(Phys.Org/U.S. Department of Energy) …However, weather conditions could greatly affect crop yields. In this study, researchers examined the effect of weather on biofuel production by comparing switchgrass and corn stover harvested after a year of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The most visible advanced industrial fermentation target for a number of years has been cellulosic ethanol, but the targets are diversifying and cellulosics themselves are shifting gears from process to …

LorenzoFavaro, et al. (Bioresource Technology)   Rice milling by-products are promising feedstocks for bioethanol. Starch-rich residues were efficiently fermented by two engineered amylolytic yeast.  Rice husk, composed by lignocellulose, was pre-treated with alkaline peroxide.  Pre-treated husk was …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  MetGen, Sweetwater Energy say “there’s gold in them thar side-streams”  —  For all of your questions about the advanced bioeconomy there’s just the one answer and that is “lignin”.  Why …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Within the ChemCatBio set of core catalysis projects lies Fast Pyrolysis and Upgrading, which has as its goal “to develop cost competitive biofuels through catalytic stabilization and deoxygenation of Fast Pyrolysis …

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 Nathan Skolski (University of British Columbia Okanagan) New research from a professor of engineering at UBC’s Okanagan Campus might hold the key to biofuels that are cheaper, safer and much faster to produce.
“Methane is a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …  Anellotech’s Bio-TCat process is designed to produce cost-competitive renewable aromatic (BTX) chemicals (benzene, toluene and xylenes) from non-food biomass for use in making plastics such as polyester, nylon, polycarbonate, …

(American Chemical Society/EurekAlert!)  Chicken is a favorite, inexpensive meat across the globe. But the bird’s popularity results in a lot of waste that can pollute soil and water. One strategy for dealing with poultry poop …

by Jonathan Ellis (Argus Leader) Ethanol producer Poet is suing an international engineering company that was hired to create a system to help convert biomass into ethanol, underscoring the challenges of creating inexpensive cellulosic ethanol.
Poet Design …

Bernard Cooker (Chemical Processing Solutions/Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest)  Cheap, plentiful lignocellulosic biomass (LCB), consisting of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, is deconstructed to release useful chemical intermediates in the bioeconomy. These include glucose from cellulose, glucose …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have reported in Nature a new high resolution approach to visioning the impact of biomass pre-treatment technology. By combining spectroscopy and emerging microscopy …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Clariant’s sunliquid technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into sugars, followed by fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, is flexible to be used to convert different feedstocks on a regional basis, …

(Lab Manager/U.S. Department of Energy)  Wood’s complex structure makes it highly resistant to biological or chemical decomposition. The structure includes cellulose, long chains of linked sugar molecules, embedded in a scaffolding of a chemical known …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  According to this presentation deck from NREL’s Melvin Tucker, “to produce high concentration sugar and reactive lignin streams at high yields and low costs from biomass to meet BETO’s 2017 ($5/GGE) and …

(Scrivener Publishing)  The most comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of all the possible aspects for biofeedstock processing and the production of energy from biofeedstocks.
Audience
Chemical engineers, petroleum engineers, process engineers, students in chemical engineering, biotechnology, petroleum engineering, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As the project team behind this presentation explains, there’s trouble right here in River City when it comes to accessing good market and technical data on making hydrocarbons from a …

by Prabhuraj Balakrishnan (University of Manchester/Nanowerk News)  … In a research work by The University of Manchester academics (Prof. Colin Webb’s research group at the School of Chemical Engineering), a new methodology have been developed, that …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed four new technologies available for license:
Streamlined Saccharification from Lignocellulosic Biomass, 2015-143
Translation Control …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …  “Advanced Biofuels Process Demonstration Unit.”  It’s run out of the Berkeley Lab, and is the technology center behind the technology centers, if you will, of companies such as Kiverdi, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Lignocellulosic sugars and lignin have become necessary intermediates for advancing research towards economically producing biofuels and bioproducts. Recently, the US Department of Energy issued a Request for Information: Cellulosic Sugar …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Lignocellulosic sugars and lignin have become necessary intermediates for advancing research towards economically producing biofuels and bioproducts. Recently, the US Department of Energy issued a Request for Information: Cellulosic Sugar …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The results of the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (BETO’s) Cellulosic Sugar and Lignin Production Capabilities Request for Information (RFI) are now available on the RFI responses web page. This …

