover almost half of the 3.5 billion gallons of diesel we use on farms, but biodiesel is not just sold to farmers and 1.7 billion gallons is more of a drop in the bucket when it comes to the annual 60 billion gallons of diesel fuel consumed in America.

Making a dent in the total diesel consumed in the U.S. would require a lot of biodiesel. According to a white paper from John Deere & Company, use of a B2 (2% biodiesel, 98% petroleum diesel) blend nationwide is an attainable goal. "It would require 1.1 billion gallons of pure biodiesel... [and] consume all the soybean oil from 18 million acres, or about one-fourth of current U.S. soybean production (5)." (John Deere & Co. is forgetting about my favorite, sustainable feedstock, Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO). And are you wondering about algae? Stay tuned for my next column.)

Eighteen million acres of soybeans grown for fuel to meet 2% of our nation's diesel fuel demand, when my salad came all the way from California? Biodiesel cannot replace all or even close to all of the diesel fuel we consume here in the U.S. But there are simple and delicious ways to reduce our food supply's dependence on petroleum like buying local, organic produce.

I live on the East Coast and on average the produce available here is 3 to 4 days older than the produce available in California. I don't want to spend a lifetime eating old lettuce and wasting fuel. Fortunately, there is a growing movement towards Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in America, where small organic farms can provide enough vegetables to support 200 to 300 local families on 5 to 10 acres of land. Here in upstate New York, I can get almost all of my produce during the growing season from the local farmers' market or join a CSA and have a weekly share of what is in season. I can ride a bike (the chain greased with biodiesel) to where my beets are grown, instead of having them shipped to me from California. I find fresh vegetables and efficiency very appetizing.

So make your biodiesel sustainable and eat your locally grown kale and we might just make it out of this pinch.

Footnotes:

1. United States Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration. "Adjusted Distillate Fuel Oil and Kerosene Sales by End Use," 2005.

2. United States Department of Agriculture. "Energy and Agriculture," August, 2006.

3. United States Department of Energy. "Biodiesel Handling and Use Guidelines," March, 2006.

4. Borgman, Don. "Agriculture, Bio-fuels and Striving for Greater Energy Independence: A John Deere perspective on the realistic role US agriculture can play in satisfying America's increasing appetite for renewable fuels," January 4, 2007.

5. Ibid

Copyright © 1999-2007 Renewable Energy Access

"The ethanol industry has been chugging along for 20 years at low levels and now, all of a sudden, it's really taking off," Brent Erickson, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization ' s industrial and environmental section, told UPI in a telephone interview Monday. "We have to let the market work. What you ' re going to find is that corn farmers are going to plant more corn this year. "Next year, this won't be an issue because supply and demand will come into balance. I think this whole issue about food is going to go away." Although most of the corn grown in the United States is used as feedstock, the demand for ethanol has pushed corn prices to an all-time high, spiking the price of foodstuffs such as milk, eggs and chicken.

The Bush administration wants to reduce gasoline use by 20 percent over a 10-year period. In his State of the Union address in January, President Bush set a goal to produce 35 billion gallons of alternative fuels by 2017.

The United States already consumes some 7 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol a year. Ten years ago less than 5 percent of corn production was used to manufacture ethanol. In 2005 it was 14 percent. In 2006 it touched an estimated 20 percent.

Critics say ethanol is driving up prices or other crops and some food; its supporters, however, say it's the best way to achieve energy independence.
Copyright 2007 by UPI

Escalating energy costs and the growing fear of climate change have encouraged a headlong rush to renewable energy. Biofuel from biomass is emerging as a preferred source of liquid energy for transport - but the huge areas of agricultural land that are being, or will be, diverted from food production pose questions about the morality of industrial-scale biofuels development.

These industrial biofuels are mainly ethanol from starch and sugar crops and oil from oilseed crops such as canola and oil palm. In the background, cellulosic alcohol production is receiving close attention as biotechnology research attempts to develop new ways to convert complex structural carbohydrates to soluble sugars for conversion to ethanol.

