by Martin Junginger, Jinke van Dam, Simonetta Zarrilli, Fatin Ali Mohamed, Didier Marchal, and Andre Faaij (IEA Bioenergy) Task 40 under the IEA Bioenergy Agreement entitled: ‘Sustainable International Bioenergy trade; securing supply and demand’, started in 2004 and currently has fourteen country members
woody biomass
Back TO HOMEHydrocarbon Fuels: Topsøe Integrated Gasoline Synthesis - TIGAS
by John Bøgild Hansen (Senior Scientist, Haldor Topsøe A/S) Topsøe is a Danish company that develops catalysts and process technology for gas-to-liquid conversions. Hansen details Topsøe's integrated conversion of synthesis gas to gasoline, which was developed to improve petroleum refining operations.
August 04, 2010 Read Full Article
Sustainability and Forest Biorefinery IV November 19 Syracuse, NY
Sustainability & Forest Biorefinery IV will highlight the biorefinery capacity that is already in existence - the realities of what we can achieve on the energy front. The biorefinery IS here, it is real. Who should come? Professionals from the
August 02, 2010 Read Full Article
One Potato, Two Potato: the Counting of Biomass Emissions
by Jim Lane (Biomass Digest) Following the all-but-certain defeat of a renewal of the ethanol tax credit, left-wing environmental activists, confederated into the National Anti-Biomass Incineration and Forest Protection Campaign, are making a move to destabilize support for biomass-based power generation. At
July 30, 2010 Read Full Article
USDA Forest Service Releases New Roadmap for Responding to Changing Climate
(US Forest Service) Roadmap Includes Scorecard System for Rating Effectiveness in Dealing With Climate Change Initiatives Across Forest Service The USDA Forest Service today announced the release of the National Roadmap for Responding to Climate Change and a new system for
July 27, 2010 Read Full Article
New Biofuel Company Brings US Tech to South Africa
(Alternative Energy Africa) Stellenbosch Biomass Technologies (SBMT) has been officially launched in Sandton, South Africa holding the rights to commercialize and adapt the latest conversion technology developed by US-based Mascoma Technologies. Mascoma is rated one of the top 10 most innovative companies
July 14, 2010 Read Full Article
Considerations for Factoring Biomass into Clean Energy
(Washington Post) Editorial ...Many lawmakers want the government to require utilities to derive a certain percentage of their electricity from clean sources. And one of the sources that would probably qualify is so-called renewable biomass -- everything from forest debris
July 06, 2010 Read Full Article
New Technique Improves Efficiency Of Biofuel Production
(North Carolina State University) Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a more efficient technique for producing biofuels from woody plants that significantly reduces the waste that results from conventional biofuel production techniques. The technique is a significant step toward
July 06, 2010 Read Full Article
CORE BioFuel Inc. Considers Montana for Wood-to-Gasoline Plant
(CORE Biofuel) CORE BioFuel Inc., a Canadian biofuel company that is commercializing an advanced biomass to gasoline production process, today announced that it will pursue an additional production facility to be possibly located in northwest Montana. Don Sigler, Chief Financial Officer
June 30, 2010 Read Full Article
Biomass Better than Coal? War over Carbon Accounting Erupts
by Jim Lane (Biomass Digest) In Washington, the Environment Working Group has released a study that claims the impacts of the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACESA)—which has already passed the House of Representatives—would require the equivalent of cutting
June 24, 2010 Read Full Article
Novozymes and Lignol Sign Deal to Make Biofuel from Wood
(Novozymes) Partners to develop a commercially viable process for making ethanol from forestry waste. Aiming for a cost down to $2 per gallon, a price competitive with gasoline and corn ethanol. Novozymes, the world’s leading producer of industrial enzymes, and Lignol Energy
June 15, 2010 Read Full Article
Biomass Now Generates 32% of All Energy in Sweden, Causing Increased Competition for Pulpwood, Reports the Wood Resource Quarterly
(WebWire) Biomass has now surpassed oil to become the number one source for energy generation in Sweden. The increased competition for logs and wood chips between the pulp industry and energy sector has pushed wood fiber prices to new highs,
June 11, 2010 Read Full Article
Fischer-Tropsch Demonstration Start-up Underway in Güssing
(Oxford Catalysts Group) Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, the leading technology innovator for clean synthetic fuels, is pleased to announce that following successful mechanical completion and pre-commissioning, start-up of its Fischer-Tropsch (“FT”) demonstration is currently underway. The demonstration facility is located in
June 02, 2010 Read Full Article
Biofuel Bill Would Allow Federal Forests to be Feedstock
by Leon Kaye (Triplepundit) ...Regardless of party affiliation, senators in the northern prairie states have a history of opposing any bill focused on energy independence or energy efficiency. These senators are good, however, in promoting legislation favoring local industries. Senate
June 01, 2010 Read Full Article
Mascoma’s Plan for Ethanol Plant in Michigan Likely Delayed, CEO Says
