Feedstock – Advanced BioFuels USA

Biocontrols as the Pivot Point in the Push for Sustainable Ag Practices

by Patrice Sellès (Biotalys/Biofuels Digest) … Delivering the “sustainability trifecta” – i.e., a lower emissions footprint, equal or better efficacy rates than conventional crop protection solutions, and overall financial value – the integration of biocontrol solutions into sustainable ag efforts will be the ultimate pivot point. The next crop of biopesticides

October 19, 2021 Read Full Article

Algae: As Different from Each Other as They Are from You and Me

by Amanda Barry (Los Alamos National Laboratory) … When we talk about algae, we’re really talking about a diverse group of organisms that thrive in a plethora of environments, from seawater to freshwater, from pulp mill ponds to hot springs. Some are strict phototrophs and can only use light for

October 18, 2021 Read Full Article

Crops, Genetics, Feedstocks, Supply Chains: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to State of the Sector

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Whether you are using novel crops, residues, developing supply-chains, or developing new feedstocks for the bioeconomy, this is an exclusive Digest slide guide you won’t want to miss! Straight from our recent State of the Sector presentation at ABLC CONNECT. READ MORE

October 18, 2021 Read Full Article

Maersk Invests in Vertoro to Develop Green Lignin Marine Fuels

(Maersk) Maersk Growth, the corporate venture arm of A.P. Moller – Maersk, invests in Vertoro – a Dutch start-up focused on developing liquid lignin technology which can be used as a marine fuel. — Maersk’s investment will be used to further develop and commercialise Vertoro’s patented liquid lignin technology, and

October 15, 2021 Read Full Article

Competitive Edge: Carbon BioCapture’s Microalgal Tech Fights the Good Fight

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Photosynthetic microalgae have been metabolizing CO2 for billions of years in the oceans and lakes of planet Earth and are suitable to tackle planetary-scale CO2 emissions. The resulting biomass has a multitude of uses ranging from (renewable) fuel to fertilizer to feed. … CBC

October 15, 2021 Read Full Article

Spain’s Nexolub Signs 10-Year Waste Oils Offtake Deal

by Adam Porter (Argus Media) Spanish trading company Nexolub has signed a 10-year offtake deal with tyre recycling firm Life for Tyres (L4T) to market advanced waste oils from a new plant in Puertollano. The project, due to be completed in December, will be one of the biggest of its type

October 14, 2021 Read Full Article

New Research Checks the Math of Large-Scale Tree Planting

(Nori) In our first science-focused episode of Carbon Removal Newsroom, hosts Radhika Moolgavkar of Nori and Holly Jean Buck of the University at Buffalo are joined by our new science co-host, Dr. Jane Zelikova, executive director of the Soil Carbon Solutions Center and joint faculty in crop and soil science at Colorado State University. First this week, we’re looking

October 13, 2021 Read Full Article

Young Farm Entrepreneurs Look at High-Biomass Sorghum and Pearl Millet for Biofuel Feedstock

(CGIAR) The Government of India’s concerted efforts to replace 20% fossil fuels with ethanol blends by 2025 is attracting agricultural entrepreneurs to invest in renewable energy. This week, Mr Lalit Jhawar and Mr Mayank Gupta, two young IIT graduates running a profitable farming venture in Maharashtra, accompanied by biofuel experts Mr YB

October 13, 2021 Read Full Article

CRISPR: A Climate Change Resilience and Food Safety Milestone

by Jeffrey Wang (Global Food Safety Forum/Biofuels Digest) Developing a sustainable global food system that ensures access to a sufficient supply of nutritious, diverse and safe food for all, and simultaneously limits the impact on the environment, is one of the key challenges in the next few decades. Therefore, identifying technologies

