by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Is there bio-based relief for the harried taxpayer in sight?   Could conservationists, growers and biofuels producers find common ground in adapting the Conservation Reserve Program for bioenergy?   Could the US …

(Science Daily)  Stepping into unexplored territory in efforts to use corn stalks, grass and other non-food plants to make biofuels, scientists have described the discovery of a potential treasure-trove of candidate enzymes in fungi thriving …

by Chris Woolston  (Bioenergy Connection)  … If you drove around certain parts of the Midwest this summer, you might have seen patches of energy grass or tall, green sorghum flourishing amid the ruined corn and soybeans. …

Dr. Mike Strain (Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry/25 x ’25) … However, many do not realize that Louisiana’s strong agriculture and forestry industries have also primed us to be a national leader in new …

(Biofuels International)  Australian research company Agritechnology has found a location as it further develops a biofuels demonstration plant.
A site for the plant has been chosen in Orange, New South Wales and it will aim to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Louisiana — hot as cayenne pepper in biofuels capacity development, but some cautionary tales there in the sauce.
When it comes to the first generation of ethanol and biodiesel-based biofuels, Louisiana …

(Bioenergy Crops)  There is an increasing interest worldwide on developing sustainable bioenergy alternatives for low competitive lands where food production profitability is scarce or where soils and climates  are not suited for traditional activities or …

by Michael Wang, Jeongwoo Han, Jennifer B Dunn, Hao Cai and Amgad Elgowainy (US Department of Energy/IOP Science)  corn-based ethanol production occurring mostly in the US and sugarcane-based ethanol production occurring mostly in Brazil. Advances …

by Ned Stowe (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)  Like it or not, corn and corn ethanol production are large, established industries in the U.S. While they provide significant economic, energy, and environmental benefits for our …

by Ned Stowe (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)  The USDA estimates that farmers in the U.S. will plant nine million more acres in corn in 2013 than they did in 2011, an increase of almost 10 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In Maryland, The Wildlife Society released a Technical Review, “Effects of Bioenergy Production on Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat,” to provide answers to questions on bioenergy development and wildlife so that …

by Ilya Gelfand, Ritvik Sahajpal, Xuesong Zhang, R. César Izaurralde, Katherine L. Gross & G. Philip Robertson (Nature)  …An alternative is to grow lignocellulosic (cellulosic) crops on ‘marginal’ lands9. Cellulosic feedstocks can have positive environmental …

(The Town Talk)  The LSU AgCenter Audubon Sugar Institute plans a Jan. 25 opening for a pilot plant designed to produce biofuels and biochemicals from agricultural crops and byproducts.
The centerpiece of the AgCenter’s sustainable bioproducts …

(Renmatix/Sacramento Bee)  Building on success in hardwood, Philadelphia-based Renmatix adds on-site capability to convert multiple local and international feedstocks to cellulosic sugar
Renmatix, the leading manufacturer of cellulosic sugars for biobased chemical and fuel markets, welcomed …

(EurekAlert!/University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences)    Perennial biofuel crops such as miscanthus, whose high yields have led them to be considered an eventual alternative to corn in producing ethanol, are …

by Julia Bayly (Bangor Daily News)  …The Center for Rural Sustainable Development at the University of Maine at Fort Kent last week announced it has received a $62,334 grant to study farmer interest in large-scale grass biomass production …

by RP Siegel (TriplePundit)  … 3p: If you look at where we today relative to the RFS, it says that by the year 2022, a total of 21 billion gallons of biofuel needs to be provided by something other …

by Nino Marchetti (EarthTechling)  One of the major issues facing those growing biofuel crops are finding suitable locations where they can be grown sustainably, avoiding competition with food crops for land resources. A new renewable energy research project being …

by Blair Fannin (Texas A&M University)  Dr. Bill McCutchen sees the potential for the southeast to become the ‘Saudi Arabia’ for production of dedicated energy crops.
“It’s the Bioenergy Belt,” said McCutchen, executive associate director of …

by  Kristofor Husted (KBIA)  In the parched, rolling hills of western Missouri, you might expect to see a desolate scene after this summer’s drought. But in this field, hip-high native grass sways across the landscape like …

by Gary Pinnell  (Equities.com/Highlands Today)  After four years of talk, British Petroleum still hasn’t built that ethanol production facility on State Road 70, at the southeastern edge of Highlands County.
However, activity is increasing:
–Plans were filed …

by John Perritano (HowStuffWorks)  At first glance, the fields of miscanthus that blanket Sampson County, N.C., seem of little importance. Standing 4 feet (1.21 meters) taller than a basketball hoop, miscanthus is a giant, spiky, …

