Book Review – Power Trip

Joanna Schroeder

Remember that old wives tale told to children that babies come from storks? Here is the addendum to the tale…and everything else comes from oil. When President Bush delivered his now famous quote, “We’re addicted to oil,” I don’t think he quite realized how prolific that was. He obviously meant in the form of gasoline/energy use but petroleum by-products are …

book reviews

Ceres Awarded $5 Million Grant to Develop Energy Grasses

Joanna Schroeder

Ceres has been awarded $5 million dollars by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to continue its advanced trait development project designed to increase the biomass yields of several energy grasses, such as switchgrass, sorghum and miscanthus, by as much as 40 percent. At the same time, the use of inputs such as nitrogen fertilizers would be decreased. The grant …

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Cellulosic Biofuels Summit Fast Approaching

Joanna Schroeder

The 4th Annual Cellulosic Biofuels Summit will be held in Washington D.C. on November 16-19th. Attendees will represent the feedstock, industrial biotech, biofuel technology, plant developer, finance, and oil and transportation sectors. The main goal of the conference is to share information on the perspectives and progress in reaching commercial production of cellulosic biofuels. There will be three forums: *Forum …

Cellulosic, conferences, Ethanol

Book Review – Green Guides

Joanna Schroeder

I’m writing this review as I fly on a plane and I’m feeling guilty about the amount of CO2 that is emitted when flying – on average, flying contributes about 10 times as much carbon dioxide to the atmosphere as a similar journey by train. And no, I didn’t buy carbon offsets for this trip…. The guilt is being fostered …

book reviews

Dresser Wayne Promotes Eco-Fuel Dispensers

Joanna Schroeder

“It’s what we do. We sell blenders to everyone,” said Scott Negley, director of alternative energy products at Dresser Wayne. Blender pumps are gaining momentum across the country. They allow a retailer the flexibility to dispense various forms of gasoline and biofuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. Negley told me during the NACS show that 80 percent of the dispensers …

Biodiesel, blends, Equipment, Ethanol

Roush Developing Propane Fueled Mustang Race Cars

Joanna Schroeder

If you’ve followed some of the motorsports coverage on DomesticFuel over the past few years, then you’ve probably read about Roush. Today, Roush announced that it is going to introduce a new concept into drag racing: a propane fueled Mustang. The Mustang, and its twin, will be ready to compete for the NMRA championship next season. The cars are the …

Company Announcement, News, Propane, Racing

Geothermal Research Gets boost with DOE Grant

Joanna Schroeder

Now here is an energy resource that we don’t hear or talk enough about: geothermal. Engineered Geothermal Systems (EGS) projects produce electricity using heat extracted through engineered fluid flow paths in hot rock. Geothermal energy has the ability to produce electricity 24 hours a day. Electricity produced by wind has been criticized for its inability to produce electricity at all …

Energy, Geothermal, News

World’s Largest LNG Plant In Production in California

Joanna Schroeder

Using landfill gas to produce energy is real! Waste Management, in conjunction with Linde North America, has begun to produce renewable vehicle fuel at its Altamont Landfill near Livermore, California. The facility is the world’s largest landfill gas (LFG) to liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. The plant which was built and is operated by Linde, purifies and liquefies landfill gas …

Company Announcement, Liquefied natural gas (LNG), News, Waste-to-Energy

Synthetic Cellulosome May Improve Fermentation

Joanna Schroeder

A team of University of California, Riverside (UCR)  researchers, led by Wilfred Chen, Professor of Chemical Engineering, has for the first time, constructed a synthetic cellulosome in yeast. According to Chen, this synthetic cellulosome is much more ethanol-tolerant than the bacteria in which these structures are commonly found. Cellulosomes are self-assembled structures found on the the exterior of certain bacteria …

Cellulosic, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Cereplast to Develop Bioplastics from Algae

Joanna Schroeder

Do you feel guilty when you buy drinking water bottled in plastic? If you don’t, you should and if you do then Cereplast may have a way to ease your mind. The company’s mission is to producing bio-based sustainable plastics and today announced that it has developed a breakthrough technology to transform algae into bioplastics. Cereplast intends to launch a  …

algae, biofuels, Company Announcement, News