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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) News arrives from Berkeley and Pivot Bio that the company has raised $430 million in its Series D venture round, led by DCVC and Temasek, bringing the total equity raised to more than $600 million. Last we saw, the company was valued at $1.6 billion
Farming/Growing
July 21, 2021
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by Jerry Perkins (Successful Farming) … After years of research into the data about farming’s contribution to carbon emissions, that’s the conclusion reached by Ron Alverson, a South Dakota corn farmer and ethanol plant director, who spoke Wednesday at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo (FEW), which wraps up today at
July 16, 2021
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(Field to Market) Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture today introduced Fieldprint® Platform 4.0, the next generation of the industry’s most widely recognized sustainability assessment tool for commodity crop production in the United States. The Fieldprint Platform’s new features and functionality provide farmers and the value chain with improved
July 15, 2021
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by Adele Peters (Fast Company) Seaweed farming could be a potent weapon in the fight against climate change. But can it scale? — In a series of floating seaweed farms off the coast of Bali, Indonesia, a catamaran travels back and forth through lines of dangling red algae. Custom technology
July 14, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Evaluating sustainable scale up of algae production systems, algal biofuels, and algal bioproducts is no easy task, but scientists at Argonne National Lab are looking into this by looking at the life cycle analysis of advanced algal systems to see just how feasible it really
July 13, 2021
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(AgWeb) The rapid pace of U.S. carbon market activity has left many farmers dazed and confused. To help answer your questions, we’re sharing the first-ever carbon market comparison tool to assess how several of the most prominent frameworks stack up. We will continue investing in enterprise reporting as carbon markets
July 12, 2021
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(AgWeek) Coming up on AgweekTV, we will discuss the ethanol industry hitting another devastating court decision. We will tour an award winning regenerative farming operation in east central South Dakota. We will visit two ag businesses that are dedicated to staying in rural North Dakota. We will discuss the number
July 12, 2021
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(Biofuels International) The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) has again urged the European Union to revise its approach on vegetable oils in biofuels. This comes under the framework of RED II in light of the upcoming revision of the directive on 14 July. Additionally there is the Commission’s
July 8, 2021
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by Sandy Ferguson and Rob van Adrichem (SF Consulting and City of Prince George respectively/Biofuels Digest) Bathroom sinks made of wood fibre, energy derived from garbage, skyscrapers built of cross-laminated timber, and carbon fibre that is used in Formula 1 cars are all examples of bioproducts that are helping us
July 8, 2021
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by Carly Nairn (Mongabay) – Algae biofuel initially looked promising, but a few key problems have thwarted major research efforts, including development of a strain of algae able to produce plentiful cheap fuel, and scaling up to meet global energy demand. – Other alternative energy solutions, including wind and solar
July 7, 2021
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(Bio Market Insights) … recently, bamboo has caught their eye, as evidenced in a study made in Indonesia which we discuss, as it presents a future in sustainable energy. Bamboo is one of the most productive and fastest growing plants on the planet. … Its fuel characteristics, high productivity, short rotation
July 7, 2021
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(Maryland Energy Innovation Accelerator) MEIA ‘s 2021 Pitch Competition was a smashing success. Congratulations to Grand Prize winner Manta Biofuel, and Audience Choice co-winners InventWood and Manta Biofuel. Did you miss the event? Watch the video and pitches here. Owings Mills-based Manta Biofuel was named the Grand Prize winner of the
July 7, 2021
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(TotalEnergies and Veolia/Business Wire) TotalEnergies and Veolia (Paris:VIE) have joined forces to accelerate the development of microalgae cultivation using CO2. The two partners will pool their know-how to develop a four-year research project at the La Mède biorefinery, operated by TotalEnergies, with the long-term goal of producing biofuel. Through photosynthesis, microalgae
July 7, 2021
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by Matthew Choi (Politico’s Morning Energy) The agriculture industry is anxiously waiting to see how the Biden administration intends to enlist more producers to adopt climate-friendly farm practices. But even as corporations are eager to buy offsets from farmers who pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere — and Washington
June 29, 2021
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(U.S. Department of Energy) Today (June 23, 2021), the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced $8 million in federal funding for four projects to develop and test technologies that capture and utilize carbon dioxide (CO2) from power systems or other industrial sources to create
June 28, 2021
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(Science Daily/University of Montreal) Millions of liters of primary municipal wastewater can be treated sustainably using fast-growing willow trees while also producing renewable bioenergy and ‘green’ chemicals, researchers find. — Every year in Canada, six trillion litres of municipal wastewater are partially treated and released into the environment, while another 150
June 24, 2021
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by Lana Bandoim (Forbes) … In his (President Joe Biden’s) speech, he revealed paying farmers for planting cover crops that will help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Cover crops include Camelina, rye, buckwheat and several others. Yield10 Bioscience, an agtech company using gene discovery tools, has been doing field trial
June 22, 2021
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by Lauren Quinn (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) … For corn ethanol, most greenhouse gas emissions can be mapped to the fuel’s production, transportation, and combustion, but a large portion of the greenhouse gas calculation can be traced right back to the farm. Because of privacy concerns, however, scientists can’t access individual
