(Bioeconomy Development Opportunity Zone Initiative) On September 12, 2024, Ecostrat Inc. and the BDO Zone Initiative, in collaboration with TheDigest, hosted the BDO ZoneCONNECT webinar, highlighting an investment-grade BDO Zone in Butte County, California rated ‘BBB’ for 223,000 bone dry tons per year of Woody Biomass. The webinar was
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Back TO HOME2023 Billion-Ton Report
(U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy KDF) The U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technology Office's (BETO's) 2023 Billion-Ton Report (BT23) is an assessment of renewable carbon resources potentially available in the United States. BT23 explores these resources in terms of quantity, price,
April 04, 2024 Read Full Article
Sustainable Carbon Removals Limits Identified, Huge Climate Mitigation Challenge Revealed
(University of Melbourne/EurekAlert!) Governments and businesses are relying on dangerous amounts of future removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere, instead of more rapidly reducing emissions and phasing out fossil fuels. This problem is partly due to an incomplete picture1 of
February 13, 2024 Read Full Article
The Digest’s 2023 Multi-Slide Guide to Terviva
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Terviva is a food and ag innovation company partnering with farmers to grow pongamia, a climate-resilient tree which produces abundant, protein- and oil-rich legumes. Pongamia is uniquely suited to meet today’s environmental challenges. Chief Business Officer
December 21, 2023 Read Full Article
Terviva Announces Strategic Partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation
(Terviva/Newswire) With Mitsubishi Corporation’s partnership, Terviva marks a key milestone in the advancement of a pongamia tree-based business platform that sinks carbon, improves small-holder livelihoods, and creates a new source for biofuel and food. -- Terviva, an agriculture innovation company, is pleased
December 15, 2023 Read Full Article
Biofuels Hold Promise as Alternative to Fossil Fuels
by Pitambara and Bishwa Bhaskar Choudhary (The Tribune) The govt should consider making a budgetary allocation to implement measures to promote wasteland for the cultivation of energy crops and impart technical know-how to farmers. Increasing the allocation and extending the term
October 16, 2023 Read Full Article
How the Biomass Pellet Industry Could Grow 10-Fold, and Help Save the Planet
by Michael Shepard (Bioenergy International) ... The opportunity lies in the kitchens of the nearly four billion people who cook some or all of their food with smoky fires burning wood, charcoal, or dung. The costs of this problem are well
April 11, 2023 Read Full Article
A New EPA Proposal Is Reigniting a Debate about What Counts as ‘Renewable’
by John McCracken (Grist) The agency wants more ethanol, biogas, and wood pellet power in the nation's fuel mix. But is that actually a good thing? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed new standards for how much of the nation’s fuel supply
January 05, 2023 Read Full Article
Countries Want to Plant Trees to Offset Their Carbon Emissions, but There Isn’t Enough Land on Earth to Grow Them
by Katie Surma (Inside Climate News) Researchers behind the Land Gap Report say we can’t plant our way out of global warming—and it’s disingenuous to pretend that we can. -- Countries’ climate pledges rely on “unrealistic” and “extensive” amounts of land
November 07, 2022 Read Full Article
European Parliament Will Continue to Recognise Primary Woody Biomass as a Renewable Energy Source
(Bioenergy Insight) The European Parliament voted today (14 September) to recognise primary woody biomass as a renewable energy source. This is consistent with its prior classification under both the first Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and RED II. Primary woody biomass is
September 20, 2022 Read Full Article
Widespread Trials of Biomass Crop Cultivation to Launch in UK
(Bioenergy Insight) The UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UCEH) is leading new UK-wide trials of crops and trees which can be used to produce sustainable energy from plant material. Widespread cultivation of biomass crops in the UK could remove significant
August 09, 2022 Read Full Article
Can We Hack DNA in Plants to Help Fight Climate Change?
