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The Road to Energy independence?

I would like to preface my remarks by saying, I am no expert. What
I have put together here is from research on the net.  I feel that
we need to develop a holistic plan that takes into account several
environmental problems where solutions compliment each other. This
is a model. If a different model will accomplish the same thing,
fine. I don't think waiting for the market place to decide is
going to cut it. For those who may read this, I would appreciate
feedback, positive or negative. Tell me where it won't work, but
give me references.
mschultz@cleanpower.coop



Biofuels come in many forms, but the two that get the most
attention are Biodiesel and Ethanol. There is, however, a better
biofuel, a biofuel that does not suffer the drawbacks of either
Biodiesel or ethanol. it works with both gasoline and diesel
engines. There is no problem with cold starts. There is no
competition for food crops. There is an existing infrastructure.
In fact it has many advantages over these two biofuels.


Biogas - the better Biofuel

I maintain the best option for, biofuels is Biogas. Honda may have
made the smartest move ever by introducing the Civic GX a car than
runs on compressed natural gas CNG. What does that have to do with
biogas. Well, natural gas is methane and Biogas for the most part
is methane. Fuel can be produced for vehicles from human, animal,
kitchen and garden waste by composing in an anaerobic process that
creates methane.  Methane is a green house gas (GHG) that is 20 to
25 times more potent than CO2. In other words, we don't want it in
the atmosphere. But it makes great clean burning fuel. Not only is
methane produced but the by product is a non-petroleum based
fertilizer that can be used by farmers.


Other countries taking the lead

Compressed natural gas has taken off around the world as an
alternative fuel. In Europe Sweden Denmark and Germany all are
moving toward the use of CNG for transportation. . While Honda is
making the only CNG vehicle  available in the US, Fiat and
Volkswagen are planning to come out with a CNG vehicle in Europe.
There are over 7 million CNG vehicles world wide.


Sweden

Sweden is having a Fall conference on "The Biogas Highway" this
Fall. Sweden has already converted 34 sewage treatment plans to
produce biogas. Currently Sweden generate 54% of their gas for CNG
vehicles though Anaerobic digestion of their waste. There are some
Swedes who feel that generating biogas will lead to elimination of
their dependance on petroleum. The following items show how Sweden
has made this transition so successful.

Co-digestion of Multiple Waste Streams – Use of co-digestion
technology to successfully digest multiple types of organic waste
simultaneously is one of the  key technological areas in which the
Swedish biogas industry is significantly more advanced than the
digester technology currently used in the US. Use of multiple feed
stocks presents significant opportunities to increase digester
output and efficiency and improve the biogas business case. (This
could include biomass from clearing for fire suppression.)

Biogas Distribution Systems – Multiple possibilities for biogas
distribution have been successfully demonstrated in Sweden. These
distribution options include dedicated biogas pipelines between
biogas plants and biogas refueling stations, injection of
“partially cleaned” biogas into “town gas” pipeline networks for
residential use, multiple options for over-the-road transportation
of compressed biogas, and injection of upgraded biogas into the
national NG pipeline network. 

Bi-fuel Vehicles – Bi-fuel vehicles (vehicles using either
compressed natural gas or gasoline as fuel) have limited
availability in the US. In Sweden, however, bi-fuel vehicles with
no significant compromises in functionality or performance are
commercially available and have helped greatly in expanding the
market for NGVs to private individuals. 

Transit Buses as “Anchor Customers” for Biogas Plants – In Sweden,
municipal transit bus fleets designed to operate on compressed
natural gas (CNG) typically act as the “anchor customers” for new
biogas plants. Transit buses are excellent candidates for biogas
consumption due to their high fuel usage, fixed routes and
centralized refueling facilities." Sweden even runs a train on
biogas. 

Germany

"The German gas economy and the automobile industry are geared up
for the further development of natural gas fuel infrastructure,
with the number of natural gas filling stations set to climb above
one thousand, according to Dr. Gerhard Holtmeier,  Speaking at the
2008 Automobil International (AMI) he referred to the wide
coverage of supply and number of new natural gas vehicle (NGV)
models as reasons why discussion on limited availability is now a
thing of the past. 

