Article Archive for January 2010
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 …
by Brett Clanton and Monica Hatcher (Houston Chronicle) Chevron Corp. plans to restructure its global refining business under a sweeping plan that will result in an unspecified number of job losses and that could see …
by Michael Kannellos (GreenTechMedia) Take marginal land, fish waste and a plant that’s not currently cultivated for human purposes and what do you get? Hopefully jet fuel.
The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Honeywell UOP, …
This conference brings together professionals from industry and academia who seek solutions to environmental problems of a technical, legal, and regulatory nature. It features:
Plenary lectures featuring leading experts exploring timely petroleum and biofuels environmental problems …
Homegrown energy could reduce millions of pounds of nutrients from entering the Chesapeake Bay’s streams, creeks and rivers and create more than 18,000 jobs in the region, according to a new report released by the …
by John Vidal (The Guardian) One-quarter of all the maize and other grain crops grown in the US now ends up as biofuel in cars rather than being used to feed people, according to new …
Northeast Sun Grant Institute announces the 2010 Northeast Conference: “Championing the Northeast’s participation in the National Bioenergy Agenda” to be held May 24-26, 2010 at the Renaissance Syracuse Hotel in Syracuse, New York. READ MORE
Washington College teamed up with Tri Gas & Oil Company out of Federalsburg, MD, and New Generation Biofuels from Columbia, MD, to test NGB’s biofuel in one of the College’s boilers. The College uses approximately …
Sixteen clean technology projects from across Canada will receive $58 million in funding to help move innovative technology solutions to the market. The announcement, confirming the decision of the Board of Directors of Sustainable Development …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Those who have railed against government waste and inefficiency — numbering, presumably, in the millions if not billions of critics — can take special satisfaction from the news that Danish …
by Ricardo Hausmann and Rodrigo Wagner (Harvard University Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs) A disproportionately large amount of the world’s agronomic potential for the production of bio-ethanol is concentrated in a subset of …
(January 21, 2010) …It is imperative that government provide R&D funding, especially at the front end when private investments would not recoup the full value of the shared social good or when a new technology …
(Cattlenetwork.com) The November 26, 2008, edition of This Week In Petroleum looked at profit margins for the dry mill fuel ethanol industry, pointing out the boom-and-bust cycles that had occurred. In 2009, ethanol producers’ margins continued …
by James Guyette (Motor-Age) Fort Lauderdale-based InfoSpi, Inc. is moving ahead with plans to build a “flagship” Tire-to-Oil (T2O) plant in Pompano Beach, Fla. The company, which anticipates rolling out a network of 10 franchised facilities …
(Newswise) With many companies investing heavily in algae-based biofuels, researchers from the University of Virginia’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering have found there are significant environmental hurdles to overcome before fuel production ramps up. …
by Geoffrey Thomas (Eco-Aviation Today) US Air Transport Assn. American Airlines, Continental Airlines and United Airlines initiated a legal challenge in the UK High Court of Justice against aviation’s inclusion in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, …
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Two global powerhouses, Bayer Technology Services GmbH and Dow Water and Process Solutions, joined forces recently to offer a new biodiesel process, trademarked BayFAME. Based on the Dow Amberlyst BD20 …
(Pangea Quarterly Newsletter) … In 2009, PANGEA staff spent a great deal of time looking at the food vs. fuel controversy and working to find ways to re-frame the discussion into one of food and …
by Kamilla Go (Santiago Times) Chile’s Energy Minister Marcelo Tokman and a Corporation for Public Works (Corfo) vice president announced a US$30 million investment in biofuel research in 2010. The project will be funded by …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Camelina has been much in the news of late, as a biofuels feedstock of strong promise, because of its position as one of the few “sustainable, affordable, reliable, available” feedstocks suitable …
by Jeffrey Decker (FlightGlobal) Interview with Richard Altman, executive director of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative, working closely with aviation’s private and public sectors in a bid to achieve carbon neutral growth by 2020 …
Are …
(GreenAirOnline.com) Under business-as-usual (BAU) forecasts, CO2 emissions from global aviation are estimated to grow 3.1% per year over the next 40 years, resulting in a 300% increase in emissions by 2050 compared to 2007. However, …
(Renewable Energy Focus) The University of Glamorgan in the UK has been awarded £630 000 (US$1m) to develop its research into biological fuel cells. The work at Glamorgan’s Sustainable Environment Research Centre is looking at how …
(GreenAirOnline.com) A major study to investigate the technical and financial feasibility of a biorefinery plant to supply Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport with 50,000 tonnes of jet biofuel per year has been completed. The project was initiated …
by Will Thurmond (Biofuels Digest) As industry and governments enter a new decade and contemplate the outcome of the December, 2009 Copenhagen treaty, the ‘big picture’ on biofuels continues to get lost in the rhetoric …
by Carlos St. James (Argentine Renewable Energies Chamber) …Argentina, along with the rest of Latin America, is poised to begin capturing more and more of the growing pie that is global renewable energies investment.
…Clearly, the …
by Peter Harriman (ArgusLeader.com) The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe wants to be at the forefront of the next revolution in fuel production.
The tribal council last week unanimously approved signing a memorandum of understanding with EcoTech Fuels, …
by Ernest Lowe (Biofuels Digest) …several speakers in the morning’s plenary sessions invoked major statuatory and regulatory barriers to fulfilling this promise. There are conflicting definitions of biomass and what qualifies as a legitimate source or …
by Phillip Ewing (Navy Times) … Navy scientists will be able to use the Department of Agriculture’s knowledge of corn, algae and other biofuels to help develop the alternatives the fleet needs if it is …
This is the first of a series of 5 conventions aiming to provide guidance on the feasibility of sustainable bioenergy production on a large scale as well as implementation paths and policies that foster this …
