by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine)  In a continued effort to test and validate advanced biofuel utilization in both air and sea crafts, the U.S. Navy successfully concluded its final demonstration of the year Dec. 7-9 …

(Federal Aviation Administration)  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is awarding $7.7 million in contracts to eight companies to help advance alternative, environmentally-friendly, sustainable sources for commercial jet fuel.  The FAA funds are being distributed by …

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  The military has been especially active in the push to develop biobased jet fuel, but the U.S. Department of Defense’s interest in biomass-based energy sources is not limited to biofuels. …

by Matt Soberg (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Virginia Tech and USDA researchers developed strategy that reduces barley toxins sometimes present in distillers grains used for animal feed. The strategy modifies the ethanol fermentation process and focuses …

by Megan Sapp (Biofuels Digest)  In Colorado, Gevo Inc. announced the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is reconsidering a patent issued in August to Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC for a fuel additive. Gevo claims that, “substantial …

by Matt Hourihan (The Energy Collective) …In the other development, a report released earlier this month by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Operational Energy Plans and Programs and the Defense Logistics …

by Kurt Nolte(Yuma Sun/Yuma County Cooperative Extension)  • Sugar cane is an exploratory crop in Yuma County and, like sweet sorghum, is being researched for the production of biofuels in Arizona.
• Sugar cane is considered …

by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register)  A draft summary of the new farm bill that lawmakers have been finalizing says farmers will have a new subsidy system to supplement the coverage they now have through …

(CNBC/Reuters)  The U.S. military has emerged as a key ally for fledgling producers of non-food-based biofuels, who find themselves threatened by looming budget cuts and growing political hostility to renewable energy funding.
A U.S. Navy plan …

by William Richards and Dennis McGinn (The Plain Dealer)  Guest Columnists:  The future of the government’s role in U.S. agriculture remains about as uncertain today as it was before the 1933 enactment of the Agricultural …

(Science Daily)  …Unlike the starch sugars in grains, the complex polysaccharides in the cellulose of plant cell walls are locked within a tough woody material called lignin. For advanced biofuels to be economically competitive, scientists …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Texas, Waste Management announced that it has closed an equity investment in Fulcrum BioEnergy.  In connection with this investment, WM agreed to a secured loan facility that provides for WM’s …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Want to know what the best vehicles are for fuel economy, including flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs)? Consult the 2012 Fuel Economy Guide, released by the U.S. EPA and U.S. DOE …

(Science Daily)  …However, technologies are being developed to generate bioethanol from non-food sources, such as the lignocellulosics present in switchgrass and trees. The sugars locked in the polymers of cell walls, i.e., cellulose, hemicellulose and …

by Julie Watson (AP/Yahoo! News)  The U.S. Navy launched its largest alternative fuel test to date on Wednesday, pumping 20,000 gallons of algae-based fuel into a destroyer ship that will embark on a 20-hour trip along the California …

(Courthouse News Service)  A fuel distributor claims two companies sold it millions of “fraudulently created, and thus invalid” renewable fuel identification numbers. RIN numbers are part of the U.S. EPA’s Renewable Fuel Standard program, to …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.S. DOE’s Energy Information Administration predicts that only six cellulosic biofuel producers will make fuel available for sale in 2012, producing a total of just 6.9 million gallons …

by Brent Erickson (Biofuels Digest/BIO)  Federal loan guarantees may be scuttled after the Solyndra affair – but should the baby really be thrown out with the bathwater?
…But the programs’ untimely end may coincide with the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Here the Digest’s take: for bioenergy, S-Day is about Solyndra and Secretary Chu, but it isn’t really much about bioenergy. Out of an $80 billion authorization for clean energy loan …

by Ayesha Rascoe (Reuters)  …The EPA has issued 24 notices of violation to more than a dozen companies, including units of Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and Morgan Stanley, for the use of invalid renewable …

