Article Archive for May 2012
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, staff members working for least eight US Senators will join a study group aimed at a “seed-to-wheel examination of the US Renewable Fuel Standard,” the Digest has learned.
The …
by Nate Brown (Federal Aviation Administration) Power Point presentation with graphics illustrating the steps for new aviation fuel approval, graphic descriptions of anticipated aviation fuels (and progress of various pathways along the process). Includes alcohol …
by Jen Alic (OilPrice.com) The US Defense Department consumes more energy than any other department or sector in the country, spending around $20 billion annually by some estimates; but ambitious plans to make it the …
by Morgan Lee (U-T San Diego) There’s a persistent view that the United States can best compete in the global economy by keeping energy prices low.
Amory Lovins is out to prove otherwise by helping private …
by Martin Mittelstaedt (The Globe and Mail) Federal law forces oil companies to sell gasoline in Canada with an ethanol content of 5 per cent, but the industry is going one better.
Oil refiners like ethanol …
(CSP Daily News) Installs ethanol blender pumps across southcentral Wisconsin
United Cooperative has been selected to receive a $448,500 Rural Energy for America Program grant to assist with the installation of 36 ethanol flex-fuel blender pumps …
(Richmond County Daily Journal) Starting June 1, consumers will notice changes to the way ethanol-blended gasoline is labeled at their local gas station.
The N.C. Rules Review Commission this week approved changes adopted by the Gasoline …
by Andrew Restuccia (The Hill/E2Wire) A bipartisan coalition of former U.S. ambassadors urged President Obama Thursday to drastically cut dependence on foreign oil in order to help reign in the country’s trade deficit.
The coalition, known …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The Iowa Energy Center recently awarded three grants to research projects focused on improving thermochemical conversion of biomass to biofuels and renewable chemicals. The selected projects will receive one-year research and …
(University of Birmingham) Researchers from the University of Birmingham are creating clean hydrogen from food waste paving the way for a bioenergy alternative for the future.
Currently, Brazil is the world’s most intensive user of bioethanol as …
(Pork Network) With recent increased attention by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over the use of antibiotics in livestock production, industry experts are turning their attention to potential non-farm sources of antibiotic residues. Could distillers’ dried …
by Kristie Neo (ChannelNewsAsia) The world’s first genetically modified Jatropha plant can produce biodiesel faster and better. Plans are in the pipeline to start field trials and commercialise it in three years. With genetic modification, …
(UPI) …Now scientists led by researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have discovered how certain bacteria can tolerate those man-made toxic chemicals used in making biofuels.
“Discovering microbes naturally tolerant to salty liquids and understanding …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) Members of Congress are exchanging dueling fact sheets about corn ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2).
Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) sent an email last month to members of the House Commerce, …
by Brett Neely (Minnesota Public Radio) U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison introduced legislation Thursday to end all subsidies for fossil fuels.
Ellison said the oil, gas and coal industries will get $113 billion worth of government support …
by Simone Sebastian (FuelFix) Increasing domestic production of oil won’t significantly boost energy security in the United States, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office.
The CBO advocated policies that reduce demand for oil, such as …
by Ken Wells (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) …In the last decade, the industry says, it has put $71 billion into zero- and low-emission and renewable energy technologies. The U.S. government, by contrast, has spent about $43 billion on similar …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) USDA released its first estimate of the 2012 corn crop–and it is a big one. According to today’s USDA projections, record U.S. corn production of 14.79 billion bushels is …
by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register) …The executive director of the Renewable Fuels Association, Monte Shaw, said AFP should “stop the hypocrisy and to get its facts straight when it comes to ethanol and oil …
by Christopher Doering (Des Moines Register) The U.S. Energy Department said on Tuesday (May 8, 2012) it will make $5 million available in 2012 to expand the use of alternative fuel vehicles, including electric models.
