Article Archive for February 2010
Biomass is no longer a long-range option for U.S. energy needs—it is a significant player. It has many near-term uses now, as seen in the ethanol and biodiesel industry, and holds hope as the largest …
by Phillip Fiorini (Purdue Newsroom) Student-led companies that develop consumer products from the byproducts of ethanol production and a tissue-healing technology that also reduces scarring took top honors at Purdue University’s 23rd annual $100,000 Burton …
(World Refining Association) We expect alternative fuels will have an important role to play as we look to diversify supply, improve energy security and reduce emissions. Looking at the alternative fuels produced today, biofuels account …
(Mytum & Selby Waste Recycling, Ltd) “The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like that sumach out by the road, or from apples, weeds, sawdust, and even municipal waste – almost …
(GeneSyst International, Inc.) This presentation from a 2009 Virginia Energy Summit explains, complemented by charts and graphs, GeneSyst’s combination of patents and proprietary technologies for converting waste to energy, utilizing the Gravity Pressure Vessel (GPV). Of particular interest may be …
by Ben A. Thorp (TAPPI BioEnergy Technologies Quarterly) (T)he modern pathways for cellulose biofuels are pyrolysis, gasification, acid hydrolysis, and enzymatic hydrolysis.
… Commercial efforts in cellulosic biofuels are new and data to compare a specific …
by Rob Fisher (Circle Track) Racers running alcohol-fueled engines should perk up when they hear the word biobutanol. Touted as an environmentally friendly advanced biofuel, biobutanol gained recent exposure when an American research and development company …
(Michelin) The USA’s American Le Mans Series endurance racing championship, which was first organised in 1999, has released its new slogan: ‘Global Leader, Green Racing’. Meanwhile, MICHELIN will continue to back the 2010 MICHELIN GREEN X …
by Robert M. Ames, Anthony Corridore, Edward Hirs, Paul W. MacAvoy (Yale Graduates Energy Study Group) The authors demonstrate that the United States profits handsomely in all circumstances by imposing an embargo on imports of foreign …
(SugarcaneBlog.com) European biotech giant Syngenta has set up partnership with Brazil’s Instituto Agronomico (IAC) to increase development of sugarcane varieties, particularly for the production of ethanol. READ MORE and MORE
by Brendan Coffey (Cabot Wealth Advisory) Lately, we’re seeing increasing strength in the shares of ethanol-related companies. Commodity broker Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) has built up its position as an ethanol refiner, building its own …
by Holly Jensen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) American Process Inc. (API), an Atlanta, Ga., based company, held a ribbon cutting ceremony this week at its pilot plant. It will utilize a trademarked process, called American Value …
(Advanced Biofuels USA) Contemplating the continued inability of the US to meet the biofuels and advanced biofuels production and sales expectations codified in the Renewable Fuels Standard, the Advanced Biofuels USA board passed a resolution …
by Robert E. Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) Since the provisions of the RFS were written into the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 without a realistic funding provision, RFS and RFS2 are, as …
The Ford F-Series Super Duty is the most powerful and fuel efficient for the 2011 model year, offering customers their choice of either gas or diesel engines
…B20 compatibility added for 2011 model year: The strict …
by James Kanter (New York Times) A European lobbying group weighed in Tuesday on a fierce debate over the environmental value of using algae to produce biofuels for vehicles.
The group, the European Algae Biomass Association, …
by John Skipper (Globe-Gazette) A company based in Clear Lake is turning waste and algae into renewable fuels.
Bud Jermeland, 51, president of Energae LP, said the primary focuses of his company are waste-based ethanol and …
by Mark (Corn Commentary) …The next issue can already be seen on the horizon and it can be seen clearly because it is not a “new” criticism. It is called the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax …
In response to a paper published by two Cornell University professors – a paper that is critical of the Environmental Protection Agency’s calculations that grain ethanol emits far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional gasoline …
A recent EPA announcement that corn-based ethanol achieves a 21 percent greenhouse gas reduction compared to gasoline is based on false accounting assumptions and could actually lead to more fossil fuel consumption, according to Cornell …
Gas money for your tank doesn’t grow on trees, but one day you might be filling up with fuel that does.