(US Environmental Protection Agency)  Next phase in national program for light-duty vehicles will save consumers thousands of dollars at the pump while saving billions of barrels of oil, curbing pollution, enabling long-term planning for automakers
Building …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A recent USDA report echoes what ethanol producers have said for years: distillers grains are a valuable addition to the nation’s feed supply and can be used to reduce …

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The vast majority of progressive, forward-looking policies that have helped to build America’s ethanol industry into the largest alternative fuel industry in the world have emanated from …

by Riggs Eckelberry (OriginOil/Algae Industry Magazine)  …Almost a decade after the start of Kyoto deliberations, Europe will become the first major power to enforce emissions standards for aviation. Emissions trading emerged as the EU’s strategy …

by Heather Lammers (National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Renewable Energy World)  …In June, DOE announced an award of up to $13.4 million dollars to Virent and its partners to develop a process to cost effectively convert cellulosic …

A brief overview of the numerous programs within USDA that support the President’s Clean Energy Blueprint and how you might be able to access these programs.
The rapidly-expanding bio-based sector is just as critical to the …

by Larry Dreiling  (High Plains MidWest Ag Journal)  Construction has begun in Hugoton, Kan., on the nation’s first commercial scale biomass fuel refinery.
Abengoa Bioenergy’s new, 23 million-gallon annual throughput refinery will take biomass, mainly switchgrass, …

by Dan Voorhis (The Wichita Eagle)   …The Kansas Alliance for BioRefining and BioEnergy was created in 2009 and was originally funded by the Kansas BioScience Authority to help commercialize research and technology that turns …

by Vidya Ramanathan (Advanced Biofuels USA)  A clear view of coppery miniature treetops, brilliant skies and shimmering coastline.  This is the sight that welcomed the attendees of the first ever conference on ElectroFuels, conducted by the …

by Philip Brasher (Argus Leader)  … A top official with the Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates motor fuels, told lawmakers recently butanol is one of the nation’s “most promising biofuels.” However, the product faces potential government …

(Fox News/AP)  …A February email from an ex-campaign operative for President Obama explained at length why Chu should be demoted and replaced with a new team of energy leaders. Dan Carol, also a prominent clean-energy …

by Graham Warwick (Aviation Week)  As airlines launch the first commercial biofuel flights in the U.S., the government is working with industry to scale up production of biomass-derived jet fuel to commercial quantities beginning in …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Cellulosic biofuels are behind schedule. Can they catch up? What are the barriers, the roles to be played by Washington, developers alike? What are the opportunities for the retail investor?  …

(University of Delaware)  …Eleftherios (Terry) Papoutsakis, Eugene du Pont Chair of Chemical Engineering at the University of Delaware, is working to create hardy organisms for producing biofuels and chemicals from renewable sources – microorganisms that are more …

(Oak Ridge National Laboratory)  A tree outside Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Pratul Agarwal’s office window provided the inspiration for a discovery that may ultimately lead to drugs with fewer side effects, less expensive biofuels …

by Ronald D. White (Los Angeles Times)  Biofuels and wind power are having the biggest new impact in American power generation, according to a report released today by the U.S. Energy Department. Consumption of biofuels …

(Nebraska Farmer)  USDA grant intended to make drivers more aware of flex fuel vehicles and ethanol’s benefits involves Nebraska and five other states.
A grant awarded by USDA will be used to promote flex fuel vehicles, …

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  Single cell photosynthetic organisms, such as blue-green algae, could play an important role in the future of our nation’s space program. Not only could they be used to supply valuable …

by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine)  For several years the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition has been providing informative workshops, seminars and just about everything else to help Alabamans understand the benefits of biodiesel. Now, led by …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The USDA Economic Research Service has released a 24-page report offering an overview of renewable identification numbers (RINs) and outlining how the RIN market works in relation to the …

