It’s official. BioJet International, a developer of bio jet fuels, and Abundant Biofuels Corporation, an integrated feedstock development company, have merged. With this merger in place, Abundant is now a wholly owned subsidiary of BioJet but its affiliates will continue to operate under the Abundant name and brand. Abundant is best known for its Philippine Jatropha Project and today has …
ICM Deploys Its Biomass Gasification System
ICM has announced that it is beginning commercial deployment of its biomass gasification system after the successful completion of infrastructure development, research, testing, and an independent engineering review. The company began operating its commercial scale demonstration gasifer back in 2009. The technology has the capacity to covert 150 tons of biomass per day to a syngas that can then be …
Cornoil – A Growing Feedstock for REG
The synergies between the biodiesel, ethanol and advanced biofuels industries are growing. One of the things that’s been happening over the past few years is the ethanol industry creating a new feedstock for the biodiesel industry – inedible corn oil. Inedible corn oil was one of the feedstocks that REG highlighted during USDA Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and EPA Administrator …
Buster Biofuels on Biodiesel Quality
During a trip to San Diego I met with budding biodiesel company Buster Biofuels. The company is in the last phase of permitting and then will build a 2 million per year multi-feedstock biodiesel facility. According to Kristof Reiter of Reiter Scientific Consulting, who is working with Buster Biofuels, two of the most important elements for the company’s success are …
Charles Bronson “It’s Going to Work”
“I think people are going to catch on. That this thing is real and it going to work,” said Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles A. Bronson during an interview about Farm to Fuel. One of Bronson’s long-term goals has been to turn Florida into an alternative energy leader in areas such as biofuels. This year marked the fifth …
The Economics of Ethanol from Corn Cobs
Producing a significant amount of ethanol strictly from corn cobs is possible but would require a specific set of circumstances to be economically feasible, according to a new report from Purdue University researchers. In the report “The Economics of Harvesting Corn Cobs for Energy,” Matthew Erickson and Wallace Tyner found that factors such as corn yield, farm size, harvesting equipment …
Butter Could be Biodiesel Feedstock
USDA researchers are studying the use of butter as a feedstock for biodiesel. According to a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, scientists with USDA's Ag Research Service looked into the concept of making butter that would otherwise go to waste into biodiesel. Michael Haas and colleagues cite rising global demand for biodiesel, and the desire …
USB: Unfair Argentinian Subsidies on Biodiesel Feed
The American soybean industry is crying foul over Argentina’s practice of taxing its whole soybeans for export at a higher rate than it taxes its soybean meal, oil and biodiesel destined for foreign markets. And this article from Feedstuffs.com says the United Soybean Board (USB) believes that is costing the U.S. soybean industry up to $500 million each year: The …
Florida Farm to Fuel Summit Coming Up in August
As the nation’s worst oil spill in history threatens the Gulf Coast’s energy, tourism and fishing industries, Florida is continuing efforts to promote the production of renewable energy from biomass resources in the Sunshine State. For the fifth year in a row, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson will host the Farm to Fuel Summit, August 11-13 at the Rosen Shingle …
Sorghum Poised for Bigger Role in Ethanol Production
Today, about 1/3 of the sorghum crop goes into ethanol production. An interesting little piece of information I picked up when I spoke with Gerald Simonsen, the Chairman of the National Sorghum Producers during Commodity Classic. Sorghum is a good feedstock for ethanol production for several reasons. First, it uses half the amount of water used in corn production and …