by DollyKumari and RadhikaSingh (Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews)  … Lignocellulosic waste is becoming popular as a feedstock for biofuel production. The can be converted into usable form for biofuel production by using a suitable pretreatment …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) SAF development in Europe.  An update on EU policy and initiatives by SkyNRG’s Oskar Meijerink at ABLC in Washington, DC on March 1, 2018.  READ MORE

(U.S. Department of Energy) Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $3 million in funding for advanced biofuels, bioenergy, and biobased products available through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI). DOE …

(Urban Air Initiative)  The announcement by the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the fuel economy rules rushed through in late 2016 will be revised is an encouraging first step for high octane fuels to play …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Why characterize biomass? Lignocellulosic biomass is a complex biopolymer and its properties vary depending on its species, growth environments and conversion processes. Characteristics of biomass provide valuable insights for biomass utilization. Diverse characterization methods have been …

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 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Can you build a catalytic process to produce alpha, omega diols from lignocellulosic biomass? Such a process, using inorganic catalysts for conversion of biomass into 1.5 pentanediol (PDO) and 1,6 hexanediols …

(Biofuel International)  Alkol Biotech and Bio Refinery Development have signed a letter of intent (LOI) for the sourcing of up to 500 thousand tonnes of non-woody lignocellulosic biomass for what would be Europe’s ‘largest’ biorefinery.
UK based …

by Susan van Dyk, Emile van Zyl, Brett Pletschke (International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 39)  This short contribution provides some perspectives on opportunities for biofuel production on the African continent. Africa has a large land base, with …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … (T)he Australian Renewable Energy Agency has made its single largest direct investment in second-generation biofuels via $11.9M in funding support for Ethtec to complete the development and demonstration of its advanced biofuel production …

(Department of Energy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office is proud to announce the establishment of the Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium—a research and development consortium dedicated to identifying and overcoming technical uncertainty in research …

(Australian Renewable Energy Agency/Ethanol Produce Magazine)  The Australian Renewable Energy Agency recently announced $11.9 million in funding for Australian biofuel company Ethanol Technologies Ltd. to complete the development and demonstration of its groundbreaking advanced biofuel technology.
As part of a …

by J.D. Warren (UCR Today)  Relatively cheap “biomass” has been a poor option due to its production cost  —  UC Riverside researchers have developed a streamlined process that could finally make the ethanol production cost from abundant …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … You’d be forgiven if you mistook Ahb Subi Banr-Sbar for a well-placed official in the Iranian government — but, in fact, it’s a 9-project network to facilitate the development of regionally-based …

(The BIRD Foundation/PR Newswire)  The total value of the approved projects is $10.5 million in the areas of Hydrogen/Storage, Transportation, Biofuels and Energy Efficiency —  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Israel’s Ministry of Energy (MoE) along …

(Biofuels International)  US scientists have developed a new technique to accelerate the production of renewable jet fuel from corn cobs and wood chips.
…
Alternative jet fuels are increasingly seen as a means to reduce the environmental impact of …

by Siddharth Vodnala (Washington State University News)  Researchers from Washington State University, along with those from Oregon State University and the University of Montana, have recently devised refined methods to estimate the amount of forest residue …

(St1)  Energy company St1 continues its series of investments targeting to begin the production of renewable diesel in 2020 at its refinery in Gothenburg, Sweden. The company has now signed an Engineering design package and license …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The US Department of Energy is supporting a project led by Pacific Northwest National Lab to develop a new deconstruction technology to provide low ash and low impurity sugars and sugar-derived intermediates …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to develop efficient and robust fungal biocatalysts and bioprocesses that utilize lignocellulose feedstocks to produce advanced biofuels and bioproducts at lower …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The DOE is funding a fascinating project to develop a continuous electrochemical process to convert biorefinery waste lignin to substituted aromatic compounds for resins and resin binders. The goal? Integration into …

(St1/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  St1 announced it is investing in a new hydrogen manufacturing unit, which will be built in St1 refinery in Gothenburg, Sweden. This is the first step in the series of planned investments, …

(Phys.Org/Arizona State University)  Despite several major national research initiatives, no one has been able to come up with the breakthrough renewable biofuel technology that would lead to a cheaper alternative to gasoline.
That research challenge led …

