[caption id="attachment_59831" align="alignleft" width="300"] Renewable Fuels Association President, Bob Dinneen introduces NEC scholarship winner, Lais Thomaz at the National Ethanol Conference.[/caption] by Lais F. Thomaz* (Advanced Biofuels USA) Last week, from February 17 to 21, the 20th National Ethanol Conference "Going
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... I’m going to make and manage web site about white biotech portal such as biosugar, bioplastic, biorefienry etc. Also, our project team are working on comercializing and developing some biochemicals such as bio BDO, nylon pilot
(Renewable Fuels Association) U.S. ethanol exports reached near-record levels in 2014, sending 836 million gallons of ethanol worth $2.1 billion to international markets, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) explained today in its new publication “2014 U.S. Ethanol Exports and Imports:
by Tom Bryan (Ethanol Producer Magazine) After halting distillers grains imports late last year, the world's top DDGS buyer is poised to resume business, but on what terms? The prospect of China reissuing distillers grains import permits bodes well for the
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Grains Council is teaming up with Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association and the USDA Foreign Agriculture Service on a new four-way partnership in ethanol export market development. There’s a big difference
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Who mandates what in biofuels? 64 countries have targets or mandates — but how much where, and when, and what? In Florida, the Digest today releases its annual review of biofuels mandates and targets around
by Mark Hay (Good Magazine) At some point in your life, Escherichia coli has probably brought you to your knees topray to the porcelain god. Common bacteria that often live harmlessly in the guts of most animals, a few strains
by Elizabeth Hsu (Taipai Times) ... At a time when most industrialized countries have found bright solutions for dealing with waste cooking oil, Taiwan seems to be stuck in the dark ages, with unethical businesses showing that they are willing
(Navigant Research) Stop-start capability anticipated to be the most important innovation in improving fuel efficiency, report concludes A new report from Navigant Research analyzes the emerging global market for technologies that improve fuel economy, including global market forecasts for light-duty vehicle
by Allan Koay (The Star Online) The Algae Research Lab in Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, smells like the sea. ... Prof Dr Phang Siew Moi, director of the university’s Institute Of Ocean And Earth Sciences, and her colleagues and students
by Mario Parker (The Washington Post/Bloomberg) The U.S. is adding ethanol to the list of fuels it dominates in world markets. Exports of the additive derived from corn rose 31 percent this year to the highest level since 2011, meeting demand
(Growth Energy) Growth Energy participated in a market development mission with the U.S. Grains Council and the Renewable Fuels Association to explore export opportunities for U.S. ethanol in Panama and Peru. Alex Marquis, Logistics Manager of Marquis Energy, represented Growth
by Christopher Doering (Des Moines Register) Purdue University researchers said Wednesday they have discovered the structure of the enzyme that makes cellulose, a finding that could make it easier to break down plant materials used to make biofuels and other products. The
(RIA Novosti) Shifting to a low-carbon economy over the next 15 years could save worldwide financial and environmental costs, a report from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate said on Tuesday. "The next 15 years will be critical, as
(The Rakyat Post) Previously ranked as Asia’s top diesel importer, now No 3 Indonesia is expected to take a third less of the fuel this year as demand from mining falters and biodiesel use in transport and industry grows with a
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) is working on promoting exports of U.S. ethanol through a partnership between USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service, Growth Energy and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). “We’ve been working since late March, early April
by Rodrigo Orihuela (Bloomberg) Abengoa SA (ABG/P), the Spanish renewable energy company investing in biofuels, is in talks with Japanese car manufacturers and soft-drink makers to help them develop products ranging from bottles to chemicals. “All types of companies -- automotive,
by Ann Lewis (Renewable Fuels Association) U.S. ethanol shipments in January rocketed to 86.2 million gallons (mg), marking the highest monthly export volume since December 2011, according to government data released last week. Exports were up a third from December
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... “You will never have enough affordable hydrogen.” Perhaps that is the attractor in the news from little-known Solarvest Bioenergy, when they announced third party confirmation of their bio-hydrogen expression system following the successful completion of a six
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Florida, the Digest today releases its annual review of biofuels mandates and targets around the world, looking at the state of biofuels mandates in 62 countries. The bulk of mandates continue to come from the
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In the world of chemists, they are known as the C4s, and they are a target these days for just about anyone who can figure out a way to make them. Over on the petrochemical side,
by ANI (Yahoo! News) ..."It is thought that Jatropha's future lies in further improvement of Jatropha for large-scale production on marginal, non-food croplands through breeding and/or biotechnology," John E. Carlson, professor of molecular genetics at Penn State, said. "The more that is
(The Jakarta Post) PT Goca Enc, a subsidiary of a South Korean company, plans to build a biofuel processing plant and a biofuel-fired power plant in Pidie Jaya regency, Aceh. Goca Enc president director Jang Eun Seog said the power plant,
by Kelly Davis (Renewable Fuels Association) As part of the RFA’s commitment to increasing ethanol export markets, I recently had the unique opportunity to join the U.S. Grains Council on a trade mission to South Korea and Japan. We visited
by Adam Armour (Itawamba County Times) Work on the proposed Fulton ethanol plant has come to a standstill. But does that mean the project’s been canceled? ... After the project’s announcement in 2009, two years of securing finances from across the
by Jane Yu (Orange County Business Journal) Irvine-based renewable fuels maker BlueFire Renewables Inc. has halted construction work on a plant planned for Fulton, Miss. plant. BlueFire converts non-food resources, such as trash, wood waste and other agricultural residues, into ethanol.
