by Megan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, nearly half of the US Senate has written to the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Energy and the EPA administrator strongly urging the agencies to streamline support of biomass for energy across all
Mississippi
Back TO HOMEWhy Is Obama Allowing Big Oil To Kill Biofuels?
by Ronnie Shows (The Daily Caller) As the first legislator to introduce a biofuels bill in the Mississippi State House, I am deeply concerned that the Obama administration is making a huge mistake when it comes to determining the United
June 02, 2015 Read Full Article
Dennis Seid: Enerkem’s Ethanol Plant Still a No-Go
by Dennis Seid (Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal) ... In fact, if you visit Enerkem’s website, there’s no mention of Pontotoc. Nothing on its facilities or projects – where Pontotoc once had a prominent location. Nothing when you do a search
March 30, 2015 Read Full Article
DOE Accepting Comments on Engineered High-Energy Crop Proposal
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy has published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Engineered High Energy Crop (EHEC) Programs Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement
February 06, 2015 Read Full Article
Mississippi Files Fraud Lawsuit against Khosla over KiOR
by Jeff Amy (The Dispatch/Associated Press) The state of Mississippi has sued billionaire Vinod Khosla and others, saying they knew long ago that bankrupt biofuel firm KiOR had poor prospects for success, but misled the state into loaning the company
January 16, 2015 Read Full Article
The 41 Weirdest Things Ever Used to Make Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Bunnies, liposuction fat, Prince Charles’ leftover wine, day-old whale, the human poo bus, fire ants dipped in hexane, old beer, raging fireballs, vibrating blobs, dope, and even the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Take your pick and,
December 31, 2014 Read Full Article
10 Biggest Bioeconomy Blockbuster Stories of 2014: Asia and Oceania
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The East is Green. Asia is confirmed as “the new Brazil” as project developers head en masse to the friendly receptions in Asian countries — based on energy diversification and rural development opportunities. Whether you look
December 29, 2014 Read Full Article
10 Biggest Bioeconomy Blockbuster Stories of 2014 (Americas)
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) POET-DSM, Abengoa, Enerkem, GranBio, Raizen plant openings lead the list; REG’s M&A campaign, EPA’s RFS debacle, are other key trends. They said that cellulosic fuels were “five years away, and always will be,” but five major
December 23, 2014 Read Full Article
Biomass Feedstock Survey – Producer Participation Wanted
(Biomass Blog) The Mississippi State University Department of Agricultural Economics is reaching out to agricultural producers in the Southeast region and asking them to participate in an on-line survey. The survey is part of a study titled “Policies to Develop
December 19, 2014 Read Full Article
From Flushing to Fuel: How Bioenergy Spectrum Solutions Will Change Waste Disposal
(EIN PressWire) ... BioEnergy Spectrum Solutions, or BESS, has a plan based on technology developed by Mississippi State University that can take the sludge from waste water facilities and use it to make fuel that can be used to power the
December 18, 2014 Read Full Article
Billionaire Vinod Khosla’s Big Dreams for Biofuels Fail to Catch Fire
by Steven Mufson (The Washington Post) Just over a year ago, billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla was bubbling with optimism about one of his latest investments: KiOR, a biofuel outfit he said would turn wood chips into hydrocarbons that could
November 30, 2014 Read Full Article
Analyst: KiOR Columbus Plant May End up Sold as Scrap
by Jack Weatherly (Mississippi Business Journal) Finding a buyer for the idled KiOR biofuels plant at Columbus would be a tough sell, according to Pavel Molchanov, an equity analyst who had covered Pasadena, Texas-based KiOR Inc. until it filed
November 21, 2014 Read Full Article
Enerkem: Alberta’s Municipal Waste to Fuels Juggernaut, in Pictures
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) How does a technology take municipal solid waste and turn it into liquid fuels and chemicals? What’s the “death of landfill” all about in terms of creating value streams from waste streams? We take you
October 31, 2014 Read Full Article
Creating a Strong Economy through Biobased Products
by Brent Erickson (Biotechnology Industry Organization/The Hill) In a recently released report entitled “Why Biobased?” the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) answers the question of why America should invest in a biobased economy. The report explores the economic impacts of
October 29, 2014 Read Full Article
BlueFire Plays the China Card? Ex-Im Bank of China Issues $270M LOI for Mississippi Biofuels Project
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, BlueFire Renewables has received a Letter of Intent from The Export Import Bank of China (China EXIM) to provide up to $270 million in debt financing for its 19 million gallon bioenergy project
October 27, 2014 Read Full Article
BlueFire Renewables Receives Unprecedented Export-Import Bank of China Letter of Intent to Provide Debt Financing for a U.S. Bio-Energy Project
(Globe Newswire/BlueFire Renewables) BlueFire's Mississippi Fulton Project Paves the Way for Other U.S./China Renewable Energy Projects BlueFire Renewables, Inc. (OTC:BFRE), a company focused on changing the world's transportation fuel paradigm through the production of renewable fuels, announced that it has received
October 24, 2014 Read Full Article
Ex-Cofounder at KIOR Claims Technology not Working
(Global BioBusiness) A former cofounder of biofuel maker KiOR says he tried to warn other board members about problems with KiOR’s technology. The claims come from Mr. Paul O’Connor, who cofounded the company and worked there until June 2012 and
October 10, 2014 Read Full Article
Earth to Cellulosic Ethanol: Glad You’re Here, Buddy, What Took so Long? Parts 1 and 2
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Cellulosic ethanol arrives at scale — “The five years away forever” put to rest — but are there troubling waters still ahead? For whom, and why? Part I of II There’s a gigantic disconnect between two sections
October 10, 2014 Read Full Article
More Trouble Brewing at KiOR
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Key figure and company director Paul O’Connor resigns. Allegations relating to possible inside trading, suppression of 3rd party technology report laid by the Board against O’Connor. O’Connor makes allegations concerning “KiOR’s management team and KiOR’s technology”. In
September 09, 2014 Read Full Article
POET-DSM’s Project LIBERTY Opens, as Fantasy Becomes Real
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) POET-DSM’s 20 million gallon cellulosic ethanol plant opens with hoopla, and heartfelt messages about the spirit of innovation, and a time for technology change and policy firmness. “Once, we all lived off the land, sun, wind
September 08, 2014 Read Full Article
USDA Awarding $6 Million to Prepare Farmers for New Farm Bill Programs
(US Department of Agriculture) Farm Bill Implementation Continues at Brisk Pace with Universities and State Cooperative Extension Programs Now Set to Help Educate Farmers Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding $6 million
June 03, 2014 Read Full Article
KiOR update: “We do not believe we can restart the Columbus facility on an economically viable basis at this time.”
