Article Archive for September 2009
(Algenol Biofuels) In this presentation, Algenol Biofuels provides a description of it’s developing Direct To Ethanol TM technology, taking algae, sunlight, salt water and CO2 to make ethanol and other bio-based products. Illustrations and diagrams …
(Reuters) Canadian biofuel production should rise 76 percent in two years, as government subsidies for production plants and renewable-fuel requirements take effect. Total biofuel production will reach 2.5 billion litres (660 million gallons) annually by …
The continuous world-wide tendency to increase engine performance and reduce emissions has necessitated the development of new generations of enhanced diesel fuel injection equipment, supporting the achievement of stringent legislation targets. Rising injection pressures and …
Dr. Osayed S.M. Abu-Elyazeed, an Egyptian researcher posits the following reasons, among others, for choosing the Jojoba plant for plantation in the US:
1. The shrub can be grown in virtually un-arable land -typically the deserts available in …
(Motorsport.com) “The competition to win the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge continues to grow,” said Silvia Mammone, Michelin Motorsport manager. “Seeing manufacturers like Audi, Porsche and Mazda; energy producers like Shell and BP, and teams like …
… “We knew that the first company to actually come out and openly document the real productivity picture would face a tough challenge,” said Barry Cohen, executive director of the National Algae Association. “OriginOil did …
by Yuthana Praiwan (Bangkok Post) Local field tests will start soon on biodiesel B10, a blend of 10% methyl ester with 90% diesel fuel, according to an Energy Ministry official. PTT Plc and the ministry’s …
Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Massachusetts, algae biofuels have been proposed by Höweler + Yoon Architecture and Squared as an answer to the stalled Filene’s construction site at Downtown Crossing in Boston. The Eco-Pod, as designed, …
A joint project between the Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition, BioPur and the Department of Energy (DOE); BioWatz provides multiple benefits and solutions for future alternative energies. The project not only yields a new …
by Josh Mitchell and Stephen Power (Wall Street Journal) A tiny car company backed by former Vice President Al Gore has just gotten a $529 million U.S. government loan to help build a hybrid sports car …
(Alibaba.com) Vietnam’s cassava chip exports are soaring because of demand from China to make ethanol and earnings for the whole of 2009 could be $800 million, nearly double those in the first eight months, state-run …
by Joseph M. Dougherty (Deseret News) …
The test plot of ground where the seeds were harvested Wednesday is designed to mimic the side of Utah highways, which could be used to grow safflowers instead of …
USDA Rural Development welcomes projects that highlight innovative uses of agricultural products. This may include using existing agricultural products in non-traditional ways and/or merging agricultural products with technology in creative ways. As with all value-added …
by Seth Borenstein (AP) President Barack Obama is calling on the world to end massive government subsidies that encourage the use of fossil fuels blamed for global warming. The president, who is set to host …
(Environmental Law Institute) The largest U.S subsidies to fossil fuels are attributed to tax breaks that aid foreign oil production, according to research released by the Environmental Law Institute in partnership with the Woodrow Wilson …
Letter from EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson to Senator Tom Harkin, former chairman of the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee (below). Upon receiving these assurances, Senator Harkin and co-sponsors withdrew an amendment to the EPA’s …
by Michael Kanellos (Greentech Media) With an investment from Chevron, LS9 joins the small club of biofuel startups getting support from big oil. It hopes to prove its case in two years. In biofuels, the …
by Michael Kanellos (Greentech Media) A technology for water purification and toner cartridges could cut the onerous cost of getting algae out of water. It started as a way to purify water, but the Palo …
by Stephen Lacey (REnewableEnergyWorld.com) … Biofuels typically get a lot of attention as gas prices go up in the summer driving season. This year was different. After the love affair with biofuels throughout 2006 and …
Representative Brian Bilbray (R-CA) and a bipartisan group of representatives introduced HR 3460, an amendment to the Clean Air Act to include algae as an eligible feedstock in the Renewable Fuel Standard (as amended by …
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Steven Chu announced the selection of 25 cost-share projects under the Clean Cities program that will be funded with nearly $300 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. …
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced on August 31, 2009, that up to $21 million will be made available for the selection of five projects that will develop supply systems to handle and deliver high …
by Natalia Real (FIS) Korean scientists have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bohol governor to test the waters of Bohol for growing red algae for ethanol production. READ MORE
by Aaron W. Perry (Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises) While much attention is currently being paid by policy makers, financiers and industry to the development of advanced biorefining and bioprocessing technologies (and for good reason), many of …
by Matt Scallan (NOLA.com) The Louisiana state Bond Commission has renewed its approval for $100 million in GO Zone bonds to continue construction of a biodiesel refinery in St. Rose. REG Destrehan stopped construction of a …
by Zaynab Turuku (The East African) In the wake of efforts to clean up the environment and mitigate against climate change through a reduction in the burning of fossil fuels, Dar es Salaam-based Mafuta Sasa …
(Cleantech) Austrian startup says it can grow algae at three to six times higher productivity and at about 80 percent of the cost of competing systems. Vienna, Austria-based See-O-Two has developed what it says is …
by Alan Bjerga and Peter Cook (Bloomberg) Archer Daniels Midland Co., the world’s largest grain processor, expects improved yields will deliver enough crops during the next 40 years to supply rising demand for ethanol without …
(Biofuels International) … Since 2007, the Rwandan Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (ISTR) has experimented with a number of feedstocks including palm, jatropha, moringa, castor and soy oils, in a 2,000 litre per day …
Biofuels Digest published a 5-part series on where the industry is obtaining financing in the year since the seizure of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered the global financial meltdown.