(Platts)  The US Environmental Protection Agency may end up deeming more biodiesel renewable identification numbers (RINs) as invalid following federal investigations into two companies that allegedly sold RINS without producing the appropriate volumes of biodiesel, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, more than 350 delegates gathered at Advanced Biofuesl Markets to set industry priorities for the next six months,seal partnerships,  and exchange outlooks on 2012. It didn’t take long …

(National Science Foundation)  A sustainable world is one in which human needs are met equitably without harm to the environment, and without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs.  Growing evidence for …

by Stephan Nielsen  (Bloomberg)  Brazilian sugar cane companies, which are preparing to boost ethanol exports to the U.S., don’t produce enough of the renewable fuel to do so, a lawmaker said.
Brazil won’t make enough ethanol …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a case brought by petroleum interests against the Environmental Protection Agency over the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2).
The petition made by the National Petrochemical …

(Sapphire Energy)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA has issued a loan guarantee that will allow a biofuels firm to construct a facility in New Mexico to produce “green crude” oil from algae …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In the Race for Scale, the industry has excelled in driving down operating costs. Capital costs have proven more perplexing, and sticker shock has been a hold-back. Feedstock availability at …

by Kevin Welch (Amarillo Globe-News)  The U.S. Department of Agriculture is giving White Energy, with ethanol plants in Hereford and Plainview, a $3-million grant to promote using materials other than corn to make biofuels.
Those materials …

by Kristy Moore (Renewable Fuels Association)  Recent claims from some marine engine manufacturers that E15 ethanol blends will ruin marine engines are meant solely to incite fear and not meaningful discussion.  A meaningful discussion would …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  United and Solazyme, Alaska and Dynamic Fuels hook up, as producers scramble to make fuel, raise cash, ratchet down costs. Will producers scale, or fail?
…United Airlines will operate the first …

by Luke Geiver  (Biorefining Magazine)  …The days of seeking big funding through large claims based on even larger unproven visions of algae utilization —at least those that attract venture or other solidified funding—are over. If …

by Ben Geman and Ariel Katz (The Hill E2Wire)  Energy Secretary Steven Chu warned Thursday that a retreat from federal green-energy investments would be a grave economic mistake, but acknowledged that the design of loan …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  It was déjà vu all over again on Nov. 2 as representatives of the ethanol industry were forced to watch a House of Representatives Energy and Environment Subcommittee hearing …

(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)  Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Create RiceNet for Predicting Genetic Functions in Rice
The first genome-scale model for predicting the functions of genes and gene networks in a grass species has been developed …

by Diana Lutz (Washington University)  Custom-designed organism could break the stalemate in the algal fuel industry
…(T)he Department of Energy has funded a three-university collaboration led by Washington University in St. Louis to approach the problem …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  The House Committee on Science, Space and Technology’s Subcommittee on Energy and Environment is holding a hearing today (November 2, 2011) on “Conflicts and Unintended Consequences of Motor Fuel Standards” with a …

by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register)  Ethanol supporters contend that research isn’t fair
A blend of 15 percent ethanol and gasoline caused so much damage to boat engines during a government-funded study that the testing of …

by Walt Nett (Avalanche-Journal/LubbockOnline)  Absolute Fuels tried twice to make biodiesel, but lost money the first time around and couldn’t produce usable fuel the next time, according to information in federal affidavits filed in connection …

by Jeremy P. Greenhouse  (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Greenhouse & Gram) New blend won’t qualify for One Pound Waiver, presenting huge hurdle
When the U.S. EPA granted Clean Air Act fuel waivers allowing gasoline containing 10 to 15 …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …By Nov. 30, the U.S. EPA will issue its renewable fuel standard (RFS) volumes for the upcoming year and, once again, it will dramatically ratchet down the cellulosic biofuels …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The bull’s-eye on corn ethanol could fade if the industry steps up and makes corn production and stover harvesting more environmentally friendly
…Today, no-till or strip-till farming is gaining ground, …

by Tina Casey (Talking Points Memo)  …Earlier this year, the Navy successfully tested a 50-50 algae aviation biofuel blend on a Seahawk helicopter in flight, and now an algae biodiesel blend has passed muster during tests on …