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The following is excerpted from KiOR’s most recent 10-Q quarterly report, as filed with the SEC. “We have substantial doubts about our ability to continue as a going concern. To continue as a going concern, we must
May 14, 2014 Read Full Article
KiOR Announces $347M Loss for 2013: “We Have Substantial Doubts about Our Ability to Continue as a Going Concern.”
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Delayed 2013 results includes going concern statement. Future Khosla financing contingent on milestones. Default looms as soon as April. Financing after August unclear. In Texas, KiOR announced a $347.5M net loss for 2013, and issued a
March 18, 2014 Read Full Article
Cellulosic Ethanol Fights for Life
by Mark Peplow (Nature) Pioneering biofuel producers hope that US government largesse will ease their way into a tough market. ...Thousands of tonnes of corn stover — the leaves, stalks and husks left over after the maize harvest — are already waiting,
March 13, 2014 Read Full Article
DOE Pulls Funding for Bluefire Mississippi Project over Financing Woes; BFRE to Appeal
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The following notice was filed Friday with the SEC by Bluefire Renewables: On December 23, 2013, Bluefire Renewables received notice from the Department of Energy indicating that the DOE would no longer provide funding under
December 30, 2013 Read Full Article
KiOR Provides Operational Update on Columbus Facility
(MarketWatch/KiOR) KiOR, Inc., provided today (December 23, 2013) an update on the operations at its Columbus, Mississippi, facility. KiOR expects that, given current and anticipated operations through the remainder of the year, the Columbus facility will produce approximately 410,000 gallons of
December 26, 2013 Read Full Article
Next Generation of Biofuels Is Still Years Away
by Jonathan Fahey (Associated Press) The first trickle of fuels made from agricultural waste is finally winding its way into the nation's energy supply, after years of broken promises and hype promoting a next-generation fuel source cleaner than oil. ... Cellulosic makers
November 14, 2013 Read Full Article
Being Solid and Liquid: The Screwy, Upside-Down World of Renewable Fuels Financing
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...“Cowcookies”, the lost Marx Brothers script Scene, an office on Wall Street. Enter a lender, Harold P. Cheesebreath — and his prospective borrower, Al Cohol. Cohol: (confidently) See here, it’s a no-brainer. Mandated fuel, pilot-proven technology, no food
October 30, 2013 Read Full Article
Elevance Planning Another Biofeedstocks Plant
by Frank Esposito (Plastics News) Less than a year after opening its plant in Indonesia, Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc. has announced plans to open another bioplastics feedstock plant in Natchez, Miss., by 2016. Current customer interest in the firm's Inherent-brand biofeedstocks –
October 29, 2013 Read Full Article
EPA Announces Funding for Students’ Innovative Green Technologies
(US Environmental Protection Agency) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced the 2013 recipients of EPA’s People, Prosperity and the Planet (P3) Phase I grants. Forty teams of graduate and undergraduate students from across the country are each receiving
October 29, 2013 Read Full Article
Is the Renewable Fuel Standard Helping Bring the Next Generation of Biofuels to Market?
by Ned Stowe (Environmental and Energy Study Institute) For many supporters of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a key goal was to stimulate the development and use of low-carbon, next generation biofuels – to help reduce both U.S. petroleum dependence
October 25, 2013 Read Full Article
Industrial Biobased Ventures Raise $364M in Q3 2013; 5-Minute Guide to the Bioinvesting Landscape
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Biobased investing continues surging, both direct and via strategics. The Digest has the data and the scoop in our 5-Minute Guide. In Florida, Biofuels Digest reports that 9 biobased ventures raised $363.8 million in new capital
October 23, 2013 Read Full Article
BlueFire Renewables Adds New Revenue Source to Fulton Facility
(MarketWatch/BlueFire Renewables) BlueFire Renewables, Inc., a company focused on changing the world's transportation fuel paradigm, has integrated a synergistic wood pellet production plant to its facility in Fulton, Mississippi. The reconfigured design will be a 9 million gallon per year
October 04, 2013 Read Full Article
KiOR Gets $50 Million from Khosla to Double Production
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Texas, KiOR announced that it is pursuing plans to double production capacity at its Columbus, Mississippi, cellulosic fuels facility through construction of a second facility incorporating KiOR’s commercially proven technology. KiOR estimates that the project
September 27, 2013 Read Full Article
Show Me the Gallons: KiOR’s Progress towards Steady-State Operations
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Landmark cellulosic drop-in biofuels producer releases update on early-stage production: is the increasing gallonage enough to silence the critics? ... In July and August, the Columbus facility produced 172,398 gallons of fuel, bringing the 2013 production
September 23, 2013 Read Full Article
Algix Welcomes Guests to Grand Opening
by Josh Bergeron (Selma Times-Journal) ...Algix, a company based in Georgia, opened its newest facility in Dallas County that will help turn catfish-pond algae into biodegradable plastic. “It’s really quite a revolutionary to take algae, which is seen as waste, into a
September 18, 2013 Read Full Article
What Happened to Biofuels?
