Michigan State University (MSU) has patented a process to pretreat agricultural waste products that would dramatically reduce the cost of making biofuels from cellulose. According to a university release, The AFEX (ammonia fiber expansion) pretreatment process, developed by MSU chemical engineering professor Bruce Dale, uses ammonia to make the breakdown of cellulose and hemicellulose in plants 75 percent more efficient …
Report Shows Efficiency of Ethanol Production
A new report concludes that America’s ethanol industry is energy efficient and doing its part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Nebraska Center for Energy Sciences Research has just released its report entitled “Improvements in Life Cycle Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Corn Ethanol” which was published in Yale’s Journal of Industrial Ecology (JIE). According …
New Nebraska Ethanol Board Officers
The Nebraska Ethanol Board elected new officers for the new year at the organization’s recent board meeting. Mike Thede of Palmer was elected Chairman of the board. Thede represents general farming interests on the board and also serves as president of the Howard County Farm Bureau and sits on the United Soybean Board. Thede said that he is optimistic about …
Alternative Energy in Inaugural Address
Among the challenges outlined by President Barack Obama in his inaugural address today was a nod to the need for alternative energy sources in our nation. “We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories,” the new president said as part of his paragraph on “work that needs to be …
Ethanol Plants to be Auctioned
Less than one year after the merger of VeraSun Energy and US BioEnergy, seven of the ethanol plants acquired in the merger are scheduled to be sold at auction. The auction will take place between March 16 and March 31. The merger of the two companies was final on April 1, 2008. Plants to be auctioned include two in Nebraska, …
Boulder Goes For 90% Ethanol, Biodiesel Vehicles
The vast majority of city government vehicles in Boulder, Colorado will run on biodiesel or ethanol within the next few years, if city planners have their way. This story from the Boulder Daily Camera says that the city hopes to raise last year’s goal of 60 percent of new vehicles purchased running on alternatives to 90 percent this year: Given …
Ethanol Plant Offers Barley Bonuses
A Virginia-based ethanol plant is offering incentives for regional farmers to produce barley for biofuel. Osage Bio Energy will award $1,000 to the farmers in each of seven states with the highest barley yield per acre. The top producer of the Barley Bin Builder Yield Contest will receive the grand prize of a GM FlexFuel pickup truck. “Osage Bio Energy’s …
USDA Provides Loan for Cellulosic Ethanol Plant
In one of his last official acts as Secretary of Agriculture, Ed Schafer announced today that USDA Rural Development has approved the first ever loan guarantee to a commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant. Under the Biorefinery Assistance Program authorized by the 2008 Farm Bill, USDA will provide an $80 million loan to Range Fuels of Soperton, Georgia. When fully operational in …
Florida Funds Cellulosic Ethanol Plant
Florida’s Farm to Fuel initiative is helping to fund the first commercial scale cellulosic ethanol facility in the state. Verenium Corporation has been awarded a $7 million grant as part of the initiative and will work with Florida agribusiness company Lykes Brothers to build the plant in Highlands county. Lykes will provide the necessary feedstock from approximately 20,000 acres adjacent …