by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Things move faster these days, and in the past 24 hours, we’ve had 10 different Worlds shaken to their foundations by events taking place around the world and within the Circular Economy. 1. United States announced
Massachusetts
Back TO HOMEU.S. Department of Energy Invests $35 Million to Dramatically Reduce Carbon Footprint of Biofuel Production
(U.S. Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today (May 14, 2021) announced $35 million in funding that will help slash carbon emissions and scale up the volume and efficiency of renewable biofuel. The 15 awarded research projects are
May 17, 2021 Read Full Article
Ginkgo’s Insanely Great $15B Deal, The Who & How Behind Biggest Sector Deal Ever
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, Ginkgo Bioworks and Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp. have agreed to a business combination that will result in Ginkgo becoming a publicly-listed company. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021. The
May 12, 2021 Read Full Article
Press Release: Advanced Biofuels USA Files Comments on Transportation and Climate Initiative: Calls for Extension of Program to Aviation, Trains, Marine/Maritime, Agriculture, Rocket Launches and Natural Gas
(Advanced Biofuels USA) Advanced Biofuels USA suggests an expansion of transportation emissions reduction in the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) proposed Draft Model Rule (TCI-P) in public comments filed today. Currently, the proposed emission reduction program is limited to on-road
May 07, 2021 Read Full Article
Biden Faces Pressure to Drive Gasoline and Diesel Cars out of the US
by Oliver Milman (The Guardian) Joe Biden’s administration, seeking deep cuts to planet-heating emissions, is facing pressure to take a previously unthinkable step: declare the end of the internal combustion engine in the US. Washington state has moved to call time on
May 04, 2021 Read Full Article
Enzymatic Depolymerization, Catalysts, Reactive Extrusion: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Circular Plastics
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Enymatic hydrolysis, thermomechanical pretreatment, bioconversion and other ways to recycle plastic waste can change the way we look at plastics and polymers. Check out this illuminating slide guide from the University of Massachusetts on waste-to-energy,
April 30, 2021 Read Full Article
Omar, Sanders, Merkley, Markey, Barragán Introduce Bill to End Corporate Handouts to the Fossil Fuel Industry
(Office of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.)) Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) together with Sen. Merkley (D-Ore.), Sen. Markey (D- Mass.) and Rep. Barragan (D-Calif.) introduced legislation to close tax loopholes and eliminate other federal subsidies for
April 20, 2021 Read Full Article
Biofuels Producers, Farmers Not Sold on Switch to Electric
by Scott McFetridge (Associated Press) The president and auto industry maintain the nation is on the cusp of a gigantic shift to electric vehicles and away from liquid-fueled cars, but biofuels producers and some of their supporters in Congress aren’t buying
April 07, 2021 Read Full Article
Why Combining Farms and Solar Panels Could Transform How We Produce Both Food and Energy
by Chris Mallory (The Counter) Agrivoltaics—putting solar panels on farmland—lead to astonishing productivity gains and improved energy efficiency. Except when they don’t. -- ... Mounted on 9-foot-tall beams, so lofty a tractor could pass below them, the solar panels slant against
April 06, 2021 Read Full Article
World Energy and Community Fuels Partner to Speed Access to Low-Carbon Fuel throughout California
(World Energy/PR Newswire) Both Companies Broaden Scope of Reach Through Partnership -- World Energy, a low-carbon fuel provider for the transportation sector, and Community Fuels, a leading advanced biofuel production and distribution company based in Stockton, California, today announced a partnership to
April 06, 2021 Read Full Article
Renewable Energy Group and Optimus Technologies Collaborate to Deliver Biodiesel to Fleets Nationwide
(Renewable Energy Group/Business Wire) Fleets Immediately Reducing Carbon Emissions with 100% Biodiesel -- Fleets across the nation are improving their emission reductions by implementing B100 (100% biodiesel) technology into their fleets. Renewable Energy Group (REG) (NASDAQ: REGI) fleet customers in Iowa,
April 01, 2021 Read Full Article
The Science Behind Ethanol’s Carbon Intensity, Land Use Change: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Corn Starch Ethanol’s Carbon Intensity
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What’s the life cycle system for corn starch ethanol? What is the current best estimate for carbon intensity of corn ethanol? What about ethanol biorefinery energy use intensity and land use change carbon intensity? What
March 11, 2021 Read Full Article
Big Tobacco Had to Pay $206B. Is Big Oil Next?
by Maxine Joselow (E&E News) In 2006, a federal judge issued a scathing ruling that would reverberate across the country. "Over the course of more than 50 years, Defendants lied, misrepresented and deceived the American public," Judge Gladys Kessler of the U.S.