In …
(Chattahbox) The new study released by the Environmental Law Institute entitled, “Estimating U.S. Government Subsidies to Energy Sources: 2002-2008,” provides the Obama administration with an additional weapon for the phasing out of fossil fuel subsidies …
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel) The lowly alfalfa crop could play a role in the future of cellulosic ethanol. Alfalfa is the nation’s most popular legume and actually our third most valuable crop, but it is …
With this report (Industrial Biotechnology: More than Green Fuel in a Dirty Economy?), the World Wildlife Fund sets out to explore the magnitude and nature of this (industrial biotechnology) sector in (its) search for pathways …
(WCCO) … Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration said it was finding antibiotic residue in an ethanol byproduct. That byproduct is sold as feed for cattle and other livestock, which is a problem. For …
A Conversation on Southern Energy describes the current and future role of energy in Southern economic development. The report is full of regional and individual state data about existing and alternative energy sources. The report …
The Council on Sustainable Biomass Production (CSBP) is a multi-stakeholder organization established in 2007 to develop comprehensive voluntary sustainability standards for the production of biomass and its conversion to bioenergy. CSBP intends for its Standard …
In an unprecedented initiative, Brazil proposed a new bill of law that will restrict the lands permissible for sugarcane farming and processing. If passed, the bill sent today to the National Congress by President Luiz …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu examined three Minnesota renewable energy projects in August, including a mobile self-contained ethanol plant developed by Welcome, Minn.-based Easy Energy Systems Inc. The technology, …
by Anne C. Mulkern (New York Times/Greenwire) … It is a big bet with high stakes. Venture capitalists, including Bill Gates’ financing arm, infused Sapphire Energy with a combined $100 million. Exxon Mobil Corp. this summer …
(25 x ’25) As Congress continues its debate on comprehensive climate legislation, any measure adopted must adequately recognize and incentivize the extensive benefits biomass and the production of biofuels can provide to address global climate …
Twenty miles north of Salt Lake City, a flowery, red and yellow safflower crop is being harvested. These test plots at the roadside simulation lab at Utah Botanical Center are part of an innovative “Freeways-to-Fuel” …
by Brian J. Reed (Pomeroy Daily Sentinel) Meigs County Commissioners have agreed to work with Rural Action of Trimble and other organizations to develop a “biofuels corridor” between Columbus and the Ohio River. Robin Kinney, a …
by Amy R. Remo (Philippine Daily Inquirer) Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp. has dropped its alternative fuels operations, citing the problems it encountered with its pilot jatropha project. “We found out early in the game that …
The Inter-American Development Bank has released a new version of its Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard, which will enable users to better anticipate the impacts of potential biofuel projects on sensitive issues such as indigenous rights, carbon …
by Tiffany Hsu (Los Angeles Times) Firms and scientists are racing to figure out how best to separate the oil produced in algae organisms for biofuel. The San Diego area has become a hotbed for these …
by Ryan Randazzo (Arizona Republic)Arizona Public Service Co. will get $70.5 million in stimulus funds to study cutting greenhouse-gas emissions from coal power plants that contribute to global warming, the Energy Department said Tuesday.
