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Truly Sustainable Renewable Future
March 17, 2009 – 10:42 am | One 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 …

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They’re Baaack: Speculators Return to Grain Markets En Masse
September 3, 2010 – 12:10 pm | No Comment

by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association)  You may not have noticed, but hedge and index fund investors have quietly returned to the agricultural commodities market in droves over the past few weeks. With the stock …

Opinion: Making Sure We Get It Right on Biofuels
September 2, 2010 – 6:14 pm | No Comment

By Patricia Monahan  (Capitol Weekly)    This year we’ve had no shortage of examples of why we need to move away from fossil fuels, from the oil disaster in the Gulf and continued dependence on Middle Eastern …

The Missionary Position: The Export of Carbon Guilt to the Developing World
August 31, 2010 – 7:40 am | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)   …We see the battle over rural development flashing at other points around the globe, but nowhere so starkly do we have a choice between the War on Poverty and the War …

Africa: Up for Grabs
August 30, 2010 – 1:28 pm | No Comment

(Friends of the Earth International)   The African continent is increasingly being seen as a source of agricultural land and natural resources for the rest of the world. National governments and private companies are obtaining access …

The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels Moves Forward on Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reduction Requirements
August 30, 2010 – 11:00 am | No Comment

(Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels)  Adopts ambitious target of 50% improvement for biofuel blends over fossil fuels
The RSB is pleased to announce the approval of the RSB greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting methodology and establishment of a GHG …

‘Next Generation’ Scientists Join Forces to Support Biodiesel
August 30, 2010 – 9:24 am | No Comment

(Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel)  Campaign unites college students for collaboration, education.  
The next generation of thought leaders is gearing up to lead America’s energy efforts.  And biodiesel, our nation’s only commercially available advanced biofuel, is front …

Energy Grasses Take Center Stage at Ceres Field Day
August 26, 2010 – 1:05 pm | No Comment

(PRNewsWire)  Energy industry executives joined investors and policymakers near Houston, Texas earlier today to take a firsthand look at energy grasses and research developments that are expected to push bioenergy to the forefront of renewable power …

Making Biodiesel a Home Heating or Transportation Option
August 26, 2010 – 10:28 am | No Comment

(Green Building Elements)  …For anybody interested in knowing about biodiesel, whether as a hobby or part of a cooperative effort, watching this video set is a great way to get started. But be prepared to …

EU Beet Growers’ Recommendations to Policy Makers on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
August 25, 2010 – 12:44 pm | No Comment

(International Federation of Agricultural Producers) …The achievements and commitments of EU beet growers in adapting to and mitigating climate change, in particular through the provision of sustainably produced feedstock for renewable energy production, show the …

Water: Is There Enough for Biofuels at Scale?
August 25, 2010 – 8:54 am | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In a note at CO2science.org, a trio of authors contend: “There simply is not enough freshwater on the face of the earth to make the production of biofuels a viable …

Biodiesel Industries Selected for Proposed Grant by the California Energy Commission
August 25, 2010 – 7:40 am | No Comment

(PRNewsWire)  Biodiesel Industries announced today the company’s selection by the California Energy Commission for a project grant to support the state’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program. This Biofuel Production Plants grant provides funding …

Thinking Green? It’s Not Just Black and White.
August 24, 2010 – 12:40 pm | No Comment

by Katherine Salant (The Washington Post)  …To build a 2,200-square-foot house, an acre of forest will be clear-cut somewhere on the globe and a huge hole in the earth, roughly equal in size to the volume …

Wide Use of Corn-Based Ethanol Fuel Not Choice for China: Experts
August 24, 2010 – 11:06 am | No Comment

(People’s Daily Online)  Agricultural experts said Saturday it was too early for China to adopt corn-based ethanol fuel to feed automobiles, given the expensive production costs and the country’s large population.
Li Xinhua, a professor at …

Finland Moves to Build the World’s First ‘Green’ Highway
August 24, 2010 – 10:58 am | No Comment

