Article Archive for January 2013
by Zack Coleman (The Hill E2Wire) The White House took jabs at oil-and-gas subsidies Wednesday, calling for an end to the incentives as part of a deal to avoid automatic spending cuts from sequestration.
“The idea …
by Sue Holmes (Sandia News Media/Algae Industry Magazine) Sandia National Laboratories Truman Fellow Anne Ruffing has engineered two strains of cyanobacteria to produce free fatty acids, a precursor to liquid fuels, and has also found that …
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A recently released European Commission proposal on deploying alternative fuels infrastructure recognizes the importance of biofuels but does not go far enough, said ePURE, the European Renewable Ethanol Association.
On …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Who’s right, in the fight of their lives over E15 ethanol blending? Whose data’s from Toontown, whose from the real-world?
Yesterday the American Petroleum Institute held a press conference in DC …
by Donna Funk (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Kennedy and Coe LLC) …The current market for E15 is growing, which is an exciting statement. The industry is still facing issues associated with federal regulations restricting the sale of …
by Tim Portz (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Kristy Moore recalls her beginnings in the ethanol industry, her fondness for American agriculture and the long road to bringing E15 to market.
The story of the approval of E15 for …
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) “Affordable Mobility: A Roadmap to Energy Efficiency” framed a public discussion of automotive issues for Capitol Hill staff which ranged from fuel efficiency and the new CAFÉ (Corporate Average …
by Kevin Quon (Seeking Alpha) As a producer of renewable oils, Solazyme (SZYM) is often connotated (seemingly to its own detriment) with the production of biofuels. Yet the company has developed a novel biotechnology platform …
by Art Hovey (Lincoln Journal Star) … Managers of Nebraska’s two dozen ethanol plants are finding livestock and poultry customers in other states and more buyers as far away as Canada, Mexico and China for …
by W.M.J. Achten, A. Trabucco, W.H. Maes, L.V. Verchot, R. Aerts, E. Mathijs, P. Vantomme, V.P. Singh, B. Muys (ScienceDirect.com/Journal of Arid Environments) Biofuels are considered as a climate-friendly energy alternative. However, their environmental sustainability is …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) It is becoming increasingly evident that, in the near-term, acute demand for aviation biofuel is going, one way or another, to result in heavy demand for jatropha and jatropha oil-based …
(PR NewsWire/American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers) New research released by the Coordinating Research Council (CRC) today found that E15, gasoline blended with 15 percent ethanol, would damage millions of post-2001 model year vehicles. The CRC …
(Algae Industry Magazine) The Swedish governmental agency for innovation systems, Vinnova, has decided to invest four million Swedish kronor ($623,000 USD) over three years in a project that uses micro-algae to produce bio-oil from the …
(ABC News) Tasmania could become home to Australia’s first commercial plant converting trees into the biofuel, ethanol.
Timber communities in Dorset and the Huon Valley are in formal talks with the developers of technology that allows …
by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine) The U.S. DOE has made $6 million available for projects focused on developing and demonstrating supply chain technologies that will enable delivery of commercial-scale lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks to U.S. biorefineries.
The …
(Ohio State University) OARDC has received a $6.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy to test and expand OARDC-developed technology that can produce biogas from a variety …
by Li Jiao (SciDev.net) Deep inside insects’ guts may lie the key to one of the biofuel industry’s great challenges: how to cost-effectively turn tough plant waste into profit-making fuel.
About 50 million tonnes of lignin …
by Bob Dineen (Renewable Fuels Association) Flint, Mich., is known throughout the world as the birthplace of General Motors. When an economist from Flint gets the facts about motor fuels all wrong, it’s time to …
(National Algae Association) Is the government’s commitment to alternative fuels being stymied by the American Petroleum Institute, or is the Department of Energy stymying the commitment all by itself?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Ireland, former Ryanair CEO Declan Ryan has joined investors in backing Aer Sustainable Energy Ltd, better known as Aer Bio. He was a director of Ryanair Holdings from August …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Lawrence Berkeley Lab has developed a new technology that enables the engineering of host microorganisms suitable for biofuel processing using ionic liquid pretreatment. It may also enable fermentation under septic …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …The metrics? A commercial scale project of 4,000 hectares would supply enough power for the project and export 325GWh a year in addition to 7,500 tonnes of algae oil, and hundreds of …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Volatile costs for fossil fuels and rising concerns over emissions. “A doubling of present CO2 emissions by 2050 if we do nothing.” A share of “for at least 10% of …
(Algae Industry Magazine) West Virginia-based Touchstone Research Laboratory, is experimenting with three new technologies at their raceway farm testing center built around four 30-by-200-foot ponds in Wooster, Ohio. Funded by close to $7 million in …
(Rockwood Summit High School/Biodiesel Magazine) Students at Rockwood Summit High School in Missouri are asking the community to support their plans to build a renewable fuel education center. Among the fundraising efforts, students are selling …
by Holly Jessen (Biodiesel Magazine) A two-year research project aims to crack the lignin question by engineering a microbe to break down the byproduct into a lipid, or fat, and then into biodiesel. The research …
Agri Investment Forum encourages early and emerging companies within the farmland, animal, water, and sustainable energy sectors to apply to present. Presenters will also have the opportunity to secure a corporate display table in the foyer …
Biofuels remain a topic that is controversial, and although frequently attacked unjustly, they remain an important component in maintaining our mobility and the fight against climate change.
