by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Last July, the Digest launched a project called “Victory Plants” and set about recruiting a Biofuels Council of Advisors on Science, Technology and Economics to define a threshold standard for advanced manufacturing in biofuels, by April 2012
Community involvement/engagement
Back TO HOMEGrafton Ethanol Plant Owners to Meet with Sugar Beet Growers
(Grand Forks Herald) Energae LP, the group planning to reopen the former Alchem Ltd. ethanol plant in Grafton, N.D., will conduct a meeting at noon Friday for sugar beet growers. The meeting will be at Marketplace on Eighth. About 75 people attended
March 23, 2012 Read Full Article
Rail Plan to Ship Ethanol Is Decried
by Katheleen Conti (The Boston Globe) Eight firefighters are seen dousing a couple of rail cars, as bright flames and a plume of dark smoke engulf parts of the freight train in a still image stamped with the message: Ready
March 09, 2012 Read Full Article
Cellulosic Ethanol May Play Role in Local Biofuel Production
by Kelly Madsen (Iowa State Daily) For the past decade, corn ethanol has predominated Midwest biofuel production. But with increased technology and interest, an additional ethanol — cellulosic ethanol — may also shape local farming. ...Essentially, cellulosic ethanol utilizes the corn
February 22, 2012 Read Full Article
Lake County Dodging a Legal Bullet on Trash Disposal?
by Marc Chase (Northwest Indiana Times) The Lake County Solid Waste Management District could avoid potential litigation — but invite other legal problems — if the trash-to-ethanol contract dies between now and April 2. A canceled county contract with Powers Energy
February 20, 2012 Read Full Article
Controversial Ethanol Production Business Won't Be Moving into City-Owned Site
by David McGee (TriCities.com) ...With about 100 city residents – nearly all opposed to the plan -- looking on Tuesday, the City Council took no action on a proposal to give the 13.8-acre former Crowley Foods site to MXI of
February 16, 2012 Read Full Article
Controversial Wood-to-Ethanol Plant May Finally Get under Way in Upper Peninsula
by Katherine Yung (Detroit Free Press) After a lengthy delay, construction of what could be the nation's first large-scale wood-to-ethanol plant in the country is to start this year in Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula. If successful, the $232-million biorefinery in Kinross
February 13, 2012 Read Full Article
As Time Passes, So Does Faith in Trash-to-Ethanol Plan, Some Waste Officials
by Marc Chase (NWITimes.com) As time began to run out on Lake County's trash-to-ethanol plan last week, so did the faith and confidence of solid waste district officials — both in the project and themselves. Jeff Langbehn, executive director of
February 09, 2012 Read Full Article
Hundreds of Jobs Planned by New Owner of Range Fuels
by S. Heather Duncan (Macon.com) The new owner of a shuttered ethanol plant in Soperton plans to eventually add hundreds of jobs there to produce ethanol and other chemicals, a company official said this week. That would boost Treutlen County employment
February 02, 2012 Read Full Article
Former Sheriff Seeks Proof of Financing for Trash-to-Ethanol Plant
by Marc Chase (Northwest Indiana) The former Lake County sheriff is seeking answers regarding the absent financing for a proposed south county trash-to-ethanol plant. And the chief political champion of the plan, Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, said he wants the
January 10, 2012 Read Full Article
Good Digestion: It’s Been a Bumpy Road to Full-Scale Adoption of Anaerobic Digestion Technologies at Ethanol Plants
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Despite the promise of methane from anaerobic digestion technology, low natural gas rates and other factors have kept ethanol producers from jumping in with both feet. ...On top of the digester, Western Plains Energy utilizes
December 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol-Friendly Manitoba: Shell Scouts Commercial-Scale Cellulosic Opportunities
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Royal Dutch Shell plc is in the early stages of a development project that would site a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in southern Manitoba. “It’s very, very, very early in the development,” says Jeff
December 29, 2011 Read Full Article
2nd Lawsuit Challenges Ethanol Project in UP
(WLNS/AP) Critics of a refinery planned for the Upper Peninsula have filed a second lawsuit against the project. Larry Klein and the Sierra Club claim the U.S. Energy Department failed to follow federal environmental law when it approved the refinery near
December 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Algae Bioreactors Receive Approval for Australian Facility
