Challenges to overcome.

Creating quality fuel from used oils and fats is a challenge that pales in comparison to organizing a Cooperative.

The challenges are daily ones; maintaining focus and alignment, completing tasks in the allotted timeframes, and achieving meaningful concensus that results in making the right decisions and not ineffective compromise.

The social climate around the plant is improving, even as the strain in the local economy affects the morale and pocketbooks of many around us.  

This week and the next will be busy ones as we prepare for final “design” approval. Our design is taking on a life of its own. It is organic in the sense that it  is determined by those items that are readily available or affordable, and not by some pre-ordained set of architectural requirements.

Not to say that there are not any requirements.  The goal is the same as it has always been; take something that has been a problem in the past and convert it into high quality biodiesel fuel and usable by-products.

Make it a better place,

Todd

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Quality. Quality. Quality.

As we approach final plant design, the pace is beginning to accelerate at Promethean. Countless things to do, an unending cadre of decisions to be made, and a score of activities to be completed make for some hectic days and long nights.

And as the days pass and we approach completion, I am now beginning to focus on those things that together comprise the most important thing, the end result. One essential thing occupying the mind is quality.

‘Quality’ plays a part in everything we do. Quality of service, process quality, and product quality. 

In my view, an alternative energy company, much like a bank, is a company reliant on the public trust.  Certain aspects of our products and services must be consistent and completely dependable. The level of consistency required can only be achieved by developing and rapidly maturing our quality management infrastructure.

Training programs need to be developed. Metrics for success need to determined and adopted. Perhaps most importantly I must begin to foment a cultural mechanism to promote change; to fix issues as they arise in a “one time touch” approach which focuses on permanent corrections to problems and not temporary workarounds.

Toyota motor company has used this approach to great effect, empowering workers on its assembly-lines to stop production on the floor to correct problems as they arise. Toyota has focused this approach to optimize its production over the long term, accepting temporary production stoppage as an approach to prevent future inefficiency.

This approach necessitates a level of honesty that at times might seem brutal, and so it is important to also maintain a culture of respect. The Promethean ecosystem is a delicate balance, a constant work in progress, and like every business it begins with a seemingly endless cadre of hard decisions.

Make it a better place,

Todd

So many projects. So little time.


I have been occupied witrh a variety of projects recently.

The first has been the design of our mixed-feedstock plant for the newly named ORIL facility in Temecula.

ORIL is short for Operations Research and Innovation Laboratory, and as the center of Promethean’s collection, production, and research activities I believe the name captures the essence of what we will be doing.

In preparation for final technology selection, I have had the opportunity to examine a number of ways to make biodiesel, and each method does have its advantages and disadvantages. All things considered, price has been a deciding factor for much of the design and I have focused on an initial design that will produce up to 3 MMGY of biodiesel if run in a constant fashion. Some hard decisions were made; to centrifuge or not; to use cavitation or not; to use large ion-exchange columns or a series of small columns.

Special consideration had to be given to our process because we expect a large portion of our feedstock to require acid esterification prior to the core FAME reaction. Developing an efficient way to handle this secondary process has been something of a challenge. (I may say more about this in future posts after my headache subsides.)

Other projects have been developing the regional marketing plan, the human capital recruitment plan, securing permits and variances, as well as coordinating the collection program. 

It is an exciting time here. I am happy to see things progress. I also know that things will get progressively busier over the next few months.

Great!

Make it a better place,

Todd

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The biofuels plant is finally underway in Temecula, Ca.

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Promethean Biofuels has completed the first phase of permit acquisition, and is now underway with the construction of our first production plant, located in the city of Temecula, CA.

The initial plant will operate in a micro-nodal fashion as a producer, blender, and wholesale distributor of quality fuel that will meet, and generally exceed, the latest ASTM 6751 standard for biodiesel.

The plant will use a hybridized batch/continuous flow approach developed internally by myself with the help and assistance of Kenneth Craig, our resident chemist and “brewmaster” and Dr. Paula Marie Ward.

