by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In these top 20 projects, we usually say that we are using waste, but really we are converting something from a state of waste to a state of value — and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Clariant’s sunliquid technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into sugars, followed by fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, is flexible to be used to convert different feedstocks on a regional basis, for …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Fulcrum BioEnergy has developed a “game-changing process for converting municipal solid waste that would otherwise be landfilled, into renewable transportation fuels including syncrude, jet fuel and diesel”.
The company recently broke …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Sweetwater Energy and Europe’s largest wood pellet producer, the Tallinn, Estonia-based AS Graanul Invest, said that they will build a commercial-scale integrated biorefinery that will produce clean cellulosic sugars and …

(EconoTimes/Aemetis)  Pre-treatment Unit Passes First Production Tests Required to Supply BP Singapore Under Three-year Agreement  —  Aemetis, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMTX) announced today that its Universal Biofuels subsidiary completed the production of high quality distilled biodiesel from lower quality, high …

(Algae Industry Magazine/Science Trends)  enguang Zhou writes in Sciencetrends.com about work recently published in the journal Bioresource Technology regarding why Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae — a bio-oil technology which does not require dewatering and drying of algal biomass — …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) hosted the 2017 Project Peer Review on March 6–9, 2017, in Denver, Colorado. During the event, approximately 192 projects in BETO’s research, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  To develop and optimize a hybrid separation method to recover high-value methoxyphenols to improve the process economics and environmental impact for the production of advanced biofuels from catalytic pyrolysis, integrated with …

by Brian Goodall (First Garden City Consulting/Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest)  … (I)n the case of microalgae the oil has to coaxed out of the whole plant (typically single cells) using chemical or physical means to …

by Alison Goss Eng (U.S. Department of Energy) … One approach is through using domestic biomass resources, such as agricultural and forestry residues, grasses, and municipal solid waste. But, how do these biological materials make it from …

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 …

(Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  To accelerate innovation and adoption of new practices and technologies to determine the root cause of biomass handling failures and designing solutions, the Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium is overseeing a directed funding …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory is the only federal laboratory dedicated to the research, development, commercialization, and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. NREL — home to the …

(Nigerian Tribune)  … YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports that to stop the overdependence on petroleum products, the South-west is set to be the site of a project that is novel to Africa; processing of liquid fuel (biofuel) from …

(Department of Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office is proud to announce the establishment of the Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium—a research and development consortium dedicated to identifying and overcoming technical uncertainty in research …

(Associated Press/U.S. News and World Report)  Researchers in Kansas and China are using mathematical modeling to improve the process of converting wheat straw into pellets for the production of ethanol.  Wheat straw, the plant residue left after …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In South Dakota, POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels achieved a major breakthrough in cellulosic biofuels production at its Project LIBERTY plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The company has solved the critical challenge in pretreatment, overcoming …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Novozymes is a world leader in biological solutions. Together with customers, partners and the global community, the company supplies innovations to the world’s leading companies across 40 markets. Our solutions improve …

(Phys.Org/U.S. Department of Energy) …However, weather conditions could greatly affect crop yields. In this study, researchers examined the effect of weather on biofuel production by comparing switchgrass and corn stover harvested after a year of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The most visible advanced industrial fermentation target for a number of years has been cellulosic ethanol, but the targets are diversifying and cellulosics themselves are shifting gears from process to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  MetGen, Sweetwater Energy say “there’s gold in them thar side-streams”  —  For all of your questions about the advanced bioeconomy there’s just the one answer and that is “lignin”.  Why …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Within the ChemCatBio set of core catalysis projects lies Fast Pyrolysis and Upgrading, which has as its goal “to develop cost competitive biofuels through catalytic stabilization and deoxygenation of Fast Pyrolysis …

by Lisa Gibson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Interest in cellulosic ethanol from corn fiber is piqued, as technology providers improve on their processes, increasing revenue stream possibilities for producers.  —  Some producers and technology developers in the …

(Phys.Org/Purdue University) Gen3Bio Inc., a Purdue Foundry-affiliated company, is developing a unique process that could more effectively and affordably transform microalgae into bio-based chemicals to maximize the value of biofeedstock and reduce landfill waste….
Okamoto (Kelvin Okamoto, …

