Articles in New Mexico
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Promiscuous, because a zillion organisms know how to use photosynthesis, under a zillion set of circumstances, to turn simple and abundant molecular compounds — like carbon dioxide and water — …
(Los Alamos National Laboratory/Biodiesel Magazine) …Los Alamos scientists and collaborators from The University of Guelph in Canada published an article in the scientific journal Nature Chemistry this week that could offer a big step on the path …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 Dennis Domrzalski (Albuquerque Business First) One of America’s largest producers of biodiesel said it might walk away from its unfinished biodiesel plant in Clovis if the state Legislature rolls back a mandate that all diesel …
by Sue Holmes (Sandia News Media/Algae Industry Magazine) Sandia National Laboratories Truman Fellow Anne Ruffing has engineered two strains of cyanobacteria to produce free fatty acids, a precursor to liquid fuels, and has also found that …
by Katie Fehrenbacher (Gigaom) … One of the companies that’s the farthest along is Solazyme, a South San Francisco-based company that went public in the spring of 2011. Solazyme was one of the first firms to focus …
by Bob Brooks (Automotive Industries) It was announced in September 2012 that Audi and Joule Unlimited had formed a joint effort to commercialize Joule’s unique synthetic diesel & ethanol fuel technology based on microorganisms (www.jouleunlimited.com). …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) There is a new process that algae producers can use in the conversion stage to help increase their capacity and add to the bottom line, says Incitor’s VP …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Brent Crude trades this past week at a transorbital $109 per barrel (West Texas Intermediate at a suborbital, if high, $85). It puts the conventional wisdom that biofuels are too …
(ACORE) The American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) released the 2012 edition of its report, Renewable Energy in the 50 States, as an interactive, online resource. Compiling updated financial data, resource potentials, market and policy …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) … So now that Green Crude Farm is in operation, what’s the current activity there?
CJ: We are about to do the next big thing with the Farm, which is …
by Marc Gunther (The Guardian) Scores of companies across the world are racing to unlock algae’s energy potential and create a ‘green crude oil’
Tiny Columbus, New Mexico (population, 1,678) is hot, flat and uncrowded — …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A new drop-in, low-cost, high-octane fuel molecule? How does that work, and why, and when? How does it change the energy independence equation? Today, the Digest visits Incitor to find …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Growing crude oil as a crop – Sapphire Energy and its Green Crude Farm – can it be the sunlight in your universe and change the world? What does it look …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Jobs, global expansion, proteins vs fuels, new R&D funding – all the big issues are under debate both on and off the floor at the Algae Biomass Summit.
…Jobs Dr. John …
by Prafulla D. Patil, Veera Gnaneswar Gude, Aravind Mannarswamy, Peter Cooke, Nagamany Nirmalakhandan, Peter Lammers, Shuguang Deng (Fuel) In this comparative study, direct conversion of algal biomass into biodiesel using supercritical methanol (SCM) and microwave-assisted (MW) …
by Patrick O’Grady (Phoenix Business Journal) Arizona State University will lead a consortium of public and private groups on a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy that will examine test beds for algae research.
The grant, …
by Todd Woody (Forbes Magazine) …Funded with $85 million from Bill Gates and other investors – plus $104 million in government cash and loan guarantees – the world’s only commercial outdoor algal biorefinery went online this summer …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, Joule announced the commissioning of its first SunSprings demonstration plant in Hobbs, New Mexico, where the company will prove its scalable platform for solar fuel production – the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Take the conflict over drilling for oil on federal lands in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. If you drilled the provable oil reserve in the entire federal ANWR and …
Martin Lamonica (MIT Technology Review) Sapphire Energy has started operation of its demonstration-scale algae farm, a project which perhaps brings more clarity to an industry debate over the best way to grow algae.
The San Diego-based …
(Platts) Eight groups representing a cross section of the US biofuels industry asked the White House on Monday to keep the ethanol mandate in place, despite governors’ calls to shrink it in response to a …
(PR NewsWire/Sapphire Energy) Initial Phase of World’s First Green Crude Farm Completed On Time and On Budget
Sapphire Energy, Inc., one of the world leaders in algae-based green crude oil production, today announced the first phase …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In New Mexico, ARA announced today that Chevron Lummus Globalhas joined the ReadiJet Alternative Fuel Initiative to develop drop-in biofuels for jet and diesel engines, eliminating the need for blending with …
(Biotechnology Industry Organization) BIO recently introduced a picture book of biorefineries across the United States,“Visible Progress in Commercialization of Advanced Biofuels, Biobased Products and Renewable Chemicals”, which showcases commercial, demonstration and even new pilot facilities. Some of …
(US Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced payments for 125 advanced Biofuel producers across the country to support the production and expansion of advanced biofuels from a wide variety of non-food sources, …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Can the harnessing of the powers of magnetism overcome cost challenges in algal biofuels? Researchers across the globe pursue the answers.
