Article Archive for July 2010
(Renewable Energy World) The research and consulting firm Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reports that subsidies for fossil energies are far outweighing those for renewables. While many governments are putting support behind clean energy, the …
(Iogen) Iogen July 22, 2010, announced that its cellulosic ethanol fuelled UK-based Drayson Racing to its first American Le Mans Series Michelin® Green X® Challenge victory of the 2010 race season.
“Winning the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge is one …
by Katie Allen (The Guardian) Leaked report says wealthy investors are threatening local resources as they buy up farmland to gain on commodity prices
A leaked World Bank report into investors from rich nations buying up …
Now in its 27th year, the FEW provides the global ethanol industry with cutting-edge content and unparalleled networking opportunities in a dynamic business-to-business environment. The FEW is the largest, longest running ethanol conference in the …
The 4th annual International BIOMASS Conference & Expo will take place May 3-5, 2011, at the America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri. This dynamic event – widely known as BIOMASS – unites industry professionals from …
With an exclusive focus on biomass utilization in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Nevada, the Pacific West BIOMASS Conference & Trade Show is a dynamic regional offshoot of Biomass Magazine’s International BIOMASS Conference & Expo, the largest …
by James Paton (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) Caltex Australia Ltd., the nation’s biggest oil refiner, called for increased government funding to spur biofuels development as part of an effort to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and bolster energy security.
Australia has …
by Travis Herrmann (TheAuburn Plainsman) Auburn University researchers have patented a new process for producing ethanol from paper (m)ill waste materials through biological conversion.
With research funded by the Masada Resource group, the new conversion process …
by Alex Morales (Bloomberg) Global subsidies for fossil fuels dwarf support given to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power and biofuels, Bloomberg New Energy Finance said.
Governments last year gave $43 billion to $46 …
(New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment) The purpose of this report is to take a fresh look at biofuels – to think strategically about how they might lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and thus …
by Prabha Jagannathan (Economic Times) In a significant implication for the country’s biofuel policy, a specialised arm of the United Nations has warned that the developing countries should not buy blindly into the ‘jatropha for …
(Market Watch) Biomagnetics Diagnostics Corp., a developer of revolutionary diagnostic systems and other innovative technologies, today announced that Zhuhai Oil Energy Science and Technology Ltd. has significantly increased its biofuel production capacity at its Guangdong …
by Tiffany Hsu (Los Angeles Times) Big Oil: the patron saint of biofuels?
Petroleum companies — and their pocketbooks — have been working their way into the biofuels industry in recent years. Wisconsin-based Virent Energy Systems Inc. …
(Growth Energy) The New York Times’ July 29th Editorial “Energy Subsidies – Good and Bad,” mischaracterizes Growth Energy’s proposal to open the American transportation fuels market and fails to acknowledge the technological advancements that have made …
(Progressive Automotive X Prize) Nine Vehicles from Seven Teams Continue in their Pursuit of a Multimillion Dollar Prize for Super Fuel-Efficient Cars
The Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE, a $10 million competition to inspire a new …
(LS9) Production Capabilities Successfully Demonstrated at Pilot Scale.
LS9, Inc., the Renewable Petroleum Company(TM), today announced in Science magazine a major scientific breakthrough that will significantly lower the cost of producing “drop-in” hydrocarbon fuels that are …
by Jim Lane (Biomass Digest) Following the all-but-certain defeat of a renewal of the ethanol tax credit, left-wing environmental activists, confederated into the National Anti-Biomass Incineration and Forest Protection Campaign, are making a move to destabilize …
by Alvin L. Moser (St. Augustine Record) Editor: The editorial in the July 27 issue of The St. Auustine Record from The Chicago Tribune misses the whole point of adding ethanol to gasoline. Of course …
(OriginOil) Shipment of OriginOil Quantum Fracturing System to MBD Energy Triggers Payment
OriginOil, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor to petroleum, …
by Ashley Bray (Minnesota Daily) The University (of Minnesota)’s Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering is working to develop sustainable, domestic biomass solutions.
