Biofuel and renewable chemical company executives, scientists and government officials from around the globe will speak in breakout sessions at BIO’s 9th annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, April 29 – May 2 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando. BIO’s World Congress will feature six breakout session tracks over three days, including tracks on …
Coalition for E85 Issues Call to Action
The Coalition for E85 is calling on members and other supporters to urge Congress to give E85 credit for being an alternative fuel. The coalition is asking members of Congress to support the inclusion of E85 in the Alternative Fuel Credit in the tax extenders package currently under review. In coordination with this effort, members of the Coalition for E85 …
Energy Beets for Ethanol Project in North Dakota
North Dakota State University has partnered up with a couple of private sector companies to develop energy beets for advanced ethanol production. The partnership includes Green Vision Group (GVG) of Fargo and Heartland Renewable Energy of Iowa in the project that is fueled by a $1 million, two-year North Dakota Renewable Energy Council grant that includes matching funds from industry …
DOE Official Visits Novozymes Nebraska Plant
A visit to a Nebraska enzyme plant last week by a top-ranking Department of Energy helped showcase the development of enzyme technology for advanced biofuels. Department of Energy (DOE) Senior Advisor Peter Gage visited with Novozymes North American President Adam Monroe at the company’s new enzyme plant in Blair, Nebraska to emphasize the need for energy programs touted in the …
Pioneer Studies Residue Removal for Cellulosic Ethanol
DuPont businesses Pioneer Hi-Bred and DuPont Industrial Biosciences are collaborating with Iowa State University in performing studies on residue to establish best practices in harvesting, storage and transportation, with an eye toward its use in cellulosic ethanol production in the near future. Agronomic benefits of residue removal include preventing stand establishment concerns in the following crop and avoiding nitrogen tie-up …
OriginOil Signs Agreement With Algae Producer
Algae oil extraction technology developer OriginOil has signed a commercial agreement with algae producer Aquaviridis to work on a multi-phase algae production rollout at a facility in Mexicali, Mexico. Under the agreement, OriginOil will provide its expertise to help develop growth and harvesting solutions and implement appropriate OriginOil technologies. The Mexico facility is being developed as a potential model for …
Registration Open for Advanced Biofuels Conference
The 2012 Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference, presented by Biofuels Digest, is scheduled for April 2-5 at the Capitol Hilton in Washington D.C. The main event will feature dozens of top officials from advanced biofuels companies, including industry leaders such as Amyris, Ceres, GEVO, Mascoma, Sapphire Energy, Solazyme, ZeaChem and many more. The conference also features two special full-day concurrent sessions …
Butamax and Gevo Continue Battle
The battle between Butamax™ and Gevo over isobutanol technology continues. Last week, Gevo received a landmark patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its GIFT(R) separation unit, a central part of the company’s fermentation technology for the production of isobutanol. The patent, “Recovery of Higher Alcohols From Dilute Aqueous Solutions,” addresses the separation technology used to produce …
Advanced Biofuels Makes Farm Bill Wish List
Advanced Biofuels USA has released low cost and cost-efficient policies the group feels should be included in the Farm Bill which will be under consideration in 2012. “We have identified two specific problem areas,” said executive director, Joanne Ivancic. “First, the challenges of bringing small, non-contiguous marginal acreage to productivity via an energy crop market; and, second, funding promising conversion …
USDA Approves Support for Oregon Cellulosic Plant
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved a conditional commitment of $232.5 million to build a cellulosic ethanol plant in Boardman, Oregon. The commitment was made to ZeaChem Boardman Biorefinery, LLC (ZBB) through the Biorefinery Assistance Program. ZBB plans to operate a 25 million gallon per year biorefinery to be constructed on an industrial site in northeast Oregon, along the …