(Penn State News)  Slowed as much by extremely low oil prices as supply-chain and technological challenges, the effort to integrate biofuels into the nation’s aviation fuel supply is nonetheless progressing, according to a researcher in …

(BECOOL/AltEnergyMag) A new Horizon 2020 project will foster cooperation between Europe and Brazil in the development of advanced biofuels from sustainable agricultural value chains, based on lignocellulosic biomass. Coordinated by the University of Bologna, Department …

by Silke Schmidt (University of Wisconsin-Madison News)   Technologies for converting non-edible biomass into chemicals and fuels traditionally made from petroleum exist aplenty. But when it comes to attracting commercial interest, these technologies compete financially with …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Last December , the U.S. Department of Energy announced it would support the country’s 10th Manufacturing USA Institute with $70 million over five years, subject to federal appropriations. Another $70 million is …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Not long ago, George Huber and Robert Brown wrote in a special issue of Energy Technology of their desire to “highlight recent advances in pyrolysis technologies and to discuss the …

Bernard Cooker (Chemical Processing Solutions/Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest)  Cheap, plentiful lignocellulosic biomass (LCB), consisting of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, is deconstructed to release useful chemical intermediates in the bioeconomy. These include glucose from cellulose, glucose …

edited by John Love and John A.  Bryant (Wiley-Blackwell)  With increased public and scientific attention driven by factors such as oil price spikes, the need for increased energy security, and concerns over greenhouse gas emissions …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  A group of researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have completed a survey of the economic activities and rural jobs that a corn stover bioeconomy can offer, which is currently featured on …

by Dina Bacovsky, Andrea Sonnleitner (Task39 Newsletter)  …  Domestic FAME (fatty acid methyl ester) production in 2014 was 292,009 tonnes based on rapeseed (72%), used cooking oil (19%), animal fat (8%) and fatty acids (1%). The feedstock …

(American Science and Technology/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  American Science and Technology, a sustainable technology company, has teamed up with Terma Group, a team of Waste and Environmental Technology researchers at the University of Malaga in Spain, …

by Amritha Pillay & Shine Jacob (Business Standard)  Part of the MoU’s signed was a partnership between Oil india Ltd and IIT, Guwahati for supporting Oil India’s start up initiative  —  … In addition to the MoU …

(nova-Institute)  Its concept is to combine chemical and enzymatic catalysis with insects-based biological conversion via termites, within a biorefinery integrated approach. The project is conceived to avoid waste production by recycling waste bio-based products and …

(Biofuels International)  A joint investment between UK’s BBSRC and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) in Brazil has been made to support collaborations between UK and Brazilian scientists in advanced biofuels research.
The funding – £3.5 …

(Oak Ridge National Laboratory)  Researchers at ORNL uncover the chemical reaction that helps break down biomass for biofuel  —  Lignocellulosic biomass—plant matter such as cornstalks, straw, and woody plants—is a sustainable source for production of …

(Times of India)  The Union government will invest Rs 15,000 crore to increase the capacity of Panipat oil refinery in Haryana from existing 15 million tonnes (MT) to 25 MT to raise quality of fuel …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  “Shaping the future of bioenergy and renewable chemicals,” that’s the lofty technological goal which MetGen has set for itself. The company has made a name for itself via participation as …

(University of Vermont)  A new era of clean BioEnergy solutions is beginning to emerge now. Clean sustainable Bioenergy such as Bio-Electricity and Biogas production from Dairy manure and Food Waste streams is becoming a well-known …

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 …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The Energy Department today announced up to $11.3 million in funding to develop flexible biomass-to-hydrocarbon biofuels conversion pathways that can be modified to produce advanced fuels and/or products based on external …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled “MEGA-BIO: Bioproducts to Enable Biofuels”.
This …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Clariant’s sunliquid technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into sugars, followed by fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, is flexible to be used to convert different feedstocks on a regional basis, for …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Switzerland, 11 leading low carbon fuel companies present a comprehensive guide that identifies a variety of available and accessible low carbon fuel solutions.
…
Today, only 3% of transportation fuels are low …

