Gate to build biofuel terminal on Heckscher Drive

[thelakelander]

Gate Petroleum says demand is driving plans for ethanol plant

The company wants a biofuel terminal built on Heckscher Drive in three years.

By TIMOTHY J. GIBBONS, The Times-Union

Gate Petroleum Co. plans to build a biofuel terminal along Heckscher Drive in about three years, the company said Thursday, a project that would enable its stations in the Jacksonville area to sell gasoline blended with ethanol.

The company - whose subsidiary, Gate Biofuels LLC will operate the 55-million-gallon terminal - is in the process of buying a 139-acre site on the St. Johns River that will be used for the project.

Ethanol and biodiesel would be brought to the site by rail or vessel, stored there and then blended with gasoline before being shipped to gas stations.

Ethanol is a form of alcohol, typically made from materials such as corn or sugar cane, that can be used as automobile fuel. All cars can burn what is known as E10, which is 10 percent ethanol. Some cars have engines able to burn E85, with is 85 percent alcohol.

Biodiesel is similar, but is usually made from natural oils, like soybean or vegetable oils.

The terminal is the second time Gate has taken steps to play in the ethanol market. In 2006, the company said it was considering building a multimillion-dollar ethanol production plant near White Springs, one of the first such facilities in Florida.

That plant, the company said at the time, would turn tons of corn into 30 million gallons of ethanol each year.

A number of other companies had similar ideas in the 17 months since Gate's earlier announcement, though, with a plethora of large and small producers jumping onto the ethanol bandwagon.

"It's one of the reasons we decided not to be a maker of ethanol," said Buzz Hoover, president of Gate Biofuels. "Now there's an advantage to being a buyer of ethanol. Supply is getting ahead of demand."

According to the most recent data available, U.S. ethanol producers turned out 421,000 barrels a day in July, up 33 percent from a year earlier. Suppliers aren't set up to blend all of that product with gas, though, creating an oversupply in the market, leading the price of the ethanol to slide by 30 percent, to near its lowest point ever - a particular problem given the spiking price of corn.

Gate's $90 million terminal would be the first in the state designed primarily to store and transfer biofuels. The company plans to get supplies from the Midwest, where most U.S.-produced ethanol originates, and possibly Brazil, the world's largest exporter of ethanol.

If permitting proceeds as expected, Hoover said, the company will break ground next October and finish construction in August 2010.

timothy.gibbons@jacksonville.com,

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/101907/bus_209747366.shtml

[Jason]

Sounds great.  While its not the answer to steep gas prices it is a step in the right direction.

[Ocklawaha]

Brazil is the World leader in this field. Once a huge importer of oil, today they export. All automobiles made for their market must have a "Flex-Fuel" engine. That is, an engine that runs off of pure alcohol or a mix. They have shown us the future, but big oil is really dragging it's feet on this. They have a huge vested interest in keeping us slaves to a mid-eastern oil pump-jack.

Ocklawaha

[lindab]

Gate is behind the times. What's the big deal about ramping this up? Folks like myself are already buying biofuels in nearby towns and the market isn't going to wait on Gate.

[adamh0903]

Brazil is the World leader in this field. Once a huge importer of oil, today they export. All automobiles made for their market must have a "Flex-Fuel" engine. That is, an engine that runs off of pure alcohol or a mix. They have shown us the future, but big oil is really dragging it's feet on this. They have a huge vested interest in keeping us slaves to a mid-eastern oil pump-jack.

Ocklawaha

Hello all, first time poster, been reading for a while now......

Brazil is leaps and bounds ahead of the US in the "flex-fuel" market but not all cars must have Flex-Fuel. I spent some time there and and noticed that you see more flex-fuel cars in the bigger cities but once you get outside of the bigger cities, Sao Paulo, Sao Luis, Brasillia..you dont see them as much. Studies show 85% of Brazilian autos are flex fuel though....

[Ocklawaha]

Hey Adam, where were you in Brazil? South America is my second home, i've probably walked over more of it then most people ever see. I wish we would have done flex fuel when Brazil did. Isn't it funny that Brazil could do this with Chevys, Fords and Volkswagens as well as a dozen more auto-makers, but here at home, Chevy and Ford and Volkswagen just can't...too expensive they claim...way to long to make it happen. Hummm? Think they might be invested in oil?

Ocklawaha

[adamh0903]

I traveled through Sao Paulo, Brasilia and Sao Luis on my way to Cururupu, its across the bay of Sao Luis about a 3 hour ride by car after you cross the bay of Sao Luis.

