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(Iowa State University) Iowa State University researchers weren’t looking for a slow-release fertilizer that could feed crops while protecting water quality, but they may have found one. Researchers looking to add value to biochar – a solid, porous co-product of heating corn stalks and other sources of biomass to produce liquid
Carbon Capture
June 21, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) MicroBio Engineering works on facility designs, algae equipment, R&D, engineering consulting, techno-economic analyses, LCAs and wastewater treatment. Their focus on algaculture, specifically microalgae cultivation, is what the focus of this presentation is on. John Benemann, CEO and Tryg Lundquist, CTO, both of MicroBio Engineering, gave this
June 18, 2019
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by Lee Beck (Global Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Institute) and William Brandon ( Industrial Ecosystem Partners) Here is a list of carbon capture projects now in operation in North America. Note that the last three are direct sequestration while the rest are enhanced oil recovery (EOR) uses. Boundary Channel. https://www.saskpower.com/Our-Power-Future/Infrastructure-Projects/Carbon-Capture-and-Storage/Boundary-Dam-Carbon-Capture-Project Canada
June 12, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, a new report concludes that emissions from petroleum-based gasoline “are one of the biggest health threats facing the American public”. The report links a wide range of respiratory and even neurological diseases to toxic carcinogenic compounds refiners used to increase octane in gasoline. A
June 12, 2019
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by Kyle Saukas (Leaders in Energy) … On May 29th, Leaders in Energy (LE) members met to discuss how to better utilize the abundant fossil fuel resources we already have in order to move towards a cleaner future at the Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Fossil Energy: Searching for the Next Better Event.
June 11, 2019
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(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe) The 2nd EU-India Conference on Advanced Biofuels was organised by the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India under the framework of the India-EU CECP. The conference aimed at facilitating contacts between industry and technology developers from both
June 3, 2019
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by RP Siegel (American Energy Society) … But when (Peter) Eisenberger talks about a sustainable economy, he’s talking about supplementing the work of trees by capturing the greenhouse gas from, say, the smokestack of a coal-fired power plant, or even directly from the air, and then burying it underground or using
June 3, 2019
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by Sebastien Malo (Reuters) Jennifer Holmgren, chief executive of carbon recycling firm LanzaTech, explained modestly how the Chicago-based startup had cut multi-million-dollar deals on four continents, including in China, aimed at helping curb climate change and air pollution. At the Jingtang Steel Mill in Heibei province, the company uses bacteria to convert
May 31, 2019
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by Jon Cartwright (Physics World) Between 2008 and 2012 expansion of cropland in the US released carbon each year equivalent to the running of 36 coal-fired power plants, according to scientists in the US. “Folks can easily see and understand how tropical deforestation removes carbon from the landscape and emits it to the
May 29, 2019
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(BASF) Successful team of experts applies for patent for complex process; With the help of BASF’s OASE® gas treatment technology, no carbon dioxide should be emitted during the entire production process The production processes of the most important basic chemicals are responsible for around 70 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the
May 28, 2019
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(Michigan State University) … Daniel Ducat, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, received $1,033,970 from NSF’s Division of Systems and Synthetic Biology to investigate the fundamental interactions that underpin resilient microbial partnerships and may be key to solving some of the earth’s biggest resource challenges. Ducat’s team will
May 28, 2019
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by Ula Chrobak (Popular Science) … In a surprising and counterintuitive proposal published Monday in the journal Nature Sustainability, Stanford University scientists argue that we can limit warming by chemically converting methane to carbon dioxide. “Our paper is a call to view methane removal as an opportunity,” says Rob Jackson, the study’s lead author.
May 24, 2019
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(Wabash Valley Resources) – The project is expected to be the largest carbon sequestration project in the United States to date, and will create the world’s first ammonia produced with near zero carbon footprint – The project will capture and sequester 1.5-1.75 million tons of CO2 annually from Wabash Valley Resources
May 24, 2019
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(Methanol Institute) Compared to conventional fuels, renewable methanol cuts carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95%, reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 80%, and completely eliminates sulfur oxide and particulate matter emissions. The report, prepared for MI by ATA Insights, features case studies on renewable methanol production by Carbon Recycling International
May 23, 2019
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by Krishna Ramanujan (Cornell Chronicle) One of the big issues with sustainable energy systems is how to store electricity that’s generated from wind, solar and waves. At present, no existing technology provides large-scale storage and energy retrieval for sustainable energy at a low financial and environmental cost. Engineered electroactive microbes could
May 23, 2019
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by Michael Le Page (New Scientist) … While in theory carbon dioxide captured from the air could replace fossil fuels as a feedstock for the global chemicals industry, in practice it would likely require vastly more clean electricity than we currently have. … They calculated that capturing carbon from the air to use as
May 16, 2019
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by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico’s Morning Energy) CAPTURING HEARTS AND MINDS: The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will dive into the Energy Department’s carbon capture, utilization and storage programs during a hearing this morning (May 16, 2019), where Assistant Energy Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg will testify. The panel
May 16, 2019
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by Paul Grad (Chemical Engineering) … (C)onverting CO2 into a solid offers an attractive alternative method for safely and permanently removing CO2 from the atmosphere. To date, CO2 has only been converted into a solid at extremely high temperatures, making it industrially unviable. The team created a liquid metal electrocatalyst that contains metallic elemental cerium nanoparticles, which facilitate
