This week I read a book about the ongoing discussions regarding the causes of the food crisis. It should come as no surprise that several of the main reasons the globe is in the midst of a food crisis, according to a The Food Wars author Walden Bello, are commodity speculation, biofuels, increased demand for food in Asia brought on …
EPA To Host Free Biofuels & Sustainability Webinar
The EPA is hosting a free biofuels and sustainability webinar on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 from 9:30 am – 11:00 am PST that will provide a national and regional perspective on sustainability indicators and best practices throughout the biofuel supply chain. Specifically, the webinar will discuss the guiding principles of sustainability developed by the National Biodiesel Board, and examine policy …
The Pros & Cons of Miscanthus
Miscanthus has been much talked about in the past year as a strong contender as a feedstock for advanced ethanol. Yet scientists from the University of Illinois are cautioning that not enough is known about the feesdstock’s pros and cons to call it a viable option for ethanol. The potential of miscanthus and switchgrass has been studied extensively by researchers …
Federal Ag & Energy Depts. Team Up for Bioenergy
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy have teamed up to hand out some research awards to designed to improve and accelerate genetics in plants for bioenergy production. This USDA release says the announcement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Energy Secretary Steven Chu will make $8.9 million available: “Cost-effective, sustainable biofuels are crucial to building a clean energy economy,” …
Canada Mandates Biofuels
By the end of the year, Canadians will be using more ethanol in their fuel. According to The Epoch Times, regulations were finaized by the government yesterday requiring that all gasoline must contain 5% biofuels starting December 15. “Regulating renewable fuel content in gasoline is just one of several steps the Government is taking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in …
Aussie Customer to Get Algae-Oil Single Step System
A California-based producer of renewable oil from algae production products is getting ready to ship a system that uses a single step to get the oil out of the green pond scum to one of its customers down under. OriginOil, Inc. has notified Australian MBD Energy Limited that it is ready to ship a Single-Step Extraction™ System (seen in the …
New Process for Sorghum Ethanol
A Cincinnati-based advanced biofuel technology company has announced the development of its next generation, sugar-based fuel ethanol process. According to AdvanceBio LLC, the process is capable of utilizing sugars derived from sugar cane, sweet sorghum, sugar beet and other similar crops as feedstock for the production of fuel ethanol and green power while generating zero liquid waste. When built in …
Advanced Biofuel Payments to Foreign Owners, Non-Rural Plants
It might be green and renewable, but it won’t necessarily be DOMESTIC fuel. This article from Biofuels Digest says the Obama Administration will allow advanced biofuels plants owned by foreign companies and those plants in non-rural areas Advanced Biofuels Payments: In Washington, the (USDA’s) Rural Business-Cooperative Service Agency announced that it is amending the rules for the Advanced Biofuel Payment …
Charles Bronson “It’s Going to Work”
“I think people are going to catch on. That this thing is real and it going to work,” said Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles A. Bronson during an interview about Farm to Fuel. One of Bronson’s long-term goals has been to turn Florida into an alternative energy leader in areas such as biofuels. This year marked the fifth …
Biofuel, Biotech Companies Sequence Jatropha Genome
A company that breeds better seeds for biofuels has teamed up with a biotech company to sequence the jatropha genome … a plant touted as the possible future of biofuels feedstocks. Officials at SG Biofuels have announced that they and Life Technologies Corporation have completed sequencing the Jatropha curcas genome to 100x coverage, using the SOLiD™ 4.0 System by Life …