by Whitney L.J. Howell (NewsObserver) ...Inside its redesigned, sustainable lab space near the Durham Performing Arts Center, GrassRoots Biotechnology uses patented research methods to study plant genes. The goal, said company co-founder Philip Benfey, is to pinpoint ways to strengthen plants
North Carolina
Back TO HOMEAmerican Ethanol Gears Up for 2012 NASCAR Season
by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com) ...During the NASCAR Preview fan event in Charlotte, N.C. this weekend, American Ethanol announced that it will continue relationships with Richard Childress Racing and RAB Racing for the 2012 season. This is the second year for
January 23, 2012 Read Full Article
Soybean Checkoff to Partner with Nine Clean Cities Coalitions
(Jackson County Times-Journal) The United Soybean Board (USB) and soybean checkoff have announced the participants in the 2012 biodiesel and Bioheat® communications program, which helps cities across the United States spread the word about the only commercially available advanced biofuel. The
January 19, 2012 Read Full Article
ACT Completes 20kW Crude Glycerol Burner, Using Biodiesel By-Product
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In North Carolina, Applied Combustion Technologies announced the completion of a DOE grant to build and test a prototype crude glycerol burner. The 20 kW burner utilizes a novel spray atomization, high swirl burner approach in
January 09, 2012 Read Full Article
Forging Ahead: Enterprising Retail Operators Install E85 Pumps Despite Pricing Uncertainties
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Retailers are concerned about increasing E85 prices as a result of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit’s expiration, says Todd Garner, CEO of Boca Raton, Fla.-based ethanol marketer and distributor Protec Fuel Management LLC.
December 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Expiring Ethanol Credit to Add to Gas Price Jump
(WRAL) Lack of action by state lawmakers and Congress is expected to raise gas prices in North Carolina by more than 8 cents a gallon, starting Sunday. Half of the increase comes from the state. North Carolina's gas tax is linked
December 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Metso to Deliver the First Commercial LignoBoost Plant to Domtar in North America
(Metso) Metso will supply the world’s first commercial installation of LignoBoost technology to Domtar in North America. The equipment will be intergrated with the Plymouth North Carolina pulp mill. The LignoBoost process separates and collects lignin from pulping liquor. This
December 19, 2011 Read Full Article
Our View: On VEETC, We Won
by Garry Niemeyer (National Corn Growers Association) Back in August, the Green Scissors Project identified ways the federal government could shave $380 billion from the federal budget over five years. But their $380 billion in proposed cuts included a major
December 07, 2011 Read Full Article
First Dual-Biofuels Station Opens in Raleigh
(NBC17) The first alternative fuels station in Raleigh opened Wednesday afternoon on New Bern Ave. selling E-85 Ethonal and B-20 Bio-diesel. The Crown Express Mart is one of a tiny number of alternative fuel stations in the state, but experts those
November 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Raleigh Gets E85 Ethanol Station
by John Murawski (News Observer) Raleigh now has a gasoline station that sells E85 ethanol fuel - the 18th such facility in the state built in recent years. The Crown Express Mart on New Bern Avenue began selling the 85 percent-ethanol
November 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Lincoln Energy Nearly Triples Ethanol Transport Fleet
by Matt Soberg (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Lincoln Energy Solutions will nearly triple its ethanol and biodiesel transportation services, increasing its current fleet to 16 tankers with seven additional units scheduled to arrive by year end. With over 30 years of
November 08, 2011 Read Full Article
Better Technology Could Open Biomass Market
by Tara Bozick (GoDanRiver.com) ...Chemtex International and its parent Gruppo Mossi and Ghisolfi, or the M&G Group, have been developing a lingo-cellulosic bio-ethanol technology called Proesa in a move away from petroleum and toward renewable materials. In today’s world, people
November 07, 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
UT Center for Renewable Carbon Named as Lead Institution for $15 Million USDA Grant
(University of Tennessee) Center to coordinate woody biomass production and utilization studies The Center for Renewable Carbon, a program of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, has been named by the USDA as a recipient of one of five coordinated
September 30, 2011 Read Full Article
Looking to Tall Grass to Fuel Future in Asheville Area
(Citizen-Times.com) About 50 interested farmers, academics, and biofuels experts toured the five acres of energy crops under study at N.C. State University’s Mountain Research Horticultural Research Station Wednesday for the first Western North Carolina Bioenergy Field Day. Chris Sawyer, an organic
September 16, 2011 Read Full Article
Eco-Energy to Develop Ethanol Unit Train
(Bulk Transporter) Eco-Energy Holdings Inc is developing an ethanol unit train and storage facility in conjunction with its partner J T Russell & Sons Inc at its ethanol distribution facility in Denton NC. Eco-Energy has been distributing ethanol through Denton since
September 08, 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
Department of Energy Announces up to $12 Million in Investments to Support Development and Production of Drop-In Biofuels
(US Department of Energy) In support of the Obama Administration's comprehensive efforts to strengthen U.S. energy security, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced up to $12 million to fund three small-scale projects in Illinois, Wisconsin, and North Carolina that
September 01, 2011 Read Full Article
Vilsack: USDA Will Continue to Push for Blender Pump Expansion
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The USDA’s Aug. 17 announcement of 900 Rural Energy for America Program grants included just 21 awards for blender pumps. USDA officials promise, however, that more funding is on the way. The announcement highlighted
August 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Sustainable Retail Biodiesel is Here!
(Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance) The Sustainable Biodiesel Alliance, alongside SBA Business Member companies in three states unveiled the first retail locations scored through the Sustainability Report Card for biodiesel at the nozzle. SBA Business members participated in this new system that scores
August 22, 2011 Read Full Article
BQ-9000: A Community-Scale Perspective
by Rachel Burton (Biodiesel Magazine/Piedmont Biofuels) ...Piedmont Biofuels made a strategic decision to voluntarily implement a quality management system (QMS) at its central North Carolina production facility. With this NREL data published, Piedmont was inspired to demonstrate that smaller producers
August 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Do Community Co-Ops Matter?
by Luke Geiver (Biodiesel Magazine) ...Biodiesel co-ops are doing their part in the continued growth of the industry one 5-gallon jug of waste vegetable oil (WVO) biodiesel at a time. If the 5 MMgy producers are working to provide an
August 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Avjet Biotech Releases Podcast on Red Wolf Refining System
(AvJet Biotech/PR.com) Unique Refining System Creates Aviation Biofuel from Renewable Native Feedstocks Avjet Biotech, Inc., a leading developer of small distributive refining systems in the 10 million gallon per year range and parent company of Red Wolf Refining, has announced the
August 16, 2011 Read Full Article
Company Plans to Turn Old Beverages into Ethanol
(Waste and Recycling News) Detroit-based DART said its new location will turn alcohol and sugar-based beverages such as old beer, wine, soda, juice and liquor into fuel grade ethanol. In addition, the company said, the facility will also convert the
August 10, 2011 Read Full Article
House Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment Hearing: Hitting the Ethanol Blend Wall – Examining the Science on E15; Testimony of W. Steven Burke ∙ President and CEO, Biofuels Center of North Carolina
W. Steven Burke (Biofuels Center of North Carolina) ...America will continue to seek more augmentation of petroleum-based fuels and thus needs new models to gain large amounts of liquid fuel from sources other than corn in places other than the Midwest. North Carolina
July 30, 2011 Read Full Article
Grand Opening Ceremonies Planned for Biodiesel Facility
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) In Catawba County, N.C., a partnership between the county and Appalachian State University is planning to commemorate the completion of the Catawba County-Appalachian State University Biodiesel Research, Development and Production Facility on Aug. 15. The
July 25, 2011 Read Full Article
Biodiesel Shipment Could Be First Step in Fueling Base
by Suzanne Ulbrich (ENCToday) A delivery aboard Camp Lejeune Monday morning marked the culmination of a test project to provide renewable fuels for North Carolina’s military. Officials aboard Camp Lejeune received 800 gallons of state grown and processed biodiesel fuel as part
July 20, 2011 Read Full Article
Biofuels Center Looks at Research Triangle Partnership Area
by David Ranii (News Observer) The Research Triangle Regional Partnership is one of seven regional groups across the state selected by the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to identify sites suitable for a biofuels production facility. The goal is to come up
July 19, 2011 Read Full Article
New Gas Station Offers Fuel Alternatives
by Richard Craver (Winston-Salem Journal) ...Sparky's is not just one of only five stations in the state offering E85 and biodiesel. It also is the only one using recently approved ethanol-blending dispensers that provide two lower ethanol options — E15 and E30.