A team of researchers at the University of Maryland, College Park, and Bowie State University …
China’s poisonous jatropha shrub is showing promise as biofuel and could boost the country’s efforts to reduce dependency on imported crude oil.
In the past, farmers planted the poisonous perennial only as a barrier to ward …
(DTN Ethanol Center) President Barack Obama will continue championing biofuels as a job creator, said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack when he spoke to members of the Governors’ Biofuels Coalition on Monday. Vilsack is hopeful …
by Mark Fischetti (Scientific American) …But as more new and established companies examine how to scale up lab processes to commercial levels, scientists and engineers seem to be finding that standalone operations may not be …
by Joshua Kagan (GreenTechMedia) …Although biodiesel has many positive attributes, it is not immune from the criticisms leveled at first-generation ethanol, specifically the “food vs. fuel” debate. Biodiesel production uses at least 10% of the …
by Mikkel Pates (AgWeek) Need some help in deciding what to make into biofuels and what the government should be spending on it? If you’re a North Dakotan, you’ve hired Cole Gustafson to do some …
Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is calling on entrepreneurs and technology developers across Canada to submit Statements of Interests to the SD Tech Fund™, as SDTC opens its 17th round of funding.
“Investing in promising clean …
The national trade associations of the alternative fuels industry will be co-hosting an educational workshop with the Alabama Clean Cities Coalition. This workshop will cover many topics on all fuels, including fuel quality, infrastructure, available vehicles, …
The national trade associations of the alternative fuels industry will be co-hosting an educational workshop with the Virginia Clean Cities Coalition. This workshop will cover many topics on all fuels, including fuel quality, infrastructure, available …
The national trade associations of the alternative fuels industry will be co-hosting an educational workshop with the Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition. This workshop will cover many topics on all fuels, including fuel quality, infrastructure, …
The Alternative Fuels & Vehicles Conference + Expo 2010 (AF&V 2010) is the PREMIERE conference that covers it ALL– all the fuels, all the vehicles, all the incentive information – all in one stop.
In its …
(Speed-TV) Reigning American Le Mans Series LMP1 champions Patrón Highcroft Racing has formed a unique technical and sponsorship partnership with GE for the 2010 season. GE Capital has become one of the team’s sponsors for …
(AllAfrica.com) …The latest achievement which comes to us from Sfax, is the development of a new technique for extracting biodiesel from olive water (a black liquid formed primarily by water discharged from olives during oil …
(New Tang Dynasty Television) The kamani tree grows well throughout the coastal area in Yogyakarta, and produces abundant fruit. Traditionally, the fruit is used for cooking and firewood. But villagers in Yogyakarta are using it …
(PRInside.com) This summer, Butalco will use its proprietary new yeast technology to produce biofuel from agricultural waste in a pilot plant in Southern Germany. Butalco’s new microbial catalysts will enable up to 30% increased yields in …
by Niall O’Keeffe (FlightGlobal) Both of the major commercial airframers have joined forces with industry peers to pursue new biofuel research initiatives, reflecting an intensification of concern about future availability of alternative fuels in the …
“Changes in Gasoline IV” is the 2009 edition of the ongoing series of “Changes in Gasoline” manuals. The first manual, “Changes in Gasoline & the Automobile Service Technician,” was originally published in 1987. Numerous editions …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) At least one ethanol industry representative has been appointed to an expert work group attempting to assess the true carbon footprint of all fuel sources under the California’s proposed Low Carbon …
It is estimated that the global bioplastics marketis growing at more than 25% per year and expertspredict that bioplastic production will exceed 50-billion pounds per year by 2015.
