by Kevin Quon (Seeking Alpha) As a producer of renewable oils, Solazyme (SZYM) is often connotated (seemingly to its own detriment) with the production of biofuels. Yet the company has developed a novel biotechnology platform that has revolutionized the way
food and fuel
Back TO HOMEDistillers' Grain Gaining Importance as Byproduct of Ethanol
by Art Hovey (Lincoln Journal Star) ... Managers of Nebraska’s two dozen ethanol plants are finding livestock and poultry customers in other states and more buyers as far away as Canada, Mexico and China for the dried portions of corn
January 29, 2013 Read Full Article
Biofuel Causing World Hunger
by Rudy Ruitenberb (BusinessDay/iAfrica.com) Biofuel output from agricultural commodities has contributed to surging world food prices in the past decade, says Nestle chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe. ...Mr Brabeck-Letmathe described making biofuels from food crops as "nonsense". The agriculture ministers gathered in Berlin said in
January 23, 2013 Read Full Article
Biofuels: Between a Rock and a Green Place
by Kylie Schultz (The International) With the possibility of an oil crisis on the horizon, a scramble for renewable and sustainable energy sources is underway. In recent years, plant-based fuels known as biofuels have emerged as possible replacements for the non-renewable
January 15, 2013 Read Full Article
Petrobras Helps Launch Fish Oil Mechanical Extraction Equipment
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Following an October partnership between Petrobras Biofuel and the Brazilian Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture to intensify research into producing biodiesel from waste fish oil, Petrobras Biofuel recently participated in the release of “Machine Biopeixe,” equipment to
January 03, 2013 Read Full Article
Setting the Example
by Robert Vierhout (ePURE/Ethanol Producer Magazine) ... Hopefully, European regulators will take note of what has happened. If they are intellectually honest, they should acknowledge that if the U.S. biofuel policy has no real negative impact on the food/feed
January 02, 2013 Read Full Article
Ethanol Doubles Corn's Food Production
by Orrie Swayze (AgWeek) Both sides of the food versus fuel debate assume ethanol wastes food and the debate simply circles around how much food is wasted. Compared to what? Before determining informed judgments, both sides should compare corn’s food
December 20, 2012 Read Full Article
DDGS Nutrient Profiles Showing Greater Variability
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A recent distillers grains nutrient survey shows some change from a similar one done 10 years ago, although perhaps not as much as might be expected, given the number of ethanol plants removing corn
December 20, 2012 Read Full Article
National Corn Growers Association Offers Ethanol Facts Resource, Designed for Mobile Platform
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The National Corn Growers Association has launched a new web-based resource,www.EthanolFacts.com. ...The home page of EthanolFacts offers links to short articles on hot topics in ethanol circles: flex-fuel vehicles, food and fuel, jobs and
December 17, 2012 Read Full Article
U.S. Agricultural Research Is Faltering, Report Warns
by Stephanie Strom (New York Times) A blue-ribbon panel of scientific and technology advisers to President Obama warns that the nation risks losing its longstanding supremacy in food production because research in agriculture has not kept up with new challenges like climate
December 17, 2012 Read Full Article
Can Algae-Derived Oils Support Large-Scale, Low-Cost Biofuels Production?