July 18, 2011 Read Full Article
County Offers Incentives to Lure Chemtex
by Chris Berendt (The Sampson Independent) A $160 million ethanol biofuels plant would bring 65 new jobs and an opportunity for Sampson County to position itself on the forefront of alternative energy technology as the site of the first plant of
July 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Eco-Energy Announces Terminal Expansion
(BusinessWire) Eco-Energy, Inc. announced its operating entity, Eco Distribution Charlotte, along with minority partner Charlotte Terminal 1, Inc., will reopen the petroleum storage and sales terminal located at 7720 Old Mt. Holly Road in Charlotte, NC. “Eco-Energy has been active in
July 01, 2011 Read Full Article
E85 Station Opens in Magnolia, North Carolina
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) Magnolia, North Carolina is the newest home of an E85 station, just off of Interstate 40. This marks the state’s 16th E85 station, but the first one funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act via the Carolina
June 27, 2011 Read Full Article
Duplin County E-85 Gas Station Opens, 2nd In Eastern Carolina
(WITN.com) At the Magnolia Marketplace in Duplin county, just off of Interstate 40, flex fuel vehicles can now fill up. The E-85 fuel dispenser is the first one to open that's funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Organizers
June 20, 2011 Read Full Article
DOE Awards $36M to Six Projects for Drop-In fuels, Chemicals
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Virent, Genomatica, HCL Clean Tech among the winners, as DOE fosters replacement of “entire barrel of oil” in latest funding round In Washington, US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced up to $36 millionto fund six small-scale
June 13, 2011 Read Full Article
Kitchen Grease Fuels House Bill
by Anne Blythe (The Charlotte Observer) Yellow kitchen grease has become as good as gold as gasoline prices soar and biodiesel fuel becomes more appealing. Just as one industry's waste becomes a hot commodity for another, a slippery underworld of fry
June 06, 2011 Read Full Article
The Biofuels Wiki Introduced by the Biofuels Center of North Carolina
(Biofuels Center of North Carolina) The Biofuels Wiki provides a virtual online encyclopedia about renewable transportation fuels, the feedstocks making up those fuels, and the issues implicit in producing biofuels and other industrial bioproducts at large scale from biomass. Thanks to
June 01, 2011 Read Full Article
Oak Island Council OKs Space for Biofuel Project
by Sarah Shew Wilson (Star News) Although Southport officials balked at using city property for the purpose, the Oak Island Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday to work with algae farm owner and scientist Kim Jones to create a sustainable energy
May 11, 2011 Read Full Article
Senators Introduce Bill to End Ethanol Subsidies, Import Tariff
by Jim Snyder (Bloomberg) ...Senators Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat, and Tom Coburn, an Oklahoma Republican, said the 45-cent credit, which is given to oil refiners for each gallon of ethanol they blend with gasoline, was unjustified given the U.S. deficit. The break
May 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Commissioners OK EcoComplex Biodiesel Project
by Sharon McBrayer (Hickory Daily Record) ...Catawba County Board of Commissioners voted 3-1, with Randall Isenhower voting against the measure, to award a construction bid to Hamlett Associates, Inc. of Climax for $775,786 to build a crop processing facilityat its Biodiesel Research Facility. ...County officials
May 04, 2011 Read Full Article
$1.6 Million in Biofuels Center Grants to Accelerate Commercialization of Renewable Fuels
(Biofuels Center of North Carolina) The Biofuels Center of North Carolina has awarded $1.6 million for 15 projects statewide to accelerate the commercialization of renewable liquid fuels. Awards are made through the 2011 Statewide Biofuels Development Grants Program. Biofuels Center president
May 02, 2011 Read Full Article
Avjet Biotech Signs License Agreement With NC State To Commercialize Aviation Biofuel Technologies
(PRLog/Avjet Biotech) Avjet Biotech, Inc. (ABI), a leading developer of small distributive refining systems in the 10 to 15 million gallon per year range and parent company of Red Wolf Refining, has announced that it has concluded a license
April 27, 2011 Read Full Article
BARD Moves towards Commercial Algae Production
by Erin Voegele (Biorefining Magazine) Morrisville, Penn.-based BARD Holdings Inc. recently announced its shift from research and development to the commercialization phase of its algae production technology. According to Avery Hong, BARD’s chief global strategist, the company has completed
March 24, 2011 Read Full Article
Creating Rural Jobs in the Bioeconomy
by Charity Pennock (Southern Growth Policies Board) One of the South’s opportunities for job creation and renewed economic growth is through the development of the region’s bioeconomy. The bioeconomy is the creation of power, fuels, and products from biomass—organic material
March 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Phytonix Corporation Obtains Global License for a Revolutionary Biofuels Technology to Replace Gasoline
(Morningstar Business Wire/Phytonix) Asheville, NC-based Phytonix Corporation now owns the exclusive worldwide licensing rights for a cutting-edge technology to create an environmentally friendly fuel that replaces gasoline. It also has partnered with a top European University laboratory to create the biosafe bacteria
March 14, 2011 Read Full Article
SmartFlow Technologies Awarded Contract for Advanced Solids Separation and Cell Concentration at INEOS Bio’s First Commercial-Scale Advanced Bio-Energy Facility
(SmartFlow Technologies) SmartFlow Technologies announces that it will supply its advanced continuous processing solids separation and cell concentration systems to INEOS New Planet BioEnergy for use in their commercial-scale advanced bio-energy facility, the first to use the INEOS Bio technology. The
February 25, 2011 Read Full Article
New Service Station to Offer Alternative Fuels
by Vikki Broughton Hodges (The Dispatch) The first local retail sales of ethanol and biodiesel fuels are scheduled to begin in April at Sparky’s Marketplace, a new service station, convenience store and car wash being developed by Hill Oil Co.
