Article Archive for January 2011
(American Le Mans Series) The Baltimore Grand Prix today announced at the Washington Auto Show a strategy that would result in it becoming the most sustainable racing event in the U.S. Scott Atherton, President and …
(Endicott Biofuels) Endicott Biofuels, LLC (EBF) has signed an agreement with KMTEX Ltd. (KMTEX) to construct a 30-million gallon-per-year biorefinery in Port Arthur, Texas, that will employ EBF’s proprietary technology for the production of high-purity …
by Kathie Obradovich (Des Moines Register) Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who is mulling a 2012 run for president, called on President Obama to use his State of the Union speech tonight to make the …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) …At the Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit in Des Moines on Tuesday, the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) released a new study detailing the positive benefits that provides for Iowa.
According to the report, …
by Amie Williams (Mustang Evolution/The Auto Channel) …Doug’s Ford Mustang utilizes 350 times less gasoline than the Toyota Prius. He has tried desperately in the last three years to get an OEM company to take …
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Produced by the Green Car Journal and the Washington Auto Show, each January the Green Car Summit convenes a panel of experts “to address the critical issues of the …
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) At the Green Car Summit on Capitol Hill on January 26, 2011, Don Hillebrand, Director of the Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory spoke about the process …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) …Researchers at the U.S. DOE’s Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, based at the University of Wisconsin and Michigan State University, are three years into a research project focused on identifying …
by Ben Geman (The Hill/E2Wire) The ethanol industry is quickly attacking a draft EPA study that details a slew of ecological harms that could accompany increased biofuels production.
“EPA’s failure to provide this report in any context …
(US Environmental Protection Agency) The “Biofuels and the Environment: The First Triennial Report to Congress (External Review Draft)” (EPA/600/R-10/183A) report, prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA’s Office of Research and …
by Lori Shull (Watertown Daily Times) Algae could, one day, save the Development Authority of the North Country money on its power bills.
The agency is teaming up with a group of researchers from Clarkson University …
by Todd Taylor with Christina Connelly, Ralph Groschen, Mark Lindquist, Gregg Mast, Tim Welle and Doug Cameron (Biofuels Digest/Minnesota) …Venture capitalists in California support and encourage these and many other companies and deserve ample credit for …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Last week [after previously exiting their investment in Choren, a Fischer-Tropsch technology based in Germany] Shell announced that it will will exit its shareholding in Cellana, a joint venture between …
(Argus Media) A study by Norwegian authorities has found that the amount of biodiesel used in blends for road fuel in the country poses no more harm to public health than pure fossil fuel diesel. …
(PR Log) According to Industrial Biotechnologies China News,unlike most producers of cellulosic-based ethanol adopting straw as raw material, the joint venture will choose kenaf as raw material with several obvious strengths.
On January 6, 2011, Bio-Dynamic …
(KSN.com) …At 5:30 Tuesday morning at an east Wichita Burger King, an alert manager saw someone with a Ford truck sucking out the grease from storage containers in the back of the restaurant which contained …
by Stacey Shackford (Cornell Chronicle) From the farm to the fuel pump, Cornell educators hope to get youngsters excited about science, technology, engineering and math through interactive lessons in bioenergy with the help of $5 …
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) It’s called making the best of an awful situation.
Advanced Biofuels USA board member, Bob Kozak, and executive director Joanne Ivancic carpooled to Washington DC from the organization’s office …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, sources indicate that “the interim final rule is at the printer for the federal register” with respect to Section 9003 (Farm Bill) loan guarantees from the USDA, indicating …
(NewsWire/University of Alabama) A strain of bacteria found in soil is being studied for its ability to convert waste from a promising alternative fuel into several useful materials, including another alternative fuel.
A graduate student at …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) …The company will deploy multiple feedstock technology as rising costs of feedstocks are a common source of financial hardship for biofuel plants. It has recently been reported that rising corn prices are …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …California remains the heartland of technological innovation and there is no place on earth where ideas go farther, faster, and find more support from academia, the science establishment, and …
by P Sivaramakrishnan (BBC News) A pilot project to see if cash crops can be grown in the salty ground of India’s coastal areas has been launched. The area in Tamil Nadu …
(Bangkok Post) The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) and Bangchak Petroleum Plc have teamed up to grow oil palm for a biodiesel project.
The state bank will allow the oil company to lease 1,200 …
(Commodity Online) The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) ended the year 2010 with strong growth in both the production and use of RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil.
