by David Glass (D Glass Associates)  One of the morning sessions at the Tenth Annual BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology put four of the companies in the forefront of commercial development of cellulosic ethanol …

A ONE HOUR FREE WEBINAR LOOKING AT CHP VS. ADVANCED BIOFUELS IN BRAZIL 
Brazil is the long time power house of feedstock production and investment opportunities serving the biofuels markets both at home and internationally. However, …

by Jennifer A. Dlouhy (SF Gate)  United Airlines on Tuesday announced it has committed to buy at least 15 million gallons of cleaner-burning renewable jet fuel from a Los Angeles-based refinery, marking a potentially major breakthrough …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The EPREINC scenario—One chart was prepared by the Energy Policy Research Foundation for its Congressional testimony on the Renewable Fuel Standard yesterday.
…
EPRINC’s scenario foresees a big shortfall between the production …

by  Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Not quite a year after opening a demonstration facility, Switzerland-based specialty chemicals company Clariant AG announced that it has expanded the feedstocks successfully converted to cellulosic ethanol beyond wheat …

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  NASCAR’s sportscar racing division, GrandAm, and Green Racing aren’t words that you see together.  For one thing, GrandAm competitors race on all-petroleum race fuel. Yet, GrandAm and the American Le …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  Biofuel Weiss Inc. is developing a 7 MMgy continuous flow multifeedstock biodiesel production facility in Atlantic Canada, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. According to Ian Weiss, CEO of Weiss Biofuel, the …

Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Is the ultimate industrial fuel system going to be based on electricity, waste CO2 and brackish water – to return society to the days of energy abundance?  It will take a …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Just months after receiving the first cellulosic renewable identification numbers for a shipment of cellulosic ethanol to its Brazil partner Petrobras, Western Biomass Energy LLC filed for bankruptcy …

by  Judith Namutowe (AllAfrica.com)   Government has said it will start importing ethanol from Zimbabwe with a view to lowering the high fuel prices in Zambia.   And Government will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with …

by Dan Seif (Mother Earth News/Rocky Mountain Institute)  Advanced, non-food biofuels are gaining momentum in 2013 as several new plants have gathered the capital and momentum for large-scale production.
…
Despite sparse media coverage, significant volumes of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Iowa, Absolute Energy, a 115 million gallon per year ethanol plant near the Iowa-Minnesota border, is now offering E85, a fuel blend containing 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  DoD goes forward, after internal wrangle, with advanced biofuels program via $16M phase 1 investment.
With industry cost share, project totals $33M: aims for sub-$4, drop-in military biofuels.
In Washington, the DoD …

(Environmental Protection Agency)  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing a proposed rulemaking for modifications to the Renewable Fuel Standard program, E15 misfueling mitigation regulations, ultra low
sulfur diesel survey requirements as well as other technical …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The USDA has announced $14 million payments to advanced biofuel 162 producers in 38 states under the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. The program awards payments to eligible producers …

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  What used to be known as “The New York Sugar Conference” has become “The ISO and Datagro Sugar & Ethanol Conference” with a record-setting number of attendees (350 from …

(Edeniq/Yahoo! News)  Visalia Plant Milestone Signifies Greater Commercial Viability for Cellulosic Ethanol and Sugars
Edeniq, a biomaterials and sustainable fuels company, today announced the company’s first demonstration plant, located at its Visalia, CA headquarters, has completed …

