Article Archive for September 2010
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Breaking News! For the first time in any race at any venue in any country, all the entries using E85 are powered by cellulosic E85.
It is happening at Petit Le Mans at …
(FIS) Scientists are proposing the creation of methane gas from algae grown in great offshore farms to power adapted vehicles. A new GBP 5 million (EUR 6.1 million) UK and Irish joint project called BioMara disclosed …
(AgriMarketing/Purdue) Purdue University is receiving $1.59 million in federal funding for a project to conduct a sustainability assessment of energy crops for biofuels.
The funding is part of a $16.5 million renewable fuel initiative by the …
by Marshall Pruett (SpeedTV) It doesn’t use a battery. It draws technology from F1. It handles like an AWD car. And with an extra 160hp on tap, it simply flies. Meet Porsche’s racing hybrid.
…Porsche also …
by David Gold (RenewableEnergyWorld.com) …While stimulus supporters and the press love to focus on the selection of award winners for grants and loans, funds appropriated but sitting in the U.S. Treasury have zero potential to …
(Verenium) Verenium Corporation, a pioneer in the development and commercialization of high-performance industrial enzyme solutions, today announced that it will now market and sell DELTAZYM(R) GA L-E5, a high performance enzyme for the saccharification of liquefied …
(USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) Public comments sought on how USDA agencies can assist California’s biofuel’s industry
California’s USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and USDA Rural Development (RD), and the …
This conference brings thought leaders from industry, academia and government together to focus on the job creation and business development opportunities inherent in addressing the climate change challenge. Looking to the development of future technologies, …
(TAPPI) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Washington, D.C., USA, has awarded the College of William & Mary, WIlliansburg, Va., $500,000 to study various aspects of using wild aquatic algae as both biofuel feedstock and as …
(TAPPI) Researchers at the University of Technology in Twente, the Netherlands, have reportedly developed a new technique that enables large-scale production of biofuels without adverse effects on food supplies. According to a report this past …
Biorefinery Program at TAPPI PEERS Covers Spectrum of Latest Developments
A full Biorefinery Program at the TAPPI 2010 PEERS Conference, October 17 -20 in Norfolk, Va., USA, explores new and emerging advances in hemicellulose extraction for maximizing …
(CBS4Denver.com/AP) A Colorado State University study says turning algae into a biofuel is more environmentally friendly than the process for petroleum diesel or soy biodiesel.
The study based its conclusion on the complete process for each …
John Davis (DomesticFuel.com) …In an interview with USDA radio, Harry Baumes, Director of USDA’s Office of Energy Policy and New Uses says a new study shows that we’re getting more energy out of corn than what …
(Aviation Week) Special report includes latest innovations in biofuels, laminar flow, and electric propulsion
Much progress has been made in recent years in the development of biofuels made from microalgae, animal fat and other non-petroleum-based substances, and …
(Drayson Racing) One year ago, Drayson Racing debuted theNo.8 Drayson Racing Lola Coupé with Judd Power in the Le Mans Prototype One (LMP1) class of the Petit Le Mans. The clear mission of the move …
(Algae Industry Magazine) The analysis of the complete genome of Chlorella microalgae, a promising genus for biofuel production, has been completed by the Laboratoire Information Génomique et Structurale of CNRS. The Laboratory is currently heading an …
by Dafydd ab Iago (EuroPolitics) The European organisation of farmers’ associations Copa-Cogeca warned, on 24 September, that schemes to verify the sustainability criteria for biofuels and bioliquids may not be implemented by member states on …
by Roland Hiederer, Fabien Ramos, et al. (European Commission Joint Research Centre) This study implements a new methodology developed by the JRC IES and IE for estimating changes in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soil and …
(Argus Media) Swedish ethanol producer Sekab and Swedish technology specialist Taurus Energy will next month begin trialling the production of ethanol from corn waste.
The trials will take place at Sekab’s ethanol demonstration plant in Ornskoldsvik, northern …
by Joseph Bonyo (Daily Nation) …The plant that is expected to produce about 22 million litres of ethanol a year will be the latest addition to the firm’s portfolio.
