Advanced BioFuels USA – Truly Sustainable Renewable Future

Day: Fort Dodge Ethanol Plant Deemed Healthy

by Larry Kershner (The Messenger) ...While employees were treated to a company lunch under an awning outdoors, Bill Day, vice president of media and community relations, held a press conference to discuss the outlook for the Valero plant and ethanol

September 16, 2013 Read Full Article

‘Blend Wall’ Closes in, and Lobbies Spar over Impact

by Javier E. David (CNBC) ..."They act as if they didn't see this coming," said Adam Monroe, president of Novozymes North America, a biotechnoloy company that makes enzymes used in biofuel production. Given the onset of the 2008 recession

September 16, 2013 Read Full Article

New Ethanol Survey Misleads Consumers

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) A new online survey conducted by Harris Interactive finds that U.S. consumers are ill-prepared for the introduction of higher ethanol fuel blends such as E15. Commissioned by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) the survey is misleading because

September 16, 2013 Read Full Article

Sundrop Hopes New Plant Fuels Renewable-Energy Growth

by Jeff Thomas (Boulder County Business Report) ... “You have to have hydrogen to mass produce renewable biofuels. Natural gas is cost effective and it’s plentiful,” said Steven Silvers, spokesman for Sundrop Fuels Inc. “Every gallon of domestically made biofuel is

September 16, 2013 Read Full Article

IATA Calls for Smarter Eastern European Aviation

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has urged governments in Eastern Europe to work with industry stakeholders to realise the benefits of aviation across the region. "Aviation connectivity can play a key role in the economic success of Eastern Europe. But

September 16, 2013 Read Full Article

Running Late, 4FRI Plan Gets New Steward

by Raquel Hendrickson (Bugle/Verde Independent) ... The unprecedented project intends to treat and restore ponderosa pine forests in the Coconino, Kaibab, Tonto and Apache-Sitgreaves national forests in Arizona. Now, the massive stewardship contract has been transferred from Pioneer Forest Projects to

September 16, 2013 Read Full Article

Washington State University Tri-Cities to Head Federal Jet Bio-fuel Research Center

by Anna King (KPLU) Washington State University will lead a new federal research center focused on finding new biofuels for jet airplanes. ...WSU will work closely with the FAA, MIT near Boston and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The project,

September 16, 2013 Read Full Article

Wall St. Exploits Ethanol Credits, and Prices Spike

by Gretchen Morgenson and Robert Gebeloff (The New York Times) ...But a little known market in ethanol credits has also become a hot new game on Wall Street. ...But many people believe that is what happened this year when the price

September 16, 2013 Read Full Article

Farmer’s Markets

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As farmer’s markets boom — bringing great foods and prices directly to consumers — what can we learn about the real story of food vs fuel, when it comes to the use of crops that

September 16, 2013 Read Full Article

CALL FOR PAPERS: European Biomass Conference and Exhibition June 23-26, 2014 Hamburg, Germany DEADLINE: October 28, 2013

The European Biomass Conference and Exhibition (EU BC&E) ranks as one of the top world leading events in the Biomass sector, combining a highly respected international Conference with an Industrial Exhibition. It highlights progress in research, technological development and production processes. It brings together

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS: Ecochem November 19-20, 2013 Basel, Switzerland DEADLINE: September 27, 2013

We bring together the world’s most influential industry and government leaders, scientists, young future leaders and innovators from across the chemical industry and value chains to accelerate innovation, research, commercialisation and market uptake in the design, production and use of

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

CALL FOR PAPERS: Canadian Renewable Fuels Summit 2013 December 2-4, 2013 Montreal, Quebec, Canada DEADLINE: October 4, 2013

Canada is now a frontrunner in the worldwide effort to create clean, renewable sources of transportation fuel. The benefits of this approach are many. From an economic standpoint, our industry generates $2 billion in economic activity each and every year

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

USDA Announces Support for Producers of Advanced Biofuel

(US Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making payments to support the production of advanced biofuel. USDA is making nearly $15.5 million in payments to 188 producers through the

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

Scientific Symposium on the Toxicology of Alternate Fuels

(EurekAlert) "Biofuel" has become a global buzzword, with cars and trucks powered by fuel made from corn, corncobs and stalks, switchgrass and even waste oil from cooking french fries, envisioned as a way to stretch out supplies of crude oil