(Oak Ridge National Laboratory)  Researchers at ORNL uncover the chemical reaction that helps break down biomass for biofuel  —  Lignocellulosic biomass—plant matter such as cornstalks, straw, and woody plants—is a sustainable source for production of …

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 Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) This season, The Digest is hosting the Strategic Intent webinar series, looking at the plans, progress and future milestones of strategic stakeholders in the Advanced Bioeconomy.  In this slide deck, we looked at …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  “Shaping the future of bioenergy and renewable chemicals,” that’s the lofty technological goal which MetGen has set for itself. The company has made a name for itself via participation as …

(Alliance BioEnergy Plus, Inc.) Alliance BioEnergy Plus, Inc. (OTCQB:ALLM) (the “Company”), is very pleased to release the results from months of testing and data collection on dozens of lignocellulose feedstocks utilizing the patented CTS conversion process.  …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Amidst all the discussion this week of deal-making in cellulosic and sugar-based fuels — the likes of Tesoro-Virent and Lufthansa-Gevo — we were intrigued by this slide deck on a pathway …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Belgium, the BIOFOREVER  consortium of 14 European companies emerged from stealth with the news that they have started their demonstration project for the conversion of woody biomass to value …

by Lorenz Bauer and Gerald Kutney (Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest)  …  In this report, we are focused on bioenergy and biofuels (and not bioproducts) that are moving from the lab to initial commercial demonstrations and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Is it just cost that bedevils industrial biotechnology in bringing fuels technologies to scale. Not just, says BETO program director Jonathan Male, who adds that a DOE “Tiger Team” indentified …

(American Science and Technology) New Patent Will Increase the Incentives to Use Renewable Resources for Chemical Production  —  American Science and Technology (AST), an emerging technology company, has been awarded a patent for a system and …

by Irshad Ahmed (Lee Enterprises)  … I believe cellulosic ethanol is here to stay for the long haul and it is finally exhibiting real potential to establish a critical-mass commercial base alongside the corn-ethanol industry. Its commercial …

by Sarah Yang (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)  Carbon dioxide has emerged as a new secret ingredient in the recipe for making ethanol, and that addition represents a major step forward in streamlining the biofuel production process.
The …

(Biofuels International)  … The three projects selected, located in California and Florida, will include multi-disciplinary partners to coordinate improvements from algal strain advancements through pre-processing technologies (harvesting, dewatering, and downstream processing) to biofuel intermediate in order …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  Recycling waste from biofuel production could lower cost for future biorefineries. — Ionic liquids (ILs) have been shown to be an excellent pretreatment solvent for biomass; the ILs prepare the plant matter …

(Alliance Bioenergy +)  Alliance BioEnergy Plus, Inc. (OTCQB:ALLM) (the “Company”), is pleased to announce that it has received an LOI from Smart Business International Trading, S.A.S (Smart Business) of Bogata, Columbia for the purchase of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Kansas, ICM said it is is currently in discussion with a short list of those interested in being selected as an early adopter of its Gen 1.5 technology, and …

(University of Arkansas)   A University of Arkansas chemistry professor has received a $400,000 award from the National Science Foundation to investigate a roadblock in the harvesting of biomass from perennial plants for the purpose of …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) Feedstock Supply and Logistics Program is responsible for developing technologies to support Advanced …

by Elizabeth E. Hood and Lorenz Bauer  (Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc./Biofuels Digest)  … Biofuels can be produced by a number of processes, broadly categorized as biochemical and chemical. Biochemical processes utilize proteins called enzymes (biological catalysts).
Chemical …

by Krista Eastman (Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center)  Less input, more output. That’s the achievement of a new biomass pretreatment method that could help improve the economics of cellulosic biofuels, the second-generation biofuels made from …