The Energy …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) After nearly two years of collaborative research, biotechnology company BioTork LLC and the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center have developed a yeast strain capable of fermenting the xylose found in …
by John Kemp (Reuters COLUMN) Widespread use of alternative motor fuels has been hampered by lack of fuel distribution infrastructure, despite strongly favourable economics for alternatives to gasoline and diesel, and a range of financial …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Scientific standards development body ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials) recently made significant changes to its E85 specification, lowering the approved minimum ethanol …
by Blair Fannin (Texas AgriLife Research/Algae Industry Magazine) Texas AgriLife Research scientist, Dr. Tryon Wickersham, and graduate student, Merritt Drewery, have been conducting feeding trials of algae leftover products (after oil extraction, in powdered form) …
by Cody Winchester (Argus Leader) Sometime this summer, already-scarce blends of pure gasoline will become more rare in western South Dakota.
That’s because the largest refineries that supply the Plains Rocky Mountain Pipeline terminal in Rapid …
by William DeKay (The Western Producer) Lee Wilson thinks he has found a cost effective way to help produce biofuel using wheat straw.
In a lab at the University of Saskatchewan, the chemist and his team …
(JoyOnline) Human waste could soon be a precious commodity in Kumasi and other parts of the country with an ongoing solution to transform fecal sludge treatment into a profit-making venture.
Waste Enterprisers Limited, a sanitation and …
by Lu Ann Franklin (Northwest Indiana Times) The Town Council will hear public comments about signing the interlocal agreement with Lake County Solid Waste District for the proposed trash-to-ethanol facility in Schneider on June 4 and …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What’s up? What’s next? New pathways, plus country-by-country yield data.
Sorghum. It’s a feedstock right out the pages of the old South – sorghum syrup served with corn bread and Lowcountry …
by Mike Cohen (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) Illovo Sugar Ltd. (ILV), Africa’s largest sugar producer, said it has ended its involvement in the Markala sugar project in Mali because of incomplete funding and a deteriorating security situation …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In Washington, heartbreak came early in the season when the Senate Armed Services Committee has voted to nix the purchase of aviation biofuels, should they cost more than conventional fossil …
(Fox Business) General Electric Co. (GE) said Thursday it will invest 500 million reais ($245.5 million) in a research-and-development center in Rio de Janeiro.
The center, which should be operational in the second half of 2013 …
by Joshua S. Hill (CleanTechnica.com) The Coalition for Sustainable Rail (CSR) announced Tuesday plans to create the world’s first carbon-neutral higher-speed locomotive.
The plan is simple: “create the world’s cleanest, most powerful passenger locomotive, proving the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Colorado, Gevo announced it has begun startup of the world’s first commercial biobased isobutanol production plant located in Luverne, Minn.
“At 1 p.m. MDT yesterday we made history by initiating production of …
The Agri Investment Forum is the only program of events in Canada dedicated to showcasing the highest potential emerging and growth stage agri-businesses. The Forum brings together active institutional and private investors with leading edge …
A comprehensive course detailing the new policy and economic drivers of biofuel supply and demand.
Top experts in the fields of biofuels production, marketing, risk management, RINs accounting and environmental compliance will give you all the answers you …
(Gas2) … The annual SAE Formula Hybrid competition challenges teams of college engineering students to build fast and efficient hybrid racers. …
BYU’s Hybrid Blue can go from 0-60 mph in just 3 seconds, and it dominated …
(MASBI) Regional Initiative with National Reach Working to Achieve Energy Security
United Airlines, Boeing, Honeywell’s UOP, the Chicago Department of Aviation and the Clean Energy Trust today announced the formation of the Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Brazil, GraalBio Investimentos plans to invest $724.5 million in five cellulosic ethanol plants during the next few years. The first 21.6 million gallon facility in Alagoas that will use sugarcane bagasse …
(Stock Journal) The prototype mallee harvester developed by Biosystems Engineering and Future Farm Industries Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) has exceeded expectations in the final stages of its development.