According to the company, the ethanol will …
(US Environmental Protection Agency) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development, Paul Anastas, joins other science leaders to kick off the USA Science and Engineering Festival on September …
The 5th Annual Premier Cellulosic
Biofuels Industry-Building Event
Three Exceptional Meetings Dedicated to Finance & Investment Opportunities, Policy & Regulatory Solutions, Scaling Up to the Biorefineries of the Future and Establishing the Feedstock Supply Chain
This November, at …
by Kelsey Volkmann (St. Louis Business Journal) Midwest Biodiesel Products LLC, the only biodiesel refiner in the St. Louis area, plans to use a $300,000 loan from the St. Louis Business Development Fund and St. …
(Journal of Peasant Studies) In this collection we ask a number of questions emerging out of the new agrarian political economy created by the ‘biofuel complex’. Together the papers offer perspectives from political economy, political …
by Bert Hill (Ottawa Citizen) Construction will start this year on a biofuel plant in Malaysia that uses the technology of Ensyn Technologies, an Ottawa company.
A Malaysian government agency has announced that the plant will turn …
(Green Star Products) Green Star Products, Inc., announced it has signed a contract to build a biodiesel facility. This is the first of several contracts in conjunction with an ambitious Algae-to-Biodiesel project on the west coast.
Green …
(AP/KSPR) …Wesley Mueller, Southeast professor of agriculture, said sorghum grown at the university farm in the future could produce 500 gallons of ethanol per acre. These figures rapidly outpace corn, which generally yields 235 gallons …
by Nathalie Weinstein (Daily Journal of Commerce: Oregon) Large basins of fermented sugars are brewing at Trillium FiberFuels in Corvallis. But this brew isn’t beer; it’s cellulosic ethanol, a promising biofuel that the start-up company says …
by James Cartledge (BrighterEnergy.org) As the Senate debated and ultimately failed to pass reforms in the military this week, two Senators from Montana introduced legislation to boost markets for biofuel.
Sens. Max Baucus and John Tester’s bill, …
by Hilary Kramer (Forbes) …One Renaissance man in the thick of the green chemical and biofuel revolution is David Milroy. I knew Australian-born Milroy from his days as the trailblazer in the global telecom and …
(Dayton Business Journal) Ohio is preparing to dole out $8 million to boost manufacturers by subsidizing ethanol and biodiesel refining equipment purchases.
…Under the Advancing Biofuels Beyond the Basics program, companies can snag $500,000 to $1 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …With the collapse in markets, rising prices and the evaporation of the tax credits, condition were ripe for the end of biodiesel 1.0. By early 2010, only two major producers …
By Arpita Bhattacharyya, Andrew Light (Center for American Progress) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Tuesday an impressive collaboration at the Clinton Global Initiative that brings together U.S. agencies and the United Nations Foundation to …
(PRNewsWire) BlueFire Renewables, Inc., a company focused on changing the world’s transportation fuel paradigm through the production of renewable fuels from non-food cellulosic wastes, announced a contract with Cooper Marine & Timberlands to provide feedstock …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Phyco BioSciences, Inc., has announced an agreement with Hong Kong based China Biological Engineering, Limited to develop two projects in the Peoples Republic of China beginning this Fall. The first project is a …
by Dennis O’Brien (USDA/ARS) With the help of genetic materials from a cow’s rumen, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are developing new ways to break down plant fibers for conversion into biofuel.