March 10, 2021 Read Full Article
Worcester Fuel Company Resolves Claims It Knowingly Sold Noncompliant Heating Oil that Violated State Contracts
(Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey) Peterson Oil Delivered Heating Oil with up to Eight Times the Allowed Biofuel -- A Worcester fuel company will pay $450,000 and improve its record-keeping processes to resolve allegations it knowingly provided state entities
March 05, 2021 Read Full Article
TCI Publishes Draft Model Rule and Updates on Public Engagement Planning
(Transportation and Climate Initiative) On March 1, TCI state agency staff shared updates on the TCI-P, including a Draft Model Rule and proposed processes for public engagement to ensure that equity, environmental, climate, and transportation justice considerations are at the center
March 01, 2021 Read Full Article
Boosting the Efficiency of Carbon Capture and Conversion Systems
by David L. Chandler (Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Phys.org) Systems for capturing and converting carbon dioxide from power plant emissions could be important tools for curbing climate change, but most are relatively inefficient and expensive. Now, researchers at MIT have developed a
January 28, 2021 Read Full Article
Harvard, Tufts, EH&E Scientists Find Corn Ethanol Reduces Carbon Emissions by Nearly 50%
(Renewable Fuels Association) A comprehensive new study by scientists from Harvard University, Tufts University and Environmental Health & Engineering Inc. shows that using corn ethanol in place of gasoline reduces greenhouse gas emissions by almost half. The “central best estimate” of corn ethanol’s
January 26, 2021 Read Full Article
Will 2021 Be the Year for Environmental Justice Legislation? States Are Already Leading the Way
by Kristoffer Tigue (Inside Climate News) The new state laws address the disproportionate impact of climate change and pollution on communities of color. Joe Biden is promising to do the same in Washington. -- In Oregon, new legislation would require state
January 15, 2021 Read Full Article
These Metal-Based Catalysts Can Boost Biofuel Yields
by Mike Timko (Worcester Polytechnic Institute/Biofuels Digest) A recent study led by a team from Worcester Polytechnic Institute shows that metal-oxide-based catalysts reduce char build up during biofuel conversion processes, increasing bio-crude oil yield and decreasing yields of low-value byproducts. ... Utilizing
December 24, 2020 Read Full Article
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, D.C. Are First to Launch Groundbreaking Program to Cut Transportation Pollution, Invest in Communities
(Transportation and Climate Initiative of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States) TCI-P will invest $300 million every year to modernize transportation, improve public health and combat climate change -- The governors of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and the mayor of the
December 21, 2020 Read Full Article
Gas Pumps to Get Climate, Health Warning Labels in Cambridge, MA
by Sebastian Blanco (Car and Driver) Cambridge, Massachusetts, this week became the first city in the U.S. to put health and environment warning labels on its gas pumps. - In related news, a nine-year-old girl in South London, England, became
December 21, 2020 Read Full Article
New Discovery Opens Novel Pathway for High-Titer Production of Drop-in Biofuels
(Aarhus University/EurekAlert!) Using an unusual, light-dependent enzyme and a newly discovered enzymatic mechanism, researchers from Aarhus University and MIT have enabled the biological synthesis of high-yield industry relevant production of climate neutral drop-in fuels from biowaste -- ... A special light-dependent
December 18, 2020 Read Full Article
Grant to Help U. of Tennessee Ag Institute Develop SAF Feedstock Supply Chains
(Biobased Diesel Daily) Researchers at the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture have been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to evaluate regional biomass supply chains with regard to their potential for supplying feedstock for domestic fuel production
November 24, 2020 Read Full Article
Solutions from the Land Unveils Video Showing the Solutions Farmers Can Offer to Meet Global Challenges
(Solutions from the Land) A 20-minute video presentation in which Solutions from the Land farmer leaders offer a vision of solutions that farming operations can deliver to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) promoted by UN member nations is now available
November 20, 2020 Read Full Article
200 Organizations Urge Northeast, Mid-Atlantic Governors to Move on “Ambitious and Equitable” Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI)
(Insider NJ) Groups Push For “Strong Safeguards and Guarantees for Overburdened and Underserved Communities” in 12 TCI States & DC; Need for State Leadership Seen As U.S. Formally Abandons Paris Climate Agreement. -- The largest and most diverse collection ever of
November 12, 2020 Read Full Article
Exxon's Climate Fix Is Algae. Experts Say It Won't Work
by Benjamin Storrow (E&E News) ... "Algae. A renewable source of energy. ExxonMobil is researching it. To revolutionize biofuels. For more energy. And fewer emissions." Biofuels represent one of Exxon Mobil's primary answers to climate change. In television ads and presentations
November 03, 2020 Read Full Article
Is Seaweed the Future of Fuel?
by Rebecca Pool (Engineering and Technology) A growing band of scientists and engineers wants to feed and fuel the world with seaweed. --... The last decade has seen a surge in seaweed aquaculture, driven by a rising interest in using
October 31, 2020 Read Full Article
Heating-Oil Industry Seeks to End Reliance on — Oil!
(The New England Council /New England Diary) “The National Energy & Fuels Institute (NEFI) has announced a plan to eliminate fossil-fuel energy reliance in the heating-oil industry by 2050. The pledge is intended to reduce emissions and ultimately turn heating oil into renewable
October 13, 2020 Read Full Article
Food Waste Facility Opens In Massachusetts
by Nora Goldstein (BioCycle Magazine) Totally enclosed operation is designed to preprocess 250 tons/day of food waste, much of it in packaging. Slurried feedstocks are hauled to dairy farms equipped with AD systems. -- In 2015, one of the tours during
October 07, 2020 Read Full Article
US EPA Announces $3 Million for 12 Food Waste AD Projects
(Bioenergy Insight) The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has selected 12 organisations and projects to receive around $3 million (€2.55 million) in funding to help reduce food loss and waste and divert food waste from landfills by expanding anaerobic digestion
October 06, 2020 Read Full Article
Yield10 Bioscience Announces Completion of Harvesting for 2020 Field Test Program to Evaluate Novel Yield and Compositional Traits in Camelina and Canola
(Yield10 Bioscience) Yield10 Bioscience, Inc. (Nasdaq:YTEN), an agricultural bioscience company, today announced it has completed the harvest for its 2020 Field Test Program for Camelina and canola trials conducted in the United States and Canada. Yield10’s 2020 Field Test Program is designed to evaluate several novel traits
October 05, 2020 Read Full Article
BP Helps Establish Coalition to Support Transportation Carbon Pricing Program
(BP) bp and five additional businesses from a range of industries announced they are launching an integrated advocacy campaign to encourage a group of East Coast states to enact the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI), a regional carbon pricing policy designed
September 25, 2020 Read Full Article
Heating Oil Industry Launches Plan to Shift to 100% Renewable Fuels by 2050
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) “Biofuels proven as most affordable, immediate path to net-zero carbon,” says NEFI. -- In Washington, representatives from the National Energy & Fuels Institute (NEFI) and global management consulting firm Kearney announced a plan for the heating oil
September 25, 2020 Read Full Article
The Gas Industry’s Survival Plan: Make Fuel From Cow Poop Fossil Fuel Companies Think Renewable Natural Gas Is the Answer to Their PR Problems. Environmentalists Think Not.
by Naureen S Malik (Bloomberg) ... In 2014, Bar-Way began working with Vanguard Renewables to install a biodigester, which uses specialized bacteria to convert organic material—for example, cow poop—into biogas, a versatile fuel. Once it’s purified, this biomethane, also known
September 04, 2020 Read Full Article
Captain Canola – Yield10 Biosciences One Step Closer to Canola Feedstock Superhero
by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) News just in from Yield10 Bioscience, Inc., a Massachusetts-based agricultural bioscience company, that they have obtained a positive response from USDA-APHIS’s Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) for its CRISPR genome-edited trait C3007 in canola plant lines
August 24, 2020 Read Full Article
As Natural Gas Bans Go National, Can Cities Fill the Gap?
