by John Farrell (Forbes) ...A prime example: biofuels from the by-products of tequila production. In particular, the tough, fibrous leaves of the blue agave plant. A recent paper Valenzuela published in the February issue of the journal Bioenergy, A New Agenda for Blue
life cycle analysis (LCA)
Back TO HOMEBoeing and Embraer to Fund Sugarcane Biofuel Study
by Kerry Reals (FlightGlobal) Boeing and Embraer are to jointly fund a sustainability analysis into producing renewable jet fuel sourced from Brazilian sugarcane. The study, which is also being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), will evaluate the environmental effects of
July 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Electric Cars May Not Be So Green after All, Says British Study
by Ben Webster (The Australian) Electric cars could produce higher emissions over their lifetimes than petrol equivalents because of the energy consumed in making their batteries, a study has found. An electric car owner would have to drive at least 129,000km
June 20, 2011 Read Full Article
LowCVP Study Demonstrates the Increasing Importance of Measuring Whole Life Carbon Emissions to Compare Vehicle Performanc
(Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership) Electric and hybrid cars create more carbon emissions during their production than standard vehicles – but are still greener overall, according to a new report. The report highlights the increasing importance of accounting for whole life carbon
June 20, 2011 Read Full Article
Petrobras Reaffirms Commitment to Biofuels at Biennial Event
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) As Brazil recovers from a difficult start to the year in the ethanol sector, Petrobras, the country’s integrated energy firm, seized the opportunity to highlight its activities in the industry during an Ethanol Summit
June 14, 2011 Read Full Article
Petrobras Investing US$400 Million in Biofuels Research 2010-2014
(Green Car Congress) Petrobras has earmarked some US$400 million for biofuels development research projects in the 2010-2014 Business Plan, according to Petrobras Biocombustível’s head of Technology Management, João Norberto Noschang Neto. Neto was speaking as a member of the panel on
June 09, 2011 Read Full Article
How Manomet Got It Backwards: Challenging the "Debt-then-dividend" Axiom
by Dr. William Strauss (Renewable Energy World/FutureMetrics) This short article challenges the assumption that there is always a carbon debt incurred first and then a carbon dividend realized later (debt-then-dividend) when using woody biomass for energy. The Manomet Study has generated
May 31, 2011 Read Full Article
“The $1.01 a Gallon Tax Credit Will Help, but We Could Live without It”: Genencor
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Genencor CEO Tjerk de Ruiter says, “As long as they create a mandate, the $1.01 a gallon cellulosic tax credit will help, but could live without it.” Last week, Genencor released a foundational survey on consumer
May 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Do Biofuels Reduce Greenhouse Gases?
by Kevin Bullis (MIT's Technology Review) A new study fuels the debate over the impact of growing crops for fuel. Greenhouse-gas emissions from biofuels, such as ethanol and biodiesel, may be lower than many researchers have estimated, according to a new
May 20, 2011 Read Full Article
New Study Breaks Link Between Land Use, Biofuels
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) In a new study released today (May 16, 2011) by Michigan State University (MSU), biofuel production in the United States through 2007, “probably has not induced any indirect land use change.” The report was conducted by Seungdo
May 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Quantifying Variability in Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Inventories of Alternative Middle Distillate Transportation Fuels
Russell W. Stratton, Hsin Min Wong, and James I. Hileman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) The presence of variability in life cycle analysis (LCA) is inherent due to both inexact LCA procedures and variation of numerical inputs. Variability in LCA
May 13, 2011 Read Full Article
IEA Releases Technology Roadmap Biofuels for Transport
(Industrial Fuels and Power) A new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says that the widespread deployment of biofuels can play an important role in reducing CO2 emissions in the transport sector and enhancing energy security, when produced sustainably. With
April 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Indirect Fuel Use Change (IFUC) and the Lifecycle Environmental Impact of Biofuel Policies
by Deepak Rajagopal, G. Hochman, and D. Zilberman (Science Direct) A common assumption in lifecycle assessment (LCA) based estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits (or costs) of renewable fuel such as biofuel is that it simply replaces an energy-equivalent amount of
April 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Indirect Land Use Change: A Second-Best Solution to a First-Class Problem
by David Zilberman, Gal Hochman, and Deepak Rajagopal (AgBioForum) Concern about the possible effects of biofuels on deforestation have led to assigning biofuel producers with the responsibility for the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the indirect land-use changes (ILUC) associated
April 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Argonne Creating Life Cycle Analysis Tools for Algal Biofuels
(Algae Industry Magazine) ...The objectives of the (Argonne National Laboratories) Algae LCA project include: Assemble a life cycle inventory for algal biofuels Implement an algae life cycle analysis (LCA) Enable and stimulate additional LCA communications The methods chosen to accomplish those objectives are: To
