Tim Holden (D-PA) chair of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research, held hearings concentrating on the future of next generation biofuels. Dallas Tonsager, Under Secretary for Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture admitted in prepared testimony that
Archive
Back TO HOMEHauling Garbage with Fuel Created from Garbage
At Frederick County's Solid Waste Options presentation, Dave Specca, Assistant Director of the Rutgers EcoComplex described how landfill gases fuel compressed natural gas garbage trucks at the EcoComplex. Watch video of similar process in California. READ MORE
October 30, 2009 Read Full Article
Bio-Based Jet Fuel Studies a "GR-8" (Great R-8) Success
In support of the Department of Defense Assured Fuels Initiative for securing domestic fuel sources to meet the military's energy needs, Air Force Research Laboratory and the Southwest Research Institute conducted tests of the first biologically based synthetic jet fuel
October 30, 2009 Read Full Article
NASCAR, Rooted in Fossil Fuels, Turning over New, Green Leaf
by Nate Ryan (USA Today) ...The concept might seem incongruous in a sport inherently tied to an internal combustion engine that many find synonymous with global warming, but NASCAR, despite cars with an eye-popping 5 mpg, is trying to embrace
October 30, 2009 Read Full Article
Senator Charles Grassley Speaks Out Against Inappropriate Use of International Indirect Land Use Change Analysis
Prepared Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley: Biofuels and the Environmental Protection Agency Thursday, October 29, 2009 ... The first issue I’m speaking about relates to the EPA’s proposal to penalize biofuels for greenhouse gas emissions from supposed changes in international
October 30, 2009 Read Full Article
Research into Renewable Biofuel Set to Reduce Reliance on Fossil Diesel Imports
(Alpha Galileo) Aston University in Birmingham, UK is involved in a € 3.73m (£3.4 million) research project, which will transform organic residues from biofuel production processes into a renewable biofuel that can reduce reliance on fossil diesel imports. A particular benefit
October 30, 2009 Read Full Article
Midwestern Legislators Group Moves in Support of Ethanol and Sound Science
(National Corn Growers Association) The Midwest Legislative Conference of The Council of State Governments issued a series of resolutions recently containing policy resolutions adopted that aim to increase the use of both ethanol and blender pumps. Additionally, the group adopted
October 29, 2009 Read Full Article
The BioWorld® Biofuels Report 2009: Lane-Changing Trends and Fork-in-the-Road Dynamics
The contemporary biofuels market, born amid the chaos of the Arab Oil Embargo of 1973, has alternately sputtered, stalled and lurched, but has yet to cruise at its objective speed limit on the road to challenging gasoline as the transportation
October 29, 2009 Read Full Article
New Facility Showcases World's First Commercially Viable Flex-Ethanol Process
With gas prices continually in flux, interest in domestically produced bio-fuels like ethanol (E85) is on the rise. Recently, Coskata Inc., a leading developer of alternative bio-fuels, announced the successful start-up of its semi-commercial flex-ethanol facility. Unlike other technologies and facilities
October 29, 2009 Read Full Article
Renewable Fuels Association Concerned about Flaws in DOE Loan Program
Dear Secretary Chu: The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the national trade association representing the U.S. ethanol industry, is writing to express our concern about the current operation and direction of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) loan guarantee program. As an
October 29, 2009 Read Full Article
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cleantech Group Announce Launch of Government Funding Resource
The publicly available tool--driven by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati content--aggregates and frequently updates the numerous financing opportunities, such as grants, loan guarantees, tax credits, and other programs, being offered by federal and state governments. Users are able to search
October 29, 2009 Read Full Article
Quebec Company Turns Trash Into Fuel
by John Lorinc (New York Times) Enerkem, a green energy company based in Quebec, has developed an alternative approach to mining the carbon out of non-recyclable plastics, construction waste and other materials found in the municipal waste stream. The company says it
October 29, 2009 Read Full Article
Bio Base Europe Training Centre on Track for 2011 Opening
Bio Base Europe, the Biopark Terneuzen and Ghent Bio-Energy Valley joint initiative launched in April 2009, has said its new bio-focused Training Centre is on course to open in early 2011. The Bio Base Europe initiative will be the first
October 28, 2009 Read Full Article
Low Carbon Future Needs Low Carbon Fuel
(Novozymes) ... “The article in Science overlooks one important fact: Biofuels recycle atmospheric carbon while fossil fuels release carbon that has been stored underground for millions of years. In the transport sector, biofuels are the only viable alternative to fossil
October 28, 2009 Read Full Article
Univ. of Minnesota Spin-Out Wins $2.2M Federal Grant
by Katharine Grayson (Minneapolis-St.Paul Business Journal) BioCee Inc. a startup that’s commercializing technology invented by a University of Minnesota professor, has received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The firm will use the funds to
October 28, 2009 Read Full Article
ARPE-E Awards $151 Million in Advanced Energy R&D – Pyrolysis, Algae, Butanol, CO2 Capture among Hot Technologies Funded
In California, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced that ARPA-E — the Department’s recently-formed Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy — has awarded $151 million in funding for 37 research projects. Biofuels Digest lists and describes the projects that relate to advanced
October 28, 2009 Read Full Article
US Seeking Partnership with Philippines in Research on Biofuel
(Philstar.com) Visiting US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Monday that the US government is seeking partnership with the Philippines in terms of research on biofuel. Speaking at a press conference, Vilsack said both countries recognize the need to cooperate more
October 28, 2009 Read Full Article
The Global Oil Depletion Report
The 'peak oil' debate is polarised, contentious and characterised by competing interpretations of the available data. A growing number of commentators are forecasting a near-term peak in global oil production with potentially serious economic impacts. Others, however, argue that production
October 28, 2009 Read Full Article
