by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Yet, even in an era where venture capital has been harder to come by (Why? See these 42 article links under the rubric, “The VC Model is Broken” ) — some great technologies have been getting out
Massachusetts
Back TO HOMEReCommunity Recycling, UMass Team up on Trash-to-Fuel Project
by Jim Kinney (Gazette) A company that runs recycling centers all over the country has researchers in UMass' biofuels program thinking trash can to gas can. ReCommunity Recycling has committed $635,000 to the Institute for Massachusetts Biofuels Research, also known as
June 11, 2012 Read Full Article
UMass Amherst Researchers Work to Improve Camelina Yields
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst is working to significantly increase the oil yields of camelina with the goal of creating a commercially viable crop for biofuel production. The $2 million,
June 06, 2012 Read Full Article
Waste Lines: The Hottest Trends with Bio’s Coolest Feedstock
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Regardless of its naming deficiencies, waste has been hot and getting hotter as a bioenergy feedstock because it solves three of the most pressing problems blocking capacity expansion. 1. The feedstocks are available at fixed, affordable
May 29, 2012 Read Full Article
ThermoEnergy's Sugar Recovery System Meets Key Environmental Demands
(PRNewswire) -- At a time when regulatory agencies are increasing pressure for the disposal of wastewater containing soluble sugars, ThermoEnergy Corporation's CASTion® Sugar Recovery System is a proven, cost-effective technology to capture and recover sugar in wastewater. Food and beverage wastewaters have
May 21, 2012 Read Full Article
Massachusetts Sets Strict Regulations for Biomass: Will This Influence Further Restrictions?
by Meg Cichon (Renewable Energy World) The Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources released a new set of strict standards for biomass in early May that have the potential to cut subsidies for developing plants. According to these new requirements, all
May 09, 2012 Read Full Article
Low Carbon Fuel Standard Could Double Gas Prices
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) A new study released today by the Consumer Energy Alliance (CEA) indicates that a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states could result in doubling gasoline prices and other negative economic impacts. The study, “Analysis of the
March 27, 2012 Read Full Article
Rail Plan to Ship Ethanol Is Decried
by Katheleen Conti (The Boston Globe) Eight firefighters are seen dousing a couple of rail cars, as bright flames and a plume of dark smoke engulf parts of the freight train in a still image stamped with the message: Ready
March 09, 2012 Read Full Article
'Mini-Cellulose' Molecule Unlocks Biofuel Chemistry
(Science Daily) A team of chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered a small molecule that behaves the same as cellulose when it is converted to biofuel. Studying this 'mini-cellulose' molecule reveals for the first time the
February 20, 2012 Read Full Article
Two Become One for Bio-Oil Upgrade
(RSC Chemistry World News) The development of a couple of new and improved catalysts for upgrading bio-oil is bringing this novel approach to producing biofuels a step closer to the big time. Although there are several ways to convert plant biomass
February 02, 2012 Read Full Article
Return of the Pyromaniax
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...You just can’t turn your back for very long, around the Pyromaniax – the researchers around the world working on pyrolysis. Now, pyro comes in several flavors – fast pyrolysis, flash pyrolysis, catalytic fast pyrolysis
January 26, 2012 Read Full Article
Qteros Lives, Says New CEO
by Kyle Alspach (Boston Business Journal) Despite layoffs and the removal of its CEO, venture-backed ethanol firm Qteros says it's moving forward with part of its commercialization plan — though it appears work at its Chicopee facility has been halted. ...In the
November 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Coping with the Cost of Heat: Alternative Energy Sources Available
by Thomas Caywood (Worcester Telegram & Gazette) Rising heating oil prices and dire forecasts predicting the most expensive heating season ever have left many local homeowners feeling anything but warm and fuzzy, with some scrambling to find cheaper ways to
November 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Post Oil: Electrofuels Are an Oil-Substitute Minus the Eons
(Christian Science Monitor) ... Pamela Silver and her colleagues aim to compress the oil-forming process to nearly instantaneous, with some carbon dioxide, a dash of electricity, and a lot of help from the diminutive star of her Harvard Medical School
October 19, 2011 Read Full Article
New Sources Near for Biofuels
(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 gasoline use. In Brazil, it
October 19, 2011 Read Full Article
Jobe, Huber Kick off Northeast Bioheat Workshop
by Bryan Sims (Biodiesel Magazine) The biodiesel and oilheat industries have a long-standing history working alongside each other respectively serving the home heating needs of their customers, particularly in the Northeast, and delivering clean-burning Bioheat was the sentiment echoed by
October 13, 2011 Read Full Article
Department of Energy Awards $2 Million for National University Clean Energy Business Challenge to Jump Start Young Entrepreneurship
(US Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $2 million over three years for six regional awardees to create and administer a network of student-focused business creation competitions and inspire young entrepreneurs to found innovative, clean
October 03, 2011 Read Full Article
Department of Energy Awards $156 Million for Groundbreaking Energy Research Projects
(Department of Energy/ARPA-E) ARPA-E Projects in 25 States Will Accelerate Innovation in Clean Energy Technologies, Increase America's Competitiveness and Create Jobs Arun Majumdar, Director of the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), today announced 60 cutting-edge research projects aimed
September 30, 2011 Read Full Article
A Better FFV?
