by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …“The EPA has said that they are going to enforce the 800 million gallon volume RFS2 requirement” said National Biodiesel Board CEO Joe Jobe to Biodiesel magazine, “and we will …

by Jeffrey Leonard  (Washington Monthly)  Why ending all government subsidies for fuel production will lead to a cleaner energy future—and why Obama has a rare chance to make it happen.
…If President Obama wants to set us on …

by Andrea Goodell (The Holland Sentinel)  From the dump to powering your toaster in the morning — a company is proposing to turn waste into energy with a plant in Holland.
Renewable Energy Technologies LLC wants …

by Jenette Sturges  (Naperville Sun)  In only a few short years, it could be fueling cars and trucks while producing 90 percent less greenhouse gas, providing energy security for the nation, and creating high-tech jobs in …

(POET)  First farmers completed BCAP applications Monday
Farmers are now delivering biomass bales to POET’s 22-acre storage site in Emmetsburg, Iowa, the future home of the 25 million-gallon-per-year cellulosic ethanol plant dubbed “Project LIBERTY.”
Area farmers harvested 56,000 …

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 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 …

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 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 …

(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 …

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 …

(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 …

(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 …

(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 …

(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 …

by Ucilia Wang  (Earth2Tech/Reuters)  The bad news about the layoffs at cellulosic biofuel maker Range Fuels just got worse. The financially-strapped company plans to shut down its plant in Georgia after making just one batch …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Colorado, Range Fuels confirmed to a variety of media outlets that it had made layoffs in Colorado and Georgia, and will shut down its Soperton, Georgia plant after an …

(BIO tech NOW)  BIO and government make case for allowing interim planting of genetically biotech beets until APHIS completes its environmental impact statement
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has issued a …

by Dina Fine Maron (ClimateWire/New York Times)  …U.S. EPA figures indicate that in the second half of 2010, not a drop of cellulosic ethanol — a much-touted fuel that taps the sugars from farm wastes …

by Sue Sterling  (The Daily Star-Journal) Agricultural and environmental groups hope to convince legislators to restore funding for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program in the Senate Omnibus Appropriations Bill that will be considered in March.
The …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …At risk in that budget process is the entire funding for the Section 9003 loan guarantee program – in the omnibus spending bill proposed in December by the outgoing Congress, …

(INEOS Bio)  Funding will create jobs through the construction and completion of advanced commercial facility in Florida
INEOS Bio and its joint venture partner, New Planet Energy, today announced they have received a conditional commitment for …

by Christopher Klug (Tiny Green Bubble)  …According to the Renewable Fuels Association data, the United States produced and used approximately 10.6 billion gallons of ethanol in 2009, making the US the largest producer of ethanol …

by David DeWitte (Sioux City Journal)  USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack expects a forthcoming round of federal grants to help start non-corn-based advanced biofuel plants outside the nation’s traditional ethanol heartland boosting support for ethanol.
The government plans …

by Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Miscanthus will see a giant leap in acreage in 2011, thanks to Soperton, Ga.-based Repreve Renewables LLC. The company currently has 500 acres planted in five locations in …

by Robert E. Kozak  (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Looking at some real-world numbers, it becomes clear that the fear raised in Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error, Science, October 23, 2009, misses the point. Growing energy …

USDA Rural Development welcomes projects that highlight innovative uses of agricultural products. This may include using existing agricultural products in non-traditional ways and/or merging agricultural products with technology in creative ways. As with all value-added …

Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG) help independent producers of agricultural commodities, agricultural producer groups, farmer and rancher cooperatives, and majority-controlled producer-based business ventures develop strategies to create marketing opportunities and to help develop business plans for …

by Jerry Warner and P.W. Singer (Brookings Institution)  … Underlying this effort are two complementary objectives. First, a significant percentage of the overall reduction in baseline energy will come from the department converting from petroleum …

(ClearSkies.com)  Clean Skies News Dipka Bhambhani reports on the rise of biofuels from algae as part of the nation’s energy portfolio.  WATCH VIDEO

Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the selection of 25 cost-share projects under the Clean Cities program that will be funded with nearly $300 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. These projects will …

Doug Newman, Ethanol Trade Analyst for the US International Trade Commission, has provided tables and a presentation which summarize amounts of ethanol imports to the US by source location and tariffs paid, along with a …

by Cath Everett (BusinessGreen.com)  Corn ethanol industry accuses EPA of influencing independent panel to boost support for controversial biofuel carbon life cycle regulations.  An independent peer review of proposed US biofuel regulations has only served …

Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, evaluated a recent US Government Accountabilty Office report, ““Now it’s the GAO that is saying that farm prices are a fraction of the hike to grocery bills. Whatever is …

CSIRO and US Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers, have been awarded a A$1.6 million grant to increase the understanding of genes responsible for growth and yield in grasses for use as bio-energy and food crops.  The …

U.S. Department of Agriculture to enter into Contracts to make payments to Eligible Advanced Biofuel Producers to support and ensure an expanding production of Advanced Biofuels. This program is authorized under Title IX, Section 9001, …

USDA to make payments to eligible biorefineries to encourage the use of renewable biomass as a replacement fuel source for fossil fuels used to provide process heat or power in the operation of these eligible …

by Luke Meredith (AP)   … Poet spokesman Nathan Schock said the company hasn’t yet figured out how much it will pay farmers, but it could be $30 to $60 per ton for corn stover, which …

by Marcia Wood (USDA, Southeast Farm Press)  High-speed and high-tech, but surprisingly affordable, the sophisticated assay equips scientists with a faster, less expensive way to discover genes that enable microbes to make an enzyme known …

by Senator John Thune (R-SD)  (Politico)   As Congress, the administration and the private sector look for ways to reduce our consumption of imported oil, we should not overlook the most readily available domestic alternative to …

by Bob Dinneen, Renewable Fuels Association It is troubling–and, at the same time, sadly amusing–that an enterprising reporter at USA Today has done more homework on the possible indirect effects of increased renewable electricity generation …

by  Dr. Robert Wisner,   Biofuels Economist,   Ag Marketing Resource Center,   Iowa State University The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 (1) requires a gradual increase in the volume of various kinds of biofuels to …

Being a standard-bearer requires heroic endeavors, and perhaps inevitably, epic miscalculations as well.  This is the situation of the California Air Resources Board (ARB) in its recent announcement of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard for …

(US Department o fAgriculture) The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) intends to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). BCAP is a new program authorized by the Food, Conservation, and …

This plan, published in October 2008, was designed by the Biomass Research and Development Board to help industry achieve aggressive national goals enumerated in the “Twenty in Ten” initiative, the Renewable Fuel Standard of the Energy Independence …

Jeffrey Steiner, USDA, Agricultural Research Service, describes the current circumstances of developing criteria and indicators for sustainable biofuels production as comparable to building a plane and flying at the same time.  He is optimistic that today’s …

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is offering to guarantee loans of up to $250 million for commercial-scale biorefineries that produce biofuels from something other than corn starch. One company that plans to apply for …

The United States has become increasingly dependent in recent decades on imported petroleum to meet its energy needs.  A portfolio of more diverse and domestic feedstocks for our nation’s energy and chemical supply must be …

USDA and DOE put together this study finding that there could be adequate biomass to displace 30% or more of current US annual petroleum consumption.  READ MORE