by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) News has arrived from Denver (the company) and the UK (the project and partners) that SynTech Bioenergy will build what it terms “a revolutionary clean-energy plant in the United Kingdom capable of carbon negative operation.” ... This
syngas (synthesis gas)
Back TO HOMEUse of Bacteria to Produce Valuable Substances from Carbon Dioxide
(Goethe University Frankfurt/EurekAlert!) Goethe University Frankfurt coordinates European two million Euro project -- Microbes are already used on a wide scale for the production of fuels and base chemicals, but for this most of them have to be "fed"
November 09, 2016 Read Full Article
Lockheed Martin Opens Advanced Bioenergy Plant in New York
(Lockheed Martin/Biomass Magazine) Lockheed Martin opened a new bioenergy facility in Owego, New York, at a ribbon cutting ceremony Sept. 21. The system, which is now completing commissioning, uses Concord Blue’s advanced technology that will convert waste into clean, renewable energy. ... This
September 23, 2016 Read Full Article
Turning CO2 Emissions into Fuel
by Gary C. Young (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Bio-Thermal Energy Inc.) A new process for the economical conversion of carbon dioxide into fuels such as ethanol has been developed. The proprietary noncatalytic process combines CO2 with a carbonaceous feedstock and water in
September 23, 2016 Read Full Article
Intratec Reveals Production Costs of Green Chemicals and Biofuels
(Intratec Solutions LLC/EIN Presswire) New reports evaluate the economic feasibility of chemicals manufacturing through alternative, bio-based routes -- Intratec Solutions LLC, the leading source for chemical markets data and production cost reports, is pleased to publish new reports examining the
August 30, 2016 Read Full Article
MEGA-BIO and the Three Amigos: DOE Hands Out $11.3M — Who for, and Whyfor?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced up to $11.3 million for three projects that support the development of biomass-to-hydrocarbon biofuels conversion pathways that, as the DOE remarked, “can produce variable amounts of fuels
August 08, 2016 Read Full Article
Will the Gas Bubble Burst? More Projects Struggle for GTL Finance
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Remember how natural gas was the no-brainer of all time. Gas-to-Liquids was the rage, and a gold rush of companies popped up such as Siluria Technologies, Calysta, and Mango Materials. Fuels, chems, materials and more.
July 08, 2016 Read Full Article
The East Is [Infra]Red: Gasification, Energy and China
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) More prosperity, less pollution for China? In the East, the search is on for more sustainable, efficient energy, and flexible gasification answers the challenge. There, Synthesis Energy Systems is leading the way. ... Hydrogen, hydrogen. hydrogen. Nothing
July 05, 2016 Read Full Article
Clean Energy: Steam Reformation Technology
by Zoltan Kish (Lee Enterprises/Biofuels Digest) ... The primary challenge of clean energy production is the heterogeneous nature of waste and biomass, which creates a widely varying chemical constituency of the energy products generated from these processes. Feedstocks can be converted to
June 23, 2016 Read Full Article
Commercial Aircraft Propulsion and Energy Systems Research: Reducing Global Carbon Emissions (2016)
by Committee on Propulsion and Energy Systems to Reduce Commercial Aviation Carbon Emissions; Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies Press) The primary human activities that release carbon
June 01, 2016 Read Full Article
Senator Sherrod Brown Announces Up to $2 Million in New Federal Resources for The Ohio State University to Support Research on Biofuel
(Office of Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) 25 Percent of Soybean Oil Processed in U.S. is used for Biodiesel and Bioheat. Ohio Ranks Sixth in the Nation for Soybean Production. -- Today (May 11, 2016), U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) )
May 13, 2016 Read Full Article
USDA, DOE Partner to Invest $10 Million in Green Energy Research
(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 drive more efficient biofuels production
May 09, 2016 Read Full Article
Energy Department Requests Information on Biofuels & Bioproducts Process Pilot Verification Capabilities
(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 perform process verifications for biomass
February 15, 2016 Read Full Article
Recycling All that Waste Carbon: The Digest’s 2015 8-Slide Guide to LanzaTech
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) LanzaTech has developed a fully sustainable integrative gas to fuels and chemicals platform that has no impact on food, water security or high biodiversity land use. LanzaTech’s gas fermentation platform disrupts the current highly centralized global
December 02, 2015 Read Full Article
Along Cyclotron Road: The Digest’s 2015 8-Slide Guide to Visolis