June 18, 2021
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(Investancia) Blockchain will track 50 million trees through Investancia and EcoMatcher Partnership — Groundbreaking new partnership will use blockchain technology to record, view and measure the growth of 50 million pongamia trees to be planted in the Paraguayan Chaco forest over the next decade. Leading agro-research company Investancia has teamed
June 15, 2021
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(Telengana Today) In the midst of soaring fuel prices and growing concerns over the environment, India has given a big push for the ethanol blended petrol programme (EBP), designed to reduce the country’s fossil fuel dependence and also lessen the burden of crude oil import bill. Ethanol is a biofuel made
June 10, 2021
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by Rod Nickel and Karl Plume (Reuters) … Botanists, businessmen, farmers and federal lawmakers, they all gathered to peer at the waist-high plant usually considered a pest and uprooted on sight because of its foul odor, toxicity and the grim taste it leaves in the milk of grazing cattle. This was
June 2, 2021
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(Maryland Energy Innovation Accelerator) Ryan Powell is the founder and CEO of Manta Biofuel, an MEIA Startup that produces crude oil from algae at a cost that could be competitive with traditional petroleum. Manta’s team has developed their proprietary magnetic algae harvesting technology and low-cost continuous flow hydrothermal liquefaction system. “We are
June 2, 2021
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(Renewable Fuels Association) A pair of recent studies examining purported cropland expansion in the Midwest are based on a flawed methodology that “suffers from accuracy and certainty issues,” according to a new review of the studies by researchers at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. In reviewing studies by Zhang et al. and Lark et al., the SIUE
June 2, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) MicroBio Engineering, Heliae, Sandia National Labs and Cal Poly shared how they developed the capability for over 3,700 gal/ac-yrof biofuel intermediates through microalgal strain improvement, mixotrophic approaches and novel conversion technology, demonstrated annual productivity of improved strains, and more. READ MORE
June 2, 2021
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(U.S. Grains Council/Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Grains Council recently participated in the biannual Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Maize Summit, at which both Amit Sachdev, USGC representative in India, and Kansas Corn Commission Executive Director Greg Krissek spoke about the potential for corn in India. While
June 1, 2021
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by Diana Kenney (University of Chicago Marine Biological Laboratory) A team of researchers led by Loretta Roberson, associate scientist at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, has installed the first seaweed farm in Puerto Rico and U.S. tropical waters. The research array furthers the design and development of a system for
June 1, 2021
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by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com) A new report commissioned by Farm Journal Foundation finds U.S. farmers have the potential to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and become part of the global solution to climate change. U.S. agriculture contributes about 10% of the total greenhouse gas emissions of the entire national economy,
May 25, 2021
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by Tim Newbold (The Guardian) The global approach to energy is changing rapidly. The urgency of the challenge that climate change presents has focused significant attention and resources on renewable energy solutions, as countries and companies seek to reduce emissions. One of the ways that an increasing number of countries have
May 24, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Perennial grass miscanthus as an energy crop has advanced into high biomass yielding varieties and NC State University is working with Novozymes, Iogen and Oak Ridge National Lab on evaluating new miscanthus varieties and improving sustainability within the overall miscanthus biomass supply chain. READ MORE
May 24, 2021
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(University of York/Phys.Org) A grass commonly used to fight soil erosion has been genetically modified to successfully remove toxic chemicals left in the ground from munitions that are dangerous to human health, new research shows. The study—led by the University of York- demonstrates that genetically modified switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) can detoxify
May 21, 2021
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(Nuseed/Biobased Diesel Daily) A recent update by the International Civil Aviation Organization now includes carinata as a renewable fuel feedstock with a similar greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint as waste and residuals, like used cooking oil. “For sustainability being categorized with waste is a very good thing,” said Glenn Johnston, Nuseed carinata
May 21, 2021
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(Algae Planet) A team of researchers led by Loretta Roberson of the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass, has installed the first seaweed farm in Puerto Rico and U.S. tropical waters. The research array furthers the design and development of a system for offshore cultivation of tropical seaweeds to support large-scale production of
May 21, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Everyone wants to reduce the price of biofuels – and a team from Texas A&M, USDA, AgriLife Research, Mississippi State University and others are working on improving the economics and environmental sustainability of biomass sorghum and energycane production in the southeast U.S. Find out how,
May 21, 2021
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(U.S. Department of Energy/EurekAlert!) High-yield miscanthus and switchgrass are promising alternatives to traditional annual crops for biofuels. — … To understand the effects of this trend, scientists must accurately represent biofuel crops in land surface models. Using observations from biofuel plants in the Midwestern United States, researchers simulated two biofuel
May 20, 2021
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by Dayo Adenubi (The Punch) Unicane Industries Limited has announced the completion of the second phase of its plant extension, making it the largest ethanol producer on the continent. Unicane, a manufacturer of ethanol in Lokoja, Kogi State, made the announcement in a statement made available to our correspondent on Tuesday.
