Articles in Feedstock
(Alternative Fuels Americas/PR NewsWire) Alternative Fuels Americas, Inc. (AFAI) announced today (May 22, 2013) that it has successfully completed research trials targeting Jatropha trees as a feedstock source for profitably produced, sustainable biodiesel, and is …
by Tom Rickey (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) A new analysis shows that the nation’s land and water resources could likely support the growth of enough algae to produce up to 25 billion gallons of algae-based …
by Andrew Herndon (Bloomberg) Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), which has invested more than $100 million to develop algae-derived biofuels, is refocusing its research with Synthetic Genomics Inc. after almost four years of work failed to …
by Peter Hannam (The Age) Whether it’s the use of organisms first found in the guts of rabbits in New Zealand or converting the mountains of rubbish disposed of by Londoners, airlines around the world are …
(United Sorghum Checkoff Program) The Sorghum Checkoff in collaboration with the NCERC at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (formerly the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center) is pleased to announce a successful bench-scale evaluation of sweet sorghum juice …
(Algae Industry Magazine) An algae research proposal from Oklahoma State University’s Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center (FAPC) was ranked No. 1 of 28 plant-related research projects, resulting in $100,000 in funding …
by Barry Cohen (National Algae Association/PR Log) The DoE has spent $2.5 billion on algae research but to date nothing has been commercialized. Why? Because their mission is to develop technologies. It’s not their problem or …
by Adam Wilmoth (News OK) OSU researcher Gerald Schoenknecht and his team recently completed genome sequencing for an algae that thrives inside active volcanoes. The researchers hope to use their findings to help make tough …
(EurekAlert!) World’s cassava experts to wage war against cassava viruses; introduction into Nigeria, the largest cassava producer in the world, could result in drastic food shortages in this part of Africa
Cassava experts are reporting new …
by Heather Loney (Global News) The federal government is teaming up with two Canadian companies in a pilot project that would use algae to convert greenhouse gas emissions from the oilsands into biofuels.
The National Research …
by Matthew Landau (Aquatic Biosystems) In 2010, Qatar University initiated an algal biofuel project funded by Qatar Airways, and Qatar Science and Technology Park with a 3-year budget of USD 12 million. Completion of the first …
(SB Wire/Eccotopia) Julian Moses, president of Symphony Trade and Investment 57 (Pty) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eccotopia Ltd.,http://www.eccotopia.com/, has announced that Eccotopia and Pacific Tree West are in the process of signing a …
by Jeff Dute (AL.com) Corporate America does not often invite the public into the research and development process of products that could potentially revolutionize how their vehicles are fueled, how plastics are made and even …
(Algae Industry Magazine) A Johns Hopkins University student team is working with a starter grant of $15,000 from the EPA to see if algae can consume nutrients from wastewater and produce clean bio-fuels and fish food. …
(North Dakota State University Extension/Farm & Ranch Guide) …At North Dakota State University, the feasibility of using new sugarbeet varieties, known as energy beets, for ethanol production is under study. Energy beets have characteristics very …
(Algae Industry Magazine) The Japan News reports that in Miyagino Ward, Sendai, a project has started at a sewage treatment facility to extract a biofuel ingredient from wastewater using algae. This first of its kind …
by Russ White (MLive) … Michigan State University leads research of bioenergies and biofuels through AgBioResearch and the Kellogg Biological Station and partnerships with coalitions such as the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the Global …
by Kim McDonald (University of California at San Diego) New discoveries of the way plants transport important substances across their biological membranes to resist toxic metals and pests, increase salt and drought tolerance, control water loss …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Who’s behind the 8-ball, the algae optimists or pessimists? It all comes down to the pace of innovation in 8 cores.