October 13, 2021 Read Full Article

Biomass Innovations under Investigation Part 4: Forestry and Energy Crops

(Bio Market Insights) … Forestry: Mostex Global Solutions: Integrated whole tree extraction and on site pre-processing of under-yielding forest resources Mostex was set up with the aim of reducing the corrosive nature of agri-feedstock, establishing effective methods of handling this material and improving yields. The group’s mobile, modular steam explosion processing system

October 13, 2021 Read Full Article

GCEH Camelina Subsidiary Sustainable Oils Moving Headquarters to Great Falls, Montana

by Ron Kotrba (Biobased Diesel Daily) Global Clean Energy Holdings Inc. is relocating headquarters for its camelina feedstock subsidiary Sustainable Oils Inc. to a new facility in Great Falls, Montana, where its crop-innovation programs, commercial-grower support, and executive and administrative activities will be consolidated. Migration to the new site is expected

October 12, 2021 Read Full Article

Italy’s Eni Works Sub-Saharan African Countries into Renewable Diesel Feedstock Supply Chain

by Ron Kotrba (Biobased Diesel Daily) The CEO of Italian energy and renewable diesel company Eni S.p.A., Claudio Descalzi, has signed two memorandums of understanding (MOU) in recent days with two Sub-Saharan African nations, the Congo and Angola, on joint development of the agro-biofuel sector in both countries. The MOU with

October 12, 2021 Read Full Article

New Foray into Renewable Chemicals & Materials: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Praj Industries

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) If you missed the recent DigestWebinar, here’s your chance to delve into the tech emerging out of Praj Industries, ranked #1 as a Top Place to Work by Digest readers, and #2 in the world in the Hot 50. Clearly, a company on the move.

October 12, 2021 Read Full Article

Disrupting Tropical Seaweed Farming with Offshore Submersible Cages

by Steven Hermans (Phyconomy) Former CEO of Catalina Sea Ranch Phil Cruver is developing a submersible cage system to take tropical seaweed farming offshore and into a new era. In addition to providing higher yields, the cages should also protect from predators, storms and ice-ice disease. In 2010, KZO Sea Farms developed

October 10, 2021 Read Full Article

LanzaTech to Trial SAF Production from Waste Carbon Dioxide

(Biofuels International) LanzaTech is partnering with the Energy Department’s Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to build and operate a pre-pilot facility to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). This will be made from biogenic waste carbon dioxide (CO2) such as is emitted from corn refining, and renewable hydrogen (H2). LanzaTech will use renewable power from

October 8, 2021 Read Full Article

USDA Announces More Than $146M Investment in Sustainable Agricultural Research

(U.S. Department of Agriculture) U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today an investment of more than $146 million in sustainable agricultural research projects aimed at improving a robust, resilient, climate-smart food and agricultural system. This investment is made under the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Sustainable

October 7, 2021 Read Full Article

Exxon Sees Green Gold in Algae-Based Fuels. Skeptics See Greenwashing.

by Christopher M. Matthews (Wall Street Journal) The oil giant, under pressure to address climate change, says it is getting closer to making the biofuel viable — Some scientists regard Exxon Mobil Corp.’s long-running quest to turn algae into a transportation fuel as little more than a PR stunt. The oil

October 6, 2021 Read Full Article

Repsol Produces Renewable Hydrogen with Biomethane for the First Time

(Repsol) • Renewable hydrogen has been used to manufacture fuels with a low carbon footprint, such as gasoline, diesel, and kerosene for aviation, thus avoiding the emission of about 90 t of CO2. The biomethane used as raw material was obtained from urban solid waste. This is an example of

October 6, 2021 Read Full Article

Eni Supports Energy Transition and Decarbonization in the Republic of Congo

(Eni) Eni, Republic of Congo sign MoU on joint development of bio-refining agro-feedstock sector; Eni delegation led by CEO Descalzi met President Sassou Nguesso to discuss agricultural programs and gas valorization also with reference to access to energy for domestic market At the presence of the Prime Minister of the

October 6, 2021 Read Full Article

Ethanol, Biogas, Renewable Chemicals: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Praj