Diversion of land from food to biofuels production is already driving up the price of food: Mexican maize prices have doubled in the last year forcing the government to put a ceiling on tortilla prices. Sugar prices have also doubled, while construction of distilleries in the USA and South America is only now taking off. Virtually all countries are now considering biofuels production from various crop sources. In general these will be grown on land that previously grew food or else is newly-cleared forest country. And these fuels will be produced by industrial processes that lower the net energy yield. Subsidized agribusiness has bought into biofuels with expectations of high profits.

The industrial production of biofuels threatens to create conflict over food for humans, feed for animals and feedstocks for liquid energy sources.

In 2006 about 17% of the US corn crop was converted to ethanol and supplied 2% of the nation’s auto fuel. The Earth Policy Institute predicts ethanol production will claim 50 percent (or 140 million metric tones,mmt) of US corn in 2008, with 79 new ethanol plants due to come on line in the next two years. This will double ethanol capacity at a time when world grain stocks are at their lowest level in 25 years and falling. By 2020 alcohol production could remove conservatively 400 mt of grain from world food -feed markets, either directly or by diversion of land from food crops. If maize was the sole source of the feedstock, President Bush's call for the USA to produce 35 billion gallons of renewable fuel by 2017 would require about 320 mt of maize - more than the present annual production.

The world trade in all grains is around 240 mmt of which around 80-90mmt are exported from the USA. The acquisition of grain by the ethanol industry in the USA will thus have major impact on world grain prices and availability. Present world wheat and coarse grains reserves are about 280 mt, down from 450 mt in 6 years. However world demand for grain is increasing. India in particular has emerged as a huge importer of grain this year having used up its 23mt stockpile in just 5 years to import 4 mt in 2006. China is also a net importer. World grain consumption has exceeded production in 5 of the last 6 years. Global per capita grain availability is also declining.

Some of the grain reserves diverted to ethanol production will be offset by increased production from South America - but this is being achieved through agricultural industrialisation which is displacing small farmers and increasing poverty. Higher production in South America also often depends on clearing forest country, which adds to global warming and ‘the new’ land quickly loses its initial high fertility.

Climate also poses a major threat to world food supplies. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) has warned that global warming will shrink South Asia’s wheat area by half. New models of the effects of global warming predict increasing aridity in many of the food bowls and reduced water availability for irrigated agriculture. Recent studies are showing that increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may stimulate plant growth but it also increases soil microbe activity which decreases carbon levels in soil. Higher temperatures can have adverse effects on plant growth: rice yields decline by 10% for every oC increase in night time temperature. Add the higher cost of fertilizers, which is already discouraging their use leading to lower yields and output which will shrink the yield of rice further.

The signs are clear. There is a growing scarcity of staples and high global food prices will result. The CGIAR has warned of a possible return to large-scale famines in developing countries even without the additional impost of biofuels on the world food supply. Heading off the refugee wave that could result will be an economic burden to developed countries.

It is hard to avoid concluding that the livelihood of billions of people in developing countries and the standard of living and security in developed countries will be severely affected as global food production falls and land is diverted to biofuels production.

Contrary to the “clean energy” claims of their proponents, biofuels are wreaking ecological and climatic devastation. 80% of Brazil’s greenhouse gas emissions arise from deforestation of the Amazon basin mainly to grow sugar cane for ethanol. Malaysian and Indonesian rainforests are being destroyed for oil palm plantations. As forest cover is removed carbon sinks in the biomass and the soil depreciate with time; it is almost certain this will alter rainfall patterns which could decrease at the same rate.

The effects of all this will be more pronounced in the developing countries where famine now seems inevitable, particularly when drought induced by global warming bites. The world food balance is already precarious. What will happen when the next disaster or monsoon failure occurs in a country with high population densities?

The cost to developed countries of the ensuing global destabilization will be a high price to pay for the minor benefits of producing industrial biofuels which cannot meet more then a few percent of the world’s energy needs.

Copyright © 2004-2007 ScienceAlert.com.au

MISSISSAUGA - The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team (UWAFT) competing in Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility was given an official send-off today as the team prepares for Year Three of the international challenge held at the General Motors Proving Grounds in Milford, Michigan. The UWAFT team is the only Canadian team participating in the competition.

Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainable Mobility is an engineering competition that asks teams to re-engineer a Chevrolet Equinox crossover SUV to use advanced propulsion technologies for better fuel economy, emissions and performance.

"On behalf of Canada's New Government, I would like to congratulate the students of the University of Waterloo who are taking part in this competition. It is this kind of innovative thinking that will help Canada lead the way when it comes to our environment," said the Honourable Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources. "This competition demonstrates that by working together we can achieve real, tangible and significant environmental progress through science and technology."

Natural Resources Canada sponsors the competition along with General Motors, the U.S. Department of Energy, and more than 30 other organizations.

General Motors is one of the headline sponsors of the Challenge X competition. GM donated new 2005 Chevy Equinox crossover vehicles to each of the university teams at the end of the first year of the competition, plus two control vehicles. GM also provided each university team with $10,000 in seed money and donated use of its engineering, testing and proving-ground facilities for student workshops and competitions. Finally, GM provided highly controlled access to its intellectual property and staff support - including a program manager, team mentors and event judges.

"At GM we know the importance of investing in the students of today since they are tomorrow's future," said Bryan Swift, Director, Environmental Activities, General Motors of Canada. "The University of Waterloo Alternative Fuels Team has worked hard throughout the last three years to explore innovative new approaches to vehicle propulsion that offer all the attributes of today's vehicle, but with even better fuel economy and lower emissions."

Hydrogenics Corporation, also a sponsor, supplied the university with the fuel cell and provided technical support.

"Hydrogenics' fuel cell power module technology has really been done proud by the University of Waterloo team," said Daryl Wilson, Hydrogenics President and Chief Executive Officer. "It has been such a privilege to mentor these young people, giving them a real experience to work with a clean energy technology that is important to the future of transportation. This is the first generation that, in many ways, will reap the greatest reward from this emerging technology."

Launched in 2004, Challenge X was originally scheduled for completion in 2007 but is being extended to a fourth year. The competition gives teams the opportunity to focus on customer acceptability, road reliability and the extended durability of their advanced propulsion systems.

"Natural Resources Canada, Hydrogenics Corporation and General Motors of Canada are to be thanked and commended for supporting this important project," said David Johnston, President of the University of Waterloo. "They are playing a key role in helping a group of very smart future leaders address the crucial challenge of developing alternative fuel technologies."

Canada is an emerging energy superpower. Innovation in energy technologies will provide significant benefits to our economy, our health and our environment.

WHAT:
Launch of Aboriginal Energy Conservation Program and unveiling of Household Energy Conservation Kits

WHEN:
Tuesday, May 8th, 2007, 10:15 AM

WHERE:
Provincial Room, Prince Arthur Waterfront Hotel & Suites, 17 North Cumberland St., Thunder Bay, Ontario

WHO:
* Jan Carr, CEO, Ontario Power Authority
* Angus Toulouse, Ontario Regional Chief
* Charles Fox, Program Manager, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Measures for Aboriginal Communities Program

Media are also invited to the opening session on Tuesday, May 8th taking place in the Provincial Room from 9:00 AM to 10:15 AM.

Participants in the opening session will include Chief Harold Pelletier, FWFN; Mayor Lynn Peterson, City of Thunder Bay; Jan Carr, CEO, Ontario Power Authority; Ontario Regional Chief Angus Toulouse; Grand Chief Stan Beardy, NAN; Grand Chief Arnold Gardner, Treaty #3; Tim Pile, MNO; and Charles Fox, Program Manager, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Measures for Aboriginal Communities Program

In pursuit of its mandate of ensuring an adequate, long-term supply of electricity for Ontario, the Ontario Power Authority creates and implements conservation and demand management programs, ensures adequate investment in new supply infrastructure, performs long-term electricity system planning, and facilitates the development of a more sustainable and competitive electricity system.

This energy and transportation fuel research facility will facilitate the commercial acceptance of technologies that convert non-petroleum carbon resources into high value products such as clean diesel fuel, jet fuel, methanol, ethanol and electric power.

"The United States has one of the world's largest supplies of non- petroleum carbon resources including human and agricultural wastes, waste biomass, energy crops, coal, and others," said Stephen Piccot, director of Environment and Energy Research at Southern Research Institute. "If greenhouse gas emissions from the production and use of carbon-based resources are reduced or eliminated, we could likely supply our nation's energy needs for at least the next 150 years."

