Major Advance In Biofuel Technology: Trash Today, Ethanol Tomorrow

University of Maryland research that started with bacteria from the Chesapeake Bay has led to a process that may be able to convert large volumes of all kinds of plant products, from leftover brewer's mash to paper trash, into ethanol and other biofuel alternatives to gasoline

That process, developed by University of Maryland professors Steve Hutcheson and Ron Weiner, professors of cell biology and molecular genetics, is the foundation of their incubator company Zymetis, which was on view March 10 in College Park for Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley and state and university officials.

"The new Zymetis technology is a win for the State of Maryland , for the University and for the environment," said University of Maryland President C.D. Mote, Jr. "It makes affordable ethanol production a reality and makes it from waste materials, which benefits everyone and supports the green-friendly goal of carbon-neutrality."


75 Billion Gallons a Year
The Zymetis process can make ethanol and other biofuels from many different types of plants and plant waste called
cellulosic sources. Cellulosic biofuels can be made from non- grain plant sources such as waste paper, brewing byproducts, leftover agriculture products, including straw, corncobs and husks, and energy crops such as switchgrass.

When fully operational, the Zymetis process could potentially lead to the production of 75 billion gallons a year of carbon-neutral ethanol.

The secret to the Zymetis process is a Chesapeake Bay marsh grass bacterium, S. degradans. Hutcheson found that the bacterium has an enzyme that could quickly break down plant materials into sugar, which can then be converted to biofuel.

The Zymetis researchers were unable to isolate the Bay bacterium again in nature, but they discovered how to produce the enzyme in their own laboratories. The result was Ethazyme, which degrades the tough cell walls of cellulosic materials and breaks down the entire plant material into bio-fuel ready sugars in one step, at a significantly lower cost and with fewer caustic chemicals than current methods.

Hutcheson projects a $5 billion enzyme market for biofuels. The energy bill passed by the U.S. Senate in December mandates oil companies to blend in 21 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol with their gasoline by 2022.

Inventors of the Year
Hutcheson and Weiner won the university's Office of Technology Commercialization Inventor of the Year Award in 2007 in the Life Science category for their enzyme system invention.

Founded in 2006, Zymetis entered the university's MTECH VentureAccelerator Program, which provides hands-on business assistance to faculty and students interested in forming companies around university-created technologies. "MTECH VentureAccelerator helped us validate our market," says Hutcheson. "They found space for our company. They helped us with licensing our technology, forming financial and business plans, and establishing trademarks."

Zymetis also sought expertise from MTECH's Bioprocess Scale-Up Facility (BSF) staff to determine how to mass-produce S. degradans. The BSF is part of the MTECH Biotechnology Research and Education Program, an initiative dedicated to research, education and the development of biotechnology products and processes for Maryland companies.

See video of bacteria changing newspaper into biofuel: http://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/video/zymetis.cfm





Source:
ScienceDaily
Published: Mar. 11, 2008
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Green Car Technology Plans of the World's Richest Investors

As concerns over global warming, high gas prices, and dependence on foreign oil snowballed in the last few years, movers and shakers around the country decided to get in on the green car revolution. For six of those megamillionaire entrepreneurs, owning a Prius just wasn't enough—each has taken major stakes in a green transportation technology. But as these men surely know—or are about to learn—most small green car and alternative fuel companies face an uphill battle. Which of these wealthy tech investors do you think will be the most successful?





Warren Buffett
(Net Worth: $62 Billion+)



"Export Chinese-made, plug-in hybrid cars"

The Plan: Warren Buffet recently acquired a 10 percent stake in the Chinese electric carmaker, BYD, for $232 million. BYD hopes to use the money to expand into the US and European markets. The company has unveiled a pair of plug-in hybrid sedans, quoting all-electric ranges from 60 to 70 miles. BYD says it hopes to sell cars in Europe and the US by 2010.

The Reality: Crash tests have proved disastrous for BYD thus far, and manufacturing a car that can meet rigorous American safety standards by 2010 is probably nothing more than a pipe dream.