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Dr. Pramod Kumbhar, President and CTO of Praj shared this illuminating slide guide on their Bio-Prism renewable chemicals and materials, Bio-Mobility products, Praj’s 2G tech for agri residue to ethanol, Praj-Sekab tech for forest residue to ethanol, their tech for compressed biogas, and more. The

October 6, 2021 Read Full Article

The Importance of Communicating Your Sustainability Story

by Emily Smith (Trust in Food) During Farm Journal’s 2021 Sustainable Produce Summit that took place earlier this month, a key theme of effectively communicating sustainable food and agriculture stories to consumers came through again and again. As specialty crop growers and food retailers make changes to meet both environmental needs

September 28, 2021 Read Full Article

Pyrocell Has Started Production

(Cision/Setra) Production is now underway at Pyrocell’s plant in Gävle. The new and groundbreaking factory is turning sawdust into bio-oil. — Jointly owned by Setra and Preem, Pyrocell was formed in 2018 based on the business concept of producing bio-oil from sawdust. Production at the groundbreaking plant – Sweden’s first pyrolysis

September 28, 2021 Read Full Article

Biofuel from Pine Needles a Reality

by Ambika Sharma (The Tribune) Scientists at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry in Nauni have devised a method to convert pine needles into enthanol, a green biofuel. — Pine needles will no longer be a source of forest fires causing losses worth crores every year as scientists at

September 27, 2021 Read Full Article

USDA Investing $75 million in Partner-Led Projects with Focus on Climate-Smart Ag, Equity in Program Delivery

(U.S. Department of Agriculture) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest nearly $75 million for 15 partner-led projects to address natural resource concerns on private lands. This year, projects funded by the Regional Conservation Partnership Program’s (RCPP) Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFA) focus on climate-smart agriculture and forestry and other conservation

September 27, 2021 Read Full Article

The Biden Administration to Ensure a Sustainable Future for Aviation: SkyNRG Americas and LanzaTech Secure DOE Funding to Produce SAF in the US

(LanzaTech) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office announced more than $64 million in funding for 22 projects focused on developing technologies and processes that produce low-cost, low-carbon biofuels. SkyNRG Americas in partnership with LanzaTech was awarded $1 million in funding for Project LOTUS (Landfill Off-gas To Ultra-low carbon intensity SAF) to design, build, operate, and maintain

September 23, 2021 Read Full Article

The Guijuelo Biofactory Transforms Waste from the Agri-Food Industry into Biofuel to Travel to the Moon

(Aqualia (Google Translation)) • Aqualia has presented this morning (September 16, 20212) at the Guijuelo (Salamanca) treatment plant the biofactory project in which the waste generated by the agri-food industry, together with the sludge from the plant, is transformed into energy, biofuels, bioplastics and biofertilizers The 3,000 tons of bio-waste

September 22, 2021 Read Full Article

DG Fuels: The Unusual Suspects Are Building Big in Louisiana, as SAFtember Continues

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … But, an unusual suspect became more visible earlier this month when word arrived that DG Fuels was invited to submit a Part II Application for a loan guarantee under the U.S. Department of Energy Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program. If successful, the proposed $2.15

September 22, 2021 Read Full Article

Plug Power to Build Largest Green Hydrogen Production Facility on the West Coast

(Plug Power) The Fresno County plant will produce 30 metric tons of liquid green hydrogen per day — Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ: PLUG), a leading provider of turnkey hydrogen solutions for the global green hydrogen economy, is expanding its green hydrogen ecosystem to the west coast with the construction of a new

September 22, 2021 Read Full Article

FutureMetrics Paper Addresses the Biomass Carbon Debt Fallacy

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) FutureMetrics on Sept. 9 published a new white paper revisiting the flawed assumption that there is a carbon debt after wood is harvested and explaining why some academics continue to perpetuate the carbon debt fallacy. The paper, authored by FutureMetrics Founder and President William Strauss, references

