POET is helping to fund research at Iowa State University into starch for ethanol production in the hopes of finding starches to further improve the efficiency of POET’s patent-pending BPX™ process. BPX is a raw starch hydrolysis that converts starch to sugar and then ferments to ethanol without the use of heat. It is utilized in 20 of POET’s 22 …
Back Over a Barrel
This post was on Corn Commentary yesterday: The price of a barrel of crude shot up to $110.10 today before closing at $100.01, driven by fear despite evidence of good supplies and falling demand, illustrates the tightrope the United States walks in terms of energy security. A refinery explosion in Texas over the weekend and fear that OPEC will decide …
E85 Pump Openings Grow Slower
The number of E85 stations nationwide only grew by 35 percent last year, compared to 118 percent the previous year. Still, an increase of more than a third is pretty decent growth and the total number of stations as of the end of 2007 was 1420, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. That number has already increased this year …
Policy Choices Will Impact Prices
Researchers at Purdue University have developed a model that shows how economic policies related to ethanol may impact future prices and production. Purdue professor of agricultural economics Wally Tyner says the prices of corn and crude oil, which prior to 2007 fluctuated almost independent of one another, have become more closely linked as the use of corn to make ethanol …
Green is Universal
Universal Studios theme park in Orlando was in the spotlight during the National Biodiesel Conference last week for its biodiesel use, but they are using ethanol as well – and that will be highlighted during the National Ethanol Conference coming up later this month. Robert Winslow, Universal Senior Director Engineering and Environmental Sustainability Technical Services, gave a behind the scenes …
Challenges to “Science” Studies
Scientists from the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory and others around the country are calling into question the assumptions and conclusions of researchers who published their findings last week in Science. Dr. Michael Wang of Argonne’s Transportation Technology R&D Center and Zia Haq of the DOE’s Office of Biomass Program sent a letter commenting on the studies, which generated …
Global Biofuels Policy Effects
Biofuels from an international perspective was on the agenda at the World Ag Expo in California this week. International seminars on Tuesday included “The World of Biofuels” and “The California-Brazil Connection: Ethanol, Biodiesel, Electricity and Beyond.” One of the panelists for the second seminar was Rahul Iyer of Primafuel, who spoke on international biofuel policy trends and the many opportunities …
Ethanol May Help Lower Gas Prices
According to a Reuters news service article today, “explosive [ethanol] production is stifling an established driver of oil markets — U.S. gasoline demand — and could lead to lower prices at the pump.” The article quotes analyst Eric Wittenauer of AG Edwards in St. Louis saying, “‘Ethanol blending could help ease U.S. refining bottlenecks and that could be ultimately reflected …
Cabinet Officials to Speak at WIREC 08
Four cabinet-level officials will be participating in the upcoming Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC 2008), scheduled to take place March 4-6, 2008, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, and Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Stephen Johnson are all scheduled …
Waste to Fuels Conference
The Southern Waste Information eXchange and the Florida BioFuels Association are sponsoring the 1st Annual Waste-to-Fuels Conference & Trade Show in Orlando, Florida on April 6-8, 2008. The conference will provide a forum for informing the public and private sectors of the economic and environmental benefits of converting waste materials to alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol as well …