…The University’s Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering — a division of the …
by Joe Ruff (Omaha World Herald) It’s time for the federal government to move beyond offering tax credits to companies that combine ethanol with gasoline, said the CEO of the fourth-largest ethanol producer in the country.
Instead, …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel) The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is far from over on discrediting biofuels as part of their mandated policy known as the Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS). For the past year, …
by Dennis O’Brien (USDA Agricultural Research Service) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have developed a new tool for deciphering the genetics of a native prairie grass being widely studied for its potential as a biofuel. The …
(Biodiesel Magazine) … He (Steve Howell, technical director for the National Biodiesel Board and president of the Marc-IV consulting firm) mentioned the disadvantage from this model, however, is that the fuel properties of biodiesel made …
(Automotive Fleet) Rothsay Biodiesel, a division of Maple Leaf Foods Inc., said that its program to fuel its own fleets with biodiesel blends reduced carbon output by approximately 700 metric tons in 2009 — the …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) National security is at the root of the nearly seventy-year old Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the world’s leading scientific research institutions. While originally organized for a single purpose: …
by Dennis Sherer (Times Daily) The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is changing the driving habits of some north Alabama motorists.
Since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April and dumped millions of gallons of …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … IEA Bioenergy, part of the International Energy Agency, has published its report “Status of 2nd Generation Biofuels Demonstration Facilities in June 2010”, as a report to IEA Bioenergy Task 39.
The 126-page …
by Dina Bacovsky, Michal Dallos, Manfred Worgetter (International Energy Agency Task 39) Driven by the need to partly replace fossil transport fuels and by food versus fuel and highest possible GHG mitigation considerations, large efforts are …
by John M. Urbanchuk (ENTRIX/The Hill) In his July 27 blog posting “The economics of U.S. ethanol policy” Professor Bruce Babcock of Iowa State University reports the results of new research suggesting that allowing the current …
At a White House Forum on Energy Security July 27, 2010, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of …
(Algae Industry Magazine)
Rosetta Green, a company specializing in the identification of unique genes in plants and algae for the cleantech and plant biotech industries, and Seambiotic, a company specializing in the growth of algae at …
by Andrew Pollack (New York Times) …“We’ve probably engineered over 4,000 strains,” said Mike Mendez, a co-founder and vice president for technology at Sapphire Energy, the owner of the laboratory. “My whole goal here at …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel) A new technology may aid in the development of pipeline infrastructure to move ethanol. MidContinental Chemical Company, Inc. has announced a new fuel ethanol additive designed to combat stress corrosion cracking …
by Larisa Brass (KnoxvilleBiz.com) As its biorefinery demonstration plant churns toward one day generating automobile fuel from grass, Genera Energy is beginning construction of what will effectively be the staging grounds for that process.
This week the …
(Renewable Fuels Association) In its editorial (“It’s time to end the excessive subsidies for corn ethanol,” 7/24/2010), the Post failed to provide its readers any context, misled them about the nature of U.S. ethanol production, …
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) Some day, hay could be fuel for more than horses and cattle. Some Agriculture Department scientists say alfalfa could be a feedstock for ethanol fuel and offset some of …
(EurekAlert) Policies needed to address potential conflicts, but report views bioenergy as crucial to ‘unlocking Africa’s latent potential’.
