Wanted: Bacterium that can eat sugar or sludge; must be team player or electrochemically active; ability to survive without oxygen, a plus. Thus might read the bacterial "job description" posted by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Washington University (WU) scientists, who are collaborating on ways to make microbial fuel cells more efficient and practical.

According to Mike Cotta, who leads the ARS Fermentation Biotechnology Research Unit, Peoria, Ill., the project with WU arose from a mutual interest in developing sustainable methods of producing energy that could diminish U.S. reliance on crude oil.

Cotta's team specializes in using bacteria, yeasts or other microorganisms inside bioreactors to do work, such as ferment grain sugars into fuel ethanol. At WU in St. Louis, Mo., assistant professor Lars Angenent is investigating fuel cell systems that use mixtures of bacteria to treat organic wastewater and catalyze the release of electrons and protons, which then can be used to produce electricity or hydrogen fuel.

In September 2006, the researchers pooled their labs' resources and expertise to undertake a three-year cooperative project. One resource they'll share is the ARS Peoria-based Microbial Culture Collection, which houses about 87,000 accessions of freeze-dried microbes from around the world.

Using the collection's database information, the team is searching for microbes that "eat" biomass sugars (e.g., glucose and xylose from corn stover) and are electrochemically active. That means they can transfer electrons from fuel cell sugars without help from costly chemicals called mediators. The electrons, after traveling a circuit, combine with protons in a cathode chamber, forming hydrogen, which can be burned or converted into electricity.

Bacteroides and Shewanella are among bacteria species used to start the process.

Hydrogen's appeal stems from its natural abundance and capacity to store and release energy in a nonpolluting manner. The challenge is commercially producing it from sources other than fossil fuels, which are in limited supply and nonrenewable. About 95 percent of U.S. hydrogen comes from petroleum or natural gas via a process called steam reforming.

ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.

Crop Science Society of America - Researchers have been studying fuels from biomass for years. Now, with growing dependency on foreign oils and an energy-conscious society emerging, biofuels are fast becoming part of a fuel revolution that could reach pumps all across America.

"Production of energy, such as ethanol, from sugar is more efficient than production from grains in both cost per unit and energy efficiency," Da Silva of Texas A&M University says. "Sugarcane is ranked first among all other crops for biomass production and can be a key component of biomass supply. Technology for producing ethanol from sugarcane is well established in tropical countries such as Brazil, where energy independence has been achieved."

Dr. Jorge Da Silva, associate professor of molecular genetics and plant breeding, Soil & Crop Sciences Department, Texas A&M University, "Sweet Fuel for the U.S.", will be making a presentation on biofuels on Nov. 6.

Ethanol blends are already available at some US gas stations. However, their availability varies from state to state, depending on the volume of ethanol produced. Sources of biomass for biofuel production in each state also vary widely.

"To see it everywhere, we have to make more of it on a regional basis," says Dr. Bill Rooney, professor of plant breeding and genetics, Soil & Crop Sciences Department, Texas A&M University. "The best source for biofuel in a region is contingent on the environment, growing season, water and fertility availability, stress resistance, and processing and conversion techniques. In any location, there will be several species grown for biomass."

Approximately 20 percent of grain sorghum is now used for ethanol production. Rooney is currently developing sorghum varieties specifically for bioenergy. He will discuss this topic on Nov. 7 during his talk, "Sorghum Breeding for Bioenergy Traits."

Although there is no finite development timeline, there is clearly a race for biofuels as the cost of petroleum reaches previously unimaginable levels, reserves diminish, and environmental concerns soar. If won, this race could bring about a revolution as significant as Henry Ford's creation of the Model T car.

The talks are to be given at the International Annual Meetings of the American Society of Agronomy , Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

Almost 2 out of 3 "strongly agree" that energy efficient features reduce their monthly operating costs;

9 out of 10 agree that the adoption of energy efficiency will help protect the environment;

2 out of 3 agree that energy efficiency increases the resale value of their home; and

There is significantly more satisfaction with the design of a new home when energy efficient features have been offered (828 out of 1,000 on the Builder Rating on Overall Physical Design Index, compared to 676 when it's not offered).

Corey McBurney, Managing Director of EnerQuality Corporation, says, "An increasing number of builders in Ontario are choosing to participate in government backed, third party verified initiatives such as ENERGY STAR® for New Homes, the EnerGuide rating system and R-2000, to guarantee energy efficiency. These labels have become more significant in the buying decision as they provide proof that the home has met strict standards."

Of the 10 certification labels considered in the survey, ENERGY STAR for New Homes was the most widely recognized (83%), The EnerGuide rating label was second (63%) and R-2000 was third (41%).

"There is no doubt that consumers see value in investing in energy efficient features. Last year, buyers said the number one reason for purchasing energy efficient features was because of lower operating costs. This year, they put as much importance on higher quality construction as lower operating costs," said McBurney. "Home buyers are recognizing that greater care in design and construction of quality materials are needed to achieve the higher energy efficiency targets set out in the ENERGY STAR for New Homes, EnerGuide rating system and R-2000 initiatives."