by Madeleine Stone (National Geographic) Using CRISPR genome editing on a few common crops, a team of plant and soil scientists seeks to vastly increase and speed up carbon storage to help fight climate change. -- ... we will also need to
July 19, 2022 Read Full Article
£26m Funding to Support UK Biomass Projects
(Bioenergy Insight) Innovative biomass projects across the UK can now bid for a share of £26 million (€30.4 million) in government funding. Biomass, which is backed by the independent Climate Change Committee, will be an important part of the UK’s
January 06, 2022 Read Full Article
New Research Checks the Math of Large-Scale Tree Planting
(Nori) In our first science-focused episode of Carbon Removal Newsroom, hosts Radhika Moolgavkar of Nori and Holly Jean Buck of the University at Buffalo are joined by our new science co-host, Dr. Jane Zelikova, executive director of the Soil Carbon Solutions Center and joint faculty in crop and soil
October 13, 2021 Read Full Article
Biomass Innovations under Investigation Part 4: Forestry and Energy Crops
(Bio Market Insights) ... Forestry: Mostex Global Solutions: Integrated whole tree extraction and on site pre-processing of under-yielding forest resources Mostex was set up with the aim of reducing the corrosive nature of agri-feedstock, establishing effective methods of handling this material and improving
October 13, 2021 Read Full Article
Greenpeace Calls for End to Carbon Offsets
by Alessandra Prentice (Reuters) Carbon offsets are allowing the world's biggest polluters to forge ahead with business plans that are threatening global climate goals, the head of Greenpeace International said in an interview. The model allows polluting companies to offset their emissions
October 07, 2021 Read Full Article
Carbon Dioxide Removal: Forests
(Climate Now) Planting trees has become a bit of a cliché in the fight against climate change, with ubiquitous photos of presidents and CEOs planting trees to show they are serious about climate. But, how much impact on atmospheric carbon dioxide
October 06, 2021 Read Full Article
FutureMetrics Paper Addresses the Biomass Carbon Debt Fallacy
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) FutureMetrics on Sept. 9 published a new white paper revisiting the flawed assumption that there is a carbon debt after wood is harvested and explaining why some academics continue to perpetuate the carbon debt fallacy. The paper,
September 21, 2021 Read Full Article
Big Changes in Renewable Diesel & SAF Feedstock Partnerships
by Will Thurmond (Emerging Markets Online/Biofuels Digest) A new study titled Renewable Diesel and Sustainable Aviation 2030, Vol 2 (September, 2021) has discovered some surprising answers and useful insights to key questions regarding feedstock availability, scale up, partnerships and from 2020 to
September 08, 2021 Read Full Article
Bio-Batteries
(Advanced Biofuels USA) We are seeing a number of articles about bio-based batteries and biodegradable batteries. Wondering if we should be covering this bio-based mobility development. Here are some examples: The biodegradable battery (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology
July 26, 2021 Read Full Article
Single Gene Boosts Climate Resilience, Yield and Carbon Capture in Crops
(Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have discovered a single gene that simultaneously boosts plant growth and tolerance for stresses such as drought and salt, all while tackling the root cause of climate change by enabling plants
June 11, 2021 Read Full Article
The Pathways, Projects, Players: The Digest’s 2021 Multi-Slide Guide to Renewable Diesel and SAF
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) There’s nothing hotter right now than renewable diesel and SAF – what are the pathways, projects, who are the players, what are the business models, are there alternative feedstocks? Check out this slide guide from
June 09, 2021 Read Full Article
Maryland Releases Bold New Plan to Achieve Climate Goals
(Maryland Department of the Environment) State Pursues Ambitious Goal to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 50% by 2030 as Nation Officially Re-enters Paris Climate Accord -- The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has released a comprehensive plan that sets a
February 23, 2021 Read Full Article
SoCalGas, SDG&E’s Voluntary RNG Tariff Request Approved
(Bioenergy Insight) On 17 December, the California Public Utilities Commission approved SoCalGas and San Diego Gas & Electric’s request to offer a voluntary Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) Tariff. The programme will allow households and businesses to purchase RNG from the
December 22, 2020 Read Full Article
$2.5 Million DOE Grant to Help MSU Researchers Measure Benefits of Growing Trees for Biofuel
(Mississippi State University) A $2.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy will benefit Mississippi State researchers in the university’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center studying the economic and ecological benefits of growing trees for biofuel production. The DOE funding will
November 25, 2020 Read Full Article
All Along the Watchtower: Projects, R&D, Partnerships of the Month for October 2020