(NationMultiMedia.com)  L’OREAL (THAILAND), backed by the Thai National Commission for Unesco, has granted fellowships to six women researchers to foster sustainable development in fields ranging from agriculture to curing cancer. In its 13 years, the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Clariant’s sunliquid technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into sugars, followed by fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, is flexible to be used to convert different feedstocks on a regional basis, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  It’s been around for a generation or so — fast pyrolysis, that is. Though in the original low-tech incarnation — known as “cooking fire” — pyrolysis has been around since …

(US Department of Agriculture/Ohio State University)  The long term goal of this project is to commercialize an integrated anaerobic digestion system (iADs) that promises cost competitive bioenergy and biofuels production from lignocellulosic biomass. The specific …

(Total) The BioTfueL project focuses on producing second-generation biodiesel and bio-jet fuel via thermochemical conversion. Total is working with five partners to bring the process to commercial-scale production.
In the BioTfueL project, Total is working with five …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The complete details on BP’s exit and the considerable physical and intellectual assets available for acquisition, in part or in whole.  As BP continues to reel from its oil leak …

by N Madhav  (Business Standard)  The initiative would work to deliver a model for production using crops like energy sorghum, bamboo, pearl millet and switch grass
In a significant step towards generating biofuels from non-food plant sources, …

Opportunities for Cost-Competitive Liquid Fuels from Lignocellulosic Feedstocks in the Americas
ACI’s Annual Lignofuels Americas Summit will be taking place in US on March 2015.  The two day conference will offer a series of informative formal …

by Sean Nealon (UCR Today)  A team of researchers, led by Professor Charles E. Wyman, at the University of California, Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering have developed a versatile, relatively non-toxic, and efficient way to …

by Phillip Fiorini and Cynthia Sequin (Purdue University)   Purdue University researchers are launching a company focusing on an innovative process that could revolutionize how lignocellulosic biomass is used to make biofuels and other bio-based products and chemicals.
Spero …

(Valmet Corp./Biomass Magazine)  Fortum, UPM and Valmet have joined forces to develop a new, winning technology to produce advanced high value lignocellulosic fuels, such as transportation fuels or higher value bio-liquids. The idea is to …

(Lesaffre)  Through its business unit Fermentis launched in 2003 Lesaffre has successfully served the fuel ethanol industry with yeast, yeast products and technical support.  Aiming to concentrate their efforts on offering more specialized services and products …

by Tom Rickey (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)  Scientists looking to create a potent blend of enzymes to transform materials like corn stalks and wood chips into fuels have developed a test that should turbocharge their …

(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), …

ACI’s Lignofuels Americas 2013 conference will bring together senior executives and experts from industry and academia to discuss the latest challenges and developments making an impact on the industry.
The two day conference will offer a series of …

(US Department of Energy)  Following last week’s rollout of President Obama’s plan to cut carbon pollution, the Energy Department today announced four research and development projects to bring next generation biofuels on line faster and …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 39 group recently published a report that outlines progress on more than 100 advanced biofuel projects under development worldwide. The report, titled “Status …

by Kathy Robertson (Sacramento Business Journal)  Novozymes Inc. is staffing up to support a $2.5 million Department of Energy contract to find new and more efficient enzymes for turning corn leaves and stalks into fuel for …

(SEKAB)  SEKAB E-Technology welcomes SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden’s (SP) engagement in the Biorefinery Demo Plant in Örnsköldsvik, previously known as the Ethanol Pilot. SP and SEKAB have signed an agreement, which ensures continued …

(US Department of Energy)  The Bioenergy Technologies Office 2013 Project Peer Review will take place at the Hilton Alexandria Hotel from Monday, May 20, 2013, to Thursday, May 23, 2013. The peer review process will …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Pilot-scale biorefineries for drop-in military diesel, jet fuel the focus of the DOE’s latest grant round.
In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced up to $17.7 million in grants to …

(Science Daily)  Stepping into unexplored territory in efforts to use corn stalks, grass and other non-food plants to make biofuels, scientists have described the discovery of a potential treasure-trove of candidate enzymes in fungi thriving …

by Lynn Yarris (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)  When blessed with a resource in overwhelming abundance it’s generally a good idea to make valuable use of that resource. Lignocellulosic biomass is the most abundant organic material …