Europe - Earlier we reported about a biodiesel export scheme in the US, the so-called 'B99' subsidy, which allows American producers to dump cheap biodiesel on the EU market, eroding the margins of European manufacturers. The European Biodiesel Board, the voice of the EU's biodiesel industry, announces it strongly condemns this subsidy which it calls 'unfair' and says it stands ready for legal action.

In the framework of the US Federal measures adopted in 2004, biodiesel can be subsidised up to $264 per cubic meter (300 USD/tonne, approximately €200/tonne) only by adding a 'drop' of mineral diesel to biodiesel. US producers can therefore claim the maximum subsidy for a 'B99,9' blend. Such a blend can then be exported to Europe where it is eligible to European subsidy schemes.

Since the benefit of the blender credit is not restricted to biodiesel produced and consumed on the US territory, the 2004 support provisions resulted in a surge of B99 exports to the EU. In most cases B99 blends are sold in the European market as 'pure biodiesel' and at a substantial discount (over €120-180/tonne), in some cases at a lower price than the one of the raw materials purchased by the EU industry for producing biodiesel.

The EBB estimates that some 700,000 tonnes US methyl ester have entered the EU since January 2007 (compared to only 90,000 tonnes for the whole 2006), meaning that the 1 million tonnes threshold could be reached before the end of this year. This represents a sudden and sharp increase in US exports which is only explainable by unfair support measures. At the same time, there are worries that such unfair practice will not be closed rapidly by the US Congress and that the support scheme will even be extended beyond 2008. In any case, closing the so-called 'splash and dash' loophole, whereby foreign producers (Indonesian, Malaysian) are taking advantage of the US biodiesel credit before shipping their commodities to Europe, will not solve the real problem, the EBB says.

The 'splash and dash' practice represents only a very minor share (less than 10%) of the overall B99 shipments that are reaching Europe. Most of the B99 is coming from US producers, using US raw materials. According to the EBB, the strong support measures enjoyed by US farmers explain the permanence of this unfair practice.

In most EU countries biodiesel producers are experiencing dumping competition from B99 blends. This competition is price-setting and is progressively disrupting the margins of European biodiesel producers, putting out of business most EU producers. As a result the important biodiesel industrial capacity risks remaining largely unutilised and production may start stagnating if not already declining as from this year, if urgent action is not taken.

This is why, unless the situation is solved very shortly by the US legislator, the EU biodiesel industry will initiate a comprehensive legal action against this unfair trade practice, in the form of a joint anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaint, possibly supported by a WTO complaint.

The EU biodiesel industry is urging the European Commission to take the necessary actions to counter and then eliminate unfair 'B99' subsidised exports, a trade practice that is clearly breaching WTO rules and threatening the concept of international trade in biodiesel.

The European Biodiesel Board, also known as EBB, is a non-profit organisation established in January 1997. EBB represents the voice of the EU biodiesel industry. It gathers 56 companies and associations and aims to promote the use of biodiesel in the European Union. EBB member companies account for around 80% of EU biodiesel production.

MONTEVIDEO - Colombia, Ghana, Malaysia, Thailand and Uruguay are the top five developing countries likely to attract biodiesel investment because of their strong agricultural industries, relative stability and low debt, says a US study.

The analysis, 'A Global Comparison of National Biodiesel Production Potentials', was published online yesterday (24 October) in Environmental Science and Technology.

The analysis ranks 226 countries according to their potential to make large volumes of biodiesel at low cost.

Matt Johnston, one of the authors from the US-based University of Wisconsin-Madison, told SciDev.Net that they used data from public online sources, primarily the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and several economic and development measurements.

The main objective was to identify developing countries already exporting large amounts of vegetable oil for profit — from palm or soybean crops for example— but who may not have considered the option of refining it into biodiesel, he said.

According to the study, these countries could improve their trade balance — the difference between a county's imports and exports — by exporting biodiesel or using the fuel to satisfy their own energy needs.

Virginia Lobato, an independent Uruguayan expert on biofuels, agrees, saying, "Colombia is privileged because it has many native oilseeds to develop a biodiesel industry without putting its food security at risk."

But she told SciDev.Net that although Uruguay has a reliable climate for farming and political and social stability, it doesn't yet grow the raw materials to produce a variety of biofuels. Lobato believes this study could influence Uruguayan policies on biodiesel, especially because is currently aiming to attract foreign capital.

Lobato warned that developing countries should not make large investments in biofuel before analysing the potential consequences, such as endangering the food security of poor people by turning food crops into biofuel.

Critics say biofuel production can also lead to deforestation as land is cleared for biofuel crop farming.

But the study authors hope that highlighting countries with potential will help them anticipate and mitigate problems.