by Constantine Arcoumanis, Choongsik Bae, Roy Crookes, Eiji Kinoshita (Fuel/Science Direct) This paper reviews the properties and application of di-methyl ether (DME) as a candidate fuel for compression-ignition engines. DME is produced by the conversion of various feedstock such as natural
by Emily Bruns (Ashton Gasette) In an effort to evolve with the constant changes and challenges within a $50 billion industry, Rochelle’s Illinois River Energy ethanol plant began producing and industrial corn oil on Nov. 27. This corn oil byproduct, which
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) There’s only one complete region for biofuels where abundant feedstock, lack of oil & gas production, rising energy demand and supportive government policy come together — and that is Asia. We’re never quite sure which factor
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Brazil, India, the US, China and the EU point the way towards a 60 billion gallon biofuels market by 2022 – but can the capacity be built, and can the mandates survive pressure from opponents? In
(Science Daily/The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)...Utilizing systems metabolic engineering, a Korean research team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has succeeded in demonstrating an optimized process to increase butanol production by generating an
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The next five years—the often scoffed mantra of cellulosic ethanol developers—is getting whittled down to the next year or two. A milestone was reached this year when Blue Sugars Corp. got the first cellulosic
by Derek Markham (Treehugger) ...A team of researchers in South Korea have developed a new process for converting the lipids in sewage sludge into biodiesel, at not only a lower cost than conventional biodiesel, but with much higher yields. The
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Jobs, global expansion, proteins vs fuels, new R&D funding – all the big issues are under debate both on and off the floor at the Algae Biomass Summit. ...Jobs Dr. John Benemann projected on stage that,
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...While the economic growth in China has been drawing virtually all the headlines in recent years, the “Tiger” economies of Southeast and South Asia have been fast-growing for a long time, and with resources including
(National Science Foundation/Biodiesel Magazine) Researchers contend that manufactured nanomaterials—now popular in consumer products such as shampoos, gels, hair dyes and sunscreens—may be detrimental to the quality and yield of crops, as reported in a paper in the online edition of Proceedings of
by Jae Hur (Bloomberg) South Korea’s top grain importer has urged the U.S. to consider cutting the use of corn and soybeans in biofuel production to ensure stable food supplies as prices soar amid the worst U.S. drought in decades. ...The
(SucreSource/PRNewsWire) First Cellulose-to-Sugar Plant Sale and Partnership SucreSource, a wholly owned subsidiary of BlueFire Renewables, Inc., has signed agreements with GS Caltex, a Korean petroleum company, to build a cellulose to sugar plant in Korea. "This agreement validates SucreSource's business model of
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Your calls and emails are always the highlight of our days. Most questions can be answered johnny-on-the-spot. Some are still out there and well worth arguing over. Here are the Top 10 that are still
(MarketWatch) Mario Garnero, Chairman of Brasilinvest, Brazil's pioneer merchant bank, stated that BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) can no longer be simply described as 'Emerging Markets'. Their economic, political and energy status make them 'Powerhouse Nations'. The Chairman of
by Donnelle Eller (Des Moines Register) Development authority to weigh help for feed additive firm's Fort Dodge plan Iowa’s new public-private economic development authority begins with a bang today, considering incentives for a $324 million project in Fort Dodge from a South
by Kiyohiko Igarashi, Takayuki Uchihashi, Anu Koivula, Masahisa Wada, Satoshi Kimura, Tetsuaki Okamoto, Merja Penttilä, Toshio Ando, and Masahiro Samejima (Science Magazine) A deeper mechanistic understanding of the saccharification of cellulosic biomass could enhance the efficiency of biofuels development. We report here the real-time visualization of crystalline
by Ismira Lutfia (Jakarta Globe) The millions of tons of fibrous residue produced by palm oil plantations across the country could soon become a major source of raw material for renewable fuel. Over the past year, scientists from the Indonesian
(PRNewsWire/Viaspace) - VIASPACE Inc., a clean energy company growing Giant King™ Grass as a low-carbon, renewable biomass crop and its subsidiary VIASPACE Green Energy Inc., provided results of testing of Giant King Grass energy pellets by the Korea Forest Research Institute
(Arirang News) Marine plants are being cultivated in waters off the southwestern coast of Korea. This is seaweed named gracilaria, which was used generations ago to treat fevers. However, nowadays, this plant is primarily used as a raw material in cosmetic goods
(LanzaTech) LanzaTech has signed a memorandum of understanding with Posco, one of the largest steel producers in the world, covering the implementation of its gas fermentation technology to convert the steel maker’s flue gases to ethanol and other value added products. Posco is a
(People's Daily) A Chinese science academy in east China's Shandong Province has clinched a deal to introduce photobioreactor technology from Chosun University in the Republic of Korea (ROK) to aid the former's research on mass producing oil-rich algae for biodiesel
by Manny Galvez (The Philippean Star) The government plans to develop a $5-million (P220-million) ethanol farm at a 100-hectare site in the province using the Korean technology of extracting ethanol from seaweed. Sen. Edgardo Angara told The STAR that the Department of
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Scott Carpenter once noted that we know more about the heavens than the sea — but for biofuels, there is every urgent reason to look carefully to salt-friendly projects that can utilize brackish water, or
(Popular Science) ...But a collaboration of Korean and Californian researchers wanted to take raw electricity directly from algae themselves by harvesting electrons. Using the common Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a test subject, the researchers applied what's known as an overvoltage -- a
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