Articles in Massachusetts
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
(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 …
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 …
(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 …
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. …
(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 …
(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 …
(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 …
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, …
(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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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, …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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.
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2016 was a breakthrough year for the biodiesel industry, and …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
by Scott Weybright (Washington State University) When it comes to second generation biofuels, Washington State University research shows that consumers are willing to pay a premium of approximately 11 percent over conventional fuel.
“We were surprised …
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 …
(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 …
(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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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.
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The fuels and chemicals are often produced using …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
(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 …
(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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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?
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The mandates outlined …
(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 …
(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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
(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, …
(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 …
(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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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.
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Each award will support the …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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, …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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
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Now scientists from a team spanning Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
(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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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. …
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 …
(US Enviromental Protection Agency) “Each year, the projects and designs created by the P3 teams surpass expectations,” said Lek Kadeli, Acting Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “These students are creating sustainable …
by Anne Trafton (MIT News Office) Different environment helps yeast tolerate high levels of ethanol, making them more productive. Yeast are commonly used to transform corn and other plant materials into biofuels such as ethanol. …
(U.S. Department of Energy) Bioenergy: America’s Energy Future is a short documentary film showcasing examples of bioenergy innovations across the biomass supply chain and the United States. The film highlights a few stories of individuals …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … From Massachusetts, word arrived from Joule this week that the EPA has favorably reviewed the company’s Microbial Commercial Activity Notice for Joule’s first commercial ethanol-producing catalyst. This clears the catalyst …
(MIT News) Cullen Buie manipulates micro-scale phenomena to optimize energy conversion devices.
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Buie’s work on microbial fuel cells is just one effort of many at LEMI, where projects draw upon fields including microfluidics, electrokinetics, electrochemistry, and …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Sweetwater Energy and Proterro, two companies using widely different approaches, aim for low-cost sugar that may give today’s corn ethanol plants a glide path into advanced ethanol production. They’re …
(US Department of Energy Energy Information Administration) The number of retail fueling stations offering motor fuel that can be up to 85% ethanol, known as E85, has grown rapidly since 2007. According to the Alternative Fuels …
by Anne Trafton (MIT News) MIT chemists have devised a way to trap carbon dioxide and transform it into useful organic compounds, using a simple metal complex.
More work is needed to understand and optimize the …
by Martin LaMonica (MIT Technology Review) The sell-off of synthetic biology pioneer LS9 goes to show that making biofuels from genetically engineered microbes has yet to deliver economically.
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LS9 had hoped to be selling diesel to …
by J. K. Shoemaker, D. P. Schrag, M. J. Molina, V. Ramanathan (Science Magazine) Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) include methane (CH4), black carbon (BC), tropospheric ozone, and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). They are important contributors to anthropogenic climate …
