Advanced BioFuels USA

Low Hanging Fruit on the Climate Change Tree: Renewable Fuels in Gas and Diesel Engines

(Diesel Technology Forum) As more governors look to California for leadership on climate change, they should look to what’s working in California…and it doesn’t have to do with electric cars, but with use of low-carbon renewable biofuels in internal combustion engines. — According to @CalEnergy 10x as much C02 has been eliminated since 2011 from the use of biodiesel, renewable diesel fuel and ethanol than from the fleet of about 600,000 all-electric cars.

Newly elected governors are turning to California for climate leadership, through the U.S. Climate Alliance and its growing list of governors that remain committed to abide by the spirit of the Paris Climate Accord. Almost half of all states are now members actively considering initiatives to reign in carbon emissions, mostly from stationary sources like power generation and building energy efficiency, but its transportation sources where California’s experience shows a way ahead.

California’s almost decade-long effort to promote zero-emissions cars and trucks gets all the headlines but the biggest contributor to progress in reducing California’s transportation-related greenhouse gas emission reductions has very little to do with a shift to electric cars and very much to do with internal combustion engines and the fuels they use.

Reducing the carbon content of transportation fuels – gasoline and diesel – has paid off handsomely. Policies California adopted almost a decade ago gradually reduce the carbon content of transportation fuels. This includes efforts to promote all-electric cars and buses but also efforts to use biofuels like biodiesel, renewable diesel fuel and ethanol. According to the California Energy Commission that keeps tabs on the progress of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, greenhouse gas emission reductions from internal combustion engines, operating on blends of biofuels, have been exponentially more than the cumulative benefits all-electric cars and buses.

CO2 Reductions

According to the California Energy Commission, ten times as much C02 has been eliminated since 2011 from the use of biodiesel, renewable diesel fuel and ethanol than from the fleet of about 600,000 all-electric cars. The benefits of these biofuels show that an “all hands on deck” approach is one that is working for California and can work for other states. All-electric technologies can reduce emissions, and in Califronia they have reduce almost 3 million tons since 2011. Biofuels are also having an enormous benefit as measured by emission reductions. Policies that exclude benefits of biofuels are leaving millions of greenhouse gas emissions on the table.

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These fuels can be used in the existing vehicle fleet in blends with petroleum fuel or, in the case of renewable diesel fuel, as a replacement to petroleum fuel. READ MORE

QUOTE OF THE WEEK–Bill McKibben

“The amount of money, time and effort they (fossil fuel industry) invested in obfuscation and denial turns out to be staggering. And successful. … So, at this point, success is not stopping global warming. … Success is stopping global warming short of the point where we can’t have civilizations like we’re used to.” Bill McKibben in an interview by KK Ottesen in the Washington Post Magazine. READ MORE

Circular Economy Mapping Tool for Wales

(WRAP Cymru) Commissioned by WRAP Cymru, Anthesis has developed this user-friendly Circular Economy Mapping Tool for Wales – a useful resource

February 20, 2019 Read Full Article

Biotech Startup Turns Palm Waste into High-Value Chemicals

by Akane Okutse, (Nikkei Asian Review) Japanese biotechnology startup Green Earth Institute is set to expand into Southeast Asia with plans

February 20, 2019 Read Full Article

Cortus Energy and Swedish Biofuels Cooperate for the World’s First Bio-Jet Fuel Plant Based on Forest Resources

(Cortus Energy) Cortus Energy AB (Publ) and Swedish Biofuels AB (SB) have agreed in a preliminary agreement about cooperating with the

February 20, 2019 Read Full Article

Biogas Business: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Biogas Conversion

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Terry Mazanec, a member of Lee Enterprises Consulting offers this illuminating overview of biogas, what it’s

February 20, 2019 Read Full Article

Risks in the Climate Finance Markets

by Michael Newman (Parhelion Underwriting Inc./Biofuels Digest) Risks often act as barriers to investment and trading in the climate finance market –

February 20, 2019 Read Full Article

As More Electric Cars Arrive, What’s the Future for Gas-Powered Engines?

by Camila Domonoske (National Public Radio) … Electric vehicles are currently a tiny fraction of the car market, which is dominated

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Biodiesel Success Stories: 20% in 2034, That Will Be Like Taking 175,000 Cars off the Road

(National Biodiesel Board) Policymakers in New York City are determined to reduce harmful emissions from energy sources, and they have

