The White House has confirmed that President Obama will be visiting a Missouri ethanol plant this week. It will mark the first time Obama has visited a working ethanol biorefinery, although he was the guest speaker at the ribbon cutting of the now-bankrupt VeraSun plant in Charles City, Iowa when he was a presidential candidate. According to the White House, …
More Funds for Verenium Demo Cellulosic Plant
Verenium Corporation has been awarded an additional $4.9 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to fund ongoing activities at its demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Jennings, Louisiana. “We are very pleased to receive this additional funding from the DOE, particularly given the critical work currently being performed at Jennings to optimize our cellulosic process,” said Carlos A. Riva, …
POET Ups the Cellulosic Ethanol Ante
The largest ethanol producer in the world intends to be directly or indirectly responsible for the production of 3.5 billion gallons of cellulosic ethanol by 2022. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., POET CEO Jeff Broin said they have made enough progress on technology and feedstock development to break ground on their first cellulosic ethanol plant in …
ZeaChem Moves Closer to Cellulosic Ethanol
Just in time for Earth Day last week, Colorado-based ZeaChem announced it had successfully produced commercial-grade ethyl acetate, a commercial grade “green chemical,” from woody biomass instead of oil. The ethyl acetate can either be sold to chemical manufacturers or converted into ethanol through hydrogenation. “These results demonstrate ZeaChem’s ability to produce another valuable bio-based intermediate chemical on the road …
House Ag Chair Expects 15 Percent Ethanol by August
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) expects the Environmental Protection Agency to approve 15 percent ethanol blends for regular gasoline by August. According to a story from Hoosier Ag Today, Peterson said in an interview that it is taking a longer time to get approval than he thinks is necessary. “Now, we’re thinking we might get a decision in …
Senate Bill Would Extend Ethanol Tax Incentives
A bill has been introduced in the Senate to extend tax incentives for ethanol set to expire at the end of this year. Senators Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) introduced the bipartisan GREEN Jobs Act of 2010 that extends through 2015 the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), the offsetting tariff on foreign ethanol, the Small Producers Tax …
POET Ethanol Plants Get Safety Awards
Five POET ethanol plants have been recognized for chemical transportation safety, receiving the Union Pacific Railroad’s 14th annual Pinnacle Award. The award is given to companies that have no non-accident releases during the year and have successful prevention and corrective plans in place. “This is Union Pacific’s opportunity to acknowledge and thank our customers for their continuing efforts to eliminate …
Dyadic Resolves Lawsuit
Biotech firm Dyadic International announced today an agreement to resolve a class action lawsuit initially filed in October 2007. The litigation, Miller v. Dyadic International, Inc. et al, pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, asserted class action claims under federal securities laws based on allegations of misstatements and omissions by Dyadic and certain …
Ethanol Report on Scaling the Blend Wall
In this edition of “The Ethanol Report,” Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) Director of Market Development Robert White talks about what RFA is doing to help ethanol scale the rapidly approaching blend wall. He discusses the BYO Ethanol program to get blender pumps installed, encouraging EPA to grant a waiver to allow up to 15 percent ethanol in regular gasoline, and …
USDA Invites Public Comment on Renewable Energy Programs
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is inviting public comment on several proposed rules designed to increase the production of advanced biofuels and the development of biorefineries that were authorized under the 2008 Farm Bill. “We view these proposed rules as part of the strategy to help meet President Obama’s goal to accelerate the commercial production of advanced biofuels and create a …