Green Car Congress

Air New Zealand Completes Jatropha Biofuel Blend Test Flight

Air New Zealand completed the test flight of its 50:50 blend of a jatropha-derived synthetic paraffinic kerosene and conventional Jet A1 fuel (named NZ-J50) in an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 on Tuesday. (Earlier post.) The two-hour test flight took off from Auckland airport on Tuesday morning, with the jatropha-derived biofuel blend powering one of the four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.

The two-hour test flight profile included:

• Take off. Full powered take off. Throttles will be advanced slowly, establish at three-quarter power and then to full power.

• Climb. Climb to 25,000 feet. At an altitude of 20,000-25,000 feet, the main fuel pump for engine one was switched off. This tested the lubricosity of the fuel, ensuring that the friction of the fuel does not slow down its flow to the engine.

• Cruise. Cruise at 35,000 feet. The auto-throttle was switched off and the crew manually set all engine controls, so that the Engine Pressure Ratios (EPRs) had identical readings.

• Deceleration/acceleration. The crew controlled the fuel pressure to manage the rate of change of engine.

• Descent. Engine one was shut down at 26,000 feet with a windmilling restart at 300 knots. Another engine shutdown took place again at 18,000 feet, this time with a starter-assisted relight at 220 knots.

• Simulated approach and go around. When the aircraft was at 11,000 feet, the autopilot was programmed to land on a runway that “located” at 8,000 feet and undertook a missed approach. This was to test the performance of the fuel under maximum thrust.

• Landing. The flight was completed with a normal landing, including the use of reverse thrust. The aircraft will then taxi back to the hardstand, stop all engines and restart engine one by itself.

Test flight profile. Click to enlarge.

The synthetic paraffinic kerosene was produced by UOP from jatropha oil feedstock.

The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group, launched in September 2008, has chartered a peer- reviewed, independent life cycle and socio-economic sustainability research report of the NZ-J50 fuel, which is expected to be completed in September 2009.

US Fuel Cell Council Pushes Congress for $1.17B for Hydrogen, Fuel Cell and Infrastructure Programs

The US Fuel Cell Council (USFCC), an industry association formed to foster the commercialization of fuel cells in the United State, is asking Congress to put $1.17 billion into fuel cells, hydrogen and infrastructure.

Fully funding programs of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT) at levels Congress has already approved for FY2010, and use of other authorized funds, would account for the $1.17 billion. The US Fuel Cell Council would like to see the money applied in six basic areas: deployment programs; development of a refueling infrastructure; learning demonstrations; building domestic manufacturing capability; accelerating public-private research; and investing in fuel cell transit programs.

In addition, the USFCC also proposes two areas without specific dollars attached: Federal fuel cell investment tax incentives; and the inclusion of fuel cells in President-elect Obama’s proposed Energy Initiative.

USFCC’s breakdown of the proposed $1.17 billion in funding is as follows:

• Deployment: $100 million. Dozens of power systems are currently available for commercial and defense applications. The USFCC suggests that Federal policies and federal funds should support public and private sector purchases and leases of fuel cells and infrastructure for stationary, portable and micro fuel cells. Including fuel cells in federal clean energy installation requirements also would accelerate commercialization. Authority: EPACT Sec. 783, FY2010: $100 million for purchases.

• Refueling Infrastructure: $65 million. Federal grants and tax credits for hydrogen and other fuel cell fueling infrastructure would accelerate activity in existing markets like industrial equipment, and prepare communities for the arrival of fuel cell passenger vehicles, the USFCC says. Federal policy should support hydrogen infrastructure deployment via an investment tax credit and by cost sharing for fueling stations, and fully fund the current vehicle Learning Demonstration. Authority: EPACT 2005, Sec. 782, FY2010: $65 million for vehicles and infrastructure.

• Learning Demonstrations: $375 Million. Learning demonstrations put early commercial and advanced experimental systems in the hands of government and private sector users who help evaluate the systems. Federal law already authorizes demonstrations and deployment in civilian and military applications. Authority: EPACT Sec. 808, FY2010: $375 million.

• Domestic Manufacturing Capacity: $100 Million. Especially given the current credit crisis, fuel cell companies and suppliers are finding it difficult to obtain money from banks and investors to invest in manufacturing capacity. The USFCC is calling for Federal grants and tax credits for investment in manufacturing infrastructure. Authority: EPACT Sec. 805, FY 2010:$100 million; EISA 2007 Sections 136; also IRC Sec. 4.