(Biofuels International) Algae.Tec, an algae production company, has received approval for its demonstration facility in Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia. The facility was approved under the Shoalhaven City Council Environment Planning and Assessment Act and the plant will be used to
October 28, 2011 Read Full Article
BP Biofuels Goes for Full Vertical Integration, in US Cellulosic Ethanol Expansion
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Susan Ellerbusch: Now, at BP there are dozens of BP people who are experts in growing crops design, farm logistics. We are building an agriculture team after having acquired the biotech parts. ...Yes, every move
October 10, 2011 Read Full Article
Hawaiian Electric Disappointed by PUC's Biofuels Ruling
by Duane Shimogawa (Pacific Business News) Hawaiian Electric Co. said Friday it was disappointed by the state Public Utilities Commission’s decision to deny its biofuel supply contract with Aina Koa Pono.The PUC said Thursday that the contract price for the
October 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Making Global Project Development Work: Rentech CEO Hunt Ramsbottom
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Ramsbottom said that companies looking at international expansion generally ask themselves four questions before proceeding: is there a need?; is the local environment welcoming?; does the company have the time and resources”; can the company afford
October 04, 2011 Read Full Article
UT Center for Renewable Carbon Named as Lead Institution for $15 Million USDA Grant
(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 of one of five coordinated
September 30, 2011 Read Full Article
N.J. Company Eyes Plainfield Township as Potential Site for Biofuel Plant
by Tom Shortell (LehighValleyLive.com) A New Jersey company is considering building a biorefinery in Plainfield Township that would convert tall grass and wood pellets into fuel, but no official plans have been submitted to the township. Primus Green Energy, based out of
September 19, 2011 Read Full Article
Study: Wisconsinites Have Mixed Views on Ethanol
(University of Wisconsin-Madison) A majority of Wisconsinites support the use of ethanol blends if it keeps dollars and jobs in the United States and reduces air pollution, according to a new study by University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers. But that support dropped
September 14, 2011 Read Full Article
Biofuels Firm Plans Bellevue Refinery
by Ross Boettcher (World-Herald/Omaha.com) A La Vista-based biofuels company Thursday proposed a $100 million project to build a biorenewable fuel refinery in Bellevue that could create at least 50 local jobs. The company, BioSyn Resources, wants to build a three-tiered refinery
September 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Guarani Indians in Southern Brazil Have Called on Shell to Withdraw from their Ancestral Land, Where the Oil Giant Produces ethanol from Sugar Cane, According to a Native Rights Group.
(Radio Netherlands Worldwide) "Shell must leave our land... The companies must stop using indigenous land," said Ambrosio Vilhalva, a Guarani from the Caarapo municipality in the southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul. "We want justice, we want our land to
September 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Rockwell Automation Launches Biofuels Customer Advisory Council
(India PR Wire) Rockwell Automation announced today that it has launched a Biofuels Customer Advisory Council (CAC) to provide customers with a forum to discuss their needs, challenges and industry opportunities. Rockwell Automation will utilize the customer feedback to guide
September 06, 2011 Read Full Article
New Biofuels Plant Eyes Northern Panhandle
by Linda Harris (The State Journal) Officials with a proposed $400 million plant are looking at sites in Brooke, Hancock counties. While a deal is far from final, Northern Panhandle economic development leaders are exploring the feasibility of bringing a
September 06, 2011 Read Full Article
State, Local Officials Prep for Ethanol Trains
by Mariah Sondergard (Commonwealth Magazine) Global’s trains will bring in 3.6m gallons a week MOST OF THE ethanol that is mixed with gasoline in Massachusetts enters the state by ship or fuel truck, but that will change next year when Global Petroleum
September 01, 2011 Read Full Article
Engineer Touts Ethanol Pipeline in Hamilton County
by Ansley Haman (TimesFreePress.com) A local engineer wants to build a "moonshine" pipeline through county property in the Bonny Oaks Industrial & Office Park. Mike Price, with M.A.P. Engineers, has been meeting individually with Hamilton County commissioners about a proposed ethanol facility.
