Truly Sustainable Renewable Future
March 17, 2009 – 10:42 am | No Comment

Advanced Biofuels are high-energy liquid transportation fuels derived from: low nutrient input/high per acre yield crops; agricultural or forestry waste; or other sustainable biomass feedstocks including algae.  The key word is “sustainable.”
A technical definition that …

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Biofuels 2.0: Sustainable Startups
March 2, 2010 – 4:43 pm | No Comment

by Jack Oswald, CEO of SynGest  (MIT/Stanford Venture Lab)  In this PowerPoint presentation, SynGest’s CEO took his experience as a “start-up guy” and applied it to a strategy for developing biofertilizers in concert with biofuels.  …

Advanced Biofuels Capacity Will Increase to 1.7 Billon Gallons by 2013: downloadable Database
March 2, 2010 – 4:14 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, Biofuels Digest released its updated Advanced Biofuels tracking database, release 1.1, with advanced biofuels production capacity now projected to reach 1.704 billion gallons by the end of 2013, …

NASDAQ Launches New Clean-Tech Index
March 2, 2010 – 12:41 pm | No Comment

by Nicholas Zeman (Biodiesel Magazine)  U.S. biofuel companies get no representation on NASDAQ’s new DB NASDAQ OMX Clean Tech Index (DBCC), launched Feb. 10, after a rigorous selection process performed by Deutsche Bank’s Climate Change …

Government Earns 400% ROI on Ethanol Blender’s Credit
February 25, 2010 – 9:13 am | No Comment

by Mark (Corn Commentary)  …The next issue can already be seen on the horizon and it can be seen clearly because it is not a “new” criticism. It is called the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax …

Oil Reserve Uncertainty Creates Biofuel Opportunities In Central Asia
February 22, 2010 – 12:06 pm | No Comment

by Oil Price (iStockAnalyst)  …additives and substitutes such as biofuels will play an ever-increasing role by stretching beleaguered production quotas. As market forces and rising prices drive this technology to the forefront, one of the …

Next Generation Bio-Based Chemicals Summit Review
February 22, 2010 – 11:47 am | No Comment

by Pete Davey (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Currently many of the world’s chemicals originate from petroleum based sources, causing a major dependence on petroleum that encompasses more than transportation fuels. Some of the chemicals currently derived …

RINs Improved as Part of RFS2
February 22, 2010 – 10:50 am | No Comment

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.S. EPA has come up with a new system for renewable identification number (RINs) that should be easier to use as well as cut down on the possibility …

Indiana Company Leading ARCA West Fuel Conversion
February 21, 2010 – 3:11 pm | No Comment

(Inside Indiana Business)  Sales and marketing arm of ARCA West, Itzen Media officially announced that Ignite Racing Fuel will become the title sponsor of the ARCA West Series. Ignite Racing Fuel will be replacing previous …

Renewable Fuels Association Publishes 2010 Ethanol Industry Outlook
February 19, 2010 – 3:41 pm | No Comment

Our industry produced a record 10.6 billion gallons of ethanol in 2009. Efficiency enhancements and innovations in production combined with improved farming techniques allowed us to achieve this record with existing corn acreage and reduced …

Economics Improve for First Commercial Cellulosic Ethanol Plants
February 18, 2010 – 12:10 pm | No Comment

by Jessica Leber (ClimateWire New York Times)  Many cellulosic fuel producers are working with enzymes to break down tough, inedible plant parts, such as corncobs or switch grass, into simpler sugars that can be fermented …

Algae Investment Trends – Advanced Biofuels Insight
February 17, 2010 – 3:36 pm | No Comment

by Will Thurmond (Biofuels Digest)  The global biofuels industry is entering a new decade of emerging opportunities and considerable challenges in reaching 2020 targets. The global economic recession is already shaking out many of the …

Daimler Committed to Jatropha Biodiesel
February 17, 2010 – 2:55 pm | One Comment

(TheBioenergySite)   Daimler AG has started a new project for the cultivation of the biodiesel raw material jatropha in the south of India and the seedlings for the first 100 hectares have been planted.
 
