Biofuel

The case that has rattled the nation's renewable fuels industry began with some flashy cars. As Rodney R. Hailey accumulated a string of vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce, two Bentleys and a Lamborghini, the Perry Hall man's neighbors became suspicious. They contacted Baltimore County police, who passed the tip to federal agents. Within months, federal and local authorities raided the offices of Clean Green Fuel, the biodiesel business Hailey ran in Perry Hall, and searched his homes both nearby and in Anaheim, Calif., seizing cars and records and freezing his bank accounts.

Corn prices have reached record highs as a result of this summer's devastating drought, and it hasn't taken long for some to use the crisis as leverage for their own political agendas - namely, the opposition to domestic renewable fuel. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which requires that a certain portion of America's fuel come from homegrown, renewable sources, is under attack. The standard passed Congress with bipartisan support in 2007 in order to reduce foreign oil imports, create jobs and lower the cost of gasoline.

In response to a national call for homegrown, Earth-friendly fuels to fill Americans' gas tanks, a couple of University of Maryland researchers are planting trees. Fuel derived from the hardy, fast-growing common poplar could eventually replace some of the billions of gallons of petroleum-based fuel now pumped a year, say biologist Gary Coleman and engineer Ganesh Sriram, who have partnered to help turn the woody plant into a widely used biofuel. "Oil is a finite resource," said Coleman, a professor of plant science in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The defense lawyer for a Perry Hall man accused of fraudulently selling $9 million worth of fake renewable fuel credits said he didn't deceive anybody because victims knew they were buying phony credits for an unworkable federal energy program. Rodney R. Hailey's lawyer, assistant public defender Douglas R. Miller, contended that the large commodities brokerages and the oil company that bought Hailey's fuel credits didn't care that the credits were fake. "Everybody needed [credits]

The defense lawyer for a Perry Hall man accused of fraudulently selling $9 million worth of fake renewable fuel credits said he didn't deceive anybody because victims knew they were buying phony credits for an unworkable federal energy program. Rodney R. Hailey's lawyer, assistant public defender Douglas R. Miller, contended that the large commodities brokerages and the oil company that bought Hailey's fuel credits didn't care that the credits were fake. "Everybody needed [credits]

On its website, Clean Green Fuel offered customers "a unique blend of biodiesel" made from vegetable oil that would produce less air pollution and help reduce the nation's dependence on petroleum. But according to federal charging documents, company owner Rodney R. Hailey didn't produce any biodiesel. Instead, prosecutors charge, he generated and sold more than $9 million worth of credits for nonexistent renewable fuel, using the proceeds to buy a five-bedroom house in Perry Hall, diamond jewelry and more than two dozen cars and trucks, including a Rolls Royce, a pair of Bentleys and a Lamborghini.

A fledgling Maryland company that hopes to combine a humble Chesapeake Bay bacterium with worthless trash to create ethanol biofuel has received a $50,000 "challenge grant" from the state. Gov. Martin O'Malley presented the check yesterday to Steven Hutcheson, chief executive officer of Zymetis Inc., after touring the University of Maryland scientist's College Park laboratory. The cash is intended to help Zymetis expand its production process to a commercial scale. Hutcheson said he has raised $1.5 million from investors, including $100,000 of his money.

The thick, milky white liquid looks like Elmer's glue, though it's greasy to the touch. It has a sweet, alcohol smell. It's not your father's heating oil, to be sure. But it will do the same job, says Cary J. Claiborne, and a lot more cleanly. Claiborne is president and chief executive officer of New Generation Biofuels, a Florida-based startup that's producing fuel from vegetable and soybean oil at a small production plant it set up this year in southern Baltimore. "It's very biodegradable," Claiborne says as he dips his finger into a small bottle holding a sample of a recent batch.

Regarding May 3rd's front page article, "A fill-up from a tree," I had to laugh out loud. The same tree-hugging groups and government organizations that have been vilifying the paper and printing industries for years, demonizing the very act of cutting down a tree for any purpose, are now fully behind the seemingly responsible use of trees for the popular "biofuel" uses. So, it's OK for one "in favor" industry (biofuel) to harvest specially planted and farmed trees for its purpose, but it is not OK for an out-of-favor industry (paper)

The U.S. House last week approved legislation that would make it a federal crime, complete with prison sentences of up to 10 years, for anybody to sell gasoline at prices that are "unconscionably excessive" or that take "unfair advantage" of consumers in an energy emergency. But if causing fuel to be sold at unnecessarily high prices were a crime, Congress would have no alternative but to throw itself in jail. The legislation is remarkable in that it fails to acknowledge government responsibility for much of the problem of spiking gasoline prices.