(Enerkem/PR NewsWire)  Enerkem Inc. (www.enerkem.com), a waste-to-biofuels and renewable chemicals company, announces the launch of a new research project with the Government of Canada. The objective of the project is to develop new catalytic processes for …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In an exclusive Digest interview, Shell’s VP for Alternative Energy, Matthew Tipper, reveals the company’s thinking about RFS2, their increasing re-focus on North America and the EU.   Plus, Shell’s ambition …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  During a call to discuss its first quarter financial results, Syntroleum Corp. announced that Dynamic Fuels LLC’s renewable diesel plant in Geismar, La., is expected to resume operations in July. …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Biofuels’s Montagues and Capulets were at it again last week — with a flurry of press releases about court decisions and commercial timelines regarding their respective isbutanol technologies.
At the heart …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …“Building on the first gallons of cellulosic diesel we shipped in March, we continue to make progress with operations at our Columbus facility,” said KiOR CEO Fred Cannon. “The on-stream …

by Jeff Dute (AL.com)  Corporate America does not often invite the public into the research and development process of products that could potentially revolutionize how their vehicles are fueled, how plastics are made and even …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Gevo Inc. provided updated information on it Luverne, Minn., plant and patent dispute with Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC as part of its recent first quarter 2013 financial announcement.
During a …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 39 group recently published a report that outlines progress on more than 100 advanced biofuel projects under development worldwide. The report, titled “Status …

by Carlin Rosengarten  (Fueling Growth) Nearly 30 years ago, Paul Woods invented the Direct to Ethanol technology that his company, Algenol Biofuels, utilizes today to produce ethanol from blue-green algae at its state-of-the-art commercial development campus …

(Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper)  The Government of Canada is committed to investing in innovative clean energy technologies that create high-quality jobs, generate new economic opportunities and protect the environment.
To this end, on May …

(SEKAB)  SEKAB E-Technology welcomes SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden’s (SP) engagement in the Biorefinery Demo Plant in Örnsköldsvik, previously known as the Ethanol Pilot. SP and SEKAB have signed an agreement, which ensures continued …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Washington DC, at the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference, Biofuels Digest announced that it has released its newly expanded SuperData database, profiling 880 biofuels refineries on six continents.
SuperData contains all …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Norway, Norwegian Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen officially inaugurated the Borregaard biorefinery demonstration plant in Sarpsborg, which will produce green chemicals and sugars based on biomass from wood and agricultural …

by Kathy Coatney (Beef Magazine/BeefProducer.com)  Small, automated units can make biodiesel from animal fat, waste oil and oilseed crops.
An Arkansas professor has been experimenting with a farm-sized biodiesel plant that can use animal fat, waste …

by Erica Anderson (WNCT.com)  A local school district is reaping the benefits of restaurant leftovers.   At the start of the academic year, Pitt County Schools partnered with Green Circle N.C. to turn used cooking oil …

(EnergyDigital) In the ethanol fuel market, the US takes the lead. Pilot and demonstration plants to commence in late 2013.
Ethanol is the most widely acclaimed alternative or additive for gasoline used for running vehicles, and …

(Biofuels Center of North Carolina)  Based in Wilson, Triangle Biofuels Industries produces biodiesel derived primarily from waste vegetable oils (WVO) obtained from local sources. Its target markets are agricultural, marine, residential, governmental, and commercial diesel …

by Chris Hanson (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A study by Steffen Mueller, a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago Energy Resources Center, and John Kwik, president of Dominion Energy Services LLC, surveyed ethanol producers …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  With a fresh investment from Brazil’s GranBio, American Process Inc. is poised to develop its first commercial-scale cellulosic biorefineries in both the U.S. and Brazil. API CEO Theodora …

by Katy Stech (The Wall Street Journal) Struggling Fuel-Making Facilities Are in Danger of Falling to Liquidators Before Market Recovers
When the New Energy Corp. ethanol plant in South Bend, Ind., was idled by its bankruptcy …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  California-based Community Fuels recently earned BQ-9000 Laboratory certification, making it the first biodiesel producer in the nation to receive this third-party approval. “We are serious about quality and believe that …