by David Iaconangelo (E&E News) ... But efficiency researchers say activists' favored alternative to natural gas — electric heat — is still a costlier option for consumers. Mass adoption of electric heating could overload the grid without significant infrastructure upgrades,
August 04, 2020 Read Full Article
WEBINAR: Forum Insights: Looking at Key Sectors of the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic's Economy - Ag, Construction, Goods Movement and More --- August 4, 2020
This session is designed for anyone interested in learning more about trucks, construction and farm equipment use in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions including Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia,
July 21, 2020 Read Full Article
As Woods Give Way to Solar Farms, State to Issue Controversial Rules that Could Harm Solar Industry
by David Abel (Boston Globe) ... For years, their family used the patch of forest in this suburb west of Boston to hike, sled, walk their dog, and experience wildlife close at hand. Then two years ago, a developer began clear-cutting
July 14, 2020 Read Full Article
Department of Energy Selects New Projects to Accelerate Innovation and Growth in the Biomanufacturing Sector
(U.S. Department of Energy) Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of eight projects totaling over $5 million to conduct research and development (R&D) needed to accelerate the US biomanufacturing sector. Part of the Agile BioFoundry (ABF) consortium, these
July 10, 2020 Read Full Article
More Evidence of Causal Link between Air Pollution and Early Death
(Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health) Strengthening U.S. air quality standards for fine particulate pollution to be in compliance with current World Health Association (WHO) guidelines could save more than 140,000 lives over the course of a decade, according to a new
July 01, 2020 Read Full Article
CARB Adopts Rule Requiring State Transition from Diesel Trucks
by Michael Bates (NGT News) The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has adopted a first-in-the-world rule – the Advanced Clean Truck regulation – that requires truck manufacturers to transition from diesel trucks and vans to electric zero-emission trucks beginning in 2024. By 2045,
June 30, 2020 Read Full Article
District of Columbia Sues 4 Oil Majors for Misleading Consumers on Climate Change
by Valerie Volcovici (Insurance Journal/Reuters) The attorney general for the District of Columbia on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp, BP Plc, Chevron Corp, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc for “systematically and intentionally misleading” consumers about the role their products
June 26, 2020 Read Full Article
Turning Manure into Money
by Jim Morrison (Washington Post) When Randy Jordan, a fifth-generation dairy farmer in central Massachusetts, looked into turning manure from his 300 cows into natural gas more than a decade ago, he just wanted to find a way to lower his
June 17, 2020 Read Full Article
Daily on Energy: State Officials Worry Electric Car Expansion Could Hurt Low-Income People
by Josh Siegel & Abby Smith (Washington Examiner) ELECTRIC CARS’ EQUITY PROBLEM: Top energy officials from New York and Massachusetts are raising the fear that requiring increasing use of electric cars could impose financial hardships on poor people. That is especially if utilities
June 15, 2020 Read Full Article
More Dope, Rope, Soap: an Upward Slope in Camelina, Hemp, Cannabis, Soybeans for Food, Fuels, Feed
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Benson Hill, Yield10 and Marrone Bio are in the news this week with advances in their crop technologies aimed at yield improvement and nutritional composition. Yield continues to be the motherlode when it comes to agricultural
June 04, 2020 Read Full Article
Higher COVID-19 Fatality Rates among Urban Minorities Come Down to Air Pollution
by David Vander Griend (Urban Air Initiative/Biofuels Digest) ... Whether in New Delhi, Kansas City, New York, or Beijing, less driving has resulted in cleaner air. Vistas that previously were only foggy images have burst through as crystal clear pictures of
May 25, 2020 Read Full Article
Making Commodity Chemicals Requires Fossil Fuels. New Devices Could Do It with Renewables
by Robert F. Service (Science Magazine) As windmills and solar panels multiply, the supply of renewable electricity sometimes exceeds demand. Chemists would like to put the excess to work making commodity chemicals, such as the raw materials for fertilizer and plastics,
May 11, 2020 Read Full Article
We Need Health Warning Labels on Points of Sale of Fossil Fuels
Mike Gill, Kristie L. Ebi, Kirk R. Smith, Lorraine Whitmarsh and Andy Haines (The BMJ Opinion) Mike Gill and colleagues explain how the implementation of of fossil fuel labelling could have a significant impact on the awareness of climate change. This article is part of The BMJ’s Health
May 01, 2020 Read Full Article
Anaerobic Digestion and Farm Powered RNG: The Digest’s 2020 Multi-Slide Guide to Vanguard’s Renewable Natural Gas
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Cow poop. It’s a problem for farmers across the country, something that has to be dealt with, something that environmentalists and vegetarians often cite as a reason to cut your steak intake, but Vanguard Renewables
April 28, 2020 Read Full Article
Harvard Study Bolsters Ethanol's Role In Protecting Public Health, Saving Lives
(Oklahoma Farm Bureau) ... The Harvard team's recent findings underscore the need to power more of our transportation system with non-petroleum-based fuels, like ethanol. The research team looked specifically at polluted areas beleaguered by fine particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5). Motor vehicle emissions
April 21, 2020 Read Full Article
The Latest Developments on Powering Our World with Grass, Twigs, and Other Green Waste
by Michael Timko (Worcester Polytechnic Institute/Biofuels Digest) ... But, the food left on our plates is energy dense, rich in starches, lipids, and other components, all begging to be made into biofuels. After years of development, bioenergy costs remain too
April 10, 2020 Read Full Article
Students at Greater Lawrence Tech Win $10K for Deriving Fuel from Algae
by Genevieve DiNatale (Eagle Tribune) A team of seven savvy students at Greater Lawrence Technical High School won a $10,000 scholarship. The scholarship was awarded to the team for winning the Air & Climate portion of the annual Lexus Eco Challenge,
March 25, 2020 Read Full Article
Newly Branded Vehicles Highlight of Biodiesel Day
(National Biodiesel Board) 2020 marketing program kicks off "Biodiesel: Better. Cleaner. Now!" -- The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) today launched its 2020 vehicle branding program designed to showcase biodiesel’s sustainability and emissions reduction benefits. The program kicks-off on National Biodiesel
March 18, 2020 Read Full Article
Reality EV: Let’s Not Overlook Biofuels
(Clean Fuels Development Coalition) The widespread introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) as a means of reducing carbon emissions presents a far greater challenge than the public is being led to believe, according to new research by the Clean Fuels Development Coalition
March 18, 2020 Read Full Article
Would You Pay Higher Gas Prices to Slow the Climate Crisis? Governors in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States Are Pondering that Question.
by Justin Gillis (New York Times) A plan is under development in about a dozen Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States to tackle the country’s biggest source of greenhouse emissions, cut road congestion, clean up the air, improve public transit and ramp
February 28, 2020 Read Full Article
We Need Better Transportation Options, Not More Roads and More Lanes
by Parris N. Glendening (Washington Post/Smart Growth America’s Leadership Institute) When President Trump attempted to eliminate California’s more stringent fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for cars and trucks, local elected officials cried foul — and not just in California.
