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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
Feedstock
March 3, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Aemetis just unveiled a five-year plan targeting $1 billion of revenue by 2025 and we’ve got the presentation with the details. Eric McAfee, Aemetis Chairman/CEO shares how they are replacing high carbon intensity petroleum products with “Below Zero” renewable fuels and byproducts, the latest RNG,
March 3, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Infinium Electrofuels process converts renewable power into green hydrogen, then uses this green hydrogen and waste carbon dioxide to produce net-zero carbon fuels. These fuels may be used in today’s plane, ship and truck fleets without changes in infrastructure. Nearly a quarter of global carbon
March 2, 2021
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(GreenAir Online) Eight European transport ministers have called for a harmonised, long-term strategy to decarbonising the air transport sector to include ramping up the production and supply of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) through an EU-wide blending mandate. Hosting a high-level virtual conference, the Dutch Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Cora
February 26, 2021
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(GreenAir Online) A recent high-level conference hosted by the Dutch government focused on the potential of synthetic aviation fuels, also called power-to-liquid (PtL) or e-fuels, to significantly lower the aviation sector’s carbon footprint (see article). The Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, announced KLM had undertaken the
February 26, 2021
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by Steven Ashby (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory/Phys.Org) When we eat, our bodies convert food into energy that fuels our lives. But what happens to the energy stored in the 80 billion pounds of food thrown away annually in America? As part of advancing sustainable energy solutions, scientists at the Department of
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 Gary C. Young (Bio-Thermal-Energy Inc./Ethanol Producer Magazine) Mixed with steam, run through a reformer and fermented, landfill gas proves an economic and environmentally beneficial feedstock for ethanol production. And each LFG project is a source of green energy that can last for more than two decades. A patented technology
February 19, 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 Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Finland, a partnership led by VTT and Neste aimed at using sustainable electricity and sequestered carbon dioxide to make fuels received €3.3M (about $4 million USD) in funding from Business Finland. Altogether, EUR 6 million (about $7.2 million USD) is invested in the development
February 16, 2021
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(U.S. Deprtment of Energy) The Advancing the Bioeconomy: From Waste to Conversion-Ready Feedstocks Workshop, coordinated by the Bioenergy Technologies Office, gathered experts in the fields of waste management, solid materials handling, and biofuel and bioproduct development and production to give presentations. The workshop explored the potential of using the various
February 16, 2021
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(Brookhaven National Laboratory/EurekAlert!) Research solves longstanding problem and opens path for growing crops to produce industrially important high-value fatty acids — Hundreds of naturally occurring specialty fatty acids (building blocks of oils) have potential for use as raw materials for making lubricants, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and more–if they could be produced at
February 12, 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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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Green Plains recently acquired Fluid Quip Technologies with ag tech the cornerstone of their transformation strategy and a focus on meeting the growing global demand for protein, corn oil and high-purity alcohol. Check out their latest slide guide to get more details on their Fluid
February 8, 2021
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … One metric ton of hemp sequesters 1.5 metric tons of carbon dioxide, it matures in as little as 100 days, requires less water and pesticides than many other crops, 1 acre of industrialized hemp produces the same amount of oxygen as 5 acres
February 8, 2021
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What does an ideal biomass deconstruction process need? Find out in this illuminating slide guide from Xiaowen Chen, Senior Chemical Engineer in the Catalytic Carbon Transformation and Scale-up Center at National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Also take a peek into NREL’s deacetylation and mechanical refining process, how it improves fermentation yields,
February 5, 2021
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by Chris Edwards (Engineering and Technology) Renewables may actually keep carbon fuels going for decades to come, but a new group of energy-rich countries will emerge. — … The question is what these new vehicles will use instead. For most European governments, the answer for most cars and light
February 4, 2021
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(Maryland Energy Innovation Accelerator) Austin Bachmann is an Energy Executive in Residence (EEIR) for Manta Biofuel, an MEIA Startup that has developed an innovative technology and process for producing algae-based biofuels. Austin is also the Executive Director of Sales, Marketing and Business Development for Babington Technology, a leader in clean and efficient combustion
February 3, 2021