September 21, 2021 Read Full Article

Drax and NFU to Partner Boost UK Energy Crop Market

(NFU Online) World leader in sustainable bioenergy Drax Group has teamed up with the National Farmers Union of England and Wales (NFU), to identify opportunities to scale up perennial energy crop production and help the UK meet its ambitious climate goals. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) has previously stated that if

September 21, 2021 Read Full Article

Biomass from Forest Restoration: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to PNNL Project

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Wildfires around the globe have been increasing but what about controlled fires? The U.S. Department of Energy and Pacific Northwest National Lab is looking at prioritizing how and where to target forest restoration (timber harvest and thinning) to have the greatest benefit for bioenergy, reduce

September 20, 2021 Read Full Article

Salk Plant Researchers Launch Collaboration to Breed Carbon-Capturing Sorghum

(Salk Institute) Salk will team up with experts at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center to study the genetics of sorghum — Researchers at the Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI) have established a five-year, $6.2 million collaboration with Nadia Shakoor, principal investigator and senior research scientist and her team at the Donald Danforth

September 17, 2021 Read Full Article

Honeywell and Preem Conduct Commercial Co-Processing Trial to Produce Renewable Fuel

(Honeywell UOP) Honeywell UOP’s Optimix GF feed distributor successfully enabled co-processing trial with biomass-based pyrolysis oil; Trial at Preem’s Lysekil refinery marks UOP’s 6th commercial co-processing trial in an FCC and the first trial in Scandinavia — Honeywell announced today the completion of a commercial refinery trial with Preem AB

September 16, 2021 Read Full Article

Plant Biologist Turns to TikTok to Show Kids Science in Action

by Lela Nargi (Washington Post) Katie Murphy is a plant biologist. She researches corn and tobacco plants at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri. She’s also the host of “Real Time Science,” a series of videos that she uploads to TikTok and Instagram. She shows kids examples of her experiments in

September 15, 2021 Read Full Article

UToledo Chemical Engineer Awarded $3.2 Million to Advance Algae Biofuel Technology

by Christine Billau (University of Toledo) The U.S. Department of Energy awarded The University of Toledo a $3.2 million grant to continue advancing technology that speeds up the capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to grow algae, a critical part of the process of turning algae into biofuel. It’s part

September 14, 2021 Read Full Article

FCC Environment Uses Former Landfill and Quarry Sites for Energy Crops

(Terravesta) Terravesta grower and one of the UK’s leading resource and waste management companies, FCC Environment is using its landbank to grow energy crops for biomass fuel. The company has been planting Miscanthus at several of its old landfill and quarry sites across the country that it has restored following their

September 10, 2021 Read Full Article

From a Nuisance to a Benefit, ‘World’s Worst Weed’ Finds New Use as Biofuel

(South Africa Today) • A startup in western Kenya has developed a process of making bioethanol from water hyacinths, addressing both the need for a clean fuel alternative to charcoal and fuelwood, and the spread of the invasive hyacinths. Proponents say a key advantage of this “second-generation” bioethanol over traditional

September 9, 2021 Read Full Article

Green Fuels Wins Funding for Brewery and Dairy Waste Project

(Biofuels International) Waste from milk factories and breweries could be put to good use in fighting climate change, according to scientists at Green Fuels Research. The Gloucestershire-based company in the UK has won funding under the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Biomass Feedstocks Innovation Programme for its Microalgae

September 9, 2021 Read Full Article

Jet Fuel from Smokestacks

by Keith Button (Aerospace America) The air transport industry lacks enough suppliers of sustainable aviation fuel to meet the anticipated demand as airlines become more aggressive about reining in their carbon footprints and more travelers take to the air. Keith Button describes one company’s unique approach to meeting the demand. The