(The Economist) Energy technology: Making large amounts of fuel from organic matter has proved to be more difficult and costly than expected ...As well as being available to countries without tar sands, shale fields or gushers, biofuels can help reduce greenhouse-gas emissions
September 06, 2013 Read Full Article
Trash Into Gas, Efficiently? An Army Test May Tell
by Paul Tullis (The New York Times) ...But big drawbacks have prevented the wholesale adoption of trash-to-gas technology in the United States: incineration is polluting, and the capital costs of new plants are enormous. Gasification systems can expend a tremendous
August 27, 2013 Read Full Article
The Ethanol Mandate and the Interests of Consumers
by Brooke Coleman (The Wall Street Journal) Letter to Editor: Cellulosic ethanol's time is just beginning. It will lower gasoline prices and extend the supply. Your editorial "Put A Corn Cob in Your Tank" (Aug. 17) calls cellulosic ethanol a failure and asserts that
August 26, 2013 Read Full Article
Rentech Sells Mississippi Land After Ceasing Cellulosic Research
by Justin Doom (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) Rentech Inc. (RTK:US), a U.S. supplier of wood pellets and nitrogen fertilizer, sold about 450 acres of land in Mississippi where it had planned to build a renewable-energy project. READ MORE and MORE (Biomass Magazine) and MORE
August 21, 2013 Read Full Article
USDA Solicits Bids Under the Feedstock Flexibility Program
(U.S. Department of Agriculture) The Farm Service Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced that purchase invitations have been extended to solicit bids to the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) through the Feedstock Flexibility Program (FFP). Congress created FFP
August 20, 2013 Read Full Article
The DABTAPE Imperative, and KiOR’s Fall from Equity Market Grace
by Jim Lane (BioInvest Digest) ...KiOR’s fallen into the penalty box this week — it’s stock falling from a high of nearly $5 just a week ago — now disappearing into the sub-$3 range as the company missed production
August 14, 2013 Read Full Article
Biofuels Digest’s 5-Minute Guide to Loan Guarantees: Who Got ‘Em, What’re They Doing?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In today’s Digest – visit our 5-Minute Guide to Loan Guarantees — INEOS Bio, Myriant, Sapphire Energy, Abengoa, Chemtex, Enerkem, Fiberight, Fulcrum, ZeaChem – Plus POET-DSM, Diamond Green Diesel, Coskata and Range Fuels Projects open for business INEOS Bio ... Myriant ... Sapphire
July 30, 2013 Read Full Article
Beyond Ethanol: Drop-In Biofuels Squeeze Gasoline From Plants
by Patrick J. Kiger and Marianne Lavelle (National Geographic) ... KiOR's breakthrough is one part of a wide-ranging effort by a number of companies and government-supported researchers to develop and perfect "drop-in" biofuels—fuels so similar to their petroleum-based counterparts that they
July 23, 2013 Read Full Article
White House Steps up Biofuel Support amid Escalating Attacks
by Zack Colman (The Hill E2Wire) The White House on Thursday doubled down on its support of a biofuel-blending rule that’s drawing intense attacks from the oil industry and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Heather Zichal, President Obama’s top energy and climate
July 22, 2013 Read Full Article
12 Bellwether Biofuels Projects – Where Do They Stand?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Advanced biofuels – mirage or reality? In January we wrote: “When these 12 projects open for business (or not) in 2013, you’ll know for sure.” So, what do we know? ... We identified 12 “Bellwether projects” in
July 22, 2013 Read Full Article
Elevance and Wilmar Begin Commercial Shipments of Biobased Chemicals from Newly Commissioned Refinery
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Singapore, Wilmar International and Elevance Renewable Sciences have just announced that they have begun shipping commercial products, including novel specialty chemicals, to customers from their first world-scale joint venture biorefinery, located in Gresik, Indonesia.
