Articles in Energy
(Department of Energy) Dr. Ernest Moniz was sworn in as the nation’s 13th Secretary of Energy by Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman in a ceremony this morning (May 21, 2013) for the Department’s employees, kicking off …
by Valerie Volcovici (Reuters) President Barack Obama’s energy and environment team took two steps forward on Thursday after the U.S. Senate confirmed Ernest Moniz as energy secretary and a committee cleared Gina McCarthy to get a …
by Lynn Yarris(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Develop Enzyme-free Ionic Liquid Pre-treatment
Advanced biofuels – liquid fuels synthesized from the sugars in cellulosic biomass – offer a clean, green and renewable alternative to …
(Edeniq/Yahoo! News) Visalia Plant Milestone Signifies Greater Commercial Viability for Cellulosic Ethanol and Sugars
Edeniq, a biomaterials and sustainable fuels company, today announced the company’s first demonstration plant, located at its Visalia, CA headquarters, has completed …
by Barry Cohen (National Algae Association/PR Log) The DoE has spent $2.5 billion on algae research but to date nothing has been commercialized. Why? Because their mission is to develop technologies. It’s not their problem or …
by RP Siegel (Industry Market Trends Green & Clean Journal/ThomasNet.com) Four years ago, American LeMans kicked off its first green racing season. The program, which requires teams to use alternative fuels such as ethanol blends (E10 or …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Energy Information Administration has published updated data on alternative fuels and vehicles through 2011. The analysis addresses several alternative transportation fuels, including E85, hydrogen, electricity, natural gas …
by Kathy Robertson (Sacramento Business Journal) Novozymes Inc. is staffing up to support a $2.5 million Department of Energy contract to find new and more efficient enzymes for turning corn leaves and stalks into fuel for …
(UPI) …On a percentage basis, the EIA said the price spread was closer to 17 percent in 2001, and dipped to as low as 6 percent in early 2009. This decline is because of the …
(National Renewable Energy Laboratory) The latest national survey of 100% biodiesel (B100) “blend stock” samples by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that 95% of the samples from 2011-12 met …
by Bill Scanlon (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Biofuels scientists are asking more complex questions about how molecules spin, bond, and break when enzymes attack plants — all in the name of quickening the process of …
by Russ White (MLive) … Michigan State University leads research of bioenergies and biofuels through AgBioResearch and the Kellogg Biological Station and partnerships with coalitions such as the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the Global …
(National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Enzymes could break down cell walls faster – leading to less expensive biofuels for transportation – if two enzyme systems are brought together in an industrial setting, new research …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Promiscuous, because a zillion organisms know how to use photosynthesis, under a zillion set of circumstances, to turn simple and abundant molecular compounds — like carbon dioxide and water — …
(Renewable Fuels Association) In seventeen pages of comments, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) answered questions put forth in the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Assessment on Agricultural Sector …
(Los Alamos National Laboratory/Biodiesel Magazine) …Los Alamos scientists and collaborators from The University of Guelph in Canada published an article in the scientific journal Nature Chemistry this week that could offer a big step on the path …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …It used to be that the outskirts of Honolulu had the dual scent of diesel and pineapple processing — but now, all you really smell is the diesel. Sugarcane and …
(US Department of Energy) The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory have released a joint study on biochemical biorefinery sizing. “Investigation of biochemical biorefinery sizing and …
(US Department of Energy) On Earth Day and every day, BETO is working to improve the sustainability of the transportation industry in the United States through the development and deployment of commercially viable, high-performance, domestic …
(Brookhaven National Laboratory) Promising results are a step toward a range of renewable energy strategies fueled by Nature
In a paper to be published in an upcoming issue of Energy & Environmental Science (now available online), …
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) The House Committee on Energy and Commerce is continuing its assessment of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Committee has issued its second white paper focusing on “Agricultural Sector Impacts.” …
(US Senate Finance Committee) This document is the fourth in a series of papers compiling tax reform options that Finance Committee members may wish to consider as they work towards reforming our nation’s tax system. This …
by Douglas L. Faulkner with contributions from Jacques Beaudry-Losique (Biofuels Digest) …We believe it is time for bioenergy industry leaders to take the initiative and chalk up a new comprehensive game plan, reflecting the new reality …
(US Department of Energy) The Bioenergy Technologies Office 2013 Project Peer Review will take place at the Hilton Alexandria Hotel from Monday, May 20, 2013, to Thursday, May 23, 2013. The peer review process will …
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) The Environmental and Energy Studies Institute (EESI) and the Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) held a briefing on the conclusions of the newly released …
(Algae Industry Magazine) lgae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP3) members from across the U.S. gathered at the Arizona State University Polytechnic campus April 15-18 for their national kickoff meetings to discuss strategies for advancing research and …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Pilot-scale biorefineries for drop-in military diesel, jet fuel the focus of the DOE’s latest grant round.