Crops can be produced for bioenergy on a significant scale in west, eastern and southern Africa without doing …
(Piedmont Biofuels) …The Enzymatic Biodiesel pilot plant was developed in partnership with the Biofuels Center of North Carolina, Novozymes, and the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation. This is the first pilot plant of its kind …
(Süd-Chemie AG) Süd-Chemie AG, one of the world´s leading specialty chemical companies for catalysts and adsorbents based in Munich is to build Germany´s largest plant to date for the production of climate-friendly, second-generation bioethanol, so-called cellulose …
(CORE Biofuel, Inc.) CORE BioFuel Inc., a Canadian biofuel company that is commercializing an advanced biomass to gasoline production process, today announced the engagement of RECAT Technologies (www.recattechnologies.com) to complete a pilot of our gasoline production …
(Air Transport Association) The Air Transport Association of America (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, announced the official launch of the “Farm to Fly” partnership initiative with private industry, federal agencies and …
by Katie Fehrenbacher (Earth2Tech) Wow, for a biofuel startup few have heard of, KiOR has raised a whole lot of money. According to an amended filing, KiOR, has now raised a whopping $110 million from …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Florida, Biofuels Digest celebrates its third birthday…After 3 years, and 10,000 articles, we salute all of you – the producers, financiers, policymakers, scientists, consumers and supporters of biofuels, for …
(US Forest Service) Roadmap Includes Scorecard System for Rating Effectiveness in Dealing With Climate Change Initiatives Across Forest Service
The USDA Forest Service today announced the release of the National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change …
BioWise 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 …
by Shane Cohn (Ventura County Reporter) For a nation seeking less dependence on foreign oil, Silvas Oil Company has a solution for commuters and truckers passing through Ventura. The Oxnard-based company has officially opened the only …
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Green Plains Renewable Energy Inc. is moving to Phase II with its algae project at one plant and planning to install corn oil extraction technology at all six of …
by Paul Spackman (CheckBiotech) …”Ethanol production accounts for around 20% of cane harvested and 3% of beet and I’m cautiously optimistic those proportions will increase,” (the International Sugar Organization’s Peter Barron) said.
…While feed wheat rather …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Renewergy Corporation, of Erie, PA, has begun cultivating algae with its patent pending Aeroponic Algal Culture system at the Erie Wastewater Treatment Facility. The system is designed to encourage and enhance the growth of naturally …
(Dead Tree Edition) The Internal Revenue Service may have handed U.S. pulp and paper companies a multibillion-dollar gift by ruling that black liquor produced in 2009 is eligible for an even more lucrative tax credit …
(PR Newswire) AdvanceBio Systems LLC, a Cincinnati-based technology company, has been awarded a contract by The Pennsylvania State University to supply a Bench Scale Hydrolyzer System for its Shared Fermentation Facility located in University Park, Pennsylvania. …
by Jay Heflin (The Hill)
A new study by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development shows a reduction in the ethanol tax credit proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee and removing tariffs on …
by Lisa Gibson (Biomass Magazine) Both Abengoa Bioenergy and Poet LLC hope to have the first commercial cellulosic ethanol plant in the world and expect to begin operation in the next few years.
Poet’s Emmetsburg, Iowa, …
by Tiffany Kaiser (Daily Tech) Inbicon, a developer of biomass refineries in Kalundborg, Denmark, has turned wheat straw into cellulosic ethanol and is calling it “The New Ethanol.” To mass produce this ethanol, the company …
(Dresser Wayne) Dresser Wayne, a global innovator of fuel dispensers and technologies, announced today that its Reliance® E-Series fuel dispensers for retail and fleet applications received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification for dispensing ethanol up to E85. …
by Brooke Coleman (Biofuels Digest/New Fuels Alliance) Securing Foreign Oil is the title of Adam Liska’s and Richard Perrin’s recent article in Environment Magazine detailing why military emissions should be included in the carbon intensity (CI) …
(University of Tennessee) Study includes multiple varieties of switchgrass.
Midsummer is nearly here, and the University of Tennessee Biofuels Initiative (UTBI) is closely watching how more than 1000 acres of newly planted, improved varieties of switchgrass …
by Jonathan Williams (Algae Industry Magazine) …(O)one of the major roadblocks on the road to a hydrogen economy is the cost to produce hydrogen. If hydrogen is to become a viable fuel source, it will …
By Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine) The U.S. EPA has released a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) for its recent modeling of the canola oil biodiesel pathway. As of March 26, when the EPA officially announced …
by Brian McNeill (The Daily Progress) All eyes will be on the “Very Light Car” — designed by the Charlottesville-based team Edison2 — at the finals of the multimillion-dollar X Prize competition to build a vehicle …
by Alex Morales (Bloomberg) British Airways Plc and Solena Group Inc. plan to build a waste-to-biofuels plant in east London, creating 1,200 jobs, sending less trash to the landfill and reducing jet emissions of greenhouse gases.
