donate now
Truly Sustainable Renewable Future
April 17, 2012 – 10:42 am | No Comment

Advanced Biofuels are high-energy liquid transportation fuels derived from: low nutrient input/high per acre yield crops; agricultural or forestry waste; or other sustainable biomass feedstocks including algae.  The key word is “sustainable.”
A technical definition that …

Read the full story »
Business News/Analysis

Federal Legislation

Political news and views from Capitol Hill.

More Coming Events

Conferences and Events List in Addition to Coming Events Carousel (above)

Original Writing, Opinions Advanced Biofuels USA

Sustainability

Home » Archive by Category

Articles in Forestry Wood

Iran to Start Making Bio-Ethanol from Cellulose Material
May 21, 2012 – 7:13 pm | No Comment

(Payvand Iran News) Iran will start producing industrial bio-ethanol from cellulosic material soon.
Bio-ethanol can be used as petrol supplementary and it will increase the octane number of petrol as it is added to the fuel. It will lead to the …

Model Forecasts Long-Term Impacts of Forest Land-Use Decisions
May 21, 2012 – 6:59 pm | No Comment

(PhysOrg) The drive to develop crops for use as biofuel, continues to raise questions about additional uses of forest land. A cutting edge computer model developed at North Carolina State University offers detailed insight to predict …

Renewable Diesel Surges: Emerald Biofuels Announces Major Project in Louisiana
May 21, 2012 – 3:21 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Emerald Biofuels announced that it will build an 85 million gallonrenewable-diesel refineries at a Dow Chemical site in Plaquemine, Louisiana. The company will use Honeywell’s UOP/Eni EcoFining process technology for the …

Enel Signs Agreement with Enea and Roma Capitale to Build Biomass Bi-Generation Plant
May 21, 2012 – 1:21 pm | No Comment

(Biofuels International)   A memorandum of understanding has been signed by Italian power company Enel to build a 1-5MW concentrated solar power and biomass bi-generation plant, which will produce electricity for the city of Rome.
…The biomass …

Massachusetts Sets Strict Regulations for Biomass: Will This Influence Further Restrictions?
May 9, 2012 – 11:45 am | No Comment

by Meg Cichon (Renewable Energy World)  The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources released a new set of strict standards for biomass in early May that have the potential to cut subsidies for developing plants. According …

Better Plants for Biofuels
May 4, 2012 – 2:07 pm | No Comment

(MarketWire)  An article in F1000 Biology Reports (http://f1000.com/reports/biology) published today (May 2, 2012) argues that recent advances in knowledge mean that plant-derived biofuels could meet about 30% of the global demand for liquid transportation fuels, …

CORE BioFuel Inc. Selects Technip to Engineer the World’s First Wood to Gasoline Biorefinery
May 4, 2012 – 11:41 am | No Comment

(CORE BioFuel, Inc.)  CORE BioFuel Inc. announced today (May 2, 2012)  that it has selected Technip, a world leader in engineering, construction and project management in the energy industry, to complete the construction engineering of …

Innovation Turning Wood Waste into Bio-Fuel for Transportation
May 1, 2012 – 2:20 pm | No Comment

by Denise Deveau (Financial Post)   {ISSUE} Soaring energy prices are thinning profit margins in the transport sector and increasing operational costs in many manufacturing industries
{SHIFT} Turning wood waste into bio-fuel helps industry find a …

Virdia Opens Its Cellulosic Sugar Demonstration Plant in Va.
April 26, 2012 – 2:11 pm | No Comment

(Virdia/Biorefining Magazine)  Cellulosic sugar developer Virdia announced April 24 the opening of its demonstration facility at its new technology center in Danville, Va. Located on the campus for the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, …

Large Biofuel Purchases Reported Near
April 25, 2012 – 3:21 pm | No Comment

by Bob Brooks (Automotive Industries)  At least two commercially viable biofuel off take agreements with suppliers are expected to be announced this year with airlines, according to Airline Association VP & Economist, John Heimlich. This …

North Dakota Research Center Demos Methanol from Wood for Off-Grid Power
April 24, 2012 – 1:24 pm | No Comment

(The Energy & Environmental Research Center/Biorefining Magazine)  The Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks has successfully developed and demonstrated a mobile, trailer-mounted biomass gasification technology that converts …

