Article Archive for October 2010
by Charles Lane (The Washington Post) …The pitch is lyrical, almost religious. It asks consumers to make an economic and technological leap of faith – just as both GM and the firm’s biggest backer, the …
Biofuel industry faces new challenges in both technology and regulation side in order to balance the production and the climate change. Global biofuel production is starting to become a top priority for everybody and has …
by Bob Dinneen (The Hill/Renewable Fuels Association) Given the latest news from two government reports, we need to start changing the “drill baby drill” chant to “distill baby distill.” One study, from the Department of Energy’s …
(Renewable Fuels Association) Today, PMAA and RFA joined forces to urge their members to limit E-15 sales to Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) until regulations governing the fuel are finalized and implemented. The following is the …
(The Economist) Biofuels are back. This time they might even work.
MAKE something people want to buy at a price they can afford. Hardly a revolutionary business strategy, but one that the American biofuels industry has, to …
By Linda Brozyna (Great Lakes BioEnergy Research Center) For most, the ideal summer vacation does not include donning lab goggles, performing hands on field research or analyzing data. The teachers who participated in the 2010 Great Lakes …
BioBased Chemicals Europe: Building the Value Chain will be the first event in Europe to systematically frame the formative industry from a complete value chain perspective. This event will present a comprehensive view with the …
Penn State’s Biomass Energy Center sponsors this annual series of advanced short course training opportunities for emerging bioenergy topics. National and international experts in biomass energy are brought together to deliver the latest developments in …
by Joelle Dent (Biofuels Digest Asia) …On the one hand, the EU position to allow import of uncertified Malaysian palm biodiesel, but withhold EU subsidies, is not clear or comprehensive enough. On the Asian side, …
(The Star) The European Union Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED) and its sustainability criteria will not affect Malaysia’s palm oil exports to the EU market for consumer products like food, cosmetics and detergents, according to ambassador …
by Peter Murphy (Reuters) Sugar cane ethanol pioneer Brazil, which touts the efficiency and environmental qualities of its biofuel, could soon begin making it from less-efficient corn to soak up excess grains in remote areas.
The combined …
(Growth Energy) For the November/December issue of Washington Monthly magazine, Growth Energy Co-Chair General Wesley K. Clark wrote an in-depth examination of the costs of our nation’s addiction to foreign oil, and the opportunity for ethanol …
by Tom Philpott (Gist) …Not surprisingly, according to a Reuters account of Vilsack’s speech, the USDA chief barely mentioned corn ethanol. Instead, he fixated on “assistance, from field to filling station, to bring next-generation biofuels …
by Miyuki Iiyama and James Onchieku (SciDev) It sounds too good to be true: a biofuel crop that grows on semi-arid lands and degraded soils, replaces fossil fuels in developing countries and brings huge injections of cash …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Pike Research released a report projecting the growth of algal fuel production to only 61 million gallons per year by 2020. Interestingly, the Pike Group projected an overall value of $1.3 …
(Rentech, Inc.)
‘Eureka! Diesel Drives the Future’ drive raised awareness with California political leaders, consumers on 1,000-mile drive
The journey was a crowning moment for the Audi A3 TDI as the ‘2010 Green Car of the Year®’
Two …
(US Biofuels Exchange) The US Biofuels Exchange, “the US-BX”, has opened today for live Ethanol and Biodiesel trading and will offer free trading on all listings posted before January 1, 2011.