I have chosen to initially focus on a mixed-feedstock approach that is heavily reliant on used vegetable oil from local sources.

Promethean already has arrangements with local distribution partners. I am formalizing the community outreach approach now, making those decisions necessary to match and balance good ideas with ease of execution and available capital.

I personally have some hard decisions to make regarding final processor design and approach.

Not that I am complaining. I cannot express the joy of being at this point in a process that evolved from an idea to help us all be better stewards for the environment to this growing entity with a mission and life of its own.

Make it a better place…

Todd

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A conversation with Josh Tickell.

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This post is only peripherally related to biodiesel. It has nothing to do with the cooperative approach, BSB (Big Sustainable Business), or my ideal for Promethean Biofuels.

This post is about one of the stories that led to the start of this blog.

I made the decision to start a blog after a conversation I had with Josh Tickell. Josh Tickell is in my view one of the modern masters of biodiesel evangelism in the new millennium. I will write more on this topic later; I should start at the beginning.

Josh had a few days before our momentous conversation invited me to the “Burning Man’s Decomposition” festival in Los Angeles. He was planning to bring his iconic Veggie Van, as well as discuss biodiesel to the arts and rave crowd in attendance. He also had completed a very early trailer for his documentary “Fields of Fuel”, and was planning to preview it that same weekend.

I had told Josh the day before that I could not attend, but when I awoke on the day of the event I decided to reprioritize the day and forward my exploration of all things biodiesel. I got dressed and accompanied by my girlfriend we went to see Josh and the van.

When I arrived one thing was immediately apparent; I was underdressed. For those who don’t know, Burning Man events are for artists with a flair for fashion or those in costume. Josh’s outfit reflected this fact; he was wearing a shirt sewn together from a shiny metallic-blue fabric and jeans dyed in the star-spangled pattern of the American Flag.

I was happy to see him and gave him a hearty hug, usually reserved for my dearest friends. Josh has been very excited for the last year or two about his film project “Fields of Fuel”, which had at that time not yet been released. Josh and his team were working on the final edit (cut), and he excitedly rushed me and my companion into the van to see the twenty minute promotional video he had recently completed for the film.

I watched the video intently the first time. In earnest I wanted to say something inspirational or provide positive criticism, and I watched the first half again towards this effort.

I finished watching the video, arose from my seat which was immediately taken by an older gentleman who had been waiting patiently outside, and exited the van.  Josh hastened us to take a seat to talk for a bit.

I spoke to him about how I had become a biodiesel enthusiast, my entrepreneurial perspective on the industry, and a few other ramblings that I will spare you.

Josh did not spare me. He looked at my companion and asked, “Do you understand anything this guy says?”

My companion replied, “No, not really.”

My feelings were hurt. I felt that my ability to play a part in furthering the future of biodiesel had somehow been questioned.

I also realized that I needed to hone my communication skills.

I may not have made any progress yet. Like all great things, it’s a work in progress.

Make it a better place,

Todd  

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Technorati and biodiesel.

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One of the initiatives we have embarked on this month is to increase the visibility and level of viewer participation of Bioenergy Unbound.  A decision was made to reach out to other blogs and blog aggregators to assist us in our efforts.  One of the shining stars in the “blogosphere” is Technorati, and I thought it appropriate to mention them in a separate post. In the future months you will see several new buttons at the bottom of our posts aimed at making Bioenergy Unbound and Promethean Biofuels a more easily accesible part of your daily life on the web.

We will now resume our regularly posted topic.

Make it a better place…

Todd

The goal: abundant, sustainable, low cost energy for the masses!

A recurring theme of my posts has been the adaptation of traditional “green” business models in preparation for the future.

I believe, along with many other analysts, entrepreneurs, government officials, and consumers that energy technology is the next emergent technology set, akin to the growth of the IT (information technology) sector until the dot com crash that occurred at the turn of the century.