To convert corn stover …
by Anna Austin (Biomass Magazine) A bill (AB 222) that would have expedited the introduction of new conversion technologies to produce green power and advanced biofuels from solid waste materials in California is officially dead, …
by Matt Hartwig (Renewable Fuels Association) A Bloomberg story today warned that deficit hawks in Congress – and potentially those that might be elected this fall – are targeting ethanol as an example of wasteful …
(Alpha Galileo) For the first time, researchers have taken an overall look at Swedish biofuels and analysed what impact they have on the environment, both in relation to one another and to the fossil fuel alternatives …
(IBTimes/Green Energy UK) More and more of the millions of flowers grown in Dutch greenhouses each year are receiving carbon dioxide from carbon capture and storage systems. As the leading European bioethanol producer, Abengoa Bioenergía …
(Oxford Resource Partners) Opportunity to Convert Reclaimed Mine Lands for Renewable Energy
Oxford Resource Partners, LP and Mendel Biotechnology, Inc. announced their collaborative agreement to develop a pilot project to produce Mendel’s proprietary Miscanthus varieties on land previously …
(Neste Oil Corporation) Neste Oil has applied for patents to cover technology developed to produce microbial oil from waste and residues with the help of various yeasts and molds for use as a feedstock for its …
(American Le Mans Series) Porsche and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón were guests Tuesday of the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as Washington DC got its first …
By Kerri Ebert (Midwest Producer) …Kansas State University agricultural economist David Lambert has been developing economic models focusing on how development of the cellulosic ethanol industry could help meet EISA targets of 16 billion gallons …
by IANR News Service (North Platte Bulletin) …Camelina is a yellow-flowering oilseed crop that grows one to three feet tall. It has some advantages as an industrial oil crop, said University of Nebraska-Lincoln scientist Ed …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) If moving genes around on a chromosome is your idea of a good time, meet Dr. Stephen Mayfield, Director of the San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology.
…Steve is now …
(Operation Free) Stock car racing fans at Kansas Speedway on September 30 will receive an unusual message from one of the cars speeding around the track: America needs to compete in the “Race to Energy …
by Kyle Sherry (Advanced Biofuels USA) The Bio-Based Chemicals East conference brought together members of the emerging biochemicals industry—world-class scientists, global agribusiness and chemical industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and governmental representatives—to create the connections necessary for …
(US Department of Agriculture) Harry Baumes, Acting Director of USDA’s Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, says a report that surveyed corn growers in 2005 and ethanol plants in 2008 indicates the net energy gain …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A mid-Atlantic company may have developed a solution for two of ethanol producers’ main problems: natural gas usage and how to increase demand for their product.
…LPP Combustion LLC may …
(AZo Materials) MemfoACT, a spin-off from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), has secured NOK 25 million to turn its award-winning membrane technology into a commercial product.
Based on research conducted at NTNU’s Department …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …We have spoken to farmers, local business owners, environmentalists, community development officials, engine developers, scientists, policy makers, producers, investors, lenders, blenders, wholesalers, retailers, and end users. We have visited development projects …
by Val Walton (The Birmingham News) Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos wrote a letter of support last week for the SouthEast Region Algae Consortium (SERAC) — a group of scientists, engineers and experts in biofuels and algae …
by James Cartledge (BrighterEnergy.org) Abengoa Bioenergy has secured 60% of the feedstocks it needs for its hybrid ethanol facility being developed in Hugoton, Kansas.
…The Hugoton facility is set to be the first commercial-scale installation of …
by Michelle Kautz (DomesticFuel) Students at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) are studying the flexible fuel vehicle (FFV) conversion process. As first reported on KMIT.com, by using FlexFuel U.S.’s system, the students are excited …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel) The Truman National Security Project has released its 2010 Fuel Scorecard and ethanol scores near the top of the list as viable fuel options for the future. Based on several factors that affect …
by Steve Clark (The Brownsville Herald) Photon8 Inc., Brad Bartilson’s Brownsville-based startup company, has managed to plow through some sticky issues in its quest for commercially feasible algae-to-biofuel production and is two years ahead of schedule …
(National Renewable Energy Laboratory) When you’ve lived in the same “home” for more than 20 years, a time comes when you need to upgrade your furnishings to keep current and spruce things up a bit. …
(Eco Periodicals) During a recent meeting in San Salvador, member countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA) weighed up the possibility of standardising criteria for assessing the quality of biofuels and their potential impact in …
(PRNewsWire) Disruptive technology makes possible to process all organic biomass into ethanol fuel.