(Alliance Bio-Products, Inc./AccessWire)  The Company’s Production of Pure Lignin Provides a Viable Opportunity to Further Reduce the Production Costs of Cellulosic Ethanol While Adding an Additional Revenue Stream  —   Alliance Bio-Products, Inc. (“ABP”), a subsidiary …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …  Anellotech’s Bio-TCat process is designed to produce cost-competitive renewable aromatic (BTX) chemicals (benzene, toluene and xylenes) from non-food biomass for use in making plastics such as polyester, nylon, polycarbonate, …

by Silke Schmidt (University of Wisconsin-Madison News)   Technologies for converting non-edible biomass into chemicals and fuels traditionally made from petroleum exist aplenty. But when it comes to attracting commercial interest, these technologies compete financially with …

(Commercial Alternative Aviation Fuel Initiative)  CAAFI’s R&D team continued the Seminars on Alternatives to Petroleum (SOAP)-Jet webinar series on March 24th. This webinar series is intended to provide a forum for members of the alternative …

by Abdul-Sattar Nizami (King Abdulaziz University, Center of Excellence in Environmental Studies (CEES)) (RenewableEnergyFocus.com)  The conservation of biomass is essential for ensuring a continuous and quality supply of feedstock for biofuel facilities around the year. …

by Cindy Zimmerman (Energy.AgWired.com)  Developments in cellulosic ethanol technology are creating opportunities for American ethanol producers.
Miloud Araba, head of Enogen® technical services at Syngenta, says cellulosic innovation could enable dry grind ethanol producers to meet …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Clariant’s sunliquid technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into sugars, followed by fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, is flexible to be used to convert different feedstocks on a regional basis, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  According to this presentation deck from NREL’s Melvin Tucker, “to produce high concentration sugar and reactive lignin streams at high yields and low costs from biomass to meet BETO’s 2017 ($5/GGE) and …

(Scrivener Publishing)  The most comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of all the possible aspects for biofeedstock processing and the production of energy from biofeedstocks.
Audience
Chemical engineers, petroleum engineers, process engineers, students in chemical engineering, biotechnology, petroleum engineering, …

(BBI International/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  D3MAX has announced the completion and shipment of its pilot plant employing the patented D3MAX cellulosic ethanol technology. The pilot facility will be installed at ACE Ethanol LLC, in Stanley, Wisconsin, …

(POET)  POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels will build an on-site enzyme manufacturing (OSM) facility in Emmetsburg, Iowa, pending state and local approvals.  The facility will be integrated into the Project Liberty technology package, replicable in future facilities. …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As the project team behind this presentation explains, there’s trouble right here in River City when it comes to accessing good market and technical data on making hydrocarbons from a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed four new technologies available for license:
Streamlined Saccharification from Lignocellulosic Biomass, 2015-143
Translation Control …

by Phusadee Arunmas (Bangkok Post)  Ethanol makers have agreed to buy 10,000 tonnes of cassava root a day from farmers at 1.9 baht a kilogramme in a bid to raise farm income and stabilise fresh cassava …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …  “Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit.”  It’s run out of the Berkeley Lab, and is the technology center behind the technology centers, if you will, of companies such as Kiverdi, …

by Mahmood Ebadian (Biofuels Digest/Biomass Supply Chain Consulting Ltd.)  The procurement of low-cost feedstock has been the focus of the pioneering bio-conversion technology developers in commercializing their first industrial-scale projects. Low-cost feedstock is critical in such …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The results of the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (BETO’s) Cellulosic Sugar and Lignin Production Capabilities Request for Information (RFI) are now available on the RFI responses web page. This …

by Ann Bailey (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Innovation in stover utilization targets feed, sugars and coproduct credits, building markets beyond cellulosic ethanol use.  —  Building a robust biomass supply chain for the future will require multiple …