May 20, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Why algae? With biofuel yield 8-13 times larger than corn, well, why not! We took key slides from the 100+ slide deck from this year’s U.S. DOE BETO presentation on the latest goings ons with algae, program goals, portfolio and projects, progress, future plans, and
May 20, 2021
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(U.S. Department of Agriculture) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today published the 90-Day Progress Report on Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry (PDF, 561 KB). The report represents an important step toward in President Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad and shift towards a whole-of-department approach to climate solutions. The
May 20, 2021
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(U.S. Department of Energy) The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) hosted its 2021 Project Peer Review virtually on March 8‒12, 2021; March 15‒16, 2021; and March 22‒26, 2021. Presentations for all sessions can be found in the searchable database below. For more information, including a complete schedule, view the 2021 Project Peer Review Agenda.
May 19, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Bioenergy switchgrass feedstock – can it be the next-generation feedstock we’ve been looking for in the Midwest? University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is looking at perennial bioenergy feedstock production on marginal croplands across geographic locations in the Midwest. What did they find? What had the highest-yield?
May 19, 2021
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by Lloyd Ritter (Green Capitol LLC/Biofuels Digest) The aviation industry is currently responsible for less than 3% of total global carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). But with air travel expected to increase by more than 60 percent (compared to pre-pandemic 2019 levels) by mid-century,[1] emissions will continue rising
May 19, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) This U.S. Department of Energy BETO project’s biomass blend concept will allow biorefineries to utilize a much larger proportion of the land within their procurement radius, thereby enabling larger scale, more economically feasible facilities to be constructed and operated. Find out their approach, impact, progress
May 17, 2021
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by Margy Eckelkamp (AgWeb) With farmers already registered in Iowa, Nebraska and Washington, Yara officially announces its carbon marketplace, Agoro Carbon Alliance. The goal of the program is to create an opportunity for farmers to earn additional revenue by adopting climate-positive practices. Its first farm-based carbon credits will be delivered in 2021
May 14, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Florida, the online sessions of ABLC have drawn to a close. This week, delegates around the world will be joining in the ABLC Lounges for person to person networking. The final day of on-stage presentations was the best — including Aspirations for a Fragile Plant,
May 10, 2021
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(American Coalition for Ethanol/GrainNet) American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) welcomed more scientifically credible evidence provided by Department of Energy Argonne National Lab scientists that explicitly states, “Corn ethanol plays an important role in enhancing energy security and the rural economy while contributing to decarbonizing the transportation sector in the USA.” The new study
May 10, 2021
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(Renewable Fuels Association) The carbon footprint of corn ethanol shrunk by 23% between 2005 and 2019 as farmers and ethanol producers adopted new technologies and improved efficiency, according to a new analysis published in the academic journal Biofuels Bioproducts and Biorefining by scientists at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. By 2019,
May 6, 2021
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edited by Puneet Dwivedi (GCB-Bioenergy) A Virtual Special Issue — The aviation sector emits 2.4% of the global anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions. The use of jet fuel derived from bioenergy feedstocks is vital for reducing the aviation sector’s carbon footprint. This is especially true in the United States, as the
May 6, 2021
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) In the United Kingdom, the first dedicated, independent study into Miscanthus life cycles shows that the above ground biomass grows annually and recycles all the carbon that’s been produced through planting, harvesting and burning the crop for renewable electricity, and at the same time, the
May 3, 2021
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(American Coalition for Ethanol/Grainnet) The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) encouraged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help establish a protocol for biofuel producers and farmers to easily document the carbon intensity benefits of changes in agricultural practices in comments submitted April 29 regarding USDA’s climate strategy for President Biden’s Executive Order on Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and
May 1, 2021
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by Jack Ellis (Ag Funder News) The European Commission – the executive branch of the EU administration which is responsible for proposing bloc-wide legislation – has published the findings of its two-year study into creating a “carbon farming” framework for the EU. The Commission said it is aiming to launch an EU carbon
April 30, 2021
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by Mindy Ward (Farm Progress) Pluton Biosciences partners with Bayer for a carbon sequestration project. — Barry Goldman has one goal — to find the next Bt-like row crop breakthrough but for carbon sequestration. “There are a trillion species of microbes, and the industry has been looking at the same 100 for
April 28, 2021
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by Kinsie Rayburn (Trust in Food) During Day 1 of our 2021 Trust In Food Symposium: Regenerative Reset event held in February, Trust In Food posed the question, “How much can farming address climate change?” In this 90-minute session, moderated by Trust In Food’s Executive Vice President Amy Skoczlas Cole, we heard from Dr. Jonathan
April 27, 2021
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by Jay Vroom (Trust In Food/America’s Conservation Ag Movement) … Today’s farm and food sustainability is different—and it is real and lasting this time. It might be hard to see because almost every agribusiness and food company–along with a massive cross-section of our government—all have sustainability mantras. And almost none of
April 20, 2021
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by Rhonda Brooks (Farm Journal AgWeb) Agriculture has the potential to play a big role in carbon sequestration. — As U.S. farmers evaluate carbon market opportunities available today, most have more questions than answers. “Farmers aren’t ready to jump in, because it’s the wild, wild west out there,” says Iowa farmer
