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 …
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Due to funding constraints, Advanced Biofuels USA is suspending posting of daily news about advanced biofuels. Instead, we will enhance our focus on writing original pieces highlighting what is going on with advanced biofuels policy and production. We will also keep up and enhance our links to resources on Daily News, Job Postings, Educational Resources, Teacher Resources, Educational Opportunities (by US state and international), Coming Events for the next month or so and other Coming Events. We will continue to provide informal consulting for educational activities of all kinds.
by Ken Wells (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) …In the last decade, the industry says, it has put $71 billion into zero- and low-emission and renewable energy technologies. The U.S. government, by contrast, has spent about $43 billion on similar efforts during the same period, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API), a trade group. “We are making huge bets” on biofuels and also investing in wind and low carbon technologies, says Katrina Landis, chief executive officer of BP Alternative Energy, noting that her division has grown from a handful of employees in 2005 to 5,000 today. BP is now “winding down” its solar operations, says Landis.
…Many environmentalists doubt that these investments represent more than window dressing. An API report shows that just $9 billion of the $71 billion is for renewable energy while the rest has gone toward greening up Big Oil’s fossil-fuel business.
…The investments are less impressive, (Simon) Mui (a scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council) says, when measured against Big Oil profits—ExxonMobil reported 2011 net income of $41 billion—and the money the companies still devote to the hunt for conventional oil and gas. Mui estimates the industry has spent about $341 billion developing tar sands, which contain heavy crude that is energy-intensive to recover and refine, over the same period that it touts its $71 billion in carbon reduction and renewables. READ MORE
Due to funding constraints, Advanced Biofuels USA is suspending posting of daily news about advanced biofuels. Instead, we will enhance our focus on writing original pieces highlighting what is going on with advanced biofuels policy …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) USDA released its first estimate of the 2012 corn crop–and it is a big one. According to today’s USDA projections, record U.S. corn production of 14.79 billion bushels is …
by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register) …The executive director of the Renewable Fuels Association, Monte Shaw, said AFP should “stop the hypocrisy and to get its facts straight when it comes to ethanol and oil …
by Christopher Doering (Des Moines Register) The U.S. Energy Department said on Tuesday (May 8, 2012) it will make $5 million available in 2012 to expand the use of alternative fuel vehicles, including electric models.
The Energy …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) After nearly two years of collaborative research, biotechnology company BioTork LLC and the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center have developed a yeast strain capable of fermenting the xylose found in …
by John Kemp (Reuters COLUMN) Widespread use of alternative motor fuels has been hampered by lack of fuel distribution infrastructure, despite strongly favourable economics for alternatives to gasoline and diesel, and a range of financial …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Scientific standards development body ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials) recently made significant changes to its E85 specification, lowering the approved minimum ethanol …
by Blair Fannin (Texas AgriLife Research/Algae Industry Magazine) Texas AgriLife Research scientist, Dr. Tryon Wickersham, and graduate student, Merritt Drewery, have been conducting feeding trials of algae leftover products (after oil extraction, in powdered form) …
by Cody Winchester (Argus Leader) Sometime this summer, already-scarce blends of pure gasoline will become more rare in western South Dakota.
That’s because the largest refineries that supply the Plains Rocky Mountain Pipeline terminal in Rapid …
by William DeKay (The Western Producer) Lee Wilson thinks he has found a cost effective way to help produce biofuel using wheat straw.
In a lab at the University of Saskatchewan, the chemist and his team …
(JoyOnline) Human waste could soon be a precious commodity in Kumasi and other parts of the country with an ongoing solution to transform fecal sludge treatment into a profit-making venture.
Waste Enterprisers Limited, a sanitation and …
by Lu Ann Franklin (Northwest Indiana Times) The Town Council will hear public comments about signing the interlocal agreement with Lake County Solid Waste District for the proposed trash-to-ethanol facility in Schneider on June 4 and …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What’s up? What’s next? New pathways, plus country-by-country yield data.
Sorghum. It’s a feedstock right out the pages of the old South – sorghum syrup served with corn bread and Lowcountry …
by Mike Cohen (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) Illovo Sugar Ltd. (ILV), Africa’s largest sugar producer, said it has ended its involvement in the Markala sugar project in Mali because of incomplete funding and a deteriorating security situation …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In Washington, heartbreak came early in the season when the Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to nix the purchase of aviation biofuels, should they cost more than conventional fossil …
(Fox Business) General Electric Co. (GE) said Thursday it will invest 500 million reais ($245.5 million) in a research-and-development center in Rio de Janeiro.
The center, which should be operational in the second half of 2013 …
by Joshua S. Hill (CleanTechnica.com) The Coalition for Sustainable Rail (CSR) announced Tuesday plans to create the world’s first carbon-neutral higher-speed locomotive.
The plan is simple: “create the world’s cleanest, most powerful passenger locomotive, proving the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Colorado, Gevo announced it has begun startup of the world’s first commercial biobased isobutanol production plant located in Luverne, Minn.
“At 1 p.m. MDT yesterday we made history by initiating production of …
The Agri Investment Forum is the only program of events in Canada dedicated to showcasing the highest potential emerging and growth stage agri-businesses. The Forum brings together active institutional and private investors with leading edge …
A comprehensive course detailing the new policy and economic drivers of biofuel supply and demand.