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

Follow-up Audit of the Department of Energy's Financial Assistance for Integrated Biorefinery Projects

(U.S. Department of Energy) ...Despite over 7 years of effort and the expenditure of about $603 million, the Department had not yet achieved its biorefinery development and production goals. Specifically, the EPAct mandate 2 to demonstrate the commercial application of integrated biorefineries

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

New Biodiesel Facility for Tunisia

(Biofuels International) Incbio, a Portugal-based biodiesel technology provider, has signed a contract with Biokast Energy to supply an 8,000 tonne capacity a year ultrasonic biodiesel plant for installation in Tunisia, North Africa. The pair expect the plant, to be located in

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

Biodiesel Feedstock Plantation Certified Sustainable

by John Davis (DomesticFuel.com) One of Cargill’s palm oil plantations in Indonesia used for providing a feedstock for biodiesel is certified as a sustainable operation. The company announced the PT Harapan Sawit Lestari (HSL) plantation was awarded the certification under the International

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

Marine Biofuel Plant Planned for Development in Denmark

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) The Denmark-based Port of Frederikshavn, Canadian biofuel company Steeper Energy, and Denmark-based Aalborg University have announced a partnership to develop a biofuel plant in Denmark that will produce sulphur-free, drop-in marine fuel from wood feedstock. ... Roughly

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

8 Billion Gallons of Fuel from Corn Crop Waste: USDA, Iowa State Report Confirms Potential

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Corn stover. It’s that inedible leftover from the corn crop, and if you’ve ever noted how big a corn plant is in comparison to the size of the ear, you know there’s a lot of

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

Leveling That Old Playing Field: As Biofuels Rise, What about Biobased Chemicals?

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... (B)iobased chemical producers have been mentioning for some time that, ahem, there’s no Renewable Chemical Standard, no tax incentive, no RINs for them – and they help reduce carbon, too. It becomes especially complex when

September 13, 2013 Read Full Article

U.S. to Pass Russia in Liquid Fuels Production, Says IEA

by Benoit Faucon, Wayne Ma and Summer Said (The Wall Street Journal) A top energy watchdog forecast the U.S. will bypass Russia in the production of liquid fuels—everything from crude and gasoline to biofuels like ethanol—solidifying America's growing importance in

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

A Market in Desperate Need of Transparency

by Mike Lux (Huffington Post) ...If the 2009 financial crisis taught us anything, it's that market manipulation and speculation is a recipe for disaster. Four years later, we don't seem to have learned our lesson. Wall Street has found another,

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

Ohio Firm Will Buy Little Falls Ethanol Plant: Green Biologics to Make Butanol with Facility

(St. Cloud Times) The Central Minnesota Ethanol Co-op on Wednesday made a deal to allow Green Biologics Inc. to acquire substantially all of its assets. CMEC was established in 1995 as an ethanol company based in Little Falls. Green Biologics, which specializes

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

Analyst Says Ethanol Rush Is Over, Corn May Drop to $3.25

by Brett Wessler (Ag Professional) Livestock producers are likely to see shrinking feed costs ahead with one market analyst forecasting lower corn prices as ethanol demand will be “flat-lining” into 2022. Dan Basse, AgResource Company, told the good news to cattle producers

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

How Big Poultry Sided with Big Oil

By Reid Detchon (The Baltimore Sun) Our ability to break our dependence on foreign oil is threatened by the effort to repeal the Renewable Fuel Standard Oil is essential to our economic and national security because our transportation system runs on

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

CA Ethanol and Power Project Approved by Board of Supervisors

by Krista Daly (Imperial Valley Press) The California Ethanol and Power Project is moving forward with its plan to generate clean fuel from sugar cane and sweet sorghum. Imperial County Board of Supervisors approved seven resolutions Tuesday dealing with water, zoning,

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

Researchers Create Biofuel out of Used Coffee Grounds

By James A. Foley (Nature World News) An estimated 1 million tons of coffee grounds are generated by java-loving Americans each year, and researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found a way to take what is usually thrown in