During trials near Casino in New South Wales, …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … (T)he company’s metrics in cellulosic biofuels are starting to look compelling. Not only is commercialization a lot less than five years away – a massive breakout in capacity building …
(Environmental Research Web) A new study from the University of California, Davis, provides a deeper understanding of the complex global impacts of deforestation on greenhouse gas emissions.
The study, published May 13 in the advance online …
by Ben Caldecott (The Guardian) We need something that can deliver emission reductions from existing fleets of planes – and the solution already exists
…The positive progress on including aviation in Europe’s carbon trading scheme this week is welcome, …
by Robert Rapier (Consumer Energy Report) A reader recently called my attention to a new and very interesting presentation from the Department of Energy’s Biomass Program:
Biofuels Design Cases
The presentation explored the question of whether …
(Evogene) Collaboration represents expansion of Evofuel’s Latin American operations, currently focused on Brazil
Evogene Ltd. and T6 Industrial S.A., a leading biodiesel producer in Argentina, today announced that Evofuel Ltd., Evogene’s wholly owned subsidiary, and T6 …
by Fred Kaplan (Slate) …The rationale for barring the Navy from buying the 450,000 gallons of biofuels necessary for the experiment is economic: These fuels are too expensive—about four times more costly than conventional fuels.
To …
(MarketWatch/PRNewsWire) AFS BioOil has announced that its state-of-the art facility located at a wastewater treatment plant in the San Francisco Bay Area is open for tours for strategic partners and customers. The volume of the …
(Husky Energy) Husky Energy unveiled its carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and liquefaction project in Lloydminster, a facility that allows the Company to recover more oil from existing fields while reducing emissions at its ethanol plant.
“This …
As Capitol Hill works to identify smarter investments in clean energy fuels, the Better Fuels Moment takes a closer look at the robust and effective partnership advanced biofuels has with America’s Armed Services, building better …
by Brittany Boyer (WJAC TV) Pennsylvania Grain Processing has officially closed on the purchase of the former Bionol Ethanol plant in Clearfield.
According to a news release obtained by 6 News, production at the plant is …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Regardless of its naming deficiencies, waste has been hot and getting hotter as a bioenergy feedstock because it solves three of the most pressing problems blocking capacity expansion.
1. The feedstocks …
(Climate Central/OPB.org) …But a Princeton University senior named Amanda Rees may have come up with the most promising solution so far. Rees, 22, is convinced that an important part to the world’s energy future may …
by Matt Daily (Reuters/Huffington Post) After a decade of promise, advanced biofuels makers are entering a crucial make-or-break period with the first of a new generation of production facilities about to come on line.
The new …
(Beaver Dam Daily Citizen) United Cooperative was selected to receive a $448,500 Rural Energy for America Program grant to assist with the installation of 36 ethanol flex-fuel blender pumps and seven biodiesel dispensers at 11 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) New tests conducted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base have revealed that US warplanes are capable of flying faster and carry more payload on missions, when flying with synthetic fuels, including …
(Western Farm Press) The U.S. military is very interested in alternative fuels — in particular, the wood-based biofuels being researched and produced at the University of Maine. Three methods, or pathways, to producing biofuel for …
by James Fallows (Popular Science) The largest nation on Earth is flying more people more places than ever before. Its struggle to do so without (further) destroying the environment could show the rest of the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Mozambique, the first sustainable cooking fuel facility was inaugurated by Federal Minister of Agriculture José Pacheco. The CleanStar project will produce ethanol-based cooking fuel for sale with the company’s cookstoves, …
The Sustainable Energy Coalition - in cooperation with Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Caucuses - will host the 15th Annual Congressional Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency EXPO + Forum.
This …
(PEW Charitable Trust) …More than 31 million Americans will travel at least 50 miles from their homes over the Memorial Day weekend. With gas averaging $3.67 per gallon, consumer fuel costs will exceed $171 million …
by Scott Irwin and Darrel Good (Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics University of Illinois)…The rise in ethanol production has recently run up against what is known as the “blend wall.” Domestic ethanol consumption is almost entirely in the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In today’s Digest, we pull together the strands in a 10-Minute Guide that looks at the 20 top stories this year out of Brazil, and adds context.