May 15, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) IndianOil has a 33,000-plus work-force, extensive refining, distribution & marketing infrastructure and advanced R&D facilities. In the country’s pursuit of alternative sources of energy, IndianOil is focusing on CNG (compressed natural gas), Autogas (LPG), ethanol blended petrol, bio-diesel, and Hydrogen energy. Dr SSV Ramakumar, Director (R&D),
May 15, 2019
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by Matt Thompson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Beyond Enerkem, a few companies around the world are looking to feedstocks outside of corn to produce cellulosic ethanol. — A few well-known ethanol producers are developing cellulosic pathways that use feedstocks other than elements of corn. … Waste Gas LanzaTech, a U.S.-based carbon capture and
May 14, 2019
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(Business Green) Oil giant ExxonMobil this week promised a fresh wave of up to $100m R&D cash to support the development of carbon reduction technologies. The company announced a 10-year agreement with the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory and National Energy Technology Laboratory to fund research into biofuels and carbon capture technologies,
May 12, 2019
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by Steffen Mueller and Sam Rushing (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The role of ethanol-based carbon dioxide is often underappreciated, both as an important source for the nation’s carbon dioxide market and for its carbon-reduction impact. Fermentation CO2 is captured, cleaned and condensed at 49 ethanol plants in the U.S., contributing between 30
May 10, 2019
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(Loughborough University) Loughborough University has been awarded £200,000 for two projects which aim to make the transport sector more environmentally friendly. Dr Jin Xuan, a Senior Lecturer in Low Carbon Processes, Dr Tanja Radu, a Lecturer in Water Engineering, and Dr Jonathan Wagner, a Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, successfully bid for the grant which
May 9, 2019
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by Emily Dreyfuss (Wired) … Plant biologist Joanne Chory thinks plants can do more. She has studied the genetics of plants at the Salk Institute in San Diego for more than 30 years, and she and the rest of the five-person Harnessing Plants Initiative team are convinced that photosynthesis itself can
May 4, 2019
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(U.S. Department of Energy) From March 4–8, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, hosted the 2019 Project Peer Review in Denver, Colorado. This was the largest Peer Review in BETO history—almost 600 people attended the event! Bioenergy researchers
May 3, 2019
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by Matt Simon (Wired) … But what if we could weaponize air conditioning units to help pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere instead? According to a new paper in Nature Communications, it’s feasible. Using technology currently in development, AC units in skyscrapers and even your home could get turned into machines
May 3, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the “new ideas” laboratory, was established in 1952 at the height of the Cold War to meet urgent national security needs by advancing nuclear weapons science and technology and they continue to aspire to intellectual leadership, originality, and audacity. A.J. Simon, Group
May 2, 2019
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(European Commission) An ‘artificial leaf’ being developed by EU-funded researchers to produce fuel from sunlight, carbon dioxide and water, could tackle soaring global energy demands, the growing impact of climate change, and dwindling supplies of fossil fuels. — Developing new sources of clean, renewable energy that can compete against fossil fuels is
April 30, 2019
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(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/Phys.Org) Surplus industrial carbon dioxide creates an opportunity to convert waste into a valuable commodity. Excess CO2 can be a feedstock for chemicals typically derived from fossil fuels, but the process is energy-intensive and expensive. University of Illinois chemical engineers have assessed the technical and economic feasibility
April 26, 2019
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by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) No matter what you think of engineers, they have an important role to play in achieving goals of the Green New Deal and climate change mitigation. It was a great way to spending Earth Day — at University of Maryland College Park as a
April 25, 2019
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … What was a nationwide celebration and peaceful demonstrations for environmental reform in the U.S. by some estimated 20 million Americans, Earth Day events have now expanded to over 193 countries and more than a billion people every year. … The top 5 CO2 producing countries in the
April 23, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Opus 12 has developed a device that recycles CO₂ into cost-competitive chemicals and fuels. Their technology bolts onto any source of CO₂ emissions, and with only water and electricity as inputs, transforms that CO₂ into some of the world’s most critical chemical products. Opus 12 was
April 19, 2019
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by Amy Dalrymple (Bismarck Tribune/Grand Forks Herald) A project to capture carbon dioxide from a western North Dakota ethanol plant continues to advance as researchers work to better understand the geology below the facility. Red Trail Energy in Richardton proposes to capture carbon dioxide rather than emit it into the
April 17, 2019
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by Miranda Green (The Hill) A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill Thursday to increase federal funding toward developing carbon capture technology while also committing to fossil fuel use. Introduced by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), the bill is being hailed as an important step to addressing
April 12, 2019
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … ABLC 2019 kicked off on Wednesday with about 540 delegates in Washington, D.C. at the U.S. Department of Agriculture building complete with secret service protection and escorts for some big-name super star speakers, with a pretty exciting vibe in the room. In ABLC terms,
April 8, 2019
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(CO2CRC) CO2CRC has been awarded funding to conduct important research into reducing greenhouse gas emissions in steel production. The year-long study has been made possible by a grant from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (Coal Innovation NSW Fund). The project will explore pathways for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
March 28, 2019
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(Algae Industry Magazine/Chinese Academy of Sciences) … However, the high concentration of carbon dioxide in flue gases generally inhibits the growth of industrial microalgae. Therefore, reducing the so-called “CO2 poisoning effect,” i.e., improving tolerance to high levels of CO2, has become a priority in the development of super microalgae for carbon fixation.
