(Tallahassee.com)  Having spent some time on the ground in Tallahassee and talking with several legislators over the past few years, it is clear the ethanol program the state has developed is not understood and certainly …

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 …

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association)  Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, penned the following letter in response to a recent Palm Beach Post ethanol editorial.
Some say “where there is smoke, there is …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)
Last week the biofuel industry took a hit when Florida voted to repeal its Renewable Fuel Standard, HB4001, that required fuel retailers to blend ethanol into their gasoline. The charge against ethanol was led …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Tim Engstrom reports in Gannett’s news-press.com that a bill to repeal Florida’s Renewable Fuel Standard passed in the current legislative session and sent to Gov. Rick Scott for signing is putting Algenol’s …

(NorthEscambia.com)  Sen. Greg Evers is applauding the passage of his bill that allows Florida consumers to choose gas that is ethanol free.
…The bill passage prompted a joint statement from a joint statement, Bob Dinneen, President …

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 …

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 …

(Business Wire/Florida Biofuels and Bioenergy Association)  $1 Billion in Investment At Risk
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the Florida Legislature will consider HB4001, which repeals the Renewable Fuels Standard set in 2008. With a federal mandate for 10 percent ethanol …

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 Bruce Ritchie  (The Florida Current)  A Senate bill that would repeal the 2008 requirement that gasoline in Florida contain about 10 percent ethanol was rewritten on Tuesday to remove the repeal.
Bill supporters say the law …

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 …

(Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute/PR NewsWire)  The $100K ACC Clean Energy Challenge, a business plan competition supported by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) encouraging students from universities in the southeastern United …

by Jim Lane (BioBased Digest)  In Florida, BioNitrogen Corp. announced that it has signed a supply agreement with United Suppliers, Inc. for the offtake of urea fertilizer for its planned plants in Pointe Coupee Parish, …

(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 …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  A bill has been introduced in the Florida legislature that would repeal the state’s Renewable Fuel Standard Act.
Currently, the Florida law requires that all gasoline sold or offered for sale by a terminal …

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 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, the Cleantech Open, which has helped startups raise $800 million for over 700 alumni since its inception in 2006, announced that it is expanding to South Florida to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Algae pioneer now at 50% above original productivity target — aims to complete demo in 2013, head for commercial-scale in 2014.
In Florida, Algenol confirmed that the company had exceeded production …

by Brad Krohn (Biofuels Digest/United States EnviroFuels, LLC)   Big Oil’s best kept secret from the American consumer is Brazil’s fuel ethanol mandate, which started during the 1970s as a result of the OPEC oil …

by Jeff Lytle (NaplesNews.com)  …Paul Woods, founder and CEO of Algenol Biofuels, which is making ethanol from algae and is about to go into major production, said global giant Reliance Industries Limited has put up …

by Jeremy Martin and Jim Collins (Politico) The fuels of the future are here today, and we can thank Congress for enacting the Renewable Fuel Standard. This bedrock policy has brought us to the point where …

by Bruce Dorminey (Renewable Energy World)  By taking full advantage of both its natural subtropical climate and its own citrus resources, Florida’s fledgling biomass energy sector looks to be finally coming into its own.

Two recent initiatives …

by Joann Muller (Forbes)  When the grueling 2013 Rolex 24 endurance race kicks off at Daytona International Speedway on Jan. 26, the field will include three Mazda6 race cars powered by an unusual type of renewable fuel.
The ultra-clean, synthetic …

by Carrie Napoleon (Chicago SunTimes/Post-Tribune)  Until the first commercial trash-to-ethanol plant in Vero Beach, Fla., is up and running, plans by a local construction consortium to take over a similar project here are in a …

by Troy Kinsey (BayNews9.com)  …Republican representative Matt Gaetz is filing a bill to do away with Florida’s ethanol mandate.
…“It’s not the final solution to our energy needs, but it certainly can supplement our energy needs.  …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  A long war of opinion has been waged for years between advanced biofuels’ detractors and supporters.  Mirage or reality? Completion of 6 key projects 2012 decided much of the debate. …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  What do people in the Southeast think about biofuels? Do they support biofuel ventures? Who will grow the biomass? Will those in established industries fight against it? These are just a …

by Randal Yakey (The News Herald)   … Popular Science magazine has named Applied Research Associates and their partners among the 25 science stories of the year for their research work with biofuels.
On Oct. 29, …

by Roy Robertson (Southeast Farm Press)  • Steve Kresovich is part of a team of USC researchers looking for crops that can be adapted to less productive and often under-utilized South Carolina soils.
• The end …