Overall, we see 3 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What engines failed, and when and why. Was this test designed to fail?
In Washington, the Coordinating Research Council, a non-profit research organization supported by the American Petroleum Institute and a …
(Yahoo! Finance) Virgin Australia says it has started trialling the use of biodiesel to power some ground vehicles at Brisbane Airport.
The fuel for the eight-week trial will contain 80 per centconventional diesel and 20 per cent biodiesel made from …
by Noah Haglund (The Weekly Herald) The company has agreed to compensate the county for $143,000 in goods and services it didn’t deliver for a canola project.
Snohomish County’s experiment helping farmers turn crops into biodiesel …
(BusinessWire) The Advanced Biofuels Association, the Algal Biomass Organization, Airlines for America, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, Growth Energy, and the Pew Charitable Trusts today expressed disappointment that the Senate Armed …
(US Department of Agriculture) On June 23, 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a strategic biofuels production report, “A USDA Regional Roadmap to Meeting the Biofuels Goals of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) by …
(Zimbabwe Independent) Green Fuel has dismissed claims by government that it has not furnished it with the cost structure into its wholesale price of E10.
Senior officials of the company outlined its cost structure at a …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Free tire air for improved fuel economy; bicycle tuning; renewable fuels; on-demand carbon offsets; at-pump recycling; community transit info; Propel’s got it all going in the Golden State.
In California, Propel Fuels …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Mad as heck about $5 gasoline? According to new research from Iowa State, the price could have hit $6 per gallon, if the US had not had its ethanol supply.
A …
by David Muwanga (AllAfrica.com) As the East African Community (EAC) was planning to release a total of Ksh1b for the removal of the water hyacinth from Lake Victoria, a United States based technology company has …
(Radio New Zealand International) Pacific nations which are most under threat from rising seas have vowed to abandon diesel and other dirty, expensive fuels and replace them with clean sources of energy.
Using coconut biofuel and …
by Sean Nicholls (Sydney Morning Herald/New South Wales) THE value of the NSW ethanol mandate has been questioned by the NSW Treasury in documents that describe it of questionable benefit to motorists and a policy …
(MarketWatch) Nature published a paper that discusses the recent advances in biocatalysis, and the impact it is having on the commercial development of biofuels, renewable chemicals, and pharmaceutical products. The paper was published by researchers …
(PRWEB) Researchers at The NCERC today announced that they have successfully produced ethanol from the cellulosic portion of the corn kernel. “This research is demonstrated proof of the viability of ‘generation 2.0 ethanol,’” NCERC Director …
EPA’s recent announcement on E15 being a legal fuel has created many questions about the path to E15 implementation. There are still obstacles that stand in the way of this fuel being available to consumers, …
by Margaret Ryan (AOL Energy) While the “food versus fuel” debate has grabbed headlines, biofuels technology worldwide has been accelerating down the learning curve and is at a “tipping point” for commercialization.
That was the consensus of an …
(PR NewsWire/Consumer Reports) Nearly three-quarters of drivers would consider an alternative fuel vehicle for their next car
…Some two-thirds of owners surveyed said they expected their next vehicle to get better fuel mileage than the one …
by Troy Hooper (The Colorado Independent) …House Republicans passed a pair of provisions Friday that would stymie the military’s efforts to incorporate more renewable fuels into its supplies. The defense authorization bill now heads for …
(CNN) The U.S. Navy for the first time will demonstrate what it calls a Great Green Fleet, a carrier strike group operating in large part on nonfossil fuels, during a larger, 22-nation exercise this summer.