• Research Partnerships: $350 Million. Basic research is needed in advanced materials, catalysis and other relevant fields. Applied research should focus on improved performance and reduced costs, and on improved availability, storage and utility of hydrogen and other fuels for fuel cells. Authority: EPACT Sec. 805, FY2010: $350 million for research.

• Fuel Cell Transit: $180 Million. Transit provisions in the stimulus should include the purchase of at least 100 zero emission fuel cell buses and funds for relevant infrastructure investment. Authority: SAFETEA-LU Bus and Bus Facilities Program.

A July 2008 study by the National Research Council estimated that a total public-private investment of about $200 billion would be required from 2008 to 2023 to support a transition from gasoline to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, at which point fuel cell vehicles would become competitive with gasoline-powered vehicles. (Earlier post.)

The government cost to support the transition would be roughly $55 billion, according to the study. This funding includes a substantial research and development program ($5 billion), support for the demonstration and deployment of the vehicles while they are more expensive than conventional vehicles ($40 billion), and support for the production of hydrogen ($10 billion).

Private industry would be investing far more, the authors concluded: about $145 billion for R&D, vehicle manufacturing, and hydrogen infrastructure over the same period.

The National Research Council (NRC) functions under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), and the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The four organizations are collectively referred to as the National Academies.

Munich Re: 2008 Natural Catastrophes Show That “Climate Change Has Already Started”

by Jack Rosebro

2008 natural disasters, by location and severity. Source: Munich Re. Click to enlarge.

Munich Re, one of the world’s largest re-insurers, has released its annual figures on worldwide losses from natural catastrophes, and has termed 2008 “one of the most devastating years on record,” partly due to the large number of tropical cyclones as well as the Sichuan earthquake in China.

According to the company, the year is the third most expensive on record, exceeded only by 2005—the year that Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans—and 1995, the year of the Kobe earthquake.

It is now very probable that the progressive warming of the atmosphere is due to the greenhouse gases emitted by human activity. The logic is clear. When temperatures increase, there is more evaporation, and the atmosphere has a greater capacity to absorb water vapor, with the result that its energy content is higher. The weather machine runs in top gear, bringing more intense severe weather events with corresponding effects in terms of losses. This relationship is already visible today in the increasing heavy precipitation events in many regions of the Earth, the heat waves, and the hurricanes in the North Atlantic.

—Peter Höppe, head of Munich Re’s Geo-Risks Research unit

“The [natural catastrophe] loss statistics for 2008 fit the pattern that the calculations of climate models lead us to expect.” —Peter Höppe

Despite a drop in loss-producing events compared with 2007 (from 960 to 750), insured losses in 2008 rose to US $45 billion, about 50% higher than in the previous year. More than 220,000 people died worldwide this year as a result of natural catastrophes.

Torsten Jeworrek, of Munich Re’s Board of Management, commented: “This continues the long-term trend we have been observing. Climate change has already started and is very probably contributing to increasingly frequent weather extremes and ensuing natural catastrophes. These, in turn, generate greater and greater losses because the concentration of values in exposed areas, like regions on the coast, is also increasing further throughout the world.”

In Asia, Cyclone Nargis is estimated to have claimed the lives of more than 135,000 people in Myanmar, with 54,000 people still missing. With large parts of Myanmar’s mangrove forests—a natural form of coastal protection—eradicated in recent years, storm surges reached as far as 40 kilometers (25 miles) inland. The country was inundated with water up to three meters deep, and more than a million of Myanmar’s inhabitants were made homeless.

Ten largest natural disasters in 2008. Source: Munich Re. Click to enlarge.

Six tropical cyclones—Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, Hanna, and Ike—reached the US coast this year. Ike made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane near Galveston, and submerged large sections of the Texas and Louisiana coast. The incidence of tropical cyclones in the North Atlantic this year was also higher than the long-term average, as well as the yearly average of the current warm phase (14.7 cyclones) since 1995. A total of 16 tropical cyclones were counted in 2008; eight reached hurricane strength, with five classified as major hurricanes (Categories 3 to 5).

Preliminary estimates published by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) identify 2008 as the tenth warmest year since the beginning of routine temperature recording, and the eighth warmest in the northern hemisphere.

This year, Munich Re began collaborating with Lord Nicholas Stern, lead author of the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change, (earlier post) and the London School of Economics, where Stern is a professor, on research concerning the economic impacts of climate change.

A report by Stern, entitled Key Elements of a Global Deal on Climate Change and released last April, focused on strategies and cost calculations for a greenhouse gas stabilization target of 500 ppm CO₂ equivalent, as opposed to than the 550 pm CO₂ equivalent target examined by the Stern Review.