BIOOCTANIC, Zagreb, Croatia
Our solution is creation of utility towers used for production of bio fuel and city air recuperation. The idea is to place these towers on positions of existing petrol stations in cities. Our research led us to the conclusion that
October 28, 2009 Read Full Article
Background Paper on Biofuel Production Technologies
The International Centre of Science and High Technology of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (ICS-UNIDO) has been promoting programmes on capacity building and knowledge transfer in developing countries in several selected areas, including renewable resources. Due to the importance
October 28, 2009 Read Full Article
Use of Forests as Carbon Offsets Fails to Impress In First Big Trial
by Juliet Eliperin (Washington Post) More than a decade ago in the northeast corner of Bolivia, a group of polluters and environmentalists joined forces in the first large-scale experiment to curb climate change with a strategy that promised to suit
October 28, 2009 Read Full Article
Brazil's Cosan Sees 2010/11 Cane Crush at 58 mln T
by Inae Riveras (Reuters) ... Brazil's largest sugar and ethanol producing group, said it expects to crush 58 million tonnes of cane in 2010/11 (April-March), up from 54 million tonnes in 2009/10. "We expect to grow at the same rate as
October 27, 2009 Read Full Article
Brazil Drivers Ditch Biofuel Over High Sugar Costs
by Peter Murphy (Reuters) Some Brazilian motorists who fuel their cars solely on cane-based ethanol are switching back to gasoline as high sugar prices now make the biofuel more costly in some states. Brazil is a pioneer in biofuel with its
October 27, 2009 Read Full Article
The BB Gun – the DOE’s “BB” Rating Requirement Blasts Diversity in Clean Energy Development
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the US Department of Energy is requiring that to receive DOE loan guarantees renewable energy projects meet a debt rating standard higher than 63 percent of all US corporate first-time debt issuers since
October 27, 2009 Read Full Article
Indirect Emissions from Biofuels: How Important?
by Jerry M. Melillo, et al. (Science Express) A global biofuels program will lead to intense pressures on land supply and can increase greenhouse gas emissions from land-use changes. Using linked economic and terrestrial biogeochemistry models, we examine direct and
October 27, 2009 Read Full Article
Why Sustainability Standards for Biofuel Production Make Little Economic Sense
by Harry deGorter and David R. Just (Policy Analysis, Cato Institute) The federal “sustainability standard” requires ethanol to emit at least 20 percent less carbon dioxide (CO2) than gasoline. Recent rulings by California and the Environmental Protection Agency, however, have cast doubt
October 25, 2009 Read Full Article
Is Garbage The Solution To Tackling Climate Change?
(Science Daily) Converting the rubbish that fills the world’s landfills into biofuel may be the answer to both the growing energy crisis and to tackling carbon emissions, claim scientists in Singapore and Switzerland. New research published in Global Change Biology:
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Biodiesel Returns More Energy To The Earth Than Ever, Study Finds
(Reuters) Biodiesel is better than ever at harnessing the power of the sun and turning it into fuel. In fact, a study shows the fuel is returning more than four times the energy that it takes to make biodiesel. Newly published
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Bio-Oil from Wastewater Algae
New Zealand's National Instititue of Water and Atmospheric Research's mission is to conduct leading environmental science to enable the sustainable management of natural resources for New Zealand and the planet. In order to produce biofuels cost-effectively there is a need for
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Report Examines Hidden Health and Environmental Costs Of Energy Production and Consumption In U.S.
... Damages per vehicle mile traveled were remarkably similar among various combinations of fuels and technologies -- the range was 1.2 cents to about 1.7 cents per mile traveled -- and it is important to be cautious in interpreting small
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Big Oil Looks to Biofuels
by Guy Chazan (Wall Street Journal) The biofuels industry, hit hard by the global credit crunch, is getting a shot in the arm from a new source–the oil majors. Among the oil companies, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC have
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Verenium and VPP Sign Agreement to Test C5 Cellulosic Technology on Pulping Feedstocks for the Production of Ethanol
Verenium Corporation, a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, announced that it has entered into an agreement with Value Prior to Pulping (VPP), an organization created by the Agenda 2020 Technology Alliance, a special
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Opening Second Tender Global Sustainable Biomass Fund
The Global Sustainable Biomass Fund supports developing countries in making their biomass production for energy uses sustainable. It thus enables them to access the local or international market of sustainable biomass for energy uses. The overall goal of the subsidy
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Recent Progress in Biofuels in Japan
by Professor Shiro Saka (IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Newsletter) ... According to our research in recent years, approximately 370 million tons of biomass resources are annually produced in Japan. Among these, approximately 77 million tons are disposed of without effective
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Kumho Petrochemical to Build Algae Bioethanol Plant in Yeosu, Korea
(The Korea Herald) Kumho Petrochemical Co., the South Jeolla provincial government and a local biotechnology firm agreed Thursday to establish an algae bioethanol plant by 2013, officials said, according to Yonhap News. The agreement calls for Kumho to invest a
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Five Technologies That Could Change Everything
by Michael Totty (Wall Street Journal) It's a tall order: Over the next few decades, the world will need to wean itself from dependence on fossil fuels and drastically reduce greenhouse gases. Current technology will take us only so far;
October 24, 2009 Read Full Article
Towards Sustainable Production and Use of Resources: Assessing Biofuels
(United Nations Environment Programme) The number of scientific publications devoted to biofuels is growing exponentially, and the number of reviews is increasing rapidly. For decision makers it has become a hard job to find robust reference material and solid guidance.
