Range Fuels has been held up as the poster child for commercializing cellulosic ethanol and the company has now raised $100 million to build a 100-million-gallon-a-year plant in Georgia. Range Fuels has also received a US Department of Energy grant and other venture funding in an effort to get the plant up and producing at least 20 million gallons of …
Global Marketing of Cellulosic Technology
South Dakota-based KL Process Design Group has signed an agreement with O2 Diesel Europe to market their cellulosic process globally. According to the companies, the agreement secures O2Diesel’s rights to expand KL’s cellulosic to ethanol fuel production technology in Europe, India, Russia and other rapidly developing global markets. KL announced the start up of the first commercial small scale wood …
Ethanol Pump Promo for Sebring
The Ethanol Promotion and Information Council helped the American LeMans Series kick off the 56th running of the Mobile 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring this weekend with a pump promotion offering E10 for $2.56. A total of 2566 gallons of the fuel were sold at the local Gate Petroleum station in Sebring, Florida. Several race car drivers were on hand …
“Sugar Eater” Holds Biofuel Promise
Two University of Maryland scientists believe a strain of bacteria that decomposes everything from algae to newspapers to crab shells could help produce cheaper fuel. Found on marsh grass in the Chesapeake Bay, this organism could soon be used to generate ethanol from cellulosic sources such as waste paper, brewing byproducts, leftover agriculture products, including straw, corncobs and husks, and …
USDA Energy Grant Announcements
At last week’s Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) 2008, Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced that USDA will accept almost $221 million in loan and grant applications within USDA’s Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvements Program. “As demand for energy rises, these renewable energy loans and grants help farms and rural small businesses increase their investment in renewable energy …
25 x ’25 Energy Summit This Week
Coming up this week in Omaha is the National 25x’25 Renewable Energy Summit. The conference will feature leading renewable energy experts from across the nation. More than two dozen pre-eminent authorities on biofuels, biomass, wind, solar and other land-based renewable energy sources will address the summit. Presenters will include Dr. Steven Chu, Nobel laureate and director of the Lawrence Berkeley …
WIREC 2008 Wraps Up
The Washington International Energy Conference wrapped up Thursday after three days of discussions, presentations and networking between more than 7,000 representatives from over 100 countries. The United States pledged to continue its leadership in renewable energy through efforts coordinated by multiple agencies. For example, USDA will work on the development and cultivation of switchgrass for the production of cellulosic ethanol, …
Bush Urges US to “Get Off Oil”
As crude oil jumped to new record highs on the New York mercantile exchange due to falling oil inventories, trading over $104 a barrel, President Bush renewed his support for ethanol as a means toward energy independence. Speaking at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC) Wednesday, Bush said, “America has got to change its habits. We’ve got to …
Deere Provides Look at Ethanol in 2015
One of the most well attended learning sessions at the 2008 Commodity Classic in Nashville was “Starch and Cellulose as Ethanol Feedstocks” sponsored by John Deere. Deere’s principal scientist for renewable energy John Hickman told the crowd that by the year 2015, most ethanol will still come from starch – or corn – but the growth to cellulosic ethanol will …
Biomass Grants Announced at WIREC
The federal government will invest a total of $18.4 million over three years for 21 new biomass research and development and demonstration projects. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman made that announcement today at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference 2008 (WIREC). “These grants help fund the innovative research needed to develop technologies and systems that lead …