by Mikkel Pates (Agweek)  The Environmental Protection Agency predicted it might take six months to do an initial evaluation of “energy beets” for their environmental footprint as a feedstock for biofuels.
Six years — not months …

by Lisa Gibson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Interest in cellulosic ethanol from corn fiber is piqued, as technology providers improve on their processes, increasing revenue stream possibilities for producers.  —  Some producers and technology developers in the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  To explain the Navy’s marine and aviation biofuels program, Chris Tindal gave the following presentation at ABLC 2017 — focusing on efforts to internationalize the supply. As we described it …

(Environmental Protection Agency/Federal Register)  In this notice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting comment on its analysis of the upstream greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the production of Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris (sugar beets) for use …

by Mike McAdams (Advanced Biofuels Association/Biofuels Digest) In December of 2007, President Bush—with overwhelming bipartisan support—signed the RFS2 into law. Since that time, it has become clear the law has worked for first-generation corn ethanol and …

by Heather Zhang (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Carbon credit prices recover and multiple new pathways are certified as the state’s program gets back on track.  —  California’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions from the transport sector …

(Siouxland Energy/Edeniq/BusinessWire)   Edeniq, Inc. (“Edeniq”), a cellulosic technology company, and Siouxland Energy Cooperative (“Siouxland Energy”) today announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has approved Siouxland Energy’s registration of its 60 million gallon per …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Washington, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization called on the US EPA to “improve its implementation of RFS,” and noted six key improvements.

issue its annual Renewable Volume Obligations (RVO) under the …

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine)  The U.S. EPA recently posted a notice to its website approving a fuel pathway for Renewable Energy Group Inc.’s Geismar, Louisiana, biorefinery. The plant can now generate D5 advanced biofuel …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Several biofuel trade groups have filed comments with the U.S. EPA asking for changes to regulations that are hindering the growth of U.S. ethanol production and use.
On Feb 24, …

by Bob Cleaves (Biomass Power Association/Biomass Magazine)  … Unbeknownst to many in the biomass power sector, there may be a role for biomass power producers to play in the RFS. Electric vehicles (EVs) represent an increasing …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …  But almost nothing about the Billion Dollar Baby Brawl has been standard fare as Aemetis, Edeniq, a string of investors and more lawyers than you can easily chain to …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) published a report titled Alternative Aviation Fuels: Overview of Challenges, Opportunities, and Next Steps. This new report provides an overview of the current …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  California Air Resources Board recently released a set of carbon intensity (CI) pathways for fuels certified under the readopted low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) using the CA-GREET 2.0 model. Eighteen …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  With joint funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Strategic Programs, Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), and Vehicle Technologies Office, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) published a report titled Analyzing …

(Environmental Protection Agency)  On January 18, 2017, EPA issued a notice of opportunity to comment on the Agency’s analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to the production and transport of sugar beets for use …

(Gevo)  Gevo, Inc. (NASDAQ:GEVO), announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has approved the pathway for isobutanol produced at Gevo’s Luverne, MN plant to be an advanced biofuel under the Renewable Fuel Standard Program …

(Edeniq/Business Wire)   Edeniq, Inc., a leading cellulosic and biorefining technology company, today announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved Flint Hills Resources’ registration of its 120 MGPY Shell Rock, Iowa ethanol plant …

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine)  On Dec. 1, the Senate Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management held a hearing to discuss the U.S. EPA’s management of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) and two Government …

by Antoine C. Schellinger (Biofuels Digest/ International Alliance Group)  … The EPA has performed lifecycle analysis on certain pathways and published them in the CFR as approved pathways. They are labeled with sequential alphabetical characters and …

by Debbie Sniderman (Ethanol Producer Magazine/VI Ventures LLC)  One of the biggest technology upgrades for the ethanol industry in the past decade has been corn oil extraction. If Virginia Klausmeier and the team she leads at …

by Ann Bailey (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Innovation in stover utilization targets feed, sugars and coproduct credits, building markets beyond cellulosic ethanol use.  —  Building a robust biomass supply chain for the future will require multiple …

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine)  … Within the proposed rule, the EPA explains that the RFS registration, reporting, recordkeeping and product transfer document (PTD) requirements were designed with the general expectation that renewable biomass would be …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Edeniq is torn between two lovers: its current ownership group, which shuffled together a financing this week; and Aemetis, which is supposed to be acquiring Edeniq this year for $23 …

(Pacific Ethanol/Globe Newswire)  Now generating valuable D3 cellulosic RINs – Expects to produce over one million gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol at Stockton, CA plant — Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEIX), a leading producer and marketer of …