September 3, 2021 Read Full Article

Advancing Algae for Better Biofuels: CSU Share in $3.5 Million Project

(Colorado State University) Colorado State University scientists are partners in a three-year grant of up to $3.5 million from the Department of Energy, aimed at improving how algae-based biofuels and bioproducts are made. The Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office has announced its support for the project, titled “Rewiring Algal Carbon Energetics for

September 2, 2021 Read Full Article

Pennycress 2.0 – Improved Oil, Protein: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to CoverCress

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Bunge, REG and Bayer helped CoverCress raise a total of $22 million including $8 million in Series B in 2021. What does that mean for this low carbon cash cover crop and for growers? What is their commercial track? How are the harvest and oil

September 2, 2021 Read Full Article

UMD Researcher Awarded $6 Million from the U.S. Department of Energy to Create Value-Added Biofuels and Bioplastics from Food Waste

by Samantha Watters (University of Maryland) Stephanie Lansing will serve as principal investigator, establishing a consortium of scientists and industry partners with the goal of creating renewable resources — Stephanie Lansing, professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Technology at the University of Maryland (UMD), is leading two new grants

September 1, 2021 Read Full Article

Increasing Sugar Availability for Oil Synthesis: Findings Could Lead to Higher Potential for Biofuel Crops

(Brookhaven National Laboratory) A team from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) has bred a plant that produces more oil by manipulating the availability of sugar for oil synthesis. The team, led by BNL’s John Shanklin, achieved these results in using leaves of the fast-growing plant Arabidopsis, to mimic stem cells of

September 1, 2021 Read Full Article

Decarbonizing Ag & Transportation: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to BETO

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office’s Nichole Fitzgerald, Program Manager, shared this short but sweet slide guide on BETO’s goals for 2021-2030 with large volumes of biomass being critical to achieving those goals, why they are looking at CO2 removal, feedstock technologies program

September 1, 2021 Read Full Article

Using CO2 from the Atmosphere to Make Biofuel Would Benefit Business and Environment

(Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) … Traditional fermentation processes for producing such products rely on microorganisms that emit large quantities of CO2. If researchers could find a way to avoid such emissions and to actually incorporate CO2 into the product, important environmental and economic benefits would result. With the support of a

August 31, 2021 Read Full Article

£4 Million Funding to Boost UK Biomass Production

(U.K. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and Lord Callanan) 24 projects receive government funding of up to £200,000 to increase UK production of biomass that can be used as sources of green energy. — 24 projects will receive government funding of up to £200,000 to increase UK production

August 27, 2021 Read Full Article

Farm-Powered Anaerobic Digestion: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Vanguard Renewables

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Vanguard Renewables sequesters organic waste that could be a dangerous contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and converts it into a powerful source of renewable energy, renewable natural gas. Find out how it works, the role of farms, project inputs and outputs, and more. READ MORE Dairy

August 27, 2021 Read Full Article

Renewable Diesel & Sustainable Aviation Fuels 2030, Vol 2

(Emerging Markets Online) New study! Renewable Diesel & Sustainable Aviation Fuels 2030, Vol 2. (249 pages, August 2021) focuses on low-carbon feedstock availability, technology pathways for low carbon renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation production. Renewable Diesel & Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) 2030 covers four key areas: 1) renewable diesel producer case studies

August 26, 2021 Read Full Article

Life Cycle Assessment of Forest-Based Products: A Review

by Kamalakanta Sahoo, Richard Bergman, Sevda Alanya-Rosenbaum, Hongmei Gu and Shaobo Liang (Sustainability) Climate change, environmental degradation, and limited resources are motivations for sustainable forest management. Forests, the most abundant renewable resource on earth, used to make a wide variety of forest-based products for human consumption. To provide a scientifc

August 26, 2021 Read Full Article

CleanBay Renewables to Sell bp RNG Derived from Poultry Litter

(bp/Biomass Magazine) bp and CleanBay Renewables announced a 15-year agreement where bp will purchase renewable natural gas (RNG) processed from poultry litter—a mixture of manure, feathers and bedding—and sell it as fuel for the U.S. transportation sector. CleanBay manages this process by mixing poultry litter with water in a closed system

