Articles in Federal Agency
by Wendy Leavitt (FleetOwner) Amyris, Inc. has announced that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has furthered its official registration of Amyris’s renewable diesel fuel, raising the registered blend level with ultra-low sulfur diesel from 20% to …
(Stockhouse) Dynamic Fuels Producing World’s Leading Fuels From Non-Food Fats, Greases
Operations are underway at the new Dynamic Fuels plant, which is successfully converting animal fats and greases into high quality renewable fuels, officials from Syntroleum …
(Physorg.com) Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have created a technoeconomic model that should help accelerate the development of a next generation of clean, green biofuels that can compete with …
by Andrew Nusca (SmartPlanet) The U.S. Navy and Mountain View, Calif.-based biofuel outfit Cobalt Technologies on Wednesday agreed to jointly develop military jet fuel converted from biobutanol.
Under the new agreement, Cobalt’s biobutanol will be converted to …
by Molly Newman (Marshallfield News Herald) A new company will convert waste product from the cheese-making process into the very product that drives cheesemaking — food for cows.
DuBay Biofuel-Greenwood LLC was awarded a $1.9 million …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … 1. The bottom line: moderately positive for biofuels. One of the few areas where Republicans and Democrats agree on priorities is the importance of reforming US energy policy, and biofuels …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Florida, INEOS New Planet BioEnergy has awarded the EPC contract to build its 8 million gallon per year advanced bioenergy facility in Vero Beach to AMEC of Tucker, GA. The …
by Paul R. Woodin (OregonLive.com/Community Renewable Energy Association) …One of the topics sure to be front and center next year will be the topic of federal and state incentives for the renewable energy industry. Opponents …
Alternative Fuels Focus Day: Monday, January 24, 2011: Sign up for these in-depth and interactive extended-learning sessions examining case studies and solutions on the latest technologies employed in alternative fuels. During this Focus day, you …
by Charles Lane (The Washington Post) …The pitch is lyrical, almost religious. It asks consumers to make an economic and technological leap of faith – just as both GM and the firm’s biggest backer, the …
by Bob Dinneen (The Hill/Renewable Fuels Association) Given the latest news from two government reports, we need to start changing the “drill baby drill” chant to “distill baby distill.” One study, from the Department of Energy’s …
(Renewable Fuels Association) Today, PMAA and RFA joined forces to urge their members to limit E-15 sales to Flex Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) until regulations governing the fuel are finalized and implemented. The following is the …
(The Economist) Biofuels are back. This time they might even work.
MAKE something people want to buy at a price they can afford. Hardly a revolutionary business strategy, but one that the American biofuels industry has, to …
(Growth Energy) For the November/December issue of Washington Monthly magazine, Growth Energy Co-Chair General Wesley K. Clark wrote an in-depth examination of the costs of our nation’s addiction to foreign oil, and the opportunity for ethanol …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Pike Research released a report projecting the growth of algal fuel production to only 61 million gallons per year by 2020. Interestingly, the Pike Group projected an overall value of $1.3 …
by Dr. Christopher Wright (Research Engineer, Idaho National Laboratory) Dr. Wright’s presentation describes his current project on the creation of a mobile unit to preprocess bales of cellulosic feedstock into a form that can be utilized by …
by Dr. Theodore Wegner (Assistant Director, Forest Products Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service) Dr. Wegner begins with an interesting profile of the demand for advanced biofuels, and the different pathways to produce biofuels from cellulosic …
by Dr. J. Richard Hess (Biomass Program Technology Manager, Idaho National Laboratory) Dr. Hess details the biomass attributes that impact the nature of and cost of feedstock preparation, biochemical conversion, and thermochemcal conversion, along with general …
Anna Rath (Vice President of Commercial Development, Ceres, Inc.) Ceres is a seed company that uses advanced biotechnology to develop and distribute energy crop seeds. Rath discusses reasons for their commercial development being slower than planned, …
by Dr. Neal Gutterson (President and Chief Executive Officer, Mendel Biotechnologies, Inc.) Dr. Gutterson details the activities of Mendel Biotechnologies relevant to the advanced biofuels business space. Mendel developed Miscanthus x giganteus, a custom, sterile, weed-resistant variation …
by Dr. Timothy Volk (Research Associate, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry) Dr. Volk proposes a cycle for growing and harvesting willow trees for use in advanced biofuel production. The amount of usable biomass per acre …
by Dr. Kelly Tiller (President and Chief Executive Officer, Genera Energy, LLC) Dr. Tiller details the large commitment the state of Tennessee has made to biofuels research. Genera Energy, a research firm owned by the University of …
(PR NewsWire) Leaders of the advanced biofuel industry personally delivered an important message to the Obama Administration this morning at a White House meeting that included representatives of the Advanced Biofuels Association (ABFA), the Biotechnology Industry …
(AZO CleanTech) A recent data released by the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates the growing role of renewable energy sources in the national growth.