January 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Eastern Gain Biofuels Project to Be Headed by Military Veteran
(Biofuels Center of North Carolina) Retired U.S. Coast Guard veteran Captain Terry Carter has joined the Biofuels Center staff as director of eastern and military partnerships. He will lead a significant large project, Eastern Gain: Biofuels Enrich Our Communities, Economy, and Security. A
January 12, 2011 Read Full Article
FRA Advances Use of Bio-Based Fuels and Lubricants with New Research Grants
(US Department of Transportation) U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today announced two research grants totaling $766,562 intended to advance the use of bio-based fuels and lubricants with the goal of cleaner air and decreasing the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels. “We are
December 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Maverick Biofuels Plans to Build Pilot Biorefinery in North Carolina
(Maverick Biofuels) Maverick Biofuels, a second-generation biofuels company, October 12, 2010, announced that it is planning to build a pilot scale biorefinery to produce mixed-alcohol biofuels from biomass and municipal solid waste. With 85% of the energy of gasoline, Maverick’s mixed-alcohol
October 18, 2010 Read Full Article
Growing Fuel by the Roadside
by Sam Harris (Charlotte Observer) ...In conjunction with a national program known as "FreeWays to Fuel" ( freewaystofuel.org), researchers at N.C. State University are working to grow canola and sunflower crops along the wasted edges of highways and other marginal
August 10, 2010 Read Full Article
North Carolina Highway Canola Plants May Provide Biofuel
(Citizen-Times.com) A small field of bright yellow flowers planted by the N.C. Department of Transportation along Interstate 40 may look like any other bed of wildflowers, but in the case of this crop, there is more than meets the eye. Two
June 26, 2010 Read Full Article
NC State Wins ARPA-E Grant To Study Extremophile Production Of Biofuels
(North Carolina State University) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA-E) has awarded a grant for more than $2.7 million to North Carolina State University to support research into the creation of biofuels using microbial organisms, called extremophiles,
May 12, 2010 Read Full Article
City Vehicles Going "Green"
by Mike Voss (Washington (NC) Daily News) With rising fuel costs taking a toll on the city’s budget, Washington implemented a green-fleets policy to help combat those escalating costs. Under the policy, city-owned and operated cars and trucks use alternative fuels
May 03, 2010 Read Full Article
HCL CleanTech Establishes Administrative and Pilot Plant Facilities in North Carolina
HCL CleanTech, a U.S.-Israeli biofuels technology development company, has chosen North Carolina as the site for its administrative headquarters and first pilot plant. The Biofuels Center of North Carolina has assisted the company and will provide office space in Oxford in
April 06, 2010 Read Full Article
Judge Rejects Challenge to N.C. "Ethanol Blending" Law -- Similar to Pending TN Lawsit
by Tom Humphrey (Knoxnews.com) A federal judge has rejected a lawsuit by the American Petroleum Institute that sought to invalidate North Carolina's "ethanol blending" statute, which is similar to a 2009 law passed by the Tennessee legislature. API has also
February 17, 2010 Read Full Article
Piedmont Biofuels Wins Grant for Energy Research
(Newsobserver) Piedmont Biofuels Industrial will receive a $139,249 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant for innovative clean energy research and development, U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan announced. ... Piedmont Biofuels will use the money to develop biodiesel production processes that reduce water
November 30, 2009 Read Full Article
Alganomics in Southport Receives 'Green' Grant from North Carolina
by Jim Brumm (Star News) The governor’s office said that Alganomics is one of 18 small companies that will receive grants to develop and market promising green and alternative energy technologies and products. Alganomics will receive $59,500 to support its
November 23, 2009 Read Full Article
Charlotte gets $55K for biofuel project
(Charlotte Business Journal) Fourteen organizations, including one in Charlotte, have been awarded grants totaling $950,000 from the 2009 N.C. Green Business Fund. The Charlotte area has received $55,000 to help develop a Greater Charlotte Region Biofuel Facility that will turn