… In a recent survey of its members, the Algae Biomass …
(Metso) Domtar has successfully started up a commercial-scale LignoBoost™ lignin separation plant at its Plymouth, North Carolina mill, in the USA. This is the first commercial installation of a LignoBoost plant in the world and the …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Nutrients PLUS (NP), a company headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Old Dominion University (ODU), in Norfolk, Virginia, have applied for a patent on recent discoveries they’ve made related to the use …
(American Chemical Society) The search for a less-expensive, sustainable source of biomass, or plant material, for producing gasoline, diesel and jet fuel has led scientists to duckweed, that fast-growing floating plant that turns ponds and …
(Fresh Plaza) Bananas in poor condition could become a type of biofuel thanks to a study by the Canary Islands Technological Institute (ITC) with the support of the DISA Foundation.
Douglas Escalante (an intern of the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …It used to be that the outskirts of Honolulu had the dual scent of diesel and pineapple processing — but now, all you really smell is the diesel. Sugarcane and …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Though there are exceptions among the archipelagoes with access to offshore oil assets — Indonesia comes to mind— but these are, in the main, exceptions to what might be described …
(Algae Industry Magazine) One of the major roadblocks to mass-producing algae for biofuels, observes researchers at the University of Michigan College of Engineering, is the need for fertilizer. Although algae have trouble reusing the nitrogen …
(US Department of Energy) The Bioenergy Technologies Office 2013 Project Peer Review will take place at the Hilton Alexandria Hotel from Monday, May 20, 2013, to Thursday, May 23, 2013. The peer review process will …
(25 x ’25) A series of short videos covering five years of Vermont Bioenergy Initiative projects and the farms and people involved are now up and available to watch on YouTube.
The initiative is a project …
(25 x ’25) Given the recent rounds of misinformation, if not downright disinformation, that passes as criticism of renewable energy, it might be a good time to point out the obvious: Meeting increased demand for …
(Blacksea Grain) Jim Peterson’s corn contains a magic ingredient: alpha amylase. This ethanol-fermenting enzyme arrives at the plant on the cob, along with the starch for brewing ethanol, as part of Syngenta Enogen corn hybrids.
Peterson …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Heliae emerges from stealth with Volaris — its next-gen algae platform — “This technology will unlock the industry,” the company says.
…Volaris is the result of five years of targeted innovation, …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Researchers at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) and the Institute of Marine Sciences (ICM-CSIC), in Spain, have analyzed the potential of different species of microalgae for producing biodiesel, comparing …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) …According to information released by Ceres, commercial harvests of its newest sweet sorghum hybrids have started in Brazil, with the majority of hectares expected to be harvested within the …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A team of Virginia Tech researchers have adapted existing technologies to make a new product, transforming cellulose into amylose. One target market for the amylose would be functional foods, said …
(Algae Industry Magazine) lgae Testbed Public-Private Partnership (ATP3) members from across the U.S. gathered at the Arizona State University Polytechnic campus April 15-18 for their national kickoff meetings to discuss strategies for advancing research and …
by Vince Stricherz (University of Washington) Hydrogen sulfide, the pungent stuff often referred to as sewer gas, is a deadly substance implicated in several mass extinctions, including one at the end of the Permian period …
by Pavel Molchanov (Raymond James and Associates/Biofuels Digest) …There is no question that there have been growing pains along the way, more than we would have hoped, but the industry continues along its trajectory towards scale. We …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The end-goal? High-value oils. Low-cost sugars become shock troops in the war for sustainability.
In New York, we’ve learned that Sweetwater Energy will announce a project today to provide Naturally Scientific …
by Chris Woolston (Bioenergy Connection) … If you drove around certain parts of the Midwest this summer, you might have seen patches of energy grass or tall, green sorghum flourishing amid the ruined corn and soybeans. …
(Reuters/NexSteppe) Malibu and Palo Alto Sorghum Hybrids Provide Scalable, Reliable, and Sustainable Feedstock Options for the Biobased Industries
NexSteppe, a company dedicated to pioneering the next generation of sustainable feedstock solutions for the biobased industries, today announced the …
(Sandia National Laboratories/Biodiesel Magazine) Sandia National Laboratories is developing a suite of complementary technologies to help the emerging algae industry detect and quickly recover from algal pond crashes, an obstacle to large-scale algae cultivation for …
(XS4Green.com) Ductor, the Finnish biotechnology company specializing in disruptive algae technology, announce today that Red Herring, a global media company, has named Ductor a winner of the Red Herring Europe 100 awards.