(Biofuels Center of North Carolina)  As part of its project to establish energy grasses in the southeastern part of the state on hog lagoon sprayfields and verify the economic opportunities for biofuels, the Biofuels Center …

(US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service)  …Of the five regions, the Southeast has the greatest natural capacity in the continental United States, with sufficient sunshine, soils, water, and other natural resources to produce more …

by John Ramsey (Fayetteville Observer)  The grass grows as tall as two men and thick as a jungle.
This, farmers across the Cape Fear region keep hearing, is the future of ethanol. The giant miscanthus is …

by Luke Geiver (Biomass Magazine)  A new research effort by BP Biofuels has reaffirmed the energy giant’s role in the Gulf Coast region’s economic health. Through a three-year project, BP Biofuels will work with Texas …

(Yahoo! News)  Applied Ecological Services, The Earth Partners, LP, and POET team up to apply science to industry: Cross-sector demonstration showcases the potential of conservation biomass as an alternative energy source.
It’s a very good week for the United States alternative energy …

(El Universal)  Biofuel producers announced the investment of over $ 100 million to plant oilseeds and grasses that will be employed in the industry biocumbustible whose consumption is increasing in the world.
In the meeting with …

(Environmental and Energy Study Institute)  Cleaner, more sustainable, more climate-friendly, more affordable advanced biofuels are closer to reality than many outside the industry seem to think. At least three new, advanced biofuel biorefineries are being …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  With the US drought, food vs fuel has returned as an issue.  What alternatives are scientists, entrepreneurs developing to take us beyond the old debate?
…1. Feedstock diversification.  In biofuels, it …

by Tim Bryant   (STLToday.com)   The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is among five recipients of a $12.1 million federal grant to develop drought-tolerant grass as a sustainable source of biofuel.
Developing bioenergy grasses with …

by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine)  While the drought in the U.S. is beginning to take a significant toll on some of the nation’s crops—particularly in the Midwest and the Corn Belt—it seems most energy crops …

by Guy Chazan (Financial Times)  In the world of biofuels, all eyes are on the tiny northern Italian town of Crescentino, site of the world’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, which will start production this …

by Margaret Broeren  (Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center)  …Much more than a buzzword, “sustainable” means that trade-offs—social, environmental and economic factors—have been measured, modeled and validated against actual “boots on the ground data” measured at agricultural …

by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register)  Fuel for carriers, jets adds demand for biofuel source other than corn
A Missouri cooperative called (what else?) ShowMe Energy is building an $80 million, 3 million gallon facility that …

by Kelly Madsen (IowaStateDaily.com)  The Iowa State University-led Cenusa Bioenergy project works to develop a biofuel with both a Midwestern and environmental focus.
Through a five-year, $25 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National …

by Pamela Glinski (Highlands Today)  Vercipia is no more. The name has been changed to BP Biofuels, Highlands Ethanol LLC, explained Mike Milicevic, the agricultural operations manager for the company.
Vercipia was a joint-venture company formed …

(Science Daily)  A team of chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered a small molecule that behaves the same as cellulose when it is converted to biofuel. Studying this ‘mini-cellulose’ molecule reveals …

(Biofuels International)  Scientists from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Sustainable Bioenergy Centre (BSBEC) have uncovered a series of genes which could help grasses being breed with better characteristics for bioenergy production.
The genes …

(Iowa State University)  Now, an Iowa State University-based study over the next five years will examine whether a single, coordinated production system can address all of these concerns while making profits for producers.
A multi-state, interdisciplinary …

by Pavel Molchanov (Raymond James)  As energy investors know well, it is much better to own the oil than to refine it. In other words, the bulk of the value is in the upstream of the …

(Reuters/VIASPACE)  VIASPACE Executive Highlights Giant King Grass Advancement & Commercial Opportunities in Africa to Generate Electricity, Manufacture Energy Pellets and Produce Bio-Fuels:  Presents at the Biomass West & Central Africa Congress in Ghana
VIASPACE, Inc., a clean …

(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)  Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Create RiceNet for Predicting Genetic Functions in Rice
The first genome-scale model for predicting the functions of genes and gene networks in a grass species has been developed …