And akin to the IT sector, a variety of technologies are proving that they are viable to serve the needs of consumers, with the caveat generally being that they are not cost competitive.

Cost competitiveness does require scale, and unlike IT, scale is harder to achieve with energy products.  The reasons for this range from the costs of R&D, to cost of distribution infrastructure, production facilities, and parts or components pricing.

There are also other factors at play here as well. Energy utility is measured differently by large scale power consumers, but that utility is also of concern to small-scale consumers. Flashlight batteries are a great example of this, in that the distribution infrastructure for a pack of AA batteries is larger than the gas station infrastructure to consumers, but product packaging, price, regulatory environment, and applications are conducive to supporting this difference.

Many of our biofuels suffer from needing to initially share the tradition petroleum-based infrastructure, which is a barrier since the oleochemical industry is different from the petrochemical industry and the products behave differently from a distribution perspective.  Wind power generation is another area where the goal of sustainable energy can be achieved if certain conditions are met that not every community can support.

Ultimately energy is a commodity business and requires an infrastructure that supports abundant delivery of the commodity at a price that the consumer (whether it be a business or an individual) can bear and obtain positive value for its use. There is room for as many energy products as can be delivered at an appropriate price point. This has always been the case, and is unlikely to change in the coming energy age.

Make it a better place…

Todd

 

Petroleum is not bad for the country.

Petroleum is not bad for the country.

There.  I’ve said it. Please don’t hate me for it. Let me explain.

Petrochemicals are valuable resources that can and should be responsibly utilized.  Petroleum is a driver for a plethora of industries, technologies, and global relationships that all have tremendous net positive potential for the world, including some rarely mentioned environmental technologies that can be put to beneficial climatory and conservational uses. Although traded as a commodity, petroleum plays a vital role in the economic development of every nation.

What is clearly bad for our country is the current set of trade practices and internal regulatory structures surrounding both our legacy petroleum-based fuels infrastructure and our developing  foundation for first and second generation biofuels .

In addition, some proposals trade misinformation for hope that a speedy solution will quickly correct the economics surrounding the petroleum industry.

With record prices at the pump, market instability, and a U.S. economy clearly in crisis, the public is ready to explore solutions.  One “solution” finding a growing number of supporters of late is increasing the number of active offshore drilling rigs.

Television news  along with the Republican Party are among the likely culprits for evangelizing the possibility that greenlighting increased offshore production might positively affect (,i.e., lower) the price of gas at the pump today, according to the Center for Economic Policy and Research, an offshoot of the U.S. Department of Energy.

A recent CEPR report (authored by Mark Weisbrot and  Nichole Szembrot) entitled “Oil Drilling in Environmentally Sensitive Areas: The Role of Media” concluded that:

Major media outlets provided daily repetition of the false claim that expanded drilling in environmentally sensitive zones would significantly lower gasoline prices. At the same time, these outlets failed to report the official data from the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Agency, which showed that these claims were false.

 

Petroleum is not bad for the country. Responsible and carefully controlled offshore drilling may not be bad for the country either; but it clearly will not serve to answer any of our energy needs until 2030 (according to the DOE).

 

Traditional “green” models need to be adapted to meet the future. Many government agencies as well as the largest energy producers already understand this and are executing strategies to ensure long-term competitiveness and energy security in the global marketplace.  In many cases governments have nationalized formerly private companies to ensure alignment with the concerns of its citizens.

 

In my next post I will expand (expound) on the current global energy marketplace, some revised thoughts on scaling micro nodal to enterprise to global, and the challenge community service poses in the months ahead.

 

Make it a better place…

 

Todd

 

 

 

 

The Place of the Next Generation Energy Cooperative

This is the third and final part of a three-part blog designed to explore opportunities for cooperatives to thrive in the newly emerging sustainable energy sector. In Part 1, I discussed the basic principles of cooperative formation and outlined an initial niche-based value-opportunity for cooperative activities as equity-ready organizations. In Part 2, I discussed cooperatives as local manufacturers and distributors of biodiesel solutions services. In Part 3, I will discuss what I believe are the largest opportunity areas for the next generation cooperatives in the biofuels arena.