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Boeing, Honeywell’s UOP and Government of Mexico Launch Research and Advocacy Collaboration to Drive Commercial Use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels
Boeing [NYSE: BA], the Airports and Auxiliary Services agency (ASA), an arm of Mexico’s Ministry of Communications and Transport, and Honeywell’s UOP today announced a collaboration to identify, research and further the development of a commercially viable market for Mexico-sourced
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Scaling Up Is Hard to Do
by Peter Fairley (Technology Review) ... Producing advanced biofuels on the scale of tens of billions of gallons per year will mean financing several hundred commercial-scale biorefineries at a net cost of roughly $250 billion. For investors in cellulosic ethanol
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
BioFuel Africa Begins Commercial Production of Jatropha Oil
Biofuel Africa Ltd. has begun commercial production of jatropha oil, the first company in West Africa to move from growing and selling jatropha fruits and seeds to production and sale of jatropha oil on a commercial scale for direct use,
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Cane Ethanol Helps Cut Greenhouse Emissions: Brazilian Study
by Inae Riveras (Reuters) Use of sugar cane-based ethanol as a substitute for gasoline is among the cheapest and easiest ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Brazilian study. Cane ethanol provides about eight times the energy used
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
The 7% Solution: Sustainable US Biofuels without International Indirect Land Use Effects
by Robert E. Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) Looking at some real-world numbers, it becomes clear that the fear raised in Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error, Science, October 23, 2009, misses the point. Growing energy crops, including perennial grasses or
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Advanced Biofuels USA Reacts to Science Magazine Article
(Advanced Biofuels USA) A study published in Science magazine promotes a policy which would penalize American biofuels industries in US legislation and regulation and in international global climate change agreements. Advanced Biofuels USA would like to point out two items
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Carbon Advantage of Biofuels May Be Overstated
by Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post) The world's policymakers and scientists have made a critical error in how they count biofuels' contribution to human-generated greenhouse-gas emissions, according to a paper published Thursday in the journal Science. ... (Steven P.) Hamburg, (chief scientist
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
10%
(Detroit Public Television) When most folks see a number like 10% they're receiving a discount on a sale item or reading a nutritional chart at the grocery store. But the number that we're talking about on this week's Autoline is
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Growth Energy Reacts to Science Magazine Paper
Tom Buis (Growth Energy) “Ethanol is part of the natural carbon cycle. It has taken the lifetime of our planet to produce the oil that is in the ground. Biofuels come from the top of the earth, with emissions that
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Science Article on GHG Accounting Misses the Mark on Biofuels
(Renewable Fuels Association) Biofuels produced from biomass feedstocks (i.e. plant matter) are, by definition, carbon neutral because carbon dioxide tailpipe emissions from the combustion of biofuels are readily absorbed by growing plants. As such, the tailpipe emissions resulting from the use
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Accounting Error Undermines Climate Change Laws
(Nitrogen News)... “The error is serious, but we can fix it,” said lead author Tim Searchinger, a research scholar at Princeton University and a fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. “The solution is to count all the
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
They’d Shoot Trees, Wouldn’t They? Climate Laws Encourage Deforestation, Scientists Say
by Keith Johnson (Wall Street Journal) The law of unintended consequences strikes yet again. Global plans to tackle climate change, from the Kyoto Protocol to the recently-passed Waxman-Markey bill, have a fatal flaw: They essentially encourage large-scale deforestation, which pretty much
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Calculating Emissions Is Problematic
by Sindya N. Bhanoo (New York Times) ... The problem boils down to this: In emission calculations, all fuel derived from plants and other organic sources — including ethanol — is generally treated as if it has no effect on carbon dioxide in
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Another Biofuels Drawback: The Demand for Irrigation
by Robert F. Service (Science Magazine) At first blush, it's easy to make the case for biofuels. By converting crops into ethanol or biodiesel, farmers can reduce demand for imported oil, lower national dependence on authoritarian governments in the Middle
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error
by Tim Searchinger, et al. (Science Magazine) The accounting now used for assessing compliance with carbon limits in the Kyoto Protocol and in climate legislation contains a far-reaching but fixable flaw that will severely undermine greenhouse gas reduction goals (1).