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Single nozzle, dual fuel injection could work in heavy-duty trucks, too What if there were a flex-fuel engine on the market that was more efficient, and provided more power than today’s flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs)
September 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Technologies and Fuels of the Future – A Panel Discussion
by Vidya Ramanathan (Advanced Biofuels USA) “Artificial leaf, Nanowires and Biomass - Are these the fuels and technologies of the future? Emerging from the BP Gulf Oil spill, and witnessing the post-quake-tsunami nuclear-reactor incidents in Japan, we are rightly poised
September 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Mascoma’s IPO: The 10-Minute Version
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Intrigued by cellulosic ethanol and a new product called MGT, in Mascoma’s IPO? ...Mascoma Corporation announced that it has filed an S-1 registration statement relating to a proposed $100 million initial public offering. The number of
September 20, 2011 Read Full Article
State, Local Officials Prep for Ethanol Trains
by Mariah Sondergard (Commonwealth Magazine) Global’s trains will bring in 3.6m gallons a week MOST OF THE ethanol that is mixed with gasoline in Massachusetts enters the state by ship or fuel truck, but that will change next year when Global Petroleum
September 01, 2011 Read Full Article
Metabolic Network Reconstruction of Chlamydomonas Offers Insight into Light-Driven Algal Metabolism
by Roger L Chang, Lila Ghamsari, Ani Manichaikul, Erik F Y Hom, Santhanam Balaji, Weiqi Fu, Yun Shen, Tong Hao, Bernhard Ø Palsson, Kourosh Salehi-Ashtiani & Jason A Papin (Molecular Systems Biology) Metabolic network reconstruction encompasses existing knowledge about an organism's
August 09, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol Transport Raising Concerns: Ballot Vote Focuses on Rail Shipments
by John Laidler (Boston.com) A plan by Global Partners to begin shipping ethanol by rail to its Revere terminal is drawing concern in the city, where it is the focus of a nonbinding ballot question. According to Fire Chief Gene Doherty,
August 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Oozing Biofuel: Algae Could Solve World's Fuel Crisis
by Von Philip Bethge (Der Spiegel Online) Genetically modified blue and green algae could be the answer to the world's fuel problems. Bioengineers have already developed algae that produce ethanol, oil and even diesel -- and the only things the
August 01, 2011 Read Full Article
Joule Awarded Patents for High-Volume Ethanol Production from Sunlight and CO2
(American Fuels) Joule Unlimited Technologies today (July 27, 2011) announced the issuance of its first two U.S. patents covering its fundamental method for producing ethanol at volumes and efficiencies far surpassing biomass-dependent processes. The patents relate to methods for increasing the
July 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Power Shifts
by Erin Ailworth (The Boston Globe) ...“One of the big challenges with the federal budget is whether ARPA-E is going to be funded,’’ said Peter Rothstein, president of New England Clean Energy Council, a trade group in Boston. ...Alternative fuels Despite several
July 25, 2011 Read Full Article
Qteros and UMass Amherst Bolster Patent Portfolio for Ethanol-Producing Microbe With Issued and Allowed Patents in the United States and Japan
(PR NewsWire) Qteros, Inc., the developer of a unique and highly efficient Consolidated Bioprocessing (CBP) platform for the lowest-cost production of cellulosic ethanol, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, today announced two significant intellectual property (IP) advances that extend the patent estate
June 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Bacteria as Biofuel: It's Coming
by Jason Kennedy (IT World) One company figured out a way to turn the byproduct of a genetically modified bacteria into biofuel. ...A Cambridge, MA based company, Joule Unlimited, however, thinks that race might be over with it's ethanol creating genetically
June 09, 2011 Read Full Article
MIT Researchers Increase Algal Hydrogen Production
(Algae Industry Magazine) Many kinds of algae and cyanobacteria are capable of using energy from sunlight to split water molecules and release hydrogen. One reason this approach hasn’t yet been harnessed for fuel production is that under ordinary circumstances, hydrogen
May 31, 2011 Read Full Article
Agrivida Teaches Biofuel Crops to Self-Destruct
by Martin LaMonica (CNET) ... Agrivida is using genetic engineering and other techniques from the biotech industry to create proteins with specific traits designed for rapid, and cheaper, biofuel production from sorghum, switchgrass, and corn stover, the residual material from corn harvesting. Company
May 23, 2011 Read Full Article
Ag Secretary Touts Agrivida
by Donna Goodison (Boston Herald) Greater Boston doesn’t usually rate as a Hub of agriculture but yesterday U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Medford to praise start-up Agrivida Inc. as an example of how renewable energy research could help
May 16, 2011 Read Full Article
Quantifying Variability in Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Inventories of Alternative Middle Distillate Transportation Fuels
Russell W. Stratton, Hsin Min Wong, and James I. Hileman (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) The presence of variability in life cycle analysis (LCA) is inherent due to both inexact LCA procedures and variation of numerical inputs. Variability in LCA
May 13, 2011 Read Full Article
