(Washington University/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Through the International Experience Program at Washington University in St. Louis, undergraduate students gain real-life and classroom experiences focusing on the difficult energy decisions countries must make.
This unique program takes students …

by Brian Wallheimer (Purdue University)  If Purdue University researchers have their way, the term “biofuel plant” will take on a whole new meaning.
A team received a $5.2 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to develop a …

(Oregon State University)  Diatoms, tiny marine life forms that have been around since the dinosaurs, could finally make biofuel production from algae truly cost-effective – because they can simultaneously produce other valuable products such as …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Seventeen-year-old Sara Volz, of Colorado Springs, CO, has been awarded a $50,000 scholarship for her science project, “Enhancing Algae Biofuels: Investigation of the Environmental and Enzymatic Factors Effecting Algal Lipid Synthesis.” Her …

(Phys.Org)  Putting the water-use-efficient and turbo-charged photosynthesis from plants such as agave into woody biomass plants such as poplar can hedge against predicted long-term increases in temperatures and reduced precipitation. It can also provide dedicated …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Jon Strunk reports that over the last two months, University of Toledo (UT) researchers have won $4 million in nationally competitive awards from the federal government to explore ways society can benefit …

by Luke Geiver (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A team of researchers will spend the next five years assessing the social, economic and ecological impacts of bioenergy projects happening in Michigan, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Led by …

by Patrick O’Grady  (Phoenix Business Journal)  Arizona State University will lead a consortium of public and private groups on a $15 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy that will examine test beds for algae research.
The grant, …

(MentorWorks)  Due to a decrease in emerging technologies there is a great barrier to market entry for many Canadian entrepreneurs, especially innovators that develop sustainable technologies. The NextGen Biofuels Fund program incorporates the same fundamental principles as …

by Brian Benson (Metro West Daily News)  Service plazas along Interstate 90 in Westborough and Charlton now feature the first E85 Flex Fueling stations on the Massachusetts Turnpike, the state Department of Transportation announced….
Transportation Secretary and …

Martin Lamonica  (MIT Technology Review)  Sapphire Energy has started operation of its demonstration-scale algae farm, a project which perhaps brings more clarity to an industry debate over the best way to grow algae.
The San Diego-based …

by Michael Sheffield (Memphis Business Journal)  Infinite Enzymes LLC has received a $450,000 Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to advance its enzyme development technology.
This is the second Small Business …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Mark Keenan writes in The Independent that within 15 years, Irish drivers will be filling up their vehicles with biofuel made from Irish grown algae. The projection comes from Julie Maguire, of …

(National Science Foundation)  The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced 15 Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation (EFRI) grants for fiscal year 2012, awarding nearly $30 million to 68 investigators at 26 institutions.
During the next …

by Jennifer Donovan  (Michigan Tech News)  Is it possible to develop and produce biofuels in a sustainable way, without harming people or the environment?  What policies need to be put in place to help that happen?
Nearly …

(My Monticello News)  The study of microscopic algae may seem to have little practical application to those unfamiliar with the science, but a current project being conducted by two University of Arkansas at Monticello scientists …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Like many states (or countries) that have limited oil reserves or reserves that are economically unfeasible to extract at this time – the path to energy independence lies generally in …

(US Department of Agriculture)   USDA announces the availability of grants through the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) program for Fiscal Year 2012. Approximately $14 million in competitive grant funds for FY 2012 is available to …

by Amir Kurtovic (St. Louis Business Journal)  …A team of University of Missouri researchers has won a $5.4 million grant to study alternative biofuels that do not impact the already strained food supply.
…Shibu Jose and his …

(Waste Management World)  The agricultural industry in British Columbia, Canada is set to benefit from an investment in two waste to energy and biofuel projects under the Canada-B.C. Agri-Innovation Program.
According to the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, an …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Fewer people know that natural gas is a platform for producing ethanol – either through fermentation or catalytic conversion (typically via methanol) – and drop-in fuels using the methanol-to-gasoline method …

by Ian C. Campbell (The Oregonian) …A new $6 million federal grant to develop jet fuel and clean diesel from grass and sugarcane could help. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture money to researchers at Oregon State University, the …

by Cornell University (R&D Mag)  The commercialization of shrub willow as a bioenergy crop could be years closer, thanks to a $1.37 million grant that will allow Cornell researchers to take advantage of the newly …

(University of York) Scientists at the University of York are leading a major new EU-backed network that is exploring ways of using waste as an alternative carbon source, employing green and sustainable chemical technologies.
York’s Green …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Touchstone Research Laboratory, of Triadelphia, WV is scaling up its Department of Energy (DOE)-funded project to produce fuels and other high-value, bio-based products from algae. The laboratory is working with DOE’s National …