On April 15, 2013, from 1–2:15 p.m. ET, Dr. “Gnana” S. Gnanakaran—of Los Alamos National Laboratory—will present a webinar on his team’s molecular research on lignocellulosic biomass. Lignocellulose is a promising carbon-neutral source of energy …

(National Academies of Science)  A new National Research Council report finds that by the year 2050, the U.S. may be able to reduce petroleum consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent for light-duty vehicles — cars …

(Kansas State University) Kansas State University civil engineers are developing the right mix to reduce concrete’s carbon footprint and make it stronger. Their innovative ingredient: biofuel byproducts.
“The idea is to use bioethanol production byproducts to …

by Scott M. Paapa, Todd H. West, Dawn K. Manley, Eric J. Steen, Harry R. Beller, Jay D. Keasling, Dean C. Dibble, Shiyan Chang, Blake A. Simmons (Biomass and Bioenergy)  As advances in biotechnology have …

(SEKAB/Davy Process Technology)  Davy Process Technology Limited (Davy), a Johnson Matthey company, andSEKAB, a leading player in the field of the ethanol based chemicals and biofuels, today announced at World Biofuels Markets that they are …

(National Renewable Energy Laboratory)  Goal is to develop new catalysts to lower costs for producing biofuels
The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will partner with Johnson Matthey, a global specialty chemicals company, …

(Leaf Energy)  The patent application titled “Methods for Converting Lignocellulosic Material to Useful Products” (“Glycerol Bio-refinery process”) describes the process developed at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) by Zhanging Zhang, Ian O’Hara and William …

Presenters from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) will highlight the development of hydrocarbon fuels as renewable alternatives to petrochemical feedstocks.
With decreasing global production of crude oil, it is essential to our nation that renewable alternatives …

(University of Wisconsin-Madison)  Using a biomass-derived solvent, University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineers have streamlined the process for converting lignocellulosic biomass into high-demand chemicals or energy-dense liquid transportation fuel.
Their new method eliminates the need …

(PR NewsWire/Sacramento Bee)  Praj Industries, the integrated process engineering and solutions provider for bioethanol, brewery, water & wastewater and process equipment globally shared it’s advancement in the development of Commercial Demo Plant for Lignocellulosic Ethanol.
This is …

by Gregory T. Benz  (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Benz Technology International Inc.)  Lignocellulosic slurries have long been used for paper production as well as for feedstock for water-soluble polymer production, such as carboxy methyl cellulose. More recently, they …

(Pennsylvania State University)  The Northeast could help lead the way to a renewable-energy-based economy by utilizing marginal and abandoned land to grow energy crops such as perennial grasses and fast-growing woody plants.
That’s the goal of …

(Missouri University of Science & Technology)  Biofuel production can be an expensive process that requires considerable use of fossil fuels, but a Missouri University of Science and Technology microbiologist’s patented process could reduce the cost …

by Matthew Aylott (National Non-Food Crops Centre)   NNFCC gives its top ten of Britain’s most progressive biofuel and biochemical companies.
TMO Renewables …
Green Biologics …
British Airways …
Ensus …
BP …
Johnson Matthey …
Croda …
INEOS Bio …
Harvest Energy …
Greenergy … …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The Swiss specialty chemicals company Clariant is now operating its demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Straubing, Germany. With an annual capacity of up to 1,000 tons (330,000 MMgy), the demonstration …

By Bob Silberg (NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory/R&D Magazine)  If you’ve had to deal with termites in your house, you probably hate their guts. But not Jared Leadbetter. He loves termites, especially their guts!
“It turns out …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Researchers in Southeast Asia have identified an approach to producing ethanol using an abundant waste feedstock that could potentially add a significant source of biofuel production from oil palm …

ACI’s 3rd Annual Lignofuels Summit will be taking place in Stockholm, Sweden, on 26-27 September 2012. The two day conference will bring together key industry stakeholders to discuss ways of integrating processes and technologies for production of fuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks.
In addition …

by Peter Byrne  (The Energy Report)  Believe it or not, industry experts see biofuels accounting for up to 25% of global energy consumption by 2050. With this long-term vision in mind, Mark McHugh, president and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In an update to our story The Enzyme Wars, a group of researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the Joint BioEnergy Institute write: “the results from a recently-published paper on …

