While biofuels development and production have been a bit different, some of the latest efforts to find room to grow non-food feedstocks for biofuels are being found alongside the beaten path. In this case, we’re talking about using areas, such as ditches and medians along the nation’s highways, as good spots to grow the raw materials to keep the cars …
OriginOil Shifts to Commerical Stage Development
OriginOil has officially shifted from development phase to commercialization phase of producing algal fuels. As part of the company’s fast-track process, they have hired Paul Reep as the Senior Vice President of Technology, who will also hold a seat on the Board of Directors. “OriginOil will continue to innovate, it’s in our DNA,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “Meanwhile, a …
Solazyme Files For IPO, Partners with Dow
Solazyme has announced that it has filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed initial public offering (IPO). Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated and Goldman, Sachs & Co. will act as joint book-running managers for the offering with Pacific Crest Securities and Lazard Capital Markets as co-managers. At this time, the …
Upcoming: Sugar & Ethanol Brazil Conference
F.O. Licht’s 7th Annual Sugar and Ethanol Brazil conference is just around the corner (March 28-30) in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association is one of the headline speakers. Topics for the conference include meeting the requirements of the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) and how …
Enzyme from Garden Soil Could Improve Ethanol Production
Here is an interesting story out of Lund University in Sweden. Nadia Skorupa Parachin has discovered an enzyme in garden soil that when used could increase ethanol production by 20 percent or more. Xylose is the second most common sugar found in nature, but today, is not commonly used, if at all, in the ethanol process. When Parachin tested her …
USDA Offers Renewable Energy Funding
USDA is seeking applications to increase the production and use of renewable energy sources under three different USDA Rural Development renewable energy programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill. USDA is now accepting applications for loan guarantees in the Biorefinery Assistance Program, Repowering Assistance Program, and the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. USDA is making approximately $463 million available under …
Sen. Klobuchar Introduces Ethanol Legislation
A bill introduced yesterday by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tim Johnson (D-SD) called the Securing America’s Future with Energy and Sustainable Technologies (SAFEST) Act establishes strong renewable energy and energy-efficiency standards, incentives for developing biofuels and biofuel infrastructure, and targets for the availability of advanced vehicle technologies. More specifically, the legislation would establish new incentives for biofuels infrastructure and …
KiOR to Sell Biomass Product to Oil Company
Maker of biomass-based renewable gasoline and diesel products KiOR will sell its biocrude to oil company Hunt Refining Co. This article from Reuters says the Hunt Texas oil empire will buy an unspecified amount of the product from Khosla’s first plant, still to be built in Columbus, Mississippi: KiOR says its “Biomass Catalytic Cracking Process,” aided by a catalyst developed …
Sen. Grassley Calls For Honest Discussion on Energy & Ethanol
In a Senate floor speech earlier this week, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a long-time supporter of biofuels, said, “Over the next few weeks, I’m going to do everything I can to educate my colleagues and the public on the benefits of domestic biofuels.” Grassley is concerned about the movement in DC to end ethanol subsidies and incentives as well as …
Propel Fuels Hosts USDA’s Judith Canales
Propel Fuels hosted Judith Canales, Administrator for Rural Business and Cooperative Programs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), yesterday at one of the fuel retailer’s stations in Oakland, California yesterday to promote the positive and economic and environmental impacts biofuels has on the US. Propel is the leading retailer in the US installing biofuel infrastructure for both ethanol and …