March 27, 2019
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by Rebecca White (iWi (Qualitas Health, Inc.)/Biofuels Digest) This Wednesday marks a major milestone in the history of the American algae industry: the first meeting in which the Biomass R&D Board Technical Advisory Committee officials will discuss algae as an agricultural crop. Up until now, the vast majority of governmental funding and support
March 27, 2019
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by Lauren Manning (AgFunder News) … the issue of livestock farming’s impact on the environment is not as clear cut as many of these businesses would have you believe. In fact, many of the data dairy and meat alternative businesses are using to market their animal-free wares are inaccurate and misleading.
March 23, 2019
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by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico’s Morning Energy) The Trump administration is developing guidance to help companies qualify for a built-out tax credit for carbon capture, utilization and storage — a welcome addition for industry officials and lawmakers who have complained the IRS is moving too slowly to implement the increased credit,
March 14, 2019
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by Jerry Hagstrom and Chris Clayton (DTN The Progressive Farmer) Delegates to the National Farmers Union annual convention here on Tuesday maintained the group’s commitment to addressing climate change, but they rejected a proposal that it become involved in the Green New Deal that some Democrats in Congress have proposed. The NFU,
March 11, 2019
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(BioEnergy International) More than half of the carbon sink in the world’s forests is in areas where the trees are relatively young – under 140 years old – rather than in tropical rainforests. These trees have typically ‘regrown’ on land previously used for agriculture, or cleared by fire or harvest and
February 26, 2019
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(Drax) The first BECCS pilot project of its kind in the world at Drax Power Station – the UK’s biggest renewable power generator, has started capturing carbon dioxide. — The first carbon dioxide has been captured using C-Capture technology at Drax Power Station in their innovative bioenergy carbon capture and storage (BECCS)
February 19, 2019
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by Josh Siegel (Washington Examiner) Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said Wednesday the push for a “Green New Deal” could provide an opportunity for her to revive a comprehensive energy bill she co-authored that would be the first update to the country’s energy policies from Congress in a decade. “There is a
February 18, 2019
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(Office of Congresswoman Cheri Bustos) Today (February 14, 2019), Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17) helped introduce the Utilizing Significant Emissions with Innovative Technologies (USE IT) Act. This bipartisan legislation would implement strategies that help ethanol producers develop carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Specifically, USE IT simplifies the permitting process for the construction of carbon
February 18, 2019
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(Government of Norway) Equinor has been awarded an exploitation permit for CO2-storage on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. — This was decided by King-in-council today (January 11, 2019). The allocated area for storage of CO₂ is located near the Troll oil and gas field and was announced in July 2018. Equinor is
February 5, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) LanzaTechhas over 20 years experience sourcing and supplying over 5 million tons of wood fiber and organic feedstock in markets across North America. They offer biomass feedstock supply and analytics to understand and minimize supply chain risk. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech gave this illuminating overview of
February 5, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) was organized in 1893 to advance the art, science, and practice of naval architecture, shipbuilding, marine engineering, ocean engineering, and other marine-related professions. Christopher D. Barry from SNAME gave this illuminating overview of the opportunities for marine
January 28, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Global Algae Innovations was founded in 2013 and focuses on algae for commodities with initial technology development nearly complete. Dave Hazlebeck from Global Algae Innovations gave this illuminating overview of how the algae industry can provide a solution to the protein crisis, algae production process, and
January 23, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In a tale of two Washingtons, the sustainable aviation fuels movement will gather in Washington state in March and in Washington, D.C. in April to seek breakthroughs in the adoption rate of jet biofuels, which have been stalled for some time between the successful certification/demonstration efforts
January 23, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) EPIC helps pilot plants test and scale new process technologies. Check out their latest presentation with top four emerging process technologies that they are seeing a lot of right now: carbon capture, gas-to-liquids technologies, bio-based ethylene glycol, and biomass to commodity chemical application – and it’s ready
January 2, 2019
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, on the final day of California’s 2018 legislative session, a bill sponsored by the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas that would pave the way for a state renewable natural gas procurement program was approved by the Legislature, passing 29-10 in its reconciliation in the Senate.
December 26, 2018
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by Theresa Duque (Berkeley Lab) Researchers discover copper has potential as a catalyst for turning carbon dioxide into sustainable chemicals and fuels without any wasteful byproducts, creating a green alternative to present-day chemical manufacturing — For decades, scientists have searched for effective ways to remove excess carbon dioxide emissions from the air,
December 20, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Carbon Engineering is commercializing two clean energy technologies that can rapidly accelerate our shift to a net-zero world by removing carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere and converting it to fuel. Geoffrey Holmes,Business Development lead from Carbon Engineering gave this illuminating overview of their Direct Air Capture
December 20, 2018
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by Jason Huffman (Undercurrent News) The Kampachi Company may be best known for its recent efforts to grow “king kampachi”, aka kahala or almaco jack (Seriola rivoliana), in ocean-based cages, but it also is performing research with plans to make a play in the seaweed space. The Kona, Hawaii-based company has
December 17, 2018
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by Jessie Stolark (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) … While the bill is largely viewed as a status-quo farm bill, the bill importantly reauthorizes the Energy Title (IX) and contains some new programs and tweaks aimed at helping producers become more resilient to climate change. … While overall the Energy Title
December 14, 2018
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(Grain Net) The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE), Environmental Entrepreneurs(E2), the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) thank the Farm Bill conferees for including a new pilot Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) in the 2018 Farm Bill Conference Report to promote and document the benefits of farming practices which improve soil health.