(U.S. Department of Agriculture) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the joint investment of $10 million towards research that will …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Out of the unlikely bioeconomy hub of West Palm Beach, Florida, Alliance BioEnergy Plus has revealed what it describes as the “successful completion of its yearlong efforts to optimize its …

by  Rosalie Marion Bliss (US Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service)  …  Now, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have advanced a process to produce crude liquid fuel called “bio-oil” from agricultural waste. The bio-oil is …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Last year, we reported that  Research & Markets projected the “Nanocellulose Market by Type (Cellulose nanocrystals, Cellulose nanofibrils, cellulose nanocomposites, and others) to reach $250 Million by 2019, signifying annualized CAGR of 19% between …

(Tyton/Digital Journal)  Tyton BioEnergy Systems announced today a major technological advancement in the production of sustainable jet fuel. Tyton filed a patent application for a new method and system of converting oil extracted from plant …

by Brooks Hays (UPI)  Researchers say their breakthrough can be scaled for industrial biomass processing.  —  A team of researchers in Japan have developed a relatively simple pretreatment strategy to boost the efficiency of biorefinery …

(Lux Research/MarketWired)  Of the Six Existing Commercial Cellulosic Ethanol Facilities, Raizen’s Projected Price of $2.17 per Gallon Is Lowest, as Innovations Help Bring Next-Generation Biofuels to Market, Says Lux Research
Six companies have now brought cellulosic …

(Green Car Congress)  A team from the US, China and India, led by researchers from Michigan State University, has developed a new liquid ammonia biomass pretreatment methodology called Extractive Ammonia (EA). EA-pretreated corn stover delivers …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, ARA completed the delivery of over 150,000 gallons of 100% drop-in jet and diesel fuel to fulfill its DLA/US Navy certification fuel contract, two months ahead of schedule. …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Clariant’s sunliquid technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into sugars, followed by fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, is flexible to be used to convert different feedstocks on a regional basis, for …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  JBEI’s mission is to convert biomass to biofuels. The goal is to provide the nation with clean, renewable transportation fuels identical to gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Inside JBEI’s Emeryville laboratories, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … 17 — count them, 17 — different pyrolytic technology centers in the UK  …
Tyre Pyrolysis: 2G BioPOWER
2G BioPOWER is developing a UK pyrolysis project to convert used tyres into partially renewable …

by Helen Tunnicliffe (The Chemical Engineer Today)  Chemical engineers from Iran have found a way to produce biodiesel from castor oil without the need for extra petrochemical methanol, using a biorefinery set-up.
Producing biodiesel from vegetable …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  For every ton of corn, wheat, and rice harvested today, an equal amount of biomass is left behind on the fields. Within this biomass — of which nearly 2 billion …

by Michelle Ma (University of Washington Today)  Groves of poplar trees could one day fuel our vehicles and be the source of chemicals that we use in our daily lives.  A five-year, $40 million study …

(Edeniq)  California Energy Commission provided funding for biofuels technology breakthrough — – Edeniq, a biorefining and cellulosic technology company, completed a major upgrade of its cellulosic sugar and ethanol pilot facility. The company designed and operated …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  JBEI has opened up the licensing door for some of their signature ionic liquid pre-treatment technologies:
Long Alkyl Chain Alcohols as Co-solvent, Precipitant, and Extraction Medium in Ionic Liquid Pretreatment (2013-105), a …

by Bruce Dorminey (Renewable Energy World)  A rapid-growing tree, many researchers think poplar is missing its calling as a high-quality cellulosic bioenergy feedstock. — As the world’s fastest growing temperate tree species, poplar can add a dozen …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  It’s been around for a generation or so — fast pyrolysis, that is. Though in the original low-tech incarnation — known as “cooking fire” — pyrolysis has been around since …

by Bruce Dorminey (Renewable Energy World)  As the world’s fastest growing temperate tree species, poplar can add a dozen feet annually and reach maturity in as few as four years.  One of its hybrids, populus …

by Richard Martin (MIT Technology Review)  New microbes and new techniques show promise for advanced biofuels, but the industry is still years away from real progress.  Attempting to chart a path forward for the beleaguered biofuels …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Seen a number of high-profile cellulosic projects open in recent years, and not much ethanol being produced?  Wondered why? Here are answers to your questions.
As Jack Webb used to say …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Brussels, The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking, a public-private partnership between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), has approved the funding of 10 projects totalling €120 million to …

