(IATA) Challenges in the jet fuel supply chain are intensifying, making investment in biofuels essential ...(T)he airline industry fuel bill rose more than 11% to $139 billion in 2010, equivalent to 26% of operating expenses. ...How airlines manage fuel is therefore
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Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The rise of themochemical biofuels, the power of markets, and the anarchic essence of energy development ...The “failure” of cellulosic ethanol is a failure of the policy framework, I said. It was suicidal to pass legislation that
July 15, 2011 Read Full Article
$70M Approved for Ethanol Plant
by Bob Moser (The Advertiser) Lacassine Syrup Mill will be joined by nation's first sugar-to-ethanol facility Bonds worth $70 million to help build the nation's first sugar-to-ethanol plant in Lacassine passed a first step of approval Monday by the Louisiana Public
July 14, 2011 Read Full Article
Biofuel Startup Sundrop Fuels Lands $175M Investment, Mostly from Chesapeake
(Denver Business Journal) Colorado biofuel startup Sundrop Fuels Inc. on Monday announced it will get $175 million in new investment, with the lion’s share coming from natural gas company Chesapeake Energy Corp. ...Chesapeake said it plans to fund the investment by
July 13, 2011 Read Full Article
County Offers Incentives to Lure Chemtex
by Chris Berendt (The Sampson Independent) A $160 million ethanol biofuels plant would bring 65 new jobs and an opportunity for Sampson County to position itself on the forefront of alternative energy technology as the site of the first plant of
July 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Australia’s Carbon Tax Debuts: Carbon Sunday, or Black Sunday?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Aussie government debuts carbon tax scheme and $10Bn cleantech fund; who’s happy, who’s howling? In Australia, the federal government launched plans for a $23 per tonne tax on carbon, which will affect the country’s 500 largest
July 12, 2011 Read Full Article
House Rejects Republican Study Committee Cuts to Energy Subsidies
by Pete Kasperowicz (The Hill) The House on Monday night rejected an amendment proposed by the Republican Study Committee that would have cut $3.25 billion from the Energy and Water Appropriations Act, effectively gutting the Department of Energy's alternative energy funding
July 12, 2011 Read Full Article
European Energy Efficiency Fund (EEE–F)
(European Commission) On 1st July 2011, the Commission launched a new European Energy Efficiency Fund (EEE-F) as part of the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR). It will allocate around EUR 146 million from the EEPR (3.7% of the total EEPR envelope) towards
July 05, 2011 Read Full Article
GI Joe, Funding Man from Head to Toe: The DoD and Drop-In Biofuels at Scale
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As the Defense Department looks at its options to directly jump-start drop-in biofuels production at scale, we look at the Defense Production Act – the rationale, the process, the funding, and energy’s role In Washington, a
July 01, 2011 Read Full Article
Led By DoD, Federal Government Hoping To Fund Biorefineries
by Yuliya Chernova (Wall Street Journal) The Department of Defense, an emerging market force in biofuels, is working on a new program to finance non-petroleum fuel production, in collaboration with the departments of energy and agriculture, according to people familiar
July 01, 2011 Read Full Article
The Jobless Recovery, Biofuels, Eency-Weency Balance Sheets, and You
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, President Obama launched the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership – ho-hum, you say, and I think I hear you yawning. ...“Invent here, make elsewhere” is a failed industrial policy, according to a PCAST report, “Ensuring Leadership
June 30, 2011 Read Full Article
New Research Facility Recovers Value from Waste, Lowers Emissions
(City of Edmonton, Enerkem, Alberta Innovates) Plug-and-play pilot plant and lab to convert waste to biofuels and value-added chemicals Edmonton is now home to one of the world’s most sophisticated waste-to-biofuels research facilities, thanks to a partnership between Alberta Innovates – Energy and
June 27, 2011 Read Full Article
Brazil Seeks to Boost Stagnant Ethanol Industry
by Inae Riveras and Brian Winter (Reuters) Brazil's government unveiled new financing and other incentives for sugar cane ethanol production on Monday, vowing to work closely with the private sector to boost production in an industry that has struggled recently
June 06, 2011 Read Full Article
Tobacco Funds Give Danville Boost
by Tara Bozick (GoDanRiver.com) ...Other projects receiving tobacco commission money: ...• The commission approved $490,000 for Piedmont BioProducts in Gretna to improve its biofuel-making process, which will lead to the company’s first commercial bio-refinery in Gretna Industrial Park. READ MORE and MORE and
June 01, 2011 Read Full Article
The Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference, Day 3: What Would You Say You Do Here?