August 31, 2011 Read Full Article
Zoning Request Sparks Safety Concerns, Reveals Divide among City Council Members
by Beverly A. Carroll (NOOGA.com) A rezoning request to allow an ethanol transfer station in the Bonny Oaks Industrial Park has brought to a head the Chattanooga City Council’s philosophical differences over the use of special exception permits. Englewood Enterprises is
August 30, 2011 Read Full Article
Zimbabwe: Politicking Stalling Ethanol Project - Villagers
(AllAfrica.com/The Herald) Traditional leaders have identified unnecessary politicking as a challenge to the successful completion of the Chisumbanje Ethanol Plant. The task-force chaired by Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development secretary Mr Ngoni Masoka visited the project yesterday. In his submission to the
August 23, 2011 Read Full Article
Hawaii Biofuels Option Could Prove Costly
By Sophie Cocke (Honolulu Civil Beat) Two contracts for locally-produced biofuels, aimed at supplying a portion of the state’s electricity needs, are under consideration by the Public Utilities Commission, and more are expected. But the cost of the energy to
August 22, 2011 Read Full Article
BQ-9000: A Community-Scale Perspective
by Rachel Burton (Biodiesel Magazine/Piedmont Biofuels) ...Piedmont Biofuels made a strategic decision to voluntarily implement a quality management system (QMS) at its central North Carolina production facility. With this NREL data published, Piedmont was inspired to demonstrate that smaller producers
August 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Streamlining a Community-Scale Solution
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) ...According to Greg Springer, president of Green Fuels America Inc., interest in community-scale biodiesel production is increasing all around the world. He attributes this to both high fuel prices and the specific advantages community-scale production
August 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Do Community Co-Ops Matter?
by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine) ...Biodiesel co-ops are doing their part in the continued growth of the industry one 5-gallon jug of waste vegetable oil (WVO) biodiesel at a time. If the 5 MMgy producers are working to provide an
August 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Town Hopes for Trash-to-Ethanol Plant, but Frustrations Mount
by Marc Chase (NWI.com) What had been all excitement regarding a possible economic boon for this south Lake County town is turning into some frustration and deflated spirits, according to one Schneider official. Town Council President Richard Wright said he still
August 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Transport Raising Concerns: Ballot Vote Focuses on Rail Shipments
by John Laidler (Boston.com) A plan by Global Partners to begin shipping ethanol by rail to its Revere terminal is drawing concern in the city, where it is the focus of a nonbinding ballot question. According to Fire Chief Gene Doherty,
August 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Plant's Opening in Southern Indian River Delayed until Summer 2012
by Henry A. Stephens (TCPalm.com) The opening of the nation's first waste-derived bio-ethanol plant is running a few months behind schedule, officials said Tuesday, but not by enough time to cause concern. "We hope to be up and running by this
August 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Portland Says NOPE to Bio Fuels Energy Plant
(YouandFilms.com) ...Nope (http://nope.org.uk/) has been campaigning against the biofuel electric plant for more than 2 years. The plant has been approved by the local government but no building works have started. If the plan gets built we will see vast
July 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Say "NO" to an Ethanol Plant at the Harbour
(Oshawa.com) ...Oshawa says “NO” to an ethanol plant at our harbour for the following reasons: The proposed ethanol plant would be located on a historic and prominent height of land overlooking Lake Ontario. The proposed ethanol plant would be located beside the
July 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Can California Renewables Survive Democracy?
by Herman K. Trabish (GreenTechMedia) California’s Tehachapi-Mohave Region is rich in renewable potential—but is it richer in NIMBYism and BANANAism? ...But development will not happen until the people of the Antelope Valley -- who will have to live with what developers build
June 29, 2011 Read Full Article
California Plant Surprised by Opposition to Anaerobic Digestion
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Maybe it’s because they didn’t get the word out adequately. Perhaps it’s because they didn’t talk to their neighbors soon enough in the process. Whatever the reason, some just aren’t convinced, as Calgren Renewable
June 29, 2011 Read Full Article
It's a Go for MSW-to-Ethanol Plant Near Chicago
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A long-proposed municipal solid waste (MSW)-to-ethanol project in Lake County, Ind., has locked in the financing needed to construct the facility and is expected to undergo construction in July. Powers Energy of America Inc.