In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced up to $17.7 million in grants to …
by U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Foundation/Biomass Magazine) After a briefing by senior White House staff on April 17, following their arrival in the U.S., an Israeli delegation of top academic and industrial biofuels research scientists and …
(Sandia National Laboratories/Biodiesel Magazine) Sandia National Laboratories is developing a suite of complementary technologies to help the emerging algae industry detect and quickly recover from algal pond crashes, an obstacle to large-scale algae cultivation for …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Energy Information Administration has published updated data on alternative fuels and vehicles through 2011. The analysis addresses several alternative transportation fuels, including E85, hydrogen, electricity, natural gas …
(EV-olution.org) President Obama’s FY 2014 budget proposal submitted to Congress provides $28.4 billion in discretionary funds for the Department of Energy, an 8% increase above the 2012 enacted level. Among the direct transportation-related highlights of the department’s …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Eager to understand the bio investor impact from the EIA Short-Term Energy Outlook – but not crazy about reading 46 pages of dense text and graphics?
Our 3-Minute Guide can help.
…We …
by Justin Loiseau (Motley Fool) Alternative and replacement fuels are making moves, according to the most recent data released by the Energy Information Administration on Monday. From 2007 to 2011, traditional fuel use dropped 7.8% to 171 …
Advanced Biofuels USA, co-hosting with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, invites you to be a supporter of Biomass 2013: How the Advanced Bioindustry is Reshaping American Energy. This year’s conference will be held July …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …You’ve probably seen it, in some way, for years — a local pond seems suddenly crowded with algae — or there’s news of a “red tide” blooming at sea — …
(Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute/PR NewsWire) The $100K ACC Clean Energy Challenge, a business plan competition supported by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) encouraging students from universities in the southeastern United …
(Virginia Tech News) A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel …
(Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy today announced it would fund its three Bioenergy Research Centers for an additional five-year period, subject to continued congressional appropriations. The three Centers—including the BioEnergy Research Center …
by Brandon Howell (MLive) Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin will continue their partnered research of advanced biofuels thanks to $125 million from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, …
by Bob Dinneen (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Renewable Fuels Association) As Congress and the country debate the renewable fuel standard (RFS), Big Oil and Big Food are flooding the zone with bought-and-paid-for “studies” seeking to discredit American …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A numbers of readers responding to “Biofuels from a raging fireball” (Friday’s Top Story, on research work with the raging fireball, Pyrococchus furiosus, to make biofuels and renewable chemicals from …
by Lynn Yarris (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) When blessed with a resource in overwhelming abundance it’s generally a good idea to make valuable use of that resource. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant organic material …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Maryland, the “Monthly Energy Review” by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), with data through December 31, 2012 is showing that renewable energy sources and natural gas expanded rapidly during the …
by Bill Chameides (The Green Grok/Duke University) …As a libation, ethanol’s been around for a long, long time. As a fuel, it dates back to 1826 when it was first used in an internal combustion engine. …
(U.S. Department of Energy) Supplying high-quality feedstock for use in a broad range of sustainable conversion processes to produce advanced biofuels is a complex, multi-step process. Each step in the feedstock supply and logistics chain—from …
On July 31–August 1, 2013, US Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office and Advanced Biofuels USA will co-host the sixth annual biomass conference, Biomass 2013: How the Advanced Bioindustry is Reshaping American Energy, at the …
On Thursday, April 25, 2013, from 10:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m. EST, Bioenergy Technologies Office staff members will talk about the latest joint efforts between the Department of Energy and the U.S. Navy to use biopower and …
On April 15, 2013, from 1–2:15 p.m. ET, Dr. “Gnana” S. Gnanakaran—of Los Alamos National Laboratory—will present a webinar on his team’s molecular research on lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulose is a promising carbon-neutral source of energy …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …As can be seen in the research by Perrine, Negi, and Sayre — a more optimal light distribution strategy is available to algae but they don’t take it, because they …
(U. S. Department of Energy) As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to revitalizing America’s manufacturing sector, today the Energy Department launched the Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative (CEMI), a new Department initiative focused on growing American manufacturing …
by James Hataway (University of Georgia) Excess carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere created by the widespread burning of fossil fuels is the major driving force of global climate change, and researchers the world over …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ARPA-E aims to drive liquid fuel production from abundant, affordable methane — and sees biobased technology as the path forward.