by Michael Hirtzer (Reuters)  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday proposed tweaks to its Renewable Fuel Standard that would allow biofuels to be processed at more than one location and would allow cellulosic ethanol to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) This season, The Digest is hosting the Strategic Intent webinar series, looking at the plans, progress and future milestones of strategic stakeholders in the Advanced Bioeconomy.  In this slide deck, we looked at …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  “Shaping the future of bioenergy and renewable chemicals,” that’s the lofty technological goal which MetGen has set for itself. The company has made a name for itself via participation as …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Amidst all the discussion this week of deal-making in cellulosic and sugar-based fuels — the likes of Tesoro-Virent and Lufthansa-Gevo — we were intrigued by this slide deck on a pathway …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Belgium, the BIOFOREVER  consortium of 14 European companies emerged from stealth with the news that they have started their demonstration project for the conversion of woody biomass to value …

by Lorenz Bauer and Gerald Kutney (Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest)  …  In this report, we are focused on bioenergy and biofuels (and not bioproducts) that are moving from the lab to initial commercial demonstrations and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Is it just cost that bedevils industrial biotechnology in bringing fuels technologies to scale. Not just, says BETO program director Jonathan Male, who adds that a DOE “Tiger Team” indentified …

(American Science and Technology) New Patent Will Increase the Incentives to Use Renewable Resources for Chemical Production  —  American Science and Technology (AST), an emerging technology company, has been awarded a patent for a system and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Cornerstone Resources develops and deploys waste management processing technologies that re-purpose a broad spectrum of organic wastes. Cornerstone adds that it’s BurCell system is a disruptive vacuum aided thermal decomposition process which converts …

by Irshad Ahmed (Lee Enterprises)  … I believe cellulosic ethanol is here to stay for the long haul and it is finally exhibiting real potential to establish a critical-mass commercial base alongside the corn-ethanol industry. Its commercial …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Genera Energy “leads the nation in the commercialization of integrated biomass supply chain solutions for the biofuels, biopower and biochemicals markets.”
Initially formed in 2008, Genera works with leading technology providers …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The Energy Department today announced up to $15 million for three projects aimed at reducing the production costs of algae-based biofuels and bioproducts through improvements in algal biomass yields. These projects …

(Phys.Org)  Plant cell walls, which constitute the bulk of plant biomass, are diverse, complex, and dynamic in their structural composition and integrity. Cell walls are innately resistant to deconstruction by biological or chemical catalysts. This …

(Alliance Bioenergy +)  Alliance BioEnergy Plus, Inc. (OTCQB:ALLM) (the “Company”), is pleased to announce that it has received an LOI from Smart Business International Trading, S.A.S (Smart Business) of Bogata, Columbia for the purchase of …

by Zoltan Kish (Lee Enterprises/Biofuels Digest)  … The primary challenge of clean energy production is the heterogeneous nature of waste and biomass, which creates a widely varying chemical constituency of the energy products generated from these processes. …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Kansas, ICM said it is is currently in discussion with a short list of those interested in being selected as an early adopter of its Gen 1.5 technology, and …

(Alliance BioEnergy Plus, Inc./Globe Newswire)  Alliance BioEnergy Plus, Inc. (OTCQB:ALLM) (the “Company”), is pleased to announce that with the senior science officers of a large U.S. ethanol producer present, the CTS process produced fermentable sugars …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) Feedstock Supply and Logistics Program is responsible for developing technologies to support Advanced …

by Elizabeth E. Hood and Lorenz Bauer  (Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc./Biofuels Digest)  … Biofuels can be produced by a number of processes, broadly categorized as biochemical and chemical. Biochemical processes utilize proteins called enzymes (biological catalysts).
Chemical …

by David Biello (Scientific American) … Burning cellulosic ethanol as a fuel could result in just 10 percent of the CO2 emissions produced by burning gasoline.
One big secret to making it all work is the advanced …

by Krista Eastman (Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center)  Less input, more output. That’s the achievement of a new biomass pretreatment method that could help improve the economics of cellulosic biofuels, the second-generation biofuels made from …

by Mahmood Ebadian (Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group/Biomass Supply Chain Consulting Ltd./Biofuels Digest)  …With specialization occurring in feedstock engineering, these new business entities will be well-positioned to produce multiple products including both intermediate and final …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Out of the unlikely bioeconomy hub of West Palm Beach, Florida, Alliance BioEnergy Plus has revealed what it describes as the “successful completion of its yearlong efforts to optimize its …

by  Rosalie Marion Bliss (US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service)  …  Now, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have advanced a process to produce crude liquid fuel called “bio-oil” from agricultural waste. The bio-oil is …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … (W)hen you compare them to homogenized, uniform, high-yield, purpose-grown energy crops. residues may be queer, but they are here. Not only available, but reliable, you can count on the …

