Amyris is having a busy week. Yesterday, they announced a partnership with Tate and Lyle Ingredients Americas, Inc (a subsidiary of Tate and Lyle) for them to produce farnesene. Amryis will take the farnesene and produce farnesane, the company’s unique diesel molecule that forms the basis of its renewable diesel. The product will be manufactured in Tate and Lyle’s facility …
CEC Awards $9.6M in Energy Grants
Good news today for several California biofuel producers. The California Energy Commission (CEC) has approved eight grants worth more than $9.6 million along with $11,969,855 in private funds. Each winning project demonstrated its ability to reduce petroleum use, reduce pollution and provide jobs. The categories of industry that were eligible for funding included biofuels, manufacturers of electric vehicles and batteries, …
USDA Looks Into Pennycress for Biodiesel
The USDA is looking into turning a common weed into biodiesel. Researchers with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) have found that field pennycress, better known in some circles as stinkweed, puts out a large amount of oilseeds good for making the green fuel: Field pennycress belongs to the Brassicaceae family, along with canola, camelina and mustard-other prolific producers of oil-rich …
Butamax Unveils Biobutanol Lab in Brazil
Today, Butamax Advanced Biofuels, LLC, a partnership between BP and DuPont to develop biobutanol, announced the opening of a biobutanol technology laboratory in the city of Paulínia, São Paulo state, Brazil. Butamax CEO Tim Potter joined Ricardo Vellutini, DuPont do Brasil’s President and Vice President of Agricultural Products for Latin America, for a ribbon cutting ceremony. Media were also welcome …
Advance to the 2011 Biodiesel Conference
It is time to start thinking about the next National Biodiesel Conference, coming up February 6-9 in Phoenix. Registration is now open with special early bird discounts until available until November 19. The theme of the 2011 conference is “Advance” – reflecting the fact that biodiesel is classified as an advanced biofuel by EPA under the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2). …
New Blender Pumps in Michigan
Growth Energy has partnered with Cooperative Elevator and Ignash Petroleum to install Michigan’s second and third blender pumps. The Cooperative Elevator pump will be installed in Sebewaing on Monday, November 8 and the Ignash pump was installed in Elkton last week. The companies received assistance to install the pumps – which offer varying blends of E30, E40, E50 and E85 …
UNICA Urges Congress to End Ethanol Tariff
“As the dust settled on a midterm election that significantly altered the political landscape, voters sent a clear message that cutting the deficit and ending wasteful government spending should be top priorities for Congress. Americans will be watching closely to see if lawmakers got the message. Eliminating ethanol subsidies and trade protection would be a good way to indicate that …
More Cellulosic Ethanol Investment Needed
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has lowered its projection for cellulosic ethanol production in 2011, which means investment in next generation biofuels is more important than ever. In a recent letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lisa Jackson, EIA administrator Richard Newell noted that they are now projecting cellulosic ethanol production will be just 3.94 million gallons next year, …
What Election Means for Ethanol
Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen held a conference call with reporters this morning to discuss what yesterday’s historic election results may mean for ethanol policy, both for the rest of this year and in the next Congress. “Washington will be a more Republican town in January,” Dinneen said. “Will that have a meaningful impact on the U.S. …
INEOS Awards $100M Contract to Build Bioenergy Facility
INEOS Bio has awarded Tucker, Georgia-based AMEC a $100 million contract to build its BioEnergy Center in Indian River County, Fla. Once completed, the plant will be one of the first commercial waste-to-energy plants and the first one built using INEOS’s advanced BioEnergy Technology. When the facility is completed, it will produce 8 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol per year …