June 20, 2011 Read Full Article
P&Z to Consider General Plan Amendment and Biodiesel Plant in Yucca
(Kingman Daily Miner) The Mohave County Planning and Zoning Commission will consider a request for a rezone and a minor amendment to the Mohave County General Plan and the Yucca Area Plan for a biodiesel plant and an industrial park
June 09, 2011 Read Full Article
Investor Yet to Meet conditions for Licensing of Jatropha Project
By Mazera Ndurya and Daniel Nyassy (Daily Nation) The environmental watchdog has not licensed a controversial multi-million shilling jatropha project because the investor has not complied with some of the conditions set by the government. Although the government has not out
June 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Start up of Osage Plant a Concern for Hopewell, Va, Officials
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Nearly a year after Virginia’s first ethanol plant was scheduled to be producing ethanol, the grounds of Appomattox Bio Energy stand quiet, with very little activity. In fact, the rumor going around town is
May 20, 2011 Read Full Article
Chesapeake Panel OKs New Biodiesel Facility
by Marjon Rostami (The Virginia Pilot/iStockAnalyst.com) Recycled French fry oil could soon be part of what fuels local government vehicles after the city's Planning Commission approved a conditional-use permit for a biodiesel plant in an industrial complex off Military Highway. Tidewater Biodiesel
April 18, 2011 Read Full Article
Benishek under Pressure to Block Federal Funding for Ethanol ‘Boondoggle’
by Eartha Jane Melzer (The Michigan Messenger) Rep. Dan Benishek (R-Crystal Falls) campaigned on cutting federal spending. Now some of his constituents are asking him to keep the U.S. Dept. of Energy from spending $58 million on a project to
March 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Firm Eyes Sarawak for RM555mil Move to Help Natives Plant Jatropha on NCR Land
by Stephen Then (The Star Sarawak) A leading biofuel company with global links wants to turn Sarawak into a producer of green jet fuel, diesel and petrol and is willing to invest RM555mil in the state for the purpose. Bio Oil
March 21, 2011 Read Full Article
Lake Mayors Range from Optimistic to Concerned on Trash-to-Ethanol
by Marc Chase (NWI Times) Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. expressed reservation at signing a 20-year agreement to commit his city's trash to a process that remains commercially unproven. "I talk to smart people that know what they're talking about, and
March 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Biofuel Plant to Use Cooking Waste
by Gavan Gideon (Yale Daily News) Leftover cooking oil from (Yale) University dining halls will soon contribute to an expanding renewable energy industry. Connecticut-based Greenleaf Biofuels is planning construction of a biodiesel production facility in New Haven. If everything works out
February 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Burdekin Council Approves $200m Ethanol Plant
by Natalie Poyhonen (ABC News) The Burdekin Shire Council has given the final approval for the creation of a $200 million ethanol plant at Mona Park, near Home Hill in north Queensland. The Austcane Energy project will produce ethanol and co-generated
February 21, 2011 Read Full Article
Farmers, Militants Protest Bioethanol Project in Isabela
by Villamor Visaya Jr. (Inquirer Northern Luzon) Some 400 farmers and activists on Tuesday staged a protest march to oppose the construction of a bioethanol plant here, a project that is supported by the provincial government. Diony Yadao, leader of the farmers'
February 21, 2011 Read Full Article
The Other Big Issue in Scaling Up: Land Use Permission
by Al Maiorino (Public Strategy Group/Algae Industry Magazine) ...Despite the fact that the new plant would generate clean energy, increase the tax revenue and improve the local economy, the community doesn’t seem to understand these benefits. The residents say the
February 13, 2011 Read Full Article
Biofuels Facility Planned for New Haven Terminal Site
by Mary E. O'Leary (New Haven Register) A biofuels production facility with water transport access in the city’s port is being planned for the New Haven Terminal property. Greenleaf Biofuels would operate the plant at 100 Waterfront St. and hopes to
February 07, 2011 Read Full Article
Montana Advanced Biofuels: Past, Present and Future
(KRTV.com) Plans for a wheat and barley based ethanol plant near Malmstrom Air Force Base first began 20 years ago. Although Montana Advanced Biofuels nearly started construction in 2006, the project was stalled by financing issues. ...Developers are also asking the
February 03, 2011 Read Full Article
Plant Would Turn Waste to Ethanol in Holland, MI
by Andrea Goodell (The Holland Sentinel) From the dump to powering your toaster in the morning — a company is proposing to turn waste into energy with a plant in Holland. Renewable Energy Technologies LLC wants to retrofit an empty factory
February 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Great Falls Misses Out on Federal Ethanol Funding
by Richard Ecke (Great Falls Tribune) ...A proposed Great Falls ethanol plant would be the country's first to use wheat and barley to create ethanol, according to developer Gary Hebener of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Project officials are awaiting word from the
January 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Fears over Impact of £200m Biofuel Refinery due to Open at Saltend
(ThisIsHullAndEastRiding) FEARS have been raised over the environmental impact of a new £200-million biofuel plant due to open early this year in Saltend. The refinery will convert about one million tonnes of wheat every year into bioethanol and animal feed. Once fully
January 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Nagoya 2010: Weighing up the Risks and Benefits of Biofuels Development
(United Nations Environment Programme) Water, land use change and invasive species are key factors that must be addressed alongside greenhouse gas cuts Water could determine the degree to which bioenergy can contribute to combating climate change by reducing the world's reliance on