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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … Is India the cash cow for biofuels? Or even the golden cow? If Aemetis’ recent 200% year over year increase in biodiesel sales is any indication…well, let’s just say we see the value. The market It is estimated that the ethanol market in India
History of Advanced Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Today we’re going to relate a detective story which begins with an unexplained and foul stink, and branches off into climate, trade, the eradication of poverty, crop rotation, the politics of the Amazon, the flow vectors of tropical seas, seafloor convection, the future of beach
August 13, 2019
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by Ruth Kassinger (Boston Globe) … We’ve turned algae into killers. But we can change their future and ours. We can harness them to help save the environment we’ve been ravaging. AFTER THE OPEC oil embargo of the mid-1970s caused gas shortages and price hikes, government-funded biologists and engineers across the country began
August 5, 2019
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Midorimushi – other than being a cool sounding Ninja name, it’s scientific name is Euglena. No, it’s not the latest superhero in a manga comic. It’s a kind of algae. In a magical sort of hybrid way, it has both plant and animal properties and has
August 5, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Federal Aviation Administration is a governmental body of the United States with powers to regulate all aspects of civil aviation in that nation as well as over its surrounding international waters and have been working on replacing petroleum jet fuel with drop-in renewable alternatives. Dr.
August 1, 2019
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by Douglas L. Faulkner (The Cleantech Conservative/Leatherstocking LLC/ Biofuels Digest) … (W)e first addressed bio-based plastic research needs; second, we reviewed government regulations preventing the growth of advanced biofuels, a controversial action; then we launched an effort for 2019 for an intensive look at forests of the future and their opportunities for woody
August 1, 2019
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by Tom Philpott (Mother Jones) In a mesmerizing recent article, Mother Jones’ Tim Murphy recounts the surprising backstory of one of corporate marketing’s greatest flops: Coca-Cola’s quickly aborted 1985 effort to tweak its formula and convince consumers to accept “New Coke.” … Coca-Cola had already started adding high-fructose corn syrup to the mix five
July 30, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Clariant, a Switzerland based specialty chemicals company, has four business areas: Care Chemicals, Natural Resources, Catalysis and Plastics & Coatings. While the first half of the year has been challenging, Clariant was able to increase sales by 4% and operating cash flow increased by 11%. Paolo
July 29, 2019
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(Green Car Congress) Commercially viable cellulosic ethanol plants has proven devilishly difficult to bring to fruition. The primary outlier from the list of efforts that have shut down over the past few years is POET/DSM’s Project Liberty (earlier post). In an editorial in the journal Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, two POET team
July 22, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Algae Biomass Organization advocates for algae-advancing policy and funding, serves as a hub for innovation and networking, and drives demand for “made with algae” products and services. Mark Allen, Chairperson of ABO, offers this enlightening overview of the Algae Interagency Working Group, current state of the algae
July 9, 2019
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by Parija Kavilanz (CNN Business) At 22, Jeff Broin was just six months out of college and getting started in the banking industry when his family turned to him for help. His father was scrambling to figure out a way to save the 130-year-old Minnesota corn farm that Broin and his
July 9, 2019
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by John Hanselman (Vanguard Renewables/Biofuels Digest) Renewable natural gas production is a good news story, but how to get there successfully is more complicated than most of us in the business anticipated. At Vanguard Renewables, we entered the renewable energy landscape with two different “eat what you kill” on-farm anaerobic digesters that
July 9, 2019
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by Solomon Lanitis, Chrysa Glystra and Wesley Swift (S&P Global Platts) Ambitious emissions targets are driving governments across the globe to mandate greater use of biofuels in gasoline, and higher-ethanol blends of gasoline look set to make further inroads in the EU in the coming year. Electric vehicles and hybrids have dominated
June 26, 2019
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(U.S. Government Accountability Office) We reviewed the effects of the Renewable Fuel Standard, which requires biofuels to be blended into U.S. transportation fuels in increasing volumes. The standard was associated with modest gas price increases in areas outside of the Midwest. Most corn ethanol—the most common U.S. biofuel—is produced in the Midwest,
June 6, 2019
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(IEA Bioenergy) This document contains the report of the IEA Bioenergy Executive Committee for 2018. This year, we have presented a special feature ‘ Measuring, governing and gaining support for sustainable bioenergy supply chains – lessons and messages from a three-year Inter-Task project’, the preparation of which was led by Task 40. … On 10 January 2018,
June 3, 2019
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Glaucia Mendes Souza, Rubens Maciel Filho, Luís Cassinelli, Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz and Renato D. Godinho (IEA Bioenergy Task 39) … Brazil has an energy matrix with substantial renewable content, with renewables (including hydropower) accounting for 42.9% of the total domestic energy supply (Brazilian Energy Balance 2018). … Even with an energy matrix
June 3, 2019
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by Dave Keating (Euractiv) “ILUC has been solved,” declared Bernd Kuepker, a renewables policy officer at the European Commission’s energy department, at an event held in Brussels this week. He was, of course, not saying that the phenomenon of Indirect Land Use Change has been solved. He was instead making the point that after
May 31, 2019
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(ePURE) EU ethanol production and use resulted in more than 71% average savings over fossil fuels in 2018, according to the latest certified producer data; it’s the seventh straight year ethanol’s decarbonisation performance has improved — European renewable ethanol delivered an average of more than 71% greenhouse-gas savings compared to fossil fuels
May 31, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Digest’s new “Stocks Worth Tracking” Multi-Slide Guide Series highlights hot companies that are making strides in the bioeconomy. Today’s “Stock Worth Tracking” is Pacific Ethanol. Pacific Ethanol was originally founded in 2003 as the first pure-play ethanol company and now has nine bio-refineries in the
May 31, 2019
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by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) French multinational oil giant Total S.A. is just days away from a much-anticipated startup at its La Mède biorefinery in the south of France. A representative of Total told Biodiesel Magazine that the renewable diesel processing facility is on track to begin commercial production in late May or
May 29, 2019
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(Feed & Grain/U.S. Grains Council) In 2018, U.S. ethanol exports totaled more than 6.5 billion liters — A recent analysis by the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) shows non-beverage ethanol has been the fastest growing U.S. agricultural export over the past decade by a significant margin. In 2018, U.S. ethanol exports totaled more