July 18, 2013 Read Full Article
Momentum: 12 Biobased Ventures Raise $435M in Q2 2013; 32 Projects Being Built off the Balance Sheet
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Despite negative press from Bloomberg, biobased investing is surging, both direct and via strategics. The Digest has the data and the scoop. After we profiled, last April, 17 biobased ventures who raised $434 million in new
July 10, 2013 Read Full Article
KiOR Commences Shipments of Cellulosic Gasoline
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Texas, KiOR announced that its Columbus, Mississippi facility made its first shipment of cellulosic gasoline on June 28, which represented the first fuel shipment since March, 2013. The company added that it has “commenced regular
July 02, 2013 Read Full Article
Cellulosic Ethanol: Scale-Up and Commercialization - Part 2
by David Glass (D Glass Associates) In the final breakout session of the BIO World Congress on June 19, there was a second panel on scale-up and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol. As with the session on the conference’s first day,
June 21, 2013 Read Full Article
KiOR Shipping Cellulosic Biofuels; Releases Q1 Results
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...“Building on the first gallons of cellulosic diesel we shipped in March, we continue to make progress with operations at our Columbus facility,” said KiOR CEO Fred Cannon. “The on-stream percentage of our core technology
May 10, 2013 Read Full Article
Oxygen for High Altitudes: 17 Biofuels Ventures Raise $434M in Equity
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Despite the sluggish economic recovery and questions over policy stability — biofuels ventures have been busy raising lots of capital. In the past 6 months, $434 million. Who got what, where, when and why? ...supplemental oxygen,
April 08, 2013 Read Full Article
Algenetix Raises $2M in Series A Funding Round, Aims to Boost Algae Oil Accumulation
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Algenetix, an industrial biotech company incubated from the pipeline of Kapyon Ventures has closed $2.0M in Series A-1 funding to further commercialize its PhotoSeed platform. The groundbreaking technology vastly improves oil productivity in microbes
April 05, 2013 Read Full Article
Cellulosic Biofuels in the US: How Much and How Soon? 2014′s Terrific Ten
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Although no commercial-scale cellulosic biofuels facilities are operating in the United States at present, at least ten projects exceeding 20 million gallons per year are expected to begin operations by 2014. Tristan R. Brown and Robert
March 22, 2013 Read Full Article
Next-Gen Biofuels Making Slow, Slow, Slow Progress in 2013
by Katie Feherenbacher (Gigaom) Companies that are still looking to produce biofuels from plant waste (and not corn) are making slow, but steady progress on milestones in 2013. On Monday, KiOR, which was largely funded by Khosla Ventures before it went
March 20, 2013 Read Full Article
KiOR Now Shipping World’s First Cellulosic Diesel from Its First Commercial Plant
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Texas, KiOR announced the initial shipments of cellulosic diesel from its first commercial-scale facility in Columbus, Mississippi. KiOR’s facility uses pine wood chips previously feeding a shut down paper mill at Columbus and produces gasoline
March 20, 2013 Read Full Article
Enerkem: Committed to Pontotoc Ethanol Project
(Associated Press/WJTV.com) Four years after announcing plans for an ethanol plant in Pontotoc, a Canadian company has yet to begin construction. Enerkem Inc. spokeswoman Annie Pare tells The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (http://bit.ly/WCsH7v ) the company remains committed to building the
March 12, 2013 Read Full Article
Does BlueFire Still Burn in the County?
by Adam Armour (Itawamba County Times) Work on the proposed Fulton ethanol plant has come to a standstill. But does that mean the project’s been canceled? ... After the project’s announcement in 2009, two years of securing finances from across the
March 07, 2013 Read Full Article
Irvine Renewable Fuels Firm Halts Work on Mississippi Plant
by Jane Yu (Orange County Business Journal) Irvine-based renewable fuels maker BlueFire Renewables Inc. has halted construction work on a plant planned for Fulton, Miss. plant. BlueFire converts non-food resources, such as trash, wood waste and other agricultural residues, into ethanol.
March 04, 2013 Read Full Article
Rentech to Close Colorado Demo Unit, Drop Advanced Biofuels R&D Activities
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Rentech announced plans to cease operations at, reduce staffing at, and mothball its research and development Product Demonstration Unit, in Commerce City, CO, and to eliminate all related R&D activities. As a result of
March 01, 2013 Read Full Article
Ethanol Industry Poised for Surge in Fuel Made from Crop Waste
(Associated Press/Omaha.com) After decades of talk, the ethanol industry is building multimillion-dollar refineries in several states that will use corn plant residue, wood scraps and even garbage to produce the fuel additive. The breakthrough comes at a key time for the
February 14, 2013 Read Full Article
The Renewable Fuel Standard Works
by Jeremy Martin and Jim Collins (Politico) The fuels of the future are here today, and we can thank Congress for enacting the Renewable Fuel Standard. This bedrock policy has brought us to the point where the first commercial facilities producing
February 11, 2013 Read Full Article
The Compression Spread
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) You’ve heard about the crack spread, and the crush spread — as means to value oil refining and crop refining. Let’s think about biomass densification and compression, and in that context, a little about KiOR. ... What
February 08, 2013 Read Full Article
About Us: Boost to Brewing Biogas: OARDC Receives $6.5 Million Grant to Further Develop New System
(Ohio State University) OARDC has received a $6.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy to test and expand OARDC-developed technology that can produce biogas from a variety of solid organic wastes and
January 29, 2013 Read Full Article
12 Bellwether Biofuels Projects for 2013
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A long war of opinion has been waged for years between advanced biofuels’ detractors and supporters. Mirage or reality? Completion of 6 key projects 2012 decided much of the debate. When these 12 projects open
January 01, 2013 Read Full Article
What Do People Think About Biofuels?
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) What do people in the Southeast think about biofuels? Do they support biofuel ventures? Who will grow the biomass? Will those in established industries fight against it? These are just a few of the questions researchers
December 27, 2012 Read Full Article
USDA Funds Mississippi State University Biofuel Study
(ClarionLedger.com) A team of Mississippi State University agricultural economists recently received U.S. Department of Agriculture funding to study policies impacting biofuel supply chains. Keith Coble is the principal investigator for a project to develop a model to assess how state or
December 26, 2012 Read Full Article
Can KiOR Soar?
