Articles in Tennessee
by U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Foundation/Biomass Magazine) After a briefing by senior White House staff on April 17, following their arrival in the U.S., an Israeli delegation of top academic and industrial biofuels research scientists and …
(G-Oil Green Earth Technologies/PR NewsWire) Every day is Earth Day at Lindsey Wilson College, a 2,700 student collection of campuses in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Looking to become a pioneer in developing truly …
(Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy today announced it would fund its three Bioenergy Research Centers for an additional five-year period, subject to continued congressional appropriations. The three Centers—including the BioEnergy Research Center …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A numbers of readers responding to “Biofuels from a raging fireball” (Friday’s Top Story, on research work with the raging fireball, Pyrococchus furiosus, to make biofuels and renewable chemicals from …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Although no commercial-scale cellulosic biofuels facilities are operating in the United States at present, at least ten projects exceeding 20 million gallons per year are expected to begin operations by …
Gbadebo Oladosu, Keith Kline, Paul Leiby, Rocio Uria-Martinez, Maggie Davis, Mark Downing & Laurence Eaton (Future-Science.com/Biofuels) Background: This study evaluates the global economic effects of the current US RFS2, and the potential contribution from advanced biofuels. Results …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In synthetic biology these days, there are the Big Wave surfers too — companies like Amyris, Solazyme, Gevo, Genomatica, Verdezyne, Rivertop Renewables, Myriant, Segetis, BioAmber, Cobalt, Green Biologics, Butamax, LanzaTech, …
by Larisa Brass (KnoxvilleBiz.com) Van Shaver got into the farming business by planting switchgrass on 90 acres in Loudon County for a brand new biofuels market.
This year’s crop will be fed to his cows.
Four years …
(Associated Press/Jackson Sun) A Tennessee producer of sustainable feedstock has hit an important milestone by delivering its product to a plant in western Kentucky.
Officials say Delta BioRenewables, which is located in Memphis, Tenn., delivered …
(US Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $10 million in research grants to spur production of bioenergy and biobased products that will lead to the development of sustainable regional systems and help …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) It’s been years of struggle to get cellulosic feedstock supply chains downfield. Now, companies like Woodland Biofuels, Sweetwater Energy, Ceres, Delta BioRenewables and Commonwealth Agro-Energy are moving the chains.
…This week …
by Patricia McDaniels (University of Tennessee/Southeast Farm Press) A genetic engineering research effort led by a University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture plant scientist is among 66 award-winning projects selected by the U.S. Department of …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … In Iowa, DuPont broke ground today on its $200 million, 30 million gallon cellulosic biofuels facility in Nevada, Iowa. Expected to be completed in mid-2014, the new facility produce cellulosic …
(US Department of Energy) Today (November 28, 2012), Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced 66 cutting-edge research projects selected by the Energy Department’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA-E) to receive a total of $130 …
(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 …
(Pennsylvania State University) The Northeast could help lead the way to a renewable-energy-based economy by utilizing marginal and abandoned land to grow energy crops such as perennial grasses and fast-growing woody plants.
That’s the goal of …
(Primus Green Energy) New Northeast Consortium Tasked With Developing Perennial Biomass Feedstock Production Systems
As part of its continued effort to drive the commercialization of alternative fuels, Primus Green Energy Inc. an alternative fuel company based …
by Jamie Satterfield (Knoxnews.com) Every month in the Southeast, thieves rob Griffin Industries of $1.6 million.
So why does Mike McCombs struggle to get law enforcers to care? Because what law enforcement sees as greasy waste …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Every great biofuels technology has its own companion feedstock strategy – with unique advantages and technical challenges. Who’s got what it takes to be a great Sherpa, providing that feedstock …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Every biofuels contender has its own route to the top – with unique advantages and technical challenges. Who is nearing the Summit, what’s their Hillary Step, who’s got Sherpas, who’s …
(Phys.Org) Putting the water-use-efficient and turbo-charged photosynthesis from plants such as agave into woody biomass plants such as poplar can hedge against predicted long-term increases in temperatures and reduced precipitation. It can also provide dedicated …
by Colleen Lerro (BIO) Wednesday at the National Press Club, several advanced biofuels companies joined BIO to showcase the progress the industry has made in recent years.