…For the fossil molecule, its time within a living system …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Yet, even in an era where venture capital has been harder to come by (Why? See these 42 article links under the rubric, “The VC Model is Broken” ) — some great …
(Sustainable Business Oregon) …On a small, razed patch of dirt about a mile outside town, water slowly circulates in four oval-shaped ponds. A bright emerald green sparkles in the water, reflecting thick strains of algae …
(BusinessWire) Rapidly Growing Renewable/Biomass Energy and Chemical Company Receives Funding Led by the Cottonwood Technology Fund
Incitor Incorporated (“Incitor”), a Delaware Corporation based in Albuquerque, N.M. ( http://www.incitor.com ), announced today that the Cottonwood Technology Fund (“Cottonwood”) …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Regardless of its naming deficiencies, waste has been hot and getting hotter as a bioenergy feedstock because it solves three of the most pressing problems blocking capacity expansion.
1. The feedstocks …
Santa Fe Community College will be offering an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) two-day course providing basic information regarding hazards, regulations, health and safety training for workers and entrepreneurs entering the biofuels industry. Completion …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …A couple of voices expressed caution, prominent among them, algae’s Doctor No, John Benemann of Benemann Associates, who wanted at the time, “if algae looks good [for fuel], we’re all …
(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 …
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 …
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. …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Sapphire Energy announced it has entered into a licensing agreement with Earthrise Nutritionals, to integrate Earthrise Nutritionals’ spirulina strain into Sapphire’s growing inventory of cyanobacteria and algae strains …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In Washington, the Obama Administration outlined a new $14 million round of R&D grants for algal biofuels, as the US President highlighted algal biofuels in a speech at the University of Miami …
(Santa Fe Community College) Santa Fe Community College has been named to lead statewide Centers of Excellence in Biofuels and Green Building/Energy Efficiency under a New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions State Energy Sector Partnership grant. The …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … When it comes down to it, a living organism such as a plant is an incredibly sophisticated next-gen solar panel, harvesting light as well as CO2, water and nutrients …
by Megan Kamerick (New Mexico Business Weekly) …The JTIP board approved $263,542.58 for Joule Unlimited to create 20 jobs. The company is building the first phase of its commercial plant in Hobbs on land owned by the state …
by by Kevin Robinson-Avila (New Mexico Business Weekly) Algae ponds are starting to color New Mexico’s desert landscape green.
Sapphire Energy Inc., which uses a proprietary process to turn algae oil into renewable gasoline to replace fossil …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …So, along comes Joule. It’s a known fact that some microorganisms could be modified or evolved to ferment gaseous carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide. Combine that with some hydrogen taken …
by Jonathan Williams (Biofuels Digest) Who’s in front in the development of algal-based fuels and biomaterials? India, China, Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Israel, the EU, or the US. The NAABB’s globe-trotting chief parses it out.
In New …
by Mary Rosenthal (Algal Biomass Organization) …Many of you will remember that 2011 began with a discouraging report that claimed algae biofuels could never play a role in US energy security. We at the Algal …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Since early October, New Mexico State University’s Institute for Energy & the Environment (IEE) researchers have been transitioning from algae operations in the IEE water and energy lab to the Algae Test …
(Los Alamos National Laboratory) Los Alamos National Laboratory’s top 10 science stories of 2011 illustrate the broad variety of scientific excellence that’s the hallmark of the Laboratory. This year’s stories include alternative energy research, world …
by Bruce V. Bigelow (Xconomy) …Jason Pyle: …So soon, we will see the U.S. military as the leading customer for crude oil replacements. As pressure rises on the commercial airline industry (which uses most of …
(Ventura County Star/AP) … Joule Unlimited Inc. plans to convert sunlight and carbon dioxide waste into biofuel at the planned facility in Hobbs. The plant is expected to begin operations in 2012.
…State officials say Joule …
(Sapphire Energy) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA has issued a loan guarantee that will allow a biofuels firm to construct a facility in New Mexico to produce “green crude” oil from algae …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) …C.J. (Warner, Sapphire Energy’s President and Chairman) keynoted at the recent Algal Biomass Summit, attending along with Tim Zenk, Sapphire’s Vice President of Corporate Affairs, who was formerly executive …
by David Shaffer (Star Tribune) An emerging green industry aims to develop a new source of fuel to replace oil, but the quick money could be elsewhere.
Green slime is growing in ponds next to an …
(Los Alamos National Laboratory) LANL scientists have genetically engineered “magnetic” algae to investigate alternative, more efficient harvesting and lipid extraction methods for biofuels. The researchers seek to reduce the cost of algae-based biofuel production.
Currently, used …
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) New Mexico-based Rio Valley Biofuels has been awarded a total of $40,962 in grant funding from USDA Rural Development to support upgrades at the facility and help support the hire of …
by Robert W. Carling (Sandia National Laboratory/The Washington Post) op ed: …Amid the national discussion on the future of electric vehicles, biofuels, fuel cells and other advanced technologies, the fact remains that it will take …
(Algae Industry Magazine) A Principal Member of the Technical Staff of Albuquerque, New Mexico-based Sandia National Laboratories, serving in the Earth Systems Analysis – Energy, Resources, and Systems Analysis division, Ron Pate has been on M&O …
(Senator Mike Crapo) Would make renewable fuels standard more “technology neutral”
U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-ID)and Tom Udall (D-NM)recently introduced bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Senate that would help level the playing field for advanced biofuels like …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Dr. Babetta Marrone and Dr. Jim Coons are in charge of developing the Ultrasonic Algae Biofuel Harvester, as their part of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)’s part of the 3-year NAABB project.