by Ryan McBride (Xconomy.com) Lebanon, NH-based Mascoma has made strides with its process for producing ethanol from non-food plants such as wood chips and grass. Yet the firm is likely to delay the start of production at its first planned commercial
May 25, 2010 Read Full Article
Chempolis Develops a Unique Technology for Bioethanol Production
(Chempolis) Chempolis Oy, engaged in the development and delivery of environmentally sustainable biorefining technologies, has expanded its biorefinery and R&D centre in Oulu (Finland) to the production of bioethanol. This enables the company to strengthen its position in the market, as the
May 20, 2010 Read Full Article
U.S. Clears a Test of Bioengineered Trees
by Andres Pollack (New York Times) Federal regulators gave clearance Wednesday for a large and controversial field test of genetically engineered trees planned for seven states stretching from Florida to Texas. The test is meant to see if the trees, eucalyptuses
May 14, 2010 Read Full Article
Scientists ID Bacterial Genes that Improve Plant Growth
(Brookhaven National Laboratory) You might think bacteria that "invade" trees are there to cause certain destruction. But like the helpful bacteria that live within our guts, some microbes help plants thrive. To find out what makes these microbe-plant interactions "tick,"
May 14, 2010 Read Full Article
Sustainable Biofuels from Forests, Grasslands and Rangelands
(Ecological Society of America) Analyzing biofuel sources and predicting effects on water, soil and the atmosphere: The promise of switchgrass, the challenges for forests and the costs of corn-based ethanol production: Ecological scientists review the many factors surrounding biofuel crop production
May 07, 2010 Read Full Article
Maryland Researchers Turn Poplar Trees into Biofuel
by Meredith Cohn (The Baltimore Sun) In response to a national call for homegrown, Earth-friendly fuels to fill Americans' gas tanks, a couple of University of Maryland researchers are planting trees. Fuel derived from the hardy, fast-growing common poplar could eventually
May 03, 2010 Read Full Article
Biofuel Company Builds Test Plant
(CBC News) An Ontario biofuels company is building a test plant in Sarnia to produce ethanol from wood and farm waste rather than corn. Don Hewson, managing director of the Sarnia-Lambton research park where the facility will be located, said the
April 20, 2010 Read Full Article
Visualizing Sustainability: Developing Geospatial Technology to Address Sustainable Biofuel Production: Assessing the Impact of Ecological Consideration on Forest Biomass Projections
By Jocelyn Tutak (Conservation Biology Institute). This presentation was mostly focused on developing a method of incorporating ecological considerations into woody biomass. The presentation contains many slides of the studied area, the data, methods of ecological consideration, ecological values and
April 13, 2010 Read Full Article
HCL CleanTech Establishes Administrative and Pilot Plant Facilities in North Carolina
HCL CleanTech, a U.S.-Israeli biofuels technology development company, has chosen North Carolina as the site for its administrative headquarters and first pilot plant. The Biofuels Center of North Carolina has assisted the company and will provide office space in Oxford in
April 06, 2010 Read Full Article
Honeywell's UOP and Indian Oil Corp. to Collaborate on Biofuels Project in India
Companies would evaluate non-food Indian feedstocks for the production of green diesel and green jet fuels as well as the development of renewable power applications from biomass waste. UOP, a Honeywell company, announced March 31, 2010, that it signed a memorandum
April 06, 2010 Read Full Article
Bio Base Europe’s GM Poplars Are Popular for Ethanol
(Biofuels International) According to Bio Base Europe the first crop of genetically modified poplar plants will be converted into ethanol in a Flemish-Dutch pilot installation. The poplars were planted in May 2009 in an outside field in Ghent, Belgium. The crop
March 23, 2010 Read Full Article
Florida Woody Biomass Economic Study
In 2008, the Florida Legislature passed legislation requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, in conjunction with the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct an economic impact analysis on the effects of granting financial incentives to energy producers who
March 16, 2010 Read Full Article
$200M Refinery to Convert Wood Products into Fuel, Electricity
(Nashville Business Journal) Another green energy company is coming to Tennessee, but this one doesn’t have anything to do with solar power, unless you count photosynthesis. Hawaii-based ClearFuels Technology has agreed to partner with Hughes Hardwood to develop a biorefinery in
March 11, 2010 Read Full Article
Sustainable Foresting: Easier Said than Done
E. Detlef Schulze and Inge Schulze(Science) letter to editor It is commonly held that planting forests helps to mitigate climate change, because forests sequester carbon dioxide into long-lived biomass and soils. However, our personal experience shows that managed forests are unlikely
March 01, 2010 Read Full Article
North Dakota State University Economist Helps Sort Out Biofuel’s Future
by Mikkel Pates (AgWeek) Need some help in deciding what to make into biofuels and what the government should be spending on it? If you’re a North Dakotan, you’ve hired Cole Gustafson to do some of this thinking for you.
