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(Growth Energy) Growth Energy and Prime the Pump announced Cumberland Farms as the newest E15 retail partner to join the Prime the Pump program. Massachusetts-based Cumberland Farms will begin offering E15 at more than 120 of its stores in the Northeast United States. The sites will be spread across Reformulated Gasoline
Massachusetts
October 19, 2018 Read Full Article
by Edwin L. Aguirre (University of Massachusetts Lowell) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a three-year, $1 million grant to a team of researchers from UMass Lowell, the University of Maine and Florida-based Mainstream Engineering Corp. to develop renewable fuel additives made from “woody biomass” – particularly sawdust from sawmills. “The
October 5, 2018 Read Full Article
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A biorefinery that will produce 16 MMgy of cellulosic ethanol and 120,000 of lignin pellets is set to break ground in Spiritwood, North Dakota, in the spring of 2019. The facility, under development by New Energy Blue, will feature Inbicon technology. The proposed plant, known
September 25, 2018 Read Full Article
(University of Minnesota) A team of energy researchers from the University of Minnesota and University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered that molecular motion can be predicted with high accuracy when confining molecules in small nanocages. Their theoretical method is suitable for screening millions of possible nanomaterials and could improve production of
September 17, 2018 Read Full Article
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Department of Energy has announced it will award 42 projects a total of $80 million to support advanced vehicles technologies research. Approximately $10.1 million of that funding will support six projects focused on the co-optimization of engines and fuels. “Improving the affordability of
September 14, 2018 Read Full Article
RNG Energy Solutions and Philadelphia Energy Solutions Partner to Form Point Breeze Renewable Energy
(Philadelphia Energy Solutions) RNG Energy Solutions (RNG Energy) and Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refining and Marketing LLC (PES) announced today that they have completed and executed several contracts including a long-term renewable natural gas sales agreement and site lease agreement to build a state-of-the-art anaerobic digester facility. The facility will be named
August 30, 2018 Read Full Article
(Greater Lawrence Technical School) Superintendent John Lavoie is pleased to announce that Greater Lawrence Technical School received a $160,000 grant from the Baker-Polito Administration to implement a clean energy program as part of their STEAM curriculum. GLTS is just one of three schools statewide to receive the allocation from the Massachusetts Clean
August 3, 2018 Read Full Article
The LSX World Congress USA combines plenaries, workshops, panels, a two-track global investment showcase, fireside chats, therapeutic roundtables, an IPO bootcamp and one-to-one meetings to give life science companies everything they need to enable more effective partnering, investment, planning and strategic growth. USE Code ABU10 to save 10%. READ MORE
August 2, 2018 Read Full Article
by James Temple (MIT Technology Review) Air travel, shipping, and manufacturing are huge sources of carbon that we lack good options for addressing. — … But a new paper in Science offers a stark reminder that there are still huge parts of the global energy system where we simply don’t have affordable ways of halting
July 11, 2018 Read Full Article
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 Read Full Article
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 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Yield10 Bioscience is an agricultural bioscience company focusing on the development of disruptive technologies to produce step-change improvements in crop yield for food and feed crops to enhance global food security. Experts forecast that food production must be increased by over 70% in the next 35 years to feed
June 6, 2018 Read Full Article
Exploring Biodiesel (XBX) is a series of regional, one-day seminars designed to educate those in the industry on the benefits and opportunities surrounding biodiesel. The National Biodiesel Board, in partnership with several industry sponsors, has announced a series of regional, one-day seminars designed to educate fuel wholesalers, distributors, retailers, marketers,
May 21, 2018 Read Full Article
by Ariana Eunjung Cha (Washington Post) … In a paper published Monday in the American Heart Association’s journal Hypertension, researchers reported that children of mothers who were exposed in their third trimester to higher levels of fine particulate pollution — the tiny airborne matter that causes haze in many cities around the world
May 15, 2018 Read Full Article
by Sarah Tan (WCAI) Kelp farming is on the rise around the Cape and Islands, as more growers are finding reasons to love this ocean crop. From researchers like Scott Lindell at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute who want to farm the crop for biofuel, to shellfishermen in Chatham who want to sell it to
May 14, 2018 Read Full Article
by Raphael Orlove (Jalopnik) Our emissions standards are probably the biggest booster to automotive performance in the past half century, making our cars not only more eco-friendly but more powerful, too. Trump has been trying to cut it all down, but now California and 16 other states suing to stop him. … …
May 1, 2018 Read Full Article
(Braskem/WebWire) Braskem expands strategy for the future of renewable chemicals — Braskem (B3: BRKM3, BRKM5 and BRKM6; NYSE: BAK; LATIBEX: XBRK), the largest thermoplastics resins producer in the Americas and the worldwide leader in bio-polymers, announced today its expanded focus on the research, development and commercialization of chemicals and materials sourced from renewable
April 24, 2018 Read Full Article
by Benjamin Storrow (E&E News) … Transportation emissions threaten to undercut blue states’ climate goals, raising questions about their ability to lead U.S. climate efforts at a time when the federal government is rolling back environmental regulations. Emissions from cars, trucks and other mobile sources are on the rise nationally.