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(University of Gävle/Phys.Org) New research from University of Gävle shows that forest residues can generate large amounts of biofuel, and, in the long run, reduce greenhouse gas emission by 88-94% from heavy transport on Swedish roads. “Here is a large and untapped potential,” says Shveta Soam, researcher in environmental engineering at
February 3, 2021
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The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is hosting the 2021 Project Peer Review on March 8-16, 2021 and March 22-26, 2021 that will be held virtually on Zoom. Approximately 300 projects in BETO’s research, development, and demonstration portfolio will be presented to the public and systematically reviewed by
February 3, 2021
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Join the Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) for an informational webinar highlighting the computational modeling work occurring within the consortium. Two FCIC researchers will discuss computational modeling approaches to predict the behavior of biomass feedstocks. Dr. Yidong Xia from Idaho National Laboratory will provide an overview of the work within the
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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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Starting with wood waste or low-grade logs, Futurity uses pretreatment, Sweetwater Energy tech, MetGen’s tech and converts waste wood to worthwhile wonders like paints, packaging, coatings, and thermal energy. If you missed DigestConnect last week, check out this slide guide that covers how they are
January 29, 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 Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Carbontech—technologies that capture and convert CO2 into valuable end products or services is hot right now in attempts to make the planet not so hot with climate change. If you missed last week’s DigestConnect, check out this slide guide from the Carbon to Value Initiative,
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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(U.S. Department of Energy) In January, 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the Plastics Innovation Challenge Draft Roadmap and a Request for Information (RFI) seeking stakeholder input on the Draft Roadmap. Announced in November 2019, the Plastics Innovation Challenge is a comprehensive program to accelerate innovations in energy-efficient
January 20, 2021
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) In Missouri, CoverCress Inc. and its university partners Illinois State University and the University of Minnesota were selected as the Start-up Inventor of the Year by the Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Section of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis (BAMSL). This award reflects the use
January 19, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s A.J. Simon shared this illuminating slide guide at ABLC 2020 to look at the role that bioeconomy pathways play in drawing down CO2 from the atmosphere. From pathway selection, corn starch, switchgrass, forest residue, and a comparison of their net emissions
January 19, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The agriculture and waste revolution continues — these are not your Dad’s inputs, or Dad’s outputs either. If you missed last week’s DigestConnect, check out this slide guide from Vanguard Renewables CEO John Hanselman that takes a look at their newest biogas and renewable natural
January 12, 2021
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) It was styled as a biofuels and biochemical producer, founded back in the heady days of the Recovery Act in February 2009, focused on developing high value oils and animal feeds by fermentation of low cost substrates. The business, as former CEO Colin South once described
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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(Brookhaven National Laboratory/Phys.Org) Hundreds of naturally occurring specialty fatty acids (building blocks of oils) have potential for use as raw materials for making lubricants, plastics, pharmaceuticals, and more—if they could be produced at large scale by crop plants. But attempts to put genes for making these specialty building blocks into crops
January 5, 2021
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(Algae Biomass Organization) … Our collective effort has resulted in record-breaking policy support, including: $70 million for algae industry research, development, and demonstration in 2020 Congressional appropriations for DOE’s Bioenergy Technology Office, Office of Fossil Energy, and Office of Science. $110 million has been proposed in the US House of Representatives for
January 4, 2021
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … In today’s Digest, we look at the HOTTEST Digest Slide Guides like Corbion’s biobased Poly Lactic Acid (PLA), Gevo’s low carbon drop-in transportation fuels, Neste, an exclusive Digest Q&A with Clariant, and even some hydrogen. Check out what YOU, the readers, found the most
December 29, 2020
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by David Bradley (Inderscience/Tech Xplore) The neem tree, Azadirachta indica, also known as the Indian Lilac, is well known for its oil extracted from its seed and fruit. It has been used in traditional medicine but has also been investigated for the pest control potential of natural products. Work published
December 28, 2020
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(The National News) About one million tonnes of date seeds are produced from 40 million palm trees in the Emirates — A research team in the UAE have extracted a large quantity of biofuel from date seeds, signalling a huge potential boost for the country’s biofuel industry. About one million