by Robert Rapier (Biofuels Digest/Energy Trends Insider) Last month KiOR announced the start of production of biocrude from their Columbus, Mississippi plant. KiOR CEO Fred Cannon stated in an earnings call that when the product shipped it would be “the world’s
December 21, 2012 Read Full Article
University of Southern Mississippi Researchers Working to Turn Algae into Fuel
(Clarion Ledger) ...Today, Redalje’s Marine Science lab at Stennis Space Center is studying algae, grown from Mississippi coastal waters, and recreating that ancient process. “We now look for one that produces large oil droplets that what became oil in past million
December 20, 2012 Read Full Article
Advanced Ethanol Council Releases Snapshot of Cellulosic Ethanol Production around the World
(Renewable Fuels Association) The Advanced Ethanol Council this morning released a report giving a snapshot of cellulosic ethanol producers in the U.S. and around the world. A look at facilities owned by companies such as Abengoa Bioenergy, Enerkem, INEOS Bio
December 19, 2012 Read Full Article
Cellulosic Biofuel to Surge in 2013 After First U.S. Plants Open
by Andrew Herndon (Bloomberg/Renewable Energy World) Cellulosic biofuel companies will boost production almost 20-fold in 2013 as the first high-volume refineries go into operation, signaling a shift from an experimental fuel into a commercially viable industry. Production of the fuel made
December 18, 2012 Read Full Article
State Incentives for Alternative-Fuel Projects Linked to Success and Failure
by Jeff Ayres (Clarion Ledger) Mississippi alternative-energy development projects that have received more than $400 million in state backing through loans, grants and other incentives in recent years have seen widely varying degrees of success. KiOR, a Texas biofuels company, recently started
December 17, 2012 Read Full Article
USDA Grants Support Sustainable Bioenergy Production
(US Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $10 million in research grants to spur production of bioenergy and biobased products that will lead to the development of sustainable regional systems and help create jobs. Vilsack highlighted the
December 17, 2012 Read Full Article
Fuel From Waste, Poised at a Milestone
by Matthew L. Wald (New York Times) For years, scientists and engineers have been juggling various combinations of acids, steam, bacteria, catalysts and the digestive juices of microorganisms to convert agricultural waste and even household garbage into motor fuel. So far,
November 17, 2012 Read Full Article
Gusher! KiOR Starts Production of US Cellulosic Biofuels at Scale
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 500 ton per day wood biomass to biocrude plant commences oil production – the long wait for cellulosic biofuels at scale is over. ...But the news from Columbus, Mississippi, that cellulosic biocrude production has started up,
November 09, 2012 Read Full Article
The Stampede of Elephants: Biofuels and Big Balance Sheets
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Today, we’ll look at the bigger balance sheets to see who is investing what, and when, with whom, and why. ...We’ve also focused here, for the sake of brevity, on those financing commercial scale projects. So,
October 23, 2012 Read Full Article
Comparison of Direct Transesterification of Algal Biomass under Supercritical Methanol and Microwave Irradiation Conditions
by Prafulla D. Patil, Veera Gnaneswar Gude, Aravind Mannarswamy, Peter Cooke, Nagamany Nirmalakhandan, Peter Lammers, Shuguang Deng (Fuel) In this comparative study, direct conversion of algal biomass into biodiesel using supercritical methanol (SCM) and microwave-assisted (MW) transesterification methods was investigated. Wet
September 20, 2012 Read Full Article
Finding the Right Biofuels for the Southeast: A Range of Alternatives
(US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service) ...Of the five regions, the Southeast has the greatest natural capacity in the continental United States, with sufficient sunshine, soils, water, and other natural resources to produce more than 10 billion gallons of
September 19, 2012 Read Full Article
The Trash Spread: Enerkem Heads for Scale, with Advanced Biofuels from MSW
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Breakthroughs in making consistent syngas from negative-cost municipal solid waste spells “big prospects” for Enerkem in biobased fuels and chemicals. In oil we have the crack spread, corn ethanol and soy-based biodiesel we have the crush
September 07, 2012 Read Full Article
Meanwhile, the Next Generation Advanced Biofuels Industry Is Scaling Up
(Environmental and Energy Study Institute) Cleaner, more sustainable, more climate-friendly, more affordable advanced biofuels are closer to reality than many outside the industry seem to think. At least three new, advanced biofuel biorefineries are being commissioned this year, and at
August 25, 2012 Read Full Article
Missouri Organizes for Energy Independence
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Like many states (or countries) that have limited oil reserves or reserves that are economically unfeasible to extract at this time – the path to energy independence lies generally in Missouri’s substantial “above-ground oil fields”
August 23, 2012 Read Full Article
KiOR Renewable Gasoline Will Fuel Cars This Year
by Luke Geiver (Biomass Magazine) The U.S. EPA has granted KiOR Inc. the necessary permit to sell renewable cellulosic gasoline in the U.S. According to Fred Cannon, the EPA’s acceptance of KiOR’s advanced biofuel blendstock “is a landmark” for the
July 25, 2012 Read Full Article
New Kids on the Block: 12 hot bio-based technologies worth watching (Parts 1 and 2)
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
June 25, 2012 Read Full Article
Dial 9011 for Crop Assistance
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Section 9011 of the Farm Bill – the Biomass Crop Assistance Program – USDA deploys $9.6M in new investments in bioenergy crops as questions revolve around the program’s future and effectiveness. Is BCAP important? Will
June 14, 2012 Read Full Article
Clean Technology: US Policy Aids Second Generation Biofuel Push
by Guy Chazan (Financial Times) In the world of biofuels, all eyes are on the tiny northern Italian town of Crescentino, site of the world’s first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant, which will start production this year. The venture might be small,
June 05, 2012 Read Full Article
Alcorn State University Looks at Bamboo for Biofuels
