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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.”
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Articles in Feedstocks

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 …

Intensive 3-crop Rotation May Boost Biofuel Economics
April 16, 2012 – 4:52 pm | No Comment

by Vicky Boyd (The Grower)  Growing a biofuels crop on old citrus ground or rotating it with vegetables just doesn’t pencil out, even with today’s high fuel prices.
But add in a legume cover crop and …

Brazil’s Biofuel Boom: Mark McHugh
April 16, 2012 – 3:48 pm | No Comment

by Peter Byrne  (The Energy Report)  Believe it or not, industry experts see biofuels accounting for up to 25% of global energy consumption by 2050. With this long-term vision in mind, Mark McHugh, president and …

Waste Conversion Technologies a Profitable Solution to Waste
April 16, 2012 – 3:37 pm | No Comment

by Oliver Saunders (Renewable Energy World/Renewable Waste Intelligence)  The waste conversion market is set to be worth $26bn by 2016. Waste conversion is becoming the only viable answer to the waste problem spreading over the …

Algae Instrumentation Manufacturer Launches Scholarship Program
April 13, 2012 – 4:15 pm | No Comment

(Fluid Imaging Technologies)  Fluid Imaging Technologies Supports Biofuel, Nutraceutical Research Worldwide
Yarmouth, ME: Laboratory instrumentation manufacturer Fluid Imaging Technologies, Yarmouth, Maine (www.fluidimaging.com) has launched a scholarship program offering students up to $1,000.00 per year for up to …

EBI Network and Pennycress Energy to Explore Alternative Energy Source
April 13, 2012 – 12:45 pm | No Comment

(City of Galesburg)  Pennycress Energy and the EBI Network are promoting Pennycress as a renewable, alternative energy fuel crop for the Galesburg/West Central Illinois Region. The project, generating interest among growers, will identify possible investors …

Que SARA, Será (Whatever Is Sustainable, Will Be): Sorghum, Water and Biofuels
April 13, 2012 – 12:40 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  There’s water, water everywhere, hardly a drop to use. The latest on Sustainable, Affordable, Reliable, Available biomass feedstocks that keep down the stress on our water tables.
…The basic dilemma in …

Growing Risk: Addressing the Invasive Potential of Bioenergy Feedstocks
April 12, 2012 – 2:00 pm | No Comment

by Aviva Glaser and Patty Glick  (National Wildlife Federation)  Without question, America needs to transition to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future. As we move forward with our energy choices, we must be mindful of how …

Land Matters: Sizing Up the Bioenergy Potential of Marginal Lands
April 11, 2012 – 10:14 am | No Comment

by Greg Breining (University of Minnesota/Bioenergy Connection)   …Did demand for biofuel feedstocks, such as corn, sugarcane, rapeseed, and soybeans, drive the high cost of food? Many analysts later pinned most of the blame on commodities …

USDA Explores Feasibility of Alternative Energy Production at Airports
April 10, 2012 – 8:00 pm | No Comment

(US Department of Agriculture)  A recent study conducted by researchers from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) highlights the potential for alternative energy production at airports. The study …

Mapping Grasslands for Biofuel Potential
April 10, 2012 – 7:25 pm | No Comment

(U.S. Geological Survey)  USGS scientists have developed a new method for mapping grasslands that demonstrate high potential for growing biofuel crops with relatively little energy input and environmental impact.
The pioneering investigation used remote sensing data …

2012 Sorghum Renewables Summit April 19-20 Denver, CO
April 10, 2012 – 1:16 pm | No Comment
2012 Sorghum Renewables Summit    April 19-20    Denver, CO

The 2012 Sorghum Renewables Summit brings together the industry’s leading researchers and companies for an event beginning 1:30pm on April 19 through 11:15am on April 20 in Denver, Colo.

As an adaptable, efficient and sustainable crop, …

Commercial Algae Production Technologies and Networking Workshop May 8, 2012 Fairfield, NJ
April 10, 2012 – 12:53 pm | No Comment
Commercial Algae Production Technologies and Networking Workshop    May 8, 2012    Fairfield, NJ

Including a tour of Glenn Mills to  view a  commercial-scale algae extraction
The National Algae Association is the first non-profit algae production trade association in the US.  In continuing its efforts to fast-track commercial algae production, National Algae Association’s next …

India Official Sheds Light on Local Biodiesel Industry
March 29, 2012 – 5:49 pm | No Comment

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) …Although India’s biodiesel industry is small, it does show potential for growth. This week World Health Energy Holdings announced plans to establish algae biodiesel production in two areas of the country are …

Qantas to Charter Australia’s First Commercial Flight Powered by Cooking Oil
March 29, 2012 – 11:52 am | No Comment