The US-BX’s proprietary “two-sided” trading …
by Dr. Christopher Wright (Research Engineer, Idaho National Laboratory) Dr. Wright’s presentation describes his current project on the creation of a mobile unit to preprocess bales of cellulosic feedstock into a form that can be utilized by …
by Dr. Theodore Wegner (Assistant Director, Forest Products Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service) Dr. Wegner begins with an interesting profile of the demand for advanced biofuels, and the different pathways to produce biofuels from cellulosic …
by Dr. J. Richard Hess (Biomass Program Technology Manager, Idaho National Laboratory) Dr. Hess details the biomass attributes that impact the nature of and cost of feedstock preparation, biochemical conversion, and thermochemcal conversion, along with general …
by Dr. Barbara Wells (President and Chief Executive Officer, Arborgen) Arborgen is an industry leader in tree production and improvement, and is well situated in the market to meet the heightened demand for woody biomass to …
Anna Rath (Vice President of Commercial Development, Ceres, Inc.) Ceres is a seed company that uses advanced biotechnology to develop and distribute energy crop seeds. Rath discusses reasons for their commercial development being slower than planned, …
by Dr. Neal Gutterson (President and Chief Executive Officer, Mendel Biotechnologies, Inc.) Dr. Gutterson details the activities of Mendel Biotechnologies relevant to the advanced biofuels business space. Mendel developed Miscanthus x giganteus, a custom, sterile, weed-resistant variation …
by Dr. Miles Palmer (Founder, Palmer Labs) Dr. Palmer analyzes the capital and operating expenses for commercial algae production, with a variety of considerations. His analysis shows facilities larger than 400 acres can be profitable, with high …
by Dr. Timothy Volk (Research Associate, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry) Dr. Volk proposes a cycle for growing and harvesting willow trees for use in advanced biofuel production. The amount of usable biomass per acre …
by Dr. Kelly Tiller (President and Chief Executive Officer, Genera Energy, LLC) Dr. Tiller details the large commitment the state of Tennessee has made to biofuels research. Genera Energy, a research firm owned by the University of …
by Bob Matousek (Manager of Plant and Harvesting Research and Development, Agco Corporation) Mr. Matousek’s presentation discusses techniques for collecting corn crop residues into solid bales that can be transported to fuel production facilities. He …
by Stephanie Dreyer (Renewable Energy World/Growth Energy) …You have one nutritionist with Tyson Foods speaking about the great value of DDGs (Dried Distillers Grains) as a feed for livestock. And then another expert takes it …
(PR NewsWire) Leaders of the advanced biofuel industry personally delivered an important message to the Obama Administration this morning at a White House meeting that included representatives of the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA), the Biotechnology Industry …
(AZO CleanTech) A recent data released by the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates the growing role of renewable energy sources in the national growth.
…Wind energy has increased its percentage of growth by …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …for several years we have been tracking the growing complexity and size of the partnerships and strategic investments in bioenergy, as the industry inches towards the commercialization of advanced biofuels.
It …
by Scott Gilbert (WITF) The Lancaster County developers behind a proposed ethanol plant hope to break ground in about six months.
…The facility will generate ethanol using second generation beets with high sugar content, most of …
by Andrew Wineke (Colorado Springs Gazette) There’s not a lot of corn in Teller County, but that isn’t stopping Sturman Industries from bringing together the top minds in the ethanol industry for a two-day technology summit …
by Sophie Cocke (Pacific Business News) Monday’s grand opening of the Center for Microbial Oceanography at the University of Hawaii Manoa could work in tandem with the state’s push towards renewable energy.
Microbial oceanography, an emerging sub-discipline …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Using a proprietary gene construct, California-based iDiverse has successfully modified yeast to be highly resistant to a number of lethal stresses normally encountered in the bioproduction of fuel …
Dean Taylor (Des Moines Register/Iowa Corn Growers Association) …Iowa farmers have made measurable progress in conservation and water quality. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture data, farmers’ use of nitrogen and phosphorus per bushel has …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) Ethanol prices have strengthened over the past several months in response to higher corn prices and growing ethanol demand. Some have attempted to single out the escalation in ethanol prices …
by Ed Laurent (Water & Oil Technologies, Inc./Algae Industry Magazine) …In algae production, if synthetic polymers are used to floc the high lipid content algae, and water is recycled back to your algae cultivation area, …
by Eric Staats (NaplesNews.com) …Today, growing algae to turn into biofuel is serious business, and (US Senator Bill) Nelson wants to give the fledgling industry a tax break.
Nelson, D-Fla., toured the headquarters and research labs of …
by Sarah Bleau (MySouthwestGA.com) …Congressman Sanford Bishop brought Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to tour First United Ethanol and talk about their plan to expand Southwest Georgia’s renewable energy efforts to a national level.
