A California-based biofuel maker that extracts its feedstock oil from algae and uses that oil for several other products has its first customer. OriginOil, Inc. has announced that it is shipping a Quantum Fracturing™ System, the first unit in a multi-phase commercialization program, to Australian company MBD Energy Limited: “This is a major milestone for OriginOil and represents our first …
Biodiesel to be Part of NY’s Cleaner Heating Oil Plan
New York City is trying to clean up the emissions from the city’s burning of heating oil, and biodiesel is part of the plan for the Big Apple to go greener. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Quinn that they have agreed on legislation to cut allowable sulfur levels for No. 4 heating oil in half. This …
Boeing: Biofuel Use by Airlines Up to 1% by 2015
Boeing’s top environmental officer says that commercial airlines might use up to 1 percent biofuels made from plants and algae by the year 2015. Bloomberg quotes Billy Glover, managing director of environmental strategy at Boeing’s commercial airplanes unit, as pointing out that has worked with airlines from the U.S. to Japan to test jet fuels made from plants such as …
Feds Give $228 Mil. for Sun- and CO2-to-Fuel Projects
The federal Department of Energy is giving $228 million for projects that will turn sunlight directly into fuel and carbon dioxide (CO2) into fuel and other products, such as plastics, cement and fertilizers. This article from Biofuels Digest says $122 million will go to start an Energy Innovation Hub for the sun projects, and $106 million for six projects dealing …
Truckstop Operators Lobby for Biodiesel Incentive Renewal
The group that represents truckstops and travel plazas is urging renewal of the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive. Refrigerated Transporter reports that NATSO has teamed up with other partners in the industry, such as the National Association of Convenience Stores, the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America, to send a letter to …
EPA Data on Canola Biodiesel Pathway Released
Canola-based biodiesel is closer to becoming a fuel authorized for biomass-based diesel Renewable Identification Numbers (RINs), now that the EPA has released a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) for its recent modeling of the canola oil biodiesel pathway. Earlier this year, EPA announced the final rule for the new Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2), but the canola pathway was not yet …
Biodiesel Board Looks to Fill Technical Position
I had a job interview with the National Biodiesel Board the other day. No, not a job interview for ME, but an interview about a job NBB has to offer. I sat down with my friend Donnell Rehagen, Chief Operating Officer for the NBB, and he told me about a technical position they have supporting the biodiesel industry with group’s …
Pickens Says Natural Gas Only Diesel Replacement; Biodiesel Says Wha….?
T. Boone Pickens is making a new pitch for natural gas to be the fuel of the future, especially in America’s big rigs. However, while declaring natural gas as the only replacement for petroleum diesel, the billionaire oilman seems to forget that biodiesel is already a great source to replace petroleum-based products… without having to convert any engines. In the …
US’s First Enzymatic Biodiesel Plant to be Unveiled
Industrial enzymes producer Novozymes and Piedmont Biofuels of North Carolina will be unveiling new technology at the first enzymatic biodiesel pilot plant in the U.S. tomorrow. The technology will turn low quality waste grease into high quality biodiesel: The enzymatic biodiesel pilot plant was developed in partnership with the Biofuels Center of North Carolina, and the Chatham County Economic Development …
Freshwater Wind Summit Planned for Cleveland
Looks like LeBron James left Cleveland just a little too early, because he could have gone to the Infocast’s Freshwater Wind 2010 Summit, July 19-21. Well, at least YOU won’t have to worry about him sitting in front of you at the Wyndham Cleveland at Playhouse Square and blocking your view of the event for talking about how to best …