This timely workshop will examine some of the …
(S)ays Professor Simon Turner, one of the University of Manchester researchers whose BBSRC-funded study is published in Development (Wednesday 10th February 2010), “Our work has identified the two genes that make plants grow outwards. The …
Researchers at the (Teesside) University’s Contaminated Land and Water Centre began the project in 2004 to see which plants could best be grown on brownfield sites as a way of improving unsightly blots on the …
(Environment News Service) The risk that biofuel crops will become invasive and outcompete native species is increasing as more advanced biofuel crops are planted, according to new research into this previously neglected but potentially costly …
The vision of bio economy keeps growing in today’s global economy. Use of renewable feedstock for biofuels and bio-based products has become imminent and substantially drawn public attentions and industrial investments. With favorable national energy …
(Renewable Energy Magazine) Albeit it hazy, news regularly filters out of China about the progress this country is making in using cassava as a raw material for producing bioethanol. The latest is that the Chinese …
by Oil Price (iStockAnalyst) …additives and substitutes such as biofuels will play an ever-increasing role by stretching beleaguered production quotas. As market forces and rising prices drive this technology to the forefront, one of the …
by Pete Davey (Advanced Biofuels USA) Currently many of the world’s chemicals originate from petroleum based sources, causing a major dependence on petroleum that encompasses more than transportation fuels. Some of the chemicals currently derived …
In an effort to support environmental efforts globally, the American Le Mans Series will join forces with American Forests to support its “dollar-a-tree” Global ReLeaf campaign.
Throughout the 2010 season, Series’ teams, manufacturers, corporate partners and …
The Mississippi Biomass and Renewable Energy Council invites you to examine ways in which renewable energy and energy effi ciency can be the drivers for economic development in Mississippi.
Who Should Attend?
Agricultural, forestry, environmental, academia, business, …
(The Hindu) Chemists at UC (University of California) Davis have developed a new process that enable oilseed crops such as safflower to be made into a fuel cocktail that could increase yields of bio-diesel by …
SG Biofuels, a sustainable plant oil company specializing in the development of Jatropha as a low-cost, sustainable source of oil, today announced the launch of JMax 100, a proprietary cultivar of Jatropha optimized for growing …
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA has come up with a new system for renewable identification number (RINs) that should be easier to use as well as cut down on the possibility …
(Biodiesel Magazine) U.S. Foodservice-San Francisco, the only green-certified broadline food distributor in California—one of only a handful across the country—is now running its entire delivery fleet on B5.
All of the San Francisco division’s 136 tractors …
Palm oil from South-East Asia, sugarcane from Brazil and sweet sorghum in China are the most sustainable energy crops at present. Maize from the US and wheat in Europe have a much more negative environmental …
(CleanTechPRWire) DMC Green, Inc., announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded DMC Green two separate grants to support their on-going green fuel infrastructure projects in California. The two grants will help fund E85 …
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Advanced Biofuels USA is perhaps the only biofuels-related organization keeping an eye on biofuels in racing with a page describing various projects that promote and encourage innovative, green racing, …
by Michael Berenis (Tampa Sports Car Examiner) The world of green racing fuels is about to change! Eddie Bello is the world record holder for fastest Porsche in the Texas Mile. In 2008, he set …
(Inside Indiana Business) Sales and marketing arm of ARCA West, Itzen Media officially announced that Ignite Racing Fuel will become the title sponsor of the ARCA West Series. Ignite Racing Fuel will be replacing previous …
Our industry produced a record 10.6 billion gallons of ethanol in 2009. Efficiency enhancements and innovations in production combined with improved farming techniques allowed us to achieve this record with existing corn acreage and reduced …
“Our current industrial model of agriculture is only possible because of cheap fossil fuels,” said Francis Thicke, a candidate for Iowa secretary of Agriculture. “We’re nearing the end of our cheap fossil-fuel era.”
