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Truly Sustainable Renewable Future
March 17, 2009 – 10:42 am | One Comment

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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Article Archive for October 2009

US House Agriculture Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Future of Next Generation Biofuels
October 30, 2009 – 3:47 pm | No Comment

Tim Holden (D-PA) chair of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research, held hearings concentrating on the future of next generation biofuels.  
Dallas Tonsager, Under Secretary for Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture …

Hauling Garbage with Fuel Created from Garbage
October 30, 2009 – 3:13 pm | No Comment

At Frederick County’s Solid Waste Options presentation, Dave Specca, Assistant Director of the Rutgers EcoComplex described how landfill gases fuel compressed natural gas garbage trucks at the EcoComplex.  Watch video of similar process in California.  …

Bio-Based Jet Fuel Studies a “GR-8″ (Great R-8) Success
October 30, 2009 – 2:40 pm | No Comment

In support of the Department of Defense Assured Fuels Initiative for securing domestic fuel sources to meet the military’s energy needs, Air Force Research Laboratory and the Southwest Research Institute conducted tests of the first …

NASCAR, Rooted in Fossil Fuels, Turning over New, Green Leaf
October 30, 2009 – 2:23 pm | No Comment

by Nate Ryan  (USA Today)  …The concept might seem incongruous in a sport inherently tied to an internal combustion engine that many find synonymous with global warming, but NASCAR, despite cars with an eye-popping 5 …

Senator Charles Grassley Speaks Out Against Inappropriate Use of International Indirect Land Use Change Analysis
October 30, 2009 – 1:21 pm | No Comment

Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley:    Biofuels and the Environmental Protection Agency     Thursday, October 29, 2009
…  The first issue I’m speaking about relates to the EPA’s proposal to penalize biofuels for greenhouse gas emissions …

Research into Renewable Biofuel Set to Reduce Reliance on Fossil Diesel Imports
October 30, 2009 – 12:50 pm | No Comment

(Alpha Galileo) Aston University in Birmingham, UK is involved in a € 3.73m (£3.4 million) research project, which will transform organic residues from biofuel production processes into a renewable biofuel that can reduce reliance on fossil …

Midwestern Legislators Group Moves in Support of Ethanol and Sound Science
October 29, 2009 – 4:03 pm | No Comment

(National Corn Growers Association)  The Midwest Legislative Conference of The Council of State Governments issued a series of resolutions recently containing policy resolutions adopted that aim to increase the use of both ethanol and blender …

The BioWorld® Biofuels Report 2009: Lane-Changing Trends and Fork-in-the-Road Dynamics
October 29, 2009 – 3:56 pm | No Comment

The contemporary biofuels market, born amid the chaos of the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, has alternately sputtered, stalled and lurched, but has yet to cruise at its objective speed limit on the road to …

New Facility Showcases World’s First Commercially Viable Flex-Ethanol Process
October 29, 2009 – 3:46 pm | No Comment

With gas prices continually in flux, interest in domestically produced bio-fuels like ethanol (E85) is on the rise. Recently, Coskata Inc., a leading developer of alternative bio-fuels, announced the successful start-up of its semi-commercial flex-ethanol …

Renewable Fuels Association Concerned about Flaws in DOE Loan Program
October 29, 2009 – 3:09 pm | No Comment

 Dear Secretary Chu:
The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the national trade association representing the U.S. ethanol industry, is writing to express our concern about the current operation and direction of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) …

FAME 2010 GreenWorld Conference September 14-15 Berlin, Germany
October 29, 2009 – 1:59 pm | No Comment
FAME 2010 GreenWorld Conference September 14-15 Berlin, Germany

FAME is where the most influential professionals involved in the biofuel and biomass market gather to share their views, learn about the latest in the industry and listen to consequential, in-depth presentations – from policy …

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cleantech Group Announce Launch of Government Funding Resource
October 29, 2009 – 11:02 am | No Comment