by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Partnership Watch: Lummus Technology, New Hope Technologies In Texas, Lummus Technology and New Hope Technologies today announced that the companies have entered into a cooperation agreement for the marketing and further development of a
October 27, 2020 Read Full Article
National Laboratories Point to Sugars as a Key Factor in Ideal Feedstock for Biofuels
(National Renewable Energy Laboratory) NREL, Oak Ridge Scientists Reveal Economics Must Include More Than Size of Poplar Trees -- Popular wisdom holds that tall, fast-growing trees are best for biomass, but new research by two U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratories
October 19, 2020 Read Full Article
Intensive Monoculture Is Putting Water Systems in Peril
(University of Birmingham) The global spread of vast forest plantations and agricultural monocultures are turning once diverse landscapes into areas of land supporting single plant species, with profound implications for our terrestrial water cycle, according to new research. A new paper
September 24, 2020 Read Full Article
Australian JV Launched to Develop Novel Waste-to-Fuels Technology
by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Australia, Epichem has entered into a partnership agreement with Obsidian Minerals to establish Perren to develop a novel and disruptive waste to fuels technology using oxidative non catalytic dissolution. Perren will endeavor to develop and commercialize
September 06, 2020 Read Full Article
How to Tackle Climate Change, Food Security and Land Degradation
(North America Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance News) Some lesser-known options, such as integrated water management and increasing the organic content of soil, have fewer trade-offs than many well-known options, such as planting trees, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Global
July 28, 2020 Read Full Article
Don’t Look to Mature Forests to Soak Up Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Results of Australian Study May Have Impact on New York State Carbon Neutrality Goals
(Suny College of Environmental Science and Forestry) Research published today in Nature suggests mature forests are limited in their ability to absorb "extra" carbon as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations increase. These findings may have implications for New York state's carbon neutrality
April 23, 2020 Read Full Article
From Tree to Money Faster and More Efficiently than Ever: Futurity to License MetGen’s Award-Winning METNIN™ Technology for Lignin Valorization
(MetGen) Futurity, whose mission is to outperform oil with trees through the production of advanced chemicals and materials from plantation forestry in New Zealand has finalized a licensing agreement with the Finnish company MetGen Oy. Cooperation will allow the development of
March 11, 2020 Read Full Article
Shunned Tree that Has Huge Biofuel Potential
by Tim Wanyonyi (Daily Nation) Croton megalocarpus grows naturally in various ecological zones — from the Coast to the highlands of central Kenya and the drylands of the North Rift. It is called Msenefu in Kiswahili, Mukinduri in Gikuyu and Kelelwet in
March 02, 2020 Read Full Article
Exclusive: What’s in Republicans’ New Climate-Change Push
by Amy Harder (Axios) Trees, plastics and favorable tax policy are at the core of House Republicans’ new push on climate change — an effort to reassure voters they care about the problem after a decade of dismissing it. Why it
January 22, 2020 Read Full Article
Genetic Modification of Poplar Trees Saves Air Quality
(National Science Foundation) Some trees, such as poplars, emit gases that worsen air pollution and alter climate. Poplar trees are sources of biofuels and other products, including paper and plywood. -- Poplar trees are widely used in commercial products, but, like
January 17, 2020 Read Full Article
The Digest’s 10 Top Advanced Bioeconomy Markets & Predictions for 2020
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A mere “The Year in Rewind” as we sail into 2020? Not the good ship Digest! Instead, we dust off our crystal ball and offer our predictions for the year ahead. As the sunset of 2019 gives
January 02, 2020 Read Full Article
A Planet on Fire: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Red Rock Biofuels’ Call to Action for Aviation Industry
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) “Facing catastrophic problems with the immediacy of wildfire and the sinister creeping of climate change is depressing. It is depressing enough to throw in the towel, to say I can’t make a difference, the problem is
December 28, 2019 Read Full Article
RUDN University Chemist Found a Catalyst to Improve Biofuel Production
(RUDN University/Phys.Org) Chemists from RUDN University, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand), and the University of Cordoba (Spain) have developed a new method for the synthesis of biofuels from renewable vegetable raw materials. They proposed to use bimetallic catalysts for the production of
December 16, 2019 Read Full Article
Australia, U.S., to Cooperate on Critical Minerals, Rare Earths