Laura Krouse, the …
(EurActiv.com) Industry is on track to ensure “carbon-neutral growth” in the aviation sector from 2020, but strengthened European Union support for research and development (R&D) is vital to help manufacturers deliver the green technologies required, …
(ScienceBlog) University of Central Florida professor Henry Daniell has developed a groundbreaking way to produce ethanol from waste products such as orange peels and newspapers. His approach is greener and less expensive than the current …
Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Mississippi, MSU professor Brian Baldwin provided an update on feedstock research at the MSU’s Sustainable Energy Research Center, where a focus on biofuels grasses has produced the recently licensed Freedom …
by Adam Bell (The Journal) A new partnership between Edinburgh Napier University and City University Hong Kong (CityU) will see the opening of the first Biofuel Research Centre in the Chinese city. The centre in …
by Nick Chambers (Gas2.0) This morning I wrote a piece about how GM is lamenting the lack of E85 fueling stations in the United States. But the other interesting tidbit of information in there was …
(GreenAirOnline.com) Although not commercially viable yet, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) offers a strong financial, as well as environmental, incentive for the adoption of jet biofuels, says a new report by EQ2. Based …
At the Renewable Energy Technology Conference & Exhibition (RETECH 2010) the Volvo Group announced its first academic partnership in North America. Penn State was chosen as part of Volvo’s Academic Partner Program, which was launched …
Ricardo today announced the formation of a consortium that is open to automakers, Tier 1 suppliers, oil companies, additive manufacturers and government agencies, with the aim of evaluating the impact of biofuels on current and …
by Jessica Leber (ClimateWire New York Times) Many cellulosic fuel producers are working with enzymes to break down tough, inedible plant parts, such as corncobs or switch grass, into simpler sugars that can be fermented …
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) …(S)aid Sarah Dunham of the EPA, the EPA received real data during the comment period that helped shape the rule, including indirect land use change (ILUC). “I can safely …
by Lisa Hare (Yankton Press & Dakotan) The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent final ruling on the national Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) was met with mixed responses by farm state politicians and organizational leaders.
“This is …
by Philip H. Steele (Mississippi State University) This presentation explains the work being done by the Forest Products Department, Forest and Wildlife Research Center at MSU to develop bio-oil and drop-in biofuels using a fast …
(NASC Online) General Motors Co. is asking for more U.S. ethanol stations to help fuel its growing fleet of hybrid vehicles, Reuters reports. The car maker is producing more vehicles able to run on ethanol-gasoline …
by Peter Sur (West Hawaii Today) A new biodiesel plant that will produce 2.6 million gallons a year is planned for Keaau. …Now an undeveloped property, a little more than a year from now the …
by Sam A. Rushing (Biofuels Digest) …It is increasingly important to acquire revenues from the sale of CO2 as one of the primary co-products from fermentation and biofuels; plus depending upon destination and mode of utilization, …
Over the last two decades, the South has had remarkable success building an automotive industry, with 11 foreign auto plants, continued investment from American companies, and a large parts manufacturing base. But the industry is …
by Marshall Pruett (SPEEDTV.com) … The biggest affront Gurney sees with the current version of an IndyCar is the singular thinking that goes into its design. Open competition has become a thing of the past, …
by Will Thurmond (Biofuels Digest) The global biofuels industry is entering a new decade of emerging opportunities and considerable challenges in reaching 2020 targets. The global economic recession is already shaking out many of the …
by Eric Weshoff (Greentechmedia) …With a longer “residence time” and a constant temperature of 1425 degrees C, their split-cycle engine can make carbon fuels “virtually clean.” The engine certainly emits CO2, although only half as …
(TheBioenergySite) Daimler AG has started a new project for the cultivation of the biodiesel raw material jatropha in the south of India and the seedlings for the first 100 hectares have been planted.