April 18, 2018 Read Full Article
by Sean Flynn (Newport Daily News) Newport Biodiesel LLC saw a big jump in demand for its product at the beginning of the year when a Massachusetts regulation took effect that requires a minimum 10 percent biodiesel component of all home-heating fuel sold in the state. “Overnight, it changed the
April 11, 2018 Read Full Article
by Sharon Gaudin (Worcester Polytechnic Institute/Biomass Magazine) Funded by a U.S. Department of Energy grant, a team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute is creating a better way to convert waste food into biofuels that are environmentally friendly, a project that would have an impact on global problems like crude oil
April 4, 2018 Read Full Article
(Ethanol Producer Magazine/Tufts University) Researchers at Tufts University have created a genetically modified yeast that can more efficiently consume a novel nutrient, xylose, enabling the yeast to grow faster and to higher cell densities, raising the prospect of a significantly faster path toward the design of new synthetic organisms for industrial
April 4, 2018 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) According to BIO, the global economic value today of the biobased economy – including industrial biotechnology, renewable chemicals and polymers, biofuels, enzymes and biobased materials – is $355.28 billion. And looking at the new USDA Indicators report and other sources, BIO estimates that the United States generates
March 30, 2018 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Ag-Grid Energy has a vision to convert agricultural and organic waste into renewable energy, compost and support local area practices that lead us towards a sustainable environment. The company intends to finance, build, own (jointly), operate the waste to energy conversion facilities in US, and has
March 19, 2018 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We’ve been covering some important movements in the design and performance of yeast in recent weeks, including the arrival of Novozymes’ Innova drive strains. Most of the activity has been focused on 1G ethanol fermentation. But it’s been known for a long time that engineering a
by Todd Neeley (DTN The Progressive Farmer) As debate rages on about whether the price of biofuels credits in the Renewable Fuel Standard are putting small refiners out of business, a little-known analysis by a Harvard University economics professor last summer said the best way to reduce the price of those
February 6, 2018 Read Full Article
by Natasha Geiling (ThinkProgress) Currently only one state in the country has an economy-wide cap on carbon. These states want to change that — Lawmakers from nine states announced on Wednesday that they would be forming a coalition to help pass carbon pricing at the local level, citing the importance of state-level policies
February 1, 2018 Read Full Article
Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, a new report from MIT Sloan professor John Sterman supports the growing argument that burning wood pellets for power is worse for the climate than burning coal, because of the short-term effects and the “potentially irreversible impacts that may arise before the long-run benefits are realized.” “Because
January 30, 2018 Read Full Article
by Fabio Caiazzo, Akshat Agarwal, Raymond L Speth and Steven R H Barrett (Environmental Research Letters) Contrails and contrail-cirrus may be the largest source of radiative forcing (RF) attributable to aviation. Biomass-derived alternative jet fuels are a potentially major way to mitigate the climate impacts of aviation by reducing lifecycle CO2 emissions. Given
January 25, 2018 Read Full Article
(Science Daily/Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)) A new EU regulation aims to shrink the environmental footprint of biofuels starting in 2021. But a scientist thinks we should go one step further and take into account all compounds produced at biorefineries, not just biofuel. And he has developed a model for
January 24, 2018 Read Full Article
(Algae Industry Magazine) … In September, the US Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $22 million in grants to fund projects for marine biomass farming for production of commercial products, including feedstock for domestic transportation fuels. The funding was provided through the Advanced Research Projects Agency — Energy (ARPA-E) for 18 projects
January 3, 2018 Read Full Article
by Gerald B. Silverman (Bloomberg) Motor fuel could be the next target for controlling greenhouse gas emissions in the Northeast, as seven states that have already clamped down on power plants train their sights on the transportation sector. The states are considering a new cap-and-trade program modeled after the Regional Greenhouse
(Phys.Org/Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory) The production of biofuels from plant biomass is a highly promising source of energy, but researchers are trying to find microbes that readily degrade recalcitrant lignin found in plant biomass. Recent comprehensive genomic and metabolomic analysis of a known lignin-degrading bacterium provides insight into how this degradation
December 22, 2017 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … When it comes to fungi, their ability to break even the most recalcitrant of hardwoods down is well-documented and anyone who has spent a day in a rainforest knows it. But there’s rot and there’s rot when it comes to fungi. That is, there’s white
December 5, 2017 Read Full Article
(Union of Concerned Scientistst) Statement by Ken Kimmell, Union of Concerned Scientists — Leading environmental, health, scientific and business organizations today applauded the announcement by seven states and Washington, D.C. of plans to develop a regional policy to reduce carbon pollution from the transportation sector. The move was endorsed today by the
(New England Power Generators Association) NEPGA letter – with the Acadia Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists – calling for a regional approach to lowering transportation emissions in a market based manner. READ MORE Excerpts from letter: We, the New England Power Generators Association and regional
(CapeCod.com) The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods hole has received a grant to develop innovative cultivation and harvesting technologies for year round production of seaweeds in tropical and subtropical U.S. Waters. The award is one of 18 projects funded by an arm of the federal Department of Energy. Termed the Mariner
November 2, 2017 Read Full Article
Do you know a female Middle or High School STEM teacher in the Boston area? The U.S. Department of Energy would like to welcome teachers to apply to participate in the second annual C3E science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers’ workshop on November 17 at the Museum of Science. This
(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) In the future, our homes and vehicles could be powered by fuel made from seaweed grown at large-scale offshore farms. Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are working to help make that scenario a reality sooner with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research