(AZO CleanTech)  A few years ago, petroleum-based products, including gasoline, were not available at affordable prices, unlike the case today. However, the prices are likely to return to the same level in the coming years.
Due …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Last year, we reported that  Research & Markets projected the “Nanocellulose Market by Type (Cellulose nanocrystals, Cellulose nanofibrils, cellulose nanocomposites, and others) to reach $250 Million by 2019, signifying annualized CAGR of 19% between …

by Brooks Hays (UPI)  Researchers say their breakthrough can be scaled for industrial biomass processing.  —  A team of researchers in Japan have developed a relatively simple pretreatment strategy to boost the efficiency of biorefinery …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, ARA completed the delivery of over 150,000 gallons of 100% drop-in jet and diesel fuel to fulfill its DLA/US Navy certification fuel contract, two months ahead of schedule. …

(US Department of Agriculture)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a conditional commitment for a $70 million loan guarantee to help build a cellulosic biorefinery in central Georgia. USDA is providing the loan guarantee conditional …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Clariant’s sunliquid technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into sugars, followed by fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, is flexible to be used to convert different feedstocks on a regional basis, for …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  For every ton of corn, wheat, and rice harvested today, an equal amount of biomass is left behind on the fields. Within this biomass — of which nearly 2 billion …

by Michelle Ma (University of Washington Today)  Groves of poplar trees could one day fuel our vehicles and be the source of chemicals that we use in our daily lives.  A five-year, $40 million study …

(Edeniq)  California Energy Commission provided funding for biofuels technology breakthrough — – Edeniq, a biorefining and cellulosic technology company, completed a major upgrade of its cellulosic sugar and ethanol pilot facility. The company designed and operated …

by Mark Harris (The Guardian)  In Las Cruces, New Mexico, a pilot project is using heat-loving algae to clean wastewater and generate energy —  … “Galdieria sulphuraria is one of the most interesting microorganisms on the …

by PJ Griekspoor  (Agri-View)  St. Joseph, Mo., pilot plant completes tests of making cellulosic ethanol that also yields value-added co-products — The prospects for profitable cellulosic ethanol just got a little brighter with the completion of two …

by Jan Overney (Phys.Org)  To cut the cost of biofuels, their production-process can be enhanced to include additional valuable biochemical compounds. A recent experimental study focuses on one source of biomass: residues from Brazilian palm …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  JBEI has opened up the licensing door for some of their signature ionic liquid pre-treatment technologies:
Long Alkyl Chain Alcohols as Co-solvent, Precipitant, and Extraction Medium in Ionic Liquid Pretreatment (2013-105), a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Tennessee, Genera Energy has launched its first mobile agriculture app, Biomass, developed to serve as a tool for planning, selecting and calculating biofuel crop needs, for use with Android …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  It’s been around for a generation or so — fast pyrolysis, that is. Though in the original low-tech incarnation — known as “cooking fire” — pyrolysis has been around since …

by Bruce Dorminey (Renewable Energy World)  As the world’s fastest growing temperate tree species, poplar can add a dozen feet annually and reach maturity in as few as four years.  One of its hybrids, populus …

(Genomatica/Biomass Magazine)   Genomatica announced significant progress in harnessing cellulosic biomass for commercial production of high-quality chemicals rather than just fuels. … Genomatica has developed clear guidance for biomass pretreatment technology developers to enable their technologies to work …

