DuPont and Chinese green power company Yingli Energy Company Limited have signed a one-year, $100 million solar energy deal. The strategic agreement includes the supply of advanced solar materials, the installation of a solar power plant and co-marketing initiatives and expands a previous $100 million supply agreement between the companies announced in February of last year. “Materials are critical to …
ICM Gen 1.5 Improves Ethanol Output, Oil Recovery
Kansas-based ICM Inc. announces a new process that promises to enhance yields and oil recovery for ethanol plant, while expecting to also produce the higher value Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs) for the fuel that comes from those plants. In an interview with Joanna in advance of next week’s Fuel Ethanol Workshop in St. Louis, Mo., Kurt Dieker, ICM’s Director of …
United Signs Biofuel Agreement with AltAir
Flying giant United Airlines signs an agreement with aviation biofuel provider AltAir Fuels to buy 15 million gallons over three years with options for more of sustainable aviation biofuel to be used on flights from Los Angeles starting in 2014. This United news release says the move is expected to cut greenhouse gases from the flights in half: With United’s …
World Prepares for the Power of Global Wind Day
People around the world will participate in hundreds of activities to discover the power of wind energy during Global Wind Day on June 15. This news release from the European Wind Energy Association says there will be a wide variety of things going on … from concerts to boat trips … as well as a big push through social media …
Pacific Ethanol Providing Corn Oil for Biodiesel
An Idaho ethanol plant is producing distillers corn oil that could go in to biodiesel production. Pacific Ethanol Inc. announced that it is using ICM Inc.’s Advanced Oil Separation System™ to get the corn oil at its 60 million gallon a year Magic Valley, ID plant. Neil Koehler, the company’s president and CEO, stated: “Corn oil is a high value …
Study: EPA Lacks Transparency in Feedstock Approvals
A study from a pair of University of Illinois researchers says the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks “transparency and clarity” when it comes to approving new feedstocks for biofuels as new pathway determinations. In farmdocdaily.com, James McCubbins and Bryan Endres say that if it’s not biodiesel or corn ethanol, it seems to take a lot longer to get the agency’s …
Biomass-based Diesel Imports Jump in March
We’re seeing a big spike in the amount of biomass-based diesel imported into the U.S. Biodiesel Magazine reports the latest numbers from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show gross imports at 17.3 million gallons in March… a more than eight-fold increase above February’s 2.2 million gallons, and it marks the first biomass-based diesel from Argentina in about four years and …
Australian Co. Inks Deal, Will Re-Open Biodiesel Plant
Australia-based Lignol Energy Corporation announced it will re-open an approximately 35 million gallon a year biodiesel plant. The announcement comes as part of a deal that sees LEC agree to acquire an additional 2.67 million shares of Territory Biofuels Limited (“TBF”) for nearly $1 million (US) that makes LEC a majority shareholder in TBF: “We are excited to be working …
Students Win Clean Air & Biodiesel Poster Contest
The American Lung Association in Minnesota and the Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council recognized three Minneapolis students for their entries in the Clean Air & Biodiesel Lesson & Poster Contest. This Biodiesel Magazine article says the contest, open to 5th and 6th graders, helped demonstrate how biodiesel helps to protect clean air and protects our health: The winners are …
Cold-Growing Algae Shows Biodiesel Promise
A new strain of algae found growing in the snowy Rocky Mountains could provide a promising feedstock for biodiesel. This story in Science Daily says heterococcus sp. DN1, a new variety of yellow-green algae, grows at near freezing temperatures and accumulates large amounts of lipids, working best at high light at the low temps: Algae that can grow in extreme …