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 …
Political news and views from Capitol Hill.
Conferences and Events List in Addition to Coming Events Carousel (above)
(Advanced Biofuels USA) …(T)here is a third, hybrid process which combines both biochemical and thermochemical elements, capturing the benefits of each pathway while mitigating some of their deficiencies. This process, called syngas fermentation, is a …
(Environmental-Expert.com) Perennial grasses that thrive in saline areas can not only help reclaim vast stretches of unproductive land but can also produce biofuels without compromising food production, according to a study in Pakistan.
A team of …
by Will Horton (FlightGlobal) …The airlines – V Australia,Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic – have significant stage length operations at Los Angeles that would permit them to maximise bio-derived jet fuel deployment at a single, …
by Sandy Martocchia (North Fork Patch) Summer’s the time to switch to biofuels, according to Burt’s Reliable.
…In February John Romanelli, president of Burt’s Reliable, approached Southold Free Librarydirector Caroline MacArthur about switching the library’s oil burner to …
(Elevance) Company to expand facility, create 165 full-time jobs
Gov. Haley Barbour and executives from Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc., creator of high-performance renewable specialty chemicals for use in personal care products, detergents, plastics and lubricants, announced …
(Avionews) It has been founded today, on Wednesday, June 8, Aireg, Aviation Initiative for Renewable Energy, a German association which pursues the aim of finding alternatives to fossil fuels.
…In Aireg there is the confluence …
By Mazera Ndurya and Daniel Nyassy (Daily Nation) The environmental watchdog has not licensed a controversial multi-million shilling jatropha project because the investor has not complied with some of the conditions set by the government.
Although …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …E15 blending, goes the argument, can provide the immediate market growth that will absorb current capacity, and create room in the marketplace to meet RFS renewable fuel mandates, and create …
by Riggs Eckelberry (OriginOil/Algae Industry Magazine) …While capital is rightly pouring into gigantic projects that we need to begin to compete with oil and gas, there is a parallel business model that takes advantage of …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Ethanol: Market growth management challenges in Brazil; market development challenges in US
…Brazilian state-owned development bank BNDES announced that it will make $18-22 billion in loans to the sugarcane and ethanol …
In continuing its efforts to fast-track commercialization of algae production, The National Algae Association’s next conference on August 1, 2011 at Santa Fe Community College, will focus on progress in growing, harvesting and extraction methods, …
ERB Energias Renováveis of Brasil will present on biomass to energy opportunities in Brazil and discuss ERB’s experience in securing financing of biomass projects in Brazil. READ MORE
by David Shepardson and Christina Rogers (The Detroit News) General Motors Co. CEO Dan Akerson wants the federal gas tax boosted as much as $1 a gallon to nudge consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars, …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Private financial support for technology acceleration continues to be important, and certain technologies are becoming clear favorites for investors, according to a recent Bloomberg New Energy Finance analysis of …
Biofuels in Africa: When it comes to clean energy production, Africa is at a crossroads. The production of industrial biofuels has the potential to be a boon for producers and could potentially sow the seeds …
by Ron Miller (Biofuels Digest/Prisma Advisors) “Hunger, despair for millions” reads the headline in a national newspaper looking to link high food prices with the
growth of renewable fuels. Anti-ethanol factions oftentimes cite food costs in …
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) SunPower Biodiesel is official producing biodiesel at its plant located in Cumberland Wisconsin. The plant is using locally grown canola oil to produce the biodiesel. To celebrate, SunPower held a grand …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Iowa, Honeywell has been selected to help SynGest design a proposed first-of-its-kind processing facility that will produce ammonia from biomass. The southwest-Iowa plant will process as much as 400 tons of …