Solena, …
by James R. Johnson (Grand Forks Herald) Officials dedicate GF’s first blender pumps.
The first blender pumps in Grand Forks were formally dedicated Tuesday afternoon before more than a dozen supporters at the Valley Dairy store at …
by Dee-Ann Durbin (Bloomberg Businessweek) U.S. automakers say they’re on track to increase the number of vehicles that can run on fuel-saving ethanol, even as the ethanol industry falters and other technologies like electric vehicles capture …
(New Generation Biofuels) Renewable fuels provider New Generation Biofuels Holdings, Inc., July 21, 2010 announced that it has filed for a patent application for their new pyrolysis oil based biofuels.
“I believe that this is truly a …
(Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) By imaging the cell walls of a zinnia leaf down to the nanometer scale, energy researchers have a better idea about how to turn plants into biofuels.
In a paper appearing online …
The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) is an international initiative coordinated by the Energy Center at EPFL in Lausanne that brings together farmers, companies, non-governmental organizations, experts, governments, and inter-governmental agencies concerned with ensuring the …
by Sreenivas Ghatty (Commodity Online) …Pongamia, a plant producing non-edible oilseeds, has the potential to become one of the cheapest feedstocks that can be produced in most of the tropical and sub tropical regions of …
(US Department of Energy) California Institute of Technology to lead team in partnership with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and other California institutions
As part of a broad effort to achieve breakthrough innovations in energy production, U.S. …
(US Department of Energy) $106 Million Recovery Act Investment will Reduce CO2 Emissions and Mitigate Climate Change
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today the selections of six projects that aim to find ways of converting …
(Grainnet) The Green Scissors campaign, a diverse coalition of taxpayer, environmental and consumer groups, released July 22 Green Scissors 2010, a report highlighting government programs and subsidies that are wasteful to taxpayers, harmful to the environment …
(TheBioenergySite.com) Waterland supply its Jatropha Oil for use as feedstock for aviation fuel.
Waterland International signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with a leading supplier of biofuels for the aviation industry.
Waterland will be making its first delivery of …
by Stacy Feldman (SolveClimate) Industry rips failing DOE loan program on the heels of EPA’s decision to slash cellulosic biofuel mandate.
…EPA announced it expects 5 to 17.1 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol to be blended into …
by Colin Bird (Cars.com)
Last week, we pointed out a new mobile phone application that tracks recently recalled autos or tires, and this week we’ve found another useful tool. The Department of Energy’s new alternative-fuel locator …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel) A pipeline for ethanol from the Midwest to the East Coast is a viable project, if certain conditions are met, according to a report by the Department of Energy (DOE).
In the …
by Adam J. Liska and Richard K. Perrin (Environment Magazine) Military operations are major industrial activities that use massive amounts of fuel and materials that significantly contribute to climate change. In this article, we assert …
(Novozymes) …Relying on agricultural and forestry residues and waste as feedstock, advanced biofuels can spur rural growth, promote job creation, increase energy security and save up to 90% CO2 emission.
“Technology for advanced biofuels exists, but …
(Renewable Fuels Association) The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and Protec Fuel are proud to announce the expanded availability of E85 in South Florida at two Twin Oil Sunoco retail stations.
The Twin Oil fueling stations, each branded …
(Business Standard) Minister for large and medium industries Murugesh Nirani inaugurated the bio-diesel park which has been set up at the the Karnataka State Women’s University campus in Bijapur.
…This unit will work as a bio-diesel …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Two new data points have been introduced. A Congressional Budget Office report on the ethanol tax credit, and a report from Bruce Babcock et al at Iowa State, funded by …
(Times of India) Experts feel India must capitalize on biofuels.
