Articles in Federal Agency
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Figuring out how to produce enzymes at a feasible cost is just part of the puzzle
A decade ago, the cost of enzymes was at the top of the …
(WJLA TV ABC7) The United States Air Force Thunderbirds flight demonstration team has been testing the use of “green” biomass fuels.
The public is invited to watch flights burning the alternative fuel for the first time …
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) On May 11, Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., introduced legislation that would authorize the U.S. Department of Defense to engage in 15 year contracts for advanced biofuels. The bill, titled the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the DOE’s Energy Blog identified the Diamond Green renewable diesel project as “a biodiesel refinery that will triple America’s domestic biodiesel production.”
US biodiesel capacity, which is at 2.2 billion …
by Jonathan Silver (US Department of Energy) …One of the three types of loans or loan guarantees offered by our office – Section 1705 loan guarantees from the Recovery Act – will expire by statute …
(PR NewsWire/Forisk) A new study evaluates the viability of the wood-based transportation fuel sector in the United States. Wood biofuel projects attract strong private and public investment, and advance federal energy policy objectives. Published by Forisk …
by Melissa O’Neil Perdue (Washington State University) An innovative idea for making advanced biofuels such as jet fuel, diesel and gasoline from regional resources is moving forward with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …AER Sustainable Energy – enzymatic hydrolysis This Ireland-based group, set up in 2006, applied for license to supply ethanol into the Irish market, and by 2010 was supplying up to …
(US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute) Fungi play significant ecological and economic roles. They can break down organic matter, cause devastating agricultural blights, enter into symbiotic relationships to protect and nourish plants, or offer …
by Donna Goodison (Boston Herald) Greater Boston doesn’t usually rate as a Hub of agriculture but yesterday U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Medford to praise start-up Agrivida Inc. as an example of how …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the House Armed Services Committee OK’d a defense budget bill that exempted the Department of Defense from Section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act, which had since …
(National Biodiesel Board) Renewable, Advanced Biofuel significantly reduces harmful emissions
In advance of a congressional hearing on diesel emissions Thursday (May 12, 2011), the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is highlighting the significant health and air quality …
(Environmental Protection Agency) Out of more than 1,500 young scientists and engineers competing in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Param Jaggi was named the winner of EPA’s 2011 Patrick H. Hurd Sustainability Award. …
by Lynn Yarris (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Advanced biofuels – liquid transportation fuels derived from the cellulosic biomass of perennial grasses and other non-food plants, as well as from agricultural waste – are highly …
by Linda Hales (MetropolisMag.com) A large, multidisciplinary team of architects and engineers envisions a zero-energy future for our federal government.
The proposed energy retrofit of a Los Angeles federal building reads like a sci-fi script from …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) An interview with James Garton, president of Mission Biofuels USA subsidiary. We look at the jatropha 1.0 catastrophe, actual biodiesel capacity in the US, palm biodiesel, the RFS, and more.
…The …
(RedOrbit) It’s not quite Christmas, but the DNA sequence of a small plant that resembles the seasonal conifers is providing biofuels researchers with information that could influence the development of candidate biofuel feedstock plants and …
by Robin Bravender (Politico) Senate Republicans are pushing a plan to morph the Energy Department and the EPA into one giant agency.
A bill introduced Thursday by Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C) would combine the DOE and the …
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) The time could come when farmers aren’t getting on their tractors every spring to plant their crops, or even plowing their fields, exposing them to erosion.
At least that’s the …
by Art Hovey (Lincoln Journal Star) Nebraska ethanol advocates lined up their flex-fuel vehicles Friday to fill up with 85 percent ethanol blends at the Aurora Co-op’s new 24-hour fueling site.
That was their most visible …
(Show Me Energy) The Council on Sustainable Biomass Production (CSBP) congratulates the Show Me Energy Cooperative for its selection by USDA as the first Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) project area.
The designation creates a “fuel …
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) Imagine filling up the car on a fuel that isn’t made from oil but doesn’t have the drawbacks of corn ethanol, including its lower energy content and ability to …
by Tony Logan (Chillicothe Gazette) …If we successfully build this industry, it will create thousands of jobs in small-town Ohio in growing and harvesting biomass, building and operating biofuel refineries and transporting the biofuel to …
by Mary Meehan (Lexington Herald-Leader) The University of Kentucky has received a $6.9 million federal grant to help reduce America’s reliance on imported oil, one of eight awards in the country.
