Congress is preparing to return to work and there are two issues top of mind: The FAARM Bill and the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). During the break the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) took a look at some of the Big Oil’s summer arguments against ethanol and created a narrative around why these are not valid. “While Congress has been away, …
Argonne Take Cues From Nature
Scientists working at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) are looking to nature’s catalysts, enzymes, for inspiration in their quest to find a more effective means of converting biomass into renewable fuel. The research is focused on inedible plant materials that contain cellulose (such as wood chips and switchgrass), which can be broken down into sugars and then converted into …
Cool Planet Chooses Louisiana for Biofuel Project
Cool Planet Energy Systems, a developer of small scale biorefineries which convert non-food biomass into gasoline, jet fuel, and soil biochar, has announced the selection of Alexandria, Louisiana as the location for their first commercial biorefinery. The facility will be located on the Port of Alexandria in Rapides Parish and will serve as a showcase facility. The goal of Cool …
Blue Marble Closes on Land Deal for Biorefinery
Blue Marble Biomaterials has closed on the purchase of the former GTC Oats Inc. located in Missoula, Montana. Previously, this site was a wet extraction processing plant for the creation of food ingredients. The purchase includes 3.81 acres of land, a 19,000 square foot building complex, and parking stalls for over 100 employees. The building retrofits include systems that will …
ACE on Ethanol: Keep it Simple, Say What You Know
As members of the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) gather in Des Moines, Iowa this week to “Unite and Ignite” for their 26th annual conference, there’s some simple advice for those advocating for the green fuel. “Keep it simple … say what you know … be able to back it up,” advised Larry Johnson, a lead consultant with LLJ, Cologne, …
Fungus & Bacteria Join Forces for Better Biofuels
Several University of Michigan researchers have joined together a fungus and E. coli bacteria to turn tough, waste plant material into isobutanol – a product that can be converted into biochemicals and biofuels. A paper based on this research, “Design and characterization of synthetic fungal-bacterial consortia for direct production of isobutanol from cellulosic biomass,” was published in The Proceedings of …
Dakota Bioprocessing Consortium Established
Four universities in North Dakota and South Dakota have been awarded a $6 million grant to establish the Dakota Bioprocessing Consortium (DakotaBioCon) to conduct collaborative research. The award is funded by the National Science Foundation Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research. The consortium includes North Dakota State University, the University of North Dakota, South Dakota State University and the South …
Senator Michael Bennet Visits Gevo
Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) recently toured and met with Colorado-based Gevo to discuss renewable fuels and chemicals for Colorado and the U.S. economy. Senator Bennet met with Gevo executives including chief executive officer Patrick Gruber, Ph.D. to discuss energy policy and see first-hand the research and development Gevo has done on creating isobutanol to be converted to biochemicals and renewable …
Interactive Map Shows Biofuel Friendly Policies
According to the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA), 62 countries now have biofuels friendly policies in place that have driven global demand to over 1 million barrels per day. To help people around the world keep track of the changing political landscape, GRFA has launched an Interactive World Biofuels Map available on their new website. “It is amazing to watch …
NextFuels Producing Biofuels from Palm Residue
NextFuels has unveiled its strategy for economically producing transportation and industrial fuels from wet, unprocessed agricultural waste. The underlying technology, which was developed by Shell Oil over several years, will allow NextFuels and its partners to produce bio-based petroleum at commercial scale for $75 to $85 a barrel out of wet biomass that has not been mechanically or thermally dried. …