by Dan Brown (DG Fuels) Innovative Plant to Transform Agricultural By-products into High-Value Sustainable Aviation Fuel -- DG Fuels, a U.S.-owned sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) company, in cooperation with the Nebraska BioEconomy, has selected Phelps County, Nebraska, for its first Midwest production
water footprint
Back TO HOMEA Fifth of U.S. Green Hydrogen Projects Eyed for Water-Stressed Areas
by Alec Luhn (Floodlight) As the federal government pours billions into hydrogen production to lower greenhouse gas emissions, critics worry water shortages in the Southwest could worsen -- Armed with bright green shovels, executives from the Australian mining giant Fortescue broke ground in May on
August 08, 2024 Read Full Article
Texas Water Fight Shows Pushback on ‘Clean’ Hydrogen
by Christian Robles (E&E News Energywire) A Texas hydrogen project is facing criticism over whether it will have adequate water supplies, illustrating how local disputes on everything from pipelines to air pollution threaten the industry’s build-out. Near Corpus Christi, environmentalists and some
June 18, 2024 Read Full Article
Soil Carbon Capture Sequestration, Low Carbon Intensity Scores and the Small Water Cycle: The Symbiotic Connection
by Joel Stone (LEC Partners/Biofuels Digest) Soil Carbon Capture Sequestration (SCCS), low carbon intensity (low CI) scores and the Small Water Cycle are connected through various ecological and hydrological processes that occur within terrestrial ecosystems. SCCS refers to the process of
March 04, 2024 Read Full Article
Safran Invests in Avnos, at the Forefront of Innovation in CO2 Capture
(Safran) Safran, through Safran Corporate Ventures, has invested in Avnos Inc., a California-based startup specializing in CO2 capture from ambient air in a process called Direct Air Capture (DAC). The other investors in this funding round are NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, Shell
February 20, 2024 Read Full Article
Bold Actions to Accelerate the Bioeconomy: Findings from the Bold Goals Action Group
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In San Francisco on the sidelines of the ABLC NEXT 2023 meeting, a coalition of the willing called the Bold Goals Action Group outlined a series of 31 Bold Actions that must be taken by industry
October 31, 2023 Read Full Article
Warning about Aquifer’s Decline Sets up Big Fight in Kansas
by John Hanna (Associated Press) Kansas water experts are sounding an alarm decades in the making: Farmers and ranchers in the state’s western half must stop pumping more water out of a vast aquifer than nature puts back each year or
January 10, 2023 Read Full Article
61 Ethanol Production Projects Approved to Achieve 20% Blending Target
(Newsroom Odisha) The government has given in principle approval to 61 projects of ethanol production to achieve the target of 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol by 2025. Department of Food and Public Distribution has said that these projects will add
October 31, 2022 Read Full Article
Darling Ingredients Issues 2022 ESG Report
(Darling Ingredients/Biobased Diesel Daily) Darling Ingredients Inc. released its 2022 ESG Report Sept. 26, which provides a detailed overview of the company’s progress against key environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) objectives throughout 2021. Notable 2021 achievements highlighted in the report include:
October 04, 2022 Read Full Article
Finding Environmental Markets Carbon Credits, Water Quality Markets Rebuild for Farmers
by Chris Clayton (DTN Progressive Farmer) When Ohio farmer Fred Yoder testified last month before the House Select Committee on Climate Change, the long-time no-till farmer and champion of climate-smart farming practices told lawmakers one of the best things that could
December 31, 2019 Read Full Article
Water-Based Tech Converts Biomass into Food Ingredients – Renmatix and Cargill Sign Joint Development Agreement
by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Functional food ingredients from unused plant materials is just what Renmatix and Cargill are aiming to explore with their new joint development agreement, but what makes this breaking news even more fascinating is that Renmatix
December 16, 2019 Read Full Article
Energy and Water Sustainability in the U.S. Biofuel Industry
by May Wu (Argonne National Laboratory) The progress of technology development for conventional and advanced biofuel production processes in the U.S. has been reviewed by several groups over the last two decades (Warner et al. 2017; Mueller and Kwik 2013;
November 01, 2019 Read Full Article
Insane in the Membrane: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Whitefox’s Membranes
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Whitefox uses membranes to carry out industrial water separation steps, including membranes for biofuels. Their first industrial installation was in Europe in 2002 for pharmaceutical grade ethanol, but installations now have expanded to industrial and