Ductor’s products and business …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Premier of Queensland, Australia, Campbell Newman, has cut the ribbon on an advanced solar biofuels pilot plant designed to develop microalgae-based systems as a source of clean fuel and animal feeds.
The $3.5 …
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Neste Oil has begun using tall oil pitch as a feedstock for renewable diesel production. Neste Oil successfully tested tall oil pitch in commercial refinery operations in March and April …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …. And surprisingly, a research team from the University of California, Davis has not only catalogued the impacts of treating microalgae with 83 different compounds. They’ve found that common antioxidants …
(EnvironmentalResearchWeb.org) Scientists in Brazil have found that nitrous-oxide emissions from sugarcane fields vary depending on the nitrogen source employed as a fertilizer. Ammonium nitrate results in higher nitrous-oxide emissions than urea, they discovered. With around …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …You’ve probably seen it, in some way, for years — a local pond seems suddenly crowded with algae — or there’s news of a “red tide” blooming at sea — …
by Tom Marshall (Planet Earth Online) Adding charcoal to land used to grow bioenergy crops can greatly increase their overall benefit in helping cut our greenhouse-gas emissions, scientists have shown.
Applying so-called ‘biochar’ before planting energy …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Tony Raggatt writes in townsvillebulletin.com that James Cook University, a leading algal research facility located in Townsville, Queensland, Australia, has started to commercialize its research by selling their algae as a feedstock …
by Emily Pickrell (FuelFix) On Jan. 1, Congress made algae-based fuel production eligible for a $1.01-per-gallon cellulosic biofuel production federal tax credit.
Cellulosic biofuels typically are made from woody, non-food material such as grasses or wood …
by David Wogan (Scientific American) The idea is straightforward: grow algae in large quantities and harvest the energy dense byproducts as an alternative to fossil fuels. Like larger plants, microalgae use solar energy to fix …
(EurekAlert!/American Chemical Society) Genes from the family of bacteria that produce vinegar, Kombucha tea and nata de coco have become stars in a project — which scientists today said has reached an advanced stage — …
by Amanda Peterka (Governors Biofuel Coalition) Cellulosic biofuels can become profitable for farmers and help displace oil, but they must use already-available agricultural land, according to a study released by a nonprofit yesterday.
Commissioned by the …
(Biofuels Center of North Carolina) The Biofuels Center of North Carolina recently awarded $684,058 for six projects to accelerate the renewable fuels industry in western North Carolina. Awards are made through the 2012-2013 targeted biofuels …
(Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute/PR NewsWire) The $100K ACC Clean Energy Challenge, a business plan competition supported by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) encouraging students from universities in the southeastern United …
by Louise Downing (Bloomberg) SG Biofuels Inc., the green fuel biotech company working with Airbus SAS, is seeking a partner in Southeast Asia or Africa and expects to complete a cooperation deal within 180 days to expand its …
(Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona/Biodiesel Magazine) Dinoflagellate microalgae could be used as a raw material to obtain biodiesel easily and profitably. This is the conclusion of a study led by Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) scientists, …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The International Energy Agency, through its Task 39 group, has published its 207-page report on the “Status of Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Facilities in 2012″.
The report, in its pages, contains detailed …
(The Fish Site) Two plants have opened in Jaguaribara and Morada Nova to reduce tilapia waste by converting it into biodiesel.
…Mr Joacir Moreira said that the plants have been set up in order to prevent …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Algenetix, an industrial biotech company incubated from the pipeline of Kapyon Ventures has closed $2.0M in Series A-1 funding to further commercialize its PhotoSeed platform.