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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(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 Kristin Toussaint (Fast Company) Instead of having more carbon go into the atmosphere, making our planet warmer and speeding up the effects of climate change, you might soon be able to eat those emissions. Biotech company LanzaTech has successfully turned CO2 emissions into lipids and omega-3 fatty acids as
December 22, 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 Tom Luljak (WUWM) Giant kelp is usually found thousands of miles from Milwaukee. It’s known for being an incredibly fast-growing seaweed in the Pacific Ocean. But recently, scientists have learned that the kelp could be a huge source for biofuel. That’s where a UWM scientist, Felipe Alberto, comes into
December 18, 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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(Bioenergy Insight) In 2019, 96,000 hectares (ha) of agricultural land in the UK were used to grow crops for bioenergy. Government statistics released on 10 December show the area of non-food crops grown in the UK and their usage in bioenergy applications. The figures show 20% of land used for
December 15, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What is the World Economic Forum doing to help aviation meet net zero goals? First, they recognize that the most immediate action to achieve carbon-neutral flying is the investment in, and rapid scale-up, of sustainable aviation fuel production and use. Their latest report demonstrates the
December 14, 2020
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(U.S. Department of Energy) Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $35 million in funding for bioenergy feedstock technologies and algae research and development. This funding opportunity announcement (FOA) supports the White House priority for advancing the domestic bioeconomy, as well as the Bioenergy Technologies Office’s goals of
December 11, 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 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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(American Institute of Physics/EurekAlert!) An investigation of nine types of microalgae for use as an energy source in commercial biodiesel production based on laboratory-scale data — Microalgae are a promising source of energy to replace fossil fuels, as they have several advantages over conventional crops used for commercial biodiesel. Microalgae have
December 2, 2020
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(Neste) An investment of CAD 5.9 million as part of Transition Énergétique Québec — The Quebec Government has today announced it awards funding totaling CAD 5.943 million (approx. EUR 3.85 million, USD 4.55 million) to a non-profit organization Bioénergie La Tuque (BELT) under a program called Technoclimat from Transition Énergétique Québec
December 2, 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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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We all know variability is inherent to biomass, but what can you do about it? Lots! This ABLC2020 slide guide dives into feedstock variability and the work FCIC is coordinating across an impressive 6 national labs to help address this major operational challenge for anyone
November 27, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Yield10 Biosciences just completed harvesting for their 2020 field test program to evaluate novel yield and compositional traits in Camelina and canola conducted in the United States and Canada, and plan on reporting data in Q4 2020 through early 2021. They also recently collaborated with
November 27, 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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(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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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Carbios will knock your socks off with their enzyme tech that is now converting textile waste and your old polyester socks and sweaters into clear plastic bottles. We’ve heard of clothing made from plastic bottles like Patagonia’s fleece vests, but now Carbios is making it
November 23, 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 Jamie Oberdick (Pennsylvania State University/Phys.Org) A multi-institutional research group led by two Penn State faculty members has identified, for the first time, how cellulose crystals orient themselves relative to the cell wall in plants, with potential implications for chemical and energy development. “A more detailed understanding of the structure of
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 Luke Upton (BioMarket Insights) Bold news this week from Sekab, the Swedish chemical and cleantech company, who are responding to increasing demand for green chemicals and a growing focus on the impact on climate change by a major green tech investment by building a plant to produce them from residual
November 12, 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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(Times of India) A nano grain-based ethanol unit, installed at the National Sugar Institute-Kanpur, was inaugurated by the vice-chancellor of the Harcourt Butler Technological University Kampur, on Thursday This unit is integrated with existing molasses-based ethanol unit and thus now the system would be ‘Multi Feed Stock Based Ethanol Unit’
November 10, 2020
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(Embrapa) Embrapa Agroenergia, in partnership with the company Haka Bioprocessos, headquartered in Catanduva (SP), starts this October research that may result in a green diesel obtained from the hydrogenation of bio-oil from bone waste from birds. The Unit will characterize the chemical components of the raw material (bio-oil), pre-treatment, hydrogenation and