NIIST Sets up Biofuel Facility
April 24, 2012 – 11:02 am | No Comment

(The Hindu Business Line)  The biotechnology division of the National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST) here has set up a Centre for Biofuels. It will be a nodal centre for research in the …

Forestry and Biofuels Have Great Potential for Growth in Tocantins
April 19, 2012 – 11:43 am | No Comment

(Painel Forestal)  Currently, the planting of forests in Tocantins generates about six thousand jobs, a number that should be raised to 60,000 by 2017.
According to a survey conducted by Seagro, Department of Agriculture, Livestock and …

Steel in the Ground: The Largest Cellulosic Ethanol Plants in the World Are Ready to Prove Their Mettle
April 16, 2012 – 6:24 pm | No Comment

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Guido Ghisolfi is a confident man. A chemical engineer by trade, at 55, he’s already spent three decades leading research and development (R&D) activities at Italy-based Mossi & Ghisolfi …

Pie in the Sky
March 28, 2012 – 12:36 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Companies like KiOR, ZeaChem, Virent take aim at a tasty aviation biofuels market with new recipes and game-changing economics
…If you can produce in-spec, sustainable, low-carbon, renewable jet fuel at $3.32 …

Ionic Solvents Make Timber-to-Biofuels More Energy-Efficient
March 27, 2012 – 11:13 am | No Comment

by Simon Levey  (Industry Intelligence, Inc.)  Key part of biomass processing could be made 80% more energy-efficient, reducing cost of biofuels by 10%, by treating timber with ionic solvents, find Imperial College London scientists
A little …

Virdia, Virent Pioneer New Super-Performing, Parity-Cost Renewable Jet Fuel Pathway
March 27, 2012 – 10:35 am | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Virent, Virdia debut super-performing drop-in aviation biofuels made from drop-in cellulosic pine tree sugars; “passed under conditions where conventional jet fuels would fail,” says Air Force.
In Wisconsin, Virent and Virdia …

Four-Star Biofuels: How the Pentagon Is Outpacing Civilians in Gen2 Adoption
March 23, 2012 – 8:21 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In “Four Star Biofuels: How the Pentagon Is Outpacing Civilians in Gen2 Adoption” a special Raymond James look at the military and biofuels demand, Pavel Molchanov writes: “A key differentiator …

The Olive Economy
March 23, 2012 – 7:21 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Here are five types of technologies that straddle the political divide between green and black.
Re-using industrial waste gases  Here are three companies aiming at capturing CO2 and either directly converting to …

No Farm Bill, No Tier 3—Not until after the Election; Sundrop Fuels Presents an Alternative
March 23, 2012 – 12:58 pm | No Comment

By Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  At the March 21 Bioenergy Day on Capitol Hill, discussion focused on the need for a continued Renewable Fuels Standard, reviews of the history of biofuels, assessment of current …

State DNR Biomass Report Says Slash Extraction Won’t Hurt Forests
March 22, 2012 – 7:48 pm | No Comment

by Paul Gottlieb  (Peninsula Daily News)  A state Department of Natural Resources study has concluded that 3 million tons of bone-dry wood slash and other wood waste — double the existing amount that’s extracted — …

Cobalt and the Naval Air Warfare Center Team Up to Produce a Renewable Jet Fuel From Bio N-Butanol
March 22, 2012 – 4:11 pm | No Comment

(Cobalt Technologies/Sacramento Bee)  Contract Issued to Albemarle to Process First Run of N-Butanol Into Jet Fuel
Today, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), China Lake announced a contract award to Albemarle Corporation, a leading specialty chemicals company, to complete its …

Gasoline’s Comeback in the Bio-Based Era: 5 Cleantech Companies Vie for Green Gasoline Breakthroughs
March 20, 2012 – 4:47 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …But in the past two years, five technologies have emerged that are focused on renewable gasoline (along with some others that have the capability of producing gasoline-like fuels but are …

An All-of-the-Above Approach to Energy in America
March 20, 2012 – 1:38 pm | No Comment

by Sarah Bittleman (USDA/25 x ’25)  America needs and is developing a reliable, sustainable, fuel supply. If we are able to produce more of it here at home – rather than relying on foreign oil – …

Metso to Supply a Bio Oil Production Plant to Fortum Power Plant in Joensuu, Finland
March 9, 2012 – 11:53 am | No Comment

