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 Process

BRISK Accepting Proposals for Biofuels Research
May 21, 2012 – 7:18 pm | No Comment

by Kevin Billinghurst  (KTH)  The KTH-led, 26-member consortium BRISK has begun accepting proposals from researchers studying improved production methods for biofuels and thermal biomass conversion. Financed by €11 million in EU research funds, the project …

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 …

ThermoEnergy’s Sugar Recovery System Meets Key Environmental Demands
May 21, 2012 – 1:10 pm | No Comment

(PRNewswire) – At a time when regulatory agencies are increasing pressure for the disposal of wastewater containing soluble sugars, ThermoEnergy Corporation’s CASTion® Sugar Recovery System is a proven, cost-effective technology to capture and recover sugar in …

The Final Treatment: Washing or Polishing Followed by Distillation Offers the Purest Biodiesel Around
May 7, 2012 – 5:39 pm | No Comment

by Raj Mosali  (Jatrodiesel Inc./Biodiesel Magazine)  Biodiesel is traditionally produced via esterification of fatty acids and transesterification of triglycerides with an alcohol such as methanol and sodium methylate. The transesterification of triglycerides is comprised of …

From Soil Microbe to Super-Efficient Biofuel Factory?
May 7, 2012 – 2:27 pm | No Comment

by Dan Krotz  (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Berkeley Lab-led team explores a way to create biofuels, minus the photosynthesis
Is there a new path to biofuels hiding in a handful of dirt? Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley …

TMO Renewables Expands Production of 2G Ethanol with Cassava Stalk
May 4, 2012 – 12:39 pm | No Comment

(Business Wire)  TMO Renewables (“TMO Group”), a leading technology provider for cellulosic biofuels production, today announced the company has advanced to demonstration scale on cassava stalk feedstock with major Chinese fuel and food producers. TMO …

Ceres Sweet Sorghum Hybrids Processed by Amyris
May 4, 2012 – 12:33 pm | No Comment

(Ceres)  • Pilot project validates U.S.-produced sweet sorghum as a potential feedstock for advanced biofuels and bio-products.
• Conversion efficiency of sweet sorghum sugars were similar to sugarcane.
Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERE) today announced …

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 …

Sugar Rush: The Race Is on to Commercialize Low-Cost, High-Quality Sugars from Nonfood Sources
May 2, 2012 – 5:00 pm | No Comment

by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine)  The biorefining industry is hungry for a low-cost, high-quality and readily available supply of sugar feedstock from nonfood biomass sources. A number of pure-play sugar technology developers and manufacturers like …

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 …

Energy Department Announces up to $15 Million to Research Biomass-Based Supplements for Traditional Fuels
April 30, 2012 – 5:12 pm | No Comment

(U.S. Department of Energy)  As part of President Obama’s blueprint for an economy fueled by homegrown and alternative energy sources, the Energy Department announced today up to $15 million available to demonstrate biomass-based oil supplements …

Microbe Engineered to Produce New Product at Lower Temperatures
April 26, 2012 – 2:49 pm | No Comment

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  A team of researchers at the University of Georgia’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology recently published the results of a study relating to hyperthermophiles—or heat-loving microorganisms—that may prove beneficial …

Trillium FiberFuels, Oregon State University Get Grant for Advanced Biomass Enzymes
April 26, 2012 – 2:42 pm | No Comment

(Trillium FiberFuels Inc./Biorefining Magazine)  A team of scientists from Trillium FiberFuels and Oregon State University has been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the U.S. DOE to further develop innovative enzymes that could …

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, …

Novozymes Joins, Invests in Maabjerg Energy Concept, a New Industrial Energy System
April 26, 2012 – 11:39 am | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Finding synergy between biogas, ethanol and power generation – the Maabjerg Energy Concept promises a new approach to energy economics and sustainability, through the capture and repurpose of industrial byproducts.
…Last …

SynGas and the Front-End Problem of Biofuels
April 25, 2012 – 12:10 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Making good, affordable syngas from municipal solid waste to unlock 9 billion gallons of low-cost fuel? Covanta’s hot new gasification technology makes a big dent in the big challenge.
…The bumps …