May 29, 2019
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(American Coalition for Ethanol) ACE CEO Brian Jennings sends Chairman Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Ranking Member Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) data on the positive impact agriculture and low carbon fuels like corn ethanol can have as a hearing takes up the policy debate between farming and climate change. American Coalition for Ethanol
May 24, 2019
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(Methanol Institute) Compared to conventional fuels, renewable methanol cuts carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95%, reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80%, and completely eliminates sulfur oxide and particulate matter emissions. The report, prepared for MI by ATA Insights, features case studies on renewable methanol production by Carbon Recycling International
May 23, 2019
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by Matt Thompson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Enerkem is producing methanol and ethanol at its Edmonton, Alberta, plant, diverting up to 24 percent of the city’s landfill waste. The company has partners for another project in the Netherlands. — A Canadian company is furthering ethanol’s environmental benefits, using municipal solid waste (MSW) as
May 15, 2019
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(Omaha World-Herald) When Taylor Nelson of Jackson, Nebraska, graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2012, the farm economy was on fire. Rents and land values were increasing at an unprecedented rate, and farmers were snapping up every opportunity they could. The stakes were high, and the market seemed impenetrable for
May 15, 2019
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by Kelsey Quargnenti (Renewable Fuels Association) The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has lowered gas prices by an average of 22 cents per gallon in recent years and saved the typical American household $250 annually, according to a study published today by economist and energy policy expert Dr. Philip K. Verleger, Jr. The
May 15, 2019
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by Matt Thompson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Beyond Enerkem, a few companies around the world are looking to feedstocks outside of corn to produce cellulosic ethanol. — A few well-known ethanol producers are developing cellulosic pathways that use feedstocks other than elements of corn. … Waste Gas LanzaTech, a U.S.-based carbon capture and
May 14, 2019
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by Clay Gordon (News Center Maine) Maine Standard Biofuels collects grease and refines it into bioheat, biodiesel and other bioproducts — … Used cooking oil is being repurposed, and in its refined state is powering engines, cars, trucks, even ferries, and heating homes. Maine Standard Biofuels was founded in 2006 after Jarmin
May 10, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Washington state (House–see correction below) has passed a low carbon fuel standard that would have it join itself to the standards already enacted in California, Oregon and British Columbia and under development now for the whole of Canada. The establishment of a clear and steady
May 9, 2019
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by Tom Phillips (Popular Science) … In the 1910s and 1920s, he was working on the problem of car engines “knocking”—a persistent problem where engines would stutter and jerk, especially when put under strain. Midgley and his boss Charles Kettering suspected that knocking was down to the fuel used burning unevenly,
May 6, 2019
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) We hear the theme song to Disney’s Carousel of Progress… “It’s a great big beautiful tomorrow…” but it’s also a great big beautiful today because the viability of Anellotech’s Bio-TCat technology has been proven by achieving commercially-targeted yields in its TCat-8 pilot unit in Silsbee,
May 6, 2019
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by Glaucia Mendes Souza, Rubens Maciel Filho, Luís Cassinelli, Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz, and Renato D. Godinho (IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Newsletter) 1. Status of the Brazilian Biofuels Industry Brazil has an energy matrix with substantial renewable content, with renewables (including hydropower) accounting for 42.9% of the total domestic energy supply (Brazilian Energy Balance
May 3, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Recently from California comes the news that advanced materials wunderkind Checkerspot has closed its Series A financing for $13 million. … …(A)dvanced materials are perhaps the first breakout anyone will really notice. Because materials are stuff and stuff never passes you without notice in the manner
April 30, 2019
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by Kerry Reals (Aviation Week & Space Technology) After years of talking about the potential of biofuels and conducting sporadic demonstration flights powered partially by alternatives to kerosene, experts in the field of sustainable aviation detect that the industry could be moving toward a tipping point where more meaningful volumes are
April 29, 2019
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by Matt Thompson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) While ethanol’s coproducts are well-known to the livestock industry, innovative technologies and processes are opening new markets for dried distillers grains with solubles. The aquaculture industry is one of those new markets, and a partnership between White Dog Labs and Midwest Renewable Energy LLC positions
April 19, 2019
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by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) As a new wave of large-scale biomass-based diesel projects develops, experts suggest market forces are ready to deliver the necessary fats, oils and greases. — …Many of these new biomass-based diesel projects intend to produce renewable diesel at a much larger scale than even the largest biodiesel
April 17, 2019
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by Eillie Anzilotti (Fast Company) … Bob and Kelly King founded Pacific Biodiesel in Hawaii in 1995 in response to a concerning issue: the volume of used cooking oil that was being dumped into a landfill in Maui. Bob, who at the time owned the company that ran the landfill’s generators, proposed recycling the used
April 16, 2019
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by Jonathan Ellis (Argus Leader) Sioux Falls-based Poet has asked a federal judge to confirm a multi-million dollar arbitration award it received from a company that it claims botched an ethanol production system at a plant in Iowa. A panel of three arbitrators from the American Arbitration Association held three hearings
April 12, 2019
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(The Messenger) … The United States Department of Agriculture has just released the findings of a USDA study about the environmental impact of the corn-ethanol industry. The conclusions are superb news — ethanol has significant greenhouse gas benefits when compared to gasoline. The most important conclusion of an extensive research project,
April 9, 2019
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(TerViva/MarketWatch/PR NewsWire) Led by Ag Family Offices and Climate-Smart Investors, Funding Round Brings Ag-Tech Firm to $40 Million Raised for High-Yielding, Sustainable Plant Protein Product Development — TerViva, an agriculture technology firm commercializing resilient pongamia trees that produce as much as ten times the beans per acre as soy for the supply
March 27, 2019
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by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) March 15, 2002, was a landmark day for biodiesel. Seventeen years ago, Minnesota enacted the nation’s first biodiesel mandate, which went into effect in 2005. The trailblazing blend requirement started at 2 percent and was bumped up to 5 percent in 2009. In 2008, then Gov.