U.S. companies have worked to rapidly scale up advanced …
Hui Shen, Xianzhi He, Charleson R. Poovaiah, Wegi A. Wuddineh, Junying Ma, David G. J. Mann, Huanzhong Wang, Lisa Jackson, Yuhong Tang, C. Neal Stewart Jr, Fang Chen, Richard A. Dixon (New Phytologist)
The major obstacle for bioenergy production from switchgrass biomass is the low saccharification efficiency …
by Chunxiang Fu, Jonathan R. Mielenz, Xirong Xiao, Yaxin Ge, Choo Y. Hamilton, Miguel Rodriguez, Jr., Fang Chen, Marcus Foston, Arthur Ragauskas, Joseph Bouton, Richard A. Dixon, and Zeng-Yu Wang (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) Switchgrass is a leading dedicated bioenergy …
Lina Gallego-Giraldo, Luis Escamilla-Trevino, Lisa A. Jackson, and Richard A. Dixon (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) Down-regulation of the enzyme hydroxycinnamoyl CoA: shikimate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase (HCT) in thale cress (Arabidopsis thaliana) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) leads …
Huanzhong Wang, Utku Avci, Jin Nakashima, Michael G. Hahn, Fang Chen, and Richard A. Dixon (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) Stems of dicotyledonous plants consist of an outer epidermis, a cortex, a ring of secondarily …
by Wayne Risher (The Commercial Appeal/Equities.com) Mid-South Community College officials are betting East Arkansas has what it takes to be a leader in alternative fuels: Fertile fields, a world-class transportation hub, and, as of this …
by Daehwan Chung, Joel Farkas, Jennifer R. Huddleston, Estefania Olivar, Janet Westpheling (PLoS ONE) Thermophilic microorganisms capable of using complex substrates offer special advantages for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels and bioproducts. Members of the Gram-positive bacterial genus Caldicellulosiruptor are …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Like many states (or countries) that have limited oil reserves or reserves that are economically unfeasible to extract at this time – the path to energy independence lies generally in …
The 2013 Collegiate Design Series (CDS) competition schedule, registration fees, maximum number of teams accepted for each event and the registration opening and closing are listed below.
You must read and follow the registration requirements and …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Launching today – and stretching into early Fall – the Algae Biomass Organization is coordinating a series of events billed as “The “Summer of Algae II” to raise awareness about …
A University of Tennessee field day and workshop event
Biomass is rapidly becoming a leading source of clean, renewableenergy. This free two-day event will feature independent programs on biomass production and utilization. The purpose of the …
by John Davis (DomesticFuel.com) Taking that cross-country, summer trip just got a little greener as four more E85 ethanol and three more biodiesel blend stations have opened up along Interstate 75 in Georgia. That particular …
(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 Rober Brown (Bristol Herald Courier/Tricities.com) Bristol, Va., officials might have turned down the relocation of an ethanol plant in their city, but the facility is very much wanted in Bristol, Tenn., City Manager Jeff …
(The Commercial Appeal) BioDimensions Delta BioRenewables (BDBR) will install a sweet sorghum processing facility at AgriCenter International after an investment from Epec Biofuels Holdings.
…“We consider industrial sugar to be ‘Nature’s Crude Oil’ and are making …
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Key proteins have been identified in a family of bacteria that help the microbes grab onto pieces of plant material in order to better degrade it. This was discovered …
(Yahoo!News/PRWEB) Ethanol is now blended in most motor fuels. When the fuel is not consumed rapidly, such as in lawn equipment, and water sport equipment, performance issues can occur. This treatment addresses performance issues caused by ethanol, and …
by Kay Brookshire (KnoxvilleBiz.com) As the state’s five-year, $70.5 million investment in the Tennessee Biofuels Initiative comes to an end in June, Genera Energy will take on a more focused role as a biomass supply …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Most of the stories we write at the Digest on the subject of biofuels feedstocks fall into the well-established realms of normal. But every once in a while, a feedstock …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … (T)he company’s metrics in cellulosic biofuels are starting to look compelling. Not only is commercialization a lot less than five years away – a massive breakout in capacity building …
(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 …
Discover Opportunities for Bio-Deployment at the 2012 Spring Symposium
BDC will host its Spring Symposium in Knoxville, Tennessee on May 7-9 at the Airport Marriott Courtyard. The Symposium includes tours of the Oak Ridge National Laboratories …
by The (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) Daily News Journal (USA Today) … (Cliff) Ricketts, a Middle Tennessee State University professor, and his eight-member support team drove three Toyota hybrid alternative-fuels vehicles approximately 2,582 miles across country, using …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Some of the first American visitors to Yellowstone, who began to record their journeys into the wilds of northwestern Wyoming during the early 1870s, noted the horrible taste of …
by Dr. Chad Hellwinckel (University of Tennessee/SustainableLearning.org) …Permaculture may soon be looked upon as a potential big solution. So as we stand today on the threshold of increasing interest in permaculture, let us take a moment …
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 …
(Oak Ridge National Laboratory) To comply with the mandate to increase the use of alternative fuels, the Coast Guard has enlisted the help of Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers with expertise in fuels and engines. …
by Bryan Sims (Biodiesel Magazine) Denver-based biodiesel producer, marketer and distributor Blue Sun Biodiesel announced that it plans to deliver mechanically blended biodiesel to the Cummins Terminal located in Knoxville, Tenn., from a heated 546,000-gallon …
by Michael Sheffield (Memphis Business Journal) Mid-South Community Collegewill name its $9 million renewable energy facility after retired Congressman Marion Berry.