In Washington, ARPA-E released its long-awaited funding opportunity announcement for Project …
(Center for Climate and Security) The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, or PCAS, recently released a set of recommendations for President Obama on addressing climate change. The top-line recommendations include:
Focus on national preparedness for climate …
by Chris Hanson (Biomass Magazine) Southern Research Institute won a $925,000 energy award from the U.S. DOE to develop a mild liquefaction process to convert biomass to petroleum refinery-ready bio-oils.
“We hope the project will advance …
(Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center) Institute dates: June 24-29, 2013 Application dealdine: March 31, 2013,
In this one-week summer program, teams of educators core areas of GLBRC research, get hands-on experience with our education materials, and …
by Ron Lamberty (American Coalition for Ethanol/Ethanol Producer Magazine) …The subhead of the article was “The U.S. will be the world’s leading energy producer, if we allow it.” That was a remarkably incomplete description. A more …
(Science Codex) Rapidly growing trees like poplars and willows are candidate “biofuel crops” from which it is expected that cellulosic ethanol and higher energy content fuels can be efficiently extracted. Domesticating these as crops requires …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) This week in Washington, it has been one for the record books, emailwise and biofuelswise. Reams and reams of emails attest to the seriousness of the stakes — as NGOs, …
by Ian Branam (Scientific American) Researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found that nearly 14 percent of land in the continental United States, or roughly the combined area of Texas and New Mexico, …
(Southern Research Institute) Research could encourage blending of bio-oils into refinery streams for producing renewable diesel and gasoline
Durham, North Carolina — Southern Research Institute today announced it has entered into a cooperative agreement with the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Is ConocoPhillips unlawfully attempting to limit competition in the fuels marketplace? We’ll find out soon.
In Florida, Biofuels Digest filed an antitrust violation complaint against ConocoPhillips with the US Department of …
(National Academies of Science) A new National Research Council report finds that by the year 2050, the U.S. may be able to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent for light-duty vehicles — cars …
Interest in producing greater amounts and a wider array of bio-based fuels and chemicals products from non-traditional renewable feedstocks such as algal and terrestrial biomass continues to surge, driven by higher prices for traditional commodity …
by Scott M. Paapa, Todd H. West, Dawn K. Manley, Eric J. Steen, Harry R. Beller, Jay D. Keasling, Dean C. Dibble, Shiyan Chang, Blake A. Simmons (Biomass and Bioenergy) As advances in biotechnology have …
(U.S. Energy Information Administration/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Beginning in summer 2012, the prices of ethanol and corn reached levels where production costs at relatively simple ethanol plants exceeded revenue. These simple plants, which are not able …
(US Department of Energy/Department of Defense) General Comments
Although the author has done an extensive literature reading in the biofuels area, the paper does not have any analysis of critical issues of energy systems including petroleum …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Major push from Obama on energy. From DOE: “Liquid fuels demand can be sufficiently reduced so that biomass can meet all liquid fuel needs.” What’s up?
…“I’m proposing that we take …
(Domtar) Plymouth Mill to produce bio-material with wide range of industrial applications as petro-chemical alternative – the first of its kind in over quarter century
Domtar Corporation (NYSE: UFS) (TSX: UFS) today announced that it has successfully …
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) National Renewable Energy Laboratory chemist Earl Christensen presented preliminary results from an ongoing B100 and biodiesel blends stability study at the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo in Las Vegas Feb. …
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Teresa Alleman, a senior chemist at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, shared the latest biodiesel fuel quality survey results at the National Biodiesel Conference & Expo in Las Vegas Feb. 4-7. NREL …
by Debra Fiakas (Alt Energy Stocks) As part of its program to promote beneficial reuse of carbon dioxide, the Department of Energy awarded a total of $27.2 million ($3.0 million in the first phase and $24.2 …
(Midwest Energy News) To achieve true energy security, the United States badly needs a single federal energy policy and a new White House council to make it happen, retired Marine Corps General Jim Jones said …
Gbadebo Oladosu, Keith Kline, Paul Leiby, Rocio Uria-Martinez, Maggie Davis, Mark Downing & Laurence Eaton (Future-Science.com/Biofuels) Background: This study evaluates the global economic effects of the current US RFS2, and the potential contribution from advanced biofuels. Results …
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 Energy, …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Recommendations from the Milken Institute — and a group of industry heavyweights — to accelerate the bioeconomy revolution.