Suzanne Goldenberg   (The Guardian)  Report from Military Advisory Board says US must reduce energy imports over the next decade as a national security imperative
In its report, the Military Advisory Board said the US should …

(Railway Age)  Amtrak says that it found the use of a renewable biodiesel fuel blend to power its daily Heartland Flyer train “resulted in no more wear on the locomotive than traditional diesel fuels and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … But here are 10 themes that are shaping up to be the Buzz of the conference.
1. RFS. Hold or Fold?
2. Can Obama find the $510 million?
3. Elections.
4. Fuels, or …

(US Department of Energy)  Developer.nrel.gov empowers Web developers to use renewable energy data for Web and mobile applications
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is home to a cornucopia of data on renewable energy, …

(US Department of Agriculture)  USDA Farm Bill Program Supports Job Creation
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced payments for 156 advanced biofuel producers across the country to support the production and expansion of advanced biofuels.
“This funding …

by Bill Lundberg (Biofuels Digest)  Should the Renewable Fuel Standard be scrapped, or revised? BP North America chief Susan Ellerbusch makes the case for “No”.
In Chicago, BP Biofuels North America president Susan Ellerbusch, in addressing …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  Approximately 100 professionals working in the feedstock and biorefining sectors recently met at Idaho National Laboratory to participate in a U.S. DOE-funded workshop. …“Our objective was to broaden the view …

by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine)  …C.J. (Warner, Sapphire Energy’s President and Chairman) keynoted at the recent Algal Biomass Summit, attending along with Tim Zenk, Sapphire’s Vice President of Corporate Affairs, who was formerly executive …

by Susan Frick Carlman (Naperville Sun)  The first phase of the local partnership working toward collecting yard waste and converting it into fuels is poised to go live in the coming weeks. In the works for …

by Marc Valero (Highlands Today)  With ethanol production poised to bring jobs and a major economic impact to Highlands County, South Florida Community College is partnering with biofuels companies to create a bioenergy education program.
SFCC …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The fact that the US government doubled-down, by allegedly subordinating the loan to investments by a pair of hedge funds, during a Solyndra financial reorganization, is going to cost Energy Secretary …

(US Department of Energy)  The Biomass Program released the “Land-Use Change and Bioenergy” summary report. This publication describes the Biomass Program’s efforts to examine the intersection of land-use change and bioenergy production. It outlines legislation …

(US Department of Energy)  With support from the Biomass Program, as well as other DOE programs, including the Vehicle Technologies, Fuel Cell Technologies, and Geothermal Technologies programs, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) has completed and released …

by Darren Goode (Politico)  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton he has “serious concern” about TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline.
Reid — in an Oct. 5 letter to Clinton first reported on …

by John R. Block  (The Washington Times)  As Secretary of Agriculture during the Reagan administration, I helped the American ethanol industry take off. Imagine my surprise to read an editorial in The Washington Times (“Corn-fueled politics,” …

by Stephan Nielsen  (Bloomberg Businessweek)  Sugar-cane processors in Brazil, including Bunge Ltd. and Louis Dreyfus SAS, are preparing to increase their ethanol exports to the U.S., where oil companies must expand their use of biofuels.
Ethanol …

by Julie Ingwersen (Reuters)  USDA says ethanol boom creating new patterns in corn use
* Gov’t unsure why feed use falls late in marketing years
* Reports blamed for wild swings in CBOT grain prices
* Industry barbs come …