March 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Sustainability and the Environment I: Uncertainty in Indirect Land Use Change in the Life Cycle of Biofuels: Impacts for Legislation
by Adam J. Liska (Department of Biological Systems Engineering at University of Nebraska-Lincoln) Liska opens his presentation with the formerly impending climate change legislation H.R. 2454, and states that the act would have done away with the inclusion of
March 16, 2011 Read Full Article
The Need for Alternative Fuel: When Biofuels and Genetic Engineering Meet
by Alexander Kunev (The McGill Daily) ...However, getting rid of a system of distribution that encompasses a large network of filling stations and refineries is far from the most efficient way to ensure that more vehicles will be powered by
March 14, 2011 Read Full Article
CARB Tackling Crude Oil’s Carbon Intensity in LCFS
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) ...(S)till under fire is CARB’s final ruling on the carbon intensity levels given for ethanol and biodiesel. When CARB determined the original levels of corn ethanol, it essentially barred the fuel from qualifying as a low
February 23, 2011 Read Full Article
Challenges for Biofuels: Not Just Technical Hurdles To Overcome
by Lynn Yarris (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory/Renewable Energy World) That is the promise of advanced biofuels and the focus to date has been on the technological challenges of producing high quality biofuels in a way that is both sustainable and
February 21, 2011 Read Full Article
2 Studies Target Sticking Points, Gaps in Life-Cycle Calculations of Biofuels
by Jenny Mandel (New York Times/Greenwire) Conducting in-depth life-cycle assessments of the environmental impacts of biofuels is complicated, and new research suggests some questions in comparing biofuels to alternatives like petroleum-based fuels will never be answered. Furthermore, one study argues, consumer
February 18, 2011 Read Full Article
DOE Federal Lab Says Life Cycle Analysis Does Not Factor in Rare Earth Metals or Mountain Top Removal
[caption id="attachment_16291" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="From left, Warren Brown, automotive columnist for the Washington Post and Ron Cogan, publisher of Green Car Journal co-moderate Green Car Summit Panel: Tom Baloga, VP Engineering for BMW North America; Susan M. Cischke, Group VP,
January 31, 2011 Read Full Article
German Study Shows Rapeseed GHG Potential
by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine) The German Biomass Research Center has conducted a study on optimizing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rapeseed-based biodiesel. The goal of the study was to analyze the current default values for GHGs from rapeseed-based biodiesel,
January 06, 2011 Read Full Article
Will Biogenic Emission Regulation Curb Biomass Growth?
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) ...In December 2010, Forisk Consulting released a study titled, “Economic and Regional Impact Analysis of the Treatment of Biomass Energy Under the EPA Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule.” According to NAFO, the study found that the U.S.
January 04, 2011 Read Full Article
A Life-Cycle Assessment of Biofuels
By: Sara Krauskopf (The Science Teacher) A life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool used by engineers to make measurements of net energy, greenhouse gas production, water consumption, and other items of concern. This article describes an activity designed to walk students
December 30, 2010 Read Full Article
Malaysian Palm Oil Products Not Affected by EU RED
(The Star) The European Union Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED) and its sustainability criteria will not affect Malaysia’s palm oil exports to the EU market for consumer products like food, cosmetics and detergents, according to ambassador and head of the EU
October 28, 2010 Read Full Article
Life Cycle Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions for an Ethanol Production Process Based on Blue-Green Algae
by Dexin Luo, Zushou Hu, Dong Gu Choi, Valerie M. Thomas, Matthew J. Realff, and Ronald R. Chance (Environmental Science and Technology) Ethanol can be produced via an intracellular photosynthetic process in cyanobacteria (blue-green algae), excreted through the cell walls, collected
October 26, 2010 Read Full Article
The Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels Moves Forward on Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reduction Requirements
(Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels) Adopts ambitious target of 50% improvement for biofuel blends over fossil fuels The RSB is pleased to announce the approval of the RSB greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting methodology and establishment of a GHG reduction threshold for our bio-fuel
August 30, 2010 Read Full Article
Thinking Green? It's Not Just Black and White.
by Katherine Salant (The Washington Post) ...To build a 2,200-square-foot house, an acre of forest will be clear-cut somewhere on the globe and a huge hole in the earth, roughly equal in size to the volume of the house, will be
August 24, 2010 Read Full Article
A European Perspective on Algal Biofuel Scaleup
(Algae Industry Magazine) An article by Rene H. Wijffels and Maria J. Barbosa, of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, published in the current edition of Science Journal, details the challenges and opportunities of algal biofuel development from a European perspective.
