(Univeristy of Illinois)  The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture has announced a grant for $1 million to support research led by a University of Illinois scientist. The research will address the need for …

by Joanne Ivancic* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Leyla Battista, a senior biosystems engineering student at Auburn University, took advantage of an extraordinary opportunity to attend and speak at the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference (ABLC) Friday in …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The DOE is supporting a project to develop engineered clostridia strains and fermentation process that can directly utilize cellulose and fix CO2 for n-butanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. The engineered strains can …

(National Biodiesel Board)  Annual awards highlight 25 years of biodiesel success  —  As the U.S. biodiesel industry celebrates 25 years, the National Biodiesel Board’s annual awards recognize a diverse group of individuals and organizations who have made …

by Cindy Zimmerman (BiodieselConference.org)  This year’s Eye on Biodiesel Initiative award was presented to HERO BX founder Samuel P. “Pat” Black, III.
With a vision to help revitalize Erie, Pennsylvania with a return to a booming manufacturing …

by Katie Nichols (Alabama Extension Daily)  Alabama growers are sowing the seeds of a new biofuel oil crop this winter. Brassica carinata, informally known as carinata, is similar to canola (Brassica napus L.)—a crop many producers introduced to rotations several …

by Gary Truitt (Hoosier Ag Today)  … NCGA (National Corn Growers Association) will be partnering with corn farmers from across the U.S. – including Alabama, Kansas, Iowa and Michigan – to promote E15 American Ethanol all …

(Agrisoma Biosciences Inc./PR Newswire)  Agrisoma Biosciences Inc., is expanding its partnership with the University of Florida (UF) to advance the supply of bio jet fuel in the United States.

The Quebec-based company and its subsidiary, Agrisoma USA, is working with a …

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 …

(Airbus)  15 A350 XWB deliveries already dispatched to Cathay Pacific all with jet fuel blend  —  Showing its strong commitment towards eco-efficiency, Airbus becomes the first aircraft manufacturer to offer its customers the option of …

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 …

by William Thornton (AL.com)  In a non-descript 40,000-square-foot building not far from the popular Tuscaloosa restaurant Waysider, a group of chemists and engineers are finding uses for the world’s industrial food-related waste.
Inventure is making industry …

by Doris de Guzman (Green Chemicals Blog) Leaf – Lesaffre Advanced Fermentations has inaugurated its the new Lesaffre Yeast Corporation drying facility in Headland, Alabama, last week, which is reportedly the company’s first yeast drying facility …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  Erie, Pennsylvania-based biodiesel producer Hero BX announced a new business enterprise Jan. 12, the Hero BX-branded Bioheat program. Bioheat is a blend of biodiesel and heating oil in varying concentrations. …

(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 Patrick Thomas (ABC33/40)   …   ABC 33/40 followed up on a complaint from an ABC 33/40 viewer about price gouging in Odenville in St. Clair County.
…
He learned the gas station owner sells non-ethanol gas, …

by Gollany HT, Titus BD, Scott DA, Asbjornsen H, Resh SC, Chimner RA, Kaczmarek DJ, Leite LF, Ferreira AC, Rod KA, Hilbert J, Galdos MV, Cisz ME (Biogeochemical Research)   Rapid expansion in biomass production for …

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 Patricia McDaniels (University of Tennessee)  A small stand of poplar trees harvested from a University of Tennessee AgResearch Center is set to help scientists progress further down the path toward low-cost, high-quality biomass and …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  Several U.S. producers, including Genuine Bio-Fuel, Hero BX and the now-defunct Promethean Biofuels, in addition to Miami-based biodiesel exporter and hopeful technology provider Lagosur, sketch out overviews of international developments.
…
“Taxation, …

by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine)  The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency and the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology recently released results of a research project that investigated the technical feasibility, commercial viability and environmental compliance of the …

by Kay Ledbette (Texas A&M AgriLife)   …  Russ Jessup, an AgriLife Research perennial grass breeder in College Station, said he is introducing a new biofuel-biomass feedstock that is a hybrid “similar to seedless watermelons, …

