‘Heavy Oil’ Working Group to Launch

Joanna Schroeder

Big Oil baffles me. They are running full-scale ad campaigns touting their work in developing alternative energy sources, (you couldn’t miss them if you watched the Winter Olympics) and then they turn around and file a suit against the EPA for the expanded Renewable Fuels Standard. They claim it is “unlawful and unfair.” Well, today, according to an article in …

biofuels, Oil, Opinion

Ag Department, Navy Team Up for Biofuels

John Davis

Leaders from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Navy have kicked off the first of several forums designed to increase biofuels production and meet the Navy’s renewable energy needs. This USDA press release says the opening of the forum today in Honolulu came as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) recently signed by the USDA and …

biofuels, Government, USDA

BIO to Congress: Fund $25M for Cellulosic Production

Joanna Schroeder

Today, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) released a letter to House and Senate appropriators asking them to fund the Section 942 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 labeled as Production Incentives for Cellulosic Biofuels to the tune of $25 million for 2011. Known as a reverse auction program, BIO is encouraging this action as a way to assist pioneer …

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Research

UK Report on Food Crisis Vindicates Ethanol

Cindy Zimmerman

A new report commissioned by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has concluded that drought and high oil prices, not biofuels, were behind the so-called food crisis of 2007/2008. “Available evidence suggests that biofuels had a relatively small contribution to the 2008 spike in agricultural commodity prices,” the report noted. “Studies which have found a large …

biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News, food and fuel, Food prices, International

Berkeley Lab Awarded Funds for Biofuels Research

U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Cathy Zoi announced today that Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) will receive almost $18 million from the Recovery Act to build an advanced biofuels process development facility from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). This grant will assist researchers with studies of next generation biofuels by …

biofuels, Government, News

New Energy Plan – Offshore Drilling

Joanna Schroeder

President Obama gave a speech this morning from a hanger at Andrews Air Force Base reiterating our country’s need for energy independence. This will be done, he says, through energy initiatives and the government will “lead by example.” In the background, a Navy Green Hornet jet that will fly on a mix of 50 percent biomass on earth day next …

Biodiesel, biofuels, Ethanol, Legislation, Oil, Opinion

Ethanol Bob Tweeting President’s Energy Speech

Cindy Zimmerman

Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen is on location at the site of President Obama’s speech this morning on energy initiatives for the United States. The event is being held in a hanger at Andrews Air Force Base with the backdrop of a Navy Green Hornet jet that will fly on biofuels on Earth Day. The president is …

biofuels, Energy, Ethanol, Ethanol News, Government, RFA

Researchers Check “Green-ness” of Algae-Biofuel

John Davis

The assumption is that algae-based biofuels are better for the environment. But, as they say, the proof is in the pudding. And researchers are all about proving things. This article from the Fort Collins (CO) Coloradoan says a pair of mechanical engineering professors from Colorado State are testing to see what gases come from burning algae oil: “What are the …

algae, biofuels, Research

Petroleum Industry Files Suit Over Renewable Fuel Standard

Cindy Zimmerman

The petroleum industry has filed a legal challenge over the expanded Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2), which was just finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency. Both the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) filed the lawsuit Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia challenging the EPA rule, officially published …

biofuels, Ethanol, Ethanol News

Virent and Shell Open Biogasoline Pilot Plant

Cindy Zimmerman

Virent Energy Systems of Wisconsin and Shell yesterday announced the successful start of production at the world’s first demonstration plant converting plant sugars into gasoline and gasoline blend components as an alternative to ethanol. The plant is located in Madison, Wisconsin and is the latest step in a joint biogasoline research and development effort, announced by both companies in March …

biofuels