T. Boone Pickens
(Net Worth: $3 Billion)



"Convert cars to run on compressed natural gas"

The Plan: Before becoming one of America's most iconic oilmen, T. Boone Pickens spent his youth wildcatting, which is the practice of drilling semi-random holes in the ground in search of oil. His strategy for solving the energy crisis is decidedly more targeted—though it still involves drilling lots more holes in the ground. Pickens spent nearly $60 million promoting the use of compressed natural gas in automobiles, which is the centerpiece of his "Pickens Plan" for energy independence.

In addition to promoting the technology through television commercials and a failed California ballot initiative, Pickens invested $160 million into the development of a mass-market natural gas vehicle. He is also the primary shareholder of Clean Energy Fuels, America's largest compressed natural gas distribution company.

The Reality: The Pickens Plan can't succeed without massive government support, and thus far there is little evidence to suggest that his advertising campaign has moved people or politicians beyond moral support to real action—especially considering the current lack of CNG vehicles and refueling infrastructure. Many critics point out that converting American vehicles to CNG simply replaces one form of non-renewable energy with another, setting us up for another energy crisis down the road.



Andy Grove
(Net Worth: Around $400 million)



"Retrofit gas-guzzlers into plug-in hybrids"

The Plan: Andy Grove started at Intel in its infancy—he was its third employee—and eventually rose to the rank of chief executive. Since retiring, Grove has become an activist for a post-petroleum America. He fears a future in which the major countries in the world—particularly the United States and China—go to war over the oil that is the lifeblood of their economies.

At a July 2008 energy conference, Grove touted conversions of conventional vehicles into plug-in hybrids as our best hope for energy independence. He called on federal tax credits covering the retrofitting of 10 million trucks, vans, and SUVs by 2012. Grove also asked for more support from venture capitalists and the Small Business Administration to stimulate growth in the sector leading to cheaper, more efficient conversions.

The Reality: It's one thing to convert a hybrid, like a Toyota Prius, into a plug-in hybrid, but converting a standard gasoline vehicle into a plug-in hybrid is an entirely different matter. It requires impractical and unproven tactics like mounting extra external wheels or motors to existing cars. It's unlikely that entrepreneurs or a cash strapped federal government will approve the kind of money to support what is widely considered a non-starter.



Miles Rubin
(Net Worth: Unknown)



"Manufacture the first mass-market, all-electric sedan"

The Plan: Miles Rubin made his fortune trading textiles and medical devices, eventually running Ralph Lauren's blue jean line in the '90s. He's been involved in the environmental movement since the 1970s when he lobbied Congress to promote alternative energy sources, but Rubin's big dive into green capitalism didn't come until 2004, when he founded Miles Electric Vehicles. He's already invested $35 million into the venture and expects to double that number by the time Miles' next release hits the market.

The company started out with two low-speed neighborhood electric vehicle releases, the ZX40ST Electric Truck, and the ZX40 (a subcompact car.) The limited market for these vehicles makes it difficult for carmakers to reach the economies of scale that would enable them to be profitable, so Miles' make or break offering will be the XS500 highway-speed sedan. Slated for release in 2009, the XS500 will be able to hit speeds of up to 80 mph, and is expected to cost between $30,000 and $35,000—after a $7500 government rebate.

The Reality: Miles has yet to complete crash tests on the XS500 sedan, and its prospects are far from certain. Furthermore, as an all-electric car, the XS500 will have a driving range of roughly 120 miles—which is not practical for many car buyers. If the XS500 is forced to compete with similarly priced plug-in hybrids that can run on both gas and electric to achieve a driving range comparable or higher than a gas-powered car, it's difficult to imagine it succeeding.



Vinod Khosla
(Net Worth: $873 million)



"Shift away from hybrids to biofuel cars"

The Plan: Vinod Khosla was co-founder of Sun Microsystems in the early 1980s and went on to form the capital investment firm, Khosla Ventures, entirely with his own money. Khosla has made dozens of investments in green energy firms, and has a special place in his heart—and wallet—for biofuels. Said Khosla in a recent Huffington Post article:

"High cost options like hybrids and electric cars may sound good, but are unlikely to materially reduce carbon emissions. The only cost effective option likely to get broad market acceptance is cellulosic fuel cars in the next decade or two."