(Jamaica Observer)  Finland wants to build the world’s first “green highway”, with service stations offering charging points for electric cars and pumps filled with local biofuels, the project manager said Thursday.
“The aim is to create the …

African Case Study: Palm Oil and Economic Development in Nigeria and Ghana; Recommendations for the World Bank’s 2010 Palm Oil Strategy
August 24, 2010 – 10:49 am | No Comment

by Thompson Ayodele (Initiative for Public Policy Analysis)  Forward by  Dr. Matthew O. Eshalomi:  Growth and prosperity of an economy are central to the longterm reduction in poverty for both economic and environmental sustainability. Palm oil …

Brazilian Biofuels Run into EU Obstacles
August 24, 2010 – 10:32 am | No Comment

by Yans Felippe Geckler (IPS News)  Brazil has begun a counterattack on the European Union’s measures for certifying crop-based fuels, which could lead to import barriers for this energy source coming from the South American …

A European Perspective on Algal Biofuel Scaleup
August 24, 2010 – 7:57 am | No Comment

(Algae Industry Magazine)  An article by Rene H. Wijffels and Maria J. Barbosa, of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, published in the current edition of Science Journal, details the challenges and opportunities of algal biofuel …

2nd Palm Oil Summit: Sustainable Yields, The Way Forward December 9-10 Bali, Indonesia
August 24, 2010 – 7:32 am | No Comment
2nd Palm Oil Summit: Sustainable Yields, The Way Forward    December 9-10   Bali, Indonesia

Palm oil is proven as the most efficient crop and the world’s most traded agricultural commodity with its uses ranging from food, industrial, personal care products to energy. It now contributes over US$ 10 billion …

Researchers: Diverse Feedstocks Key to Sustainable, Successful Biofuels Industry
August 20, 2010 – 5:17 pm | No Comment

(Ag Professional)  …Concerns about net energy and greenhouse gas emissions, in addition to its effect on food and feed pricing are driving researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of Illinois and at …

10 Top Solar Biofuels Projects
August 20, 2010 – 3:43 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Aside from the general observation that nearly all energy systems ultimately are based on today’s or yesterday’s solar energy (only geothermal and nuclear power are distinct exceptions), a new generation …

Another Brick in the (Blend) Wall: Key Thresholds and Barriers for Biofuels
August 20, 2010 – 1:07 pm | No Comment

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …But even were the US EPA to approve E15 ethanol blending, there are some other significant walls and thresholds to keep in mind.
Here are the Digest’s Top 10.
1. The $60 …

Sustainable Biochar to Mitigate Global Climate Change
August 20, 2010 – 1:04 pm | No Comment

by Dominic Woolf, James E. Amonette, F. Alayne Street-Perrott, Johannes Lehmann & Stephen Joseph    (Nature Communications)  Production of biochar (the carbon (C)-rich solid formed by pyrolysis of biomass) and its storage in soils have been suggested …

Readout from Sino-U.S. Advanced Biofuels Forum
August 20, 2010 – 12:12 pm | No Comment

By Chanda Beckman & Kirsten Rasmussen (USDA Foreign Agriculture Information Service)  On May 27, 2010, China’s National Energy Administration (NEA), the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture hosted the fist Sino-U.S. …

Journal of Industrial Ecology Gathers Corn Ethanol Debate Articles
August 20, 2010 – 11:39 am | No Comment

edited by Reid Lifset (Journal of Industrial Ecology)   Includes Corn Ethanol Articles Related to Debate over Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Corn-Ethanol
The Journal of Industrial Ecology is pleased to make the following articles on the greenhouse gas …

Air Resources Board Is Clinging to Old Science
August 19, 2010 – 3:29 pm | No Comment

by Joe Irvin (Capitol Weekly)  This week, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) convened a group of experts to discuss issues related to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) that was approved last year. The …

Corn Growers Stress Ethanol Efficiency Gains
August 19, 2010 – 2:40 pm | No Comment

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel)  …Dr. Steffen Mueller, Principal Research Economist for the Energy Resources Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago, did two presentations at the CUTC, both related to the increasing efficiency of …