[Skot David Wilson]

Check our Iogen   http://iogen.ca   I think using something better than corn or sugar makes better sense. I've been considering a modified reflux still myself. I just don't have enough time or maoney to make it happen yet, and I have a 275 gallon tote in my back yard 1/2 full with used fryer oil, and wish I could find an old diesel Rabbit....
Yeah, using switchgrass and old cellulose seems way better than what even Brasil is doing with sugar. Yield per acre is what matters. We just need to get the infrastructure for bio up and going. City of Jax has loads of used oil stored (I talked to the motor pool about a year ago), they just need to get on it as well.
Here's an idea..........
I think the city needs to make free tune-up stations... make sure tires have air, and air filters and all are fine.... even suggestions and vouchers for low cost fast tunes to save on fuel. The poor and working moms and those without car awareness would be best served by this. Ever notice people with tires low on pressure?
The city can even charge a little over cost for basic service, like wiper changes and air filter changes to offset some of the costs....
I think wasteful SUV's that suck down too much gas need to come with a waste fee....;.  I understand why they call them Hummers.... Someone who is one needs one. Maybe it is for compensation for others areas that lack....  America is too far behind in going green....and that may be due to having an crude oil president in part.  I think if the 200 election wasn't so illegal, and it was, and Gore did win Florida, that things would be better all the way around....but the Rush heads and right wing went evil and got away with it (If that was tried in some other nation we'd be crying foul and rolling in with guns or sanctions).
It will be the right wing loyalist and so called Christian soldiers marching us to doom.\
Aren't we supposed to be stewards of.........
I think 30 mpg should be the set standard, and unless you have a construction type business that requires it, that for every mpg under 30 you should be surcharged $100.00, so a car that gets 25 mpg costs $500 more, and a car that gets 18 mpg costs $1,200 more, and that money should go to "green fuel" grants.
THAT would make some industry change.
$90 a barrel? damn.....
Wonder what Bush and friends are doing dividen wise?
And the "green fuel" corn processing has driven up corn prices, and all that effects as well.

[Ocklawaha]

Hey Adam,

I journeyed through Surinam, and visited the railroad at Paramaribo. It was the first place I ever heard Monkeys Howl at night, and saw 20 pound frogs! Talk about the land that time forgot. The Airport was beautiful, right out of Star Trek but the road into the capital was dirt. Energy isn't really a problem here, the EU launches it's space vehicles just off shore and these folks still use dug-out canoes. They also get my vote for the worst drivers in the "New World". We hit a mud puddle at 80 MPH on a dirt road. The puddle had attracted every child and chicken in the village. We never slowed, just hit the puddle, and kids water and feathers went flying... I only hope he didn't run over anyone or anything because he never slowed down!

I've got friends in Manaus, and interest in a large ranch located between the Tocantis and the Parana Rivers. Most of the shopping is done in greater metropolitan Porangatu...LOL! Also spent good times in Recife, checking out the railroads. Rio de Janiro was beautiful as was Bello Horizonte, where I filled my pockets with gem stones of questionable value (but they were pretty!). Also wandered down to Sao Paulo and Curitiba areas. Sao Paulo, for the untraveled, is New York City x 50, like the EverReady City, it just keeps going and going and going...City with no end. Brasilia was my favorite as the ultra modernism is a style close to my heart. My experience there was really funny. We had to land in some God forsaken no-where airport due to some problem. Some of us decided since it was only a couple of days walk into a fair sized suburb, we would walk.
We hiked until we came to a small river where these Indians were catching Parana's to mount and sell to tourists. We had to cross. Of course the Indians had a big laugh at the gringos who tried to walk on the water.
Funny thing is, the stupid fish really don't do a darn thing! They swam around our feet and chased bait...and we weren't dinner. Later the second day, we found a Topaz stone about the size of a racket ball. Had some beautiful rings made from it and gave the jeweler the other half for the services. We kept seeing this big red thing on a hill way off in the distance. It seemed like we were going to the red something all afternoon. Finally as we came into the suburb, we could see the giant red thing... It was a huge sign that said "DRINK COCA COLA!" We met up with a friend in a VW bus, and it too was Flex-fuel. The flex-fuel thing is now law.

Home is still in Medellin...Land of giant mountains and hydro-electric, geo-thermal and "unlimited coal", Oil to export (2nd largest to the USA) and beautiful railroads to get the job done. But Home is also JACKSONVILLE, where there is opportunity and no limits... Talk about a man with two homes, two callings and two souls. It is weird to sometimes feel like I'm not home in either place. So far, Jacksonville has been kind to us, and though there are forces pulling both ways, I don't currently have the urge to flash my Colombian documents and jump on the plane. Then again with BRT here, and Rail There, who knows what the future holds.

Colombia, sueno con su belleza...pero...Jacksonville, mi vida...

Ocklawaha

[adamh0903]

I can vouch for bad driving, I was scared for my life, haha.....At any given time we would share the same dirt road with a motorcycle, bus, tractor and donkey, and all going 80 except the donkey of course. I didnt notice if Sao Luis had rail, im sure it did, I wasnt into Rail like I am now. Speaking of Rail, the wife and i spent time in Denver last week for an ACE hardware convention, (family business) and we stayed downtown, what a great city and the RTD was very nice. we rode from our hotel to Mile High stadium and to the art center just to visit. Maybe one day jax, maybe! Our Cab was a Flex fuel Chevy also in Denver

[Ocklawaha]

Maybe it's the flex-fuel vehicles? But REALLY, the driving has improved a lot over the last 20 years. 20 years ago in Medellin, they would just mow you down and keep on going. Today, they take your name and paint a star on the pavement with your name in it! See! Things can get better!


Ocklawaha