(American Chemical Society)  The search for a less-expensive, sustainable source of biomass, or plant material, for producing gasoline, diesel and jet fuel has led scientists to duckweed, that fast-growing floating plant that turns ponds and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Produces Drop-In Jet Fuel from 100% Renewable Plant Sugars
In Wisconsin, Virent announced the delivery of 100 gallons of its bio-based jet fuel to the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The stock has not recovered much — but it’s remarkable the progress the company has made, all the same. Analysts are now expecting the company to bring its first production …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  A new study indicates that ethanol production is continuing to reduce its energy and environmental footprint.
The study, entitled “2012 Corn Ethanol: Emerging Plant Energy and Environmental Technologies”, found that recent innovations in …

by Nick McCrea (Bangor Daily News)  …University of Maine researchers updated more than 300 forestry and paper industry officials, stakeholders and politicians on what the university’s research could mean for the future during the first …

by Andrew Noel (Bloomberg)  Clariant AG (CLN) said it’s prepared to take on a partner and help fund a second-generation bioethanol plant to prove the effectiveness of its biotechnology and compete against Royal DSM NV …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Energy cane for California’s Imperial Valley?   Canergy lines up Beta, CHS, Certis as partners for greenfield low-carbon fuel project slated for 2016 opening.
In California, Canergy announced that it has selected …

(Community Fuels)  Community Fuels earned BQ9000 Laboratory certification on March 14th making it the first biodiesel producer in the nation to receive this third party approval. “We are serious about quality and believe that biodiesel with reliable …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …It used to be that the outskirts of Honolulu had the dual scent of diesel and pineapple processing — but now, all you really smell is the diesel. Sugarcane and …

by Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Advanced Biofuels Corp. has bought a legacy 7 MMgy ethanol plant in Moses Lake, Wash., with plans to retrofit existing systems and install new pretreatment process equipment, converting …

(US Department of Energy)  The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory have released a joint study on biochemical biorefinery sizing. “Investigation of biochemical biorefinery sizing and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Though there are exceptions among the archipelagoes with access to offshore oil assets — Indonesia comes to mind— but these are, in the main, exceptions to what might be described …

by Andy Giegerich  (Sustainable Business Oregon)  A top Portland biodiesel producer has landed waste cooking oil recycling agreements with several landmark Seattle institutions.
It helps that those institutions, particularly the Seattle Mariners’ Safeco Field and the …

(China Daily)  Sinopec, China’s top oil refiner, announced the success of the first test flight powered by the company’s newly developed aviation biofuel product on Wednesday.
An Airbus A320 owned by China Eastern Airlines landed at …

(US Department of Energy)  The Bioenergy Technologies Office 2013 Project Peer Review will take place at the Hilton Alexandria Hotel from Monday, May 20, 2013, to Thursday, May 23, 2013. The peer review process will …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Revenue from corn oil has become an important part of the bottom line at the majority of U.S. ethanol plants.
During the past two years, the U.S. ethanol industry has …

by Tom Portz (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Eric Sumner’s lifelong fascination with science spans from his youth to the cutting edge of ethanol plant bacterial control and the growing importance of coproducts for long-term industry viability.
Helping …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) has unveiled a list of 10 ways the renewable fuels industry is helping to improve the environment. According to IRFA, renewable fuels offer positive impacts …

(EurActiv.com)
A European Parliament report into the EU’s proposals for addressing the problem of indirect land use change (ILUC) in its biofuels policy will propose today (17 April) the application of unique ‘factors’ to account for …

(Blacksea Grain)  Jim Peterson’s corn contains a magic ingredient: alpha amylase. This ethanol-fermenting enzyme arrives at the plant on the cob, along with the starch for brewing ethanol, as part of Syngenta Enogen corn hybrids.
Peterson …

(TMO Renewables/Ethanol Producer Magazine)   TMO Renewables, the leading British developer of second generation biofuels technology,  and Usina Santa Maria Ltda have entered into an agreement to form a joint venture to build the first commercial …

By Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Site preparation has begun and plans are being finalized for a formal groundbreaking ceremony to be held in the next few weeks at the country’s first sweet sorghum-to-ethanol …

(BlackGold Biofuels/PR Newswire)  They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This Earth Day, it certainly rings true for a newly open recycling facility converting wastewater into fuel. BlackGold Biofuels of Charlotte has opened an …

