by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Documents filed with the SEC confirm what many voices in the industry have been saying about the Amyris, Gevo and PetroAlgae IPOs – they are “financing events” to fund these companies’ yawning capital requirements rather
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Back TO HOMEHis Corporate Strategy: The Scientific Method
by Andrew Pollack (New York Times) ...Now Dr. Venter is turning from reading the genetic code to an even more audacious goal: writing it. At Synthetic Genomics, he wants to create living creatures — bacteria, algae or even plants —
September 14, 2010 Read Full Article
Senate Must Pass Small-Business Incentives, Voinovich Says
by Lori Montgomery (The Washington Post) ... The senator is a strong advocate of responsible budgeting and has long called for increasing the gas tax, the traditional financing source for the nation's roadways. He said he mentioned that in his phone
September 09, 2010 Read Full Article
Fall River Officials to Sit in on Taunton City Council Meeting, Show their Support for Trash Disposal Plan
by Charles Winokoor (Tauton Daily Gazette) ...Taunton Mayor Charles Crowley has said that EOEA officials consider the process by which such a facility operates in violation of DEP’s 20-year-old moratorium on new facilities that incinerate solid waste. In addition, state officials
August 31, 2010 Read Full Article
African Case Study: Palm Oil and Economic Development in Nigeria and Ghana; Recommendations for the World Bank's 2010 Palm Oil Strategy
by Thompson Ayodele (Initiative for Public Policy Analysis) Forward by Dr. Matthew O. Eshalomi: Growth and prosperity of an economy are central to the longterm reduction in poverty for both economic and environmental sustainability. Palm oil and palm oil manufacturing represents
August 24, 2010 Read Full Article
Range Fuels Produces Cellulosic Methanol From First Commercial Cellulosic Biofuels Plant
(PR Newswire) Range Fuels' Commercial Cellulosic Biofuels Plant near Soperton, Georgia Produces Cellulosic Methanol from Non-Food Biomass Range Fuels, Inc., a company focused on commercially producing low-carbon biofuels and clean renewable power, today announced that it has produced cellulosic methanol from the
August 18, 2010 Read Full Article
BlueFire Ethanol Fuels Rebrands as BlueFire Renewables, Inc.
(Blue Fire Renewables) Name Change Designed to Better Reflect Its Fuel and Energy Production Capabilities BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc., a company focused on changing the world's transportation fuel paradigm through the production of renewable fuels from non-food cellulosic wastes, today announced that
August 17, 2010 Read Full Article
Solazyme Takes Lead in Race for Commercialized Algal Oil; Raises $52M for Algal Fuel Expansion
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Solazyme, which was ranked #1 in the 2009-10 “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy” by Biofuels Digest readers and selectors, announced that it has raised $52 million in its Series D financing round.... In addition to its
August 10, 2010 Read Full Article
Ceres Opens a Subsidiary in Brazil to Develop the Business of Sweet Sorghum
(Ceres) Ceres , Inc., a leader in developing cultivars for bioenergy created a subsidiary in Brazil. The announcement marks an expansion of the subsidiary activities of sweet sorghum in Brazil and the company's goal to be the first supplier to the
August 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Pennsylvania Pursues Alternative Fuel JV
(Algae Industry Magazine) The Raytheon Co., Accelergy Corp. of Houston, TX, and A2BE Carbon Capture LLC/Algae at Work, of Boulder, CO have formed a joint venture to develop a technology to gasify algae mixed with coal and/or coal waste into a
August 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Accelergy Receives Grant from Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority
(Accelergy) Carbon Cycle Technology Alliance to scale carbon capture and recycling operations Accelergy Corporation, a global leader in the production of high-grade, domestically sourced liquid fuels, has been awarded an alternative and clean energy program grant from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Financing Authority
July 12, 2010 Read Full Article
Tax Truth: We Need to Raise the Levy on Gasoline
(Washington Post) Editorial ...What better time to revisit the enduring, maddening, illogical contrast between how little Americans actually pay to drive -- and how fiercely they resist even modest gasoline tax increases that would go a long way in addressing
July 08, 2010 Read Full Article
VEPOWER Signs Agreement with Jatropha Africa for 50,000 Hectares
(Environment-Expert.com) VEPOWER Limited has entered into an exclusivity agreement with Jatropha Africa with the goal of financing the Company’s 50,000 hectare plantation in Ghana, West Africa. VEPOWER will thus secure more than 40,000 tonnes of crude bio-fuel. ...The plantation in Ghana
July 07, 2010 Read Full Article