February 27, 2020 Read Full Article
Why the U.S. Faces a Steep Path to a CO2-Free Grid
by Peter Behr (E&E News) Nearly two dozen states and the District of Columbia have committed to slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with several planning at least an 80% cut. Some Democratic presidential candidates are outlining goals for the majority of
February 20, 2020 Read Full Article
Brown Grease Separation Technology: The Digest’s 2020 Multi-Slide Guide to Greasezilla’s FOG – Fats, Oils, Greases to Fuel
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Yuck! There’s a $25 billion grease problem, from the underground blob in the U.K. to pretty much any public treatment facilities and liquid waste haulers, but Greasezilla has a patented system to help solve the
February 14, 2020 Read Full Article
Brown Grease Separation Technology: The Digest’s 2020 Multi-Slide Guide to Greasezilla’s FOG – Fats, Oils, Greases to Fuel
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Yuck! There’s a $25 billion grease problem,from the underground blob in the U.K. to pretty much any public treatment facilities and liquid waste haulers, but Greasezilla has a patented system to help solve the grease
February 06, 2020 Read Full Article
Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) Requests Public Comment on Cap and Invest Program
The states participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) have released a Draft Memorandum of Understanding to establish a regional cap and invest program to transition to a more sustainable, resilient, low carbon transportation sector. Also released were initial
January 29, 2020 Read Full Article
Interfacing with R&D and Industry: The Digest’s 2020 Multi-Slide Guide to BETO’s Advanced Development & Optimization
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We are always trying to optimize – optimize processes, efficiencies, cost, value, and more, but did you know that the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office has a program just for this sort of thing?
January 29, 2020 Read Full Article
WPI Professor Expands Green Energy Research with $2M DOE Grant -- Chemical Engineer Works to Turn Yard Waste and Food Waste into Biofuel
by Sharon Gaudin (Worcester Polytech Institute) Chemical engineers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute are broadening attempts to convert waste into environmentally friendly biofuels, lowering reliance on fossil fuels, cutting the amount of municipal waste going into landfills, and reducing water pollution and
January 23, 2020 Read Full Article
The Letters of (Low Carbon) Transit: Business Aviation and World Energy Pard’ner up, Via Book & Claim
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... World Fuel Services and World Energy have a World Economic Forum Sustainable Aviation Fuel Program designed to increase SAF availability and supply chain efficiency within the industry. The program will be available in time for business
January 21, 2020 Read Full Article
REG Blending Partner Becomes Boston’s Official Heating Oil Provider: Broco Oil to Provide Biodiesel-Blended Heating Oil for City’s Municipal Buildings
(Business Wire) Family owned, veteran operated fuel company Broco Oil has been contracted to provide heating oil for use in Boston’s city-owned buildings, including firehouses, police stations and other municipal facilities. Broco Oil’s ’s heating oil is a B20 Bioheat® fuel blend containing
December 19, 2019 Read Full Article
Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Regional Cap-and-Invest Modeling Lacks Consideration of Renewable Fuel Adoption and Infrastructure
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) Modeling by Georgetown Climate Center's Transportation and Climate Initiative of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States released Tuesday showed potential for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, pollution reduction, job creation and public health benefits. The anticipated
December 18, 2019 Read Full Article
Regional Proposal for Clean Transportation Reaches Milestone States and D.C. Invite Feedback on Draft MOU, Share Estimates of Potential Benefits for Health, Environment, Economy DEADLINE February 28, 2020
(Transportation and Climate Initiative/Georgetown Climate Center) The bipartisan group of Northeast and Mid-Atlantic jurisdictions that make up the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) today invited public input on a new draft proposal for a regional program to establish a cap
December 17, 2019 Read Full Article
New Polling Confirms Strong Support across Eastern Region for Transportation Modernization
(Our Transportation Future) Two-Thirds of Registered Voters Support Gasoline and Diesel Fuel Distributors Paying for Pollution; Survey Covers Seven States in Region: CT, MD, MA, NJ, NY, PA and VA. -- A new survey from MassINC Polling Group shows that 66 percent of
December 11, 2019 Read Full Article
World-Scale Manure-to-Fuel Facility Has Successful Start-up
(Iogen) Threemile Canyon Farms’ Oregon facility is steadily producing renewable natural gas -- Iogen Corporation would like to congratulate Threemile Canyon Farms and Equilibrium for the successful opening and operation of Oregon's only dairy manure renewable natural gas production facility
December 05, 2019 Read Full Article
Winners of the 2019 American Biogas Council Industry Awards Revealed
(Bioenergy Insight) Eight biogas projects received awards from the American Biogas Council (ABC) for their ‘outstanding performance and contribution’ to the industry. The winners were announced at the Biogas Industry Awards and Dinner during the BioCycle REFOR19 event in Wisconsin,
November 05, 2019 Read Full Article
A Gas Tax to End All Gas Taxes
by Eric Wolff (Politico's Morning Energy) A bipartisan group of a dozen northeastern and Mid-Atlantic governors are considering a plan to impose a gas tax to fund investment into mass transit, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and other infrastructure improvements in
October 23, 2019 Read Full Article
The Most Detailed Map of Auto Emissions in America
by Nadja Popovich and Denise Lu (New York Times) Transportation is the largest source of planet-warming greenhouse gases in the United States today and the bulk of those emissions come from driving in our cities and suburbs. The (interactive) map ... shows
October 10, 2019 Read Full Article
Michael Bloomberg Says Cities Can Help Us Meet Paris Climate Goal
by Josh Siegel & Abby Smith (Washington Examiner's Daily on Energy) New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and eight other U.S. mayors released a policy “playbook” Thursday for how cities can cut emissions from the transportation and building sectors. The mayors say if the largest 100
October 10, 2019 Read Full Article
Car Pollution in Boston Area Neighborhoods Poses Health Risk To Residents, New Research Finds
by Craig LeMoult (WGBH) This is the first story in a three-part series on transportation-related air pollution in the Boston area. Read Part 2 here and Part 3 here. Highways are crucial arteries of our transportation system, but the air pollution from all those