The authors estimate that if the 119 countries in their analysis converted their exported vegetable oil to biodiesel, they could meet 4–5 per cent of the current demand for petroleum diesel.

Copyright SciDev.Net

Higher sales volume in the residential sector (+9.7%) was more than offset by a decline of 13.5% in the volume of industrial sales (including direct sales) and weakness (-5.2%) in the commercial sector.

Natural gas sales totalled 3 564 million cubic metres, down 10.4% from August 2006.

On a year-to-date basis, sales at the end of August were up 4.0% from the same eight-month period last year in the wake of across-the-board increases in all sectors.

The volume of natural gas sales to the industrial sector (including direct sales) has risen only 0.3% so far this year, while sales were up 9.8% in the residential sector and 8.7% in the commercial sector.

KUALA LUMPUR - Record oil prices have boosted demand for biofuels as consumers and companies look for cheaper and cleaner energy sources, but there are growing concerns that the various substitutes for gasoline and diesel may be doing more harm than good.

Biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel have been widely viewed as the answer to reducing greenhouse gas emissions but critics warn that a reliance on them could lead to higher food prices, deforestation and ultimately, do more damage to the environment than the fossil fuels they are supposed to replace.

'The use of food as a source of fuel may have serious implications for the demand for food if the expansion of biofuels continues,' the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.

The Washington, DC-based agency called for greater international coordination to ensure that policies promoting biofuels take account of their impact on consumer prices.

The concerns come as oil prices continue to set fresh records. The front- month futures contract spiked above 90 dollars a barrel in after-hours trade in New York earlier as mounting tensions in the Middle East exacerbated supply concerns heading into the US winter heating season.

The high oil price has pushed the price of crude palm oil, a key source of biodiesel, sharply higher in Malaysian trade.

Crude palm oil (CPO) futures traded on the Malaysian derivatives exchange hit a record on Friday, with the benchmark January contract rising to 2,784 ringgit per metric ton (1 US dollar = 3.38 ringgit).

'The rally in crude palm oil price was largely due to the record crude oil price, which would directly boost demand for biodiesel as a substitute to petroleum products,' said James Ratnam, an analyst with TA Securities.

Palm (nasdaq: PALM - news - people ) oil is cultivated from the fruit of the palm tree and is widely used in Asia as a cooking oil and to make soap. China and India are the two major buyers of Malaysian palm oil.

Fueling the boom

Malaysia and Indonesia, which together account for more than 85 percent of global palm oil production, have invested heavily in expanding their palm oil-based biofuel industries in recent years.

In Malaysia, the government had granted 92 licenses to set up biodiesel plants at end July, while the Indonesian government has allocated some 5-6 million hectares of plantation land for biofuel projects.

Demand for biofuel looks promising as developed nations switch from conventional energy sources to comply with the conditions agreed in the Kyoto Protocol, said Yeah Kim Leng, chief economist at Rating Agency Malaysia (RAM).

The international treaty requires developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 5 percent in the period from 2008 to 2012.

'The switch to cleaner energy will ensure rising demand for biofuel,' Yeah said.

Biofuels can be produced from any carbon source, including vegetable oils like palm oil, soybean oil and rapeseed oil. Research in the US has shown biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel could cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 40 percent.

Oil palm has the highest oil yields among oilseed crops, which makes palm oil the most environmentally-friendly answer to rising demand, Credit Suisse said in a recent report.

'We are generally still bullish on CPO prices,' said Ting Min Tan, Malaysia- based analyst for Credit Suisse. 'If crude oil prices continue to go up, the economics of using palm oil as a biofuel improve.'

OSK Investment Bank analyst Alvin Tai said palm oil supply may exceed expectations next year as production in Indonesia recovers after the severe flooding early this year.

That could lead to a downcycle in palm oil prices in 2008, although any fall will be limited by huge demand from the biodiesel plants that have already been built and those currently being built, he said.

Environmental cost

But Malaysia-based conservation organisation Wild Asia said the focus on expanding oil palm acreage for biodiesel, will ultimately, be unsustainable given the scarcity of land.

'Aside from the environmental issues involved, I do not see how you could efficiently manage larger land holdings where there is already a cry for a reliable labor force and an aging population of skilled, experienced managers,' said Wild Asia director Reza Azmi.

'Any growth that is dependent on increasing developed land area will be of concern. New land developments are being focused where there is still cheap available land, often these are on marginal soils or in more undeveloped regions, many may be forested lands,' he said.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has called on governments to cut their subsidies for biofuel and instead encourage research into technologies that would avoid competing for land use with food production.

It said biofuels may 'offer a cure that is worse than the disease they seek to heal'.

'The current push to expand the use of biofuels is creating unsustainable tensions that will disrupt markets without generating significant environmental benefits,' the OECD said.

'When acidification, fertilizer use, biodiversity loss and toxicity of agricultural pesticides are taken into account, the overall environmental impacts of ethanol and biodiesel can very easily exceed those of petrol and mineral diesel,' it said.