(Columbia University) Kartik Chandran, an associate professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia Engineering, has been awarded $1.5 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for his project to develop a revolutionary new model in …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Brazil, 2,000 industry executives gathered at UNICA’s biennial Ethanol Summit in Sao Paulo. Among the highlights, a charged keynote in which celebrated venture capitalist Vinod Khosla accused oil companies of …
by Drew Sowersby (Advanced Biofuels USA) Fuels of the Future: The Bioalcohol Paradigm This slide presentation has been created by Drew Sowersby to inform a broad audience about the importance and potential dominance of bioalcohols …
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) …Far from a fresh hire, Paul (Reep)’s involvement with OriginOil actually dates back to the origin of the company that Riggs and his brother Nicholas Eckelberry started in 2007. …
by Dong Li, William C. Hockaday, Caroline A. Masiello and Pedro J.J. Alvarez (Science Direct) Biochar has a great potential for enhancing soil fertility and carbon sequestration while enabling beneficial waste disposition. Because of the potential for widespread application, it …
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) …Even though the city has chosen to hold off on purchasing hybrid buses for the time being, the standard diesel buses operated by the Winnipeg Transit Department are fueled with …
by Inae Riveras and Brian Winter (Reuters) Brazil’s government unveiled new financing and other incentives for sugar cane ethanol production on Monday, vowing to work closely with the private sector to boost production in an …
by Stacy Langley (Huron Daily Tribune) In early March, the Huron County Sheriff’s Office began an experiment that had the department eyeing the possibility of saving the county money by using ethanol fuel …
(Deccan Herald) Five hundred government buses in Mysore are proposed to be run on bio-diesel starting from this current financial year as per proposals cleared by Karnataka Cabinet today.
…The buses are proposed to be run …
by Anne Blythe (The Charlotte Observer) Yellow kitchen grease has become as good as gold as gasoline prices soar and biodiesel fuel becomes more appealing.
Just as one industry’s waste becomes a hot commodity for another, …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What makes a top strategic investor? Who are the players at the top of their investment game in biofuels now?
First of all, by definition, strategic investors are generally non-financial corporate …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Nebraska-based Pellet Technology LLC is teaming up with CPM to offer second-generation biofuels producers a solution to the logistical issues surrounding the use of bulky biomass as feedstocks. Pellet …
(OPIS) OPIS has posted a brand-new FREE white paper “Isobutanol- A Renewable Solution for the Transportation Fuels Value Chain”.
Written and sponsored by Gevo Transportation Fuels, this white paper details the increased demand for a clean, …
Fostering Major Sustainable Energy Research Centers in the Upper Midwest EPSCoR Jurisdictions
Cleantech is a unique combination of events designed to foster and promote energy-related research and development centers.
Plan on attending Cleantech 2011 to…
Develop relationships and …
by Mark Jenkins (The Washington Post) Bill Haney devotes only one-third of his time to filmmaking. But at this precise moment, he’s 100 percent focused on “The Last Mountain,” his documentary about the coal-mining technique known …
by Chamwe Kaira (Bloomberg) Namibia has banned large scale jatropha-based biofuel projects in its north east until a study on its impact is undertaken, according to the country’s communications ministry.
…The Namibian government’s study will “determine …
by Lee Swee Heng (Physorg.com) Biodiesel is a promising future fuel, particularly because it can be made from a wide variety of renewable sources such as crude vegetable oils and waste fats produced by commercial …
(Virent) Biofuels Pioneer Converts Corn Stover and Loblolly Pine Into BioFormate™ Gasoline with Molecular Composition Similar to Gasoline Derived from Fossil Fuels
Virent announced it has successfully produced biogasoline from corn stover and pine harvest forest residuals, as …
(PRWeb/Independence Bio-Products) Independence Bio-Products (IBP) of Dublin, Ohio has received a patent from U.S. Patent Office covering the company’s low-cost open-pond system for producing algae for biofuels and animal feeds system year-round, regardless of climate …
by Brent Erickson (BIO/Biofuels Digest) To carry out military and humanitarian missions around the world, U.S. forces require reliable fuel supplies and secure supply lines. The military is as much at the mercy of high …
by Jeremy Fordham (Green-Trust.org) …Microorganisms are incredibly abundant and diverse, especially in their metabolic functionality. Consolidated bioprocessing takes advantage of this versatility.
