A larger trade show at a new venue will highlight the 6th Annual Iowa Renewable Fuels Summit hosted by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA). The Summit will be Tues., Jan. 24, 2012 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m at the Iowa Events Center in downtown Des Moines. The event is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required and online registration is now open. …
IT Management for Energy Crops
Farmers interested in producing and trading energy crops for feedstock could be helped by a new IT management platform. Ontario-based New Energy Farms, a developer of the energy crop Miscanthus in North America, has teamed up with Muddy Boots Software to provide this new service to the energy crop market. According to the companies, the platform will enable direct trading …
Canadian Firm Developing Industry Oilseed Crops
Vancouver-based Linnaeus Plant Sciences has been awarded $1.2 million in support from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) to further advance production of green alternatives to petroleum oils. SDTC support will help Linnaeus advance production of camelina and safflower-based oils as renewable feedstock that can substitute for petroleum in a variety of high-value, non-fuel applications including polymers, lubricants, surfactants and other …
US Navy Completes Successful T-45 Biofuel Flight
The U.S. Navy has successfully flown a T-45 training aircraft using biofuels at the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Patuxent River, Maryland. The flight was completed by the “Salty Dogs” of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 23 flying on biofuel mixture of petroleum-based JP-5 jet fuel and plant-based camelina. The T-45 “Goshawk” is a tandem-seat aircraft used by the …
Private Investments for Alt Energy At Four-Year Low
According to new research from Lux Research, investments in the alternative fuels sector have reached a four-year low of $930 million for alternative fuel start-ups in 2010. However, 2010 was also a record-breaking year for investments to companies with flexible technologies that can use a variety of feedstocks to produce a variety of products at $698 million. Lux says that …
Gator Fat Could Make Biodiesel
Once upon a time, an oil company used the slogan “Put a Tiger in Your Tank.” Someday, it could be “Put a Gator in Your Tank.” Scientists have identified a new and unlikely raw material for biodiesel in alligator fat, according to a research published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research. Researchers at the University …
Bharat & SG Biofuels Create Jatropha Partnership
India’s second largest petroleum company, Bharat Renewable Energy (BREL), has partnered with SG Biofuels (SGB) to develop sell jatropha hybrids modified for the production of biodiesel in India. The first phase of the program will focus on crop development aimed at creating oil-rich jatropha hybrids suited to growing conditions throughout India. The next phase will consist of deploying more than …
New Biofuels Projects Funded
Ten new government-funded research projects were announced today to help accelerate bioenergy feedstock production. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited a waste-to-energy bioprocessing facility under construction in Florida today to announce that the Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Energy (DOE) have awarded 10 grants totaling $12.2 million to spur research into improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of growing biofuel and bioenergy …
Rapeseed Research to Help Optimize Plant Oil Production
New energy department research is aiming to increase the use of plant oils as renewable resource by optimize the production of oil in the seeds. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have developed a computational model for analyzing the metabolic processes in rapeseed plants — particularly those related to the production of oils in their …
Louisiana Moves Forward On Sugar-to-Ethanol Plant
Louisiana is one step closer to being the first state in the U.S. to boast a sugar-to-ethanol plant. The Louisiana Public Facilities Authority Board of Trustees has approved bonds worth up to $70 million to help build the plant in Lacassine. The plant is a project of Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF) and is 80 percent owned by Andino Energy and …