(US Department of Agriculture)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced payments for 125 advanced Biofuel producers across the country to support the production and expansion of advanced biofuels from a wide variety of non-food sources, …

The race to create a better, less controversial biofuel has spawned plenty of research into a variety of potential new sources – including switchgrass, cornstalks and algae.
One goal behind the next generation of ethanol fuel …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Here we are, some 30+ years into the era of genetic modification of crops. The primary breadbasket of the world, the United States, is experiencing its most severe drought conditions …

by Ysabel Yates (Renewable Energy World)  …For the next two years, Rolf Reitz and his team will be developing a model to work out the right mix of biofuel for the Navy’s fleet. Reitz’s work is critical …

(PRWeb)  Yulex Corporation, as part of a consortium headed by Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded the company and its consortium partners a $6.9 million grant. …

(US Department of Energy)  The intent of this FOA is to identify, evaluate, and select innovative pilot- or demonstration-scale integrated biorefineries that can produce hydrocarbon fuels that meet military specifications for JP-5 (jet fuel primarily …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As bio-based companies race across the Valley of Death, in the dash for scale, who’s getting financing now, and how?
The path to financing success in bio-based project development used to …

(University of Wisconsin-Madison)  With the help of a $2 million grant from the U.S. Office of Naval Research, mechanical engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison will develop a tool to characterize the performance of a …

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 …

(The Bioenergy Site)  US-based Protabit, an off-shoot from the California Institute of Technology, has been awarded a Small Business Innovative Research grant (phase one) for engineering cellulose enzymes.
The computational protein software platform designers will use …

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 …

(Solazyme)   Solazyme, Inc., a renewable oil and bioproducts company, announced today the successful commissioning of its first fully integrated biorefinery (IBR) in Peoria, Illinois, to produce algal oil. Solazyme has been running routine fermentations at …

by Mauricio Espinoza (Ohio State University/North Texas d-News) Ohio State University’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) will play a key role in the engineering of a novel plant-based fuel, funded by a $5.7 million grant …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The Obama Administration has laid out an integrated strategy for commercializing advanced biofuels, with a focus in this phase on military advanced biofuels at cost-competitive prices with conventional fuels.
The vehicle …

Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Alberta is looking for a few good renewable energy projects promising greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. The Climate Change and Emissions Management Corp. issued its call for proposals to qualify for …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  n Washington, the DOE released details of a long-awaited funding opportunity announcement for advanced biofuels for aviation and military applications, titled “Innovative Pilot and demonstration-scale production of advanced biofuels.”
According to …

(Observer-Dispatch)  The U.S. Department of Agriculture will invest $4.3 million to ReEnergy and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry to encourage growth of shrub willow as a renewable energy fuel, according to a news …

(Chemtex International/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Chemtex International announced today (June 13, 2012) that it has been selected by the USDA to participate in the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. The $3,996,000 award will support establishing and growing over 4,000 acres …

by Feoshia Henderson  (SoapboxMedia)  Fueled by a US EPA grant, University of Cincinnati faculty and students are leading an effort to transform cooking grease into biodiesel on a regional scale.
This project is a collaboration among UC, the …

by Jim Kinney (Gazette)   A company that runs recycling centers all over the country has researchers in UMass’ biofuels program thinking trash can to gas can.
ReCommunity Recycling has committed $635,000 to the Institute for Massachusetts …

by Jill Sakai and Renee Meiller (University of Wisconsin-Madison)  A young generation of researchers are seeking biofuels in some unlikely sounding places: toxic algae blooms and cow stomachs.
Two University of Wisconsin-Madison professors are drawing on …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The Biomass Program has recently developed Critical Technology Goals (CTG) related to a) converting biomass into processable sugars or other fractionation products and b) upgrading those processable sugars or biomass fractions …

(Pacific Business News)  The University of Hawaii’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources will receive a $6 million federal grant to continue its work to convert grass and other biomass into biofuel.
The college will …

(CSP Daily News)  Installs ethanol blender pumps across southcentral Wisconsin
United Cooperative has been selected to receive a $448,500 Rural Energy for America Program grant to assist with the installation of 36 ethanol flex-fuel blender pumps …

by Christopher Doering  (Des Moines Register)  The U.S. Energy Department said on Tuesday (May 8, 2012) it will make $5 million available in 2012 to expand the use of alternative fuel vehicles, including electric models.
The Energy …