The IMF agrees that the growing use of biofuels could create imbalances.

'One country's policy to promote biofuels while protecting its farmers could increase another (likely poorer) country's import bills for food and pose additional risks to inflation or growth,' the agency said.

The effect on food prices could be eased if the United States and the European Union reduced barriers to biofuel imports from developing countries such as Brazil, 'where production is cheaper, more efficient and environmentally less damaging.'

The peak demand reductions of each of the Peak Buster Award winners have been verified by Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator.

On the eve of World Food Day, Jean Ziegler countered President Bush's call for an increase in biofuel, arguing farm production should be used to contain hunger instead.

"You don't have the right, even if you're battling climate change, to (perpetuate) this total massacre" caused by lack of food, he said.

Using biofuels instead of gasoline in cars is generally considered to cut CO2 emissions, although some scientists say greenhouse gases released during the production of biofuel crops can offset those gains.

The use of crops for biofuel has become especially predominant in Brazil and the United States. In March 2007, President Bush and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil signed an agreement committing their countries to increased ethanol production.

Previously, algae has been considered as a means of sequestering carbon dioxide, by seeding the oceans with iron filings.

The filings prompt algae to grow, absorbing CO2 in the process, and it eventually sinks to the ocean floor when it dies, trapping the CO2 there.

The unknown risks of initiating such a project are what have prevented it occurring on a wide scale so far.

Growing algae to generate fuel is a potentially less risky solution, argues Munford, who explains that it can be used to produce oils suitable for making biodiesel, and is also more energy-dense than the land-based crops currently being used to generate this fuel. It's an idea that has considerable merit, but it is some way from being realised.

Minneapolis - The growing pains of a young industry sting some ethanol producers; with plant capacity outstripping immediate demand, many expect profits to be depressed through next year.

The ethanol party is over, at least for now.

Expensive corn and a glut of ethanol has dimmed the bonanza that swept across the corn belt last summer, raining cash on rural communities.

The industry's sobering morning-after has seen announcements in recent weeks that some of the largest players would delay building new plants, while profits everywhere have shrunk from their 2006 highs.

"It's not looking as rosy as it was a year ago," said corn farmer Jerry Larson, speaking by cell phone on Tuesday from the cab of his tractor.

Last year saw predictions of sky-high profits from turning corn into fuel for an energy-starved nation. Even domestic auto makers were pushing fuel from the Midwest, not the Mideast.

An onslaught of new plants created so much ethanol that it may take years for things to shake out, and some plants may suffer losses or delays waiting for demand to catch up.

The pain may be sharpest for newly public companies that now face expectant investors and an imbalance in ethanol prices. Some of the older players, including many of the state's farmer-owned cooperatives, are better positioned to weather the storm.

"There's a different mentality in investing between Wall Street and Main Street," said Rick Kment, an ethanol analyst with DTN, based in Omaha. The farmers have a long-term stake in the ethanol plants, while "the publicly traded companies have a mentality that says, 'What have you done for me lately?' "

For one thing, many farmer-owned co-ops paid off their plants' construction costs ahead of time.

'A hard time's coming'

"Everyone knows a hard time's coming," said Steve Core, a project developer for Fagen Inc., a Granite Falls, Minn., ethanol plant builder. "They just don't know when."

Some of the larger companies, many of which went public with a bang last summer, are now scaling back as their stock prices have taken a steady beating. VeraSun Energy Corp., of Brookings, S.D., one of the nation's largest ethanol producers, announced plans to delay construction of a 110-million-gallon-a-year plant in Reynolds, Ind. The company will continue with plans to open a similar-size plant in Welcome, Minn., according to a spokesman.

And the third-largest ethanol producer in the country, US BioEnergy, based in Inver Grove Heights, said it is holding off on new projects for now, though it will continue construction of a 100-million-gallon-a-year plant that broke ground this summer in Janesville, said company CEO Gordon Ommen.

"It's a commodity business and it's a young, immature industry and you're going to have this," Ommen said. The bottom line predicts a strong future for corn-based ethanol, he added, noting that all ethanol is currently being blended with oil-based gasoline or diesel fuel.

One plant's numbers

The slumping ethanol market can be seen in the financial results at Granite Falls Energy, which opened a 50-million-gallon ethanol plant in late 2005. Revenues in its most recent quarter fell to $23 million from $29 million a year ago. Profits plummeted from $15 million to $2 million. The company's year so far is mixed, with profits down 28 percent for the first three quarters on a revenue gain of 15 percent, to $74 million.

Still, the company paid off its construction loans in June, four years ahead of schedule.

The squeeze comes from basic economics. Ethanol futures prices have fallen from about $2.50 at the beginning of the year to $1.55 Tuesday. The price of corn, meanwhile, has soared this year, with futures trading above $4 a bushel earlier this year before falling back to below $3.50.