The Reality: Corn-based ethanol is viewed by many as more of a giveaway to farmers than a viable form of renewable energy. Fluctuations in corn prices have lead to troubled times for many ethanol producers, with one of the largest players in the game, VeraSun, filing for bankruptcy protection last week. The so-called second generation of biofuels, such as cellulosic ethanol made from feedstocks including wood chips and switchgrass, face similar financial challenges. And that's if the cellulosic technology pans out—far from certain.

It's quite possible that Khosla will end up losing a significant amount of money on his ethanol investments if current trends continue. Billionaire Richard Branson has already renounced his earlier support for biofuels on "economic and environmental grounds," but Khosla remains committed.



Elon Musk
(Net Worth: more than $300 million)



"Build high-end, all-electric cars"

The Plan: In 1999, Elon Musk co-founded the company that would eventually become PayPal, and owned 12 percent of PayPal at the time of its sale to eBay for $1.5 billion. Since then, Musk has split his time between SpaceX, a space exploration company, and Tesla Motors, makers of a $109,000 high-performance all-electric sports cars. He's already invested more than $55 million of his fortune into Tesla and expects to spend even more before the company launches its slightly more affordable second model.

The Reality: Tesla Motors acknowledged that it is losing money, struggling financially, laying off employees, and closing its Detroit-area office. It's unknown how long it will take for the company to deliver the $109,000 Roadster to 600 customers with confirmed orders. The Model S, its second model, has been pushed back several times, leading many to take its current 2011 release date with a grain of salt.

From Tesla’s earliest days, critics have questioned its core energy strategy—powering a new ground-up vehicle via 6,831 laptop batteries all wired together.




Source:
http://www.hybridcars.com/investing/green-car-technology-plans-of-worlds-richest-investors-25230.html
Originally written:
Published November 11, 2008

Humans Intrude on an Indonesian Park (Part 2 of 2)

“Before, there was only one or two villages here,” said Saparuddin, executive director of Bikal, a local environmental organization. “Now there are seven. You see new houses and businesses being built every day. Maybe someday they’ll build a mall here.”

Mr. Saparuddin, 35, who grew up inside the park and still has relatives living here, said giant lowland rain-forest trees used to cover the areas now traversed by the road.

Nowadays, squatters have burned and cleared the areas on either side of the road. The sounds of chainsaws could be heard from inside the forest on a recent drive. In some patches, a single surviving large tree could be seen towering over a cleared area.

The park’s human population has risen in recent years as local governments, emboldened by decentralization, challenged the central government by encouraging people and businesses to settle inside the park.

“The problem of incursions into national parks is very common in Indonesia,” said Ms. Russon, the orangutan expert. “Some are illegal. Others, like the case of Kutai National Park, are sanctioned by local governments.”

Forestry officials are now trying to stop the new bus terminal and gas station from operating. But it is not clear whether they will succeed, especially since the buildings are almost finished.

The government east of here, called East Kutai, has been pressing to have an enclave amounting to more than 10 percent of the park excised from Kutai and officially turned into a subdistrict.

Zairin Zain, a spokesman for the provincial government of East Kalimantan, which supports the enclave plan, said the local authorities believed that they should be allowed to develop it because it had been stripped of wildlife and had been damaged beyond repair.

The bid for the enclave has drawn newcomers to the park, some apparently hoping to sell the land they have grabbed to mining companies in the future. Others have come seeking cheap land and business opportunities.

In a typical, opaque exchange, Mukayan, 43, acquired a piece of land near the park’s northern border from the previous owner about four years ago. He had chosen the location because of rumors that a bus terminal would be built across the road, he said, adding that he had hoped to open a small shop selling snacks to travelers.

Though opposition from the Forest Ministry has halted construction on the terminal for now, Mr. Mukayan said the price of his land had increased sevenfold. What is more, the number of neighboring houses — just a handful four years ago — was growing so fast he had lost count.

In the meantime, Mr. Mukayan kept busy attending to small birds he had caught from the forest and kept in cages hanging from his garage ceiling. A bird he had named General won first prize in a local bird contest.

