DOE Updates Billion Ton Study

Joanna Schroeder

The Department of Energy (DOE) has concluded its Billion Ton Study that was first conducted in 2005. This new version of the report confirms that America has ample biomass resources including grasses, ag wastes, and wood wastes among others to meet America’s national renewable fuel goals. One goal of the study was to assess the amount of biomass available that …

biofuels, biomass, Research

Senator Harkin to Speak at Ethanol Conference

Joanna Schroeder

U.S. Senator Harkin (D-IA) will be speaking at the 24th Annual Ethanol Conference hosted by the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE). The event will be taking place on August 22-24 in Des Moines with Harkin presenting on Wednesday, August 24th. “We are honored that Senator Harkin will be joining us for our 24th annual ethanol conference,” said Brian Jennings, Executive …

ACE, biofuels, conferences, Ethanol

Butamax Awarded Patent

Joanna Schroeder

Butamax has been granted another patent – number 7,993,889. This patent protects foundational methods for low-cost production of biobutanol. Currently, Butamax has over a hundred patent applications pending in addition to those already granted and several of the applications are under accelerated review in the USPTO Green Technology Pilot Program. The company says its intellectual property encompasses advances in technology …

biobutanol, biofuels, Company Announcement

2011 Florida Energy Summit Dates Set

Joanna Schroeder

The 2011 Florida Energy Summit has been moved to October 26-28 in Orlando, Florida. The official announcement came today from the Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam who made the announcement during a visit to the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa where he learned about the research and development of energy technologies to advanced the production of hydrogen, fuel cell, …

biofuels, conferences, Energy, Hydrogen, Solar

JBI Partners to Produce Waste Into Fuel

Joanna Schroeder

Thorold, Ontario – based JBI has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Rock-Tenn Company to covert mill by-product waste into fuel. The process will feature JBI’s Plastic2Oil technology. As part of the agreement, JBI has an exclusive 10 year license with a renewal option to build and operate Plastic2Oil processors at RockTenn’s facilities. The plan is to …

biofuels, Cellulosic, Waste-to-Energy

Continuous Algae Harvesting Network Developed

Joanna Schroeder

OriginOil has announced that it has developed a real-time control network to supervise continuous algae harvesting operations aimed for large scale algae production sites. The network, code named “Green Stick,” will be installed at Australian algae producer MDB Energy’s power plant test site. In this configuration, the system will interface with MBD’s own growth control system and integrate its operations …

algae, biofuels

“Creating a Path for Cellulose” Paper Released

Joanna Schroeder

A new white paper outlining the future of cellulosic ethanol, “Creating a Path for Cellulose,” has been released by Ethanol Across America. The paper was authored by Wes Bolsen, chief marketing officer and vice president of government affairs for Cosaka, Inc. The goal of the paper is to educate the industry and the public on second-generation ethanol and to correct …

biofuels, Cellulosic, Ethanol, Research

Biodiesel Industry Update

Joanna Schroeder

There are some changes taking place in the biodiesel industry. Enervation Advisors has purchased its third biodiesel plant, this one located in Adrian, Michigan. The company has purchased the closed NextDiesel plant and its first step is to update the technology and put the plant back online. When this occurs, the plant will operate as LVA Adrian Biofuel LLC. This …

Biodiesel, biofuels

The Search For Used Cooking Oil

Joanna Schroeder

Used cooking oil is in high demand. Cream City Grecycling, a division of Fushion Renewables, is in search of used cooking grease from local Milwaukee, Wisconsin restaurants. After collecting the used cooking oil, the company will then turn it into biodiesel. The company has a goal of collecting at least 30,000 gallons a month by the end of the year …

Biodiesel, biofuels

Improving Safety at Biorefineries

Joanna Schroeder

Many of us have had the opportunity to visit an ethanol or biodiesel plant and have experienced first hand the safety measures a plant has in place to keep its workers, and visitors safe. Yet despite precautions, accidents can still happen. Unfortunately for the biofuels industry, these rare occurrences tend to get major media play while the hundreds of days …

biofuels, Ethanol, safety