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

E15 Additions At the Right Price

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) According to some new information from the Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI), the cost of upgrading an existing retail gas station to sell E15 is much less than recently suggested by ethanol opponents. For the past year, several stations throughout

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

Celebvocate: Neil Young for Ethanol, Farm Bill

by Reliable Source (The Washinton Post) ...Event: National Farmers Union rally promoting passage of a five-year farm bill and touting the renewable fuel standard. Venue: Capitol Hill’s Lower Senate Park. ...What he wants: Fuel standards mandating an increased amount

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

V4 Agriculture Group Urge EU Support for Biofuel

by MTI (Politics.HU) The agricultural chambers of the Visegrad Four countries called on European decision-makers to support sustainable, crop-based biofuels, at a meeting of their leaders in Szekszard in southern Hungary on Monday. The V4 group of the Czech Republic, Hungary,

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

Food Price Fears Push EU Lawmakers to Put a Lid on Biofuels Growth

(EurActiv) The European Parliament has voted to limit the use of fuels made from food crops because of fears that biofuels can push up grain prices or damage the climate, further undermining the once booming industry. Lawmakers voting in Strasbourg on

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

Scenarios to Determine Approximate Cost for E15 Station Readiness

(Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI)) (from a letter to US Department of Agriculture) ... "You asked on August 13 if the Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI) had any information regarding the average price for installing E15 storage equipment and blender pumps at retail

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

The One-Stop, Get It Hot, Biobased Candy Men: Midori and Low-Cost Cellulosic Sugars

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Midori reports they have broken through on a 100-year quest for low-cost cellulosic sugars. And found a way to turn your cotton tees into sugars, too. About a year ago, a little-known company called Midori Renewables

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

Valero Implores Obama Administration to Waive Ethanol Mandate

by Mario Parker (Bloomberg/Fuel Fix) Valero Energy Corp., the world’s largest independent refining company, called on the Obama administration to waive the country’s biofuel target immediately, saying the cost to reach it has skyrocketed. “We need the waiver now,” Valero Chief

September 12, 2013 Read Full Article

Report: 160 Commercial Advanced Biofuel Plants under Development

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) has released a new report that predicts projected growth in advanced biofuel production capacity will be sufficient to meet both the federal renewable fuels standard (RFS) and California’s low carbon fuel

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Ethanol Industry on the Offensive after August Recess

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ... (Paul) Bertels (vice president of production and utilization for the National Corn Growers Association) said the harvest should bring in about 12.9 billion bushels of corn, the third largest crop ever and just 100

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

EPA Report on Pollutants, Ethanol Is Flawed, White Paper Says

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Ethanol Across America has released a new white paper that indicates mid-level ethanol blends offer much greater emission and health benefits than indicated by U.S. EPA models. The three-page document authored by Steve Vander

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Report: Strong Potential for Biofuel Industry in Atlantic Canada

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The Atlantic Council for Bioenergy Co-operative, in partnership with BioAtlantech New Brunswick, has released a report demonstrating a strong business case for the development of a biofuels industry in the Atlantic region of Canada.

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Targeting Ethanol Mandates Seen Hurting Cellulosic Growth

by Alan Bjerga & Mario Parker (Bloomberg) Efforts to roll back rules that nurtured the corn-based ethanol industry threaten to stunt other promising biofuels, according to a developer working on one of the nation’s first commercial plants that won’t use

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Synechocystis 6803 Just Might Be the Do-All Algal Strain

by Tony Fitzpatrick (Washington University/Algae Industry Magazine) Synechocystis 6803 – a versatile, specialized cyanobacterium – can produce ethanol, hydrogen, butanol, isobutanol and potentially biodiesel. And it’s a natural at converting CO2 to useful chemicals that could help both tame

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Mileage Gains Using Ethanol Seen 20% Higher Than EPA Estimates

by Mark Drajem (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) A tweak to an automobile’s engine software can improve by as much as 20 percent the estimated fuel efficiency when using gasoline with ethanol or methanol, according to a non-profit group pushing gasoline alternatives. A Fuel

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Renewable Fuel Pays off for Some Oil Refiners

by Jennifer A. Dlouhy (Fuel Fix) ... The rising cost of RINs turned out to be good economic news for some oil companies, especially those who are producing biofuels and have blending capacity, so they could capitalize on the credits tacked