It may take a year for the ethanol industry to turn around, but that depends on weather, demand and the unpredictable nature of the commodities markets.

"I don't think anybody's got a very good crystal ball," said Ralph Groschen, a marketing specialist with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

If an ethanol project has steel in the ground today, with permits approved and stock sold, it will continue, he predicted.

The heavily subsidized industry has lobbied for even more government help, including an increased mandate for the use of ethanol in the nation's fuel supply.

"At the very least, Congress should be mandating that any state that's producing ethanol should be mandating 10-percent ethanol in gasoline," as Minnesota has done for 10 years, said independent analyst Alan Roebke, of Chaska.

Ethanol producers may benefit from another Congressional mandate, depending on what happens to the 2007 energy bill. The government already requires an increasing portion of the nation's fuel supply come from renewable fuels, from 4 billion gallons last year to 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. The Senate energy bill calls for a dramatic increase in that level, known as the Renewable Fuels Standard, to 36 billion gallons annually by 2022. A House version of the bill has no such mandate, and a compromise has yet to be worked out.

Such a mandate would far outstrip the industry's current capacity, about 7.8 billion gallons annually, according to the Renewable Fuels Association. New plants coming online will increase that by 6.4 billion gallons.

Keith Kor, general manager of the Corn Plus plant in Winnebago, Minn., remembers a similar scenario in 1995 and 1996 when high corn prices forced some plants to close. Yet the long-term effects have helped farmers.

A farmer today has several markets for corn, whereas before the ethanol industry, "he had to go to the one elevator" in his area, Kor said. "If you look back at why we did these ethanol plants, it was to drive the price of corn back up, and we've achieved that goal," he said.

By Farima Alavi

Tennessee - UT Board of Trustees approved a business partnership with Mascoma Corp., a cellulosic biofuels pioneer, on Wednesday, Sept. 19. The facility is designed to benefit Tennessee farmers and communities by providing significant economic and environmental benefits and reducing dependence on foreign oil.

"This partnership consolidates the University of Tennessee's leadership role in the development of cellulosic biofuels," Colin South, Mascoma's president, said. "We look forward to our collaboration with the university as the institution possesses some of the finest scientists and research experts in the field of bioenergy.

The university shares our vision that cellulosic ethanol will reduce our nation's reliance on foreign oil."UT Biofuels Initiative, the research and business model for the new facility, is a critical element in the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative, which could establish Tennessee as a national leader in ethanol production from cellulosic biomass, according to David Millhorn, UT Executive Vice President.

"This, in turn, should lead to new business and economic development opportunities for our farmers throughout the state," Millhorn said.

The facility will require 170 tons per day of switchgrass, which is used to make the principal product, cellulosic ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol fuel made from switchgrass, wood chips and other non-food plant material. Using switchgrass to produce cellulosic biofuels is seen as a way to produce affordable, domestic, renewable fuel without raising food or feed costs.

Local production of switchgrass is being encouraged through an $8 million farmer incentive program, which is under development. Farmers who participate will receive high-quality switchgrass seed for planting, along with research and technical support related to switchgrass production.

The planned facility will be located in Niles Ferry Industrial Park in Vonore, 35 miles south of Knoxville. Construction is expected to begin at the end of 2007, and should be operational by 2009. The facility will be in Monroe County because the site is economical and agricultural, which is the goal for the Biofuels Initiative of using ethanol production throughout the state.

"The site sits in the heart of a productive farming region where the agricultural community has shown interest in the biofuels effort," said Dr. Kelly Tiller, director of external operations for the UT Office of Bioenergy Programs.

Bruce A. Jamerson, Mascoma's chief executive officer, said Tennessee and Mascoma have the ideal partnership for making Tennessee the first state to use switchgrass as an energy crop.

"The leadership of the University of Tennessee and its trustees have demonstrated tremendous dedication and zeal towards the advancement of biofuel technology," Jamerson said. "We look forward to working with our new colleagues as we progress through the stages that will ultimately lead to the production and distribution of a commercial product in Tennessee."

The state of Tennessee is expected to eventually produce more than 1 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol a year, which could offset up to one-third of the state's petroleum usage.

Concerns about the environmental impact of biofuels may hinder their widespread implementation. A leaked report from the OECD has prompted environmental campaigning body Friends of the Earth to call on the EU to discard its target for using 10% of biofuels in road transport by 2020 due to concerns that the large-scale use of the alternative fuel would harm the environment. However, should widespread biofuels use be abandoned, there are currently no feasible alternatives to replace them.

Although the EU's biofuels target aims to improve security of supply and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, the OECD study reportedly warns of the ecological and humanitarian dangers linked with the increasing use of biofuels. The principal concerns of the report are that forests and wetlands will be replaced by crops cultivated for energy and that food will become more expensive.