…Wind energy has increased its percentage of growth by …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …for several years we have been tracking the growing complexity and size of the partnerships and strategic investments in bioenergy, as the industry inches towards the commercialization of advanced biofuels.
It …
by Sophie Cocke (Pacific Business News) Monday’s grand opening of the Center for Microbial Oceanography at the University of Hawaii Manoa could work in tandem with the state’s push towards renewable energy.
Microbial oceanography, an emerging sub-discipline …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) Ethanol prices have strengthened over the past several months in response to higher corn prices and growing ethanol demand. Some have attempted to single out the escalation in ethanol prices …
by Sarah Bleau (MySouthwestGA.com) …Congressman Sanford Bishop brought Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to tour First United Ethanol and talk about their plan to expand Southwest Georgia’s renewable energy efforts to a national level.
“I’ve been to …
(CSP) Believes new E85 station at Marine base will help pave way for wider use in Islands
Aloha Petroleum Ltd. last week delivered the state’s first supply of E85 fuel (a blend of 85% ethanol and …
(Gerson Lehman Group) … However, this program may not provide enough incentive for retailers to install new pumps that custom blend gasoline with ethanol on site. Retailers would not only have to invest their share of the …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) The Alternative Fuel Trade Alliance is hosting a series of training programs nationwide for alternative fuel fleet managers. The next stop on the tour is a free workshop on October 28, …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Hawaii is a code word meaning “paradise” not only to sun-starved tourists, but to bioenergy developers. It has all the hallmarks of the “perfect market”.
1. A state that generates no …
by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine) The Advancing Biofuels Beyond the Basics program, run by the Ohio Department of Development, is now accepting applications from biodiesel and ethanol companies seeking funding for refining equipment purchases. With …
(BIO) Mainstream Agriculture Was Given a “Decidedly Minor Voice” Representatives from national and regional agriculture, food and feed organizations withdrew en masse this week from the Leonardo Academy’s sustainable agriculture standard setting initiative citing “fatal, …
by Bill Sizemore (Virginia-Pilot) The Navy took a step toward breaking its dependence on petroleum Friday, powering up a boat with fuel derived in part from seaweed.
In a demonstration at Norfolk Naval Station, an experimental boat …
by Jennifer Runyon (Renewable Energy World) A mapping application shows where bio-energy facilities are located now and where more could be developed.
With funding from the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Blue Skyways Collaborative and DOE’s Biomass …
Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) Ina, Ill.-based Rend Lake College has received a $60,835 grant from the USDA to support a three-part biofuels education program, which will include training on farm-based biodiesel production. The program is …
by Jim Nussell (The Washington Times) letter to editor Tuesday’s Washington Times editorial “Administration caves to Big Corn” (Comment & Analysis) ignores the hidden costs of our addiction to foreign oil and what moving to higher …
by Mark Gehlhar, Ashley Winston, and Agapi Somwaru (USDA Economic Research Service) Achieving greater energy security by reducing dependence on foreign petroleum is a goal of U.S. energy policy. The Energy Independence and Security Act of …
(EIN News/USDA) …USDA announced assistance under the Recovery Act for 334 broadband expansions designed to reach more than 6 million people and 250,000 businesses in rural and remote areas.