March 20, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Port of Seattle Commissioner Fred Felleman noted: “Secretary Mabus advised us to set a goal. If it’s good enough for the Navy, it’s good enough for SeaTac airport, and we’ve established a partnership with 13 airlines with a goal of moving to 10 percent renewable
March 12, 2019
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by Paul Greene (BioCycle Magazine/Montrose Environmental) California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which grew out of the state’s Global Warming Solutions Act, is stimulating markets for biogas, including renewable natural gas — Biogas project developers and financiers are finding strong offtake opportunities selling their gas into the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS)
March 11, 2019
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by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) Luke Perry is being eulogized for many reasons upon his sudden passing this week at the age of 52, but not so much about his rural background and his support of biodiesel. Back in 2006, Luke Perry showed up at the National Biodiesel Conference in San Diego sporting an
March 5, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Douglas B. Rivers, PhD,from Sunflwr Consulting and a member of Lee Enterprises Consulting offers this illuminating overview and more READ MORE
February 28, 2019
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by Douglas B. Rivers (Biofuels Digest/Lee Enterprises, Inc.) Past, Present and Future Douglas B. Rivers, PhD, from Sunflwr Consulting and a member of Lee Enterprises Consulting, offers this illuminating overview of the U.S. ethanol industry’s history, current technologies, new developments and trends, and more. READ MORE RFA Releases Three
February 26, 2019
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by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Yeast can be genetically modified through multiple techniques, all offering advancements for the ethanol industry. — Genetically modified (GM) yeasts have found their place in the ethanol industry with more than half of producers routinely using them. All yeast providers, plus enzyme providers expanding into yeasts,
February 26, 2019
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by Kristin Danley-Greiner (The Messenger) … Monte Shaw, director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said that an estimated 10,000 families are directly invested in locally owned ethanol plants. There are hundreds of thousands of producers who are directly linked, too. He grew up on an Iowa farm in the
February 26, 2019
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by Arlin E. Gyberg (StarTribune) The biofuels industry over the last 30 years has produced more product using less energy and water and contributes far less carbon-dioxide emissions than petroleum fuels. — Across Minnesota, about 25 ethanol and biodiesel plants generate about $5 billion in combined economic output. Such biofuels may also
February 19, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Glenn Farris, of Farris Advisory Services and a member of Lee Enterprises Consulting offers this illuminating prediction of the future of ag waste and purpose grown crops, challenges to growing and using these feedstocks, and more. Lee Enterprises Consulting is the world’s largest bioeconomy consulting group with
February 11, 2019
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(Renewable Fuels Association) A new study released today finds that the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) has been a tremendous success in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with nearly 600 million metric tons of GHG reduction since 2007. Actual GHG reductions under the RFS2 have far surpassed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) original
February 6, 2019
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(Agriculture & Applied Ecoomics Association/CISION/PR Web) AAEA Members release research that finds corn ethanol production and crop price changes had negligible impact on cropland — Since 2007 corn ethanol production has doubled and there was also a sharp upturn in corn prices between 2008 and 2012. However, a newly released article in
January 29, 2019
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by David Hitchcock (Atlantic Council) … However, the importance of powering the aviation sector (both military and commercial) through sustainable fuels cannot be overstated. David Hitchcock’s paper, “Ready for Takeoff? Aviation Biofuels Past, Present, and Future,” provides a keen look at the history of biofuels, current uses of biofuel, and investments
January 26, 2019
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by Bruce Comer (Ocean Park/Biofuels Digest) Convergence reigns as the North American biofuels industry witnesses a resurgence in mergers and acquisitions, including exceptionally large deals — Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in biofuels picked up considerably in 2018 after a slowdown in 2017, and by historic standards, the deals grew considerably in
January 22, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … This week on 60 Minutes, another unlikely character burst onto the national scene, courtesy of one of the lightest technologies profiles ever investigated on 60 Minutes by the otherwise redoubtable Lesley Stahl, who offered up the story of Xyleco, presumably as a proxy for the efforts of the
January 10, 2019
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by Lesley Stahl (60 Minutes/CBS News) Marshall Medoff unveils to 60 Minutes his innovative method of turning plant life into fuel and other useful products — … What (Craig)Masterman helped implement was Medoff’s novel idea of using these large blue machines called electron accelerators to break apart nature’s chokehold on the valuable
January 7, 2019
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by Marc Kellens (Biodiesel Magazine) Marc Kellens, the global technical director for Desmet Ballestra, takes us through the history and future of biodiesel production, identifying key milestones and cultural shifts, including the introduction and proliferation of renewable diesel. — … The food-vs.-fuel debate forced the industry to look for alternative biomass sources—wood,
January 5, 2019
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by Robert Boslego (Boslego Risk Services/Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc./Biofuels Digest) … Because ethanol is produced from plants, both the agricultural and oil commodity markets are involved, creating a more complex risk exposure. The end result is that the ethanol producer’s gross margin is risky and subject to sharp changes. A strategy