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Berkeley Lab Researcher Applies Graph Theory to Biofuels Search

(US Department of Energy Office of Science) Energy scientists hope new plant varieties will yield large amounts of biomaterial, which new types of microbes will quickly and cheaply convert into clean-burning fuel. To achieve these goals, researchers will need novel

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Zimbabwe: Clashes At Chisumbanje Ethanol Plant 'Politically Motivated'

by Tererai Karimakwenda (AllAfrica.com/SW Radio Africa (London)) New clashes between local villagers and the police in the Nyamukwakwa area of Manicaland have been attributed to activists within ZANU PF, who are allegedly instructing the police and officials at the

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

McGregor Invests $2M to Rehab Facility

by Matthew Weaver (Capital Press) The McGregor Co. has invested more than $2 million in an abandoned biodiesel plant in Creston, Wash., turning it into a state-of-the-art distribution center for fertilizer. ... Alex McGregor, president of the company, said the goal during the four-year

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Kansas Ethanol Future at Crossroads

(Seattle PI/Associated Press) Ethanol producers say they are running up against market and regulatory pressures that are putting a crimp on the industry's future, despite lower prices for a key commodity to produce the fuel. The ethanol industry is distilling enough product

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

Seeking Delta: Biofuels, Algae, Natgas, CO2 and the Finding of True Value

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... “What you really are in the business of,” Aemetis CEO Eric McAfee reflects, “is capturing the arbitrage between the commodity price of your most expensive feedstock — and the price of your finished molecule plus

September 09, 2013 Read Full Article

MEPs Split ahead of Vote on Biofuel Targets

by Dave Keating (European Voice) Members of the European Parliament are scheduled to vote next week in Strasbourg on a controversial proposal to limit the amount of conventional biofuel that can be used to meet an EU target for transport fuel. The

September 06, 2013 Read Full Article

What Happened to Biofuels?

(The Economist) Energy technology: Making large amounts of fuel from organic matter has proved to be more difficult and costly than expected ...As well as being available to countries without tar sands, shale fields or gushers, biofuels can help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions

September 06, 2013 Read Full Article

Report: Biofuels Play Minor Role in Local Food Prices

(Ecofys) There is persistent concern that biofuels compete with food production, drive up food prices and price volatility and so cause hunger. Many people, including very dignified authorities, accept this simple causality chain. The reality is far more complex. In

September 06, 2013 Read Full Article

Flagship VentureLabs Launches Midori Renewables

(Flagship Ventures/PR NewsWire) New Venture is Commercializing a Novel Catalytic Process to Convert Non-Food Biomass Into Sugar Flagship VentureLabs announced today that Midori Renewables is globally deploying their Breaking the Biomass Barrier™ technology, a novel catalyst that melts non-food biomass into

September 06, 2013 Read Full Article

Bill Signed Requiring NYC Municipal Fleet to Use Biodiesel Blends

(National Biodiesel Board/Biodiesel Magazine) The largest municipal fleet in the country made a bold environmental statement yesterday with cleaner burning biodiesel. New York City Councilman James F. Gennaro, honored by the National Biodiesel Board with the 2011 Clean Energy Leadership Award,

September 06, 2013 Read Full Article

Run, Rufus, Run: Congress, 2013 and the Renewable Fuel Standard

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Today, we look at 2013-14, should Congress elect not to act — but leave the EPA and the markets to govern implementation of the existing law. 2014 Mandate The EPA will ultimately determine the annual mandate, but

September 06, 2013 Read Full Article

Stadium Cooking Oil to Be Converted to Biodiesel

by Diane Dietz (Register-Guard/Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle) The oil that cooked game day french fries at Autzen Stadium Saturday afternoon will be shipped to Salem, mingled with oil that cooked Kettle Chips and converted into biodiesel, which fans with diesel-burning

September 05, 2013 Read Full Article

How Big Ethanol Hopes You’re a Dope

by Alex Fitzsimmons (Institute for Energy Research) ...Millions of gallons of ethanol would be produced and used every year without the Renewable Fuel Standard since refiners would use it as an oxygenate. The problem is not ethanol per se, the problem