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Visolis process will enable production of bio-based elastomers, unsaturated polyester resins, super adsorbent polymers, and other products using a variety of feedstocks like agri-residues, dextrose, glycerol and syn-gas. As we come down the cost
November 12, 2015 Read Full Article
New Design Reports Published by U.S. Department of Energy
(U.S. Department of Energy) The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) pursues a pathway approach for advancing research and development (R&D) of converting biomass into renewable fuels and products. Following the BETO's successful demonstration of cost-competitive cellulosic ethanol production technologies—R&D efforts now focus on the
October 28, 2015 Read Full Article
17 Pyromaniax Changing the Energy Landscape
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 oil, steel and carbon black,
October 26, 2015 Read Full Article
Oberon Fuels, Ford and FVV Partner to Build, Fuel, and Test the World’s First Production Passenger Car Powered by DME
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Oberon Fuels, Ford Motor Company, and FVV have partnered on a 3-year, €3.5M project to research, analyze and test the potential of dimethyl ether and OME fuel in passenger cars and heavy-duty truck
September 16, 2015 Read Full Article
Clean & Green: A Comprehensive Review of "Syngas" Cleanup for Biomass Gasification
(Southeastern Partnership for Integrated Biomass Supply Systems) Contrasting with ethanol production with microorganisms to ferment raw material into liquid fuel, biomass materials can be directly “gasified” through controlled burning (called pyrolysis, literally “fire splitting”). Gasification releases energy stored in complex plant
August 04, 2015 Read Full Article
BioTfuel: A Project to Produce Biofuels via Thermochemical Conversion
(Total) The BioTfueL project focuses on producing second-generation biodiesel and bio-jet fuel via thermochemical conversion. Total is working with five partners to bring the process to commercial-scale production. In the BioTfueL project, Total is working with five partners to develop technologies for
April 07, 2015 Read Full Article
4 Minutes with…Tim Sklar, President, Sklar & Associates
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Sklar & Associates is a South Carolina based consulting firm now specializing in Biofuels project development. ... S&A is actively engaged in development of a biorefinery converting 360,000 dry tons per year (~1,000 dTPD) of Refuse
December 08, 2014 Read Full Article
Energy Department Announces New Investments in Gasification Research
(U.S. Department of Energy) Today, as part of the Administration’s all-of-the-above energy approach, the Department of Energy has selected four projects to receive funding for next-generation gasification systems that also reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Awardees will receive approximately $16
November 13, 2014 Read Full Article
University of Wyoming Researchers Advance Biorenewable Energy Prospects
(University of Wyoming) After graduating from Northern Kentucky University with bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and accounting, Allen Morris decided to pursue graduate studies at the University of Wyoming for two primary reasons: the Rocky Mountain lifestyle, and an attractive stipend
September 18, 2014 Read Full Article
Forest Fuels Management and Biomass Utilization Bibliography: Knowledge Available for Management of North American Forest Fuels With Consideration of the Potential Uses of the Woody Biomass Generated by the Fuel Treatments
by David Patterson (Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource Development) A nearly 900 page literature review regarding forest fuel reduction, isolation or modification treatments that can be used to reduce the risk of wildfire spread; including opportunities to use the biomass generated
August 30, 2014 Read Full Article
Jet Fuel or Liquid Natural Gas: Now Available from a Trash Bin near You, Parts I and II
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 become mind-boggling, as the pathways
July 22, 2014 Read Full Article
Enerkem’s Family Affair
by Tim Portz (Biomass Magazine) Enerkem President and CEO Vincent Chornet and his team have driven Enerkem along a commercialization pathway for the past 10 years. As Enerkem’s first commercial-scale deployment in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, enters its commissioning phase, its technology
June 18, 2014 Read Full Article
Successful Production of High-Octane Renewable Gasoline from Woody Biomass
(Gas Technology Institute) In a recently completed project, Gas Technology Institute (GTI) worked with Haldor Topsoe, Inc. on an integrated biorefinery to make renewable “drop-in” gasoline, successfully producing a high-octane transportation fuel. The use of renewable gasoline could reduce lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by approximately
