ICM has announced the company has filed for a non-provisional patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and an international patent application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) with the U.S. as receiving office. The patent will cover ICM’s newest development to its Advanced Oil System, a corn oil extraction technology. Also filed was a petition to …
Algae Waste Water, Ag Runoff Projects Underway in Europe
OriginOil, Inc. and its French partner Ennesys have confirmed they are working with various institutions to develop two separate large-scale algae projects. Global 500 Multinational Bouygues Construction has engaged Ennesys to study the integration of waste water algae production in two building projects in the Greater Paris region both at the scale of a million square feet (80,000 m2 and …
KiOR Breaks Ground, Signs FedEx
KiOR has had a busy week. They recently announced a ground fuel supply agreement with FedEx. Under the agreement, KiOR will supply renewable diesel blendstocks for purchase by affiliates of FedEx Corporate Services. This is the company’s first end-user agreement. The oil will be produced at the company’s first commercial production facility in Columbus, Mississippi that is scheduled to go …
DuPont’s Bid for Danisco Successful
It’s official. DuPont is now the owner of Danisco. The successful completion of the purchase occurred on May 15, 2011 with the tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock for Danisco for DKK 700 cash per share. The tender offer expired on May 13, 2011, at 11 p.m. CEST (5 p.m. EDT) and DuPont estimates that at that …
ZeaChem Secures Biorefinery Feedstock Contract
It is a wood to biofuels kinda day today. ZeaChem has announced they have signed an agreement with GreenWood Tree Farm Fund (GTFF), managed by GreenWood Resources (GWR), to supply hybrid poplar woody biomass for its first commercial cellulosic biorefinery. The woody biomass is in close proximity to the proposed plant and when the plant goes into production, ZeaChem will …
New Study Assesses Wood For Biofuels
Wood waste has been one of the feedstocks most studied for viability as a biofuel. Today a new study evaluates the promise of wood waste biofuels by reviewing 12 technologies and 36 projects that convert wood to fuels including ethanol, butanol, diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel. This particular area of research has garnered strong public and private investment and drop-in …
Nantenna to Improve Solar Capture Threefold
One of the drawbacks with solar energy is they only collect, on average, 20 percent of available sunlight. To address this problem, University of Missouri engineer Patrick Pinhero, an associate professor in the MU Chemical Engineering Department, is developing a flexible solar sheet that will capture more than 90 percent sunlight. Pinhero notes that energy generated using traditional photovoltaic methods …
New Study Breaks Link Between Land Use, Biofuels
In a new study released today by Michigan State University (MSU), biofuel production in the United States through 2007, “probably has not induced any indirect land use change.” The report was conducted by Seungdo Kim and Bruce Dale, both MSU scientists, and the results will be published in the next issue of the Journal of Biomass and Bioenergy. ILUC is …
Company Studies Tobacco for Biofuels
A start-up company, Tyton BioSciences, is looking for a new outlet for tobacco – biodiesel and ethanol. The company is developing genetically modified tobacco that will, according to their website, “produce both ethanol and biodiesel at yields that far surpass the traditional crops of corn and soy.” The company’s tobacco will also be easier to grow than those grown for …
Solar to Power Volt Assembly Plant
General Motors (GM) is in full production on the Chevrolet Volt, a flex-fuel electric car (FFV-EV). Since the Volt is more “sustainable” the company is also looking at ways to produce the vehicle in more sustainable ways as well. GM is currently in the process of installing the largest photovoltaic solar (PV) array in Southeast Michigan at its Detroit-Hamtramck assembly …