October 07, 2019 Read Full Article
Tolerating Even More: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Improving Yeast Tolerance to Lignocellulosic Feedstocks
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Wouldn’t it be great if we could boost fermentation of high-toxicity biomass hydrolysates? Well, folks are working on this via enhanced biocatalytic tolerance. At the recent DOE BETO 2019 Project Peer Review, Felix Lam and
October 04, 2019 Read Full Article
Optimus Technologies Named $1 Million Grand Prize Winner - Pittsburgh-Based Company Will Expand Business to the Southern Tier
(New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) Governor Cuomo Announces Winners of 76West Clean Energy Competition -- Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the six winning companies of the 76West Clean Energy Competition, one of the largest competitions in the
October 03, 2019 Read Full Article
Northeast States Draft Regional Policy Proposal to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Pollution from Transportation Lacks Renewable Fuel Emphasis DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS: November 5, 2019
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) "Nothing has been decided yet about the treatment of biofuels" or renewable fuels in the proposed program to cap transportation emissions in 13 Northeastern US jurisdictions, according to the chair of the Transportation and Climate
October 02, 2019 Read Full Article
TCI Jurisdictions Share Updates on Policy Design Process
(Transportation and Climate Initiative/Georgetown Climate Center) Jurisdictions participating in the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) have made available a framework for a draft regional policy proposal to reduce greenhouse gas pollution from transportation, and are encouraging interested individuals and organizations to provide
October 01, 2019 Read Full Article
Cape Cod Biofuels Founder Receives Environmental Merit Award
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Andrew Davison, founder and owner of Cape Cod Biofuels, was presented an environmental merit award by the U.S. EPA Sept. 10 for his unique biodiesel business model that, as described by the agency, improves the air
September 18, 2019 Read Full Article
Heating Oil Industry Commits to Net-Zero Emissions by 2050
(New England Fuel Institute /Biodiesel Magazine) The Northeast’s heating oil industry has resolved to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050. This ambitious goal was set at the Northeast Industry Summit held during the 2019 Heating & Energizing America Trade
September 18, 2019 Read Full Article
Joules for Schools: Middlebury College Leads Trend towards Renewable Natural Gas on the Campus
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Vermont, representatives from Vanguard Renewables, Middlebury College, Vermont Gas, Goodrich Farm, and the State of Vermont were on hand the other day to celebrate the official groundbreaking for the largest anaerobic digester east of the
September 17, 2019 Read Full Article
Available for Viewing: Public Workshop: Low-Carbon Transportation Investments, Strategies, and Outcomes
(Transportation and Climate Initiative/Georgetown Climate Center) On Tuesday, July 30, more than 300 community members, transportation, environmental and social justice advocates, business and industry representatives, and state and local officials participated in the Transportation & Climate Initiative workshop on Low-Carbon Transportation
August 15, 2019 Read Full Article
States Sue Trump Administration for Reduced Penalties on Fuel Efficiency
by Rebecca Beitsch (The Hill) Thirteen states filed suit against the Trump administration Friday, arguing it was breaking the law by cutting penalties for automakers that do not meet Obama-era fuel efficiency standards. The suit, led by California's and New York’s attorneys general, goes
August 05, 2019 Read Full Article
Could Renewable Natural Gas Be the Next Big Thing in Green Energy?
by Jonathan Mingle (Yale Environment 360) For decades, small-scale biogas systems have collected methane from landfills, sewage plants, and farms. Now, in Europe and the U.S., the growth of this renewable form of natural gas is taking off as businesses capture
July 31, 2019 Read Full Article
Senators Markey and Van Hollen Introduce Legislation to Create a National Climate Bank
(Office of Senatory Ed Markey (D-MA)) Will leverage $35 billion in public funds to fund as much as $700 billion in total investment into projects that support clean energy, reduce emissions -- Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.),
July 12, 2019 Read Full Article
A Clinician’s Role in Climate Change Awareness
(Simmons University) ... In order to deliver the highest quality care and education, providers need accurate scientific information about the influence of climate change on diseases, respiratory function, nutrition, and morbidity. Providers are ethically bound to advance health holistically, and with
July 10, 2019 Read Full Article
24 Governors Call on Trump to Halt Rollback on Rules for Clean Cars
by Hiroko Tabuchi (New York Times) The opposition to one of President Trump’s most consequential regulatory rollbacks — a plan to weaken pollution standards for automobiles nationwide — widened on Tuesday when 24 governors, including three Republicans, urged the president to abandon his plan. The governors’ plea adds
July 10, 2019 Read Full Article
Successful Biogas to Renewable Energy Production Is All about the Feedstock
by John Hanselman (Vanguard Renewables/Biofuels Digest) Renewable natural gas production is a good news story, but how to get there successfully is more complicated than most of us in the business anticipated. At Vanguard Renewables, we entered the renewable energy landscape with
July 09, 2019 Read Full Article
Researchers Produce Renewable Engine Fuel from Wet Biowaste
by Edwin L. Aguirre (University of Massachusetts Lowell) A team of researchers from UMass Lowell, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and China Agricultural University in Beijing has developed a new, sustainable way of converting wet biological waste into diesel-compatible fuel, using heat
May 31, 2019 Read Full Article
Renewable Energy Group and Broco Oil Company Announce Partnership
(Acrofan/Renewable Energy Group) Renewable Energy Group (REG) and Broco Oil Company announced today a partnership to provide cleaner fuel options to heating oil dealers in the Northeast. The companies are working together to provide a state-of-the-art blending facility in Haverhill, MA. ... The
May 07, 2019 Read Full Article
Flex Fuels and Hybrid Electrification Will Change Heavy Trucks
by Kevin Clemens (Design News) ... “We’ve been working for a number of years on ways to make engines for cars and trucks cleaner and more efficient, and we’ve been particularly interested in what you can do with spark ignition [as opposed
May 01, 2019 Read Full Article
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Helps Develop a Novel Extraction Process that May Provide a More Economical Way to Make a Promising Biofuel