November 6, 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 Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) This week, Manta Biofuels has launched a crowd investment campaign on Republic and began reaching out to colleagues, business associates, mentors and friends, offering them a chance to invest in this growing business. Dedicated to doing their part to fight climate change, Manta Biofuels
November 5, 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 Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) If you missed DigestConnect last week, take a look at this illuminating slide guide from Aemetis CEO Eric McAfee on their newest biogas venture, making renewable natural gas from dairy waste, the switch to making hand sanitizer as they adapted to COVID-19, and future plans
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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(Yield10 Bioscience) Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq:YTEN), an agricultural bioscience company, today announced that it has begun field testing to evaluate the emergence and agronomics of winter Camelina sativa varieties. The testing of these winter varieties in the 2020/2021 winter season is part of Yield10’s continued development of Camelina sativa in the medium term for use at
November 2, 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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(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/Phys.Org) An international research team has sequenced the full genome of an ornamental variety of miscanthus, a wild perennial grass emerging as a prime candidate for sustainable bioenergy crops. The genome project—led by scientists at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), a Department of Energy
October 30, 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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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Partnership Watch: Lummus Technology, New Hope Technologies In Texas, Lummus Technology and New Hope Technologies today announced that the companies have entered into a cooperation agreement for the marketing and further development of a leading plastic waste conversion technology based on thermal pyrolysis. The
October 27, 2020
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(Bioenergy Insight) A report by Aarhus University for the Danish Energy Agency has concluded that the climate effect of biogas in the agricultural sector is greater than previously assumed. Previous analyses have shown that the production of biogas can provide several benefits to the environment and for the climate. The Aarhus
October 27, 2020
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(Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research/Phys.Org) In the future, the world may increasingly rely on renewable biomass resources for the provision of food, fodder, fiber and fuel. How this transition to a bioeconomy will affect Nordic water resources, is something BIOWATER, a Nordic Centre of Excellence, is currently looking into. In a
October 23, 2020
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(Mid-Atlantic Renewable Energy Association) … Among the Carbon-negative (and climate positive) solutions, those based on photosynthesis are by far the cheapest and most scalable options now, and likely for many decades to come. Properly implemented, these solutions can also provide many other benefits, including clean water, bio-diverse landscapes, healthy soil
October 23, 2020
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by Ad Crable (Bay Journal) Will switchgrass, a tall, resilient and fast-growing native plant once familiar to pioneers, become the next cash crop for farmers in states in the Chesapeake Bay drainage? In a convergence of promising developments, a new study gives switchgrass lofty environmental grades and assures skeptics that it would
October 23, 2020
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(Teagasc) What is the bioeconomy? Is it relevant to me, my sector, my business, the place where I live or my farm? What is unique about it? How does Ireland compare relative to other European countries? And how can I get involved? These are questions that a series of maps, released
October 20, 2020
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by J. Richard Hess (Idaho National Laboratory) …Even though MSW (municipal solid waste) has great potential, not much was known about the cost and quality of feedstocks that could be derived from MSW or MSW blends for fuel production. In a recent study, INL principal investigator Vicki Thompson and her
October 19, 2020
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(National Renewable Energy Laboratory) NREL, Oak Ridge Scientists Reveal Economics Must Include More Than Size of Poplar Trees — Popular wisdom holds that tall, fast-growing trees are best for biomass, but new research by two U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories reveals the size of trees is only part of the
October 19, 2020
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(Cielo/The Newswire) Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. (“Cielo” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide an update on its production levels at its facility in Aldersyde, Alberta (“Facility”). While Cielo’s initial goal was to start the Facility slowly after the latest improvements, with expectations between 200 to 500 liters per hour, the
October 16, 2020
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(AgWeb) The stakes are high, business is tricky, but hemp still has a positive outlook for farmers interested in growing. The hemp industry is planting big roots in the world of row crop farmers. The stakes are high and the rewards can be high too, if you know how to
