“I’m not troubled by getting it right as long as we get it right. And I think we’re headed in the right direction. I’m anticipating we’ll see some increase in the blend rate,” said Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack during a press conference at Commodity Classic when asked about EPA’s delaying the decision to increase the blend rate to E15. …
Advanced Biofuel Makers Call for Tax Credits
The advanced biofuels industry is putting a bug in Congress’ ear, calling for lawmakers to allow for an investment tax credit that will help advanced biofuels makers get money to get their projects up to commercial scale and become eligible for another operating credit. Biomass Magazine explains that the industry would be eligible for a federal production tax credit of …
Lambright Joins Algae-Biofuel Maker Sapphire
The former head of the U.S. Export-Import Bank and Chief Investment Officer of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) is bringing his copious financial knowledge to algae-biofuels producer Sapphire Energy. This company press release says James Lambright will also head Sapphire’s international expansion efforts: A respected leader in the private and public financial sectors, Lambright rounds out …
New Ideas for Funding Sustainable Biofuels
If you did a survey among the biofuels industry and asked if the funding programs for biofuels research and development were working, most would say no. Actually, many outside of the industry would say no. As the country continues forward on the federal goals set out in the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) things will need to change if we’re going …
Obama Changes Tune from Biodiesel to Biofuels
Some others have started to notice something I told you about back in January. It seems that while he campaigned on the word “biodiesel,” President Barack Obama is now talking “biofuels” … a more ambiguous term that is leaving some biodiesel producers scratching their heads wondering whether the president backs them. This piece from Biodiesel Magazine points out that Stimulus …
Waste Management Inks Deal with Enerkem
Waste Management Inc. has inked yet another deal to produce biofuels from waste. Today, they announced an investment in Montreal-based Enerkem Inc., as part of their new financing round. A portion of the CDN $53.8 million raised will be used by Enerkem to support the construction of its second waste-to-biofuels plant in conjunction with the City of Edmonton and Alberta …
Mascoma Honored with Top Biofuels Award
Lux Research has recently released a new report, “Ranking Biofuel Startups on the Lux Innovation Grid, which analyzes a number of key criteria to indicate which companies are more likey to succeed as the market matures. One of the companies given top honors is Mascoma Corporation. “We are proud to be considered a top biofuels company by Lux,” said William …
U of Illinois Sponsors Biofuels Seminars
The University of Illinois is sponsoring a series of seminars focusing on biofuels and renewable energy. The school’s Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER) is holding the presentations, which are open to the public, Mondays at 4 pm at the U of I Urbana-Champaign campus: “This bioenergy seminar series provides a broad range of topics from different perspectives – academia, …
Has Gas Use Peaked?
It appears as if two things peaked in 2007…our economy and our thirst for driving. According to an article in McClatchy Newspapers, U.S. gasoline consumption peaked in 2007 and has not only not recovered, but never will – even after the recession ends. According to Steve Everly, the author of the article, there are several reasons why. 1) Federally mandated …
Propel Launches $20 Mil Biofuels Stations Expansion
Sacramento-based Propel Fuels has announced it is investing $20 million into an effort that will put its biofuels, as well as hydroge and electric vehicle charging areas, into stations in every major market in California. This company press release says the move supports California’s emissions reduction goals while stimulating jobs: “California has the largest fleet of alternative fuel vehicles in …