by Michael E. Kraft  (Tribune News Service/Bradenton Herald)  … Ideally, Congress would reboot the renewable fuel mandate in a new way for today’s economy, and design it as one component of a comprehensive response to climate change.
For …

by Julie Harker (Brownfield Ag News)  Mixed prairie grasses that are used in Conservation Reserve Program lands did not live up to their potential as biomass crops for cellulosic biofuel production, in an eight-year study. D.K. Lee, …

(University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences/Science Daily)  A new report provides practical agronomic data for five cellulosic feedstocks, which could improve adoption and increase production across the country.  —  … “Early yield estimates …

by M. Cristina Negri (U.S. Department of Energy)  Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) in Argonne, Illinois, are examining innovative new agricultural landscapes that incorporate perennial bioenergy crops to provide environmental benefits, such as improved nutrient management and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Last December , the U.S. Department of Energy announced it would support the country’s 10th Manufacturing USA Institute with $70 million over five years, subject to federal appropriations. Another $70 million is …

by Chelsea Harvey (The Washington Post)  The Great Plains lost more grassland to agriculture in 2014 than the Brazilian Amazon lost to deforestation, says a recent report from the World Wildlife Fund. And it argues that …

by Dave Orrick (Twin Cities Pioneer Press)  Female pheasants have surprised researchers by running into corn and soybean fields — but not just for the crops.
Female pheasants, Minnesota researchers have found, often abandon natural grasslands …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Bioenergy Feedstock Library is a physical sample repository and database for physical, chemical and conversion performance characteristics of biomass feedstock.
The library provides tools to store, record, track, retrieve, and analyze data to help …

by Lauren Quinn (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Salt-affected land is not useful for producing food crops, but biomass producers could take advantage of salt-tolerant perennial grasses to make use of that land. –In a greenhouse …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … If jatropha faltered, never mind, went the argument, we’ll always have switchgrass. Or giant miscanthus, or pongamia, or poplar, or camelina. The list could get really long. For example, try …

by Mark E. Griffin (Wisconsin Energy Institute/University of Wisconsin)  A six-year Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) study on the viability of different bioenergy feedstocks recently demonstrated that perennial cropping systems such as switchgrass, giant …

by Herbert Ssegane, M. Cristina Negri, John Quinn, Meltem Urgun-Demirtas (Biomass and Bioenergy)  Design of a multifunctional landscape by integrating cellulosic biofuel production into an existing agricultural system.  The design does not adversely offset current grain …

(UT News)  A researcher at The University of Texas at Austin will receive two grants totaling $15 million to study a native prairie grass, including how it can become a sustainable source of bioenergy amid …

(Michigan State University)  Michigan State University has earned a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to better understand how biofuel crops acquire nitrogen, insights that could help maximize yields while minimizing fertilizer …

(Michigan State University)  Converting large tracts of the Midwest’s marginal farming land to perennial biofuel crops carries with it some key unknowns, including how it could affect the balance of water between rainfall, evaporation and …

by Danilo Gusmão de Quadros* (Advanced Biofuels USA) This reports on part of a trip to Wisconsin to visit the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), University of Wisconsin (UW), a dairy farm that uses …

by Chris Woolston (Bioenergy Connection)  With its crown of pink blossoms, the humble seashore mallow may look unassuming, even delicate. But when it comes to brutal environments, this seaside shrub is no pushover.  Seashore Mallow …

(U.S. Department of Energy/Breaking Energy)  America is the largest biofuels producer in the world — accounting for 48 percent of global output. To remain the global industry leader, the Energy Department is investing in projects …

by Russell Hubbard  (Omaha World-Herald)  It starts out as freeze-dried fungus or bacteria from Denmark and ends up being one of the key ingredients in what some are calling Nebraska’s and Iowa’s shot at the …

by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine)  … Not only is Abengoa Biomass Energy LLC forging the path to commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol, it is taking a new road when it comes to fuel.
Besides cellulosic ethanol, the Hugoton, Kan., …

by  Robert C. Brown and Tristan Brown (The Gazette)  In the face of criticism about ethanol, delays in the commercialization of advanced biofuels and the recent development of domestic supplies of fracked gas and petroleum, some …

by Robert C. Brown and Tristan Brown (The Gazette) In the face of criticism about ethanol, delays in the commercialization of advanced biofuels and the recent development of domestic supplies of fracked gas and petroleum, some …

by Chris Hanson (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  … Researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute at the University of Illinois evaluated woody and grassy biomass feedstocks for cellulosic ethanol production at Illinois. Twenty-one species of short-rotation woody biomass …

by Noah Fierer, Joshua Ladau, Jose C. Clemente, Jonathan W. Leff, Sarah M. Owens, Katherine S. Pollard, Rob Knight, Jack A. Gilbert, Rebecca L. McCulley (Science Magazine)  Tallgrass prairie is extinct across much of its …

(Rapid City Journal/Associated Press)  It’s 2004, and South Dakota State University forage crop breeder Arvid Boe is trying to figure out what insect has been wreaking havoc with his switchgrass plants in an experimental plot …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Is there bio-based relief for the harried taxpayer in sight?   Could conservationists, growers and biofuels producers find common ground in adapting the Conservation Reserve Program for bioenergy?   Could the US …

by Christopher K. Wright and Michael C. Wimberly (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)   In the US Corn Belt, a recent doubling in commodity prices has created incentives for landowners to convert grassland to …

by Ned Stowe (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)  The USDA estimates that farmers in the U.S. will plant nine million more acres in corn in 2013 than they did in 2011, an increase of almost 10 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In Maryland, The Wildlife Society released a Technical Review, “Effects of Bioenergy Production on Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat,” to provide answers to questions on bioenergy development and wildlife so that …

(EurekAlert!/University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences)    Perennial biofuel crops such as miscanthus, whose high yields have led them to be considered an eventual alternative to corn in producing ethanol, are …

(Yahoo! News)  Applied Ecological Services, The Earth Partners, LP, and POET team up to apply science to industry: Cross-sector demonstration showcases the potential of conservation biomass as an alternative energy source.
It’s a very good week for the United States alternative energy …

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 …

by Luke Geiver (Biorefining Magazine)  The link between increased insecticide use and landscape simplification has now been documented by a team of researchers from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.
…But, while the research showed the …