(PR NewsWire)  Air China, Boeing , and Chinese and U.S. aviation energy partners today conducted China’s first sustainable biofuel flight. The two-hour mainland flight from Beijing Capital International Airport was witnessed by officials from both countries and …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A newly released report from the USDA appears to confirm what the ethanol industry has been claiming for years—distillers grains is a valuable feed source and can significantly reduce …

by Elizabeth Shogren (National Public Radio)  The Pentagon’s hunt for an alternative to petroleum has turned a lowly weed and animal fat into something indistinguishable from jet fuel, and now the military is trying to kick-start …

by Stephanie Schwartz (NorthJersey.com)  There is a dispute between the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Pascack Valley towns over the supposed biodiesel program Westwood and Woodcliff Lake have implemented.
Melinda Dower of the New Jersey Department of Environmental …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The USDA believes the Southeast region of the U.S. offers huge potential for a variety of dedicated energy crops and in September, the agency agreed to provide $15 million …

(PhysOrg.com/Purdue University)  Not all parts of a corn stalk are equal, and they shouldn’t be treated that way when creating cellulosic ethanol, say Purdue University researchers.
When corn stover is processed to make cellulosic ethanol, everything is …

(Physorg.com)  Taking a cue from Mother Nature, researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center have undertaken a first-of-its-kind study of a naturally occurring phenomenon in trees to spur the development of more efficient …

by Alex Morales and Louise Downing (Bloomberg News/San Francisco Chronicle)    Biofuels face their biggest test yet — whether they can power fighter jets and tanks in battle at prices the world’s best-funded military can …

(Maersk/MarineLink.com)  W R Systems, Ltd (WRSystems) was asked to supply its Emsys laser-based Emissions Monitoring System (EMS) for the purpose of emission verification for an ongoing fuel trials on-board the AP Moller-Maersk vessel Maersk Kalmar. …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  What do they need, you ask? Your insight on, broadly speaking, how to structure the national bioeconomy blueprint, in the case of the US. In case of Canada, how to …

(Los Alamos National Laboratory)  LANL scientists have genetically engineered “magnetic” algae to investigate alternative, more efficient harvesting and lipid extraction methods for biofuels. The researchers seek to reduce the cost of algae-based biofuel production.
Currently, used …

by Kris Bevill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Citing “serious concerns” with the U.S. EPA’s decision to allow E15 to be used invehicle models 2001 and newer, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., introduced legislation to the House of …

Gen. Wesley K. Clark (Ret.) (Biofuels Digest)  …
Our nation imagines itself the most free and secure in the world, yet this statistic clearly identifies America’s reliance on foreign oil as a significant threat to our economy …

(Hawker Beechcraft)  Hawker Beechcraft Corporation (HBC) today announced that all of its turbine-powered aircraft are approved to use biofuels – a renewable resource that can help reduce the use of fossil fuels and minimize carbon …

by Riggs Eckelberry (OriginOil/Algae Industry Magazine)  …(John) Daly concluded that investors are looking for biofuels winners in a field that was suddenly much more level.  Disillusioned with the ongoing subsidies required to sustain ethanol, not …

The DoD is making alternative energy a bigger priority than ever before. Conserving energy, lowering costs, reducing reliance on foreign oil, and increasing tactical and strategic security are the goals of new efforts toward “greening” the services. …

by Erin Voegele   (Biodiesel Magazine)  New Mexico-based Rio Valley Biofuels has been awarded a total of $40,962 in grant funding from USDA Rural Development to support upgrades at the facility and help support the hire of …

by Brent Erickson (BIO/Biofuels Digest)  The Renewable Fuel Standard is the key foundation policy supporting the commercial development of advanced biofuels. It is not working as fast as some would like, but given the current …

by Alex Morales (Bloomberg)  Mutant maize genes can be inserted into switch grasses to increase their viability as a biofuel crop, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Transferring the so-called …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  Senator Dick Lugar (R-IN) and Rep. Marlin Stutzman (R, IN-3rd) have introduced a farm bill that they say would save $40 billion and includes provisions that support the development of advanced biofuels.
“We …

(Virent)  Results Indicate a Standalone, 100% Renewable Solution

The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has released analytical test results of a plant derived jet fuel produced by Virent with technical …