He said the advent of renewable biomethane has also contributed to
the popularity and expansion of this alternative fuel in Germany,
in that biomethane can be used by natural gas vehicles without
technical changes to the vehicle because it possesses the same
quality as natural gas.  Volkswagen indicated natural gas turbo
engines could also be employed in  models in the future.
Representatives of Fiat and OPEL also said they are working on the
development of natural gas turbo engines. The OPEL Zafira CNG turbo
is expected to be available at the beginning of 2009."


Argentina

Argentina has over a million NGVs and is converting 9000 vehicles
a month. 
They have more than 1020 CNG fueling stations.


United States

Natural gas vehicles NGVs are nothing new to the U.S. Companies
with fleets of trucks, governments some public transportation are
now running on natural gas. There is an existing fuel station
infrastructure throughout the U.S.  

One of the real pluses to natural gas is that it does not have to
be delivered by truck if the fueling station is within range of a
natural gas pipeline. This reduces the need to "deliver" the gas.
This also makes it possible to fuel up at home with. A home
appliance, known as Phill, which is sold by Honda can be installed
where you park your car over night.

Other advantages to the use of natural gas is that is cheaper,
burns cleaner. increased the life of the engine, and reduces the
amount of oil changes.


T. Boone Pickens

Installation of renewable Solar and Wind installations is growing
rapidly, but Biogas could be much bigger. It is the elephant in
the room that few people in the US are talking about. Yet!!!

Billionaire, T. Boone Pickens, is investing 10 billion dollars in
a huge wind farm which will feature 2,700 wind turbines generating
4,000 megawatts. The equivalent of 2 nuclear power plants.

Pickens' wind farm is part of a wider vision for replacing natural
gas — primarily an electric  power-generation fuel now --with wind
and solar for power generation, to free up more clean-burning
natural gas  — to power automobiles instead.

Pickens states that shifting natural gas used in power generation
to transportation needs could cut U.S. crude oil imports by nearly
40 percent. 

In fact Pickens  has started another company,Clean Energy, that is
installing a CNG fueling stations where there is a market for CNG.


Energy independence for California?

What if California were to start a statewide program to use all
our organic wastes to generate clean burning Biomethane. If each
county were to build an anaerobic digester plant at the transfer
station or land fill and every waste water treatment plant and
negotiate a contracts with energy providers to purchase the
methane to be injected into the natural gas grid? What if the
State decided that all new state vehicles be required to run on
CNG or electricity?


20 Reason for California to Embrace the CNG/Biogas Economy


 1	CNG is cheaper than gasoline.
	This is true. CNG is 30% cheaper than gasoline per Gas Gallon
Equivalent (GGE). As 	the gasoline prices go up, CNG prices go up
SLOWER. Creating our own methane will 
	keep CNG prices down.

 2	CNG is “renewable”.
	As described above, we can create our own source of methane 
	through anaerobic digestion to run our vehicles.

 3.	CNG is the cleanest burning fuel for vehicles.
	The Honda Civic GX CNG vehicle is the cleanest car on the road.
	
 4	The Infrastructure for Natural Gas already exists.
	It is all around us. PG&E has a fueling stations throughout their
territory.
	Honda will provide a booklet showing where to find CNG fueling
stations are in 	California. Many converted diesel trucks are
using CNG. The cleanest burning buses in
	the country are the CNG buses in Sacramento. As demand for CNG
increases, it will be
	easy to expand the supply grid.

 5	CNG is a proven technology.
	No breakthroughs needed. CNG vehicles have been on the road for
years in
	this country. They have an excellent safety record

 6.	CNG will extend the life of the engine 
	CNG has a more efficient combustion than liquid fuels, does not
allow sediment 	formation, keeps spark plugs clean, and
lubrication is better and more effective as it 	does not wash the
cylinder walls of the engine. The lubricant lasts longer and
performs 	better allowing longer intervals between each oil
change. CNG also has a larger octane 	number than gasoline, so it
does not produce self-ignition.