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Implications of Limiting CO2 Concentrations for Land Use and Energy
by Marshall Wise, et al. (Science Magazine) Limiting atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations to low levels requires strategies to manage anthropogenic carbon emissions from terrestrial systems as well as fossil fuel and industrial sources. We explore the implications of fully
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Recommendations for Improving the Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Policies in China
REN21 released its report Recommendations for Improving the Effectiveness of Renewable Energy Policies in China. This report provides a list of recommendations to the policy makers in China on improving the effectiveness of renewable energy policies domestically. This report was commissioned
October 22, 2009 Read Full Article
Pennsylvania Project Uses Mine Lands for Biofuel Crops
by Lisa Gibson (Biomass Magazine) A project in Pennsylvania seeks to determine if abandoned and active mine lands can be reclaimed and used to grow biofuel crops such as switchgrass and other warm-season grass species. Pennsylvania has about 180,000 acres
October 22, 2009 Read Full Article
BlueFire Shifts Cellulosic Ethanol Project to Mississippi; Taxes, Timing Issues in Move from California
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, cellulosic ethanol pioneer BlueFire Ethanol Fuels announced strategic relocation of its second planned biorefinery to Fulton, Mississippi. After having been awarded a $40 million dollar grant from the DOE for a second planned
October 22, 2009 Read Full Article
Combining Two Innovations Brought Oxford Catalysts and Velocys Success for ICIS's Best Innovation by an SME
Production of liquid biofuels such as diesel and jet fuel from organic materials including municipal waste, is an attractive proposition. But using conventional large scale plants requires bulky waste to be transported, often over long distances, negating some, if not
October 22, 2009 Read Full Article
NC State Receives $2 Million for Algae Research
Imagine filling up your car with fuel that comes from inexpensive algae that grow quickly, don’t use up freshwater supplies and can be cultivated in areas where they won’t compete with traditional food crops, such as corn or soybeans. Researchers
October 22, 2009 Read Full Article
Coskata Unveils Semi-Commercial Feedstock Flexible Ethanol Facility in Madison, PA
Coskata Inc., a leading developer of next generation biofuels, today announced the successful start-up of their semi-commercial flex ethanol facility located in Madison, PA. The accomplishment represents the successful scale-up of the company’s technology, and will serve as a showcase for
October 22, 2009 Read Full Article
Industry Built From Scratch
by Matthew L. Wald (New York Times) ... The facility, built by a company called Coskata, is not quite proof that a new era is at hand for American transportation fuels. But with the company claiming it will be able to
October 22, 2009 Read Full Article
Racing for the Next Generation
by Jeremy Burne (Just-Auto) Not many dispute the relationship between success on the track and success at the dealership, most acknowledge the global power of motorsports as a marketing tool for certain automotive brands. Many also concede that racing can serve
October 22, 2009 Read Full Article
Green Racing at Petit Le Mans: Jetta TDI's Demonstrate the Future of Racing
[caption id="attachment_3982" align="alignright" width="549" caption="Jetta TDI #5 races to qualify at Petit Le Mans."][/caption] by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Back to my beloved TDI. This time not the expensive Audi's, but Volkswagen's Jetta TDI's swoop relatively quietly and gracefully around
October 16, 2009 Read Full Article
Branson on the Power of Biofuels and Elders
by Andrew C. Revkin (New York Times) ... By 2020, he hopes that fuel for his companies’ jet fleets will be derived from algae or consist of isobutanol, derived from sugars. The advantage of isobutanol, he said, is that unlike
October 16, 2009 Read Full Article
POET's 'Inviz' to Replace More Petroleum Products
POET is one step closer to gleaning the maximum value from each part of the corn kernel with a new ethanol co-product, "Inviz," which is set to replace petroleum-based ingredients in household products ranging from pill coatings to plastic packaging. Inviz
October 16, 2009 Read Full Article
Cyclone Power Technologies Receives the "Algaepreneur 2009 Award"
Cyclone received the NAA award for its heat regenerative, Rankine cycle engine, an efficient and earth-friendly modern steam engine capable of running on virtually any fuel, including today’s most promising biofuels. In tests performed by the company earlier this year,
October 15, 2009 Read Full Article
Santa Fe Community College Opens Algae Lab in Oshara Village
by Alan Hoffman Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) recently broke ground on the new Sustainable Technologies Center. This multimillion-dollar LEED certified training facility will teach the next generation of American workers how to fill the Green jobs we need today
October 15, 2009 Read Full Article
Navy Secretary Announces Energy Changes
by Bettina H. Chavanne (Aviation Week) ... (U.S. Navy Secretary Ray) Mabus also introduced the idea of a Great Green Fleet, a green strike group comprising nuclear vessels, surface combatants equipped with hybrid electric systems operating on biofuels and aircraft
October 15, 2009 Read Full Article
Vehicles Running E85 Corn Ethanol Have 30 Percent Lower CO2 Emissions than the All-Electric Tesla Roadster, Study Finds
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Florida, Biofuels Digest has found that cars running on E85 corn-based ethanol, at the proposed new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, will generate 30 percent lower CO2 emissions over an average car lifetime
October 14, 2009 Read Full Article
Sandia Algae Project Converts Dairy Wastes to Energy, Other Products
( Greenjobs ) ...Recently Cecelia Williams and other Sandia researchers have grown green algae in a 12-by-30-foot greenhouse using a simulated dairy effluent, the nutrient-rich liquid remaining after bacterial digestion of dairy manure. The solids from the digestion of dairy manure
October 14, 2009 Read Full Article
Indian States Fast-Track Jatropha 2.0, a Special Biofuels Digest Report
by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest) Despite the Indian Government’s official go-slow policy on Jatropha, several Indian states are now planting the crop in a big way. These are not the old style monoculture plantations that led to the central government’s
October 14, 2009 Read Full Article
Green Racing at Petit LeMans: Corvette Flies a 2008 Winner Banner
