During the United Nations High Level Political Forum’s Sustainable Development Goal Business Day held in New York, the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) launched a new report detailing the path to global aviation sustainability. “Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders,” finds that over the next 20 years, aviation-supported jobs worldwide will increase to over 99 million and GDP to $5.9 trillion. The …
USDA Seeks Applications for Biobased Funds
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking applications for funding to help support the development of advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals and biobased products. Funding is being provided through the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program, formerly known as the Biorefinery Assistance Program. The program provides loan guarantees of up to $250 million to develop, construct and …
Auto Channel’s Rauch Talks Ethanol in Australia
The Biofuels Association of Australia (BAA) is hosting the National Biofuels Symposium 2016 in Brisbane on August 22-23, 2016. On the ticket is The Auto Channel’s Marc J. Rauch, an outspoken advocate of ethanol and alternative energy who has taken Big Oil head on. He is a frequent participating speaker at industry and media events and recently traveled to Taiwan …
Washington’s Proposed Clean Air Rule Missing #Biofuels
The state of Washington has proposed its own Clean Air Rule (CAR) and according to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the rule does not factor in the environmental and health benefits of ethanol blended fuels. In their comments submitted to the Washington Department of Ecology, RFA states that the proposed rule is inconsistent with virtually every other program designed to …
Senators Call for More Biodiesel in #RFS
Forty Senators are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen biodiesel volumes in the proposed 2018 rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The senators said that biodiesel and renewable diesel are providing the vast majority of renewable fuel under the Advanced Biofuels category and the EPA should do more to encourage growth. “The biodiesel industry has met …
Bioenergy Crop Modeling Predicts Soil Carbon Increases
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory are using computational modeling to predict which counties in Illinois could see increases in soil organic carbon from crops such as switchgrass for biofuels. Increasing carbon stored in soil is one way to help mediate the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) …
The Ecology of a New Crop
Researchers at the UConn Plant Science Farm are studying the ecology of camelina as a high-tech crop. The research team is led by professor emerita Carol Auer and she and her team have been working with Camelina sativa, an oilseed crop that has never been grown commercially in the state. The feedstock has been subject to genetic modification for use …
Ocean Park Advisors Retained by Abengoa
Abengoa Bioenergy Biomass of Kansas has retained Ocean Park Advisors to sell its cellulosic ethanol plant in Hugoton, Kansas. The biorefinery, one of the first using biomass to produce cellulosic ethanol and renewable electricity in the U.S. went online in October of 2014. The sale is part of the company’s filings under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to Ocean Park Advisors, …
Hawaii Gov David Ige Signs State #Biodiesel Tax Credit
Hawaii Governor David Ige has signed the state’s Renewable Fuels Production Tax Credit into law. The bill is another mechanism the state is using to reach its goal of generating 100 percent of its electricity from renewable resources by 2045. Hawaii has the highest energy costs across America’s 50 states. Pacific Biodiesel Technologies President Robert King attended the formal signing, …
Boeing, SAA & Mango Fly with Biofuels
In tandem with Boeing’s 100th anniversary and celebrations worldwide, the company, along with South African Airways (SAA) and Mango, flew their first passenger flight with renewable biojet fuel. The flight flew 300 passengers from Johannesburg to Cape Town on a Boeing 737-800s using a blend of 30 percent aviation biofuel produced from Solaris, a nicotine-free tobacco plant. The biojet fuel …