October 9, 2017 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Yes, ARPA-E has unveiled its latest moonshot and is investing $22M in Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources — also known as MARINER. The projects that comprise ARPA-E’s Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources (MARINER) program seek to develop the critical tools to allow the
(U.S. Department of Energy) Today (September 20, 2017), U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) has selected eight projects to negotiate for up to $15 million in total DOE funding to optimize integrated biorefineries. These projects will work to solve critical research and developmental challenges encountered
September 21, 2017 Read Full Article
The BIO International Convention brings together the most innovative thinkers and leaders in biotechnology. Our education program covers a wide variety of diverse and timely topics relevant to the biotechnology industry and appropriate for many professional disciplines, including: healthcare, intellectual property, environmental issues, business development, digital health, and more. For
September 19, 2017 Read Full Article
BIO 2018 in Boston, MA next June 4-6 will bring together the most innovative thinkers in biotechnology. The BIO International Convention is hosted by the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO). BIO represents more than 1,100 biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than
September 19, 2017 Read Full Article
by Devin Henry (The Hill) Massachusetts regulators released details of a new plan Friday to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in the state, in accordance with a state law and court order. The rules rely on a clean energy standard, carbon dioxide emissions limits for the transportation and energy sectors, and
August 17, 2017 Read Full Article
(U.S. Department of Justice) An Acton couple was arrested today and charged with defrauding the U.S. Treasury Department of more than $50 million in tax free energy grants as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Christopher N. Condron, 45, and Jessica Metivier, 41, were charged in
August 15, 2017 Read Full Article
by Pam Radtke Russell (Engineering News Record) From Seattle to Cape Cod, see what’s being done at 18 different locations — … In this special report, Engineering News-Record’s team of editors and reporters look at how Tangier and other coastal communities around the country are tackling problems, including erosion, subsidence
August 11, 2017 Read Full Article
by Bobby Magill (Climate Central) Massachusetts is considering a plan that would classify wood pellets and other tree products as sources of renewable energy, allowing the logging industry to contribute to the state’s climate goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions. However, research shows that burning biomass for energy can actually make
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry today (July 17, 2017) announced $40 million in Department of Energy awards for the establishment of four DOE Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs), which will provide the scientific breakthroughs for a new generation of sustainable, cost-effective bioproducts and bioenergy.
July 19, 2017 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) One of the more striking outcomes from the DOE Bioeconomy 2017 conference in Washington DC was confirmation of the demise of Joule Unlimited. “We had a lot of prospects last year,” former CEO Brian Baynes told The Digest, “but those new investor prospects walked away,
(Penn State News) Slowed as much by extremely low oil prices as supply-chain and technological challenges, the effort to integrate biofuels into the nation’s aviation fuel supply is nonetheless progressing, according to a researcher in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. Sustainable jet fuel continues to represent an important component of
June 30, 2017 Read Full Article
by Debbie Sniderman (Ethanol Producer Magazine) KnipBio, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, has developed a series of microbes that converts low-cost feedstocks into premium, nutritious, single-cell proteins that are an alternative to fishmeal in aquaculture. Its fermentation process yields a protein flour that is laden with immunity-boosting, pigment-enhancing carotenoids to produce healthier,
June 2, 2017 Read Full Article
by William Delahunt* (Special to Advanced Biofuels USA) Washington, D.C. is full of advocates. Some are very effective champions for important causes, but others get sucked into the maelstrom of competing special interests. Lately, I’ve seen a lot of the latter type represented among those who claim to serve boating enthusiasts
June 2, 2017 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What is different about a Low Carbon Fuel Standard — as compared to a Renewable Fuel Standard? There are 4 primary differences. 1. An RFS creates a standard, and any fuel that meets that standard can compete in that market. … 2. An LCFS sets
May 11, 2017 Read Full Article
by Charles Komanoff (Huffington Post) The Carbon Tax Center is out with a new report timed to the surging climate movement. We surveyed all 50 U.S. states (and Washington, DC) to identify the ones with the most favorable conditions for enacting a statewide carbon tax. Joining the report is a
May 8, 2017 Read Full Article
by Tux Turkel (Portland Press Herald) ‘The biggest obstacle now is financing,’ says Stephen Fitzpatrick, president of Biofine Technology LLC, which is partnering with UMaine on a pilot plant at the site. — The former Old Town Fuel and Fiber mill here could become the site of a $60 million
May 4, 2017 Read Full Article
by Ron Kotrba (Biomass Magazine) U.S. imports of biomass-based diesel hit extreme heights in 2016, fulfilling a third of the consumption market, driving the domestic biodiesel industry to more actively seek counteracting measures to protect its own investments. — The U.S. imported nearly three times more biodiesel and renewable
April 5, 2017 Read Full Article
(California Air Resources Board) CARB votes to move forward with greenhouse gas reductions and zero emission programs through 2025; action sets the table for accelerating programs post-2025 — Today (March 24, 2017) California re-affirmed its commitment to clean air, protecting public health and continuing the fight against climate change when
March 27, 2017 Read Full Article
David C. Walmsley Rob Bailis, and Alexandra-Maria Klein (Environmental Science & Technology) Despite setbacks, interest in Jatropha cultivation remains high. This study addressed the question to what extent Jatropha cultivation has replaced specific vegetation and land use types and how the existing areas are managed. Major forms of land use
March 13, 2017 Read Full Article