“It’s going to be big,” …
by Sara Reardon (Science) Some researchers are arguing that plants dubbed “cisgenic,” that is, containing only genetic material from sexually compatible species, be exempted from the scrutiny and safety tests that agencies currently demand for …
(Logos Technologies) DOE commits full $20.5 million to retrofit and build pilot plant in Visalia, CA
Logos Technologies®, Inc. and EdeniQ, Inc., announced U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approval to fully fund $20.5 million in federal …
(The University of Kansas) …A University of Kansas-led research team has received a $5.6 million grant to develop clean technologies to convert biomass into chemicals that could ultimately replace the petroleum-based chemicals currently used in …
Projects will help develop sustainable, renewable biofuels in the U.S.
As part of the Obama Administration’s comprehensive plan to address rising gas prices, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced …
by Shelley Littin (Algae Industry Magazine) In a collaborative research effort between several departments, scientists and engineers at the University of Arizona are studying ways to optimize the environmental factors to control the rate at …
by Mark Rosenzweig (Sustainable Planet) …However, moving promising biofuels technology from the lab to demonstration scale often poses a significant financial as well as technical hurdle.
Now, though, developers can take advantage of an expanded government …
by Casey Aylward (The Dartmouth) … (United States Secretary of Energy Steven) Chu said he is optimistic that the United States can lead the rest of the world in clean energy invention and production by establishing …
by Mary Kissel (Orange County Register) …Mr. Pope is the chief executive officer of Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer by volume. He doesn’t mince words when it comes to …
by Tom Vilsack (USDA/The Daily Mail) …Last year, the United States produced more than 13 billion gallons of ethanol with the bulk of it coming from the Midwest. But Congress set a national goal of …
by Ben Geman (The Hill/E2Wire) Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is planning a committee vote before Memorial Day on legislation that would create a federal “Clean Energy Deployment Administration” to …
(Milken Institute Global Conference) With oil prices spiking and concern over climate change growing, biofuels hold tremendous appeal. But they must overcome considerable hurdles. Further process and technology refinements are needed to ensure that biofuels …
(Cellana) Company Is Leveraging Technology Investments to Date of Over $100 Million; Company Is Focused on Government Programs and New Corporate Partnerships; Plan for Maui Commercial Algae Facility on Track for 2014
Cellana LLC is positioned …
by Katherine Yung (Detroit Free Press) …Together, these deals represent $1.2 billion in new investment in the state and more than 3,800 new jobs. If successful, they would significantly boost the state’s efforts to grow …
by Nathanial Gronewold (New York Times/Greenwire) …Government support for biodiesel has spurred a robust demand for palm oil that has put 50 percent more income into the pocket of farmer Misael Monsalve Moreno. He is …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …The additional capital will enable Cobalt to build out its new 470,000 gallon per year demonstration plant in Alpena, Michigan, which will be the world’s first cellulosic biorefinery for the …
by Chad Smith (Gainesville.com) …The Marathon station, located between 34th and 43rd streets near Plaza Royale, celebrated its grand re-opening Friday, ringing in the addition of E85 fuel, which is 85 percent ethanol and …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Energy Information Administration released the full version of its Annual Energy Outlook 2011 (AEO2011) report on April 26. The report addresses a wide variety of energy markets …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Renewable Energy Group (REG) executives hosted USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson as well as leaders from the ethanol industry at their REG Newton biorefinery to discuss …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) On Friday April 15, BioProcess Algae, dedicated its Grower Harvester bioreactorssignaling the final phase of construction for its commercial scale algae biorefinery. On hand for the event in Shenandoah, Iowa, were USDA …
(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory/PBS) Can emerging technology defeat global warming? The United States has invested tens of billions of dollars in clean energy projects as our leaders try to save our crumbling economy and our …
(Dyadic) Dyadic International, Inc. (“Dyadic”) (OTC Pink: DYAI), a global biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of enzyme and protein products for the bioenergy, industrial enzyme and biopharmaceutical industries, announced today …
(US Department of Education) The U.S. Department of Education announced today the creation of the Green Ribbon Schools program to recognize schools that are creating healthy and sustainable learning environments and teaching environmental literacy. The …
(Solix BioSystems) Solix BioSystems today announced the first sale and delivery of its Lumian AGS4000 high productivity, fully integrated algae cultivation system to New Mexico State University (NMSU), Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Lumian AGS4000 is …
(AllAfrica.com) Jatropha should not replace any crops in arable farms and instead should be cultivated by smallholder farmers as hedges for farms, an expert has warned.
Pamoja Inc Co-Director Jonathan Otto said in Dar es Salaam …
(Gevo) Gevo, Inc., a renewable chemicals and advanced biofuels company, today announced it has signed an engineering and consulting agreement with Mustang Engineering, LP (Mustang) to convert Gevo’s renewable isobutanol to bio-jet fuel. This effort …
(EurekAlert!) David Grewell flipped on the augers that carry corn from a truck to a biorefinery.
