Mixing enzyme cocktails and customized biofuel crops to make cellulosic ethanol a reality is the goal of a new industry partnership. Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. and enzyme provider Novozymes have announced a research collaboration to co-develop customized plant varieties and enzyme cocktails to improve the efficiency of converting biomass to fuel. “According to the Billion Ton Study by the …
Ethanol Testimony at Farm Bill Hearing
A House Agriculture Committee field hearing in South Dakota on the 2012 Farm Bill featured a lot of testimony about ethanol. POET Vice President for Commercial Development Scott Weishaar testified that the ethanol industry has become a legitimate threat to Big Oil and Washington deserves credit for envisioning that future when it created positive policies such as the Renewable Fuels …
Study: How Biofuel Chemicals React When Burned
A new research paper involving researchers from North Carolina State University (NC State) offers insights into how biofuel chemicals react when burned. The study, “Biofuel combustion chemistry: from ethanol to biodiesel,” was conducted as an effort to help pave the way for the development of new biofuels and technologies to maximize energy efficiency while minimizing environmental and human health risks. …
Ethanol Report on Exports
As Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president Bob Dinneen was in Seville, Spain talking about American ethanol in the world market, the organization released a new report on rising U.S. ethanol exports. “The Paradox of Rising U.S. Ethanol Exports: Increased Market Opportunities at the Expense of Enhanced National Energy Security?” highlights how the nation quickly evolving from a net importer of …
RFA President Tweets Global Ethanol Meeting
Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) president and CEO Bob Dinneen has been keeping his Twitter followers up to speed on the activities at the World Biofuels conference in Seville, Spain this week. Industry leaders from all over the world are meeting at the event, where Dinneen did a presentation on American ethanol in the world market. Here are a few of …
RFA’s Bob Dinneen to Address World Leaders
The World Biofuels 2010 conference will kick off in Seville, Spain, tomorrow and Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, will address world leaders. In anticipated remarks, Dinneen will challenge the claims that American ethanol production can’t cost compete with other producers such as Brazil. In addition, Dinneen will address misperceptions about indirect land use. “Despite claims …
Cellulosic Ethanol in Finland
A biorefinery company based in Finland has opened a plant for processing non-food biomass into cellulosic ethanol in Oulu. The Chempolis facility was officially opened last week by the Finnish Prime Minister, Matti Vanhanen. “The third-generation biorefining technology that we have developed enables us to produce multiple products from agricultural residues using all the vegetable matter they contain, maximising the …
Corn Growers Want End to Indirect Land Use Change
The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) believes that it’s time to throw out the whole debated theory of indirect land use change. “In 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts our corn farmers will produce more than 300 million more bushels than just three years ago, and do so on nearly 5 million fewer acres,” NCGA President Darrin Ihnen said …