December 27, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … The achievement of a major proof of concept is the news, in the case of Industrial Microbes — the ability to show that they can convert methane into multiple products (albeit at low efficiency, in these early days) in E. coli. We visited iMicrobes’ early
December 20, 2018
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(Renewable Fuels Association) Eleven years ago today, President George W. Bush signed into law what has become the single most successful clean fuels policy in the United States–the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2). The RFS2, included in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, requires petroleum refiners and importers to
December 19, 2018
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(Driving Ethanol) Driving Ethanol podcast series focuses on decade of accomplishments — Growth Energy was created in November 2008 and so is celebrating ten years of advocating for ethanol. This edition of the Driving Ethanol podcast is the final installment of our series on the 10 year anniversary of Growth Energy
December 17, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Biomass Technology Group develops fast pyrolysis technology and FPBO applications as well as the commercialization of such technology and production of fast pyrolysis bio-oil. Bert van de Beld from BTG gave this illuminating overview of their fast pyrolysis technology and commercial scale demo plant in the Netherlands at
December 17, 2018
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(American Energy Society/Energy Today) The American Energy Society selects Nathaniel Rich as the Energy Writer of the Year, 2018, for his article “Losing Earth: The Decade We Almost Stopped Climate Change” (New York Times Magazine, August 1, 2018). The 31,000-word piece weaves together a narrative about the years 1979 to 1989,
December 4, 2018
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The Urban Air Initiative has announced the release of its “Beyond a Reasonable Doubt” research series, which digs into the history, science and the public policy behind how we fuel our vehicles and aims to help readers understand the full scope of why ethanol is
November 24, 2018
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by Jenna Bloxom* (Advanced Biofuels USA) The kickoff of the 2018 Algae Biomass Summit in The Woodlands, TX, was awash with the same professional ambition, intellectual zeal, and indomitable sense of hope which likewise distinguished the opening ceremony of this very conference ten years ago—in many ways, however, that is
November 17, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, researchers for a report published by the Urban Air Initiative contend that “technical data that shows the nation has been exposed to decades of flawed test fuels and flawed driving tests, which in turn means flawed emissions results and mileage claims”. The complete Beyond a
November 13, 2018
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(Georgia Today) As a result of successful Austrian-Georgian cooperation, the first biodiesel enterprise has opened in Georgia. Martin Mitelbak, PHD Doctor of Chemistry; Murman Pataraia, the founder of Biodiesel Georgia; Rusudan Ramazashvili, General Director of Frego; and Kakha Karchkhadze, renowned researcher of Renewable Energy at Ilia State University, managed to implement
November 9, 2018
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Lee Lynd issued a call to action in a recent Nature Biotechnology commentary: Three key measures should be part of any effort to revitalize cellulosic biofuels. First, pursue commercial deployment in achievable, successively enabling steps, proceeding from where the industry is today. Second, maximize social and environmental benefits based on examples
November 7, 2018
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(Vietnam.net) Common ethanol fuel mixture (E5 RON 92 gasoline) has been receiving many incentives from the State. However, high prices of materials for ethanol production and relevant materials plus the high tariff levied on imported ethanol have significantly eroded E5 gasoline’s advantages. … Up to the moment of speaking, it can
November 6, 2018
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by Matt Carr (Algae Biomass Organization/Biofuels Digest) Algae-derived products and technologies are on the cusp of changing nearly everything. Algae will transform how we eat; will make the materials in your shoes more sustainable; provide fuel for vehicles and planes; recycle greenhouse gases and deliver many more products that have yet to be commercialized. … There is a
November 6, 2018
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by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) While oil refiners adding a small percentage of renewable feedstock to their operations sounds simple, the political, economic, technical, societal and market consequences are anything but. In 2007, at the height of the biodiesel boom, ConocoPhillips and Tyson Foods announced a partnership to coprocess animal fats
November 6, 2018
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by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Biodiesel Magazine spotlights a producer whose recent acquisition fulfills increased feedstock demand, a consulting firm that assists in market entry and production efficiencies, and the expansion of one of today’s fastest-growing biodiesel refiners. — BioJoe Renwick, founder and co-owner of Winnsboro, South Carolina-based Green Energy Biofuel, is
November 6, 2018
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by Lee R. Lynd (Energy Today/Nature Biotechnology/Dartmouth College) Why cellulosic biofuels have fallen short of expectations and what we can do about it. — A robust second-generation biofuels industry based on inedible cellulosic biomass available as wood, grass, and various wastes was widely expected to be in place by now. Anticipated benefits
November 5, 2018
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by Jim Talent (The Hill/Americans for Energy Security and Innovation) Following the mysterious death of columnist Jamal Khashoggi, Washington was hit with a stark reminder that America remains glaringly vulnerable to economic threats from the oil oligarchs of the world. Saudi Arabia quickly issued a warning that any sanctions will be met with
October 24, 2018