(Genomatica/Biomass Magazine)   Genomatica announced significant progress in harnessing cellulosic biomass for commercial production of high-quality chemicals rather than just fuels. … Genomatica has developed clear guidance for biomass pretreatment technology developers to enable their technologies to work …

(US Department of Agriculture/Ohio State University)  The long term goal of this project is to commercialize an integrated anaerobic digestion system (iADs) that promises cost competitive bioenergy and biofuels production from lignocellulosic biomass. The specific …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … You see, JBEI’s team believe they have come up with the solution in a new generation of ionic liquids.
What are ionic liquids, anyway?
They are environmentally benign organic salts. In this …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Sweetwater Energy announced it has closed on a $10 million bridge loan. The loan closed as Sweetwater said that it is now opening its Series B investor round to begin construction …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Though we usually think of diversifying away from petroleum via the fuels for our cars — what about the petroleum in the tires?  Rubber security, as it turns out, offers …

(EurekAlert!/US Department of Energy Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)  Researchers with the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a partnership that includes the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of California (UC) Berkeley, have found …

by George Lurie (The Business Journal NOW)  … Lower oil prices, (Brian) Thome (president and CEO of Edeniq) said, translate into “lower prices for ethanol too. That means margins for ethanol producers will be squeezed” — a …

(Science Daily/University of California-Riverside)  Researchers have invented a novel pretreatment technology that could cut the cost of biofuels production by about 30 percent or more by dramatically reducing the amount of enzymes needed to breakdown …

Author, Dan Quadros, in Auburn, Alabama.

by Danilo Gusmão de Quadros* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  After two days (February 2-3, 2015) in “Sweet Home Alabama” at Auburn University, we got overwhelmed with the most recent discoveries of …

(University of Georgia/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed a “super strain” of yeast that can efficiently ferment ethanol from pretreated pine, one of the most common species of trees in …

(Bio-Process Innovation Inc./Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Bio-Process Innovation Inc. has announced the completion of the construction of its 1-ton pilot plant and successful operation of its low temperature steep delignification (LTSD) pretreatment process at its pilot …

by Elizabeth K. Gardner (Purdue University) A new catalytic process is able to convert what was once considered biomass waste into lucrative chemical products that can be used in fragrances, flavorings or to create high-octane fuel …

(Global BioBusiness)  It may be surprising to know that, strictly speaking, there is no such thing as “cellulosic ethanol”. Instead, there is cellulosic “sugars”. That because it is often forgotten that the cellulosic process (also …

(US Department of Energy)  The Energy Department announced today up to $7 million for two projects aimed at developing and demonstrating ways to reduce the cost of delivering bioenergy feedstocks to biorefineries.  Examples of bioenergy …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Virtuosos of Visalia land a major contract with China giant Global Bio-chem — a 50KT cellulosic sugars plant is underway in Jilin province.
In California, Edeniq announced a Joint Development Agreement …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Glycell pretreatment process. … I studied science with majors in biochemistry and microbiology at Griffith University. Griffith had a strong environmental link and industrial pathways for it’s science school. It …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Producing enzymes and yeasts on site, as part of the complete biomass-to-fuels manufacturing process. …
In recent years — the region around Straubing turned to biotech to access the high returns …