(XS4Green.com) ...John Benemann, Ian Woertz, and Tryg Lundquist, MicroBio Engineering, Inc. (Walnut Creek, CA) and California State Polytechnic University (San Luis Obispo, CA), present the results of an engineering and economic study of vegetable oil production from microalgae grown in
December 14, 2012 Read Full Article
IISD-Led Seminar Offers Global Perspective on Biofuel Subsidies: Issues Policy Brief
(International Institute for Sustainable Development) “Rational policies should be based on understanding the real impacts of government support to biofuels on the environment and the society,” said Sirpa Pietikäinen, MEP and chair of GLOBE EU. “The spiralling food versus fuel
December 06, 2012 Read Full Article
Expert in Biofuels: EU Biofuel Policy Is Addressing the Wrong Issue
(Hveiti) European policymakers should focus on how to organize the synergies between food and fuel rather than wasting time on theoretical models of land use changes that do nothing to improve matters in the real world, says biofuel expert André
December 05, 2012 Read Full Article
In Indonesia and Malaysia, as Demand for Palm Oil Grows, So Do Environmental, Labor Concerns
by Jason Motlagh (The Washington Post/Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting) Long a preferred cooking ingredient in developing countries, palm oil is now in greater demand in Western markets because of its low price and long shelf life. Derived from the
November 29, 2012 Read Full Article
Response to National Council of Chain Restaurants RFS Guest Editorial
by Bob Dinneen (Renewable Fuels Association) ... In regard to the November 28th op-ed, “A Mandate to Raise Food Prices” by Rob Green, Executive Director of the National Council of Chain Restaurants: If he really believes that the major cause of higher
November 29, 2012 Read Full Article
True or False: 10 Percent of US Corn Crop Used for Ant Repellent
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Well, that’s an absurd headline, isn’t it? False, false and false. It’s ridiculous, misleading and harmful to conclude that 10 percent of the US corn harvest is used for ant repellent – just because 10 percent
November 29, 2012 Read Full Article
Solazyme and its Hybrid Vigor
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Solazyme lands monster capacity expansion agreements with ADM and Bunge – what’s the sector’s hottest company up to now? ... The Bunge agreement will expand joint venture-owned oil production capacity at Solazyme Bunge Renewable Oils from
November 27, 2012 Read Full Article
Farm Foundation Blog: Food & Fuel for 9 Billion in 2050
by John Davis (DomesticFuel.com) How do you keep an expected world population of 9 billion people by the year 2050 fed AND meet the world’s energy needs? Our friends at Farm Foundation are taking on those challenging questions, hopefully with
November 16, 2012 Read Full Article
The Role of Biofuels in a Warming World
RP Siegel (TriplePundit) ... We know that the 14 billion gallons of ethanol produced by American agriculture last year displaced close to 10 billion gallons of gasoline, reducing carbon emissions that contribute to warming. Biofuel also increased energy independence and
November 06, 2012 Read Full Article
Visiting Farmers See Cattle/Ethanol Operation
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) A group of 17 farmers from Canada, Honduras, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, South Africa, Swaziland, United Kingdom, Uruguay, US, Zambia, and Zimbabwe had the chance to visit a livestock operation with an ethanol plant next
October 31, 2012 Read Full Article
A Million Tonnes of DDGs Pushed onto UK Market
(All About Feed) Two huge wheat-for-ethanol plants are coming on stream in Britain supplying and extra one million tonnes of distillers grains to the animal feed industry. Material from these plants will help fill the cattle fodder gaps for the coming
October 31, 2012 Read Full Article
The Underlying Objection
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Is there something deeper going on in all this anti-ethanol rhetoric? Is there some sort of philosophical underlying problem? ...So, is it anti-corn? Is it anti-industrial agriculture? I can understand people being concerned about the
October 30, 2012 Read Full Article
Camelina Researchers on Cutting Edge of Biofuel, Nutraceutical, Livestock Possibilities
by Heidi Gaiser (Daily Interlake) The four partners of Clearwater Biologicals are working to turn a crop popular in the Bronze Age into a 21st-century source of fuel and nutrients — and they are beginning the process here in the
October 29, 2012 Read Full Article
A.I.M. Interview: ASU’s Dr. Milton Sommerfeld
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) Big algae news in the state of Arizona is the $15 million award by the Department of Energy to Arizona State University to establish a national algae science and technology testbed, dubbed the Algae
October 29, 2012 Read Full Article
Biofuel Criticism Draws Rebuttal
by Gene Lucht (Iowa Farmer Today) ...That’s what Craig Floss did when several speakers spoke derisively about biofuels during this past week’s World Food Prize symposium. Floss, executive director of the Iowa Corn Growers Association, says 99 percent of the food
October 26, 2012 Read Full Article
Are High Grain Prices Good for Anyone?