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by DeLoss Jahnke (Farm Week Now) NCERC has contributed dozens of technologies being used by manufacturers across the country, and interest in continued collaboration keeps growing. In just 15 years, the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) has become a nationally recognized research facility and made a major impact on ethanol production throughout the
October 20, 2018
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by Tammy Klein, Douglas Faulkner and Gerard J. Ostheimer (Biofuels Digest) … After the Paris Agreement in 2015 the urgent challenge of mitigating climate change forced numerous people across the advocacy-to-action spectrum to look for practical options to de-carbonizing the entire economy. People who five years ago couldn’t be bothered to think
October 18, 2018
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By Umer Khayyam and Tehzeeb Bano (The Express Tribune) … Carbon dioxide/greenhouse gas emissions, generated from the burning of fossil fuels, are increasing in Third World societies like Pakistan. … To negate the negative atmospheric results of non-renewable energy sources, global and regional societies have to look for infinite and less
October 15, 2018
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by Doug Durante and Doug Sombke (Clean Fuels Development Coalition/South Dakota Farmers Union/Biofuels Digest) … However, we may have a unique and perhaps unprecedented opportunity for a do-over with the proposed fuel economy rule. While we take no position on exactly what the mileage standards should be, whatever they are we can
October 11, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) IEA Bioenergy Task 33 is a working group of international experts with the aim to promote the commercialization of efficient, economical and environmentally preferable thermal biomass gasification processes. Kevin Whitty gave this illuminating overview of the progress and promise of thermal gasification of biomass in the
September 26, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Canada, we hear that Enerkem has tested and validated the production of fuel-grade bio-DME made from unrecoverable carbon-rich municipal solid waste. More than 1,000 hours of operations at its Innovation Centre in Westbury, Quebec have been completed.has successfully produced renewable bio-dimethyl ether (Bio-DME), a by-product
September 26, 2018
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(Vivergo Fuels) Today, we regret to announce that given the continued difficult trading environment and delays in the implementation of E10 in the UK over time, Vivergo Fuels Ltd proposes to cease production. Mark Chesworth, Managing Director, Vivergo Fuels Ltd, commented: “I am extremely disappointed at having to announce the proposed
September 7, 2018
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by Mikkel Pates (Forum News Service/Bismark Tribune) Now more than ever, farmers who believe in the future of ethanol need to speak up for it, says Gerald Bachmeier, president of the North Dakota Ethanol Producers Association. Bachmeier, who also serves as chief executive officer of Red Trail Energy LLC, in
September 3, 2018
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(University of Idaho National Biodiesel Education Program) The goals of the Biodiesel Fuel Education Program as originally established in Sec. 9004 of the Farm Security Investment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 8104) were to stimulate biodiesel consumption and to stimulate the development of a biodiesel infrastructure. The information and outreach activities
August 17, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) For several years now we have seen a significant number of players pivoting from biofuels towards smaller but higher-value markets in chemicals, nutrition, nutraceuticals, pharma, materials, flavorings, fragrances, cosmetics and more. We’ve reported on the proliferation of applications both in the Digest and in What’s Nuu? and
August 9, 2018
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(Renewable Fuels Association) The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) today welcomed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) request for public comments on how high octane fuels could facilitate engine efficiency improvements and reduced emissions under 2021-2026 fuel economy and tailpipe GHG standards for light-duty automobiles (CAFE/GHG). The solicitation for comments on high
August 2, 2018
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by Brady Dennis, Michael Laris and Juliet Eilperin (The Washington Post) The Trump administration on Thursday announced plans to freeze fuel efficiency requirements for the nation’s cars and trucks through 2026 — a massive regulatory rollback likely to spur a legal battle with California and other states, as well as create potential upheaval in the
August 2, 2018
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by Jessie Stolark (Energy and Environmental Study Institute) On Wednesday July 25, the House Energy & Commerce Committee held a hearing to educate members on the complexities of the compliance markets for biofuels, as Environment and Economy Subcommittee Rep. Shimkus (R-IL), chair, explores reforming the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Shimkus (R-IL)
August 1, 2018
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by Kurt Liedtke (Herald and News) On Wednesday, members of Red Rock Biofuels, political dignitaries, corporate representatives and a large community contingent gathered on the outskirts of Lakeview for a groundbreaking ceremony for the $320 million renewable fuels facility. Taking woody biomass waste products such as pine needles, agriculture waste,
July 30, 2018
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by Catherine Clifford (CNBC) A bacteria found in the gut of a rabbit can now help cars run in a more eco-friendly way. The bacteria, identified by biotech start-up LanzaTech, helps turn factory carbon emissions, a.k.a. pollution, into ethanol …. … “While there are many sustainable sources of sugar-derived ethanol … it’s not enough
July 30, 2018
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by Alex Guillén (Politico’s Morning Energy) The Trump administration is expected to formally roll back vehicle fuel economy and emissions requirements later this week, and a draft version of the EPA-NHTSA rule posted Friday evening by The New York Times offers up details that confirm the many of the changes previously
July 30, 2018
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University of Illinois professor Stephen Long, explaining the need for home-grown biofuels said, “(P)eople of my age have seen these past (oil) disruptions. You know we’ve probably three major ones since the ’70s really in our oil supplies. You know they are vulnerable, that and we know that they won’t last