The groundbreaking technology vastly …
by Lynn Yarris (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) When blessed with a resource in overwhelming abundance it’s generally a good idea to make valuable use of that resource. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant organic material …
(Associated Press/Quad Cities Times) U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack signed an agreement Friday with DuPont that will help establish guidelines for how the company will collect corn-plant residue for a new ethanol plant in central …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Crop yield and oil content increases of up to 50% and 34% seen from ZeaKal’s HME technology. Though in early days — what’s going on?
… A successful Series A is …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Founded in 2009 by Pierre Calleja, Fermentalg is a French-based industrial biotechnology company specializing in the bio-production of chemical compounds from microalgae, for use in everyday products. Its patented technologies allow the …
(U.S. Department of Energy) Supplying high-quality feedstock for use in a broad range of sustainable conversion processes to produce advanced biofuels is a complex, multi-step process. Each step in the feedstock supply and logistics chain—from …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …As can be seen in the research by Perrine, Negi, and Sayre — a more optimal light distribution strategy is available to algae but they don’t take it, because they …
(Lund University) …The ash is what is left when rubbish has been burnt in thermal power stations. A researcher from Lund University in Sweden has now developed a technique to use the ash to produce …
by John Davis (DomesticFuel.com) …And some, such as the folks at Algae.Tec, are looking to green shipping containers to grow a literal green feedstock.
“What we wanted was a significant bulk outcome, in other words fuels and …
by Jim McMahon (Biodiesel Digest) Since 2008, the San Diego Center for Algal Biotechnology (SD-CAB) has been conducting research into algal applications for biofuel. This has been a joint collaboration between several departments of the …
by Solrun Dregelid (University of Bergen) The marine animal tunicate can be used both as biofuel and fish food, according to prize-winning research at UiB and Uni Research.
On the ocean floor, under the pier, and …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Today in part II, we look at a new set of technologies coming along that are redefining our ideas about scale and cost.
… A barrier to long term deployment? The …
(25 x ’25) The ethanol industry has some good news to share. And it comes in an arena where the domestically produced biofuel has often been challenged – carbon sequestration and the life-cycle assessment of …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) In the heart of Wisconsin, a project is underway to produce energy from a resource that is in little danger of running low: cow manure, or “brown gold.” Thanks to a …
by Thomas H. Clarke (The Daily Chronic) A bill that would establish a two-year hemp pilot program in Hawaii passed a second reading with amendments on the floor of the Senate last week, and has …
(Science Codex) Rapidly growing trees like poplars and willows are candidate “biofuel crops” from which it is expected that cellulosic ethanol and higher energy content fuels can be efficiently extracted. Domesticating these as crops requires …
(SG Biofuels/Biodiesel Magazine) …Through the use of new genetic technologies, SGB’s scientists have revealed that the company’s germplasm collection can be divided into a number of distinct heterotic clades, or genetically related groupings of plants. In …
(Tucson News/Sapphire Energy) Sapphire Achieves Major Milestone with Continuous Green Crude Oil Production
Sapphire Energy, Inc., a leader in algae-based Green Crude oil production, today announced it has entered into a commercial agreement with Tesoro Refining …
by John Ramsey (FayObserver.com) Construction on a $170 million refinery in Clinton to convert 20 million tons of grass into fuel each year could start as early as this fall.
Chemtex, an international company with offices …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …This past week in Rotterdam, I ran into algae biofuels’ very own “Dr. No”, John Benemann — known for his succinct and characteristic analysis of new ventures aimed at making …
by Scott M. Paapa, Todd H. West, Dawn K. Manley, Eric J. Steen, Harry R. Beller, Jay D. Keasling, Dean C. Dibble, Shiyan Chang, Blake A. Simmons (Biomass and Bioenergy) As advances in biotechnology have …
(Algaetech International) AMIC, Malaysia, and Algaetech International Sdn Bhd, Malaysia, announces the signing of a Research & Technology agreement on a “Waste to Fuel” project today 4th March 2013, at Algaetech International corporate head office. With …
by David Dreeszen (Sioux City Journal) …What makes it more valuable?