September 05, 2013 Read Full Article

A Business Case for a Cornstalks to Bioprocessing Venture

(Ontario Federation of Agriculture/Farming Sources) A value chain consortium presented their final report to local corn producers on a business case for sustaining a commercially viable cellulosic sugar plant in southwestern Ontario to support the future production of green chemicals. The

September 05, 2013 Read Full Article

ICAO Emissions Deal Moving Closer

by Jens Flottau (Aviation Week) A compromise solution on a global market-based measures (MBM) scheme to tackle aviation emissions appears to be nearing ahead of this month’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) assembly. According to several people familiar with the negotiations,

September 05, 2013 Read Full Article

Hawaiian Electric Companies Seek ULSD, Biodiesel Proposals

(The Hawaiian Electric Companies/Biodiesel Magazine) The Hawaiian Electric Companies began a search for suppliers of cleaner fuels, including ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD), biodiesel or biodiesel blends. The companies are seeking up to 150,000 barrels per year (6.3 MMgy) to supply

September 05, 2013 Read Full Article

Fixing Rufus: Congress, 2013 and the Renewable Fuel Standard

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Based on our industry sources, here’s an outline for a “change the RFS” outcome – what that might look like. We see four key elements — ethanol, drop-ins, biodiesel and the RIN system for smoothing

September 05, 2013 Read Full Article

Better Benchmarks = More Accurate Ethanol Picture

by John Davis (DomesticFuel.com) One of the issues ethanol producers struggle with is some outdated information being used to argue against the positive effects of the green fuel. It’s an issue attendees of the recent American Coalition for Ethanol’s (ACE) “Unite and

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Letter: Good for Consumers, Good for the Environment

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Concord Monitor) I am writing in response to the Aug. 30 Monitor editorial, “Can’t we keep gas from turning to goo?” The Renewable Fuel Standard is the single most effective energy policy in our nation’s history. It has shown

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Letter, 9/4: Ethanol the Choice for Many Reasons

by Todd Sneller (Lincoln Journal Star/Nebraska Ethanol Board) The well-written article “Cost of gas could soar” (Aug. 25) explains that oil companies have made a business decision that will further increase their profits by reducing the octane rating of gasoline

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Get to Know A Face of Ethanol

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) One message that was delivered during the 26th Annual Ethanol Conference over and over again is that both legislators and consumers need to know the faces of ethanol – to hear personal stories of how ethanol benefits America.

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Renewable Fuels Are Wave of the Future

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Pottstown Mercury) I am writing in response to Senator Pat Toomey’s Op-Ed that ran in The Mercury entitled “Federal regulations threaten Pa. refineries.” The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is not threatening refiners across the United States because

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

10% Ethanol Blending Can Save Rs 9000cr of FX: Shree Renuka

(MoneyControl.com) According to Narendra Murkumbi, blending 10 percent ethanol in petrol will reduce sugar surplus by almost one million to one-an-half-million tonne and that will be beneficial for the sugar industry. Overall, manadatory ethanol blending by the government will have

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Researchers Look to Grass to Make Gas

(Clemson University) Clemson University researchers focusing on switchgrass as a renewable fuel source are looking to fungi and bacteria — nature’s specialists in decomposing plants and animals into elements that can be reused to support life — to help make cost-competitive

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Clariant Certifies Cellulosic Ethanol Plant under European Directives

(Clariant) Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, has received the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) for its sunliquid® demonstration plant in Straubing (Germany), which was opened in July 2012. The certificate confirms that the cellulosic ethanol from agricultural

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Aemetis Announces EPA Approval as the First Converted Corn Ethanol Plant to Produce D5 Advanced Biofuels Using Sorghum/Biogas/CHP

(Fort Mill Times) Aemetis California Plant Approved for Same Low-Carbon Biofuels Category as Brazilian Ethanol Aemetis, Inc. (OTCQB: AMTX), an advanced fuels and renewable chemicals company, announced today that the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has granted Aemetis approval to produce

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Fueled vs Electric Cars: The Great Race Begins

Thomas Blakeslee (Renewable Energy World) ...Though solar electric is the clear winner based on land use, biofuels are still in the race (particularly if commercial scale) designer algae becomes a reality. Biofuels have a gigantic advantage in remote areas because