October 15, 2020
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by Brian Wang (Next Big Future) Algae could be used for fuel production on Mars and it would also produce oxygen on Mars. It would also produce fertilizer for growing crops on Mars. Georgia Tech aims to reduce the Entry Descent Landing (EDL) mass of a crewed mission to Mars by
October 8, 2020
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(Genetic Literacy Project/ISAAA) Hiroshima University researchers developed a highly efficient genome editing system for microalga Nannochloropsis oceanica, which is a potential source of biodiesel. Algae gather high concentrations of lipids through photosynthesis and these lipids can be used as feedstocks for sustainable new energies called biodiesels. Nannochloropsis species are microalgae that produce high amounts of lipids. However, production
October 8, 2020
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by Nora Goldstein (BioCycle Magazine) Totally enclosed operation is designed to preprocess 250 tons/day of food waste, much of it in packaging. Slurried feedstocks are hauled to dairy farms equipped with AD systems. — In 2015, one of the tours during BioCycle’s 15th Annual Conference on Renewable Energy From Organics Recycling in
October 7, 2020
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(University of Leeds) Tapping into the myriad uses of plants and fungi could save people and the planet, says new report — University of Leeds researchers have joined forces with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to conduct research into the plants and fungi that could be used as a source of
October 7, 2020
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(Cargill/Farm Progress) Goal is to open new markets for corn and expand opportunities for renewable fuels and chemicals. — Cargill and Virent, Inc. are working together to evaluate the use of Cargill’s corn dextrose as a feedstock to Virent’s BioForming technology for the production of “drop-in” low-carbon biofuels and biochemicals. Virent’s
October 7, 2020
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(EIA Bioenergy) Articles and statements in the media have raised concerns over the climate effects of bioenergy from managed forests1. As some of these statements seem to reflect misconceptions about forest bioenergy, IEA Bioenergy has prepared a brief document presenting key facts about the use of forest biomass for climate change
October 5, 2020
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(Yield10 Bioscience) Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq:YTEN), an agricultural bioscience company, today announced it has completed the harvest for its 2020 Field Test Program for Camelina and canola trials conducted in the United States and Canada. Yield10’s 2020 Field Test Program is designed to evaluate several novel traits in Camelina and canola, and the Company expects to begin
October 5, 2020
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by Reagan Colyer (Montana State University News Service) A research team led by faculty in Montana State University’s College of Agriculture received $5.1 million from the U.S. Department of Energy designed to explore camelina, an oilseed with the potential to be an alternative biofuel and multi-use crop. The MSU team, led by Chaofu
October 1, 2020
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(Illinois State University) Though farmers consider pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) nothing more than a weed, Illinois State Professor of Genetics Dr. John Sedbrook is working to change their perspective—and the plant itself. Sedbrook and his student researchers in the School of Biological Sciences are genetically modifying pennycress as part of a
September 29, 2020
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … So as we look for better biofuel feedstocks, we look at switchgrass because of new U.S. Department of Energy AND U.S. Department of Agriculture funding to study it for biofuels. Could it be the next biofuel feedstock Rockstar? Or will it be a
September 28, 2020
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(Total) Within the framework of its net zero strategy, Total will convert its Grandpuits refinery (Seine-et-Marne) into a zero-crude platform. By 2024, following an investment totaling more than €500 million, the platform will focus on four new industrial activities: Production of renewable diesel primarily intended for the aviation industry. Production of
September 25, 2020
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(University of Birmingham) The global spread of vast forest plantations and agricultural monocultures are turning once diverse landscapes into areas of land supporting single plant species, with profound implications for our terrestrial water cycle, according to new research. A new paper published in Nature Geoscience, and written by a global collaboration of
September 24, 2020
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by Jeff Kart (Forbes) …The researchers working on this are from University of California, Riverside (UCR) and it’s part of a two-year project. Those involved are being tight-lipped about the methods they’ll be using (pending the upcoming publication of research on a closely related project). What’s been announced so far: The work
September 23, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The U.S. Department of Energy leads the Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium, which is a collaborative effort among 9 labs to develop first-principles based knowledge and tools to understand and mitigate the effects of biomass feedstock and process variability on biorefineries. From understanding and predicting microbial performance to
September 22, 2020
