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 …
USDA Offers Renewable Energy Funding
USDA is seeking applications to increase the production and use of renewable energy sources under three different USDA Rural Development renewable energy programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill. USDA is now accepting applications for loan guarantees in the Biorefinery Assistance Program, Repowering Assistance Program, and the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. USDA is making approximately $463 million available under …
Jobe, Dinneen to Speak at Biomass Conference
The International Biomass Conference is set to take place in St. Louis on May 2-5, 2011 an it looks like a powerhouse agenda is coming together. During the kick-off session, the biofuel industry will unite on the roundtable: Our Industry in a Changed Political Landscape. Both Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) President & CEO Bob Dinneen, whose organization just concluded their …
Funding is Critical for Advanced Ethanol
Advanced biofuels from new feedstocks are facing a “chicken and egg” situation on the way to commercialization and that is why government funding remains vital to the industry. That was the message delivered by Chris Standlee, Executive Vice President of Abengoa Bioenergy, during a teleconference with other advanced biofuels company officials on Thursday. “It’s a critical ‘chicken and egg’ scenario …
Ethanol Report on New Advanced Ethanol Council
In this edition of “The Ethanol Report” podcast, we hear from the executive director of the newly formed Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC), Brooke Coleman. Coleman has been involved with the ethanol industry for over a decade, most recently as Executive Director of the New Fuels Alliance. He says that the new organization came together around a common theme. “The common …