July 22, 2018
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Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … Some of these started with biofuels then went into chemicals, nutrition or protein and some are going back to their beginnings. What they all have in common, however, is they are transforming…as markets change, as the economy changes, as technologies change, they recognize that the
July 16, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) For over 20 years, Fluid-Quip has been engineering and manufacturing separation equipment for corn wet milling and pulp and paper applications. Fluid-Quip Process Technologies has more recently leveraged wet milling knowledge to develop enhancements for dry-grind ethanol plants — and clean sugar technology at the forefront,
July 10, 2018
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(U.S. Government Accountability Office) The Renewable Fuel Standard aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expand the nation’s renewable fuels sector through 2022. It requires that transportation fuels (such as gasoline and diesel) sold in the U.S. contain annually increasing amounts of conventional renewable fuels (such as ethanol) and advanced biofuels
July 8, 2018
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(Environmental Protection Agency) This report is the second of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) triennial reports to Congress required under the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA). EISA Section 204 calls for EPA to report to Congress on the environmental and resource conservation impacts of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS)
July 2, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … (C)onsider this venture about Making the Right Stuff — that is, how you translate an entire generation of innovation in digital biology, biobased chemical engineering and advanced fabrication into actual stuff. Or, how you get ASAP to high-value, high-performance applications. Checkerspot recently emerged from the
June 26, 2018
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by Chrysa Glystra (Platts) European ethanol delivered an average of more than 70% greenhouse gas savings compared with fossil fuels in 2017, according to new data from European ethanol producers, the European renewable ethanol association, ePure, said Wednesday. This has been certified by auditing firm Copartner. “For the sixth year in a
June 20, 2018
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by Lawrence Sullivan (Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining) … After much efforts to fund the development of biofuels by both governments and the venture capitalists, there were some awakenings and realizations. One, the capital-intensive nature of power and petroleum means adoption of new technologies must await the amortization of old technologies. There is no Moore’s
June 18, 2018
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by Grant Bradley (New Zealand Herald) When a brand new Cathay Pacific Airbus A350-1000 flies from France to Hong Kong on Wednesday it will be partly powered by biofuel. The 334-seat plane will have a 10 per cent blend of biofuel next to traditional jet fuel in its tanks which can
June 18, 2018
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by Philip T. Pienkos (R&D Magazine) … This time, the leading force was not the DOE (U.S. Department of Energy), but the investment community acting in the belief that the power of modern biotechnology could be brought to bear against the hurdles that stymied the ASP (Aquatic Species Program). Dozens of
June 18, 2018
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by John Gilbert (Super Chevy) The big draw to E85 for gearheads was its 105 octane rating that’s no longer posted on the pump. It’s been a while since there’s been any mention of E85 connected with the new vehicles, but E85 is still around, and now with E10 gasoline prices
June 7, 2018
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(National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Ethanol Producer Magazine) If there’s an easier, more efficient method, science will find a way. That’s certainly the case in producing cellulosic biofuels, which, at least for now, requires a two-step process to free the sugars trapped in plant matter and convert them into something else. Scientists at
June 7, 2018
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by Ramya Natarajan (Economic Times/Center for Study of Science, Technology and Policy) For the past several winters, Delhi has drawn global attention for its life-threatening smog levels. This is attributed, in part, to the open burning of biomass residues like paddy straw and stubble in the neighbouring states of Punjab and
May 24, 2018
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by Marc J. Rauch (Auto Channel/Daily Caller) The website “FillUpOnFacts.com” is sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute (API). It exists to bash ethanol and its hypocrisy begins with the website’s name. The website is filled-up with lies. This website lists 13 categories, and then links to details that API pretends are
May 24, 2018
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by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) The Trump Administration is taking a new look at Obama Administration era Co2 regulations. On the transportation side, these include reviewing Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards; threatening to take away California’s authority to set their own mileage and pollution controls, including CO2 (carbon dioxide)
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Near Reno, Nevada, Fulcrum BioEnergy broke ground today for its 10 million gallon per year first commercial plant that makes jet fuel from municipal solid waste. For thousands of years we have had a love/hate relationship with waste. We love to make it, we hate
May 17, 2018
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by James Temple (MIT Technology Review) In the closing weeks of 2008, the US Department of Energy invited politicians and press to a dedication ceremony for the Joint BioEnergy Institute in Emeryville, California. The state-of-the-art lab, backed by $125 million in federal funding, filled the top floor of a glimmering glass
May 16, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) “The fuels market is about the largest in the world,” says Terry Mazanec. “Each succeeding generation of inspired inventors and entrepreneurs, with visions of immense profits dancing in their heads, have taken on the challenge of energy. Now the world turns its lonely eyes to biofuels.