Joule Picks New Mexico Site for Solar Fuel Project; Now Competitive with $20/Barrel Diesel?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, Joule reported that they have signed a lease for 1,200 acres in Lea County, New Mexico, with the potential to scale the project up to 5,000 acres for production of renewable diesel and
May 06, 2011 Read Full Article
USDA and DOE Award Biomass Research and Development Grants to Reduce America's Reliance on Imported Oil
Projects will help develop sustainable, renewable biofuels in the U.S. As part of the Obama Administration's comprehensive plan to address rising gas prices, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced a total of $47 million
May 06, 2011 Read Full Article
Agrivida Reports Increased Glucose Yields from Cellulosic Biomass for Fuel and Chemical Production
(Agrivida) —New Data Presented at Annual American Chemical Society Meeting— Agrivida's engineered feedstock and proprietary low temperature, low cost processes release over 80 percent theoretical glucose yield from cellulosic biomass, according to data presented today at the annual meeting of
April 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Qteros CEO John McCarthy Offers Space in New Chicopee Plant for Biofuel Start-Ups
by Kyle Alspach (Boston Business Journal) With the major costs associated with proving out new biofuels technologies, John McCarthy says he’s seen a number of Massachusetts startups in the space enticed to do larger-scale work in other states. McCarthy, CEO of
March 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Novogy Gets $750K, Targets Waste Paper Biofuel
by Galen Moore (Boston Business Journal) Stealthy cleantech startup Novogy Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. has raised $750,000 more from venture backers General Catalyst Partners, according to a regulatory filing posted yesterday - and made comments suggesting the company is working on cellulosic biofuels,
March 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Paper Maker Turns Waste Wood to Biofuel, Jobs
by Tony Dobrowolski (Berkshire Eagle) Crane & Co. is planning to employ a rarely used, clean-energy technology to reduce the paper maker's energy costs and possibly bring 100 new jobs to the region. The technology, known as Rapid Thermal Processing, or
March 01, 2011 Read Full Article
Quantum Leap for the Q Microbe: Qteros closes $22 Million in New Financing; Global Partnership with Praj
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Qteros and Praj will collaborate on a highly focused, multi-year development program with the objective of rapidly developing and commercializing Process Design Packages (PDPs) that enable cellulosic ethanol production using Qteros’ Q Microbe-enabled CBP platform
January 05, 2011 Read Full Article
Ethanol from Sugar Beets: A Process and Economic Analysis
by Emily Bowen, Sean C. Kennedy, Kelsey Miranda (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) The aim of this project was to design a process for producing bioethanol from sugar beets as a possible feedstock replacement for corn. Currently eighty-five percent of the energy used by the United
December 30, 2010 Read Full Article
Altranex, Brown University Collaborate on Biodiesel Processing
by Michelle Lang (Mass High Tech) Bedford biofuels startup Altranex Energy LLC is working with Brown University to develop process technology to make biodiesel that works in cold climates. ...At Altranex, the fuel is called Green Kero, and it’s designed to
November 04, 2010 Read Full Article
Cheers to Biomass in Boston; CARB States Petroleum Has No Indirect Effects
by Anna Austin and Lisa Gibson (Biomass Magazine) ...Director of the Northeast Regional New Fuels Alliance Andrew Schuyler, who followed Cleaves, explained some policies the organization has been working on, primarily the development of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard similar
September 09, 2010 Read Full Article
Massachusetts City Agrees to Begin Talks on Waste-to-Ethanol Project
by Charles Winokoor (Tauton Daily Gazette) The city’s plans for what would be a landmark ethanol-based waste treatment plant cleared an important hurdle at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting. The Council and its Committee on Solid Waste voted unanimously to enter
April 06, 2010 Read Full Article
Governors of 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States Agree to Work Together Toward Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fuels
Governors of 11 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states today took the next step toward developing a regional Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) by signing a Memorandum of Understanding that commits their states to continued participation in a regional effort to reduce greenhouse gas
January 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Banned in Boston: Massachusetts Moves to Strike Algae, Miscanthus, Switchgrass, Oil from Microorganisms, from Qualifying Under Clean Energy Biofuels Act
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Massachusetts, the state Department of Energy Resources, in coordination with the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, announced that it would ban all biofuels not made using waste feedstocks from qualifying under the
August 19, 2009 Read Full Article
A Research Roadmap for Making Lignocellulosic Biofuels A Practical Reality: Breaking the Chemical and Engineering Barriers to Lignocellulosic Biofuels: Next Generation Hydrocarbon Biorefineries
Based on the June 25-26, 2007 Workshop in Washington, DC, with Dr. George Hubner, University of Massachusetts--Amherst, Workshop Chair View the PDF