by Roy Roberson (Southeast Farm Press) • Sounds like a good deal for grain growers and a bad one for livestock producers and consumers, but are such high prices really good for any of us? • Allan Baucom says the last
October 02, 2012 Read Full Article
One Report Says Global Grain at Record High
by Rich Keller (Ag Professional) As most of the reports circulating in the United States are about anticipated grain shortages in meeting demand, a report came out this week from one organization that was headlined: “Global grain production at record
September 27, 2012 Read Full Article
FAO Publishes Book on Biofuels Co-Products Use in Animal Feeds
(American Association of Swine Veterinarians) The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization recently published a book entitled Biofuel co-products as livestock feed - Opportunities and challenges. AASV member Dr Harold Tilstra co-authored Chapter 3; ”Impact of United States biofuels co-products on
September 27, 2012 Read Full Article
Heard it Through the Grapevine: Useful Facts and Scuttlebutt from the Algae Biomass Summit
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Jobs, global expansion, proteins vs fuels, new R&D funding – all the big issues are under debate both on and off the floor at the Algae Biomass Summit. ...Jobs Dr. John Benemann projected on stage that,
September 27, 2012 Read Full Article
Crop Prices Probably Peaked After Drought Cuts U.S. Output
by Luzi Ann Javier (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) Rallies in corn, wheat and soybeans because of drought in the U.S., the top grains shipper, are probably over and it would need worsening weather elsewhere to push up futures, said Macquarie Agricultural Funds
September 24, 2012 Read Full Article
Biofuel Target Will Add £35 Every Year to the Cost of Running a Car
by Louise Gray (The Telegraph) Drivers will be forced to pay an extra £35 a year due to a European climate change target, a report by Oxfam has found. ...The report states that a family currently spends an average £840 a
September 17, 2012 Read Full Article
Ethanol Industry Hits Back over Food Price Claims
(EurActiv) Europe's biofuel producers are hitting back at claims that they are at fault for this summer’s high food prices and challenge assertions that crops grown for fuel production are a threat to food supplies. Food prices rose 6% overall last month, driven
August 28, 2012 Read Full Article
International Cooperation to Develop Global Bioenergy Capacity: CleanStar Mozambique – A Case Study
Presentation by Sagun Saxena (CleanStar Ventures) CleanStar is an early stage developer of sustainable food and energy ventures with a global presence. Strength lies in finance, technology and local execution capacity. The urban need in Africa for food and energy
August 27, 2012 Read Full Article
Dating Your Feedstock and Never Marrying: The 6 Hottest Ways to Alleviate Food vs Fuel
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) With the US drought, food vs fuel has returned as an issue. What alternatives are scientists, entrepreneurs developing to take us beyond the old debate? ...1. Feedstock diversification. In biofuels, it is more talked about –
August 21, 2012 Read Full Article
Ethanol Plant Closures Cause DDGS Supply Issues
(Drovers Cattle Network) The 2012 drought is not only taking its toll on U.S. Midwest crop and livestock producers. Ethanol plants also are succumbing as high corn prices dry up their operating margins. Suspension of operations, along with reduced production
August 15, 2012 Read Full Article
Researchers Feed Pigs, Chickens High-Protein Fungus Grown on Ethanol Leftovers
(PhysOrg) In separate feeding trials, nursery pigs and chickens have eaten high-protein fungi that Hans van Leeuwen and other Iowa State University researchers have produced in a pilot plant that converts ethanol leftovers into food-grade fungi. The production process also
August 15, 2012 Read Full Article
Canadian Biodiesel Plant to Make Fuel from Flax
by Susan Taylor (Reuters) A tiny Canadian startup company that is preparing to open a biodiesel plant in Toronto this spring says it will produce clean fuel, animal feed and human food all from the modest flax seed. Privately held Energy