The CEO of one of the world’s biggest petroleum companies says his company will soon produce more natural gas than oil and is investing more than ever in biofuels. And this article from the Wall Street Journal says that Peter Voser of Royal Dutch Shell says he expects in the next 40 years, 40 percent of the world’s cars will …
Response to Expanded Biofuels Production Study
The National Research Council (NRC) is currently conducting an ongoing study on the impacts of expanded biofuel production. NRC, which is part of the National Academy of Sciences, hosted a workshop last week to receive feedback from people on both sides of the debate. The Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) represented the ethanol industry and Geoff Cooper, RFA’s Vice President of …
Industry Calls OPEC Report “Self Serving”
The Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) has come out today calling a recent OPEC report “self serving.” The report, co-written by the former Secretary General of the OPEC oil cartel, criticized biofuels while according to GRFA, ignoring the overwhelming evidence on the devastating impact of crude oil on the environment and on our economies. The report will be released during …
Vilsack Anticipates Approval of E15
“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 …