(JoyOnline)  Human waste could soon be a precious commodity in Kumasi and other parts of the country with an ongoing solution to transform fecal sludge treatment into a profit-making venture.
Waste Enterprisers Limited, a sanitation and …

(Beaver Dam Daily Citizen)  United Cooperative was selected to receive a $448,500 Rural Energy for America Program grant to assist with the installation of 36 ethanol flex-fuel blender pumps and seven biodiesel dispensers at 11 …

(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 …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  As part of President Obama’s blueprint for an economy fueled by homegrown and alternative energy sources, the Energy Department announced today up to $15 million available to demonstrate biomass-based oil supplements …

The Energy Department announced up to $2.5 million available this year for applied research to advance clean biomass cookstove technologies for use in developing countries. The funding will support the development of innovative cookstove designs …

(Trillium FiberFuels Inc./Biorefining Magazine)  A team of scientists from Trillium FiberFuels and Oregon State University has been awarded a Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the U.S. DOE to further develop innovative enzymes that could …

(Biofuels Digest)  In Virginia, the NSF is calling for proposals for biological and chemical technologies, with a deadline of June 19, 2012.  The proposals must deal with the potential for commercialization of the innovation and how …

(UPI)   The U.S. Energy Department said up to $15 million is available to help support nearly a dozen so-called bio-oil projects targeted for the transportation sector.
…The Energy Department said the so-called bio-oil precursors could find …

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 Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Just two months after launching its latest blender pump grant program, South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard announced that the governor’s office of economic development (GOED) has already received applications …

(US Department of Agriculture)  Research to advance next generation biofuels and renewable energy technologies
Today, as President Obama went to Ohio State University to discuss the Administration’s all-out, all-of-the-above strategy for American energy, the White House …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  The Government of Saskatchewan has announced it will provide up to $1.7 million to Milligan Bio-Tech Inc. under the Saskatchewan Biofuels Investment Opportunity (SaskBIO) program. The program provides repayable contributions …

(PR.com)  Request for Expression of Interest
Promotion of Ethanol Microdistillery for Cooking Fuel in Ethiopia
Loan No. /Credit No./ Grant No.: TF096664
Activity Title: Demonstrating the Feasibility of Ethanol for Household Cooking
The Gaia Association, an Ethiopian non-governmental and …

(ClickGreen) Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney has today announced funding to increase the energy and low carbon support available to Scottish companies.
The Scottish Government has awarded £3.4 million of European Regional Development Funding to six projects …

(The Fish Site)  The Centre for Aquaculture and Seafood Development will establish a demonstration bio-refinery that will convert fish oils into biodiesel with support from the Provincial Government.
Darin King, Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, announced …

(Algae Industry Magazine) Alganomics, LLC, the Southport, North Carolina-based producer of algae for biomass, has installed a photovoltaic solar system to offset energy used during the process of culturing algae for biofuel. With the aim …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In Washington, the Obama Administration outlined a new $14 million round of R&D grants for algal biofuels, as the US President highlighted algal biofuels in a speech at the University of Miami …

(Australia Department of Energy, Resources and Tourism)  The Australian Government committed $20 million to a new Australian Biofuels Research Institute to undertake research into next generation advanced biofuels in Australia.
On 10 May 2011, the Minister for Resources and …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  President Obama has announced new funding to catalyze breakthrough technologies for biofuels—as part of his all-of-the-above energy strategy to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and provide American families new choices for …

by Richard Kessler  (RechargeNews.com)  The Energy Department (DOE) expects to award up to $150m in its latest funding round to support high-risk transformational concepts and technologies that can reduce US dependence on fossil fuels and …

(US Department of Agriculture)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the availability of funds for Fiscal Year 2012 for two key programs to encourage the use of renewable biomass and production of advanced biofuels. About …

(Cyprus Mail)  A consortium comprising 12 organisations from Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Malta, Lebanon and Egypt has been established to study the production of biodiesel from algae in selected Mediterranean countries.
The consortium is coordinated by the …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  The United Soybean Board recently announced it plans to deliver funds through its Green Ribbon Fairs reimbursement program encouraging fairs across the country to promote the use of soy-based products, …

by Anna Austin (Biomass Power and Thermal Magazine)  The USDA announced Jan. 20 a Notice of Funding Availability for its Rural Energy for America Program, and is inviting agricultural producers and rural small businesses to …

This webinar will highlight opportunities for financing biomass projects from a variety of different sources such as government programs, hybrid financial mechanisms, offshore funding and the US capital markets.  Topics include the status of government …

by Emily Chad and Todd Taylor (Biomass Power and Thermal Magazine)  A veritable alphabet soup of government funding programs exist that can help you get your project off the ground. These programs include:
• USDA Biorefinery …

