On Friday April 15, BioProcess Algae, dedicated its Grower Harvester bioreactors signaling the final phase of construction for its commercial scale algae biorefinery. On hand for the event in Shenandoah, Iowa, were USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack along with Green Plains Renewable Energy (GRPE) CEO Todd Becker and Mary Rosenthal, the executive director of the Algal Biomass Association. After touring …
Book Review – The Biochar Solution
Can biochar singlehandedly save the world from all of its carbon dioxide, global warming woes? Well, the jury is still out but there may be some potential. This I learned from reading the book, “The Biochar Solution: Climate Farming and Climate Change,” by Albert Bates. First, I should explain what biochar is. Biochar is charcoal, a cellulosic material that has …
Abengoa Secures Biomass for Cellulosic Plant
Build the plant and the biomass will come. Abengoa has announced that they have signed contracts with several biomass producers farming in and around Hugoton, Kansas, to provide 315,000 tons of cellulosic biomass by the end of 2011. Construction of the biorefinery is scheduled for this summer and expected to be fully operational sometime in 2013. Once in production, the …
Don’t Miss Out On The Process Optimization Seminar
You only have two days left to attend the Process Optimization Seminar at the early bird rate. This year’s event is being held on April 27-29th in Houston, Texas and marks the first year where the seminar will couple classroom style learning with hands on activities executed in a refinery and lab. To learn more about the event, I caught …
Study: Algae Could Replace 17% of Oil Imports by 2022
In a new study released by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (NPPL), algal fuels could replace 17 percent of the United States’ imported oil by 2020. The paper was published in the journal of Water Resources Research but warned that biofuels production, including algal fuels, can require a lot of water so the study cautioned that being …
FAO Urged to See Oil and Food Price Correlation
The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) is calling on delegates to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) meeting in Rome to focus on the price of oil as the real driver behind rising food costs. Last week while addressing the South American renewable fuels industry in Buenos Aires, GRFA spokesperson Bliss Baker presented data showing the direct link …
Energy Use Down, But Biofuels, Wind, Solar & Hydro Up
A new report from the feds says, due to the recession, overall energy consumption in the U.S. dropped in 2009. However, renewable energy … biodiesel, ethanol, wind, solar and hydro power … use during that same period actually increased. This report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that overall energy consumption in 2009 dropped by 4.8 percent, the second …
Learn How to Improve Ethanol Plant Margins
Gas prices may be on the rise resulting in a great market for ethanol, but ethanol plant margins are still tight. You can learn hands-on strategies to improve your ethanol plant margins by attending the fifth Process Optimization Seminar in Houston, Texas on April 27-29th. The seminar is sponsored by several leading ethanol industry companies including Phibro Ethanol Performance Group, …
Recovering Ethanol From Waste Water
R3 Fusion, Inc. has announced the availability of its commercial system for recovering ethanol from waste scrubber water. The technology is coined the SPaCeRTM. The system is designed to process 50 gallons per minute of scrubber waste generated from a 50 million gallon per year (MMGY) ethanol plant and the first modular system will be fully operational this month. Dr. …
Biofuels Industry On The Move
The biofuels industry is on the move. Cogent BioFuels, an ethanol marketer based in Chesterfield, Missouri, has announced that Casey Carmondy will be the new director of logistics and business development. Most recently, Carmondy worked with CSX-Agriculture Marketing Group and has nearly 10 years of experience in servicing rail shippers including shipping ethanol. Marty Lyons, President of Cogent said, “We …