APS will …
(Trade Only Today) Legislation designed to protect boaters and manufacturers from the problems associated with mid-level ethanol blends in gasoline was introduced Monday in the U.S. Senate. The Mid-Level Ethanol Blends Act of 2009, S. …
Enerkem, a leading waste-to-biofuels and green chemicals technology company, today participated in the sod-turning event held by its partners, the City of Edmonton and the Government of Alberta, to signify the start of construction on …
Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Iowa, the Iowa Interstate Railroad in Cedar Rapids, Iowa announced it has commenced testing B10 and B20 biodiesel blends supplied by Renewable Energy Group. As part of the study, REG, …
by Anna Austin (Biomass Magazine) … DOE Program Manager Michael Fraser identified characteristics to strengthen the financial review of project applications. Information on third–party supply and off-take agreements to support revenue and cost projections, or …
Europe has established a floor of 35%, i.e., any biofuel entering Europe must reduce emissions by at least that amount when compared to a diesel benchmark. According to the European analysis, using palm oil to …
(Today’s Trucking) In just a few weeks Manitoba will become the first province in Canada to mandate biodiesel. … All diesel fuel sold in the province as of Nov. 1 must contain a B2 average …
(Reuters) Iraq’s prime minister has approved a project by a United Arab Emirates-based company to make biofuel from dates that would otherwise be wasted because they have started to perish, Iraqi officials said. Iraq has the …
… We believe scientific data aren’t available on a global basis to be able to accurately determine the extent to which biofuel production causes land use changes in remote locations or the greenhouse gas emissions …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Canada, Comet Biorefining announced its patent pending cellulosic sugar technology, which will produce cellulosic sugar from a wide range of cellulosic sugar from a wide range of cellulosic materials including wood chips, switchgrass and corn cobs. The company, founded by former …
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Kentucky has developed a 21-member executive task force to facilitate the development of a statewide sustainable biomass and biofuels industry and to educate state legislators on the ability to …
by Katrina Landis, CEO BP Alternative Energy … Biofuels provide a useful case study to illustrate some of the most important factors involved in developing renewable sources of energy. While demand for oil is projected …
(AFP)French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced plans to impose a new carbon tax next year on oil, gas and coal as part of a drive to combat global warming. The plan would make France the biggest …
(CBC News) Manitoba is about to become the first province in Canada to mandate the use of biodiesel. Starting Nov. 1, all diesel fuel sold in the province must contain an average of two per …
by Amy Hsuan (The Oregonian) … former oil executive Jim Imbler, who now heads a Colorado biofuels company called ZeaChem Inc., thinks he might have found the key to profitability in Oregon. And it lies …
The Penn State energy-crops field display, created by Penn State Farm Services, is now open to visitors on land across from the old armory building on Fox Hollow Road, University Park, Pa., showing a variety …
On September 10, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a briefing about the national security threats posed by our reliance on fossil fuels and efforts underway by the U.S. armed services to reduce …
(Charlotte Business Journal) Fourteen organizations, including one in Charlotte, have been awarded grants totaling $950,000 from the 2009 N.C. Green Business Fund. The Charlotte area has received $55,000 to help develop a Greater Charlotte Region …
… The New Fuels Alliance submitted a letter co-signed by 20 leading advanced biofuel companies to Senators Boxer (D-CA) and Kerry (D-MA) asking for balanced carbon accounting in any upcoming climate legislation. The letter comes …
Sustainable Oils, a producer of renewable, environmentally clean, and high-value camelina-based fuels, announced today it has been awarded a contract by the Defense Energy Support Center (DESC) for 40,000 gallons of camelina-based jet fuel. The …
by Martin LaMonica (Green Tech) Research on nuclear energy and hydrogen has yielded what backers say is a technology that could replace U.S. oil imports with biofuels made from agricultural by-products. Scientists at Idaho National …
by tbnewswatch staff Remote communities in Ontario’s far North are increasingly turning to biodiesel as its source of energy. Last year, Hydro One started using biodiesel in the fly-in community of Deer Lake for …
Highlands EnviroFuels LLC has completed a life-cycle analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that demonstrates that the company’s planned sugar–based ethanol process will result in 80 percent lower GHG emissions than the equivalent petroleum-based gasoline.