…By launching the USDA led effort “Know …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … “Today, I am directing the Rural Development mission area of USDA within 60 days to announce funding under the current Biorefinery Assistance Program for the construction (to commence in …
by Bruce E. Dale, Bryan D. Bals, Seungdo Kim and Pragnya Eranki (Biomass Conversion Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, Michigan State University) There is an …
(Renewable Fuels Association) The unproven notion that expanded U.S. ethanol production means new acres around the world must be brought into cultivation is taking another blow. In a soon-to-be published paper, researchers at the Department …
by Bill Moore (Reuters/EV World) In September, the Center for New American Security (CNAS) issued a 36-page study entitled Fueling the Future Force: Preparing the Department of Defense for a Post-Petroleum Era (PDF).
…Why the urgency …
(Reuters) * Biofuel demand, tight supplies supporting corn prices * Corn rising to 2008 levels rekindles food vs fuel debate
…But this month’s corn market rally to highs near $6 per bushel was driven more by the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Argentina, researchers from INTA, analyzing the assumptions of the US EPA’s indirect land use change models, concluded that “• Significant errors have been verified in the determination of the …
(EPA) EPA is concurrently proposing a regulatory program to promote the successful introduction of E15 into commerce by ensuring that E15 is used in approved motor vehicles and reducing the potential for the misfueling of E15 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In the long term, major oil companies like Shell and ExxonMobil see global transition in the 30-40 percent range by 2050. That may sound like small potatoes. Voters, project developers, and …
(Yahoo! Finance/PR Newswire) U.S. Rep. Connie Mack and Lee County Commissioners Tammy Hall and Ray Judah join in celebrating new advanced research labs and integrated biorefinery that will diversify local economy and create clean energy jobs
Algenol …
EPA’s decision to okay 15% ethanol blends in newer model vehicles is the biggest change in fuel reformulation in the past five years!
Questions and concerns about liability, motor vehicle operability and regulatory compliance are mounting …
(AP/Bloomberg Business Week) Several Nebraska universities will share a $20 million grant to develop new research focused on algae and nanotechnology, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln announced Monday.
Part of the five-year National Science Foundation grant will help …
by Lieve Laurens, Ed Wolfrum, and Al Darzins (NREL/Algae Industry Magazine) At NREL’s National Bioenergy Center, we are working towards developing a new method for estimating the oil or lipid content and chemical composition in a …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) …U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ 8th) came out in support of bipartisan leaders of the House Armed Services Committee for urging Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates to study new ways of reducing …
by Fred Kaplan (Slate) How the military’s shift to renewable fuel could lower the entire nation’s energy costs.
…The Navy is also experimenting with fuel made from algae. And the Air Force is planning to convert its …
(PR Newswire) Syracuse partnership substitutes petroleum diesel with biodiesel
Syracuse University today announced a partnership to advance the use of biofuels by the U.S. armed forces as an alternative energy source. The effort involves entrepreneurs John …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) There’s a growing consensus among the budding cellulosic ethanol community that the renewable fuels standard (RFS) is not doing its job. Enacted in 2005 and amended in 2007, the …
by Tamra Fakhoorian (Algae Industry Magazine) Recent press about the seemingly novel concept of powdered algae as a jet engine fuel has raised eyebrows in the airline industry, and among competing algae processing technologies. However, Robert …
(Reuters) The Next Big Thing in biofuel might involve genetically engineered plants that digest themselves, making it cheaper to turn them into fuel. That’s one of the new ideas that Arun Majumdar finds fascinating. As …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) (T)he Digest spent time this week with Gary Luce, CEO of Terrabon, whose advanced biofuels technology converts MSW and other residues into drop-in biogasoline, renewable diesel and jet fuel.