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) GM's Corvette proudly flies the Green Challenge Champion banner over its paddock at Petit Le Mans, having taken the honor for 2008. Todd Christensen, GM sport compact marketing manager pointed out the E-85 logo
October 13, 2009 Read Full Article
US Dept. of Energy Secretary Cho Articulates Administration's Real Attitude toward Advanced Biofuels
Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the US Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu, broke with Obama administration renewable energy policy, telling stunned alternative energy developers at a recent meeting on alternative fuels that “if it were up to me,
October 13, 2009 Read Full Article
Improvements in Life Cycle Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn-Ethanol
(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 impact of these changes on
October 13, 2009 Read Full Article
Industry Leaders Announce Alliance to Commercialize Integrated-Carbon-to-Liquids™ (ICTL) Fuel Technologies
(BusinessWire) Accelergy Corporation and A2BE Carbon Capture LLC today announced the formation of the Carbon Cycle Technology Alliance at the 2009 Algae Biomass Summit. The Alliance will commercialize a platform for Integrated Carbon to Liquids™ (ICTL) fuel production technologies that
October 13, 2009 Read Full Article
Boeing Looks at Greener Partnerships for Aviation
(CCTV) After producing aircraft components for Boeing for more than two decades, China is expected to become the US airplane manufacturer's research and development (R&D) partner for environmentally friendly technologies that will make the aviation industry greener. A key part of the
October 13, 2009 Read Full Article
ANZ CEO Rob Fyfe Takes Off Gloves to Fight Environmental Inertia
by Geoffrey Thomas (Eco-Aviation Today) In one of the hardest-hitting speeches in recent times, Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe lashed out at the "inconvenient truth" that the world's leaders, regulators and airlines are continuing to "invest enormous resources the world
October 13, 2009 Read Full Article
Green Racing at Petit Le Mans: Put Some Teeth ($) into the Green Challenge
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Bryan MacDonald, Highcroft Racing’s chief operating officer took a crack at explaining how important racing is to developing technologies with rest-of-the-world applications. His personal view of the future is inhabited by high performance
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Bayer Says It Cracked Rapeseed Gene Code
(Reuters) Germany's Bayer, the world's largest supplier of genetically modified (GM) rapeseed seeds, mapped out the entire genetic code of the oil plant, in bid to speed up development of new varieties. ... Rapeseed, also known as canola, is used
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Total Intends to Take an Active Part in BioTfueL France’s Second-Generation Biodiesel Pilot Program
As Europe’s leading automotive fuel refiner and marketer, Total is committed to stepping up the development of second-generation biofuels, which are needed to improve the environmental profile of crop-based fuels and avoid the use of food crops as feedstock. Already a
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
International Civil Aviation Organization Sets Aviation Emissions Targets
by Adrian Schofield (Aviation Week) ICAO members have reached agreement on a set of environmental targets for the aviation sector, although it is setting higher fuel efficiency standards than industry was proposing. After a high-level meeting in Montreal that finished
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
United Airlines Chief calls for More Investment in Developing the Alternative Jet Fuels Market
(GreenAirOnline.com) Glenn Tilton, Chairman of both United Airlines and the Air Transport Association of America, called on government, investors and producers to seize the opportunity to provide the airline industry with alternative fuels. Speaking at the annual meeting of the
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Nitrogen Deposition Limits Climate Change Impacts on Carbon Sequestration
(Alpha Galileo) The role of the forests is assumed to increase in the future, as an important buffer of climate change and increasing CO2 concentrations. So-called Earth System Models, computer systems making predictions for the globe, estimate that this effect
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Biofuels Meet EU CO2 target but Gains Vary
by Gus Trompiz and Valerie Parent (Reuters) The current generation of biofuels meets a European target for cutting carbon dioxide emissions but its performance varies widely depending on the crop and production process used, an official French study has shown. Biofuels
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Mid-Level Ethanol Blend Study: Chassis Dynamometer Study of Flex-Fuel Vehicles
The objective of this study was to determine the fuel efficiencies and emission profiles of flex fuel vehicles operating on different ethanol blends (E10, E20, E30, and E85). … The E85 fuel blend consumed less BTU’s per mile than all other ethanol fuel blends
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
EPA Expects 86 Ethanol Facilities to Be Major GHG Emitters
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA said 86 U.S. ethanol production facilities will qualify as “major” sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and be required to obtain Title V permits if the agency’s GHG regulation rule passes as
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Nanotechnology Used In Biofuel Process To Save Money, Environment
by Dave Guerin (Louisiana Tech University) Dr. James Palmer, associate professor of chemical engineering at Louisiana Tech University, is collaborating with fellow professors Dr. Yuri Lvov, Dr. Dale Snow, and Dr. Hisham Hegab to capitalize on the environmental and financial benefits
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Africa: Land-Grabbing - the Why and the How
by Nikolaj Nielsen (All Africa.com; Pambazuka News) … Biofuels were then and continue to be in many respects hyped as an environmentally friendly alternative to oil-based transport fuels. The United States, the EU and other OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Medicago to Work with U.S. Army on Biofuel Enzyme Study
(Reuters) Medicago Inc., a small Canadian biotech company, said on Thursday it will work with the U.S. Army to study ways of creating fuels from plants, sending its shares up more than 20 percent. The Quebec City-based company, known for
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Biodiesel Myths Busted
by Joanne Schroeder (DomesticFuel) The biofuels industry has yet to get a famous show like Mythbusters to test some of the false information floating around about biodiesel and ethanol. Well, maybe we don’t need them. The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) just
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Will These 4 Biofuels Be Bonanzas or Busts?