The Southeast Energy Development (SEED) Fellowship is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture‐Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program under the Southeast Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems (IBSS) project.
The SEED Fellows will:

Work in …

by Ray Defenbaugh (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Prime the Pump/Growth Energy)  Prime the pump, an effort to grow the ethanol market to accelerate the build-out of higher blend retail infrastructure, has had tremendous success, writes Ray Defenbaugh. …

(HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology)  Jeremy Schmutz, faculty investigator at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, has received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how switchgrass plants adapt to drought stress. Schmutz, who co-directs …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … As President Xi visits North America, China signs 3 major deals in industrial biotechnology.  The East is Red, it’s been said, and the future looks that way too.  The US …

by Ron Kotrba (Biomass Magazine)  Photobioreactor manufacturers detail their latest designs and performance metrics and provide project updates from around the globe. … Whether through open ponds, raceways or closed photobioreactors (PBR), growing algae is both …

(Southeastern Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems)  Contrasting with ethanol production with microorganisms to ferment raw material into liquid fuel, biomass materials can be directly “gasified” through controlled burning (called pyrolysis, literally “fire splitting”). Gasification releases …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … 31 Algae players, what do they make now, and how are they making out? … Here’s our company by company guide to 31 of the players on the scene — project …

Author, Dan Quadros, in Auburn, Alabama.

by Danilo Gusmão de Quadros* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  After two days (February 2-3, 2015) in “Sweet Home Alabama” at Auburn University, we got overwhelmed with the most recent discoveries of …

by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine)   The future is bright as hundreds of E15 stations are in the works with many expected to open, writes Bob Dinneen of RFA. It’s still early in …

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine)  The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy has published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Engineered High Energy Crop (EHEC) Programs …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Bunnies, liposuction fat, Prince Charles’ leftover wine, day-old whale, the human poo bus, fire ants dipped in hexane, old beer, raging fireballs, vibrating blobs, dope, and even the New Orleans …

by Hal Scheurich (Fox10TV.com)  A biochemical company based in Daphne is ready to expand from its small research facility. Algae Systems, Inc. has spent the last few years perfecting waste water treatment using algae common …

by Bonaire Le (Algae Industry Magazine)  Algae Systems, a five-year-old start-up, announced last month that it has completed a pilot plant in Daphne, Alabama, and demonstrated the ability to produce algae biofuel at a price lower …

by Tina Casey (CleanTechnica)   …What you do is you take long, durable plastic bags, fill them with a nutrient-rich growing medium (wastewater, in this case), throw in some algae, and let sunlight work its magic. The …

by Tiffeny Owens (Cullman Times)  On Friday, the former Alabama First Lady shared how her company, Resource Fiber, plans to make the Asian plant the state’s new cash crop at the Cullman Area Chamber of …

by Bruce Dorminey (Renewable Fuel World)  US farmers are exploring the use of energy beets to produce ethanol. Requiring less water and containing more sugar than corn, they could be just what the market needs.
Corn …

by Bryan Davis (Birmingham Business Journal)  The race to discover a viable alternative fuel to gasoline has slowed down some in recent years, and that could be because the fuel source everyone is looking for …

by David Shaffer (Star Tribune)  Gevo Inc., which produces an alternative alcohol in a former ethanol plant in Luverne, Minn., said Monday that the Army has successfully flown a Black Hawk helicopter using a 50-50 …

(University of Tennessee)  “Green diesel” is on the move, and a recent demonstration tour showed Southeastern audiences just how far the biobased fuel can go.
Coordinated by the Southeast Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems (IBSS), …

(Evonik Industries AG/Biodiesel Magazine)  On Oct. 21, Essen, Germany-based Evonik Industries started up a new plant for manufacturing biodiesel production catalysts in Argentina.
Patrik Wohlhauser, the member of the Evonik executive board responsible for the South …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In today’s Digest – visit our 5-Minute Guide to Loan Guarantees — INEOS Bio, Myriant, Sapphire Energy, Abengoa, Chemtex, Enerkem, Fiberight, Fulcrum, ZeaChem – Plus POET-DSM, Diamond Green Diesel, Coskata and Range Fuels
Projects open …