February 24, 2010 Read Full Article
Modified Eucalyptus to Transform Forests
by Smriti Rao (CBS) Now that many U.S. farmers have grown used to genetically modified (GM) soy and corn, the controversy surrounding GM crops may shift over to GM eucalyptus-a fast-growing Australian tree that, in its unmodified strains, dominates the
February 15, 2010 Read Full Article
Biomass Crop Assistance Program to Spur Production of Renewable Energy, Job Creation
President Obama announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a proposed rule for the new Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP) that intends to spur the expansion of dedicated non-food crops for renewable energy and biofuel production. A public comment
February 09, 2010 Read Full Article
Evolution Resources Signs Testing Services Agreement With North Carolina State University
Evolution Resources, Inc., an advanced biofuels production company focused on the production of cellulosic ethanol using the latest in modern processes and technologies, today announced the signing of a Testing Services Agreement with North Carolina State University. Under the terms of
January 15, 2010 Read Full Article
Honeywell's UOP Awarded U.S. Department Of Energy Grant For Conversion Of Waste Biomass To Green Transportation Fuels
UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, announced it has been selected for negotiation of a $25 million award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to build a demonstration unit in Hawaii to convert cellulosic biomass into green transportation fuels. As part
January 15, 2010 Read Full Article
Canadian Feds Pump $5.5 Million into Biofuel Plant
by Eric Mcguinness (Hamilton Spectator) SunOpta BioProcess Inc. of Brampton is getting $5.5 million from the federal government to demonstrate that it can turn wood chips into fuel-grade ethanol and the sugar substitute xylitol. The cellulosic ethanol would replace gasoline, reducing
January 15, 2010 Read Full Article
The Unintended Ripples from the Biomass Subsidy Program
by Juliet Eilperin (Washington Post) It sounded like a good idea: Provide a little government money to convert wood shavings and plant waste into renewable energy. But as laudable as that goal sounds, it could end up causing more economic damage than
January 12, 2010 Read Full Article
FPInnovations and CRIBE Create a Cooperative Partnership to Develop the Forest Bio‐Economy in Ontario
... “The Government of Ontario has recognized the need to move the Province to the forefront of the commercialization of chemicals, fuels, fibres and energy that can be produced from forests,” added Lorne Morrow, Chief Executive Officer for CRIBE. “There
January 11, 2010 Read Full Article
Tapping Our Forests for Green Energy
(Property and Environment Research Center) Federally owned forests in the United States are facing financial and ecological problems. At the same time, the public’s growing concern over environmental issues and future energy sources are pushing the promotion of renewable energy.
January 11, 2010 Read Full Article
MSU, Michigan Tech Sign Biofuel Research Contract with Frontier
Ensuring a sustainable supply of woody biomass for the state's first cellulosic ethanol plant is the goal of a research partnership between Michigan State University and Michigan Technological University supported by Frontier Renewable Resources, of Kinross, Mich. MSU and Michigan Tech
November 10, 2009 Read Full Article
ZeaChem Says 2,000 Gallon Per Acre Threshold in Sight for its Cellulosic Ethanol Process
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Montreal, ZeaChem, ... confirmed that it is on track to complete a demonstration-scale plant in Boardman, Oregon where yields of more than 2,000 gallons per acre per year can be achieved. ... Why the
July 28, 2009 Read Full Article
Industrial Biotechnology in China Amidst Changing Market Conditions
by Elizabeth Nesbitt (Journal of International Commerce and Economics) The increasing use of industrial biotechnology by the Chinese liquid biofuels and chemical industries is expected to help offset energy security and environmental concerns generated by China’s robust economic growth. The expanding use of bioprocesses
February 27, 2009 Read Full Article
How to Beat the High Cost of Gasoline. Forever!
by Adam Lashinsky and Nelson D. Schwartz (CNN Money/Fortune Magazine) You probably don't know it, but the answer to America's gasoline addiction could be under the hood of your car. More than five million Tauruses, Explorers, Stratuses, Suburbans, and other vehicles