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by Luke Upton (BioMarket Insights) BASF has signed an uptake supply agreement with the Hungary based New Energy, a technology company specialized in the pyrolysis of waste tires. According to the agreement, New Energy will supply BASF with up to 4,000 metric tons of pyrolysis oil per year derived from waste
September 17, 2020
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(U.S. Department of Energy)The Integrated Strategies to Enable Lower-Cost Biofuels report summarizes the findings of a qualitative analysis to identify integrated strategies needed for more affordable biofuels. It outlines five key strategies needed to achieve lower fuel production costs in an integrated biorefinery and provides high-level research needs across the
September 12, 2020
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(U.S. Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) hosted the 2019 Project Peer Review on March 4–7, 2019, in Denver, Colorado. During the event, 447 projects in BETO’s research portfolio were presented in 14 simultaneous review sessions and two poster sessions. Projects were systematically reviewed by
September 12, 2020
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by Victoria Sinla (Nature World News) It has been found that the production of biodiesel and bioethanol from coconut waste is possible with specific chemical processes. As an environmentally attractive alternative to diesel fuel, biodiesel can be produced using the method of transesterification, with the use of alcohol to react with edible
September 11, 2020
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by Victoria Sinla (Nature World News) A recent study shows that coconut oil could be used as biodiesel: renewable and alternative energy for diesel engines. The study findings suggest that coconut oil biodiesel is capable of running an engine and other properties showed promising results. Production of biodiesel from coconut oil is
September 10, 2020
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by Bob Yirka (Phys.Org) A team of researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found a way to speed up photosynthesis in algae by applying a conjugated polymer. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes experiments with applying polymers to algae and what they learned from
September 8, 2020
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(Alliance BioEnergy Plus Inc.) Alliance BioEnergy Plus Inc., (“Alliance”) announces it has leased 18 acres of land in Southwest Florida to establish a test plot to optimize the production of Giant King Grass as a renewable cellulosic feedstock. Giant King Grass grows year-round, up to 20 feet in height, and
September 8, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Using science to deliver disruptive plant-based innovations, Calyxt launched their soybean go-to-market strategy this year and have plans for selling seed to processors who contract with growers and partnering with processors on future product launches and enhancements. Their gene-editing process for plants is just the beginning.
September 7, 2020
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by Ankita Singh (The Logical Indian) The ministry said in that the use of microalgae has been strongly considered for the production of biofuels. — Indian scientists have developed low-cost biodiesel from microalgae under the INSPIRE programme of ministry of science and technology. The Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (Inspire) is
September 7, 2020
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(California Environmental Protection Agency) Upgraded plants could generate $255 million each year — A new report issued today by the California Environmental Protection Agency shows that at least half of California’s landfill-bound food waste could be processed at the state’s wastewater treatment plants and serve as an innovative power source. Waste can be “co-digested” at
September 6, 2020
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(AZO Cleantech) For years, researchers have been trying to harness the crop-growing benefits of the symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), for example, can deliver water and nutrients to the roots of plants like sorghum, a grain used to produce biofuels. The US Department of Energy (DOE)
September 4, 2020
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(SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry) SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), as a member of a mid-Atlantic consortium, has received $630,000 over five years from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop biomass systems and products with the potential to put abandoned lands and people
September 4, 2020
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(U.S. Department of Energy/ARPA-E) Today, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy announced $16.5 million in funding for six projects as part of the Systems for Monitoring and Analytics for Renewable Transportation Fuels from Agricultural Resources and Management (SMARTFARM) program. These projects will develop technologies that bridge the data gap in the biofuel
September 4, 2020
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(IEA Bioenergy) Articles and statements in the media have raised concerns over the climate effects of bioenergy from managed forests2. As some of these statements seem to reflect misconceptions about forest bioenergy, IEA Bioenergy has prepared a brief document presenting key facts about the use of forest biomass for climate
September 1, 2020
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(Western Illinois University) Just 12 months after Western Illinois University Agriculture Professor Win Phippen announced the award of a $10 million federal grant to investigate the use of Pennycress as a commercial cash crop, a second grant has been awarded that dovetails into the initial grant and helps ensure a