(Renewable Fuels Association)  The Advanced Ethanol Council this morning released a report giving a snapshot of cellulosic ethanol producers in the U.S. and around the world. A look at facilities owned by companies such as …

by Andrew Herndon  (Bloomberg/Renewable Energy World)  Cellulosic biofuel companies will boost production almost 20-fold in 2013 as the first high-volume refineries go into operation, signaling a shift from an experimental fuel into a commercially viable …

(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)  Next-gen renewable oils producer achieves first linear scale-up to 500,000 liter fermenters — clears path for large commercial production volumes.
…To date, no next-generation producer had successfully achieved linear scale-up in …

(Genuine Bio-Fuel Inc./Biodiesel Magazine)  Florida-based restaurants have been flocking to Genuine Bio-Fuel Inc.’s Oil-to-Fuel Program. GBF recently celebrated signing on board its 1000th member, making the recycled used cooking oil for cash program a huge …

by Laura Layden (NaplesNews.com)  …Now he’s (Christian Colarusso) challenged, with the new biodiesel plant revving up a few weeks ago. The multimillion-dollar plant is owned and operated by FL Biofuels LLC, a start-up that now has …

by Matthew L. Wald (New York Times)  For years, scientists and engineers have been juggling various combinations of acids, steam, bacteria, catalysts and the digestive juices of microorganisms to convert agricultural waste and even household …

by Marc Chase (Northwest Indiana Times)  …The board voted at the beginning of the year to find Powers Energy in breach of contract for failing to deliver on its promise to secure land and financing …

by Brent Erickson (BIO/Biofuels Digest)  For the advanced biofuels industry, the 2012 election turned on Senate races.
…The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has jurisdiction over the RFS.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will remain Chairwoman, but …

by Gerard Wynn (Reuters)  BP’s decision to scrap plans for a U.S. cellulosic ethanol refinery is a setback for second generation biofuels and opens the door to alternatives including Brazilian sugar ethanol, biodiesel and electric …

by Tim Portz (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  At 22 years of age, fifth-generation cattle rancher and citrus grower Adam Putnam was elected to the Florida House of Representatives and was later appointed chairman of that body’s …

(Honeywell/MarketWatch/PR NewsWire)  Five aircraft fly together for the first time using renewable jet fuel to National Business Aviation Association convention
UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced today that Honeywell Green Jet Fuel(TM) produced using Honeywell’s UOP Renewable …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, BP announced it is canceling plans to build a 36 million gallon commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Highlands County. The company said that it would refocus its US …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Today, we’ll look at the bigger balance sheets to see who is investing what, and when, with whom, and why.
…We’ve also focused here, for the sake of brevity, on those …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  There are two ethanol-related firsts at the new Tampa Gateway Rail terminal in Florida. The Port of Tampa now has the nation’s first ethanol unit train-to-refined productions pipeline and …

by Bernadette Tansey (Xconomy)  The South San Francisco company LS9 recently produced five tons of industrial chemicals from plant sugars at a Florida demonstration facility, a step toward proving that its genetically engineered microbes can manufacture carbon …

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 Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)   A drought tolerant grass known as elephant grass or napiergrass that is fed to cattle in the tropics is being studied as a possible cellulosic ethanol feedstock in …

(WinkNews)  …The motors started running bright and early at 6:00 Saturday morning at FL Biofuels. The facility, which is located next to the State Farmer’s Market on Edison Ave, will turn vegetable oil into Diesel.
The …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The story goes back some time, at least to the formation of Cargill Dow – now NatureWorks – a joint venture which Dow eventually left to Cargill as Dow’s views …

by Randal Yakey (The News Herald)   Steve Baxley, the senior engineer at Applied Research Associates (ARA), stood Monday among jars of fluids, beakers and equipment, holding a tiny amount of seeds in the palm …