However, if it is accepted that the biofuels option is unsustainable, the potential of other alternative fuels needs to be explored. To date, as they are regularly blended into much of Europe's standard fuel, biofuels have been the most successful alternative fuel.

Biofuels aside, autogas (LPG) and compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles have been the most popular alternative fuels in Europe. Nevertheless, they still only account for a small proportion of the European car parc; LPG cars represent 0.9% of Europe's car parc, while CNG cars account for 0.3%. Furthermore, the majority of these are located in Italy and the Netherlands.

The fuels' availability at service stations is also much more limited than biofuels. Whereas biofuels are often offered as blends at a majority of service stations, only 12.5% of Europe's sites provide a CNG or autogas option. Again, these are mainly located in just five key markets.

Other alternatives have made an even smaller impact. Hydrogen fuel cells and electricity have also been purported by some as viable alternatives to fossil fuels. However, as yet, there are only a few mainstream hydrogen-powered cars on the market and the number of hydrogen refueling stations in Europe is limited to a handful. Electric cars currently only have a maximum range of 50 miles, making them impractical for long-distance use.

Furthermore, none of these other alternatives are perfectly clean. Carbon emissions are produced from burning CNG and LPG, as well as in the production of hydrogen cells and electricity.

In essence, it is true that biofuels do not offer the perfect alternative to petrol and diesel. However, given that biofuels are renewable and readily available, they are the best alternative developed so far.

©2007 Business Review Ltd

Last year, Park Property Management partnered with Stratacon to implement Stratacon's Smart Sub-Metering Solution in 2,500 apartment suites within the GTA. The buildings switched from bulk metering, where tenants pay for their electricity as part of their rent, to being individually metered for electricity consumption. With sub-meters, each resident pays only for their own electricity use, and in return gets a reduction to their rent.

"Individual metering helps tenants control their electricity use," says Margaret Herd of Park Property Management. "When people are aware of their use, they can control it. They tend to use less - in most cases, between 15% and 40% less, and in our case, an average of 33% less. When tenants use less, they pay less, and no longer subsidize high-use tenants."

"Electricity conservation is important to Ontario and every person, business and institution in the province," said Love. "Conserving electricity now is critical to ensuring that we can continue to enjoy a reliable supply in the future, it's beneficial to the environment, and it makes good financial sense. Taking advantage of the benefits of Smart Sub-Meters helps contribute to a culture of conservation in Ontario."

Based on the success of the original 2,500 units, Park Property is rolling out the initiative to the remaining 5,000 units in their portfolio. Park Property has communities in Toronto, Mississauga, Oakville, Etobicoke, Scarborough, Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge and Stratford.

Stratacon provided complete turnkey services including meter installation, consumption information for tenants, bill presentation and collection, as well as monitoring and verification. "Park is commended for taking this leadership role on their own initiative as a win-win proposition for tenants, the owners and the environment," says Ian Stewart, President of Stratacon. "Park was willing to install smart meters well in advance of government direction."

Venture capitalists are people, just like you and me. They put their pants on one leg at a time, and they're prone to making investing mistakes just like the rest of us. That said, it's hard to deny that some VCs are clearly better than others. John Doerr is one of Silicon Valley's more successful and higher-profile VCs, with big wins including early investments in Symantec, Amazon.com, and more recently, Google.

This success, I believe, gives his words some weight. So when he says, as he did in November, that global warming is real and that "cleantech" is "the biggest economic opportunity of this century," my ears -- and yours -- should perk up.

The future for cleantech

It's not that the idea of cleantech as a big investment opportunity is new. The Motley Fool, myself, and others have been writing about it for some time. Instead, it was Doerr's explanation of how cleantech can help address global warming that I found so interesting. He laid out four steps for solving global warming that, when viewed in aggregate, can provide investors with a useful framework for thinking about how to invest in cleantech.

First, Doerr said the U.S. government should adopt a mandatory goal of reducing greenhouse gas 25% by 2010. This is an ambitious goal, and even with Democrats now in control of both houses of Congress, I don't think it's likely. Nevertheless, I do believe some controls are coming, and investors can profit by understanding which companies are getting ahead of the curve and positioning themselves to benefit from government mandates. For instance, I have written before about Duke Energy's willingness to embrace mandates and explained how this progressive position -- when backed with strategic investments in cleaner coal-burning technologies and large-scale carbon sequestration and alternative fuel energy projects -- could position it ahead of its peers if and when government mandates on carbon emissions are imposed. More recently, IBM announced its Big Green Innovations initiative as a way to take advantage of this emerging market. Another way to play this opportunity is to consider investments in those companies manufacturing "negawatts" -- which attempt to decreasing energy use by better managing the demand side of the equation -- such as EnerNoc, Comverge, Itron, and Echelon.

