Ethanol Makes Inroads

Safe Handling Inc. Opens Ethanol Terminal

Safe Handling Inc., Maine's primary biodiesel importer, opened Maine's first ethanol terminal in December. Located in Auburn, the terminal is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for rail-to-truck transloading. It provides direct rail access to the Midwest farm belt. This is the first step towards ethanol-blended gasoline at retail stations across Maine. The terminal was funded, in part, by the U.S. Department of Energy State Energy Program.

According to Andy Meyer, VP Sustainability, the new facility was constructed in response to strong interest from biofuel producers, marketers and wholesalers. They need a cost-effective way of importing product into the state.

This terminal doesn't mean that ethanol-blended gasoline will immediately be available at retail pumps, however. Safe Handling President Ford Reiche is quick to point out that gasoline wholesalers will first have to develop blending capabilities. "As with biodiesel, we've made the first move, and now fuel wholesalers can make their investments knowing that if they can blend ethanol into their gasoline, we can supply it."

Reiche says, "Corn ethanol is a step towards our ultimate goal of providing Maine-made, cellulosic ethanol to fuel wholesalers." To achieve this goal, Safe Handling has partnered with the University of Maine's Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative and Red Shield Environmental to demonstrate how to produce ethanol from a pulp mill. (See 2008 spring issue of Biofuels for Maine)

Governor Jonn Baldacci, who attended Safe Handling's ribbon cutting (shown below), said, "Ethanol-blended gasoline is a cleaner burning fuel, and it reduces our dependence on foreign oil. This new terminal will give retailers more options and has the potential to have a positive impact on fuel prices. Safe Handling continues to show leadership in the biofuels sector, and the company's efforts reflect well on Maine and the resourcefulness of our people."[1]

From left to right: Auburn Mayor Jenkins, Canadian National Railroad's Steve Gehrt, Saint Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad's Mario Breaut, Governor Baldacci, Safe Handling's President Ford Reiche, director of Energy Independence and Security John Kerry, DOT's Greg Nadeau, City of Auburn Economic Development Director Roland Miller. Photo courtesy of Andy Meyer, Safe Handling Inc.

E10 at Maine Pumps

Connecticut-based company Xtra Mart now offers E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline) at its 8 Maine pumps, located in Kennebunk, Lisbon Falls, Ogunquit, Portland, Saco (2 pumps), Scarborough and Wells. BJ's Wholesale Club also offers ethanol at its Portland and Auburn stores. This is the first ethanol available to Maine drivers.

Any gasoline-powered vehicle can run on E10. Only "flex-fuel" vehicles (flexible fuel vehicles or FFVs) can run on E85 (85% ethanol, 15% gasoline). As of 2003, Maine had about 125,000 flex-fuel vehicles.* However, Maine is one of only 10 states in the country with no E85 pumps.[2] Perhaps Safe Handling's new ethanol terminal will stimulate the market and bring E85 into the state.

*According to Steve Linnell of Maine Clean Communities. Information from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

New Biodiesel Supply

4 New Biodiesel Pumps!

Four new pumps began supplying biodiesel in 2007. CN Brown now supplies B5 at its Poland station. Ness Oil offers B5 at its Auburn Station. Lampron Energy supplies B5 at its pump in Oxford. Maritime Farms now has B20 at its Rockport Station in addition to its biodiesel pump in Union. These new pumps join the veteran biodiesel suppliers: M DI Biofuel's mobile delivery truck, Frontier Energy in South China, Green Bean Bio-Fuel in Vassalboro, and Independence Fuel in Durham. Marine users can fill up with B20 at Strouts Point Wharf in South Freeport or ask for a biodiesel delivery from MDI Biofuels, Harvest Fuels, Ness Oil, Simply Green or Independence Energy. To see a complete list of suppliers with contact information, please click here.

Pumps are popping up so fast, it's hard to keep up. If you know of any other pumps, please let us know.

The Bioheat Bandwagon is Taking Off

Over the past year Maine suppliers of bioheat (biodiesel blended with number 2 heating oil) have jumped from 4 to 14: joining the long-term suppliers are Frontier Energy, Harvest Fuels, Independence Fuel, and Giroux Oil are Green Bean Bio-Fuel, Maritime Energy, Webber Energy, Winthrop Fuel, Downeast Energy, Ness Oil, Rye Fuel Oil, Jenkins Fuels, Gagnon P & Son Inc. and Simply Green. Click here for a complete list of suppliers.

Maine's Big Bio-Businesses

Maine's large fleets are fueling up with biodiesel or switching to bioheat. Customers like L.L. Bean and the University of Southern Maine paved the way. Now Acadia National Park, Poland Spring[3], Hannaford Brothers Grocery, Safe Handling[4], and Oakhurst Dairy[5] join the ranks of big bio-businesses. This is by no means a complete list, and it's hard to keep up with all the new customers - if you know of other new biodiesel-buyers, please let us know.

Sprague Opens Biodiesel Terminal

A year ago Sprague Energy opened the first biodiesel distribution facility in Maine. Sprague's South Portland terminal features a computer-controlled system for blending biodiesel at the right temperature to the desired ratio. The terminal can store up to 40,000 gallons of pure biodiesel.[6]

Bio-Buzz Short Takes

Recent News:

Two articles in Science Magazine question the greenhouse gas benefits of biofuels:

Read the New York Times article "Biofuels Deemed a Greenhouse Threat" summarizing the 2 articles
Read the U.S. Department of Energy's response to the articles in Science

Policies of Note:

Federal Energy Independence and Security Act:

In December 2007, the federal government passed the Energy Independence and Security Act, which, among other things, amended the 2005 Energy Act to increase the Renewable Fuels Standard to 9 billion gallons of biofuels in 2008, rising to 36 billion gallons by 2022.[7]

California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard:

California is pioneering legislation to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of transportation fuel 10% by 2020. Though this policy is not fully designed, other states and regions are already looking to follow suit.

European Sustainability Measures:

The European Union recently drafted a law to restrict its support of biofuels to "sustainable" biofuels, revoking support from biofuels grown on certain types of land, including forests, wetlands and grasslands.[8]

Recent Conferences:

Fuels for Schools meeting

In January 2008, a number of stakeholders met to discuss broadening the use of wood pellets and chips to heat Maine schools. The Biomass Energy Research Center (BERC) will release a white paper on this issue soon, so stay tuned.

U-Maine Cooperative Extension hosts forum on Farms and Fuel

In December 2007 the University of Maine Cooperative Extension hosted a conference in Bangor called Renewable Fuel On-Farm: Canola, Biodiesel, and Corn.

Biofuels stakeholder workshop

In late October 2007, Maine biofuel industry stakeholders met in Augusta to discuss policy options to promote biofuels in Maine. Policy options discussed include supporting research & development, combining Maine's existing biofuels funds into a broader, more accessible "Clean Fuel Fund," and studying sustainability measures to maximize the environmental benefits of biofuels.

Recent Reports:

Coleman, R. B., J. M. Gaffney, D. M. Morris. (2007). A Northeast Regional Biofuels Action Plan: A snapshot of the northeast petroleum fuels market & how to promote biofuels in the region. Boston, MA: Northeast Biofuels Collaborative.
Dickerson, K., Rubin, J. and Kavkewitz, J. (2007) Biomass and Biofuels in Maine: Estimating Supplies for Expanding the Forest Products Industry. Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, Forest Bioproducts Research Initiative, Research Experience for Undergraduates School of Economics, Department of Resource Economics and Policy.
Rockefeller, R. (2008) Liquid Biofuels Policy for Maine: A report to the State Legislature. Maine Office of Energy Independence and Security.