The company …

Biofuels Back in Vogue
February 17, 2010 – 2:04 pm | No Comment

by Gregor Heard (FarmOnline)  THEY’RE back - after being flavour of the month in the middle years of the decade, renewable fuels were knocked out of the water over the past three years, and consigned …

Algae to Solve the Pentagon’s Jet Fuel Problem
February 17, 2010 – 1:26 pm | No Comment

by Suzanne Goldenberg  (The Guardian)   The brains trust of the Pentagon says it is just months away from producing a jet fuel from algae for the same cost as its fossil-fuel equivalent.
The claim, which comes …

Judge Rejects Challenge to N.C. “Ethanol Blending” Law — Similar to Pending TN Lawsit
February 17, 2010 – 11:31 am | No Comment

by Tom Humphrey (Knoxnews.com)   A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit by the American Petroleum Institute that sought to invalidate North Carolina’s “ethanol blending” statute, which is similar to a 2009 law passed by the …

Garbrook Introduces the 2010 Advanced Biofuels Resource with Business Intelligence Tools
February 17, 2010 – 9:23 am | No Comment

Garbrook introduced the 2010 Advanced Biofuels Resource (ABR), an upgraded version of its online knowledgebase that summarizes scientific, technical, commercial, environmental, and policy information on all generations of biofuels. The enhanced product features the US …

Has Big Oil Finally Gotten Serious About Biofuels?
February 15, 2010 – 5:25 pm | No Comment

by Joshua Kagan (GreenTechMedia)  …If we consider that the oil majors are not in the oil business, but rather, the infrastructure business — and as long as they control the liquids that come out of …

Shell Bets Billions on Brazilian Ethanol
February 15, 2010 – 4:50 pm | No Comment

by Sam Hopkins (Green Chip Stocks)  …Cosan is entering into a joint venture with an oil giant that could be worth $12 billion, and its happy beginning to 2010 signals a renewal of interest in …

The Best & Worst Biofuel Startups
February 15, 2010 – 4:31 pm | No Comment

by Josie Garthwaite  (Earth2Tech)  Amid the rubble of the first generation of biofuel projects focused on ethanol derived from corn, a new landscape of biofuel tech has taken shape. As Lux Research puts it in …

Grant Buys 120 Hybrid, ‘Flex Fuel’ Squad Cars
February 15, 2010 – 1:17 pm | No Comment

by Michael Gonzalez (Post-Tribune)  More of Gary’s men and women in blue could be driving green by spring.
The Board of Works on Wednesday voted to advertise for vendors to provide up to 120 “flex fuel” …

US Ethanol Industry Looks To Possible Future As Exporter
February 14, 2010 – 11:27 am | No Comment

by Ian Berry (Dow Jones Newswires)  …Brazil, faced with tightening supplies of its sugarcane-based ethanol as growers there find better profits in sugar, said last month it is considering importing U.S., corn-based ethanol. While there …

Truckers, Oil Refiners Sue California to Overturn State’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard
February 11, 2010 – 6:12 pm | No Comment

(edmunds.com)  Oil refiners and truckers have sued California to overturn the state’s low-carbon fuel standard.  The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, alleges that the LCFS violates the …

IEA Bioenergy Task 40 Publishes “2nd Generation Biofuels and Trade”
February 11, 2010 – 5:16 pm | No Comment

The study “2nd Generation Biofuels and Trade“ explores the potential supply and demand of 2nd generation biofuels up until 2030, and discusses various impacts on biofuel trade, ranging from cost advantages over shipping capacities and …

Will China Eat America’s Lunch in Cleantech?
February 11, 2010 – 2:09 pm | No Comment

by Vivek Wadhwa (TechCrunch.com and The Washington Post)  …China, in particular, is making massive investments and has a huge advantage from focused policy and large markets. Even though China is not likely to produce its …

Bio This and Bio That….So What is Biodiesel Anyway?
February 10, 2010 – 6:36 pm | No Comment

by Dr. Rosalie Lober (Biofuels Digest)  Unless you’re working daily in the field of biofuels, you will probably do research to learn the specifics of the variety of fuel options, feedstocks and technologies.  How will …