August 25, 2021 Read Full Article

Net-Zero Renewables: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Gevo

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Can you imagine 100% reduction in GHG emissions? Where 100% of agricultural feedstock nutritional value is returned to the food chain? Check out this illuminating slide guide highlighting Gevo’s Cradle to Cradle Lifecycle actions and plans for transportation fuels and net-zero products. READ MORE Learn

August 25, 2021 Read Full Article

Sorghum Industry Partners with University of California to Advance Sorghum

(United Sorghum Checkoff Program) The United Sorghum Checkoff Program (USCP), the University of California, Merced, and the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources today announced a five year partnership to promote drought resilience in sorghum and increase demand for the cereal crop in biofuel and bioproduct markets. Efforts

August 20, 2021 Read Full Article

Maersk Secures Green E-Methanol for the World’s First Container Vessel Operating on Carbon Neutral Fuel

(Maersk) European Energy will establish a new e-methanol facility in Denmark and provide renewable energy to fuel it. — A.P. Moller – Maersk has identified its partners to produce green fuel for its first vessel to operate on carbon neutral methanol: REintegrate, a subsidiary of the Danish renewable energy company European

August 20, 2021 Read Full Article

The University Bringing Algae-based Biofuels to Commercialisation

by Scarlett Evans (Bio Market Insights) … Now, a team from Colorado State University (CSU) is working to boost algae crop growth to reach industrial levels, with the team being awarded $3.2m from the US Department of Energy (DOE) in support of this goal earlier this month. We took a closer

August 18, 2021 Read Full Article

UK Government Launches Plan for a World-Leading Hydrogen Economy

(U.K. Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, The Rt Hon Kwasi Kwarteng MP, and The Rt Hon Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP) First-ever vision to kick start world-leading hydrogen economy set to support over 9,000 UK jobs and unlock £4 billion investment by 2030. consultation also launched to look at ways to

August 18, 2021 Read Full Article

Operational Energy from Seawater: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to U.S. Naval Research Lab

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The power of water – the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory knows what that means in many ways, but how about making fuel when and where you need it when deployed overseas or in remote island locations? Fuel at point of use translates into “Freedom of

August 18, 2021 Read Full Article

Japanese Transport Firm Makes Diesel Fuel Using Ramen Broth

(Kyodo News) The enterprising president of a transport firm in southwestern Japan has come up with a way to power his trucks with a biodiesel fuel made partly from leftover “tonkotsu” ramen soup broth. The firm, Nishida Shoun, based in Fukuoka Prefecture, mixes lard extracted from the broth, which is made

August 17, 2021 Read Full Article

Korea National Oil Management Institute Secures Insect Biodiesel Manufacturing Technology

(K-Petro (Google translation)) Initiated the second phase of development of biodiesel production technology using insect lipids; Contribute to the expansion of biodiesel supply for the realization of 2050 carbon neutrality — Korea Petroleum Management Service (Chairman Joo-Seok Son) has secured biodiesel production technology using insect resources (Dongae, etc.). With the support of the

August 13, 2021 Read Full Article

RBZ Dumps Gono’s Failed Jatropha Project

by Leopold Munhende (New Zimbabwe) THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has finally given up on former Governor Gideon Gono’s Jatropha Biodiesel experiment. RBZ governor John Mangudya said in his 2021 Mid-Term Monetary Policy review the project no longer warranted the central bank’s attention. The jatropha experiment was launched as a source

August 10, 2021 Read Full Article

Upcycling Carbon to Fuel, Fragrances and More: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to LanzaTech

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) This week we are sharing some of the hottest 2021 ABLC Digital presentations and you won’t want to miss this one from LanzaTech’s Dr. Jennifer Holmgren on commercial scale operations, the first European plant, other global platform build outs, upcycling carbon emissions into ethanol for fragrances,