“The reason that we have chosen to focus on 500 ppm rather than 550 ppm,” explained Stern, “is that subsequent evidence has indicated that the position is more risky than assumed in the Stern Review.”

Stern gave four primary reasons for revising the stabilization target:

• Emissions are growing faster that the IPCC trajectory used in the Stern Review, as summarized in Australia’s Garnaut Climate Change Review (earlier post).

• The absorptive capacity of the planet, including of the oceans, appears to be lower than many earlier models had assumed.

• The weights in the upper tail of climate sensitivity (the effect of eventual temperature increases on stocks of greenhouse gases) appear to be higher than anticipated.

• Physical effects of global warming from a given temperature change, via climate change and directly from the warming, appear to be happening faster than had been anticipated.

Dr. Jeworrek said that the increase in natural catastrophes “have resulted in three action strategies, which we are resolutely pursuing.”

Firstly, we accept risks in our core business only at risk-adequate prices, so that if the exposure situation changes, we adjust the pricing structure. Secondly, with our expertise we develop new business opportunities in the context of climate protection and adaptation measures. Thirdly, in the international debate, we—as a company—press for effective and binding rules on CO₂ emissions, so that climate change is curbed and future generations do not have to live with weather scenarios that are difficult to control.

As of January 2009, graphs and tables derived from current analyses of natural catastrophes will be available at the NatCatSERVICE download center. Munich Re is headquartered in Munich, Germany and insures in about 160 countries.

Resources

• Earlier posts on Munich Re Annual Catastrophe Reports (2007, 2006, 2004)

California ARB Staff Releases Updated California-GREET Model

The staff of the California Air Resources Board (ARB) has released an update to the California-GREET model 1.8b for estimating the carbon intensities of transportation fuels as part of the Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS) rulemaking process.

This update reflects updates in the September 2008 release of the Argonne National GREET model. Additional information to include criteria pollutants is also updated in the model. The model does not include the land use change estimate.

For this release, updates have been performed for CARBOB, ULSD, CaRFG, CNG, and Electricity. Pathway documents reflecting the updates will be posted to the ARB website shown below over the next 1-2 weeks. An additional update to incorporate the other fuel pathways will also be posted in the next 1-2 weeks.

The modifications were made by Life Cycle Associates, LLC.

Resources

• California-GREET Model version 1.8b (December 2008)

Michelin Postpones Challenge Bibendum Rio 2009 to 2010

Michelin is postponing the coming Challenge Bibendum event—scheduled for April 2009 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—until 2010, due, it said, to the depth of the current economic crisis.

In a short statement, the company said that its decision takes into account the increasing financial constraints of several of Challenge Bibendum’s traditional partners.

Many will be unable to participate, to the extent that they have done in the past, in an event which illustrates the existence of solutions to the challenges of tomorrow’s road mobility. Today’s circumstances amply demonstrate the pertinence of such a theme and the need to address it with great drive and energy.

In the interval the Challenge Bibendum organizing team will propose a series of different initiatives to the partners to stimulate ongoing debates on the future of road mobility.

GMAC Receives US$5.0B Investment from the US Treasury

GMAC Financial Services has sold US$5.0 billion of GMAC’s preferred membership interests and warrants to the US Department of the Treasury as a participant in the $700-billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) established under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.

GMAC received approval of its bank holding company application from the US Federal Reserve Board on 24 December. (Earlier post.)

The company says it intends to act quickly to resume automotive lending to a broader spectrum of customers to support the availability of credit to consumers and businesses for the purchase of automobiles.

GMAC also announced that GM and an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management contributed to GMAC the $750 million subordinated participations in the $3.5 billion senior secured credit facility, as amended, between GMAC and Residential Capital, LLC in exchange for new common equity of GMAC. In addition, GMAC announced that GM and an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management entered into agreements to purchase US$1.25 billion of new common equity. The US Treasury and GM intend to enter into an agreement for the Treasury to fund GM’s share of the new common equity.

GMAC also announced that the conditions to its previously announced separate private exchange offers and cash tender offers have been satisfied and that GMAC has accepted all of the validly tendered GMAC old notes and ResCap old notes. The GMAC offers and the ResCap offers are expected to settle promptly.

CAPP Adjusts Oil Sands Forecast Downward

The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), in a December 2008 interim update on its annual crude oil forecasts, has revised downward its forecasts for oil sands production.

Revised forecast for Western Canada oil production. Click to enlarge. Data: CAPP

The update reflects announced changes to product schedules (earlier post), not a new survey of producer members, which will published next year. The industry is now on a trajectory slightly lower than CAPP’s June 2008 Moderate Growth case.