(IFP Energies Nouvelles)  The numerous research programmes looking at new-generation biofuels that were initiated over the last ten years are now starting to bear fruit. Although no plants are producing and
marketing biofuels yet, the large-scale, industrial …

by Robert F. Service (Science Magazine)  In the biofuels business, the idea of converting nonfood plants to fuels is like a mirage: enticing but seemingly just out of reach. To do it, the industry must …

by Rudy Ruitenberg   (Bloomberg)  Royal DSM NV and France’s CIMV SA produced ethanol from wheat straw in a test run of a project led by French agricultural researcher INRA to develop so-called second-generation biofuels.
Levallois-Perret, France-based …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Philippe Marlière, co-founder of Global Bioenergies and president of its Scientific Advisory Board, comments: “Carbon monoxide combines the attractive features of biochemical versatility and virtuous sourcing. Most importantly, carbon monoxide …

(Science Daily)  …However, technologies are being developed to generate bioethanol from non-food sources, such as the lignocellulosics present in switchgrass and trees. The sugars locked in the polymers of cell walls, i.e., cellulose, hemicellulose and …

(Wiley-Blackwell/ScienceNewsLine)   The production of ethanol from lignocellulose-rich materials such as wood residues, waste paper, used cardboard and straw cannot yet be achieved at the same efficiency and cost as from corn starch. A cost …

by Tara Bozick  (GoDanRiver.com)   …Chemtex International and its parent Gruppo Mossi and Ghisolfi, or the M&G Group, have been developing a lingo-cellulosic bio-ethanol technology called Proesa in a move away from petroleum and toward …

(Harvard Science)  Chris Somerville, director of the Energy Biosciences Institute, said global biofuels are already mainstream, with ethanol from corn totaling 13 to 14 billion gallons annually in the United States, or about 10 percent of …

(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 Mike Corn   (The Hays Daily News)  Leftover money from the federal Recovery Act will help pay for a project converting cattle manure to methane to help fuel the Western Plains Energy ethanol plant near …

(US Department of Energy)  …More than 600 speakers, moderators, sponsors, exhibitors, and attendees were able to listen to discussions about the ongoing challenges and achievements in the bioenergy industry. Biomass 2011 addressed key issues in important …

(Department of Energy/Los Alamos National Laboratory/EurekAlert!)  LANL molecular model helps expose cellulose weakness
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center have found a potential key for …

(LS9)  LS9, Inc., a technology leader in the development of sustainable products, today announced that it has been awarded in conjunction with partner HCL CleanTech Ltd., a $9 million grant from the Department of Energy …

by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine)  Since its inception in 2009, the U.S. DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency—Energy (DARPA-E) has been actively working to help expedite the development of innovative, game-changing energy technologies.
…On June 29, ARPA-E …

(Nature:  International Weekly Journal of Science)  Biofuels have big boots to fill. After more than 150 years of using petroleum and its products we have become dependent on it. First generation biofuels are showing us …

by Nikolai Khramtsov, Luise McDade, Alexander Amerik, Esther Yu, Kunjan Divatia, Alexander Tikhonov, Michael Minto, Georges Kabongo-Mubalamate, Zdenek Markovic, Marie Ruiz-Martinez and Steven Henck (Bioresource Technology/Science Direct)  In this study an industrial Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast strain capable …

by Lynn Hicks  (Des Moines Register)  Nevada will be the site of one of the few next-generation ethanol plants in the world, DuPont announced today.
The biorefinery will use corncobs, leaves and stalks as feedstock rather …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …EPA proposes to mandate the blending of 15.2 billion gallons of renewable fuel into the US fuel supply, and increased the proposed mandate for advanced biofuels by 48 percent, to …

(BP America)   …BP began investing in biofuels in Louisiana in 2008 through what was then a joint venture with Verenium Corporation. Last year, we bought Verenium out and now have a 100% BP-owned facility …

