(PhysOrg) The drive to develop crops for use as biofuel, continues to raise questions about additional uses of forest land. A cutting edge computer model developed at North Carolina State University offers detailed insight to predict …

by Meg Cichon (Renewable Energy World)  The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources released a new set of strict standards for biomass in early May that have the potential to cut subsidies for developing plants. According …

by Denise Deveau (Financial Post)   {ISSUE} Soaring energy prices are thinning profit margins in the transport sector and increasing operational costs in many manufacturing industries
{SHIFT} Turning wood waste into bio-fuel helps industry find a …

by Paul Gottlieb  (Peninsula Daily News)  A state Department of Natural Resources study has concluded that 3 million tons of bone-dry wood slash and other wood waste — double the existing amount that’s extracted — …

(Metso)  A demonstration plant enables bio oil production from forest residue
Metso and Fortum Power and Heat have signed a contract regarding a delivery of a bio-oil production plant and a related automation system to the …

by Luke Geiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The Forest Guild has released its report, “Forest Biomass Retention and Harvesting Guidelines for the Southeast,” identifying how expanding markets for forest bioenergy can enhance forests, while meeting the …

by Francesco Guarascio and Barbara Lewis (Reuters)  The EU forestry and farming sectors will have to monitor and report from 2013 any changes to land use that could affect greenhouse gas emissions as part of the bloc’s …

by Jeff Matthews (The Town Talk)  …The forum, held at LSU AgCenter facilities adjacent to the Louisiana State University at Alexandria campus, drew about 125 people, a few more than last year.
“People are really interested …

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  Finland-based UPM recently announced plans to develop a biorefinery in Lappeenranta, Finland, to convert crude tall oil into renewable drop-in diesel biofuel. Construction on the 100,000 metric ton (30 million …

by Martin LaMonica (CNET)  For a new crop of biofuel companies, ethanol is out and “biogasoline” is in.
One of them is Primus Green Energy, which plans to open a demonstration plant by the end of the …

by S. Heather Duncan (Macon Telegraph)  Although the company that purchased a defunct ethanol refinery in Soperton has some of the same financial backers as previous owners who lost the plant to foreclosure, leaders of …

(CelluForce)  CelluForce officially inaugurated today the world’s first NanoCrystalline Cellulose (NCC) demonstration plant at the Domtar pulp and paper mill site in Windsor, Quebec.
Jean Moreau, President and CEO of CelluForce, was accompanied by the Canadian …

by John P. Hurley (Biomass Power and Thermal Magazine/U.S. Department of Energy, Energy & Environmental Research Center)  Minnesota’s forestry operations produce 300,000 tons per year of wood waste that is not used in any existing or …

by Anna Austin (Biomass Power and Thermal Magazine)  A recently released study authored by nine scientists from multiple organizations  and universities, including the U.S. Forest Service, may be poised to clear up some confusion. With …

(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe)  As a potential substitute for fossil fuels, wood energy can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. FAO’s programme on wood energy promotes sustainable wood energy systems as a contribution to sustainable forest management, livelihoods …

(Pangea/World of Bioenergy)   Social and environmental benefits of next-generation biofuels, mainly cellulosic ethanol, Algae fuels, Drop in fuels, and biobutanol, are fuelling its rapid growth momentum, says RNCOS.
According to our recent report, “Global Biofuel …

by Rich Christianson (Woodworking Network)  Sundrop Fuels Inc. has selected Rapides Parish, LA, as the site of its first gasification plant to produce gasoline from forest waste.
The company is purchasing about 1,200 acres of land …

(WLNS/AP)  Critics of a refinery planned for the Upper Peninsula have filed a second lawsuit against the project.
Larry Klein and the Sierra Club claim the U.S. Energy Department failed to follow federal environmental law when …

(BiofuelsChat.com)  An in-depth analysis of U.S. land use patterns released today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows total cropland decreased by 34 million acres from 2002 to 2007, the lowest level since USDA began …

(MarketWatch/Mascoma)  Fully-funded commercial-scale facility
Mascoma Corporation, a renewable fuels company, announced today that it has signed a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to assist in the design, construction and operation of a …

(Michigan Radio)  …A new advisory council is heavily weighted with voices from the timber industry, and there will be more emphasis on developing forest products to boost the state’s economy.
Governor Rick Snyder says there’s a …

(Environmental and Energy Study Institute)A number of new scientific studies have been released examining whether and how forests, forest management practices, forest products, and bioenergy from forests either contribute to or help mitigate climate change …

(Statoil)  For the first time ever bio-ethanol from Norwegian timber will be blended into transport fuel. The bio-ethanol is produced by the bio refinery Borregaard and will be available to Statoil customers who tank fuel95 …