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 Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The next five years—the often scoffed mantra of cellulosic ethanol developers—is getting whittled down to the next year or two. A milestone was reached this year when Blue Sugars …

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 Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) It’s a year of low congressional approval and not much congressional action. But every election is an important one, and there’s lots of unfinished business from this past cycle. Here are …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Jobs, global expansion, proteins vs fuels, new R&D funding – all the big issues are under debate both on and off the floor at the Algae Biomass Summit.
…Jobs   Dr. John …

by Jamal Thalji (Tampa Bay Times)  The transformation of the Port of Tampa will start on land.
The port is nearing completion of the $11 million Tampa Gateway Rail Terminal, a 2-mile rail loop that will speed …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Algenol hits 7000 gallon per acre mark in field operations. What’s the impact for Algenol, for energy independence, for the cost of transport fuel?
…Algenol CEO Paul Woods revealed that the …

(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 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 …

by Paul Brinkman (South Florida Business Journal)  Officials at LS9, a new biofuel plant in Okeechobee, said Monday it completed its first production run of fatty alcohols, which are used in detergents.
The San Francisco-based company …

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 …

by Matthew Aylott (National Non-Food Crops Centre)   NNFCC gives its top ten of Britain’s most progressive biofuel and biochemical companies.
TMO Renewables …
Green Biologics …
British Airways …
Ensus …
BP …
Johnson Matthey …
Croda …
INEOS Bio …
Harvest Energy …
Greenergy … …

(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 Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  …Talk of a possible renewable fuel standard (RFS) waiver request became a reality in mid-August, when the U.S. EPA was officially petitioned. The clock starts on a 90-day deadline …

(Sunshine State News)  Picture a fuel that doesn’t come from the Middle East, costs as much as six times less to produce than corn ethanol and could actuallyhelp the environment.
That’s ethanol from sugarcane, which grows like weeds in …

(Genuine Bio-Fuel/Biodiesel Magazine)  Genuine Bio-Fuel Inc., headquartered in Indiantown, Fla., expands its operations to Lincoln Park, N.J., with the build-out of a state-of-the-art biodiesel refinery at the Lincoln Park Airport, while creating15 to 30 new …

(Texas AgriLife)  BP Biofuels and Texas AgriLife Research, part of The Texas A&M University System, have signed a three-year agreement to develop and commercialize cellulosic feedstocks for the production of advanced biofuels.
The collaboration will utilize …

by Weiner and George Clingan (Miami Herald)  As the world watches the 2012 London Olympics, the United States ought to brace for a looming embarrassment at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Unless we act …

(PRNewswire) Eco Ventures Group, Inc., an emerging producer of diversified, sustainable alternative energy, today announced that both Lake County and the City of Groveland, Florida have awarded the Company biofuel fabrication, manufacturing and sales permits.
Along with the County’s permits, …

(INEOS Bio)  Florida project is first large-scale facility to receive registrations for the production of advanced cellulosic biofuels from non-food vegetative waste materials

INEOS Bio announced that its joint venture project in Florida has been granted Parts …

(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 …

by David Pruitt   (The Alestle)  On July 16 and 17, John Caupert, director of SIUE’s National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center, met with USDA officials about a new process the NCERC has discovered to use corn …

(Platts)  Construction of Ineos’ $130 million biorefinery joint venture project in the US has been completed, with production expected to begin in the second half of 2012, said Peter Williams, CEO of Ineos Bio, the …