(R&D)  Researchers have long been interested in waste products as sources of biofuel. In Maine, those waste items could include treetops and limbs deemed by the forest products industry as unusable and often left behind …

by Bob Brooks (Automotive Industries)  A BP executive was quoted recently that biofuels are obtained from “renewable wells” which is an oil man’s way of saying we are drilling for energy as usual but for …

by Dr. Carl Kukkonen  (Viaspace) At the September 2011 Biorefining Conference,Dr. Kukkonen spoke about the properties of Giant King Grass.
–  Giant King Grass is the lowest cost cellulosic feedstock for a biorefinery
–  Co-location of biorefinery with …

by Alex Morales (Bloomberg)  Mutant maize genes can be inserted into switch grasses to increase their viability as a biofuel crop, according to a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Transferring the so-called …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Susan Ellerbusch:  Now, at BP there are dozens of BP people who are experts in growing crops design, farm logistics. We are building an agriculture team after having acquired the …

by David R. Robbins and Stephen S. Tam  (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Earth Sense Energy USA Inc.)    Miscanthus x Giganteus (MxG) has great potential to become the energy crop of choice in the United States. It …

by Liz Ahlberg (University of Illinois)   Many energy researchers and environmental advocates are excited about the prospect of gaining more efficient large-scale biofuel production by using large grasses like miscanthus or switchgrass rather than …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Poet LLC is venturing into the realm of energy grasses with a newly launched collaborative effort to establish native grasses on degraded lands in areas surrounding its 100 MMgy …

by Don Comis (US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service)  U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers have developed an inexpensive way to grade the ethanol potential of perennial grasses at the biorefinery’s loading dock.
That future …

by Tiffany Stecker (ClimateWire/Scientific American)  A study looks into giving farmers permission to harvest cellulosic feedstocks on land set aside for wetlands and wildlife conservation
Growing cellulosic feedstocks on federally subsidized conservation land could balance the biofuels emissions …

by Maggie Koerth-Baker (BoingBoing)  …In a nutshell, that’s why liquid fuel is so valuable. So far, it’s the clear winner when we need energy for transportation—especially air transportation and heavy, long-distance shipping—because it allows you …

(PRNewsWire/Viaspace)  - VIASPACE Inc., a clean energy company growing Giant King™ Grass as a low-carbon, renewable biomass crop and its subsidiary VIASPACE Green Energy Inc., provided results of testing of Giant King Grass energy pellets by …

(EurekAlert!/University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)  Growing perennial grasses on the least productive farmland now used for corn ethanol production in the U.S. would result in higher overall corn yields, more ethanol output per acre and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Mendel CEO Neal Gutterson talks about miscanthus, and the role of the power sector as the driver of a global supply chain for biomass.
…The company’s IP lies in its understanding …

by Tim Sheehan (The Fresno Bee) Two plants aim for biofuels made without corn.
With corn prices up and demand rising, work is under way in the Valley to develop two biorefineries to make ethanol without …

(US Department of Agriculture)  Projects Further Obama Administration’s Effort to Produce Clean Home-Grown Energy, Create Sustainable Rural Jobs
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today the establishment of four additional Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) project areas …

(University of Massachusetts Amherst) Detecting the genetic mechanism for how certain strains of the energy crop model systemBrachypodium can produce more ethanol than others is the aim of a new five-year, $750,000 Early Career Research …

by Tom Vilsack (USDA/The Daily Mail)  …Last year, the United States produced more than 13 billion gallons of ethanol with the bulk of it coming from the Midwest. But Congress set a national goal of …

(Biofuels Center of North Carolina)  The Biofuels Center of North Carolina has awarded $1.6 million for 15 projects statewide to accelerate the commercialization of renewable liquid fuels. Awards are made through the 2011 Statewide Biofuels …

(ManufacturingChemist.com)   Researchers at Glyndwr University looking at the commercial potential of high-sugar perennial rye-grass as feedstock for the production of bio-ethanol and other chemicals will also consider the fibre’s potential for pharmaceutical applications.
High-sugar perennial …

by Adam Pinsker (MidlandsConnect.com)  A South Carolina State University professor is leading a team of engineers and economists on a three-year study into how to make biofuel cheaper.
Professor Jae-Dong Hong says one of the biggest …

(U.S. Department of Agriculture)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced research grants awarded to spur production of bioenergy and biobased products that will lead to the development of sustainable regional systems and help create jobs. …

by John Colson (The Citizen Telegram)  A new kind of economic development is being pursued in the West.
Area ranchers and farmers are being urged to grow grass that can be converted to a liquid “biofuel,” …

(Stanford University News)  Concerns about the impact of corn ethanol on global warming have raised interest in more eco-friendly perennial grasses. A new study finds that large-scale cultivation of perennials could actually reduce regional surface …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)   But this week in the little burgh of Boardman, Oregon (population 3,300), which happens to sit adjacent to the second-largest inland port in the western United States (the port …