(US Department of Agriculture/Ohio State University)  The long term goal of this project is to commercialize an integrated anaerobic digestion system (iADs) that promises cost competitive bioenergy and biofuels production from lignocellulosic biomass. The specific …

by Danilo Gusmão de Quadros* (Advanced Biofuels USA) This reports on part of a trip to Wisconsin to visit the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), University of Wisconsin (UW), a dairy farm that uses …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  What’s the latest with such projects such as Frontline BioEnergy, Myriant, POET-DSM, INEOS Bio, Sapphire Energy, Abengoa, Haldor Topsoe, UOP. ZeaChem, Mercurius, and American Process, among others?
In Washington this June …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Another step towards commercial scale, aimed at “secure supply” of cellulose-lignin solids for Renmatix’ Georgia facility
Renmatix announced that it has acquired existing assets of the former Mascoma corporation’s 56,000 square …

(US Department of Energy)  Visit the 2015 Project Peer Review Web page to download individual project and plenary presentations from BETO’s 2015 Project Peer Review. The peer review process provided BETO with feedback about the management …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Battelle-led group succeeds in US Department of Energy challenge — 1,000 hours of continuous biomass hydrotreating on a single catalyst charge.  The undefeated champ hits 1200 hours before being retired …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Sweetwater Energy announced it has closed on a $10 million bridge loan. The loan closed as Sweetwater said that it is now opening its Series B investor round to begin construction …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Though we usually think of diversifying away from petroleum via the fuels for our cars — what about the petroleum in the tires?  Rubber security, as it turns out, offers …

The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting the 2015 Project Peer Review on March 23–27, 2015, at the Hilton Mark Center, in Alexandria, Virginia. Approximately 185 projects in BETO’s research, development, and demonstration portfolio will …

by George Lurie (The Business Journal NOW)  … Lower oil prices, (Brian) Thome (president and CEO of Edeniq) said, translate into “lower prices for ethanol too. That means margins for ethanol producers will be squeezed” — a …

Author, Dan Quadros, in Auburn, Alabama.

by Danilo Gusmão de Quadros* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  After two days (February 2-3, 2015) in “Sweet Home Alabama” at Auburn University, we got overwhelmed with the most recent discoveries of …

(Bio-Process Innovation Inc./Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Bio-Process Innovation Inc. has announced the completion of the construction of its 1-ton pilot plant and successful operation of its low temperature steep delignification (LTSD) pretreatment process at its pilot …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) … Even so-called conventional chemical processing is riddled with original approaches and unique twists. A cookie-cutter industry biodiesel is not. While too many technologies exist in this field to report on, …

by Elizabeth K. Gardner (Purdue University) A new catalytic process is able to convert what was once considered biomass waste into lucrative chemical products that can be used in fragrances, flavorings or to create high-octane fuel …

(PR NewsWire/Applied CleanTech) Applied CleanTech (ACT) (www.appliedcleantech.com) had run a successful trial of its Sewage Recycling System (SRS) with the Dutch Waterschap Aa en Maas (WSAM), who just released its exciting report about the great commercial …

(Genera Energy)  Biomass supply company, Genera Energy, receives strategic financing to support business growth
Leading biomass supply company, Genera Energy Inc., has received a strategic financing commitment from WindSail Capital Group, a Boston-based investment firm that …

(Global BioBusiness)  It may be surprising to know that, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as “cellulosic ethanol”. Instead, there is cellulosic “sugars”. That because it is often forgotten that the cellulosic process (also …

(US Department of Energy)  The Energy Department announced today up to $7 million for two projects aimed at developing and demonstrating ways to reduce the cost of delivering bioenergy feedstocks to biorefineries.  Examples of bioenergy …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Virtuosos of Visalia land a major contract with China giant Global Bio-chem — a 50KT cellulosic sugars plant is underway in Jilin province.
In California, Edeniq announced a Joint Development Agreement …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Shell VP Matthew Tipper, at ABLCNext:  “We will likely begin manufacture in the southeast United States. We plan to be operational by late this decade.  “We believe our best bet …