(PR Web)  Mason & Morse Farmland Group Partners with TerViva Regarding Pongamia Projects
A California company has come up with a compelling twist on farmland investing for private clients and institutional investors focusing on real assets. …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  …Specifically, the bill provides a sales tax refund for materials used in the distribution of blends of B10 through neat B100, ethanol blends of E10-E100, and other renewable fuels produced …

by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, Dyadic International unveiled its latest biofuels enzyme advancement, AlternaFuel CMAX3. This next generation product enables the production of cellulosic biofuels and bio-based chemicals from a wide range of renewable …

by Meghan Schiller (Medill News Service/Wall Street Journal)  The head of BP’s alternative-energy business on Tuesday said biofuel and wind are the stars of the field as the firm ramps up its presence.
Katrina Landis, CEO …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Out of 430 Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) awards announced by the USDA June 25, four were for blender pumps or flex fuel pumps. In all, projects in …

by John Davis (DomesticFuel.com)  Getting out the facts about ethanol is what the Renewable Fuels Association is all about. That’s why the RFA is partnering with car-talk host Bobby Likis to extend their ethanol educational …

by Mark Harden (BizJournals.com/Denver Business Journal)  The U.S. Air Force has flown the first successful test flight using a type of biofuel provided by Colorado’s Gevo Inc.
The single-seat, twin-engine Air Force A-10 Thunder Bolt jet …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  This edition of “The Ethanol Report” features comments from Bobby Likis of the Bobby Likis Car Clinic Network, a radio, television and internet distributed automotive talk show that recently partnered with the Renewable …

(BioTork)  Harnessing the Power of Adaptive Evolution to Further Improve the Efficiency of Metabolic Engineering
BioTork announces collaboration with BASF to optimize certain microbial strains for the industrial production of bio-based polymers and green chemicals. After six …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  One of biofuels’ hottest companies transitions from research phase to operating phase with opening of demo plant in Okeechobee – what’s next, and where?
…The opening of that fermenter column is …

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 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)  What’s up? What’s next? New pathways, plus country-by-country yield data.
Sorghum. It’s a feedstock right out the pages of the old South –  sorghum syrup served with corn bread and Lowcountry …

(Parabel (formerly PetroAlgae)) Parabel, Inc.  new, economical sources of feed, food, and fuel, today announced that it has finalized a restated Master Framework Agreement with CECEP – Chongqing Industry Co., Ltd. (An absolute holding subsidiary of China …

(Ceres)  • Pilot project validates U.S.-produced sweet sorghum as a potential feedstock for advanced biofuels and bio-products.
• Conversion efficiency of sweet sorghum sugars were similar to sugarcane.
Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERE) today announced …

(University of Florida)  A University of Florida-led research team has been selected to participate in a five-year, $125 million energy project involving the United States and India, U.S. Department of Energy officials have announced.
Known as the …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Guido Ghisolfi is a confident man. A chemical engineer by trade, at 55, he’s already spent three decades leading research and development (R&D) activities at Italy-based Mossi & Ghisolfi …

by Vicky Boyd (The Grower)  Growing a biofuels crop on old citrus ground or rotating it with vegetables just doesn’t pencil out, even with today’s high fuel prices.
But add in a legume cover crop and …

by Jim Saunders (The News Service of Florida/Orlando Sentinel)  Gov. Rick Scott late Friday disregarded pressure from tea party and conservative groups and a controversial measure including tax breaks for renewable-energy production to become law without his signature.
Scott’s decision …

by Doreen Hemlock (SunSentinel)  …A $4 million biodiesel plant is now being built, the largest to serve the tri-county area. The South Florida plant will convert waste cooking oil from suppliers such as restaurants at Miami International Airport to …

(OPISNet.com)  It’s been a long time coming, but ethanol now dominates the U.S. gasoline blending landscape. The number of wholesale terminals supplying only conventional clear gasoline for truck loadings has trimmed down to just nine …

By Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  At the March 21 Bioenergy Day on Capitol Hill, discussion focused on the need for a continued Renewable Fuels Standard, reviews of the history of biofuels, assessment of current …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  BP to showcase capabilities in low-carbon fuels at 2012 London Olympics. BP Biofuels chief Phil New outlines the BP’s path towards “getting biofuels right”.
“6 percent of the entire BP workforce …

by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA)  The future arrived yesterday (March 15, 2012) at about 1:00 pm EDT. It arrived in Sebring, Florida.
It came shrouded in a black tarp. By the time it drove away, …

by Laura Layden (Naples News)  State concerns with a Southwest Florida company’s plans to make ethanol from algae may have stalled the business’s expansion.
Tucked inside an energy bill the Legislature approved in the final hours …

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 …