August 10, 2021 Read Full Article

Top 5: Hydrogen, Bioenergy & CCUS to “Crack the Nut” on Decarbonization

by Tammy Klein (Transportation Energy Strategies) … • Hard-to-Abate Transport Sectors: A Citi report notes that hydrogen, bioenergy and CCUS are key to “cracking the nut” of hard-to-abate sectors like aviation, shipping and trucking and recommends sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) for aviation, ammonia for shipping and biofuels, electrification and hydrogen

August 9, 2021 Read Full Article

Biogenic Carbon Fuels, Co-Processing Strategies: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Coprocessing Bio-oils in Refineries

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Leveraging existing refining infrastructure leverages billions US$ in CAPEX and 5 million bpd of crude refining. NREL, PNNL, and LANL is tackling how to accelerate adoption of co-processing biomass-derived feedstocks with petroleum streams in operating petroleum refineries to produce biogenic carbon containing fuels. READ MORE

August 9, 2021 Read Full Article

Lawmakers from Both Parties Call for Investment in Ag as a Climate Solution

(North America Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance) Thirty lawmakers from both houses of Congress have written a letter urging House and Senate leadership to support an historic, long-term investment in farmers, ranchers and rural communities as a part of upcoming infrastructure and climate change legislation. Reps. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Abigail Spanberger

August 6, 2021 Read Full Article

Competitive Edge: New West Genetics’ Hemp Varieties

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … New West Genetics recognized that the 2014 and 2018 U.S. Farm Bills provided an opportunity to create a new leading row crop from hemp. Different forms of this crop make a healthy ancient grain rich in protein and omega 3/omega 6 oils, expressed, an array

August 6, 2021 Read Full Article

Stinkweed Could Make a Cleaner Bio-Jet Fuel, Study Finds

(Ohio State News) Computer models estimate fewer environmental impacts than other crops — A common farm weed could make a “greener” jet fuel with fewer production-related environmental impacts than other biofuels, a new study indicates. Growing the weed, pennycress – often called stinkweed – as a crop requires less fertilizer and

August 4, 2021 Read Full Article

Marine AlGae Industrialization Consortium: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to MAGIC

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Algae biofuel AND high value co-products from residuals across algae strains? Are there co‐products that lead to increased LEA value, while maintaining biofuel production, to drive down the overall cost of biofuel? That is what the Consortium is tackling via marine algae strain selection, production

August 4, 2021 Read Full Article

Having a Field Day Talking about Hemp for Biofuel in Maryland

by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) For the US agricultural community, having a field day gives farmers and others in the agricultural products value chain the opportunity not only for hands-on learning about new crops and new technologies or about old problems and improving solutions, but also for networking and

August 4, 2021 Read Full Article

President Biden’s Climate Plan and iIts Role in Agriculture & Renewable Biofuels

by Oliver Peoples (Yield10 Bioscience/Biofuels Digest) During President Biden’s April 22nd climate plan speech at the Virtual Leaders’ Summit on Climate, he announced his goal of cutting 50 percent of U.S. carbon-emissions levels by 2030. This is no simple task, and consumers, investors and businesses alike are aware of the difficult but

August 3, 2021 Read Full Article

A ‘Sea Tractor’ Harvests and Replants Carbon-Capturing Seaweed at This Floating Farm Seaweed Farming Could Be a Potent Weapon in the Fight against Climate Change. But Can It scale?

by Adele Peters (Fast Company) 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 on board automatically harvests and replants the seaweed, which quickly grows several feet long. The system is designed

August 2, 2021 Read Full Article

Biomass Availability with Matthew Langholtz

(Climate Now/Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Bioenergy is a renewable energy for its carbon neutrality – plants absorb CO2 during photosynthesis and emit the same amount when combusted for energy. But to significantly reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, substantial amounts of biomass, or organic matter, are required. What types of