The …
Solazyme, Inc., the renewable oil production company and leader in algal synthetic biology, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to research, develop, and demonstrate commercial scale production of algae-derived advanced biofuel …
The 25x’25 Carbon Work Group (CWG) has been engaged for more than a year in a process of identifying key policy options for delivering climate change solutions from the land and allowing the agricultural and …
In Germany, researchers from Christian-Albrecht University in Kiel have commenced a project, titled “Bioenergy 2021: winter sugar beet as energy crop” , to improve breeding of winter sugar beet as a biofuel feedstock. The Institute …
The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels is an international initiative bringing together farmers, companies, non-governmental organizations, experts, governments, and inter-governmental agencies concerned with ensuring the sustainability of biofuels production and processing. The Roundtable is hosting a …
by O.Kay Henderson (Radio Iowa) Two top officials in the Environmental Protection Agency who’ve never visited an American farm were in Iowa today, at Senator Chuck Grassley’s invitation. They toured Grant Kimberly’s farm near Maxwell. … …
“(W)e do intend for Transportation Biofuels in the United States to act as a tool to provide an overview of the current status of major developments in the biofuels industry. We highlight recent changes in …
(ChinaView.cn) Vietnam successfully produced the country’s first batch of 2,000 tons of ethanol, a bio-fuel for motor vehicles, local newspaper the People reported Friday. The fuel is made from sugar cane and cassava. …The plant is …
(M&C Business) Taiwan’s state-run Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC) signed an agreement Wednesday to plant 100,000 hectares of crops for biofuels in Indonesia. … Under the MOU, in the next five years, CPC is due to …
(Belfast Telegraph) The world’s first racing car made from cashew nut shells has been assembled with the help of Northern Ireland researchers. Potato starch and recycled bottles were also used in the construction of the …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) New Zealand-based LanzaTech NZ Ltd. recently announced it has developed a proprietary fermentation technology that can be used to produce ethanol using the carbon monoxide and hydrogen components of …
Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc., a leader in the next generation of advanced biofuels, announced today that it has successfully demonstrated the ability to economically produce renewable ethanol. This milestone – achieved at the company’s TurningPoint Ethanol …
Washington University and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center have received two awards totaling $35 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to do research on novel energy initiatives. At $20 million, the Washington …
Clean technology developers from across Canada are invited to submit Statements of Interest to the $550-million SD Tech Fund(TM), as Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) opens its sixteenth funding round. … SDTC is a not-for-profit …
Biodiesel supporters are cheering Ford Motor Company’s announcement that its all-new Ford-built 2011 Ford F-Series Super Duty(R) diesel pickups will be fully compatible with a 20 percent biodiesel blend (B20). Ford’s new diesel engine — …
by Louise Redvers (AFP) Angola will begin planting sugar cane for the first time in more than 30 years this month as the oil-rich country takes its first step toward biofuels. A 30,000 hectare (74,000-acre) …
The study “Jatropha! – A socio-economic pitfall for Mozambique” prepared by UNAC and JA for Swiss Aid (referred in the following to as Swiss Aid Study) provides a very one-sided and negative picture of the …
… “With the addition of the crusher, (Inland Empire Oilseeds) becomes the first biodiesel company in Washington to fully integrate all production steps into one place – from crushing to rail tank car,” said Steve Starr, company …
By Todd Neeley (The Progressive Farmer) Cattleman Bill Couser hit on the crux of the matter when it comes to the future of advanced biofuels like cellulosic ethanol, during a U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee field …
Value-Added Producer Grants (VAPG) help independent producers of agricultural commodities, agricultural producer groups, farmer and rancher cooperatives, and majority-controlled producer-based business ventures develop strategies to create marketing opportunities and to help develop business plans for …
(Journal of Industrial Ecology) Corn-ethanol production is expanding rapidly with the adoption of improved technologies to increase energy efficiency and profitability in crop production, ethanol conversion, and coproduct use. Life cycle assessment can evaluate the …
Fourteen major Brazilian organizations representing the agribusiness, planted forests and bioenergy sectors announced today the creation of the Brazilian Climate Alliance, to provide concrete, constructive proposals in global climate change negotiations. The group’s main focus …
by Asrat Kebede (Ethiopian Review) Perhaps they are the superheroes of tomorrow. Living and thriving in the most inhospitable conditions on Earth, tiny bacteria-like microbes known as extremophiles might soon have an oversized effect on …
by Steve Gorman (Reuters) The Prius hybrid automobile is popular for its fuel efficiency, but its electric motor and battery guzzle rare earth metals, a little-known class of elements found in a wide range of …
… DME or dimethyl ether, a diesel fuel alternative made from a variety of renewable materials and fossil fuels, burns soot-free, produces almost no GHG upon combustion and is very energy efficient. With a high …
An innovative technology developed by Cellulose Sciences International (CSI) dramatically reduces the recalcitrance of cellulose so that lignocellulosic biomass can be more rapidly converted to glucose. The glucose can be fermented to ethanol or any …
U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today that up to $21 million will be made available for the selection of five projects that will develop supply systems to handle and deliver high tonnage …
The Memphis Bioworks® Foundation announced the conclusion of the “Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta,” a 5-state, 98-county examination of the potential for agriculture and forestry revitalization through the development of new …