Compared to 2009, numbers doubled, in many cases even …
by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest-Asia) As New Year celebrations get under way throughout Asia, the year in biofuels is shaping up to be one of uncertainty. Already, notable advances in sustainable palm oil supply, cellulosic …
by Tom Vilsack (USDA) At President Obama’s direction, the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) is working hard to unleash the power of America’s innovators and entrepreneurs to build a green energy economy. By producing renewable energy – …
by Ginny Simmons (Energy.gov) During the event, Secretary Chu highlighted several parts of the President Obama’s clean energy and innovation agenda:
• Ending taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuels so we can increase our investments in clean …
by Michael Haonga (IPP Media/The Guardian) Tanzania has reaffirmed its commitment to sustain a multi-faceted strategy for harnessing power from various sources, including biofuel, to cover any shortfall.
The assurance was made in Dar es Salaam …
(Chemrec) The European Union has approved the SEK 500 million (€55 million, $75 million) R&D grant awarded by the Swedish Energy Agency towards the industrial scale demonstration biofuels plant based on Chemrec’s gasification technology at …
(OriginOil) Owner of three ‘CO2 to energy’ projects will pilot extraction unit at large coal-fired power plant
OriginOil, Inc., the developer of breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true …
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) …The potential for some green jobs, especially in biofuels, is dependent on technologies and processes that haven’t proved economical. Ethanol giant Poet LLC wants to produce fuel from corncobs, …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The USDA tells us that more than 500 biorefineries will be need to be built between now and 2022 in the United States to meet the added requirements for advanced …
(The Independent) Pressure on Opec, which has a vested interest in a high oil price, offers no long-term solution
Is the world on the brink of another ruinous oil shock? The International Energy Agency (IEA), which speaks …
(Sugar Industry) Praj Industries, a small cap company provides turnkey plants and equipments for fermentation and distillation systems used in bio fuels processing, primarily which are ethanol related.
Sabyasachi Ganguly, Analyst, Indiabulls Securities and author …
by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest-Asia) India’s recent flip-flops on sugar supply and exports have angered many in the sensitive global commodities markets and even been ascribed to a sort of national dementia. But as is …
(Prairie Farmer) Researchers recommend feeding glycerin up to 15%. Glycerin did not have an effect on meat quality.
An increased interest in biofuel production and a growing need to find cost-effective livestock feedstuff alternatives has led …
(WATTagnet.com) Scientists in Canada are evaluating Jerusalem artichoke production as a feedstock for biofuels production. The versatile crop has many industrial applications and could displace some corn which is currently diverted to ethanol.
It is anticipated …
U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar introduced today the “Dual Fuel Vehicles Bill of 2011.” The bill will provide future vehicle owners a choice in fueling options through the production of vehicles that can operate on multiple …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced a new piece of legislation today, called the “Biofuels Market Expansion Act of 2011.” The bill, if passed, would ensure an increasing number of automobiles …
(Eco Friendly Magazine) Using CRI/Criterion’s catalyst technologies, Terrabon, Inc. has exceeded its target yield threshold of 70 gallons of biogasoline per dry ton of garbage received from the cafeteria dumpsters and paper shredders at Texas A&M …
by Jonathan Silver (DOE/Biofuels Digest) …After a year of unprecedented growth, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office (LPO) has emerged as one of the largest and most productive project finance organizations in the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …We hereby sentence the authors to a one-year subscription to Biofuels Digest.
We continue to sound the alarm on “studies” that are, in essence, reviews of peer-reviewed literature reviews and interviews …
(Advanced Biofuels Association) ABFA President Michael McAdams responded to the RAND Corporation’s release today of results of its study, Alternative Fuels for Military Applications:
“Shame on the RAND Corporation as it does a great disservice to …
(Algal Biomass Organization) Today, the RAND Corporation published a study and accompanying press release calling into question the effectiveness of renewable fuels for military use.
The report can be found here:http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2011/RAND_MG969.pdf
A copy of the press release …
(RAND Corporation) If the U.S. military increases its use of alternative fuels, there will be no direct benefit to the nation’s armed forces, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
Any benefits from investment in alternative fuels …
by Gary Truitt (Hoosier Ag Today) …What is lacking is the infrastructure to get that ethanol to the consumer. Juan Sesmero, Asst. Professor of Ag Economics at Purdue, says improving the infrastructure is key …
(The Mainichi Daily News) A machinery maker here has launched a facility to extract bio-ethanol from udon noodles.
Machinery manufacturer Chiyoda Seisakujo is set to run tests at its bio-ethanol extraction plant in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, …
by Karl (Make Biofuel) A biofuels company on Teesside has pledged to spend £6m on ridding its plant of a bad smell which has sparked complaints from residents.
