The Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) may be relatively young, having been formed in March of 2006, but they have made some significant strides in Washington, D.C. in lobbying for advanced biofuels such as algae, to play on the same field as cellulosic biofuels. I caught up with Mary Rosenthal, ABO’s executive director after her multi-day trip to D.C. to learn …
USDA Tours ICM Cellulosic Ethanol Plant
USDA Administrator for Rural Business Cooperative Services Judith Canales is on a tour of Kansas and Missouri to promote the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) along with the development of renewable energy technologies. She was joined by several USDA state directors, and along the tour they stopped in St. Joseph, Missouri to tour ICM’s cellulosic ethanol pilot plant Lifeline …
Senate Hearing Focuses on Ethanol
In the face of increasing unrest in the Middle East and higher gas prices, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources met this morning to review Department of Energy (DOE) biofuel programs and biofuel infrastructure issues. In testimony before the committee, Renewable Fuels Association President and CEO Bob Dinneen stressed the importance of expanding the marketing for ethanol-blended fuels …
Obama Sticks to His Guns on Biofuel Policy Support
President Obama is sticking to his guns in his support of biofuels, among other energy sources, as viable ways for America to reduce its dependence on foreign sources of oil. This morning, his administration released its plan for a comprehensive energy policy their report, “Blueprint For A Secure Energy Future.” As a result of the report, the biofuel and biotech …
Poplar Trees Possible Candidate for Biofuels
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center may have discovered some clues that could lead to poplar trees as the next candidate for biofuels. The research is being led by Charles Wyman of the Bourns College of Engineering’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology at the University of California Riverside who is joined by teams from Oak Ridge …
Loss of DOE Loan Gurantee Program “Would Be A Tragedy”
There is a lot of action in the “Beltway” these days surrounding biofuels. One such conversation is around the fate of the Department of Energy (DOE) Loan Guarantee Program. A group of policy makers want to end the program, which right now is funded with Reinvestment and Recovery monies. However, energy companies, such as Pleasanton, California-based Fulcrum Bioenergy, would be …
VG Energy Retains BioProcess Algae For Project
VG Energy, a subsidiary of Viral Genetics, has hired BioProcess Algae to verify the lab results for its biofuel process. VG Energy is preparing to take its process to commercial scale. On the pilot scale level, the company’s proprietary technology has produced algal-biofuels at prices they believe will be competitive with or better than current oil prices. However, before they …
Solix Secures $16M in Financing, Changes Name
Solix Biofuels has announced that they have received more than $16 million from inside investors in the first part of its Series B round of financing. The monies will be used to drive the commercialization of the company’s algae growth system, the AGS, that utilizes Solix’s proprietary high-productivity photobioreactors. Investors include Bohemian Ventures, The Southern Ute Alternative Energy Fund and …
PetroAlgae Inks Deal with Haldor Topsoe
PetroAlgae has inked a deal with Haldor Topsoe to provide technology and catalysts to upgrade oils produced from PetroAlgae’s biomass through refinery coking processes and pyrolysis into drop-in renewable fuels including diesel and jet fuels. Haldor Topsoe is global company focused on the refining, petrochemical and power industries. Under the agreement, the two companies will work together to apply Haldor …
Dyadic Introduces Advanced Biofuels Enzyme
Biotech firm Dyadic International has introduced a new advanced biofuels enzyme at this week the World Biofuels Markets exhibition in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. According to the company, AlternaFuel® CMAX™ has proven to be effective in converting multiple forms of biomass into fermentable sugars which is the critical step in the production of cellulosic ethanol and other advanced biofuels and biochemicals …