(Metso)  A demonstration plant enables bio oil production from forest residue
Metso and Fortum Power and Heat have signed a contract regarding a delivery of a bio-oil production plant and a related automation system to the …

Cobalt Pre-Treatment Test Clears Way for Commercial Scale
March 7, 2012 – 3:53 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, Cobalt Technologies announced that it has successfully demonstrated its dilute acid hydrolysis pretreatment process, the first step of Cobalt’s  process for converting sugars into n-butanol for use as a renewable …

Virdia Ups the Ante in the Race for the New Sugars
March 6, 2012 – 5:52 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In California, Virdia, formerly HCL CleanTech, a leading developer of cellulosic sugars, today announced major company milestones, including a new brand and CEO, its latest funding round, and a $75 …

Biomass Harvesting Guidelines for Southeast U.S. Released
March 5, 2012 – 5:05 pm | No Comment

by Luke Geiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The Forest Guild has released its report, “Forest Biomass Retention and Harvesting Guidelines for the Southeast,” identifying how expanding markets for forest bioenergy can enhance forests, while meeting the …

EU Seeks Tighter CO2 Grip on Farms, Forests -Draft
March 5, 2012 – 9:02 am | No Comment

by Francesco Guarascio and Barbara Lewis (Reuters)  The EU forestry and farming sectors will have to monitor and report from 2013 any changes to land use that could affect greenhouse gas emissions as part of the bloc’s …

Business Beat: Louisiana Forestry Industry Looks to Waste Material to Fuel Growth
February 27, 2012 – 2:53 pm | No Comment

by Jeff Matthews (The Town Talk)  …The forum, held at LSU AgCenter facilities adjacent to the Louisiana State University at Alexandria campus, drew about 125 people, a few more than last year.
“People are really interested …

The Enzyme Wars
February 24, 2012 – 5:21 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Novozymes releases a new, high-performance enzyme for advanced cellulosic biofuels: Cellic CTec3. Will Novozymes win the enzyme wars? Will enzymes defeat gasification?  When will renewables defeat fossil fuels on cost?
In …

ZeaChem Signs Contract to Develop “Drop-In” Advanced Biofuels
February 23, 2012 – 7:34 pm | No Comment

(MarketWatch)  ZeaChem Commences USDA-Funded Initiative to Build a Bioenergy Industry in the Pacific Northwest
ZeaChem Inc., a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into sustainable fuels and chemicals, today announced that it has …

Shuttered Range Fuels Plant Prepares for New Life
February 21, 2012 – 5:27 pm | No Comment

by S. Heather Duncan (Macon Telegraph)  Wearing green hard hats with the LanzaTech logo pasted over the words “Range Fuels,” officials of the company that now owns a Soperton ethanol plant visited the site this …

Minnesota Loses Cellulosic Ethanol Venture
February 20, 2012 – 10:26 am | No Comment

by David Shaffer   (Star Tribune)  A biofuels company opts for plants elsewhere after being helped by nearly $1 million in grant funding from Minnesota.
A biofuels company that benefited from nearly $1 million in grants …

Finland-Based UPM Plans Crude Tall Oil Renewable Diesel Plant
February 16, 2012 – 2:57 pm | No Comment

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  Finland-based UPM recently announced plans to develop a biorefinery in Lappeenranta, Finland, to convert crude tall oil into renewable drop-in diesel biofuel. Construction on the 100,000 metric ton (30 million …

Startup Takes Wood Pellets in, Turns out ‘Biogasoline’
February 15, 2012 – 10:13 am | No Comment

by Martin LaMonica (CNET)  For a new crop of biofuel companies, ethanol is out and “biogasoline” is in.
One of them is Primus Green Energy, which plans to open a demonstration plant by the end of the …

Solve for X: Mike Cheiky on Negative Carbon Liquid Fuels
February 15, 2012 – 8:57 am | No Comment

(Solve for X/CoolPlanet Energy Systems)  Solve for X is a forum to encourage and amplify technology-based moonshot thinking and teamwork.
The fact is that plants have a carbon-negative phase – a time during which they remove …

Discarding the Confrontational View – The Biofuel and Food Industries Share a Number of Major Potential Synergies
February 13, 2012 – 12:12 pm | No Comment