Piccot said that because Southern Research has long recognized the growing need for basic and applied research and testing services in the energy and transportation fields to help advance alternative fuels, the center will serve as an independent research facility for technology developers and project engineers to implement, test and refine pilot-scale technology designs in a cost-effective manner.

The C2L Development Center is located on a 28-acre site recently purchased by Southern Research Institute in the Treyburn Commercial Park north of Durham, NC. It includes 30,000 square feet of industrial high-bay space for locating pilot facilities and testing them with a modular distributed control system and online analytical equipment.

"For some time now, the engineers at Southern Research, with the encouragement of our Board, have analyzed and planned for us to make a strategic move such as this to enhance our capabilities in environmental and energy-related research," said Jack Secrist, Ph.D., president and CEO. "Given the global demand to find new energy sources, and our own pre-existing strengths in this arena, and the availability of the right kind of facility in which to conduct this work, this is the right time for us to make this move."

Southern Research has conducted environmental and energy-related research projects for more than 40 years for government agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency and the Dept. of Energy, as well as numerous commercial electric power generating companies around the world. Southern Research also operates the Greenhouse Gas Technology Verification Center based in North Carolina - an independent testing facility initially developed in concert with the U.S. E.P.A. and designed to verify and validate technologies designed by vendors to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions in real world operations.

Several U.S. states have introduced plans to capitalize on the country's emerging biofuels industry, producing technologies to end or reduce the nation's $1 billion-a-day expense on imported oil.

North Carolina will spend $25 million to fund biofuel research and infrastructure. Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen has proposed a $73 million investment in biofuels research over the next five years. The Oklahoma legislature is mulling a $40 million Bioenergy Center to coordinate state research. And the Washington legislature has approved $17 million in the state's Bioenergy Program.

Here in Frederick, since 2000, Robert Kozak has been working to ensure that Maryland is not left out of the race to end the country's dependence on gasoline.

Kozak's company, Atlantic Biomass Conversions Inc., is investigating cost-effective biofuel alternatives at Hood College.

"It would be a shame to see other states leave Maryland behind on this grave economic and strategic issue -- producing the necessary technologies to end our need to spend $1 billion per day on imported oil," Kozak said. "People should realize that it's about national security when the country is no longer dependent on foreign oil."

Kozak has been developing enzyme-based systems to produce biofuels and other bioproducts from sugar beet pulp, a byproduct of the sugar-making process. One immediate use of the company's technology may be fuel for military jets.

"These types of fuels É will be needed to meet the real future of transportation fuels that cannot be met by ethanol," Kozak said.

The technology attempts to convert plant matter, such as beet pulp and grass crops, into jet fuel, biodesiel and chemical products other than ethanol.

Despite a national push to harness ethanol, a grain alcohol, Kozak said it will not solve the country's alternative-fuel problem. Ethanol has about 30 percent less energy per gallon than gasoline -- or about 30 percent less efficient, Kozak said. Also, storage and shipping are a problem.

"Ethanol is probably one of the worst motor fuels you could come up with," Kozak said. "It is a great economic model, but lousy science."

Kozak said certain types of grass will be the future for biofuel production.

"The best part of this system is that it can be grown on marginal land not used for food crops," Kozak said. "Once we get our biofuel production system working on sugar beet pulp, we will begin adapting it to these grass-based systems."

The entrepreneur said he expects to introduce his products to the market within two years, if he continues to receive funding. The project has received several grants over the years, including a recent $148,440 award from the National Science Foundation.

National priority

Program manager Thomas Allnutt said the foundation funds small business with innovative ideas, national priorities and high-risk ventures with a potentially high pay-off.

"This is high risk," Allnutt said during a visit to Hood College's Hodson Science Center, where Kozak's lab sits.

The foundation reserves judgment on what may work.

"We fund the earliest stage of ideas," Allnutt said. "We're not saying this is great or it's bad. If we thought it was bad, we wouldn't fund it."

If Kozak's company makes progress, it might be eligible for additional funding, Allnutt said.

Kozak credits Hood College Professor C