A joint American-Malaysian effort has completed an important oil palm genome sequencing project that could unlock even more potential from this oil-rich feedstock for biodiesel. Biodiesel Magazine reports that the Malaysian Palm Oil Board and St. Louis-based Orion Genomics have led a consortium that has sequenced three oil palm genomes from two oil palm species: Oil palm plantations on average …
Largest Wind Energy Project in Utah Begins Operations
The largest wind energy project in Utah has started operations, generating enough power to keep the lights on in 45,000 homes per year. This article from the Deseret News says First Wind’s Milford Wind Corridor project has 97 wind turbines capable of producing 203.5 megawatts of electricity: Eventually, the $400 million project will include 159 turbines across 40 square miles …
Biodiesel Equipment Set for Sale on November 12
Don’t forget, there’s a big sale on biodiesel equipment just around the corner. On this Thursday, November 12, auction company Maas Companies, which recently sold the Altra Nebraska ethanol plant in Carleton, Nebraska, will be selling six, 10-million-gallon-a-year biodiesel process trains at the Hampton Inn & Suites – Newark Harrison Riverwalk, 100 Passaic Ave, Harrison, New Jersey, starting at 11 …
New Venture to Finance Sorghum-to-Ethanol Projects
A new venture could provide up to $376 million for projects that will turn sweet sorghum into ethanol. DPG Investments, LLC (DPG) has announced its partnership with EPEC Biofuels Holdings, Inc. (EPEC) to put together a new platform finance company called EPEC Finance, LLC that will fund the manufacture and deployment of EPEC’s proprietary Ethanol Production Units (EPU’s) on select …
Stimulus Bucks Fund New Hampshire/Maine Wind Project
A consortium of New England schools will get $700,000 in federal stimulus money to develop three deepwater wind energy test sites in the Gulf of Maine. This press release from the University of New Hampshire says UNH’s Center for Ocean Renewable Energy… better known as CORE… has teamed with the University of Maine-led consortium, known as DeepCwind, and will test …
Street Edition of VW Biodiesel Racer Available Soon
A version of the same Volkswagen that raced on biodiesel the past couple of years will soon be available for the general public. Racer.com reports Volkswagen of America, Inc. has announced the Jetta TDI Cup “Street Edition” will be hitting the showrooms this coming January: “Since our inaugural TDI Cup series in 2008 we have received numerous inquiries as to …
Kansas Project Turning Algae into Biodiesel
Researchers in the land of sunflowers are looking for a way to convert sunshine into algae… and then into biodiesel. The Lawrence (KS) Journal-World & News reports University of Kansas scientists are working on one of just a few in the world functioning, pilot-scale bioreactors connected to a municipal wastewater treatment plant, where they’re turning sewer waste into the green …
DF Cast: Turning Garbage into Ethanol
It’s like the scene in Back to the Future II, where the crazy old professor stuffs garbage into his flux capacitor in the back of the DeLorean and flies off to the future (or is that the past?). California-based BlueFire Ethanol Fuels has developed a process called Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis Technology that expands the amount of feedstocks that can be …
New Report Offers Algae Ethanol, Biodiesel Markets Info
Algae might be the feedstock of the future for biodiesel and ethanol… if you know how to use it right. This press release posted on Reuters.com says a new report from Research and Markets entitled “Algae For Fuel, Algal Oil, Biofuels, Ethanol, Biodiesel And The Future Of Petroleum And Green Energy: Global Markets, Technologies, And Opportunities: 2009-2020 Analysis and Forecasts” …
Pennsylvania Biodiesel Maker Gets $1.6 Mil Grant
A $1.6 million grant from the state of Pennsylvania is helping a big biodiesel producer get even bigger. HERO BX picked up the $1,640,250 million grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority and will use nearly $3.3 million of its own money to expand its operations from 45 million gallons to 55 million gallons a year: “It is imperative that biofuels …