by Will Dalen Rice (Earth Science Erratics) ...The final day of the conference was all about being “feedstock agnostic” in terms of what you give to your genetically engineered, “proprietary organisms.” This was the really cool day where they all
May 31, 2011 Read Full Article
DEINOVE Achieves the First Key Milestone in the DEINOL Project and Receives €1.6 Million from Oseo
(DEINOVE) Oseo has validated the first key milestone in the DEINOL project (on the production of second-generation ethanol using Deinococcus bacteria) with Deinove and its partners. As a result, Oseo has paid Deinove a second tranche of €1.6 million in funding. DEINOVE,
May 31, 2011 Read Full Article
ESF Produces ‘Next Generation of Biofuels’
(SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry) Researchers work to make biobutanol from sustainable resource: wood ...(S)cientists at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) are researching ways to turn wood into sustainable biobutanol. Researchers in the college's Department of
May 26, 2011 Read Full Article
World Economic Forum Report Identifies Biofuels as the 'Game Changer' to Achieve Aviation Emissions Targets
(GreenAirOnline) An aviation sustainability report from the World Economic Forum finds that achieving the industry’s target of halving its carbon emissions by 2050 will be a significant challenge given an 85 per cent CO2 emissions reduction gap. This is despite
May 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Appropriations Committee Releases Fiscal Year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations Bill
(US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee) The House Appropriations Committee today (May 23, 2011) released the subcommittee draft of the fiscal year 2012 Agriculture Appropriations bill, which will be marked up in the Agriculture Subcommittee tomorrow. The legislation continues the
May 24, 2011 Read Full Article
European Commission Funds Global Project to Produce Ethanol, Biodiesel and Bioproducts from Algae
(PR-Inside) Nine partners from seven countries have joined in an innovative project to show that ethanol, biodiesel and bioproducts can be produced from algae on a large scale. The BIOfuel From Algae Technologies (BIOFAT) project, largely funded by the European Commission’s Seventh Framework
May 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Scheub Says $600 Million Committed to Ethanol Production
by Bill Dolan (Northwest Indiana Times) Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Merrillville, announced Thursday that an out-of-state investment firm is committing $600 million to the construction of trash-to-ethanol production. "The groundbreaking will be sometime after Memorial Day. The festivities will be
May 20, 2011 Read Full Article
Brazil: Attitude before Altitude, Part 3
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...In part 3, we look at 12 companies and compare and contrast the Brazilian and US paths to advanced biofuels. Does Brazil have a “must emulate” model? ...What we found is a stable, straightforward system of
May 19, 2011 Read Full Article
Sen. Bingaman Eyes Committee Vote on Clean-Energy Agency
by Ben Geman (The Hill/E2Wire) Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is planning a committee vote before Memorial Day on legislation that would create a federal “Clean Energy Deployment Administration” to jump-start the commercialization of green
May 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Next-Generation Biofuels Panel Discussion
(Milken Institute Global Conference) With oil prices spiking and concern over climate change growing, biofuels hold tremendous appeal. But they must overcome considerable hurdles. Further process and technology refinements are needed to ensure that biofuels make a significant dent in
May 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Mexican Biofuels Seen Meeting 3% Blending Target In 2012
by Ivan Castano (Renewable Energy World) "I think it can be done," says Raul Felix, climate change and renewable energy practice coordinator at Baker & McKenzie in Mexico City. "However, Pemex is going to have to pay much more to make [supply]
May 03, 2011 Read Full Article
Biofuels Push Becomes Weapon in Colombia's War on Narco-Traffickers
by Nathanial Gronewold (New York Times/Greenwire) ...Government support for biodiesel has spurred a robust demand for palm oil that has put 50 percent more income into the pocket of farmer Misael Monsalve Moreno. He is almost finished replacing his family's