(Inventure/PR NewsWire)  Inventure International (Pte) Limited, holding company of renewable process technology leader Inventure Renewables Inc., recently closed a $7.2 million round of financing that the company will use to establish a plant for the conversion of …

by Jeff Dute (AL.com)  Corporate America does not often invite the public into the research and development process of products that could potentially revolutionize how their vehicles are fueled, how plastics are made and even …

by Jessica Nelson  (Auburn University)  Maobing Tu, an assistant professor in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, has received a $401,155 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award for his research in biofuels …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Nature hasn’t (so far) selected algae for long life. Generally, the little one-celled growth factories survive by blooming slightly faster than they get eaten. Making a world that’s safe for …

by Jim Lane (Biobased DIgest)  Bringing your biobased technology forward through the Valley of Death may require a bridge over troubled waters.  Here are partners worth knowing.
… Bioenergy commercialization is long, expensive and risky. Derisking …

by Stan Diel (AL.com)  A new $17 million ethanol terminal near I-65 and Finley Boulevard could lower the cost of gasoline at the pump for Alabama consumers, the CEO of the terminal’s owner said today.
The …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Streamline Automation, of Huntsville, Alabama, has been assigned a patent (8,303,818) developed by four co-inventors for a “method and apparatus using an active ionic liquid for algae biofuel harvest and extraction.” The …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  What do people in the Southeast think about biofuels? Do they support biofuel ventures? Who will grow the biomass? Will those in established industries fight against it? These are just a …

(Biofuels International) Ethanol producer Green Plains Renewable Energy’s wholly owned subsidiary BlendStar has commenced operations at its newly built 96-car train terminal in Birmingham, Alabama.   READ MORE

by Marc D. Anderson (AL.com)  A company using NASA-licensed technology is looking at a small patch of bayfront property to launch what one day could be a revolutionary wastewater-treating and biofuel-creating endeavor.
Since 2009, Algae Systems …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Every great biofuels technology has its own companion feedstock strategy – with unique advantages and technical challenges.  Who’s got what it takes to be a great Sherpa, providing that feedstock …

by Nathan Simone (The Auburn Plainsman)  Sushil Adhikari, assistant professor of biosystems engineering, recently received a $335,748 grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct bioenergy research, specifically Adhikari’s speciality, the conversion of biomass into …

by Bryant Sommerville  (ABC3340)  …City vehicles will now be able to fill up at one of the two E85 ethanol fuel stations.
One is at the Equipment Management Facility on Sixth Avenue South and the other …

(Birmingham Business Journal)  Scientists at the University of Alabama’s manufacturing technology center are looking at kudzu, the non-native leafy vines that have spread across the South’s fields and forests, as one of several sources that …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  What’s up? What’s next? New pathways, plus country-by-country yield data.
Sorghum. It’s a feedstock right out the pages of the old South –  sorghum syrup served with corn bread and Lowcountry …

(Ceres)  • Pilot project validates U.S.-produced sweet sorghum as a potential feedstock for advanced biofuels and bio-products.
• Conversion efficiency of sweet sorghum sugars were similar to sugarcane.
Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERE) today announced …

(The Business Journals/American Jianye Greentech Holdings, Ltd.)  American Jianye  Greentech Holdings, Ltd., a leading developer, manufacturer and distributor of alcohol-based automobile fuel and civil-use fuel in China, today announced that it has signed a marketing partnership …

by Bryan Sims (Biodiesel Magazine)  Alabama native Helen Keller once said, “No one has the right to consume happiness without producing it.” The same could be said of biodiesel at the Alabama Institute for Deaf …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)   Alabama-based Clean Energy Pathways Inc. is working to help coal-fired utilities meet state and federal compliance standards by helping to identify methods to increase efficiency and produce a portion of …