September 1, 2020
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by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) “They seem to be serious,” said Atlantic Biomass’ Bob Kozak reflecting on a tour of a hemp farm in central Ohio. He noted, “They are going all-in, putting their own money into this—no grants and planting 26 acres the first year.” Kozak was there
September 1, 2020
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(AZO CleanTech/Colorado State University) Biofuel and bioenergy systems are integral to scenarios for displacing fossil fuel use and producing negative emissions through carbon capture and storage. But the net greenhouse gas mitigation benefit of these systems has been controversial, due to concerns around carbon losses from changes in land use and
August 31, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Take genotype + environment + management practices and you’ve got phenotyping, a measurable characteristic or trait of a plant. In this case, we look at sorghum from Purdue University’s Dr. Melba Crawford and how they are using multi-modality sensing and modeling for high throughput phenotyping of
August 31, 2020
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(Biofuels Digest) Recorded presentations for your on-demand review and enjoyment. Just Pick and Click! On BioChannelTV RENEWABLE DIESEL & DME Saola Energy – Adam Belyamani Axens- David Schwalje Oberon – Rebecca Boudreaux Honeywell UOP-Dan Szeezil NextChem-Valerio Coppini Velocys – Jeff McDaniel ENGINE TECH What if everything with a diesel
August 28, 2020
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by Peter Murphy (University at Buffalo) UB engineering professor Ian Bradley and his research group are collaborators on a $2 million project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy that will study the use of algae to purify wastewater while simultaneously producing biomass for fuel production. The project is led by
August 28, 2020
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(Auto123.com/Daimler) The seedlings for the first 100 hectares (250 acres) have been planted. Daimler AG has started a new project for the cultivation of the biodiesel raw material jatropha in the south of India. The company is supporting several village communities in the state of Tamil Nadu with funds and expertise from its already
August 28, 2020
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The Digest recently reported on CoverCress and why the U.S. Department of Energy’s $13 million grant for new high-value feedstock, pennycress, is so key. For an in-depth visual guide on how CoverCress is delivering new farm income and low carbon intensity feedstocks while producing cover crop benefits, how it fits between
August 28, 2020
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(Biofuels Digest) Scipio Biofuels was founded to use the company’s innovative algaculture technology to do its part to alleviate the effects of Carbon Dioxide emissions upon the environment by consuming and converting those emissions in large quantities into biofuels, bulk algae, algae products and co-products. The problems our technology addresses are
August 28, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We reported breaking news from Yield10 Bioscience’s latest development with their genome-edited canola plant lines here and today we have their latest investor presentation highlighting how this agricultural bioscience company is developing innovations to improve crop yields for a variety of feedstocks. From this year’s accomplishments
August 26, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a five-year, $13 million grant to a nationwide research project to genetically strengthen Thlaspi arvense, commonly known as pennycress, for use in sustainable energy efforts. CoverCress is an unfunded co-participant in this work, and you can see CoverCress
August 25, 2020
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) News just in from Yield10 Bioscience, Inc., a Massachusetts-based agricultural bioscience company, that they have obtained a positive response from USDA-APHIS’s Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) for its CRISPR genome-edited trait C3007 in canola plant lines developed for increased oil content and now have plans for
August 24, 2020
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(University of Hohenheim) In Sumatra, smallholders in particular have a key function, according to a study on the conversion of rainforests into monocultures and their effects — Oil palm plantations as far as the eye can see. In addition to a dramatic decline in many animal and plant species, such plantations often lead
August 17, 2020
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) In the United Kingdom, Terravesta launched a new animation video to spread the word about building a bio-based future with Terravesta Performance Hybrids, and miscanthus grown from seed rather than the usual rhizomes, allowing it to be upscaled 200 times faster. Terravesta is reducing the world’s
August 17, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The $850 million California Ethanol + Power project has been years in the making – no wonder, there’s ultra low-carbon fuels, sugarcane and biomass-to-power in the complex value mix. Now, the California Green Rush is on, and the project’s developers believe that 2020 is the
August 17, 2020
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(Canton Daily Ledger/US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service) Lesquerella (a.k.a. Fendler’s bladderpod and Yellow Top) is a member of the mustard family that’s native to the U.S. Southwest. But Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are now eyeing it as a home-grown source of butanol. Butanol is a cleaner-burning alternative to