August 24, 2010 Read Full Article
New Carbon Dioxide Emissions Model
(Max Planck Society) ..."What’s new about this research is that we have integrated the carbon cycle into our model to obtain the emissions data," says Erich Roeckner. According to the model, admissible carbon dioxide emissions will increase from approximately seven
August 09, 2010 Read Full Article
Algae Biofuel Grown in Bioreactors Has 3.7x the Carbon Footprint of Petro-Diesel: Study
by Matthew McDermott (Treehugger) ...According to Anna Stephenson from the University of Cambridge, when algae is grown in clear-tubed bioreactors the energy required to move the algae around so that it gets enough sunlight means that per megajoule equivalent of
August 03, 2010 Read Full Article
EPA Releases Data on Canola Biodiesel Pathway
By Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine) The U.S. EPA has released a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) for its recent modeling of the canola oil biodiesel pathway. As of March 26, when the EPA officially announced the final rule for the
July 23, 2010 Read Full Article
Evogene Castor Oil Demonstrates Suitability as Biojet Feedstock
(MarketWire) Analysis Conducted in Collaboration With NASA, AFRL, and Honeywell's UOP Evogene Ltd. announced July 7, 2010, that biojet(1) produced from castor varieties under development by Evogene, meets the key international standards for alternative aviation fuels. The analysis was conducted by Evogene, Inc., a
July 07, 2010 Read Full Article
US Politicians Oppose 2,000-Mile Oil Sands Pipeline
by Stacy Feldman (The Guardian) Nearly 50 members of Congress warn State Deptartment against rubberstamping 2,000-mile tar sands pipeline as Obama insider John Podesta says fuel source "cannot be our energy future". ...In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
June 29, 2010 Read Full Article
Biomass Better than Coal? War over Carbon Accounting Erupts
by Jim Lane (Biomass Digest) In Washington, the Environment Working Group has released a study that claims the impacts of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA)—which has already passed the House of Representatives—would require the equivalent of cutting
June 24, 2010 Read Full Article
Enerkem Awarded $1.8 Million Funding by Alberta’s Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation for Demonstration Project
(Enerkem) Enerkem Inc., a leading waste-to-biofuels and advanced chemicals company, today announced that it has been chosen by the Climate Change and Emissions Management Corporation (CCEMC) to receive $1.8 million in funding for a market demonstration project aimed at further reducing
June 18, 2010 Read Full Article
POET Cellulosic Ethanol Cuts Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 111 Percent over Gasoline
by POET (RenewableEnergyWorld.com) Biogas production highlighted in lifecycle analysis for Project LIBERTY. Ethanol produced by Project LIBERTY, POET's first planned commercial cellulosic ethanol plant, will reduce carbon emissions by 111 percent over gasoline, an independent lifecycle analysis shows. This means POET’s
June 17, 2010 Read Full Article
Airline Industry's First-Ever Carbon Footprint Assessment Carried out on North American Regional Carriers
(GreenAirOnline) Sustainability measurement and environmental risk management company EQ2 has conducted the first-ever airline industry carbon and environmental footprint assessment in conjunction with the Regional Airline Association (RAA). Using EQ2’s web-based Evolution sustainability management system, seven participating RAA members, representing
June 14, 2010 Read Full Article
Life Cycle Assessment Comparing the Use of Jatropha Biodiesel in the Indian Road and Rail Sectors
by Michael Whitaker and Garvin Heath (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) This life cycle assessment of Jatropha biodiesel production and use evaluates the net greenhouse gas (GHG) emission (not considering land-use change), net energy value (NEV), and net petroleum consumption impacts of substituting Jatropha
June 08, 2010 Read Full Article
PARTNER Publishes First Comprehensive Study into Comparing Life-Cycle GHG Emissions of Aviation Alternative Fuels
(GreenAirOnline) The first-ever study into a comparison of the life-cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a range of alternative aviation fuels has been published by the Partnership for AiR Transportation Noise and Emissions Reduction (PARTNER), based at the Massachusetts Institute
June 04, 2010 Read Full Article
Biofuels and the Need for Additional Carbon