May 16, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) From Southern California the report has arrived that Verdezyne is winding down as a company, and today is the last day of operations. The low oil price environment has claimed another victim among the renewable chemical pure-plays. Why oil prices have doomed more chemical players than
May 16, 2018
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by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association) … Simply put, allowing exported ethanol to count toward compliance with an oil company’s RFS obligation would lead to further demand destruction for U.S. ethanol producers and corn growers who are already suffering the consequences of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s exuberant issuance of “economic hardship”
May 14, 2018
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by Mahmood Ebadian and James D. McMillan (IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Newsletter) … The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) was enacted in 2007 to enhance domestic production of fuels and spur economic development while reducing reliance on imports and improving the environment (through reducing both the absolute level of fossil fuel
May 11, 2018
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by Glenn Farley (K5 News) In the Boeing test, a 777 freighter, ran on residual animal fats and plant oils. — In a historic first, Boeing has flown the first commercial jet on 100 percent biofuel. The flight was Seattle to Memphis and back — all without using petroleum. The test was
May 11, 2018
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(The Missouri Soybean Association/Biodiesel Magazine) In the early 1990s, Missouri soybean farmers funded research into making renewable fuel from soybean oil. Initially called soy diesel, and now, biodiesel, the fuel has significantly lower emissions than petroleum-based diesel, is safer to store and transport, and contributes to energy independence. In late April,
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What will biorefineries look like, accomplish and cost in the future? Daniel Lane of Saille Consulting and Lee Enterprises Consulting looked at that topic in this illuminating overview of the promise and prospects for the technological future at ABLC 2018 in Washington 2018. READ MORE
May 10, 2018
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by Mike Carr (New Energy America/The Hill) Recently, Chet Thompson of American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) testified before Congress and proposed a “fuel neutral” octane standard as a “potential replacement” for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). Octane is a fuel characteristic that allows engines to run more efficiently and without “knock.” Refiners use
May 9, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ABLC 2018 wrapped up with the ABLC Wolfpack including James Iademarco from Strategic Avalanche, David Dodds with Dodds & Associates, Ron Cascone from NEXANT, independent consultant Paul Bryan, and Joel Stone from ConVergince. While they didn’t howl at the moon, they were voracious, vicious wolves analyzing 8 major projects with
April 24, 2018
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by Sean Flynn (Newport Daily News) Newport Biodiesel LLC saw a big jump in demand for its product at the beginning of the year when a Massachusetts regulation took effect that requires a minimum 10 percent biodiesel component of all home-heating fuel sold in the state. “Overnight, it changed the
April 11, 2018
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by Sudheer Mopperthy (Asian Age) The EU adopted this new fuel with rigour and pledged that by 2020, 10 per cent of all transport fuels in EU nations would be biodiesel. … The EU’s palm oil ban will effectively push three million small hold farmers into poverty and generate a disastrous ripple
April 6, 2018
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by Orrie Swayze (Argus Leader) Sen. Kent Frerichs looked to further capitalize on the genius of our incredibly successful ethanol policy taxing imported petroleum one cent/gallon at the pipeline to fund incentives to build a strong South Dakota ethanol industry. His Senate Bill 210 used $1 million of those remaining funds to
April 2, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Iogen says it has “one of the world’s largest and most experienced teams in developing, designing, de-bugging, scaling-up and deploying cellulosic biofuel technology. We’re using innovative thinking and disciplined engineering to transform cellulosic biofuels into real, reliable and cost-effective fuels for today’s cars and trucks.” Also, the
April 2, 2018
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by Landon Hall (Fuel Freedom Foundation) The price of oil reached a record high of $147 on July 11, 2008. Could such a sharp, unexpected spike occur again? … Market forces alone aren’t likely to cause oil prices to rise to $147 anytime soon, not with the U.S. drilling at a record pace,
March 30, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … According to POET CEO Jeff Broin, there’s a deal on the table — changing almost by the hour, but a deal none the less. A deal on the table to provide year-round E15 approval for the biofuels industry and that may offer some relief to small merchant oil
March 23, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Have you ever wondered why corn farmers march for the RFS, but Wall Streeters don’t? Or why merchent oil refiners want the US Renewable Fuel Standard repealed but major oilcos generally support RFS reform? Why are biodiesel producers so focused on tax credits and trade? Why
March 16, 2018
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by Travis J. Tritten (Washington Examiner) … (Former Navy Secretary Ray) Mabus’ vision is, however, quietly moving forward under the Trump administration. The Pentagon has authorized $140 million to help build two biofuel refineries in recent months, a move that has agitated some top Republican lawmakers who have long opposed
March 13, 2018
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by Chris Clayton (DTN The Progressive Farmer) A study commissioned by the country’s largest oil refiner explains how a waiver credit would freeze ethanol demand. Ethanol industry groups are pointing to several statements in the oil industry’s own report to make the case that arguments over regulatory waivers or caps are
March 12, 2018
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by Robert Rapier (Forbes) … This year begins the ninth year of cellulosic ethanol mandates in the U.S. Today I want to give a brief review of cellulosic ethanol, review the original targets, and examine the current status of the industry. … The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) increased and
February 27, 2018
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A consortium of investors and project developers led by Texas-based Frankens Energy recently purchased the former Ineos Bio Indian River Biorefinery in Vero Beach, Florida, and has announced plans to convert the site to an eco-district “harmoniously integrating a series of businesses, all focused on