(Energy Business Review)  Canada-based CORE BioFuel has tested the last step in its wood-to-gasoline process to produce high-octane, benzene-free, drop-in gasoline.
Under contract with CORE, RECAT Technologies completed a set of test runs of the catalytic …

by Luke Geiver (Biorefining Magazine)  Australia’s Sunshine Coast could be home to an energy park that combines solar energy and a biomass-to-energy process developed by Aquaflow Bionomic Corp. The future energy facility will hinge on …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  In the process of researching various feedstocks for their startup company clients, Golden, Colo.-based Hazen Research Inc. noticed a trend. Feedstocks are not all created equal—even if that feedstock …

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  The 2011 Southeast Biomass Conference & Tradeshow kicked off in Atlanta today. Nearly 325 professionals and 60 exhibitors are taking part in this year’s event, which has a strong regional …

by Amelia Templeton  (EarthFix)  In a study published today in Nature Climate Change, researchers at OSU suggest that efforts to thin Northwest forests to reduce the risk of wildfire and create biofuels could have an unintended consequence: …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Ramsbottom said that companies looking at international expansion generally ask themselves four questions before proceeding: is there a need?; is the local environment welcoming?; does the company have the time …

by Jeff Mulhollem and Chuck Gill (Penn State/Gant Daily)  A forest products researcher in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences is playing a role in a national effort to gauge the viability of a novel …

(University of Tennessee)  Center to coordinate woody biomass production and utilization studies
The Center for Renewable Carbon, a program of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, has been named by the USDA as a recipient …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)   ….But as it turns out, trees guard their precious C5 and C6 sugars, those necessary to produce cellulosic ethanol and biochemicals, with a nearly impenetrable system of natural …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Intrigued by cellulosic ethanol and a new product called MGT, in Mascoma’s IPO?
…Mascoma Corporation announced that it has filed an S-1 registration statement relating to a proposed $100 million initial …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  The government of Fiji is working to encourage investment in its local biofuel industry. According to information released by the country’s Ministry of Information this month, there are many opportunities …

by Karin Holzzknecht  (Center for International Forestry Research Forest Blog)  Assessing how biofuels affect forests and people’s livelihoods and how its production can be more sustainable has been made easier following the recent release of …

by Dick Carmical  (Forest Business Network)   …The technologies to make vehicle fuel from wood on a commercial scale remain unproven. The only bioenergy technologies that are proven, making wood pellets or burning wood to …

(US Department of Energy)  …More than 600 speakers, moderators, sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees were able to listen to discussions about the ongoing challenges and achievements in the bioenergy industry. Biomass 2011 addressed key issues in important …

by Ivan Castano (Renewable Energy World)  The firm will begin making the fuel with palm oil, animal fats and other residues at its recently expanded La Rabida plant in Huelva in July and will subsequently …

by David Ranii (News Observer)
The Research Triangle Regional Partnership is one of seven regional groups across the state selected by the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to identify sites suitable for a biofuels production facility.
The …

(25 x ’25)  The National 25x’25 Alliance released this morning a new National Wood-To-Energy Roadmap – A Guide for Developing Sustainable Woody Biomass Solutions. The report that shows how focused use of woody biomass can …

by Christopher Mims   (Grist)  Production of biofuel from palm oil has been an unmitigated disaster for the rainforest, leading to clear-cutting throughout Indonesia and propelling that country to the top ranks of the world’s …

(City of Edmonton, Enerkem, Alberta Innovates)    Plug-and-play pilot plant and lab to convert waste to biofuels and value-added chemicals
Edmonton is now home to one of the world’s most sophisticated waste-to-biofuels research facilities, thanks to a partnership between …

(Bloomberg)  Catchlight Energy LLC, a joint venture of Chevron Corp.  and Weyerhaeuser Co., will supply forest products that Kior Inc. will convert into biofuels.
The deal announced today expands an agreement made in April for Catchlight to purchase …

(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 …

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 …

by Garthia Elena Burnett (Commercial Dispatch)  FedEx is the latest company to sign an offtake agreement with Kior, a biofuels plant slated to begin production in Columbus in 2012. FedEx plans to use oil produced …

(CORE BioFuel)  CORE BioFuel Inc., a Canadian biofuel company that is  commercializing an advanced biomass to gasoline production process, today announced that it  has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a renewable energy project developer. The …

by Dan Piller (Des Moines Register)  Prototypes of the biofuels refinery of the future sit in a 19,000-square-foot complex on the Iowa State Research Farm west of Ames.
Two experimental plants, whose network of pipes and …

(Rentech)

Province of Ontario selects Rentech’s newly-announced Olympiad Project in the Township of White River for proposed supply of up to 1.1 million cubic metres/year of wood fibre to produce renewable RenJet®, a certified low-carbon jet …

Projects will help develop sustainable, renewable biofuels in the U.S.
As part of the Obama Administration’s comprehensive plan to address rising gas prices, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced …