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1. At the Oregon coast, butts are the big problem
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2. Waiting for Next-Gen Ethanol in 2009? Forget It
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3. Zenn Motor Still Waiting on EEStor
At the Oregon coast, butts are the big problem
Shelby Wood, The Oregonian - Living Top Stories
Waiting for Next-Gen Ethanol in 2009? Forget It
Katie Fehrenbacher - Biofuels
In the summer of 2008, 2009 looked like it could be a breakout year for the next generation of ethanol. There were dozens of companies racing to be the first to churn out cellulosic ethanol made from non-food crops and plant waste from pilot and even commercial-scale plants. Well, that was before the credit crunch hit and investors starting to close their wallets. Now there are just a couple cellulosic ethanol makers that have started producing the next-gen fuel on a pilot scale, and plans for commercial-scale have been largely been pushed from 2009 into 2010. And who knows if those deadlines will be met if we’re still deep in the downturn?
Range Fuel’s CEO David Aldous confirmed with us last week that the startup, which uses a thermochemical process to turn biomass into synthetic gas and then fuel, doesn’t expect its commercial-scale plant in Soperton, Ga., to start producing fuel well into 2010. The plant is supposed to be able to scale up to 100 million gallons per year and was originally planned to produce fuel in 2009. Range Fuels was an early mover in the space, and is still a little better off than some, having snagged an $80 million loan guarantee from the Department of Agriculture under the 2008 Farm Bill to complete construction of the commercial plant. Aldous says Range Fuels is also looking to get in on the next round of loan guarantees that the DOE is starting to hand out now.
Verenium, a cellulosic ethanol maker in Cambridge, Mass., found an important partner in UK oil giant BP, but is still struggling financially. The company confirmed with us that it is delaying starting construction on its first commercial-scale plant — a 36 million gallon-per-year, $300 million facility in Highlands County, Fla. — until at least 2010. And earlier this month an outside auditor said that Verenium might have to cease operations if it doesn’t raise more capital. The company needs at least $300 million to complete its JV with BP, according to Forbes.
Coskata, a cellulosic ethanol maker that created a lot of buzz because it’s backed by GM and Vinod Khosla, isn’t faring much better. Coskata CEO Bill Roe said this month that the company is now waiting for a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to build its first commercial-scale plant and that it’s on hold until then. Coskata was previously hoping to break ground on the plant — expected to produce 50 million-100 million gallons of ethanol annually — this year and to complete the factory in late 2010 or early 2011.
As former CEO of biodiesel maker Imperium Renewables, Martin Tobias, explained at Earth2Tech’s Green:Net conference this week, when investors are looking at hundreds of millions in commitments to just get to the first stage of production, oftentimes that’s the first commitment they shy away from in a downturn. He should know, as Imperium raised hundreds of millions and was all set to IPO before the markets started to look shaky and the company pulled back. It puts a company in a difficult position when you’re halfway through a $100 million-buildout, and you need another couple hundred million to complete it, and the wind just gets knocked out of the market, Tobias said.
The same thing is happening to cellulosic ethanol, which often involves even more capital costs than more traditional biofuels because it’s a newer technology and the feedstocks are more diverse. That means the dream of filling flex-fuel vehicles with more sustainable non-food crops (not corn!) will be deferred for another couple years. Those capital costs will likely shut startups out of the physical buildout, at least while credit remains tight. But that doesn’t mean they have to sit on the bench. For the oil and corn ethanol companies that survive the downturn — and manage to finance big projects — startups will be there to add value by licensing their technology.
Zenn Motor Still Waiting on EEStor
David Ehrlich - Automotive
Zenn Motor’s first highway-speed electric car, the cityZenn, is still on the way, but it may take a bit longer to get to market than originally planned, thanks to the slow moves of its energy storage partner EEStor. Zenn said this week that it’s waiting for the ultracapacitor technology from stealthy EEStor and doesn’t expect an initial introduction of the car until late 2009, with commercial availability in 2010. We contacted Zenn for clarification on what “initial introduction” means, exactly. Zenn previously said it was targeting a fall 2009 launch for the cityZenn.
So, what’s going on with EEStor? Toronto-based Zenn says it’s waiting for two final milestones in its contract with EEStor, but that the Cedar Park, Texas-based ultracapacitor developer is making “significant progress” in building out a full-scale production facility. Unfortunately, EEStor’s ultracapacitor — essentially a really advanced battery system — is at the heart of the cityZenn, which means the new car literally can’t move until either more progress is made on those ultracapacitors, or Zenn decides to switch to a different ultracapacitor or battery system.
This isn’t the first ultracapacitor delay from EEStor. The startup, backed by Kleiner Perkins, as well as Zenn, was originally set to have its ultracapacitors ready in mid-2008.
But if EEStor delivers on its promises, it may be worth the wait. Zenn, which currently makes low-speed electric vehicles, hitched its wagon to technology from EEStor because of the potential to get a leg up on the competition. The cityZenn is expected to have a top speed of 80 miles per hour and a range of 250 miles, with that EEStor ultracapacitor allowing the car to recharge in less than 5 minutes using a special charging station.
Early last year, EEStor reached a purity testing and production capacity milestone, but Zenn is still waiting on third-party verification of permittivity testing, as well as the last step — the receipt of an actual product from EEStor by Zenn.
Despite EEStor’s secretive operations, the startup has attracted interest from other companies besides Zenn, including Lockheed Martin, which is looking at developing body armor using EEStor’s technology, and Light Electric Vehicles, which said it signed an exclusive deal to use EEstor’s ultracapacitors in two- and three-wheeled vehicles.
Photo of a low-speed Zenn courtesy of the company.
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