New Government Program Develops Future Fuels
by Sharon Epperson (CNBC) New financing from the federal government may help biotech companies develop fuels of the future, helping reduce America's dependence on oil. One such company is Agrivida, a small, agricultural biotech outside Boston. Until recently, most of its funding
July 01, 2010 Read Full Article
The Song That Never Ends: the Financing of Cellulosic Ethanol
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...The Infinite Loop in financing cellulosic ethanol is the setting of conditions for loan guarantees by the Department of Energy which cannot be fulfilled; the insistence of project financiers that, without loan guarantees, project financing
June 24, 2010 Read Full Article
Hard Choices Now: Financing the Renewable Fuel Standard
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Bottom line – if you make the ethanol blender credit go away, but stand behind the mandate and Shift the spending towards investment tax credits and loan guarantees, it is possible to do the following: 1.
June 17, 2010 Read Full Article
Biobutanol – the Fuel to Leap the Blend Wall?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Digest readers who closely analyze the Advanced Biofuels Tracking Database will have noticed that, commencing in 2012, biobutanol is scheduled to grow rapidly from pilot stage today to more than 500 million gallons in production by
June 15, 2010 Read Full Article
Ignore The Brickbats
by Pramod Chaudhari (Business Outlook India) Leadership isn’t a popularity contest. It involves taking tough decisions that may not go down well with other stakeholders. ...Green leadership comes with its share of brickbats as also rewards. Any green or clean-tech solution
June 11, 2010 Read Full Article
$540 Million Boosts Brazil’s Ethanol Sector
(Biofuels International) The Brazilian Innovation Agency, FINEP (Research and Projects Financing), and Brazil’s National Development Bank (BNDES) have entered into a new partnership to promote bioethanol development, establishing a programme which will provide up to $540 million (€438.9 million) in
June 04, 2010 Read Full Article
Dearth of Financing Stalls Inventor of 110-mpg Engine
by Larry P. Vellequette (Toledo Blade) A year ago, hundreds of people flocked to a 100,000-square-foot former factory building in Wauseon's industrial area where a Napoleon, Ohio, inventor promised to begin building engines that would travel more than 110 miles on
June 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Methanol: Biofuel to love or hate?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...A lot of people refer to methanol as wood alcohol – referring to the ancient process of extracting methanol from wood, using pyrolysis. In recent years, it has been primarily extracted from methane — the
May 25, 2010 Read Full Article
Mascoma’s Plan for Ethanol Plant in Michigan Likely Delayed, CEO Says
by Ryan McBride (Xconomy.com) Lebanon, NH-based Mascoma has made strides with its process for producing ethanol from non-food plants such as wood chips and grass. Yet the firm is likely to delay the start of production at its first planned commercial
May 25, 2010 Read Full Article
Algal Biomass Organization Publishes Annual Report
by Mary Rosenthal (Algal Biomass Organization) It was a great year for algae – and a great year for the Algal Biomass Organization. In the past 12 months, the algae industry has reached a number of critical milestones: significant federal policy
May 20, 2010 Read Full Article
The Name is Bond, part II: Financiers Find Biofuels Financing Options in Bond Market
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Although equity investors (primarily strategics and venture capitalists) and the government grant market has continued to participate strongly in biofuels investing, the debt market that typically represents up to 80 percent of commercial scale financing
May 17, 2010 Read Full Article
The Name is Bond: New Concepts in Bond Financing May Break Biofuels Finance Logjam
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A team from the investment bank Stern Brothers, the law firms Mintz Levin and Kreig DeVault have developed a bond-oriented approach that has received favorable initial reaction from the USDA, and may well break the logjam
May 14, 2010 Read Full Article
The Presidential Biofuels Directive: One Year Later, Where Are We?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...The invite-only meeting, which attracted more than 100 attendees, was structured around two panels, one focused primarily on policy and led by USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber and featuring biofuels consortium head Jose Olivares (Los
May 14, 2010 Read Full Article
Vilsack: USDA Needs to Take Chances
by Jerry Hagstrom (Ag Week) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said at a White House clean energy forum May 6 that USDA may have to take bigger chances with its business loan guarantees if it is going to finance energy plants
May 14, 2010 Read Full Article
Southeast Asia – the Bio-Based Arabia?