(Discover) ...(A)recent series of articles from Nature News feels like a public service, as the articles investigate the scientific and economic state of affairs for four different kinds of biofuels. The first article focused on the weedy plant jatropha, which was
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Project LIBERTY Field Day Demos Cob Harvesting Equipment
Area farmers will see new and pre-commercial equipment in action harvesting corn cobs for cellulosic ethanol next month at Project LIBERTY Field Day in Emmetsburg, Iowa. Farmers, agricultural equipment manufacturers, POET representatives and state and federal officials will be at POET
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Algae repositions as biofuels’ “humble but lovable” feedstock: industry gathers in positive, but low-key annual Summit
Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) provides a summary of the developing algae ethos at the Algae Biomass Summit in San Diego: The biotech elevator pitch usually adheres to a 'rule of 5′. The offer is invariably a product platform that "is
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
ALMS: Acura, Porsche First To Claim Michelin Green X Challenge Titles
(SpeedTV) The tenth and final race of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season provided a fitting test to determine the event winners and the first MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge season champions. The Lowe's Fernandez Acura and drivers Adrian Fernandez
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Green Racing at Petit Le Mans: Ethanol Never Tasted So Good: BP Biobutanol and Patron Tequila
[caption id="attachment_3971" align="alignright" width="270" caption="The Audi TDI, Peugeot and BP Mazda competing for green racing points on three kinds of fuel and (at least) two kinds of coolant."][/caption] by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) BP and Shell had a bit of
October 11, 2009 Read Full Article
Green Racing at Petit Le Mans: Audi and Shell
Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) I am not a car guy. Not a car gal. That said, I LOVE the TDI Audi's that race the LeMans endurance races. I love them like I have never loved a car before. Up close,
October 10, 2009 Read Full Article
Biofuels Producers Warn They Are Going to Fall Far Short of Federal Mandates
by Jessica Leber (New York Times Climatewire) The emerging cellulosic biofuel industry, stung by frozen credit markets, ineffective federal loan programs and lagging federal policies, will fall far short of mandated production volumes over the next few years. U.S. EPA is
October 10, 2009 Read Full Article
Green Racing at Petit Le Mans: Drayson Racing
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Drayson Racing (without Barwell this year) had a new, much faster car (built less than a month earlier in only 12 days) at the 2009 10 hour or 1000 miles Petit Le Mans at
October 09, 2009 Read Full Article
Green Racing at Petit Le Mans: The Beginnings
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) In search of the real people doing real work on real technologies to develop advanced biofuels and improve the efficiency of our personal modes of transportation, I've begun following the green racing espoused by the
October 08, 2009 Read Full Article
Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation Focuses Issue on Biofuels
The Journal of the Association for Laboratory Automation focused its August 2009 issue on papers related to biofuels including: A Convenient Low-Resolution NMR Method for the Determination of the Molecular Weight of Soybean Oil-Based Polymers, Automated Yeast Mating Protocol Using Open
October 08, 2009 Read Full Article
Survey: Broad Support for Biofuels in Wisconsin, but Clear Partisan Differences
by Bob Mitchell Although almost two-thirds of Wisconsinites support the use and production of biofuels, less than half think the government should subsidize their development, according to a new study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers. ... The researchers did find quite
October 08, 2009 Read Full Article
New Yeasts Could Help Fast-Track Biofuel Production
(Science Daily) A new yeast that makes ethanol from both five-carbon and six-carbon sugars without needing oxygen has been developed by an Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientist. This could be an important breakthrough in industrial ethanol production, because it's difficult to
October 08, 2009 Read Full Article
Genome Sequence Published for Important Biofuels Yeast
A strain of yeast that thrives on turning sugar cane and other tough grasses into ethanol that might be used as biofuel has had its genome completely sequenced by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. "Understanding this microbe may enable more
October 08, 2009 Read Full Article
European States Split Over EU-Wide Carbon Tax Plan
(Reuters) European Union countries are split over plans to introduce an EU-wide carbon tax on fuel, which could be proposed early next year. The idea, which EU officials say has gained fresh momentum after losing impetus earlier this year, is
October 08, 2009 Read Full Article
Algae Energy Orgy
by Emily Waltz (Mother Jones) When Adam Freeman graduated last December from Kennesaw State University in Georgia with a degree in biochemistry, he wanted to work in only one field: pond scum. Freeman had read that entrepreneurs were squeezing out
October 08, 2009 Read Full Article
The Promise of Algae Biofuels
(National Resources Defense Council 92-page report) The algae biofuels industry is comprised of many pathways to produce fuels from algae and is developing rapidly, with most companies operating in “stealth” mode. This makes measuring progress toward the promise of algae
October 08, 2009 Read Full Article
Indiana Corn Acres Decrease as Ethanol Production Increases
(Hoosier Ag Today, Indiana Corn Marketing Council) For the last five years, Madison County farmer Mike Shuter has maintained the same crop rotation on his farm of two-thirds of his fields in corn and one-third in soybeans. He hasn’t seen
October 07, 2009 Read Full Article
Hunger for Biofuels will Gobble Up Wheat Surplus
by Robin Pagnamenta (Times Online) Britain’s self-sufficiency in wheat will end next year, because a giant new biofuel refinery needs so much of the staple crop that home-grown supplies will be exhausted feeding both the factory and the nation. The
October 07, 2009 Read Full Article
Egypt's Government Interested in Biofuels
(UPI) The Egyptian government is interested in cultivating plants with biofuel potential. The Egyptian state Wikalat Al-Anbaa' Al-Sharq Al-'awsat news agency reported Saturday that the jatropha plant is of particular interest to the country's Ministry of Agriculture. A ministry spokesperson
October 07, 2009 Read Full Article
Distillery Using Algae to Cut CO2
(BBC) One of Scotland's best known whisky distilleries is taking part in a scheme to cut carbon dioxide emissions using oil-producing algae. The Glenturret Distillery in Perthshire will use the ground-breaking system to turn fumes generated by whisky production into