As with any newly emerging industry, there are  participants that recognize areas of trememendous opportunity early on. Some form enterprises that are capable of adeptly capitalizing on these opportunities, and while many thrive and survive when new entrants enter the competitive fray, many do not and succumb to the economic pressures that assail most during the climactic times that accompany world changing opportunities.

The bioenergy arena is such a world changing opportunity. In my earlier posts on this topic I have discussed the cooperative position as a catalyst and agent of change. Unbound by the traditional corporate agenda of maximizing share value, and by extension, shareholder value, the cooperatives core value proposition can be defined by its mission and the core values of its membership.

Cooperatives are driven by their members. The members have the power to decide the organizational priorities. The membership can define profitability as a core value, but in general will often prefer an approach which maximizes the “collective good”.

Intelligent corporations are best served by defining missions that maximize corporate profitability, even when the corporations desire is to serve niche markets with limited market capacity.

A cooperative can serve to enhance the functions and capabilities of its members, which may consist of individuals, corporations, and non-profits. It can serve as an outsource opportunity or subcontractor, handling activities that would be considered low margin or beyond the general scope of operations to its corporate or small business membership. It can also serve as a market focal point, assisting its membership in maximizing the profitability of good sold, or controlling the costs related to goods purchased.

In the bioenergy arena the capabilities and potenial of the cooperative are amplified.  The nature of the products (renewable consumables) and a new, time-sensitive, environmental credits market create a new opportunity. It is an opportunity of tremendous scale, with a variety of niche applications, products, and services required to adequately support industry growth and transition to maturity.

Some of the niche postion opportunities are clear. Some are relatively obscure, and are the stuff of future legendary organizations.

In the first posting on this topic, I spoke about the cooperative as a bioenergy distributor. This role is distinct from the role of manufacturer, but in the current state of the industry most organizations by necessity are both manufacturer and distributor.

Some additional cooperative roles I discuss briefely below:

Research innovator – A cooperative can serve as a point of joint venture research and innovation projects, utilizing both the resources of its core membership as well as government agenicies and grant organizations.

Renewable credits consolidator – Although this area is more traditionally viewed as the domain of for-profit corporations, a cooperative eco-credit pooling and trading model seems viable under current law.

Renewable credits trade organization – Distinct from a consolidation entity a trade organization may simply supply trading infrastructure with or without credit consolidation function.

Promethean was started to derive purpose and strategic advantage from a cooperative ideal. Many models can and will be used to help the world change its relationship to sustainable energy. I hope this brief commentary on the potential roles of the cooperative has been of interest.

Make it a better place….

Todd

“New Paradigms” at the Collective Biodiesel Conference

I have just concluded the first day of the Collective Biodiesel Conference in Golden, Colorado.

There are many who represent the small-scale producer of Biodiesel here; Jason Burroughs of Diesel Green (a distributor), Matt Rudolf and Greg Austic of Piedmont Biofuels Cooperative, and Steve Fugate of Yoderville Biodiesel Collective to name a few. A major topic on everyone’s mind here is the new industry paradigms that might be the next big opportunity.

I have had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with each in turn today, discussing a wide range of issues related to the future of the industry, the place of cooperatives as they navigate a rapidly changing landscape in relationship to feedstock, the plight of the family farmer, and the passion with which this community approaches both the business and the mission of biodiesel.

There is also a consensus that a critical component of maturing the industry is the education of local regulators and communities in regards to our operations, best practice, and compliance. These are issues that Promethean Biofuels is focused on addressing through 2008.

Next week the final in a three part series on the place Cooperatives have in the current biodiesel marketplace will be published.  In addition, some additional commentary and photos related to the conference will be online as well.

Check back soon or subscribe to the RSS feed for automatic updates.

Todd