(US Department of Energy)  The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Biomass Program will be conducting detailed biennial peer review meetings of its activities throughout the first half …

by Thomas Saidak (Biofuels Digest)   In Canada, research carried out by teams at the Universities of Warwick and British Columbia have identified an lignin-breaking enzyme in bacteria which could be used to make …

(Virent)  Biofuels Pioneer Converts Corn Stover and Loblolly Pine Into BioFormate™ Gasoline with Molecular Composition Similar to Gasoline Derived from Fossil Fuels
Virent announced it has successfully produced biogasoline from corn stover and pine harvest forest residuals, as …

Lignofuels 2011 – Optimising the Production of Fuels from Lignocellulosic Feedstocks

Join us once again at ACI’s 2nd Annual Lignofuels Summit, which will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 28-29 September 2011.  The event will provide you with …

(Yahoo!Finance/BusinessWire)   ZeaChem Inc., a developer of biorefineries for the conversion of renewable biomass into sustainable fuels and chemicals, today announced it has signed a long-term binding term sheet with GreenWood Tree Farm Fund (GTFF), managed …

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 …

(RedOrbit)  It’s not quite Christmas, but the DNA sequence of a small plant that resembles the seasonal conifers is providing biofuels researchers with information that could influence the development of candidate biofuel feedstock plants and …

Bioresource Technology publishes original articles, review articles, case studies and short communications on the fundamentals, applications and management of bioresource technology.
The journal’s aim is to advance and disseminate knowledge in all the related areas of …

by Alexey G. Sergeev and John F. Hartwig  (Science)  Selective hydrogenolysis of the aromatic carbon-oxygen (C-O) bonds in aryl ethers is an unsolved synthetic problem important for the generation of fuels and chemical feedstocks from …

by Steen Riisgaard (Huffington Post Green)  …More complicated types of biomass — corn cobs, wood chips, waste paper — are far more difficult to turn into energy. But this type of biomass–known as “cellulosic biomass” …

(Dyadic)  Dyadic International, Inc. (“Dyadic”) (OTC Pink: DYAI), a global biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of enzyme and protein products for the bioenergy, industrial enzyme and biopharmaceutical industries, announced today …

(India.gov.in)  The Department of Biotechnology has launched a mission programme on biofuel from biomass. The thrust is on developing ethanol using Lignocellulosic waste as a raw material, identifying recombinant microbial strains for enhanced ethanol recovery, …

(JapanCorp.net)  Project to Make Efficient Use of Soft Cellulose
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has successfully established technology to produce ethanol for automobile fuel, satisfying the standards of the Japanese Automotive Standards Organization (JASO), from lignocellulose …

by Ben Lefebvre  (Dow Jones Newswires/Denver Post)  The U.S. Department of Agriculture is embarking on a revised biorefinery-finance program that it hopes will boost the amount of cellulosic-bio fuel production in the country.
The USDA seeks …

(SustainableBusiness.com)  Biobutanol company Cobalt Technologies and American Process Inc. (API), a developer of lignocellulosic sugar production technologies, announced an agreement to build the world’s first industrial-scale cellulosic biorefinery to produce biobutanol.
Additionally, the companies agreed to …

by Erin Voegele  (Biorefining Magazine)  Viaspace reports independent test results of Giant King Grass evaluation.
Data gathered during independent evaluations of Viaspace Inc.’s Giant King Grass demonstrate the crop has essentially the same properties as corn …

(U.S. Department of Agriculture)  Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced research grants awarded to spur production of bioenergy and biobased products that will lead to the development of sustainable regional systems and help create jobs. …

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 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Amongst the various projects that received support under the 2009 Recovery Act were an algal R&D consortium called the NAABB, and a drop-in biofuels R&D consortium called the NABC, of …

(ScienceBlog)  …A new paper in today’s online edition of the American Chemical Society’s journal Environmental Science and Technology shows how farmers can save money on fertilizer while they improve their production of feedstock for ethanol and alleviate damage to …

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 …

by Jane Fisher (Senior Engineer, National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Fisher first provides a general overview of the biofuel production process, identifying key areas for potential cost reductions through R&D and commercial scale production.  Fisher focuses …

by Dr. Mark Davis (BioEnergy Science Center, National Bioenergy Center, National Renewable Energy Laboratory) Dr. Davis discusses a multidisciplinary approach to overcoming the current inability to access sugars in lignocellulosic biomass.  By quickly identifying key …