…Cellulose is a crystalline molecule that is critical to a plant cell’s structure, so …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In Massachusetts, Myriant filed for a $125 million IPO, becoming the 8th company in industrial biotechnology to file in the past 18 months.
…From the S-1: “We are an industrial biotechnology …
by Nathan Hurst and David Shepardson (Detroit News) Ford Motor Co.’s top executive pushed for unity on national fuel efficiency standards for automakers Tuesday, telling Capitol Hill legislators that multiple U.S. standards put undue burden on …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Two recently released studies examining California’s future energy needs address biofuels’ role in contributing to the state’s fuel mix. Both reports are aimed at evaluating methods to reduce the …
(National Farmers Union) Biofuels can help to create a strong and sustainable agricultural sector in Europe, NFU policy director Martin Haworth stressed this week.
Speaking at an international food security conference in Brussels this week Mr Haworth …
(Stevens Institute of Technology) Every year, the world consumes 15 Terrawatts of power. Since the amount of annual harvestable solar energy has been estimated at 50 Terrawatts, students at Stevens Institute of Technology are working …
by John Daly (OiPrice.com) …So why, no U.S. production?
The answers are both complex and simple.
First, new biofuels are up against the well established ethanol lobby.
Secondly, given renewables’ battle against the ethanol Goliath, there are yet …
(Advanced Biofuels USA) Shale Natural Gas Does Not Belong in Pro-Environmental Legislation
A new legislative analysis by Advanced Biofuels USA concludes that the Open Fuel Standard (OFS) is bad for advanced biofuels and will add to …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Instead of simply not collecting a portion of the fuel tax, the consumer is charged the whole amount, which is collected by the gas station and paid to the government. …
In Canada, Enerkem Inc has closed a $60 million financing round that includes Valero Energy Corp. who joins existing investors Waste Management, Rho Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures and Cycle Capital, who have each invested in the …
by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) A proposal called the Open Fuel Standard (OFS) has recently been included in a number of bills (HR 1687 is one example) submitted for consideration by the US Congress. …
by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine) …(F)or two teams set to compete in a 24-hour race in Germany, a blend of renewable diesel and biodiesel might be the secret to earning a victory. The teams …
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) A pilot-scale project in Olgergen, Holland, is investigating the use of algae cultivation as a method to remove nutrients from wastewater. The project, under development by Ingrepro Renewables, is housed …
(The Hill/E2Wire) Twenty Senate Democrats are ramping up political pressure on the White House to ensure that any deficit-reduction deal with Republicans strips billions of dollars in tax breaks for major oil companies.
The group — …
(Daily India.com) In a bid to help cut down the price of fuel in the market by using waste material, some biotech students in Surat, Gujarat, are using water hyacinth to produce ethanol, which can …
by Sarah Pilgrim and Mark Harvey (Sociological Research Online) In this paper, we argue that a consortium of NGOs has played a significant role in shaping the market for, and restricting the use of, biofuels …
by Jennifer Kho (Renewable Energy World) While high energy prices in 2008 pushed investors towards renewables, the story is very different this time around.
…In 2008, the last time gasoline approached $4 a gallon, the sticker …
(Daily Markets/PRNewsWire) Darling International Inc. today (May 31, 2011) announced that Diamond Green Diesel LLC, its previously announced joint venture project with Valero Energy Corporation, has secured financing for the planned construction of its renewable …
(iStockAnalyst) CEPSA, a Spain-based company primarily active in the energy sector and the hydrocarbons industry, has developed a new process to manufacture biofuel from vegetable oil.
This research project has been in progress since 2007, leading to …
by Robert F. Dorr (Air Force Times) …Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz has been the driving force behind the service’s conservation movement, both because it saves the environment and it saves money. And for that …
by Damian Carrington and Stefano Valentino (The Guardian) British firms have acquired more land in Africa for controversial biofuel plantations than companies from any other country, a Guardian investigation has revealed.