(U.S. News and World Report/Reuters) Australia and the United States will support projects to develop critical minerals and rare earths, an Australian government minister said on Wednesday (November 20, 2019), signaling deeper cooperation in a market dominated by Chinese supplies. Australian
December 09, 2019 Read Full Article
New York Forests — but Not Biofuels — Factor in Climate Plans
by Tony Hall (Adirondack Explorer) If New York State is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 85 percent by 2050, as required by this year’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, it will need its forests. But it’s not for
October 23, 2019 Read Full Article
Want More Miles per Gallon? Start Planting Some Trees
by Beth A. Russell (Idaho National Laboratory) It turns out that trees (or as researchers refer to them, woody biomass) can be refined to produce a carbon-rich wood alcohol that is excellent for use in high-octane fuel blends. Lest one imagine a
September 19, 2019 Read Full Article
Domtar Honored with Biorenewable Deployment Consortium’s Forest Products Innovation Award
(Biorenewable Deployment Consortium) The Biorenewable Deployment Consortium (BDC) honored Domtar with the organization’s inaugural 2019 Forest Products Innovation Award for their culture of innovation in the deployment of new biorenewable processes directed toward achieving the highest value from the tree. “BDC
September 11, 2019 Read Full Article
IAF Certifies 'Green Fuel', Could Save 10 Crore Litres of Fuel Annually
by Ajai Shukla (Business Standard) The Air Force could save 10 crore litres of aviation turbine fuel each year 10 per cent if biofuel use is extended across its fleet. -- ... On Friday, the door was opened to powering the
May 29, 2019 Read Full Article
Scion Welcomes Climate Policy Report
(Scion Research) Crown research institute Scion congratulates the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment on his report Farms, forests and fossil fuels: The next great landscape transformation released today. Scion CEO Dr Julian Elder says the report’s proposal to take a “landscape approach”
April 02, 2019 Read Full Article
Breaching the Biomass Problem: ORNL Team Provides Supercomputer-Aided Insights for How to Turn Plants into Fuel and Materials
by Jonathan Hines (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Humans have found uses for woody plants since time immemorial—tools, shelter, firewood. Today, scientists are working to add more major uses to the list: renewable, cost-competitive biofuel and value-added materials. Turning trees and waste
December 27, 2018 Read Full Article
Redesigning Poplar Trees to Take the Drought ... and the Salt and the Heat
(North American Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance) Poplar saplings being grown at the University of California Davis are not expected to survive the rigorous conditions simulating prolonged droughts and heat waves that are being imposed on them. But they are helping a
November 02, 2018 Read Full Article
Redesigning Poplar Trees to Take the Drought ... and the Salt and the Heat
by Laura Shields (Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory/Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) Improving poplar biomass production under stress conditions -- ... Stresses, such as high temperatures and a lack of freshwater, can cause reduced crop growth or even complete loss. The rising frequency of these
October 08, 2018 Read Full Article
New Research Calculates Capacity of North American Forests to Sequester Carbon
(University of California-Santa Cruz/EurekAlert!) Gains of only 22 percent over the next six decades represent best-case scenario -- Researchers have calculated the capacity of North American forests to sequester carbon in a detailed analysis that for the first time integrates the effects
July 18, 2018 Read Full Article
EPA Announces Biomass from Managed Forests Will Be Considered Carbon Neutral
by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Georgia, in a meeting with members of the forestry community, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency announced the Agency issued a statement of policy making clear, that future regulatory actions on biomass from managed forests will
April 24, 2018 Read Full Article
Lumber’s Lure: Thanks to Physics, Viable Biofuel May Grow in the Woods
by Chris Lee (Ars Technica) Future biofuel production requires new catalysts—or better training for stubborn enzymes. ... I thought New Zealand would offer some chemistry-minded contrast. The country makes a lot of money on timber exports, but this profit is generally not from primary forest.
April 06, 2018 Read Full Article
CON: Keep the Renewable Fuel Standard but Reboot It by Using Bio-Masses instead of Corn
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 starters, Congress could slowly transition
March 15, 2018 Read Full Article
New Zealand Could Dent Emissions by Switching to Biofuels
(Biofuels International) A study from a government-owned research group is urging increased biofuel use to develop a renewable low-carbon transport sector. The report follows two years of research by Crown Research Institute Scion and looks at how New Zealand could grow and refine feedstocks
March 13, 2018 Read Full Article
Is Energy from Woody Biomass Positive for the Climate?
