An animated version of an enzyme that could accelerate the process of making cellulosic ethanol from woody plants and farm waste looks kind of like “a Technicolor dinosaur fossil chomping on dinner.” National Renewable Energy Laboratory senior scientist Michael Crowley was awarded second place in the Department of Energy’s Electronic Visualization competition for his animated version of cellobiohydrolase Cel7A, “a …
POET Announces Cellulosic Ethanol Pilot Plant
At the 21st annual American Coalition for Ethanol conference on Wednesday, POET CEO Jeff Broin announced that the company will complete construction on a $4 million pilot-scale cellulosic ethanol production facility by the end of this year. The pilot plant will be adjacent to POET’s corn ethanol pilot facility and a nine million gallon per year ethanol production facility in …
Cellulosic Ethanol Demo Plant Opens in Montana
A cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant opened Monday in Butte, Montana – reportedly the first such plant to integrate the use of both cellulose and starch based feedstocks. California-based AE Biofuels celebrated the opening of its plant with various government representatives, including both U.S. senators and Governor Brian Schweitzer, who commented that he was proud “AE Biofuels’ groundbreaking technology was developed …
BlueFire Ethanol Presents at GM Briefing
General Motors recently held a briefing in California on cellulose to ethanol production in North America. One of the companies that presented was BlueFire Ethanol of Irvine, CA. BlueFire president and CEO Arnold Klann talked about the company’s Concentrated Acid Hydrolysis process known as the “Arkenol Process” which converts cellulosic, or “green” waste materials to ethanol. His presentation is featured …
McCain Opposes Ethanol Subsidies in Iowa
Republican presidential candidate John McCain visited the Iowa State Fair Friday, shook a lot of hands, but probably didn’t make a lot of friends in corn country when he clearly stated his opposition to subsidizing ethanol production. “My friends, we will disagree on a specific issue and that’s healthy,” McCain said during a Des Moines Register forum address at the …
POET Will Provide Cellulosic Update at Conference
An update on POET’s cellulosic ethanol Project Liberty is on the agenda for next week’s American Coalition for Ethanol conference in Omaha. Larry Ward, Vice President of Project Development for POET, will provide the update during the general session on Wednesday afternoon. Range Fuels and ICM will also update the session on their own cellulosic projects. Project LIBERTY, the transformation …
New Cellulosic Ethanol Partnership
BP and Verenium Corporation have announced the creation of a strategic partnership to accelerate the development and commercialization of cellulosic ethanol. According to a Verenium press release, the partnership “combines a broad technology platform and operational capabilities in an effort to advance the development of a portfolio of low-cost, environmentally sound cellulosic ethanol production facilities in the United States, and …
USDA, DOE Hand Out Biomass Grants
The U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy announced $10 million worth of grants for 10 places of higher education to help accelerate the use of biomass into cellulosic biofuels. This USDA release has details: “USDA is committed to fostering a sustainable domestic biofuels industry at home in rural America,” [Agriculture Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Gale Buchanan] said. …
Rock n’ Roll Farmer Supports Cellulosic Ethanol
True rock and roll fans will recognize the name Chuck Leavell as keyboardist for the Rolling Stones – in addition to many other well-known rock legends such as The Allman Brothers and Eric Clapton. He is also a Georgia tree farmer and an environmentalist who actively supports the development of ethanol production from woody biomass. “I think it’s one of …