by Erika Tan* (Advanced Biofuels USA) Let me introduce myself – my name is Erika Tan, and I’m a current sophomore attending Freehold High School in New Jersey. If someone had told me at the beginning of this year that I would be writing an article for a nonprofit biofuel
(Low Carbon Fuels Coalition) Massachusetts is currently conducting a rulemaking that could provide the basis for a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) type program in Massachusetts. The Low Carbon Fuels Coalition (LCFC) has been actively participating in the rulemaking and promoting the inclusion of an LCFS. Specifically, the LCFC is
February 23, 2017 Read Full Article
Helping the forest products industry make better decisions. — Join industry colleagues in Boston for the Thirty Second Annual RISI North American Conference. This is the premier forum to immerse yourself in all aspects of the forest products industry. Discover how RISI’s deep industry expertise will help you understand the
February 16, 2017 Read Full Article
by Anne Trafton (MIT News) MIT engineers have genetically reprogrammed a strain of yeast so that it converts sugars to fats much more efficiently, an advance that could make possible the renewable production of high-energy fuels such as diesel. The researchers, led by Gregory Stephanopoulos, the Willard Henry Dow Professor
February 15, 2017 Read Full Article
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association) Half of U.S. states blended more than 10 percent ethanol, RFA’s president and CEO points out in his View from the Hill column — Reps. Bill Flores, R-Texas, and Peter Welch, D-Vt., introduced legislation during the last Congress that would cap ethanol blends in
January 25, 2017 Read Full Article
by Gene Gebolys (World Energy/Biodiesel Magazine) … Trying to make a living in biodiesel for two decades now, the hard way is about the only way it happens. … 2016 was a breakthrough year for the biodiesel industry, and for World Energy. We brought our third and fourth biodiesel plants online to
January 23, 2017 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The company manufactures custom, high-quality, synthetic DNA used by scientists to construct genes, pathways, genomes and organisms that will enable the next generation of breakthroughs in biology. Word came through this week that Gingko BioWorks will acquire Gen9. Founded by pioneering scientists in fabrication, genetics,
January 23, 2017 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Recently, Ginkgo BioWorks announced the launch of their next generation foundry, Bioworks2. With 125,000 square feet and an 6X expected increase in capacity compatred to BioWorks 1, Bioworks2 represents a step change in what is possible for organism design. The company, which has raised a monstrous amount
January 23, 2017 Read Full Article
by Anne Trafton (MIT/Biomass Magazine) MIT engineers have genetically reprogrammed a strain of yeast so that it converts sugars to fats much more efficiently, an advance that could make possible the renewable production of high-energy fuels such as diesel. The researchers, led by Gregory Stephanopoulos, the Willard Henry Dow Professor
January 20, 2017 Read Full Article
by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA) Highlighting Advanced Biofuels USA’s work on a feasibility study of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore energy beet project proved to attract many visitors and a bit of buzz at the Keystone Farm Show, “The Farm Show for Farmers,” in York, Pennsylvania from January
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts we have had more signs of the pivoting underway in the advanced bioeconomy with the news that Metabolix is changing its name to Yield10 Bioscience and will focus on developing disruptive technologies for step-change improvements to crop yield to enhance global food security.
by John D. Forcier (Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc./Biofuels Digest) Most trash and recycled waste materials are being processed on a regional basis to maximize the economy of scale. There have been various attempts to gather and process organic waste materials utilizing similar methods, but the challenges are far from resolved.
January 3, 2017 Read Full Article
(U.S. Department of Energy) Today, the Energy Department (DOE) announced up to $7 million for eight universities to accelerate the introduction of affordable, scalable, and sustainable high-performance fuels for use in high-efficiency, low-emission engines. Under the Co-Optimization of Fuels and Engines (Co-Optima) initiative, DOE’s Bioenergy Technologies Office and Vehicle Technologies Office are collaborating to maximize
December 29, 2016 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Recently, Ginkgo BioWorks announced the launch of their next generation foundry, Bioworks2. With 125,000 square feet and an 6X expected increase in capacity compared to BioWorks 1, Bioworks2 represents a step change in what is possible for organism design. The company, which has raised a monstrous amount
(Bentley University/PR Newswire) Bentley University research fellow Michael J. Walsh leads study finding algae food to have potential to mitigate climate change — Scientists affiliated with the Marine Algal Industrialization Consortium have published a research article demonstrating the potential of using microalgae (algae) to significantly mitigate greenhouse gas emissions if
(CapeCod.com) The town will receive $150,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Sustainable Materials Recovery Program/Organics Capacity Project. … Yarmouth’s efforts to disposing grease trap waste by generating it into biofuel will directly benefit from the funding. Technology which does that converting will be purchased with the money. READ
November 23, 2016 Read Full Article
by Kari Lydersen (Midwest Energy News) … The prospects for cellulosic ethanol becoming a commercially available clean transportation fuel could also hinge on yeast’s ability to ferment corn stalks, switchgrass, wood chips or other fibrous feed stock. The same strain of yeast typically used to brew beer and bake bread
(Center for American Progress) Carbon taxes and emissions trading systems, once considered political moonshots in the battle to combat carbon emissions, have found purchase in Canada, Mexico, and parts of the United States, raising the possibility that carbon pricing could span the continent. The Center for American Progress released an
November 4, 2016 Read Full Article
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) South Hadley, Massachusetts-based heating oil and propane delivery company Fuel Services Inc. has begun to offer what it calls B5 UltraClean, a blend of ultra-low sulfur heating oil, 5 percent biodiesel and UltraGuard Advanced Fuel Treatment, which contains stabilizers, organic dispersants, detergents, a corrosion inhibitor
November 2, 2016 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Joule is advancing a production platform for Liquid Fuel from the Sun, expected to eclipse the scale, productivity and cost efficiency of any known alternative to fossil fuel today. Its transformative Helioculture platform directly and continuously converts sunlight and waste CO2 to infrastructure-ready diesel, ethanol
