The Bioenergy Technologies Office has announced a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) entitled, “Project Definition for Pilot and Demonstration Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biopower (PD2B3).” The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) says the FOA will be officially issued in May 2016 on the EERE Exchange website. The funding opportunity is for technology development for the …
NexSteppe CEO Anna Rath Wins BIO Award
This year’s 2016 BIO Rosalind Franklin Award is being given to Anna Rath, CEO of NexSteppe. The award is given to an outstanding woman in the field of industrial biotechnology. According to the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), who presents the honor, Rath’s work led to a biotech breakthrough. Her research is focused on developing scalable and sustainable bioenergy feedstocks. The …
Federal Activities Report on Bioeconomy Released
USDA has released a new report, “Federal Activities Report on the Bioeconomy.” According to Dr. Catherine Woteki, the report was developed to create awareness of federal agency activities that are helping to develop and support the bioeconomy. The “bioeconomy” is an emerging part of the U.S. economy, says Woteki, that utilizes renewable biological resources to produce fuels, power and biobased …
Hometown BioEnergy Wins Biogas Project Award
The American Biogas Council has awarded the Hometown BioEnergy facility with its “Biogas Project of the Year” award. The LeSeur, MN plant is owned by the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency, with management partner Avant Energy, and utilizes anaerobic digestion to produce renewable electricity from food processing and agricultural waste. Once the methane gas is produced, also known as renewable natural …
USDA Awards $71M for REAP Projects
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding more funds to help rural businesses reduce energy costs in every U.S. state including the Virgin Islands, the Western Pacific and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The USDA is providing $102 million in loan guarantees and $71 million in grants for 1,114 projects financed through the Rural Energy for American Program (REAP), …
ConEdison Assists “Renewable” Waste Treatment
The Port Richmond Wastewater Treatment Plant located on Staten Island has been updated to include “renewable” energy to help power the waste treatment facility. Three new boilers – a combination of biogas and natural gas – along with a new exhaust system and a rootfop solar array. Biogas is a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process and is now being …
Companies Support Cali’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard
A group of major companies have come out in support of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). Thirty-six companies sent a letter to California Air Resources Board (CARB) Chairman Mary Nichols expressing their support for the re-adoption of the program. They cited the standard’s positive influence on the development of cleaner transportation fuels. “BICEP companies support a strong LCFS because …
Calgren Ethanol Biodigester Off and Digesting
The Calgren Ethanol Biodigester is off and digesting waste from dairy farms into ethanol. The ethanol will be used by consumers in California’s Central Valley. The Two-Stage Mixed Plug Flow Digester was designed by DVO, Inc. and built by Regenis. The partners said it is the first California digester to use agricultural waste to create renewable natural gas to power …
Calif. Gets First Anaerobic Digester to Turn Manure into Biogas
California gets its first anaerobic digester that will turn manure from a dairy farm into biogas. Wisconsin-based DVO, Inc. announced it has nearly completed work on the anaerobic digester scheduled to open at Calgren Renewable Fuels on September 30, 2014 in Pixley, Calif. The DVO anaerobic digester, built by Andgar of Ferndale, Washington, is designed to hold approximately 1,400,000 gallons …
Biogas Opportunities Roadmap Published
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) along with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have published a new report that outlines new federal initiatives to support growth in the private biogas/waste-to-energy sector. The Biogas Opportunities Roadmap concluded that developing a viable biogas industry in the U.S. can boost the economy as well as provide a reliable, distributed source …