Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture is a man on a mission – to make Florida the nation’s leader in biofuels production. To that end, Commissioner Charles Bronson appeared before a joint meeting of the House Agribusiness and House Energy Committees on Wednesday urging them to consider tax incentives or some form of financial assistance that the state can provide to encourage …
Partnership to Discover Biofuels Enzymes
Agribusiness giant Syngenta has entered into a research and development partnership with San Diego-based biotech firm Diversa Corporation focused on “the discovery and development of a range of novel enzymes to convert pre-treated cellulosic biomass economically to mixed sugars – a critical step in the process of biofuel production.” The new agreement allows Diversa to independently develop and commercialize fermentation-based …
Getting to a Biofuels Future
The Governors’ Ethanol Coalition has released a new report called Ethanol from Biomass: How to Get to a Biofuels Future. The report asks the President and members of Congress to adopt four recommendations: 1. Expand the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS) to include a short-term target of 12 billion gallons a year of ethanol and biodiesel utilization by 2010, and longer-term …
Ethanol Testimony
Aventine Renewable Energy CEO and Renewable Fuels Association Chairman Ron Miller presented testimony before the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee Wednesday on the impact of the ethanol industry’s dramatic growth on rural America. “Ethanol today is the single most important value-added market for farmers,” said Miller. “The increased demand for grain used in ethanol processing has increased farm income, …
Bio-Town May Get Ethanol Plant
Indiana’s “BioTown USA” might soon get it’s very own ethanol plant. VeraSun of South Dakota has plans to is build a 110-million gallon capacity ethanol plant just outside the northern Indiana town of Reynolds that is a state project aimed at using renewable sources to provide all its energy. The Biotown plan promoted by the state Department of Agriculture calls …
California Greening
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to terminate greenhouse gas emissions in his state. In his State of the State address Tuesday, Governor Schwarzenegger called for the establishment of a Low Carbon Fuel Standard in California, a “first-of-its kind standard” that will reduce the carbon intensity of California’s passenger vehicle fuels by at least 10 percent by the year 2020. According …
MIT Study Confirms Ethanol Benefits
It’s unlikely to be the final word on the subject, but a new MIT analysis shows that the energy balance between ethanol and fossil fuel is actually so close that several factors can easily change whether ethanol ends up a net energy winner or loser. In other words, it depends on what you figure into the equation. According to MIT, …
Cargill Company to Build Ethanol Plants
Cargill has launched a renewable energy subsidiary to build four big ethanol plants. According to Cargill, Emerald Renewable Energy plans to develop four 100 million gallon/year ethanol plants in the Midwest. No sites have been announced yet, but several are under consideration, including empty locations and sites near Cargill grain elevators Emerald Renewable Energy is a privately held, limited liability …
Improving DDG Quality
Improving the quality and digestibility of ethanol by-products for livestock feed is a major goal of Renessen, a joint venture between Cargill and Monsanto. At the American Farm Bureau Federation annual meeting in Salt Lake City, Doug Rushing of Monsanto described how Renessen’s recently launched ethanol processing system, combined with a new corn hybrid, creates dried distillers’ grains (DDGs) with …
Gator Research Bears Fuel
A University of Florida scientist is starting to see 20 years of research bear fuel. The Palm Beach Post reports Dr. Lonnie Ingram, director of the Florida Center for Renewable Chemicals and Fuel at UF in Gainesville, has spent more than 20 years on scientific work that uses E. coli bacteria to convert plant waste into ethanol. But UF only …