“I’ve been to …
(CSP) Believes new E85 station at Marine base will help pave way for wider use in Islands
Aloha Petroleum Ltd. last week delivered the state’s first supply of E85 fuel (a blend of 85% ethanol and …
(Gerson Lehman Group) … However, this program may not provide enough incentive for retailers to install new pumps that custom blend gasoline with ethanol on site. Retailers would not only have to invest their share of the …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) The Alternative Fuel Trade Alliance is hosting a series of training programs nationwide for alternative fuel fleet managers. The next stop on the tour is a free workshop on October 28, …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) …Dr. Phillip Smith, a nutritionist with Tyson Foods, spoke at the recent Export Exchange event sponsored by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) and the U.S. Grains Council about the value of DDGS …
The 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition will take place in Berlin Germany (Conference: 6-10 June 2011 – Exhibition: 6-9 June 2011). Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Faulstich, Technische Universität München, Director Science Center Straubing will chair …
by Michael Kanellos and Jim Imbler (Green Tech Media) To help this industry thrive, governments need to develop and implement a strategy that will last decades, argues Zeachem CEO Jim Imbler.
the advanced biofuels industry is determined …
by Dexin Luo, Zushou Hu, Dong Gu Choi, Valerie M. Thomas, Matthew J. Realff, and Ronald R. Chance (Environmental Science and Technology) Ethanol can be produced via an intracellular photosynthetic process in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), excreted …
by John Lukas (Harris Group) The Achilles heel of many of the new biomass conversion projects, be they for fuel energy or chemicals, will be the material handling portion of these facilities. The projects will utilize …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Hawaii is a code word meaning “paradise” not only to sun-starved tourists, but to bioenergy developers. It has all the hallmarks of the “perfect market”.
1. A state that generates no …
by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine) The Advancing Biofuels Beyond the Basics program, run by the Ohio Department of Development, is now accepting applications from biodiesel and ethanol companies seeking funding for refining equipment purchases. With …
(United Nations Environment Programme) Water, land use change and invasive species are key factors that must be addressed alongside greenhouse gas cuts
Water could determine the degree to which bioenergy can contribute to combating climate change by …
by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register) If the cobs, stalks and leaves left behind after corn harvest become the next big source for ethanol, the technology to pick up the stover is decidedly old-school.
“A farmer who …
(BIO) Mainstream Agriculture Was Given a “Decidedly Minor Voice” Representatives from national and regional agriculture, food and feed organizations withdrew en masse this week from the Leonardo Academy’s sustainable agriculture standard setting initiative citing “fatal, …
by Sahil Luthra (The Brown Daily Herald) Two Brown chemists have developed a more efficient way to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oil.
Using two catalysts common in organic chemistry, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Jason Sello …
by David Fig, Jennifer Franco, Lucia Goldfarb. Les Levidow, Mireille Hönicke, Maria Luisa Mendonça (Transnational Insitute)
The biofuel project is an agro-industrial development and politically contested policy process where governments increasingly become global actors. European Union …
(Just Means) The MIT’s IDEAS Competition challenges members of the MIT community to come up with good ideas that make a positive change in the world. One of this years’ winning teams is doing just …
(Weyland) Weyland started production of second generation bioethanol at it’s pilot plant in Bergen, Norway. The plant was formally opened by State Secretary Per Rune Henriksen of the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy during an …
by Bill Sizemore (Virginia-Pilot) The Navy took a step toward breaking its dependence on petroleum Friday, powering up a boat with fuel derived in part from seaweed.
In a demonstration at Norfolk Naval Station, an experimental boat …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A new Biofuels Digest report found that states that produced enough energy to meet their internal demand for gasoline maintained growth rates 2.5 times above the national average, and either …
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) from news reports The Scuderia Ferrari race team announced last week that it would run its last three races of the Formula One season using a fuel that contains biogasoline …
by Bruce Hextall(Reuters) Australia’s biofuel production is forecast to more than double by 2015 as new capacity is installed and as demand for alternative fuels to gasoline increases, a private consultancy forecast on Wednesday. READ …
by Jennifer Runyon (Renewable Energy World) A mapping application shows where bio-energy facilities are located now and where more could be developed.
With funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Blue Skyways Collaborative and DOE’s Biomass …
(Algae Industry Magazine) …“For the past three years, hundreds of large companies, entrepreneurs, development agencies and investors have asked for our help in launching their algae programs,” said OriginOil CEO, Riggs Eckelberry. “With our own …
(Algae Industry Magazine) The Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) is praising the U.S. House of Representatives for passing H.R. 4168, the Algae-based Renewable Fuel Promotion Act. ABO specifically recognized Reps. Harry Teague (D-NM), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA), …
Introducing the real world of Jatropha and its scientific commercialization for Development of Sustainable Non-Food Jatropha Oil Crop Projects, Programmes and Priorities to Feed Biodiesel Industry Worldwide
This is a must attend Programme as it is
Not …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Science Foundation Arizona (SFAz) and Arizona State University (ASU) on have announced the creation of a world-class center dedicated to researching and bringing to fruition “green” technologies using algae. The announcement was made …
(The Engineer) PSA Peugeot Citroën and the Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles (FNSEA), France’s largest farmers’ union, are in discussions to jointly develop biofuels.
…FNSEA confirmed that French and other European agricultural resources are sufficient to …
(Green Car Congress) A study by researchers at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Tianjin University has found that the use of fumigation ethanol in a 4-cylinder diesel decreases NOx, smoke and particulate mass and number …
Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) Ina, Ill.-based Rend Lake College has received a $60,835 grant from the USDA to support a three-part biofuels education program, which will include training on farm-based biodiesel production. The program is …
by Philip Walzer (Virginia Pilot/HamptonRoads.com) International Paper might maintain a presence near Franklin, but the mill won’t make paper anymore.
In the company’s most detailed comments since its paper mill stopped production in April, a spokeswoman said …
by Jim Nussell (The Washington Times) letter to editor Tuesday’s Washington Times editorial “Administration caves to Big Corn” (Comment & Analysis) ignores the hidden costs of our addiction to foreign oil and what moving to higher …
(Ford) Florida A&M University (FAMU) has been selected as one of the 2010 winners of the Ford College Community Challenge (Ford C3) and the recipient of a $50,000 grant to develop a student-led community project focused …
(The Citizen Reporter) Tanzania urgently needs to put in place a policy framework to guide biofuel crops production and stave off the danger of serious food shortages in communities around biofuel plantations, a new study has …
by Mark Gehlhar, Ashley Winston, and Agapi Somwaru (USDA Economic Research Service) Achieving greater energy security by reducing dependence on foreign petroleum is a goal of U.S. energy policy. The Energy Independence and Security Act of …
(EIN News/USDA) …USDA announced assistance under the Recovery Act for 334 broadband expansions designed to reach more than 6 million people and 250,000 businesses in rural and remote areas.
…By launching the USDA led effort “Know …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Louisiana, New Oil Resources announced that it has developed a process that uses hot, pressurized water to treat the biomass in a process commonly referred to as hydrothermal liquifaction or …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … “Today, I am directing the Rural Development mission area of USDA within 60 days to announce funding under the current Biorefinery Assistance Program for the construction (to commence in …
by Bruce E. Dale, Bryan D. Bals, Seungdo Kim and Pragnya Eranki (Biomass Conversion Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University) There is an …
(Renewable Fuels Association) The unproven notion that expanded U.S. ethanol production means new acres around the world must be brought into cultivation is taking another blow. In a soon-to-be published paper, researchers at the Department …
The Montana Ener-Tech Alliance will present its first event on Tuesday, November 16 at 3:30PM at Front Street Station in Butte. Margaret McCormick, Ph.D., Chief Operating Officer of Seattle-based Targeted Growth, Inc. will speak about …
(Verenium) Verenium Corporation, a pioneer in the development and commercialization of high-performance enzyme solutions, today announced that Purifine(R) PLC, the Company’s novel enzyme specifically developed for the edible oil industry, has received all necessary Chinese …
(Australian Renewable Fuels Ltd.) The Board of Australian Renewable Fuels (ASX:ARW) is pleased to announce that an agreement has been concluded for the production by the Company of at least 30 million litres of biodiesel …
(Chicago Breaking Business/Dow Jones Newswire) Boeing Co., in cooperation with Air China Ltd. and others, plans to test a commercial-jet biofuel in China produced from a locally grown plant by the middle of 2011-part of an …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) California’s clean energy initiatives and businesses are at a crossroads, pending the outcome of Proposition 23 on the November ballot. Should the proposition succeed, it would suspend California’s 2006 history-making …
by Bill Moore (Reuters/EV World) In September, the Center for New American Security (CNAS) issued a 36-page study entitled Fueling the Future Force: Preparing the Department of Defense for a Post-Petroleum Era (PDF).
