Advanced Biofuels are high-energy liquid transportation fuels derived from: low nutrient input/high per acre yield crops; agricultural or forestry waste; or other sustainable biomass feedstocks including algae. The key word is “sustainable.”
A technical definition that …
Regulations, agency actions, funding and public comment opportunities
Political news and views from Capitol Hill.
Research and development from feedstocks to process and distribution
Legislation, regulation, innovative ideas and programs
Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson (MN) issued the following statement on Renewable Fuel Standard regulations announced by the Obama Administration today.
“Typical of most decisions made in Washington, there is some good and some bad in the Renewable Fuel Standard final rule announced today. I am pleased that ethanol and biodiesel will qualify as advanced biofuels under the RFS. However, I am concerned about some provisions in the final rule that fail to use science-based standards,” Chairman Peterson said. “To think that we can credibly measure the impact of international indirect land use is completely unrealistic, and I will continue to push for legislation that prevents unreliable methods and unfair standards from burdening the biofuels industry.”
Chairman Peterson joined House Armed Services Chairman Ike Skelton (D-MO) and Representative Jo Ann Emerson (R-MO) to introduce a bill this week to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. The bill, H.R. 4572, also includes provisions that would stop the EPA from using international indirect land use calculations in biofuels regulations and would expand the definition of renewable biomass. READ MORE
President Barack Obama announced a series of steps his Administration is taking as part of its comprehensive strategy to enhance American energy independence while building a foundation for a new clean energy economy, and its …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) The Washington Auto Show is in full swing and for the first time ever, a car is being fueled on government paper waste. The two companies behind this feat are Novozymes …
The first fully eco-sponsored race car is set to rev up the American Energy Revolution and bring the green message with a roar to 75 million U.S. race fans. This first of its kind stock …
Following on the heels of the Forest Guild Membership and Policy Committee’s unanimous approval on November 10, 2009, the professional membership has voted overwhelmingly to approve the Forest Guild Biomass Policy Statement. This statement will …
by Mike Wall (Idaho National Lab) While oil companies drill deeper and deeper for increasingly hard-to-find petroleum, legions of mini-gushers lie untapped right on the surface. There’s one behind every restaurant, for example, and in …
by João Carvalho (Business News Americas) Imported corn-based ethanol from the US could help ease ethanol prices in Brazil that have been rising because of increasing demand and heavy rains that have delayed the sugarcane harvest, …
by Darrel Good (University of Illinois and Cattle Network) …Planting decisions for individual crops in the spring of 2010 will be influenced by a number of factors. These include relative crop prices, prospects for net …
(BlackSeaGrain) According to the Iranian Fars Newsagency, Mr (Deputy Brazilian Science and Technology Minister Czar) Gadella said that Brazil is ready to cooperate with Iran in fields of technology and production to help the country …
by Emily Wilkins (The State News) A team of professors from MSU’s Department of Entomology examined several biofuel crops to see how many beneficial insects were attracted to the plants and found several other potential …
(Today’s Trucking) The Canadian Trucking Alliance says it has partnered with the Government of Canada and the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute for a study to better understand the technical issues related to renewable diesel.
The study, …
Gerard Wynn (Reuters) Danish biotech company Novozymes would launch in the first quarter this year a new enzyme to produce transport fuel from agricultural waste, its chief executive Steen Riisgaard told Reuters on Saturday. That was …
The United States can lead the world in deploying advanced biotechnology for biofuels and create thousands of new jobs by implementing policies to support the emerging industry. The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) today applauded President …
by Jim Long (Gabriel Ventures and Aurora Biofuels) At the January 2010 Pacific West Biomass Conference in Sacramento, California, this presentation focused on comparing the economics of algae’s potential productivity for biodiesel to that of sugar-based feedstocks and …
OriginOil, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, unveiled a comprehensive pilot system for algae growth and harvesting at …
by David Plazas (News-Press) The Lee County Commissioners on Tuesday changed the rules on doling out economic development incentive money, and maybe that’s a good thing. We’ll have to see because Algenol Biofuels— which is …
by Tamsin Carlisle (The National) Just six months after ExxonMobil agreed to invest US$600 million (Dh2.2 billion) in a six-year project to develop biofuel from microscopic plants, teams of researchers are performing their first experiments. …
Alan Fischer (University of Arizona and Western Farm Press) University of Arizona (UA) researchers believe the microscopic organism algae will be providing fuel to power vehicles within the next five years.