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Low Hanging Fruit on the Climate Change Tree: Renewable Fuels in Gas and Diesel Engines

(Diesel Technology Forum) As more governors look to California for leadership on climate change, they should look to what’s working in

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Ethanol Summit — June 17-18, 2019 — Sao Paulo, Brazil

Every two years you have an appointment with the main event held in Brazil focused on renewable energy and the

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

EnergyPath 2019 Science Fair Application Open DEADLINE: June 28, 2019

Energypath is the region’s largest sustainable energy event, attracting industry professionals, policymakers and academia throughout the region and across the

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Maha Sugar Mill Takes Lead in Making Ethanol from Cane Juice

(India Post News Weekly) A cooperative sugar mill in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra has taken the lead in producing fuel grade

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Firm Claims Breakthrough in Sustainable Diesel Production

(Envirotech Magazine) New technology could displace billions of litres of fossil fuel annually — A new technology that converts biogas into a

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

What Do China’s Plans Mean For Ethanol, Corn, And Sugar?

by Andrew Hecht (Seeking Alpha) Fighting pollution in the world’s most populous nation. -Ethanol prices fall to contract lows in 2018.

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

AB InBev Is Converting Wasted Alcohol from Its Low and No-ABV Beers into Biofuel

by Edith Hancock (The Drinks Business) As demand for low alcohol drinks, beer in particular, has risen over the past 12

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Brazil’s Higher Biodiesel Mandate Boosts Output, Lowers Prices: Ministry

by Jeff Fick (S&P Global Platts) Brazilian biodiesel prices dropped to an 18-month low during a government auction this month on

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Carbon Dioxide Now Being Captured in First of Its Kind BECCS Pilot

(Drax) The first BECCS pilot project of its kind in the world at Drax Power Station – the UK’s biggest renewable

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Mass Transfer: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Gas Liquids Fermentation Agitation Strategies

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Gregory Benz, from Benz Technology International and a member of Lee Enterprises Consulting, offers this illuminating

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Biofuels Are Key to Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions

by Arlin E. Gyberg (StarTribune) The biofuels industry over the last 30 years has produced more product using less energy and

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

WEBINAR: February Web Conference: Effects of Ethanol Blends on Light-Duty Vehicle Emissions — February 27, 2019

Our next web conference for Future Fuel Outlook members will be held Wednesday, February 27 from 10-11:30 a.m. ET (4:00-5:30 Paris/Brussels

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Delivering Shipment Zero, a Vision for Net Zero Carbon Shipments

by Dave Clark (Day One The Amazon Blog) Shipment Zero is Amazon’s vision to make all Amazon shipments net zero carbon,

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Republican Backlash against Trump EPA Pick Fueled by ‘Biofuel Reset’

by Humeyra Pamuk and Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters) EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler rejected a proposal from his staff that would have reduced

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Gasum and Valio Team up for Finland’s ‘First’ Biogas-Fueled Milk Truck

(Bioenergy Insight) Finnish biogas supplier Gasum announced that it, alongside Finnish dairy producer Valio, has launched ‘Finland’s first’ biogas-fuelled milk truck

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Putting Anaerobic Digestion at the Heart of Scotland’s Circular Economy

(Bioenergy Insight) Charlotte Morton, chief executive of the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA), sets out the role that AD can play

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Application Open for Better Together Award

The Better Together Award is an international competition seeking collaborative innovations solving local climate challenges. We highlight the value of impactful collaboration

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Georgetown Wants to Raze 210 Acres of Trees to Meet Green-Energy Goals. Environmentalists Are Crying Foul.

by Rachel Chason (Washington Post) Environmentalists are in a position they never imagined: Fighting a solar panel project that would help Georgetown University

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

WEBINAR: Canadian Bioeconomy Strategy Consultation — February 20, 2019

The BioDesign consortium concept formed in 2017 around a collective mission to build and support highly-innovative Canadian firms who seek

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

World Future Energy Summit (WFES) Part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week — January 13-16, 2020 — Abu Dhabi, UAE

Industry Convergence: Accelerating Sustainable Development Fighting climate change is one of the most complex but also most urgent challenges of our

February 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Workshop Carbon, Capture, Storage and Use and Bioenergy – Joint Event of Brazilian and Dutch Universities — February 25-26, 2019 — São Paulo, Brazil

The main objective of the Workshop Brazil – Netherlands is to discuss the experiences from Brazilian and Dutch universities on