Here is an interesting story out of Lund University in Sweden. Nadia Skorupa Parachin has discovered an enzyme in garden soil that when used could increase ethanol production by 20 percent or more. Xylose is the second most common sugar found in nature, but today, is not commonly used, if at all, in the ethanol process. When Parachin tested her …
USDA Offers Renewable Energy Funding
USDA is seeking applications to increase the production and use of renewable energy sources under three different USDA Rural Development renewable energy programs authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill. USDA is now accepting applications for loan guarantees in the Biorefinery Assistance Program, Repowering Assistance Program, and the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels. USDA is making approximately $463 million available under …
Sen. Klobuchar Introduces Ethanol Legislation
A bill introduced yesterday by Sens. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tim Johnson (D-SD) called the Securing America’s Future with Energy and Sustainable Technologies (SAFEST) Act establishes strong renewable energy and energy-efficiency standards, incentives for developing biofuels and biofuel infrastructure, and targets for the availability of advanced vehicle technologies. More specifically, the legislation would establish new incentives for biofuels infrastructure and …
Are US Strategic Petroleum Reserves the Answer?
As gas prices continue to rise and in some areas across the country they are now over $4.00 a gallon, some are calling for oil to be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as a way to bring consumers relief. In fact, on average, gas prices are averaging 75 cents more per gallon than this week a year ago. …
Sen. Grassley Calls For Honest Discussion on Energy & Ethanol
In a Senate floor speech earlier this week, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), a long-time supporter of biofuels, said, “Over the next few weeks, I’m going to do everything I can to educate my colleagues and the public on the benefits of domestic biofuels.” Grassley is concerned about the movement in DC to end ethanol subsidies and incentives as well as …
Book Review – The Forbidden Fuel
This week I read “The Forbidden Fuel: A History of Power Alcohol,” by authors Hal Bernton, William Kovarik and Scott Sklar. The book was originally published in 1982 and then republished in 2010 with a new Foreward added as well as a new Introduction added that gives the readers an update on where the ethanol industry is today. This book …
More Wheeling & Dealing in DC on Ethanol
There is more wheeling & dealing on ethanol measures going on in DC today. Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) introduced a bill that would repeal the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) also known as the blender’s credit. Policy makers have been attempting to end VEETC for many years and made an unsuccessful, but down to the …
POET’s Biorefineries Slash H20 Use
POET biorefineries have slashed water use through the utilization of the company’s Total Water Recovery technology. Across the board, the company’s plants have reduced water use by a total of 411 million gallons of water per year compared to 2009 levels. This savings means that on average, a POET ethanol plant uses 2.77 gallons of water per gallon of ethanol …
Biodiesel, Ethanol Maker Signs ex-Oil Exec to Board
A company that is producing ethanol and biodiesel from non-food cellulosic wastes has welcomed a former oil industry executive to its board of directors. BlueFire Renewables, Inc. announced that Joe Sparano, a former President and, subsequently, Executive Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), as well as former president of Tesoro Petroleum’s West …
Propel Fuels Hosts USDA’s Judith Canales
Propel Fuels hosted Judith Canales, Administrator for Rural Business and Cooperative Programs for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), yesterday at one of the fuel retailer’s stations in Oakland, California yesterday to promote the positive and economic and environmental impacts biofuels has on the US. Propel is the leading retailer in the US installing biofuel infrastructure for both ethanol and …