National Biodiesel Board Drives into the New Decade With “Carbon-Neutral” Cars and Trucks
February 10, 2010 – 6:27 pm | No Comment

by Will Thurmond (Biofuels Digest)  This evening I enjoyed a drive from Houston to Dallas and arrived at the National Biodiesel Board (NBB)’s 2010 event just in time for the auto-show.  I’m a big auto …

China Biofuel Industry Provides Opportunities in Agribusiness
February 10, 2010 – 3:37 pm | No Comment

(RightSite)  As China’s solar and wind power sectors grab headlines, leading agribusiness companies are grabbing a foothold in China’s biofuel sector. As oil prices threaten to rise in years to come, China’s drive to create …

Obama Announces Steps to Boost Biofuels, Clean Coal, Releases RFS2
February 3, 2010 – 7:54 pm | No Comment

President Barack Obama announced a series of steps his Administration is taking as part of its comprehensive strategy to enhance American energy independence while building a foundation for a new clean energy economy, and its …

US Ethanol Imports Could Temper Rising Prices - Analyst - Brazil
February 2, 2010 – 5:59 pm | No Comment

by João Carvalho (Business News Americas)  Imported corn-based ethanol from the US could help ease ethanol prices in Brazil that have been rising because of increasing demand and heavy rains that have delayed the sugarcane harvest, …

How Many Corn Acres Are Needed In 2010?
February 2, 2010 – 5:56 pm | No Comment

by Darrel Good  (University of Illinois and Cattle Network)  …Planting decisions for individual crops in the spring of 2010 will be influenced by a number of factors. These include relative crop prices, prospects for net …

Rules Change for Algenol, but Lee County’s Gamble Could Work
February 2, 2010 – 1:28 pm | No Comment

by David Plazas (News-Press)  The Lee County Commissioners on Tuesday changed the rules on doling out economic development incentive money, and maybe that’s a good thing.  We’ll have to see because Algenol Biofuels— which is …

Tesla To Kill Electric Roadster In 2011
January 30, 2010 – 11:47 am | No Comment

by Ray Wert   (Jalopnik)   Who killed the electric car? Well, a closer evaluation of today’s Tesla’s IPO filing with the SEC reveals Tesla will. They plan to kill the Tesla Roadster after 2011. No, seriously.
The …

Ricardo Achieves Breakthrough Efficiency for Ethanol
January 29, 2010 – 2:50 pm | 2 Comments

Ricardo technology achieves breakthrough efficiency for ethanol-fuelled engines
System surpasses gasoline efficiency, reaches near-diesel levels and reduces operational costs compared to current fuels.
At the Washington Auto Show, Ricardo revealed the development of technology that optimizes ethanol-fuelled …

Chevron Will Restructure Refining, Cut Jobs
January 22, 2010 – 4:51 pm | No Comment

by Brett Clanton and Monica Hatcher  (Houston Chronicle)  Chevron Corp. plans to restructure its global refining business under a sweeping plan that will result in an unspecified number of job losses and that could see …

Fuel Ethanol Margins: 2009 Update
January 22, 2010 – 7:49 am | No Comment

(Cattlenetwork.com)   The November 26, 2008, edition of This Week In Petroleum looked at profit margins for the dry mill fuel ethanol industry, pointing out the boom-and-bust cycles that had occurred. In 2009, ethanol producers’ margins continued …

Next Generation Biofuels: The Big Picture
January 20, 2010 – 9:54 am | No Comment

by Will Thurmond (Biofuels Digest)  As industry and governments enter a new decade and contemplate the outcome of the December, 2009 Copenhagen treaty, the ‘big picture’ on biofuels continues to get lost in the rhetoric …

Argentine-European Biofuels Trade: Proposals for the Transparent Development of an Industry
January 19, 2010 – 9:27 am | One Comment

by Carlos St. James (Argentine Renewable Energies Chamber) …Argentina, along with the rest of Latin America, is poised to begin capturing more and more of the growing pie that is global renewable energies investment.
…Clearly, the …