June 03, 2014 Read Full Article
The Hydrogen Spring
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Reminiscent of 2009′s Summer of Algae, when those technologies were coming out of the woodwork, we appear to be in the Hydrogen Spring. Every time we write about them, more pop up, like a Prairie
March 14, 2014 Read Full Article
The Next Generation of Biodiesel Coproduct Research
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) The uses of glycerin - crude, USP-grade or otherwise - and other byproducts from biodiesel production are virtually limitless. Profiled here is the glycerin and coproduct research of three Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel. In the early
March 12, 2014 Read Full Article
The Next Generation of Biodiesel Coproduct Research
Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) The uses of glycerin - crude, USP-grade or otherwise - and other byproducts from biodiesel production are virtually limitless. Profiled here is the glycerin and coproduct research of three Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel. READ MORE
March 06, 2014 Read Full Article
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology Announces Commissioning of Biomass-to-Biofuel Pilot Plant
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) In early March, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany announced the successful commissioning of the second stage of its bioliq pilot plant. The achievement was made in cooperation with technology partner Air Liquide Global
March 15, 2013 Read Full Article
Air Liquide Makes Biofuel Progress
by Stuart Radnedge (GasWorld) Air Liquide, in a joint project with the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT) in Germany, has successfully completed the second stage of a second generation biofuels pilot unit at Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe. This pilot unit will demonstrate the viability
March 12, 2013 Read Full Article
Thermochemical Conversion of Duckweed Biomass to Gasoline, Diesel, and Jet Fuel: Process Synthesis and Global Optimization
by Richard C. Baliban, Josephine A. Elia, Christodoulos A. Floudas, Xin Xiao, Zhijian Zhang , Jie Li , Hongbin Cao, Jiong Ma §, Yong Qiao, and Xuteng Hu (Industrial Engineering and Chemistry Research) Duckweed biomass is gasified in a thermochemical-based superstructure
March 08, 2013 Read Full Article
Breakthrough in Research on Super Filter for Biofuels
(Luleå University of Technology) A new important step has been taken by researchers at Luleå University of Technology when it comes to clean synthesis gas from carbon dioxide, using zeolite membranes. This super filter, which could enable the cost-effective industrial
November 29, 2012 Read Full Article
The New Syngas: New Catalysts, Opportunities for Advanced Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... In the biofuels revolution, the primary focus has been not on producing methanol (and, ultimately, gasoline) from syngas, but primarily on the production of ethanol. Three of the major names in the field- LanzaTech,
November 27, 2012 Read Full Article
The Dandelion Model: Two-Step Biofuels Technologies and the Emergence of Super-Refineries
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Can local communities pyrolize their wastes and residues, to make renewable fuels and chemicals at biobased super-refineries? Two-step processes could be the ticket to the future, according to an Iowa State team. Imagine, for a
October 24, 2012 Read Full Article
Advanced Biofuels, a Transformative Industry
by Bruce C. Folkedahl (Biomass Magazine/Energy & Environmental Research Center) As part of the ongoing research at the Energy & Environmental Research Center, we have been developing a catalytic pathway to convert ethanol or mixtures of methanol and ethanol to higher
September 07, 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
SynGas and the Front-End Problem of Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Making good, affordable syngas from municipal solid waste to unlock 9 billion gallons of low-cost fuel? Covanta’s hot new gasification technology makes a big dent in the big challenge. ...The bumps in the road are three.
April 25, 2012 Read Full Article
Newcastle University Outlines Plans for North East Carbon Capture Hub
by James Murray (Business Green) Could gasification hold the key to the decarbonisation of the North East's heavy industries? Researchers at the Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability(NIReS) are working on ambitious plans that could establish the North East as a global
September 08, 2011 Read Full Article
User Facility Capabilities to Accelerate Impact in Biomass
by David Hoyt (Senior Research Scientist, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Hoyt first provides an overview of EMSL and their mission to integrate experimental and computational resources with innovative technologies to support the biofuel industry. Focusing on