Although there is minimal change in the 2008-2012 period, the forecast is for up to 300,000 barrels per day less in the 2012-2017 period. Deferrals in upgrader projects mean the production of more heavy blend and less upgraded light.

Under the revised forecast, total oil sands production will reach 3.267 million barrels per day in 2020, representing 79% of all Western Canada oil production. Production from mining and in-situ methods will be essentially equivalent (1.624 million and 1.643 million barrels per day, respectively).

BIRD Foundation Awards TransBioDiesel and Rohm and Haas US$1.5M for Commercializing a Lipase-Based Biodiesel Production Process

The BIRD (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development) has awarded Israel start-up TransBioDiesel and its US partner Rohm and Haas a US$1.5 million award to commercialize its process for using immobilized lipases for the production of biodiesel from different oils, including plant oils, animal fats and recycled greases.

Biodiesel is conventionally produced by a transesterification reaction between triglycerides and short-chain alcohols, typically methanol, catalyzed by sodium or potassium hydroxide. Although straightforward, the process has some drawbacks, including high energy consumption with a process temperature of 60°-70° C; difficulties in glycerol recovery; and the production of large amounts of alkaline wastewater.

Lipases are capable of catalyzing the methanolysis reaction of fats and oils to produce biodiesel and glycerol at reasonable conversions. However, constraints to taking this approach have been the high cost of enzyme; the irreversible deactivation of enzyme; the use of a solvent to enhance the contact between oil and methanol; and recovery of the enzyme.

The TransBioDiesel immobilized lipases exhibit high resistance towards short-chain alcohols, are recyclable and tolerate various inhibitors typically present in raw materials. TransBioDiesel says that its process is economically feasible and even competitive with the costs for the currently practiced conventional chemically-catalyzed production process.

Rohm and Haas—which is in the process of being acquired by the Dow Chemical Company—currently provides a variety of products to the biodiesel industry.

The BIRD Foundation works to encourage cooperation between Israeli and American companies in the various areas of technology, and provides free assistance in locating strategic partners from both countries for developing joint products.

China BAK Battery Li-ion Phosphate EV Project Now Part of 863 Program

China’s Ministry of Science and Technology has selected China BAK Battery, Inc.’s Electric Vehicles Lithium-phosphate Power Battery Industrialization Project as a key project of the National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program).

Under expected terms of its selection, China BAK will receive a grant of up to $3.1 million from the PRC’s central government and certain subsidy grants, amount to be determined, from the Shenzhen Municipal Government.

BAK International (Tianjin) Limited, China BAK’s wholly-owned subsidiary, which focuses on the R&D, manufacturing and distribution of advanced high-power lithium-phosphate cells, will lead the commercialization of the Project. It aims to commercialize the production of high-power lithium-phosphate cells for use in light electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles.

China Bak is one of the largest lithium-ion battery cell manufacturers in the world, as measured by production output. It began commercial production of lithium-phosphate cells at its Shenzhen facility for use in cordless power tools in October 2005, and for mining lamps in March 2007. In December 2006, its new subsidiary, BAK International (Tianjin) Limited, was incorporated to focus on the R&D, manufacturing and distribution of lithium-phosphate cells.

China BAK has since shifted all lithium-phosphate cell manufacturing machinery, equipment and personnel from its Shenzhen facility to its Tianjin facility. In October 2008, its Tianjin facility completed construction of its first lithium-phosphate cell production line, and initiated trial production of lithium-phosphate cells. It has also been engaging in the research and development of lithium-phosphate cells for use in light electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, and has been actively seeking market opportunities for such applications.

The 863 Program is one of the key national science and technology programs in China. The program was launched in March 1986 by the central government as a national strategic development program to optimize and upgrade China’s hi-tech development in the key fields of IT, biology, energy, agriculture, pharmaceutical, new material, manufacturing and automation, as well as resource and environment. The selection process for 863 Program is highly competitive.

European Automakers Question Aspects of New EU Fuel Quality Directive

The European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA) has raised several technical issues with the fuel quality directive adopted by the European Parliament earlier in December as part of the climate change package. Among the elements of the fuel quality directive is a low carbon fuel standard. (Earlier post).

ACEA’s technical concerns with the fuel quality directive fall into three categories: metallic additives; biofuel blends and labelling; and fuel specifications.

The vehicle industry strongly supports the proposed setting of mandatory targets for fuel suppliers to reduce by 2020 their life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions. This is a necessary part of an integrated approach to reducing CO₂ emissions. However, the adopted report leaves a number of important issues incomplete, which could result in a fragmented internal market for fuels and lead to consumer confusion at the filling station.