October 07, 2009 Read Full Article
Indirect Land Use Change Analysis Debate on Video
The German Marshall Fund on September 25, 2009, sponsored a debate at the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on biofuels and indirect land use change. The debaters were Tim Searchinger, transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund and co-author
October 07, 2009 Read Full Article
Kansas Wheat Commission Seeking Proposals
(Kansas Farmer) Researchers are invited to submit proposals to help wheat growers. Possible areas of inquiry include wheat and wheat bi-products for use in biofuel applications, including on-farm fuel production. The Kansas Wheat Commission is looking for research proposals that can
October 07, 2009 Read Full Article
Qteros and Applied CleanTech Announce Novel Solution for Turning Cellulose from Municipal Wastewater into ethanol Fuel for Cars
Recyllose™, a recycled solids-based material produced from municipal wastewater, can now be turned into fuel for cars, announced Applied Cleantech and Qteros, the advanced biofuels company whose breakthrough Q Microbe™ technology can turn biomass into cellulosic ethanol. Qteros has entered into
October 07, 2009 Read Full Article
POET Releases Video Summarizing State of Cellulosic Ethanol Development
Focusing on its work with corn cobs as a cellulosic ethanol feedstock, POET's latest video provides a basic look at what it is taking to move from fermentation of starch to conversion of cellulose to ethanol. Great visuals for people
October 07, 2009 Read Full Article
Facility That Will Process Pennycress into Fuel Gets Boost by Federal Funds
by Steve Tarter (Journal Star) A biodiesel plant in Peoria County moved a step closer to reality Monday as U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock announced $500,000 in funding to help develop a new source for the biofuel. That source is pennycress,
October 06, 2009 Read Full Article
Boeing, Honeywell's UOP, Masdar Institute and Industry Team Launch Study of Jet Fuel Made from Saltwater Plants
Boeing announced it is joining with Honeywell's UOP to commission a study on the sustainability of a leading family of saltwater-based plant candidates for renewable jet fuel. The study is being commissioned as part of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users
October 06, 2009 Read Full Article
New Low Carbon Synthetic Fuels Association (LCSFA) Forms; Urges EPA to Promote the Cleanest Renewable Fuels Compatible with Existing Fuels Infrastructure
Advanced biofuel producers announced the formation of the Low Carbon Synthetic Fuels Association (LCSFA), with members including TRI, Rentech Inc., Velocys, CHOREN, Flambeau River Biofuels/Johnson Timber, AP Fuels and World GTL. The LCSFA was formed to address existing legislative and
October 06, 2009 Read Full Article
Kinder Morgan Annouce Commercial Transportation of Biodiesel through Oregon Pipeline
(Wall Street Grand) Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, L.P. had announced the beginning of commercial transportation of blended 2% biodiesel (B2) through its 115 mile Oregon Pipeline which run from Portland to Eugene. A test of moving B2 through the pipeline was
October 06, 2009 Read Full Article
Biofuels: Potential Effects and Challenges of Required Increases in Production and Use
Regarding international indirect land use change analysis: A recent report on biofuels from the General Accounting Office, a nonpartisan, watchdog arm of Congress, confirms what level heads have been advocating for more than a year: There is no scientific consensus
October 06, 2009 Read Full Article
Public Fury Halts Biofuel Onslaught on Farmers in Tanzania
By Mike Mande (The East African) Tanzania has suspended investments worth millions of dollars after a storm of protest over the eviction of farmers to make way for biofuels. The EastAfrican has learnt that the country will not start any new
October 06, 2009 Read Full Article
Biofuel Gone Bad: Burma's Atrophying Jatropha
(Time) Each of Burma's states and divisions was ordered to dedicate around 500,000 acres (202,000 hectares) to physic-nut (jatropha) cultivation, pressuring many ordinary citizens into a massive forced-planting campaign, according to human-rights groups. ... Puzzlingly, however, the junta's planting directive has
October 06, 2009 Read Full Article
How a Biofuel 'Miracle' Ruined Kenyan Farmers
by Nick Wadhams/Kibwezi (Time) Everyone in Kibwezi, a village in southeastern Kenya parched by four years of drought, remembers the promises. It all started in 2000, when the government started preaching the word about a plant called jatropha curcas. That
October 06, 2009 Read Full Article
Global Forest Watch Canada Releases Study of GHG Emissions from Oil Sands Development
A new research paper, Bitumen and Biocarbon, was released today by Global Forest Watch Canada. The paper reveals that significant amounts of greenhouse gases are emitted through the disturbance and/or removal of biocarbon (trees, shrubs, peats), which overlay Alberta's oil
October 06, 2009 Read Full Article
Algae initiative Aims to Produce Fuel while Helping the Environment
The College of William and Mary and its Virginia Institute of Marine Science have formed a collaborative research initiative to investigate a promising new technology to produce biofuel from the algae growing naturally in rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. The
October 05, 2009 Read Full Article
UAL's Tilton Says Airlines Want Alternative Fuels
(Reuters) U.S. commercial airlines and military aircraft would make a strong long-term market for alternatives to jet fuel, said Glenn Tilton, the chief executive officer of UAL Corp and its United Airlines unit. Speaking at an energy conference on Wednesday,
October 02, 2009 Read Full Article
National Biodiesel Board Urges Extension of Biodiesel Tax Incentive
Manning Feraci, Vice President of Federal Affairs for the National Biodiesel Board (NBB), testified before the U.S. House Committee on Small Business regarding the pressing need to extend and reform the biodiesel tax incentive. The incentive is currently set to
October 02, 2009 Read Full Article
NREL, EPA Publish Resource on Advancing Bioenergy
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, and the US Environmental Protection Agency have published a "State Bioenergy Primer: Information and Resources for States on Issues, Opportunities, and Options for Advancing Bioenergy" aimed at state-level policy makers and available to
October 02, 2009 Read Full Article
In Search of Wildlife-Friendly Biofuels: Could Native Prairie Plants Be the Answer
... In a paper published in the latest issue of the journal BioScience, David Flaspohler, Joseph Fargione and colleagues analyze the impacts on wildlife of the burgeoning conversion of grasslands to corn for ethanol production is posing a very real
October 02, 2009 Read Full Article
U.S. Ethanol from Corn Could Double by 2030
by Charles Abbott (Reuters) U.S. farmers could grow enough corn to produce 25 billion gallons of ethanol in 2030, twice as much as this year's target of 12 billion gallons, said the leader of a U.S. corn group on Thursday.