The company, which …
by Bill Sweetman (Aviation Week) Fuel-cell manufacturer SFC of Germany has rolled out a new product in its line of methanol-air electrochemical cells, a system designed to provide secondary power to military vehicles – for …
(BioTechNOW) Congress urged to restore funding to DOE Loan Guarantee Program
Growth of clean energy has been stifled, biofuel advocacy groups maintain, by a lack of funding and shortcomings in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Guarantee …
by Bob Meyer (Brownfield Ag News) …The American Coalition for Ethanol, Growth Energy, Renewable Fuels Association and National Corn Growers issued a joint statement noting “Global coarse grain supplies are nearly unchanged, the USDA reports …
by Todd Neeley (Progressive Farmer) In the eternal mudslinging between supporters and opponents of biofuels, “subsidies” are one of the opponents’ biggest and most painful mud balls.
“If ethanol is such a good idea, why does …
by Robert (Aglines) The battle is raging over the public airwaves about the proposed oil tar sand pipeline from Canada that will cross Nebraska.
As, the proponents rightly state, there are plenty of oil and gas pipelines …
(US Environmental Protection Agency) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today waived a limitation on selling fuel that is more than 10 percent ethanol for model year 2007 and newer cars and light trucks. The …
The Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference brings together the leaders guiding the development of advanced biofuels — including cellulosic ethanol, renewable diesel, renewable gasoline, renewable jet fuel, biobutanol, as well as emerging feedstocks including algae, jatropha, …
by Ron Brochu (BusinessNorth.com) …Federal loan guarantees are available to support construction of the high-tech Flambeau River Biofuels refinery in Park Falls, but project sponsors say the government’s terms could derail their chance to succeed. Those …
by Danny Bradbury (BusinessGreen) University of Connecticut reveals plan to build biofuel research plant capable of turning hemp into biodiesel.
Researchers at the University of Connecticut have found that hemp is a viable feedstock for biodiesel …
by Brent D. Yacobucci (Congressional Research Service) …Ethanol and biodiesel, the two most widely used biofuels, receive significant government support under federal law in the form of mandated fuel use, tax incentives, loan and grant programs, …
(US Environmental Protection Agency) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), are announcing the next step toward reducing greenhouse …
(PowerMag.com) A demonstration plant that creates biodiesel fuel from restaurant trap grease (commonly called brown grease), located at the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Francisco, has begun operation.
Developed by URS Corporation, it is the first …
(CleanSkies.com) Argonne Laboratories are working on technology that could change the way your car drives. It’s an engine that runs on any type of fuel – an omnivorous engine. That could be music to the …
(Science Daily) Faster development of the promising field of cellulosic biofuels — the renewable energy produced from grasses and trees — is being significantly hampered by a “deep and thorny regulatory thicket” that makes almost …
by Darren Goode (The Hill) Texas lawmakers in both parties are seeking legal protection for oil refiners and others that fear exposure to costly lawsuits if EPA allows an increase in the amount of ethanol …
(Bulk Transporter) New placarding regulations took effect October 1 for fuel haulers handling gasoline blends with more than 10% ethanol. The placard ID number is 3475 for gasoline/ethanol blends above 10%.
The easiest way to comply with …
by Robert Montgomery (ESPNOutdoors) Clogged carburetors, crumbling components, ruptured fuel lines. Boats stalled at sea, lives put at risk, and thousands spent on repairs. That’s the legacy of gasoline with 10 percent ethanol (E10) used to …
(FollowTheScience.org) More than 22,000 Americans have e-mailed President Obama urging him to stop the Environmental Protection Agency from approving a 50 percent increase in the amount of ethanol in gasoline until comprehensive, independent and objective scientific …
by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) Sometime in the coming days, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected to announce a partial waiver decision allowing the use of E15 in light duty vehicles with a model …
(Ethanol Across America) C. Boyden Gray, one of the architects of the historic 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments that established the nation’s reformulated gasoline program, called for increased regulation of air toxics by the Environmental …
(US Department of Energy) BioEnergy Atlas, a Web portal that provides access to two bioenergy analysis and mapping tools, was released September 28, 2010, by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The visualization …
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Breaking News! For the first time in any race at any venue in any country, all the entries using E85 are powered by cellulosic E85.