Second, Doerr called for the adoption of renewable sources such as solar and wind power. This is hardly a bold call, but investors should give serious consideration to investments such as Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation Suntech Power. The company's big plans to buy $5 billion worth of solar wafers from MEMC Electronic Materials over the next 10 years is just one indication that it expects to be a leader in the growing solar cell market. Another company with growing solar resources worth considering is General Electric, which earlier this week announced it was acquiring a minority equity position in PrimeStar, a new manufacturer of thin-film solar cells.

To this end, the emerging field of thin-film photovoltaics is growing up fast, and now counts a number of promising companies among its ranks, including First Solar, Ascent Solar Technologies, Energy Conversion Devices (through its subsidiary United Solar Ovonics), and Suntech Power.

Third, Doerr said the United States needs to reinvigorate its biofuels industry. To a degree, this is already happening. Archer Daniels Midland now has a 50-million-gallon facility in production, and a few months ago, VeraSun announced plans to begin building a 30-million-gallon biodiesel facility. With the advent of tougher EPA regulations requiring cleaner-burning diesel -- which biodiesel meets -- the demand for biofuels could grow stronger in the near future. And both companies, by positioning themselves at the forefront of this biofuels "reinvigoration," could profit nicely from its expansion.

Ethanol production is also expanding rapidly, with Andersons, Aventine Renewable Energy Holdings, US BioEnergy, and Pacific Ethanol all bringing large-scale facilities online recently.

Finally, Doerr said there needs to be more investment in technologies that can remove existing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. I'm not aware of any companies that do this now, but I know that Headwaters is actively working to develop unique nanoparticle catalysts that might soon help in this quest.

There will be no shortage of other companies working on such technologies, but I encourage investors to keep an eye on the big boys such as DuPont. Cleaning up vast amounts of carbon dioxide is a big problem, and it could well take a big company to deliver the resources necessary to make a dent.

Invest intelligently

Investors looking for a more diversified approach to investing in renewable energy might want to consider the PowerShares WilderHill Clean Energy exchange-traded fund. Alternatively, investors with a more conservative approach might want to look at companies like Chevron and PG&E. While they can't be considered pure cleantech plays, the former is now the largest producer of geothermal energy in the world, and the latter generates 12% of its electricity from renewable energy sources.

The bottom line is that, like Doerr, our Motley Fool Rule Breakers team believes cleantech will be huge. And while there will be many technologies and companies taking part in the solution, Fools should be strategic about how they want to approach the opportunity. After all, just because the opportunity is big doesn't mean everyone's profits will be, too.

If you'd like to take a look at our ongoing cleantech research at Rule Breakers and read up on the companies recommended to date, you can do so free for 30 days. Click here for more information. There is no obligation to subscribe.

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The proposed Bruce Line is supported by Progressive Conservative candidates Bill Murdoch (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound) and Rob Morley (Huron-Bruce); and Liberal candidates Selwyn Hicks (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound) and Betsy Hall (Dufferin-Caledon).

The proposed line is opposed by Green Party candidates Shane Jolley (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound), Ben Polley (Guelph), Victoria Serda (Huron-Bruce), and Martin Lavictoire (Wellington-Halton Hills); and NDP candidate Karen Mann-Bowers (Guelph).

According to the Ontario Power Authority’s public statements, the proposed line is necessary to bring electricity from Bruce Power’s currently shutdown nuclear reactors (which are forecast to be re-started in 2009) and new wind power projects to southern Ontario. However, according to evidence filed by Hydro One at the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), this is really just media spin. In its filings, Hydro One admits that upgrades to the existing line that are already in the pipeline will be adequate to handle this additional load. Hydro One has told the OEB that the real purpose of the new line would be to increase system reliability - something that can be done much more quickly and cheaply by promoting energy conservation and small-scale local generation in southern Ontario.

And if reliability is the real issue, why is Hydro One proposing to build the new line right alongside the existing line? Wouldn’t a tornado or ice storm that knocks down the existing line also knock out the proposed new line?

The full responses of the candidates can be viewed at: www.cleanairalliance.org/.

"The need for renewable sources of energy requires a dynamic new way of thinking. The New Century Farm will research the practical things farmers can do in the future to grow, harvest and store biomass in a sustainable manner" said Dean Oestreich, DuPont vice president and general manager and president of Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business. "We’re proud to partner with Iowa State to create a demonstration farm that will be the first of its kind to integrate both the growing and processing of biomass into biofuels"

The New Century Farm will include a facility for research in biomass crop breeding, crop rotation needs and ways to efficiently store and process biomass material. It also will feature a teaching laboratory for training future scientists and farmers, and an extension facility to demonstrate the economic, social and environmental viability of bioenergy.

The funding from DuPont, through its Pioneer Hi-Bred business, will be allocated from 2008 to 2012.

"Supporting the bioeconomy is one of our highest priorities at Iowa State University, and the New Century Farm initiative is key to these efforts" ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said. "We’re delighted to have Pioneer partnering with us in this important initiative"

The New Century Farm Leaving Pioneer.com will be constructed on the ISU Agricultural Engineering and Agronomy Research Farm west of Ames, Iowa. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall, with a completion date for the main bioprocessing facility a year later.