Then, with a few more clicks of his computer mouse, he turned on the pumps that send grain all the …
(EurekAlert!) An alliance of top researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, has formed the UC Berkeley Synthetic Biology Institute (SBI), advancing efforts to engineer cells and biological systems in ways that promise to transform …
by Rebecca Baillie (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) With the price of fuel hitting $1.50 a litre, there’s a growing push to develop renewable alternatives. Scientists in Australia are part of the global race to develop new …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Arizona State University through a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is studying the factors involved in algal crop failure known as culture “crashes.” Grazing zooplankton are …
by David Bennett (Western Farm Press) As food prices rise, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is not fond of claims that ethanol production is a major cause. He also says an uptick in grain prices will …
by Tom Vilsack (The White House Blog) …Today there are millions of so-called ‘flex fuel vehicles’ on the road that can use fuel containing up to 85 percent ethanol (E-85). But too few filling stations …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) The U.S. Department of Energy has released a national ranking of Clean Cities programs that have had the most impact in the reduction of gasoline use. At the top of the …
by Melissa Domsic (LSJ.com) Michigan State University has received $2.9 million in federal grants for bio-based energy research.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded five-year grants for three projects focusing on various aspects of producing biofuels, …
by Ben Lefebvre (Dow Jones Newswires/Denver Post) The U.S. Department of Agriculture is embarking on a revised biorefinery-finance program that it hopes will boost the amount of cellulosic-bio fuel production in the country.
The USDA seeks …
by Abby Schultz (CNBC.com) …“There’s a significant amount of capital required for algal oil producers to scale up to commercial meaningful quantities,” says Jim Rekoske, general manager at Honeywell’s UOP division, which provides technologies to the …
by Heather Thorstensen (AgriNews.com) The U.S. Department of Agriculture is working to create more supply and demand for renewable fuels nationwide, said U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.
…During a media briefing, he discussed how the …
by Kathleen Ryan (Public News Service) The search for ethanol is devastating one of America’s vanishing ecosystems. That’s the claim in a new lawsuit filed by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF). It accuses the U.S. Environmental …
by Ryan Tracy (Dow Jones NewsWires/NASDAQ.com) Shell Oil Co. President Marvin Odum gave a bullish outlook for biofuels Tuesday, saying that during the next 20 years, biofuels will likely be “the most practical solution” for …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) The synergies between the biodiesel, ethanol and advanced biofuels industries are growing. One of the things that’s been happening over the past few years is the ethanol industry creating a new …
by Steven Mufson (The Washington Post) …The paper industry — which in 2009 raked in billions of dollars in federal subsidiesoriginally intended to promote alternative highway fuels — is now using a different biofuel tax credit …
(US Department of Energy) ARPA-E’s 4th round of funding focuses on rare earth alternatives and breakthroughs in biofuels, thermal storage, grid controls, and solar power electronics
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that …
(SustainableBusiness.com) Biobutanol company Cobalt Technologies and American Process Inc. (API), a developer of lignocellulosic sugar production technologies, announced an agreement to build the world’s first industrial-scale cellulosic biorefinery to produce biobutanol.
Additionally, the companies agreed to …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Paul Bryan, program manager of the DOE’s Office of Biomass, said at the Advanced Biofuesl Leadership Conference that the DOE is shifting gears from focusing solely on replacing the gasoline …
(US Army Corps of Engineers) Today, (April 19, 2011) the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released, for the first time, its fiscal year 2010 scorecard on sustainability and energy performance. Using this scorecard as a …
by Marjon Rostami (The Virginia Pilot/iStockAnalyst.com) Recycled French fry oil could soon be part of what fuels local government vehicles after the city’s Planning Commission approved a conditional-use permit for a biodiesel plant in an industrial …
by Jon Birger (Bloomberg) …Other than water and sunlight, there’s nothing more important to growing corn — the most-valuable U.S. crop, worth $66.7 billion in 2010 — than nitrogen. Generous applications of nitrogen fertilizer are …
by Andy Eubank (USDA/Hoosier Ag Today) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently testified before a Senate committee on the effect and influence of biofuels. Testifying before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Vilsack responded to …
By Robert Kozak (Atlantic Biomass Conversions, Inc.) Worldwide Importance of Protein Animal Feed
When I began working with sugar beet processors on our beet pulp biofuel sugar process, one of their first questions was, “Will there …
by Alan Bjerga (Bloomberg) Ethanol critics are engaged in a “false debate” over biofuels and should be asking how U.S. farmers can meet energy needs, rather than whether they should, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
“We’re …
(U.S. Department of Agriculture) To support President Obama’s goal of reducing America’s oil imports by one-third by 2025, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) today jointly announced up to $30 million over …
(US Department of Agriculture) Agricultural Producers in Non-rural Areas are Now Eligible, Funding May Be Used for Flex-Fuel Pumps
