Ethanol Summit Available Online

Joanna Schroeder

If you missed the Ethanol Summit this year, no worries. It is now available online via a dedicated YouTube channel. Sessions available online include all panels, plenary sessions and ceremonies from the event held this past June 6 & 7 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The summit was hosted by UNICA, the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association and as the keynote speaker …

Brazil, conferences, Ethanol, Video

Eco-Car Fueled by Cellulosic Ethanol Sets Record

Joanna Schroeder

Cellulosic ethanol has achieved a victory. The Dynamo, a concept car created by a student team called the Roadrunners, and fueled by ethanol made from straw, won the Urban Concepts class of the 2011 Shell eco-marathon in Europe. In tandem to the win, the car set a new miles per gallon record of 1,197 (509 km/1) when adjusted for energy …

biofuels, biomass, Cellulosic, Ethanol, International

New Propane Ford Van Released

Joanna Schroeder

ARS/Rescue Rooter has deployed 21 new propane autogas cargo and cutaway vans in the Los Angeles and Houston areas in an effort to be more “green.” The conversions were executed by ROUSH CleanTech on Ford E-Series vans that have been emission approved in the state of California by the California Air Resources Board as well as nationally by the Environmental …

Propane

Diversifying The Ethanol Industry With Biodiesel

Joanna Schroeder

An ethanol plant that stops looking for ways to diversify its business and improve its profits is an ethanol plant that will drown faster in bad weather. A new option for the ethanol industry to diversify is to add a biodiesel plant to the end of its corn oil extraction technology. This idea lends itself one step closer to a …

Audio, Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol

DOE Awards $2.85M to GeoTek Energy

Joanna Schroeder

The Department of Energy is funding several geothermal projects in the United States including a project by GeoTek Energy to design its Gravity Head Energy System (GHES). The company received $450,000 with the potential for an additional $2.4 million to validate the design and for further development of the technology. Geothermal energy uses heat from the earth to produce steam …

Electricity, Energy, Geothermal

Building Better Fuels Ad Debuts

Joanna Schroeder

Following a visit to the Beltway to conduct its member meeting and meet with politicians, the Advanced BioFuels Association (ABFA) has launched its first online advertisement to promote the successful uses of advanced biofuels. The ad is a first in a series. Michael McAdams, ABFA president said, “As Washington confronts our nation’s energy and economic challenges, we must demonstrate that …

advanced biofuels, Education, Video

LS9 & HCL Cleantech Awarded $9M from DOE

Joanna Schroeder

The Department of Energy has awarded $9 million dollars to LS9 and its partner HCL Cleantech to improve and demonstrate an integrated process to convert biomass feedstocks into fermentable sugars and then into diesel and other biofuel and biochemical products. As part of the DOE grant, the two companies are combining their proprietary technologies to produce drop-in advanced biofuels and …

advanced biofuels, biochemicals

DFCast: Biofuels Take Flight

Joanna Schroeder

In the past few months, biofuels have taken to the skies with a multitude of successful flights conducted by both the military and the commercial airline industry. This news has been even more welcome with the achievements taking place during the aftermath of the Rand report predicting that aviation biofuels would not play a role in the next few decades. …

Audio, biofuels, biojet fuel, Domestic Fuel Cast

REG Files for IPO

Joanna Schroeder

The largest biodiesel company in the U.S., Renewable Energy Group, has filed its registration statement for an initial public offering. The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined. UBS Securities LLC and Piper Jaffray & Co will be acting as joint book-running managers for the IPO. In addition, Stifel, …

Biodiesel, biofuels

Kenya to Construct Largest Geothermal Plant in Africa

Joanna Schroeder

In my latest book review, Energy, Convenient Solutions, author Howard Johnson predicts that geothermal energy will play the biggest role in our energy future. Maybe because I’m now paying more attention to geothermal energy, it seems that some pretty significant geothermal projects have been announced recently. For example, Kenya has unveiled its plans to build the largest geothermal power plant …

Electricity, Energy, Geothermal