Several companies that rely on ethanol as a part of their business have reported strong financial results for the 2nd Quarter. According to The Andersons earning reports, the company’s net income for the 2nd Quarter surpassed the $25 million mark, almost $10 million more than what was reported during the same quarter in 2009. The company attributes much of the …
San Diego, A Hot Bed of Algal Activity
Good news for biofuels this week as the California Department of Labor awarded the San Diego Biofuels Initiative a $4 million grant to train workers to join the biofuels workforce. The award was given through the “Green Innovation Challenge,” a green jobs initiative that is overseen by the state’s Department of Labor. According to an article on SanDiego.com, the San …
Murphy Oil Looks to Grow Biofuels Business
One of the country’s most touted, and failed, ethanol concepts may be sold. Last year, Hereford Biofuels, the first commercial scale plant in the country intended to operate using methane from cattle operations, went belly-up. Construction was halted when owner, Panda Energy, an energy firm based in Dallas, Texas, sold the plant to creditors earlier this year for a reported …
Dyadic Lawsuit Dismissed
Dyadic International has confirmed that the final resolution of the consolidated stockholder class action lawsuit, Miller v. Dyadic International, Inc. et. al, has been approved and the lawsuit dismissed with prejudice. Dyadic is a biofuels company that is focused on developing technologies to produce cellulosic ethanol from corn stover and wheat straw. The lawsuit was originally filed in October of …
Brazil Aids Kenya with Sugarcane Ethanol Development
In past posts, I’ve written (or re-published) about how countries like Brazil are taking a leadership role in global biofuels development. I came across an article recently in the Business Daily that discusses how Brazilian biofuels experts are working with Kenya to boost their biofuels development. While there are still global concerns about biofuels relationship to food, especially food security, …
Controversial Clean Energy Killer Added to Cali Ballot
There is a highly controversial provision being added to California’s ballots this November called Prop 23. The proposition, which is backed by several oil companies, is asking for the state to suspend California’s 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act that calls for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) to 1990 levels by 2020. Supporters of Prop 23 want the suspension …
New Renewable Energy Power Set to Surpass Fossil Fuels
This month several reports have been released on the global growth of renewable energy. According to two new reports released by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21), for two consecutive years, the United States and Europe added more power from renewable sources such as wind and solar than from conventional …
World Bank Report Takes New Look at Food and Fuel
Ethanol production probably had less impact on global commodity prices in 2008 than many were saying at the time. A newly released working paper, entitled “Placing the 2006/08 Commodity Price Boom into Perspective,” from the Development Prospects Group at the World Bank, concludes that “…the effect of biofuels on food prices has not been as large as originally thought.” Authors …
CARB Proposes LCFS Soil Sustainability Provisions
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is far from over on discrediting biofuels as part of their mandated policy known as the Low Carbon Fuels Standard (LCFS). For the past year, the ethanol industry has been embroiled in a fight for proper reflections of biofuel’s indirect greenhouse gas emissions, aka indirect land use. Now, CARB has created a working group …
More Transparency Needed Among Environmental Groups
I’m calling the environmental movement out for supporting nothing and opposing everything. Not too long ago, I was proud to call myself an environmentalist. Today, I’m bordering on embarrassed to admit that I support sustainability programs. The cause of my distress is what is happening under the carpet among environmental groups. On the surface, they look squeaky clean, but when …