Camelina Meal Now Available for Use in Laying Hens
August 19, 2010 – 10:48 am | No Comment

(PRNewsWire)  The North American Camelina Trade Association (NACTA) today announced the achievement of yet another milestone in its efforts to build camelina production and marketing opportunities for growers. The industry received a letter of no …

The Land Rush Doesn’t Have to End in a Poor Deal for Africans
August 17, 2010 – 1:41 pm | No Comment

by Katie Allen (The Guardian)  It is not too late for equitable partnerships to flourish between foreign investors and local communities
…Sadly for anyone who happens to live on that farmland there are countless examples of …

Mid-Ohio American Le Mans Series: Why a Tire Company Sponsors the Green Racing Trophy—A Look Backward and Forward
August 17, 2010 – 6:49 am | No Comment

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) You’d have a pretty dangerous drinking game if you downed a shot every time a car racing announcer said “a slight air pressure adjustment” or if you liberated a …

Nine Challenges of Alternative Energy
August 16, 2010 – 10:33 am | No Comment

by David Fridley (Post Carbon Institute) excerpt:  Unlike conventional fossil fuels, where nature provided energy over millions of years to convert biomass into energy-dense solids, liquids, and gases–requiring only extraction and transportation technolgy for us …

Opportunities and Barriers for International Bioenergy Trade
August 13, 2010 – 1:38 pm | No Comment

by Martin Junginger, Jinke van Dam, Simonetta Zarrilli, Fatin Ali Mohamed, Didier Marchal, and Andre Faaij  (IEA Bioenergy)  Task 40 under the IEA Bioenergy Agreement entitled: ‘Sustainable International Bioenergy trade; securing supply and demand’, started in 2004 and …

APOV: A Strong Case for Ethanol
August 13, 2010 – 12:51 pm | No Comment

by John M. Sawyer and Michael C. Sawyer  (The Daily News)  …Corn ethanol is not responsible for destruction of forest land. Total U.S. crop acres are actually declining, total U.S. land devoted to crops will …

Wide Range of Plants Offer Cellulosic Biofuel Potential, Ecological Diversity
August 13, 2010 – 12:18 pm | No Comment

(EurekAlert)  When it comes to selecting the right plant source for future cellulosic biofuel production, the solution won’t be one-size-fits-all, and it certainly doesn’t have to involve food and feed crops.
In a “Perspective” article in the …

Chinese Experts Urge Government to Halt Corn-Based Ethanol Production on Price, Food Security Concerns
August 12, 2010 – 10:12 am | No Comment

(People’s Daily)  China’s industrial experts are advising the government to halt projects making ethanol bio-fuel with corn, as the projects are pushing up corn prices and sparking food security concerns.
Zhao Youshan, director of the Commercial …

Mid-Ohio American Le Mans Series: The Little Team That Could! Dyson Lola Wins Emotional Mid-Ohio American Le Mans Race with Bio-Isobutanol (From BP)
August 11, 2010 – 6:50 am | No Comment

By Robert E. Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) Imagine. Imagine you’re a small but very smart racing team with a history of innovation and success. 
Following your strengths, you spent a considerable amount of money modifying your …

British Airways Acts Quickly on Waste Biofuel
August 10, 2010 – 3:08 pm | No Comment

by Ivan Gale (The National)  British Airways (BA), which is preparing to become the first airline to buy jet fuel from a planned waste-to-biofuels plant in east London, is expected to scale up the project …

Hawaii Sugar Grower Working to Power Navy
August 10, 2010 – 10:01 am | No Comment

By Audrey McAvoy (AP)  The federal government has turned to a 130-year-old Hawaii sugar grower for help in powering the Navy and weaning the nation off a heavy reliance on fossil fuels.
It will spend at least …

Farmers & Ranchers Don’t Deserve Blame For World Hunger
August 10, 2010 – 9:48 am | No Comment

by Richard Keller   (Cattle Network)  As renewable fuels continues to be something that people of the world support in general, there also continues to be those complaints that crop production and land use for fuels …