…Together, …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The USDA’s Aug. 17 announcement of 900 Rural Energy for America Program grants included just 21 awards for blender pumps. USDA officials promise, however, that more funding is on …
by Jonathan Williams (Algae Industry Magazine) Dr. Richard Sayre keeps his plate full as both the Director of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, and as …
(Senator Tom Udall) U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) today announced his plans to introduce bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Senate that would help level the playing field for advanced biofuels like algae by reforming the …
(Department of Energy/Los Alamos National Laboratory/EurekAlert!) LANL molecular model helps expose cellulose weakness
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center have found a potential key for …
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) A team of students at New Mexico-based Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute has been awarded first place in the 2011 Renewable Energy Challenge Competition with its algae biofuel project. The competition …
(US Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Biomass Program will be conducting detailed biennial peer review meetings of its activities throughout the first half …
(R&D Magazine) Scientists recently conducted the first pilot-scale test of algae growth using water from an oil-production well in Jal, New Mexico. This impure water, called “produced water,” is pumped to the …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Joyce Yang, Technology Development Manager for the Department of Energy’s Biomass Program in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, has revealed recent progress made in algal harvesting technology by the …
(PR NewsWire) The technology group, The Linde Group, and Sapphire Energy, Inc., one of the world’s leaders in algae-based crude oil, today announced that they have entered into a multi-year agreement to co-develop a low-cost …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, Joule reported that they have signed a lease for 1,200 acres in Lea County, New Mexico, with the potential to scale the project up to 5,000 acres for …
(PBS) …SESNO: Mendez and his company, Sapphire Energy, brought us an algae- to-fuel idea they say can have real world impact soon. They plan to begin commercial production in 2012.
MENDEZ: So algae — using photosynthesis …
(Solix BioSystems) Solix BioSystems today announced the first sale and delivery of its Lumian AGS4000 high productivity, fully integrated algae cultivation system to New Mexico State University (NMSU), Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Lumian AGS4000 is …
by Charles Bensinger (Algae Industry Magazine) The Santa Fe Community College held its first Algaculture Seminar and Workshop on April 9th at its new Sustainable Technology Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. SFCC Alternative Fuels …
(National Biodiesel Board) Oregon is about to become the second state to require that most of the diesel sold there contain at least 5 percent biodiesel (B5). The National Biodiesel Board applauded the state on …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Southeastern New Mexico’s Center of Excellence for Hazardous Materials Management, better known as CEHMM, was established in May of 2004 as a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to reducing the impact of hazardous materials …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …But let’s take this opportunity to really lock down an understanding of Sapphire. That will help reveal the motivations and opportunities in this deal. But also, in a larger sense, …
by Darren Goode (Politico) With Republicans controlling the House and ramping up oversight and investigations of the Obama administration, focus at least initially in the next Congress will be on the Senate to lay a …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) Dr. Jason Pyle, the high profile CEO at the even more high profile “green crude” developer, Sapphire Energy, holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Physiology, as …
(Sandia National Laboratories) Engine experts and biofuels researchers at Sandia National Laboratories are working on a project that aims to modify an endophytic fungus so that it will produce fuel-type hydrocarbons for transportation purposes.
The biofuels …
(Los Alamos National Laboratory) … Gaining insight to more efficiently convert plant biomass into biofuels
LANL scientists and University of New Mexico collaborators discovered chinks in the armor of lignin, the component of plant cell walls that …
(OriginOil) Former DOE Aquatic Species Program Site Will Enable Commercial Scale Testing for Algae-to-oil Industry
OriginOil, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to transform algae, the most promising source of renewable oil, into a true competitor …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) …Up until recently a low profile player in the algae arena, Eldorado Biofuels has developed a niche that may not have received much attention so far, but has the …
(Algae Industry Magazine) he U.S. military wants New Mexico State University to find improved ways to turn algae into a sustainable source for jet fuel. The research project is part of a $2.346 million grant funded …
by John Davis (DomesticFuel) The next generation of biofuels must be developed in conjunction with advanced combustion engines, if there is to be long-term success of those biofuels. That word comes from researchers at the Sandia National …
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson recently announced that $200,000 in Recovery Act funding has been awarded to New Mexico State University. A portion of that funding will go to the …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) National security is at the root of the nearly seventy-year old Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the world’s leading scientific research institutions. While originally organized for a single purpose: …
by Reid Wright (Currrent-Argus, CEHMM) It takes hundreds of thousands of years for fossil organisms beneath the earth’s crust to simmer into crude petroleum. It takes a single day to make 1,000 gallons of crude …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Scott Carpenter once noted that we know more about the heavens than the sea — but for biofuels, there is every urgent reason to look carefully to salt-friendly projects that …