by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  In January 2006, President George W. Bush said “switchgrass” in his State of the Union Address as he enthusiastically envisioned a renewable transportation fuels future.1 Within weeks, the price …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  A bolt-on technology for ethanol plants, costing less than $2 per installed gallon, producing a cellulosic biofuel additive that oxygenates diesel fuel at competitive prices?  It’s early stage, but what’s …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Glycell pretreatment process. … I studied science with majors in biochemistry and microbiology at Griffith University. Griffith had a strong environmental link and industrial pathways for it’s science school. It …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, BlueFire Renewables has received a Letter of Intent from The Export Import Bank of China (China EXIM) to provide up to $270 million in debt financing for its …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Producing enzymes and yeasts on site, as part of the complete biomass-to-fuels manufacturing process. …
In recent years — the region around Straubing turned to biotech to access the high returns …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … In Germany, Vecoplan opened a new 17,000 square-foot Technology Center in Bad Marienberg, Germany.
The first-of-its-kind facility is equipped with more than 25 machines representing a comprehensive range of mechanical technologies …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) POET-DSM’s 20 million gallon cellulosic ethanol plant opens with hoopla, and heartfelt messages about the spirit of innovation, and a time for technology change and policy firmness.
“Once, we all lived …

by James Urquhart (Chemistry World)  Ionic liquids – salts that are liquid at room temperature – could potentially be made more cheaply and greenly by recycling by-products from biofuel production processes, according to US researchers. These …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  Bioenergy: America’s Energy Future is a short documentary film showcasing examples of bioenergy innovations across the biomass supply chain and the United States. The film highlights a few stories of individuals …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  Crowdfunding is coming to biofuels. On August 3, 2014, Bio Revolution America launched a 45 dayIndiegogo crowdfunding campaign to fund its biofuels projects in Appalachia and within one week is reporting reaching 30 percent …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Think affordable, available, sustainable carbon is the biggest barrier to the growth of biofuels? Or, access to market via blender pumps?   In the case of drop-in biofuels, the biggest challenge …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  All that food waste, all that potential value. What’s being done about all that material heading from the garbage pail to the landfill?   Turns out, the State of Hawaii and …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  Several University of Minnesota students are giving the ethanol industry a preview of their cutting-edge research in biofuels, biochemicals and bioproducts during the 27th Annual Ethanol Conference in Minneapolis. One such student is …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Tennessee, Genera Energy has come up with a biomass management methodology that results in a 13% reduction in the delivered cost of biomass feedstock — or as much as …

by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine)  The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has named five in-state bioenergy projects as recipients of NextGen Energy grants.
…
Grant recipients include:
-Easy Energy Systems, Welcome, Minn. – $500,000
The project builds a showplace biofuel production …

by Holly Jessen (Biomass Magazine) Edmonton, Alberta-based Syngar Technologies Inc. has announced two separate joint venture projects that will, together, help make hemp-to-cellulosic ethanol a step closer to reality.
Syngar Technologies, which was featured in a March 2012, …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Edmonton, Alberta-based Syngar Technologies Inc. has announced two separate joint venture projects that will, together, help make hemp-to-cellulosic ethanol a step closer to reality.
…
In late April the company formed …

(Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy is partnering with GreenField Specialty Alcohols to test and develop a technology that, if successful, will …

by  Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Sweetwater Energy and Proterro, two companies using widely different approaches, aim for low-cost sugar that may give today’s corn ethanol plants a glide path into advanced ethanol production. They’re …

by Milsa Vijayadharan* (Advanced Biofuels USA) Most of the oil that we drill out of the ground was formed by algae and other sea-borne flora that piled up at the bottom of the ocean over …

(Wageningen University/Biomass Magazine)  Chemical building blocks from lignocellulosic feedstock form a huge potential for the production of bioplastics. More specifically, they have potential for biodegradable plastic polylactic acid (PLA). The building block for PLA – …

(UPM/GlobeNewsWire)  UPM participated together with a coalition of technology innovators and green NGOs to a project which results were published today.  Europe has a significant untapped potential for converting wastes from farming, forestry, industry and …

(Viaspace/PRNewsWire)  VIASPACE Inc. (OTCQB: VSPC) conducted a full production scale test of Giant King Grass grinding equipment on February 18, 2014 in Portland, Oregon. 6,000 pounds of 18 foot tall Giant King Grass stalks were cut and shredded …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Australia-based Leaf Energy Ltd. recently announced it has received a preliminary report from Andritz AG outlining the results of a pilot-scale trial of Leaf Energy’s Glycell Process, a glycerol …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Beta Renewables, Abengoa, Enerkem, Proterro among the winners for Project of the Year — as residues and waste are keys to the big wins.  For Fuel of the Year, Renewable …