—Ivan Hodac, Secretary General of the ACEA

Metallic additives. The fuel quality directive failed to ban metallic additives in gasoline, as ACEA had supported. ACEA has called for the total ban on the use of metallic additives, such as the manganese-based MMT (Methylcyclopentadienyl Manganese Tricarbonyl) and iron-based ferrocene in gasoline for two primary reasons:

• Metallic additives such as MMT (which are used to boost the octane rating of lower octane fuel) degrade the performance of expensive exhaust catalysts, sensors in the exhaust stream, fuel injectors, spark plugs etc. This means higher and unnecessary pollutant emissions and the likelihood that a vehicle’s on-board diagnostic (OBD) system will eventually register an emission system fault and inform the driver via the dashboard OBD light, due to no fault other than the fuel in the tank.

  This results in unnecessary visits to the workshop to repair a fault which is not the result of a failure on the vehicle. Since the legal requirements for the performance and durability of catalytic converters is becoming more stringent, the deterioration (by blocking) of catalysts under customer driving conditions due to metallic additives is expected. Since 1991, all new gasoline-engined vehicles in the EU have been fitted with exhaust catalysts and since January 2000, all new gasoline-engined vehicles have been equipped with an OBD system.

• Developing major world markets such as China are introducing more stringent pollutant emissions legislation and they are following European standards. EU manufacturers are selling high technology vehicles in these markets and the EU industry is highly competitive in these markets. ACEA says that the quality of the fuel in these markets is not what it could be and manganese has been observed in Chinese market fuel. ACEA has been pressing these markets to ensure they provide widespread access to market fuel of the right quality in parallel to the introduction of more stringent Euro-emission standards.

Both the European Council and the European parliament had originally supported a ban on the use of MMT in European gasoline. MMT is manufactured exclusively by US-based Afton Chemical, and the ACEA charges that the European Commission gave into the lobbying of the US government on behalf of Afton.

Although European gasoline does not in general contain MMT, it has been observed in gasoline samples in Belgium, Romania and Malta. The ACEA said that it will keep working with EU policy makers toward a ban on the use of metallic additives as soon as possible.

Biofuel blends and labelling. The fuel quality directive is structured such that while European diesel can have a maximum of 7% fatty acid methyl ester (FAME, biodiesel), individual member states can market diesel with a FAME content greater than 7%.

For the automobile industry, this is a crazy situation. It means that different Member States can have different diesel quality in their territory without any standardisation. This bypasses the whole idea of having a single European standard in the internal market. Consumers need to have access to a consistent fuel quality across the EU. The position of ACEA is that we do not accept the use of diesel with more than 7% FAME in our vehicles due to valid technical reasons.

—ACEA statement

In June 2008, ACEA made a commitment that from 2010 all new gasoline vehicles will be compatible with gasoline containing a maximum of 10% ethanol (E10) and all new diesel vehicles will be compatible with diesel containing a maximum of 7% FAME (B7).

ACEA also expressed concern about an insufficient level of information to consumers regarding the biofuel content of both gasoline and diesel. Under the directive, “appropriate information” is required, but specific labelling of the filling station pump will not be mandatory.

There is no definition of “appropriate information” which means that these statements could be merely complied with by a government or oil company leaflet or a simple note on an obscure website. ACEA views this as totally insufficient for the consumer to know what fuel he should be putting into his vehicle, old or new.

The ACEA calls for distinct labelling of E10 to avoid customer confusion. Given the potential variability in FAME content, the ACEA said that it is “absolutely essential” that diesel pumps at the filling station are properly labelled with their FAME content.

Fuel specifications. The directive allows Member States to request a derogation against meeting the summer period maximum vapour pressure limit of 60kPa for fuels containing bio-ethanol.

The ACEA says that this is “completely unnecessary”, given that the European oil industry (EUROPIA) has said that all companies can meet the 60kPa limit without any need for a waiver.

Derogations will result in an increase in hydrocarbon emissions in the summer period which the Commission must act against.

The other issue ACEA raises concerns oxygenates for gasoline. Although it supports the increase in the maximum ethanol content to 10%, it does not agree with the increase in other oxygenates, “especially as they are not even bio-oxygenates”.

ACEA remains concerned that these levels of oxygenates (they are higher than the oxygenate specifications for today’s petrol) will result in some compatibility issues with the materials of vehicle fuelling systems. Vehicle driveability is also expected to be a concern. Vehicle manufacturers do not accept responsibility in cases of deterioration or failure using petrol with these levels of oxygenates.