(Jackson County Times-Journal)  The United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff have announced the participants in the 2012 biodiesel and Bioheat® communications program, which helps cities across the United States spread the word about the …

by David Bransby(Auburn University/Biofuels Digest)  We hear a lot about “drop-in” fuels these days. While this term typically means an infrastructure-compatible liquid transportation fuel, Wayne Keith has come up with his own version of a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The first gas fermentation technology to come to the public markets: Coskata files its $100 million IPO.  Here’s our 10-minute version of the filing, with a translation of the risks …

(SmyrnaVinings.com)  The City of Smyrna plans to open a biodiesel processing plant, designed to cut fuel costs and reduce fossil fuel consumption, by January 2012. The use of biodiesel results in the substantial reduction of unburned …

(Green Plains Renewable Energy)  Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc., announced today (November 10, 2011)  that its wholly-owned subsidiary, BlendStar LLC, will build, own and operate a new ethanol unit train terminal in Birmingham, Alabama on …

by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine)  For several years the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition has been providing informative workshops, seminars and just about everything else to help Alabamans understand the benefits of biodiesel. Now, led by …

by Bryan Sims (Biodiesel Magazine)  Dothan, Ala.-based renewable energy solutions firm Clean Energy Pathways Inc. has introduced a new line of custom-blended biodiesel for use as a Btu-substitute in coal-fired utility and commercial boilers, or for …

(Coskata)   With More than 15,000 Run Hours, Company Focus Turns to Commercial Scale Facilities
Coskata, Inc., a developer of technology for the production of advanced biofuels and biochemicals from biomass and waste materials, achieved two …

(University of Tennessee)  Center to coordinate woody biomass production and utilization studies
The Center for Renewable Carbon, a program of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, has been named by the USDA as a recipient …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  Flex-fuel vehicle owners in Madison, Alabama now have more choices in filling up with E85, thanks to MAPCO Express and Protec Fuel.
This is the first location for the multi-state MAPCO Express to offer …

by Melynda Sides  (MyFoxAL.com)  Construction of two new E-85 ethanol fuel stations in Birmingham began today. One of the stations will be located at 515 6th Avenue South.
…A grant from the Alabama Clean Fuels Coalition …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …But a new generation of technologies is coming along fast, primarily in advanced biofuels, which is gasifying biomass at the front end along its path towards making fuels, chemicals or …

by Steve Irvine (The Birmingham News)  The Ohio-based company seeking to put a pilot plant in Hoover that would harvest oil from algae to form an alternative fuel didn’t receive the $45 million grant it …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  …Pacific Pride Services, a subsidiary of Wright Express Corporation, has announced that in partnership with Quality Petroleum of Alabama the opening of the first Commercial Fuel Center offering both biodiesel for …

by Laura Johnson (Anniston Star)  Inside the Calhoun County Highway Department’s complex at McClellan, Eric Feemster brews batches of biodiesel fuel.
…It’s a program that has garnered Calhoun County two awards from state associations in the …

by Garthia Elena Burnett (Commercial Dispatch)  FedEx is the latest company to sign an offtake agreement with Kior, a biofuels plant slated to begin production in Columbus in 2012. FedEx plans to use oil produced …

by Bill Brandon (Advanced Biofuels USA)  On February 10 & 11, about 120 participants gathered in chilly Chicago for the first Municipal Solid Waste to Biofuels Summit presented by the British firm, Eye for Energy.  …

by Jim Cook (Dothan Eagle)  Local drivers of flex fuel vehicles can enjoy the benefits of their eco-friendly rides now that two E85 fuel stations have opened in the area.
On Thursday, the Inland Food Stores …

by Jenette Sturges  (Naperville Sun)  In only a few short years, it could be fueling cars and trucks while producing 90 percent less greenhouse gas, providing energy security for the nation, and creating high-tech jobs in …

(Coskata)  Guarantee will support a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Alabama
Coskata Inc., a developer of technology for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals, was notified by the USDA of their intent to provide a …

by Val Walton (The Birmingham News)  Hoover Mayor Tony Petelos wrote a letter of support last week for the SouthEast Region Algae Consortium (SERAC) — a group of scientists, engineers and experts in biofuels and algae …