(CORE-Jetfuel)  The Core-JetFuel Final International Conference titled Sustainable Alternative Aviation Fuels – The Way Forward took place on the occasion of the EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) on 16-17 June 2016 in Brussels, and followed …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Siouxland Energy Cooperative has licensed the Edeniq’s Cellunator and Pathway technologies for its 60 million gallon per year ethanol plant located in Sioux Center. Production will start by Q4 2016. …

by David VanderGriend (Ethanol Producer Magazine/ICM Inc./Urban Air Initiative)  …  We’ve learned that we can reduce harmful emissions by replacing toxic compounds in gasoline with clean burning ethanol, which improves air quality and protects public …

(Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative) We are proud to announce the 10th Anniversary of the initiation of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI) as of May 24, 2016, and more importantly, to reflect on the …

(California Ethanol & Power)  Today California Ethanol & Power, LLC (CE&P) announced the updated carbon intensity (CI) for its anticipated sugarcane and sweet sorghum ethanol. On May 9, 2016, California’s Air Resources Board (CARB) under …

by Josh Pedrick  (Platts)  Most “legacy” ethanol producers who sell their product in California are unhappy with updated “carbon intensity” scores, saying the application process was inconsistent and left scores too high to meet the …

(California Air Resources Board/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  California Air Resources Board staff has completed review of all ethanol pathway applications submitted on or before Jan. 31, 2016 through the alternative fuels portal (AFP). These submissions included …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …  Cellulosic fiber makes up approximately 10% of the corn kernel and cannot be converted into ethanol during the typical production process. By utilizing Edeniq’s Pathway technologies, including specialized enzymes …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  According to Syngenta, the combination of Cellerate process technology with Enogen can increase ethanol production by 20 percent. The 18 day trial was conducted at the Quad County Corn Processors (QCCP) …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Renewable diesel demand is booming, booming, booming. We’ve tipped it repeatedly in The Digest, not least with our March Madness webinar last week on “Renewable Diesel’s Boom”. Any doubts may …

(Joule/BusinessWire)  EPA Qualifies Joule Ethanol Under Clean Air Act  —  Joule, the pioneer of drop-in liquid fuels from recycled CO2, today announced major accomplishments in the first quarter of 2016 that are accelerating the commercialization …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  The U.S. imported a record volume of biomass-based diesel in 2015.  …  This increase in imports is particularly interesting because 2015 was a year with no forward-looking $1-per-gallon blender’s tax …

by Todd Neeley (DTN/The Progressive Farmer)  California’s controversial low-carbon fuel standard may not be able to survive long term unless more biodiesel and corn-based ethanol are allowed into the state’s market quickly, according to a …

by Jim Lemon and Michael Lemon (BioCycle/Biogas Researchers, Inc.)  Michael Lemon describes steps to move EPA forward on the RFS renewable electricity pathway on Tuesday, April 5 at BioCycle WEST COAST16.
…   Steps to expand deployment of …

(Phys.Org)  Despite high expectations and extensive research and investment in the last decade, technological options are still in developing stages and key resources for algal growth are still too onerous for economically viable production of …

by Brent Erickson (Biofuels Digest/Biotechnology Innovation Organization)  … The challenge our industry faces right now is to continue building investment in the biobased economy. That can be accomplished with both policy and non-policy activities.
…
On the policy …

by Susanna Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Eighty-nine ethanol producers west of the Mississippi River prepare for the revised LCFS.  … After a couple of years in limbo due to challenges to the Low Carbon Fuel …

by Kapil Lokare (Lee Enterprises/Renewable Energy World)  As renewables are moving from niche to mainstream, the industry is facing a paradigm shift in cost, quality, complexity, and scale ­— creating opportunities to develop new and different …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The U.S. Department of Energy is seeking input from industry, academia, national laboratories, and other biofuels and bioproducts stakeholders to identify existing pilot- or process development-scale facilities with the capability to …

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

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

(Trestle Energy/PR Newswire)  Trestle Energy LLC – a California company working with ethanol and power producers across the Midwest – announced that California’s Air Resources Board officially approved its groundbreaking ethanol production process under the …

(Globe Newswire/FuelCell Energy)  Distributed renewable hydrogen solution receives contingent approval for Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Credit Market to sell or trade credits; Using stationary fuel cells to convert biogas from wastewater treatment into renewable hydrogen, …