By Elizabeth Lopatto (Bloomberg)  Switchgrass, the prairie plant that once fueled the buffalo herds of the American Great Plains, may one day fill automobile tanks in a bioengineered form that’s cheaper and yields more ethanol than …

(Viaspace/PRNewsWire)   High Per-Acre Productivity of Giant King Grass Promises 40% Reduction in Biofuel Feedstock Costs
VIASPACE Inc., and its subsidiary VIASPACE Green Energy Inc., reported results of recent independent testing of Giant King Grass as a feedstock …

by Vinod Khosla  (GreenTechMedia)  Imagination is in shortest supply when it comes to agronomic econometrics that extrapolate the past instead of inventing a new future.
Part II:  Feedstock. Feedstock cost, environmental impact and even its politics …

by Cheree Franco (Mississippi State Ag Communications)   On a January morning in Soperton, Ga., southeastern farmers mingled with investors and biomass experts to discuss Freedom Giant Miscathus–a towering grass that may be America’s most promising …

by Kelsey McNeeley and Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA/Lancaster Farming)  In 2002, Penn State University began using 20 percent (B20) biodiesel fuel on campus in the division of farm operations.  Because of their expertise in biodiesel, Penn …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Illinois, Chromatin announced the successful first demonstration that genes can be assembled, stacked, and expressed in sugarcane using the company’s mini-chromosome technology.
Now, what exactly is a gene stack and …

(EurekAlert/University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana)  Using detailed land analysis, Illinois researchers have found that biofuel crops cultivated on available land could produce up to half of the world’s current fuel consumption – without affecting food crops or …

by Tim Wall (Discovery News)  Picture the vibrant wildflowers and swaying grasses of prairies covering the Midwestern United States once again, teeming with wildlife and requiring very little management from people, yet providing a renewable …

(AP/The Ledger Independent)  A new program to explore the viability of biofuels is seeking to establish 700 acres of switchgrass fields and is offering financial assistance to Kentucky farmers.
The project follows another that began in 2007 …

by Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Miscanthus will see a giant leap in acreage in 2011, thanks to Soperton, Ga.-based Repreve Renewables LLC. The company currently has 500 acres planted in five locations in …

by Cary Blake (Western Farm Press)   A growing U.S. agricultural biomass industry can help meet the catapulting energy and fuel demands of a global population that the United Nations predicts could reach 9 billion by 2050.  “We …

(Science Blog)  In the minds of many, Miscanthus x giganteus is the forerunner in the race of viable feedstock options for lignocellulosic bioenergy production. But researchers believe “putting all their eggs in one basket” could be …

(BIOLYFE)  The BIOLYFE project aims at improving critical steps of the second generation bioethanol production process and at demonstrating the whole supply chain, from feedstock sourcing via fuel production to product utilisation. The main result will …

by Misty Maynard  (Maysville Ledger-Independent)  A multi-year pilot project researching the possibility of using switchgrass as a biofuel is drawing to an end, but a new program is seeking to establish 700 more acres of switchgrass …

(China Daily)  China’s bioethanol production will reach 10 million tons a year by 2020, resulting in a 10 percent drop in oil imports, according to COFCO group, China’s largest grain trader.
…COFCO, Novozymes and China Petroleum …

Experts from across the country will discuss the role of bioenergy crops for meeting renewable energy goals at the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry’s second annual symposium, Jan. 12, 2011.
The program, “Meeting Renewable Energy …

by Carl Holm  (ABC Science)  A team of Australian and Chinese scientists claims to have pioneered a method to decontaminate polluted land and provide an ecologically renewable energy resource in the process.
They say the secret lies …

by Laura MacInnis   (Reuters)  BP is focusing its biofuel efforts on Brazilian sugar cane and U.S. energy grasses, holding off on investments in the rest of the world for the moment, a senior executive of the …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel)  …The potential of miscanthus and switchgrass has been studied extensively by researchers Greg McIsaac, Mark B. David and Corey A. Mitchell…
The study focused on two important environmental concerns surrounding biomass: water …

(Piper Jaffray) …Energy crops are designed to use marginal land, or in the case of Brazil, extend the growing season. Sugarcane-ethanol facilities in Brazil typically run for 6-8 months due to the relatively long growing …

(US Department of Energy)  U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced September 8, 2010, the investment of up to $16.5 million for two major research and development (R&D) initiatives that will support the expansion of renewable transportation …

by Michael Stein (Maui Magazine)  Advocates say biofuels could save big agriculture in the Islands, and reduce Hawaii’s unsustainable dependence on imported oil. Are we willing to pay the price?
…But over the past decade, Maui …

(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 …