Ensus opened its bioethanol plant at Wilton …
(iNewswire) The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will host its quarterly “Conversations” Series, this time focusing on the Progression of Plant Science, on Thursday, February 17, 2010 from 5:15 – 7:00 p.m. at the …
by Charles Abbott (Reuters) The higher quality of the U.S. corn crop could yield more ethanol per bushel and divert less of the crop to biofuels, which could raise tight ending stocks by 20 percent, …
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Biofuels Digest) …While some would choose to ignore reality, the nation can produce more ethanol sustainably using grains like corn, wheat and barley. …The nation can also produce significant volumes …
by Kelsey McNeeley and Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA/Lancaster Farming) In 2002, Penn State University began using 20 percent (B20) biodiesel fuel on campus in the division of farm operations. Because of their expertise in biodiesel, Penn …
by Vinod Khosla (Green Tech Media) Part 1: Production technologies: where are we? The financial crisis of 2008 set back a number of projects and slowed actual construction of pilot and demo plants like it …
by Richard Ecke (Great Falls Tribune) …A proposed Great Falls ethanol plant would be the country’s first to use wheat and barley to create ethanol, according to developer Gary Hebener of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
Project officials …
by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register) The surge in corn prices since mid-2010 has bolstered the profits of corn farmers but has eaten away at the profitability of ethanol producers.
…Ethanol producers meanwhile saw a dramatic …
by Jennifer Shike (University of Illinois) Researchers are studying novel and traditional woody plants as short rotation crops for biomass production to help diversify and expand bioenergy research efforts at the University of Illinois.
“Diversification of …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) Dr. Jason Pyle, the high profile CEO at the even more high profile “green crude” developer, Sapphire Energy, holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Physiology, as …
(WKYT/AP) The Kentucky Biofuels for Schools Program is offering grants to high schools in the state that design projects to teach, produce and use biofuels in their schools and community.
The Kentucky Biofuels for Schools Program is offering …
(Nebraska Farmer) The Nebraska Department of Agriculture and the Nebraska Corn Board have jointlyreleased a video that shows the opportunities available for feeding cattle in Nebraska.
…”We have talked about Nebraska’s Golden Triangle of corn, livestock …
by Dr. Maureen McCann (Professor, Purdue University) Dr. McCann begins by describing the different plant cell wall architectures belonging to various types of feedstock. She shows how different processing methods can be utilized to more …
by David Hoyt (Senior Research Scientist, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Hoyt first provides an overview of EMSL and their mission to integrate experimental and computational resources with innovative technologies to support …
by Jane Fisher (Senior Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Fisher first provides a general overview of the biofuel production process, identifying key areas for potential cost reductions through R&D and commercial scale production. Fisher focuses …
by Blake Simmons (Vice-President, Deconstruction Division, Joint BioEnergy Institute) Simmons provides an overview of Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBI) and their research associated with converting cellulosic biomass to biofuel. He describes the challenges of the various …
by Dr. Jose A Olivares (Executive Director, The National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Products Los Alamos National Laboratory) Dr. Olivares first provides an overview of the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bio-Products organization. …
by Dr. Timothy Donohue (Director, Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Professor of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison) Dr. Donohue first provides an overview of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center. Donohue moves on to discuss …
by Dr. Mark Davis (BioEnergy Science Center, National Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Dr. Davis discusses a multidisciplinary approach to overcoming the current inability to access sugars in lignocellulosic biomass. By quickly identifying key …
by Liz Moore (Project Officer, Biomass Program, Golden Field Office, U.S. Department of Energy) Moore begins with a breakdown of the cost structure describing the manufacturing process of ethanol from feedstock. She shows how each …
The Next Generation Bio-Based Chemicals Summit is a new & growing tradition for key industry players, leading developers, government representatives, ground breaking researchers, and renowned financiers to discuss the innovations of these high-value bio-based assets. Our …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The California Air Resources Board will hold a public hearing Feb. 24 to consider 25 amendments proposed by various ethanol producers, representing 1.6 billion gallons of annual domestic production, …
Editorial (Tampa Bay Online) …Grassley’s backing of the 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit for ethanol blended with gasoline is based, we suspect, less on contributions from corn farmers than on the fact that most Iowa voters like …
by Andy Obermueller (Seeking Alpha/Street Authority) …As prices at the pump inch higher, the United States will again begin to look seriously at alternative fuels. For some, this will mean electric vehicles, but for …
(US Environmental Protection Agency) In response to a request by Growth Energy under section 211(f)(4) of the Clean Air Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has partially granted a waiver to allow fuel and fuel …
(25 x’25) The belief that the ethanol industry is entering a new era is nearly universal. As Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President Bob Dinneen put it this week, “new challenges to ethanol policies will be …
by Merry MacKinnon (Pamplin Media Group) …Jana Gastellum, global warming program director for the Oregon Environmental Council, says the sustainable approach to making biodiesel for heavier vehicles and ethanol for passenger cars is to concentrate …
(USDA) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced new investments in 33 states to support the production and usage of advanced biofuels. Vilsack highlighted these projects as ways the Obama Administration is working to reduce the …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) Flex fuel vehicle (FFV) drivers in southeast Alabama now have two new locations to get 85 percent ethanol fuel with the opportunity to get mid grade ethanol blends in the future.