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 …

Electricity From Liquid Fuel? UCLA Researchers Say Yes
April 23, 2012 – 1:57 pm | No Comment

(AOL Energy)  Researchers at UCLA say they have come up with a method for converting electrical energy into a liquid fuel, in a development that could lead to regular petrol cars being powered by electricity.
The process, which …

The Promise of Biotechnology Is Here Today, and Dyadic Is Determined to Make a Difference
April 23, 2012 – 12:14 pm | No Comment

(CFOCEO Magazine)  …Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – April 20, 2012
…C1 is a very unique fungus we found in the Russian soil in an alkaline lake in the early 1990’s. …

Navy Plan Benefits Biomass: Fuel for Carriers, Jets Adds demand for Biofuel Source Other than Corn
April 18, 2012 – 2:38 pm | No Comment

by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register)  Cellulosic ethanol could use a break, and it appears that the U.S. military may be riding to the rescue.
A Missouri cooperative called (what else?) ShowMe Energy is building an …

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Process Improves Catalytic Rate of Enzymes by 3,000 percent
April 18, 2012 – 1:33 pm | No Comment

(Oak Ridge National Laboratory)  Light of specific wavelengths can be used to boost an enzyme’s function by as much as 30 fold, potentially establishing a path to less expensive biofuels, detergents and a host of …

Air Fuel Synthesis Takes Next Step in Creating Fuel from Air
April 18, 2012 – 1:11 pm | No Comment

(Air Fuel Synthesis)   … The company’s demonstration unit fuel reactor has produced methanol fuels from carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and also from carbon dioxide and hydrogen.
The production of these first liquid hydrocarbon fuels – …

No Project Is an Island: Four Crucial Milestones for Advanced Biofuels
April 18, 2012 – 1:02 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Four projects, four technologies, four feedstocks, four geographies.  Couldn’t be more differentiated, couldn’t be more linked in terms of affirming investor confidence in advanced biofuels.
…Virent CEO Lee Edwards… outlined four basic …

Energy Beets: Who Will Leap First?
April 16, 2012 – 6:40 pm | No Comment

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  North American sugar-to-ethanol strategy differs from Brazil’s, Europe’s
…North Dakota-based Green Vision Group is resolutely moving forward with a plan to build multiple 20 MMgy dedicated energy beet plants in …

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 …

Why Decades Can Pass Between Idea and ‘Eureka!’
April 16, 2012 – 3:57 pm | No Comment

by Matthew L. Wald (The New York Times)  How will the world meet its rising demand for energy? Experience suggests the solutions might already be at hand, although it may be years before they are …

Pest Insects to Help Produce Ethanol
March 28, 2012 – 2:49 pm | No Comment

(Chalmers)  Pest insects in tropical rainforests can be a valuable natural asset. So believes Lisbeth Olsson, who is hunting for new enzymes in partnership with Vietnamese researchers.
…Together, researchers from Chalmers and Vietnam are now going …

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 …

The Distributed/Centralized BioProduction Approach: Sustainable Biofuels and Bioproducts Are Possible Through the Significant Reduction of Biomass Transportation Costs
March 27, 2012 – 4:53 pm | No Comment

by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Problem Definition:  The production of biofuels in the US is at a substantial roadblock. Due to the high cost of transporting large quantities of low density, low value biomass …

New Synthetic Biology Technique Boosts Microbial Production of Diesel Fuel
March 27, 2012 – 11:43 am | No Comment

by Lynn Yarris (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)  Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Develop Dynamic System for Regulating Metabolic Pathways
Significant boosts in the microbial production of clean, green and renewable biodiesel fuel has been achieved with the …

J. Craig Venter Describes Biofuels, Vaccines and Foods from Made-to-Order Microbes
March 27, 2012 – 11:33 am | No Comment

(PhysOrg)  Just as aspiring authors often read hundreds of books before starting their own, scientists are using decades of knowledge garnered from sequencing or “reading” the genetic codes of thousands of living things to now …