by Vershal Hogan (Natchez Democrat) Alcorn State University has conducted research into using bamboo as a feedstock for biofuels production. READ MORE
June 01, 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
Biofuel Production Facilities Spotlight Next Generation
by Matt Daily (Reuters/Huffington Post) After a decade of promise, advanced biofuels makers are entering a crucial make-or-break period with the first of a new generation of production facilities about to come on line. The new facilities are designed to take
May 25, 2012 Read Full Article
Renewable Diesel Surges: Emerald Biofuels Announces Major Project in Louisiana
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Emerald Biofuels announced that it will build an 85 million gallonrenewable-diesel refineries at a Dow Chemical site in Plaquemine, Louisiana. The company will use Honeywell’s UOP/Eni EcoFining process technology for the production of Honeywell Green Diesel
May 21, 2012 Read Full Article
Pie in the Sky
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Companies like KiOR, ZeaChem, Virent take aim at a tasty aviation biofuels market with new recipes and game-changing economics ...If you can produce in-spec, sustainable, low-carbon, renewable jet fuel at $3.32 per gallon or less, it
March 28, 2012 Read Full Article
KiOR on Budget, on Track for Opening First Commercial Biofuels Plant in 2012
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...KiOR did not recognize revenue during 2011, as its activities remained focused on construction of its first commercial facility in Columbus, Mississippi, research and development (R&D) designed to improve production yields and obtaining necessary financing
March 27, 2012 Read Full Article
To Strive, To Seek, to Find, and Max Out Yields
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Yield unlocks value, and especially feedstock yield. What’s the latest? What feedstocks are reporting yields that could support 1000+ gallons per acre for terrestrial crops? ...Yield from the acre, yield from the ton, yield from the
March 22, 2012 Read Full Article
Virdia Ups the Ante in the Race for the New Sugars
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...In California, Virdia, formerly HCL CleanTech, a leading developer of cellulosic sugars, today announced major company milestones, including a new brand and CEO, its latest funding round, and a $75 million deal with the Mississippi
March 06, 2012 Read Full Article
[LL] Cool Planet Rocks the Bells
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What are Google, BP, Conoco, and GE investing? Is 3,000 gallons per acre of renewable gasoline possible? In the past few weeks, news has begun to circulate around the industry – and expanded by Twitter and
March 05, 2012 Read Full Article
Bringing Oil Intensity to the Energy Debate
by Former Sens. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) (Bipartisan Policy Center/The Hill) ...For example, both parties have helped raise fuel efficiency standards. First under President Bush in 2007, then under President Obama in 2010, America has vastly improved
March 02, 2012 Read Full Article
Removing Fiber from DDGS Results in Superior Product for Swine
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Removing fiber from dried distillers grains with solubles using the elusieve process results in an enhanced product with greater nutritional value for growing and finishing pigs, according to a study conducted by researchers at
February 28, 2012 Read Full Article
Norfolk Southern Pens Deal with Dynamic Fuels and Mansfield Oil
(Syntroleum) Norfolk Southern becomes first fleet user in the U.S. to deploy clean renewable diesel Dynamic Fuels, LLC and Mansfield Oil Company have signed an agreement to supply renewable diesel to Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE / NSC), one of the nation's
February 14, 2012 Read Full Article
Enerkem’s $125M IPO: The 10-Minute Version
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...In Canada, Enerkem has filed an F-1 registration statement for a proposed $125 million initial public offering. The number of shares to be offered in the proposed offering and the price range for the offering
February 06, 2012 Read Full Article
Mississippi Senator Seeks to Require Ethanol-Free Gasoline
by Kent Misegades (General Aviation News) Mississippi State Senator Michael Watson has just introduced Senate Bill 2137, “An act to require retail dealers and distributors of gasoline to offer for sale or use nonethanol-blended unleaded premium grade gasoline.” When asked for his motivation,
February 02, 2012 Read Full Article
The Litmus Test: 8 Projects for 2012 Will Test Perceptions, Reality for Advanced Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...First commercial projects from newly-minted public companies Solazyme, Gevo and KiOR. Two trash-to-biofuels projects from INEOS Bio and Enerkem, located in Florida and Alberta. Europe’s largest biosuccinic acid project, scheduled to be opened by DSM
January 12, 2012 Read Full Article
BlueFire Renewables Launches Subsidiary and Formalizes Funding Agreements in 2011; Sets Sights on Further, Significant Milestones for 2012
(Blue Fire Renewables) ...To meet increasing demand for cellulosic sugars ("The New Oil") BlueFire formed SucreSource, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary that will manufacture cellulosic sugars from biomass for Biofuel, Bioplastic and Specialty Chemical markets. Established in November 2011, SucreSource
December 23, 2011 Read Full Article
2100 CAAFI General Meeting Presentations Available Online
Presentations delivered by the various panel members are available on the CAAFI Expo website. READ MORE Business Team RIN Compliance and D-Code Pathway Definitions (PDF) - Luce Business Team Panel Discussion Elements of Alternative Fuels - Business Case Analysis (PDF)- John Rau Biofuels Financing
December 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Hitting a New Stride: The Biorefining Sector Is Poised for Commercial Scale-Up as Funding Strategies Mature and Production Capacity Grows
by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine) The biorefining sector reached an important new milestone this year with at least five companies undergoing successful initial public offerings (IPOs). As we move into the new year, members of industry will take another important
December 10, 2011 Read Full Article
China to the Rescue: U.S. Project Developers Look to China for Financial Support