October 24, 2016 Read Full Article
by Kevin G. Hall (McClatchyDC) Hillary Clinton’s campaign chief once opened doors at home and abroad for an alternative energy firm whose investors include a Vladimir Putin-supported Russian company. These ties were highlighted last week when Donald Trump’s campaign alleged that John Podesta, a former chief of staff to Bill
October 20, 2016 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The factories of old — a technological wave that swept in with the Industrial Revolution — these were inorganic manufacturing centers, and they are now the wave of the past. They used a suite of lifeless fossil ingredients and mechanical, lifeless manufacturing techniques. They might
September 30, 2016 Read Full Article
by Doug Berven (POET/Boston Herald) Jonah Goldberg’s column parrots the tired talking points of the oil industry (“Research proves ethanol’s only useful to pols,” Sept. 5). Ethanol is a clean-burning, American-made biofuel that is lowering greenhouse gas emissions while improving engine performance for drivers across the country. According to researchers at
September 23, 2016 Read Full Article
by Bill Delahunt (Coastal Angler) … There is a lot to like about ethanol. It displaces cancer-causing chemicals in gasoline like benzene. It replaced MTBE, which polluted drinking water throughout the 1990s. Just this year, ExxonMobil was required to pay millions for the delivery of clean water to a local elementary school in
September 12, 2016 Read Full Article
(Phys.Org) The cost and environmental impact of producing liquid biofuels and biochemicals as alternatives to petroleum-based products could be significantly reduced, thanks to a new metabolic engineering technique. … The fuels and chemicals are often produced using microbes to convert sugars from corn, sugar cane, or cellulosic plant mass into
August 5, 2016 Read Full Article
by David Shepardson (Reuters) Three U.S. states plan to unveil new lawsuits against Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) on Tuesday tied to the automaker’s sale of diesel vehicles with emissions-cheating software, even after they announced settlements with the German automaker in June. Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh said in a news
July 19, 2016 Read Full Article
by Megan Greenwalt (Waste 360) With municipalities increasingly collecting organic waste, finding ways to convert that waste into clean energy is a hot topic in the solid waste industry. A multitude of techniques are in use or being developed, including aerobic and anaerobic digestion, as well as other methods for converting organic
June 2, 2016 Read Full Article
(AZO CleanTech) MIT professor of chemical engineering and a biofuels expert, Kristala Prather has her own dimension about the concept of biofuels renaissance. She had an open discussion with a group of undergraduates at the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) on April 25 regarding the future of biofuels, the obstacles they
June 2, 2016 Read Full Article
by Gerald Kutney (Lee Consulting/Biofuels Digest) … From the time of the caveman until the early Industrial Revolution, biofuels – namely wood and the advanced biofuel of the day, charcoal – reigned supreme. Both fossil fuels and biofuels originate from biomass. The major difference between them is that fossil fuels are sequestered
(University of Massachusetts Amherst) The University of Massachusetts today became the first major public university to divest its endowment from direct holdings in fossil fuels. The decision was made by a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors of the UMass Foundation, a separate not-for-profit corporation that oversees an endowment
May 26, 2016 Read Full Article
by Keith Goldberg (Law 360) Massachusetts’ top court on Tuesday reversed a lower court’s decision backing the state’s approach to greenhouse gas regulations, saying the state’s climate change law requires officials to craft rules that establish annually decreasing limits on multiple greenhouse gas emissions sources and the state’s use of other
May 18, 2016 Read Full Article
GTCbio’s 7th Biobased Chemicals: Commercialization & Partnering Conference will be held on July 7-8, 2016 in Boston, MA. This two-day conference brings together top representatives who are engaged in establishing a major transformation in the global chemical and energy industries – from petroleum to biobased. The conference will look to examine
May 16, 2016 Read Full Article
(Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC/Biomass Magazine) The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC celebrated the opening of its green energy facility in Freetown, Massachusetts, on April 15, just in time for Earth Day. The innovative facility will convert inedible food from its Stop & Shop New England stores into
May 13, 2016 Read Full Article
(National Biodiesel Board) Harvard University & NJ’s Medford Township Public Schools Reduce Carbon Emissions with America’s Advanced Biofuel — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) honored two long-time biodiesel leaders for their outstanding commitment to the environment, which includes a carbon reduction strategy fueled by biodiesel. The EPA recognized Harvard
May 13, 2016 Read Full Article
(U.S. Department of Agriculture) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the joint investment of $10 million towards research that will drive more efficient biofuels production and agricultural feedstock improvements. These awards were made through the
May 9, 2016 Read Full Article
(Joule/BusinessWire) EPA Qualifies Joule Ethanol Under Clean Air Act — Joule, the pioneer of drop-in liquid fuels from recycled CO2, today announced major accomplishments in the first quarter of 2016 that are accelerating the commercialization of environmentally sustainable ultra-low carbon fuel. These advancements include EPA approval of Joule’s Sunflow®-E ethanol process
April 8, 2016 Read Full Article
by Brady Dennis (The Washington Post) More than a dozen state attorneys general gathered in New York earlier this week, ostensibly to announce their support for President Obama’s efforts to combat global warming and to underscore their intention to collaborate on investigations involving climate-related issues. But the undercurrent of Tuesday’s public announcement,
March 31, 2016 Read Full Article
by Tao Woolfe (The Sandwich Enterprise) Cape Cod Biofuels, Inc. has been cleared by all local regulatory boards and agencies and given the Sandwich Board of Selectmen’s blessings—a happy ending to an administrative scramble the company had to complete following an anonymous fuel storage complaint. The company was recently granted
by Alexis Bateman and Yossi Sheffi (MIT Sloan Management Review) How a Lack of Systemic Thinking Threatens a Sustainable U.S. Energy Policy — … In 2011, a combination of market conditions and government policies in the U.S. and Brazil led to a perverse situation in which American firms were selling subsidized corn-based