The publicly available tool–driven by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati content–aggregates and frequently updates the numerous financing opportunities, such as grants, loan guarantees, tax credits, and other programs, being offered by federal and state governments. …

Quebec Company Turns Trash Into Fuel
October 29, 2009 – 8:41 am | No Comment

by John Lorinc  (New York Times) Enerkem, a green energy company based in Quebec, has developed an alternative approach to mining the carbon out of non-recyclable plastics, construction waste and other materials found in the municipal …

Bio Base Europe Training Centre on Track for 2011 Opening
October 28, 2009 – 1:22 pm | No Comment

Bio Base Europe, the Biopark Terneuzen and Ghent Bio-Energy Valley joint initiative launched in April 2009, has said its new bio-focused Training Centre is on course to open in early 2011. The Bio Base Europe …

Low Carbon Future Needs Low Carbon Fuel
October 28, 2009 – 1:14 pm | No Comment

(Novozymes)  … “The article in Science overlooks one important fact: Biofuels recycle atmospheric carbon while fossil fuels release carbon that has been stored underground for millions of years. In the transport sector, biofuels are the …

Univ. of Minnesota Spin-Out Wins $2.2M Federal Grant
October 28, 2009 – 1:01 pm | No Comment

by Katharine Grayson  (Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal)  BioCee Inc. a startup that’s commercializing technology invented by a University of Minnesota professor, has received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The firm …

ARPE-E Awards $151 Million in Advanced Energy R&D – Pyrolysis, Algae, Butanol, CO2 Capture among Hot Technologies Funded
October 28, 2009 – 12:23 pm | No Comment

In California, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that ARPA-E — the Department’s recently-formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy — has awarded $151 million in funding for 37 research projects.  Biofuels Digest lists and describes the …

US Seeking Partnership with Philippines in Research on Biofuel
October 28, 2009 – 10:21 am | No Comment

(Philstar.com)  Visiting US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Monday that the US government is seeking partnership with the Philippines in terms of research on biofuel.
Speaking at a press conference, Vilsack said both countries recognize …

The Global Oil Depletion Report
October 28, 2009 – 8:28 am | No Comment

The ‘peak oil’ debate is polarised, contentious and characterised by competing interpretations of the available data.  A growing number of commentators are forecasting a near-term peak in global oil production with potentially serious economic impacts. …

BIOOCTANIC, Zagreb, Croatia
October 28, 2009 – 7:42 am | No Comment

Our solution is creation of utility towers used for production of bio fuel and city air recuperation. The idea is to place these towers on positions of existing petrol stations in cities. Our research led …

Background Paper on Biofuel Production Technologies
October 28, 2009 – 7:38 am | No Comment

The International Centre of Science and High Technology of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (ICS-UNIDO) has been promoting programmes on capacity building and knowledge transfer in developing countries in several selected areas, including renewable …

Use of Forests as Carbon Offsets Fails to Impress In First Big Trial
October 28, 2009 – 6:48 am | No Comment

by Juliet Eliperin (Washington Post)  More than a decade ago in the northeast corner of Bolivia, a group of polluters and environmentalists joined forces in the first large-scale experiment to curb climate change with a …

Brazil’s Cosan Sees 2010/11 Cane Crush at 58 mln T
October 27, 2009 – 3:21 pm | No Comment

by Inae Riveras  (Reuters)  … Brazil’s largest sugar and ethanol producing group, said it expects to crush 58 million tonnes of cane in 2010/11 (April-March), up from 54 million tonnes in 2009/10.
“We expect to grow …

Brazil Drivers Ditch Biofuel Over High Sugar Costs
October 27, 2009 – 3:14 pm | No Comment

by Peter Murphy (Reuters)  Some Brazilian motorists who fuel their cars solely on cane-based ethanol are switching back to gasoline as high sugar prices now make the biofuel more costly in some states.  Brazil is a …