The company …
by John Vidal (The Guardian) EU companies have taken millions of acres of land out of foodproduction in Africa, central America and Asia to grow biofuels for transport, according to development campaigners. The consequences of …
by Gerard Wynn (Reuters) British Airways will start sourcing a small portion of its jet fuel from municipal waste from 2014, under a deal with U.S.-based biofuel company Solena Group, the two companies announced on …
by Gregor Heard (FarmOnline) THEY’RE back – after being flavour of the month in the middle years of the decade, renewable fuels were knocked out of the water over the past three years, and consigned …
ZeaChem Inc., a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into fuels and chemicals, today announced it has produced bio-based acetic acid at the purity concentration level of a salable product. Acetic acid …
Novozymes launches the first commercially viable enzymes for production of biofuel from agricultural waste. Breakthroughs in enzyme technology enable cellulosic biofuel as a competitive alternative to gasoline.
Novozymes’ new Cellic® CTec2 enzymes enable the biofuel industry …
by Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian) The brains trust of the Pentagon says it is just months away from producing a jet fuel from algae for the same cost as its fossil-fuel equivalent.
The claim, which comes …
(New York Times) letters to editor Re “Sensible Rules for Ethanol” (editorial, Feb. 11): While American corn farmers are pleased the Environmental Protection Agency recognizes that corn ethanol offers significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared …
Jonathan Fahey (Forbes.com) It is becoming ever more apparent that there is one big squishy variable in the calculations that determine whether biofuels help the planet or help destroy it. That variable is called the …
by Douglas Fischer (Scientific American) The Obama administration last week gave the green light to corn ethanol as a low-carbon renewable fuel – in apparent contradiction to California’s declaration last summer that the biofuel’s carbon …
by Diane Krieger Spivak (Post-Tribune) Lake County (Indiana) Solid Waste Management Commission chief Jeff Langbehn defended a planned $256 million bioethanol plant Friday before the Lake County Advancement Committee.
…Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez questioned whether the …
by Tom Humphrey (Knoxnews.com) A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit by the American Petroleum Institute that sought to invalidate North Carolina’s “ethanol blending” statute, which is similar to a 2009 law passed by the …
by Dennis O’Brien (Agricultural Research Service) U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their colleagues at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute announced that they have completed sequencing the genome of a kind …
Garbrook introduced the 2010 Advanced Biofuels Resource (ABR), an upgraded version of its online knowledgebase that summarizes scientific, technical, commercial, environmental, and policy information on all generations of biofuels. The enhanced product features the US …
by Henry A. Stephens (TCPalm.com) …“Our project is a brand-new opportunity with new technology,” Tex Carter, vice president and chairman of INEOS New Planet BioEnergy LLC, said Thursday. “We’re turning garbage into ethanol.”
…The company has …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … A few years back, when reporting on field work at the Sustainable Power complex in Baytown, Texas — the hoots from a significant section of the Digest readership reverberated …
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Certificate Date: July 26-30, 2010 | Tuition: $3,900 | Continuing Education Units (CEUs): 2.9
To have a measurable impact on energy security, greenhouse gas emissions, and alleviate the food-fuel competition, biofuel production …
Genencor, a division of Danisco A/S, introduced Accellerase® DUET at the Renewable Fuels Association’s 15th Annual National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, Fla. This product is the latest generation in the company’s line of enzymes used …
As global demand for power, heating and transportation fuels continues to grow and fossil fuel resources become scarcer and more expensive to extract biofuels play an ever greater role in meeting our energy needs.
Focusing on …
(BioBased News) 1. Bioplastics are a family of different resin types, which are either bio-based or compostable or both. Bioplastics add new properties and performance characteristics to the huge family of plastics. READ MORE
(OPIS) …Multi-state non-refining retailers such as Quik Trip, WaWa and RaceTrac will remain — for now anyway — the least encumbered and most advantaged part of the supply chain where biofuel regulation is concerned. Splash …
(OPIS) The New York Times is praising U.S. EPA for including the international indirect land use change (ILUC) calculation in its lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction threshold as part of the finalized expanded renewable fuels standard …
