First Mercedes Benz EV Delivered to Iceland

Joanna Schroeder

The first AMP electric Mercedes Benz, manufactured in Cincinnati, OH, has been delivered to Gisli Gislason, Chairman and CEO of Ireland-based Northern Lights Energy (NLE). This is the first in a contract worth $100 million to bring EV to Iceland. The car was “electrified” by AMP Electric Vehicles, a subsidiary of AMP Holding. This is the first EV delivered as …

Electric Vehicles

Canada Fears Rising Gas Prices

Joanna Schroeder

I just returned from Toronto, Canada after attending the 2011 BIO World Congress (great stuff and check back as I post a series of audio interviews from the conference) and the country is feeling the impacts of rising gas prices. Consumers in Central Canada have seen gas prices rise nearly 30 cents almost overnight despite the drop in oil prices …

Biodiesel, biofuels, food and fuel, International, Opinion

Air Force Tests Independence Bio-Products’ Algae Jet Fuel

Joanna Schroeder

The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base is testing jet fuel derived from algae produced by Dublin, Ohio based Independence Bio-Products (IBP). The algae was grown in open ponds in Ohio and harvested with the company’s patent pending harvest system. The tests are part of federally funded project to examine Algae to Fuel (ATF) processing technologies. …

algae, biofuels, biojet fuel

Waste Management Invests in Agnion

Joanna Schroeder

Waste Management (WM) has announced they have invested in Agnion Energy, a company developing gasification technology. WM joins other company investors including Kleiner Perkins, Caufield Byers, Munich Venture Partners, and Wellington Partners. Agnion’s allothermal gasification technology converts solid biomass feedstock into a hydrogen and carbon monoxide synthetic gas (syngas) with high heating value. The syngas can then be converted into …

biomass, Waste-to-Energy

350Green Installs 3 EV Charging Stations in Bay Area

Joanna Schroeder

The Bay Area is the home of three new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. 350Green, in partnership with Simon Property Group, will install one EV charging station at the Stanford Shopping Center, one at Santa Rosa Plaza and one at Coddingtown Mall. These are the first three major shopping areas to offer EV charging in the Bay Area while consumer …

Electric Vehicles, Smart Grid

Sapphire & Linde Announce Algae CO2 Deal

Joanna Schroeder

Sapphire Energy and The Linde Group have announced a multi-year partnership to co-develop a low-cost system to deliver carbon dioxide (CO2) to commercial-scale, open-pond, algae-to-fuel cultivation systems.  Linde, who is a leading supplier of CO2 in the US, will work with Sapphire to reduce the costs incurred when delivering CO2 for commercial-scale open pond algae cultivation. In addition, Linde will …

algae, biofuels

FUJIFILM Adds Solar Power

Joanna Schroeder

FUJIFILM has completed the installation of a 483,391 kilo-watt hours solar power system at its branch office in Hawaii. The installation was completed by 21st Century Technologies and is comprised of 1,455 Conergy PowerPlus modules. The solar power system will produce the equivalent amount of energy needed to power 66 average sized homes per year and is the first Conergy …

Electricity, Energy, Solar

FPInnovations Now Producing Lignin for Research

Joanna Schroeder

Canada’s first lignin plant is operational and producing lignin for Canadian researchers according to an announcement made during the 2011 BIO World Congress. The plant is owned and operated by FPInnovations who is working in partnership with the Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE), Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN) and AbitibiBowater. Lignin is a residual substance derived from …

BIO, biochemicals, biofuels, Biotech

New Corn Oil Extraction Technology Increases Yield

Joanna Schroeder

Inedible corn oil is an emerging co-product for the ethanol industry. Today, about 1/3 of all ethanol plants in production are producing some type of inedible corn oil. However, many current technologies on the market don’t deliver high yields. This may change with the announcement from Ashland Hercules Water Technologies who has released a patent-pending corn oil extraction aid, PTV …

Biodiesel, biofuels, corn, Ethanol

DSM & Roquette Announce Plans for Biochemical Plant

Joanna Schroeder

Royal DSM used the 2011 BIO World Congress as a platform to announcement several new initiatives. Yesterday, DSM CEO Ferke Sijbesma received the George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology. In addition, the company was part of a funding round for Verdezyne. The latest news is that they have announced a partnership with French company Roquette Frères to …

BIO, biochemicals, Biotech