At a workshop on ‘Research opportunities in biofuels’, chairman of Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Prof J Srinivasan said there should be a fundamental difference in …
by Tom Fudge (KPBS) The San Diego Biofuels Initiative has gotten a $4 million state grant to train biofuel workers.
Most biofuel produced today is corn-based ethanol, but several San Diego companies are working to convert algae …
by Bruce A. Babcock, Kanlaya J. Barr, Miguel Carriquiry (Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, Iowa State University) The U.S. ethanol industry is lobbying hard for an extension of existing ethanol import tariffs and blenders …
The US Congress has mandated an aggressive expansion of cellulosic and advanced biofuels, through the latest Renewable Fuel Standard (RFSII) and other measures. Ethanol will remain a substantial component of the US fuel supply, but …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association, the Environmental Working Group, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the American Meat Institute, and several members of congress are among …
(BusinessWire) $25,000 for Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering
The Donaldson Foundation, a long time supporter of the University of Minnesota, announced today the establishment of an endowed scholarship for the Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering (BBE) …
by Hembree Brandon (Delta Farm Press) “We see a lot of potential in Freedom giant miscanthus — it’s the most promising of the hundreds of miscanthus cultivars we’ve evaluated over the years, and it’s light years ahead …
by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) Background At the request of New Mexico Senator Jeff Bingaman (D), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently produced a superficial and misleading report on US government financial subsidies for the …
(Washington State University) A major Washington State University effort to develop aviation bio-fuel is underway with the announcement of a strategic initiative called the “Sustainable Aviation Fuels Northwest” project; the first of its kind in the …
(PR-USA.net) Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger announced today that the department is now accepting applications through the state’s $6 million Alternative Fuel Incentive Grant program, or AFIG, for homegrown fuel projects throughout Pennsylvania.
“The AFIG program helps …
(KCAUTV) …SDSU Professor Basil Dalaly (duh-LAHL’-lee) is experimenting with ways to reuse the enzymes by chemically attaching them to glass beads, and then using the beads multiple times.
Enzymes can account for as much as $1 …
(BIOFerm) Cedar Grove Composting announced today that it is working with BioFerm Energy Systems, a German-based clean energy generation company owned by The Viessmann Group, to integrate anaerobic digestion into its composting process. The proposed technology …
(Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc.) Bion Environmental Technologies, Inc. (OTC BB: BNET) today confirmed its participation at a public issues forum on July 14, hosted by SUNY Oswego’s Office of Business and Community Relations at their …
(Sidney Morning Herald) …Primary Industries Minister Tim Mulherin has released the government’s discussion paper on plans for the state’s biofuel and bioproduct industry on Friday.
Mr Mulherin said the US, Europe and Brazil dominated the international bio-industries …
by Andrew Willis (Bloomberg Businessweek) EU and Brazilian leaders are set to announce a new “triangular co-operation” initiative, under which they will aim to work together in some of the world’s poorest countries, but NGOs say …
by Josie Garthwaite (Earth2Tech) Cello Energy, a startup run by Alabama’s former ethics chairman and backed by Khosla Ventures that has been beset by production delays and fraud allegations, still ranks among the companies that the …
(FlightGlobal) In the run-up to Farnborough both of the major commercial airframers have launched new initiatives aimed at bringing the prospect of a low-carbon, biofuel-powered aviation industry closer to reality, amid a sharpening awareness of …
by Gerald Traufetter (Der Spiegel) There are plans within the aviation industry to replace kerosene with biofuel derived from algae. The new fuel comes with a surprising benefit: Planes will be able to fly farther …
(GreenAir Online) The Pacific Northwest could become a global hub for the development of aviation biofuels following the announcement of a strategic initiative by local aviation interests. Three airports – Seattle-Tacoma International, Spokane International and …
by Jim Lane (Biotech Digest) This past April, ARPA-E announced a new grant round, and the largest single award in the round, $6 million, went to a group led by OPX Biotechnologies, in partnership with the …