(CNNGo)  First biofuel flight will take off on April 13 from Sydney
…Qantas is the latest airline to launch a flight powered by cooking oil.
Tickets are currently on sale for Australia’s first commercial biofuel flight, which …

The Serious Fraud Office Launches an Investigation into Sustainable AgroEnergy, Operator of an Unregulated Investment Scheme.
March 29, 2012 – 11:00 am | No Comment

by Gavin Lumsden (CityWire)   The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched an investigation into Sustainable AgroEnergy, a London-based company that promoted itself to Sipp investors as a specialist in renewable biofuel crops and ‘green oil’ from Asia.
According to Citywire’s New …

Navy Plan Benefits Biomass
March 28, 2012 – 5:51 pm | No Comment

by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register)  Fuel for carriers, jets adds demand for biofuel source other than corn
A Missouri cooperative called (what else?) ShowMe Energy is building an $80 million, 3 million gallon facility that …

DuPont Lands Award for Feedstock Innovation
March 28, 2012 – 4:41 pm | No Comment

by Cori Anne Natoli (DelawareOnline)  The DuPont Co. won the 2012 Sustainable Biofuels award for its research project on the transport and storage of corn stover for conversion to biofuel.
The Stover Harvest Project is a collaborative effort …

Algal Diesel Outperforms Petrodiesel 2-1 in New Study
March 28, 2012 – 3:26 pm | No Comment

(Algae Industry Magazine)  A  team of scientists at the Argonne National Laboratory has published a paper in IOP Science’s Environmental Research Letters comparing the emissions performance of algal biofuels to petroleum fuels. In their qualified …

Government Drags Feet on Biofuel Project
March 28, 2012 – 2:55 pm | No Comment

(Business Day) State wants industry to source feedstock from small-scale farmers, writes Hopewell Radebe
The government has not moved an inch on the proposal by the farming community to include maize as an alternative crop for …

Central Valley Beet Growers Closer to Massive Bioenergy Plant
March 28, 2012 – 2:34 pm | No Comment

by Harry Cline (Western Farm Press)  Former sugar beet growers on the West Side of the San Joaquin Valley are expected to learn next month whether they’ll be able to take the next step in …

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 …

ADM Introduces Sustainable Grower Program for Canadian Canola
March 27, 2012 – 3:31 pm | No Comment

by Erin Voegele   (Biodiesel Magazine)   Archer Daniels Midland Co. Agri-Industries Lloydminster oilseeds processing facility recently announced the introduction of its Sustainable Grower Program in connection with the sustainability certification it has earned from …

Porter Airlines to Conduct Canada’s First Biofuel-Powered Revenue Flight
March 27, 2012 – 2:52 pm | No Comment

(MarketWire)  Flight to be scheduled just before Earth Day with a Bombardier Q400 turboprop – Preparatory test flight successfully flown by Bombardier in February 2012
In mid-April, Porter Airlines plans to use one of its Bombardier …

Trieste Conference Considers Algae in Developing Economies
March 27, 2012 – 12:03 pm | No Comment

by Syed Isa (Algae Industry Magazine)    The International Centre for Science and High Technology (ICS-UNIDO) presented an Expert Group Meeting on Emerging Technologies for the Production of Biofuels and Chemicals from Algae, March 19-21, in …

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 …

Iran Becomes Biofuel Producer
March 27, 2012 – 11:06 am | No Comment

(Trend)  …Iran produced a sample of biofuel six months ago and is preparing to start its production. Located in the Khuzestan Province’s Haft-Tapeh, a new 10,000 liter capacity biofuel facility will begin operating in the …

Gingrich “a Flat Out Liar,” Says National Algae Association, Denying Campaign Contact, Slamming Speaker’s Algae Numbers
March 27, 2012 – 10:51 am | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Texas, the National Algae Association called on presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich to issue a retraction of statements he made at a campaign speech in Pennsylvania, branding the Speaker’s claim that …

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 …

The Life of Algae
March 26, 2012 – 7:00 pm | No Comment

(Algae Industry Magazine)  This video from Sapphire Energy tracks the cultivation of algae from their San Diego lab in microscopic images, to petri dishes, to flasks, and then outside in their Las Cruces, NM facility …

Former Brew Master, Recycler Pioneers Biofuel Technology
March 26, 2012 – 6:35 pm | No Comment

(Maryland Clean Energy Center/The Current)  Serial entrepreneur Craig Stuart-Paul has found a novel formula for growing a business.
For the CEO of Fiberight, personal expertise in brewing beer plus innovations in recycling residential waste has added …