by Timothy D Searchinger (Environmental Research Letters) Use of biofuels does not reduce emissions from energy combustion but may offset emissions by increasing plant growth or by reducing plant residue or other non-energy emissions. To do so, biofuel production must generate and
June 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Ethanol Production Methods More Efficient Now: Study
(University of Illinois, Chicago) A new University of Illinois at Chicago study of facilities that produce most of the nation's ethanol found that the energy needed to make a gallon of the corn-based fuel decreased on average by about 30
June 02, 2010 Read Full Article
Indirect Land Use: One Consideration Too Many in Biofuel Regulation
by David Zilberman, Gal Hochman, and Deepak Rajagopal (Agricultural and Resource Economics Update -- University of California) ...While including Indirect Land Use Effects in assessing the impact of biofuel seems appealing, we will argue here against an indirect land use in biofuel
May 21, 2010 Read Full Article
Life Cycle Analysis of Evogene Castor Bean Based Biodiesel Shows 90% Emissions Reduction Compared to Petroleum
Evogene Ltd., on April 8, 2010, announced the results of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of biodiesel produced from castor bean varieties being developed by the Company. The assessment shows that such biodiesel reduces Greenhouse Gases (GHG) emissions by 90% compared to
April 09, 2010 Read Full Article
Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Changes to Renewable Fuel Standard Program; Final Rule
Under the Clean Air Act Section 211(o), as amended by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA), the Environmental Protection Agency is required to promulgate regulations implementing changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard program. The revised statutory requirements specify
March 26, 2010 Read Full Article
New Life Cycle Profile Shows U.S. Soy Delivers Environmental & Energy Benefits
The United Soybean Board (USB) released a new peer-reviewed life cycle profile that documents multiple energy and environmental benefits of U.S. soybean farming and processing. It confirms why manufacturers are increasingly using U.S. soy in green chemistry for a wide
February 10, 2010 Read Full Article
Algal Biomass Organization Questions Accuracy of University of Virginia Algae Life Cycle Study
The Algal Biomass Organization, challenged the conclusions of a published report in Environmental Science and Technology claiming that “conventional crops have lower environmental impacts than algae in energy use, greenhouse gas emissions and water.” The report was based upon obsolete
January 29, 2010 Read Full Article
Study: Global Biofuels Reduce GHGs by 123.5 Million Tonnes
Just in time for the critical climate talks now underway in Copenhagen, new data once again confirms the significant greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions from global biofuels production. Prepared by (S&T)2 Consultants Inc., an internationally recognized energy and environmental consulting firm, the
December 11, 2009 Read Full Article
Purdue to Lead Second-Generation Biofuels Impact Analysis
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Purdue University has been awarded a $933,000 USDA grant to conduct analysis of the global impacts of second-generation biofuels. According to Tom Hertel, ag economics professor at Purdue University and project co-investigator, the team’s
December 03, 2009 Read Full Article
Canadian Biofuel Cuts Emissions Sharply: Report
by Rod Nickel (Reuters) Canadian ethanol emits 62 percent less greenhouse gas than conventional fuel, taking into consideration all stages of the fuel's production from planting a crop to burning the fuel, a new report prepared for Canada's biofuel industry
December 03, 2009 Read Full Article
Improvements in Life Cycle Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn-Ethanol
(Journal of Industrial Ecology) Corn-ethanol production is expanding rapidly with the adoption of improved technologies to increase energy efficiency and profitability in crop production, ethanol conversion, and coproduct use. Life cycle assessment can evaluate the impact of these changes on
September 03, 2009 Read Full Article
Life Cycle Assessment of Biofuels from Jatropha curcas in West Africa: a Field Study
by Robert Ndong, Mireille Montrejaud-Vignoles, Oliver Saint Girons, Benoit Gabrielle, Roland Pirot, marjorie Domergue and Caroline Sablayrolles (Global Change Biology Bioenergy) In recent years, liquid biofuels for transport have benefited from significant political support due to their potential role in curbing