(Joule/BusinessWire) Major milestones include acquisition of Red Rock Biofuels, expanded partner relationships, continued strong technology development backed by strong financing partners  —  Joule, the pioneer of drop-in liquid fuels from recycled CO2, announced today that it …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  A new generation of advanced technologies, based primarily in the United States but active in Europe and around the world, is changing our way of thinking about what a factory …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Sometimes, the set-up of the transition from fossil fuels is as pretty and impractical as Dr. Doolittle’s Pushmi-Pullyu. The Digest investigates.  —  … For example, a renewable fuel does not qualify …

(Green Car Congress)  California Air Resources Board (ARB) staff posted 32 new Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) fuel pathway applications for comments at the LCFS website. Among the multiple applications for different processing pathways of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As ASTM technical balloting is underway and as experts sift through and request revised submissions of technical data, insiders are pointing to an early 2016 approval for Gevo’s renewable alcohol-to-jet …

(Street Insider)  Pacific Ethanol, Inc. (NASDAQ: PEIX) announced it is now producing cellulosic ethanol at its Stockton, CA facility using Edeniq, Inc.’s Pathway Technology.
Neil Koehler, the company’s president and CEO, stated, “We are now commercially …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Senate democrats introduced a national energy bill Sept. 22 that they says offers a pathway to a cleaner energy future and economy.  The American Energy Innovation Act of …

(Algenol/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Offering ethanol made from algae for the first time commercially, Algenol Biotech LLC and Protec Fuel Management LLC have entered into an agreement to market and distribute ethanol from Algenol’s Fort Myers, Florida., …

by Michael McAdams (Advanced Biofuels Association/Biomass Magazine)  … As many of you know, the RFS was created to “reduce dependence on foreign sources of petroleum, increase domestic sources of energy, and help transition to alternatives to …

(Department of Energy)  … We know many of you are interested in some of the presentations from our great lineup of speakers. We have posted select presentations from the conference to our Bioenergy 2015 presentations website.
They …

(Renewable Fuels Association/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Renewable Fuels Association member company East Kansas Agri-Energy recently hosted key officials from the U.S. EPA at its facility in Garnett, Kansas, 70 miles southwest of Kansas City.
EPA personnel toured …

(Biotechnology Industry Organization)  The advanced biofuel industry has invested billions of dollars since 2009 to build first-of-a-kind demonstration and commercial-scale biorefineries around the world, even during a global economic recession. Cellulosic biofuels have reached commercial …

by John Sens (Biodiesel Magazine/EcoEngineers)  … Some important items that have resulted from this re-adoption process are:
-Setting compliance curve to meet 10 percent GHG reduction by 2020.
-Cost containment measures, including a price ceiling of $200 per …

(Ethanol Producer Magazine)  In March, the U.S. EPA approved five new corn ethanol pathways under the agency’s Efficient Producer petition process (EP3), including Heron Lake BioEnergy LLC, Heron Lake, Minnesota; United Wisconsin Grain Producers LLC, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Can you make ultra-performing diesel and jet fuels from essential oils found in hemp, a/k/a cannabis sativa, a/k/a marijuana?  Turns out, you can.
…
Beta caryophyllene — regardless of source — is …

(Environmental Protection Agency)  In this Notice, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is inviting comment on its analysis of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions attributable to the production and transport of Thlaspi arvense (“pennycress”) oil feedstock …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Mexico’s BioFields pours in $65 million to commercialize next-gen algae-to-fuels venture — In Florida, Algenol, a pioneer in turning CO2 emissions into fuels, announced that it has closed on a new $25 …

(Globe Newswire/Sustainable Oils, Inc.)  Sustainable Oils Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Global Clean Energy Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB:GCEH), has been issued a first-of-its-kind feedstock-only pathway by the California Air Resources Board for the production of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Feedstock costs and challenges come under the microscope as the DOE reports new data on algae-based feedstocks and terrestrial crops too.
Can algae-based biofuels reach full commercial scale by 2030? The …

(Algae Biomass Organization) The Algae Biomass Organization (ABO) submitted comments to the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Energy yesterday calling on Congress to ensure that the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) includes timely approval …

(Biomass Magazine)  The U.S. EPA has taken action to improve and streamline the pathway petition process under the renewable fuels standard (RFS). In March, the agency said it would take approximately six months to improve …

by Brent Erickson (Biotechnology Industry Organization)  The underlying legal constructs of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) remain in working order, despite the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) failure to issue a final 2014 rule and its …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  14 perspectives on policy, technologies and geographies of compelling interest in the new year —  At ABLC Next this year in San Francisco — naturally, the focus is on “what’s …

by Brent Erickson (Biofuels Digest/Biotechnology Industry Organization)  …EPA should formally withdraw the proposed rule and issue a final rule as soon as possible, fully correcting their misinterpretation of waiver authority and methodology for setting the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … NSP is focused on several items at the moment: successful advanced biofuel RFS2 pathways for grain sorghum oil to biodiesel and sweet sorghum to ethanol, a cellulosic RFS2 pathway …