Cenusa Bioenergy Receives $25 Million Grant from USDA
March 26, 2012 – 5:43 pm | No Comment

by Kelly Madsen (IowaStateDaily.com)  The Iowa State University-led Cenusa Bioenergy project works to develop a biofuel with both a Midwestern and environmental focus.
Through a five-year, $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National …

Qantas Puts Cooking Oil on the Menu with Test Flight
March 26, 2012 – 3:46 pm | No Comment

by Steve Creedy  (The Australian)  QANTAS hopes to boost government interest and involvement in aviation biofuels when the airline conducts Australia’s first biofuel-powered commercial flight next month, using fuel derived from cooking oil.
The return flight will …

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 …

Algae Species Explored for Both Biofuel Source and Pollution Control
March 23, 2012 – 8:01 pm | No Comment

by Teresa Messmore (PhysOrg.com)  The tiny, plant-like Heterosigma akashiwo is too small to see with the naked eye, but the microscopic algae may pack a big environmental punch. University of Delaware researchers are studying whether …

Neste Oil Virtually Quadrupled Its Use of Certified Raw Materials in Producing Renewable Fuel
March 23, 2012 – 7:37 pm | No Comment

(Neste Oil)  Already 49% of the raw materials that Neste Oil used in 2011 to produce its renewable fuel was certified. This was an increase of 28 percentage points on the figure for 2010, and …

Grafton Ethanol Plant Owners to Meet with Sugar Beet Growers
March 23, 2012 – 7:32 pm | No Comment

(Grand Forks Herald)  Energae LP, the group planning to reopen the former Alchem Ltd. ethanol plant in Grafton, N.D., will conduct a meeting at noon Friday for sugar beet growers.
The meeting will be at Marketplace …

Push By Ethanol Producers Into Corn Oil Raises Concerns Over DDGs
March 23, 2012 – 7:27 pm | No Comment

(Dow Jones Newswire)  A push by U.S. ethanol companies into corn oil is starting to give the livestock industry indigestion.
Corn oil, which is used both for cooking oil and to make biodiesel fuel, has emerged …

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 …

NSAC Suggests REAP, BCAP Changes
March 23, 2012 – 6:45 pm | No Comment

by Anna Austin  (Biomass Power and Thermal Magazine)  The National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition has released its 2012 Farm Bill platform, which provides suggestions to improve some federal bioenergy programs. These include the Repowering Assistance Program …

Has Ethanol Lost Its License To Drive The Corn Market?
March 23, 2012 – 6:38 pm | No Comment

by Stu Ellis (FarmGateBlog)  …Now the bloom is off the rose.  Gasoline demand is down, the blend wall is pushing ethanol demand down, and corn prices are not as strong as they once were.
…He (Bob …

The Waters and Underwaters of March: Heard on the Floor at World Biofuels Markets
March 23, 2012 – 5:10 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Sugar prices are booming, good news for producers in Brazil, India and elsewhere, but in Brazil it has created, shall we say, a certain reluctance to maximize ethanol production.
Part of …

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 …

Petrotec AG : Successful Restructuring and Strong Demand for Waste Based Biodiesel Lead to EUR 3 mio. Net Profit
March 22, 2012 – 9:29 pm | No Comment

(4-Traders)  Petrotec AG (ISIN DE000PET111), the largest European producer of waste to biodiesel mainly used cooking oil based, reported a 97% sales increase in financial year 2011 (January 1 to December 31, 2011).
…Backed by an …

BP and Biofuels: Beyond Petroleum, Big Plans, Brazil Principally
March 22, 2012 – 9:23 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  BP to showcase capabilities in low-carbon fuels at 2012 London Olympics. BP Biofuels chief Phil New outlines the BP’s path towards “getting biofuels right”.
“6 percent of the entire BP workforce …

Flip-Side to Biofuels Story
March 22, 2012 – 8:06 pm | No Comment

by  John Maday  (Drovers Cattle Network)  A couple weeks ago, we ran an article titled “Feeding the biofuels beast,” which documented a University of Montana study suggesting current production methods and policy for biofuels are unsustainable. The …

Corn Ethanol Production Starts in Mato Grosso
March 22, 2012 – 7:50 pm | No Comment

(Agra-net.com)  Usimat Destilaria de Alcohol said it has started ethanol production from corn during the intercrop season in Mato Grosso. In recent weeks, it produced 90,000 litres of ethanol from corn. It has invested BRL20 …

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 — …

Milligan Bio-Tech Receives $1.7M Contribution from SaskBIO
March 22, 2012 – 4:22 pm | No Comment

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  The Government of Saskatchewan has announced it will provide up to $1.7 million to Milligan Bio-Tech Inc. under the Saskatchewan Biofuels Investment Opportunity (SaskBIO) program. The program provides repayable contributions …

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 …