Top experts in the fields of biofuels production, marketing, risk management, RINs accounting and environmental compliance will give you all the answers you …
(Gas2) … The annual SAE Formula Hybrid competition challenges teams of college engineering students to build fast and efficient hybrid racers. …
BYU’s Hybrid Blue can go from 0-60 mph in just 3 seconds, and it dominated …
(MASBI) Regional Initiative with National Reach Working to Achieve Energy Security
United Airlines, Boeing, Honeywell’s UOP, the Chicago Department of Aviation and the Clean Energy Trust today announced the formation of the Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Brazil, GraalBio Investimentos plans to invest $724.5 million in five cellulosic ethanol plants during the next few years. The first 21.6 million gallon facility in Alagoas that will use sugarcane bagasse …
(Stock Journal) The prototype mallee harvester developed by Biosystems Engineering and Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has exceeded expectations in the final stages of its development.
During trials near Casino in New South Wales, …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … (T)he company’s metrics in cellulosic biofuels are starting to look compelling. Not only is commercialization a lot less than five years away – a massive breakout in capacity building …
(Environmental Research Web) A new study from the University of California, Davis, provides a deeper understanding of the complex global impacts of deforestation on greenhouse gas emissions.
The study, published May 13 in the advance online …
by Ben Caldecott (The Guardian) We need something that can deliver emission reductions from existing fleets of planes – and the solution already exists
…The positive progress on including aviation in Europe’s carbon trading scheme this week is welcome, …
by Robert Rapier (Consumer Energy Report) A reader recently called my attention to a new and very interesting presentation from the Department of Energy’s Biomass Program:
Biofuels Design Cases
The presentation explored the question of whether …
(Evogene) Collaboration represents expansion of Evofuel’s Latin American operations, currently focused on Brazil
Evogene Ltd. and T6 Industrial S.A., a leading biodiesel producer in Argentina, today announced that Evofuel Ltd., Evogene’s wholly owned subsidiary, and T6 …
by Fred Kaplan (Slate) …The rationale for barring the Navy from buying the 450,000 gallons of biofuels necessary for the experiment is economic: These fuels are too expensive—about four times more costly than conventional fuels.
To …
(MarketWatch/PRNewsWire) AFS BioOil has announced that its state-of-the art facility located at a wastewater treatment plant in the San Francisco Bay Area is open for tours for strategic partners and customers. The volume of the …
(Husky Energy) Husky Energy unveiled its carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and liquefaction project in Lloydminster, a facility that allows the Company to recover more oil from existing fields while reducing emissions at its ethanol plant.
“This …
As Capitol Hill works to identify smarter investments in clean energy fuels, the Better Fuels Moment takes a closer look at the robust and effective partnership advanced biofuels has with America’s Armed Services, building better …
by Brittany Boyer (WJAC TV) Pennsylvania Grain Processing has officially closed on the purchase of the former Bionol Ethanol plant in Clearfield.
According to a news release obtained by 6 News, production at the plant is …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Regardless of its naming deficiencies, waste has been hot and getting hotter as a bioenergy feedstock because it solves three of the most pressing problems blocking capacity expansion.
1. The feedstocks …
(Climate Central/OPB.org) …But a Princeton University senior named Amanda Rees may have come up with the most promising solution so far. Rees, 22, is convinced that an important part to the world’s energy future may …
by Matt Daily (Reuters/Huffington Post) After a decade of promise, advanced biofuels makers are entering a crucial make-or-break period with the first of a new generation of production facilities about to come on line.
The new …
(Beaver Dam Daily Citizen) United Cooperative was selected to receive a $448,500 Rural Energy for America Program grant to assist with the installation of 36 ethanol flex-fuel blender pumps and seven biodiesel dispensers at 11 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) New tests conducted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base have revealed that US warplanes are capable of flying faster and carry more payload on missions, when flying with synthetic fuels, including …
(Western Farm Press) The U.S. military is very interested in alternative fuels — in particular, the wood-based biofuels being researched and produced at the University of Maine. Three methods, or pathways, to producing biofuel for …
by James Fallows (Popular Science) The largest nation on Earth is flying more people more places than ever before. Its struggle to do so without (further) destroying the environment could show the rest of the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Mozambique, the first sustainable cooking fuel facility was inaugurated by Federal Minister of Agriculture José Pacheco. The CleanStar project will produce ethanol-based cooking fuel for sale with the company’s cookstoves, …
(PEW Charitable Trust) …More than 31 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from their homes over the Memorial Day weekend. With gas averaging $3.67 per gallon, consumer fuel costs will exceed $171 million …
by Scott Irwin and Darrel Good (Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics University of Illinois)…The rise in ethanol production has recently run up against what is known as the “blend wall.” Domestic ethanol consumption is almost entirely in the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In today’s Digest, we pull together the strands in a 10-Minute Guide that looks at the 20 top stories this year out of Brazil, and adds context.
Overall, we see 3 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What engines failed, and when and why. Was this test designed to fail?
In Washington, the Coordinating Research Council, a non-profit research organization supported by the American Petroleum Institute and a …
(Yahoo! Finance) Virgin Australia says it has started trialling the use of biodiesel to power some ground vehicles at Brisbane Airport.
The fuel for the eight-week trial will contain 80 per centconventional diesel and 20 per cent biodiesel made from …
by Noah Haglund (The Weekly Herald) The company has agreed to compensate the county for $143,000 in goods and services it didn’t deliver for a canola project.
Snohomish County’s experiment helping farmers turn crops into biodiesel …
(BusinessWire) The Advanced Biofuels Association, the Algal Biomass Organization, Airlines for America, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Growth Energy, and the Pew Charitable Trusts today expressed disappointment that the Senate Armed …
(US Department of Agriculture) On June 23, 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a strategic biofuels production report, “A USDA Regional Roadmap to Meeting the Biofuels Goals of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) by …
(Zimbabwe Independent) Green Fuel has dismissed claims by government that it has not furnished it with the cost structure into its wholesale price of E10.
Senior officials of the company outlined its cost structure at a …