The case that has rattled the nation's renewable fuels industry began with some flashy cars. As Rodney R. Hailey accumulated a string of vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce, two Bentleys and a Lamborghini, the Perry Hall man's neighbors became suspicious. They contacted Baltimore County police, who passed the tip to federal agents. Within months, federal and local authorities raided the offices of Clean Green Fuel, the biodiesel business Hailey ran in Perry Hall, and searched his homes both nearby and in Anaheim, Calif., seizing cars and records and freezing his bank accounts.

On its website, Clean Green Fuel offered customers "a unique blend of biodiesel" made from vegetable oil that would produce less air pollution and help reduce the nation's dependence on petroleum. But according to federal charging documents, company owner Rodney R. Hailey didn't produce any biodiesel. Instead, prosecutors charge, he generated and sold more than $9 million worth of credits for nonexistent renewable fuel, using the proceeds to buy a five-bedroom house in Perry Hall, diamond jewelry and more than two dozen cars and trucks, including a Rolls Royce, a pair of Bentleys and a Lamborghini.

Russian steel maker Severstal announced Thursday it has hired a Baltimore firm to build a renewable energy facility at Sparrows Point steel mill to reduce emissions and energy consumption. Renewable Energy Management of Baltimore is expected to begin construction in October of a facility that will produce renewable liquid fuel, a biodegradable, oil-based fuel generated from grease by-products of food manufacturers, for instance. The initial phase of construction is expected to create up to 20 jobs, said Severstal spokeswoman Marika Diamond.

Regarding May 3rd's front page article, "A fill-up from a tree," I had to laugh out loud. The same tree-hugging groups and government organizations that have been vilifying the paper and printing industries for years, demonizing the very act of cutting down a tree for any purpose, are now fully behind the seemingly responsible use of trees for the popular "biofuel" uses. So, it's OK for one "in favor" industry (biofuel) to harvest specially planted and farmed trees for its purpose, but it is not OK for an out-of-favor industry (paper)

In response to a national call for homegrown, Earth-friendly fuels to fill Americans' gas tanks, a couple of University of Maryland researchers are planting trees. Fuel derived from the hardy, fast-growing common poplar could eventually replace some of the billions of gallons of petroleum-based fuel now pumped a year, say biologist Gary Coleman and engineer Ganesh Sriram, who have partnered to help turn the woody plant into a widely used biofuel. "Oil is a finite resource," said Coleman, a professor of plant science in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The Chesapeake Bay Commission says a new report outlines the Chesapeake Bay watershed's biofuel potential. The report, scheduled to be released today by the commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, will detail the findings and recommendations of the Chesapeake Biofuels Advisory Panel. The report is the third and last in a series by the commission. The commission says the emerging biofuels industry has the potential to provide thousands of jobs over the next 12 years and significant amounts of fuel while helping to achieve bay restoration goals.

ROME - Resolving the global food crisis could cost as much as $30 billion a year, and wealthier nations are doing little to help the developing world face the problem, U.N. officials said yesterday. At a U.N. food summit attended by dozens of world leaders, Jacques Diouf, head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, opened the meeting by sharply criticizing wealthy nations that he said were cutting back on agriculture programs for the world's poor and ignoring deforestation - while spending billions on carbon markets, subsidies for farmers and biofuel production.

Corn prices have reached record highs as a result of this summer's devastating drought, and it hasn't taken long for some to use the crisis as leverage for their own political agendas - namely, the opposition to domestic renewable fuel. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which requires that a certain portion of America's fuel come from homegrown, renewable sources, is under attack. The standard passed Congress with bipartisan support in 2007 in order to reduce foreign oil imports, create jobs and lower the cost of gasoline.

A biofuel startup with a Baltimore production plant is planning to expand and hire this year, as orders for its cleaner-burning fuel grow, according to the firm's chief executive officer. New Generation Biofuels, which processes vegetable and soybean oil into fuel for heating buildings, generating electricity and running ships, intends to triple production capacity at its southern Baltimore facility from 5 million gallons per year to 15 million gallons annually, said CEO Cary Claiborne.

A biofuel startup with a Baltimore production plant is planning to expand and hire this year, as orders for its cleaner-burning fuel grow, according to the firm's chief executive officer. New Generation Biofuels, which processes vegetable and soybean oil into fuel for heating buildings, generating electricity and running ships, intends to triple production capacity at its southern Baltimore facility from 5 million gallons per year to 15 million gallons annually, said CEO Cary Claiborne.