The …
(NYDailyNews) Rapping the rural development ministry’s land resources department for the “inordinate delay” in finalising a bio-fuels programme, a parliamentary panel has sought for the matter be placed before the cabinet at the earliest for …
by Kevin Billinghurst (KTH) The KTH-led, 26-member consortium BRISK has begun accepting proposals from researchers studying improved production methods for biofuels and thermal biomass conversion. Financed by €11 million in EU research funds, the project …
(Payvand Iran News) Iran will start producing industrial bio-ethanol from cellulosic material soon.
Bio-ethanol can be used as petrol supplementary and it will increase the octane number of petrol as it is added to the fuel. It will lead to the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …The first World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates for 2012, from the US Department of Agriculture, give us an opportunity to review that debate.
Let’s go back 10 years ago, before the …
(PhysOrg) The drive to develop crops for use as biofuel, continues to raise questions about additional uses of forest land. A cutting edge computer model developed at North Carolina State University offers detailed insight to predict …
by Rosemary Westwood (Columbia Reports) Colombia’s biofuels exceed international standards for reducing greenhouse gas emissions – advancing the country’s goal to become a leading ethanol producer, according to a new government report.
The study commissioned by the …
The Organizing Committee of the “3rd Latin American Congress on Biorefineries: Ideas for a Sustainable World”, invites all those interested in participating as an exhibitor to submit their papers. Both oral and poster presentations are …
3rd Latin American Congress on Biorefineries: Ideas for a Sustainable World
The 3rd Latin American Congress on Biorefineries is the leading meeting in Latin American on new uses of forest, agricultural and microalgal biomass as a …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …It doesn’t take a casual observer very long to see the China’s activity in industrial biotechnology accelerating, as more and more technologies develop there, or transfer there via JVs or …
by Amy North (LetsRecycle.com) The UK’s ‘largest’ biodiesel plant was opened in Bootle, Liverpool today (May 9) by transport minister Norman Baker.
The plant, developed by renewable energy firm Agri, will process used cooking oil to …
(Renewable Energy Magazine) The European renewable ethanol industry is contributing substantially to the European economy according to ePURE, the European Renewable Ethanol Association, in response to a new report published today.
The report “Contribution of Biofuels to …
(Parabel (formerly PetroAlgae)) Parabel, Inc. new, economical sources of feed, food, and fuel, today announced that it has finalized a restated Master Framework Agreement with CECEP – Chongqing Industry Co., Ltd. (An absolute holding subsidiary of China …
by Lisa Perkins (Traverse City Record-Eagle) Bill Koucky will soon produce biodiesel fuel, after years of planning, experimenting and jumping through regulatory hoops.
…Traverse City will be home to a biodiesel fuel plant when Koucky’s Northwest …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Emerald Biofuels announced that it will build an 85 million gallonrenewable-diesel refineries at a Dow Chemical site in Plaquemine, Louisiana. The company will use Honeywell’s UOP/Eni EcoFining process technology for the …
(Global Renewable Fuels Association/Cardno ENTRIX) …As is the case with virtually all other emerging and developing countries, biofuels offer the prospects of a new cash crop for farmers, increased employment in rural areas, expanded manufacturing output, reduced …
(Biofuels International) A memorandum of understanding has been signed by Italian power company Enel to build a 1-5MW concentrated solar power and biomass bi-generation plant, which will produce electricity for the city of Rome.
…The biomass …
by Wendy Koch (USA Today) Amid the push to develop clean energy, new research suggests plant-based biofuels could meet 30% of global demand for transportation fuel and slash the greenhouse gas emissions that come from …
(PRNewswire) – At a time when regulatory agencies are increasing pressure for the disposal of wastewater containing soluble sugars, ThermoEnergy Corporation’s CASTion® Sugar Recovery System is a proven, cost-effective technology to capture and recover sugar in …
(Argus Media) Small biodiesel makers hope an outside firm brought in to authenticate fuel production will thaw a renewable identification number (RIN) market chilled by two years of fraud.
Genscape’s RIN Integrity program – set to …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … If you invest $2 million, $10 million, and $30 million every other year in bringing a technology forward to the commercial threshold (and you’d be a miracle worker in …