(Methes Energies)  Methes Energies International Ltd. (NASDAQ: MEIL), a renewable energy company that offers an array of products and services to biodiesel fuel producers, announced the introduction of Methes PP-MEC catalyst. Dorf Ketal Speciality Catalysts LLC (“Dorf Ketal”) …

by James Urquhart (Chemistry World)  Ionic liquids – salts that are liquid at room temperature – could potentially be made more cheaply and greenly by recycling by-products from biofuel production processes, according to US researchers. These …

by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com)  Several University of Minnesota students are giving the ethanol industry a preview of their cutting-edge research in biofuels, biochemicals and bioproducts during the 27th Annual Ethanol Conference in Minneapolis. One such student is …

by Sean Nealon (UCR Today) RIVERSIDE, Calif. (www.ucr.edu) — A University of California, Riverside Bourns College of Engineering professor is one of the authors of a paper recently published in Science that outlines ways companies can …

by Anna Simet (Biomass Magazine)  The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has named five in-state bioenergy projects as recipients of NextGen Energy grants.
…
Grant recipients include:
-Easy Energy Systems, Welcome, Minn. – $500,000
The project builds a showplace biofuel production …

(Michigan State University)  The Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization Program for the Bio-Economy, launched by MSU and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, announces the first three BioAg projects selected for grants to help make them …

by Arthur J. Ragauskas, Gregg T. Beckham, Mary J. Biddy, Richard Chandra, Fang Chen, Mark F. Davis, Brian H. Davison, Richard A. Dixon, Paul Gilna, Martin Keller, Paul Langan, Amit K. Naskar, Jack N. Saddler, Timothy …

by Peter Rüegg (ETH Zurich)  Biofuel can be produced from wood, too. The key to this is the suitable pretreatment of the plant parts in order to break up the wood structure. Researchers at the Transport …

(Nestle Oil) Neste Oil, the world’s largest producer of premium-quality renewable fuels, has joined forces with DONG Energy, one of the leading energy groups in Northern Europe, to develop an integrated process to produce renewable diesel …

(Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy is partnering with GreenField Specialty Alcohols to test and develop a technology that, if successful, will …

(Wageningen University/Biomass Magazine)  Chemical building blocks from lignocellulosic feedstock form a huge potential for the production of bioplastics. More specifically, they have potential for biodegradable plastic polylactic acid (PLA). The building block for PLA – …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The new technologies that come along have to provide pressure, temperature and feedstock at their own cost. So it’s the cost of those three elements, competing against the cost of …

(Fraunhofer)  Crude oil is getting scarce. This is why researchers are seeking to substitute petroleum-based products – like plastics – with sustainable raw materials. Waste wood, divided into lignin and cellulose, could serve as a …

by Scott Mowrey (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A primer outlines the inherent challenges for biofuel production using biomass
Raw cellulose from plant biomass is composed of six classes of materials with varying percentages and widely different physical …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  After taking a leading role in the global first generation wave of ethanol production, here come the Brazilians — with some hot North American technologies in tow — to take …

The Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemical covers topics such as:

Enzyme Science & Technology
Biomass Supply & Sustainability
Plant Science & Technology
Algae Science & Technology
Biomass Recalcitrance
Pretreatment & Fractionation
Bacterial Science & Technology
Yeast and Fungal Science & Technology
Bioprocessing & Separations …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Upstream, downstream, processing, policy, finance – opportunities and challenges abound in the bioeconomy – but which challenges are the most intractable and daunting of them all?
In today’s part 1, #10 …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  During remarks at the Energy Department’s Biomass 2013 annual conference, Secretary Moniz today highlighted the important role biofuels play in the Administration’s Climate Action Plan to increase our energy security and reduce greenhouse …

(Science Daily)  All chefs know that “you have to break some eggs to make an omelet,” and that includes engineers at Iowa State University who are using high-frequency sound waves to break down plant materials …