March 23, 2016 Read Full Article
by Peter Vail and Dallas Burtraw (Resources for the Future) As the political likelihood of passing comprehensive national climate policy has remained low, many states have taken up the mantle. This devolution of climate policy has been further reinforced by the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) efforts to regulate carbon dioxide from
March 21, 2016 Read Full Article
by Jennifer Horrillo (Diesel Direct/Special to Advanced Biofuels USA) At Diesel Direct, we are proud to have the nation’s first hybrid diesel electric fuel delivery truck. The truck was put into use in the fall of 2010. At the time, diesel prices were very high and the diesel hybrid electric
March 9, 2016 Read Full Article
by Peng Hua, Sagar Chakraborty, Amit Kumar, Benjamin Woolston, Hongjuan Liu, David Emerson, and Gregory Stephanopoulos (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) In the quest for inexpensive feedstocks (cost-effective fuel production), here we show a two-stage integrated bioprocess for the conversion of syngas to lipids. We harness the innate
March 8, 2016 Read Full Article
(Diesel Direct/PR Log) Diesel Direct announced the acquisition of all assets of Pure Energy, Inc. The strategic purchase includes all mobile fueling customers, a full portfolio of biodiesel products, and Pure Energy’s sustainable energy intellectual property. In addition, all full-time employees, including the owner of Pure Energy, have joined Diesel
February 26, 2016 Read Full Article
by Richard Martin and Michael Reilly (MIT Technology Review) The U.S. Navy is touting its “Great Green Fleet,” but why haven’t biofuels made a bigger splash despite a decade of hype and investment? … The mandates outlined in the legislation created an industry whose size wouldn’t make sense unless oil
January 28, 2016 Read Full Article
(Joule/BusinessWire) Major milestones include acquisition of Red Rock Biofuels, expanded partner relationships, continued strong technology development backed by strong financing partners — Joule, the pioneer of drop-in liquid fuels from recycled CO2, announced today that it has gained significant traction in the acceleration and commercialization of environmentally sustainable ultra-low carbon fuel
January 22, 2016 Read Full Article
(Public News Service) Sometime next month a new plant in Greenfield should start cranking out clean biodiesel fuel that is manufactured from recycled cooking oil. Co-op Power CEO Lynn Benander says the plant will take cooking oil waste from restaurants, schools and institutions in the area and convert it into
December 14, 2015 Read Full Article
(University of Massachusetts Amherst) University of Massachusetts Amherst computational chemist Scott Auerbach has been awarded a three-year, $330,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to improve basic understanding and optimize the process of producing fuels such as gasoline from plant biomass instead of from petroleum. For more than 50 years,
December 9, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jeff Plungis (Bloomberg) Batteries generate power less efficiently as temperatures drop. — … The trouble is, except for Oregon, none of the states have California’s temperate weather. The batteries used by the greener cars generate electricity from chemical reactions that work less efficiently as temperatures drop. In tests conducted by the
December 7, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington state, King County Superior Court Judge Hollis R. Hill issued a groundbreaking ruling that the “scientific evidence is clear that the current rates of (emissions) reduction mandated by Washington law. . . cannot ensure the survival of an environment in which [youth] can
November 23, 2015 Read Full Article
(Joule/Red Rock Biofuels/BusinessWire) Joule, the pioneer of liquid fuels from recycled CO2, and Red Rock Biofuels, a leading developer of renewable jet and diesel fuel bio-refineries, today announced their intent to merge. Red Rock adds a proven technology pathway to Joule’s own Helioculture technology and strengthens Joule’s platform for global
November 12, 2015 Read Full Article
by Devin Henry (The Hill) A group opposing the federal ethanol mandate has extended its advertising campaign against the rule into several corn-growing states. The American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF), a D.C.-based free market group, is hitting the airwaves in Indiana on Tuesday with an ad warning about the
November 11, 2015 Read Full Article
(Center for Regulatory Solutions) … How have the RFS and federal corn consumption mandates impacted non-corn states, and the small businesses struggling to stay competitive in the global economy? According to a new study commissioned by the Center for Regulatory Solutions (CRS), a project of the Small Business and
November 10, 2015 Read Full Article
by Shannon Young (MassLive) A Washington D.C.-based group launched a television ad campaign in Boston this week that takes aim at the federal corn ethanol mandates and calls on congressional lawmakers to end them. The 30-second ad, sponsored by American Council for Capital Formation, contends that while the mandates were
November 9, 2015 Read Full Article
by Michael McDonald (Bloomberg Business) The Massachusetts Institute of Technology rejected demands from a student-led group to divest its $13.5 billion endowment of fossil-fuel investments, joining universities such as Harvard and Yale. MIT said in an announcement on Wednesday that it will instead remain engaged with energy companies and introduced a
October 22, 2015 Read Full Article
(Environmental Leader) Currently planned fuel economy standards (extended to the year 2050) would cost 10 percent of the economy’s global gross domestic product (GDP) in 2050, compared with only 6 percent under cap-and-trade carbon pricing, according to a study published in the Journal of Transport Economics and Policy. The study
October 16, 2015 Read Full Article
(NGT News) The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) says its fiscal and management control board has unanimously approved the purchase of 44 diesel-hybrid buses for its Silver Line and other high-volume bus routes. The 60-foot-long buses will replace a fleet of existing compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered buses that began serving
October 14, 2015 Read Full Article
(Joule/BusinessWire) Joule, the pioneer of liquid fuels from recycled CO2, today announced that its fuel grade Sunflow®-E ethanol has been registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for commercial use in E10 and E15 gasoline blends. “We are approaching commercialization with a technology that is first of its kind,
October 2, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jeremy Plester (The Guardian) Imagine if waste carbon dioxide in the air could be turned into useful products such as fuels, building materials or even baking powder. At a stroke it would help get rid of a greenhouse gas, slow down climate change and make money from a major pollutant.