(Pollution Online/PR Newswire) BC Designates Trestle Energy as Lowest Emissions Ethanol Producer in U.S.
Today, Trestle Energy – an American startup with facilities in Mason City, Iowa – announced that British Columbia, Canada has officially approved its groundbreaking process for producing …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  To open ABLC Next, what we like to call the “heads of the 7 families” — or in this case, the heads of seven key trade associations for the advanced …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. EPA has posted a notice to its website announcing it has taken action to improve and streamline the pathway petition process under the renewable fuels standard (RFS).
In …

by Amanda Bilek (Biomass Magazine)   There is little doubt that allowing biogas-based transportation fuel projects to sell either advanced biofuel or cellulosic compliance credits will give a big boost to U.S. projects.
In early July, the …

by Cindy Zimmerman (DomesticFuel.com)  Environmental Protection Agency official Paul Machiele visited the American Coalition for Ethanol conference this week in Minneapolis to discuss various issues, including plans for the 2014 volume obligations under the Renewable Fuel Standard …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …  SkyNRG is undertaking its first major feedstock project in South Africa, featuring a nicotine-free energy tobacco crop that’s developed by Sunchem under the name of Solaris.
Which is an excellent …

by Ayesha Rascoe  (Reuters)  The U.S. biofuel industry is urging the Obama administration to go beyond simply raising proposed targets for use of the fuels, making the case instead for fundamental changes to the government’s …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Here are 5 Tell-Tale Signs that you have the Boss from Hell.   And when it comes to the US federal government and advanced biofuels, all five are kinda pointin’ right …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Captain James C. Goudreau, Director, Navy Energy Coordination Office:   Stay the course. There is always risk, always naysayers. When we moved from sail to coal, coal to oil, oil to …

by Dr. Lew Fulton (University of California-Davis Institute of Transportation Studies)   … In a new white paper released this week by the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis (ITS-Davis), we measure the incremental changes that …

by Tim Sklar (Biofuels Digest)  Anyone that has followed the evolution of processes that are used to make fuels out of waste recognizes that the permutations and combinations of processes that can be used has …

by Michael McAdams (Advanced Biofuels Association/Biofuels Digest)  … But, beyond the RVO numbers, not much has been said about this Administration’s inability to execute on its mandated task to review and approve new pathways under the …

(Navigant Research)  Viewed as a game changer in the race to commercialize advanced biofuels, aviation and marine biofuels represent a very significant opportunity for emerging producers in the advanced biofuels industry. Demand for advanced biofuels …

(Renewable Fuels Association)  Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a final rule approving additional Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) pathways.
Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), commented, “We are very …

(American Council On Renewable Energy)  Today (June 2, 2014), the American Council On Renewable Energy (ACORE) announced that it has submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) which sought stakeholder input regarding the biofuel pathways …

(US Department of Energy)  The Bioenergy Technologies Office has announced a request for information (RFI) seeking stakeholder input on the eight representative biofuel pathways it has selected to guide its research and development strategy. The …

by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine)  In March, U.S. EPA announced it is making changes to the fuel pathway petition process under the renewable fuel standard (RFS), in order to “enable more timely and efficient decision-making.” …

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine)  The U.S. EPA has published a notice to its website announcing that it is taking action to improve the petition process for new renewable fuel pathways under the renewable fuel …

(Iogen)  Iogen Corporation today announced it has developed and patented a new method to make drop-in cellulosic biofuels from biogas using existing refinery assets and production operations.
The company estimates there is refining capacity in place to incorporate …

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.S. EPA has published a notice of data availability pertaining to ethanol produced from barley under the renewable fuel standard (RFS). Public comments will be accepted for 30 …

by David Glass (DGlassAssociates)  A new study was published last week by two researchers at the University of Illinois Energy Biosciences Institute, James S.N. McCubbins and A. Bryan Endres, regarding the length of time the Environmental Protection Agency …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Sorghum is poised to come into its own as an alternative to corn. It proved its mettle in the 2012 drought, producing decent dryland yields with very little …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  If all goes as planned, a 50 MMgy ethanol plant in Oakley, Kan., will someday produce advanced biofuel from sorghum. To qualify as advanced biofuel, the company will power …