This year was a pivotal for Verenium in many ways both operational and financial as announced by the company today. In particular, on the financial side, the company raised $98.3 million and reduced operating losses through the sale of assets to BP; repurchased $21 million of convertible notes, extinguishing all remaining 8% notes; and are on track to achieve revenue …
Book Review – Energy And Climate Wars
The debate about climate change change is over right? Wrong. At least according to authors Peter C. Glover and Michael J. Economides in their book, “Energy and Climate Wars.” The premise of the book is that politicians (aka Al Gore) green ideologues and media elites (What, me? Oh, I’m not a media elite.) are undermining the truth about energy and …
Angry Sparks Turning to Flames Over Ethanol Tax Package
As the domestic ethanol industry’s confidence climbs that their ethanol tax incentives will see at least one-year extensions, angry sparks are turning into flames from those opposed to the move. One group in particular that has voiced its opposition to the passing of the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) as well as the ethanol tariff is the Brazilian Sugarcane …
Investments in G-20 Clean Power Projects Could Top $2.3 Trillion
Private funds have been difficult to secure in the U.S. for clean energy programs for the past year; however, on a global scale, private investments in G-20 clean power projects could total more than $2.3 trillion by the end of this decade alone. This figure was released as part of a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts this month: …
First 350 Chevy Volts Headed to New Homes
Some lucky residents of California, Texas, Washington D.C. and New York could have a special surprise under their tree this holiday, a new Chevy Volt (Okay, maybe in their driveway with a bow on top). The first truckload of Volts left the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly Plant yesterday destined for these markets and will receive the world’s first extended range electric vehicles. …
Iowa City Woman Wins $7,500 In Free Fuel & Food
An Iowa City woman received a very welcome early holiday gift – free food and fuel for a year from the Iowa Corn Growers Association. Katie Ortmann was the winner of the Iowa Corn Fed GameDay GiveAway campaign when her name was called during halftime of the Iowa State versus Iowa men’s basketball game held this past Friday, December 10, …
It’s Time to Go Back to School
It’s never too late to go back to school. The Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at the University of Illinois is now offering an online class in bioenergy systems (ACES 409) for the Spring 2011 semester. The class meets on Tuesday evenings from 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. CST …
Update On Biofuels Tax Credit Extensions
The biofuels industry has been watching closely as the various biofuels tax incentives make their way through the Senate. Today the U.S. Senate voted to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to major tax legislation containing one-year tax extensions of key biofuels tax incentives including VEETC, the Small Ethanol Producer Tax Credit, Secondary Tariff, the Alternative Vehicle Refueling Property …
An Unusual Competitor To Biofuels?
According to an interesting article published in Zootaxaca, a taxonomy journal, scientists have unveiled an unusual competitor with humans for switchgrass, an energy crop with great potential for biofuels, the Blastobasis repartella moth. South Dakota State University entomologist Paul Johnson and agronomist Arvid Boe, along with other researchers, are studing the moth whose larvae are born into the stems of …
GM Reaches Zero-Landfill Plants Goal
General Motors has announced that it has reached its global operations commitment set in 2008 to convert 50 percent of its 145 plants to landfill-free status by the end of 2010. Currently, 52 percent, or 76 of its worldwide facilities, now take all its waste generated from normal operations and reuse, recycle or convert it to energy. GM’s first facility …