August 14, 2020
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by Katie Pratt (University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment) Dual-purpose industrial hemp cultivars show the best potential for coproduction of biofuel and bioproducts, according to University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment study. In the study led by Jian Shi, UK assistant professor in the Department
August 14, 2020
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by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Brazil, Green Fuels and INOCAS announced an agreement to engage in the development of a sustainable fuels value chain in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Using macaúba in novel intercropping and agrosilvopastoral techniques, the partners intend to ensure future sustainable fuel production for distributed energy and land, marine and air transport sectors, as signatories of the Zona da Mata Biokerosene and Renewables Platform (an integrated
August 12, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) At ABLC Digital in July, Pramod Kumbhar, President and CTO at Praj Matrix’s R&D Center shared this illuminating slide guide on their Bio-Mobility platform, enfinity – Praj’s 2G ethanol technology, their latest work in marine biofuels, sustainable aviation fuel, renewable natural gas, and biodiesel, demo
August 11, 2020
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(Japan Science and Technology Agency/Phys.Org) In JST Strategic Basic Research Programs, a group led by Zhongrui Duan (Researcher, Waseda University) and Motoki Tominaga (Associate professor, Waseda University) succeeded in promoting plant growth and increasing seed yield by heterologous expression of protein from Arabidopsis (artificially modified high-speed motor protein) in Camelina sativa,
August 11, 2020
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by Dave Thompson (Prarie Public/Bismark Tribune) Blue Flint Ethanol is considering wheat and corn leftovers as it continues efforts to find new fuel and power sources. The plant is co-located with Great River Energy’s Coal Creek Station coal-fired power plant, near Underwood in McLean County. Coal Creek is scheduled to close
August 11, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Bale analysis, probes, core samples – measuring and analysis of bioenergy feedstocks is key. In this illuminating slide guide from ABLC Digital, the Idaho National Laboratory, Antares Group, ASDI, and B Hames Consulting share how bale probes are a novel sensor for in-field, real-time analysis of
August 5, 2020
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by Rachel Hatch (News Illinois State University) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a $13 million grant to a nationwide project led by Illinois State University. Professor of Genetics John Sedbrook will head up the project aimed to genetically strengthen a plant for use in sustainable energy efforts. “We’re
August 4, 2020
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Carbon is the talk of the town, but what’s the difference between a low-carbon economy and a renewable “new” carbon economy? What’s the role of carbon management in the bioeconomy? What is carbon optimized bioconversion? David Babson, Program Director at the DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency
July 31, 2020
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Racheli Wacks (ZAVIT* Environment and Science News Agency/YNetNews) Malali watermelon is known for its large crunchy seeds, which make a popular snack in Israel, and while 97% of the fruit is discarded in the field, a new study shows that the discarded produce could be used to produce renewable energy —
July 30, 2020
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(Exelon) The year two application process is now open for startup projects addressing climate change in Atlantic City, NJ, Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Wilmington, DE — The Exelon Foundation and Exelon Corporation (Nasdaq: EXC), the nation’s largest generator of carbon-free energy and the largest energy service provider by customer
July 29, 2020
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by Zhichao Wang and Jim Ramm (EcoEngineers) Iowa’s fertile farmland could be a soil-based Fort Knox that — instead of gold — stores a wealth of carbon within its underground vaults. How farmers can tap into the potential riches of carbon capture and sequestration and how biofuels producers can benefit from forming
July 29, 2020
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(Department of Energy) Studies Will Focus on Improving Crop Productivity and Resiliencen — Today (July 28, 2020) the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $68 million in funding over five years for basic research aimed at making bioenergy feedstock crops more productive and resilient. “One key requirement for sustainable bioenergy
July 29, 2020
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by Sarah Spicer (Wichita Eagle) To preserve the environment, mitigate climate change and stabilize the U.S. food system, Midwest farmers should diversify their crops and move away from raising corn and soybeans, researchers say. The current crop system, which was founded after the 1930s Dust Bowl, is causing environmental and economic
July 29, 2020
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by Anna Marie Tomczyk (Argonne National Laboratory/Phys.Org) … The practices that grain farmers use to produce their crops—managing fertility, tillage practice and crop rotations—influence the overall carbon footprint of U.S. agriculture. By using sustainable practices, farmers could substantially reduce their carbon footprint and become a vital partner to the biofuel
July 24, 2020
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