December 13, 2018
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by Chris Clayton (DTN The Progressive Farmer) Ohio corn farmer Fred Yoder returned late Friday from a frustrating week in Poland listening to foreign ministers and others talk about what they think farmers globally must do to address climate change. As chairman of the North America Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance, Yoder
December 11, 2018
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by Adele Peters (Fast Company) At a steel mill outside Beijing, reactors attached to the building capture emissions from the factory. Those waste gases can then be turned into fuel. LanzaTech, a biotech startup that designed a way to turn those emissions into ethanol, recently blended that ethanol into jet fuel that powered
December 5, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The pace of bioeconomy invention and change continues at a frenetic pace. Here are the top innovations for the week of November 29th. … #3 Munich researchers use algae to convert waste gas to carbon fiber In Germany, researchers at the Technical University of Munich are
November 30, 2018
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Mazda is investing in it. Honda is using it for R&D and potential byproducts. Algenol, AlgaEnergy and others grow and develop it. Euglena began producing it for biojet fuel at its new biofuel refinery plant in Japan. The U.S. government has a whole R&D department that is looking at this stuff. The list goes on. So
November 26, 2018
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(U.S. Department of Energy) The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine conducted a study, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, Office of Fossil Energy, and Office of Science, and Shell, which resulted in a report titled Gaseous Carbon Waste Streams Utilization: Status and Research Needs.
November 18, 2018
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(Arizona State University/Biomass Magazine) The U.S. Department of Energy has announced 36 projects that together have been awarded $80 million to support early-stage bioenergy research and development. Two Arizona State University research teams are among the grantees, with the grants to ASU totaling about $4.5 million. The two teams are headed
November 12, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Impossible Foods took the #1 spot in the 2018 “40 Hottest Technologies in the Advanced Bioeconomy” rankings, published today in The Digest, the world’s most widely-read bioeconomy daily. The announcement was made live at the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference (ABLC Global), which is meeting
November 9, 2018
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(Algae Biomass Organization) A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine makes the case for robust, coordinated research and development programs that can accelerate the development of technologies that can turn greenhouse into useful products such as fuels, construction materials, and chemicals. Algae cultivation is prominently featured in the report,
October 31, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) All through this month, Digest subscribers have been voting on the 40 Hottest Transformative Technologies in the Advanced Bioeconomy. While the Hot 50 concentrates on organizations — this set of rankings could include a complete process, a component, subprocess, a metabolic pathway, a computational system, a
October 12, 2018
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by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In South Korea, AFP reports the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change has launched a new report saying time is running out to stop climate change but that significant investment in biofuels and associated carbon capture and storage could make a big difference. The report says it the Earth’s
October 9, 2018
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by Julianne Beck (Northwestern University Campus News) A new collaboration led by Michael Jewett, professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern University, will combine recent technological advancements in bioengineering to develop a transformative production system for next-generation biofuels and bioproducts. The multi-institutional project is supported by a three-year, $1.6 million contract
October 5, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) IEA Bioenergy Task 42’s goal is to contribute to the development and deployment of integrated biorefineries as part of highly efficient sustainable value chains (co-)producing food/feed ingredients, chemicals, materials, fuels, power and/or heat out of sustainably sourced biomass (wood, crops, residues, etc.) as base for a global
October 2, 2018
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(Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Chemists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have demonstrated a practical, energy-efficient method of capturing carbon dioxide (CO2) directly from air. They report their findings in Nature Energy. If deployed at large scale and coupled to geologic storage, the technique may bolster the portfolio of responses to
September 25, 2018
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by Irina V. Chernyshova, Ponisseril Somasundaran and Sathish Ponnurangam (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) The understanding of a catalytic reaction starts with understanding its first elementary step. Surprisingly, despite the large number of studies, it is unclear whether one common or two different first intermediates control the selectivity of
September 20, 2018
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by Bill Keba* (Advanced Biofuels USA) My wife checked my fishing gear upon learning that I was attending the Biochar 2018 Conference in Wilmington, Delaware. Why? She thought I made up “biochar” and the conference as a way escape to a few days of fishing on and off Cape Henlopen,
September 10, 2018
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(U.S. Department of Energy) Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the selection of 36 projects totaling $80 million to support early-stage bioenergy research and development (R&D). This R&D will enable cost-competitive, drop-in renewable hydrocarbon fuels, bio-based products, and power from non-food biomass and waste feedstocks. This work supports the Department
September 4, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In the EU, perhaps the most comprehensive and useful guide to fuels and chemicals produced from “Recycled carbon fuels”, such as those produced from waste plastics or waste industrial gases, appeared from the gurus at E4Tech. And, there’s the world of alternative fuels and chemicals produced from
August 22, 2018
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by Betsy Lillian (NGT News) Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has announced new grant funding for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LNNL) and Stanford School of Engineering’s Spormann Laboratory to conduct new power-to-gas research. The two entities will also receive $800,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy. SoCalGas will provide co-funding of
August 7, 2018
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by Catherine Clifford (CNBC) A bacteria found in the gut of a rabbit can now help cars run in a more eco-friendly way. The bacteria, identified by biotech start-up LanzaTech, helps turn factory carbon emissions, a.k.a. pollution, into ethanol …. … “While there are many sustainable sources of sugar-derived ethanol … it’s not enough