Half of the 3.2m hectares (ha) …
(MarketWire/World Health Energy Holdings, Inc.) Joint Venture Agreement With Serial Business Founder, David J. Lobo, of Deejay Coconut Farm PVT
World Health Energy Holdings, Inc., a public holding company focused on developing algae farms for the …
(Argus Media) Hungary is planning to increase the share of biofuels in the total energy use of its transportation sector from 4pc in 2009 to 10pc in 2020 and 15pc in 2030, according to the …
by Tara Bozick (GoDanRiver.com) …Other projects receiving tobacco commission money: …• The commission approved $490,000 for Piedmont BioProducts in Gretna to improve its biofuel-making process, which will lead to the company’s first commercial bio-refinery in Gretna Industrial Park. …
(Seeking Alpha/ZeaChem) Agreement Will Accelerate Commercialization of Sustainable Bio-based Chemicals
ZeaChem Inc., a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable feedstocks into sustainable fuels and chemicals, today announced a binding multi-year joint development agreement with Procter …
A 2-day comprehensive overview of how Biomass sources can be used for Fuels, Energy and Power.
Course objectives
There are many types of “biomass”, many ways to convert it and many different energy products and end-use applications …
(Biofuels Center of North Carolina) The Biofuels Wiki provides a virtual online encyclopedia about renewable transportation fuels, the feedstocks making up those fuels, and the issues implicit in producing biofuels and other industrial bioproducts at …
(Texas A&M University) The Algae Production Conversion Calculator created by the Agricultural and Food Policy Center is available in the iTunes App Store for your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. A web based version is also available for …
(Algal Biomass Organization) …Aurora Algae is focused on cultivating marine algae in open pond systems for omega-3 oils, protein, feed and fuel. Our main revenue drivers are higher value products, and as we scale the …
(Pike Research) Among next generation renewable fuel alternatives, algae stands out as one of the most promising and scalable options with the potential to supply key fuel and co-product markets. Strong demand from aviation and …
by Will Dalen Rice (Earth Science Erratics) …The final day of the conference was all about being “feedstock agnostic” in terms of what you give to your genetically engineered, “proprietary organisms.” This was the really …
by Dana Flavelle (The Star) Canadian truckers say new biofuel requirements for diesel that come into effect July 1 will cost taxpayers $2.5 billion over the next 25 years and do little to curb greenhouse …
Green World Conferences Ltd and Cerebral Business Research (CBR) will be holding the prestigious EnAsia 2011 – Enabling Energy Dialogue conference and exhibition in New Delhi on 5-6 December 2011. The event will include
AWARD: Advanced …
Green World Conferences Ltd and Cerebral Business Research (CBR) will be holding the prestigious EnAsia 2011 – Enabling Energy Dialogue conference and exhibition in New Delhi on 5-6 December 2011. The event will include
AWARD: Advanced …
by Richard Baillie (Renewable Energy World) A host of renewable technologies are now winning the hearts and minds of military planners.
…But the military’s adoption of new technology had its greatest and most enduring impact in 1912 …
by Dr. William Strauss (Renewable Energy World/FutureMetrics) This short article challenges the assumption that there is always a carbon debt incurred first and then a carbon dividend realized later (debt-then-dividend) when using woody biomass for …
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(PRWeb/CRT) From Asia to Latin America there’s renewed interest in Jatropha oil and its cultivation. CMT’s JatrophaWorld Asia on 27-28 June in Hainan Island hones in on Jatropha as sustainable feedstock option for biofuel. Armed with …
by Glenn Meyers (CleanTechnica) There is now more good news on producing hydrogen, the clean-burning fuel that leaves behind water as an emission.
An international scientific team has announced creating hydrogen using ambient temperatures and pressure …
(DEINOVE) Oseo has validated the first key milestone in the DEINOL project (on the production of second-generation ethanol using Deinococcus bacteria) with Deinove and its partners. As a result, Oseo has paid Deinove a second tranche …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Many kinds of algae and cyanobacteria are capable of using energy from sunlight to split water molecules and release hydrogen. One reason this approach hasn’t yet been harnessed for fuel production is …
by Amy Phillips (ABC Rural) Australian PhytoFuel aims to establish hundreds of thousands of hectares of ‘kulpa’ plantations across northern Australia in the next five to seven years.