August 2, 2021 Read Full Article

Converting Renewable Electricity into Stable Molecules Could Provide Long-Term Energy Storage

by Beth Mundy (Tech Xplore/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) For renewable energy and energy storage technologies, variation is the name of the game. The intensity of the natural resources that provide renewable energy varies from day to day, as well as season to season. Spring brings high winds to scour the deserts and

July 29, 2021 Read Full Article

Switchgrass and Miscanthus on Mined Lands for Biofuel and Biomass Production

(Association of Warm Season Grass Producers) I grow switchgrass and miscanthus on mined lands for biofuel and biomass production. The idea of using marginal lands for these crops has been around for a while and I started doing it about 20 years ago. I will give a summary of the

July 27, 2021 Read Full Article

Lawsuits Target Exxon’s Social Media ‘Green Washing’

by Maxine Joselow (E&E News Climatewire) Two years ago, Exxon Mobil Corp. took to Twitter to promote its research into algae biofuel. The oil giant tweeted a photo of swirling beakers of bright green liquid to its hundreds of thousands of followers. “We’re researching algae biofuel with about 40% of its mass as fat,

July 22, 2021 Read Full Article

$1.5M DOE Grant Targets Engineering of Cyanobacteria as Biofuel Production Platform

(Vanderbilt University School of Engineering) A new, $1.5 million Department of Energy grant brings together experts from three institutions to parse the metabolism of a blue-green algae that holds great promise for biofuel production. The team, led by Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Jamey Young, will take a systems biology

July 22, 2021 Read Full Article

Green Fuels Research Wins Innovate UK Funding for PoWGEN Aquaculture Waste-to-Power Generation Project in Vietnam

(Green Fuels Research) Green Fuels Research, in partnership with the School of Chemical Engineering, Hà Nội University of Science and Technology (HUST) has been awarded grant funding by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, under Energy Catalyst 8 to conduct a feasibility study into the conversion of pangasius (catfish) mortalities and

July 20, 2021 Read Full Article

Central Tuber Crop Research Institute Bets on Cassava as Feedstock for Bioethanol Production

by V Sajeev Kumar (The Hindu Business Line) As a biofuel crop, cassava has comparative advantages vis-a-vis sugarcane — As the search for alternate feedstock sources for ethanol production gathers pace, ICAR-Central Tuber Crops Research Institute (CTCRI) finds cassava (tapioca) as a promising raw material for bioethanol production to meet

July 16, 2021 Read Full Article

Carnegie And Stanford Plant Scientists Awarded $900K For Biofuel Research

(Carnegie Science) Carnegie’s Arthur Grossman and Stanford University’s Ellen Yeh were awarded a $900, 000 grant this spring from the university’s public-private partnership Strategic Energy Alliance to research the synthesis of biofuels from a species of green microalgae called Botryococcus braunii. Scientists from a diversity of research areas, including plant and algal

July 15, 2021 Read Full Article

A ‘Sea Tractor’ Harvests and Replants Carbon-Capturing Seaweed at This Floating Farm

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 Read Full Article

Life Cycle Analysis: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Advanced Algal Systems

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 Read Full Article

Energycane Produces More Biodiesel than Soybean at a Lower Cost

(University of Illinois/EurekAlert!) Bioenergy from crops is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels. New crops such as energycane can produce several times more fuel per acre than soybeans. Yet, challenges remain in processing the crops to extract fuel efficiently. Four new studies from the University of Illinois explore chemical-free pretreatment methods,

July 8, 2021 Read Full Article

S. Korean Defense Agency Develops Palm Oil-based Bio Jet Fuel Production Technique

by Park Sae-jin (AJU Business Daily) South Korea’s state defense research agency has acquired core technologies for the production of palm oil-based bio jet fuel. Through a series of tests, the agency found that the low-carbon renewable fuel could be an alternate fuel source for military and civil jet turbine

July 8, 2021 Read Full Article

Playing the Long Game: ExxonMobil Gambles on Algae Biofuel

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