July 30, 2018
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(Nebraska Public Power District) Nebraska Public Power District is taking another step forward in the carbon world with a second Department of Energy (DOE) study. This most recent initiative has a goal of developing an integrated carbon dioxide (CO2) collection, transportation, and storage infrastructure in the Midwest for ethanol facilities
July 20, 2018
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(University of California-Santa Cruz/EurekAlert!) Gains of only 22 percent over the next six decades represent best-case scenario — Researchers have calculated the capacity of North American forests to sequester carbon in a detailed analysis that for the first time integrates the effects of two key factors: the natural process of forest growth
July 18, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In today’s Digest, wool without the sheep, fuels from water and C)2, bacteria-powered solar cells, spectral imagery in the sky, artificial intelligence in the crop field, sugar-based straws and more, ready for you now at The Digest online. #1 Sheep-free wool nabs PETA prize … #2
by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) In Arizona, Arizona State University researcher Kevin Redding is working on biological, light-driven energy extraction. Redding, a biochemist who leads the Center for Bioenergy and Photosynthesis at ASU, is producing hydrogen biofuel from water instead of from natural gas which is a fossil fuel. Redding said,
July 9, 2018
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Syngas, or synthesis gas, is on fire lately, with new technologies making the most of waste products like CO2 or low-grade biomass and converting them into useful hot stuff like syngas that can then be turned into even better and hotter stuff like jet fuel,
July 9, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The meanest, nastiest, ornierest, heat-seeking organism ever found that munches biomass and other microbes that got a booster via the DOE’s $40M grants for advanced microbes R&D. And aromatics without the mess, a sky-vacumming organism and much more. As we reported last week here, the U.S.
June 28, 2018
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(EurekAlert!/University of Science and Technology of China) Liquid multi-carbon alcohols such as ethanol and n-propanol are desired as renewable transportation fuels. They offer high energy densities, ease of long-range transport, and direct drop-in usage in existing internal combustion engines. Engineering catalysts that favor high-value alcohols is desired. A research team led
June 26, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The company is now safely emerged from its celebrated IPO, and is embarked on the development of the first commercial plant project with its JV partner BASF — so, its been a big period and even more critical thresholds lie ahead for Avantium. Avantium’s YXY technology
by James Osborne (Houston Chronicle) The Houston oil company Occidental Petroleum is studying a carbon capture project to deliver carbon dioxide to its oil fields in West Texas, the company announced Tuesday. Engineers are expected to spend six months studying the feasibility of piping carbon dioxide from White Energy’s ethanol facilities
June 20, 2018
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by David Fridley and Richard Heinberg (Renewable Energy World) The headline of this article was composed simply by rephrasing the title of a popular recent piece in The Atlantic — “Climate Change Can Be Stopped by Turning Air into Gasoline” — as a question. That article, reporting on research by Harvard professor David Keith
June 20, 2018
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(Cenergy Solutions/NGV Journal) Cenergy Solutions has a Biogas Capture and Utilization System (BCU System) to help farms and communities around the world economically store and use their biogas instead of venting or flaring it. It is estimated that trillions of cubic meters of biogas are vented or burned worldwide each year
June 15, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … But it shows also what smaller companies can do when they partner effectively – whether that means industrial giants like ArcelorMittal or BASF, technology accelerator schemes like Unreasonable Impact, or with the US ethanol industry. And BASF, Lallemand, Leaf Resources and Syngenta’s Enogen corn are
June 14, 2018
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by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … In Illinois, carbon recycling company, LanzaTech, and its joint venture partner, Shougang Group, a leading Chinese iron and steel producer, announced the successful start-up of the world’s first commercial facility converting industrial emissions to sustainable ethanol. The facility, located at the Jingtang Steel Mill in Caofeidian
June 11, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A technology for direct air capture of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, with a cost that “fully burdened with interest on capital, ranges from 94 to 232 $/t-CO2 depending on financial assumptions, energy prices, and the specific choice of inputs and outputs,” was the subject of
June 8, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In these top 20 projects, we usually say that we are using waste, but really we are converting something from a state of waste to a state of value — and that’s not just good for the project owners in question, it’s good for every stakeholder
(Algae Biomass Organization) ABO’s ongoing work in Washington, DC, to educate Congress and federal agencies on the importance of robust algae research, development and demonstration has resulted in the release of an unprecedented series of funding opportunities for algae. Deadlines for letters of intent are fast approaching. Four major algae funding
(InnoTech Alberta) InnoTech Alberta, an applied research subsidiary of Alberta Innovates, today announced the official opening of the Alberta Carbon Conversion Technology Centre (ACCTC). InnoTech Alberta is the owner and operator of this pioneering clean technology centre. Users of the ACCTC will test and advance carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and conversion
May 28, 2018
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(Agora Verkehrswende and Agora Energiewende) … The production of power-based synthetic fuels is a multi-stage process. First, clean energy from wind or PV electrolyzes water into hydrogen and oxygen. Then, the hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide to create gaseous or liquid synthetic fuel. The advantages of those fuels relative to
May 9, 2018
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(Argus Media) Ethanol producers selling fuel in California may emerge as a beneficiary of a technology often associated with the coal industry. The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has proposed changes to the state’s Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) meant to spur projects that capture CO2 and inject it into underground geologic
April 27, 2018
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(Stanford University/Phys.Org) Although considered critical to avoiding catastrophic global warming, the feasibility of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it underground – known as negative emissions – has been in question. But researchers at Stanford and other institutions have found new hope for cost-effective carbon capture and sequestration (CCS).