April 20, 2021
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by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) They say that Sustainability is a three-legged stool: Environmental Sustainability, Economic Sustainability and Social Sustainability. If any of these legs is missing, the stool falls over. Climate Smart Agriculture The North America Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance is one group that has been thinking deeply about
April 14, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The U.S. Department of Energy’s EnergyEfficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) just released the workshop summary report from the virtual event they hosted last summer that discussed how to collect and valorize underused bioenergy datasets and associated knowledge, with the goal of
April 13, 2021
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(University of Hohenheim (Google translation)) European project with the participation of the University of Hohenheim researches how unprofitable fields with renewable raw materials can be used sustainably and with added value — Unused potential: Around 65 million hectares of agricultural land in Europe are hardly or not at all usable for
April 12, 2021
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by Ron Kotrba (Bio-Based Diesel Daily) Canada’s largest agribusiness, Richardson International Ltd., is doubling canola crush capacity at its processing facility in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. In addition to doubling capacity to 2.2 million metric tons, the company said it will optimize operational efficiencies and modernize the plant to meet growing demand. Construction
April 8, 2021
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by Chris Mallory (The Counter) Agrivoltaics—putting solar panels on farmland—lead to astonishing productivity gains and improved energy efficiency. Except when they don’t. — … Mounted on 9-foot-tall beams, so lofty a tractor could pass below them, the solar panels slant against the blue sky of the high desert, throwing shade on
April 6, 2021
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by Rebecca Bartels (Trust in Food) … 1) They’re Meeting Producers Where They Are … 2) They Speak Each Prospect’s Language … For example, Trust In Food’s proprietary data show that farmers with a high affinity for carbon markets gravitate toward informational content on succession planning and leaving a legacy
April 6, 2021
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(GreenAir Online) Analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) shows there are sufficient sources of sustainable feedstock to support the production of 3.4 million tonnes (Mt) of advanced sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) annually in the EU by 2030, around 5.5% of projected EU jet fuel demand. Waste oils is
April 1, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) From switchgrass, sorghum or sugarcane, feedstock development, genomics, and crops improvement abound with USDA’s help at the Biomass Research Center. Rob Mitchell, Research Leader and Research Agronomist at USDA ARS, shares all about the latest ethanol and biofuel feedstock innovations in Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, South
March 26, 2021
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(CoverCress Inc./PR Web) CoverCress Inc. announces $8 million in partner funding for new low carbon oilseed. — Midwestern farmers are one step closer to the prospect of growing a new cover crop that will generate a cash margin while supporting regenerative agriculture. CoverCress Inc. announced it has raised another $8 million to fund
March 25, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) How to evaluate the economic and biological effects of bioenergy production and potential impacts on wildlife and wildlife habitat? Certified Wildlife Biologist Dr. Susan Rupp shares how to look at the environmental impact of projects, how to succeed at Permitting Your Project ensuring environmental sustainability,
March 19, 2021
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by Nicole Heslip (Brownfield Ag News) … Jim Zook with the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan tells Brownfield he believes the discussion will change as more emphasis is put on the importance of green, growing plants in carbon sequestration. “We have science behind us that does prove that corn-based ethanol—corn—is the
March 19, 2021
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(NewsWise) Microbiome and soil chemistry at long-term bioenergy research sites challenge the idea that switchgrass increases carbon accrual in surface soils on marginal lands. — In this study, researchers characterized the influence of crop and site on fungal and bacterial community structure, potential enzyme activity, soil carbon chemistry, and total
March 16, 2021
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(CJME News) A company is eyeing the Regina area to build a refinery that would produce billions of litres of renewable fuel each year. The proposal is from True North Renewable Fuels (TNRF). The company would also construct what is referred to in a report from Economic Development Regina (EDR) as an
March 13, 2021
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(Resource Magazine/American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers) … Three reports by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) in 2015, 2018, and 2019 highlighted the importance of FAS to the U.S. economy and national security, discussed FAS vulnerabilities, and emphasized the importance of including all components of
March 12, 2021
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by Janet Kubat Willette (Farm Progress) Madhu Khanna, distinguished professor of environmental economics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, says that CRP acres have the potential to produce harvestable bioenergy crops. Speaking at a Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics webinar earlier this year, Khanna addressed the food v. fuel debate and
March 11, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What’s the life cycle system for corn starch ethanol? What is the current best estimate for carbon intensity of corn ethanol? What about ethanol biorefinery energy use intensity and land use change carbon intensity? What is the potential for further reductions in carbon intensity? READ
March 11, 2021
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by Shane McGlaun (Slash Gear) … Researchers from the University of Nevada have been researching drought-tolerant crops that could be used for biofuel, sustainable foods, and forage crops. The team specifically looked at cactus called Opuntia ficus-indica because the plant has high heat tolerance and requires little water. Of all the crops the
March 10, 2021
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by Geoff Cooper (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Mother Nature has already given us an extraordinary solar panel that covers several hundred million acres of cropland in America’s breadbasket, where energy absorbed from the sun is stored for later use in a perfect battery: an ear of corn. — As
March 10, 2021
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by Rod Nickel, Stephanie Kelly and Karl Plume (Reuters) … Refiners can produce renewable diesel from animal fats and plant oils, in addition to used cooking oil. Production capacity is expected to nearly quintuple to about 2.65 billion gallons (63 million barrels) over the next three years, investment bank Goldman Sachs said
March 3, 2021
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by Gary Polakovic (USC News) Using a “kelp elevator,” researchers at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies were able to grow the biofuel crop in large quantities in the open ocean. … Scientists at the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies on Santa Catalina Island, working with private industry, report that a
March 3, 2021
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by Julio Bravo (Farm Futures) Brazil already has the largest fleet of cars driven by ethanol, mainly from sugarcane; now corn-based ethanol plants are on the rise. The ethanol produced by sugarcane and corn has have the potential to reduce up to 90% of the greenhouse gases. And, as mentioned in our
February 24, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Remember your grandma’s tale of talking to plants to help make them grow better? Well, that’s actually true – CO2 helps plants grow up to 30% more and now a company called CO2 GRO is using aqueous CO2 misting that uses 90% less CO2 and
February 23, 2021
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(Investancia/EIN Newswire) Pongamia Trees will produce 300,000 tonnes of sustainable second generation feedstock every year by 2030 in boost for global green transport initiatives — – Leading agroforestry and research company Investancia today signed a 30-year offtake deal with ECB Group that will see 300,000 tonnes of ‘reforestation oil’ from pongamia
February 23, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Increase agricultural production while decreasing environmental footprint – that’s the goal in a nuthsell, but check out this slide guide on 5 key USDA themes, USDA’s latest innovation contributions like a new sustainable diesel fuel additive modified from Tung Oil, a guayule plant concept tire,
February 19, 2021
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(Solutions from the Land) “There has never been a greater need for an Agricultural Renaissance. The many voices of farmers, echoing across centuries of scarcity and abundance, challenge us to find new ways forward, paths that produce abundance for expanding populations while rejecting wasteful destruction of resources. We must seek these
February 18, 2021
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by Rhiannon Branch (Brownfield Ag News) Interest and growth in carbon market programs is booming. A recent ecosystem markets webinar hosted by the Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership had more than 1600 participants registered with more than 600 questions submitted ahead of time. Speaker Kari Hernandez, Global Head of Carbon Operations and Offer Marketing with Indigo
February 15, 2021
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(International Energy Agency) There are concurrent media campaigns and publications questioning the use of woody biomass for renewable energy production. Several of them misrepresent on-the-ground forestry practise and bioenergy systems, and associate the use of woody biomass for energy with overexploitation of forests, even permanent deforestation, and “the burning of trees”.
February 11, 2021
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(Truterra/PR Newswire) TruCarbon Promises Streamlined Experience for Farmers; Novel Approach for Buyers to Incentivize Change at Scale; TruCarbon Launching With Microsoft as First Secured Buyer — Truterra, LLC, the sustainability business and subsidiary of Land O’Lakes, Inc., one of America’s largest farmer-owned cooperatives, today announced the launch of TruCarbon, a transformational new carbon program that will help farmers generate
February 4, 2021
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by Hiroko Tabuchi and Nadja Popovich (New York Times) The administration has pledged to make agriculture a cornerstone of its plan to fight warming, but also to tackle a legacy of discrimination that has pushed Black farmers off the land. — … The administration has promised to make agriculture a cornerstone
February 1, 2021
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(Solutions from the Land) Solutions from the Land (SfL) has been selected by organizers of a global food security summit next week to hold a side event which will spotlight systems and practices farmers are using to deliver high value solutions to improve food and nutrition security. The side event, which,
February 1, 2021
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(Canola Council of Canada) Research and innovation are two key factors that continue to drive the success of Canada’s canola industry. Knowledge transfer is required to extend research findings to growers, agronomists, the scientific community and other industry stakeholders, to initiate the adoption of new practices and stimulate further research and
February 1, 2021
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(Department of Energy/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory/EurekAlert) … Identifying and breeding varieties that have high productivity across a range of environments is becoming increasingly important for food, fuel and other applications, and breeders aren’t interested in waiting decades to develop new crops. One example is an ongoing collaborative effort to improve
January 29, 2021
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(European Commission Science Hub) A new JRC report on the use of woody biomass for energy production in the EU shows the need to recognise that sustainability of bioenergy remains a complex issue with no one-size-fits-all answers, but that win-win and lose-lose forest management pathways for climate and biodiversity exist. Bioenergy
January 29, 2021
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by Art Cullen (Storm Lake Times/New York Times) … Few took carbon sequestration seriously during his previous tenure, a time when “resilient agriculture” had not yet entered the vernacular. But the fundamental conversation in the corridors of power and along gravel roads has changed. Extreme weather, a pandemic jolt to
January 28, 2021
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(Department of Energy) U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy (FE) announced plans to make $8 million in Federal funding available for cost-shared research, development, and testing of technologies that can utilize carbon dioxide (CO2) from power systems or other industrial sources for bio-mediated uptake by algal systems to
January 28, 2021