E-Fuel is pleased to announce its latest innovation, the E-Fuel MicroFusion Reactor, a disruptive technology which empowers users to process all forms of …
Interview of BIO’s Brent Erickson by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …BE: I have been a little bit disappointed in the Obama administration. When he was in the Senate he as very pro-biofuels. He had to …
by Stephen Lacey (RenewableEnergyWorld) We often wonder when the next Google of clean energy will materialize. When will the lone inventor finally emerge from his garage to change the world and solve our energy problems? …
by Graham Warwick (AviationWeek) In just five years, the aviation industry’s decades-long reliance on petroleum-based fuels has been turned on its head. The future lies in fuels from sources that range from animal fat to microalgae. …
by John Parry (WeeklyTimesNow) Buyers of Holden’s new Commodore will be able to run it on 85 per cent ethanol. But they will have to drive to Melbourne or one of four other capital cities to …
(Des Moines Register) Biofuels producers don’t like to think of themselves as a cause of global warming, but that’s how they could be regulated under the Obama administration’s regulations on greenhouse gases.
The regulations, due to …
by Dean Irvine (CNN) …Wayne Arden, who has a background in technology and finance, and John Fox whose career has been in the renewable energy field, published a White Paper on producing and using biodiesel …
by Shanta Barley (The Guardian) TMO Renewables wins contract with US firm Fiberight using its ‘turbo-charged’ GM bacteria that convert rubbish into biofuels.
A British company that uses a genetically modified compost-heap bug to produce biofuel …
(PRNewswire) Contract Is Among First of Its Kind in U.S.
BlueFire Renewables, Inc., a company focused on changing the world’s transportation fuel paradigm through the production of renewable fuels from non-food cellulosic wastes, has announced an …
The Global Low Carbon Economic Wave has attracted attentions from almost all walks of life. Particularly, after the UNFCCC Copenhagen Conference 2009 (COP-15), the task forces are not just limited to the policy and economic …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Renewable Algal Energy, LLC of Kingsport, Tennessee, has announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded them $3,000,000 to develop “Algal Biodiesel via Innovative Harvesting and Aquaculture Systems.” READ MORE and …
Two of our country’s biggest challenges are economic growth and energy independence.
Both are solved through biofuels. Of the 36 billion gallons mandated by congress, 20 billion gallons must come from cellulosic and woody biomass derived …
(Algae Industry Magazine) The Sustainable Use of Renewable Fuels (SURF) consortium, which brings together Airbus, British Airways, Rolls-Royce, Finnair, Gatwick Airport, IATA and Cranfield University was announced at this week’s Aviation and Environment Summit in Geneva. …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Canada, Dr. Clive James, executive director of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), said that “In the next 50 years, the global population will consume …
(Old Dominion University) …During the past five years, researchers at Old Dominion University have devised ways to cultivate and harvest microscopic algae, and then to convert them into a biodiesel fuel by a proprietary one-step …
by Dave Dreeszen (Sioux City Journal) The state of Nebraska on Thursday awarded a half million dollars in infrastructure funds to assist a northeast Nebraska startup planning to turn an ethanol byproduct into plastics.
Laurel BioComposite, a …
(Los Angeles Times) …The Edison2 entry Very Light Car #98 from Virginia won $5 million in the mainstream class, running on E85 ethanol fuel. The aerodynamic 4-wheeled auto demonstrated the equivalent of 102.5 miles per …
(AFP) The head of the world’s biggest airline association, IATA, berated the oil industry and governments on Friday for investing “peanuts” in cleaner biofuels.