April 24, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ABLC 2018 wrapped up with the ABLC Wolfpack including James Iademarco from Strategic Avalanche, David Dodds with Dodds & Associates, Ron Cascone from NEXANT, independent consultant Paul Bryan, and Joel Stone from ConVergince. While they didn’t howl at the moon, they were voracious, vicious wolves analyzing 8 major projects with
April 24, 2018
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(Algae Industry Magazine) The University of Hawaii at Hilo announced that in affiliation with Duke and Cornell Universities, researchers have authored a study that suggests making croplands more efficient through algae production could unlock an important negative emission technology to combat climate change. Their research, “Integrating Algae with Bioenergy Carbon Capture
April 16, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Gevo has two proprietary technologies that combine to make it possible to retrofit existing ethanol plants to produce isobutanol, a four carbon alcohol which serves as a hydrocarbon platform molecule. They have developed an industrial scale yeast biocatalyst to produce isobutanol without typical byproducts operating at
April 12, 2018
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(Bio-based News/nova-Institut) First semi-commercial facilities, technical advances, but political support still unclear — 6th Conference on Carbon Dioxides as Feedstock for Fuels, Chemistry and Polymers in Cologne, 15-16 March, showed state of the art technologies, current levels of investment as well as stimulated discussions on the right implementation strategy. With almost 170
April 2, 2018
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(Lanza Tech) In Washington, LanzaTech took the #1 spot in the 2018 “50 Hottest Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy” rankings, published in The Digest, the world’s most widely-read bioeconomy daily. It was the third year at the top for LanzaTech, which also ranked #1 in 2017 and 2015. Amyris came it
(International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 41) The fourth IEA Bioenergy Task 41 workshop on Bio-CC(U)S was organized in Brussels 16 January 2018. The topic of the workshop was Market and regulatory issues related to Bio-CCUS. The workshop was a full day event divided into four consecutive sessions: Background and introduction: The session focused on
February 27, 2018
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by Emma Foehringer Merchant (GreenTechMedia) Expanded credits in the budget bill could “absolutely make the difference” for the economic viability of carbon capture and sequestration. — Among the energy credits tucked inside the budget deal eked out in early February lies a controversial measure: carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) credits designed to push the technology from the clean energy
February 26, 2018
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by Jeff Mulhollem (Penn State News) Agroforestry could play an important role in mitigating climate change because it sequesters more atmospheric carbon in plant parts and soil than conventional farming, according to Penn State researchers. An agricultural system that combines trees with crops and livestock on the same plot of land, agroforestry
February 7, 2018
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Sometimes, what an engine needs to roar to life is a spark. Or a SPARC, as in this case. As in the Southeastern Partnership for Advanced Renewables from Carinata (SPARC), a consortium consisting of the University of Florida (lead), the University of South Florida, the University of Georgia,
by Ron Cascone (Nexant, Inc.) Shown here is a current version of an iconic cost curve, or “stack chart” generated in an ongoing analysis started by the Scandinavian utility, Vattenfall, and carried on by McKinsey & Co and the US EPA, of estimated costs and volumes addressable for a wide range of
January 18, 2018
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by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Red Trail Energy LLC and the University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center began investigating carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology as a way to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions associated with ethanol production last year with the support of the North
January 3, 2018
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(Suomenbiohiili.info) … The 2nd Finnish Biochar Workshop was successfully held in Tampere on 4 December 2017, we had participants representing the whole Finnish biochar sector: companies, researchers and local municipalities. The event was organized by Finnish Biochar Association and Forest Biochar research group of University of Helsinki and hosted by Carbofex Oy. Our other host,
December 29, 2017
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(CGIAR) Evidence-based science on the mitigation and socio-economic impacts of soil carbon sequestration is needed to support commitments to sustainable development goals and the Paris Agreement target. … Soil carbon sequestration, they say, “can have equal or larger impacts on mitigation.” COP23 agriculture decision points to potential of soil carbon sequestration
by Tony Briscoe (Chicago Tribune) As scientists and politicians around the world debate the best way to combat rising greenhouse gases, an Illinois ethanol plant, with help from state and federal researchers, is advancing a strategy that buries carbon emissions underground. After a successful pilot program, the public-private research project spearheaded
November 27, 2017
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by Marcius Extavour (XPRIZE/Biofuels Digest) … Hydrocarbon drop-in fuels are among the leading products targeted by the CO2 conversion community, be it diesel, methanol, butanol, or others. New approaches to the science and technology of CO2-to-fuels may alter the energetics, the economics, and the business case to the point where bio-based CO2
October 11, 2017
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by Lisa Gibson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Occidental Petroleum Corp. injects about 1 billion cubic feet per day of carbon dioxide into oil reservoirs for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), said Daniel Keiser, the company’s manager of commercial development. That CO2 comes mostly from natural sources, which means they decline over time. Keiser told
October 3, 2017