(ICM/Ethanol Producer Magazine) ICM Inc. has announced that IGPC Ethanol Inc. of Ontario, Canada, has signed a letter of intent to be the first Canadian adopter of ICM’s Generation 1.5 technology. Today’s milestone announcement will enable …

(Battelle/Biomass Magazine)  Battelle engineers and scientists have developed a mobile device that transforms unwanted biomass materials such as wood chips or agricultural waste into valuable bio-oil using catalytic pyrolysis. As currently configured, the Battelle-funded unit …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  At the frontier of exotic temperature and pressures, even everyday materials like water begin to act strangely in ways that can drive energy transformation.   New work in nanocatalysts may make …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The new technologies that come along have to provide pressure, temperature and feedstock at their own cost. So it’s the cost of those three elements, competing against the cost of …

(Fraunhofer)  Crude oil is getting scarce. This is why researchers are seeking to substitute petroleum-based products – like plastics – with sustainable raw materials. Waste wood, divided into lignin and cellulose, could serve as a …

by Scott Mowrey (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A primer outlines the inherent challenges for biofuel production using biomass
Raw cellulose from plant biomass is composed of six classes of materials with varying percentages and widely different physical …

by Tim Worledge and Jeff Barber (Platts)  The US is at risk of economic slowdown and energy shortages unless it makes sufficient investments in biofuels, Bruce Dale, a professor of chemical engineering and a biofuel specialist at …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  After taking a leading role in the global first generation wave of ethanol production, here come the Brazilians — with some hot North American technologies in tow — to take …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A Kansas-based company is offering two bolt-on options for ethanol producers looking to turn crude corn oil into biodiesel or renewable diesel.
It’s no secret that revenue from corn oil extraction …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  During remarks at the Energy Department’s Biomass 2013 annual conference, Secretary Moniz today highlighted the important role biofuels play in the Administration’s Climate Action Plan to increase our energy security and reduce greenhouse …

(Midwest Producer)  While other biofuel producers work with cornstalks or switchgrass to make cellulosic ethanol, the people at Quad County Corn Processors are working to pull cellulosic ethanol out of the corn kernel.
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The idea started …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Goodfield, Ill.-based Chip Energy recently broke ground on a biomass recycling and pelletizing plant. Once complete, the prototype plant will be capable of producing 100 tons per day of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)   Advanced biofuels – mirage or reality? In January we wrote: “When these 12 projects open for business (or not) in 2013, you’ll know for sure.”  So, what do we know?
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We …

(US Department of Energy)  Following last week’s rollout of President Obama’s plan to cut carbon pollution, the Energy Department today announced four research and development projects to bring next generation biofuels on line faster and …

by Susanne REtka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Bruce Dale urges careful thought about energy and agriculture.
A 1-ton-per-day pilot facility on the campus of Michigan State University geared up this spring to produce pretreated biomass for …

by David Glass (D Glass Associates)  One of the morning sessions at the Tenth Annual BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology put four of the companies in the forefront of commercial development of cellulosic ethanol …

(University of Illinois/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Two University of Illinois scientists have developed an environmentally friendly and more economical way of pretreating miscanthus in the biofuel production process.
“We pretreat the biomass with switchable butadiene sulfone in the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In an exclusive Digest interview, Shell’s VP for Alternative Energy, Matthew Tipper, reveals the company’s thinking about RFS2, their increasing re-focus on North America and the EU.   Plus, Shell’s ambition …

by Yuca Waarts, Kor Zwart (LEI Wageningen UR)  Recycling palm oil mill effluent, decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and improving smallholder livelihoods are three important topics in debates on sustainable palm oil production. In Indonesia, Zebra Special Products …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  With a fresh investment from Brazil’s GranBio, American Process Inc. is poised to develop its first commercial-scale cellulosic biorefineries in both the U.S. and Brazil. API CEO Theodora …

(Metso) Domtar has successfully started up a commercial-scale LignoBoost™ lignin separation plant at its Plymouth, North Carolina mill, in the USA. This is the first commercial installation of a LignoBoost plant in the world and the …