The biofuels of the “First Generation” today represent the …
(EconMatters/Business Insider) … But it looks like what may be good for the environment, is actually bad news for the government.
You see, for each gallon of gasoline or diesel we gas up in our cars, …
by Robert Pore (The Independent) …According to another speaker at the Agriculture Outlook Conference 2013, David Hightower, president of Hightower Report, ethanol has increased corn demand and added value to corn that wasn’t there prior to …
by Scott Thistle (Maine Sun Journal) A pair of bills introduced Thursday by state Rep. Jeff Timberlake, R-Turner, could have a significant impact on what goes into the gas tank of your car, lawnmower or snowblower.
One …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) According to a new study performed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, corn grown using no-till methods may sequester larger amounts of carbon than previously believed. The study was published in …
By Josh Rathod (Advanced Biofuels USA) The Transforming Transportation ’13 conference, held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC, proved to be an exciting event for sustainable industry everywhere. During one of the primary …
(American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers/PR NewsWire/Yahoo!) In a decision that questions the motivation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit today vacated EPA’s 2012 cellulosic biofuel mandate, concluding that its biased forecast was in ‘excess …
by Ned Stowe (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) The USDA estimates that farmers in the U.S. will plant nine million more acres in corn in 2013 than they did in 2011, an increase of almost 10 …
(Green Fuels/Biodiesel Magazine) The biorefinery manufacturer Green Fuels is in Bali this week commissioning a turnkey biodiesel facility for Caritas Switzerland, an NGO that focuses on socioeconomic development in disadvantaged communities around the world. Green Fuels …
The workshop is organised by NL Agency with the support of WIP Renewable Energies. The objective is to discuss and share experiences on current initiatives for the development of sound frameworks for bioenergy in African …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) The first E85 station has opened in Richmond, Virginia. In addition, MAPCO Express, has “re-branded” their retail stores under the “East Coast” brand and the three new E85 stations, two near …
by Jeff Hove (RINAlliance/Biodiesel Magazine) …Managing RIN transactions and completing EPA reports has become slightly easier under RFS2 and EMTS rules. RIN marketing, however, has become increasingly difficult in a market that has been rocked …
by Mark Kinver (BBC News) Scientists have identified willow trees that yield five times as much sugar as ordinary varieties, “drastically reducing” the impact of biofuels.
UK researchers found that if the trees grew at an angle, …
by Steve Browne (Marshall Independent) U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar stopped at the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) facilities at Southwest Minnesota State University on Monday for a tour of the laboratories.
…AURI is a non-profit corporation …
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 …
by Stephan Nielsen (Bloomberg) Novozymes A/S (NZYMB), the world’s biggest maker of enzymes used in laundry soap, may get 90 percent of its revenue from biofuel makers by 2030 if more governments start promoting renewable energy, …
by Theda Skocpol (Foreign Policy) If Obama wants to make good on his inaugural promise, he’ll need to remember the lessons he learned as a community organizer.
…The inside game has failed in part because climate …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Earlier this week, a new study from researchers at UC Santa Barbara determined photovoltaics to be much more efficient than biomass at turning sunlight into energy to fuel a car.
“Even the most …
(Stabroek News) The Agriculture Ministry and the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) are in talks to use locally produced ethanol to woo investors and sharpen skills that would be put into developing the fledgling non-fossil fuel sector.
Guyana …
Join us at the cutting edge of thermochemical biomass conversion—real science, real solutions.
Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is pleased to announce tcbiomass2013, the International Conference on Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Science. Mark your calendars for Chicago, IL USA …
Moving From Politics to Policy: Advancing the Business of Renewable Energy
As we move beyond election year politics into 2013, there is general consensus that continued inaction should not be an option for the new Congress. …
by Nina Chestney (Reuters) British scientists seeking to tap more efficient forms of solar power are exploring how to mimic the way plants transform sunlight into energy and produce hydrogen to fuel vehicles.