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(Michigan State University) Michigan State University scientists will explore new algae-based technologies to capture power plant emissions and sustainably turn them into valuable products. The research project, funded by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, unites faculty from the MSU Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering and
September 26, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Eddyville, Fort Dodge, Clinton, Newton, Cedar Rapids. Communities like these have been mainstays of the Iowa bioeconomy for years, even decades — home to corn and soy processing on the largest world scale, and much much more — integrated complexes of advanced refining where companies
August 30, 2017
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(American Chemical Society) … “Rather than rely on inefficient chlorophyll to harvest sunlight, I’ve taught bacteria how to grow and cover their bodies with tiny semiconductor nanocrystals,” says Kelsey K. Sakimoto, Ph.D., who carried out the research in the lab of Peidong Yang, Ph.D. “These nanocrystals are much more efficient
August 29, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) LanzaTech has developed a fully sustainable integrative gas to fuels and chemicals platform that has no impact on food, water security or high biodiversity land use. LanzaTech’s gas fermentation platform disrupts the current highly centralized global energy system by enabling the regional production of low-cost
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Turkey, at the World Petroleum Congress, India’s flagship national oil company Indian Oil Corporation and carbon recycler LanzaTech unveiled a Statement of Intent to construct the world’s first refinery off gas-to-bioethanol production facility in India. The basic engineering for the 40 million liter per
July 12, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … There’s been the cellulosic wave, then waste — and alongside there has been steady progress in what are known as the electrofuels. These are fuels made directly from CO2, water and either sunlight or electricity. Generally if a microorganism is involved, there’s sunlight in the
July 5, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The DOE completed an illuminating workshop on Carbon Capture and Sequestration with relation to algae-based technologies, and The Digest has prepared a selection of key slides presented by AquaFiber, Pacific Northwest National Lab, University of South Florida, Algenol, Montana State University, University of Toledo, NREL,
June 29, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Michael Huessmann and John Benemann gave this illuminating overview of Microalgae Biofuels Production on CO2 from Air at the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review sessions. READ MORE
June 21, 2017
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by Ellie Potter (Grand Forks Herald) Red Trail Energy may soon be the first ethanol plant in the United States to store carbon dioxide underground as part of an environmental and economic effort. Last month, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., secured North Dakota’s primacy over Class VI injection wells from
June 7, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Among the climate warriors fighting CO2 build-up, perhaps the most ambitious are those who are seeking to use CO2 to make industrial materials, fuels or chemicals — displacing the need to use oil or gas out of the ground, in addition to utilizing waste emissions
April 25, 2017
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by Chris Mooney (The Washington Post) A new large-scale technology has launched in Decatur, Illinois that, by combining together corn-based fuels with the burial of carbon dioxide deep underground, could potentially result in the active removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. It’s an objective described as crucial by scientists hoping
April 11, 2017
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by Liz Gyekye (Bioenergy Insight) A new paper by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) describes a process that captures methane from natural gas and biogas and that uses photosynthesis to convert it into biomass feedstock. The new paper is called ‘A flexible microbial co-culture platform for simultaneous utilization of methane
April 11, 2017
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The EU’s Sweet 16: 16 of the Most Fascinating Projects under Development and in Deployment in Europe
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Europe is often thought of as a dead-end for biofuels, owing to a thorny debate over fuel mandates, and agricultural protection. But it’s a reputation entirely undeserved; some of the most fascinating projects are there. In this survey, we did not look at some excellent
April 11, 2017
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by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) This morning at the “Defense Production Act (DPA) Advanced Drop-in Biofuels Production Project Round 2 Industry Roundtable” held at the US Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC, Zia Haq, Senior Analyst and DPA Coordinator for the Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office provided information
March 1, 2017
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by Steffen Mueller (University of Illinois at Chicago/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Strategically located ethanol sources cannot be economically replaced. — Carbon dioxide sourced from corn-ethanol plants is not a waste-recovery product but a coproduct that, in many regions, can only be replaced by higher-emitting, less-economical resources. A reduction in U.S. ethanol
February 20, 2017
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by Steffen Mueller (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Strategically located ethanol sources cannot be economically replaced. — Carbon dioxide sourced from corn-ethanol plants is not a waste-recovery product but a coproduct that, in many regions, can only be replaced by higher-emitting, less-economical resources. A reduction in U.S. ethanol production (for example, in
February 9, 2017
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) BPA designs, builds, and operates commercial scale Grower Harvester bioreactors that enable efficient conversion of light and CO2 into high value microbial feedstock. BioProcess Algae LLC is based in Omaha, Neb. and is currently running a demonstration plant at the Green Plains Inc. ethanol plant
February 9, 2017
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(Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) Climate Researchers Study Impacts of Land-use Change on Carbon Dioxide – Reforestation Is Important to Climate Protection and Species Diversity – Study in Nature Geoscience — CO2 emissions caused by changes of land use may possibly be higher than assumed so far. This is the outcome