The BB Gun – the DOE’s “BB” Rating Requirement Blasts Diversity in Clean Energy Development
October 27, 2009 – 3:03 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)   In Washington, the US Department of Energy is requiring that to receive DOE loan guarantees renewable energy projects meet a debt rating standard higher than 63 percent of all US …

Indirect Emissions from Biofuels: How Important?
October 27, 2009 – 2:31 pm | No Comment

by Jerry M. Melillo, et al. (Science Express)  A global biofuels program will lead to intense pressures on land supply and can increase greenhouse gas emissions from land-use changes. Using linked economic and terrestrial biogeochemistry …

Why Sustainability Standards for Biofuel Production Make Little Economic Sense
October 25, 2009 – 8:42 am | No Comment

by Harry deGorter and David R. Just (Policy Analysis, Cato Institute) The federal “sustainability standard” requires ethanol to emit at least 20 percent less carbon dioxide (CO2) than gasoline. Recent rulings by California and the Environmental …

Is Garbage The Solution To Tackling Climate Change?
October 24, 2009 – 1:38 pm | No Comment

(Science Daily)  Converting the rubbish that fills the world’s landfills into biofuel may be the answer to both the growing energy crisis and to tackling carbon emissions, claim scientists in Singapore and Switzerland. New research …

Biodiesel Returns More Energy To The Earth Than Ever, Study Finds
October 24, 2009 – 1:34 pm | No Comment

(Reuters)  Biodiesel is better than ever at harnessing the power of the sun and turning it into fuel.  In fact, a study shows the fuel is returning more than four times the energy that
it takes …

Bio-Oil from Wastewater Algae
October 24, 2009 – 1:21 pm | No Comment

New Zealand’s National Instititue of Water and Atmospheric Research’s mission is to conduct leading environmental science to enable the sustainable management of natural resources for New Zealand and the planet.
In order to produce biofuels cost-effectively …

Report Examines Hidden Health and Environmental Costs Of Energy Production and Consumption In U.S.
October 24, 2009 – 1:13 pm | No Comment

… Damages per vehicle mile traveled were remarkably similar among various combinations of fuels and technologies — the range was 1.2 cents to about 1.7 cents per mile traveled — and it is important to …

Big Oil Looks to Biofuels
October 24, 2009 – 12:53 pm | No Comment

by Guy Chazan  (Wall Street Journal)  The biofuels industry, hit hard by the global credit crunch, is getting a shot in the arm from a new source–the oil majors.  Among the oil companies, BP PLC and …

Verenium and VPP Sign Agreement to Test C5 Cellulosic Technology on Pulping Feedstocks for the Production of Ethanol
October 24, 2009 – 12:42 pm | No Comment

Verenium Corporation, a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Value Prior to Pulping (VPP), an organization created by the Agenda …

Opening Second Tender Global Sustainable Biomass Fund
October 24, 2009 – 12:29 pm | No Comment

The Global Sustainable Biomass Fund supports developing countries in making their biomass production for energy uses sustainable. It thus enables them to access the local or international market of sustainable biomass for energy uses. The …

Recent Progress in Biofuels in Japan
October 24, 2009 – 12:20 pm | No Comment

by Professor Shiro Saka  (IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Newsletter)  …  According to our research in recent years, approximately 370 million tons of biomass resources are annually produced in Japan. Among these, approximately 77 million tons …

Kumho Petrochemical to Build Algae Bioethanol Plant in Yeosu, Korea
October 24, 2009 – 11:57 am | No Comment

(The Korea Herald)  Kumho Petrochemical Co., the South Jeolla provincial government and a local biotechnology firm agreed Thursday to establish an algae bioethanol plant by 2013, officials said, according to Yonhap News.  The agreement calls …

Five Technologies That Could Change Everything
October 24, 2009 – 11:49 am | No Comment

by Michael Totty  (Wall Street Journal)   It’s a tall order: Over the next few decades, the world will need to wean itself from dependence on fossil fuels and drastically reduce greenhouse gases. Current technology will …