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by Jeffrey T. Manuel and Thomas D. Rogers (The Hill) President Biden has placed the Department of Agriculture (USDA) at the center of his administration’s focus on climate change. “We see farmers making American agriculture first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions and gaining new sources of income in the
January 28, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Tying in with today’s top story, this is one slide guide you don’t want to miss from Dr. Patrick Gruber, CEO who recently shared this with investors. From the latest in market traction and demand for Gevo fuels, their first world scale project in South
January 27, 2021
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by Steinar Brandslet (Norwegian University of Science and Technology/Phys.Org) Growing perennial grasses on abandoned cropland has the potential to counteract some of the negative impacts of climate change by switching to more biofuels, according to an NTNU research group. Researchers consider increased use of biofuels to be an important part
January 23, 2021
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by Gabriel Popkin (Washington Post) President Biden says farmers can adopt agricultural methods that help fight climate change. Maryland farmer Trey Hill has been trying. … As the winter cover crops grow, they will feed microbes and improve the soil’s health, which Hill believes will eventually translate into higher yields of
January 22, 2021
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(Neste) In November 2020, the Dutch environmental organization Milieudefensie published a report “The Dark Side of Neste’s biofuel production”. At that time, we published a statement on the report on our website. Since the publication of our statement, we have continued to investigate the allegations in cooperation with our suppliers. Gathering enough
January 21, 2021
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by Jerry Perkins (Successful Farming) Weaker demand is the main factor now, the $5 corn market could delay the industry’s recovery. — Higher corn prices are roiling the U.S. ethanol industry, but the full impact of the corn price spike might not be felt for weeks. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA)
January 15, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Barriers abound in the bioeconomy, but this slide guide from Idaho National Lab shows how artificial intelligence and machine learning will lower the barriers to growing a bioeconomy. From biomass supply and logistics to preprocessing and conversion, AI and ML has many applications that can
January 15, 2021
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(Gevo) Gevo, Inc. (“Gevo”) (NASDAQ: GEVO), announces the concept of Net-Zero Projects for the production of energy dense liquid hydrocarbons using renewable energy and Gevo’s proprietary technology. The concept of a Net-Zero Project is to convert renewable energy (photosynthetic, wind, renewable natural gas, biogas) from a variety of sources into energy
January 12, 2021
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by Tom Karst (Farm Journal Ag Web) … More global produce marketers and retailers are taking measures to become regenerative companies. In a post on the chain’s website, Whole Foods called regenerative agriculture the number one food trend of 2020. “Farmers, producers, academics, government agencies, retailers and more are taking a closer
January 12, 2021
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by Julie Wurth (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment) … A study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI) found that energy sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) behaves more like miscanthus in the way it efficiently captures light and uses
January 8, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) UC Berkeley’s Dr. James Bentley Brown shared this illuminating slide guide at ABLC Digital on pattern discovery, the multi-scale analytical requirements of the bioeconomy, examples from a biotic field trial in corn, how artificial intelligence is enabling the engineering of agronomic systems, and more. READ
January 6, 2021
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(Malay Mail) A nimble push into higher biodiesel blends such as B40 — 40 per cent blend of palm oil-derived biodiesel — by Indonesia and B30 by Malaysia will help to mitigate the negative effects of the European Union’s (EU) lower palm oil demand for biofuel, the Malaysian Biodiesel Association said.
January 5, 2021
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(Our Daily Planet) Salty soil is a death sentence for crops, and for areas of coastal farmland, an increasing threat due to climate change. Known as saltwater intrusion, this occurs when storm surges or high tides overtop areas low in elevation. It also occurs when saltwater infiltrates freshwater aquifers and raises the
January 5, 2021
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(Indonesia Palm Oil Facts) Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) has made its submission to the EU Forests Regulation public consultation on reducing deforestation and forest degradation. As background, the European Commission is proposing a Due Diligence regulation to tackle deforestation / forest degradation with the aim to prevent European imports and consumption ‘causing’ deforestation, particularly from tropical
December 28, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Nuseed (which acquired Agrisoma last year) has four focus crops – carinata, sorghum, canola and sunflower – sound more like a cooking ingredient list but they are in fact fantastic feedstocks for a range of things including biofuels, non-GMO high protein meal, and great cover
December 28, 2020
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(Union for the Promotion of Oil and Protein Plants e.V. (UFOP) ) … German government agreed last Friday on key points for the national implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II). In addition to the gradual increase of the GHG quota to 22 percent in 2030, it includes the setting
December 27, 2020
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(LaTrobe University) A cropping trial is now in the ground at Katunga as a forerunner to a $1 billion renewable fuel development. Investment company, AgBioEn, is planning a massive biofuel plant on a 40 ha former dairy farm, which will use agricultural waste. The company is looking for ways of generating the bio-mass as
December 23, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Wastewater treatment is a huge problem with about 30 billion gallons per day in the U.S. You’ve got pathogens in the water that could reach drinking water supplies. You’ve got nutrients causing excess algae growth. You’ve got organic matter causing low dissolved oxygen. But MicroBio
December 23, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The $1.4 trillion spending package includes appropriation for Fiscal Year 2021, the COVID stimulus package, extensions of popular tax credits that otherwise expired on December 31st, and the Energy Act of 2020, a $35B version of a larger energy bill that has been drifting around