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today (April 14, 2011) invited agricultural producers and rural small businesses to …
(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Choosing optimal growing locations limits algal biofuel’s water use
High oil prices and environmental and economic security concerns have triggered interest in using algae-derived oils as an alternative to fossil fuels. But …
by Kevin Geiss (The Washington Times) …Since that first well, our national demand for fuel has grown astronomically. We have seen this in the Defense Department as well. Since the Vietnam War, there has been a …
by Robert E. Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) On April 12th at the Navy League’s 2011 Sea-Air-Space Exposition, the leaders of the US Navy’s 50% petroleum reduction by 2020 program honed in on what it means …
by Ben Geman (The Hill) Cornell University professors will soon publish research that concludes natural gas produced with a drilling method called “hydraulic fracturing” contributes to global warming as much as coal, or even …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The first triennial report on biofuels being drafted for Congress by the U.S. EPA lacks input from industry experts, which could result in negative information being falsely presented as …
(U.S. Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced research grants awarded to spur production of bioenergy and biobased products that will lead to the development of sustainable regional systems and help create jobs. …
(Advanced Biofuels Association) A consistent commitment by Congress that avoids the ups and downs of public opinion will be crucial to the success of transforming America’s energy policy to cleaner and renewable sources, that’s what …
by Matt Hourihan (Innovation Policy Blog) One of the big gaps in federal energy innovation policy has been the lack of overarching vision or strategy to define how to get where we need to go. …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Khosla-backed pyrolysis venture heads for the public markets. Is the IPO window still open? Will this one fly? Should it? The Digest looks at the technology, the team, the progress, …
(Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati) On April 12, 2011, the House Appropriations Committee released the final Continuing Resolution bill for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 (the CR).1 As described below, the CR amends the …
by Gavin Maguire (Commodities Now/Reuters) Ethanol producers often get much of the blame for driving the price of corn to its current multi-year high levels due to that industry’s strong usage of corn to make …
by Paul Steinquist (New York Times) The Environmental Protection Agency has revised its alternative-fuel conversion regulations for light and heavy-duty vehicles, making it easier for manufacturers to sell conversions that are compliant with clean-air laws. The …
(GreenAirOnline) Four industry and academic teams have been awarded contracts by NASA to continue research on technologies that could enable aircraft entering service between 2030 and 2035 to further reduce fuel consumption, emissions and noise. …
by Steve Everly and Scott Canon (Kansas City Star) This country’s battle to curb oil imports is being plotted in high-tech laboratories and elite universities hunting for breakthroughs in alternative fuels.
But the frontlines in the …
by Charles Abbott and Christopher Doering (Reuters) The government introduced new wording on corn use on Friday following complaints from ethanol makers that they were not getting credit for the corn byproducts that are fed to livestock.
Instead …
by Maynard Herron and Bob Matousek (Kansas Alliance for Biorefining and Bioenergy) AGCO (Hesston, KS) received an award for biomass feedstock supply demonstration as a partial match of a $5 million renewable …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The Senate energy committee held a two-hour hearing April 7 to discuss proposed legislation to expand the domestic biofuels market, but expanded its scope through testimony and committee member …
(US Department of Agriculture) Funding for Flex-Fuel Pumps Will Help Build Out Critical Infrastructure and Promote Greater Use of Biofuels
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that Americans will soon have more choices at the gas …
(U.S. Energy Information Administration) Despite an economic recession and a significant fall in overall energy demand/consumption, the use of renewable fuels grew strongly in 2009. This growth has been supported by Federal and State programs, …
(U.S. Department of Energy) In 2008, America imported 11 million barrels of oil a day. On Wednesday, the President announced a bold goal of cutting that amount by one-third by 2025. To achieve this goal …
(MarketWire/Algal Biomass Organization) Recipients’ Support of Algae Critical to Accelerating Industry’s Growth and Reducing Major Barriers to Commercialization
The Algal Biomass Organization, the trade association for the U.S. algae industry, presented its first annual Algae …
by Jeffrey Mervis (Science Magazine) In April 2009, President Barack Obama announced an ambitious 10-year, $1.6 billion education and training initiative at the Department of Energy (DOE), dubbed “Regaining our Energy Science and Engineering Edge.” …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Will these biofuels projects make the expected steps towards commercialization?
There was a strong response to yesterday’s Top Story about technologies that were approaching make-or-break milestones in 2012. But what …
(KQED/Quest/Planet Forward) For years there’s been buzz — both positive and negative — about generating ethanol fuel from corn. The Bay Area is rapidly becoming a world center for the next generation of green fuel …
by Louise Poirier (Fuel Magazine/Ethanol and Biofuels News/Hart Energy) Amid persistent concerns about supplying the enormous energy demands of the United States’ armed forces, the military is pursuing alternatives, and the Department of the …