Towards Sustainable Production and Use of Resources: Assessing Biofuels
October 23, 2009 – 5:18 pm | No Comment

(United Nations Environment Programme)  The number of scientific publications devoted to biofuels is growing exponentially, and the number of reviews is increasing rapidly. For decision makers it has become a hard job to find robust …

Boeing, Honeywell’s UOP and Government of Mexico Launch Research and Advocacy Collaboration to Drive Commercial Use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels
October 23, 2009 – 5:05 pm | No Comment

Boeing [NYSE: BA], the Airports and Auxiliary Services agency (ASA), an arm of Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transport, and Honeywell’s UOP today announced a collaboration to identify, research and further the development of a …

Scaling Up Is Hard to Do
October 23, 2009 – 4:25 pm | No Comment

by Peter Fairley (Technology Review)  … Producing advanced biofuels on the scale of tens of billions of gallons per year will mean financing several hundred commercial-­scale biorefineries at a net cost of roughly $250 billion. …

BioFuel Africa Begins Commercial Production of Jatropha Oil
October 23, 2009 – 4:18 pm | One Comment

Biofuel Africa Ltd. has begun commercial production of jatropha oil, the first company in West Africa to move from growing and selling jatropha fruits and seeds to production and sale of jatropha oil on a …

Cane Ethanol Helps Cut Greenhouse Emissions: Brazilian Study
October 23, 2009 – 4:07 pm | No Comment

by Inae Riveras (Reuters)  Use of sugar cane-based ethanol as a substitute for gasoline is among the cheapest and easiest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Brazilian study.  Cane ethanol provides about …

The 7% Solution: Sustainable US Biofuels without International Indirect Land Use Effects
October 23, 2009 – 2:26 pm | No Comment

by Robert E. Kozak  (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Looking at some real-world numbers, it becomes clear that the fear raised in Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error, Science, October 23, 2009, misses the point. Growing energy …

Advanced Biofuels USA Reacts to Science Magazine Article
October 23, 2009 – 11:16 am | No Comment

A study published in Science magazine promotes a policy which would penalize American biofuels industries in US legislation and regulation and in international global climate change agreements.  Advanced Biofuels USA would like to point out …

Carbon Advantage of Biofuels May Be Overstated
October 23, 2009 – 10:25 am | No Comment

by Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post)  The world’s policymakers and scientists have made a critical error in how they count biofuels’ contribution to human-generated greenhouse-gas emissions, according to a paper published Thursday in the journal Science.   …

10%
October 23, 2009 – 10:07 am | No Comment

(Detroit Public Television)  When most folks see a number like 10% they’re receiving a discount on a sale item or reading a nutritional chart at the grocery store. But the number that we’re talking about …

Growth Energy Reacts to Science Magazine Paper
October 23, 2009 – 7:43 am | No Comment

Tom Buis (Growth Energy)  “Ethanol is part of the natural carbon cycle. It has taken the lifetime of our planet to produce the oil that is in the ground. Biofuels come from the top of …

Science Article on GHG Accounting Misses the Mark on Biofuels
October 23, 2009 – 7:09 am | No Comment

(Renewable Fuels Association) Biofuels produced from biomass feedstocks (i.e. plant matter) are, by definition, carbon neutral because carbon dioxide tailpipe emissions from the combustion of biofuels are readily absorbed by growing plants. As such, the tailpipe …

Accounting Error Undermines Climate Change Laws
October 23, 2009 – 7:01 am | No Comment

(Nitrogen News)…  “The error is serious, but we can fix it,” said lead author Tim Searchinger, a research scholar at Princeton University and a fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. “The solution …

They’d Shoot Trees, Wouldn’t They? Climate Laws Encourage Deforestation, Scientists Say
October 23, 2009 – 6:51 am | No Comment

by Keith Johnson (Wall Street Journal) The law of unintended consequences strikes yet again.  Global plans to tackle climate change, from the Kyoto Protocol to the recently-passed Waxman-Markey bill, have a fatal flaw: They essentially encourage …