August 28, 2019 Read Full Article
WEBINAR: Renewable Energy's Global Trajectory and Can Hydrogen Close the Climate Emissions Gap? --- July 10, 2019
Please join SSF, and our co-hosts the Environmental and Energy Institute at George Washington University and the American Renewable Energy Institute in a 60-minute discussion of the renewable energy landscape and the rate of renewable deployment. We will also examine
July 05, 2019 Read Full Article
European Research Project Claims Breakthrough in Production of Renewable Jet Fuels from Sunlight
(GreenAir Online) A project funded by the EU and Switzerland claims to have made a breakthrough in producing renewable jet kerosene from sunlight, water and CO2. The SUN-to-LIQUID project follows on from an earlier project, SOLAR-JET, that developed the technology to
June 28, 2019 Read Full Article
Meaningful Solutions for a Changing Climate Require Proactive Partnerships
(Solutions from the Land) One of Solution from the Land's (SfL) primary missions over the past decade has been to help and inspire agricultural and forestry sector leaders to become powerful voices in the broader discussion of climate change, including adaptation
June 04, 2019 Read Full Article
Argonne Releases Updated Computer Model to Help Bioenergy Developers Conserve Water
(Argonne National Laboratory) Critical updates to WATER tool help the bioenergy industry manage resources. -- The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory recently released an updated version of an online computer model meant to help bioenergy developers preserve critical resources. The model, called
June 02, 2019 Read Full Article
ARPA-E Projects to Develop Sensors for Bioenergy, Agriculture
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy recently awarded nearly $6 million to four projects under its OPEN+ program for the Sensors for Bioenergy and Agriculture cohort team. According to ARPA-E, the team will
January 31, 2019 Read Full Article
Scientists Seawater Fuel Discovery Cuts Demands on Freshwater Use
(University of Huddersfield) The use of seawater in the production of bioethanol significantly reduces of water footprint in the bioethanol production industry. Bioethanol is a climate-friendly alternative to petrol and its adoption has been encouraged by many governments. In the fight against
November 23, 2018 Read Full Article
The Establishment of a Marine Focused Biorefinery for Bioethanol Production Using Seawater and a Novel Marine Yeast Strain
by Abdelrahman Saleh Zaky, Darren Greetham, Gregory A. Tucker & Chenyu Du (Scientific Reports) Current technologies for bioethanol production rely on the use of freshwater for preparing the fermentation media and use yeasts of a terrestrial origin. Life cycle assessment has suggested
August 25, 2018 Read Full Article
New Membrane Technology May Aid Biofuel Production
(Argonne National Laboratory/Biomass Magazine) Named for the mythical god with two faces, Janus membranes –double-sided membranes that serve as gatekeepers between two substances—have emerged as a material with potential industrial uses. Creating two distinct "faces" on these delicate surfaces, however, is
August 06, 2018 Read Full Article
Masdar Institute’s SEAS Harvest Marks Critical Milestone In Development Of Sustainable Aviation Biofuel
by Erica Solomon (Masdar Institute News) Harvesting of the First Crop of Oil-Rich Plants Grown in the Desert Using Seawater Brings the UAE Closer to Fueling Aircraft with Locally-Produced Biofuel -- Masdar Institute of Science and Technology’s Sustainable Bioenergy Research Consortium
October 03, 2017 Read Full Article
Water Management in Biomass Processing
by Lorenz Bauer (Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest) ... Managing the water in biomass processes like food production, fermentations, pyrolysis, and biodiesel production is critical to success. There is an increasing appreciation of the value of clean water. The value of water
September 21, 2017 Read Full Article
Water: Lifeblood of the Process
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Successful water reduction and recycling require close attention to treatments and system impacts in ethanol production. -- ... As the industry has improved its efficiency and recycling, water use has dropped by more
January 27, 2017 Read Full Article
Life Cycle Assessment of Integrated Seawater Agriculture in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf as a Potential Food and Aviation Biofuel Resource
by Brian Warshay, J. Jed Brown, Sgouris Sgouridis (The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment) Prospective evaluation of the lifecycle impacts of aviation biofuel production in Abu Dhabi, UAE based on a production system that integrates aquaculture, saltwater agriculture, and mangrove silviculture, termed an
December 27, 2016 Read Full Article
Ethanol from Conventional to Advanced: The Digest’s 2016 Multi Slide Guide to Praj