Spokesman Marshall Mackay says trees will be grown …
by Brooke Coleman (Advanced Ethanol Council/Biofuels Digest) …Often lost in the counter-productive and backward-facing public obsession with corn ethanol are the clear attributes of the ethanol molecule itself.
A recent study, “Ethanol – the Primary Renewable …
(Jagran Post) The project of deriving ethanol, a bio-fuel for blending with petrol, from a seaweed is all set to get a major boost, with the Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI) deciding …
by Ivan Gale (The National) Middle Eastern airlines are being urged to invest in biofuels programmes to help their industry achieve ambitious targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Aviation produces about 2 per cent of global …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …According to E85prices.com, Iowa E85 fuel is priced just about on the money, compared to gasoline. Overall, E85 gasoline sells for an average of $2.97 per gallon, or 76 percent of …
By Jonathan Weisman (Wall Street Journal) It was an odd setting for a policy pronouncement, but on the sidewalk outside the Historical Building here, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney embraced ethanol subsidies. It came just days …
by Matt Luebbe (The Fence Post) University of Nebraska researchers plan to conduct a study this summer at the Panhandle Research Feedlot to determine the effects of including a common ethanol plant byproduct, condensed distillers …
(CNN) …In an interview broadcast Sunday on “CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS,” the grandson of the founding king of modern Saudi Arabia said the oil price should be somewhere between $70 and $80 a barrel, rather …
by Jeff Natalie-Lees (Aberdeen News) Export options help facility weather weaker domestic demand
Ethanol produced in Mina is helping Brazil avoid a fuel crisis after a weak sugar cane crop cut that country’s ethanol production.
When the …
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) The European Union has set new environmental and labor standards for the crops used to make biofuels there, angering U.S. farmers who worry that such restrictions could spread to …
by Jerry Hagstrom (AgWeek) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told a gathering of international agricultural development activists recently that U.S. biofuels should not blamed for most of the increases in food prices in recent years. “With …
by Ken Field (Financial Post) The myths that smear a superior fuel
…A recent study released by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) states that adding ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by an average …
(Algae Industry Magazine) …The Fuel Feedstock Freedom Act (S. 1085), gives individual states the option not to participate in the corn ethanol portion of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). It also expands the cellulosic biofuel …
by Tyler Hamilton (Clean Break) I had the opportunity this week to visit a St. Marys Cement plant in the small and scenic town of St. Marys, Ontario. A subsidiary of Brazilian cement giant Votorantim Cimentos, the …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad is expected to sign a bill today, May 26, which will provide a boost to the state’s renewable fuels producers and distributors. The bill, S.F. …
by Tom Doggett (Reuters) U.S. dependence on imported oil fell below 50 percent in 2010 for the first time in more than a decade, thanks in part to the weak economy and more fuel efficient …
(Physorg.com) A Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University research team has developed a process that removes a key obstacle to producing low-cost, renewable biofuels from bacteria. The team has reprogrammed photosynthetic microbes to secrete high-energy …
(Client Earth) The European Commission has been sued, accused of violating European transparency laws. Environmental law organisation ClientEarth, Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE), FERN and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) filed the lawsuit following the …
(The Guardian/Eco-Business) Malaysia and Indonesia, which together account for about 90% of the world’s palm oil production, have launched a joint PR offensive to defend the industry’s environmental record.
…(M)inisters from the two countries agreed to finalise plans for …
(National Defense) The Obama administration essentially has given up on sweeping energy reform. But the U.S. military nonetheless is plowing ahead with an ambitious agenda aimed at reducing fossil fuel consumption, switching to renewable energy …
(CSIRO) Establishing an economically and environmentally beneficial, ‘bio-derived’ Australian and New Zealand aviation fuels industry is a viable proposition, according to a report compiled by CSIRO in collaboration with the region’s major aviation industry …
(CSPNet) Ultra-low-sulfur diesel provided along toll roads will contain 2% biodiesel
Sunoco Inc. said yesterday that customers are now able to refuel with biodiesel blends at several New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway service plazas. …