Inland …
USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) announced January 18, 2011, two grants that will create educational opportunities in math and science for students interested in bioenergy and bio-based products.
“Bioenergy and bio-based products hold …
(Next 10) Many Shades of Green provides the most comprehensive green jobs accounting to date, systematically tracking the most recent available data on green companies, job type, location and growth across every sector and region …
In continuing its efforts to fast-track commercialization of algae production, The National Algae Association’s next workshop, March 28, 2011, in New York City, will focus on progress in growing, harvesting and extraction methods, along with …
(Clean Fuels Foundation) The Ethanol Across America education campaign released the latest in its series of Issue Briefs today on the Economic Impacts of Ethanol Production that illustrates the significant benefits of ethanol production …
by Jens Hansegard (Dow Jones/Automated Trader) Danish biotech company Novozymes (NZYM-B.KO), the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes with about 47% of the global market, estimates that the U.S. biofuel industry will grow about 5% …
(BusinessWire/Masdar Institute) Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MI), the Boeing Company, Etihad Airways, and Honeywell’s UOP announced January 19, 2011, the completion of a Sustainability Assessment of the Integrated Seawater Agriculture System (ISAS) for …
(BusinessWire/ADM) University of Illinois research center will work to preserve more of what’s grown worldwide
Archer Daniels Midland Company (NYSE: ADM) today founded the ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss with a US$10 million …
(US Department of Energy) …As part of the Department of Energy’s comprehensive strategy to support the production of advanced biofuels, Secretary Chu also announced the launch of a new online collaboration tool and data resource …
(US Department of Energy) Project Expected to Create Over 700 Jobs and Nearly Triple Amount of Renewable Diesel Produced Domestically
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu January 20, 2011, announced the offer of a conditional commitment to …
by Bill Scanlon (National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Renewable Energy World) Most people scorn algae as pond scum, but Lee Elliott embraces the slime, captures it, filters it, and analyzes it for its potential to grow like …
(Rentech) Over 5000 Mile Round-Trip Drive Includes Stop at the 2011 Washington Auto Show
Rentech, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: RTK) today announced that its synthetic RenDiesel® fuel is powering an Audi A3 TDI in a cross-country drive …
(Coskata) Guarantee will support a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Alabama
Coskata Inc., a developer of technology for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals, was notified by the USDA of their intent to provide a …
(USDA) Expansion of Biofuels Reaches All Regions of the Country
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced January 20, 2011, that biofuels and biomass energy projects across America have been selected for funding to continue the Administration’s support …
(Sandia National Laboratories) Engine experts and biofuels researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are working on a project that aims to modify an endophytic fungus so that it will produce fuel-type hydrocarbons for transportation purposes.
The biofuels …
(PR-USA.net) Florida Biodiesel, Inc. has released the Cyclonic Mixer, an inline high shear blender that is 100 times more effective in mixing feedstock and catalyst for the transesterification of Biodiesel. This new technology can lower the …
(USDA) BioPreferredSM Program Designates Eight New Biobased Product Categories; More than 600 additional biobased products now eligible for preferred Federal purchasing
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the designation of eight additional biobased product categories which are …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) At a series of public and private meetings this week on the Rodeo Drive of algae, North Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla, California, Qantas confirmed that it is in …
by Michael Kanellos (GreenTechMedia) Renewable energy and biofuels will be the fastest growing segment in energy, according to BP, but fossil will still rule the roost.
The annual report from the energy giant (see full PDF …
by Vinod Khosla (GreenTechMedia) Given the likely continued dominance of the internal combustion engine, cellulosic and sugar-derived fuels offer one of the lowest risk advances to quickly and affordably achieve low-carbon transportation. Furthermore, substituting higher …
(Enerkem) Enerkem Inc. today announced that Enerkem Corporation, its wholly-owned U.S. affiliate, has obtained a conditional commitment for an US$ 80 million loan guarantee by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), for the construction of its landmark waste-to-biofuels …
(Algae Industry Magazine) A new Australian company has been established to produce commercial quantities of clean, “green” fuels from algae. The company, Muradel Pty Ltd, is a joint venture of Murdoch University, Adelaide Research & Innovation …
(Advanced Biofuels USA) Donald C. Erbach, Ph.D., was welcomed as a new member of the Advanced Biofuels USA’s board of directors at their annual meeting January 19, 2011, in Frederick, Maryland. “We are extremely pleased …
by Porter J. Martin and Gregory J. Lynch (Ethanol Producer Magazine) …
Can ethanol survive without these supports? I believe the answer is yes, if we take steps to plan now. Why? Because we have …