In California this week, the Milken Institute released a good read on the …
by Bill Scanlon (National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Renewable Energy World) A screening tool from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) eases and greatly quickens one of the thorniest tasks in the biofuels …
by Brad Plumer (The Washington Post) When it comes to energy, Ernest Moniz seems to be an “all of the above” guy. President Obama’s new nominee for the Energy Department has heaped praise on everything from solar …
by Steven Mufson (The Washington Post) …At MIT, he has directed the school’s Energy Initiative, where he oversaw reports on almost every aspect of energy. And he has been a member of the President’s Council of Advisors …
(Associated Press/The Washington Post) President Barack Obama is announcing his picks for three Cabinet-level jobs — nominees to run the Energy Department, Environmental Protection Agency and budget office.
Obama says energy secretary nominee Ernest Moniz is …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As cellulosic biofuels technologies start to deploy — critics and friends ask, 36 billion gallons by 2022, can it still be done? Yep, there’s a pathway.
In Washington, the US Energy …
by Bryan McBournie (SmartBlog on Leadership) … DuPont Chairwoman and CEO Ellen Kullman said it is important to ensure that the world’s energy mix is diverse, sustainable and accessible, and adding partners is key to innovation. …
(1011Now.com) …Nebraska ethanol and ag leaders believe E15 is key in getting idle ethanol plants back to producing.
Robert White, the director of market development for the Renewable Fuels Association, tells fuel retailers that gasoline demand dropped 6 …
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A Feb. 26 hearing featured testimony of three E15 critics, including a representative of the Coordinating Research Council, which has authored research reports concluding E15 could damage engine valves …
(Green Car Congress) US Commercial-scale production of cellulosic biofuels reached about 20,000 gallons in late 2012, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). EIA estimates this output could grow to more than 5 million gallons this …
by Jim Snyder (Bloomberg) People attending a Washington event this week may witness something almost unheard of in political circles: Republicans praising a clean-energy program supported by President Barack Obama.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy, …
(US Department of Energy) The Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) is devoted exclusively to transformational energy technology research and development. ARPA-E’s mission is to:
Enhance U.S. economic security by identifying technologies with the potential …
by Col. Bill Holmberg (ret.) (American Council On Renewable Energy) “Up with octane, down with aromatics, and embrace the needs of people and nature,” says ACORE’s legendary biomass guru. But less freak-out, more reach-out is …
by Tina Casey (Clean Technica) As pressure on the Obama Administration to approve the Keystone XL Pipeline ramps up, algae biofuel is emerging as yet another domestic energy source that undercuts every argument for the …
by John Davis and Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Ethanol producers need to squeeze every penny out of their operations. But one expert in the field of corn oil wonders why some refiners aren’t trying to capture …
(US Department of Energy) The Energy Department today announced a $1 million investment to analyze and evaluate potential cost-competitive pathways for producing and transporting hydrogen fuel. The project selected—led by Strategic Analysis, Inc. in Arlington, …
(US Department of Energy) The Energy Department on February 1 invited public comment on an upcoming solicitation totaling more than $50 million for new research projects that will develop advanced technologies to improve vehicle performance …
(Renewable Fuels Association) A new research article published last month in the academic journal Biofuels concluded that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is producing significant positive economic effects in the United States. According to the paper, authored by researchers …
by Jim Lane (Biobased DIgest) Bringing your biobased technology forward through the Valley of Death may require a bridge over troubled waters. Here are partners worth knowing.
… Bioenergy commercialization is long, expensive and risky. Derisking …
(Algae Industry Magazine) The U.S. Departments of Energy and the Treasury have announced the availability of $150 million in Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits for clean energy and energy efficiency manufacturing projects across the United …
by Patrick Rucker (Reuters) President Barack Obama wants Congress to create a $2 billion clean-energy transportation fund using fees paid by oil and gas producers on federal lands, the White House said Wednesday, expanding a plan announced …
by Charles Lane (The Washington Post) The Obama administration’s electric-car fantasy finally may have died on the road between Newark, Del., and Milford, Conn.
The New York Times’s John M. Broder reported Friday that the Tesla Model S …
(Brookhaven National Laboratory/Biomass Magazine) Scientists studying an enzyme that naturally produces alkanes—long carbon-chain molecules that could be a direct replacement for the hydrocarbons in gasoline—have figured out why the natural reaction typically stops after three …
by Tracy Dang (ICIS.com) Exploring a future in advanced biofuels can be one way the US ethanol industry address the “food vs. fuel” debate, a consultant said on Thursday.
“Even though it is a misconception that first-generation …
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Teresa Alleman, a senior chemist with the fuels performance group at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., shared the latest biodiesel fuel quality survey results with attendees at …
by John Siciliano (Inside EPS’s Clean Energy Report) The Department of Energy (DOE) is restructuring its renewable energy program to create an office of transportation, with officials saying the move will help better coordinate and prioritize …