(Worcester Polytechnic Institute/PR Web) Isobutanol has been hailed as a possible green replacement for fossil fuels like gasoline, but producing it has proven difficult and costly. In a paper in Nature Communications, a research team that includes a WPI chemical engineer
April 19, 2019 Read Full Article
MIT Says We’re Overlooking a Near-Term Solution to Diesel Trucking Emissions
by Megan Guess (ARS Technica) ... Daniel Cohn and Leslie Bromberg, a pair of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), published a paper with the Society of Automotive Engineers, suggesting that the best way forward is not to wait
April 12, 2019 Read Full Article
Massachusetts Awards $2.89 Million to Support Biomass Heating
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources recently awarded nearly $2.89 million in grants to five infrastructure projects that aim to increase the availability of low-carbon, renewable heating fuels, including wood chips and biofuels. The grants, funded by
February 21, 2019 Read Full Article
Project Onramp to Boost Diversity in Biotech and Tap New Talent With 50 Well-Paid Summer Positions For Students From Low-Income Backgrounds
(Project Onramp/Business Wire) Massachusetts Biotechnology Industry Creates First-In-Nation Program to Open Doors to Life Sciences Careers -- The leading life sciences organizations in Massachusetts today announced the start of Project Onramp, a new program that matches talented, first-generation students from low-income backgrounds
February 11, 2019 Read Full Article
ARPA-E Projects to Develop Sensors for Bioenergy, Agriculture
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy recently awarded nearly $6 million to four projects under its OPEN+ program for the Sensors for Bioenergy and Agriculture cohort team. According to ARPA-E, the team will
January 31, 2019 Read Full Article
In Massachusetts, Momentum Builds for Carbon Pricing for Transportation
by Sarah Shemkus (Energy News Network) State lawmakers aren’t waiting for a multi-state partnership to put a price on carbon emissions from cars and trucks. As Massachusetts legislators start their new year, bills calling for carbon fees for transportation are gaining
January 22, 2019 Read Full Article
Don’t Mess with My Toot Toot: The Zydeco of Xyleco
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... This week on 60 Minutes, another unlikely character burst onto the national scene, courtesy of one of the lightest technologies profiles ever investigated on 60 Minutes by the otherwise redoubtable Lesley Stahl, who offered up the story
January 10, 2019 Read Full Article
The Unlikely, Eccentric Inventor Turning Inedible Plant Life into Fuel
by Lesley Stahl (60 Minutes/CBS News) Marshall Medoff unveils to 60 Minutes his innovative method of turning plant life into fuel and other useful products -- ... What (Craig)Masterman helped implement was Medoff's novel idea of using these large blue machines called
January 07, 2019 Read Full Article
Top 18 of 2018 – Looking Back to Look Forward
by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) ... So on this last day of 2018, join the Biofuels Digest in looking back at our most visited and popular stories of 2018. ... In today’s Digest, the hottest technologies, aviation developments we only dreamed of,
December 31, 2018 Read Full Article
Biodiesel-Powered Vehicles "Wrapped" Just in Time for Christmas
(National Biodiesel Board) In keeping with the spirit of the season, five biodiesel users have unveiled new vehicle “wraps” that are helping to share their stories of sustainability and emissions reductions with area residents from Maine to the Midwest. “Our annual biodiesel
December 19, 2018 Read Full Article
DOE Awards $1M to UMass Lowell-Led Team to Develop Renewable Fuel Additives from Wood Byproducts; Co-Optima Project
(Green Car Congress) The US Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a three-year, $1 million grant to a team of researchers led by a UMass Lowell mechanical engineering professor that is working to develop renewable fuel additives from sawdust and other wood byproducts. The
December 19, 2018 Read Full Article
Nine States and D.C. to Design Regional Approach to Cap Greenhouse Gas Pollution from Transportation
(Transportation and Climate Initiative/Georgetown University Climate Center) A coalition of nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia today announced their intent to design a new regional low-carbon transportation policy proposal that would cap and reduce carbon emissions from
December 18, 2018 Read Full Article
More Than 1,000 Institutions Are Now Divesting from Fossil Fuels
by Joshua S Hill (CleanTechnica) The global divestment movement has celebrated an important milestone this week as it now boasts more than 1,000 institutions around the world worth almost $8 trillion which have committed to divesting from fossil fuels. Global grassroots climate
December 17, 2018 Read Full Article
Congress Should End Electric Car Subsidies, Not Expand Them
by Liam Sigaud (American Consumer Institute) ... These subsidies overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy. Tesla buyers, for example, had an average household income of $293,200 in 2013. A study in 2015 found that electric Ford Focus buyers had an average household income of $199,000. By
December 11, 2018 Read Full Article
New Energy Presses on with Cellulosic Ethanol
by Mikkel Pates (AgWeek) New Energy Blue LLC is about five months away from finishing engineering and permitting on a $150 million plant project that would turn wheat and corn field residue into ethanol for high-end renewable markets. If everything goes
December 10, 2018 Read Full Article
Relieving the Pressure: There’s Movement at Last to Obtain an RVP Waiver for E15 ...
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ... “There’s a very tight window between today and June 1,” says Brian Jennings, CEO of the American Coalition for Ethanol. “The big-picture goal is for the proposed rule to be out for public comment
December 06, 2018 Read Full Article
A Carbon Tax Wave? 7 States Considering Carbon Pricing to Fight Climate Change
by Marianne Lavelle (Inside Climate News) Democratic election victories raised the odds of climate change policies succeeding, activists and analysts say. A national plan was also just floated in Congress. -- At least seven state governments are poised at the brink of
December 03, 2018 Read Full Article
SouthCoast a Possible Site Location for Waste-to-Ethanol Company
by Jennette Barnes (The Standard-Times/Herald News) A Canadian waste-to-ethanol company is looking for its first U.S. location, and the SouthCoast is on the list of possibilities. Montreal-based Enerkem confirmed to The Standard-Times Friday that it has been speaking with local officials and with
December 03, 2018 Read Full Article
Transportation and Climate Initiative Listening Session Summary Report Now Available
(Georgetown Climate Center) In November 2017, member jurisdictions from the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI) began a public conversation inviting stakeholder input on the opportunities, challenges, and benefits of a modern, low-carbon transportation system, and what policies catalyzing these benefits might look like.