(Sudan Tribune)  Kenana Sugar Company (KSC) will launch the first Sudanese project which uses ethanol as a gasoline additive to increase octane and improve vehicle emissions.
The Managing Director of KSC, Mohamed El Mardi El-Tijani, said …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Pilot-scale biorefineries for drop-in military diesel, jet fuel the focus of the DOE’s latest grant round.
In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced up to $17.7 million in grants to …

by Marc Chase (Northwest Indiana Times)  Potential lawsuits are brewing in Lake County’s trash-to-ethanol saga, according to a motion by solid waste officials and statements from the developer who had contracted to build and operate …

by  Stuart Radnedge (GasWorld)  Air Liquide has just signed a partnership agreement with the CEA (Commission for atomic energy and alternative energies in France) aiming to develop a second-generation biofuel production pilot unit in France.
As part …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, Aemetis announced that its 60 million gallon per year capacity ethanol facility in Keyes, CA has completed maintenance and Advanced Biofuels retrofit, and is now restarting production.
Last December, …

(Johnny Rockets/Sacramento Bee/PR Newswire) Johnny Rockets partners with DAR PRO Solutions to recycle its restaurants’ used fry oil into renewable diesel fuel.
Each year, Johnny Rockets serves about eight million pounds of American Fries and two million …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The end-goal? High-value oils. Low-cost sugars become shock troops in the war for sustainability.
In New York, we’ve learned that Sweetwater Energy will announce a project today to provide Naturally Scientific …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … LS9 CEO Tjerk de Ruiter announced the expansion of its operations at the Company’s Okeechobee, Florida demonstration facility with a successful customer trial.
The Florida facility was initially designed, and has …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Sweetwater Energy announed that BioGasol completed delivery of its first commercial biomass pretreatment system.
The cellulosic sugar producer will use the unit, a Carbofrac 10, in its demonstration facility to produce …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Perhaps nothing was more on the minds of delegates as the future of the Renewable Fuel Standard, and the impact of the Washington policy debate on investor confidence — and …

by Aldo Svaldi (The Denver Post)   Cool Planet Energy Systems took a step closer Friday to a corporate relocation and expansion that could bring nearly 400 jobs to the metro area and place the state …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Premier of Queensland, Australia, Campbell Newman, has cut the ribbon on an advanced solar biofuels pilot plant designed to develop microalgae-based systems as a source of clean fuel and animal feeds.
The $3.5 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Italy, Versalis and Genomatica announced the establishment of a technology joint venture for bio-based butadiene from non-food biomass. The resulting process will be licensed across Europe, Asia and Africa by …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  Neste Oil has begun using tall oil pitch as a feedstock for renewable diesel production. Neste Oil successfully tested tall oil pitch in commercial refinery operations in March and April …

by Andre Janse van Vuuren (City Press/Fin24)  Dormant plans to establish a local biofuel sector – earmarked to create up to 50 000 jobs and save the country at least R8.9bn in foreign exchange payments …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Neste Oil, which had been criticized for its sourcing of deforestation-based palm oil, has pledged to shift away from palm oil sourced from primary forests, high conservation value and natural …

by Mikkel Pates (Prairie Business) Colorado company Agrebon Inc. and North Dakota partners are in discussions with North Dakota’s two largest ethanol plants in Casselton and Hankinson to build small-scale nitrogen fertilizer factories on their campuses.
…Each …

by Emily Pickrell (FuelFix)  On Jan. 1, Congress made algae-based fuel production eligible for a $1.01-per-gallon cellulosic biofuel production federal tax credit.
Cellulosic biofuels typically are made from woody, non-food material such as grasses or wood …

by Carrie Napoleon  (Post-Tribune)  Town officials say they remain disappointed after the announcement late last month that the local construction consortium trying to bring a proposed trash-to-ethanol plant had scrapped its plans.
“It’s a sad situation,” …