September 28, 2015 Read Full Article
(Vertimass/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Vertimass LLC announced the company has chosen Technip to provide pilot testing, scale-up, and initial plant design for their novel technology for converting alcohol to renewable gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel blend stocks that are compatible with the current transportation fuel infrastructure. The work will be done
September 21, 2015 Read Full Article
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), will conduct a workshop for U.S. small to medium size businesses in Boston, MA on October 14th, 2015, the latest in the highly-successful Expanding Horizons series that helps businesses learn how they can compete in the global marketplace. The BOSTON workshop will be held
September 9, 2015 Read Full Article
by Mark Dorenkamp (Brownfield Ag News) The heating oil market is well established along the East Coast with approximately 6.2 million homes relying on it during the winter. But progressive states in that region are looking to move towards renewable fuels and have issued mandates in New York, Connecticut, Rhode
August 24, 2015 Read Full Article
by Mark Dorenkamp (Brownfield Ag News) Representatives of the East Coast home heating fuel market are begging for biodiesel produced in Minnesota. The state Soybean Growers Association and Research and Promotion Council are hosting a group from states including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts interested in using bioheat. Executive director
August 20, 2015 Read Full Article
by Phil McKenna (Green Biz) The fate of the world’s oceans may rest inside a stainless steel tank not quite the size of a small beer keg. Inside, genetically modified bacteria turn corn syrup into a churning mass of polymers that can be used to produce a wide variety of common
August 17, 2015 Read Full Article
(Massachusetts Clean Energy Center/Biomass Magazine) Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) CEO Alicia Barton recently announced $1.1 million in funding for three projects across Massachusetts that will convert organic materials into energy. … Each award will support the development of anaerobic digestion facilities in the communities of Bourne, Freetown and Hadley. …
August 3, 2015 Read Full Article
by Nancy Stauffer (MIT Energy Initiative) Chemical engineers and biologists at MIT have found a simple way to make yeast produce more ethanol from sugars: Spike the mixture they’re growing on with two common chemicals. Adding potassium and an acidity-reducing compound helps the yeast tolerate higher concentrations of the ethanol they’re making
July 14, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Drop-in Hydrocarbon fuels made directly by plants? Here. we look at the science and risks of turning an “ability” into an “industrial reality”. It’s common knowledge that terrestrial plants (and many aquatic species) use carbon dioxide, water and sunlight to make the molecules they need
July 7, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, Joule, the pioneer of liquid fuels from recycled CO2, announced the issuance of an additional patent on the direct, continuous production of hydrocarbon fuels – extending its ability to target the highest-value molecules of the petroleum distillation process and generate them on demand
June 17, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Fuels, chemicals, pathways, and microbes that could shake it all up … (H)ere are 8 Hot Targets that we can point to that could be game-changers in the world of making fuels, chemicals and biomaterials from pleasant alternatives to petroleum. The one you’ll note that is
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) In a May 8 letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Senators Markey and Warren, both Democrats from Massachusetts, question the value of bioenergy, energy sourced from cellulosic and woody material, primarily wood waste from the lumber, pulp and paper industries. The EPA’s Clean Power Plan
May 15, 2015 Read Full Article
(The Recorder) Co-op faces June 1 deadline on construction bids. The member-owned co-op that’s trying to build a $4.2 million biodiesel factory in the Greenfield Industrial Park is racing toward a June 1 deadline on construction bids to raise what it says is the final $850,000 for the project that
May 12, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, news arrives from Joule that the company’s CO2-recycled ethanol meets US and European fuel specifications. No one is dying of surprise that they would do so, but getting Joule fuels registered for commercial sale is an important step towards commercialization of the technology,
May 11, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, the remarkable journey of Joule Unlimited towards commercial-scale continued to add exciting chapters with the news that the company has closed on $40 million in private equity and venture debt financing, supporting the company’s growth towards commercialization. The round was led by
May 11, 2015 Read Full Article
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Refining ethanol may release more of some pollutants than burning it in vehicles. After quantifying the airborne emissions from the nation’s third largest ethanol refinery, a team led by NOAA and University of Colorado–Boulder researchers has found that for some gases, refining ethanol releases
May 8, 2015 Read Full Article
by Steven Mufson (The Washington Post originally posted December 2013; includes 2015 updates) A divestment movement is marching across U.S. college campuses, borrowing tactics from the 1980s anti-apartheid campaign and using them against oil, gas and coal companies to fight climate change. Students are teaming with investment advisers to convince
April 16, 2015 Read Full Article
by Hank Naughton (Roll Call) … However, the one downside of cheap fuel at the pump is that it lulls people into forgetting our over-reliance on oil creates a serious national security concern for America and our allies. In the United States, we use oil to power about 90 percent of our
March 5, 2015 Read Full Article
