06/17/2008 09:48 AM

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Weekly Clean Energy Roundup: June 26, 2008

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New Biodiesel Standard Allows Automaker Approval of 20% Blends

ASTM International, one of the largest standards development organizations in the world, has approved a new specification for diesel fuel blends containing 6%-20% biodiesel. According to the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), ASTM standards for the 20% biodiesel blends, or B20, are a crucial hurdle for the full acceptance of the use of such blends in diesel vehicles.

With the new specification in place, automakers and engine manufacturers can test B20 in their diesel engines and know that consumers will be fueling their vehicle with a fuel of the same quality.

Currently, Chrysler LLC supports the use of B20 in its Dodge Ram diesel pickups, but only for use in fleets. Likewise, General Motors Corporation accepts the use of 5% biodiesel blends, or B5, in all its vehicles, but limits the use of B20 to special equipment options available only to government fleets in a limited selection of vehicles. While setting the new B20 standard, ASTM International also made changes to its specifications for B5 and for 100% biodiesel, or B100. See the NBB press release.

Engine warranty concerns also came into play in a recent effort to create labeling requirements for diesel fuels containing renewable fuel blends. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to set labeling requirements that address the blending of biodiesel and other types of biomass-based diesel fuels into diesel fuel. Some companies are converting biomass such as animal fats directly into a liquid with the properties of diesel fuel, a product that blurs the lines between biodiesel and diesel fuel.

At first, the FTC proposed to treat all renewable diesel fuels the same, but the NBB warned that not all biomass-based diesel fuels would necessarily meet the ASTM standards required by automakers for diesel fuels. On the other hand, biomass-based diesel fuels that meet ASTM standards could be used in much higher concentrations than biodiesel, which is usually limited to 20% biodiesel blends for standard diesel vehicles. Considering those comments, the FTC decided to set separate labeling requirements for biodiesel blends and biomass-based diesel fuel blends. See the FTC press release and the final ruling (PDF 213 KB).

DOE to Invest $1.3 Billion in Carbon Capture and Storage

DOE announced yesterday that it plans to invest $1.3 billion over several years in multiple clean coal plants that feature cutting-edge carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. DOE's FutureGen program was originally intended to make a large investment in a single plant with CCS technology, but with a growing impetus to develop such power plants, DOE decided that it could better advance the technology by providing more limited support for a larger number of CCS-enabled plants. By taking this approach, DOE expects to at least double the amount of carbon dioxide that is sequestered under the program.

DOE released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for the restructured program on Tuesday and anticipates that $290 million will be available for fiscal year 2009. Applications are due on October 8, and DOE intends to select the projects by the end of the year. See the DOE press release.

A report released last year by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concluded that CCS technologies were part of a package of technologies needed to enable significant cuts in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by mid-century. While the IPCC emphasized the use of renewable energy and a shift from carbon-intensive fossil fuels to lower-carbon fuels such as natural gas, the panel also concluded that "no single economically and technologically feasible solution would on its own suffice for reducing GHG emissions from the energy sector. Instead, governments would need to promote a range of options." See this newsletter's coverage of the IPCC report.

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Kevin Eber is the Editor of EREE Network News, a weekly publication of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). 

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