November 14, 2018 Read Full Article
Washington State Voters Reject Carbon Tax
by Timothy Cama (The Hill) Voters in Washington state on Tuesday rejected a proposed carbon tax that would have been the first such levy in the nation. The policy would have been an effort to fight climate change by mandating that companies using or selling fossil
November 07, 2018 Read Full Article
Seed Yield, Oil Content: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Yield10 Bioscience
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Yield10 Bioscience is an agricultural bioscience company focusing on the development of disruptive technologies to produce step-change improvements in crop yield for food and feed crops to enhance global food security. Experts forecast that food production must be increased
November 05, 2018 Read Full Article
World Energy to Complete Conversion of California Petroleum Refinery to Renewable Fuels
(World Energy/Globe Newswire) $350 million investment will result in 306 million gallons of annual production -- World Energy, a global leader in low-carbon transportation fuels production, announced today a $350 million investment over the next two years to complete the conversion
October 25, 2018 Read Full Article
Growth Energy Announces New Prime the Pump Partnership with Cumberland Farms to Sell E15
(Growth Energy) Growth Energy and Prime the Pump announced Cumberland Farms as the newest E15 retail partner to join the Prime the Pump program. Massachusetts-based Cumberland Farms will begin offering E15 at more than 120 of its stores in the Northeast
October 19, 2018 Read Full Article
Researchers to Develop Renewable Fuel Additives from Sawdust
by Edwin L. Aguirre (University of Massachusetts Lowell) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a three-year, $1 million grant to a team of researchers from UMass Lowell, the University of Maine and Florida-based Mainstream Engineering Corp. to develop renewable fuel additives
October 05, 2018 Read Full Article
Dunkin’ Donuts® Coffee at Home and Actress, Activist, and Filmmaker Olivia Wilde, Partner to Introduce the Home That Runs on Dunkin’
(Dunkin' Donuts) Actress and Coffee Enthusiast, Olivia Wilde, Incorporates Her Personal Style into the Home That Runs on Dunkin’ -- For years America has run on Dunkin’, and today Dunkin’ Donuts® Coffee at Home is bringing that slogan to life in New York City with
October 05, 2018 Read Full Article
Cellulosic Biorefinery to Break Ground in North Dakota
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A biorefinery that will produce 16 MMgy of cellulosic ethanol and 120,000 of lignin pellets is set to break ground in Spiritwood, North Dakota, in the spring of 2019. The facility, under development by New
September 25, 2018 Read Full Article
Research Brief: Researchers Discover How Caged Molecules ‘Rattle and Sing’
(University of Minnesota) A team of energy researchers from the University of Minnesota and University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered that molecular motion can be predicted with high accuracy when confining molecules in small nanocages. Their theoretical method is suitable for
September 17, 2018 Read Full Article
DOE Funds 6 Projects for Co-Optimization of Engines and Fuels
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Department of Energy has announced it will award 42 projects a total of $80 million to support advanced vehicles technologies research. Approximately $10.1 million of that funding will support six projects focused on
September 14, 2018 Read Full Article
RNG Energy Solutions and Philadelphia Energy Solutions Partner to Form Point Breeze Renewable Energy
(Philadelphia Energy Solutions) RNG Energy Solutions (RNG Energy) and Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refining and Marketing LLC (PES) announced today that they have completed and executed several contracts including a long-term renewable natural gas sales agreement and site lease agreement to build
August 30, 2018 Read Full Article
GLTS Receives $160,000 Grant from Baker-Polito Administration for Clean Energy Program
(Greater Lawrence Technical School) Superintendent John Lavoie is pleased to announce that Greater Lawrence Technical School received a $160,000 grant from the Baker-Polito Administration to implement a clean energy program as part of their STEAM curriculum. GLTS is just one of three
August 03, 2018 Read Full Article
The Yosemite Sam of the Microbial World, Hot Rodded Lichen, BYO Nitrogen, The Microbial Marx Brother, Sexy Hexy and More: The DOE Delves into New Orgamsism for Fuels & Chems
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The meanest, nastiest, ornierest, heat-seeking organism ever found that munches biomass and other microbes that got a booster via the DOE’s $40M grants for advanced microbes R&D. And aromatics without the mess, a sky-vacumming organism and
June 28, 2018 Read Full Article
Can Climate Change Be Stopped by Turning Air into Gasoline?
by David Fridley and Richard Heinberg (Renewable Energy World) The headline of this article was composed simply by rephrasing the title of a popular recent piece in The Atlantic — “Climate Change Can Be Stopped by Turning Air into Gasoline” — as a question.
June 20, 2018 Read Full Article
Maximizing Crop Yield: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Yield10 Bioscience
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Yield10 Bioscience is an agricultural bioscience company focusing on the development of disruptive technologies to produce step-change improvements in crop yield for food and feed crops to enhance global food security. Experts forecast that food production must be increased
June 06, 2018 Read Full Article
Troubling Link Found between Pollution Exposure in Pregnancy, High Blood Pressure in Children
by Ariana Eunjung Cha (Washington Post) ... In a paper published Monday in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension, researchers reported that children of mothers who were exposed in their third trimester to higher levels of fine particulate pollution — the tiny
May 15, 2018 Read Full Article
Kelp Farming Sees a Rise In Interest On the Cape
by Sarah Tan (WCAI) Kelp farming is on the rise around the Cape and Islands, as more growers are finding reasons to love this ocean crop. From researchers like Scott Lindell at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute who want to farm the crop
May 14, 2018 Read Full Article
California And 16 Other States Are Suing Trump To Stop Him Destroying Emissions Standards
by Raphael Orlove (Jalopnik) Our emissions standards are probably the biggest booster to automotive performance in the past half century, making our cars not only more eco-friendly but more powerful, too. Trump has been trying to cut it all down, but now California
May 01, 2018 Read Full Article
Braskem Begins Operation in Boston to Strengthen Its Renewable Chemicals Strategy
(Braskem/WebWire) Braskem expands strategy for the future of renewable chemicals -- Braskem (B3: BRKM3, BRKM5 and BRKM6; NYSE: BAK; LATIBEX: XBRK), the largest thermoplastics resins producer in the Americas and the worldwide leader in bio-polymers, announced today its expanded focus on the research,
April 24, 2018 Read Full Article
Carbon Taxes Can Be Both Fair and Effective, Study Shows
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology/EurekAlert!) Several different carbon-pricing approaches would help reduce emissions, and some would be fair as well, researchers report -- Putting a price on carbon, in the form of a fee or tax on the use of fossil fuels, coupled
April 18, 2018 Read Full Article
Cars Threaten Climate Goals in Blue States
by Benjamin Storrow (E&E News) ... Transportation emissions threaten to undercut blue states' climate goals, raising questions about their ability to lead U.S. climate efforts at a time when the federal government is rolling back environmental regulations. Emissions from cars, trucks
April 18, 2018 Read Full Article
Raimondo Backs Biodiesel Increase in Visit to Newport Company