December 23, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Today, let’s look at an alternative to carpet-bombing Midwestern corn fields with around 150 pounds per acre of nitrogen fertilizer, in hopes that the plants will take up about half of that, en route to a big corn yield. Leaving aside the debate over what happens
December 22, 2020
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(UPM Biofuels) UPM Biofuels has joined the BIKE project that promotes low-ILUC risk biofuels production for European Bioeconomy. The project brings together companies and research organisations who believe that novel, safe and reliable biomass value chains can be deployed to produce food, feed, biofuels and biomaterials with a low risk of
December 21, 2020
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by Lena Nordgren (SEKAB) The second webinar by the EU project REWOFUEL – REsidual soft WOod conversion to high characteristics drop-in bioFUELs, was held in the beginning of December. The specific topic of the webinar was to address the sustainability aspects in the value chain focusing on “Application of LCA on innovative biorefinery concepts –
December 18, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) There’s greenwashing and then there’s proof of sustainability. So what’s the difference? Check out RSB’s slide guide on how they help ensure sustainable aviation fuel or SAF is actually sustainable. From their involvement in the aviation sector to examples of biobased and recycled carbon feedstocks
December 16, 2020
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by Sarah Garland (Scientific American) The vast majority of the scientific community agrees on both their safety and their potential to help feed the world sustainably — … In order for global agriculture to rapidly become more sustainable and climate resilient, we must have the power to responsibly use every tool
December 15, 2020
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by Tyne Morgan (Farm Journal AgWeb) As a possible policy shift may put sustainable farming practices in the spotlight, companies are already paying farmers to shift to more “climate smart farming” like utilizing no-till as a production method. — … “Tom Vilsack will be integral to President-Elect Biden on climate change,
December 14, 2020
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by Jack Ellis (Ag Funder News) … He (FarmLab co-founder and CEO Sam Duncan) started FarmLab with co-founder and chief technology officer Shahriar Jamshidi in 2016 with the aim of making sampling on farms more efficient and wallet-friendly. Back then, it was still a largely paper-based process, requiring agronomists to trek
December 11, 2020
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“The time is right for ethanol advocates to make sure the right message gets to the right ears. What ethanol can provide is a high-octane additive that reduces the carbon footprint of not just the fuel burned in automobiles, but at the refinery level by replacing the energy-intensive aromatics that are
December 10, 2020
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(Asian Development Bank) The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $2.5 million technical assistance (TA) to support advanced biofuel development in India. The grant is funded from the Asia Clean Energy Fund, financed by the Government of Japan under the Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility, and the Republic of Korea’s
December 8, 2020
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by Vernon Graham (Farm Online National) A Toowoomba engineer aims to have all Australia farmers switched to biodiesel within 10 years. Johnny Wapstra has founded a start-up, Seed 2 Diesel, and hopes to have a state-of-the-art biodiesel plant somewhere between Toowoomba and Warwick ready for scaling and replication across Australia in two
December 4, 2020
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by Justin Catanoso (Mongabay) The French government, with the support of President Emmanuel Macron, appears eager to approve legislation that would bypass French environmental law banning large scale deforestation to build several soy-fired biofuel power plants in French Guiana — a French overseas department on the northeast coast of South
December 4, 2020
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by Tim Schley (Penn State News) New approach to nutrient management could make money for farmers and land managers; Best management practices for reducing runoff and other nutrient losses in agriculture have been difficult to implement, according to Penn State researchers. The team is hoping that duckweed could help make
December 3, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) To go along with our “green” holiday theme today, check out this slide guide on how iWi’s Omega-3 made from algae can go a long way in making us healthier in a much greener way. iWi skips the fish and krill and goes directly to
December 1, 2020
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(World Economic Forum) What is the World Economic Forum doing to help aviation meet net zero goals? Through the Forum’s Clean Skies for Tomorrow coalition, stakeholders across the European aviation value-chain have aligned on key policy proposals to inform the EU’s RefuelEU initiative and the UK Government. Taken together, this industry-backed
November 30, 2020
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by Mary Ann Showalter (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) PNNL’s hydrothermal liquefaction shows promise for turning harmful algal blooms into biocrude — … Algal blooms can also raise treatment costs for drinking water suppliers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center (ERDC)
November 25, 2020
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(Mississippi State University) A $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will benefit Mississippi State researchers in the university’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center studying the economic and ecological benefits of growing trees for biofuel production. The DOE funding will help MSU scientists study how to produce better, hardier
November 25, 2020
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by Fintan Burke (Horizon Magazine/Phys.Org) Using light as an energy source, photosynthetic microalgae can be used to produce products like biofuels and cosmetics. But algae grown in a reactor block out the light on which they feed. New reactor designs could solve this problem and help the industry move forward. Photosynthetic
November 24, 2020
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(Biobased Diesel Daily) Researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture have been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to evaluate regional biomass supply chains with regard to their potential for supplying feedstock for domestic fuel production as well as rural economic development―a potential game changer for
November 24, 2020
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(Solutions from the Land) A 20-minute video presentation in which Solutions from the Land farmer leaders offer a vision of solutions that farming operations can deliver to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) promoted by UN member nations is now available on YouTube. This presentation, Solutions from the Land: Enabling Farmers