(Neste Oil)  Neste Oil and Raisio have worked together for a number of years on how by-products and sidestreams generated by Finnish agriculture and food manufacturing can be used as inputs for producing biofuels. The …

Controversial Wood-to-Ethanol Plant May Finally Get under Way in Upper Peninsula
February 13, 2012 – 11:47 am | No Comment

by Katherine Yung (Detroit Free Press)  After a lengthy delay, construction of what could be the nation’s first large-scale wood-to-ethanol plant in the country is to start this year in Michigan’s eastern Upper Peninsula.
If successful, …

LanzaTech Seeks Success Where Another Failed
February 6, 2012 – 2:49 pm | No Comment

by S. Heather Duncan (Macon Telegraph)  Although the company that purchased a defunct ethanol refinery in Soperton has some of the same financial backers as previous owners who lost the plant to foreclosure, leaders of …

CelluForce Celebrates the Inauguration of the World’s First NanoCrystalline Cellulose Demonstration Plan
February 6, 2012 – 1:58 pm | No Comment

(CelluForce)  CelluForce officially inaugurated today the world’s first NanoCrystalline Cellulose (NCC) demonstration plant at the Domtar pulp and paper mill site in Windsor, Quebec.
Jean Moreau, President and CEO of CelluForce, was accompanied by the Canadian …

Hundreds of Jobs Planned by New Owner of Range Fuels
February 2, 2012 – 3:42 pm | No Comment

by S. Heather Duncan (Macon.com)  The new owner of a shuttered ethanol plant in Soperton plans to eventually add hundreds of jobs there to produce ethanol and other chemicals, a company official said this week.
That …

CORE BioFuel Prepares to Land Funding for First Biogasoline Plant
February 2, 2012 – 2:12 pm | No Comment

by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine)  Toronto-based CORE BioFuel Inc. has signed an exclusive agreement with Osprey Capital Partners Inc., Canada’s leading mid-market investment banking firm, to secure equity investment capital for financing the completion of …

World’s First Wood-Based Biofuel Refinery to Be Built in Finland
February 2, 2012 – 11:44 am | No Comment

(YLE.FI)  Forest industry giant UPM is building a biorefinery in the eastern city of Lappeenranta which is to produce biofuel from crude tall oil. The plant’s output is expected to reach some 100,000 tons of …

Update on a Mobile Indirect Biomass Liquefaction System
February 1, 2012 – 3:04 pm | No Comment

by John P. Hurley (Biomass Power and Thermal Magazine/U.S. Department of Energy, Energy & Environmental Research Center)  Minnesota’s forestry operations produce 300,000 tons per year of wood waste that is not used in any existing or …

Words from the Wise: A Study by a Group of Forest Scientists Confirms Forest-Derived Bioenergy Results in No Net Carbon Release
February 1, 2012 – 2:05 pm | No Comment

by Anna Austin (Biomass Power and Thermal Magazine)  A recently released study authored by nine scientists from multiple organizations  and universities, including the U.S. Forest Service, may be poised to clear up some confusion. With …

Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Woodfuels: A Joint Publication of FAO and IEA Bioenergy
January 31, 2012 – 3:43 pm | No Comment

(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe)  As a potential substitute for fossil fuels, wood energy can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. FAO’s programme on wood energy promotes sustainable wood energy systems as a contribution to sustainable forest management, livelihoods …

Short Rotation Eucalypt Plantations for Energy in Brazil
January 31, 2012 – 3:35 pm | No Comment

(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe)  Brazil has over 4 million hectares of eucalypt plantations. Within that estate some plantations are dedicated to the production of charcoal while in some areas multiple land use includes forestry and agricultural production. …

Quantifying Environmental Effects of Short Rotation Coppice on Biodiversity, Soil and Water
January 31, 2012 – 3:30 pm | No Comment

(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe)   This report was prepared as a joint effort by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institute, University of Rostock, Chalmers University of Technology, Georg-August University of Goettingen, University of …

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Support for a New Advanced Biofuel Production Facility in Oregon: Project will Create Jobs, Expand Production of Biofuels
January 26, 2012 – 1:22 pm | No Comment

(US Department of Agriculture)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that USDA has approved a conditional commitment in the amount of $232.5 million to ZeaChem Boardman Biorefinery, LLC (ZBB) through the Biorefinery Assistance Program. ZBB …