by Sean Flynn (Newport Daily News) Newport Biodiesel LLC saw a big jump in demand for its product at the beginning of the year when a Massachusetts regulation took effect that requires a minimum 10 percent biodiesel component of all
April 11, 2018 Read Full Article
Researchers Improve Method to Convert Food Waste into Biofuels
by Sharon Gaudin (Worcester Polytechnic Institute/Biomass Magazine) Funded by a U.S. Department of Energy grant, a team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute is creating a better way to convert waste food into biofuels that are environmentally friendly, a project that
April 04, 2018 Read Full Article
Researchers Engineer Yeast to Grow on Xylose
(Ethanol Producer Magazine/Tufts University) Researchers at Tufts University have created a genetically modified yeast that can more efficiently consume a novel nutrient, xylose, enabling the yeast to grow faster and to higher cell densities, raising the prospect of a significantly faster
April 04, 2018 Read Full Article
The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations, 3.28.18 Release
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) According to BIO, the global economic value today of the biobased economy – including industrial biotechnology, renewable chemicals and polymers, biofuels, enzymes and biobased materials – is $355.28 billion. And looking at the new USDA Indicators report
March 30, 2018 Read Full Article
California Here I Come: World Energy's Audacious $72M Acquisition of AltAir and the Paramount Oil Refinery
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Paramount Deal: World Energy takes off with audacious $72M acquisition of AltAir and the Paramount oil refinery -- In Massachusetts, World Energy has acquired renewable jet and diesel producer AltAir Paramount, and its Paramount Petroleum refinery
March 20, 2018 Read Full Article
Cow Power: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Ag-Grid Energy
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Ag-Grid Energy has a vision to convert agricultural and organic waste into renewable energy, compost and support local area practices that lead us towards a sustainable environment. The company intends to finance, build, own (jointly), operate
March 19, 2018 Read Full Article
Second Front in the Yeast Wars: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Engineering Cellulosic Tolerance in Yeast
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We’ve been covering some important movements in the design and performance of yeast in recent weeks, including the arrival of Novozymes’ Innova drive strains. Most of the activity has been focused on 1G ethanol fermentation. But it’s
February 20, 2018 Read Full Article
Ethanol Blog Harvard Professor: Year-Round E15 Sales Would Reduce Biofuel Credits Costs
by Todd Neeley (DTN The Progressive Farmer) As debate rages on about whether the price of biofuels credits in the Renewable Fuel Standard are putting small refiners out of business, a little-known analysis by a Harvard University economics professor last summer
February 06, 2018 Read Full Article
9 States Buck the Trump Administration and Move Forward with a Price on Carbon Pollution
by Natasha Geiling (ThinkProgress) Currently only one state in the country has an economy-wide cap on carbon. These states want to change that -- Lawmakers from nine states announced on Wednesday that they would be forming a coalition to help pass carbon pricing
February 01, 2018 Read Full Article
Impact of Biofuels on Contrail Warming
by Fabio Caiazzo, Akshat Agarwal, Raymond L Speth and Steven R H Barrett (Environmental Research Letters) Contrails and contrail-cirrus may be the largest source of radiative forcing (RF) attributable to aviation. Biomass-derived alternative jet fuels are a potentially major way to mitigate
January 25, 2018 Read Full Article
Calculating the CO2 Emissions of Biofuels Is Not Enough
(Science Daily/Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL)) A new EU regulation aims to shrink the environmental footprint of biofuels starting in 2021. But a scientist thinks we should go one step further and take into account all compounds produced at biorefineries,
January 24, 2018 Read Full Article
2017 — It Was a Seaweed Year for Algae
(Algae Industry Magazine) ... In September, the US Department of Energy (DOE) awarded $22 million in grants to fund projects for marine biomass farming for production of commercial products, including feedstock for domestic transportation fuels. The funding was provided through the
January 03, 2018 Read Full Article
Northeast States Tap the Gas Pump for Carbon Emissions Cuts
by Gerald B. Silverman (Bloomberg) Motor fuel could be the next target for controlling greenhouse gas emissions in the Northeast, as seven states that have already clamped down on power plants train their sights on the transportation sector. The states are considering
January 02, 2018 Read Full Article
Nature Demonstrates How Bacteria Degrade Lignin and Provides Better Understanding to Make Biofuels
(Phys.Org/Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory) The production of biofuels from plant biomass is a highly promising source of energy, but researchers are trying to find microbes that readily degrade recalcitrant lignin found in plant biomass. Recent comprehensive genomic and metabolomic analysis of
December 22, 2017 Read Full Article
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Governors Announce New Collaboration to Reduce Transportation Emissions
(Union of Concerned Scientistst) Statement by Ken Kimmell, Union of Concerned Scientists -- Leading environmental, health, scientific and business organizations today applauded the announcement by seven states and Washington, D.C. of plans to develop a regional policy to reduce carbon pollution from
November 14, 2017 Read Full Article
New England Power Generators Association/Environmental NGO Letter on Regional Transportation Emissions
(New England Power Generators Association) NEPGA letter – with the Acadia Center, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists – calling for a regional approach to lowering transportation emissions in a market based manner. READ MORE Excerpts from
November 07, 2017 Read Full Article
Marine Biological Lab Developing New Seaweed Harvest Methods
(CapeCod.com) The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods hole has received a grant to develop innovative cultivation and harvesting technologies for year round production of seaweeds in tropical and subtropical U.S. Waters. The award is one of 18 projects funded by an arm
November 02, 2017 Read Full Article
Fueling the Future: WHOI Awarded $5.7M to Advance Seaweed Energy Production
(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) In the future, our homes and vehicles could be powered by fuel made from seaweed grown at large-scale offshore farms. Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are working to help make that scenario a reality sooner
October 09, 2017 Read Full Article
Yelp! 18 Kelp Wheps Get $22M in ARPA-E Help
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Yes, ARPA-E has unveiled its latest moonshot and is investing $22M in Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources — also known as MARINER. The projects that comprise ARPA-E’s Macroalgae Research Inspiring Novel Energy Resources (MARINER) program
September 21, 2017 Read Full Article
Massachusetts Finalizes Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan
by Devin Henry (The Hill) Massachusetts regulators released details of a new plan Friday to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in the state, in accordance with a state law and court order. The rules rely on a clean energy standard, carbon dioxide
August 17, 2017 Read Full Article
Acton Couple Arrested for Defrauding the Treasury Department of Over $50 Million in Tax Free Energy Grants
(U.S. Department of Justice) An Acton couple was arrested today and charged with defrauding the U.S. Treasury Department of more than $50 million in tax free energy grants as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Christopher N.