by Brooks Hays (UPI) Chemical engineer Jae Sung Lee said the research will offer a “new opportunity for recycling CO2 into valuable fuels and chemicals.” — Researchers have developed a new way to turn captured CO2 into liquid biofuel capable of powering vehicles. Scientists have previously converted H2 and CO2
November 21, 2016
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(The National Research Council of Canada/Biodiesel Magazine)… Canada’s first algal biorefinery demonstration project, a collaborative research effort between the National Research Council of Canada’s Algal Carbon Conversion program, Pond Technologies and Votorantim Cimentos’ St Marys Cement, is revolutionizing how industrial carbon emissions are managed. “With the assistance of NRC’s Algal Carbon Conversion
November 17, 2016
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Capturing and concentrate (ambient) CO2 at low prices for direct use and production of fuels and chemicals, using solar or wind energy. That’s Antecy. With the help of an organic, non-amine sorbent, ANTECY turns the negative of CO2 (greenhouse effects, environmental costs) into a positive, whereby
November 10, 2016
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(Goethe University Frankfurt/EurekAlert!) Goethe University Frankfurt coordinates European two million Euro project — Microbes are already used on a wide scale for the production of fuels and base chemicals, but for this most of them have to be “fed” with sugar. However, since sugar-based biotechnology finds itself in competition
November 9, 2016
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(CNW/Newswire) The Government of Canada is supporting clean energy research, development and technology demonstration at all stages of the innovation spectrum, from high-risk, early stage research that can deliver transformative energy solutions, to later stage technology demonstrations to help speed the commercialization and adoption of cleaner energy technologies. Canada’s first
November 5, 2016
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by Evelyn Boswell (Montana State University) A regional interdisciplinary team led by Montana State University has received $6 million to develop new innovations at the intersection of food, energy and water systems while training the next generation of scientists. The four-year grant from the National Science Foundation will allow MSU,
November 4, 2016
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(Energy and Environment Research Center) Red Trail Energy, LLC, and the EERC take a closer look at the expansion of ethanol production through carbon capture and storage. READ MORE
October 19, 2016
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by Steffen Mueller (University of Illinois at Chicago Energy Resources Center) … The authors essentially challenge the accuracy of traditional life cycle analysis with their new model. … The authors argue that “for a biofuel to provide a net reduction in CO2 emissions, the production of its feedstock must effect a gain in
September 9, 2016
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by Marie-Joe Costantine (BioFuelNet) Study stating “ biofuels are worse than gasoline” is fundamentally flawed — … In the study, when (John) DeCicco and colleagues calculate the CO2 emissions going into the atmosphere, they consider all parts of the plant: leaves, stalks, roots, grain etc. However, when they calculate the uptake or
September 8, 2016
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by Kari Lydersen (Midwest Energy News) … The Argonne modeling shows that when grassland, cropland and pasture in the Midwest are converted to corn for biofuels, the level of carbon sequestration in the soil stays roughly the same, with variation by individual counties. Conversion of forest to biofuel crops usually has
August 30, 2016
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by Marc J. Rauch (The Auto Channel) … I can’t say for sure, since I haven’t done a count and compared it to a calendar, but it seems to me that the American oil industry has been ramping up its attacks on ethanol and trying to gain ground by adding in
August 30, 2016
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Rowena Lindsay (Christian Science Monitor) A new study suggests that biofuels can mitigate only 37 percent of the CO2 released by burning the biofuel. — That’s a flawed premise, argues Daniel Schrag, a geology professor at Harvard who advises the EPA on bioenergy climate impacts. He says that biofuels don’t have
August 30, 2016
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(MichBio/BusinessWire) MichBio, the biosciences industry association in Michigan, issued the following statement today regarding the release of a University of Michigan research study that claims the rising use of biofuels in the U.S. has led to a net increase in carbon dioxide emissions associated with global warming. Professor DeCicco’s most
August 26, 2016
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by Lorenz Bauer and Gerald Kutney (Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest) … In this report, we are focused on bioenergy and biofuels (and not bioproducts) that are moving from the lab to initial commercial demonstrations and that potentially solve significant barriers to commercialization. … If these incremental improvements in efficiency eventually
August 26, 2016
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by Adele Peters (FastCoExist.com) … A new Bay Area-based biotech startup called Kiverdi has a different solution: a synthetic palm oil, made from carbon dioxide. The company uses microbes to transform waste carbon from industry into the new oil inside bioreactors. “You can think about the process as being similar to
August 22, 2016
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by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … We looked at the past year, and these are the 25 Top Stories of the Year, as measured by the number of readers. 25 The Pyromaniax, Class of 2015: The Top 10 Pyrolysis projects in renewable fuels … 23 What’s Changing in Biofuels? The Top
August 17, 2016
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From FEW: 45Q Represents Opportunity for Ethanol; Request for Comments DEADLINE: July 4, 2019
by Lisa Gibson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Under new size specifications for the 45Q tax credit, almost all ethanol plants are eligible, said Jamey Cline, in business development for Christianson PLLP. With revenues trending downward since 2018 and falling below operating expenses, diversification of revenue streams is crucial, he added. Cline was