(ENP Newswire/Cogeneration and On-Site Power Production)  Abengoa (MCE: ABG.B), the international company that applies innovative technology solutions for sustainable development in the energy and environment sectors, has started operations at the demonstration plant that uses …

(Bangkok Post)  Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc (CPF), the country’s biggest food maker and exporter, has stepped up efforts to use more renewable energy from waste discharged from chicken, pig and shrimp operations.
Alternative fuel projects consisting …

(Star-Advertiser)  The state has invested $200,000 toward a initiative that seeks to develop an economically sustainable zero-waste conversion project in Hilo that will turn unmarketable papaya into biofuel and high-protein animal feed.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie presented …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Despite the sluggish economic recovery and questions over policy stability — biofuels ventures have been busy raising lots of capital.   In the past 6 months, $434 million.   Who got what, …

by Stephan Nielsen (Bloomberg)  Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4), the state- run oil company, is boosting money-losing gasoline imports at its fastest pace ever, holding down prices for alternative fuels and hindering investments in ethanol.
…President Dilma …

by Stephan Nielsen  (Bloomberg)  China National Heavy Machinery Corp., the Beijing-based developer of industrial facilities and warehouses, is asking Brazilian farmers to invest 40 million reais ($20 million) in a corn-ethanol plant that will help …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The International Energy Agency, through its Task 39 group, has published its 207-page report on the “Status of Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Facilities in 2012″.
The report, in its pages, contains detailed …

by Eriosi Nantaba (AllAfrica.com)  A private Firm African Power Initiative Limited (API) recently announced its plans and commitment to start mass production of bio diesel in Uganda with a capacity of more than 4000 litres. …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  We go through the renewable fuels math — and find that the nattering nabobs of negativism might have crowed too soon.
…Lately, the nattering nabobs appear to have landed at the …

by Jim Lane (BioInvest Digest)  …It’s an idea whose time has come, for sure. The opportunity for small-scale production of alcohol fuels in the 20,000 to 500,000 gallon range — using wastes routinely produced (and …

(www.4-Traders.com)  This year the Government continues to develop alternative fuel sources, in particular, to increase the production of bioethanol.  It is provided by the State Program of activation of the economic development for 2013-2014. To …

(The Fish Site)  Two plants have opened in Jaguaribara and Morada Nova to reduce tilapia waste by converting it into biodiesel.
…Mr Joacir Moreira said that the plants have been set up in order to prevent …

(PR Web/Genuine Bio-Fuel Inc.)  Genuine Bio-Fuel Inc., a privately funded leader in the biodiesel fuel industry, has successfully designed a unique employment program to enrich the Florida’s Indiantown community.
Genuine Bio-Fuel Inc., a leading biodiesel producer …

(WCSH6.com)  With a few added chemicals and some serious filtration, Maine Standard Biofuels takes leftover cooking oil from restaurants and creates heating oil for home and biodiesel for cars and trucks.
“It can be used in …

(Associated Press/Quad Cities Times)  U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack signed an agreement Friday with DuPont that will help establish guidelines for how the company will collect corn-plant residue for a new ethanol plant in central …

by Ken Anderson (Browfield Ag News)  A combination of dry weather and increased demand from the ethanol sector could have grain sorghum poised for a comeback in Nebraska.
Grain sorghum plantings in the state plummeted from 550-thousand …

by Tendai Mugabe (AllAfrica.com)  Green Fuel resumed operations at its ethanol plant here yesterday, raising prospects that the country could soon start the mandatory blending of fuel that has been on the cards for sometime.
There …

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 …

(Associated Press/Washington Post)  Amid the vast almond orchards and grape fields that surround Five Points in California’s Central Valley, a once-dominant crop that has nearly disappeared from the state’s farms is making a comeback: sugar …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The first wave of cellulosic biofuels projects are now reaching completion.  But what does the next wave look like – from technology to financing? We explore the trends in our …