The 35,000-square-foot Marion Berry Renewable Energy Center will provide a learning facility for the school’s green jobs training, …
by Melody Bomgardne (Central Science/Cleantech Chemistry) DuPont has been digesting its acquisition of Danisco for a while now, and has sent out an update about what used to be called DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol – …
(Oak Ridge National Laboratory) A tree outside Oak Ridge National Laboratory researcher Pratul Agarwal’s office window provided the inspiration for a discovery that may ultimately lead to drugs with fewer side effects, less expensive biofuels …
by Matt Soberg (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Lincoln Energy Solutions will nearly triple its ethanol and biodiesel transportation services, increasing its current fleet to 16 tankers with seven additional units scheduled to arrive by year end. …
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 …
(US Department of Energy) The Biomass Program released the “Land-Use Change and Bioenergy” summary report. This publication describes the Biomass Program’s efforts to examine the intersection of land-use change and bioenergy production. It outlines legislation …
by Larisa Brass (KnoxvilleBiz.com) Dupont Danisco Cellulosic Energy may not have announced definitive plans for siting a commercial biofuels plant in the state, but University of Tennessee researcher Edward Yu has some suggestions.
As part of …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The USDA believes the Southeast region of the U.S. offers huge potential for a variety of dedicated energy crops and in September, the agency agreed to provide $15 million …
(Physorg.com) Taking a cue from Mother Nature, researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center have undertaken a first-of-its-kind study of a naturally occurring phenomenon in trees to spur the development of more efficient …
(University of Tennessee) Center to coordinate woody biomass production and utilization studies
The Center for Renewable Carbon, a program of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, has been named by the USDA as a recipient …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 30 billion gallons of aviation fuels demand, and Gevo’s got a technology to produce it, using retrofitted ethanol plants, and a path to fueling planes at parity with conventional jet …
(US Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced five major agricultural research projects today aimed at developing regional, renewable energy markets, generating rural jobs, and decreasing America’s dependence on foreign oil. Altogether, the five-year …
(The Southeast Agriculture & Forest Energy Resources Alliance)… The Governor’s Conference on Biofuels came on the heels of the Biofuels Initiative in May 2007, further spreading the word about new economic opportunities and providing the spark for the …
by Ed Marcum (KnoxNews.com) The University of Tennessee showed off its biofuel facilities here Tuesday to top state officials as the school works to increase efficiencies so that the experimental project can become a commercial …
by Ansley Haman (TimesFreePress.com) A local engineer wants to build a “moonshine” pipeline through county property in the Bonny Oaks Industrial & Office Park.
Mike Price, with M.A.P. Engineers, has been meeting individually with Hamilton County commissioners …
by Beverly A. Carroll (NOOGA.com) A rezoning request to allow an ethanol transfer station in the Bonny Oaks Industrial Park has brought to a head the Chattanooga City Council’s philosophical differences over the use of …
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture will demonstrate its expertise in biofuels production and processing research with a new, two-day field day event geared for farmers, industry representatives, and the general public. Day one, …
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 Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) In June, the U.S EPA issued its proposal to reduce the coming year’s cellulosic biofuels volume target for the renewable fuel standard (RFS). The RFS goals set by Congress …
(Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) In Kbase, cloud computing brings disparate data streams into focus
In the decade that has passed since the completion of the first draft sequence of the human genome, biologists have grown increasingly …
by Paul Voosen (New York Times/Greenwire) …For eons, plants have locked the sun’s energy into complex strands of sugar, used to build their stems and leaves. These chains are far different from table sugar or …
(American Agriculturalist) New York and Maryland fairs are first-comers to USB’s Green Ribbon Fairs program.