by Per Dahlen (Biofuels Digest) ...Putting all this data together we seen that Southeast Asia requires some 2.7Mbpd, or 135 million tons per year to eliminate oil imports and to increase energy security. With second generation biofuels crops and technologies
May 12, 2010 Read Full Article
Biofuels Basics
Table of Contents Science Leads the Way Policy Reasons for Advanced Biofuels Technical ChallengesIf It's Such a Great Idea, Why Hasn't It Been Done Before? Generations 1, 2, 3 and 4: Talking about biofuels Making Advanced Biofuels: Biomass to Building Blocks;
May 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Future of Cellulosic Ethanol Remains Uncertain
by Mark Steil (Minnesota Public Radio) The idea of a biofuel made from something other than food was one of the stars of both the Bush and Obama administration's energy programs, but the future of cellulosic ethanol is in doubt. Cellulosic
May 03, 2010 Read Full Article
King of Fuel Alternatives: Ethanol Remains Major Player, but Future Unclear
by Rod Walton (Tulsa World) Ethanol is running strong in Oklahoma and nationwide, filling up storage terminals and flowing through most cars in some blended way. The corn-based variety, however, may be hitting a wall in the race for renewable fuels,
April 26, 2010 Read Full Article
Secretary Chu Announces New Partnerships Under the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas
(US DOE) The U.S. Department of Energy today announced a series of partnerships and other initiatives to address clean energy and energy security in the Western Hemisphere as part of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA). Secretary
April 19, 2010 Read Full Article
Southern Research Institute Signs an Agreement with HCL CleanTech to Help Develop a New Biofuel Production Process in Durham, North Carolina
HCL CleanTech, a US-Israeli biofuels technology development company, has selected Southern Research Institute in North Carolina as the hosting site and operator of its first pilot plant to produce low cost fermentable sugars, high-quality lignin and tall oils from North
April 06, 2010 Read Full Article
Tilapia Entrails Churn Out Biodiesel
(FIS) The Ceara Nucleus Foundation of Industrial Technology (NUTEC) is moving forward with a project that will transform it into a pioneer in the research of biodiesel production from tilapia entrails. For Fernando Pedro Dias, a researcher at NUTEC, the
March 24, 2010 Read Full Article
Federal Loan Programs Ill-Suited for Cellulosic Ethanol
by Cole Gustafson (Prairie Business Magazine) ... In addition to problems on Wall Street following the collapse of the financial markets, cellulosic biofuel producers have lacked standard benchmarks of performance like those used in grain corn ethanol plants (1 bushel
March 16, 2010 Read Full Article
Waiting for Godot: The Financing of Commercial Scale Advanced Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...“Cellulosic ethanol is not the same as first generation ethanol,” (Arnie) Klann (Bluefire Ethanol CEO) noted. “There, you had the corn growers, and there was a vested interest, and companies like ADM, Cargill to provide the support.