(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 Jacob Barker (Columbia Tribune)  Despite large cuts to the federal program supporting it and concerns from some groups about environmental impacts, a project to begin growing a giant perennial grass to serve as a …

by Jolene Stevens  (Le Mars Daily Sentinel)  A”great marketing tool” is how Carl Nelson, of the Marcus Junction board, describes the new flexible fuel blending pump he says is expected to be installed at the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In North Carolina, Applied Combustion Technologies announced the completion of a DOE grant to build and test a prototype crude glycerol burner. The 20 kW burner utilizes a novel spray atomization, …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  By the end of January, Atlantic BioEnergy Corp. expects to be producing ethanol at its new $6.2 million demonstration plant in Cornwall, Prince Edward Island. The 79,000 gallon a …

by Tim Hoskins  (Iowa Farmer Today)  Blender gas pumps are viewed as one way to increase ethanol sales and allow for a transition to higher ethanol-blended gasoline.
A blender pump is connected to two fuel tanks, …

by Cole Gustafson, Thein Maung and David Ripplinger (North Dakota State University/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  NDSU quantifies the cost and time involved in corn stover collection
…The research team at  North Dakota State University in Fargo recently …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Despite the promise of methane from anaerobic digestion technology, low natural gas rates and other factors have kept ethanol producers from jumping in with both feet.
…On top of the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Georgia, the University of Georgia has teamed with the University of Puerto Rico to develop a new R&D center that will focus on algae-based biofuels thanks to a $4 million grant …

(US Department of Agriculture)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today (December 14, 2011) announced loans and grants for agricultural producers and rural small businesses across the country to implement renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in …

by Ann Marie Edwards (DomesticFuel.com)  South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard says $950,000 in grants will be made available through the Governor’s Office of Economic Development to help pay for the installation of blender pumps and associated infrastructure …

(Natural Resources Canada)  Canada strengthened its position as a clean energy superpower today with a Government of Canada investment that will support the production of biodiesel, sustain job creation and help stimulate the economy. Jim …

by Ross Courtney (The Seattle Times/Yakima Herald-Republic)  …”You get down to it, it’s dirty work,” said Steve Fransen, a research agronomist at the Washington State University Irrigated Agriculture Research and Extension Center.
He means research, not …

by Kevin Bullis (MIT Technology Review)  This month, Range Fuels, one of the first companies in a wave of startups that promised cheap biofuels made from sources such as wood chips rather than corn, shut …

(US Department of Transportation)  U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today (November 17, 2011) announced that 46 innovative transit projects chosen for their capacity to help cut the nation’s dependence on oil and create a marketplace …

(Red Orbit)  The carbon footprint of humans will be reduced by four awards for plant and microbial research issued under a new joint U.S./Japanese program
Four joint United States and Japanese research teams have been awarded …

(PressZoom/Iowa State University)   An Iowa State University research team is collaborating with scientists at the Samuel Roberts Nobel Foundation and also with scientists in Japan to develop an international partnership to help make strides …

by Carol D. Leonnig and Joe Stephens (The WashingtonPost) The Obama administration has poured roughly $5 billion in taxpayer funds into the electric-car industry, offering incentives to manufacturers, their suppliers and even car buyers who might want …

by John Daly (OilPrice.com)  Biofuel sources currently under development include algae, jatropha and camelina. Of the three, camelina is increasingly emerging as the frontrunner in attracting initial investment worldwide, as global demand for aviation fuel …

by Kari Williamson  (Renewable Energy Focus)  FuturaGene has received a US$2.1 million grant from the Brazilian Government to advance its bioenergy technology development programme in Brazil.
The grant obtained by FuturaGene’s parent company, Suzano Papel e …

(Federal Aviation Administration)  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is awarding $7.7 million in contracts to eight companies to help advance alternative, environmentally-friendly, sustainable sources for commercial jet fuel.  The FAA funds are being distributed by …

by Margaret Munro (PostMedia News/Canada.com)  …The faster the organisms suck up carbon dioxide, the better, as John McDougall, president of the National Research Council, envisions big things for the lowly microbes.McDougall is a long-time and …

by Susan Randall (Maricopa Monitor)  Central Arizona College’s renewable energy technology program hopes to put 400 people to work — 140 of them in one of the fastest growing industries in Arizona.
The program, funded by …

by Dan Voorhis (The Wichita Eagle)   …The Kansas Alliance for BioRefining and BioEnergy was created in 2009 and was originally funded by the Kansas BioScience Authority to help commercialize research and technology that turns …