This summer, the United Soybean Board and state soybean boards in nine states are kicking off the Green Ribbon Fairs project …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Carolyn Hoagland was recently awarded the Volkswagen Distinguished Scholar for her work in learning about how farmers choose to grow bioenergy crops. Hoagland, an adult student, is an environmental science major …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Southeast is ripe for energy crop development, according to several panelists who spoke during a session devoted to next-generation feedstock strategies June 28 at the International Fuel …
(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 …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Research from ORNL reveals new details of bioenergy’s most daunting technical barrier
…Lignin, for those newer to the biofuels world, is a complex chemical compound that makes veggies, plants and wood …
by Andy Humbles (The Tennessean) He lauds TN’s key role in development of rising biofuel
…U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Nashville on Monday, speaking at a Thorntons gas station in West Nashville on the …
by Daryll E. Ray and Harwood D. Schaffer (Daily Yonder) …As we listen to this debate, the implied assumption is that the sole purpose of farming is to provide food and certainly that has been …
by Paul Studebaker (Sustainable Planet) …It’s too soon to talk about grain-based ethanol in the past tense, but maybe not by much. While ethanol has a place as a bio-based octane enhancer and consequently, as …
by Amiram Barkat and Yael Gruntman (Globes Israel’s Business Arena) Primus Green Energy has an agreement with Lockheed Martin to develop bio-jet fuel for the US Defense Department.
Primus Green Energy Ltd., a US subsidiary of Israel …
(University of Tennessee) The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), is launching an academic unit that seeks to transform the energy industry in our country and the world, as …
(ActionBioScience) …If we improve the agricultural system, can biofuels become sustainable?
Ugarte: Definitely. I think that it is important to understand that biofuels do not have to be the goal of production, but rather, a means …
(Oak Ridge National Laboratory) A theoretical technique developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is bringing supercomputer simulations and experimental results closer together by identifying common “fingerprints.”
ORNL’s Jeremy Smith collaborated on devising …
(Clarksville Online) …Dr. Sergi Markov, associate professor of biology at Austin Peay State University, has an idea that could help push the alternative fuel race to new levels of possibility. For the last several years, Markov …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory has launched a new interactive website meant to integrate a wide variety of data and resources related to bioenergy in an attempt …
(University of Tennessee) Facilities expected to advance biobased research for energy, fuels, chemicals and materials
The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has opened a comprehensive research facility to accommodate faculty and industry initiatives through the …
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 Dr. Maureen McCann (Professor, Purdue University) Dr. McCann begins by describing the different plant cell wall architectures belonging to various types of feedstock. She shows how different processing methods can be utilized to more …
(USDA) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced new investments in 33 states to support the production and usage of advanced biofuels. Vilsack highlighted these projects as ways the Obama Administration is working to reduce the …
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Research being conducted in Tennessee to take biomass from the “farm gate to the biorefinery gate” has zeroed in on switchgrass. That’s not to say that switchgrass is the …
(Nashville Business Journal) East Tennessee farmers have started to reap benefits from efforts to turn switchgrass into biofuel, with at least one farmer saying that if he had it to do over again, he would …
(Pratt & Whitney) A Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-220 engine recently powered its first biofuel test flight of a U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagle at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. This flight test, powered by alternative …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …(S)team reformation, a process by which gasified biomass is converted into a useful balance of hydrogen and carbon monoxide … itself has struggled with high costs associated with the high temperatures …
(Nashville Public Radio) The state’s switchgrass initiative is looking for new investors. The program aims to turn crops of the tall perennial grass into ethanol to fuel cars. Now it’s using a new East Tennessee biorefinery …
By Don Hofstrand (Iowa State University Extension/JoplinStockyards.com) U.S. energy policy has recently moved into the background due to concerns about the current economic downturn. However, the importance of the two major drivers of energy policy …
(Physorg.com/Oakridge National Research Laboratory) A significant barrier to greater use of biodiesel could be blasted away with a proprietary approach developed by a team of researchers led by Mike Kass of Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s …
by Dr. Kelly Tiller (President and Chief Executive Officer, Genera Energy, LLC) Dr. Tiller details the large commitment the state of Tennessee has made to biofuels research. Genera Energy, a research firm owned by the University of …
(Science Daily) New insight into the structure of switchgrass and poplars is fueling discussions that could result in more efficient methods to turn biomass into biofuel.
Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory …
(Genera Energy) Land owned by Alcoa Inc, Tennessee Operations, is now being used to grow a popular perennial grass known for producing cellulosic ethanol.
Approximately 238 acres of switchgrass have been planted on property that Alcoa …
The conference, hosted by a coalition of private industry groups and government known as the 25 by ’25 State Alliance, will give current and potential energy industry leaders the opportunity to learn about Tennessee’s alternative fuels …