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Land Use Change Greenhouse Gas Emissions of European Biofuel Policies Utilizing the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) Model

by Thomas Darlington, Dennis Kahlbaum, Don O’Connor, Steffen Mueller, PhD (Air Improvement Resource, Inc./(S&T)2 Consultants Inc./University of Illinois, Chicago) ...The European Union (EU) is considering amending its current biofuel policy. The current policy, adopted in 2009, calls for 10% transportation renewable energy target (by

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Biofuels and the Straw Man

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...ActionAid UK released a report this week focusing on the story of Addax Biofuels in Sierra Leone. As Addax points out, it was not given the opportunity by Action Aid to review the serious allegations in

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Call Waiting, Biofuels, Genetics and You

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...The company (Kaiima) started up in 2006, and by 2009, the results were starting to show in castor beans. Castor oil is a good source for a variety of applications, including biofuels — but castor

September 04, 2013 Read Full Article

Valero Revamps Approach to Renewable Energy

by Vickie Vaughan (Fuel Fix) Valero Energy Corp. has been making adjustments to its investments in renewable energy. This year the San Antonio refiner quietly pulled out of a partnership to build a cellulosic ethanol plant while a second plant in

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

Advanced Biofuels USA Responds to Baltimore Sun’s Dan Rodrick’s column: Should the Grand Prix be a symbol of Baltimore?

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Klaus Philipsen, quoted in Dan Rodrick’s recent column about the Grand Prix of Baltimore, dislikes what the Grand Prix does, objects to its “heavy-metal aesthetics” and concludes that “racing big, stinky and noisy cars”

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

Fiberight Awarded MSW Supply Agreement

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Waste-to-energy firm Fiberight LLC plans to break ground on a solid waste recycling plant in Marion, Iowa, as soon as December. Once complete, the facility will process municipal solid waste (MSW) into feedstocks for

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

Is Ethanol’s Number Up?

by Steve Everly (Kansas City Star) ... Ethanol has so far reduced the need for petroleum in gasoline by about 7 percent, which no other alternative fuel has come close to doing. But a shift is already in the works. ... In practice it

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

University of Florida/IFAS Study Finds Algal Cells Create Fat More Quickly Than Thought, Could Aid Biofuel research

by Mickie Anderson (University of Florida) ... Many research teams in academia and private industry are struggling, however, with one vexing problem with algae as a fuel source: The conditions that promote algal growth aren’t the same as the conditions that

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

Plane Powered by Biofuels Makes Successful Trip

by Erica Sullivan (AgriNews) ...A faculty-and-student duo piloted the Purdue Embrarer Phenom 100 to the recent Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture, one of the largest international plane shows. One of the airplane’s engines was filled with typical jet fuel, and the other

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

Embracing Open-source Biotech: DNA Freeware May Out-Innovate Patented Genes

(Lux Research) Corporations will need to integrate open source with traditional patents for biotech innovations in medicine, renewable materials, and nutrition, Lux Research says With synthetic biology (synbio) rapidly gaining momentum, and a landmark U.S. Supreme Court judgment striking down an

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

R.C. Costello, Zeton Sign MOU to Offer Scale-up Services

(R.C. Costello & Associates Inc./Ethanol Producer Magazine) R.C. Costello & Associates Inc. and Zeton Inc. signed a Memorandum of Understanding last month. Costello has extensive front-end engineering, process modeling and design experience; and Zeton has specific know-how in the scale

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

Bad Ethanol Policy Is a Job Killer

by Patrick Meehan and Pat Eiding (The Wall Street Journal) The price of EPA compliance rose 3,625% since the end of 2012. ... As a display of regulatory failure at its finest, current regulations place the compliance obligation on refiners rather than on

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

Renewable Biojet Fuel Partnership Signed in Russia

(Biofuels International) An agreement has been made by aircraft manufacturer Airbus and RT-Biotechprom, a division of technology and construction company Rostec, to make aircraft biofuel from renewable sources in Russia. READ MORE

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

State Budget Cuts Threaten Future of Biofuels Research in North Carolina

by John Ramsey (Fayetteville Observer) ...Researchers say Southeastern North Carolina is uniquely poised to become a national leader in biofuel production for two primary reasons: The coastal Bermuda grass now grown on hog farms goes virtually unused because the hog waste