Joel Cuello, UA professor of …
Nearly seven out of 10 Iowa voters say they want legislation to ensure the state’s diesel fuel supply includes five percent biodiesel (B5). The Iowa Biodiesel Board released the results of new public opinion research …
(DesMoines Register) The Iowa ethanol industry plans to ask the legislature to pass a bill requiring that all motor gasoline in the state carry at least 10 percent ethanol. Despite being the largest ethanol producer …
The new research center, Brazilian Bioethanol Science and Technology National Laboratory, in Campinas, São Paulo State represents a strategic move by the Brazilian Government toward strengthening the country’s leadership in sustainable production of ethanol from …
by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) The QDR (Quadrennial Defense Review), which sets the Department of Defense’s priorities for the next four years, came out February 1, 2010. The QDR, because it is much more …
by Nidhi Nath Srinivas (The Economic Times) Indian biodiesel companies always wanted to be players in the global green fuel market. Most are 100% export units. But a near-death experience over the last one year …
by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) The FY 2011 US Budget request is so long, cumbersome and detailed, that we’ve read it and pulled out some salient points related to biofuels so you don’t have …
LS9, the Renewable Petroleum Company(TM), today announced a major breakthrough in the ability to make cellulosic-derived advanced biofuels. A collaborative team of researchers from LS9, Inc, the University of California at Berkeley, and the U.S. …
(The Hindu) The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has sanctioned Rs. 13.33 lakh to the Department of Botany, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women here, to undertake research on biodiesel production in a …
by Samuel Aubrey (CheckBiotech) Sarawak is now producing biodiesel following the completion its first biodiesel plant operated by Senari Biofuels Sdn Bhd on a ten-acre site at Assar Senari Industrial Complex. …Senari Biofuel, a wholly-owned …
by Joelle Dent (Biofuels Digest) …Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that the National Biofuels Mandate will be obligatory for all government-owned oil marketing companies, and warned that the Central Government will prosecute all noncompliance.
…Earlier this …
(The Telegraph) Environment activist Subhash Dutta moved the high court on Monday seeking the promotion of bio-diesel and withdrawal of a petroleum ministry circular barring the use of the fuel in vehicles. Bio-diesel is an eco-friendly …
by Dan Miller (The Patriot-News) The state will provide $3 million toward an $11 million upgrade of the Keystone BioFuels bio-refinery production plant in Hampden Township (Pennsylvania).
The Alternative Energy Investment Fund will provide a $1 …
by Ray Wert (Jalopnik) Who killed the electric car? Well, a closer evaluation of today’s Tesla’s IPO filing with the SEC reveals Tesla will. They plan to kill the Tesla Roadster after 2011. No, seriously.
The …
…The “Canadian Blueprint” is a strategy that will enable us to take full advantage of all the opportunities biotechnology has to offer, provided all stakeholders do what is required of them.
This document is a call …
The simple formula we’ve learned in recent years – forests remove the greenhouse gas CO2 from the atmosphere; therefore forests prevent global warming – may not be quite as simple as we thought. Forests can …
The Standing Committee of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, acting under the terms of Article 14 of the Convention; Recalling that under Article 11, paragraph 2.b of the Convention, each Contracting …
Scientists have found a way to increase fermentable sugar stores in plants which could lead to plant biomass being easier to convert into eco-friendly sustainable biofuels.
Their research is highlighted in the latest issue of Business, …
Massachusetts-based renewable energy company Bodega Algae and Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in West Boothbay Harbor, Maine, have received a six-month, $150,000 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation to develop …
The Algal Biomass Organization, challenged the conclusions of a published report in Environmental Science and Technology claiming that “conventional crops have lower environmental impacts than algae in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and water.” The …
Ricardo technology achieves breakthrough efficiency for ethanol-fuelled engines
System surpasses gasoline efficiency, reaches near-diesel levels and reduces operational costs compared to current fuels.
At the Washington Auto Show, Ricardo revealed the development of technology that optimizes ethanol-fuelled …
(CBC News, AP) A $10.5-million-US research project aimed at mapping the DNA sequence of sunflowers could one day yield a towering new variety for both food and fuel.
Researchers envision crossbreeding a standard sunflower with the …
by John Holland (Modesto Bee) …The Keyes plant, the only ethanol operation in Stanislaus County, has dominated the landscape but produced little fuel since it was finished next to a feed mill on the west …
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Conspicuous by their absence from the Washington Auto Show was the US Department of Energy (except for a brief press conference by Energy Secretary Chu at noon on Thursday) …
by Naill O’Keefe (FlightGlobal)
The International Air Transport Association has criticised the oil industry and national governments for failing to invest in the development of aviation biofuel.
Explaining why he is “disappointed” with the lack of government action, …
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) “Maybe the “Valley of Death” is working as it should for the biofuels industry. First generation biofuels seem to be finding their place in the market. Maybe there are …
Used for years to blend and dispense unleaded and premium to give customers several octane choices, blender pumps are now finding a home in the retailing of ethanol fuels, offering stations the unique opportunity to …
by Joanna Schroeder (domesticfuels.com) One of the biggest challenges for our country lies in the issue of how to create effective public policies that will grow the biofuels industry and reduce our dependence on foreign …
Robert E. Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) The Electrification Coalition, an industry group composed of Cisco, Pacific Gas and Electric, NRG Energy, Nissan, and various investment bankers among others, wants to spend $124 billion dollars of …
…It is one thing to sprinkle a modest number of electric-drive cars throughout a nation as large as the United States; it is quite another for even a seemingly small number of those cars to …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) has analyzed a new report out from the National Wildlife Federation on “Corn Ethanol and Wildlife” and found it lacking in accuracy. … The RFA analysis …
(National Wildlife Federation) A new report shows how government incentives for corn ethanol are driving farmers to shift land into corn production, resulting in significant decreases in grassland bird populations throughout the fragile Prairie Pothole …
by Jeff Fick (Dow Jones, Wall Street Journal) Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), or Petrobras, signed a deal with the country’s Navy to test biofuels at extremely low temperatures. Petrobras will invest 3 …
by Don Hofstrand (Agricultural Marketing Resource Center) Crop residue, traditionally considered as “trash” or agricultural waste, is increasingly being viewed as a valuable resource. Corn stalks, corn cobs, wheat straw and other leftovers from grain …