…Why the urgency …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) …“For every three bushels of corn that comes in, you get a bushel of DDG out, and what we sell that DDG for helps us to create a revenue stream so …
(Reuters) * Biofuel demand, tight supplies supporting corn prices * Corn rising to 2008 levels rekindles food vs fuel debate
…But this month’s corn market rally to highs near $6 per bushel was driven more by the …
(Algae Industry Magazine) LakeMaster Corporation, of Rochester, NY, has announced a move to co-locate in space within the refinery of Northern Biodiesel, Inc. in Ontario, NY. LakeMaster will produce lipid oil made from algae as a …
by John Hamer (Biofuels Digest/Burrill & Co.) One might ask, “What do next-gen biofuel companies offer the biotech investor ?”
1. Well known products. … Biotech’s make high risk products…
2. Early revenue and earlier profits. …biotech drug development …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Argentina, researchers from INTA, analyzing the assumptions of the US EPA’s indirect land use change models, concluded that “• Significant errors have been verified in the determination of the …
(EPA) EPA is concurrently proposing a regulatory program to promote the successful introduction of E15 into commerce by ensuring that E15 is used in approved motor vehicles and reducing the potential for the misfueling of E15 …
(EADT24) Green energy company Living Fuels has launched a new processing facility to help it meet growing demand.
The East Anglia-based firm, which collects used cooking oil from more than 270 recycling centres across the country and …
(The Engineer) A University of Sheffield researcher has won national recognition for the development of a ’microbubble device’ that promises to make the production of biofuels much more energy efficient.
…This new method consumes much less …
(Virent) Virent’s biogasoline has been blended into fuel supplied by Shell to Scuderia Ferrari for the last three races of the 2010 Formula One championship .
Virent Energy Systems, Inc. announced October 19, 2010, that Scuderia Ferrari will …
(Ghana News Agency) Mr Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister of Food and Agriculture, on Monday noted that the commercial cultivation of cassava as an alternative source of bio-energy, would not compromise Ghana’s agricultural lands or threaten its …
(The Japan Times) Japan’s first train to run on biodiesel fuel, in this case refined edible oil, has taken to the tracks in Hyogo Prefecture.
Hojo Railway Co., a third-sector entity financed by the city of …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In the long term, major oil companies like Shell and ExxonMobil see global transition in the 30-40 percent range by 2050. That may sound like small potatoes. Voters, project developers, and …
(Yahoo! Finance/PR Newswire) U.S. Rep. Connie Mack and Lee County Commissioners Tammy Hall and Ray Judah join in celebrating new advanced research labs and integrated biorefinery that will diversify local economy and create clean energy jobs
Algenol …
EPA’s decision to okay 15% ethanol blends in newer model vehicles is the biggest change in fuel reformulation in the past five years!
Questions and concerns about liability, motor vehicle operability and regulatory compliance are mounting …
By Juan Forero (The Washington Post) …Once seen as a wasteland, the Cerrado is now the motor of an agro-industry so potent that Brazil threatens to surpass the United States as breadbasket to the world. …