May 03, 2011 Read Full Article
Request for Proposals – Biofuel Supply
On April 29, 2011, Hawaiian Electric issued a request for proposals (RFP) to supply up to forty-two (42) million gallons of sustainably produced, renewable biofuel per year to fuel the Kahe Generating Station (KPP) for a term of two (2)
May 02, 2011 Read Full Article
USDA Rural Development Invites Applications for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Projects
(US Department of Agriculture) Agricultural Producers in Non-rural Areas are Now Eligible, Funding May Be Used for Flex-Fuel Pumps Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today (April 14, 2011) invited agricultural producers and rural small businesses to apply for loans and grants
April 15, 2011 Read Full Article
US Navy Spartan Energy Ethos Means Biofuels (Four Commercial-Scale Biorefineries) and Energy Efficiency for the Fleet and the Country. For How Long? In Perpetuity ...
by Robert E. Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA) On April 12th at the Navy League’s 2011 Sea-Air-Space Exposition, the leaders of the US Navy’s 50% petroleum reduction by 2020 program honed in on what it means for the Navy and for
April 14, 2011 Read Full Article
Next-Gen Biofuel Depends on Subsidies, Senate Told
by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register) Even as President Barack Obama renewed his push for next-generation biofuels, an industry official warned that cuts in biomass subsidies could discourage farmers from providing corn residue and other needed feedstocks. If farmers “see the
April 04, 2011 Read Full Article
State Alliance to Pump $200,000 into KU Biofuels Lab
(CheckBioTech) The Kansas Alliance for Biorefining and Bioenergy (KABB) announced its investment Tuesday, of $200,000 in the Biofuels Testing Laboratory at the University of Kansas. The Biofuels Lab is a $1.2 million initiative to develop a full suite of testing facilities
March 31, 2011 Read Full Article
Will the DOE Loan Guarantee Program Be Chopped by Congress, as US Falls to 3rd in Cleantech Investment?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, 34 cleantech CEOs, are trying to make sure the DOE doesn’t drop its loan guarantee program despite threats of budget cuts from Congress. Signatories to the letter include Abengoa Bioenergy EVP Christopher
March 30, 2011 Read Full Article
Alt Energy Groups Ask Congress to Support DOE Programs
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) A multitude of leading energy trade associations today wrote to Congressional leaders with a request for Congress to maintain support and funding for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) including the Loan Guarantee Program. The program, in
March 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Builders Erect Cellulosic Ethanol Plant at Port of Morrow
by Dean Brickley (East Oregonian) Zea-Chem’s cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant is more than one-third finished. Builders erected three 40,000-gallon fermentation tanks this week and continued bolting together the steel structure for the two-story operations building. Excavation began last fall, and contractors poured
March 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Sustainable Development Technology Canada's Round 19 Accepting Statements of Interest Until April 20th
(Sustainable Development Technology Canada) SDTC’s SD Tech Fund™ invests in late-stage development and pre-commercial demonstration of clean technologies by Canadian companies. The Statement of Interest (SOI) is an initial application used for preliminary screening and is subject to a competitive review
March 25, 2011 Read Full Article
South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard Signs Bill to Boost Ethanol Industry, Development Loans
by Chet Brokaw (AP/The Republic) Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed into law Thursday a measure aimed at boosting ethanol sales at South Dakota gas stations and providing extra money for economic development loans. ...The ethanol measure was proposed by the governor and
March 25, 2011 Read Full Article
Budgets & Biotech: Congress Urged to Continue Supporting Advanced Biofuels
(BIOtechNOW) Industry leaders point out that biotech-enabled advanced biofuels spur job growth and reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil. Three leading biotechnology trade groups are urging Congress to protect important bioenergy program funding. In a Feb. 25 letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry
March 16, 2011 Read Full Article
USDA Seeks Applications for Renewable Energy Funding, Loan Guarantees
(US Department of Agriculture) Funds Will Help Win the Future by Spurring Investment to Increase the Production and Use of Renewable Energy Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is seeking applications to increase the production and use of renewable energy
March 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Evaluating a Biomass Refinery
by Rowley Tedlock (Kleinfelder) and Richard Holder (Jason Associates/Renewable Energy World) Detailed environmental evaluations consider alternatives and the effect of developing a cellulosic ethanol plant with a power generation component. The Abengoa Bioenergy Biorefinery of Kansas (ABBK) in Hugoton, Kansas,
March 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Who’s the Boss? The Salt-Water, Fresh-Water Divide in Agricultural Research
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Reporter Bob Brooks followed up on the Digest’s story on phosphorus reserves with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, asking about opportunities with and research in aqua farming and salt-water tolerant species. “USDA’s scope is limited to
March 08, 2011 Read Full Article
UK's Carbon Trust Funding Cut by 40%
by Damian Carrington (The Guardian) Cuts to the government's low-carbon agency will cancel grants to biofuel projects and cause dozens of redundancies The government's leading low-carbon agency has had its funding cut by 40%, causing the cancellation of grants to a major
February 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Vinod Khosla on Biofuel Feedstocks
by Vinod Khosla (GreenTechMedia) Imagination is in shortest supply when it comes to agronomic econometrics that extrapolate the past instead of inventing a new future. Part II: Feedstock. Feedstock cost, environmental impact and even its politics are critical variables. With each
February 06, 2011 Read Full Article
BioJet Receives $1.2 Billion Funding Facility
(BioJet International Ltd.) BioJet International Ltd. announced that it has received a US $1.2 Billion funding facility from Cayman based Equity Partners Fund SPC. The funding structure is a 3 year facility, further terms of the funding were not disclosed. BioJet
February 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Go West, Young Biofuels Entrepreneur
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...California remains the heartland of technological innovation and there is no place on earth where ideas go farther, faster, and find more support from academia, the science establishment, and venture capitalists. (Let us not mix
January 28, 2011 Read Full Article
BAAC, Bangchak to Grow Oil Palm Trees
(Bangkok Post) The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) and Bangchak Petroleum Plc have teamed up to grow oil palm for a biodiesel project. The state bank will allow the oil company to lease 1,200 rai of degraded tangerine orchards
January 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Valero Invests in Mascoma, Signs Cellulosic Ethanol Offtake Agreement; Inks LOI for up to $50M in Equity
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In New Hampshire, Mascoma announced that Valero Energy has joined as an investor in the company. Further, Mascoma, Valero, and Mascoma’s operating subsidiary, Frontier Renewable Resources, (jointly owned with J.M. Longyear) have signed a non-binding letter
January 13, 2011 Read Full Article
The Elusive Green Economy
by Joshua Green (The Atlantic) It feels like 1977 all over again: economy in the doldrums, crisis in the Middle East, and a charismatic new Democrat in the White House preaching the gospel of clean energy. Can Obama succeed where
January 13, 2011 Read Full Article
Much-Touted Cellulosic Ethanol Is Late in Making Mandated Appearance
by Dina Fine Maron (ClimateWire/New York Times) ...U.S. EPA figures indicate that in the second half of 2010, not a drop of cellulosic ethanol -- a much-touted fuel that taps the sugars from farm wastes and other non-food sources of
January 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Quantum Leap for the Q Microbe: Qteros closes $22 Million in New Financing; Global Partnership with Praj
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Qteros and Praj will collaborate on a highly focused, multi-year development program with the objective of rapidly developing and commercializing Process Design Packages (PDPs) that enable cellulosic ethanol production using Qteros’ Q Microbe-enabled CBP platform