November 20, 2020
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(Terravesta) The growing global bioeconomy has an indispensable role in tackling the climate crisis, and key to delivering a low carbon economy is securing enough supply of sustainable raw materials and linking them with a near-industrial scale of various bio-based products and end-markets. Miscanthus is a perennial energy crop with a
November 20, 2020
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by Elton Alisson (Agência FAPESP) … Some argue, for example, that biofuels are not sustainable because the conversion of non-agricultural land to grow energy crops could lead to a significant initial decrease in carbon storage, creating what is known as a “biofuel carbon debt”. A study by a cross-border group of
November 19, 2020
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by Sarantis Michalopoulos (EURACTIV.com) Governments around the world need to urgently address this year’s 11.6% drop in biofuel output, caused by the pandemic, in order to meet transport’s decarbonisation goals, the head of the renewable energy division at the International Energy Agency (IEA) told EURACTIV in an interview. Paolo Frankl said
November 17, 2020
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(Office of Senator Ron Wyden, D-OR) U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. introduced legislation to help address the climate crisis by encouraging farming practices that improve soil health and crop resilience and lower the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. “In 2020 alone, the climate crisis has delivered devastating wildfires, severe droughts and floods
November 16, 2020
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(AgriMarketing/American Farm Bureau Federation) A majority of U.S. adults have a positive view of farmers’ sustainability practices, and an overwhelming majority trust farmers, according to a new national public opinion poll from the American Farm Bureau Federation. The survey of 2,200 U.S. adults found that more than half (58%) rate the sustainability
November 13, 2020
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by Susan P. Rupp (Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest) Because of the challenges of registering it (hemp) as an agricultural crop, federal agencies have not yet provided clear direction on the use of agrochemicals (i.e., herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides) on hemp, and regulatory decisions have subsequently devolved to the states. However, the
November 11, 2020
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(Neste) A study report produced by Profundo, commissioned by Milieudefensie, has been published on 5 November 2020. The report claims that Neste’s raw material suppliers have been involved in serious sustainability violations, such as deforestation, fires, peat destruction, community and labor rights violations. Neste welcomes all efforts to monitor its raw
November 10, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) There are major barriers in growing a bioeconomy, but Idaho National Laboratory is tackling some of those by applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve the supply of sustainable biomass feedstock for conversion to biofuels and high-value coproducts, which also can lower technical and
November 6, 2020
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by Benjamin Storrow (E&E News) … “Algae. A renewable source of energy. ExxonMobil is researching it. To revolutionize biofuels. For more energy. And fewer emissions.” Biofuels represent one of Exxon Mobil’s primary answers to climate change. In television ads and presentations to investors, the company showcases it as an example of
November 3, 2020
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by Jenna Kurtzweil (Brookhaven National Laboratory/Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation) From southeastern Florida to northern Mississippi to the Midwestern Corn Belt, CABBI scientists have struck sustainable oil with sugarcane. But the crop’s potential value to the renewable energy sector earns this particular variety a more appropriate designation: oilcane.
November 3, 2020
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by Susan Rupp (Land & Natural Resource Section at Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest) … However, producers continue to face challenges in production and marketing of products because of constantly morphing state and federal regulations, typically revolving around total tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) levels within the plant, that affect both how crops are
November 3, 2020
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by Rebecca Pool (Engineering and Technology) A growing band of scientists and engineers wants to feed and fuel the world with seaweed. –… The last decade has seen a surge in seaweed aquaculture, driven by a rising interest in using the aquatic plant as a biofuel. It’s easy to see
October 31, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Mark P. Allen, Vice President of Integrated Carbon Solutions at Accelergy, shared this illuminating slide guide on how Accelergy’s TerraSync is cost competitive, has soil health benefits, gobbles up CO2 better than any other green goblin, and more. READ MORE
October 30, 2020
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(ePURE) A new report from the European Commission underlines the importance and sustainability of renewable ethanol, but also reveals yet again the Commission’s strangely contradictory stance wanting to minimise the role of biofuels in achieving the EU Green Deal. Published on 14 October, the Commission’s Renewable Energy Progress Report includes an assessment of
October 29, 2020
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by Tammy Klein (Future Fuel Strategies) … India is the largest consumer of palm oil. It is an extremely versatile ingredient that is firmly a part of our daily lives. According to WWF, palm oil is present in close to 50% of the packaged goods we regularly buy from supermarkets or online
October 29, 2020
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(CIRAD) Sharing efforts between biofuel production, the transition to reduced-meat diets and the reforestation of pastures would be a far better option for tomorrow’s agriculture than focusing on just one of these strategies. This mix would simultaneously address the goals of food security, biodiversity conservation and emissions reductions, according to a
October 28, 2020
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NCGA Releases U.S. Corn Sustainability Goals and Report
(National Corn Growers Association) Today, the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) solidified U.S. corn farmers’ commitment to environmental, economic and social sustainability with the release of U.S. Corn Sustainability Goals and the first U.S. Corn Sustainability Report. The report documents a long history of continuous improvement by U.S. corn farmers and the goals