They will join other …
Editor’s note: I think you will agree that this open letter to the people at NOAA from Peter Saundry, Executive Director of the National Council for Science and the Environment, is worth publishing. At Advanced …
(Menafn /The Record/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services) A seed producer is recruiting area farmers to produce sorghum, a grain crop also known as milo, for use in ethanol production, including at the Pacific Ethanol Inc. plant in …
(FIS) A Cornell University team has used the Monte Carlo approach to quantify the role of uncertainty associated with process parameters in life cycle analysis (LCA) of algae-to-biofuel schemes for determining metrics such as Energy …
(Bren School of Environmental Science and Management) New study shows solar power is not only better in terms of energy efficiency, land use, and greenhouse gas emissions – but is cost competitive, too
…As electric vehicles (EVs) …
(Iowas Renewable Fuels Association) A group of Iowa businesses and organizations today congratulated President Obama on his Inauguration and announced the formation of the Iowa RFS Coalition. In a letter to the President, also copied …
by Katie Fehrenbacher (Gigaom) … One of the companies that’s the farthest along is Solazyme, a South San Francisco-based company that went public in the spring of 2011. Solazyme was one of the first firms to focus …
(Crown Point Community) …City officials in October approved plans for the 3,300-square-foot brick gas station and convenience store and a free-standing 1,200-square-foot car wash on 1.7 acres at the northwest corner of the intersection.
Six fuel …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The Renewable Fuels Association is urging the California Air Resources Board to revise indirect land use change (ILUC) penalties assigned to certain biofuels under the state’s low carbon fuel …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In Maryland, The Wildlife Society released a Technical Review, “Effects of Bioenergy Production on Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat,” to provide answers to questions on bioenergy development and wildlife so that …
(EnAlgae) Sustainable biofuels are at the heart of present and future EU renewable transport policies. Among them, extra incentivised biofuels – e.g. “double-counting” biofuels (whose contribution to EU targets shall be considered to be twice …
(News Day) The multimillion dollar ethanol project in Chisumbanje is set to re-open after villagers and the company agreed on a wide range of issues meant to avert social disaster in Chipinge.
Agreed issues include the …
(Science Daily) The mainly EU-funded DISCO project coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed powerful enzymes, which accelerate plant biomass conversion into sugars and further into products such as bioethanol. The project’s …
(Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania)
The Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s (BFTP/NEP) Board of Directors has approved the investment of $354,876 in support of regional economic development. BFTP/NEP’s goal is to help …
by Jim Lane (BioInvest Digest) The technologies out there are five in number. They are all in commercial deployment now, though some are at the capacity-construction stage. Some of them vary the feedstock, some vary …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) The Agriculture Energy Coalition (AgEC) today urged Congress to begin work on a new five-year Farm Bill with strong mandatory funding for energy programs.
The coalition notes that programs included in the …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) Delegates for the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) last week voted overwhelmingly to support continuation of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), despite the fact that membership in the organization includes a …
Now in its 16th year, F.O. Licht’s World Ethanol and Biofuels is the must attend event for the global ethanol and biofuels community. Recognised as the best forum for in-depth analysis and as the biggest week of trade …
The symposium will be organized into the following tracks:
Feedstocks and Technology, chaired by Hugh McLaughlin
Benefits of Biochar, chaired by Kathleen Draper
Scales, Sales, and Marketing, chaired by Amanda Ravenhill
Policy and Community Engagement, chaired by Erich Knight
We are currently reviewing abstracts for these tracks. We …
by Sean Bartlett (Platts) Europe needs a stable legal framework if biofuels research and development is to prosper, Neste Oil’s Executive Vice President, Oil Products, Matti Lehmus, said at a conference Monday.
A proposal in October by …
by Juliet Eilperin (The Washington Post) …But in his remarks Monday after taking the oath of office, Obama chose to make a moral case — rather than an economic or national security one — for taking action. …
by Rudy Ruitenberb (BusinessDay/iAfrica.com) Biofuel output from agricultural commodities has contributed to surging world food prices in the past decade, says Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe.
…Mr Brabeck-Letmathe described making biofuels from food crops as “nonsense”.
The agriculture ministers …
(University of Massachusetts-Amherst NewsWise) Paul J. Dauenhauer, a chemical engineer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has received a five-year, $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s CAREER program to conduct basic research on the …
(Reuters) CME Group said on Tuesday that the specification of its heating oil contract from May 2013 will contain no renewable fuel or biodiesel, matching the “Grade 62″ of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) carried on …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) One of biofuels’ most-celebrated technologies falters; the struggle to raise capital claims a high-profile victim.
…The company had been known for its awesomely promising technology, leisurely pace towards commercialization compared to …
by Bruce Dorminey (Renewable Energy World) By taking full advantage of both its natural subtropical climate and its own citrus resources, Florida’s fledgling biomass energy sector looks to be finally coming into its own.
Two recent initiatives …
by Kristi Pihl (Tri-City Herald) A pilot project to produce biofuel using agricultural and organic municipal waste has reached levels that makes the process commercially viable, researchers say.