October 02, 2009 Read Full Article
Hart Energy Publishes Report on Ethanol and Biodiesel
Hart’s Global Biofuels Center released its annual Global Ethanol & Biodiesel Outlook. The study provides forecasts to 2015 and covers 32 countries. Some study findings: · Global ethanol demand will represent 12-14% of the global gasoline pool by 2015; · Demand for biodiesel
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
Biofuel from TB Bacteria
A team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are attempting to engineer biofuel-producing microbes from Rhodococcus bacteria — soil-dwelling microbes that eat a variety of toxic compounds. The aim of Professor Anthony Sinskey's team is to make an organism
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
Scientific Data Supports GHG Reduction of Sugarcane Ethanol, Even Considering ILUC
Brazilian ethanol produced from sugarcane can help the United States meet its advanced renewable fuel targets, while helping reduce emissions. This is one of the conclusions presented by the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
Caribbean Ethanol Producers Wary of RFS2 Rule
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ... The Caribbean Basin Ethanol Producers Group, which consists of Trinidad Bulk Traders Ltd., Gasohol de El Salvador, LAICA of Costa Rica, Petrojam Ltd., Jamaica Ethanol Co., and Jamaica Broilers Group, said in a
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
BioFuelBox Deploys World’s First Waste-FOG-to-Fuel Plant
(Businesswire) BioFuelBox Inc., a leader in waste-to-fuel solutions, announces the world’s first fully scaled refinery for converting waste fat, oil and grease (FOG) from wastewater into a clean-burning renewable fuel. The company’s first plant, located in Idaho, is processing waste
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
Biobutanol Surges: Gevo Announces Retrofit of First-Gen Ethanol Plant for Advanced Fuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Missouri, biobutanol made another significant advance in its path towards biofuels viability with the startup of a 1 Mgy pilot plant in St. Joseph. The town that served as the traditional jumping off point
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
OriginOil Announces New Algae Growth System for Use in Wastewater Facilities
OriginOil, Inc., announced an innovative production system using a type of algae that attaches itself to growth surfaces. The new system helps pursue clean water goals while generating algae for fuel and other valuable products in wastewater treatment plants. “Previous
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
Minn. Biodiesel Plant Creates Fuel Without Waste
by Frank Vascellaro (WCCO) ... The plant creates fuel without water, chemicals or waste. The new process called "Mcgyan"-- named after its inventors -- converts fats into fuel within seconds. "When we get to full capacity in another week," said McNeff,
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
New Energy Economics: Can Scientists Really Estimate Indirect Land Use?
by Cole Gustafson (INFORUM) ... (Indirect land use change) LUC is thought to occur in response to rising U.S. grain prices. As additional U.S. grains are used to produce biofuels, prices for those grains rise due to a limited supply. These
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
Nebraska, Nation, Looking at Record Corn Production
(the Nebraska Farmer) ... USDA estimates that Nebraska corn farmers will bring in 1.55 billion bushels of corn this year and average 169 bushels per acre. Both numbers would be records--with production surpassing the 1.47 billion produced in 2007 and
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
World Growth Launches New Campaign, Releases Report on Palm Oil
World Growth report exposes how attempts by environmental NGOs to restrict production, trade of palm oil (a sustainable oil) would harm successful strategies to end poverty, restrict opportunities for developing countries to reduce emissions. Today (September 29, 2009) at the
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
NGOs, Scientists Hit Back at Food vs Fuel, Indirect Land Use Change Proponents with Hard Data
Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) From Bangkok to Fargo, biofuels scientists have hit back at what they term faulty research and misguided priorities – with a series of presentations on palm oil, indirect land use change, and food vs fuel. READ
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
DOE Awards Poet US $6.85M for Cellulose Supply Sourcing
(Renewable Energy World) Poet's ambitious goal of securing 700 tons of cellulosic biomass per day got a big boost this week from a US $6.85 million funding increase to an existing grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
Chinese Technology Converts Biomass Directly to Fuel
by Lisa Gibson (Biomass Magazine) Researchers with China-based Ji Zhong Wei New Energy Technical Development Ltd. have discovered a way to convert biomass directly to regular gasoline and diesel, according to the company. The same international standard fuels many of
October 01, 2009 Read Full Article
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