(University of Illinois/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Two University of Illinois scientists have developed an environmentally friendly and more economical way of pretreating miscanthus in the biofuel production process.
“We pretreat the biomass with switchable butadiene sulfone in the …

by Lynn Yarris(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)  Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Develop Enzyme-free Ionic Liquid Pre-treatment
Advanced biofuels – liquid fuels synthesized from the sugars in cellulosic biomass – offer a clean, green and renewable alternative to …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  With a fresh investment from Brazil’s GranBio, American Process Inc. is poised to develop its first commercial-scale cellulosic biorefineries in both the U.S. and Brazil. API CEO Theodora …

(US Department of Energy)  The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory have released a joint study on biochemical biorefinery sizing. “Investigation of biochemical biorefinery sizing and …

by Amanda Peterka  (Governors Biofuel Coalition)  Cellulosic biofuels can become profitable for farmers and help displace oil, but they must use already-available agricultural land, according to a study released by a nonprofit yesterday.
Commissioned by the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Today in part II, we look at a new set of technologies coming along that are redefining our ideas about scale and cost.
… A barrier to long term deployment? The …

by Scott M. Paapa, Todd H. West, Dawn K. Manley, Eric J. Steen, Harry R. Beller, Jay D. Keasling, Dean C. Dibble, Shiyan Chang, Blake A. Simmons (Biomass and Bioenergy)  As advances in biotechnology have …

(SEKAB/Davy Process Technology)  Davy Process Technology Limited (Davy), a Johnson Matthey company, andSEKAB, a leading player in the field of the ethanol based chemicals and biofuels, today announced at World Biofuels Markets that they are …

(Direvo)  Direvo Industrial Biotechnology GmbH (Direvo) today announced that it reached an important milestone in developing a consolidated bioprocess for lactic acid production from lignocellulose.
Up until now, there has not been any known consolidated bioprocess …

by Pedram Fatehi (Biotechnology Progress)  In this review, the recent advancements and technical challenges associated with the production of ethanol, butanol, and isobutanol via bioconversion routes from celluloses of woody materials are reviewed. Physicochemical processes, e.g. …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A 32-page report by Lux Research picks winners and losers in 2012 among alternative fuel developers. The state of the market report, which is provided only to clients, also …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)   NEAtech, a new energy alternatives company, is searching for financing to further test and commercialize its patented distillers grain-to-cellulosic ethanol process.
The consulting company, which has a joint venture …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Changes in EU policy and the financing of advanced biofuels have led to a revival of project formation in Europe.
The latest news from Finland is that St1 is proceeding towards …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Lawrence Berkeley Lab has developed a new technology that enables the engineering of host microorganisms suitable for biofuel processing using ionic liquid pretreatment. It may also enable fermentation under septic …

by Mark Kinver (BBC News)  Scientists have identified willow trees that yield five times as much sugar as ordinary varieties, “drastically reducing” the impact of biofuels.
UK researchers found that if the trees grew at an angle, …

by K.V. Thiruvengadaravi, J. Nandagopal, P. Baskaralingam, V. Sathya Selva Bala, S. Sivanesan (Fuel/Science Direct)  We report the production of a biodiesel fuel by acid-catalyzed esterification of high free fatty acid (FFA) karanja oil (KO). Pretreated …

Biofuels Digest announced its annual awards for achievement in the development of biofuels, renewable chemicals and biobased materials – all available with background on the who, what and why of each award – today at …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Funded by a $650,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Biomass Program, Dr. Adeniyi Lawal of Stevens Institute of Technology will be leading a team investigating microalgae as a biomass …

(Leaf Energy)  The patent application titled “Methods for Converting Lignocellulosic Material to Useful Products” (“Glycerol Bio-refinery process”) describes the process developed at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) by Zhanging Zhang, Ian O’Hara and William …

(US Department of Energy/National Renewable Energy Laboratory)  Breakthrough could help optimize capture of sugars for biofuels
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) combined different …

(University of Wisconsin-Madison)  Using a biomass-derived solvent, University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineers have streamlined the process for converting lignocellulosic biomass into high-demand chemicals or energy-dense liquid transportation fuel.
Their new method eliminates the need …

(Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes)  Crude oil is getting scarce. This is why researchers are seeking to substitute petroleum-based products – like plastics – with sustainable raw materials. Waste wood, divided into lignin and cellulose, …

(POET)  POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels has contracted for a key technology/process component in breaking down cellulose to produced advanced biofuel.
POET-DSM has contracted with International Technology Group ANDRITZ, through its U.S. subsidiary ANDRITZ Inc., to supply a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Every great biofuels technology has its own companion feedstock strategy – with unique advantages and technical challenges.  Who’s got what it takes to be a great Sherpa, providing that feedstock …

by Pete Moss (Biodiesel Magazine/Frazier, Barnes & Associates)  …Refined soybean oil is more expensive than degummed. Tallow is more expensive than yellow grease and so on. But why is soybean oil more expensive when it …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  Choosing the most appropriate feedstock pretreatment method for a given facility can make or break plant economics
A wide variety of feedstock pretreatment materials and technologies is readily available in the …

by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine)  Approximately 100 professionals working in the feedstock and biorefining sectors recently met at Idaho National Laboratory to participate in a U.S. DOE-funded workshop. …“Our objective was to broaden the view …

(Iowa State University)   Iowa State University’s Robert C. Brown keeps a small vial of brown, sweet-smelling liquid on his office table.
“It looks like something you could pour on your pancakes,” he said. “In many respects, …

(Green Biologics)   GBL and Laihe Chemical Co. a company focused on producing bio-fuels and bio-chemicals from non-food bio-mass resources have entered into a collaborative development and licensing agreement  in China. Under the terms of …

Elizabeth R. Nesbitt, Paul Thiers, Johnway Gao, Sharon Shoemaker, Manuel Garcia-Perez, Julie Carrier, Joy Doran-Peterson, John Morgan, Guangyi Wang, Pierre Christian Wensel, Shulin Chen  (Journal of International Commerce and Economics)  The Chinese government is vigorously promoting commercialization of renewable energy and bioproducts, given environmental issues plus food, …

(Joint Genome Institute)  Calif.—In order to realize the full potential of advanced biofuels that are derived from non-food sources of lignocellulosic biomass—e.g., agricultural, forestry, and municipal waste, and crops such as  poplar, switchgrass and miscanthus—new …

(Virent)  Biofuels Pioneer Converts Corn Stover and Loblolly Pine Into BioFormate™ Gasoline with Molecular Composition Similar to Gasoline Derived from Fossil Fuels
Virent announced it has successfully produced biogasoline from corn stover and pine harvest forest residuals, as …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  In order for ag residues and energy crops to be profitably converted to biofuels, it is expected that biorefineries will need to acquire all of their feedstocks from within …

(U.S. Department of Agriculture)  To support President Obama’s goal of reducing America’s oil imports by one-third by 2025, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) today jointly announced up to $30 million over …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Last week [after previously exiting their investment in Choren, a Fischer-Tropsch technology based in Germany]  Shell announced that it will will exit its shareholding in Cellana, a joint venture between …

(NewsGuide)  Conversion of biomass to fuel requires several steps: chemical pretreatment to break up the biomass – often dilute (sulfuric) acid, detoxification to remove the toxic chemicals required in pretreatment, and microbial fermentation to convert the …

(The Bioenergy Site)  For the past two years, North Dakota State University Biofuels Economist, Cole Gufstafson, has been working in partnership with Green Vision Group and Heartland Renewable Energy (HRE) to create an energy beet for …

(Colorado State University)  Dissolving plant biomass in “green” solvent ionic liquids – salts that melt at low temperatures – converts more sugars needed for biofuel more quickly than traditional methods, according to a new study …

by Matt Ford (Ars Technica)  …When it comes to the processing of organic feedstocks for use in biofuel operations, getting plant matter down to size often represents a significant cost, as grinding and milling do …

(Science Daily)  Using electrolyzed water rather than harsh chemicals could be a more effective and environmentally friendly method in the pretreatment of ethanol waste products to produce an acetone-butanol-ethanol fuel mix, according to research conducted …