A Brazilian aircraft maker is selling more ethanol-powered crop dusters these days. Embraer is one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world, including commercial and corporate jets as well as defense systems. The company has a subsidiary called Neiva that specializes in smaller planes, like the Ipanema, a low-wing agricultural monoplane – or crop duster. According to Wired, Neiva …
CleanTech Researches Waste to Ethanol
Cellulosic ethanol is gaining ground… and CleanTech Biofuels is the next in line to research how to turn waste into fuel. CleanTech Biofuels is pleased to announce that it has engaged Hazen Research, Inc to construct and operate the pre-commercial stages of our Municipal Solid Waste to Ethanol project at Hazen’s eight acre research facility in Golden, Colorado. In late …
Alltech Plans “Greenest Generation” Biofuels
The latest company to get into the cellulosic biofuels race is Alltech of Lexington, Kentucky. The company was awarded a grant last week by the US Department of Energy to begin work on a $70 million plant in Springfield, Ky. The head of that project is Dr. Mark Lyons, son of Alltech president Dr. Pearse Lyons. This young man has …
Cows Helping Make Ethanol
A study by researchers at Michigan State University says that an enzyme from a microbe that lives in cows’ stomachs could help get more ethanol out of corn. This story from Science Daily says scientists have figured out how to grow corn with the enzyme already in the grain… keeping lots of cows’ guts out of the picture: The enzyme …
Click & Clack Search for Ideal Hybrid
I don’t recommend a lot of TV shows on this blog (you’re too busy reading Domestic Fuel, right?), but I did catch an episode of Nova on PBS tonight that I thought would be of interest here. In honor of Earth Day today, the show, “Car of the Future,” looked at the various alternative energy vehicles out there. Leading the …
Ethanol for Earth Day
If every car in America would use a ten percent blend of ethanol for one week, the amount of greenhouse gases produced in the U.S. would be reduced by nearly 1.3 billion pounds. That is according to calculations done by life sciences researcher Nathan Danielson, president of BioCognito. “What we did was take some fairly complex modeling that was done …
Ethanol Saves Missouri Motorists Money
A study released Monday shows that Missouri drivers are saving money at the pump thanks to ethanol. According to research results announced at a press conference in the State Capitol, drivers in Missouri are expected to save an average of 9.8 cents per gallon this year due to the 10 percent ethanol standard that went into effect Jan. 1, 2008. …
The State of Cellulosic Ethanol
Cellulosic ethanol is no longer a pipe dream. It’s real and it is being produced today. That was the message Tom Slunecka, Vice President of Business Development for KL Process Design Group of South Dakota, gave at the 2008 Agri-Marketing Conference in Kansas City last week. Slunecka provided a detailed overview of the state of cellulosic ethanol to agri-marketers during …
Ultrasonic Horns Could Help Produce More Biodiesel & Ethanol
A Canadian company says it has technology that will help shake loose more sugars from corn to make more ethanol and more oil from feedstocks, in particular algae, to make more biodiesel. An e-mail to Domestic Fuel from Industrial Sonomechanics says the company has made ultrasonic technology on an industrial scale that would be perfect for biofuel production. Now while …
Hybrid Cars Take Off Dramatically
A new report from R.L. Polk & Co. says sales of hybrid vehicles rose 38 percent in 2007, compared to the previous year. The report also points out that better technologies and infrastructure are needed for ethanol- and biodiesel-powered vehicles to live up to their sales potential. This press release from the automotive marketing and research company says the economical …