March 16, 2010 Read Full Article
Put Transportation Biofuel Commercial Deployment Where It Belongs: USDOT
by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) Contemplating the continued inability of the US to meet the biofuels and advanced biofuels production and sales expectations codified in the Renewable Fuels Standard, the Advanced Biofuels USA board passed a resolution to introduce
February 25, 2010 Read Full Article
Would Things Be Different without RFS1or2? Not Really.
by Robert E. Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) Since the provisions of the RFS were written into the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 without a realistic funding provision, RFS and RFS2 are, as a practical matter, “Sense of
February 25, 2010 Read Full Article
Leilani Munter Drives First All-Eco-Sponsored Car in Danica Patrick-Frenzied Daytona ARCA Effort
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) What is “green racing” really? Using biofuels in race cars is certainly part of it; urging the design and testing of efficient engines that take maximum advantage of biofuels’ special properties and can be
February 12, 2010 Read Full Article
Congress Are You Listening? DOD Energy Leader Needed Now
by Paul Bollinger (The DOD Energy Blog) It appears that the Obama Administration is close to formally announcing a nominee for the Department of Defense (DOD) Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs. The Director of this office will have
February 12, 2010 Read Full Article
Propel Fuels of Sacramento Receives $20-million Investment
by Tiffany Hsu (Los Angeles Times) Propel Fuels received $20 million in funding, the renewable-fuels retailer said. Along with a $12-million investment from Craton Equity Partners, Nth Power and @Ventures, the company received $8 million in debt financing. The funds
February 11, 2010 Read Full Article
Moving America’s Clean Energy Economy Forward: Boost for Biofuels, Clean Coal
by Heather Zichal (White House Blog) ... The President’s Biofuels Interagency Working Group released its first report – Growing America’s Fuel, which lays out a strategy to advance the development and commercialization of a sustainable biofuels industry to meet or
February 09, 2010 Read Full Article
Obama Announces Steps to Boost Biofuels, Clean Coal, Releases RFS2
President Barack Obama announced a series of steps his Administration is taking as part of its comprehensive strategy to enhance American energy independence while building a foundation for a new clean energy economy, and its promise of new industries and
February 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Is This the Life Sciences Century? A Washington, DC, Conversation
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) “Maybe the “Valley of Death” is working as it should for the biofuels industry. First generation biofuels seem to be finding their place in the market. Maybe there are good reasons that other technologies
January 27, 2010 Read Full Article
Cellulosic-Ethanol Mandate Faces Snags
by Naureen S. Malik (Wall Street Journal) Cellulosic-ethanol production, a cornerstone of the U.S. government's plan to curb greenhouse-gas emissions, is earmarked to overtake corn ethanol over the next decade. But the industry's expected takeoff could be delayed by a year. Several potholes
December 29, 2009 Read Full Article
State of the Argentine Biodiesel Industry
(Camara Argentina de Energias Renovables/CADER) · In the last few months the Argentine biodiesel industry has stabilized output, if not profitability, and in August 2009 produced some 109,000 tons after a very good July; · In the last few months
December 29, 2009 Read Full Article
Growth Stage Financing for an Algae Company
by Todd A. Taylor (Fredrikson & Byron) From his presentation at the Algae Biomass Summit in October 2009, Todd Taylor outlines the process, challenges and expectations of finding funding for any new technology/advanced biofuels company. READ MORE
December 28, 2009 Read Full Article
InterAmerican Development Bank Provides $25 Million Funding Boost To Peru's Biofuel Project
The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a $25 million loan to support an innovative private biofuels project currently being developed in the department of Piura, Peru. An initiative of Maple Energy Plc, an energy company that has focused solely on Peru
December 16, 2009 Read Full Article
US Dept. of Energy Secretary Chu Announces Climate REDI
Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the launch of a new initiative to promote clean energy technologies in developing countries. Secretary Chu also welcomed progress under the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) and invited his counterparts in MEF
December 15, 2009 Read Full Article
Department of Energy Issues Final Rule on Loan Guarantees
Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced the issue of a final rule amending the Department of Energy’s regulations for its Loan Guarantee Program. The revised rule will allow for increased participation in the program by financial institutions and other investors and
December 08, 2009 Read Full Article
Inter-American Development Bank Publishes Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard
The Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI) and the Structured and Corporate Finance Department (SCF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have created the IDB Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard based on the sustainability criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels
December 04, 2009 Read Full Article
Origin Oil CEO Develops New Ideas for Financing Biofuels
In a presentation called "This is 1992," Riggs Eckelberry compares the state of the advanced biofuels industry to that of Internet-related industries in 1992 proposing a "distributed partnership model" of limited capital expenditure, clean balance sheets, minimal leverage, streamlined operational focus on
December 03, 2009 Read Full Article
Access to Clean Energy Challenge: A Business Plan Competition for Entrepreneurs that Deliver Access to Clean Energy in Developing Countries
Receive coaching, feedback and support in writing your business plan Win a trip to the Netherlands to meet investors and business partners, and the opportunity of being considered for more than USD $100.000 of finance Get expert advice while starting your business Access
November 05, 2009 Read Full Article
US House Agriculture Subcommittee Holds Hearing on Future of Next Generation Biofuels
Tim Holden (D-PA) chair of the Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research, held hearings concentrating on the future of next generation biofuels. Dallas Tonsager, Under Secretary for Rural Development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture admitted in prepared testimony that
October 30, 2009 Read Full Article
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and Cleantech Group Announce Launch of Government Funding Resource
The publicly available tool--driven by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati content--aggregates and frequently updates the numerous financing opportunities, such as grants, loan guarantees, tax credits, and other programs, being offered by federal and state governments. Users are able to search
October 29, 2009 Read Full Article
Scaling Up Is Hard to Do
by Peter Fairley (Technology Review) ... Producing advanced biofuels on the scale of tens of billions of gallons per year will mean financing several hundred commercial-scale biorefineries at a net cost of roughly $250 billion. For investors in cellulosic ethanol
October 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Total Intends to Take an Active Part in BioTfueL France’s Second-Generation Biodiesel Pilot Program
As Europe’s leading automotive fuel refiner and marketer, Total is committed to stepping up the development of second-generation biofuels, which are needed to improve the environmental profile of crop-based fuels and avoid the use of food crops as feedstock. Already a
October 12, 2009 Read Full Article
Biofuels Digest Publishes 5-part Series on the New Rules for Financing Bioenergy
Biofuels Digest published a 5-part series on where the industry is obtaining financing in the year since the seizure of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and collapse of Lehman Brothers triggered the global financial meltdown. In Part I of the series,
September 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Algae as Fuel of the Future Faces Great Expectations -- and Obstacles
by Anne C. Mulkern (New York Times/Greenwire) ... It is a big bet with high stakes. Venture capitalists, including Bill Gates' financing arm, infused Sapphire Energy with a combined $100 million. Exxon Mobil Corp. this summer invested $600 million in a
September 18, 2009 Read Full Article
Business and Non-Government Resources
Table of Contents Aldo Leopold Leadership Program Resources Center Biofuels for Europe Biofuels Center of North Carolina and the Biofuels Wiki Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) and Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Southwest Research Institute SunGrant Centers of Excellence's
September 18, 2009 Read Full Article
Algae Biofuels Economic Viability: A Project-Based Perspective
by Jeff H. Hassannia (Diversified Energy Corporation) ... Instead of forecasting the likely costs for capital and O&M for a given architecture and its reported yield, let’s assess what a project would require in order to make it commercially viable. That
August 30, 2009 Read Full Article