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 …

KiOR on Budget, on Track for Opening First Commercial Biofuels Plant in 2012
March 27, 2012 – 11:03 am | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …KiOR did not recognize revenue during 2011, as its activities remained focused on construction of its first commercial facility in Columbus, Mississippi, research and development (R&D) designed to improve production …

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 …

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 …

HyperSolar Discloses Development Plan for Breakthrough Renewable Hydrogen and Natural Gas Technology
March 23, 2012 – 5:17 pm | No Comment

(HyperSolar)  Company lays out specific milestones for reaching commercial viability of the world’s first nanotechnology-based, zero-carbon process for the production of renewable hydrogen and natural gas
HyperSolar, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to produce …

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 …

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 …

Plant Strength Key to Cracking Biofuels?
March 22, 2012 – 3:00 pm | No Comment

(ScienceAlert/Ecos Magazine)  Cellulose in plant cell walls contains sugars used to manufacture biofuels. However, this cellulose also resists decomposition, making it difficult to extract the sugars for use. New research into how plants form cellulose …

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 …

Engineering Study Looks at Ethanol Plus Bolt-On Green Diesel
March 13, 2012 – 5:45 pm | No Comment

by Holly Jessen  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Al-Corn Clean Fuel, a 50 MMgy plant in Claremont, Minn., is working with a St. Paul company investigating secondary production of green diesel at a new or existing ethanol …

Synthetic Fuel Firm Targets International Adoption
March 13, 2012 – 5:40 pm | No Comment

by Bob Brooks (Automotive Industries)  Possibly the most innovative new synthetic fuel, developed by privately financed Joule Unlimited, has proven the cost effectiveness of its system during 18 months at a pilot plant in Arizona. …

Nonfood Crops to Be Used at New Ethanol Site
March 13, 2012 – 12:35 pm | No Comment

by Leslie Brooks Suzukamo  (TwinCities.com/Pioneer Press)  Cellulosic ethanol – ethanol made from nonfood crops – has been an alluring but elusive promise. That promise might finally be taking solid form.
Today, ethanol powerhouse Poet will officially break …

Biodiesel Feedstock Analysis 2nd Generation of Biofuels
March 12, 2012 – 7:45 pm | No Comment

(Mettler – Toledo Int. Inc/Environmental Expert)   The main obstacle in biodiesel production from waste fats and oils is their high free fatty acid content. Its precise measurement helps Professor Karel Kolomaznik’s Faculty of Applied Informatics team at …

Butamax(tm) Files Biobutanol Patent Infringement Lawsuit to Stop Gevo’s Use of Butamax KARI Enzyme Technology
March 12, 2012 – 1:13 pm | No Comment

(Butamax/iStockAnalyst.com)  Butamax™ Advanced Biofuels, LLC, the biobutanol technology leader, announced today that the Company filed a new lawsuit against Gevo, Inc. for infringing the recently awarded Butamax™ patent8,129,162.
The patent covers recombinant KARI enzymes which perform …

Cobalt Technologies Completes Demostration Of Advanced Strain Fermentation Process
March 9, 2012 – 10:54 am | No Comment

(Cobalt)  Confirms 40-60% cost reduction compared to petroleum-derived n-butanol
Cobalt Technologies, a leading developer of next generation technology for the production of n-butanol, announced the successful demonstration of one of its advanced biocatalyst. Partnering with the …

Maverick BioFuels and TopLine Energy Systems Announce Joint Technology Development Initiative
March 7, 2012 – 4:14 pm | No Comment

(Maverick BioFuels)  Companies will integrate technologies to accelerate the cost competitive production of transportation fuels and bioplastics from biomass and waste feedstocks…
Maverick Biofuels, a second-generation biofuels and bioplastics technology company, and TopLine Energy Systems (TES) …

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 …

Aqualia Eyes Large-Scale Algae Biofuel Production
March 6, 2012 – 6:11 pm | No Comment

by Nina Chestney (Reuters)  Water management company Aqualia plans to launch a commercial-scale demonstration project using waste water to cultivate algae for biofuel production, which could fuel 400 vehicles, the firm said on Monday.
Spain’s Aqualia, …