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Recently, we held a well-attended webinar on the markets and makers of ethanol from conventional to advanced. Here below is a slide deck presented on the day, from Praj – going through the technology landscape that is
October 14, 2016 Read Full Article
Technology Quarterly: The Future of Agriculture
by Geoffrey Carr (The Economist) If agriculture is to continue to feed the world, it needs to become more like manufacturing, says Geoffrey Carr. Fortunately, that is already beginning to happen -- Tom Rogers is an almond farmer in Madera County,
June 17, 2016 Read Full Article
How Big Data is Disrupting Agriculture from Biological Discovery to Farming Practices
by Vonnie Estes (AgFunderNews) With the need to produce more food using fewer inputs, agriculture is seeking new products, practices and technologies. As a planet we must use fewer chemicals and less water. Subsistence farmers need to close the yield
June 10, 2016 Read Full Article
The Wonder from Down Under: The Digest’s Multi-Slide Guide to Licella
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Licella produces drop-in biofuels from a wide range of biomass and uses a supercritical water-based technology and catalysts to break up biomass and reform it into a drop-in fuel hydrocarbon. The compelling features of supercritical are
June 01, 2016 Read Full Article
Best for Biofuels
by Dave Evensen (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) Research finds where bioenergy crops would grow best while minimizing detrimental effects on aquatic ecosystems -- ... Researchers at the University of Illinois used detailed models to examine impacts on water quantity and quality
February 24, 2016 Read Full Article
BETO-Funded Study Offers Methods to Support a Water-Sustainable Bioenergy Industry
(US Department of Energy) Argonne National Laboratory released a study funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) that examines the potential effects of future biofuel production on freshwater resources in the Missouri River Basin—a region that
January 29, 2016 Read Full Article
Review of Water Consumption and Water Conservation Technologies in the Algal Biofuel Process.
by Tu Q, Lu M, Thiansathit W, Keener TC (PubMed) Although water is one of the most critical factors affecting the sustainable development of algal biofuels, it is much less studied as compared to the extensive research on algal biofuel
January 28, 2016 Read Full Article
University of Illinois Awarded Grant to Support Sorghum Research
(University of Illinois/Biomass Magazine) The University of Illinois has been awarded a 3-year, $5 million grant from the DOE Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy as part of its OPEN 2015 funding initiative (ARPA-E OPEN). Under Principal Investigator Andrew Leakey, Associate Professor of
December 18, 2015 Read Full Article
Do Biofuels Massively Worsen Water Stress?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Does bioenergy place such massive pressure on water resources that it zeroes out the climate change benefits? Tweets around a recent article from PNAS say “yes, that’s so!” But is it really so? The dire headline tweeted by Carbon
August 06, 2015 Read Full Article
Argonne Model Analyzes Water Footprint of Biofuels
by Greg Cunningham (Argonne National Laboratory) A new version of an online tool created by the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory will help biofuels developers gain a detailed understanding of water consumption of various types of feedstocks, aiding
January 16, 2015 Read Full Article
Fortunately, Unfortunately: Pathways and Barriers to Algae Biofuels at Scale
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Think algae biofuels are real and near? Or, think it’s a promotional scheme for attracting finance for nutraceuticals and academic bridges-to-nowhere? The barriers might be more, or less, daunting than you think. Let’s look at
May 27, 2014 Read Full Article
Research: Fracking Uses and Loses More Water than Previously Believed
by Matthew McFeeley (The Energy Collective) Fracking’s water footprint is higher than previously thought, according to a new report that combined data from many sources to provide one of the most comprehensive looks at how water is used by the oil and
November 08, 2013 Read Full Article
Insight: Biofuel Produced from Wood Residue Shows Promising Water Footprint
(Environmental Research Web) Biofuels could be a promising way to reduce reliance on imported petroleum oil and improve the environment, but the downside is that they can use up considerable natural resources. A new study, published in Environmental Research Letters
October 02, 2013 Read Full Article
Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office Comments on Air Force Strategic Studies Quarterly Article: Energy Insecurity, The False Promise of Liquid Biofuels
(US Department of Energy/Department of Defense) General Comments Although the author has done an extensive literature reading in the biofuels area, the paper does not have any analysis of critical issues of energy systems including petroleum systems and biofuel systems. Instead,