I switched gears this week and spent some time learning about ways the world can feed a burgeoning population. One emerging idea is through a “vertical farm,” an idea that has been promoted by Dr. Dickson Despommier, a former professor of microbiology and public health in environmental sciences at Columbia. He recently authored, “The Vertical Farm Feeding the World in …
DuPont Expands Into Solar Market
DuPont has expanded it’s solar market portfolio with the acquisition of Innovalight, Inc., a company that develops silicon inks and process technologies that increase the efficiency of crystalline silicon solar cells. According to DuPont, Innovalight will broaden and more integrate its efforts in the photovoltaic market. In 2010, DuPont exceeded revenues of $1 billion from sales into the photovoltaic market …
Algae Meal Performs as Dairy Cattle Feed
With the demand for meat rising in countries like China and India, there is a shortage of protein in the marketplace. Therefore, one of the hopeful co-products of algal biofuels is algae meal. PetroAlgae has announced that after completion of a third-party feed trial, its micro-crop meal performs as well as alfalfa in dairy cattle diets. The global market for …
Grain Production Not Keeping Up With Demand
According to Purdue University agricultural economist Chris Hurt, grain crops are being “gobbled up” faster than farmers can grow them. This could lead to trouble down the road if production doesn’t catch up. Hurt says there have been two major demands surges on commodities in the past five years. One is the rising use of corn for ethanol production being …
SCS Offers Sugarcane Certification Program
The U.S. corn ethanol industry is not the only form of ethanol production often under fire. Brazil’s sugarcane industry is also accused of not producing the crop, nor the fuel, in a sustainable manner. As a result, the EU Renewable Energy Directive was created to address concerns including labor and environmental issues. In response, Scientific Certification Systems (SCS) has become …
Farmers Participate in Rural Champions of Change
Last week leaders from rural communities met with President Obama along with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, as well as the president’s Domestic Policy Adviser Melody Barnes as part of the White House Rural Champions of Change roundtable. One of the attendees was Eric Rund a farmer from Pesotum, Illinois. He is also the CEO of Green Flame Energy. He was …
Ag-Waste-to-Energy Technology Licensed by HB Energy
Homeland Biogas Energy (HB Energy) has announced they have signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Achor Anaerobic LLC to use their “achorlytic” enzyme and digestion-inoculating technology to increase the productivity of its anaerobic digestion projects. HB Energy is a division of Homeland Renewable Energy (HRE), a company focused on producing energy from agricultural waste and they will also work with …
New Energy & Commodities Investment Team Formed
Cary Street Partners has formed a new Energy & Commodities Investment banking team focused on energy and its related sectors including traditional and alternative energy as well as agriculture services. Joining the new group is Craig Shealy who was formerly the founder of Osage Bio Energy, currently up for sale. Shealy will serve as managing director and group head. “We …
Study Underway to Make Plastics From Soy Oil
University of Minnesota researchers are developing degradable plastics from soybean oil. These bioplastics could become a replacement for those made with petroleum and natural gas. Marc Hillmyer, Distinguished McKnight University Professor of chemistry and Director of the Center for Sustainable Polymers, believes that to wean the country from all things fossil fuels, including chemicals and plastics, alternatives based on renewable …
Lakeside Dairy Goes Solar
Agriculture gets greener everyday. Lakeside Dairy in Hanford, Cali. has gone solar. The dairy installed a new solar energy system to power its milking barn and other dairy operations. With the system in place, they expect to cut their conventional energy use by 75 percent. The family-owned dairy has 7,000 head of cattle and a custom farming business. I don’t …