Homegrown biofuels production could power a robust local economy and improve the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay by significantly reducing pollution runoff to the Bay’s local waterways. That’s the primary finding in a report released today by the Chesapeake Bay Commission and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. “This report clearly highlights the real and quantifiable benefits a next-generation biofuels industry …

Novozymes: Strong Outlook for 2010
This morning Novozymes held is annual 2009 4th quarter sales call and earning report and overall it was favorable. While 2009 began with a rocky start for Novozymes and the majority of the ethanol industry, with effective management the company was able to finish off the year on a positive note. Steen Riisgaard, President and CEO, noted, “After a shaky …
Promoting Freedom at AG CONNECT Expo
In the growing field of biomass conversion to fuel there’s a plant that Mississippi State University thinks will help farmers and all Americans. It’s Giant Miscanthus and you can follow it on Twitter @GiantMiscanthus. They’ve actually licensed the product which is Freedom Giant Miscanthus that’s being marketed by Sunbelt Biofuels LLC. On the show floor at AG CONNECT Expo last …
Joule Biotechnologies Secures Solar Fuel Site
Joule Biotechnologies announced today that they have signed a lease agreement to build its first pilot plant to be located in Leander, Texas. The plant will be the testing ground to further develop and test its transformative system for the production of renewable solar fuels and is expected to be online within the first half of 2010. The site was …
Global Ethanol Plant to Use GreenShift Technology
Global Ethanol recently received the rights to use new corn oil extraction technologies at a 100 million gallon ethanol plant in Lakota, Iowa. The technology, patented by GreenShift Corporation allows first generation corn ethanol plants to tap into the existing reserve of inedible crude corn oil with an estimated industry-wide output of about 20 million barrels per year. This corn …
Kinder Morgan Energy Buys Three Ethanol Terminals
It an effort to turn-around its struggling renewable fuels operations, Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has agreed to purchase three ethanol terminals for nearly $195 million in a joint venture with U.S. Development Group as reported by the Wall Street Journal. Kinder Morgan Energy has more than 28,000 miles of pipelines and 170 terminals and estimates that with this new deal, …
Stimulus Bucks to Fund Algae Biofuels Research
Money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act … aka the Stimulus Bill … will go to fund research on algae-based biofuels. This press release from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory says the lab will get about $14.2 million for its role in two biofuels research consortia: [Energy Secretary Steven] Chu funded the consortia with nearly …
Miscanthus Rhizome Root Harvester & Planter Unveiled
While researchers continue work on miscanthus’s viability to produce cellulosic ethanol, and growers now have a way to plant and harvest the feedstock more efficiently. After years of collaboration and research, a miscanthus rhizome regeneration harvester and planter system has been developed. The unveiling took place during the Bioenergy Feedstocks Symposium held at the University of Illinois (U of I). …
Could Salicornia Be a New Wonder Feedstock?
On the Eve of the World Future Energy Summit, which began today in Abu Dhabi, the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, Honeywell UOP, Boeing and Ethiad Airways announced a project that would study how to combine fish farms and biofuel crops to lower CO2, reduce ocean waste and produce renewable jet fuel. The star feedstock? Salicornia. Salicornia, also known …
Danforth Center Receives $44 Mil for Biofuels Research
The St. Louis-area Donald Danforth Plant Science Center will receive $44 million in stimulus bucks to conduct advanced biofuels research. This press release from the center says the money from the U.S. Department of Energy will go to helping the center to serve as the lead organization in a consortium: The National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB) led …