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 …

(Virent)  BIRD Energy Grant Will Support Virent’s Conversion of HCL CleanTech’s Pine Tree Sugars Into Hydrocarbon Fuels and Products That can be Sustainable, Cost-effective, and Compatible With Existing Infrastructure
Virent Energy Systems Inc. and HCL CleanTech announced …

(Los Alamos National Laboratory) … Gaining insight to more efficiently convert plant biomass into biofuels
LANL scientists and University of New Mexico collaborators discovered chinks in the armor of lignin, the component of plant cell walls that …

(EurekAlert!)   Purdue University scientists have found the last undiscovered gene responsible for the production of the amino acid phenylalanine, a discovery that could lead to processes to control the amino acid to boost plants’ nutritional …

Organized by Stephen P. Mayfield of the University of California, San Diego, Martin Keller of Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Jeffrey P. Obbard of A*STAR, this four-day conference will:

Critically examine the most promising avenues for …

by Philip Brasher (Des Moines Register)  A study making its way around the Agriculture Department raises doubts about the prospects for biofuels made from crop residue and other types of plant cellulose and calls for …

by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Technologies proven at the bench scale and biofuel feedstocks developed or identified are worthless until they come together at a successful biorefinery.  Getting there involves a series of choices: …

by Dr. Kelly Tiller (President and Chief Executive Officer, Genera Energy, LLC)  Dr. Tiller details the large commitment the state of Tennessee has made to biofuels research. Genera Energy, a research firm owned by the University of …

(Renewable Energy Focus)  A consortium of research institutes, universities and industrial partners are looking for microorganisms with enzymes that could help process lignocellulosic biomass into biofuel.
The EU-funded project, known as DISCO, is searching for microorganisms that …

The 5th Annual Premier Cellulosic
Biofuels Industry-Building Event
Three Exceptional Meetings Dedicated to Finance & Investment Opportunities, Policy & Regulatory Solutions, Scaling Up to the Biorefineries of the Future and Establishing the Feedstock Supply Chain
This November, at …

(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, …

Paving the Road towards the Commercialisation of Fuels from Lignocellulosic Feedstocks
Lignofuels 2010 will be addressing all key issues relating to the commercialisation of fuels from lignocellulosic feedstocks such as policy developments, economic considerations, feedstock options, …

(EurekAlert)  When it comes to selecting the right plant source for future cellulosic biofuel production, the solution won’t be one-size-fits-all, and it certainly doesn’t have to involve food and feed crops.
In a “Perspective” article in the …

by Linsey Davis(North Dakota State University)  Two NDSU professors received $309,357 from the National Science Foundation for research to improve conversion and reduce costs of making ethanol from cellulosic biomass. Andriy Voronov, assistant professor in the …

by Dion Vlachos (Elizabeth Inez Kelley Professor, University of Delaware / Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC)) Vlachos’ research focuses on the development of heterogeneous catalysts to facilitate the thermochemical conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels. The …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … IEA Bioenergy, part of the International Energy Agency, has published its report “Status of 2nd Generation Biofuels Demonstration Facilities in June 2010”, as a report to IEA Bioenergy Task 39.
The 126-page …

by Dina Bacovsky, Michal Dallos, Manfred Worgetter (International Energy Agency Task 39)   Driven by the need to partly replace fossil transport fuels and by food versus fuel and highest possible GHG mitigation considerations, large efforts are …

(PR Newswire)  AdvanceBio Systems LLC, a Cincinnati-based technology company, has been awarded a contract by The Pennsylvania State University to supply a Bench Scale Hydrolyzer System for its Shared Fermentation Facility located in University Park, Pennsylvania. …

(SunHerald.com)  Inbicon Biomass Refinery now producing The New Ethanol and other biofuel at Kalundborg, Denmark

Inbicon is declaring Energy Independence Day for Planet Earth as the first Inbicon Biomass Refinery swings into operation. It turns wheat …

(North Carolina State University)  Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a more efficient technique for producing biofuels from woody plants that significantly reduces the waste that results from conventional biofuel production techniques. The technique …