January 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Florida Algae-preneurs - Making Fuel from Algae
by Cynthia Barnett (Florida Trend) Some Florida businesses are squeezing a trickle of fuel from algae, claiming they can help power the world. But right now, a few expensive drops in the bucket are all they have to show. On 1,000
December 28, 2010 Read Full Article
Researcher Has New Energy Solution
by Robert Behre (The Sun News) As Janice Ryan-Bohac looks on, Jonathan Edwards steers straight over a long row of dying vines while his tractor's rear chain digger unearths sweet potatoes as big as bowling balls. These are not meant for anyone's
December 27, 2010 Read Full Article
POET Cellulosic Ethanol Efforts Could Have Nearly $38 Billion Impact on Iowa
(POET) New analysis outlines jobs, economic output of Project LIBERTY work POET's Project LIBERTY will generate as much as $37.8 billion in economic activity over 20 years and could employ more than 2,800 people, an independent analysis claims. A report done by Impact
December 21, 2010 Read Full Article
Drop-In Biofuel Developer Dorsan Joins ATI-Clean Energy Incubator
(University of Texas at Austin) The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a not-for-profit unit of The University of Texas at Austin, announced today that Dorsan Biofuels, Inc., joined as a member company of the ATI-Clean Energy Incubator. Dorsan uses proprietary technology to create
December 17, 2010 Read Full Article
Remarks by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Biofuels as Prepared for Delivery at the National Press Club, Washington, D.C.
(EIN News/USDA) ...USDA announced assistance under the Recovery Act for 334 broadband expansions designed to reach more than 6 million people and 250,000 businesses in rural and remote areas. ...By launching the USDA led effort "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food"
October 22, 2010 Read Full Article
Easing Lignocellulosic Biofuel Production
(RenewableEnergyFocus.com) Following the discovery of the genes of two enzymes that toughen plants, researchers aim to breed non-food crops that require less processing, energy and chemicals to convert them into biofuel. ...Lead Researcher, Professor Paul Dupree, says: “There is a lot
September 16, 2010 Read Full Article
Breaking the Chains: 6 Solutions for Ending Dependence on Foreign Oil
by Lewis Reynolds (Politics Daily) America doesn't have to depend on overseas sources for one of its most vital national needs. A move toward energy independence, aside from creating as many as 14 million new jobs, can help rebuild our
September 13, 2010 Read Full Article
Negative Carbon Gasoline's Cool Planet Biofuels Funded
(The Alarm Clock) Camarillo, CA-based Cool Planet Biofuels has raised $3M as part of a $8M Series B funding round, according to a filing by the firm today. Source of the new funding was not announced, however, the firm is
September 07, 2010 Read Full Article
A New Start: NREL Aquatic Species Program
by Lisa Gibson (Biomass Magazine) Ten years after NREL’s Aquatic Species Program was shut down, a similar initiative began and now is thriving in its algae research, which includes the evaluation of CO2 recycling. Between 1978 and 1996, the Aquatic Species Program at
September 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Oil Spill Mars UC Berkeley's BP-Funded Research
(AP) BP's catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is fueling opposition to the University of California, Berkeley's research partnership with the British company, with activists on the famously liberal campus demanding a severing of ties. The oil giant gave UC
August 02, 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
The Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment Awards over $5.1 Million to 24 Energy Projects at the University of Minnesota
(University of Minnesota) The Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment (IREE) recently awarded over $5.1 million to 24 renewable energy research and demonstration projects at the University of Minnesota. The selected projects focus on a wide-range of topics including solar
April 26, 2010 Read Full Article
Testimony of Energy Secretary Steven Chu before the US Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
(January 21, 2010) ...It is imperative that government provide R&D funding, especially at the front end when private investments would not recoup the full value of the shared social good or when a new technology would displace an embedded way