The variety, called Enogen, is genetically engineered to boost ethanol output and reduce energy costs and water use. The hybrid, developed by Syngenta, contains a …
by Dr. Hector Hernandez (The National) …One area of particular interest is the energy potential of algae that live in the desert’s saltflats – known as sabkha.
Algae is one of the many forms of plant …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) It was in 2001 when Dr. Isaac Berzin, a PhD Chemical Engineer at MIT’s Center for Space Research, started to question the work of the Department of Energy’s Aquatic …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Global Clean Energy Holdings announced that it has acquired Sustainable Oils, a leader in Camelina genetics and production. The acquisition includes 100% ownership interest of Sustainable Oils and the …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Sara Volz, a 17-year old high school senior from Colorado Springs, CO, won the top award of $100,000 from the Intel Foundation for her research of algae biofuels. Honoring high school seniors …
(Chromatin) Chromatin, Inc., a leading provider of innovative crop breeding technology, sorghum seed products and feedstocks, said today it has entered into an agreement with POET, LLC, one of the world’s largest ethanol producers, to …
(University of Sheffield/Biodiesel Magazine) It may be better to tolerate lower oil content in algae grown for biodiesel to boost growth and overall productivity, according to research from the University of Sheffield. The research shows …
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Jatropha developer JOil Pte. Ltd. has signed a memorandum of understanding with West Africa alternative energy grower and jatropha processor Agritech Faso SA. JOil and Agritech will explore the development …
(Gulf Daily News) A Scientific research study in Bahrain has concluded that it is possible to extract biofuel oil from the nuclei of date palms. Ten per cent is then turned into diesel after chemical …
by Debra Fiakas (Alt Energy Stocks) As part of its program to promote beneficial reuse of carbon dioxide, the Department of Energy awarded a total of $27.2 million ($3.0 million in the first phase and $24.2 …
(AMEInfo.com) Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, an independent, research-driven graduate-level university focused on advanced energy and sustainable technologies announced it presented details on the UAE’s growth and export potential in the biofuels-from-algae sector to …
(Vermont Bioenergy) Vermont researchers and entrepreneurs demonstrate their innovations in algae to biofuel R&D in the Northeast WATCH VIDEO
by Skip Derra (Arizona State University) Conversion of large swaths of Brazilian land for sugar plantations will help the country meet its needs for producing cane-derived ethanol but it also could lead to important regional climate …
by Richard C. Baliban, Josephine A. Elia, Christodoulos A. Floudas, Xin Xiao, Zhijian Zhang , Jie Li , Hongbin Cao, Jiong Ma §, Yong Qiao, and Xuteng Hu (Industrial Engineering and Chemistry Research) Duckweed biomass is …
by Joe Carroll (Bloomberg) Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM)’s $600 million foray into creating motor fuels from algae may not succeed for at least another 25 years because of technical hurdles, said Chairman and Chief Executive …
(Biofuels International) Australian research company Agritechnology has found a location as it further develops a biofuels demonstration plant.
A site for the plant has been chosen in Orange, New South Wales and it will aim to …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Louisiana — hot as cayenne pepper in biofuels capacity development, but some cautionary tales there in the sauce.
When it comes to the first generation of ethanol and biodiesel-based biofuels, Louisiana …
(PHYCO2/Biodiesel Magazine) …The partnership will demonstrate the patent-pending PHYCO2-developed technology to sequester CO2, reclaim water and continuously grow multiple types of algae at an accelerated rate without sunlight. The goal of the demonstration project is …
(Science Daily) With projections of 9.5 billion people by 2050, humankind faces the challenge of feeding modern diets to additional mouths while using the same amounts of water, fertilizer and arable land as today.
Cornell researchers …