 7	CNG vehicles can be refilled at home
	A “home appliance” called Phill can be installed where you park
your CNG vehicle 
	overnight. You can start every day with a full tank of gas.

 8	CNG vehicles are quieter
	Next time your in Sacramento seek out one of the CNG busses to
see how much 	quieter they are than diesels. Some communities are
REQUIRING that their waste 	management vehicles run on CNG. This
would probably make the people living around 	the Transfer Station
very happy.

 9. 	The byproduct in the anaerobic process is fertilizer.
	Once the methane is extracted from the waste feed, What is left
can be used as 	fertilizer and it replaces petroleum based
fertilizers

10	Save County costs
	The Counties won't have to pay to have our organic waste trucked
to a landfill.

11	Will keep our organic waste out of the landfill
	Finding places to bury our garbage is getting more difficult. It
is becoming necessary to 
	truck wastes further away from our communities  When it is
buried, the anaerobic 	process begins and Methane is released to
the atmosphere, something we don’t want. 
	Methane is a Green House Gas that is 20 t0 25 times more potent
than CO2. 

12	Thus, we reduce GHG production.
	
13	Create green jobs
	We will need people to build and run these anaerobic digesters.
	We may want to create some additional fueling stations.

14	Creates a decentralized source of renewable energy
	With the Cooperation of the energy companies we could have
Digesters throughout the
	 California that could produce Biogas for the grid

15	Utilize waste from the fire suppression clearing program
	Green waste. needles, leaves and small branches and shrubs can be
part of the mix of 	organic material used to produce Biogas.

16	New Refueling stations could tie into the Natural Gas Grid 
	Unless the fueling station is remote, Trucks will no longer be
needed to deliver the fuel,
	thereby reducing fuel consumption for these deliveries
.
17	Potential business to convert existing vehicles to bifuel
CNG/gasoline
	Unfortunately Honda only sent 1000 CNG vehicle to the states for
2008.
	They are all sold for this year. With the Tax incentive of $4,000
federal and $3,000 	State, they went fast (sticker price was
$25.000). Rather than expect everyone to buy a 	new 	CNG vehicle
we should attempt to make conversions of existing vehicles,
thereby 	not sending good vehicles prematurely to the wrecking
yard and wasting all the 	embedded energy that went into making
them. Since conversions can be made bifuel
	(CNG/gasoline),This will help ease the transition to new CNG
vehicles.
	If the State adopted a CNG policy, I'll bet other car
manufacturers would soon 	produce CNG	vehicles.

18	Provides a transition to the hydrogen economy 
	When the Fuel Cell vehicle is finally available, it very likely
be more expensive than the 
	typical new car but if a car is fitted for CNG it can be
converted to a hydrogen 
	burning vehicle until fuel cell vehicles are affordable. 
	
19	Sustainable
	As the population increases, more waste will be produced.
	Hence more fuel can be produced. In other words it is
sustainable.

20	We would be creating the cleanest fuel next to Hydrogen
	This means our air will be cleaner.


A Holistic approach

In conclusion, going to a CNG economy is the most sensible way to
meet the challenge of high gasoline prices, air quality and our
mounting waste disposal problems. 

Currently Biogas generating plans are combined with electric
generators, to produce electricity. Doing so wastes over 50% of
the energy from the gas. Biogas plants will be far less expensive
to build than a biogas/electrical generating plant and will have
less environmental hoops to jump through to pass government rules
and regulations. Since Sweden is further advanced in the science
of anaerobic digestion I would suggest hiring one of the Swedish
firms as consultant to carry out this program.

Injecting the gas generated into the natural gas grid is the most
sensible approach. PG&E has already contracted with a dairy farm
in the Central Valley to buy Biogas generated methane,
why not from the rest of us.

Of course, this plan will take a lot of inter-agency planning. Let
us set a goal and move forward.

Marston Schultz
530 274-9913
mschultz@cleanpower.coop