“Biofuels could break the tyranny of oil and lift millions from poverty along …
by Marc Katz (Dayton Daily News) …“Ethanol is not the (total) answer,” said John DiMartini, Ethanol Marketing Manager of The Andersons, which has a plant in Greenville. “But together (with other alternative fuels) we can …
by Jerry Fruin (Chair), Mark D. Stowers, Kelly Tiller (Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) The sustainable collection of biomass feedstocks is an important consideration for cellulosic ethanol production. The sustainable amount of biomass that …
by John Voelcker (GreenCarReports.com) We’ve written before about just how worried automakers are at proposals by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to increase the ethanol content of pump gasoline from 10 to 12 or even 15 …
Our congress brings together global private and public sector leaders to discuss renewable energies with a select and private list of attendees. Institutional leaders from around the world representing entire sectors will be available to share …
As the Energy Capital of the World, Houston is the leader in energy policy, ground-breaking energy technologies for oil and gas production, alternative energy development and energy conservation. GHP’s America’s Energy Future: Emerging Technologies & …
(Jakarta Globe/Bloomberg/Reuters/AFP) Singapore palm oil producer Golden Agri-Resources, part of Indonesia’s Sinar Mas Group, said on Friday that its subsidiary Golden VerOleum would form a $1.6 billion partnership with the government of Liberia in a …
by Joelle Dent (Biofuels Digest Asia) There’s blast furnace heat but little light so far in the debate on the UK biofuels target for 2020. Some advisors have urged that the current target of 10 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Documents filed with the SEC confirm what many voices in the industry have been saying about the Amyris, Gevo and PetroAlgae IPOs – they are “financing events” to fund these …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering equating biogenic carbon emissions with fossil fuel emissions under the Tailoring Rule, which requires the accounting and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions under the …
(Science Daily) New insight into the structure of switchgrass and poplars is fueling discussions that could result in more efficient methods to turn biomass into biofuel.
Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory …
by Natasha Odendaal (Engineering News) Local general aviation company Adept Airmotive has developed the first general aviation engine that is able to power a light aircraft with a range of environment-friendly alternative fuels, such as biofuels …
by David Lonardo & Benjamin Lazarus (American World Services Corporation/Biofuels Digest) …The country of Thailand, already one of the world’s leading agri-food exporters, believes it can attract investment in the advanced biofuel sector by providing …
by George Ford (SourceMedia Group News/Eastern Iowa Business) The Iowa Power Fund Board awarded a $2.9 million grant to a cellulosic ethanol plant in Blairstown.
Fiberight-Blairstown Operating LLC received the grant to demonstrate how municipal solid waste …
(Glycos Biotechnologies) Breakthrough Further Expands Industrial Biochemical Company’s Diversified Feedstock Platform Strategy
Glycos Biotechnologies, Inc. (GlycosBio), an emerging biochemical company pioneering metabolic engineering and microbiology innovations for the production of sustainable biochemicals, today announced it has …
by Cindy O’Connor (Advanced Biofuels USA) Report from a Washington DC, September 14, 2010 briefing sponsored by Food & Agricultural Trade Policy Council
With legislative work beginning on the next Farm Bill and new WTO rounds; the …
by Alex Morales (Bloomberg) Biofuels made from plant waste and municipal trash rather than food crops could replace more than half of gasoline used in the European Union by 2020, industry analyst Bloomberg New Energy Finance …
by John Davis (DomesticFuel) The next generation of biofuels must be developed in conjunction with advanced combustion engines, if there is to be long-term success of those biofuels. That word comes from researchers at the Sandia National …
by Angel Gonzalez (Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal) Norwegian oil major Statoil ASA (STO) has agreed to invest in a San Francisco Bay Area start-up to develop ethanol from seaweed, and to potentially commercialize the fuel in Norway …
(RenewableEnergyFocus.com) Following the discovery of the genes of two enzymes that toughen plants, researchers aim to breed non-food crops that require less processing, energy and chemicals to convert them into biofuel.
…Lead Researcher, Professor Paul Dupree, …
by Nicole Bleasdale (Biofuels Digest/AusBiotech) …The last of five integrated biofuels facilities funded under the Commonwealth Government’s National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) Program was officially opened on Friday 9 September 2010. Located at the …
(The Moscow Times) Russian Technologies will begin construction of the country’s first biofuel factory next spring, the state corporation’s chief, Sergei Chemezov, said Monday.
The factory — to be located in the Irkutsk region — will turn …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …The Navy’s long term strategy is to supply 50% of its energy from renewables by 2020.
How much is that? Well, statistics on energy consumption from the Department Energy Supply Center …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) Training a workforce for the algae production industry is going to be a Catch 22 type of situation. It will take a large community of workers with highly developed skills …