It is happening at Petit Le Mans at …
(AgriMarketing/Purdue) Purdue University is receiving $1.59 million in federal funding for a project to conduct a sustainability assessment of energy crops for biofuels.
The funding is part of a $16.5 million renewable fuel initiative by the …
by David Gold (RenewableEnergyWorld.com) …While stimulus supporters and the press love to focus on the selection of award winners for grants and loans, funds appropriated but sitting in the U.S. Treasury have zero potential to …
(USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service) Public comments sought on how USDA agencies can assist California’s biofuel’s industry
California’s USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) and USDA Rural Development (RD), and the …
John Davis (DomesticFuel.com) …In an interview with USDA radio, Harry Baumes, Director of USDA’s Office of Energy Policy and New Uses says a new study shows that we’re getting more energy out of corn than what …
(US Environmental Protection Agency) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Research and Development, Paul Anastas, joins other science leaders to kick off the USA Science and Engineering Festival on September …
by Bert Hill (Ottawa Citizen) Construction will start this year on a biofuel plant in Malaysia that uses the technology of Ensyn Technologies, an Ottawa company.
A Malaysian government agency has announced that the plant will turn …
by James Cartledge (BrighterEnergy.org) As the Senate debated and ultimately failed to pass reforms in the military this week, two Senators from Montana introduced legislation to boost markets for biofuel.
Sens. Max Baucus and John Tester’s bill, …
(Dayton Business Journal) Ohio is preparing to dole out $8 million to boost manufacturers by subsidizing ethanol and biodiesel refining equipment purchases.
…Under the Advancing Biofuels Beyond the Basics program, companies can snag $500,000 to $1 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …With the collapse in markets, rising prices and the evaporation of the tax credits, condition were ripe for the end of biodiesel 1.0. By early 2010, only two major producers …
By Arpita Bhattacharyya, Andrew Light (Center for American Progress) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Tuesday an impressive collaboration at the Clinton Global Initiative that brings together U.S. agencies and the United Nations Foundation to …
by Dennis O’Brien (USDA/ARS) With the help of genetic materials from a cow’s rumen, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are developing new ways to break down plant fibers for conversion into biofuel.
To convert corn stover …
by Matt Hartwig (Renewable Fuels Association) A Bloomberg story today warned that deficit hawks in Congress – and potentially those that might be elected this fall – are targeting ethanol as an example of wasteful …
by IANR News Service (North Platte Bulletin) …Camelina is a yellow-flowering oilseed crop that grows one to three feet tall. It has some advantages as an industrial oil crop, said University of Nebraska-Lincoln scientist Ed …
(US Department of Agriculture) Harry Baumes, Acting Director of USDA’s Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, says a report that surveyed corn growers in 2005 and ethanol plants in 2008 indicates the net energy gain …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …We have spoken to farmers, local business owners, environmentalists, community development officials, engine developers, scientists, policy makers, producers, investors, lenders, blenders, wholesalers, retailers, and end users. We have visited development projects …
by Val Walton (The Birmingham News) Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos wrote a letter of support last week for the SouthEast Region Algae Consortium (SERAC) — a group of scientists, engineers and experts in biofuels and algae …
by James Cartledge (BrighterEnergy.org) Abengoa Bioenergy has secured 60% of the feedstocks it needs for its hybrid ethanol facility being developed in Hugoton, Kansas.
…The Hugoton facility is set to be the first commercial-scale installation of …
(National Renewable Energy Laboratory) When you’ve lived in the same “home” for more than 20 years, a time comes when you need to upgrade your furnishings to keep current and spruce things up a bit. …
Interview of BIO’s Brent Erickson by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …BE: I have been a little bit disappointed in the Obama administration. When he was in the Senate he as very pro-biofuels. He had to …