"We are excited to be working with Pioneer and others to create a facility that will help address the opportunities and challenges of producing biofuels and bioproducts from biomass" Wendy Wintersteen, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at ISU, said. "At the New Century Farm, the opportunity is great to integrate directly into agricultural fields the connections with harvesting, transportation, storage and processing. The New Century Farm will not only provide a venue for cutting-edge research, it will also allow us to train the next generation of scientists in this critical growth area"

DuPont is committed to delivering new technologies to the growing renewable fuels market, which includes improving biofuels production through improved seed and crop protection products; developing new technologies to allow conversion of cellulose to biofuels; and developing next-generation biofuels.

ISU’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is committed to using Iowa’s agricultural base to build the state’s bioeconomy through application of science to practical problems, leadership in university biorenewables programs, extension delivery of research-based information and education, and training of students for new career opportunities in the bioeconomy. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences provides significant leadership and resources for ISU’s Office of Biorenewables Programs to achieve the goals of the universitywide Bioeconomy Initiative.

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Leaving Pioneer.com at Iowa State University is building on 150 years of excellence in research and education. The college educates more than 3,200 undergraduate and graduate students, supports the research programs of more than 330 faculty members in the college and across campus, and serves thousands of Iowans statewide through its extension programs. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences offers nearly 30 different undergraduate career paths, from animal science, agronomy and horticulture to biology, genetics and environmental science, and awards $1 million in scholarships every year. The college has a 98 percent placement rate, with graduates on the job or pursuing advanced degrees. Two-thirds begin their careers in the state of Iowa.

Soon swamps, not corn, could become the hot commodity for fueling cars. Biodiesel fuel is what many people consider to be the future of transportation, as it is such a preferable alternative to gasoline. Not only is it renewable, but there is less pollution. Biodiesel is also non-toxic and it can be manufactured in the United States.

However, corn and soybean crops have taken a hit this past year because of the amount of testing done. The prices for the plants are skyrocketing because there is such a shortage. Should these tests prove successful, however, a number of long-term problems would arise, the largest being the lack of farmland available for producing food as well as fuel for vehicles.

In response to such growing concerns, many companies have begun testing a highly unlikely source — algae. Companies such as Solix Biofuels and Algae BioFuels have discovered that algae produces vegetable oil, which in turn can be refined into biodiesel the same way corn would.

Algae can be produced anywhere there are water tanks, which would save farmland. According to an article from www.smm.org, ‘‘it thrives on sunshine which is plentiful and free and pulls carbon dioxide out of the air.’’

Algae BioFuels has set up shop in Alabama for field trials in the Gulf Coast region for algae cultivation in open and closed systems.

According to the Web site www.greencarcongress.com, independent studies have demonstrated that ‘‘algae is capable of producing 30 times more oil per acre than the current crops now utilized for the production of biofuels. The algae biomass material could also supply annually up to 100,000 pounds of animal feed per acre with a 50 percent protein content.’’

‘‘We’ve got to get over this corn ethanol thing; it takes a lot of erosion,’’ said Jonathan Titus, State University at Fredonia biology professor. ‘‘The only way to solve this problem is to have better conservation – otherwise going to use the same amount of fossil fuel producing the corn that we would have otherwise.’’

For those who have been frustrated by corn prices this summer, it is with good reason. There are more than 211 million automobiles in operation across the U.S., causing corn-based ethanol production to triple since 1998. More than 20 percent of the 2007 corn crop was designated to ethanol production, and the bushel price is currently at a 10-year high

However, the repercussions of higher corn prices go beyond just the corn being consumed by people directly, but the corn used as feed for livestock.

In an article off www.grist.org, Tyson Chief Executive Officer Richard L. Bond told investors, ‘‘I believe the American consumer is going to have to pay more for protein — quite frankly, the American consumer is making a choice here...either corn for feed or corn for fuel.’’

Overall, it seems that algae may provide the solution we have been looking for.

‘‘Basically, they’re looking at macroscopic algae, taking it and commercially producing it on a large scale,’’ said Tim Strakosk, State University at Fredonia biology professor. ‘‘I think it’s definitely something to look into — more research needs to be done, but it is far more efficient than converting agriculturally based fuels. This method seems much more promising, especially if properly used.’’

Although he is impressed so far, Strakosk said the idea does have some disadvantages.

‘‘It’s not the cleanest burning fuel yet, but it definitely reduces climate emissions,’’ Strakosk said. ‘‘There’s some great biodiesel information over in Europe — they have cars that will get 80 miles to the gallon and have cleaner emissions than American hybrid cars.’’

For more information, Strakosk recommends visiting www.oilgae.com. While Americans continue to gas up now, it could be only a matter of years pond scum finds its place in the automotive industry.