(International Energy Agency) IEA Bioenergy has produced a brief on the question ‘Is energy from woody biomass positive for the climate?’ The brief provides background and a number of concise arguments on this question. Overall, energy from woody biomass can be very
February 27, 2018 Read Full Article
Which Tree? Where? Why?
(World Agroforestry Centre) While India has a world-first national policy for agroforestry, aka trees on farms, farmers in different agro-climatic zones need help with which trees to grow. A new book is now here to help. “With multiple research initiatives underway, a
February 05, 2018 Read Full Article
MetGen, Sweetwater Unlocking Lignin – The Roughest, Toughest, Ornieri’st Material that Ever Bushwhack’d a Pioneer in the Valley of Death
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 don’t we see more biobased
August 17, 2017 Read Full Article
Environmentalists Are Urging the USDA to Reject This Genetically Engineered Eucalyptus Tree
by Chelsea Harvey (The Washington Post) A genetically engineered, freeze-tolerant eucalyptus tree is moving closer to receiving approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, amid concerns about the tree’s possible negative effects on the environment. The USDA has proposed lifting restrictions
August 10, 2017 Read Full Article
Biomass Pyrolysis Comes of Age
by Lorenz Bauer (Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc./Biofuels Digest) After many years of development biomass pyrolysis is finally maturing as a commercial technology. Pyrolysis is not incineration. The goal is to use heat in the absence of oxygen to convert the biomass
June 09, 2017 Read Full Article
Alliance Bioenergy Licenses Process to Earth's Renewable Energy
(Alliance BioEnergy Plus Inc.) Alliance BioEnergy Plus Inc. recently announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, AMG Energy Group, has entered into a sublicensing agreement with Earth's Renewable Energy LLC of Newport Beach, California. The sublicense agreement permits Earth's Renewable Energy to use the
June 07, 2017 Read Full Article
Triple Play Boosting Value of Renewable Fuel Could Tip Market in Favor of Biomass
by Silke Schmidt (University of Wisconsin-Madison News) Technologies for converting non-edible biomass into chemicals and fuels traditionally made from petroleum exist aplenty. But when it comes to attracting commercial interest, these technologies compete financially with a petroleum-based production pipeline that
May 30, 2017 Read Full Article
Second-Generation Biofuels Show Environmental Sustainability Benefits
(Univeristy of Pittsburg/R&D Magazine) Numerous studies have raised critical concerns about the promise of corn ethanol's ability to mitigate climate change and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Some of the studies have suggested that after a full life cycle assessment--meaning
May 22, 2017 Read Full Article
Addressing Biomass Energy 'Alternative Facts'
by William Strauss (FutureMetrics/Biomass Magazine) ... The recently released paper by the Chatham House is a study that contains many inaccurate statements about the use of wood for energy. Those statements are presented as facts, or as uncontested conclusions. This article
April 05, 2017 Read Full Article
Biofuels Could Cut Transport Emissions – But Food May Be at Risk
by Maina Waruru (Thomson Reuters Foundation) Growing use of electric vehicles around the world is helping lower climate changing emissions, but some means of transport will be hard to electrify, particularly air travel and shipping, energy experts say. To “decarbonise” those,
March 06, 2017 Read Full Article
NETL Carbon Capture Technologies to Be Used in Commercial Biomass-to Biofuel Conversion Process with Power Generation
(National Energy Technology Laboratory) The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has granted a license for two patented sorbent technologies that capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from streams of mixed gases and enable cleaner, more-efficient energy production from renewable fuels. The license was
January 28, 2016 Read Full Article
Three Sustainability Tools Are Enhancing Environmental Benefits of Biofuels
by Kristen Johnson and Alicia Moulton (U.S. Department of Energy) At the Energy Department’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, we’re actively working to develop the advanced biofuels industry in a way that leads to positive impacts and that demonstrates responsible stewardship of
October 28, 2015 Read Full Article
UGA Researchers Create Trees that Are Easier to Turn into Fuel
(University of Georgia/Biomass Magazine) Researchers at the University of Georgia have discovered that manipulation of a specific gene in a hardwood tree species not only makes it easier to break down the wood into fuel, but also significantly increases tree
March 27, 2015 Read Full Article
Why We Are Producing Biofuels
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 people are asking, “Why are