Q d’Etat at Qteros: CEO Frey Out, Ex-Verenium EVP McCarthy in: Acceleration on Technology, Partnerships in Focus
January 18, 2010 – 10:41 am | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Massachusetts, Qteros unexpectedly dumped CEO Bill Frey and installed former Verenium EVP John McCarthy — one of the key players in the Celunol-Diversa merger that became cellulosic ethanol pioneer …

China’s Low Tariff Opens Door for Ethanol Imports
January 2, 2010 – 11:55 am | No Comment

(Reuters) China has agreed to lower the tariff on imports of ethanol to 5 percent from the previous 30 percent, which traders said could open the door for imports of fuel ethanol from countries like Brazil.
…Brazil, …

The “Why” and “Why Not Better?” of the US Tariff on Brazilian Ethanol
January 2, 2010 – 11:36 am | No Comment

Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Q: Why is there a tariff on Brazilian ethanol?
A. Under WTO rules the corn ethanol subsidy of 45 cents per gallon has to be made available to domestic and foreign …

IEA Biomass Task 40 Publishes “2nd Generation Biofuels and Trade: An Exploratory Study
December 30, 2009 – 2:53 pm | No Comment

 A new study by Douglas Bradley, Luc Pelkmans and Dieter Cupyers examines the potential supply and demand of 2nd generation biofuels up until 2030, and discusses various impacts on biofuel trade, ranging from cost advantages …

EU Green Protectionism = Economic Madness
December 29, 2009 – 1:46 pm | No Comment

by Carpe Diem  (benzinga.com)   Some excerpts from the new study “Green Protectionism in the European Union: How Europe’s Biofuels Policy and the Renewable Energy Directive Violate WTO Commitments” from the European Center for International Political …

Cellulosic-Ethanol Mandate Faces Snags
December 29, 2009 – 1:23 pm | One Comment

by Naureen S. Malik (Wall Street Journal)  Cellulosic-ethanol production, a cornerstone of the U.S. government’s plan to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, is earmarked to overtake corn ethanol over the next decade. But the industry’s expected takeoff could be …

The Wonders Down Under: Special Report on Australia
December 29, 2009 – 10:45 am | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  A progressive culture, declining fossil fuel reserves, an emissions challenge, considerable sugarcane resources, native feedstocks such as moringa and the Australian Beauty Tree, a nexus of research into cellulosic bioprocessing, …

State of the Argentine Biodiesel Industry
December 29, 2009 – 9:10 am | One Comment

(Camara Argentina de Energias Renovables/CADER)
 
  · In the last few months the Argentine biodiesel industry has stabilized output, if not profitability, and in August 2009 produced some 109,000 tons after a very good July;
 
  · …

Growth Stage Financing for an Algae Company
December 28, 2009 – 6:03 pm | No Comment

by Todd A. Taylor (Fredrikson & Byron)  From his presentation at the Algae Biomass Summit in October 2009, Todd Taylor outlines the process, challenges and expectations of finding funding for any new technology/advanced biofuels company.  …

ENVIROTEK’s “Extreme Bio-Diesel” Division Completes Phase I of Bio-Diesel Refinery Expansion
December 16, 2009 – 8:05 am | No Comment

ENVIROTEK announced the company’s Corona, California-based Extreme Bio-Diesel (EBD) division has successfully completed the first phase of its refinery expansion and is in full production of Bio-Diesel fuel, ahead of the projected January 2010 schedule.
ENVIROTEK President, …

Valero Renewables to Purchase Three Ethanol Plants
December 16, 2009 – 7:59 am | No Comment

Valero Renewable Fuels Company, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation , announced today that it has signed an agreement with ASA Ethanol Holdings, LLC to buy two ethanol plants that had been …

15 Airlines Take Groundbreaking Step in Alternative Fuel Deployment, Sign Comprehensive MOUs to Negotiate Purchase of Fuel from AltAir & Rentech
December 16, 2009 – 7:54 am | No Comment

The Air Transport Association of America, Inc. (ATA), the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, announced that a core group of airlines has signed groundbreaking memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with two different producers …

The Who, What and When of Cellulosic Ethanol Commercialization
December 15, 2009 – 12:20 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Biofuels Digest provides a summary of various cellulosic ethanol production technologies; and who is using them where.  —… Companies that have been in the R&D phases for years — if …