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. federal government continually names China as being a country to beat in the clean energy race. However, increasingly, cellulosic ethanol producers and technology developers are coming to view China not as a
December 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Taking the Fuel Out of Biofuels
by Ben Lefebvre (Wall Street Journal) Unable to compete with petroleum products, biofuel companies have found replacement products to sell As advanced biofuel companies work toward creating an economically viable alternative to petroleum, some have found an alternative place to
December 05, 2011 Read Full Article
BlueFire Renewables Signs Financing MOU for Its Fulton, Mississippi Biorefinery and Other Projects in the U.S. and China
(PR NewsWire) BlueFire Renewables, Inc., a company focused on changing the world's transportation fuel paradigm through the production of renewable fuels from non-food cellulosic wastes, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with China Huadian Engineering Co. LTD to
October 31, 2011 Read Full Article
Elevance's $100M IPO: The 10-Minute Version
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Like to quickly understand the surge in renewable chemicals and one of the hottest companies in the hottest sector of the bioconomy? Here’s our 10-minute version of the IPO from Elevance Renewable Sciences. Complete with the
September 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Olive Branch in Line for Biofuels Headquarters
by Phil West (The Commercial Appeal) Legislature to consider incentives to land Israeli company's 800 jobs, $1B operation Gov. Haley Barbour wants state legislators to approve $100 million worth of financial incentives to help an Israeli biofuels company establish a headquarters
September 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Pooping Pandas May Make Better Biofuels
by Alexandra Witze (Science News) Two giant pandas in the Memphis Zoo have dropped researchers a gift. Studies of the pandas’ poop show that their gut microbes break down bamboo efficiently — a trick that humans could co-opt to turn
August 30, 2011 Read Full Article
Elusieve Process Removes Fiber From Corn
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) A new way to remove fiber from corn has been discovered by a professor from Mississippi State University (MSU). He calls his process Elusieve and has filed for a patent. The process was invented by Dr. Radhakrishnan Srinivasan
August 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Biofuel Maker KiOR Faces Questions over Funding
By Ucilia Wang (GigaOm) Freshly minted as a public company, biofuel producer KiOR reported Thursday that it brought in no revenues and widened its losses for the second quarter. Given that no one expected the young company to make much money yet,
August 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Garbage in, Energy out: Turning Trash into Biofuel
by David Biello (Scientific American) Making biofuels from waste makes dollars--and sense ...Turning garbage into fuel is potentially an answer to two pressing problems—diminishing the world's dependence on fossil fuels and an alternative to burying trash in landfills. In fact, the 468 million
August 11, 2011 Read Full Article
Phase Shift: 12 Hot Gas-Based Biofuels Technologies
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...But a new generation of technologies is coming along fast, primarily in advanced biofuels, which is gasifying biomass at the front end along its path towards making fuels, chemicals or other biomaterials – or in
August 09, 2011 Read Full Article
The Loaves and the Fishes: Drop-In Renewable Biofuels, from Unlikely Sources
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...A conversation with Terrabon COO Simon Upfill-Brown ...BD: Fuels or chemicals, for the first project? SU-B: We are still very much focused on fuel, we feel that fuel is the way to go for the first plant
August 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Trash-to-Fuel Company Enerkem Raises Another $30M
by Matthew Lynley (Green Beat) Enerkem, a company that specializes in converting unusable waste into ethanol and other chemicals, announced today that it has raised $30 million in an extension of its most recent funding round. Enerkem converts household garbage and leftover
August 01, 2011 Read Full Article
SEC Wins Judgment against Rivera
by Kevin Cooper (Natchez Democrat) A federal judge ruled Thursday that would-be biofuels wizard John Rivera’s claims were not worth the hill of beans he claimed could be magically turned into fuel. U.S. District Judge David Bramlette handed down a summary
July 25, 2011 Read Full Article
Mississippi State Licenses MSW Conversion Tech to Harrelson & Assoc.
by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine) A novel waste conversion technology developed at Mississippi State University’s Sustainable Energy Research Center is moving out of the lab and into the marketplace thanks to a licensing agreement between Shreveport, La.-based Harrelson & Associates
July 21, 2011 Read Full Article
Chevron, Weyerhaeuser Venture to Supply Wood for Kior’s Biofuels
(Bloomberg) Catchlight Energy LLC, a joint venture of Chevron Corp. and Weyerhaeuser Co., will supply forest products that Kior Inc. will convert into biofuels. The deal announced today expands an agreement made in April for Catchlight to purchase gasoline and diesel fuel blendstocks
June 10, 2011 Read Full Article
Elevance Renewable Sciences Announces Acquisition of Delta BioFuels Facility in Natchez
(Elevance) Company to expand facility, create 165 full-time jobs Gov. Haley Barbour and executives from Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc., creator of high-performance renewable specialty chemicals for use in personal care products, detergents, plastics and lubricants, announced today the company has acquired
June 08, 2011 Read Full Article
KiOR Breaks Ground, and Draws Customers, for Columbus Biofuels Plant
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 from biomass, mainly wood chips,
May 16, 2011 Read Full Article
KiOR Files $100M IPO – The Complete Digest Analysis
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Khosla-backed pyrolysis venture heads for the public markets. Is the IPO window still open? Will this one fly? Should it? The Digest looks at the technology, the team, the progress, the economics, the proof, and
April 13, 2011 Read Full Article
The Class of 2011