by Mark Warner (Warner Advisors LLC/Biofuels Digest) Not enough time or money to scale-up following the traditional rules of advanced biotechnology (10:1 scale-up factor, 1,000 hours of integrated pilot/demo operation, etc)? Welcome to the reality of the biotechnology start-up world. The common question in that situation is: if I do not have
February 16, 2018
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In his article suggesting scrapping Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards in favor of a Clean Air Act life cycle analysis-based methodology for CO2 transportation emission reduction, Bob Kozak advised, “(I)f anyone asks what will be the economic incentive for a revised, more effective CO2 GHG reduction plan that uses renewable
by Robert Kozak* (Advanced Biofuels USA) The 2025 Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard of 54.5 miles/gallon has become a significant issue since the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Besides the Administration’s near religious fervor against Climate Change and the reduction of Green House Gases (GHG),
by Michael Eggleston* (Advanced Biofuels USA) “If we do not break the lock-in effect of our dominant fuel sources, we may in fact facilitate mother nature in breaking the lock-out of her dominant species,” wrote Stephen L. Bi in The Path Dependent Road to Sustainable Personal Transport: Increasing returns economics
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The makers of the world’s favorite advanced biofuel — a/k/a the biodiesel industry — descended upon Texas to mingle, make and renew ties at the 2018 National Biodiesel Conference. And, to champion new ideas and find new supply chain and distribution partners. Bummer that there wasn’t
February 7, 2018
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by Terry J. Mazanec (Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest) … Most modern refineries comprise more than 20 individual unit operations, each of which is a complex process on its own. And different refineries are optimized for different blends of crude oil, different product slates, and under different environmental and legal regulations. This
February 2, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) This week in the Digest, we begin a Special 8-part Series: The State of the Advanced Bioeconomy: Challenges and Priorities for 2018. As we head into the final month before ABLC 2018, these in-depth examinations from a group of renowned industry experts will set the stage for
January 31, 2018
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by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Biodiesel Magazine spotlights four companies—a respected producer, a service-oriented wholesaler, a 200-year old chemical firm, and a fuel conditioning company—that enable biodiesel’s role as an effective change agent. PQ Corp. … John Votta, global business director for PQ’s silica adsorbents unit, says biodiesel producers are familiar with
January 24, 2018
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by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Seven years after the U.S. EPA published the final rule for administering the Renewable Fuel Standard, the path to getting corn kernel fiber-to-ethanol approvals appears to be getting much shorter. Edeniq CEO Brian Thome reports it now takes six weeks from the time the data
January 23, 2018
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by Alec A.K. Nielsen (Asimov/Biofuels Digest) … As you sit quietly, trillions of cells in your body are performing a frenetic dance of biochemical computation that makes your existence possible. Consider this: You were once a single cell – a fertilized egg. This single cell was equipped with a genetic program capable
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Fiberight is a privately held company founded in 2007 with current operations in Virginia, Maryland and Iowa. The company focuses on transforming post-recycled municipal solid wastes and other organic feedstocks into next generation renewable biofuels, with cellulosic ethanol and renewable compressed natural gas as core products.
January 12, 2018
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by Alex Acquisto (Bangor Daily News) The company behind a state-of-the-art solid waste disposal facility in Hampden designed to convert trash into biofuel has secured enough funding to begin operations in May. Craig Stuart-Paul, CEO of Maryland-based Fiberight LLC, announced this week that his company has secured $70 million for a municipal solid waste
January 8, 2018
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by Amy Mayer (Harvest Public Media/NetNebraska) Advanced biofuels have been touted as the next step beyond the corn-based ethanol that’s the bulk of the country’s renewable fuel for cars and trucks. But cellulosic ethanol is harder to make and companies have faced other challenges. Advanced biofuels have been touted as the
January 3, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Algae.Tec has (once again) shifted its business focus, and what was once a developer of algae bioreactors to make cost-competitive fuels is now in the business of “heirloom cannabis varietals”. So, um, High Times at Algae.Tec. … It’s tough to bring an audience along when
December 29, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Over the years we’ve all seen a lot of curveballs in the advanced bioeconomy. You see companies like Valero, which lobby the United States Congress with unbridled intensity to get rid of the Renewable Fuel Standard, on the verge of becoming the single-biggest producer of RINs
December 27, 2017
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by Peter Z. Grossman (Washington Examiner) … People forget how we wound up with an ethanol mandate worth over $20 billion per year (and that doesn’t include various subsidies). EISA was passed because Americans besieged members of Congress, demanding a solution to soaring gasoline prices. Congress didn’t have one, but needed to “do
December 8, 2017
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by Cecilia Connell (ABC News) An Australian-first biofuel demonstration facility in the New South Wales Hunter Valley has been touted as a game-changer in the food versus fuel debate, that has overshadowed the production of ethanol for some time. The Federal Government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced
November 21, 2017
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by Rachel Gantz (Renewable Fuels Association) Nearly 90 percent of new 2018 model year (MY) vehicles are explicitly approved by the manufacturer to use 15 percent ethanol blends (E15), according to the results of an annual analysis of warranty statements and owner’s manuals conducted by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). That is up
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Last week, DowDuPont said it was exiting the cellulosic biofuels business and you’d think that the company just burned down the warehouse with the original text of the Renewable Fuels Standard — the coverage of the announce in few cases focused on the changes in DowDuPont’s
November 14, 2017
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