“I hope, for my business, that the bus terminal will open soon,” Mr. Mukayan said, looking across the road at what must have seemed to him a building tantalizingly close to completion. “I know this is a national park. But we just want to use the land alongside the road. We’ll leave the inside untouched.”




Source:
New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/world/asia/14borneo.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=earth
Originally written:
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
Published: June 13, 2009

Humans Intrude on an Indonesian Park (Part 1 of 2)

KUTAI NATIONAL PARK, Indonesia — Countless houses and shops built by squatters flank the 40-mile, two-lane road slicing through this national park that, once rich with orangutans and lowland rain forest, now symbolizes Indonesia’s struggle to protect its rare wildlife.

As construction has intensified along the road here on the island of Borneo, it has also brought a sometimes surprising diversity of businesses to the park, including a brothel, the Dika karaoke bar and the Mitra Hotel, which was marking its recent opening with discounts of 40 percent. A new bus terminal and gas station, nearly complete, will perhaps be greeting customers soon.

At one spot by the road, Mursidin, a farmer in his 50s, was one of many people building a home from the park’s trees. Using a sander and a saw hooked to a red generator, he was polishing and laying sheets of wood on the house’s frame as his wife, Nuramanah, looked on.

“We’re worried because the forest rangers warned us several times that we weren’t permitted to build here,” Ms. Nuramanah, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, said as her anxiety seemed punctuated by her husband’s hammering.

If the new houses lining the road were any indication, however, the couple had little to worry about. Forest rangers have been powerless in checking development inside the park as the local authorities have urged people to settle and open businesses here.

Control over the country’s 50 national parks, including Kutai, has grown murky in the past decade as authority has shifted from the central government to the provinces as part of a decentralization of power. Local governments, emphasizing economic development over conservation, have seen parks bursting with natural resources as a way to fill their coffers.

At the same time, Kutai National Park, like others, has been losing trees to illegal loggers, at a rate of one to two truckloads a day, according to forestry officials. Mining companies have also been pushing to explore inside the coal-rich park here, which is already surrounded by coal, fertilizer, gas and timber companies. More than 27,000 people lived inside the park in 2007, according to a government survey conducted that year.

“It’s difficult to control the construction of new houses, which is increasing, because the local governments simply ignore national laws,” Tandya Tjahjana, who took over the Forestry Ministry’s office here a few months ago, said as trucks rumbled by his headquarters here.

As many as half of the park’s 490,000 acres have been damaged because of development and illegal logging, Mr. Tandya said, adding that he had only 27 rangers to patrol the entire park.

Half of all the mammal species in Borneo are said to inhabit Kutai National Park, including the Sambar deer, wild ox, proboscis monkey and orangutan. Aside from a population of orangutans at a research center inside the park, the number of great apes — estimated at 600 — has sharply decreased in recent years because of two fires and human encroachment, researchers and forestry officials said.

Widespread illegal logging and deforestation have reduced Indonesia’s overall orangutan population to about 60,000, an estimated 80 percent reduction in the past decade, said Anne Russon, an orangutan expert from York University in Toronto who has done extensive research on the apes in Indonesia for the past 14 years, including in this park.

Much of the timber is used to make furniture for domestic and overseas markets, while the cleared land is often turned into palm oil plantations. The shrinking of the forest habitats, which threatens some of the world’s rarest wildlife, regularly pits animals against human beings.

In recent months, Sumatran tigers, which face extinction, have killed illegal loggers pushing into the animals’ territory on the island of Sumatra and have been killed in turn by villagers. Also in Sumatra, wild elephants have been fatally poisoned near a palm oil plantation, reportedly by villagers running the site.

The Kutai National Park here was established in the 1980s but, located in what is Borneo’s most developed area, it faced threats from the start. Pertamina, the state oil company, was permitted to operate here and still pumps oil inside a fenced-in enclave. And years before the road was built in the mid-1990s, people had begun squatting here.




Source:
New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/world/asia/14borneo.html?_r=1&ref=earth
Originally written:
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
Published: June 13, 2009