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Will these biofuels projects make the expected steps towards commercialization? There was a strong response to yesterday’s Top Story about technologies that were approaching make-or-break milestones in 2012. But what about 2011, asked some? What
April 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Florida Biodiesel, Inc. Delivers Biodiesel System To Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College
(PR Log) Florida Biodiesel, Inc. has completed a B-60 Biodiesel Processor sale, made by 70centsagallon.com to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. The Biodiesel production equipment will be used to demonstrate Green Fuel technology to students. Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College has
March 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Microfuelers: Biofuels Companies Aim Big, by Thinking Small
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...NGOs in Africa have been touting for some time the use of ethanol cook stoves, to replace three-stone, wood based stoves that can trigger local deforestation and expose women and girls (who do much of
March 28, 2011 Read Full Article
KiOR Signs Offtake Agreement with Hunt Refining Company for Renewable Fuels
(American Fuels) KiOR, Inc., announced today that it has signed an offtake agreement with Hunt Refining Company, who has agreed to purchase renewable gasoline and diesel blendstocks and fuel oil produced at KiOR’s first commercial facility to be located in
March 10, 2011 Read Full Article
Municipal Solid Waste to Biofuels Summit: Conference Report
by Bill Brandon (Advanced Biofuels USA) On February 10 & 11, about 120 participants gathered in chilly Chicago for the first Municipal Solid Waste to Biofuels Summit presented by the British firm, Eye for Energy. The conference drew participants from
February 21, 2011 Read Full Article
Field Day Promotes Giant Miscanthus
by Cheree Franco (Mississippi State Ag Communications) On a January morning in Soperton, Ga., southeastern farmers mingled with investors and biomass experts to discuss Freedom Giant Miscathus--a towering grass that may be America’s most promising clean energy solution. Freedom was developed
February 04, 2011 Read Full Article
KiOR Receives Loan Guarantee Term Sheet for over $1 Billion Project from US Department of Energy
(KiOR) Project would produce drop-in fuels from wood biomass at four facilities across three states KiOR, Inc., announced today that it has received a term sheet for a loan guarantee supporting an over $1 billion biofuels project from the U.S. Department of Energy’s
February 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Enerkem Awarded Loan Guarantee from U.S. Department of Agriculture for Its Mississippi Waste-to-Fuel Biorefinery
(Enerkem) Enerkem Inc. today announced that Enerkem Corporation, its wholly-owned U.S. affiliate, has obtained a conditional commitment for an US$ 80 million loan guarantee by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), for the construction of its landmark waste-to-biofuels project in Pontotoc, Mississippi, which
January 20, 2011 Read Full Article
Tax Holidays, Cheap Loans: Why Mississippi is Attracting Greentech
by Michael Kanellos (GreenTechSolar) In the past year, the state of Mississippi has convinced an impressive array of green tech and other companies to open factories in its borders. How exactly is it pulling this off, considering that the state doesn't even have
January 07, 2011 Read Full Article
2011 Miscanthus Acres to Mushroom
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Miscanthus will see a giant leap in acreage in 2011, thanks to Soperton, Ga.-based Repreve Renewables LLC. The company currently has 500 acres planted in five locations in the Southeast, which Craig Patterson,
December 30, 2010 Read Full Article
BlueFire Renewables Signs 15 Year Feedstock Supply Contract for Fulton, MS Cellulosic Ethanol Facility
(PRNewsWire) BlueFire Renewables, Inc., a company focused on changing the world's transportation fuel paradigm through the production of renewable fuels from non-food cellulosic wastes, announced a contract with Cooper Marine & Timberlands to provide feedstock for BlueFire's planned cellulosic ethanol
September 27, 2010 Read Full Article
Barbour: Biofuel Project Tops Mississippi Session Agenda
by Emily Wagster Pettus (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) Mississippi lawmakers on Friday (August 27, 2010) will consider $50 million in state incentives for research and production of renewable fuel made from timber, one of the state's most widely available natural resources. ...Barbour's office
August 27, 2010 Read Full Article
Biofuel Company to Locate in Columbus
(The Dispatch) ...KiOR of Houston, Texas, plans to locate three facilities in Mississippi, the first of which will be in Columbus on the southern fifth of The Island, at the Columbus-Lowndes Port's east bank. ...Additional plants are planned for Franklin
August 27, 2010 Read Full Article
Miscanthus, Sweet Sorghum, Energy Cane Advancing at SERC
Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Mississippi, MSU professor Brian Baldwin provided an update on feedstock research at the MSU’s Sustainable Energy Research Center, where a focus on biofuels grasses has produced the recently licensed Freedom varietal of giant miscanthus. ...Baldwin’s presentation
February 18, 2010 Read Full Article
Department of Energy Increases Funding to $81 M for Phase II of BlueFire Ethanol's Planned Fulton, MS Biorefinery
BlueFire Ethanol Fuels, Inc., a company focused on changing the world's transportation fuel paradigm through the production of ethanol from non-food cellulosic wastes, announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) increased funding to $81.1 million dollars for Phase II construction
December 07, 2009 Read Full Article
Enerkem Awarded $50 Million Funding by U.S. Department of Energy for Its Mississippi Biorefinery Project
Enerkem Inc. today announced that Enerkem Corporation, its wholly-owned U.S. affiliate, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive US$50 million in funding for the construction and operation of its waste-to-biofuels facility to be located in
December 07, 2009 Read Full Article
Mississippi State University Lets “Freedom” Ring as Viable Biofuel Feedstock
by Patti Drapala (MSU Ag Communications) ... One focus of MSU’s research is giant miscanthus, or Miscanthus x giganteus, a warm-season Asian grass that many scientists believe has potential as a biomass crop for fuel. Researchers with the Mississippi Agricultural