Centre May Permit Ethanol Production
August 10, 2010 – 8:50 am | No Comment

by Faizan Ahmad (Times of India)  The Centre is contemplating giving permission to Bihar to for production of ethanol in sugar factories even without producing sugar.  … (Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar) said he was …

Study Asks, Can Bio-Fuel Crops Be Grown in Lubbock?
August 10, 2010 – 8:26 am | No Comment

by James Clark (KCBD)  A new study done in Lubbock and other parts of Texas will look at growing crops for use as bio-fuels.  The Texas Ag Extension in Lubbock and five other cities will …

Specific Climate Impact of Passenger and Freight Transport (Cars Warm Climate More than Planes)
August 9, 2010 – 4:10 pm | No Comment

by Jens Borken-Kleefeld, Terje Berntsen and Jan Fuglestvedt  (Environmental Science and Technology)  …An unambiguous ranking of the specific climate impact can be established for freight transportation, with shipping and rail having lowest and light trucks …

Renewable Fuels Association Analysis Reveals More Problems With EPA GHG Accounting
August 9, 2010 – 2:32 pm | No Comment

(Renewable Fuels Association)  Further analysis of EPA’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) reveals more errors in the agency’s calculation of corn ethanol and other biofuels’ carbon intensity, according to new analysis by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). …

Chinese Feed Group Using DDGS at Near-Maximum Levels
August 5, 2010 – 8:30 am | No Comment

(Midwest Producer)  When China-based Shandong Zhonghui Group Corp. began importing U.S. distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) two years ago, they set in motion a series of actions for what has become an astonishing success …

Study Claims Conventional Ag Limits Greenhouse Gas
August 3, 2010 – 12:13 pm | No Comment

by David Mercer (Associated Press)  Advances in conventional agriculture have dramatically slowed the flow of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, in part by allowing farmers to grow more food to meet world demand without plowing up …

Algae Biofuel Grown in Bioreactors Has 3.7x the Carbon Footprint of Petro-Diesel: Study
August 3, 2010 – 10:44 am | No Comment

by Matthew McDermott (Treehugger)  …According to Anna Stephenson from the University of Cambridge, when algae is grown in clear-tubed bioreactors the energy required to move the algae around so that it gets enough sunlight means …

Soot Seen as Significant in Global Warming
August 2, 2010 – 12:49 pm | No Comment

(UPI)  Soot from burning fossil fuels and solid biofuels has a greater impact on global warming than previously believed, a U.S. researcher says.  
But unlike carbon dioxide, Stanford University scientist Mark Z. Jacobson says, soot stays in …

World Bank: Impact of Biofuels on Commodity Prices “Not As Large” as Originally Thought
August 2, 2010 – 9:22 am | No Comment

(Renewable Fuels Association)   A newly released report from the Development Prospects Group at the World Bank, conludes that “…the effect of biofuels on food prices has not been as large as originally thought, but that …

Beyond Biofuels: Renewable Energy Opportunities for U.S. Farmers
August 2, 2010 – 9:09 am | No Comment

(Heinrich Böll Stiftung North America)   In cooperation with 25x’25, the Heinrich Böll Stiftung North America hosted a transatlantic roundtable discussion on its new report Beyond Biofuels: Renewable Energy Opportunities for U.S. Farmers.
As farmers struggle with …

World Bank Says Foreign Investors Are Crowding Out African Producers
July 30, 2010 – 3:08 pm | No Comment

by Katie Allen (The Guardian)   Leaked report says wealthy investors are threatening local resources as they buy up farmland to gain on commodity prices
A leaked World Bank report into investors from rich nations buying up …

Some Biofuels Are Better than Others: Thinking Strategically about Biofuels
July 30, 2010 – 12:17 pm | No Comment

(New Zealand Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment)  The purpose of this report is to take a fresh look at biofuels – to think strategically about how they might lessen our dependence on fossil fuels and thus …