Applications Being Accepted for Recovery Act 1603 Cash Grants in Lieu of Tax Credits
U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Energy announced at the end of July that they would be accepting applications for a program that will make direct payments in lieu of tax credits to companies that create
August 26, 2009 Read Full Article
Lignol Energy Corp. and BAE Systems to Refine Biochemicals at Cellulosic Ethanol Plant
Lignol Energy Corporation, a technology company in the cellulosic ethanol and biorefining sector, and BAE Systems PLC announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding to explore and develop commercial applications for biochemicals from the Lignol biorefinery process that have
July 28, 2009 Read Full Article
Biofuel Basics
This section is specifically designed for those who want to learn the basics about biofuels and advanced biofuels; for those who are new to the advanced biofuels industry; and for those who may be very familiar with one area of the wide
July 17, 2009 Read Full Article
Waste to Fuels Presentations Available
Videos of presentations from the 2009 Waste to Fuels Conference held May 17-19 in San Diego have been published. Topics include: overview of conversion technologies, use of forest waste, municipal solid waste and other waste feedstocks to make biofuels, along with sessions related to financing and
July 17, 2009 Read Full Article
Abundant Biofuels Corporation Offers Low-Cost, Long-Term Contracts to Supply Jatropha Oil to U.S. Refiners With Under-Capacity Production Problems
Dr. Charles Fishel, Chairman of Abundant Biofuels Corporation, noted that "There are about 100 biodiesel refineries operating below capacity and another 47 idle refineries in the United States, alone." To help solve this problem, Abundant Biofuels provides standardized long-term contracts
June 30, 2009 Read Full Article
Biotech 2009 Life Sciences: Navigating the Sea Change Released; Survey of BioGreenTech Horizons Addresses Collapse of Traditional Financing Structure for Biotech Sector
In California, Burrill & Company released its 23rd annual industry report, Biotech 2009 Life Science, subtitled Navigating the Sea Change. The report contains extensive analysis and perspective on the performance of the biotech/life sciences industry in 2008 and forward projections for
May 04, 2009 Read Full Article
About Advanced Biofuels for Growers and Investors
Advanced Biofuels are liquid transportation or power generation/heating fuels derived from: low nutrient input/high per acre yield crops; agricultural or forestry waste; or other sustainable biomass feedstocks including algae. Some thoughts about the current state of Advanced Biofuels. If you are a
April 06, 2009 Read Full Article
Grants
Table of Contents Other Grant Lists National Science Foundation Energy for Sustainability Grant Program National Science Foundation Transforming Undergraduate Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathmatics National Science Foundation Interagency Education Research Initiative National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education (ATE) US Department
March 26, 2009 Read Full Article
Slide Presentations for Public Use
Advanced Biofuels USA's presentations are available for public use for educational purposes. Please note the source, especially the slides that may have come from other presentations. Some PowerPoint presentations can be opened with Google Slides. This allows access to the lecture
March 04, 2009 Read Full Article
Our Staff and Finances
Joanne Ivancic, Executive Director Executive Director, Joanne Ivancic, has lived and worked in the Washington area for more than 30 years. She graduated from George Washington University National Law Center, worked for Senator Charles Grassley under his chairmanship of the
March 04, 2009 Read Full Article
Wish List
Advanced Biofuels USA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Your donations to support our mission are tax deductible. Your kind contributions in whatever amount you can give are greatly appreciated. If you are one of our contributors, THANK YOU for your support! You
March 04, 2009 Read Full Article
Make A Difference
Make A Difference By donating to Advanced Biofuels USA, you can help make a difference in how the world moves. Advanced Biofuels USA, a nonprofit educational organization, advocates for the adoption of advanced biofuels as an energy security, economic development, military flexibility
March 04, 2009 Read Full Article
BP and Verenium Form Leading Cellulosic Ethanol Venture to Deliver Advanced Biofuels
The joint venture company will initially focus on developing and securing financing for a first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Highlands County, Florida and expects to break ground on that site in 2010. The estimated construction cost for this 36