(Science Daily/University of Arizona) Sea levels from New York to Newfoundland jumped up about four inches in 2009 and 2010 because ocean circulation changed. The unusual spike in sea level caused flooding along the northeast coast of North America and was independent of any hurricanes or winter storms. A new
March 2, 2015 Read Full Article
by Elizabeth Cooney (Harvard Medical School/Wyss Institute) Harvard scientists have created a system that could speed adoption of solar-generated fuels as a power source … Now scientists from a team spanning Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Medical School and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at
February 17, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) There’s a good chance that the electric battery of the future will have biobased aspects to them — or may even be powered by a biofuel. How’s that again? The Digest investigates. … A team led by Angela Belcher at MIT — who had a previous
February 6, 2015 Read Full Article
(Phys.Org/ Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) A common algae commercially grown to make fish food holds promise as a source for both biodiesel and jet fuel, according to a new study published in the journal Energy & Fuels. The researchers, led by Greg O’Neil of Western Washington University and Chris Reddy
February 6, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Pyromania! Anellotech lands key European partners to commercialize its pyrolysis-based pathway to high-value renewable BTX chemicals. In New York, Anellotech, IFP Energies nouvelles and its subsidiary Axens have announced a strategic alliance to develop and commercialize a new technology for the low cost production of
January 20, 2015 Read Full Article
by Amanda Peterka (E&E Publishing / Greenwire) Bioenergy production would boom and spur steep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions if a global price is slapped on carbon, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers say in a report released today. Examining bioenergy production under a $15-per-metric-ton carbon price that would rise steadily
January 16, 2015 Read Full Article
by Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian) Campaigners protest over ‘blood money’ investments that come ahead of a lawsuit brought by students over Harvard’s refusal to divest from companies that cause climate change Harvard has newly invested tens of millions of dollars in oil and gas companies, rebuffing campaigners’ demands to sever
January 14, 2015 Read Full Article
by Nick DeLuca (Bostinno) On Monday, January 5, pop-up bus service Bridj launched a new mobile app as part of its beta testing. The sleek new platform is available for both iOS and Android users to download for free. Bridj uses big data to transport commuters via bus to their
January 7, 2015 Read Full Article
by Isabel Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, new research may advance our understanding of “how the relative proportions of biopolymers,” like lignin, “are controlled in plant tissue”. The study, led by Sam Hazen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was published in Nature on December 24th, and should assist future
January 5, 2015 Read Full Article
by Jessica Bartlett (Boston Business Journal) A Harvard geneticist may have unlocked the code to large-scale chemical and biofuel production, saying that researchers used the theory of evolution to trick bacteria into mass-making useful chemicals. Reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a team of researchers, led by
December 30, 2014 Read Full Article
(Water Environment Research Foundation/PR Web) The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) is expanding its research with three new projects that examine wastewater as a resource. Two of the projects seek to show that materials in wastewater can be commoditized. The third project explores a new method of reducing phosphorus in
December 17, 2014 Read Full Article
by Ben Messenger (Waste Management World) Two brothers in their 70s have been sentenced for conspiring to sell and transport used cooking oil stolen from restaurants in Rhode Island and Massachusetts to a processing plant in New Hampshire for processing to animal feed and biofuel. The U.S. Department of
December 12, 2014 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Homestead Engineering has been a biodiesel producer and for the past 14 years has sold Yellow Brand Biodiesel, always B-100, retail throughout Western Massachusetts, both packaged and bulk deliveries. For road fuel or for off-road, Yellow Biodiesel comes with full support to assist in any
December 11, 2014 Read Full Article
by Martin LaMonica (Xconomy) The list of advanced biofuel companies that failed to live up to their ambitions is long and discouraging. Joule Unlimited, though, appears to be making progress despite the headwinds of skeptical investors and, more recently, falling oil prices. The Bedford, MA-based company last week said that Serge
November 21, 2014 Read Full Article
by Julie Fahnestock (Just Means) … In fact, traditional cooking methods—open fires of wood and chemically based charcoals—have been deemed “the silent killer.” According to the World Health Organization, more people in the developing world die each year from illness caused by smoke inhalation than malaria, HIV and tuberculosis combined.
November 18, 2014 Read Full Article
by Greg St. Martin (News@Northeastern) An international research team led by Dan Distel, director of the Ocean Genome Legacy Center of New England Biolabs at Northeastern University, has discovered a novel digestive strategy in shipworms. The breakthrough, the researchers say, may also be a game-changer for the industrial production of
November 14, 2014 Read Full Article
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, Mascoma Corporation announced that it has completed the sale of its yeast business to Lallemand Inc., a privately owned company that researches, develops, produces and markets yeasts, bacteria, and related products. As part of the transaction, Lallemand has acquired the Mascoma company name and
November 5, 2014 Read Full Article
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