The project, paid for by the Department of …
by Joann Muller (Forbes) When the grueling 2013 Rolex 24 endurance race kicks off at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 26, the field will include three Mazda6 race cars powered by an unusual type of renewable fuel.
The ultra-clean, synthetic …
(Inside Indiana Business/POET) Twenty-five of POET’s network of 27 biorefineries have now installed its patent-pending corn oil technology, bringing its total capacity to approximately 250,000 tons per year, enough feedstock to produce 68 million gallons …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Though building capacity globally, Solazyme’s operations in Brazil are getting traction fast – and raised $235M last week. How much oil could be produced in Brazil via sugar-munching microalgae? …
The 5th PALMEX Indonesia 2013 is the only specialized Palm Oil event in Asia that brings together an international congregation of both upstream and downstream palm oil companies and also its supporting industries gathered in …
Building Innovative Collaborations Across the Pacific
The annual Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy is the original conference dedicated solely to the growth of the industrial biotechnology and bioenergy sectors in North America and …
By Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Thanks to Lee Publications, the organizers of farm shows up and down the mid-Atlantic, for donation of booth space at the “farm show for farmers,” Keystone Farm Show 2013. …
by Tom Buis (Growth Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine) …As automakers look forward to meet the increasing fuel efficiency standards, one thing is for sure—cars will be very different from the ones that I grew up with. …
by Bob Dinneen (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Renewable Fuels Association) …While the U.S. ethanol industry historically only exported a small amount of its product every year, that all changed in 2009 when improving industry economics led to …
by Daniel Coelho Barbosa (Ethanol Producer Magazine) For many years, the U.S. ethanol industry saw Brazil primarily as a competitor. In 2012, as ethanol trade barriers disappeared and weather forced market adjustments in both countries, …
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Developing a retail relationship with area fuel stations is a potential perk for ethanol plants, retailers and consumers.
In some areas of the U.S., drivers filling up with ethanol blends …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Ethanol might experience strong headwinds in 2013 but four marketers still see good things ahead.
…(Josh) Bailey (vice president of marketing and trading for Eco-Energy Inc.) is also bullish on the …
by Carrie Napoleon (Chicago SunTimes/Post-Tribune) Until the first commercial trash-to-ethanol plant in Vero Beach, Fla., is up and running, plans by a local construction consortium to take over a similar project here are in a …
by Scott Irwin and Darrel Good (University of Illinois/Farm Doc Daily) In a post on January 10, 2013 we examined the relative profitability of meeting the RFS for advanced biofuels with domestically produced biodiesel and imported Brazilian …
by Andrew Herndon (Bloomberg) Aemetis Inc., a U.S. ethanol producer, idled production at its plant in Keyes, California, citing “unfavorable market conditions for corn ethanol” and will upgrade the facility to also produce fuel from …
(Commodities Now) Today (January 16, 2013) the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance called on the policy development, business and technology sector leaders attending the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, to commit to increasing biofuels’ share …
(25 x ’25) U.S. agriculture has always been innovative in meeting the challenges to production posed by changing growing conditions in the various parts of the country. So, farmers, foresters, ranchers and land owners are …
by Ilya Gelfand, Ritvik Sahajpal, Xuesong Zhang, R. César Izaurralde, Katherine L. Gross & G. Philip Robertson (Nature) …An alternative is to grow lignocellulosic (cellulosic) crops on ‘marginal’ lands9. Cellulosic feedstocks can have positive environmental …
by Zarina Khan (The National) A simple suggestion during a standard orientation presentation led to one student’s discovery of a potential alternative energy source available in the open deserts of his home emirate of Abu Dhabi.
“Dr …
(Phys.Org) Tree seeds, rather than biomass or fuel crop plants, could represent an abundant source of renewable energy, according to research published in the International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management. The study suggests that …
by Susan Worley (Star-Tribune) The Town of Gretna and Piedmont BioProducts LLC learned last week they will benefit from two Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission grants totaling $5.3 million.
The money will be …
(KBR) KBR announced it was selected by CRI Catalyst Company (CRI) as the preferred Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) partner supporting licensed design of IH2 technology commercial scale facilities, having greater than 330-tons/day dry biomass …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) DOE sets goal of 2,500 gallon per acre algae biomass demonstration by 2018.
In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced a “Advancements in Algal Biomass Yield” Funding Opportunity of up …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Ah, that was a time when leaders had the stones to set difficult targets and stick to them, preferring to bet on American know-how than organize the sounding of …
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CMT is an active global conference organizer and since 1982 supports business development across Asia, MidEast/Africa and the Americas. Recent political and economic reforms in Myanmar are very encouraging with the country favored as the …
by Jeff Hove (RINAlliance/EcoEngineers) RINAlliance was established in 2007 to assist petroleum marketers and renewable fuel blenders with EPA blending compliance requirements. Today, RINAlliance serves 130 blenders with EPA reporting and RIN marketing. They currently manage …