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

The Renewable Fuel Marketers’ Guide to Planet Houston

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Which raises the question: at what prices will bioenergy projects provide the kind of returns that would make a hard-bitten citizen of Planet Houston say a kind word or two about “choice at the fuel

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

Online Course: Energy 101 begins September 15, 2013 UT Austin

By being fluent in energy you will be able to think critically about energy issues. ABOUT THIS COURSE This multidisciplinary course will give students an overview of energy technologies, fuels, environmental impacts and public policies. Topics will be interdisciplinary and will include

September 03, 2013 Read Full Article

Schumer Calls for Safer Railcars to Transport Oil, Ethanol

by Tom Magnarelli (Innovation Trail) Sen. Charles Schumer is calling on the Department of Transportation to retrofit or phase out a specific type of railway car that carries crude oil and ethanol. The DOT-111 is the same kind of tank car as

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

New Letter Adding Fuel to Ethanol Debate

by Chris Woodward (One News Now) This week, CEI and ten other free-market organizations wrote Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI) and Henry Waxman (D-CA), urging them to abolish the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), which is being thoroughly reviewed by both congressmen. Myron

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

Technology, Biofuel on Agenda for U.S.-Brazil Talks, Moniz Says

by Gerald Jeffris (NASDAQ.com) Increased biofuel use and the development and application of new energy technologies will be the focus of talks between Brazil and the U.S. in coming months, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Friday. The secretary said the

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

Penn State Debuts Online Renewable Energy and Sustainability Systems Degree

(Pennsylvania State University) Interest in renewable energy is growing worldwide and so are jobs in this field, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s green economy occupations database. Penn State, which is ranked first among universities engaged in alternative energy research by Elsevier

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

First Carbon, Second Harvest

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... When you first harvest a forest or other biomass, you take all that carbon that’s been sequestered — if you use the “first cut” for energy or fuels, that carbon is released. Now, in the world

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel Produces 20 Millionth Gallon of Fuel, Teams Up With University of Oregon

(BusinessWire/SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel) -SeQuential Pacific Biodiesel, the longest-running commercial biodiesel producer in the Pacific Northwest, announces the production of its 20 millionth gallon of clean-burning, locally produced fuel, a milestone in the company’s 8 years of business in Oregon and

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

Terreno Looks to Dominican Biofuels with MoU

(Biofuels International) Canadian mining exploration and development business Terreno Resources has signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase biofuels concern Dominican Renewables. The deal is said to be worth around $2.5 million (€1.8 million) and would make Dominican a wholly-owned subsidiary

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

Designer Sugarcane, Not Switchgrass, Being Retooled to Produce Biofuels

by Rod Santa Ana (AgriLife) Second-generation bioenergy plants could be released in two years ...“Unlike corn, or even switchgrass, sugarcane is unique in that it can be crossed with different species, including sorghum, to create new plant varieties with favorable traits that

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

Argonne Leadership Computing Facility Scientists Look to Nature to Develop Biofuel Catalysts

(Argonne Leadership Computing Facility/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Scientists working at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility are looking to nature’s catalysts, enzymes, for inspiration in their quest to find a more effective means of converting biomass into renewable fuel. The research is aimed

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

More Efficient Production of Biofuels from Waste with the Help of Modified Yeasts

(Phys.Org) ... Researchers from VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology) who are associated with KU Leuven have developed yeast strains that produce bio-ethanol from waste with an unprecedented efficiency. As a result, they are well placed to become important players on a

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

Biofuel Crops: Food Security Must Come First

by Ben Phalan (The Guardian) Even so-called 'good' biofuels need safeguards to ensure that they don't damage biodiversity or displace other crops ...Agricultural expansion and intensification are among the greatest of all threats to wild nature. Each year, millions of hectares of

August 30, 2013 Read Full Article

RFS at a Crossroads

by Anne Steckel (Biodiesel Magazine/National Biodiesel Board) ...Our industry is exceeding its volume requirements and producing enough fuel to fill the vast majority of the advanced biofuel pool. We are an EPA-designated advanced biofuel that’s doing just what the RFS