One of the companies exhibiting their developmental corn cob harvest/collection equipment at the POET Project LIBERTY Field Day was Case IH. Representing them again this year was Sam Acker, pictured sitting in their booth during the speeches. I first met him last year and got an update on what’s new from the company this year. Sam says they’re demonstrating an …
Termites Could Help Produce Cellulosic Ethanol
The ability of termites to digest wood may hold a key to advancing the production of cellulosic ethanol from woody biomass. Researchers at the University of Florida have been working on genetic sequencing to harness the insects’ ability to churn wood into fuel. That ability involves a mixture of enzymes from symbiotic bacteria and other single-celled organisms living in termites’ …
John Deere Developing Corn Cob Harvest Options
There were 16 different equipment manufacturers involved with POET’s Project LIBERTY Field Day. One of them was John Deere, represented by Dean Acheson, Manager, Solutions Development. Dean says that what they’re working on is completely customer based. He says they don’t want to be slowed down during harvest and they want to keep up a high level of productivity. The …
Work Is Not Done To Develop Ethanol Industry
One of the stars on hand to address the crowd at POET’s Project LIBERTY Field Day was former four-star General Wesley Clark. He spoke about the important role they would play in providing more homegrown fuel for the nation. “We are involved in something that is historic,” Clark said. “We are going to significantly reduce our dependence on foreign energy …
Project LIBERTY Field Day Underway
POET CEO Jeff Broin, seen here being interviewed in the field this morning, is glad for sunshine. At last year’s Project LIBERTY Field Day we had a wet one. We watched several different equipment manufacturers display their latest products to handle collecting the corn cobs for use in cellulosic ethanol production. I’ve got video clips of them in action which …
Verenium and Syngenta Collaborate
Verenium Corporation has entered into a joint research collaboration with Syngenta AG of Switzerland. Under the agreement, Verenium gained additional exclusive rights to an array of proprietary biomolecules expressed microbially, as well as non-exclusive rights to the same biomolecules expressed through non-plant and non-microbial means. Syngenta will retain exclusive rights to the biomolecules expressed in plants, as well as nonexclusive …
Synthetic Cellulosome May Improve Fermentation
A team of University of California, Riverside (UCR) researchers, led by Wilfred Chen, Professor of Chemical Engineering, has for the first time, constructed a synthetic cellulosome in yeast. According to Chen, this synthetic cellulosome is much more ethanol-tolerant than the bacteria in which these structures are commonly found. Cellulosomes are self-assembled structures found on the the exterior of certain bacteria …
Cellulosic Ethanol Firms Testify Before House Panel
Leading industries in the race to commercialize next generation biofuels told a House agriculture subcommittee hearing on Thursday that more funding and stable government policy are needed to do the job. “The current financial crisis has prevented venture capitalists and bankers from investing in many worthwhile investments,” BP Biofuels North America president Susan Ellerbusch testified. “The industry and investors must …
Next Gen Biofuels Hearing Today
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy, and Research will hold a hearing today to review the future of next generation biofuels. Subcommittee chairman Tim Holden (D-PA) will preside over the hearing, which will include testimony from U.S. Department of Agriculture officials, as well as representatives from several companies involved in exploring new technologies and new feedstocks for biofuel …